05 Jul

ON IP TI SC R SU B

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

www.kuwaittimes.net

SHAABAN 4, 1432 AH

Angry Mladic ejected from UN war crimes court

Ben Ali gets 15 yrs jail over weapons, drugs charges

Chestnut chows down 5th hot dog contest win

Farrar claims emotional maiden Tour win

NO: 15140

150 FILS

7 13economic 20 8Gulf political, 40 PAGES

reform crucial: Premier Sheikh Nasser calls for improved relations with Iran

Syria forces storm Hama DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces killed two antiregime protesters near Damascus and deployed tanks in a town near Turkey’s border, activists said yesterday, as the authorities eyed the recapture of Hama. More than 20 people were arrested on the outskirts of the flashpoint central city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that angry residents countered by burning tyres and hurling stones. One resident told AFP that a 12-year-old child, Omar Khalluf, was shot dead in northwest Hama and between 20 and 25 other people were wounded, two of them seriously, during the sweep. Agents in their cars “shot in the air to terrorise residents,” he said, while warplanes overflew the city, emitting sonic booms.

Earlier, Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian Observatory said: “Two demonstrators were killed and eight wounded on Sunday night as security forces opened fire to disperse a protest in Hajar Aswad” in Damascus province. Boxing champion Nasser Al-Shami, who won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, was in stable condition after being hit by shotgun pellets in the city of Hama, said Abdul Rahman.

Abdul Rahman said he spoke to the doctor who treated the athlete.

Activists said another eight people were wounded early yesterday in an army operation in Idlib province, northwest Syria.

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JEDDAH: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia (right) meets at his palace yesterday Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. King Abdullah and Sheikh Nasser discussed means of cementing bilateral relations in all domains, the common march of the GCC countries and recent developments in the Islamic and Arab arenas, official media reported. — KUNA

Chavez in surprise return to Venezuela CARACAS: Venezuela’s ever-theatrical President Hugo Chavez made a surprise homecoming yesterday after cancer surgery in Cuba and declared himself “fine” despite speculation he may still require

CARACAS: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez raises his fist as he holds a copy of a Venezuelan newspaper at the Maiquetia Airport yesterday. — AP

lengthy treatment. “Here I am, home and happy! Good morning, my beloved Venezuela,” a bubbly Chavez said, punching his fist in the air and singing a folk song after touching down in the early hours. “Now I’m going to get some rest.”

With their ‘comandante’ back on Venezuelan soil, groups of delirious supporters took to the streets of Caracas within minutes, chanting: “He’s back! He’s back!”

Chavez’s return changes the political dynamics once again in Venezuela, where politicians on all sides had been bracing for a protracted months-long absence of the man who has dominated the OPEC member nation for the last 12 years. The famously unpredictable 56year-old president jetted in just in time for two days of celebrations of Venezuela’s 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. Many Venezuelans had thought Chavez’s convalescence after two operations last month in Cuba one to remove a cancerous tumor would keep him in Havana for weeks, possibly months.

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in the

news

KNPC to work on KD 11bn projects

Riyadh in deal to buy German tanks

KUWAIT: Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC), the state’s refiner, expects to start work on projects worth a total of KD 11 billion ($40.15 billion) this year, the state news agency reported yesterday. The projects include building the OPEC member’s fourth refinery and clean fuels projects which will upgrade two of the country’s three refineries at a cost of KD 8.6 billion, Hatem Al-Awadhi, deputy managing director of KNPC told KUNA. Awadhi said the projects also included building a fifth gas production line at a cost of about KD 315 million.

Last week, Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) approved the construction of the long-delayed Al-Zour refinery which had been expected to start up in 2016 at an estimated cost of KD 4 billion. The SPC also approved the clean fuels project last week which is expected to cost KD 4.6 billion. KNPC operates the country’s three existing refineries which together can process 930,000 barrels a day.

RIYADH/BERLIN: Saudi Arabia is buying hundreds of tanks from Germany, Saudi security sources said, in a multi-billion euro deal that German opposition lawmakers say contravenes the country’s export guidelines for military hardware.

The oil-rich Gulf state has bought 44 Leopard tanks in the first phase of the deal for a total of 200 tanks in coming months, the sources said. The purchase follows a $93 billion stimulus package from Saudi King Abdullah in March that included extra support for police and security forces. The handout was a response to unrest sweeping through the Arab world. A senior parliamentarian from the leading opposition Greens said such a sale would violate German guidelines. “ This is a blatant breach of weapons export guidelines,” Green MP Katja Keul told Reuters, saying tanks came under the rubric of weapons that should not be exported to crisis-hit regions.

Max 42º Min 33º Low Tide 08:29 & 21:10 High Tide 03:10: 13:50

DUBAI: Gulf Arab rulers should enact economic and political reforms or risk raising the ire of their citizens, Kuwait’s prime minister was quoted as saying in the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat yesterday. Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah remarks came two weeks after HH the Amir warned there would be “zero tolerance” for anyone threatening Kuwait’s security. “We believe that the reform process in all the (Gulf ) countries are an important and crucial matter,” Sheikh Nasser told the daily during a tour of the Gulf states. “It is not possible to realise growth and stability in any country without economic and political reforms and to realise welfare of the peoples.”

In January, the government announced plans to spend nearly $5 billion, or around 4 percent of its GDP, on cash grants and free food rations. Kuwait, which sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves, grants more political freedom than Gulf neighbours such as Saudi Arabia where few dare criticise the government or members of the ruling family.

Sheikh Nasser, who is currently heading his seventh government since his appointment by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in 2006, has undergone fierce criticism from Kuwaiti opposition for what they say is his failure to fulfil the demands of the people. He survived a non-cooperation motion against him in parliament last month after being questioned about favouring relations with Iran over other Gulf neighbours.

Yesterday, Sheikh Nasser called for improved relations with Iran. Relations between the two states have deteriorated over the past year with Kuwait accusing Iran of running a spy cell in the state. “We always strive to strengthen our relations and collaboration in various areas with the Islamic Republic of Iran as it is a Muslim neighbour and we have historic ties with it,” Sheikh Nasser was quoted as saying. — Reuters

Abusive sponsors attack official at maid shelter them in the heads and stomachs in front of horrified embassy personnel.

KUWAIT: A Philippine Embassy labor The assailants then announced that the official was attacked by five assailants at two women were ‘their’ housemaids, the embassy’s premises on Sunday accusing the women of stealing money from the family’s home. night whilst defending The commotion contintwo Filipina housemaids ued for a few minutes, who escaped from their with the five attackers abusive employers’ home then directing their rage shortly before. The labor at the embassy official official was on duty at the who was guarding the Filipino housemaid shelgate and protecting the ter in Jabriya at the time housemaids. The man of the attack. The five was badly beaten, susmale assailants - three taining heavy bruising adults and two teenagers and swelling to his body - who were identified by and forehead. the women as members The two women of their employers’ famiescaped from their lies - rushed to the Maria employer’s house in embassy upon discoverJabriya at around 9:00 pm ing that the maids had on Sunday, risking their fled. The two housemaids lives by using an improarrived in a taxi minutes vised rope made by tying after the assailants. blankets and bed sheets On seeing the employtogether to lower themers arguing with embassy selves to the ground from staff at the gate, the two a third-floor room. The traumatized women two traumatized houseattempted to rush inside maids, identified only by the embassy, but were their nicknames “Jenny” prevented from doing so and “Maria”, were effecby the five men, who tively imprisoned by grabbed the women by Continued on Page 13 their hair and punched Jenny

By Ben Garcia

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India: Indian police walk past The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala yesterday. — AFP

Police guarding temple treasure THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Armed commandoes cordoned off a medieval Hindu temple in south India yesterday after gold coins and precious stones worth billions of dollars were found in its vaults. The chief minister of southern Kerala state, Oommen Chandy, said local authorities needed to take precautions and had set up a three-tier security ring involving 100 armed police.

Surveillance will be in place around the clock, and security forces are setting up a special control centre and looking at bringing in cameras. “The treasure will be kept in the temple itself and Kerala police are taking over its security from temple staff,” said Chandy, who valued the discovery at 500 billion rupees ($11.2 billion) on Saturday.

Five vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the Keralan capital Thiruvananthapuram were opened last week, yielding enormous quantities of gold and silver jewellery, coins and precious stones. A sixth was set to be explored yesterday. Retired Kerala High Court judge C S Rajan, who is part of a seven-member team Continued on Page 13

Hackers claim Obama killed WASHINGTON: Hackers took control of a FoxNews.com Twitter account yesterday and sent six false tweets saying that US President Barack Obama had been shot dead. “Those reports are incorrect, of course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his family,” Foxnews.com said in a statement about

the latest in a wave of high-profile cyber security breaches around the world. “Hackers sent out several malicious and false tweets that President Obama had been assassinated,” said the conservative media outlet owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

LOCAL kuwait digest

Prolonged Agony

Gulf tour aims for closer coordination: Kuwait PM

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

Sheikh Nasser hails Saudi support

I

confess that this article is loosely based on an incident that was related to me by an individual whose credibility I do not doubt. He told me that during a meeting, a government official demanded loudly that bed capacity of government hospitals be reduced, on the grounds “quality is more important than quantity.”

During the meeting, an official from the Ministry of Health refused to accept the suggestion. So, within two months, the Ministry of Health sent the official into retirement. A few months later, however, and the number of hospital beds were reduced.

This incident, regardless of its veracity, indicates that the high-ranking official destroyed the quality of health care ‘that is guaranteed by the Constitution’ for the benefit of private hospitals. This incident is well-known among the Ministry of Health officials.

The request to reduce the hospital’s capacity is a deliberate decision to stifle needy patients, especially since three-fourth of the Kuwaiti people are expatriates who cannot afford to pay the high costs of treatment in private hospitals. Thanks to their humble budget, they approach government health facilities and the so-called official wants to reduce the hospitals’ capacity!

In my last article, I had noted that we no more live in a ‘luxury state.’ How can we claim to live in luxury when the earliest appointment we receive to visit a doctor at Al-Bahar Eyes Hospital is after five months from now! However, the public government has no objection if we take the train to hell, it might even pay for the ticket fare for those who want to hop on board that train!

The pains experienced by one citizen waiting to visit to any hospital is enough for the government to plan its exit. How about the fact that there are thousands writhing in pain and are waiting for a government doctor to prescribe a wrong medicine. The agony is prolonged as long as the government is in power. — Al-Anba

Illegal residents face deportation KUWAIT: Around 100 residents in Kuwait face deportation as part of stringent measures taken against illegal residents that failed to avail of the Amiri amnesty.

According to officials, the expatriates in question paid fines and submitted necessary documents to obtain residence permits before the expiry of the deadline. The grace period, put into effect on March 1 ended last month, allowed residency violators to either leave the country without paying fines or being blacklisted. They also paid fines to legalize their stay.

“Despite complying with requirements, bureaucratic snags and slow procedures prevented their transactions from being completed before the deadline,” one official said, explaining on condition of anonymity that the Immigration Department rejected their documents. “If they are arrested, their fate will be immediate deportation for a mistake failed to commit,” reported Al-Qabas.

The Ministry of Interior’s General Migration Department stopped processing documents that were submitted before the deadline, even those who submitted transactions prior to the Amnesty period’s expiry date were rejected, reported Al-Rai. According to officials quoted in another news report, other departments received orders from Major General Abdullah Al-Rashid Acting Undersecretary Assistant for Citizenship and Passports Affairs to suspend all transactions concerning residence permits that expired before the deadline.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah and his accompanying delegation leave Kuwaiti on a Gulf tour yesterday.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed Al-Sabah said yesterday that the Gulf tour, which he began on the same day in Saudi Arabia is aimed primarily at reinforcing relations and coordinating views on regional and international issues. In an interview with Al-Hayat newspaper, Sheikh Nasser said that he was looking forward to meeting with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz in order to learn from his wisdom and long-sightedness. The Kuwaiti premier expressed his country’s appreciation for the great support from Saudi Arabia and the Saudi king for the Kuwaiti people, particularly during the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait. On the issues to be discussed with other GCC leaders during his tour, the premier said these would focus on maintaining fraternal relations and coordinating views on regional and international issues.

Asked about the creation of a possible third land border crossing between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed said that bilateral consultations are still underway on the subject.

On recent events in Bahrain, the premier said that stability has largely been restored in the Kingdom of Bahrain thanks to King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa’s keenness to pursue the country’s national interest, together with the launching of national dialogue involving all the parties concerned.

On Kuwait’s relations with Iraq, he said that Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations have greatly improved in recent years since the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, reiterating Kuwait’s support for Iraq’s stability.

“Kuwait always talks with Iraq directly on different issues. We feel that the Iraqi leadership is keen on resolving all outstanding issues and

supporting relations,” said Sheikh Nasser. On the revolutions taking place across the MENA region, the Kuwaiti premier said, “Revolutions in the Arab region are happening due to certain economic and political circumstances, along with demands for reforms,” adding, “We believe that the reform process in all countries is necessary and even inescapable.” Development and stability cannot be achieved unless economic and political reforms are carried out, he asserted.

HH the Prime Minister noted that the GCC member states have been introducing sweeping reforms that have led to the provision of good living conditions for their people. On relations between the Arab Gulf nations and Iran, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed emphasized that cooperative ties between these nations and Iran should be further reinforced on the basis of good neighborliness, mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

Meanwhile, as he was set to begin his tour, Saudi activists stressed the importance of the Kuwaiti premier’s visit, especially during the current critical period of radical developments in the regions. HH Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed’s visit reflects the deep-rooted brotherly ties between the two nations, said former Saudi Shura Council Member Mohammad Al-Zalfa, adding that the premier’s tour is a further demonstration of his awareness of the importance of unity between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in facing foreign threats, and in the aim of strengthening GCC ties.

The political tensions witnessed throughout the Arab region recently and at present pose great threats and challenges, especially after the discovery of an espionage network in Kuwait, which threatened the

security of Kuwait and the whole Gulf region, Al-Zalfa continued.

The distinguished political figure wished HH Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed a successful visit to the Kingdom, which would serve the security and stability of the GCC countries and their people.

Jasser Al-Jasser, the Managing Editor of the Saudi daily Al-Jazeera, said that relations between GCC countries require special care from its leaders regarding the dangers facing these countries.

Al-Jasser suggested that the Kuwaiti premier’s decision to begin his tour in Saudi Arabia, one of the most significant leading nations in the Arab and Gulf region, shows the great importance that the country holds for Kuwait in various areas.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Oman, another nation on the premier’s tour schedule, said that this leg of the trip is part of the continuing consultation and coordination between Kuwait and Oman over Arab and Muslim issues. The visit is an addition to the historical heritage of bilateral relations, and shows that the leadership in both countries is keen on the value of this heritage, said Ambassador Ghassan Al-Zamanan.

The tour will certainly give a big push to Kuwaiti-Omani relations in various fields in the eventual interest of both countries’ peoples, the diplomat added.

Ambassador Al-Zamanan hailed Kuwaiti-Omani relations as a model of distinguished fraternal ties, pointing to the current development of bilateral political, economic, cultural and social relations.

The two brotherly nations share the same views on many regional and international issues thanks to their leaders’ moderate and wise policies and long-sightedness, he added. The Kuwaiti ambassador also recalled Oman’s great support

for Kuwait during the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the 19991 liberation, as well as lauding the role of the Kuwaiti-Omani joint committee of coordination and cooperation between both Gulf countries. During his stay in Muscat, HH the Kuwaiti Prime Minister is expected to meet Omani leaders to discuss the latest regional and international developments, particularly in the Middle East, as well as Gulf security. They will also consider ways and means of further promoting and reinforcing relations between Kuwait and Oman in all areas, primarily in the economic and trade-related fields.

In March 2001, the leadership in both nations agreed to set up a joint committee entrusted with the discussion of economic, trade and tourism-related matters.

In the UAE, another stop on the premier’s tour schedule, the Editorsin-Chief of a number of local dailies hailed HH Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed’s upcoming visit.

The premier’s trip to the UAE comes within the framework of the strong, cooperative relations between the two nations, and aims to harmonize the views of the leadership in both nations on several issues of mutual interest, they asserted. Rashid Al-Ereimi, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Itihad, hailed the tour as a way of further strengthening the positive fraternal relations between both Kuwait and the UAE in many cooperative fields at both the bilateral and Gulf-wide levels. Al-Ereimi asserted that HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed’s visit would definitely lead to further coordination between Kuwait and the UAE with the shared goal of ensuring stability across the Gulf region. He hailed the longstanding bilateral relations between the two countries, calling them distinguished, historical and pioneering

on many levels. The Director General of Abu Dhabi daily Akhbar Al-Arab predicted that the Kuwaiti premier’s visit to Abu Dhabi would result in further promotion and development of the brotherly ties between the two fraternal and friendly nations. He also stressed the immense significance of the tour, given the current regional and international events, which would feature in the discussions with UAE leaders. Another senior media figure, Habib Al-Saigh, the Editor-inChief of Dar Al-Khaleej, also lauded the bilateral relations between the UAE and Kuwait, calling them deep, distinguished and historical.

As well as indicating that Kuwait and the UAE share a number of mutual features and positions reflecting their strong ties, he also recalled the tremendous mediatory efforts of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to resolve a recent dispute between the UAE and Oman.

In Manama, meanwhile, the Bahraini Deputy Premier, Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said that HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed’s visit will result in greater cooperation between the two nations in all fields. During a meeting on Monday with the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bahrain, Sheikh Azzam Mubarak AlSabah, Sheikh Ali underlined the importance of the role played by the Kuwaiti premier in strengthening bilateral relations between Kuwait and Bahrain. The Kuwaiti premier is cherished in the hearts of the Bahraini leadership and people, and it will be a great joy to have him there as a guest of the nation, the senior leadership official added.

Ambassador Sheikh Azzam echoed Sheikh Ali’s words, saying that Kuwait and Bahrain enjoy distinguished relations and affirming the desire of both nations’ leadership to further develop these. — Agencies

Domestic need of livestock ensured ahead of Ramadan KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Livestock Transport and Trading (KLTT) said it will be able to fulfill the domestic need of Australianimported livestock, ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, in spite of a global shortage of supply.

The company has also been able to overcome other difficulties, like the rise of livestock prices due to increased global demand, which has in turn led to losses as a result of a local obligatory price range, in which livestock is being sold for less than its purchased price, KLTT Chairman and Managing Director, Bader Al-Jarallah said.

In light of its commitment to provide Kuwait’s need of livestock, the company has managed to ensure a 56 percent rise of imports compared to last year, of 223,000 animals.

Kuwait is the number one importer of Australian sheep in the world, with imports intended for consumption of around one million animals a year. — KUNA

Series of scandals plague Kuwaiti consulate KUWAIT: Kuwait’s diplomatic mission in California, United States - the subject of an embezzlement scandal that led to the prosecution of a number of diplomats has returned to the spotlight. Reportedly, another scandal has broken out in the country. An article that appeared in Al-Rai claimed that an employee lodged a formal complaint stating that an official from the accounting department is involved in fraudulent money conversions.

He reportedly claimed that thousands of dollars were exchanged through monthly transactions and the cash was deposited in different bank accounts. The news report states that the matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Meanwhile, the same report also quotes a former female employee, who explained that she tendered her resignation from the job as an academic consultant owing to mistreatment suffered at the hands of a senior official.

KUWAIT: Acting Premier and Minister of Defense, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, receiving the chairman of board of Kuwait Society for the Parents of the Handicapped and a number of the disabled citizens yesterday.

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

LOCAL

One in three women in Kuwait ‘a domestic violence victim’ Human Rights Watch 2010 survey

By Lisa Conrad

number of women suffering in silence can’t even be approximated.

KUWAIT: Domestic violence in the Middle East, including Kuwait, is a relatively unexamined topic. With a severe lack of information, prosecutions or victims coming forward, it’s difficult to identify the extent of its prevalence and why it takes place.

According to Dr Moez Doraid, the Officerin-Charge of the UN Women’s Division of Management and Administration, “ The Arab region has the lowest number of countries with laws against domestic violence, sexual harassment and marital rape.”

The continuation of such violence is defended by cultural generalizations, Dr Doraid adds, with many officials insisting, “That problem doesn’t exist here because our culture and family traditions ensure that women are protected.”

The remedy for such generalizations is not difficult, however, he continues: “Conducting a scientific, objective survey and independent survey, by the state or by a civil society organization would dispel any inaccurate generalizations.”

The issue of the available data or lack thereof on domestic violence was covered in the recently released Human Rights Watch 2010 country summary on Kuwait: “There exists no data on the prevalence of violence against women in Kuwait,” it stated, continuing, “Victims are often reluctant to file complaints with the police because redress for domestic abuse through the criminal justice system remains elusive.

Perpetrators are rarely arrested even when women file complaints with the police that are regularly supported by medico-legal evidence.”

Whilst no solid data is available, the Ministry of Justice revealed back in January this year that over one-third of Kuwaiti women suffer domestic abuse. The information was collected from couples who had attended counseling.

This data only represents those who have tried to improve their marriages, however, whether domestic violence was involved or not. This means that the sections of society which remain totally silent on the subject aren’t represented, so the

Hush-hush One Kuwaiti woman, Sara, offered her perspective on why domestic violence is kept quiet: “For a lot of women here, marriage is everything. It’s such an exciting thing that so many women yearn for; it’s a fairytale they crave, but the unlucky few end up in nightmares. If you reach for a solution like trying to prosecute or leave [your husband], you sacrifice that image of the perfect daughter and wife, which many aren’t willing to do. Reputation means a lot - too much.”

Fahad, who is also Kuwaiti, added: “What women can do in that situation exactly, I don’t know. It’s hard, and if her family aren’t supporting her in prosecuting her husband, she really will have nowhere to go.”

If a domestic abuse victim does decide to go to the police, a lengthy procedure will await her as she tries to prove her allegations. On the law covering this issue in Kuwait, the US State Department states: “A woman may petition for divorce based on injury from abuse, but the law does not provide a clear legal standard as to what constitutes injury. In addition, a woman must provide at least two male witnesses (or a male witness and two female witnesses) to attest to the injury suffered.”

As Fahad commented, finding somewhere to go without family support can be extremely difficult, as, according to the US State Department, there are no government-sanctioned shelters in Kuwait for victims of domestic violence or hotlines to provide advice.

The issue of domestic violence is not one specific to Kuwait or even the Middle East as a whole as its prevalence, unfortunately, spans the globe. “From our experience and expertise over decades, the problem of domestic violence exists in every society in every country from Sweden to the Maldives to India to Africa to Brazil, you name it, it’s everywhere. It’s one of the most prevalent, silent, forms of violence which often goes without punishment,” says Doraid. UNIFEM reports that, globally,

up to six out of every ten women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Dearth of enforcement However, enforcing laws against violence against women will take time, says Doraid: “In many Arab countries, we are not at the stage of enforcement yet, because in many there are no laws regarding these issues yet. Building the capacity of state institutions and other institutions to secure the application of the law, enforcement, and protection against corruption, interference and intervention in judicial and legal processes is needed.”

Corruption is a central factor preventing successful prosecution, as watchdog organization Freedom House reported the practice of abusive husbands offering bribes to police to drop the case.

Furthermore, the US Department of State notes that Kuwaiti law “does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, although victims may file a complaint with police and the abusers can be charged with assault. Arrests and prosecution for domestic abuse are uncommon due to a strong cultural and social bias in favor of seeking to resolve such issues within the family.”

Among the most advanced regional nations in protecting against violence towards women are Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco while sexual harassment in the workplace is outlawed in Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia, says Dr Doraid.

Culture doesn’t have to be something working against protecting women’s rights, however, but can in fact be used to defend them. Dr Doraid explained: “It’s key to underscore in the Kuwaiti context that legislation securing the protection of women’s rights and moving towards equality is grounded in Islamic jurisprudence and tradition. We see opportunities for complementary relationship between Sharia and Islam with the emerging universal human rights and value systems. It is in the roots and foundation of these values. There is a variety of interpretations of these fundamental points, and there is every opportunity for progressive interpretation.”

CSC refuses to hire Bedoon imams, muezzins KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has rejected a request from the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (MAIA) to appoint bedoon (stateless) imams and muezzins (prayer callers) to vacant posts, despite a shortage of applicants for these posts.

One MAIA insider said that the commission had instructed the ministry not to raise the subject of appointing bedoon imams or muezzins again, stating that the only cases in which bedoon personnel may be appointed are for doctors’ and nurses’ posts.

— Annahar

Kuwait Digest

The ‘insane’ budget

By Mohammad Al-Muqatea

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P Adnan Abdulsamad is renowned for his rational approach taken towards the opposition, which separates him from another Popular Action Bloc (PAB) member also known for his outspoken nature.

For more than three years, Abdulsamad showed a well-balanced stance on the Prime Minister and His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad and his Cabinets. Instead of showering criticism on other oppositionists, Abdulsamad remained silent, a move that is perceived as being supportive to the prime minister. While this goes in line with the general stance taken by Shiite parliamentarians, Abdulsamad did not display unquestioned support to the premier similar to MPs Saleh Ashour, Adnan Al-Mutawaa, Yousuf Al-Zalzalah and Maasouma AlMubarak.

Abdulsamad broke his silence recently only when he termed the nearly KD 19.5 billion budget presented by the Cabinet as ‘insane.’ However, he returned to his silent ‘avatar’ after the Parliament passed the budget.

I believe that it is every citizen’s duty to demand answers on the controversial budget. Suspicions include squandering of public funds when the government is in fact obliged to protect the country.

Many citizens do not trust a government, which has a history of lopsided expenses, to take control of such a massive budget. The prime minister might have survived the latest no-confidence vote motion, but the fact that 22 and 18 MPs voted against him in two separate voting procedures make people more skeptical about the untrustworthy government.

When the government proposed a development plan at an estimated budget of KD 37 billion, many speculated that this plan presents an opportunity for questionable deals to take place, and a golden chance for corrupt individuals to take over public funds, leaving people to suffer the consequences of lack of production. Likewise, these skepticisms emerged when the ‘insane budget’ was announced. The fact that many doubts surround it is undeniable, which makes it necessary for the public to demand more clarification on how their public funds are being spent. — Al-Qabas

Wataniya telecom awards Jahra Secondary school students KUWAIT: Wataniya has always been a dynamic player in the Kuwaiti market. Its corporate social responsibility strategies are highly focused on youth development activities especially education and career-related opportunities. The sponsorship of the awards ceremony of Jahra Secondary Schools’ distinguished students, took place late last month, further highlighting Wataniya’s commitment towards the future of Kuwait and the youth.

The ceremony took place at the Selayyel Resort in Jahra and was organized to award 88 exceptional students for their hard work and outstanding performance throughout the educational year. Wataniya Telecom has made it a priority to support and further encourage these students as they embark on one of the most important journeys of their lives. Hamad Al-Matar, PR Assistant Manager from Wataniya Telecom attended the ceremony to award the students on behalf of the company’s management.

The sponsorship is one in a series of several graduation events that Wataniya Telecom has decided to support this year. Through these initiatives, Wataniya aims to motivate youth by making these significant moments of their lives a memorable experience.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Abdolaziz Al Balool, Public Relations Director of Wataniya Telecom said “Our commitment towards supporting Kuwait’s youth stems from our belief in their potential and their capabilities to build this countr y ’s bright future.

Appreciating their optimism and energy is imperative in allowing them to further develop”.

He added saying “I would like to congratulate all those distinguished students and those who graduated this year, and wish them the best of luck in the new and exciting journey they are about to embark on. We are very proud of them, and hope that they also take pride in the wonderful results they have

achieved”. The schools management expressed their deepest gratitude towards Wataniya, thanking them for their much appreciated support.

Encouraging youth with events and sponsorships is an integral part of Wataniya’s corporate social responsibility program. By empowering the future generation, Wataniya aims to secure the success and prosperity of Kuwait.

Wataniya’s Profile Wataniya Telecom was commercially launched in 1999 as the first privately owned operator in Kuwait. National Mobile Telecommunications Company (NMTC) trading under the brand name Wataniya Telecom is listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange and has operations in 6 countries including Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria and Palestine.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) owns 52.5% of Wataniya Telecom.

Wataniya is a customer-driven company that aims to provide product and service excellence. Over the past 10 years Wataniya has risen to be the second largest operator in one of the most competitive markets, and continues offering a wide range of prepaid and postpaid mobile voice and internet services to both individual and corporate customers.

Wataniya has built its reputation on offering innovative services, maintaining excellent network quality and delivering outstanding customer experience. These three pillars remain the basis of Wataniya’s strategy as it continues to solidify its strong market position.

Qatar Telecom Qatar Telecom (Qtel) provides both fixed and mobile telecommunications services in the state of Qatar. We have a presence in 17 countries and we are committed to expansion both in the MENA region and South East Asia. Our vision is to be among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world by 2020. For more information, please visit: www.qtel.com.qa

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receiving yesterday at Al-Seif Palace His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who requested permission to travel on his official tour to the GCC countries. HH the Premier’s tour includes Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Iraq border thermal imaging surveillance system a good idea KUWAIT: A senior official with Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) has welcomed reports that the Iraqi government intends to install a hi-tech thermal imaging surveillance system along the Kuwait-Iraq border to deter smugglers from entering Iraq illegally and quickly identify and capture anyone attempting to do so.

The MoI insider said that if the reports are true, such a system would be extremely helpful to the Kuwaiti authorities as well since it would also deter would-be smugglers or others planning to illicitly cross the border into Kuwait from Iraq from doing so. Speaking on

condition of anonymity, the interior ministry official stressed that the ministry has received no information of any Iraqi government plans of this nature, but would fully support the Iraqi government’s right to do whatever it feels is necessary to protect national security so long as any such system is installed only on the Iraqi side of the border.

News reports yesterday suggested that the Iraqi government intends to install thermal imaging surveillance equipment along all its borders with neighboring countries to swiftly identify and capture any individuals attempting to illegally enter the country. — Al-Anba

Speaker rejects dissolution rumors KUWAIT: National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi yesterday rejected rumors of political pressure to force a parliamentary dissolution and early elections, insisting that he would be staying in his post until the end of the allocated term.

Speaking as he left Kuwait on his summer vacation, Al-Kharafi said pointedly, “I was elected as Speaker for a four-year period and whoever has their sights set on that position should start planning for it after the end of that period.”

The veteran statesman also voiced hope that both the Cabinet and the National Assembly would show cooperation when parliament resumes in October.

Meanwhile, a Cabinet insider revealed that the Cabinet has formed a committee to investigate which factors threatened the relationship between the legislative and executive authorities during the last parliamentary term. The committee members include Minister of

Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Mohammad AlBusairi and Minister of Cabinet Affairs Ali Al-Rashid.

On a separate issue, MP Dr. Ali AlOmair has submitted a series of parliamentary questions to Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Mohammad Al-Afasi concerning the offenses, including physical abuse, recently exposed at local orphanages and children’s homes. The MP asked Dr. Al-Afasi, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, about the current criteria for transferring children between care homes, as well as requesting details of a reported suicide attempt by a female resident at a local children’s home.

Another MP, Musallam Al-Barrak, urged Dr. Al-Afasi to conduct more unscheduled field trips to orphanages and children’s homes in order to witness at first hand the negative behavior taking place there, which Al-Barrak said must be effectively addressed immediately. — Al-Rai

MoE considering options for e-books project KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education reportedly plans to utilize the summer break to make progress in its long-awaited comprehensive online education project, which education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi has repeatedly stated is a top priority issue.

Shortly after assuming his duties as new minister after the new Cabinet was sworn in in early May, Al-Mulaifi announced that all school pupils would be receiving electronic versions of their textbooks on flash memory drives start-

ing in the upcoming 2011-12 school year.

There have been doubts ever since over the ability of this project to help pupils, with many already speculating on the potential problems attached, such as misuse of the new technology, especially by students who are inadequately versed in computer skills. A number of MoE officials have stressed that the ‘flash drive project’ aims mainly to provide an additional source of information for pupils rather than replacing the more traditional textbooks. — Agencies

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local MP’s secretary faces questioning

by NA panel KUWAIT: A secretary employed by MP Musallam AlBarrak is undergoing questioning by the parliamentary legal committee after complaints were filed against him by MP Salwa Al-Jassar and a number of parliamentary officials.

The secretary, Abbas Mohammed Ghloum, better known as ‘Popular Abbas,’ has been banned from the parliamentary chamber for three months following an earlier complaint.

Abbas’ lawyer, Nasser Al-Jed’ee vowed to contest the ban and the other charges against his client, insisting that Al-Jassar’s complaint was invalid since it was not connected to any offences concerning the MP herself.

“In her complaint, she referred to Abbas’ interview on Al-Rai TV in which he jokingly repeated the word, ‘Leave’,” said Al-Jed’ee, dismissing Al-Jassar’s complaint as a “vexatious” one. — Al-Jarida

KUWAIT: A delegation from the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate(KFSD) headed by Brig Ameen Abdeen, Acting General Director of Fire Department, paid a visit to Missoni Hotel yesterday. Khalil Al-Onaizy, CEO of Technical Affairs at the hotel, welcomed them. The delegation inspected the safety of firefighting equipment installed at the hotel. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Tough career choice facing young Kuwaitis Choosing government or private?

By Hussain Al-Qatari

KUWAIT: The store in Kabd area where fire broke out yesterday.

Fire breaks out at store

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Kuwait Fire Services Directorate(KFSD) control room received an emergency call about a fire that broke out at a store that sold camping gear in Kabd. The Salmiya Fire Center, the Ardiya Fire Center and Jleeb AlShoyoukh Center responded to call and reached the location at 12.34 pm yesterday. Fire had already gutted the facility that covered an area of over 300 square meters.

Firefighters doused the flames. No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, the early raids conducted on Ramadan goods has revealed that the validity dates as well as price tags were tampered with, resulting in the destruction of two tons of rotten foodstuff. Another three tons of food items whose validity period had expired were destroyed, said Abdullah Al-Ali the Jahra Municipality Director. The team conducted raids ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce. Al-Ali urged citizens and expats to check the validity date, especially after the discovery of adulterated food that were on sale at some Ramadan food festivals. He praised the role played by the Ministry of Commerce to prevent price rise. Of late, two tons of rotten fish were destroyed, and so was one ton of poultry.

He said that officials from the Food Administration Department and veterinarians at the abattoirs organize daily campaigns to ensure that all food items are suitable for human consumption.

Osama Al-Duaiji Deputy Director for Hawally and Mubarak Al-Kabeer Municipality said that Municipality has garnered several achievements in different fields during the month of May. The Hawally branch Municipality Director Fahad Al-Fahad said that the total building licenses issued in May were 231 in all. He said that a total of eight shops were shut down. At least 794 posters that were affixed on vehicles and public yards were removed.

The total number of cleaning in the government was 4890 trips by garbage trucks and 2594 trips of construction waste where total amount collected from health licensing administration amounted to KD 88594. total number of citation by markets and foodstuff administration amounted to 238 citation and 7720 kgs of food items not fit for consumption were destroyed. The governorate slaughter house slaughtered 33177 animals out of which 386 animals were destroyed for being unfit for human consumption.

KUWAIT: As a new batch of university graduates prepares to join the job market, the option for Kuwaitis of choosing between government vs. private sector jobs seems to be resurfacing with a new vigor.

The equilibrium between the private sector and government sector seems to have been disturbed lately after allegations of private sector employers’ negligence towards employees.

Although the latest labor legislation grants Kuwaiti state sector employees higher salaries and more benefits, it fails to mention private sector employees.

The main advantages for Kuwaitis working in the state sector are monetary, including allowances and bonuses as well as regular wage rises. The main disadvantages are the unchallenging work environment, the lack of competition, bureaucracy and the almost nonexistent workload which leaves room for breeding boredom and laziness.

In the private sector, however, employees have a better chance of getting ahead in their careers, with greater transparency and less bureaucracy.

The head of the Kuwait Banks Union, Mansour Ashoor, believes that the business sector is no longer attractive to young Kuwaitis, especially given the latest labor laws from the government which neglect private sector employees. “The government is contradictory with its recent policies. It has been giving bonuses and allowances to

encourage the employees. It can sustain the equilibrium, but the issue doesn’t appear to be a priority to the government yet,” he argued. He stressed on the fact that a big number of Kuwaiti youth choose the more challenging private sector because they are passionate about their careers. “The government should look into rewarding people with

papers to direct applicants to the various government sector establishments and institutions within the next month,” he stated.

Twe n t y - t h re e - ye a r - o l d Kuwaiti Dhari says he’s applied to several private sector companies for jobs as well as the government sector, but ultimately settled on a government sector job.

“I’m choosing the private sector because it is challenging and I don’t wish to work in a place that is not fulfilling for me career-wise. But many people speak of reforms in the government sector too. I would consider a government job if I could find one that’s suitable for my degree.” all government employees, but is neglecting the private sector employees. Is this an invitation to the young to leave their jobs in the private sector and apply to work for the government instead?”

Ashoor added that the tug of war between the private and government sectors is a game whose rules are set by the government. “The government succeeded in making a substantial number of Kuwaitis join the private sector when it started giving a monthly allowance to

such a passion for work with laws that are encouraging for them. There is not enough support for private sector employees, especially since inflation is continuously rising,” he added.

Last week, the head of the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) public relations department, Jassem Al-Ruwayes, revealed that the commission received more than 4,000 applications during the 12-day application period that started on June 17.

“The Civil Service Commission will start sorting through the

“I intend to continue my studies, and the private sector companies don’t allow part-time graduate programs. I chose a government job so that I can work and study, and after I finish I may look into applying to a private sector company again,” he explained. Dhari says that the waiting period between submitting his application for a state sector job and being notified that he had got one was more than six months.

Hamad, a 22-year old marketing graduate who got his degree

at a private university, says that many opportunities in the private sector look promising, but most of the advice he receives encourages him to choose the government sector over the private. “I’m choosing the private sector because it is challenging and I don’t wish to work in a place that is not fulfilling for me career-wise. But many people speak of reforms in the government sector too. I would consider a government job if I could find one that’s suitable for my degree.”

Today, thousands of new university graduates are preparing to join the workforce in Kuwait.

With almost 2,000 fresh graduates from Kuwait University alone, the Dean of Admissions Dr Mathna Al-Refaei told the press that the concerned departments at the university have provided students with all the paperwork they need to apply for jobs or graduate school programs in and outside Kuwait. “We believe strongly in the ability of the young to create a better future, and we are hopeful and optimistic that whatever their choice, they will contribute positively to the betterment of Kuwait,” he said.

Members of the Kuwaiti delegation in a group photo with the Kuwait Symphony Orchestra. (Right) Former information minister Mohammad AlSanoussi with Kuwait Symphony Orchestra conductor Sulaiman Al-Deekan.

Seminar discusses impact of migration KUWAIT: Migration has contributed toward enriching civilizations over several centuries. Participants of the 33rd Asilah International Cultural Forum, Morocco agreed with the positive aspects of migration.

The seminar entitled ‘Migrating bet ween identities,’ addressed migration as a positive influence on

communities. One of the examples discussed during the seminar was that of Canada, which was able to achieve stability owing to regulations that empowered migrants, enabled them to build a developed country.

Participants at the seminar also commended Morocco for its initia-

tive to establish a Constitution, according full rights to expatriates in the including, the right to vote in municipal elections.

Kuwait participated in the seminar with a study presented by Dr Abdulredha Asiri, Dean of Kuwait Universit y ’s Facult y of S ocial Sciences. He outlined the reasons

behind the brain drain from developing countries to developed ones, including the wide educational gap as well as the unfavorable effect of globalization.

A concert was also held as part of the event by Kuwait Symphony Orchestra. It was conducted by Dr Sulaiman Al-Deekan.

KAC hosts seminar on nutrition KUWAIT: The Kuwait Airways Corporation(KAC) held a seminar on healthy eating habits in conjunction with the Inaya German Medical Center. KAC staff members attended the event. Free health checkups were held on the sidelines of the event.

“The goal of this seminar is to increase awareness on healthy eating habits to boost the body’s immunity and protect against diseases,” said Rajaa Al-Roudhan, Communications Team leader at KAC. Meanwhile, Dr Samir Ashour from the IGMC spoke about the negative effects of an unhealthy diet on the human body’s immunity power. He noted that following a balanced diet was the best way to provide the body with all the necessary nutrients.

Secretary general of the Asilah International Forum Mohammad bin Essa poses with some members of the Kuwait Symphony Orchestra. (Right) The Kuwait Symphony Orchestra concert.

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local kuwait digest

Enough is enough

By Meshal Al-Thufairi

F

lattery can be used as a way to gain officials’ trust. This is so that when they wish to make complaints, people can be assured of a better chance of being heard. Sometimes, fearing the risk of losing this kind of trust makes it easier for a government official to overlook shortcomings.

I believe this introduction is important for the topic I will be discussing in this article. This is because no matter what the price is, people’s freedoms must never be used for political bargaining.

‘The bedoons,’ a moniker used to describe a group of residents simply because they live without a nationality (bedoon is Arabic for ‘without’).

Their decades-long suffering due to the lack of a legal residence status is the result of failed governmental policies. The issue has become more of a trump card that is being played around with to obtain political goals. As a result of this situation, many illegal residents were naturalized by the government to a lawmaker who represents them.

In the meantime, bedoons who are not lucky to have an MP mediate for them have been deprived of education and medical treatment.

Recently, the government set up a special body to find solutions for the persistent illegal residents problem, but no action has been taken even after the elapse of six months. This led many frustrated, stateless residents to hold demonstrations to express their opinion and demands to be seriously addressed. However, the Ministry of Interior reacted with a statement declaring demonstration at the ‘Irada Square’ was exclusively for Kuwaiti citizens -an event that is perceived as an insult.

It is disappointing that MPs failed to stand up for bedoons’ right of expression, and criticize the Interior Ministry for its attitude that defies the state’s constitutional principles. All countries have rules to handle illegal residents’ situation. The state is obliged to provide residents with full civil rights and in some cases, making them eligible for naturalization after a period of time. In Kuwait, there are residents who have been here even before 1965. Many fought in local and regional wars, but still struggle to gain civil rights. — Al-Rai

Kuwaiti charity sends food aid to Sudan KHARTOUM: Kuwaiti-based charity, Direct Aid International, formerly known as Africa Muslims Agency, launched a humanitarian aid convoy to victims of the recent violence in Sudan’s South Kordofan.

The convoy consisted of 10 trucks, each loaded with 120 tonnes of food, Direct Aid International’s Sudan office said.

The aid will be distributed amongst 1,000 families, and is enough to fulfill their needs for a month.

The South Kordofan region has been witnessing armed confrontations between the Sudanese government and armed rebels in the south of the country for a month now.

The struggle has thus far killed 70,000 according to UN estimates, while Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir has ordered raids on the rebels to continue. — KUNA

KHARTOUM: Victims of the recent violence in Sudan’s South Kordofan at the Kuwaiti relief distribution site yesterday.

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Ukraine Volodymyr Tolkach (left) and Ambassador of Venezuela Hadel Mostafa Paolini (right) visited Kuwait Times and discussed matters of mutual cooperation with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Focus on population, traffic, power Kuwait govt officials hold discussion KUWAIT: Cabinet members and officials from the higher council of planning and development on Sunday evening discussed three major reports concerning housing development, Kuwait’s demographic structure and the related issue of increasing traffic congestion levels, and electricity and water consumption.

Saleh Al-Fadhala, the chairman of the housing and human development committee, briefed the officials on how the government should address demographic irregularities, citing the declining numbers of Kuwaitis in the country compared to the massive influx of non-Kuwaitis in recent years. Al-Fadhala noted that the

majority of Kuwaitis are young, a matter that would trigger more spending to help this demographic group, thus ultimately increasing dependence on imported labor, said Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ali Al-Rashid following the meeting, chaired by His Highness Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah at Seif Palace.

In his report, Al-Fadhala put forward a number of proposals to address the demographic imbalance between Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis, Al-Rashid revealed.

The participants in the meeting underlined the importance of maintain-

ing a balanced demographic structure and the crucial need to address shortcomings in order to cope effectively with social and economic developments “in a way that preserves national identity and achieves the advancement of society in the coming years,” the minister explained.

Another related subject of discussion during the meeting was growing traffic congestion, with the ministers and members of the planning and development council discussing means of tackling the problem and its relation to population growth, amongst other subjects. They discussed a possible increase in the

MoE staff rude, abusive to frustrated parents KUWAIT: Frustrated parents attempting to finalize accreditation of their children’s school graduation certificates had a long wait at the Ministr y of Education’s private education department yesterday due to understaffing, with only three staff available to deal with 250 irate parents.

According to one eyewitness, the parents, all wishing to complete the official transactions as quickly as possible in order to expedite their children’s college and university applications, were dealt with in a surly manner by staff.

Some parents who were instructed to return

after a week to collect the final documents became upset at the latest delays, said the eyewitness, with ministry staff responding to their expressions of frustration with rudeness and verbal abuse.

This, along with the lengthy waiting time, the ministry’s failure to provide sufficient numbers of chairs in the waiting area or to implement any queuing system, led many of the long-suffering parents to register complaints about the ministry’s overall poor performance and lack of preparations, said the disgruntled observer.

range of public transportation alternatives available, improving the country’s roads network and implementing the Ministry of Interior’s traffic strategy, said Al-Rashid. Other issues that arose during discussion of this topic included technical, administrative, structural and institutional causes of traffic congestion, as well as possible solutions.

Another report analyzed during the cabinet meeting concerned projected electricity production for the 2011-15 period, along with future plans to meet the growing demand for electricity and water, and the obstacles facing related projects. — KUNA

Senior Interior official reportedly ‘reassigned’ KUWAIT: Rumors are circulating that a member of the ruling family may be relieved of his senior post with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and reassigned to another, lower-ranking position.

According to unconfirmed reports citing MoI insiders, Sheikh Athbi Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the Assistant Undersecretary for State Security Affairs, was recently summoned to a meeting with interior minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, during which he was instructed to select a position other than his current one heading the security service.

Rumors of Sheikh Athbi’s demotion gathered pace after ministry staff reported seeing him collecting documents and other items from his office following the meeting. None of the rumors have been officially confirmed or denied. —Al-Qabas

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LOCAL

NBK launches Save Electricity Campaign at all NBK branches BK Public Relations Manager Abdulmohsen AlRushaid announced that NBK has taken the necessar y measures to ensure hencefor th utmost rationalization of electricity and water consumption in all branches and premises throughout Kuwait, as well as NBK’s Head Office as a proactive gesture of support with the ongoing nationwide electricity rationalization campaign.

Al-Rushaid said that NBK’s management has decided to stringently apply an all-inclusive rationalization of elecAbdulmohsen tricity consumption Al-Rushaid throughout all NBK’s premises and local branch network, particularly during evening shifts, adding that in concordance with these measures, NBK is in the process of launching an in-house and full fledged awareness raising campaign to educate the Bank’s employees on the best methods and behaviors of rationalizing the consumption of electricity and water in both work places and houses.

“NBK’s new in-house initiative is another testament of the important role played by the private sector institutions and organizations in respect of proactive involvement with the emerging crisis and challenges encountered by the society. By this new initiative, which is the natural outcome of NBK’s profound belief in its corporate social citizenship and the importance of social constructive involvement and participation, the Bank is also setting forth a good example of corporate social responsibility for other public and private institutions and sectors,” Al-Rushaid concluded.

kuwait digest

Who pays for us?

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NBK head office

By Abdulatif Al-Duaij

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Teenage thugs beat Taxi driver in Salmiya One dead, two hurt in crash KUWAIT: Police are hunting for three cowardly teenage thugs who beat a taxi driver and refused to pay the fare they owed him. The driver told police that the youths got into his car in Salwa and asked to be taken to a Salmiya mall. When they arrived, however, the trio got out of the car and walked away without paying. When the cabbie pursued them and managed to grab one of the teens and demanded payment, the teenager and his friends beat up the taxi driver before fleeing.

Seething secretary An MP’s secretary could face assault charges after he attacked a janitor when the man was unable to immediately assist him due to being busy at the time. According to eyewitnesses, the attacker called on the janitor when the man was passing by his office to ask him to do something. When the janitor informed him that he was in the middle of another important task and could not help him immediately, the secretary flew into a rage, storming out of his office and grabbing the janitor by the scruff of the neck and screaming abuse at him.

Other staff restrained the secretary and released the janitor, whose supervisor insisted that he file a complaint against the volatile office worker, despite the attacker’s subsequent apology for his intemperate behavior.

Road accident Egyptian man was killed and two other compatriots were critically injured in a car crash on Subbiya Road. The car in which the three men were travelling apparently lost balance due to a mechanical problem before rolling over several times. Paramedics declared the Egyptian dead at the scene, and the

two other men were rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

Drunk and dumb A drunk driver’s attempts to get out of trouble ended up getting him in even deeper trouble after he injured himself with a knife in an attempt to claim that he was a victim of police violence. The man and a male friend were ordered to pull over by patrol officers who spotted their vehicle being driven erratically along Kabad Road. When the self-harming motorist realized that his cunning plan to claim victimhood had failed, he and his friend violently resisted arrest, but were taken into custody despite their efforts.

Knife fight An Asian man was rushed to hospital after sustaining serious injuries in a vicious brawl in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Police rushed to a location near a shopping mall in the area on receiving reports that a knife fight was in progress there between a group of Asian men.

They arrived in time to break up the fight, with the injured man being rushed to hospital whilst the others involved, all of whom were drunk, were arrested.

Buyer beware A Kuwaiti man who discovered that a ‘rare’ natural pearl he had paid KD2,500 for was actually a far less valuable cultured one lodged a complaint with police against the seller after the vendor refused to refund his cash. The buyer had purchased the pearl from a wellknown seller who imports pearls from Bahrain. When he found out it was cultured, bringing down the value greatly, he returned to the vendor, demanding that he refund the payment. The vendor refused, insisting that he had believed it was a genuine pearl. The buyer is taking legal action against the vendor.

Phone shop robbery Police are looking for thieves who burgled a cell phones shop in Jahra and stole the shop’s stock of phones and prepaid phone cards, as well as the weekend’s earnings, KD900 in cash. According to a security official, the thieves managed to smash all three of the locks on the shop’s door before clearing out the shop. Detectives are currently looking through the footage from the store’s CCTV cameras to attempt to identify the burglars.

—Al-Watan, Al-Anba

Divers to participate in traditional event KUWAIT: Participants of this year’s Annual Pearl Diving expedition will take part in a traditional event to prepare the boats that embarked on a journey on July 14. In a statement made to the press, organizers of the expedition, the Kuwait S ea Sports Club announced that all the 20 ships will undergo a traditional maintenance process today.

The fleet comprises 15 boats that were gifted by the late Amir H is Highness Sheikh Jaber Ali Al-Qabandi Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and five boats donated by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah.

The ‘Al-Habab and Al-Shouna’ procedures include many steps like ceremonial cleaning and then covering the base with oil. These steps will be carried out by young volunteers.

The traditional pearl diving expedition usually takes place between the 14th and 23rd of July. Before the major event, the boats will participate in a race that will be held on July 9, to mark the anniversary of the historical ‘Al-Riqqa Sea Battle.’

Ali Al-Qabandi, Chairman of the KSSC’s cultural committee said that all the young divers displayed great enthusiasm and commitment.

t least half of Kuwait’s budget is spent paying salaries to the public sec tor ’s staff members. Unfortunately, most staff members in the sector are unproductive. This means that salaries are being paid to people who use more than what they give in return.

After that, our lawmakers have the audacity to leave a parliamentary session after the Cabinet r e j e c t s a b i l l t h a t fo r c e s a n i n c r e a s e o n employees.

Instead of protesting against the deteriorating situation or the ‘insanely inflated’ state budget, they express objection towards some attention shown by the government and fellow MPs. No one denies the significant role played by teachers in educating young generations to face future challenges. Their right to be rewarded for the work is undeniable. The argument regarding teachers’ allowances, however, is based on the mechanism which states that teachers can be provided, taking into account the government’s ability to fulfill demands.

The well-being of citizens is directly linked with oil production and the purchasing power of other countries. This is a fact that lawmakers and all people seeking improvement in citizens’ well-being should be aware of. In other words, since a majority from the public sector are unproductive, this means that the state’s income depends mainly on what workers in Europe and Asia pay for the oil that their countries receive.

In a sense, you can say that workers in these countries pay for us, and that our government does not have a role in controlling how much we can spend. To put it simply, we do not make our money but live on oil sale revenues.

We need to face challenges; not ignore them and pretend that our future is safe as long as the state continues to thrive on oil revenues. By that I do not necessarily mean oil depletion or the possibility of it being replaced by other energy resources. I am talking about the risk of our consumption rates that exceed the amount of budget that oil revenues can secure. —Al-Qabas

Al-Mulaifi praises success of KRCS humanitarian campaign KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Al-Mulaifi yesterday praised the efforts of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) in its campaign to spread awareness.

KRCS has achieved success in their campaign titled “Dedication and Giving” to spread awareness of the humanitarian aid for second consecutive year in six educational sectors, he added. Al-Mulaifi explained the KRCS campaign is in cooperation with Ministry of Education to raise awareness in schools, students and parts to tackle injuries.

He also wished continuous success in the collaboration with Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, the campaign aims to spread awareness on the right acts that should be followed during accidents and injuries. —KUNA

KPA unveils two Post Panamax STS cranes KUWAIT: The Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) unveiled the arrival of two PostPanamax Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes and six Rubber TyredG antr y (R TG) c r a n e s a t t h e S h u w a i k h Po r t o n Wednesday. The momentous occasion was witnessed by the officials of the Kuwait Ports Authority, key KGL executives as well as distinguished guests both from the public and private sectors.

The deliver y of the two PostPanamax STS cranes and six Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) from South Korea is par t of the KD45 million contrac t awarded to KGL PI in March 2010 for the build, supply, installation and operation of Shuwaikh Port container handling equipment - the main commercial port of Kuwait Ports Authority. The project encompasses the build, supply, installation and operation of six shipto -shore cranes, six Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) Cranes, nine reach stackers, four empty handlers and 70 specially equipped terminal Tractors/Trailers.

Mohammad Al-Tawwash

Seafood festival at Kuwait Towers KUWAIT: The Kuwait Towers will host a seafood festival beginning July 15. A variety of fish and shrimp will be served at the facility’s Le Café restaurant till July 25.

“The festival is part of a slew of special programs organized by the Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) for visitors of

its facilities,” said Kuwait Towers Sales Manager Mohammad Al-Tawwash. In a press statement, he explained that the festival is one of many that were featured in the facility’s summer program. It also includes special offers that were made to outstanding students.

Shuwaikh Port’s container throughput has increased dramatically over the past years, leaving its berth and crane capacities insufficient to handle the current and expected throughput growth, hence, the arrival of the two PostPanamax STS cranes in Kuwait will contribute immensely to the efficient operations in the Shuwaikh Port. Upon completion of the contract by March 2012 and the arrival of four more PostPanamax Cranes, the capacity at Shuwaikh Container will reach to over 1,000,000 TEUs per year. The two STS gantry cranes arrived today have a reach of 47 meters that can cover 17 rows of containers and a height of 62.5 meters which makes it the largest cranes to be used in Kuwait Ports. These are twin-lift cranes that can handle two containers at the same time which will improve handling capacity and efficiency.

The project is one of the major infrastructure contracts approved by the State of Kuwait under the auspices of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait aimed at boosting the country’s economy.

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

Thailand military ‘accepts’ opposition polls landslide

Otto von Habsburg dies at age 98 Page 10

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Mladic disrupts Hague court, gets not-guilty pleas

SARAJEVO: People gather in Sarajevo gather yesterday to watch a live television broadcast of former Bosnian Serb Army chief Ratko Mladic’s appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. —AFP

THE HAGUE: A defiant Ratko Mladic plunged his Yugoslav war crimes tribunal arraignment into chaos yesterday, repeatedly shouting at judges, defying their orders and refusing to enter pleas to 11 charges before the presiding judge threw him out of the hearing. After a brief adjournment to have Mladic removed, Presiding Judge Alphons Orie resumed the hearing and formally entered not-guilty pleas on Mladic’s behalf, in line with court rules for suspects who refuse to plead. Shor tly before guards escor ted Mladic from cour t, he shouted at Orie, “You want to impose my defense, what kind of a cour t are you?” Mladic, 69, is accused of masterminding the worst Serb atrocities of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war that cost 100,000 lives.

He is accused of genocide as the top military official overseeing the 1995 killing of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, Europe’s worst mass killing since World War II. Mladic was disruptive and argumentative from the outset yesterday at only his second appearance before the UN court since being extradited by Serbia just over a month ago. He had been arrested in a village outside Belgrade after nearly 16 years as one of Europe’s most-wanted fugitives from justice.

He put on a cap and gestured to members of the public, in open defiance of orders from Orie.

Speaking out of turn, he complained of being “an old man” and told Orie he wanted to wear the cap because his head was cold. Mladic

had threatened to boycott the hearing because court officials have not yet appointed the Serbian and Russian lawyers he wants to represent him at his trial. He is being represented for the moment by courtappointed lawyer Aleksander Aleksic.

“You are trying to impose impossible conditions on me _ a lawyer I do not want,” he said at the start of the hearing. Orie told Mladic it was up to the cour t ’s registr y, not judges, to approve the two attorneys. One of the two lawyers Mladic wants to represent him, Milos Saljic, said the former general’s behavior in court demonstrated that he is not mentally fit to stand trial. “Let them now see for themselves his behavior and let them decide accordingly,” Saljic told The Associated Press in Belgrade. Saljic added that he does not believe he could represent Mladic at the United Nations court.

“I’m not a real candidate. I don’t speak English,” Saljic said. “He’s insisting on me because I have been his lawyer all of his life.” When Orie asked Mladic whether he was ready to hear the charges, Mladic responded “You can do whatever you want.” But when Orie began speaking, Mladic said “No, no, no!

Don’t read it to me, not another word,” and pulled off his earphones, slumping back in his seat with a frown. After Orie warned him to be quiet or he would be removed, Mladic shot back: “Remove me.”

Hundreds of people gathered in the main square of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, to watch a live broadcast

of the hearing, cheering and shouting “the monster is gone,” as Mladic was escorted out of the courtroom.

Victims who traveled to The Hague were not surprised by Mladic’s behavior in court.

“He showed who he is and what he is like. He displayed no regret and doesn’t want justice for the victims,” said Hatidia Mehmedovic, a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre.

In Srebrenica itself, survivor Fadila Efendic said Mladic’s behavior was like salt in her wounds.

“We are made to suffer, to mourn our children, we are forced to watch him make a circus in the court,” she said. “This should be a short trial, he should be treated the way he treated our children, how he treated thousands of innocent people ... killed at his orders.” At his first hearing last month, Mladic enraged war survivors in the public gallery by looking at them and drawing his finger across his throat.

After entering the pleas, Orie adjourned the hearing without setting a date for trial or scheduling another hearing. It is likely any lawyers Mladic requests that meet the registry’s requirements will be approved quickly, and then judges can set a date for the next pretrial hearing.

Or ie told cour t-appoin ted lawyer Aleksic that if he is able to commun ic ate with M ladic, h e sh ould in for m h im of h is n otguilty pleas and that he has the option of changing them at any time. If convicted, Mladic could face a sentence of up to life in prison.—AP

Turkey freezes Libyan assets ANKARA: Turkey froze Libya’s holdings in a Turkish bank yesterday, a day after it recognized Libya’s rebel leaders as the country’s legitimate representatives and quietly removed its ambassador from Tripoli. Turkey’s banking regulatory fund said it was temporarily taking hold of Libyan Foreign Bank’s 62 percent shareholding in Turkey’s Arap Turk Bankasi AS in line with UN Security Council decisions to freeze Libya’s foreign assets.

Since the beginning of the uprising in Libya, the European Union also has frozen the accounts of the country’s state-controlled companies and investment funds, as well as those of key members of the Libyan regime. EU states also said they would not provide the Gaddafi regime with any new funding by

buying up oil and gas from the country. Turkey’s decision regarding the bank shares is the latest indication that its government is breaking ties with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, despite close Turkey-Libya trade ties.

Turkey has repeatedly called on Gaddafi to give up power to allow the transition to a more democratic Libyan government. Last month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had offered Gaddafi guarantees in return for him leaving Libya but had not received a response. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the Libyan rebel’s stronghold of Benghazi, recognized the rebel’s National Transitional Council as Libya’s representatives, and promised an additional $200

million in aid. Turkey also formally recalled its ambassador in Tripoli, according to the Official Gazette, an official record of government decisions.

Turkey joins several other countries, including France, Qatar and Italy, in officially recognizing the rebels. Turkish companies were involved in construction projects worth billions of dollars in Libya before the February outbreak of a Libyan anti-government uprising that has evolved into a civil war. The rebels control Libya’s eastern third, but Gaddafi clings to power in the west, but has been unable to crush pockets of resistance there. As a NATO member, Turkey is supporting the alliance’s airstrikes against targets linked to the Gaddafi regime.—AP

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Gaddafi government says in talks, rebels say he must go Both sides stick to entrenched positions

BASRA: Iraqi Army soldiers carry the remains of 32 Iraqi soldiers who were killed during the 1991 Gulf war in Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city yesterday. —AP

Iraq open to reconciliation with anti-America fighters BAGHDAD: Iraq’s government said yesterday it would not reconcile with members of Al-Qaeda or anyone who has killed Iraqis, but suggested it was open to talks with those who had fought American forces. Reconciliation Minister Amir Al-Khuzai made the comments at a news conference as US forces, in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, suffered their deadliest month in three years in June.

Fourteen soldiers were killed, most in rocket attacks, as the nearly 50,000 American troops remaining in Iraq prepare to pull out at the end of this year.

June also was the bloodiest month so far this year for Iraqis, with 271 killed in violence. “Reconciliation will not include those whose hands are covered with Iraqi blood, Al-Qaeda, or members of the Baath party” of Saddam Hussein, the dictator ousted by the invasion.

“Reconciliation does include those who said, ‘we resisted the occupiers for seven years, and today they are on their way to withdraw at the end of 2011, so we have to return to our lives,’” Khuzai added, referring to US forces as “occupiers,” as many Iraqis do.

Khuzai said in April that Baghdad was hoping to reconcile with any members of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda’s front group in the country, who do not have

blood on their hands. In the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, hundreds demonstrated against the minister on Sunday, accusing him of talks with those who had killed Iraqis. “We are doing the reconciliation with Iraqis because they are Iraqis not because they belong to a specific faction,” Khuzai explained in his latest comments.

“We did not reconcile with a group, party, sect, entity or faction. We reconciled with individuals, we treated each case individually, and those who had killed Iraqis did not participate in the reconciliation talks,” he added.

Baghdad blames Al-Qaeda for the attacks against Iraqis, while the US military accuses Iranian-backed Shiite groups of killing its soldiers in the recent attacks. Since 2003, most of the attacks against American troops have been by nationalist Sunni guerrillas and factions led by Moqtada Al-Sadr, a vehemently anti-US Shiite cleric who is close to Iran, and whose Sadrist loyalists are part of Iraq’s unity government. Since 2003, 4,469 American soldiers have been killed in attacks, according to independent website icasualties.org. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since then, according to the online Iraq Body Count, which only lists documented deaths.— AFP

Ben Ali gets 15 yrs over drugs, weapons charges TUNIS: A Tunis court yesterday sentenced ousted Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in his absence to 15 years in jail for possession of arms, drugs and archaeological artefacts. In his second trial since fleeing to Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising in January, Ben Ali was also given a fine of €54,000 ($78,500). The former strongman and his wife Leila Trabelsi had already been sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison last month for misappropriating public funds after large sums of cash and jewellery were discovered in a police search of their palace.

In yesterday’s trial, Ben Ali alone was accused of harbouring drugs and weapons at his palace in the Carthage neighbourhood north of Tunis. He also faces a drug trafficking charge. After four hours of deliberation, the court sentenced him to 10 years for drug possession, five years for weapons possession and six months for possession of archaeological artefacts.

“Today’s trial, just like yesterday’s trial and the 93 other scheduled trials, is nonexistent as it breaches all standards of a fair trial,” Ben Ali’s lawyers said in a statement read out even before the verdict was announced. “Today’s trial is part of a political smear campaign against president Ben Ali which is aimed at portraying him as a drugs, weapons and currency smuggler.”

The trial had been scheduled to take place last week but was postponed due to a judges’ strike. It opened with presiding judge Touhmi Hafi noting Ben Ali’s absence for the record, saying: “The accused is not present and is a fugitive.” Ben Ali’s attorneys then pressed for another postponement to allow them more time to prepare their defence. After their request was turned down, the lawyers stormed out, with Hosni Beji blasting what he called “the disregard for the rights of the defence”.

Their exit triggered loud boos from the public. “I am bitter. We did a good job. Our request for a delay is not a lawyer’s whim.

This trial is tainted by irregularities,” Beji fumed. “How can we imagine that a president holding power can have two kilogrammes of cannabis resin of mediocre quality (with intentions) of selling it?” Beji asked, describing the charges as “irrational.”

Beji also said most of the weapons found at Ben Ali’s palace in the Carthage neighbourhood were personal gifts from high-ranking international figures, including Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ben Abdel Aziz. And Ben Ali has dismissed as a setup the discovery of the cannabis in his office after his departure. After only six hours’ deliberation, a court on June 20 sentenced the Ben Ali couple to 35 years in prison for misappropriating public funds and also imposed a €45 million ($65.3 million) fine. The former ruler and his wife have been living in exile since Jan 14, with Riyadh ignoring, at least publicly, Tunisian demands for their extradition. Ben Ali denounced his June 20 conviction as a “parody of justice” and “political liquidation”, in a statement. Dozens of spectators came to watch yesterday’s proceedings but there was no demonstration outside. “It has become routine,” said one of the two policemen posted outside the courtroom.

In a sign of public indifference, newspapers gave minimal coverage to the trial. “It mirrors what is going on in the country.

Just more theatricals,” said 20-year-old Ali Ayouni. Ayouni hails from Regueb, the town in the southwestern Sidi Bouzid province where the self-immolation of a street vendor sparked last December’s popular revolt that ultimately toppled Ben Ali and ignited a wave of mass uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. — AFP

TUNIS: Court President Louhami Hafi gestures as the second trial of Tunisia’s former president opened dramatically yesterday in Tunis, with the court-appointed defense lawyers walking out after their request for a postponement was denied.—AP

TRIPOLI: The Libyan government said yesterday that it was in talks with opposition figures but there seemed little chance of a swift end to the civil war as both sides stuck to entrenched positions on the fate of Muammar Gaddafi.

The leader’s son Saif Al-Islam, in combative form, told a French newspaper there was no question of negotiating an end to his father’s 42-year rule, while the rebels, stepping back from a hint of a concession, renewed their demand that he go now.

A spokesman for Gaddafi’s administration said high-ranking government officials had been in foreign-mediated talks in Italy, Egypt and Norway with opposition figures to try to find a peace deal, and that talks were still going on. Any talk of a possible accommodation with Gaddafi could drive a wedge into the ranks of the disparate rebel movement which sprang up in February in the wake of uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt.

Many of Gaddafi’s opponents are flatly opposed to any form of concession to the veteran leader.

The government spokesman

named one of the opposition figures in the talks as Abdel Fattah Younes Al-Abidi, Gaddafi’s former security minister who defected in February. But it was not clear whether the talks took place with the knowledge or endorsement of the leadership of the rebel National Transitional Council. The Council, which a growing number of countries say is the Libyan people’s sole legitimate representatives, has said there are no talks between it and Gaddafi’s administration.

“In the last few weeks and in several world capitals, high-ranking Libyan government officials have met with members of the Libyan opposition to negotiate peaceful ways out of the Libyan crisis,” the government spokesman said in an e-mailed statement. “Other direct negotiations still take place as of now.”

Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the most prominent of the leader’s sons, dismissed suggestions that there could be a peace settlement that removed his father-a demand not only of the rebels but of the Western powers bombing Libya since March. “My father is not part of the negotia-

tions,” Saif al-Islam told Le Monde newspaper. “You think one can find a solution that does not involve him? No, it’s impossible.”

By backing the rebels, NATO had picked the losing side, he added: “God is with us. We will fight and we will win.

“We have our army. We have more munitions, more weapons.

Morale is high. The others are becoming weaker and weaker.” A glimmer of concession on Gaddafi’s future from the National Transitional Council on Sunday was swiftly withdrawn yesterday when the NTC, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, contradicted remarks made by its leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil. He told Reuters on Sunday: “As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad.

“If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements.” However, yesterday issued a statement by Abdel Jalil saying: “I would like to confirm

that there is absolutely no current or future possibility for Gaddafi to remain in Libya ... There is no escape clause for Gaddafi-he must be removed from power and face justice.”

NATO says its air strikes are steadily eroding Gaddafi’s grip on power, but the fighting on the ground is making slow progress.

The rag-tag force of rebel fighters is bogged down on three fronts and unable to break through to the capital. In Misrata, a rebelheld city 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, there was renewed fighting on the southern outskirts. Doctors told a Reuters journalist that two fighters had been killed, adding to two whom rebels said were killed on Sunday.

The closest rebel position to Tripoli is near the town of Bir AlGhanam, about 80 km (50 miles) south of the capital. There, rebels say they are preparing an offensive, but there has been little movement for over a week. “The situation there is relatively calm, the revolutionaries are preparing for the next days,” a rebel spokesman called Mohammed told Reuters from the nearby town of Nalut.—Reuters

Iran to try 26 US officials TEHRAN: Iran plans to try in absentia 26 US officials is believes violated human rights, the latest attempt to turn the tables on Western accusations about Tehran’s rights record.

Lawmaker Esmail Kosari told Monday ’s newspapers the Americans would be tried in absentia and their files passed on to international tribunals. He did not identify the officials but it is likely they are the same people listed on a parliamentary bill to be subjected to Iranian sanctions.

They include former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, and military commanders at US detention centers Abu Ghraib in Iraq

and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

There was no immediate comment on the Iranian move by the US authorities.

The sanctions motion, which has yet to be approved by the full parliament, came after the UN Human Rights Council appointed a special investigator to look into human rights abuses in Iran. Lawmakers have called on the government to ban Ahmed Shaheed, a former Maldives foreign minister, from entering the country.

Iran rejects accusations about its human rights record and denies it used excessive force to crush protests after the disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June

2009. Tehran says US-led wars in its neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in massive human rights violations.

“The Islamic Republic will diligently pursue the trials of these people and will support the legitimate rights of the oppressed people of the world,” Kosari was quoted as saying by Qods daily. It was not immediately clear whether the judiciary had taken a formal decision to prosecute the officials. Kosari said parliament would vote on the sanctions bill in a few weeks’ time.

Any Iranian sanctions are unlikely to have much impact since US officials are unlikely to have assets in the Islamic

Republic or any plans to travel there and any prosecution of a US citizen in absentia in Iran would also appear to be largely symbolic.

The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. In recent years it has secured UN Security Council backing for sanctions aimed at the Iranian nuclear program that Washington says is aimed at making a bomb but which Iran insists is purely peaceful. Last year it started blacklisting senior Iranian officials it says were responsible for human rights abuses during the crackdown of post-elections protests.— Reuters

Military enlisting frontline rabbis

SANAA: Anti-government protestors, shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abduallah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen yesterday.—AP

Yemen protesters blame regime for province seizure SANAA: Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested in the capital Sanaa yesterday, accusing the authorities of plotting a takeover by extremists of the southern province of Abyan. The demonstrators marched towards the residence of Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, chanting slogans accusing the authorities of “facilitating the takeover by Al-Qaeda elements” of Abyan.

A five-strong delegation representing the protesters was blocked by guards outside the residence from meeting the deputy of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Under the Yemeni constitution, Hadi replaced the president when he was flown to Saudi Arabia a month ago to be treated for wounds sustained in an explosion at the presidential palace. In the letter, the protesters urged Hadi to bring an end to what they called “the joke” in Abyan and to take “all necessary measures to protect people” there.

They also demanded that the government reinforce troops fighting alleged Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan. Yemeni forces have been engaged in heavy fighting with suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Zinjibar, the provincial capital, since late May. A commander said on Saturday that 50 troops have been posted as missing after clashes with militants around Zinjibar. At least 135 troops have been killed in the clashes, according to military sources.

The commander accused the defence

ministry of abandoning the 25th Mechanised Brigade soldiers to their fate in the face of repeated attacks by the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law) movement who seized much of Zinjibar in late May. The Sanaa government says the militants are allied with Al-Qaeda, but the opposition accuses the regime of playing up a jihadist threat in a desperate attempt to keep the embattled Saleh in power.

Saleh had been a key US ally in its “war on terror,” but has faced mass protests against his rule since January.

Meanwhile, witnesses reported that thousands of people joined a protest yesterday in the city of Ibb, 190 kilometres (118 miles) south of Sanaa, urging Saudi Arabia to prevent Saleh returning to power.

“Saleh will not return!” they chanted.

The veteran president, 69, who has been in power since 1978, has not appeared in public since the June 3 blast at a mosque in the presidential compound killed 11 people and wounded 124 others, among them senior officials. In Saleh’s absence, Hadi has come under pressure from the parliamentary opposition and the West to assume power, while protesters are demanding that he form an interim ruling council. Hadi’s grip on power is seen as shaky, however, as Saleh relatives hold main security posts.

Key among them is his son Ahmed, who leads the elite Republican Guard.—AFP

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military is mustering battlefield rabbis in what it calls a campaign to promote religious values in its frontline ranks. The move, announced in the latest issue of the military ’s official weekly magazine, Bamahane, drew fire yesterday from one of Israel’s most popular newspaper columnists, who cautioned against creating a “God’s Army”. Under the plan, a reserve army rabbi will be assigned to every battalion in the militar y ’s northern command, whose areas of responsibility include the Lebanese and Syrian borders. “ The assimilation of religion into combat battalions is increasing,” said an article in Bamahane, which gave details of the program being implemented after a year-long pilot project.

While rabbis have long served in Israel’s military, their roles traditionally have focused on overseeing adherence to Jewish dietary laws in its kitchens, Sabbath observance and religious ceremonies. Now, the Bamahane article said, “the commander of the Golani (infantr y) brigade’s Battalion 51 does not move a meter without his rabbi”. The rabbis’ roles were expanded in Israel’s Gaza war in late 2008 and early 2009, when military chaplains accompanied reserve battalions that invaded the enclave, in a conflict launched with the declared aim of halting militant rocket attacks.

The chaplains distributed Jewish prayer shawls, conducted ser vices before troops went into battle and “offered words of comfor t ” to the soldiers, the ar ticle said. But according to an army commander’s account at the time, some frontline rabbis mixed politics with religion, telling soldiers they were fighting a “religious war” to expel “the gentiles inter fering with our conquest of this holy land”. Such talk touched a nerve in the Jewish state, where the army is supposed to be apolitical and the secular majorit y has complained for decades about the powerful political and social influence of the religious minority on Israeli life.

In the new program, which goes into effect in August, the battalion rabbis have been ordered to serve as examples of “educational and moral values”, the Bamahane article said.

Writing in Israel’s biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, columnist Nahum Barnea compared the rabbis to political commissars planted by the Communist Party in the nowdefunct Soviet army. “Israel Defense Forces battalions do not need commissars. They need good commanders, good training and weapons in good working order,” he wrote, calling for “fewer inflammatory speeches” and “less hateful propaganda.” —Reuters

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Mexico’s former ruling party hammers Calderon in Winning PRI candidate backed by outgoing governor

PEI: Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, arrive in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island as part of their Royal Tour of Canada Sunday. —AP

Colombian rebel leader narrowly eludes capture BOGOTA: The leader of Colombia’s largest guerrilla group narrowly eluded capture, fleeing hours before the army seized his jungle hideout, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Sunday. Alfonso Cano, leader since 2008 of the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia (FARC), escaped at most 12 hours before troops arrived at the camp on Thursday on the border of the southwestern districts of Huila and Cauca, he said. “We’ve verified that the night before Alfonso Cano slept at that camp,” said the president after his return from an on-site inspection of the rugged mountain region. The military bombed the camp and sent in troops to seize Cano, who barely escaped capture for the third time, he added.

TV footage showed the rudimentary lodging as consisting of black tarps slung between trees amid dense jungle foliage. Santos said the FARC leaders had lost what they considered their safe sanctuaries, where they could move around without being killed or captured by the armed forces. “We will keep pursuing him because we got him out of his traditional operation areas,” said Santos. He added that his orders were to “intensify” the pursuit of FARC leaders. Santos added government forces had in recent months killed rebels close to Cano, including his security heads.

Cano, born Guillermo Leon Saenz, is a bespectacled former middle-class Bogota youth who rose to the FARC’s command after the rebel group’s leader and founder, Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda died in 2008 of a heart attack. FARC second-in-command Raul Reyes was killed in a bombing raid on his camp the same year inside Ecuador, when Santos was defense minister.

Mono Jojoy, the commander of the FARC’s military wing, was killed in a bombing raid and ground assault on his camp last September, a month after Santos took office as president. — Reuters

Republicans restrict abortion access in US CHICAGO: After winning historic victories in a midterm election fought largely on economic issues, Republicans set their sights on a hot-button social issue and have introduced hundreds of laws to restrict access to abortion in the United States. Many of the laws introduced at both the state and federal level have been blocked by Democrats or the courts, but just tabling the bills can be enough to both motivate the Republican base and pay them back for the November 2010 gains.

“Social issues are easier for them to at least make symbolic actions on. The economy is hard,” said John Brehm, a political science professor at the University of Chicago. The main aim of the pro-life movement is to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling which legalized abortion in the United States. “If they can’t get that, they would accept it as an achievement to make it nearly impossible for a woman to obtain an abortion,” Brehm told AFP. Many of the new laws aim to make it harder for providers to operate by imposing strict regulations or blocking state funding of other types of health care services - such as cervical cancer screening for poor women - if a clinic or hospital provides abortions.

Others aim to make it more difficult for women by prohibiting most abortions after 20 weeks gestation, preventing private insurance companies from paying for abortions, imposing waiting periods and ‘counseling,’ or forcing women to view an ultrasound of the fetus and listen to its heartbeat.

“There’s certainly an uptick. You’re also seeing some radical laws,” said Tait Sye, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood, a major abortion provider. Republicans failed to cut federal funding of Planned Parenthood’s reproductive health services after the Democrat-controlled Senate blocked a House bill in a bitter battle which nearly derailed budget talks in April. They have now succeeded in blocking state funding for abortion providers in Indiana, North Carolina and Kansas and have similar bills working their way through legislatures in Texas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Planned Parenthood has challenged the laws in the courts and succeeded in blocking its implementation in Indiana, but the impact has been significant. “There were doctors at Indiana University hospital who said they couldn’t perform abortions because they were at risk of losing Medicaid funding,” Sye said. Kansas nearly became the first state in the nation without abortion services last week after state regulators moved to shut down three clinics because they did not meet new rules announced just two weeks earlier.

The regulations total 36 pages and include such things as requiring that clinics have at least 50 square feet of janitorial space for each procedure room. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the new rules Friday after the clinics took the state to court.

However, the cost and complications involved in performing abortions have led many other providers to simply give up. The number of abortion providers in the United States has dropped almost 40 percent since 1982 and 87 percent of US counties lack a provider, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks reproductive health issues.

But while Republicans may succeed in motivating their base with the slew of new laws restricting abortion, it could backfire by helping to rally flagging support for Democrats. “It’s a good response to the base. It’s not necessarily a good electoral position to take,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “ The danger to Republicans going forward is that having had a winning issue on the economy and government spending they are now taking policy actions which will certainly stimulate social issues and provide pro-Democrat forces an opportunity to say look what they’re doing they’re cutting out cancer screening for women.” —AFP

TOLUCA: Mexico’s main opposition party swept to victory in a key state election on Sunday, strengthening its bid to retake the presidency and handing a defeat to President Felipe Calderon’s conservatives.

Exit polls showed the PRI increased its share of the vote in the State of Mexico, the country ’s most populous, while Calderon’s National Action Party (PAN) had its worst night in a generation in the region that rings the nation’s capital.

Initial results suggested the PRI also strengthened its grip on two other states, adding luster to a successful day for the PRI’s main presidential hopeful, Enrique Pena Nieto. “This is an important victory for the PRI and for Pena Nieto,” said Eurasia Group analyst Carlos Ramirez. “ The margin is more than everyone expected, but the federal elections will

move in a different direction. One shouldn’t jump to the conclusion it will be the PRI at the end,” he said.

Winning PRI candidate Eruviel Avila, a popular ex-mayor of the State of Mexico’s largest municipality Ecatepec, was backed by outgoing governor Pena Nieto, current favorite to reclaim the presidency for the PRI in the July 2012 election. With over 21 percent of votes counted, official estimates put the PRI at more than 61 percent in the State of Mexico, which would be its best showing there since 1993. “This is a historic win in the State of Mexico,” announced PRI national chairman Humberto Moreira, who said the PRI had also successfully defended its governorships in the northern state of Coahuila state and the western state of Nayarit. Initial exit polls showed the PRI

had also increased its share of the vote in the two smaller states. However, one media report said the PAN was claiming victory in Nayarit. The PRI ruled Mexico for more than 70 years until it was ousted by the PAN in 2000. Although its control of Mexico was dogged by allegations of corruption and vote-rigging, analysts say the PRI has a strong chance of returning to power in 2012. “A return of the PRI to the presidency would be a good thing.

We are living a very difficult economic and security situation, which we didn’t see when the PRI was in charge,” said laborer Carlos Jimenez in Toluca.

Battered by discontent over Calderon’s army-led war on drugcartels that has claimed 40,000 lives in 4 1/2 years, the PAN slipped to third place in the State of Mexico, claiming just 12.8 percent of the

vote, the early counts showed. This would be nearly half the electoral support it secured in 2005, and its worst performance there since 1987. The centrist PRI has never lost an election in the state that is home to over 15 million people, where Pena Nieto was elected with just under 48 percent of the vote in 2005.

The PRI is hoping the telegenic Pena Nieto, 44, will be a fresh face for the party during the 2012 presidential race, and latest polls give him a clear lead over his rivals. “If Eruviel wins that will give a little boost to Pena Nieto,” said Maria de los Angeles Rios, a 28-year-old voter. Polls suggested Alejandro Encinas of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was second the State of Mexico with 21.8 percent, a slight dip on the 2005 PRD tally. — Reuters

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Strauss-Kahn conspiracy theories resurface PARIS: Resurgent conspiracy theories over the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex assault case angered the French government yesterday, as speculation rose that he may return to the presidential race if cleared. Interior Minister Claude Gueant denounced as “odious” the insinuations by two of Strauss-Kahn’s allies in the Socialist Party, greater Paris regional councillor Michele Sebban and MP Francois Loncle. Sebban had branded the arrest “a political assassination,” hinting that the management of the hotel in which the alleged assault took place-the Sofitel, part of the French group Accor-was complicit.

She also cited reports in US media of cosy ties between President Nicolas Sarkozy and New York police

chief Ray Kelly. “What they are saying is truly scandalous,” Gueant said on France 2 television yesterday, confirming that he was informed of the arrest a few hours after it happened by the presidential intelligence chief.

“If Mr Loncle has accusations to bring he should take judicial action or shut up. These accusations are odious,” he added. “It is out of the question that anyone in France could manipulate American justice.”

A source close to the case who asked not to be named said that the management of the Sofitel New York informed Accor of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest within an hour of it happening, and Accor then told the French presidency. “ The question of timing is impor tant. It is relevant to know

Otto von Habsburg dies at age 98 BERLIN: Otto von Habsburg, the oldest son of Austria-Hungar y ’s last emperor and the longtime head of one of Europe’s most influential families, died yesterday, his spokeswoman said. He was 98. Habsburg died in his sleep at his home in Poecking in southern Germany, where he had lived in exile since the 1950s, spokeswoman Eva Demmerle told The Associated Press. A longtime advocate of European reunification, he campaigned against communism and for the removal of the Iron Curtain.

Born in 1912 in what is now Austria, Habsburg witnessed the family ’s decline after the empire was dismantled and Austria became a republic following World War I. He became head of the family at his father’s death in 1922 and continued to claim the throne until the 1960s. He was a member of the European Parliament for the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union in southern Germany and also served as president of the PanEuropean League from 1979 to 1999.

In that role, he was instrumental in helping organize the Pan-European Picnic peace demonstration in 1989 on the border of Austria and Hungary.

The border was briefly opened in a symbolic gesture, which created the opportunity for 600 East Germans to flee communism months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was the first time an Eastern European nation had opened its borders, and is widely seen as the start of the fall of communism.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso mourned the passing of “a great European ... who gave an important impetus to the European project throughout his rich life”. “He made a central contribution to the opening of the Iron Curtain and the peaceful reunification of our continent that had been divided for too long,” Barroso said in a statement. “I will particularly remember his strong stance against all forms of totalitarianism and on Europe’s fundamental values.” Habsburg was born in the Austrian city of Reichenau, the oldest son of Charles I, whose family ruled much of central and eastern Europe for centuries.

But after Austria and Germany lost World War I, the Austria-Hungarian Empire was dismantled, Charles I had to resign and Austria went on to become a republic. In 1919, Charles and his family had to leave the country for what turned out to be permanent exile in various European countries. After his father’s death in 1922, the 10-year-old Otto officially took

when the Accor group was informed and when Claude Gueant was informed,” said Loncle on Sunday.

The French intelligence service DCRI told APF it had no role in the affair.

Accor in a statement denied that any of its managers were involved and warned the claims could be “defamatory”.

The presidential palace declined to comment. “I prefer to think of it as a trap rather than a conspiracy,” said Pierre Moscovici, a senior party member and ally of Strauss-Kahn. “Once it is known that, as I believe, there has been a judicial mistake, we will search carefully to know what happened and how this trap was set,” he said on BFMTV television. Strauss-Kahn, who was head of the IMF global lender

and favorite to beat Sarkozy in next year’s election until the scandal hit, walked free from house arrest on Friday pending his next court appearance. Prosecutors had admitted to doubts over the credibility of the Guinean hotel maid who accuses him of trying to rape her, saying she was suspected of lying to police.

Socialist Par ty leader Mar tine Aubry said on Sunday “no one would dare” oppose a return of Strauss-Kahn if he is cleared and decides to reenter the presidential race. Jerome Fourquet, head of the IFOP polling institute, told Le Figaro newspaper that obstacles remained for StraussKahn even if he makes a dramatic comeback from the humiliation of the sex charges.

‘Almost 300 arrested’ in Belarus crackdown Protesters face up to 15 days in jail, charges of hooliganism

MUNICH: In this Nov 25, 2007 file picture Archduke Otto von Habsburg attends ceremonies for his 95th birthday in Munich, southern Germany. A spokeswoman for Otto von Habsburg says the oldest son of Austria-Hungary’s last emperor and longtime head of one of Europe’s most influential families has died at age 98. —AP over as the head of the House of Habsburg. Otto tried to negotiate his return to Austria in 1935 and again in 1938 when he even sought to become chancellor to fight the expected invasion by Hitler’s troops, but could not gather enough support.

Instead, he found a channel through the US embassy in Paris to contact President Franklin D. Roosevelt and later claimed to have prevented Allied bombings of a number of Austrian cities by pleading with the US military. He was also credited with having helped about 15,000 Austrians escape the Nazis. At the same time, as he told the Austrian paper Die Presse in 2007, he negotiated Austria’s postwar fate with Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle.

Still, he was not allowed to return to Austria until 1966, five years after he officially abdicated the crown. He later claimed to be baffled by the hostility and criticism in his home country.

Habsburg’s wife, Regina, died last year.

The couple had seven children. Their eldest son, Karl, now runs the family’s affairs and has been the official head of the House of Habsburg since 2007.

Habsburg will be buried July 16 in the Emperor Tomb in Vienna, below the Austrian capital’s Capuchin Church.

Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this report.—AP

MINSK: Belarus yesterday opened the first trials of the almost 300 people arrested in a massive nationwide crackdown on Independence Day protests against the regime of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.

The Vyasna rights group said that 200 people were arrested in the capital Minsk during Sunday’s protests while another 80 were arrested in other parts of the countr y including the regional centers of Grodno, Gomel and Mogilev.

The first legal proceedings against the detainees were starting yesterday at five district cour ts in Minsk, Vyasna said, with the protesters facing up to 15 days jail on charges of hooliganism. Responding to calls for a rally by the Internet-based group “Revolution through the Social Network”, the protesters defied warnings and state jamming of websites to turn out in reasonable numbers Sunday evening.

They sought to show their dissatisfaction with Lukashenko by clapping their hands. But police arrested anyone who joined in the applause, beating activists and firing tear gas, an AFP correspondent in Minsk said. Most of the arrests were carried out by police in plain-clothes who mingled with protesters, with only their electronic earpieces betraying their affiliation to the security forces.

The agents roughly bundled the protesters into sinister brown prison vans k nown as avtozaki in which they were driven to a nearby detention centre.

Vyasna said in a statement on its website that the arrested included 17 journalists, although it said that most of the reporters were

freed overnight. The police have yet to give an official figure of the number arrested or how many people were freed overnight.

Lukashenko launched a crackdown on the opposition-unprecedented even in his 17 years of authoritarian rule-after mass protests on the evening of his landslide re-election victory in December.

The hardline tactics against demonstrators provoked international outrage in the last weeks, especially as the protesters have staged deliberately lowkey “silent” rallies with no slogans or banners. Speaking in neighbouring Lithuania last week, US Secretar y of State Hillary Clinton said Belarus must “release political prisoners and embark on the path of democratic reform”.

Dozens of opposition activists have already been imprisoned, including Lukashenko’s leading rival in the elections, the former diplomat Andrei Sannikov who was jailed for five years. In his Independence Day speech Sunday marking the anniversary of Minsk’s liberation from Nazi occupation, Lukashenko warned his opponents not to dream of the “colour revolutions” that swept other ex-Soviet states in the last years. “They want to put us on our knees and reduce our independence to zero. This will not happen!” he said. Dressed in a military uniform, Lukashenko watched a militar y parade accompanied, as is now customary, by his young extra-marital son Kolya in similar attire.

Opposition media pointed out that the boy, believed to be six, had the ranking stripes of a top militar y commander. The

MINSK: Belarus plainclothes policemen detain protesters during an action entitled “Revolution via social network” in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday.—AP opposition had hoped to drown out Lukashenko’s speech with their ironic hand-clapping but failed to make any impact amid a massive security presence.

Ironically, no - one present, including those in the VIP stands, dared to applaud Lukashenko’s speech for fear of being taken for a covert supporter of the opposition. Opposition politician Stanislav Shushkevich, who led Belarus from independence in

Goodluck Jonathan. Anti-bomb squads have been deployed around key government buildings and military barracks. More road blocks have been erected and checks are more thorough than before to include patdowns of vehicle occupants. No-one has claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks but Boko Haram, an Islamist sect active in the region and blamed for most of the previous deadly attacks, is the prime suspect.

Boko Haram wants to see the establishment of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. On Sunday last week attackers set off three bombs and shot into the crowd at a crowded beer garden in Maiduguri killing 25 people and injuring as many. This weekend’s biggest blast targetted a so-called mammy market beer garden at the police barracks. Mammy markets are open air pubs and eateries found around police or military barracks, open to both security personnel and civilians.

Brigadier-General Jack Okechukwu Nwaogbo, the commander of a crack military unit deployed a week ago to curb the unrest in the area, said eight deaths had so far been recorded from the police blast.

Hours before the attack, Mustapha Ba’le, a politician of the state’s ruling party the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), was shot and killed near his house in another part of the city, a senior police officer said. —AFP

1991 until he was ousted in 1994, was briefly detained by border police at the weekend as he travelled on a train from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Compounding the political tensions, Belarus is also battling a mounting economic crisis which last week saw it impose price caps on all consumer goods to fight spiralling inflation and suffer a temporar y cut in power supplies from Russia.—AFP

Queen cost taxpayers less in the past year

Nigeria steps up security in the north after 20 killed KANO: Authorities stepped up security yesterday as they launched a probe into multiple attacks that killed 20 people in northeastern Nigeria, including a bomb blast at a police barracks. The police barracks bombing killed at least 10 people Sunday evening in the troubled city of Maiduguri where Islamists are active.

“The area is still cordoned off by soldiers that have deployed all over the place, forensic experts are still combing the scene looking for some clues. No one is allowed in or out of the area,” resident Awwalu Manu said by phone. Residents also reported a second blast near the city’s main bus terminus, about an hour after the police bombing.

“There is a military checkpoint near the terminus and from all indications, it was the target of the attack,” resident Jibo Mohammed told AFP. “But fortunately it exploded some metres away and this led to shootout between the attackers who where on motorbikes and soldiers at the checkpoint,” he added. Authorities could not immediately confirm the second blast.

Hours earlier, a leading politician was shot dead in the same city, while police sources and residents reported a wave of shootings overnight Saturday that killed nine people, including three retired police officers.

A special security unit was deployed in the city a week ago on orders of President

He would have the image of someone who has been unjustly dragged through the mud. That could move even people who do not share his political views,” he said.

“On the other hand, when it comes to money and his lifestyle, it is more problematic, particularly for a leftwing candidate,” he added.

Opponents have branded StraussKahn a champagne Socialist and for them this image was reinforced, said Fouquet, when he was seen dining in style in New York after his release from house arrest. “We have seen that DSK has financial means far removed from those of ordinary French people,” Fouquet said. “If he comes back to politics, he will be judged on his lifestyle.”— AFP

SOCHI: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev shakes hands with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma, left, during a meeting in Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi yesterday.—AP

Zuma, Medvedev pressure NATO on Libya SOCHI: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday hosted South Africa’s president and the NATO chief at meetings aimed at pressuring the Western alliance to push for a peace settlement in Libya.

Medvedev met the South African leader Jacob Zuma at his Black Sea resort residence and was later to hold talks with NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen and ambassadors from other alliance members.

The Russian leader immediately proposed that he and Zuma jointly appear before the NATO chiefs and explain their discomfort with the current course of the campaign. “I would like for them to hear, both from me and possibly from you Mr president, our opinion about what is happening in this country,” Medvedev said.

Zuma replied that meeting with NATO “would be very helpful in terms of our

interaction, because they might come to know what preoccupies the AU at the moment”. South Africa announced Zuma’s visit on Sunday after an African Union (AU) summit sought to push a regional peace plan to end the Libyan conflict-a blueprint rejected by the rebels thus far. Russia has advocated the AU taking a leading role in the negotiations and Medvedev’s personal envoy Mikhail Margelov held talks in Libya with both representatives of the rebels and Moamer Kadhafi’s regime last month.

One of the new elements in the road map agreed by the AU on Friday included provisions for a multinational peacekeeping force organised by the United Nations.

But the rebels have thus far rejected the settlement terms proposed by the AU and Russia has also failed to convince Kadhafi to leave. —AFP

LONDON: Britain may have enjoyed a lavish royal wedding but Queen Elizabeth II must put up with shabby furnishings and leaking palace roofs in austerity Britain, according to the annual report on royal finances released yesterday. Official accounts for the royal family show that British taxpayers spent 32.1 million pounds ($51.7 million) supporting the monarchy in the past year, 5.3 percent less than the year before. Much of the saving came from reducing the bill for maintenance of royal residences, from 15.4 million pounds to 11.9 million pounds. “The queen is very keen that the Royal Household should continue to reduce its expenditure in line with public expenditure reductions,” said the royal family’s treasurer, Sir Alan Reid.

The report says the cost constraints mean maintenance will be reduced to “urgent reactive repairs”; plans to refurbish state rooms at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle will be scrapped. The queen did manage to repair the roof of the ballroom at Buckingham Palace last year for a total cost of 800,000 pounds, and repair some rooms at Windsor Castle. The accounts are for the year ending March 2011 and do not cover the costs of Prince William’s April 29 wedding to Kate Middleton.

Official figures for the royal wedding have not been released, but the British taxpayer paid the security costs while the royal family and Middleton’s parents paid for the costs of the actual wedding, including the flowers, the carriage procession, the dresses, the service and the reception. According to the accounts, the queen held seven garden parties at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland, for a total of 41,000 people, up from 36,500 the year before.

Last week the government announced that the monarch must join her subjects in austerity measures aimed at reducing Britain’s deficit. Funding to the royal family will fall by about 9 percent by 2015. Under the government’s plan, the queen’s household would receive an estimated 34 million pounds ($55 million) in the financial year 2013-2014. — AP

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Fears for British soldier missing in Afghanistan KABUL: International forces in Afghanistan launched a huge manhunt after a British soldier went missing yesterday in one of the most dangerous parts of the war-ravaged country. Afghan police in the southern province of Helmand, where mostly American and British troops are fighting a Taleban insurgency, said a British soldier had been kidnapped in the Gereshk area of Nahri Sarraj district.

The Briton’s disappearance in one of the deadliest battlegrounds in a 10-year insurgency spotlights the deep insecurity in the country as the United States prepares to start withdrawing 33,000 troops. NATO announced that one of its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers had gone missing, before London identified the

soldier as British and said an “extensive operation” had been launched to locate him.

The Taleban claimed that its fighters had kidnapped and killed a British soldier in Helmand, but there was no independent confirmation and the militia is known to routinely exaggerate its claims. “The individual was based in central Helmand and was reported missing in the early hours of this morning,” Britain’s defence ministry said.

“His next of kin have been informed and they will be updated as the operation continues. We will not release any further details at present.”

ISAF also said “an active search effort” was underway to find the soldier. Mirza Khan, assistant to the chief of police in

Gereshk, said: “He went missing last night from his outpost and since then we’ve had no news about him.” But Taleban spokesman Qari Yosuf Ahmadi told AFP that the British soldier had been captured and later killed by insurgents in battle with foreign forces.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Kabul, Will Calladine, gave no further details, but said: “Obviously this is a sensitive issue.

Our primary concern is for the person’s safety.” Last week marked the second anniversary of the kidnapping of a US soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by Taleban believed to be allied to the militant Haqqani network from his base in Paktika near the Pakistan border.

Bergdahl has since appeared in several

videos released by the Taleban , including one in April 2010 that showed him heavily bearded and wearing a US Army jacket, pleading for his release. On Sunday, senior US lawmakers visiting Afghanistan slammed President Barack Obama’s plans to bring home thousands of troops as “risky” and a threat to gains made against Taleban in the last year.

Senator John McCain, a Republican, said the gradual removal of 33,000 American troops by the end of next summer was “an unnecessary risk” and that was “why there was no military leader who recommended it.” Both General David Petraeus, the US commander on the ground in Afghanistan, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said Obama’s

plan was more “aggressive” than they had recommended.

McCain spoke to media with fellow Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman in the Afghan capital during a two-day trip that included a meeting with President Hamid Karzai and visits to US troops. Obama late last month announced that 10,000 troops would leave this year and all 33,000 personnel sent as part of a surge ordered in late 2009 would be home by next summer, leaving a US force of some 65,000. There are currently up to 150,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan, including about 99,000 from the United States.

Obama has indicated a series of drawdowns until Afghan forces assume full security responsibility in 2014. — AFP

Hundreds of Afghan-based militants launch Pakistan raid Attack leaves four dead

DHARMSALA: In this picture taken Friday, July 1, 2011, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in the hill station town of Dharmsala, northern India. —AP

Dalai Lama’s greatest challenge: Trying to retire DHARMSALA: In a lifetime spent advocating the plight of his Tibetan community, promoting inter-religious harmony and pleading for world peace, the Dalai Lama now faces perhaps his greatest challenge: trying to truly retire from politics. In May, the Dalai Lama formally stepped down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, giving up the political power that he and his predecessors as Dalai Lama have wielded over Tibetans for hundreds of years. Though he remains the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, his decision to abdicate is one of the biggest upheavals in the community since the Chinese crackdown led him to flee in 1959 into exile in India.

And it raises the question of whether a man worshipped by his people as a living deity can ever stop leading them.

“It’s almost impossible for the Tibetan people to accept that their political, religious leader, their Buddha, will be truncated to just a religious leader,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a 37-year-old poet and activist. There are other questions as well, of the legitimacy of the exile government to speak for all Tibetans, of China’s refusal to talk to the new leaders and of whether elected representatives could ever make a decision contradicting the revered holy man.

The Dalai Lama, the 14th in a line of men said to be the living incarnation of Chenrezig, a Buddhist god of compassion, says he had little choice. Though he appears hearty, he turns 76 this week.

He said he needed to act now because he feared political chaos would erupt in the Tibetan community after his eventual death, when the Chinese government and Buddhist monks are certain to argue over the identity of his successor reincarnation as the 15th Dalai Lama.

“Now, that danger is no longer there,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. He has also been working for years to move his people toward democracy, a form of government he has long advocated even as his people looked to him as a god-king. In 2001, he established the elected position of prime minister, know as the Kalon Tripa, for the Tibetan government-in-exile and handed over many of his administrative duties.

Though he remained in charge, he spoke with increasing frequency of his desire to fully give up power. Earlier this year, as he watched the vibrancy of the election campaign for a new exile government, the Dalai Lama decided his people were ready, he said. He delivered a major address on March 19 calling on parliament to strip him of his political powers.

“That night, my sleep was extraordinarily, very sound,” the Dalai Lama said.

His people were terrified. The Dalai Lama, the living symbol of Tibetans’ struggle against China, is the only leader most have ever known, and his predecessors have ruled them for more than 3 1/2 centuries. For a deeply religious people, his effort to tease apart his spiritual and temporal roles was confusing and frightening. “I can’t accept it,” said Chazod Nawang Tenpa, an 83-year-old Tibetan, who feared the decision was made under Chinese pressure and worried no one would ever be able to lead Tibetans like the man he called “a genius leader.” Many broke into tears and begged him to stay.

Parliament repeatedly appealed to him to change his mind. When he refused,

they tried to make him a ceremonial figurehead. He refused that as well. “I want to completely withdraw,” he said. Even among the younger generation, less steeped in tradition and more comfortable with democracy, there was concern , even among those who oppose his Middle Way policy promoting compromise by seeking only autonomy for Tibet within China. “Of course, we think it’s best if he stays for now as leader of the movement,” said Dorjee Tseten, director of Students for a Free Tibet, which advocates full independence from China. — AP

KHAR: At least 300 militants crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan and attacked a Pakistani checkpost, government and intelligence officials said yesterday, the sixth crossborder attack in a month that has raised tensions between the neighbors. One Pakistani soldier was killed and another wounded in the late Sunday attack in the Pakistani tribal region of Bajaur, intelligence officials said. At least four militants were also killed in the fighting, they said.

Pakistan says 56 members of the security forces have been killed and 81 wounded in a series of militant attacks from Afghanistan over the past month. Villagers from Kitkot, where the attack took place, told Reuters that militants used rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.

“Heavy firing was going on, and it lasted for several hours,” tribal elder Juma Gul said. One government official said the militants were driven back into Afghanistan by Pakistani security forces. There were no civilian casualties, he added.

A military spokesman in Rawalpindi, however, said no militants have crossed the border, but instead fired rockets into Pakistan, killing one Pakistani soldier. It is difficult to independently verify what is happening in the remote mountain region that divides Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sunday’s raid follows allegations by the Afghan Foreign Ministry that a number of rockets fired from Pakistan into the Afghan province of Kunar had killed and injured Afghan civilians in recent months.

Ruling party MPs quit Indian parliament in blow for PM NEW DELHI: Nine ruling Congress party members of India’s parliament resigned yesterday to press their demands for a separate state of Telangana, roughly halving the government’s majority and heaping more pressure on the beleaguered party. The members giving up their seats called for government action on the long-standing demand for a new state hours after dozens of Congress lawmakers stepped down from the assembly in Andhra Pradesh, the southern state in which the Telangana region is located.

If accepted by the house speaker, the resignations are likely to further delay the ruling coalition’s attempts to pass longdelayed reform bills key to continued growth in Asia’s thirdlargest economy, but they are unlikely to lead to the fall of the government. Government hand-wringing over the fourdecades old demand has lead to violent street protests in Andhra Pradesh, which is likely to be a crucial battleground state in a 2014 federal election, sending 42 members to parliament in New Delhi.

Losing nine MPs will put Congress and its allies on the back foot when parliament reopens on Aug 1, and may disrupt business in a chamber that has lost months of legislative work because of opposition protests over corruption. The failure to resolve the issue of the new state, after the government gave in-principle support for the creation of Telangana last year, underlines a sense of drift in Congress, with party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seemingly unable to take big decisions.

“It was an accident waiting to happen. In a way, it was another case of mishandling a political situation,” said political analyst Amulya Ganguli. “(The government) will limp along for some time. It will be quite a stormy session.”

Seven lower house MPs tendered their resignations in person to their speaker of parliament, and two others sent their resignations by fax, an upper house lawmaker who also stepped down from his seat told reporters. “We want to identify ourselves with the aspirations of the people of Telangana,” said K Keshav Rao. The resignations must be accepted by the speaker and that may take weeks. Analysts cautioned that the resignations may not be accepted in order to give Congress time to strike a deal with the rebel MPs and avoid losing their votes in parliament.

“It makes it more complicated for the government but the government is not in trouble,” said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan, adding that the political opposition was also weak in parliament. “It will force the Congress party to make a decision on Telangana.” The Congress-led coalition, which before the resignations held a rough 18-vote majority, has seen its reputation damaged by widespread voter anger at a string of multi-billion dollar corruption scandals. “Congress is not against Telangana. The government is trying for a consensus,” Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters.

“This is a highly sensitive and emotional issue, an appropriate decision will be taken at an appropriate time.” Last week, Singh was forced to refute widespread accusations that he was a “lame duck” leader presiding over a government in paralysis, as a failure to tackle high inflation and graft made Congress appear out of touch with voters. A failure to pass reforms such as bills to overhaul land acquisition policy, an archaic taxation system and to liberalize foreign direct investment rules have suffered as the government drifts, dampening market performance and spooking investors. — Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Shazad Hayat, 9, and his sister Nooreen, 8, break coal as they work in a brick factory on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan yesterday. —AP Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Pakistan had fired 470 rockets over the border in June. Pakistan has denied the allegations.

Pakistan says militants, including Pakistani Taleban commanders, have taken refuge in Afghanistan following military operations to drive them out of its Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It was angered by a US decision to thin out its troops in eastern Afghanistan,

including the Korengal valley in Kunar province, when Washington decided to concentrate on population centres in southern Afghanistan, the Taleban heartland. “For quite some time we have been highlighting that there are safe havens across the border,” Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said. “Something should be done about these.” —Reuters

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Malaysian protesters to back down if king says so KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition-backed activists said yesterday that they would scrap plans for a large rally this weekend demanding electoral reforms if the country ’s constitutional monarch personally urged them to do so. Cancelling the July 9 rally, expec ted to be the biggest in four years, would ease political tensions that have soared in the past two weeks. Police have detained nearly 200 activists who urged people to gather in the country’s largest city, Kuala Lumpur, to demand more electoral transparency

ahead of national polls widely expected next year.

The opposition has long accused Najib’s ruling coalition of manipulating election results to maintain its nearly 54-year rule, but the government says current election laws are fair. Malaysian King Mizan Zainal Abidin warned in a rare political statement late Sunday that street demonstrations “bring more bad than good.” The king said demands for democracy should not destroy the country and urged the parties to resolve the matter through dialogue.

Ambiga Sreenevasan, who heads the Bersih coalition that is organizing the rally, said yesterday that Bersih would seek an audience with Sultan Mizan and pledged to heed his advice.

“It is timely intervention,” she told reporters. “We are a peaceful movement. We will seek and audience with the sultan and we will abide by what His Majesty says.” Asked if Bersih will scrap the rally if the king personally requests it, she said, “Yes.” However, she declined to say whether they would proceed with it if they fail to meet the king.

Bersih, an independent coalition of more than 60 non-governmental organizations, is supported by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s alliance.

Bersih officials hope to gather some 100,000 people for a march to demand changes in election laws to curb fraud in the next national polls.

Authorities fear widespread disruptions as the youth wing of Malaysia’s ruling party and a Malay rights group also plan to hold counter-demonstrations on the same day. Prime Minister Najib Razak earlier yesterday said the government would allow the

Bersih rally if it was held in a stadium.

He said street rally cannot be allowed because it could spark chaos in the country.

The mandate of the current National Front-led government expires in mid-2013. But many analysts expect Najib to hold elections by mid-2012 amid signs that the opposition has lost momentum after the last national polls in 2008, when Anwar’s alliance seized more than one-third of Parliament’s seats in the government’s worst electoral setback. —AP

EU clears food aid for N Korea, US undecided Aid package worth 10 million euros BRUSSELS/SEOUL: The European Commission said yesterday it would give 10 million euros ($14.54 million) of food aid to North Korea in the face of opposition from South Korea and US doubts about the North’s pleas for help. The impoverished North has reached out to dozens of countries and organizations around the world for aid, complaining that bad weather, rising global food prices and the termination of aid from principal donors South Korea and the United States had slashed supplies.

The European Commission said it was convinced that the North’s pleas for help were genuine after a team of experts reported seeing in June severely malnourished children in hospitals and nurseries where no treatment was available. “The purpose of this aid package is to save the lives of at least 650,000 people who could otherwise die from lack of food,” European Union Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

But critics of aid say the secretive North has siphoned off the food in the past to feed its million-strong army, and South Korea says the North’s food stocks are at more or less the same levels as last year.

The EU’s decision comes as Washington also weighs resuming food aid to the North, after suspending its shipments in 2008 in a monitoring

row. Analysts said any resumption of US aid would annoy Seoul which is against sending food to its neighbor. Last Thursday, the United States said it was still assessing the results of its own trip to North Korea in May. “We had been waiting to see who was going to move first on this,” said Daniel Pinkston, an expert on Korean affairs in Seoul with the International Crisis Group. “My sense is that there are so many other issues on the agenda in Washington ... and I think there’s not much political will to provide aid and assistance.

“I don’t see the Americans having a sudden change of heart, or that they will open the flood gates to food because the Europeans decided to.”

The United States and South Korea were by far the biggest food donors to the North, which suffers chronic food shortages,

until 2008 when Washington suspended aid in a monitoring row with the North and Seoul linked aid to denuclearization.

Since 1995, the United States has provided more than $1.2 billion in assistance to the North, about 60 percent of which has been food aid.

The US Congress is divided between those who view aid as a political tool and those who view it as a humanitarian issue. South Korea opposes giving food aid to its neighbor, saying its suspects Pyongyang may be tr ying to hoard food ahead of a third nuclear test, which would likely provoke a tightening of international sanctions. Officials also say the North wants to stockpile food to give as presents to the people for next year’s big celebrations to mark the centenary of the birth of the state’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

South Korea’s Unification

Ministry, which overseeing policy on North Korea, repeated its opposition to food yesterday. The relatively small European package targets children under 5 who have already been hospitalized with severe malnutrition.

Children in residential care will also be fed, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, hospital patients and the elderly, the Commission said.

More than 6 million people are in urgent need of outside assistance, according to a United Nations report issued in March.

The Commission said the aid would be strictly monitored from the point of delivery at the ports to recipients. “If at any stage we discover that the aid is being diverted from its intended recipients then the Commission will not hesitate to end its humanitarian inter vention,” said Georgieva. —Reuters

4 killed, 1 hurt in S Korea shooting SEOUL: A corporal in South Korea’s marine corps went on shooting rampage yesterday, killing four fellow marines and wounding another on a Yellow Sea island base near the country’s tense border with North Korea, officials said.

The corporal was taken into custody on Ganghwa Island, about 40 miles (70 kilometers) west of Seoul, but his motive remained unknown, and the shooting was being investigated, Defense Ministry officials said. The 19-year-old corporal, surnamed Kim, also was wounded, but it was unclear whether he tried to kill himself or was hurt when he was apprehended, the officials said. They declined to give their names because of office policy.

One of the slain marines was an officer, while the others were rank-and-file marines, the officials said. One died on the way to a nearby hospital, they said.

The weapon in the shooting could not be identified immediately, officials said. After earlier indicating no explosives were involved, they later said one grenade exploded during the rampage. They could not immediately verify a report by local broadcaster YTN that Kim detonated the grenade to kill himself.

South Korea stations hundreds of marines on frontline islands within easy striking distance of North Korea.

Last year, North Korea shelled a South Korean island, killing two civilians and two marines. The waters are claimed by both countries. Boats routinely jostle for position during crab-catching season, and three deadly naval clashes since 1999 have taken a few dozen lives.

The tension has taken a toll on South Korea’s marines, who would take the brunt of any North Korean attack. The South Korean military has beefed up marines’ combat readiness on a cluster of bases in the Yellow Sea and increased high-tech weapons systems on the islands facing the North. The latest shooting is the worst to happen in South Korea’s military since 2005, when a soldier tossed a hand grenade and opened fire at a front-line army unit in a shooting rampage that left eight colleagues dead and several others injured. Pfc. Kim Dong-min later told investigators he went on the killing spree after being enraged by superiors who verbally assaulted him. The shooting raised questions about the level of discipline in South Korea’s 650,000-member military. All able-bodied South Korean men must serve about two years in the military under a conscription system aimed at deterring aggression from North Korea. —AP

GIMPO: Hospital officials carry a wounded person, watched by a South Korean Marine officer (2nd R), at a hospital in Gimpo near Ganghwa island yesterday. —AFP

CHIBA: In these file photo, left, and image distributed Nov 6, 2009 by Chiba Prefectural Gyotoku Police, Tatsuya Ichihashi, the prime suspect in the 2007 murder case of British language school teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, is shown before, left, and after cosmetic surgeries. —AP

Japanese man admits to raping, strangling Briton CHIBA: A Japanese man admitted in court yesterday to raping and strangling a young British woman, but the man who attempted cosmetic surgery on his own face to evade a nationwide manhunt said he never meant to kill the 22-year- old. Tatsuya Ichihashi is charged with murdering English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker at his apartment in 2007. The case became one of Japan’s highest-profile murders after Hawker’s body was found in a dirtfilled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi’s apartment.

At the opening of his trial yesterday, he said he raped Hawker and caused her death, but said he didn’t mean to kill her, as prosecutors charge. “I did not intend to kill her, but I am responsible for her death,” Ichihashi told the court as Hawker’s father looked on impassively. “I am very sorry for what I did.” The victim’s parents, who flew to Tokyo to attend the trial, left yesterday’s court session without commenting to reporters.

Hawker, of Brandon, England, was in Japan to teach English. She worked as an instructor at a language school, and agreed to give Ichihashi a private lesson on the side. After the lesson Ichihashi persuaded Hawker to go back to his apartment in Ichikawa City, east of the capital, where the crimes occurred. He went on the run after police found her body, at one point fleeing past officers as they questioned his neighbors.

Ichihashi evaded police for more than two years despite a national manhunt, in which a reward of 10 million yen ($123,000) was offered for tips lead-

ing to his arrest and wanted posters were posted nationwide. In a book published after his eventual arrest in 2009, Ichihashi described his life on the run, including how he scissored off his lower lip, dug two moles out of his cheek with a box cutter and even gave himself a nose job in an attempt to obscure his identity.

He doesn’t describe the crime or his motives in the book, “Until the Arrest,” instead detailing his life at large, during which he traveled up and down the country, in constant fear of arrest and obsessed with cosmetic surgery. His attempts to change his appearance eventually led to his arrest, after the staff at a clinic where he had surgery on his nose became suspicious and reported him to police. He was later caught at a ferry terminal, and his appearance had changed to the point where investigators had to verify his identity using his fingerprints. At his trial, the defense argued that Ichihashi tried to revive Hawker after suffocating her by accident in an attempt to keep her from crying out for help from the neighbors.

He admitted to tying her up and raping her. Prosecutors have not yet entered a sentencing demand, though the crime could bring the death penalty. A verdict is expected by July 21.

In 2008, serial rapist Joji Obara was sentenced to life in prison for attacks on women including Briton Lucie Blackman, a Tokyo night club worker whose body was found near his beachside condominium. Obara was found guilty of dismembering and abandoning her body, but not of her murder. —AP

BANGKOK: Yingluck Shinawatra, the leader of Puea Thai Party, center, Sanan Kachornprasart of Chat Thai Pattana party, left, and Yongyuth Wichaidith, right, also of Puea Thai, raise their arms after a joint news conference at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. —AP

Thailand military ‘accepts’ opposition polls landslide BANGKOK: Thailand’s powerful military will respect a landslide election win by allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, who it toppled five years ago, the defence minister said yesterday, easing fears of another coup. Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, a 44-year- old political novice now set to become the kingdom’s first female premier, announced a coalition deal with four smaller parties to bolster her hold on power.

The election and its aftermath is a major test of Thailand’s ability to emerge from a long political crisis triggered by Thaksin’s 2006 overthrow that last year saw the country’s worst civil violence in decades. Thailand’s outgoing defence minister, himself a retired general, said that the army accepted the election outcome, easing fears of fresh military intervention in a country that has seen almost as many coups as elections.

“I have talked to military leaders. We will allow politicians to work it out. The military will not get involved,” General Prawit Wongsuwon told AFP. “The people have spoken clearly so the military cannot do anything. We accept it.”

Thaksin has vowed not to seek revenge over a deadly military crackdown on his “Red Shirt” supporters in Bangkok last year that claimed the lives of more than 90 people and left major downtown buildings in flames. But, in a sign of the difficult balancing act he faces, the Reds urged their political allies to establish the facts behind the army operation, which saw soldiers firing live ammunition storm the Reds’ rally camp.

“During the election campaign, political parties have to present their policies to people, but once they become the government, it’s the government’s job to find the truth,” said a Red Shirt leader, Nattawut Saikuar.

The Puea Thai Party-masterminded

by Thaksin from his self-imposed exile in Dubai-won 265 seats out of 500 in the lower house, the election commission said yesterday after the vote count was completed. That was well ahead of the 159 secured by outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva’s establishmentbacked Democrats, who conceded defeat after two and a half years in power. Abhisit resigned as party leader after the results.

However, Puea Thai was quick to

reach out to potential partners, partly to protec t against possible future defections or the disqualification of some of its winning candidates in Sunday’s vote. Together the five coalition partners hold 299 of the 500 seats.

The vic tor y by Thaksin’s allies has reshaped a fractured political landscape, but the party must tread carefully if it wants to avoid alienating other key players such as the military.

Thaksin insisted yesterday that he had no plan to return to office himself, and said that setting foot back in Thailand was not a priority. “I’ve been with the party too long, and I really want to retire,” Thaksin told reporters in Dubai where he lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption.

“Going back home is not a major concern. It is not a priority,” he added.

A more impor tant fac tor may be whether the new government pursues legal or other steps against the generals over the bloody crackdown against last year’s mass opposition demonstrations in the heart of Bangkok. “I believe the militar y leaders are more concerned about their fates... than about Thaksin’s return,” said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The Thaksin issue is a smoke-screen to hide their real concern-whether they would be investigated and possibly punished.” The populist Thaksin is loathed by the nation’s elites who see him as corrupt and a threat to the revered monarchy. An amnesty for the billionaire telecoms tycoon would risk infuriating many in the Bangkok-based establishment in government, militar y and palace circles and could prompt protests by the royalist “Yellow Shirt” movement.

Thaksin, who despite being hugely divisive in Thailand has presided over victories in the nation’s last five elections, called on all sides to respect the result and said he did not “want to cause trouble” by returning. Investors reacted positively to the election outcome and formation of a coalition, with the SET stock index soaring 4.69 percent to end at 1,090.28. “The chance that there will be more street protests is slim,” said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, a strategist at KGI Securities. —AFP

Bus crash kills 23, injures 29 in China BEIJING: A tourist bus carrying 52 passengers flipped over and burst into flames after it was rear-ended by a cargo truck in south China yesterday, killing at least 23 people and injuring 29, state media said. An earlier report by the official Xinhua News Agency said 26 people were killed and 31 injured but Xinhua said police later lowered the toll and explained that the initial figures were higher because the carnage and fire damage made counting the dead and injured difficult. Xinhua said the accident occurred at 3:50 am yesterday on a stretch of the Suizhou-Yueyang expressway that cuts through Hubei province.

People from both vehicles were among those killed, including the truck driver.

The long-distance coach was carrying 52 passengers, including five children, and was headed to Tianmen in Guangdong province, Xinhua said. It was operated by Wuhan Hailong Tourism Bus Company, it said. China Central Television broadcast footage of the accident site, showing where the two vehicles tore up a stretch of guard railing before plunging down an embankment into a farm field. A mass of charred and mangled metal was surrounded by hundreds of large blackened wax gourds that had been piled on the cargo truck. Serious traffic accidents are common in China due to lax driving habits, overloaded vehicles and bad road conditions. —AP

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Chestnut chows down hot dog contest win Kobayashi stages rival competition NEW YORK: Joey Chestnut scarfed down 62 hot dogs to win his fifth consecutive Fourth of July hot dog eating contest at Coney Island - the equivalent of about 20,000 calories in 10 minutes. It wasn’t a personal best for the 27-year- old nick named Jaws, but it was enough to out-eat second-place finisher Patrick Bertoletti by nine wieners. Chestnut, of San Jose, California, won $10,000 and the coveted mustard-yellow belt.

“I feel great!” he said after the contest, adding that he was going to drink a lot of water and avoid hot dogs for a few days. Chestnut started at a blistering pace but couldn’t beat his own record of 68 “because I kept messing up”, he said, pausing for a burp. “Excuse me,” he told repor ters squeezed around him.

Bertoletti, of Chicago, won $5,000, and third-place contestant Tim Janus, of New York, won $2,500. This year, for the first time, the annual contest in front of Nathan’s Famous fast-food stand was broken into two divisions, one for men and one for women.

Sonya Thomas, known as the “Black Widow” of competitive eating, won with 40 downed dogs, earning her $10,000 and her own pink champion’s belt.

“I’m so happy!” said Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia.

She started out neck-and-neck with second-place finisher Juliet Lee but later pulled ahead. “I looked over, and I said, ‘No way!’ But I have to focus myself, because I cannot keep up with her now,” Thomas said.

Instead, she preserved her biggest jolt of energy for the winning end. Lee, of Germantown, Maryland, ate 29 1/2 wieners, and Stephanie Torres, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, downed 28 1/2. Both Thomas and Chestnut broke world records in 2009, he with 68 and she with 41.

Chestnut’s chief rival, Takeru Kobayashi, stayed away from the contest this year, staging a separate competition where he ate 69 dogs in 10 minutes which would have been a world record. The slim Japanese champ held the record for hot dog eating from 2001 to 2007. After refusing to sign an exclusive

contract with Major League Eating, the fast-food equivalent of the NFL, he was banned from the competition last year. But he showed up anyway, wearing a T-shirt that said “Free Kobi”, rushed the stage and was arrested. Charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of property and trespassing were later dropped. This year, the Japanese native nicknamed the “Tsunami” held the unofficial contest from a rooftop on ritzy Fifth Avenue, eating near a giant plasma TV airing the official competition live.

The annual spectacle on Coney Island draws tens of thousands of holiday revelers, watching as contestants shimmy, slither and bounce as they dip hot dogs in water and cram them down their throats. For some, it’s a painful reminder of excess - especially as the US battles a growing obesity problem. The American Medical Association opposes competitive eating, saying it’s harmful to the human body. “I am disgusted watching them, in a world where we try to do our best not to overeat and become obese,” said contest viewer Eve Harrison, 42, a New York City art dealer who lives in North Salem, New York.

And hot dogs aren’t exactly the healthiest of choices. In addition to beef, they include salt and various food additives, including sorbitol and hydrolyzed soy.

But the competitive eaters are quite trim. Chestnut is over 6 feet tall (1.8 m tall) and a muscly 99 kg and Thomas and her rival Lee weighed in at barely 45 kg each. Joining the 2011 men’s lineup were three new contestants flown in from China - the next big target market for the Nathan’s brand.

Master of ceremonies George Shea acknowledged that the eating contest is one big sales gimmick - for Nathan’s products. It’s been a wild marketing success.

In the past seven years, Nathan’s revenues have soared by more than 90 percent, with more than 450 million hot dogs sold annually and the value of its publicly traded shares tripling. Nathan’s donated 100,000 hot dogs to the food bank before the competition. - AP

Syria forces storm Hama Continued from Page 1 “At dawn, the army raided the village of Hass and has reached the outskirts of Kfar Nubl. It has taken control of nearby Kafr Roma and soldiers have deployed between Hass and Kfar Nubl,” said one activist, contacted by telephone.

They said tanks rolled into Maaret Al-Numan, also near the Turkish border in the northwest, after the town came under heavy shelling.

As many as 300 people were detained in the military operation in Hama, another opposition activist told AFP on condition of anonymity. “It seems the regime has been advised by certain quarters to go for a military solution in Hama after Friday’s huge demonstration,” the activist said. Syria’s embattled President Bashar AlAssad sacked the governor of Hama province on Saturday, a day after a crowd of an estimated half million people rallied against his regime in the city of 800,000 residents.

Security forces kept out of sight during the demonstration.

Abdel Rahman said the tanks which had been posted in east and northeast Hama after the demonstration were pulled back on Sunday afternoon, despite the campaign of arrests outside the centre.

Since security forces gunned down 48 protesters in the city on June 3, Hama has escaped the clutches of the regime, according to activists.

The next day, more than 100,000 mourners were reported to have taken par t in their funerals.

Yesterday, videos posted online showed security agents driving round the city ’s empty streets.

Residents were staging a civil disobedience campaign, said prodemocracy activists on their Facebook site, Syrian Revolution 2011.

Hama was the scene of a 1982 bloodbath in which an estimated 20,000 people were killed when the army put down an Islamist revolt against the rule of the president’s

predecessor and late father, Hafez Al-Assad. Security forces yesterday also carried out arrests in Nassib, a village in Daraa province where the revolt erupted on March 15.

“Fourteen people were arrested in the southern village on the border with Jordan,” said an activist.

Another activist said “a large number of soldiers backed up by troop transports” were sent yesterday to reinforce the central city of Homs.

Rights groups say that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people arrested by securit y forces since midMarch. On the refugee front, the number of Syrians who have fled the army’s advance in northwest Syria to take shelter across the border in Turkey has dropped to below 10,000, as hundreds more returned home, Turkish officials said yesterday. Some 405 Syrians went back to their countr y on Sunday and yesterday, Turkey ’s disaster and emergency management agency said. — Agencies

Abusive sponsors attack official at maid...

Continued from Page 1 their employers, locked inside the family’s home for months. Maria, 31, had not been paid since she began her second stint working for the family in Januar y this year, whilst Jenny, 28, had been unpaid since starting work there three months later, in April. The two assert that they were regularly subjected to brutal abuse, torture and beatings by both the male sponsor and his wife.

“Both of them hit us, especially when there was something wrong with our jobs; they would beat us using belts and cooking pans or whatever hard objects they could find close to them,” recalled Maria. “ They would also hit our head against the concrete wall. The ‘mama’ hates dust or any tiny amount of dirt on the table; I think, we scrubbed their house more than 100 times a day. I also used to wash clothes with bare hands so I have this allergy to chemicals. Really, we were suffering severely in that house and we couldn’t take it anymore, that is why we just decided to escape in whatever way we could.”

Maria explained that she was first hired as a maid by the family in late 2009, although during her first stint with them, she was paid regularly.

Since her first week working for them, she endured hard slaps and beatings, with another Filipina housemaid, “Leah”, who began working there towards the end of 2010, enduring similar physical and verbal abuse. Leah, after two months of abuse and having received no pay, eventually convinced Maria to attempt escape with her. During their attempt, however, using an improvised rope,

Maria slipped and fell to the ground, breaking a leg. Although the maids managed to get away and Maria was taken to hospital, the employers subsequently filed a case against the traumatized women, accusing them of theft, an accusation which both categorically denied.

In January, whilst Maria was recovering at the embassy’s refuge, her erstwhile employers visited the embassy and set about persuading Maria that they regretted their abusive treatment and wished for her to return. Reluctant but desperate for money, Maria went back to work for them. Leah remained unconvinced of their remorse and chose instead to remain at the refuge where she is still living, pending the outcome of the theft case.

Maria quickly discovered that her sponsors’ promises of kind treatment were wholly false, with the abusive employers redoubling their maltreatment in revenge for her escape. The three months until Jenny’s arrival in April were an endless stream of abuse and backbreaking hard work, with Jenny also receiving the same treatment from the moment of her arrival until the two women fled.

“I haven’t been paid since I began working for this family in April,” Jenny told Kuwait Times.

“Every day we used to be addressed with cruel words, beaten and sworn at. They even told us that they could kill us any time without anyone knowing about it. We used to work from 5:00 am until 2:00 am the next morning.” As one example of the treatment they received, Jenny said, “We only had very little food - we ate once a day.”

Both flatly rejected the sponsors’ theft accusations against them.

“How could we steal?” asked Jenny.

“It was never true. We heard them saying if they wanted to create a problem against us [they could]; they told us that the authorities here would believe them rather than us. And how could we ‘steal’ money when in fact they weren’t giving us our salaries for months?!”

The Philippine Labor Attache to Kuwait, David Des Dicang, has promised to pursue the case of his country’s mistreated workers. He said that he would take legal action against the five assailants for trespassing and assault on Filipino embassy personnel. “The case will be pursued till the end,” he vowed.

“The embassy, under the leadership of our ambassador, Shulan Primavera, is mandated to protect and defend our workers. The embassy official who was beaten up at our premises will be dealt accordingly. We are happy that we have an official like him who can defend our workers when necessary. He tried to protect our workers and he was beaten up because of that. It is also totally unacceptable since it happened inside our own premises. The case is now in the prosecutor ’s office.”

On the assailants’ abuse of the housemaids, Dicang said that their case would be handled with the proper seriousness. “We will pursue not just their employer but we’ll see in what way we can act against their local recruitment agency and hold them accountable,” he said. He asserted that there are many questions left unanswered: “Why was the employer able to re-hire runaway housemaids despite his bad records?” he asked, adding “We will review all the possible angles until real justice is served.”

NEW YORK: Four-time reigning champion Joey Chestnut raises his arm in victory as he wins his fifth Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating World Championship with a total of 62 hot dogs and buns yesterday at Coney Island in Brooklyn borough. — AP

Police guarding temple treasure Continued from Page 1 named by India’s Supreme Court to monitor the treasure hunt, estimated Sunday that the valuables could be worth up to a trillion rupees ($22 billion). “Its antique and archeological value has not been yet been taken into account,” he stressed. A seventh vault reinforced with iron walls would be opened only after fresh instructions from India’s top court, he said.

K N Panikkar, an eminent India historian, said the treasure was most likely a combination of gifts donated by devotees to the shrine and the wealth of the erstwhile Hindu royal family from the local kingdom of Travancore. “The king ruled in the name of the temple and so one can say it is the accumulated wealth of the temple and the maharajah’s own collection,” Panikker told AFP in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Times of India said one tonne of gold coins some dating back to the era of French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte - as well as sacks full of diamonds and golden statues were among the artefacts discovered in the temple. The national conservation agency, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), said it was stunned by the findings. “Right now we are working in

absolute darkness and we only know that fabulous treasure is pouring out,” ASI Director-General Gautam Sengupta told AFP. “No archaeologist has ever experienced vault after vault being opened and treasures being discovered like this,” Sengupta said in New Delhi, adding that many of the Hindu shrines across India were “very rich”.

The discoveries have catapulted the Hindu shrine, renowned for its intricate sculptures, into the league of India’s richest temples. It was built hundreds of years ago by the king of Travancore and donations by devotees have been kept in the temple’s seven vaults since.

Since India achieved independence from Britain in 1947, a trust managed by descendants of the Travancore royal family has controlled the temple.

Shashi Bhushan, a Kerala-based historian, told the Mint business newspaper that the treasure was likely to be “the proceeds of trade” from the state in southern India, which was a centre for spice trading. The Supreme Court recently ordered that the temple be managed by the state of Kerala to ensure the security of its valuables. Until now, the Thirupathy temple in southern Andhra Pradesh state was believed to be India’s richest temple, with offerings from devotees worth 320 billion rupees. — AFP

Chavez in surprise return to Venezuela Continued from Page 1 State media showed video footage of Chavez bidding farewell to Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana and then being greeted by ebullient ministers at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas. “I’m fine. I feel well,” Chavez said. “I’m back at the epicenter of Bolivar,” he added, in reference to his idol, Simon Bolivar, a hero of Venezuela’s and South America’s fight for independence from Spanish rule.

Despite euphoria among supporters, Chavez’s exact condition remains unclear, and he may still face lengthy treatment in Venezuela. A military hospital was prepared for his arrival. Chavez said it was “the start of the return”, implying to some analysts that he may stay low profile in Venezuela or even return to Cuba for further cycles of treatment. While not showing anything conclusive about his health, the homecoming does address complaints from critics that Chavez was flouting the constitution and risking national security by ruling from a hospital in a foreign country.

“Chavez did not need to show himself strong, recovering or energetic. He just needed to appear back here to show people he is capable of overcoming all adversity,” local analyst Luis Vicente Leon told Reuters. “This apparition may have a magical and motivational effect on his followers.” Sounding ecstatic, Vice President Elias Jaua called on supporters to go to the Miraflores presidential palace in the afternoon to give Chavez, 56, a welcome reception.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has shown himself on the palace balcony at the biggest moments of his turbulent and incident-packed rule - including his return to power after a short-lived 2002 coup against

him. Chavez’s sudden return caught Venezuelans by surprise on the first of two days of holidays for today’s independence day. “That’s amazing. We wanted him here because he’s the president of all Venezuelans. We didn’t feel very secure the way things were,” said supporter Pedro Alizu, 61, who works for a security firm in the Venezuelan capital.

The socialist leader returned at about 2 am (0630 GMT) in the early hours of yesterday. Chavez, who casts himself as the inheritor of Bolivar’s ideals, had been preparing for today’s celebrations for years. A military parade and street-parties are planned, though Chavez indicated he would not be able to physically attend the events despite his presence in Caracas again. “When I went to bed last night, there were still reports about him having serious cancer and then I wake up this morning to the news that he’s here,” said one middleaged Caracas resident, who asked not to be named. “It’s all pretty confusing still.”

Around Caracas, some impromptu parties began among Chavez supporters, some picking up instruments and singing. “He’s brought the soul back to our bodies, the smile back to our lives. Welcome home, Comandante!” said Mario Silva, a TV presenter known for his aggressive espousal of “Chavismo”.

In Cuba, Chavez’s friend and mentor Fidel Castro predicted that Chavez would beat his cancer. “The patient has fought a decisive battle that will lead him and Venezuela to a great victory,” the former Cuban president wrote. Reaction among opposition supporters was more muted. “He’s still sick. How can he rule Venezuela?” said one woman, who is a member of opposition party Democratic Action and asked not to be named “so the Chavistas don’t come for me”. — Reuters

Hackers claim Obama killed Continued from Page 1 “The hacking is being investigated, and FoxNews.com regrets any distress the false tweets may have created,” it said.

Obama is celebrating the July 4 Independence holiday with his family at the White House and was due to host military families to watch Fourth of July fireworks in the evening. The White House and Secret Service both declined to comment on the incident. The first hacked tweet appeared around 2 am and said: “@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead.” The next one, “@BarackObama has just passed. Nearly 45 minutes ago, he was shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck; shooter unknown. Bled out.”

Fox News Digital Vice President and General Manager Jeff Misenti said FoxNews.com was working with Twitter to address the situation as quickly as possible. “We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this

occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” Misenti said.

A group calling itself The ScriptKiddies claimed responsibility for sending the tweets -including “#ObamaDead, it’s a sad 4th of July” from the “FoxNewspolitics” news feed before Twitter suspended its access. In all some six false tweets were issued, saying Obama had been shot at a restaurant in Iowa while campaigning.

Obama was not in Iowa this weekend. He returned on Sunday to the White House from a brief trip to Camp David in neighboring Maryland. The Foxnews.com account hacking followed a wave of highly publicized cyber security breaches, including attacks on the bank Citigroup, Sony Corp, Apple and the US Senate and Brazilian presidential websites. Yesterday’s breach raised questions about the integrity of news feeds on Twitter, which is increasingly used by news outlets as well as government officials as a way to reach readers and supporters.

Twitter spokeswoman Jodi Olson

declined to say whether the company would add more security as a result of the attack, but stressed it was important for users to shield their profiles. “We don’t comment on specific accounts. In general, though, it’s always good to remind people of the importance of actively protecting their account credentials,” Olson said, recommending that all users have a strong password as a “starting point.”

The FoxNews.com hacking came two days before Obama’s first “Twitter town hall” where he will field tweeted questions about the economy and jobs. Twitter’s cofounder and executive chairman Jack Dorsey is due to moderate tomorrow’s session at the White House. Fox.com, another Fox Entertainment Group website, was the target of an attack by hacker group Lulz Security in May. LulzSec has also made assaults on Sony, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other targets. The attacks have mostly resulted in temporary disruptions to websites and the release of user credentials. — Reuters

14

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Issues

Combating bribery

By William Hague ribery is a modern day scourge on international trade. At a time when so many people are struggling through an economic downturn, bribery is a very real disease threatening our prosperity. It poses a serious challenge to the development of economies and contributes to market failure. It distorts competition, damages free enterprise and blights business. It stifles talent and innovation and kills entrepreneurship. In many cases it is the poorest in society who are hit the hardest For business, bribery is a threat that needs to be actively managed, like fraud or embezzlement.

Corruption adds up to 10 percent to the total cost of doing business globally, and up to 25 percent of the cost of procurement contracts in developing countries. Doing business in corrupt markets has been found to add costs equivalent to a 20 percent tax on business. In 2010 and 2008, roughly a fifth of surveyed executives reported that they had been asked to pay a bribe, with a similar proportion reporting that they had lost business to a competitor who paid bribes.

Social costs invariably come hand in hand with costs to business - detrimental effects to employment, health, education and a wasteful depletion of natural resources. The UK Bribery Act which came into force on 1 July is an important step in Britain’s efforts to combat Bribery, The Act will equip the UK courts with some of the most robust anti-bribery legislation in the world. The Act consolidates and brings up to date previous legislation and introduces two new general offences of giving bribes or receiving bribes: an offence of bribery of foreign public officials for business reasons, and an offence relating to commercial organisations which fail to prevent bribery committed on their behalf.

Taking a robust stance on bribery will not just tackle the scourge, but it will act as a spur to business. Robust action against bribery will strengthen free market forces. It will fuel competition and will ensure consumers and the public get a fairer, better deal. Prices come down, services improve and business grows. But most of all a tough stance against bribery will attract business and investment rather than deter it.

Business agrees with us. They too would like to see the scourge of bribery removed from business transactions. They will also want to see fair play by everyone and a level playing field for all. All the leading businesses and business organisations in the UK have made clear they want to see an end to this problem.

This is not just a problem for the West or the leading economies in the world. Bribery does even more damage to developing countries that can least afford it. Developing countries face enough of a struggle to build economies, create proper tax systems, provide public services like health and education, and stimulate growth. Bribery adds costs, cheats the system and steals money. It traps people and countries in poverty. I call on other countries to look hard at their own laws and regulations on bribery and to take tough action against it. The more that join with us to fight this scourge the quicker we will beat it. Many countries already have tough laws on bribery but there is no doubt more can be done to make them stronger and also enforce them fully.

The OECD has led international efforts to tackle bribery across the world and should be commended for their efforts thus far. The UN Convention Against Corruption is another important international agreement in the fight to build stronger economies and societies. There are many other organisations such as the G20 joining in the effort to tackle this problem and the UK is keen to work with them all. I firmly believe that the UK Bribery Act will do more to support business and our trade with the world.

But the UK cannot succeed alone. Only by global action, only through determined leadership, and only through government action and through the support of business will we make possible the prosperous future we all want to see.

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NOTE: William Hague is the British Foreign Secretary.

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

Bashir defiant despite Sudan’s bleak outlook

By Simon Martelli he fallout from Sudan’s partition is likely to be felt in many ways in the north, where an economic crisis, a rebellion in South Kordofan and a president accused of genocide are among the problems the government already faces.

Sudan is set to lose as much as 37 percent of its income after the oil-producing south proclaims formal independence on Saturday, a huge concern for Khartoum that will compound existing woes including a $38 billion debt burden, soaring inflation and US sanctions.

“The economic situation in the north is very, very dire. There is still no clarity on how Juba and Khartoum are going to divide the oil revenue, and they don’t have a ready alternative for income,” said Fuad Hikmat, Sudan expert with the International Crisis Group. “It is beyond the capacity of many Sudanese to cope with these rising food and commodity prices. A lot of businesses are struggling,” he added.

On top of this, opposition to the centre from Sudan’s neglected peripheral regions is likely to grow in the wake of southern secession, observers say, which could widen growing divisions within the ruling National Congress Party, between moderates and hardliners.

Some are even predicting that what remains of the country could start to break up. In the context of such pressures, President Omar Al-Bashir, as the leader of a country set to lose one third of its territory involuntarily, has made some bold if deeply controversial moves to shore up his support and silence his critics.

Bashir’s official three-day visit to China last week, where he received red-carpet treatment and met President Hu Jintao, demonstrated that Sudan has powerful allies and strengthened ties with its most important trading partner. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside Bashir’s home on Friday to cheer his return. But the trip, by the only sitting president to be charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court, was roundly condemned by the United Nations, Washington and human rights groups. It also served as a reminder that Bashir cannot easily carry out his international duties - he arrived 24 hours late after Turkmenistan reportedly denied his plane flight clearance, forcing it to turn back.

Meanwhile, the northern army’s occupation of the Abyei border region and its war against southern-aligned rebel militiamen in South Kordofan, the north’s only oil-producing state, have drawn sharp criticism from world leaders and threaten to increase Sudan’s international isolation. There had been high hopes, both at home and abroad, that by accepting the results of January’s referendum and allowing southern secession to go ahead unimpeded, Khartoum could finally start to come in from the cold. Diplomats here say it is still not too late for the government to reap the benefits of international rehabilitation - such as help with its debt - if it demonstrates its commitment to peace.

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But this prospect is diminishing, despite a deal last month to demilitarise Abyei, with the Darfur conflict still unresolved and the violence ongoing in South Kordofan. From a local perspective, however, the recent military campaigns are a show of force by a vulnerable government facing unrest among non-Arab tribes in Dar fur, along its southern border and potentially in the east, where a decade-long rebellion by ethnic minority groups ended only in 2006. “What they are probably trying to do is send a very clear message to the rest of the north, that they are in control and there is not the possibility of any other sort of follow-on secession efforts,” said Jon Temin, who heads the Sudan program at the US Institute of Peace.

But government critics believe such a strategy could backfire. “The outcome of all of this... we will find there is no Sudan.

It will be a number of small countries,” Sheikh Abdallah, a Sufi leader based in Gezira state, told AFP. “People have no money, they are hungry, they are sick... In different parts of the country they are ready to fight to be separated,” he warned.

Another key question after the map is redrawn is what kind of relationship Khartoum will develop with its new

southern neighbour, with which it is inextricably linked, but also deeply suspicious of after five decades of harrowing conflict. “Each of these independent nations will be better off if the other is stable,

secure, and economically prosperous.

More than that, both states will depend on the other to achieve this,” the US envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, said in a briefing to Congress last month. — AFP

Sudanese Minister of Information Kamal Mohammed Obeid unveils in front of journalists the new map of Sudan in Khartoum yesterday ahead of the formal independence of the south on July 9. – AFP

US backs launch of new southern Sudan

By Lachlan Carmichael he United States, a key broker of the 2005 peace accords, is throwing considerable diplomatic and economic support behind the July 9 launch of the new state of southern Sudan, analysts say. Despite tight budget times, officials said, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) expects to maintain its level of development funding at between $250 million and $300 million a year. “The commitment of the US government for development supporting this new country is really going to continue the way it was,” a US government official told AFP on condition of anonymity, contradicting fears that the grossly underdeveloped region will slip off the international agenda after independence.

After the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended a 22year-old civil war, Washington set up programs to promote health and education, boost farming, and build roads as well as electrical and water systems.

It also launched other programs to train officials in a southern Sudan that has been autonomous from the northbased government for six years and overwhelmingly chose full independence in a January referendum.

USAID has also funded conflict-resolution programs such as those aimed at encouraging young southerners to find jobs rather than opt for cattleraiding. Washington is seeking to support agriculture because it has great

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economic potential and helps diversify the economy away from oil, which accounts for around 98 percent of the government’s income.

Sudan analyst Jon Temin told AFP that despite US budgetary constraints, which he said could limit development funding, “south Sudan is a real priority for the US government within Africa and probably globally. “So I expect the US will be deeply invested in the south for some time to come,” according to Temin, who heads the Sudan program at the United States Institute of Peace.

Not only has the United States long “taken real ownership over the peace process,” he said, it has also “developed a pretty deep friendship” with the south for both humanitarian and religious reasons.

Unlike the mainly Arab and Muslim north of the country, the south has a large Christian community which has extensive contacts with US Christian groups. He said US firms may in the long-term invest in the south’s oil industry. Sudan is currently subSaharan Africa’s third largest producer.

Most fields are in the south but the export pipelines run through the north. Washington will also try to make sure any instability in Sudan does not spill over to neighboring Uganda and Kenya, which are US friends, Temin added.

He and other analysts said the United States and other diplomatic players such as Britain, Norway and African states - will face continuing tests in trying to help settle outstand-

ing disputes beyond July 9. These include demarcating the north-south border, sharing oil wealth, deciding on citizenship for southerners in the north and northerners in the south, and easing Sudan’s debt of around $38 billion.

Since the CPA was signed six years ago, little if any progress has been made on these issues, according to John Campbell, a former career foreign service officer now with the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. “What is new now is that the issues will have to be addressed within the context of two sovereign states, instead of one.

That by definition makes the situation more complex,” Campbell told AFP. “While I am virtually 100 percent certain the south will become independent on 9 July, I’m by no means certain that the fighting that has so marred that region will come to an end,” he said.

This means the United States and other players will continue to be engaged diplomatically, he said.

Marina Ottaway, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace think tank, said US efforts may be in vain as the violence of recent weeks in the border regions of Abyei and South Kordofan can flare anew.

“The real problem is that no matter how much effort the US puts in, the cards don’t look very good at this point,” Ottaway told AFP. She spoke of an “ominous pattern” of independent militia being supported by one side or another in the border regions. — AFP

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

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Thai election unlikely to end power battle

By Martin Petty resounding opposition election victory could represent a rejection of Thailand’s old political order, signalling stability in the short term, but no lasting truce in a long-running battle for power. Self-exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been dealt a favourable hand with the Puea Thai Party’s landslide win, which put his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, on the brink of the premiership and closed all loopholes for immediate intervention by his opponents in the establishment and military.

Puea Thai’s win had much to do with Thaksin’s name and political brand and the margin of victory has eased fears of imminent turmoil, but analysts say the rivalry between the billionaire and conservatives is so deeply entrenched that future confrontation is inevitable. “This election was not the final battle between Thaksin and his enemies. There will be more,” said Kan Yuanyong, director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank. “Thailand is still vulnerable.

The right-wing elements of the establishment will have no legitimacy if they try to interfere now. They will wait for Puea Thai and Thaksin to slip up, then we’ll see them strike back.”

Puea Thai had no trouble forming a fiveparty coalition yesterday and the generals who overthrew Thaksin in 2006 have signalled they will accept his new government, suggesting an accommodation may have been made with the military top brass. Any attempt to thwart Puea Thai is seen as risky and a potential lightning rod for more unrest. Thailand’s stock market and currency appeared to reflect that sentiment, with the bourse gaining 5 percent and the baht rising 1 percent against the dollar on Monday, with foreign investors expected to return following outflows of $1.4 since early May. However, the revival could be shortlived and with power back in Thaksin’s hands, trouble could be on the horizon, especially if Puea Thai seeks amnesty allowing the tycoon to return from exile without serving jail time for corruption. Thaksin’s return would represent another threat to

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Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra speaks to journalists at his luxury villa in Dubai yesterday. – AFP the decades-old influence of the “old money” elite in the running of the country, where patronage and politics is deeply intertwined and powerful alliances with top generals is used to preserve or pull down governments.

That influenced started to wane during Thaksin’s spell in office from 2001-2006, but his ouster helped restore the behind-thescenes role of the militar y and other unelected powers. With Puea Thai at the helm, that could all be undone. Thaksin is keen not to rock the boat and said yesterday he was happy living in Dubai and wanted to retire, with no plans to return as prime minister. But hardly anyone in Thailand will believe that. Jacob Ramsay, a Singapore-based consultant with Control Risks, said it was an “absolute certainty”

Puea Thai would try to bring Thaksin home a free man. “They will explore every option now to try to make new rules and look for new ways to get Thaksin the amnesty,” he said. Though not its official policy, Puea Thai’s allusions to an amnesty for Thaksin, who is adored as a populist hero by millions of rural poor, may have been decisive in galvanising his supporters and boosting the party’s winning margin.

Yingluck will be under pressure to bring her brother home. The amnesty issue is extremely divisive. Yingluck has chosen her words carefully, saying amnesty was up to the independent Fact Finding Committee for National Reconciliation (FFCNR) to decide and ruled out special treatment for Thaksin. But FFCNR chairman Kanit na Nakorn quickly put the ball back in

Yingluck’s court, saying yesterday it was not his panel’s job to discuss or formulate any amnesty bill.

Even if a Puea Thai government is broadly accepted, the amnesty is something that could further divide Thailand. “I accept a Puea Thai government, if it does a good job,” said a bank employee, who asked to be referred to by his nickname, Aud. “But amnesty for Thaksin? Would any other country accept a criminal coming home without going to prison?” Such a scenario could anger the anti-Thaksin, yellowshirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which held crippling blockades and rallies undermining two of the billionaire’s governments before the military and the courts sealed their fates.

The PAD has given no indication it will mobilise its supporters against Puea Thai, but it has filed a complaint with the Election Commission calling for the party to be disbanded because of its links to Thaksin, a felon banned from politics. A PAD-linked group has also targeted Yingluck, calling for a state investigative body to launch a probe into alleged perjury in testimony she gave during an assets concealment case involving her brother two years ago.

The allegations in both cases are not without grounds, legal experts say. They could eventually gain traction given the extra powers the post-coup constitution granted to courts in handling political cases. Thaksin’s rivals are likely to step back for now and let the dust settle to avoid a backlash from his “red shirt” supporters, who shut down parts of Bangkok for nine weeks last year, leading to clashes with troops that killed 91 people.

Another coup would shake Thailand to the core. Analysts see the courts as a more discreet and effective weapon should Thaksin’s enemies decide to strike back.

“What would be a surprise is if Thaksin’s political opponents do not use existing electoral laws, eventually leading to court decisions, as a way to politically distract, outflank and gradually undermine the broad mandate of Yingluck and her Puea Thai party,” Citigroup Global Markets said in a research note. — Reuters

All eyes on how Thaksin wields new power

By Rachel O’Brien hailand’s hopes of emerging from years of political turmoil hinge on how a victorious opposition wields its new-found power, including a possible amnesty for its fugitive leader, experts say. After overseeing a landslide victory by his Puea Thai party from self-imposed exile, Thailand’s controversial ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra is widely expected to pull the strings in the new government. It marks a dazzling comeback for the Thaksin camp five years after the nemesis of the Thai establishment was ousted by the army, with his sister Yingluck now set to become the nation’s first female prime minister.

Yet hasty attempts to bring him back as a free man would likely rattle his powerful enemies and threaten his sister’s tenure, as well as the stability of the kingdom, which is deeply split between his supporters and enemies. “Thaksin’s return to Thailand will certainly galvanise opposition,” said Andrew Walker, a Thai politics specialist at the Australian National University. “She would be wise to move very slowly on this. There will have to be a lot of behind the scenes negotiation with key figures in the military and the palace before she can act.”

Since his 2006 overthrow, other Thaksin allies have been toppled from power through a mixture of street protests and court decisions, so appeasing the Bangkok-based elite will be key to the Yingluck

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administration’s longevity. Both pro- and antiThaksin camps have held crippling protests in recent years, culminating in mass rallies by his “Red Shirt” followers last April and May, which ended with an army crackdown and more than 90 people dead. Thaksin himself is based in Dubai to avoid a jail term for corruption and is also wanted on terrorism charges linked to last year’s unrest, but he has voiced hopes of returning to see his daughter marry in Thailand in December.

Yingluck has cautiously raised the idea of a general amnesty for convicted politicians, which would pave the way for her big brother to come back, although he said yesterday that his return was “not a priority”. An amnesty would risk infuriating many in the Bangkok-based establishment in government, military and palace circles, and could prompt protests by the royalist “Yellow Shirt” movement the arch enemies of the Red Shirts.

A swift return for Thaksin “would be provocative to his opponents and adversaries and they may well take to the streets again,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. Thaksin has vowed not to seek “revenge” against his foes, and the outgoing defence minister said Monday that the army, which has a long track record of overthrowing governments, would accept the opposition win. A key issue for the military is whether the new government tries to hold the generals to account for what

critics say was an unnecessarily bloody crackdown on mainly-unarmed Red Shirt protesters last year.

“The Thaksin issue is a smoke-screen to hide their real concern - whether they would be investigated and possibly punished,” said Thongchai Winichakul, a Thai professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While Thaksin insists he does not want to “cause trouble”, many believe the former telecoms tycoon, loved by many rural and working-class Thais for his populist platform, will struggle to keep a low profile. “He probably will now return to Thailand to further galvanise his supporters. The only question is when,” said Paul Chambers, a senior research fellow at Payap University in northern Chiang Mai city. As his party celebrates a majority win, “Thaksin most assuredly views the event as a reflection of his own popularity,” Chambers added. With the campaign slogan, “Thaksin thinks, Puea Thai does” and a relative he described as his “clone” now set to lead, the opposition party made clear that Thaksin was a driving force. With his loyalists pressing for a speedy return, it will be crucial for Yingluck and her team to placate not only the wary elite, who see Thaksin as corrupt and dictatorial, but various elements within the pro-Thaksin camp. “The trick is making sure that they can withstand pressure from those among the Reds who say: we’ve now won it all, let’s just grab everything,” said Michael Montesano, at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. — AFP

Asia’s ace in hole: Deep fiscal pockets

By Emily Kaiser eserve-rich Asia can afford to turn on the government spending taps should a recent bout of sluggish economic growth deteriorate into a deeper downturn. For countries counting on exports for growth - in other words, most of Asia - overseas demand over the next couple of months may look as shaky as it did in May and June. A series of manufacturing surveys released on Friday showed export orders weakened, particularly from Europe and the United States.

As long as those regions struggle with slack consumption, Asia’s trade powerhouses will suffer.

“Clearly, we are in for a rough summer,” said Frederic Neumann, Hong Kong-based co-head of Asian economics for HSBC, which compiles the monthly manufacturing surveys in Asia. But Neumann saw some promising signs amid the gloom: inflation pressures are ebbing. That means if growth doesn’t pick up soon, governments will have more leeway to ramp up spending without worr ying so much about prices overheating. That in turn takes some of the pressure off central bankers who are struggling to cool inflation without snuffing out growth. “As inflation fades, Asian officials - and above all Chinese - will be able to crank the stimulus dial one more time, and lift growth into year-end,”

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Neumann said.

To be sure, Asia’s inflation battle is not yet won. Inflation rates are still running well ahead of government targets in China, India, South Korea and elsewhere, even after a nearly 20

it comes to negotiating wage increases to keep up with rising inflation. But that poses the risk that companies will increase prices to offset higher labour costs, touching off a worrisome wage-price spiral that drives

Taiwan’s central bank raised rates last week. Jan Loeys, head of asset allocation for J P Morgan in New York, said even if overall inflation is peaking, as many economists believe, “at best it implies a temporary

A Chinese worker stands on a scaffolding at a real estate construction site in front of the city’s financial district in Shanghai yesterday. – AFP percent drop in oil prices since early May. “Core” inflation, which strips out volatile prices such as those for food and energy, has been creeping higher. Low unemployment in the region gives workers more clout when

inflation even higher.

That is one reason why economists widely expect further interest rate increases across the region, with India, Malaysia and Thailand among the central banks tipped to hike this month.

pause, and more likely just a slowing in the tightening process.”

Why? Emerging market interest rates are not even halfway back up to the levels seen before the financial crisis

exploded in 2008. Australia is next up with a policy-setting meeting on Tuesday, although economists expect no change in interest rates as growth there shows signs of waning. Retail sales dropped unexpectedly in May, figures yesterday showed.

Malaysia’s rate decision is due on Thursday, and it is also expected to remain on hold after raising rates in May. Central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz told Reuters last week that economic growth was still key to monetary policy.

“We don’t run the economy to the ground just to have price stability,” she said.

With an assist from the government’s coffers, central bankers would have a better shot at targeting inflation without causing too much collateral damage to growth. Compared with most advanced economies, Asia is in an enviable position.

Unlike the United States, Britain and some other “rich” countries that are saddled with trillions of dollars in government debt, Asia’s big economies boast large reserves and small debt burdens. In China, for example, the government could compensate for tighter credit conditions by boosting investment in housing.

With more than $3 trillion in reserves, funding is not an obstacle. “China’s pursuit of loose fiscal policy should outweigh its tight monetary stance,” Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economists wrote in a recent note to clients. — Reuters

Focus

Japan crisis brings angst, no answers to Atomic Arcade

By Linda Sieg apanese housewife Kayako Hayashi used to think nuclear power was a risk worth taking.

Now she just doesn’t know. Nearly four months after a tsunami-triggered crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant on the other side of Japan, Hayashi who grew up with reactors in her hometown and married a nuclear engineer - has deep doubts, but no answers. “I never thought it was completely safe.

Nothing made by man is perfect. But it supported us,” Hayashi said, speaking quietly in a cafe in Tsuruga city, host to three of 14 reactors that dot the coast of the Fukui region - nicknamed the “Atomic Arcade” because it has more reactors than any other region in Japan.

“I think it would be good to abandon nuclear power, but what would we have to do to achieve that?” said the 59-year-old Hayashi. Her son and nephew also work in the industry and a niece fled her home about 50 km from the Fukushima plant after the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

“We’ve become used to this modern lifestyle, so is it really possible?” asked a clearly distressed Hayashi.

Japan has no easy options to replace nuclear power, which before the crisis supplied about 30 percent of its electricity, one reason the government is rushing to persuade communities to restart halted reactors to meet summer demand. Promoting renewable sources will take years and burning more fossil fuel use is costly and contributes to global warming. For towns and cities such as Tsuruga, where Japan’s first commercial reactor came on line in 1970, the dilemma is a more personal one after decades during which the government promoted nuclear power as clean, cheap and safe while locating reactors in rural backwaters eager for economic windfalls.

“They talked about the firm bedrock, but the reason they picked regions like this was because there are fewer people to die,” said coffee shop operator Kazuya Ueyama, noting that power generated in Fukui supplied western Japanese urban centres.

Ueyama said he was increasingly unable to watch news about Fukushima because it made him depressed. “My heart aches.”

But with local jobs heavily reliant on nuclear plants and town finances addicted to nuclear subsidies and tax revenues, not many in host towns are willing to speak out. A Tsuruga city assembly panel in late June adopted a statement urging the promotion of renewable energy but withdrew it within days after the resolution was characterised in media as anti-nuclear. “This is a town that cannot speak out,” said assembly member Harumi Kondaiji.

“People try not to pay too much attention to what is happening at Fukushima. It is as if they are looking through a kind of filter trying to think, ‘that can’t happen here’.”

Nearby communities that share the risk but not the rewards, however, have fewer compunctions.

The legislature in Eichizen city, half of which lies within a 20 km radius of the Tsuruga plant, adopted a resolution last week urging that plans for two more Tsuruga reactors should be scrapped and seeking the gradual abolition of nuclear plants.

Most of Tsuruga’s 70,000 residents would have to evacuate if an accident forced the creation of a 20km “no-go zone” like that around the Fukushima plant, a contingency with which Mayor Kazuharu Kawase admits the city isn’t prepared to cope.

Yet he is keen for operator Japan Atomic Power Co to proceed with plans for two new reactors, construction of which was part of a national energy policy to boost nuclear power’s share of the electricity supply to more than 50 percent by 2030. Prime Minister Naoto Kan is reviewing that plan and has said he aims to more than double renewable energy’s share to more than 20 percent by the mid 2020’s. Kawase thinks nuclear power’s share will fall, but not quickly. “I think that newer reactors will be safer and considering the long time frame needed for a shift (away from nuclear power), this would be one plan that would support nuclear power,” he said.

“So I definitely want these built.”

Unflagging support for nuclear power from politicians, however, is running into growing anxiety in host towns, complicating efforts to restart closed plants. Only 19 of Japan’s 54 commercial reactors are running and others will be closed for regular checks in coming months, so if none resumes operations, all will be offline by next April, threatening power crunches that could hurt corporate Japan.

“Fukushima was a shock,” said taxi driver Tadashi Kubota, waiting for passengers at the train station in Mihama, a town of about 10,000 residents that hosts three Kansai Electric Power Co reactors, including 40-year-old Mihama No.1. “Now the myth of safety has been destroyed. But almost everyone’s job is related to Kansai electric, so hardly anyone can speak out.”

Mihama Mayor Jitaro Yamaguchi said as much as 70 percent of local government revenues depended on nuclear business in the former fishing town, whose name means “Beautiful Beach”. An informal survey of Mihama households by the utility after the Fukushima accident, though, showed half were uneasy, and for the first time, about a dozen wanted the reactors shut. Yamaguchi, 68, whose long-term faith in nuclear power appears unshaken, is leaning toward approving the restart of Mihama No.1 unit once final safety assurances are given.

Whether Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa, whose approval is also needed, will do likewise remains unclear. Nishikawa has said he wants the central government to draft post-Fukushima safety standards before he gives the green light. Activists say the governor will come under growing pressure to give in as months go by, especially if other reactors stay off-line. Cynics say he may even bargain approval for reactor restarts in return for the longsought extension of a high-speed “bullet train” line to Tsuruga. “People used only to see the economic benefits,” said 75-year-old activist Miwako Ogiso, who has waged an often lonely anti-nuclear battle in Fukui for more than three decades. “But now the number of people worried about their lives is increasing.”— Reuters

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Powell backs life bans NEW DELHI: Former world long-jump champion Mike Powell called yesterday for drug cheats to face life bans, as he visited India days after a doping scandal rocked the country. “I think if you are using drugs, you should be banned for life,” the 47-year-old American was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

Powell, who broke compatriot Bob Beamon’s 23-year long-jump world record at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo, is currently in Mumbai as the brand ambassador of the IAAF, the sport’s world governing body. Six Indians failed dope tests last week, including Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, and two more on Monday, including Ashwini Akkunji.

The trio were part of the women’s 4x400m relay team that won gold medals in 2010 at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. “It shows we are taking this seriously,” said Powell. “As of now, if you try to use something now, you are taking a big, big risk. —AFP

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

Phelps wins at Canada Cup

Turkey rocked by match-fixing probe ISTANBUL: Turkey’s soccer establishment was left reeling yesterday by the detention of almost 60 people, including the chairman of champions Fenerbahce, in a major match-fixing investigation.

Police launched raids in 15 provinces across Turkey on Sunday morning, searching club premises and detaining first division club players and administrators in connection with the allegations.

Turkish political leaders expressed concern at the claims. “If even 5 percent of these allegations prove right, it’s very grave for Turkish sports. I hope that all this will result in a

MONTREAL: Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly in 51.32 seconds on Sunday to complete a 100-200 double at the Canada Cup. “I’m really happy with that and I know I need to do more training,” said Phelps, who turned 26 on Thursday. “It’s races like these that I think help me more mentally than anything else. ... Being able to still see that I can pop a good race here and there gives me a little bit of a confidence.”

The three-day meet was billed as a tuneup for the world championships starting July 16 at Shanghai and Phelps helped draw 1,800 spectators Sunday, when he stayed for an hour after his race to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. Phelps could swim up to seven events at the world championships, including the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle, the 200 individual medley and three relays. —AP

cleansing,” said Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the ruling AK Party.

News of the detentions sent shares in the affected clubs tumbling on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Monday morning.

Shares in Fenerbahce , whose chairman Aziz Yildirim was among those taken away by police, dropped 10 percent.

Fenerbahce said in a statement it had not been involved in any wrongdoing and expressed its faith in the justice system. “Everyone should know that Fenerbahce Sports Club has never been and will never be engaged in any unlawful and illegal activity. —Reuters

Bautista homer lifts Blue Jays TORONTO: Jose Bautista hit his major leagueleading 27th home run, one of three Toronto homers in a four-run eighth, as the Blue Jays ended Cliff Lee’s scoreless innings streak at 34 with a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Edwin Encarnacion had a two-run shot and rookie Eric Thames also connected for the Blue Jays in the eighth to chase Lee. Octavio Dotel (2-1) pitched 1 2-3 innings for the win. Lee (9-6) gave up a season-high seven runs — six earned — and 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings.

He walked none and struck out nine.

The left-hander, who went 5-0 with an 0.21 ERA in five June starts, had not lost since May 31 at Washington and came in having pitched three consecutive shutouts. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 34 before giving up a run in the third.

ARLINGTON: Florida Marlins’ Emilio Bonifacio sprints toward first on a bunt as Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba gives chase in the third inning of an interleague baseball game.—AP

Yankees, Brewers top All-Star game NEW YORK: The starting lineups for the All-Star game will include four New York Yankees and three Milwaukee Brewers.

Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson of the Yankees were elected by fans in the American League.

Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks were chosen from Milwaukee to start for the NL team for the July 12 game in Phoenix. The results were released Sunday.

“It means the Milwaukee Brewers have arrived on the national scene,” Braun, the top NL vote-getter, said Sunday before the Central co-leaders visited Minnesota. Fielder and Weeks were among several players who overcame voting deficits in the final week.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and Detroit catcher Alex Avila also rallied late to earn starting spots. Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista, the reigning home run champion, drew a record 7.4 million votes. He became the first Blue Jays player elected to start since Carlos Delgado in 2003.

“People are recognizing that you’re doing well and for me it’s been in three different territories _ the United States and Canada and the Dominican,” Bautista said, a day after he connected off Halladay for his big league-leading 26th home run. “I can’t even describe how good that feels.”

The AL starting lineup: Adrian Gonzalez at first base, Robinson Cano at second, Jeter at shortstop, Alex Rodriguez at third base, with Bautista, Josh Hamilton and Curtis Granderson in the outfield, Avila behind the plate and David Ortiz at designated hitter.

The NL starters: Fielder at first, Weeks at second, Reyes at shortstop, Placido Polanco at third, with Braun, Kemp and Lance Berkman in the outfield and Brian McCann catching. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy will choose the DH. Injuries are sure to impact the final rosters — three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols was left off while recovering from a broken left wrist and Reyes is nursing a hamstring problem. Once again, the league that wins will get home-field advantage in the World Series.

Led by McCann, the NL won last year for the first time since 1996. Phillies aces Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Halladay were part of the 13-man NL staff. Philadelphia has the best record in the majors. The World Series champion San Francisco Giants put four pitchers on the squad: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Ryan Vogelsong.

Vogelsong will certainly be among the feel-good stories in Arizona. At 33, he’d spent the previous four years in Japan and the minors before getting called up early this season. Jeter, a 12time All-Star set to come off the disabled list late yesterday, will be among six New York Yankees heading to the desert. Also going are 14-time All-Star Rodriguez,

Cano, Granderson, closer Mariano Rivera and backup catcher Russell Martin.

The 37-year-old Jeter always seems to be a lightning rod when it comes to awards and honors, ratcheting up the debate of popularity vs. production. He’s in the midst of another down year and has been hurt — Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is having a breakout season and made the AL team as a backup, deserving Jhonny Peralta of Detroit was left off.

The Yankees own the best record in the AL, although two of their stars were among the notable omissions: CC Sabathia, tied for the major league high in wins, and first baseman Mark Teixeira, among the leaders in homers and RBIs. The rival Red Sox put four players on the team: Gonzalez, Ortiz, pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

“Seems like the Yankees always take care of all the All-Star voting every year, so it’s just disappointing to not see more Red Sox on that team,” Boston ace Jon Lester said. Texas manager Ron Washington will guide the AL team. Rangers pitcher CJ Wilson made the club over Sabathia.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of choices on left-handed relievers and CJ has the experience of doing that,” Washington said. “He’s deserving, as far as I’m concerned, to be on the All-Star team, so I chose him.”

This year’s squad includes 13 first-time All-Stars in the AL and 11 in the NL. Among them will be closer Joel Hanrahan, Pittsburgh’s lone representative. Hanrahan said he won’t mind changing his All-Star break vacation plans.

“I think it will be a lot more fun than going to a furniture shop. They say it takes three months to get a couch _ wanted to see one and get it on order,” he said. On the ballot for the extra AL player are outfielders Alex Gordon of Kansas City and Adam Jones of Baltimore, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, Detroit DH Victor Martinez and Tampa Bay second baseman Ben Zobrist.

“I’ve been around long enough to know how it goes. This is a tough process because you have the fan vote, the player vote, every team is going to be represented,” Konerko said. “I know it’s very possible that when you play the position I play there will be somebody left without a chair.”

Candidates for the final NL spot are outfielders Andre Ethier of the Dodgers, Mike Morse of the Nationals and Shane Victorino of the Phillies, first baseman Todd Helton of Colorado and pitcher Ian Kennedy of the Diamondbacks. Bochy said it wasn’t easy to fill out the rosters. “It felt like bamboo being stuck up my fingernails,” he joked. “Yeah, we enjoyed the process. But we also are thoughtful of the guys who were deserving that we couldn’t find a spot for. There’s quite a few good names out there, but that’s every year and that never will change.” —AP

Angels 3, Dodgers 1 At Anaheim, Russell Branyan hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for the Angels in the seventh inning, while Ervin Santana pitched into the eighth for his first victory in more than a month.

Santana (4-8) allowed a run and six hits in 7 23 innings. Scott Downs got the last out of the eighth and rookie Jordan Walden pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 25 chances.

Marlins 6, Rangers 4 At Arlington, Logan Morrison hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning as Florida posted a winning road trip under 80year-old interim manager Jack McKeon. Rangers starter CJ Wilson, picked as an All-Star by his manager earlier in the day, struck out nine but left with one out in the eighth and the tying run at third base. Florida got even and went ahead against three relievers.

The Marlins, last in the NL East, won two of three in the series to wrap up a 5-4 trip. They have a 6-6 win-loss record since McKeon became their manager again after Edwin Rodriguez resigned.

Red Sox 2, Astros 1 At Houston, Boston scored the go-ahead run on a walk by Mark Melancon in the ninth inning to secure a series sweep. Josh Beckett (7-3) allowed five hits, a run and no walks while striking out a season-high 11 in eight innings.

Drew Sutton pinch-hit for Beckett to open the ninth and drew a one-out walk. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a single to right field before Dustin Pedroia grounded into a forceout to leave runners at the corners. The Astros intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez, the major league RBI leader, to load the bases before Melancon (5-2), the Astros closer, walked Kevin Youkilis to make it 2-1.

Reds 7, Indians 5 At Cincinnati, Edgar Renteria hit his first homer since his World Series MVP performance, helping the Reds break out of their offensive slump and beat Cleveland, their only win of the season against their intrastate rival.

Chris Heisey also homered off Mitch Talbot (25), who has struggled since returning from a sore elbow. The Reds piled up six runs and 10 hits in his four innings. Mike Leake (8-4) became the Reds’ first eight-game winner, matching his career high with eight strikeouts in six innings.

Rays 8, Cardinals 3 At St. Petersburg, Johnny Damon drove in four runs for Tampa Bay, while Jeremy Hellickson (8-7) allowed three runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings.

The Rays had been outscored 20-1 during the right-hander’s skid. Kyle Farnsworth pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his 17th save.

Tigers 6, Giants 3 At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead, two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning as the Tigers avoided a three-game sweep.

The Tigers fired pitching coach Rick Knapp after the game and replaced him with bullpen coach Jeff Jones. Rick Porcello (7-6) gave up three runs and five hits over seven innings in a much-needed performance for Detroit’s suddenly shaky rotation.

He was effectively wild, becoming the fifth pitcher since 1919 to have three wild pitches and hit three batters in a game. All-Star Jose Valverde closed the game for his 20th save in as many chances.

Orioles 5, Braves 4 At Atlanta, Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and Nick Markakis had a career-high five hits as Baltimore ended its five-game skid. Zach Britton gave up three runs in five-plus innings and hit his first career homer.

Jim Johnson (5-1) gave up one run in two innings.

The Braves had their five-game winning streak snapped and were denied their third straight interleague sweep. Kevin Gregg pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save. Markakis hit a one-out single off Scott Proctor (1-2) in the seventh before Reynolds smashed the go-ahead

NEW YORK: Yankees’ Ramiro Pena (left) dives for a ball during the fourth inning of an interleague baseball game against the New York Mets.—AP homer, his 18th, into the left-field seats.

Cubs 3, White Sox 1 At Chicago, veteran Rodrigo Lopez allowed two hits in seven shutout innings and Aramis Ramirez homered as the Cubs beat the White Sox to salvage the finale of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

The White Sox captured the season crosstown series 4-2 with both Cubs’ victories coming against Gavin Floyd.

Twins 9, Brewers 7 At Minneapolis, Danny Valencia delivered another bases-loaded hit, a two-run single that capped a four-run seventh inning as the Twins rallied for a victory. Valencia is 8 for 13 with the bases loaded this season.

Rene Tosoni homered and drove in three runs for Minnesota, which trailed Zack Greinke by 6-1 in the fourth inning. Jim Thome hit his 595th career homer for the Twins. Mark Kotsay homered and drove in three runs for the Brewers, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

Royals 16, Rockies 8 At Denver, Melky Cabrera homered twice and drove in five runs as Kansas City equaled a team record with 12 extra-base hits and outslugged Carlos Gonzalez and the Colorado Rockies.

Gonzalez homered and tied a career high with six RBIs. But he left in the seventh inning after he ran into the center-field wall and injured his right wrist. Cabrera and Eric Hosmer, who also homered, had four hits apiece as Kansas City ended a five-game losing streak. Mike Moustakas and Jeff Francoeur each got three of the Royals’ season-high 21 hits.

Mariners 3, Padres 1 At Seattle, Blake Beavan pitched seven impressive innings of one-run ball in his major league debut, and Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and scored twice for the Mariners. Seattle took five of six against San Diego in interleague play.

Beavan (1-0) was starting in place of Erik Bedard, who went on the 15-day disabled list earlier this week with a sprained left knee.

Beavan allowed just three hits and struck out

four. David Pauley pitched the eighth and AllStar Brandon League picked up his 22nd save in 25 chances in the ninth.

Mets 3, Yankees 2 At New York, Pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino came through with a tying single off Mariano Rivera, Jason Bay drove home the winning run in the 10th inning and the Mets ended the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak.

Playing without an ailing Jose Reyes, the Mets were shut down by Freddy Garcia for seven innings before rallying against Rivera in the ninth to avoid a Subway Series sweep at Citi Field.

Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston drew a leadoff walk from Luis Ayala (1-2) in the 10th and the Mets loaded the bases when Pena booted Daniel Murphy’s slow grounder with two outs.

Athletics 7, D’backs 2 At Oakland, California, Conor Jackson and Scott Sizemore each hit two-run homers and All-Star Gio Gonzalez struck out seven for the Athletics.

David DeJesus also drove in two runs for the A’s, who won for the fourth time in 11 games since a six-game winning streak ended.

Xavier Nady and Sean Burroughs drove in runs for the Diamondbacks, who lost their third consecutive series and have lost four of their last five games. Gonzalez (8-5) allowed a run and walked three in seven innings.

Pirates 10, Nationals 2 At Washington, In the one NL game, Pittsburgh scored three in the first and five in the second, helping give Kevin Correia his 11th win of the season and earning a split in its fourgame series with the Nationals. Correia (11-6) allowed two runs and six hits over six innings to become the first Pirates pitcher to win 11 games before the All-Star break since Jim Bibby in 1980.

The Pirates battered Jason Marquis (7-3), who lost for the first time in eight starts. He lasted only 1 1-3 innings, allowing seven runs and eight hits as the Nationals dropped to 2-5 under manager Davey Johnson.—-AP

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

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

Philadelphia Atlanta NY Mets Washington Florida

National League Eastern Division 53 32 .624 49 36 .576 42 42 .500 42 43 .494 38 46 .452

4 10.5 11 14.5

St. Louis Milwaukee Pittsburgh Cincinnati Chicago Cubs Houston

Central Division 45 40 .529 45 40 .529 43 41 .512 43 42 .506 35 50 .412 29 56 .341

1.5 2 10 16

San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego LA Dodgers

Western Division 48 37 .565 45 40 .529 41 43 .488 38 47 .447 37 48 .435

3 6.5 10 11

American League Eastern Division NY Yankees Boston Tampa Bay Toronto Baltimore

W 50 49 47 41 36

L 32 34 37 44 45

PCT .610 .590 .560 .482 .444

Central Division Cleveland 44 38 .537 Detroit 45 40 .529 Chicago W Sox 42 43 .494 Minnesota 36 46 .439 Kansas City 34 50 .405 Texas LA Angels Seattle Oakland

Western Division 44 41 .518 44 41 .518 41 43 .488 38 47 .447

GB 1.5 4 10.5 13.5 .5 3.5 8 11 2.5 6

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

S P ORT S

Fearless Djokovic’s run started with a haircut WIMBLEDON: The Wimbledon champion’s journey to joyfully eating the Centre Court grass started with the ugliest of haircuts.

Seven months ago, Novak Djokovic had his head shaved to celebrate Serbia’s first Davis Cup victory. His mother certainly didn’t like it. For the rest of us, it seemed more proof that he should really be called “Joke”ovic, a player who despite his wells of tennis talent wasn’t worth taking too seriously and who had perhaps been driven a little nutty by years of banging his head against two immovable objects: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Well, sorry, Novak, we take it all back.

That haircut seems like absolute genius now. Leading a Serbian comeback over France in December proved to be the catalyst for the most impressive run to open a season by a man in a quarter-century.

Taking his once war-scarred country to the top changed Djokovic. Although it was

a team effort, he learned about himself, about how good it felt to be No. 1. He says so. His mother says so. So does his uncle.

And the tennis record books prove it.

48-1. That’s 48 victories — including, with Wimbledon, two Grand Slam singles titles — and just one defeat in six months.

Not since John McEnroe went 52-1 in 1984 has the sport seen anything like it.

“After the Davis Cup win, I was full of life, full of energy, eager to come back to the tennis court, eager to play some more, win some other tournaments,” Djokovic said Sunday after dethroning Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final. “In a sentence: I lost my fear. I believed in my abilities more than ever.” And, now, so do we all.

In the first two sets against Nadal, he barely put a foot wrong. The player who used to be waylaid by mystery ailments during matches, at times brilliant, at times flaky, was as serious as one can be during

Players leave landlords legacy of dirty linen LONDON: A small mountain of dirty towels, stray underwear left in the washing machine or a pile of well-worn tennis shoes are some of the souvenirs landlords in southwest London often find when they return home after letting out their houses to players competing at Wimbledon. They are the lucky ones.

“A Swedish player, who is now a coach, once left the house (he was renting) suddenly without informing anyone that he was leaving early,” Joanna Doniger, who runs a short-term letting agency that specialises in renting out private homes to players during the Wimbledon fortnight, told Reuters in an interview.

“The owner went back five days later and saw that there was an infestation of flies as it was a really hot summer and food had been left out to rot.

“She then went into what had been her white bathroom and it had turned green because there was mould growing everywhere. The player had left the hot shower running and the steam caused the mould growth. The owner was very, very upset and beyond angry.” Surely that scene must have convinced the owner never to let out her house again?

“Of course not. Not when the homeowners can earn three times the going rate for a short-term let,” added the bubbly Doniger, who rents out around 150 properties every June through her company Tennis London.

Residents who live within walking distance of the All England Club can land a windfall every summer if they are willing to vacate their homes for at least two weeks during the grasscourt major.

In an area which lacks hotels, onebedroom flats can earn 1,000 pounds ($1,598.500) a week while a top-end, five-bedroom house has a price tag of 10,000 pounds ($15,985.000) a week.

In the 17 years Doniger has been in the business, she has built up a client list that has included the greats of the sport — such as Pete Sampras, the Williams sisters, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer - and thrives on the challenge of finding houses that meets their varied tastes and needs.

Businessman Chris Lim has a twobedroom, ground-floor flat in a building once owned by the Dutch Royal family and was suitably excited when he discovered his home would be taken over by tennis royalty.

“I’m a keen tennis player myself and was very excited when I found out Roger Federer was staying here. I had another home before this one in Springfield Avenue up in the Village and he stayed there the first time he

won Wimbledon. So he has stayed at two of my properties,” Lim told Reuters.

“Apparently his reason for staying here was because he liked my furniture - even if he did put it in the car park. I saw some pictures in the papers with my best leather chairs in the gravel drive. (I) did think that was a bit cheeky but there was no damage.

“This is where he slept,” Lim added showing off a dark-wood, four-poster bed dressed in pristine white linen.

Landlords such as Lim get a rare glimpse into the lifestyles of their VIP tenants.

“His coach at the time was staying with him and they did a lot of cooking.

He left some food behind in the fridge.

There seemed to be a lot of ingredients they had bought like chillies and spices.

They were obviously cooking,” said Lim, who has also rented his flat to former top-10 American James Blake.

“There was also a lot of red wine consumed but whether that was Roger or his coach you’d never really know.”

Lim also found an unexpected stash had been left behind for him one year.

“I’m not sure if it was after Roger Federer or James Blake stayed here, but I came in through the front door and into the hallway and there was a stack of towels left there like a pyramid,” he said. “They were all Wimbledon towels but they were the cheap, white ones.

They weren’t the nice ones you see them go on court with. But they were all dirty. So I had them all laundered and I have been using them for years. I had about 30 or 40 of them and I’m now down to the last six or seven.” Lim’s experience is not an isolated case.

“Often owners come back and find a lot of tennis clothes left for them,” explained Doniger, whose company takes a 15 percent cut of each rental and turns over about half a million pounds a year.

“Tennis shoes, tennis balls, clothes, they are always leaving those behind.

They are usually worn, left in the washing machine... forgotten. I once had Nadal’s knickers left behind,” she grinned. “You should see some of the shoes left behind. John Isner’s shoes are huge, they are like this,” Doniger, 56, indicated by holding her hands about a metre apart. “He needs a suitcase for each shoe.” Her partner Ken, who is roped in to help during the championships, added: “They (players) get a lot of clothes and shoes from their sponsors so it’s not worth their while packing.” During the Wimbledon fortnight, Doniger’s black Mini becomes the nerve centre of her business and she can be seen whizzing around the streets surrounding the All England Club. —Reuters

Cash, Bird lift Mystics

WASHINGTON: Seattle Storm’s Katie Smith (14) goes up against Washington Mystics’ Nicky Anosike (right) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game. —AP

WASHINGTON: Swin Cash scored 19 points and Sue Bird added 17 as the Seattle Storm beat the Mystics 73-63 Sunday for their first win in Washington since 2006. Tanisha Wright also scored 17 points for the Storm (5-3), who took the lead for good late in the first quarter and were ahead 35-26 at halftime. After the Mystics got within 43-40 midway through the third quarter, Bird drilled a 3-pointer and scored eight points during a 14-4 run over the final 4:48 of the period to make it 57-44.

The Mystics cut the lead to 61-56 on a 3point play by Matee Ajavon with 3:20 remaining, but didn’t get closer. The Storm have won two of three without reigning WNBA most valuable player Lauren Jackson, who has an injured left hip, and the defending champions have won three of four overall.

Washington has its own injury woes as the Mystics were without leading scorer Crystal Langhorne, who missed the first game of her four-year WNBA career. The Mystics’ offense took the hit, producing a season-low 26 points in the first half.

Washington shot 31.9 percent (22 for 69) overall. Victoria Dunlap, the Mystics’ firstround draft pick this year, replaced Langhorne in the starting lineup and led the team with 19 points. Ajavon scored 15 points and Nicky Anosike finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mystics, who have lost five of six. —AP

the final, all focus, fine forehands and poise.

For tennis purists, he even threw in a dose of serve-and-volley, earning himself championship point — he only needed one — by coming confidently to the net and sending his volleyed winner cross-court.

“Winning, in just over an hour, two sets against the defending champion on the court that he hasn’t lost (on) for three years was incredible,” he said. “You know, I was just trying to enjoy the tennis that I play.

Obviously, it was the best tennis match on grass courts that I’ve played ever, for sure.”

He literally tasted his victory, crouching down and pulling up some blades from the hallowed turf and popping them in his mouth.

“I felt like an animal,” said Djokovic. “I wanted to see how it tastes. It tastes good.”

What makes Djokovic’s climb, and it has been a long and arduous climb, to No. 1 more impressive is how persistent he has

been. He could, and at times did, have become dispirited as Federer and Nadal left only crumbs for everyone else in tennis.

Until Djokovic won at the Australian Open this January, only five of 30 Grand Slam titles since Federer won his first at Wimbledon in 2003 went to someone not called Roger or Rafa.

His uncle, Goran, recalled how Djokovic was stumped, in particular, by a closefought loss to Nadal in Madrid in 2009 when despite playing “unbelievable tennis” he was still left wondering: “What is this?

What can I do? What should I do to beat this guy?” “I would lie to you if I (said I) didn’t have doubts,” Djokovic acknowledged. “I did have difficult, crisis times where I didn’t know if I could really make it, you know? Because the first two guys were so dominant.”

His mother, Dijana, added: “It’s very hard for four years to be No. 3, you know? You

cannot (make this) step, this one step to move on.” “Now he did it,” she said.-Well, that may be stretching it.

Federer and Nadal are not done yet.

Getting to No. 1 is one thing. Keeping that ranking when two of the greatest players tennis has seen are breathing down your neck could be something else.

Or, as Bjorn Borg put it, Djokovic is “flying on the moon,” but “Nadal is going to come back; he’s going to win more Grand Slams.” But, for the moment, Djokovic has the world at his feet. Well, almost.

The only thing to defeat him during these two weeks in London’s leafy suburb was a squirrel that visited his garden on a regular basis. Every day it got closer but, he said, it wouldn’t take food from his outstretched hand. Then again, that was before Djokovic became Wimbledon champion. “Maybe now she will,” he said. “Maybe she heard.”—AP

Djokovic triumph sparks scenes of joy in Belgrade BELGRADE: Central Belgrade erupted with joyas tennis fans paraded in the city ’s Republic Square following Serb Novak Djokovic’s four-set win over over Rafa Nadal in the Wimbledon final on Sunday.

The streets of Serbia’s capital were virtually deserted on a gloriously sunny afternoon during the epic battle between the world’s top two players as fans packed bars and beer gardens to watch the match on giant screens.

But once Djokovic, who secured top spot in the world rankings by reaching the final, had clinched his third grand slam title, the city of two million people sprung back to life in a fierce display of national pride.

Some fans hooted horns as they drove around the central city square and others danced to the tunes of a local rock band, with most donning Serbian flags and football shirts as they chanted Djokovic’s name.

“My heart is filled with joy for Djokovic’s victory, I am a lifelong supporter and this really is a great day for all of us here,” said 37-year old Nenad Jecmenica as he draped himself in a Serbian flag.

Ivana Saric, a 20-year old student, said: “ This is phenomenal, we are absolutely delighted. I couldn’t bear to watch the latter stages of the match but I realised Djokovic won when the party kicked off in the city centre.

“He deserved this title every bit and Serbia can be proud of what he has achieved in his very young career,” she added.

A group of English fans, wearing all-white in honour of the traditional Wimbledon kit, flew to Serbia to support Djokovic and roared him on in one of Belgrade’s crammed bars, much to the delight of the locals.

“We came to Serbia this weekend to support Djokovic, the only reason we are here is because we love him and he is amazing,” said 35-year old Londoner Alex.

BELGRADE: People celebrate in a coffee shop as they watch the last point of the Wimbledon men’s singles finals match between Novak DJokovic and Rafael Nadal. —AP “We couldn’t get tickets for Wimbledon so we thought it would be a good laugh to come here and support Djokovic, it turned out to be a brilliant weekend,” he said.

“The boy has a fantastic attitude, it looked like Nadal would come back but Djokovic held it together and what he pulled off was absolutely amazing,” added Gerry Scott.

Djokovic, who will lead Davis Cup holders Serbia in their World Group quarter-final tie in Sweden next weekend, will find himself in uncharted territory as the world number one.

His main objective will be to aboid complacency after romping to an astonishing 48-1 win-loss record in 2011 including victories in the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Djokovic’s former mentor Niki Pilic, who runs the tennis academy in Munich where the Djokovic arrived from his troubled motherland as a 12-year old, said he was confident the player would not get carried away with his success. “Honestly, I think becoming the

Sheikh Salman had to raise his game to snatch the Porsche GT3 Cup title from Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal.

world’s top player will change nothing in Novak’s approach, he certainly won’t lose the plot, take three months off and start resting on laurels,” Pilic told local media after Djokovic reached the final.

“He is a real champion and will carry on with unabating hunger to add more titles to his trophy cabinet. “He showed no signs of complacency when he won his first Grand Slam title, the 2008 Australian Open; he kept going and won his second title in Melbourne this year.

“It shows that he is grateful for what he has been given and hence he will treasure his throne,” said Croatian Pilic, who helped Serbia to their first Davis Cup title last year in an advisory capacity.

“What he has achieved is equivalent to conquering Mount Everest, because you must ask yourselves how many millions of people play tennis and dream of becoming the best in the world.” —Reuters

Salman hopes Formula One will return soon to Bahrain where he says youngsters dream of being racing drivers.

Sheikh Salman hoping for fast return of Formula One DUBAI: Bahrain’s latest motor racing champion, Sheikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa, is hoping for a fast return to the Kingdom for Formula One so that aspiring young drivers can follow their dreams.

“I just hope that F1 comes back to Bahrain soon,” says Sheikh Salman, who covered himself in glory last season with a triumphant campaign in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

“We’ve become used to having the F1 circus in town, with all its colour and excitement. It’s very important for Bahrain and we just need to have the conditions that make it possible for it to return.

“There’s a great passion for cars and for motor sport in Bahrain. We love racing at every level, particularly F1. Over the last few years youngsters have grown up here dreaming of being the nex t Alonso or Hamilton.

“Before F1 came here I’m not sure what they’d have said if you asked them what they wanted to do in life. Now everyone wants to be a racing driver.” After capturing the Porsche GT3 Cup crown last season, Sheik h Salman is determined to keep improving as a driver, although a familiar rival will be waiting when the 2011-12 series starts alongside November’s 2011 Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Defending champion Prince Abdulaziz Al

Faisal pushed him all the way before the Bahraini driver wrapped up the championship in the final round at Dubai Autodrome in April, and the Saudi star is polishing his skills and gaining more valuable experience in Europe this summer.

“Of course I saw that he won an FIA GT

A sporting ambassador for the region that’s how Sheikh Salman sees Prince Abdulaziz following his recent achievements in Europe.

race in Portugal and that he also competed in the Le Mans 24 hours,” said Sheik h Salman. “The win was a very special achievement for Abdulaziz who is an ambassador for this region. That’s very important for us all here and we thank him for the way he has represented the region.”

“Every time I look at the photographs from last season it reminds me of all the great battles we had. It was a tough championship and I’m just glad I wrapped it up at the end, especially as Abdulaziz was so close and Bandar (Alesayi) and Khaled (Al Qubaisi) had stepped up and were very strong. It showed that the championship is getting more and more competitive.”

Sheikh Salman recently became a father for the first time, naming his new born son Rashid after his father. “I might be losing some sleep at nights but overall I’m very happy,” he said. “A lot of other drivers find a balance between racing and family life so that won’t be a problem.”

Looking ahead to the 2011-12 season, he hopes to see more young Arab drivers enter the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

“It has set a new standard here and there is nothing else like it,” he said. “We are very lucky that Porsche brought in an organisation like Lechner Racing and that they invested so much time and money in the series to help the development of motor sport here.”

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

SPORTS

Williams rekindle old Renault flame GROVE: Williams revived memories of their Formula One glory years yesterday by announcing a return in 2012 to the Renault engines that powered them to a string of heart-stirring titles in the 1990s.

The team, who are currently with Cosworth and also have a relationship with Indian-owned Jaguar outside of Formula One, said in a statement they had agreed a long-term chassisengine partnership with the French manufacturer. The deal means the British team will use the same engines as world champions Red Bull next season and extends to 2013 with a view to continuing after the introduction of a new V6 turbo in 2014.

“Our previous relationship with Renault was one of the most successful in Williams’ history but we will not

allow ourselves to dwell too much on the past,” said team principal Frank Williams.

“We must look to the future and continue to re-build our on-track reputation, which I am hopeful that today’s announcement will help us to do.” Williams, currently ninth of the 12 teams, have endured their worst ever start to a season with just four points from eight races. They last won a race in 2004.

Renault are already supplying three teams - Red Bull, Lotus-backed Renault and Team Lotus-and needed permission from the governing FIA before they could supply a fourth.

While Red Bull have dominated the season, starting all the races so far on pole position and winning six with Sebastian Vettel, Team Lotus have yet

to score a point and Williams was clear of the task ahead.

“On the face of it, people will assume that Williams and Renault back together is a great story, watch the winning happen,” he told reporters at the team’s factory, where French tricolour flags fluttered alongside the Union Jack.

“I remind myself that Formula One never stands still and what we used to achieve with Renault in the 90s is by no means a guarantee for what we can perhaps achieve in the future.

“We have ahead of us at Williams a steep mountain, it is quite possible to climb it and we will climb it. How long it will take is another matter but we are determined to deliver our side of the bargain,” he added. “Personally I am really thrilled, delighted and

slightly nervous.” Together, Williams and Renault won 63 grands prix between 1989 and 1997 and four drivers’ and five constructors’ championships.

Britons Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, both attending the announcement at the factory, took titles in 1992 and 1996 while Canadian Jacques Villeneuve-also present-was world champion in 1997.

France’s Alain Prost was champion in 1993. “This will make a huge difference,” said Mansell, standing next to his title-winning car.

“The impetus they will gain from this, knowing there is something in the back that they don’t have to question and they can concentrate more on the aerodynamics ... I think they will make a quantum leap at the end

of this year.” Both sides also trumpeted the business and marketing opportunities of the agreement.

“Renault remains in Formula One to achieve success in a cost efficient way and the partnership with Williams has great potential,” said Renault Sport F1 president Bernard Rey. “Williams has recently taken several important steps, both commercially and technically, to update its operations and we feel that this partnership is another important step in its rigorous plan.

“From 2012 onwards the fact that we will have four partners puts us ahead of other engine manufacturers in terms of market share, but off track it will also enable us to further use Formula One as a marketing platform for our parent company.”—Reuters

Watney holds off Choi to clinch AT&T National

David Haye (left) of Britain

Klitschko is the best — Haye LONDON: David Haye said yestrday that Vladimir Klitschko is the best fighter in the world but still believes he could beat him in a re-match after losing their world heavyweight unification bout.

The Ukrainian outclassed the Briton to win a unanimous points decision over 12 rounds to add Haye’s WBA title to the WBO, IBF and IBO belts he already held.

Haye later explained he could not unleash his “Hayemaker” on Klitschko because a broken little toe on his right foot meant he could not balance or launch himself properly.

He told talkSPORT radio: “Whenever you have injuries, the last thing you do is tell your opponent because he’ll aim for that.

“I couldn’t push off my right foot but that’s not the reason I lost the fight-he was better than me, pure and simple. I came off second best and even if I’d been 100 percent fit I might not have won. He’s the best fighter on the planet right now.” Haye said he believed he could still beat Klitschko if he gets the chance of another fight.

“I’d love a re-match but the ball is in his court. I had the title and went out to

unify them, but now he’s in a good position and it’s up to him. If he wants another super fight he can fight me. If he wants an easy one, he can fight one of the guys who just goes over for a pay day.

“It’s always been my plan to retire before my 31st birthday but I’ve got my fingers crossed that he’ll check out how much he earned (from the fight) and realise he’ll earn peanuts against anyone else compared to fighting me again.

“I’d love the opportunity to do it again and I believe on my day I could beat him.

I failed this time fair and square but I’d like another crack at it. I’m very frustrated with myself.”

Klitschko said a rematch was not top of his agenda and questioned how much Haye really wanted it. “You know what? I am in the driving seat right now,” the Ukrainian told Sky Sports. “And I will make the decision what I am going to do next, with David Haye or without David Haye, and it’s a pretty good feeling. “I am a pretty aware of my choices and what the next steps are going to be...David Haye is out of the window, he’s out of the picture. He’s out.”—Reuters

Blues out to spoil Lockyer’s farewell SYDNEY: Resurgent New South Wales are aiming to gatecrash Darren Lockyer’s emotional farewell bash and end Queensland’s bid for an unprecedented sixth consecutive State of Origin series tomorrow.

Test skipper Lockyer is making a record 36th and final Origin appearance for Queensland and the Maroons are using his curtain call game as motivation to prolong the Blues’ Origin misery before a capacity home crowd in Brisbane.

NSW breathed new life into this year’s series with a bold tactical 18-8 victory over the Maroons in Sydney last month and go into the decider with renewed confidence to claim their first interstate series since 2005.

Blues coach Ricky Stuart went against convention by discarding specialist front rowers and instead using pace, mobility and ball movement to outflank Queensland.

It worked a treat with skipper and backrower Paul Gallen the unanimous choice as man-of-the-match in his unaccustomed role at prop.

Stuart is expected to keep the same tactics that proved successful in Sydney for the decider although he has yet to confirm his line-up with a number of players fighting to be fit.

Stuart, NSW’s first full-time coach and the last Blues mentor to win an Origin series, has warned his players not to get caught up in the emotionalism of Lockyer’s farewell.

“The occasion won’t be too big for my players. I just hope the occa-

sion won’t be too big for other people that are involved,” he said.

Modern-day great Lockyer, who will lead the Maroons for the 22nd time, said he will speak to his teammates before the decider, assuring them that he will have no regretswin, lose or draw tomorrow.

“I’ve got something I want to say to the boys to try and take the pressure off them,” Lockyer said. Lockyer understands the bond his players feel with him after being together since 2006, but he said they needed to win for themselves.

“The more emotion you put into it, sometimes it works against you,” he said. “But there’s a challenge there and I like a challenge.”

Queensland Test prop Petero Civoniceva said the team understands what is at stake.

“The boys feel so strongly for him. We all know what is at stake here and love working under him,” Civoniceva said.

“He’s been a tremendous skipper and a reason why this team has been so successful in the past. We will all want to send him off on the right note.”

The Blues are desperate to end Queensland’s supremacy, which would stretch to 16 series wins to NSW’s 12 with a victory tomorrow.

The Maroons go into the decider after winning 12 of the past 17 Origin encounters.

But NSW will be buoyed by the statistic that the away team has won the final game of every Origin series since 2005.—AFP

NEWTOWN SQUARE: American Nick Watney fought off a spirited back nine charge by South Korea’s KJ Choi to claim his second PGA Tour win of the season with a two-shot victory at the AT&T National on Sunday.

Watney, overnight leader with compatriot Rickie Fowler, managed only a single birdie on the back nine but did not drop a shot on the way to a four-under 66 for a 13-under total of 267 in steamy weather in the Philadelphia suburbs.

“With 27 holes to go, I was just trying to play my way back in the tournament,” Watney told reporters. “For some reason, the hole just got bigger for me. I’m overjoyed.

“KJ kept coming and coming.

It makes it that much more rewarding. I’m very, very proud of the way I was able to finish.”

One shot back overnight, Choi finally managed to catch Watney when he rolled in a 30foot birdie putt at the 14th to leave both players on 12-under with four to play.

But the South Korean stumbled with a double-bogey out of a bunker at the 15th while Watney parred the same hole to restore his two-shot cushion and go on to win his fourth PGA Tour title.

“Nick Watney just played too well today,” said Choi, after returning a final round threeunder 67. “He played like a

champion, so there was really nothing that I could do. He is a wonderful player.”

Watney, winner of the World Golf Championship event at Doral in March, joins Mark Wilson as the Tour’s only double winners this year.

He has also posted eight top10 finishes, more than anyone on the Tour, and the $1.16 million winner’s purse takes his season earnings over $4 million.

“He’s found out he’s a great player this year,” said Australian Adam Scott, who fired a closing 68 to tie for third, four shots back with Americans Jeff Overton (67) and Charles Howell III (66).

“He’s a tremendously hard worker and he’s now reaping the rewards. “He’s one of the great players out there, no doubt about it.”

Watney, a native of Dixon, California, pushed into contention on Saturday when he shot a course record 62 featuring a a sizzling back nine 27 with only 11 putts.

He said he had changed to a new putter this week after not being able to “putt the ball in the ocean last week in Hartford.”

Fowler, who played in the final threesome with Watney and Choi, dropped out of contention with a double-bogey and a bogey in his first four holes and posted a 74 to finish tied for 13th.—Reuters

NEWTOWN SQUARE: Nick Watney holds the trophy after winning the AT&T National golf tournament.—AP

Cook wins Montreal Championship BLAINVILLE: John Cook won the Montreal Championship for his third Champions Tour title of the year, closing with a 6-under 66 on Sunday for a tournamentrecord 21-under 195 total.

Cook, the runner-up last year at Fontainebleau Golf Club, beat Taiwan’s Lu Chien-soon (70) by three strokes. Joey Sindelar (68) was third at 17 under, and Bill Glasson (64), Corey Pavin (67) and Dan Forsman (68) were

another stroke back. Canadian Rod Spittle broke the course record with a 62 to finish at 15 under.

“I thought 20 would have a good chance,” Cook said. “I got off to a great start and that kind of let me then relax a little bit and go ahead and free swing it because 20 was my number that I thought was going to ... have a chance, maybe a playoff, so all day I was thinking that. Once I

got to 20, I wanted to get to 21.”

Cook also won the seasonopening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January and topped Jay Don Blake in a playoff in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Florida in April. Cook has eight victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 11 times on the PGA Tour.

“To win coming from behind and win from being ahead, it’s

two different animals, really,” Cook said. “Mr. Lu did a nice job and he kind of got things going on the back side there and made some beautiful birdies coming down the stretch. He just battled all day and he wasn’t giving up.” Spittle, from Niagara Falls, Ontario, began the round in a tie for 49th. “I expect to win sometimes this year and this is just a great boost of confidence,” Spittle said.—AP

President waves flag for Asia, ‘Kaiser’ set to arrive DURBAN: The three candidates for the battle to win the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics went into full throttle here yesterday just 48 hours away from when they learn their fate.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made it clear that a win at the third time of asking for Pyeongchang would not be just for them but for the Asian continent. Munich countered with the

announcement that the Kaiser, as football legend Franz Beckenbauer is known, would be turning up to help them. Last but not least French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno showed up to bolster the French alpine town of Annecy’s bid, which despite fighting talk from their irrepressible president Charles Beigbeder, still appears to be battling against the odds.

The latest soundbites coincid-

DURBAN: South Korea Olympic figure champion Yu-Na Kim (center) looks at fellow South Korean Olympic committee member Park Yong-Sung (left) in the city of Durban.—AP

ed with the arrival of many of the 100+ International Olympic Committee members, who will decide their fate, as they had been present at fellow member Prince Albert of Monaco’s wedding at the weekend. Lee, who is beginning a whistlestop tour of three African countries here, insisted that Pyeongchang’s bid was much more about the Asian continent than South Korea itself.

“America and Europe have benefited from winter sports, Asia hasn’t had that opportunity. I consider this as my duty and mission to deliver this for Asia,” said the 69-year-old.

Perhaps even more attractive to the IOC members was his belief that by giving the Games to Pyeongchang, the financial benefits could be enormous.

“This (Asia) is a region with the most robust and dynamic growth in terms of the economy hence people will enjoy winter sports,” he said. “It is our aspiration to become a Mecca for Asians to enjoy winter sports.”

Beckenbauer, who both captained and coached the then West Germany to World Cup glo-

ry in 1974 and 1990 respectively, has been part of the Munich bid for a long time but their bid president and fellow German sporting great Katarina Witt glowed with happiness as she revealed he would be coming.

The 65-year-old - who garnered a lot of credit for his stewardship of the hosting of the 2006 World Cup - was seen as instrumental in guiding Germany past hot favourites South Africa to win that bid. “We can deliver the state of the art hardware required for the Games,” said Witt, a two-time figure skating Olympic champion for then East Germany.

“But we can also deliver the software, which is the heart and the soul.” Beigbeder - who only assumed the role in January after predecessor Edgar Grospiron resigned the previous month would not accept that the race was down to just two candidates.

“We have had our problems but they are in the past,” said the 46-year-old entrepreneur. “We are determined and united.

Whatever happens on Wednesday, we are proud of what we have achieved.”—AFP

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TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

S P ORT S

GERMANY: Japan’s players warm up during training of Japan on the eve of the Group B match between Japan and England during the Women’s Soccer World Cup.—AP

World Cup takes breather, decisive games coming up AUGSBURG: The women’s World Cup took its first breather yesterday, and the host nation certainly needed one. Not only to give fervent fans across the nation a rest but also to give the German team time to focus and get its act together.

After two one-goal victories in front of sellout crowds, Germany is through to the quarterfinals but is currently second in Group A and needs a win today against France to avoid playing the Group B top team in the next round.

One of the most enticing options possible is a Germany vs. England quarterfinal, always a gritty match like few others.

While Germany has been winning but struggling despite fielding star player Birgit Prinz, France showed sparkle and sweet skills in scoring four goals against Canada to head the group and advance.

Six of the eight quarterfinalists are already through, with Japan, the United States, Sweden and Brazil joining Germany and France.

Even though there will be few cliffhangers during the final group games, the tournament has shown that there is a lot more parity among the women’s teams than there used to be.

Just ask Germany.

As hosts, they were overwhelming

favorites to win a third world title, but beating Canada 2-1 and Nigeria 1-0 doesn’t merit such an exalted status. “We have more potential than that we have shown so far,” said forward Alexandra Popp.

They will have to show it against France, which has a playmaker in Louisa Necib who can make the difference with a single move.

Still, it’s time for Germany to show its quality, said Popp. The team was roughed up and intimidated by Nigeria and now expects a more open game against France. “France suits us better than Nigeria,” Popp said. “When we play

like we know how to, then we can also win.”

The crowd certainly will want it. From the opening day, when the 73,680 sellout crowd roared on its players in Berlin, the whole nation has lived for the women’s team with such fervor that the TV audience for one game was bigger than for the a German men’s match in South Africa last year.

“An athlete can hope for nothing better,” Popp said. Also on Tuesday, Japan plays England, with the Three Lionesses able to advance with a draw.

Even a loss might do, depending on how Mexico fares against already elimi-

nated New Zealand.

Things really get tricky on Wednesday.

Sweden and the United States play in Group C, with the right to avoid Marta and the Brazilians in the quarterfinals the likely reward for the winner. Brazil only needs a point against already eliminated Equatorial Guinea in its last match to win the group, leaving Australia and Canada fighting it out for second place. After losing to Brazil in the opener, things weren’t looking good for Australia, but its 3-2 win over Equatorial Guinea combined with Brazil’s 3-0 win over Norway leaves the team in second place and needing only a draw against the Scandinavians. —AP

Man City sign Clichy from Arsenal MANCHESTER: M anchester Cit y signed lef t back G ael Clichy from Arsenal on a fouryear contract yesterday, bolstering a squad that finished third in last season’s Premier League and won the FA Cup. Arsenal was forced to sell the 25-year- old Frenchman because he had only one year left on his contract and could have moved on a free transfer at the end of nex t season.

Clichy spent eight years at Arsenal af ter joining from

Cannes in August 2003.

His ability on the left of defense was one of the reasons the Gunners were able to allow England international Ashley Cole to make a high-profile switch to Chelsea three years later. Clichy was backup to Cole when Arsenal won the 2003-04 Premier League title with an unbeaten record, making him at the time the youngest player to earn a Premier League winner’s medal — aged 18. He was the last member of that squad

still with the nor th London club. The transfer reunites Clichy with former Arsenal teammates Patrick Vieira and Kolo Toure.

“I can’t wait to get started and I think anything is possible with this team,” Clichy said.

“When I first came to England, it was Kolo Toure and Patrick Vieira who took me under their wing and really looked after me.

“Kolo would pick me up and drop me at home and his wife used to cook meals for me.

Patrick was always there to offer me advice, so it’s wonderful to be back and at the same club they are at.” City did not say how much it paid for Clichy.

British media widely reported the fee to be about 7 million pounds.

“I’m really happy to be joining such a great club,” Clichy said. “I hope I can add to the quality we already have here because we have a fantastic squad who I believe will continue to get better.”—AP

Argentina, Brazil looking to turn up the heat BUENOS AIRES: The opening round of matches at the 43rd Copa America has unearthed an uncomfortable truth for hosts Argentina and perennial favourites Brazil.

They appear not to be as good as they think they are. Although both former world champions sent out attacking line-ups seeking early points against lowly rivals, both emerged with unimaginative, plodding draws against Bolivia and Venezuela respectively.

Given that both rivals are ranked well outside the top 50 in FIFA’s ranking, the stale-

are unduly concerned. At least, not yet.

“In principle there won’t be major changes against Colombia,” Batista tweeted late on Sunday, as he looked forward to tomorrow’s encounter at Santa Fe. “We are very focused on the Colombia match.”

Yet Argentina must show what they are made of after allowing Bolivia to strangle most of the life out of Friday’s 1-1 draw in La Plata.

That draw, coupled with Colombia edging Costa Rica 1-0, means it is the cafeteros who

One change is in the offing, however, with veteran defender Javier Zanetti, likely to switch to the left with Pablo Zabaleta set to replace Marcos Rojo on the other flank.

Argentina were training later on Monday just outside the capital ahead of a midday flight on Tuesday to Santa Fe. Brazil, meanwhile, must raise their game against Paraguay in Cordoba on Saturday.

After the 0-0 draw with Venezuela, coach Menezes had to stomach some poor reviews but the Brazilians, going for a hat-trick of titles, have the advantage over Argentina in that in their group everything is all square after Paraguay failed to beat Ecuador.

In any event, despite their early travails, Batista and Menezes will be well aware of who won the fabled encounter between the tortoise and the hare. —AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) COPA AMERICA Uruguay v Peru 1:15 Al Jazeera Sport +2 Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport 1 HD Chile v Mexico Al Jazeera Sport +2 Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport 1 HD

LA PLATA: Brazil’s Neymar (center), Thiago Silva (left) and Ganso react at the end of the Copa America soccer match against Venezuela.—AP mates have prompted much head-scratching.

But slow starts by the big guns are something of a speciality in tournament play.

For years, Italy turned the tortoise versus hare approach into something of an art form, particularly at the 1982 World Cup, where they drew all three group matches before suddenly catching fire against Brazil and Germany.

Argentina themselves produced painfully poor early form at the 1990 World Cupnotably losing their curtain-raiser against Cameroon-before going on to reach the final.

With even the two best third-placed teams from the three groups qualifying for the quarters in this Copa America, the chances of either South American giant not making it are infinitesimal.

Hence neither Argentina coach Sergio Batista nor Brazil counterpart Mano Menezes

can go into the game with much of the pressure off. Brickbats have rained down on Batista and the team since the Bolivia match fans in the capital were already in a sombre mood following the first ever relegation of 33-time domestic champions River Plate. Yet the man who replaced Diego Maradona as coach last summer is playing a cool hand.

He has the luxury of deciding if Friday goalscorer Sergio Aguero should start in place of fan favourite Carlos Tevez and has been able to delegate, unwittingly or not, criticism of the team to others.

Witness Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Julio Grondona praising Lionel Messi but slamming the others on Sunday.

Grondona told Radio Del Plata: “Messi always plays well, never badly- which is what the others around him were doing.”

HARARE: FIFA President Sepp Blatter (center) receives a Zimbabwean bird stone sculpture as a gift from Mavis Gumbo (left) the chairperson of the Zimbabwean Women’s Soccer Association during his visit to Zimbabwe. —AP

Blatter arrives in Zimbabwe HARARE: FIFA’s Sepp Blatter met Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe for talks yesterday after the head of world football arrived for a two-day visit to a country where the game is mired in a match-fixing controversy.

Blatter, who arrived earlier in Harare on a private jet, accompanied Mugabe to a women’s international match against regional neighbor Malawi. The FIFA president will also inspect training facilities that urgently need funding amid Zimbabwe’s troubled economy.

An advance party of four FIFA officials, including two match-fixing investigators, arrived Sunday. Last year, Zimbabwe captain Method Mwanjali and four team mates admitted taking money to lose matches on a 2009 tour to Thailand and Malaysia.

Zimbabwe lost 3-0 to Thailand and 6-0 to Syria and the players said they were paid between $500 and $1,500.

Zimbabwe Sports Minister David Coltart said Monday he hoped the FIFA team, which includes its head of security Chris Eaton, will recommend punishment for those found guilty.

“Hopefully FIFA will stick by the (Zimbabwe) government’s determination to deal with corruption,” Coltart told The Associated Press. “We expect them to endorse that there has been criminality and prosecution must follow.” Mugabe told the state broadcaster on the steps of his

official State House offices he was “honored” by Blatter’s visit.

“It is a great visit from the most powerful man in football. We hope a bit of his power remains with us,” said the 87-yearold Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Blatter then met with children training on a football pitch outside Harare.

Coach Matthew Makuwerere said the sport lacked training facilities, adding that it had long stifled young people’s dreams of becoming professional players. “We hope player development we have been wishing for will now be realized,” he said.

Eaton is scheduled to meet with Coltart, police commanders and the state Sports and Recreation Commission — all of whom have assisted administrators in probing the match-fixing in 2009, known in local football circles as “Asiagate.”

Zimbabwe FA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze said Eaton will study corruption reports that have been compiled by his organization. He also said the national body will be guided by FIFA on prosecution and any life bans on players and a member of the coaching team who accepted money. Punishments for the Zimbabwe players could be part of a new wave of crackdowns on match-fixing in world football. Similar investigations are also under way in Finland, Italy, Greece and, at a lower level, in Malaysia and South Africa. —AP

3: 45

Media slam ‘ridiculous’ Brazil, Chavez salutes Venezuelans

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP New Zealand v Mexico 19:15 Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport +4 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD England v Japan Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport +4 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD

19:15

Canada v Nigeria Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport +4 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD

21:45

France v Germany Al Jazeera Sport +3 Al Jazeera Sport +4 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD

21:45

RIO DE JANEIRO: National media laid into five-time world champions Brazil yesterday after the auriverde made a hash of their first Copa America pool match, drawing 0-0 with rank outsiders Venezuela.

Although Brazil, on a hattrick of wins in the continental tournament, would have to make a similar mess of upcoming games against Paraguay and Ecuador to miss out on a quarter-final place, their poor showing enraged the press.

Worse still, it did not escape the country’s scribes that Brazil’s women have been performing rather better at the women’s World Cup in Germany, where the Samba Girls have already reached the last eight with something to spare.

“The men’s team turned in a ridiculous performance against the Venezuelans and the players left the pitch shame-faced after the 0-0 draw,” stormed O Globo daily in a leader article. “Neymar, Ganso, Pato, Robinho - they all played badly,” the paper moaned.

“At least we have Marta,” O Globo added, in a reference to the women’s star striker who has been on the rampage at their event in

Germany. The paper added in an aside that the Brazilian game appeared to be going to the dogs - an ironic reference to a canine pitch invasion during the match.

The dog ran at one point to the Venezuelan six yard box - about the closest anyone got to the minnows’ goal all afternoon - before trudging off.

“Zero inspiration” was how Folha de Sao Paulo daily saw the Brazilian showing. “The Brazilian team failed its first official test under coach Mano Menezes - and left the stadium to a chorus of boos.”

O Estado de Sao Paulo said the team lacked a cutting edge. “They lacked attacking oomph. The revamping of Brazil disappointed,” the paper commented in allusion to a hoped-for new dawn under Menezes, who replaced Dunga after last year’s World Cup. O Estado said the dog’s appearance summed things up. “When the most important moment of a football match is the entrance of a dog onto the pitch to milk the applause of fans then that gives you an idea of the quality of the match,” the paper commented. —AFP

Cash, Bird lift Mystics

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

17

Watney holds off Choi to clinch AT&T National

18

World Cup takes breather, decisive games coming up Page 19

Farrar wins Tour de France stage

FRANCE: A combo made yesterday shows from top (left to right) Yellow jersey of overall leader, Norway’s Thor Hushovd (center) riding in the pack, Spain’s three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador in the race, fans cheering the pack riding past a cross and stage winner US Tyler Farrar (center) celebrating on the finish line next to new green jersey of best sprinter, Spain’s Jose Joaquin Rojas (right) at the end of the 198 km and third stage of the 2011 Tour de France cycling race.—AP

REDON: Tyler Farrar became the first American to win a Tour de France stage on July 4, dominating a sprint finish in the third leg yesterday as teammate Thor Hushovd of Norway kept the yellow jersey. It was the first Tour stage victory for Farrar, one of the world’s best sprinters, and showcased the dominance of the Garmin-Cervelo team over the past two days at cycling’s greatest race. The 198-kilometer (123-mile) flat route from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon in western Brittany favored sprinters like Farrar, Mark Cavendish of Britain, Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi, Tom Boonen of Belgium, and Hushovd, the world champion. “I certainly would have taken it on any day,” Farrar said of the stage victory.

“But as an American, winning on the Fourth of July, it’s the icing on the cake. ... Lucky me.” After he crossed the finish line, Farrar held up his hands to form a “W” with his fingers and thumbs to honor his friend and training partner Wouter Weylandt, who died in a crash during the Giro d’Italia in May. Farrar had pulled out of the Giro after Weylandt, a 26-year-old Belgian, clipped a wall in a sharp descent, fell off his bike and slammed his head on the ground in the third stage of the race, dying almost instantly. This has been a horrible last two months with everything that happened in the Giro,” Farrar said. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. But in the end, I wanted to be able to come back, and do something special to pay tribute — and this is certainly the biggest stage in the world to do that.”“It’s a little bit unbelievable to me at the moment that it actually happened,” he added.

In yesterday’s finale, Cavendish’s HTCHighroad team had lined up to escort the British speedster to the finish from near the 4-kilometer (2.4 mile) mark, but by the last few hundred meters Hushovd and Farrar had zoomed ahead.

“To have the world champion and yellow jersey work for you to launch the sprint, it’s crazy,” Farrar said of Hushovd.

At the finish, the American nosed ahead of France’s Romain Feillu, who was second, and Jose Joaquin Rojas of Spain in third. Farrar and a pack of riders clocked the same time: 4 hours, 40 minutes, 21 seconds.

With his victory, Farrar became the first American to win a Tour stage since Levi Leipheimer placed first in the indi-

vidual time trial in Angouleme in 2007.

The top standings didn’t change: Hushovd retains a split-second edge over Garmin-Cervelo teammate David Millar of Britain, while Cadel Evans of Australia of BMC is third, 1 second back.

Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain, who lost time on Saturday after getting entangled in a crash, is 69th overall _ 1:42 back of the Norwegian leader. Among other hopefuls for victory on the Champs-Elysees on July 24, 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, the leader of Leopard-Trek, is eighth overall, 4 seconds behind Hushovd.

Five breakaway riders jumped out early in the stage from the coastal town of Olonne-sur-Mer, building a lead of as much as 8 minutes, 5 seconds by the 74kilometer (46-mile) mark. The fast-moving pack reeled them all in with just 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) to go.

Riders scaled and crossed the 3.3kilometer (2-mile) Pont de Saint Nazaire, a wind-swept suspension bridge over the Loire River whose blustery conditions temporarily broke up the pack.

Another of the day’s big challenges was an intermediate sprint at SaintHilaire-de-Chaleons, about halfway through the stage.

There, Cavendish suffered a blow in his hopes of winning the Tour’s green jersey — awarded to the best sprinter — after Hushovd cut ahead of him and he responded by burrowing his head into the Norwegian’s back. Race officials penalized both men by docking them to the last places in the pack for the intermediate sprint, costing them crucial points needed for the green jersey quest. Cavendish says winning it is a goal this year. Hushovd has won that jersey twice, and says he’s not aiming for it this year.

Hushovd, the Norwegian world champion, took the yellow jersey after Garmin-Cervelo won the team time trial Sunday. A sprint specialist, he’s not expected to hold the lead through the mountains in Weeks Two and Three.

With such a narrow lead, Hushovd could even come under pressure to hold the coveted leader’s jersey today, when the pack travels 172.5 kilometers (107.1 miles) from Lorient to Mur de Bretagne with a super-steep — if only 2 kilometer (1.2 mile) — uphill finish.—AP

Paraguay, Ecuador draw SANTA FE: World Cup quarterfinalist Paraguay was held to a 0-0 draw by Ecuador on Sunday in the opening match for each team at the Copa America. Paraguay had most of the scoring chances but failed to break through in an end-to-end Group B match that was exciting but lacked finishing. Earlier Sunday, Brazil and Venezuela drew 0-0 in the other Group B match. The group resumes Saturday with Paraguay playing Brazil and Ecuador facing Venezuela.

“It is difficult to begin this championship, and nowadays in South America no team is less than any other,” Paraguay forward Nelson Haedo Valdez said. He said the smaller teams are now ready to play with South America’s two giants, Brazil and Argentina.

“Today and yesterday we saw Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela at the same level, and this will be very important.”

Ecuador, led by Cristian Benitez, had a few chances, most of them generated through long balls and counterattacks.

But Paraguay was more consistent throughout and always seemed more likely to score. Ecuador keeper Marcelo Elizaga kept his side in the match with key saves against Edgar Barreto and Roque Santa Cruz. He was also lucky when a second-half shot by Marcelo Estigarribia went just across the front of the goal mouth. “We probably should have won, but that’s football,” Valdez said. “Everything has begun so evenly, we will have to see what happens.”

Ecuador were more or less satisfied but Paraguay felt irked after the pair fought out a goalless stalemate in Group B of the Copa America on Sunday. With group favorites and holders Brazil also dropping two points against minnows Venezuela the chance

was there for either side to take early ownership of the group with a win in the late game.

Instead, a tight match saw neither side able to make a breakthrough in Santa Fe. Gerardo Martino’s Paraguay were favoured after having shown some

SANTE FE: Paraguay’s Dario Veron (right) heads the ball under pressure from Ecuador’s Felipe Caicedo at a Copa America soccer match. —AP

impressive form in qualifiers for last year’s World Cup, but their forward line of German-based Lucas Barrios and Blackburn man Roque Santa Cruz was unable to make their greater experience of the big occasion count. “The first 20 to 25 minutes were good from Paraguay — we could have made the difference there,” said Martino glumly. “Then towards the end (of the first period) we lost our way and gave away possession too much and stopped pressing. In the second half we did have some chances and were in control,” he noted. But still the goals wouldn’t come, meaning that the Brazilians can recover from their own poor finishing against the Venezuelans if they can edge out Martino’s men next Saturday to get back on track.

Paraguay are now sweating on the fitness for that game of winger Edgar Barreto, who went off injured before half time. Ecuador coach Reinaldo Rueda, in contrast said his side had played “very well” in general. “We came right back into the game (after Paraguay’s stronger start) and we are getting our confidence together. “We had some purple patches and we are improving all the time,” Rueda opined.

A win in their next outing against the Venezuelans would put Ecuador within an ace of making the second stage. The top two in each of the three groups qualify for the quarter-finals, as do the two best-placed sides who come third.—AFP

Gatlin eyes London Olympic podium REIMS: Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion who served a four-year doping ban, runs in the Reims international meet today insisting his goal is a podium place at the 2012 London Games.

“I’m still working hard. My coach told me to be patient and that the goal is the 2012 Olympics,” said Gatlin. “If I’m on the podium in London, which is a real objective, then I’ll be able to consider my return to be fully accomplished.”

Gatlin’s four-year drugs ban saw him plummet from sprinting’s pinnacle to athletics wilderness, but he has rebounded to make the US team for the 100m at the August 27-September 4 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Three months after equalling the world 100m record in 2006, he was suspended for four years after testing positive for testosterone. That was considered his second doping offence, following a 2001 vio-

lation for a banned stimulant, resulting in a longer ban. He has never admitted to knowingly using banned drugs, but he lost two appeals and failed in a legal battle to compete at the 2008 US Olympic trials for a chance to defend his Games gold in Beijing. Since his return last year, he has been shunned by many of the sport’s major meeting organisers. He raced in an elite Diamond League meeting for the first time when he lined up in

the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene earlier in June.

But Gatlin, 29, is now appearing at several smaller European meets in preparation for Daegu. “Last year, I resumed competition in Estonia and competed in six meets in Europe. I take what they offer me and it’s a great pleasure,” he said, adding that he would run in Madrid on Saturday and then twice in Italy after the Reims meet. —AFP

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Revival hopes rest on consumer comeback Page 26 TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

World stocks boosted by US manufacturing rebound

Ali Alghanim launches promotional campaign on BMW X5, X6 models

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S&P warning sows new uncertainty Warning dashes relief rally on Greek austerity plan ATHENS: Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cast new uncertainty yesterday over euro zone efforts to rescue debt-crippled Greece by warning it would treat a French bank plan for a rollover of privately-held debt as a default. The threat abruptly ended a relief rally in stock and bond markets after Greece adopted a new, tougher austerity plan last week, prompting euro zone finance ministers to agree on Saturday to throw Athens a 12 billion euro short-term lifeline.

Bank stocks fell in Europe and the cost of insuring Greek debt against default resumed an inexorable climb only briefly interrupted last week when the Greek parliament backed a new wave of spending cuts, tax rises and public asset sales.

Investors fear that a default by Greece, which has seen violent protests against austerity, would send shockwaves through the world finance system with some analysts saying it could call the whole euro zone into question. While S&P’s statement did not deal a death blow to the complex French rollover planseen by critics as a bailout for creditor banks rather than for Greece-it highlighted the difficulty of arranging private sector involvement in a second rescue package.

“It is our view that each of the two financing options described in the (French banks’) proposal would likely amount to a default under our criteria,” S&P said in a statement.

North European creditor nations, led by Germany, are insisting that banks and insurers must share the burden of any new financial support for Greece, which is estimated to

need some 120 billion euros in new funding until end-2014.

French banks, major holders of Greek sovereign debt, proposed voluntarily renewing some of the bonds when they mature but on different terms. Many investors and economists believe Greece will have to restructure its debt in the medium-term and the bailouts are only buying time and shifting the eventual cost from banks to taxpayers.

“The relief that we had last week with the votes is now somewhat put on the back-burner by this news (from S&P),” said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities.

“It would be nice to have some more details on it.”

CONFIDENCE PUNCTURED S&P has been the most hawkish agency recently on Greece, downgrading its sovereign rating to CCC

last month from B on a view that any restructuring of its 340 billion euro debt pile-150 percent of annual economic output and risingwould count as an effective default.

The statement punctured some of the confidence voiced last week by bankers and public officials involved in the talks that the French proposal, seen as a template for other European private bondholders, would not trigger a default.

SHANGHAI: An investor smiles as she looks at the stock price monitor at a private securities company yesterday in Shanghai, China.— AP

However, Fitch Ratings has hinted it may not be so severe and may avoid downgrading Greek debt to default after the transaction period, leaving the European Central Bank a chance to go on accepting the bonds as collateral in refinancing operations.

Under its standard procedure, the ECB bases its decisions on the rating agency that offers the highest rating, even if it is alone. ECB officials have declined comment on how they would behave in this case but ECB policymaker Lorenzo Bini Smaghi has said the bank will not break its own rules. S&P said it would assign a new rating “after a short time” once the debt rollover plan was actually be implemented, adding that the new rating would be for ward-look ing and reflect Greece’s new sovereign credit situation.

It stopped short, however, of saying unequivocally the new rating would take Greece out of default, whereas Fitch said in a statement last month that its new rating, once the plan would be implemented, would take Greece out of restricted default. Bankers and officials say negotiations on the bank rollover plan are still under way, with German authorities and banks seeking some changes to the French model, and a solution may take several weeks. S&P itself said changes to the plan could alter its judgment.

“S&P’s quick reaction to the French model is positive, because it gives guidance to the German banks what parts they need to modify to avoid a default in any shape or form.

It’s an important pointer,” Germany’s public banks said in a statement.

Finance ministers of the 17nation currency area are due to agree on the outlines of the second Greek rescue package, after last year’s 110 billion euro bailout, at a meeting in Brussels next week, but details will not be signed off until September. A senior Greek bank executive played down the S&P setback. “If the ‘selective default’ period is short, covering just the settlement period for the bond exchange to take place, then there would be no funding issue for Greek banks,” the banker, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

UPHILL STRUGGLE Greece faces an uphill struggle this week to start the process of selling off state -owned assets and reform its tax system to meet European Union and IMF bailout conditions. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, said Athens faced a severe loss of its sovereignty with increasingly intrusive outside supervision of its fiscal policy and privatization agency.

The deep spending cuts required under the loan terms have sparked angry protests on the streets of Athens where hooded youths have fought running battles with riot police. “The initiatives that must be undertaken in the coming days and weeks have only one goal, to resurrect the economy, halt recession and return to growth for the benefit of all citizens and mainly the unemployed and weak income groups,” combative Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday. —Reuters

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Abu Dhabi tourist numbers up 10% Hotel revenues jump to $517 million DUBAI: The number of tourists in Abu Dhabi rose 10 percent in the first five months of this year while hotel revenues were up 6 percent, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said yesterday. The United Arab Emirates, the world’s third-biggest oil exporter, has been spared the regional political unrest challenging nearby Bahrain, as well as Oman and Yemen. Hotels in the capital of the UAE in the five months had 866,501 guests in the first five months of 2011, staying a total 2.6 million guest nights, said ADTA. Revenues rose to 1.9 billion dirhams ($517

million) despite falling room rates, while the average hotel occupancy rate jumped to 71 percent of capacity, an increase of 10 percent on the same period last year. Abu Dhabi, which accounts for around 55 percent of the UAE economy, is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure to diversify away from oil.

The emirate is hosting more leisure and entertainment events such as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as major conferences and exhibitions as it looks to woo more visitors. The number of guests

jumped 17.6 percent to 1.8 million last year, while the annual hotels occupancy rate dropped to 64.7 percent from 72.2 percent in 2009. Average room rates are down 15 percent year-on-year but the length of stay in the emirate rose by 15 percent to just over three nights, ADTA said. British nationals topped the list of guests with some 60,022 staying in Abu Dhabi’s hotels in the five-month period, up 17 percent year-on-year. The biggest increase came from Russia with a 46-percent jump in the number of visitors to 6,323. — Reuters

Burgan Bank announces the lucky Yawmi Account winners

IHG launches iPhone booking apps for its seven hotel brands KUWAIT: InterContinental Hotels Group the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, yestetday announced the continuation of its mobile app strategy with iPhone booking apps for each of its seven brands - InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. These new apps provide guests with the ability to find and book hotel rooms, check rates and view or cancel reservations.

The iPhone apps for each brand follow the highly successful release of the InterContinental Concierge Insider Guides app for iPad in December 2010, the Priority Club Rewards app for Android in July 2010 and the Priority Club Rewards app for iPhone in April 2010. In just over a year, IHG has seen a nearly 1,000 percent increase in room night bookings from mobile devices. In the first five months of 2011, IHG has already surpassed its 2010 total number of room night bookings from mobile devices.

Most guests - 65 percent - who book through a mobile device are staying at IHG hotels the same night or within one day. To cater to this guest, the new booking apps for each of our seven brands include location aware capabilities to assist guests in booking hotels close to their location and navigating to the property. Matt Luscombe, IHG’s senior vice president, sales and marketing, EMEA said “Our guests tend to be business travellers who need to book a hotel room or change a reservation whilst

they’re on the move. Our mobile strategy is responding to this growing demand. Last year we launched a mobile iPhone booking app that just targeted our 58 million Priority Club Rewards members and we’re now expanding our iPhone booking app service to all of our seven brands.”

The iPhone apps for each brand contain booking and reservation management features, including: - - Search, compare and book at IHG hotels - InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. - Plan arrival by accessing current reservations and quick access to maps, directions and hotel contact information. - Securely store credit card information to expedite bookings. - Enjoy “touch-to-call” access. - Manage travel profiles. - Receive communication about the latest promotions and offers. - Priority Club Rewards members have the ability to earn points and redeem for stays. - Enroll in Priority Club Rewards (membership is not required to use the apps).

IHG’s mobile channels and programs continue to be recognized throughout the industry. Recently, IHG won TravelCom’s Mobile Marketer of the Year; Web Marketing Associations’ Best Mobile Travel Application in the Interactive Advertising Competition; and Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association’s “Most Effective Mobile Campaign.” IHG’s iPhone apps for each of its hotels brands are now available in English at the iPhone app store.

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank amongst the leading and the most dynamic bank in the state of Kuwait announced the names of last week’s Yawmi account winners at the bank’s head office.

Yawmi is the 1st account in the country to give away cash prize every day. The lucky winners for the four daily draws took home a handsome cash-prize of KD 5000 each. The lucky winners are: AHMED MOHD ABDULLA ASHKANANI; MARIAM JAWAD WAYEL ABU JUBARAH; ANOUSHIRAUANN HERAND NAZARIYAN; ABDULLA HAMAD MOHD ALHAMAD. Congratulating the winners, Burgan Bank Chief Retail Banking Officer- GM Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem said: “I extend my warm wishes to the winners of last week’s Yawmi draw.

Yawmi today is a well understood product, the popularity of which can be seen from the number of increasing account holders. Burgan Bank has always been at the forefront of introducing innovative and differentiated products. Now, every single day represents yet another chance of winning KD 5000.”

In 2009, Burgan Bank introduced a first-of-its-kind draw account - Yawmi Account - which entitles customers who deposit KD500 to win KD5000 every single day (except weekends and public holidays). For every KD50 deposited in your Yawmi Account you receive an additional entry into the draw, which means the more you deposit, the more chances you will have of winning. For example, if you deposit the minimum of KD 500, you will receive 10 entries into the draw. Opening a Yawmi account is simple, just visit your nearest Burgan Bank branch and get all the details. Or simply call our Call Center 1804080 and our executive will be more than happy to assist you. For further information visit www.burgan.com

Ali Alghanim launches promotional campaign on BMW X5, X6 models Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive said: “Customer satisfaction is the main focus of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, and is the foundation of our enduring success in the Kuwaiti market. This promotional campaign comes to support this long term strategy, and to ensure our customers’ ownership experience is a joyful and very special one, from the moment they come into our showroom.”

“Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive has experienced positive and sustainable growth throughout the years, which would have not been possible without the support of our customers, whom we value very much. We hope that this promotion helps us maintain customer satisfaction, and help grow our business even further,” he added. Earlier this year, Ali Alghanim & Sons launched the all-new BMW 6 Series convertible, the new generation BMW X3, and the MINI Countryman, the first four-wheel drive, four-door MINI.

KUWAIT: In line with its policy of always providing the best for its customers, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive BMW Group importer in Kuwait, has launched a new warranty and servicing package on all BMW X5 and X6 models. Customers who purchase new BMW X5 and X6 vehicles between July 1st and 26th will receive free warranty up to five years or 150,000 km (whichever comes first) and a four-year free servicing package, valid up to 84,000km. In addition, all registration costs will be paid by Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, giving customers a convenient and hassle-free start to their BMW ownership.

Furthermore, the importer will be handing out a complimentary iPhone 4G along with every purchase of these cars, to ensure that customers can match BMW’s industry-leading ConnectedDrive automotive technology with the latest from Apple’s line of iPhone smart phones. Yousef Al Qatami, General Manager of

Saab’s plan approved STOCKHOLM: The European Investment Bank yesterday approved Saab’s plan to improve its ailing finances with a $40 million deal to sell and lease back property. If the deal is also approved by Sweden’s government and the national debt office, which is expected, Saab will have cleared a key hurdle in its attempts to resolve a cash shortage that has left it struggling to pay suppliers and staff. EIB spokesman Par Isaksson said the bank, from which Saab has borrowed money, approved the agreement to sell a 50.1 percent in Saab’s property, including its production plant in Trollhattan to Swedish real estate company Hemfosa. Saab’s owner, Swedish Automobile, intends to sign a 15-year lease agreement so that it can continue to use the property.

Saab’s production has been at a standstill for months.

Last week, the company said it aims to resume production within two weeks, but workers remained idle yesterday and will go on two weeks scheduled vacation July 25.

Earlier yesterday, Saab said it aims to set up a joint venture with China’s Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co to design a small Saab model called 9-1, and two larger designs called 9-6 and 9-7.—AP

Chevrolet educates the new generation DUBAI: A replica of the Chevrolet Camaro has been added to the Chevrolet Car Design and Sales Center at Kidzania, the children’s “edutainment” center located in Dubai Mall. At the Chevrolet Car Design and SalesCenter, children have the opportunity to play the role of a car designer or sales agent. In the design center, a multimedia system provides an interactive learning experience. As car designers, children can use an advanced

interface system to design their very own Camaro by choosing from a selection of exterior colors, designs and customization options. Children are rewarded with a Car Customization Program completion certificate upon completing the activity. Children can also choose to assume the role of a sales agent and communicate the many features of the Camaro to showroom visitors after learning more about the vehicle.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2700000 .4370000 .3950000 .3200000 .2820000 .2910000 .0040000 .0020000 .0741040 .7219690 .3810000 .0700000 .7077580 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2729500 .4390450 .3970880 .3220080 .2846190 .0532320 .0437050 .2930660 .0350770 .2228350 .0033800 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0743430 .7241970 .0000000 .0728060 .7091450 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.420 6.167 3.190 2.501 3.865 224.140 35.270 3.678

.2770000 .4500000 .4060000 .3350000 .2930000 .3030000 .0072500 .0035000 .0748480 .7292250 .4010000 .0770000 .7148710 .0072000 .0530000 .2750500 .4424730 .4001430 .3244850 .2868090 .0536410 .0440410 .2953210 .0353470 .2245490 .0034060 .0062230 .0025180 .0032130 .0037290 .0749150 .7297690 .3890380 .0733660 .7146010 .0064340

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

6.365 9.009 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.189 75.412 712.880 728.980 74.734

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 48.350 46.019 1.256 203.220 387.580 182.100 5.925 35.863

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 274.350 Euro 400.690 Sterling Pound 443.620 Canadian dollar 287.880 Turkish lire 170.930 Swiss Franc 325.640 Australian dollar 295.530 US Dollar Buying 273.150

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

SELL CASH 299.200 729.660 3.910 269.900 538.900 36.500 54.500 167.800 48.120 402.400 35.940 6.310

SELL DRAFT 297.700 729.660 3.678 288.400

225.100 46.037 400.900 35.790 6.160

0.033 0.239 0.239 3.490 389.520 0.186 93.730 47.300 4.310 231.300 1.860 52.500 712.630 3.290 6.530 75.900 73.250 225.100 43.490 2.639 444.800 45.900 327.900 5.500 9.340 198.263 74.800 274.700 1.200

0.033

387.770 0.185 93.730 3.870 229.800

712.450 3.200 6.360 75.470 73.250 225.100 43.490 2.502 442.800 326.400 5.500 9.130 74.700 274.300

GOLD 1,543.080

10 Tola

GOLD 274.000 139.000 72.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 442.800 274.300

6.157 3.208 3.693 6.339 674.672 3.519 9.058 5.783 3.924 91.361

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 274.100 3.200 6.180 2.515 3.685 6.410 74.730 73.295 728.730 46.015 446.900 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 389.400 5.750 403.800 292.600

Al Mulla Exchange

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees

Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 275.050 287.490 444.215 401.375 331.306 728.544 74.862 75.499 73.310 387.165 46.124 2.508

Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 273.750 401.100 443.100 288.200 3.420 6.165 46.030 2.509 3.670 6.380 3.198 729.150 74.550 73.175

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Tiger Airways top executives in crisis talks SYDNEY: Senior Tiger Airways executives held crisis talks with aviation regulators in Australia yesterday as the budget carrier attempted to allay safety fears and return to the skies. Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Tiger Airways, was grounded for five working days on Saturday by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for posing a “serious and imminent risk to air safety”. Group president and chief executive Tony Davis jetted in after being handed responsibility for getting planes back in the air.

In a statement to the Singapore Stock Exchange, Tiger said Davis had been instructed to focus on “assisting Tiger Airways Australia to resume operations as soon as possible”. CASA

grounded the airline after a flight approached an airport too low last week and after warning of concerns in areas including pilot proficiency, training and checking, and fatigue management. Chin Yau Seng, previously divisional vice president of cabin crew operations at Singapore Airlines, was appointed an additional executive director to help out.

“Our goal is to resume our services as quickly as possible whilst restoring the confidence of both CASA and the Australian public at large that safety underpins our operations at all times,” Tiger said. It stressed that only Australian domestic services were affected and not flights to Singapore.

In a sign it is confident of returning to normal services, the airline was still

taking bookings and accepting payments for domestic flights from Saturday the day the suspension is due to expire. CASA can only ground an airline for five working days, and must approach the Federal Court if it wants to extend the grounding any longer.

The regulator said its next move would depend on what Tiger brought to the table. “That (meeting) will obviously be an important step in the process of investigating the recent several incidents and also canvassing the broader safety issues which we’ve raised with them,” said CASA spokesman Peter Gibson. “We certainly can’t rush matters, but on the other hand we do appreciate the public’s frustration at not being able to know

how long this will go on for.”

Australian authorities have been closely monitoring the airline and issued a “show cause” notice in March threatening to vary, suspend or cancel its license over safety worries.

It was ordered to improve the proficiency of its pilots, boost pilot training and checking procedures, address fatigue management issues and ensure “appropriately qualified people fill management and operational positions”. The final straw came when a flight approached a Melbourne airport too low late Thursday-the second such breach in a month. Tiger estimated the suspension would cost it US$1.6 million a week and analysts said the airline could not sustain such losses indefinitely. The markets

responded to the uncertainty with Tiger Air shares plunging 16 percent in Singapore.

In Australia, Virgin gained 11 percent and Qantas rose 6.5 percent on anticipation that they would gain market share due to their rival’s problems.

The Australian and International Pilots Association said the grounding should be a wake-up call for the industry. Association vicepresident Richard Woodward told ABC radio that when tickets were sold for an unrealistically low price, something had to give. “I think we are reaching the point in aviation where they are trimmed right to the bare bones, where we are now seeing service suffer and these sort of issues coming up,” he said. —AFP

Australia PM to unveil carbon price scheme Scheme tippedtohave a A$20 a toncarbonprice CANBERRA: Australia’s minority Labor government will unveil plans for the biggest national emissions trading scheme outside Europe on Sunday, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard staking her future on a carbon price already worrying voters and business. Gillard said yesterday her cabinet, and a committee of government, Greens and independent lawmakers who have been working on the scheme, would finalize remaining details of the carbon tax later this week.

Heat tests Rolls-Royce 102EX for world tour KUWAIT: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars took its Phantom Experimental Electric prototype to the MIRA research facility in Warwickshire last week for a series of laboratory-controlled temperature tests.

Engineers were keen to learn how extreme conditions such as high temperatures and humidity levels affect battery performance while in use. This information is critical as 102EX will shortly embark on a global tour that will take in markets such as the Middle East, AsiaPacific and North America. “ The tests have furnished us with important data about the effects of heat and humidity on 102EX’s battery and management systems,” commented Andrew Martin, 102EX chief engineer.

“For example we are clear that the battery management system, which maintains safety and optimal operation of individual cells, will inhibit charging at extreme temperatures. Practically speaking, this may mean finding locations in which the car’s cells can cool after test drives before a re-charge can begin.”

The tests have also reinforced expectations of the temperature range in

which the car can be driven. In general, the car’s 96-cells will continue to operate at temperatures as high as 500C and in relative humidity as low as 30%. This is well within temperature ranges expected while on tour, however dates for typically hot locations such as Las Vegas Tour have been planned to coincide with low average temperatures.

102EX began its tour in with events at the home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood in May. This was followed by drives in London and the South East of England, then Manchester and Edinburgh. The final drive is scheduled for Birmingham on 5 July, before the car departs for international events in the following locations: Asia-Pacific Region: Singapore and Beijing (late July, early August); North America: Pebble Beach, LA (16-21 August); Europe: Regional tour including Frankfurt Motor Show (September); AsiaPacific Region: Japan (final week of September); Middle East: Dubai (October); North America: New York, Los Angeles Motor Show, Las Vegas, Florida and Art Basel, Miami (November and early December).

KFH finances international real estate up to KD70,000 KUWAIT: The Local Real Estate Department Manager at Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Salah Al-Khamees said that KFH will continue to offer services and products that meet the requirements of its clients, such as financing international real estate in most countries up to Salah Al-Khamees KD70,000 over 10 year installments if the client has a KFH salary account. However, he added that KFH can increase the ceiling of financing if the client submits other monthly sources of income other than the salary.

He explained that financing the acquisition of international real estate is a KFH priority, and revealed that KFH can finance international real estate for its clients using flexible payment methods, in addition to having two parties in the contract. He went on to say that selecting the suitable international real estate

for the client will be of great benefit if the client decides to rent the real estate, not to mention granting the client a good opportunity of selling the real estate and making profit. Moreover, he stated that KFH offers this service in Bahrain through Murabaha and Ijara, and added that there is a legal firm in Lebanon that supervises acquisitions and documents.

He noted that procedures take from 10 to 15 days to complete all paper work, and advised clients to visit the department at Baitok Tower on the 10th floor, or any real estate branches before travelling to receive additional information. He also advised clients to make investigations concerning the external authority that they will deal with, and to seek a fair price assessment for the real estate made by an unbiased authority. Furthermore, he mentioned that Murabaha is still the best choice for acquisition, and that it is of great benefit for clients, since there are fixed prices, because the price remains fixed once the Murabaha deal is completed, despite any other circumstances.

Concerns the plans to tackle climate change will push up prices have been hurting the minority government’s popularity, but Gillard said she was determined to push ahead with the plan, which is a make or break issue for her government. “A carbon price is an important reform that will create incentives to lower Australia’s carbon pollution at the lowest cost to the economy,” Gillard said in a statement, adding she would introduce the laws to parliament later this year.

Uncertainty over the policy, which would tax emissions from next year and is tipped to have at its heart a A$20 a ton carbon price, has also begun to frustrate investment decisions, particularly in the coal-fired power industry and in renewable energy and plantation forestry.

The minority Labor government wants to impose a tax on carbon emissions from mid2012 before transitioning to a carbon-trading system three to five years later, under which the nation’s 1,000 biggest polluters will need to buy carbon permits on an open market.

Negotiations have been under way for

months on the scheme with two independent lawmakers, who back Gillard in the lower house, and the influential Greens, who could help pass laws opposed by the conservative opposition. A plan to cut carbon emissions foundered in 2009 in the face of Senate obstruction by the Greens, who argued a targeted emissions cut of 5 percent by 2020 was too weak.

EXEMPT PETROL, RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND Gillard, whose popularity has fallen to record lows amid public fears of a carbon cost driving up prices, has promised petrol will be exempt for motorists, hoping to lance a major worry for voters who mostly oppose the scheme. The conservatives have enjoyed a political resurgence in the absence of details about the government’s plans, warning a carbon price of around A$20 a ton, and perhaps as high as A$25, will knock economic growth and force up energy costs. Although elections are not due until 2013, political analysts say the government must release details

of its scheme as fast as possible to allow passage through parliament, and then give Gillard time to win back disgruntled voters.

Tony Windsor, one of the kingmaker independents backing Gillard, said he would not have supported a carbon price that increased petrol costs for people living in country areas such as his own rural electorate.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said yesterday that the Greens had negotiated a fund to invest in renewable energy, which will be paid for from the proceeds of pricing carbon and worth up to A$2 billion a year. “What we’ve said is there needs to be a package that has in it an emissions trading scheme, but also has a range of complementary measures, because we know that the carbon price won’t be high enough to drive the roll-out of large-scale renewables in the time frame that we need them,” said Milne. The government is aiming to bring legislation for the scheme into the lower House of Representatives in August, with a vote in the Senate expected around October or November.—Reuters

Will post-election spending affect Thai monetary policy?

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Puea Thai Party, which won a landslide election victory on Sunday, pledged a range of populist measures during its campaign, from wage increases to infrastructure projects to computers for school children. Here are some implications of these measures for public debt, inflation, monetary policy and the markets.

WHAT DO THE PROMISES MEAN FOR FISCAL POLICY, FUNDING? Among its eye-catching promises, Puea Thai says it will give a tablet computer to about 800,000 new schoolchildren each year, at a cost of about 5,000 baht ($162) each. It has promised high-speed trains across the country and annual development funds of between 300,000 and two million baht for each of Thailand’s 73,000 villages. These populist measures would require billions of dollars of spending and could stimulate Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. But tax revenue is already low at 17 percent of GDP and Puea Thai is also promising to cut corporate tax to help companies cope with other of its proposals that will push up wages.

So the new government will probably oversee a bigger budget deficit than the 350 billion baht planned by its predecessor for the tax year starting Oct. 1, pushing up public debt and adding to inflationary pressure.

Even before the election outcome, the Finance Ministry planned to sell about 450-500 billion baht ($14.8-$16.4 billion) of government bonds in the fiscal year from Oct 1, up from about 410 billion baht this year, according to Chakkrit Parapuntakul, chief of the Public Debt Management Office. Chakkrit said that, by law, public debt must not exceed 60 percent of gross domestic product but it is only around 42 percent now, so the government had some leeway to push up borrowing. Much will depend on whether all the policies are implemented, and how

BANGKOK: A broker at a private stock trading floor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock prices yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand. —AP quickly. “If they pursue some of this spending too aggressively, it could well cause some fiscal problems, and also put the Bank of Thailand in a difficult position,” said economist David Cohen at Action Economics in Singapore.

The debt-to-GDP ratio was already expected to rise above 60 percent-generally regarded as the safe limit for developed economies-within six years, according to the central bank.

Sudden expansionary policies could accelerate that trend. The bond market could suffer from a jump in issuance if the government chooses to finance projects through borrowing. Yields have already risen steadily this year, especially at the short end, with two-year yields up 100 basis points and five-year yields up about 53 basis points, but the government has not had trouble finding buyers for its debt.

WHAT ABOUT INTEREST RATES AND INFLATION? Puea Thai has promised a daily

minimum wage of 300 baht ($10), up 40 percent from the average around the country, and a 41 percent increase in the monthly wage for new graduates. That would be good for consumption but bad for inflation. The spending plans will add to the pressure.

Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul has warned the government should not go above the 350 billion baht deficit for 2011/12 because that would push up inflation and monetary policy might have to be tightened more than it otherwise would be.

Many economists now believe the central bank will be more hawkish than expected this year.

“We see scope for a cumulative 100 bps in hikes here on as lower fuel prices, an extension of subsidies and optimism from the election results will underpin domestic demand in the coming months,” said Forecast economist Radhika Rao in Sinagpore. She now expects the policy rate to be 4.0 percent by the year-end

rather than 3.50 percent. The Bank of Thailand is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate, the one-day repurchase rate , by a quarter of a point to 3.25 percent at its meeting on July 13, which would be the eighth increase since July last year.

Credit Suisse said it estimated that a 10 percent rise in wages added about 1 percentage point to core inflation. It has raised its end-2011 policy rate forecast to 3.75 percent from 3.50 percent.

KGI Securities said the rate could go as high as 4.25 percent this year. The central bank aims to keep core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food prices, in a range of 0.5-3.0 percent. It hit 2.55 percent in June and the central bank has already said it could go above the target range at some point this year.

Annual headline inflation dipped to 4.06 percent in June; government price controls and subsidies on fuel, public transport and some utilities have helped hold it down. —Reuters

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KSE price index adds 21.70 points GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) rebounded yesterday, lifted up by gains on selected heavy weighted stocks, after slumping in last two sessions. Investors saw Sunday ’s steep selloff as an opportunity to build positions.

Blue chips edged higher. Most sectoral indices ended the day in the positive territory following the good per formance from international markets.

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI), market weighted, ended the day up by 0.43 percent, at 190.94 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day at KD31.17bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 6,194.6 point, adding 21.70 points (0.35 percent) to its previous close.

Market Breadth During the session, 103 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 50 equities advanced versus 20 that retreated.

Daily Trading Activity Trading activity was mixed this session. Total volume traded was up by 23.90 percent with 89.54mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD12.03mn (14.04 percent lower compared to the day before). The real estate sector was the volume leader today, accounting for 45.80 percent of total shares. The same sector was the value leader, with 29.03 percent of total traded value. Kuwait Remal Real Estate Company was the most active in terms of values traded during yesterday session, with 4.33mn shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD1.36mn.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, Real

Estate Trade Center Co took the top spot for the day, adding 6.49 percent and closed at KD0.082.

On the other hand, Al-Qurain Holding Co shed 8.77 percent and closed at KD0.026, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors-Wise Six out of the eight sectors of the market managed to eke out gains, with real estate stocks being the front runners. Global Real Estate Index added a whopping 1.33 percent, backed by a 3.85 percent gain on the counter of Abyaar Real Estate Development Company. The company saw 22.56mn of its stocks changing hands, at an aggregate value of KD0.60mn.

The scrip ended the day at KD0.027. Mabanee Company also

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

edged up by 1.18 percent and closed at KD0.860. Non-Kuwaiti stocks too were notable advancers, adding 1.26 percent to their index value.

Egypt Kuwait Holding Company and Ahli United Bank were up by 5.80 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively. UAE cement companies perform well during the session. Fujairah Cement Industries Company closed up by 3.39 percent at KD0.061.

The Financial sector heavily weighted on the market, with a 0.27 percent gain in the Banking index and a 0.81 percent addition to the Investment Index.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait managed to land in the green during Sunday’s session, adding 2.27 percent to its share price and closed at KD0.900. While Kuwait

Projects Company (Holding) closed up by 1.39 percent at KD0.365. On the flip side, Food sector was the only loser during the session, shedding 0.22 percent from its value, dragged down by Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Company and Livestock Transport & Trading Company.

The scripts ended the day lower by 2.60 percent and 1.72 percent, at KD0.075 and KD0.285, respectively. No trading was seen on the insurance companies causing their sector index to end the day flat.

Oil News The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $106.50 a barrel on Friday, compared with $107.50 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calcula-

World stocks boosted by manufacturing rebound BANGKOK: World stock markets mostly rose yesterday on the heels of a report showing a rebound in US manufacturing, reinforcing the view that the slowdown in the world’s No 1 economy was only temporary. In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent to 5,995.47 and Germany’s DAX advanced less than 0.1 percent to 7,419.91. France’s CAC 40 was fractionally lower at 4,006.23. US stock markets were closed yesterday for Independence Day. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 1 percent to 9,965.09, having breached the psychologically important 10,000 mark earlier in the day for the first time since May 5. Sentiment was lifted by optimism about the US economy after manufacturing data for June from the Institute for Supply Management beat expectations.

Exporters were among the index’s major gainers. Honda Motor Corp jumped 3.5 percent. Toyota Motor Corp rose 1.5 percent. Consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp gained 1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9 percent to 2,145.30 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.7 percent to 22,770.47. Mainland Chinese shares extended gains as investors interpreted comments by vice premier Wang Qishan on the slowing economy, and news of stalling growth in non-manufacturing industries, as a sign Beijing may relax monetary policy, analysts said. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.9 percent to 2,812.82 and the Shenzhen Composite Index surged 2.3 percent to 1,188.91. Shares in lithium battery makers, gold miners and autos led the gains.

Benchmarks in Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also rose.

Thailand’s SET index soared 4.8 percent to 1,091.27 after the party backed by the country’s deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra won a landslide election victory. The poll came a year after the government crushed protests by Thaksin supporters with a bloody crackdown that culminated in some of the worst violence

in Thailand in 20 years. Shares of Singapore-based Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd plummeted 16 percent after Australian regulators grounded all Australian domestic flights of a Tiger subsidiary over safety concerns.

Australia’s Qantas Airways, one of Tiger’s main competitors, soared 6.1 percent. On Friday, the surprising rebound in the Institute of Supply Management’s US manufacturing capped a weeklong rally that left the Dow up 5.4 percent for the week, its best week in two years. The Dow rose 1.4 percent to 12,582.77. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index gained 1.4 percent to 1,339.67. The Nasdaq composite added 1.5 percent to 2,816.03. Also last week, Japan released data showing its industrial production posted the sharpest rise in nearly six decades in May. The improvement adds to signs that the world’s No 3 economy is rebuilding after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged factories and caused parts shortages for manufacturers.

Those developments came after many economists had began lowering their estimates for US growth in May after a string of negative reports on US manufacturing and hiring. Some analysts continued to caution against too much optimism, given a host of other lingering threats: galloping inflation in China, the European debt crisis and high oil prices. “I think the environment that we are in - there are still a lot of headwinds as far as equities go. I suspect this relief rally is going to be short-lived,” said Tey Tze Ming, a trader at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore.

“If growth slows any further, stocks are not going to be doing well.”

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 16 cents to $95.10 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract declined 48 cents to settle at $94.94 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday. In currencies, the euro rose to $1.4526 from $1.4511 in late trading in New York on Friday.

The dollar weakened to 80.59 yen from 80.84 yen. — AP

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BUSINESS

Strategic minerals crucial in making high-tech electronics Huge rare earth deposits found in Pacific TOKYO: Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said yesterday. “The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square kilometer of deposits will be able to provide onefifth of the current global annual consumption,” said Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo.

The discovery was made by a team led by Kato and including researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-

Earth Science and Technology. They found the minerals in sea mud extracted from depths of 3,500 to 6,000 meters below the ocean surface at 78 locations. One-third of the sites yielded rich contents of rare earths and the metal yttrium, Kato said in a telephone interview. The deposits are in international waters in an area stretching east and west of Hawaii, as well as east of Tahiti in French Polynesia, he said.

He estimated rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion tons, compared to global reserves currently confirmed by the

US Geological Survey of just 110 million tons that have been found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States. Details of the discovery were published yesterday in the online version of British journal Nature Geoscience. The level of uranium and thorium-radioactive ingredients that are usually contained in such deposits that can pose environmental hazardswas found to be one-fifth of those in deposits on land, Kato said. A chronic shortage of rare earths, vital for making a range of high-technology electronics, magnets and batteries, has

encouraged mining projects for them in recent years.

China, which accounts for 97 percent of global rare earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metals, sparking an explosion in prices. Japan, which accounts for a third of global demand, has been stung badly, and has been looking to diversify its supply sources, particularly of heavy rare earths such as dysprosium used in magnets. Kato said the sea mud was especially rich in heavier rare earths such as gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium.

“These are used to manufacture flat-

screen TVs, LED (light-emitting diode) valves, and hybrid cars,” he said.

Extracting the deposits requires pumping up material from the ocean floor. “Sea mud can be brought up to ships and we can extract rare earths right there using simple acid leaching,” he said. “Using diluted acid, the process is fast, and within a few hours we can extract 80-90 percent of rare earths from the mud.” The team found that sites close to Hawaii and Tahiti were especially rich in rare earths, he said. He gave no estimate of when extraction of the materials from the seabed might start. —Reuters

Saudi PMI rises slightly Job creation, input inflation slows DUBAI: Business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector edged up to a three-month high in June after four consecutive monthly declines, while job creation and input inflation slowed, a survey showed yesterday. The SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures activity in the OPEC member’s manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 62.8 in June from 62.6 in May. The seasonally adjusted index for the world’s top crude exporter is holding well above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

The survey of more than 400 private companies, which started in August 2009, also showed new orders rising to 72.7 in June, their highest level in five months. Saudi non-oil private sector firms continued to recruit new employees in June, though at a weaker rate than in May. Concerned by unrest in the

ATHENS: People walk by a monument in the center of Athens representing the last edition of the Greek drachma before the country adopted the euro. —AFP

10% of European insurers fail stress test: Regulator FR ANKFURT: About 10 percent of European insurance companies tested do not have enough capital to withstand exceptional economic shocks, the sector regulator said yesterday. But w i th a s u cce s s rate o f 90 p ercent , “overall, the European insurance sector remains robust in the occurrence of major shocks,” the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) said. The tests examined 221 insurance and re-insurance companies which account for about 60 percent of the overall insurance market in the 27 members of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Nor way and Sw i t ze r l a n d. Th e y were b ased o n stricter capital requirements that are to take effect in January 2013 under so-called Solvency II regulation but which have not yet been finalized.

Of the insurance companies tested, “data showed that approximately 10 p ercen t (13) of t h e p ar t icip at ing groups and companies do not meet the MCR (minimum capital requirements) under the adverse scenario,” a statement said. “Eight percent (10) fail to meet the MCR in the inflation scenario,” it added, in reference to a hypothetical case in which rising inflation forced central banks to raise interest rates quickly. Although the exercise looked at 221 insurance and re-insur-

ance gro ups an d compan ies, th e results considered 58 groups and 71 companies because some belonged to a single parent company, EIOPA said.

“The insurance groups and companies who did not meet the MCR threshold show a solvency deficit of ?4.4 billion ($6.38 billion) if the adverse scenario were to occur and ?2.5 billion if the inflation scenario were to materialize,” the statement said. The test scenarios included market, credit and insurance-related risks. EIOPA carried out an additional test to evaluate sovereign bond exposures. “The results of the shock on sovereign bond yields show that approximately five percent (6) of the par ticipating groups and companies would not meet the MCR,” it added.

A major concern at present is that financial institutions could be exposed to heav y losses in th e even t of a default by peripheral eurozone count ries su ch as Greece, I relan d an d Portugal. But the regulator said the tests were based on hypothetical and severe stress scenarios and were not a forecast of what it expected to happen. It published aggregate results for the entire market, rather than use a company-by-company test format for banks whose findings are expected sometime this month. —AFP

region, Saudi Arabia plans to spend an estimated $130 billion, or nearly 30 percent of its economic output, to ease social tensions, building new homes and hospitals.

I t also wants to tighten enforcement of its quota system to boost employment of Saudis in the private sector, where only

Inflation in the biggest Arab economy slowed to a 15-month low of 4.6 percent on an annual basis in May, although analysts expect price pressures to pick up again. Detailed PMI data is only available under license from M ark it, and customers need to apply to Markit for a license.—Reuters

South Korea banks face assets probe SEOUL: South Korea’s financial regulator said yesterday it would start assessing the finances of savings banks to see whether they are healthy enough for government support or should be suspended. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said the investigation into 85 out of the 93 savings banks would start this month and run through August. Authorities have suspended eight savings banks this year for inadequate liquidity after soured real estate project financing swelled the sector’s bad debt. The debt is too small to threaten the overall banking and financial sector. But the suspensions have fuelled anger among small depositors before parliamentary and presidential elections next year, especially after claims that wealthy depositors were tipped off in advance about the action.

The FSC said its probe would focus on capital adequacy ratios stipulated by the Bank for International Settlements standards. Those savings banks with capital adequacy ratios above five percent would be eligible to receive state funds to bolster their assets if they wish.

Banks with a ratio below this would be suspended unless their fiscal health improves within a set period.

“In a bid to help ease market worries over savings banks, financial regulators will try to get the lowdown on the actual situation by examining their businesses and inducing their self-rescue efforts,” FSC chairman Kim Seok-Dong told reporters.

“The plans are expected to create a healthy base for the savings bank sector’s growth and reduce market worries,” Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

The regulator said it would not suspend any troubled savings banks before its assessment is announced in late September, unless the bank faces a severe liquidity shortage due to customer runs. Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank, the first savings bank this year to be suspended, was sold to Woori Finance Holdings in March.

The other seven suspended savings banks have also been put up for sale. —AFP

QIB quits Bank Muamalat bid JAKARTA: Qatar Islamic Bank has pulled out of the bidding for a majority stake in Indonesian Islamic lender PT Bank Muamalat, banking sources said, leaving Standard Chartered Plc as the sole remaining bidder. Top shareholders of Indonesia’s second-biggest Sharia lender are aiming to sell at least 51 percent of the unlisted Islamic lender in a deal that may be worth about $300 million, sources said. But the deal, which initially attracted interest from several parties, has seen bidders pull back due to high pricing expectations from the sellers, sources familiar with the deal said.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the Middle East came hit a stumbling block after the financial crisis with many bankers blaming high seller expectations for the slowdown.

“This is just a pricing issue. I don’t think it’s a done deal, as there seems to be another party interested,” said Samer Al Jaouni, General Manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co based in Dubai. Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) was seen as a front runner for the stake, two bankers familiar with the stake sale process told Reuters. QIB was concerned about the price they would have to pay for the stake, one of the sources said.

A QIB official declined to comment. The sources declined to be identified because the deal is not public. That has left Standard Chartered Plc as the only bidder left in the race and the top contender for the stake. StanChart’s Indonesian affiliate PT Bank Permata pulled out earlier, sources said. Bank Mandiri and Singapore’s second-biggest lender OverseaChinese Banking Corp have also withdrawn from the bidding process, according to the sources. Both OCBC and Mandiri have declined to comment.

STABLE MARKETS Muamalat’s top three shareholders-Islamic Development Bank, Boubyan Bank Kuwait , and Saudi Arabia’s Atwill Holdings Ltd-collectively control 75.7 percent of the lender and are trying to offload some or all of their holdings. Morgan Stanley is advising the shareholders on the sale. Muamalat’s total assets are 21.4 trillion rupiah ($2.5 billion). A sale may value the lender at between $750 million to $1 billion, sources have said previously.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has a huge untapped market for Islamic banking, which local and international investors are trying to capture. Al Jaouni said he thinks QIB and other Islamic banks in Qatar will continue to look at Indonesia and Malaysia for deals. —Reuters

10 percent of citizens work .

Overall input price pressures eased in June, reflecting less marked increases in both purchasing and staff costs, although they remained elevated by historical standards, the sur vey showed. Output price inflation eased in June but also stayed above its long-run trend.

HYDERABAD: An Indian activist from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) holds a gas canister on her head while protesting against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling party during a demonstration against fuel price hikes in Hyderabad. —AFP

TIMIKA: Thousands of US-run Freeport McMoRan’s massive gold and copper mine workers hold a strike in Timika yesterday. —AFP

Workers begins weeklong strike at Freeport mine TIMIKA: Thousands of workers kicked off a weeklong strike at FreeportMcMoRan’s gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia yesterday, demanding higher wages and protesting the dismissal of their union leaders. The US mining giant insisted the work stoppage at the Grasberg mine in the remote province of Papua would not affect production. Grasberg is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines, but has frequently seen violent worker protests, while environmental groups complain of alleged pollution and unfair distribution of profits.

Union official Juli Parorongan said up to 10,000 workers from the mine were expected to join the strike after labor groups and management failed to re -negotiate contracts seeking wage increases from $1.8 to $15 per hour. “ The company ignored our rights for a better wages and conditions,” Parorongan said as 2,000 workers dressed in their work clothes and wearing red ribbons started gathering

in front of the mine’s gates on the first day of their peaceful sit-in. “They even fired our union leaders, who were struggling for our welfare.”

Parorongan justified asking for a nearly tenfold increase, saying that was what Freepor t workers elsewhere earned, though that could not be immediately confirmed.

Thousands of other striking workers, marching from the company’s mine area Tembagapura, were expected to join the strikers, though union officials said some roads were being blocked by police, slowing their journey.

Freepor t ’s spokesman in Indonesia, Ramdani Sirait, told The Associated Press that the strike was illegal. He urged workers to return to their jobs while the company continued to hold talks with union leaders to address their grievances. “We do not anticipate any impact to production,” Sirait added in an emailed statement.

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold holds just over 90 percent of the Grasberg mine, while the rest is owned by the Indonesian government.—AP

Markets anticipate Nasdaq/LSE tie-up LONDON: The London Stock Exchange should consider a tie-up with Nasdaq OMX to secure its place as a global competitor, after its failed bid for Canadian group TMX made it vulnerable as a takeover target, investors and market participants said. Nasdaq has been in the spotlight since the LSE pulled its $3.5 billion bid for Toronto stock exchange operator TMX, leaving the LSE without a partner at a time of frenzied takeover activity among global exchanges.

“The LSE needs to do something, because as the other exchanges get bigger they get smaller, which can only lead to them being swallowed up,” said a senior trader at an international broker in London. A source close to the firms said that Nasdaq-lead by veteran Robert

Greifeld-has not yet opened talks with the LSE, whose Chief Executive Xavier Rolet only took the helm at the centuries-old exchange in 2009.

But it could come under pressure to do so if shareholders approve Deutsche Boerse’s $10 billion bid for NYSE Euronext this Thursday, opening the way for the creation of world’s top exchange group.

“The LSE is being marginalized and if Deutsche Boerse/NYSE goes ahead, I wonder how much resistance the LSE will have to a bid,” said a managing director at a global investment bank. Deutsche Boerse needs shareholder approval before it and its merger partner NYSE Euronext can turn their attention to European competition authorities, who are closely watch-

ing every move of the rapidly integrating industry. Nasdaq tried to derail the Boerse/NYSE deal in April by launching a higher counterbid of $11.2 billion for NYSE, prompting a rejection from Nasdaq’s hometown rival.

But US regulators shot down the plan in May, fearing the merger would have given the combined group a monopoly. That left Nasdaq on the sidelines, sparking speculation it might launch what would amount to the third bid for LSE in its history, after a Canadian consortium of banks and funds known as the Maple Group scuppered the LSE’s bid for TMX. Nasdaq became the fifth firm to bid for the LSE in less than a decade in 2006, when it offered 9.50 pounds a share, but the offer was immediately

rejected by LSE management. It then raised its bid to 12.43 pounds a share in its second approach in November 2006, but the offer was again resisted by LSE’s bosses before being voted down in early 2007.

LSE shares have risen 22 percent to a yearhigh of 10.48 pounds since Nasdaq’s NYSE bid was knocked back more than six weeks ago.

They were trading 1.8 percent higher by 1218 GMT. “I think it (an approach) is likely. (Greifeld is) an ambitious guy with a track record. I think there is pressure for some cross-border activity, and more pressure than there was,” said one large LSE shareholder. There has been a swathe of exchange deals in the past six months, even if few are still live. —Reuters

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business

Anti-tax diehard looms large in spending showdown WASHINGTON: Without a bipar tisan agreement this summer to reduce the federal deficit and raise the debt limit, the US economy could suffer a horrendous blow, leaders of both parties say. If that happens, some will point fingers at a bearded, slightly disheveled man who’s barely known outside political circles in Washington. For two decades, Grover Norquist has been the driving force in pushing the Republican Party toward an ever-more rigid position of opposing any tax increase, of any kind, at any time. He has been so successful that some Republican officials fear they’ve let Norquist squeeze them into a corner where they’ll be unable to declare victory even if they win the great majority of their budget demands in negotiations with congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama.

Democrats, meanwhile, use Norquist to paint the Republicans as an unreasonable party that kowtows to billionaires at the expense of middle - class Americans.

Obama is insisting that even if a deficitreduction accord relies overwhelmingly on spending cuts, it also must have some revenue increases. Democrats say they should start with eliminating some not-so-popular tax breaks that Norquist and his allies stoutly defend. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell “has decided to walk out on the same limb as Grover Norquist,” Democratic Sen Chuck Schumer of New York, told reporters last week.

“It seems leader McConnell is willing to tank the economy for the sake of protecting tax breaks for oil companies and corporate jets.” Obama didn’t name Norquist in his feisty news conference Wednesday, but he cited the same tax breaks. “I’ve said to some of the Republican leaders: You go talk to your constituents, the Republican

constituents, and ask them, are they willing to compromise their kids’ safety so that some corporate-jet owner continues to get a tax break?” Obama said. Republican lawmakers scoff at the notion that killing a $3 billion tax break for small jets would make a dent in the $14 trillion debt.

But they have complicated their ability to parry the Democrats on such matters by signing the famous anti-tax “pledge” of Americans for Tax Reform, which Norquist heads. All but a handful of House and Senate Republicans have signed it. By doing so, they vow to oppose any effort to increase marginal income tax rates and “any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.” In other words, even a “temporary” tax cut cannot be undone. Even a tax break that seems to have lost its purpose, when economic conditions change, cannot be touched unless it is offset elsewhere.

Some Senate Republicans have grown weary of Norquist’s strict interpretation of the pledge, and a mini-revolt occurred in mid-June. Thirty-four of the Senate’s 47 Republicans voted to end a tax break for ethanol production, which has come under political fire in recent years. Norquist strongly opposed the move, and denounced its leader, conservative Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Coburn, who says some revenue increases must join deep spending cuts to reduce the deficit, claimed a turning point.

“You’ve got 34 Republicans that say they’re willing to end this, regardless of what Grover says,” he told reporters. “That’s 34 Republicans that say this is more important than a signed pledge” to Norquist’s group. Norquist denies suffering a setback.

He said the Republican senators willing to

allowed to set a standard which really could threaten our economy,” said Democratic Sen Dick Durbin of Illinois. “I’ve grown up in life with bullies, and there’s a point that you just have to say, ‘I’m not going to be frightened by them anymore.”‘ Norquist focuses less on the deficit than on his relentless campaign against federal spending, which is fed by taxes.

This troubles some lawmakers, who note that both parties historically have been willing to cut taxes while doing little or nothing to reduce spending, causing the deficit to soar. Partly because of this, federal tax collections, as a proportion of the overall economy, are the lowest since 1950, at 14.9 percent. Yet Congress’s Republican leaders say tax increases of any type cannot be part of a deal to resolve the debt-ceiling showdown this summer. It’s the type of scenario the Harvard-educated Norquist had in mind when he founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985. He says the pledge helps “brand” Republicans as the anti-tax party, clarifying voters’ choices.

The image ignores the fact that Republican presidents including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush raised taxes at times as economic conditions changed. It was Bush’s 1990 reversal of his “read my lips” vow not to raise taxes that outraged many conservatives. Several factors contributed to Bush’s 1992 loss to Bill Clinton, but Norquist pins it almost entirely on the tax decision. Since then, he said, the anti-tax pledge “has become a powerful tool for any candidate.” Norquist is delighted that the pledge is making it harder for Republicans and Democrats to reach a spending accord that might include small tax hikes along with larger spending cuts.

“The Democrats have run into a brick wall,” he said, “and the pledge is there.” — AP

WASHINGTON: Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist smile in this file photo as he was introduced to address the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. — AP end the ethanol subsidy have also backed a proposed end to the estate tax, a favorite Republican target. The two tax moves, if enacted, would offset each other, Norquist said, fulfilling the pledge’s demand to avoid “any net reduction” of tax breaks.

“We are pleased as punch. The pledge is defended,” he said in an interview. With the 2012 presidential race gearing up, and Congress facing high-stakes decisions on spending and deficits, the anti-tax pledge “has never been more important, and it has never played a bigger role,” he said.

Few elected Republicans will openly feud with Norquist. His power derives from his relentless pressure on state and federal officials to sign his pledge, and his thinly

veiled threats to support primary opponents against them if they break it. His website names 41 senators, 236 House members and 1,263 state legislators who have signed the pledge. “We list who has taken the pledge, and who has not,” said Norquist. Most Republican lawmakers, and many Democrats, innately oppose tax hikes, so Norquist’s achievements are unremarkable in some respects.

But the pledge’s rigidity tends to squelch even modest flexibility. Die-hard conservatives such as tea party activists see that as an asset. Others, however, say the inflexibility hampers Republican efforts to negotiate tough agreements with Democrats. “It’s a disservice to our nation for someone to be

CIPS: UK construction industry losing steam ConstructionPMIdips to53.6 points LONDON: Britain’s construction industry lost some steam in June and firms were less optimistic about the outlook, a monthly survey among purchasing managers showed yesterday. The Markit/CIPS construction PMI index eased to 53.6 points from 54.0 points in May, broadly in line with analysts’ forecasts of a dip to 53.7 points. “June data rounds off a further solid quarter of growth, albeit down on the first quarter,” Markit economist Sarah Bingham said. “This contrasts with the surprising weakness seen in the official data for the first three months of the year,” she said.

Official statistics showed that construction, which makes up for about 6 percent of British economic output, contracted by 3.4 percent in the first quarter, contradicting the expansion signaled by the PMI surveys. The dip in the construction PMI follows a surprisingly sharp slowdown in manufacturing industry which fuelled concerns about the health of

the broader economic recovery. The construction PMI showed that commercial and civil engineering companies saw output rising while house building shrank for the second time over the past three months.

LACK OF SPENDING Separate data from the Bank of England also highlighted the weakness in the housing market. Homeowners continued to pay back their mortgage debt at a quicker pace than they added to it. Britons injected some 5.8 billion pounds of equity into their homes in the first quarter. Britons have injected equity into their homes for the past three years, reversing the trend of home equity withdrawal to fund other spending that had dominated the previous decade, when people used mortgages to finance their consumer spending.

“The ongoing appreciable net injection of housing equity is adding to the constraints on consumer spending most notably including

Revival hopes rest on consumer comeback CAIRO: Street vendors display fruits for sale in the Bola’a neighborhood in Cairo. — AP

Turmoil in N Africa hampering growth JOHANNESBURG: The turmoil in North Africa is hampering economic growth across the continent but is also inspiring democratic change elsewhere, the chief economist of the Africa Development Bank said yesterday. In a speech, Mthuli Ncube said the unrest in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia is likely to reduce economic growth in North Africa this year to 0.7 percent from 4.7 percent last year.

Overall, Africa’s growth is estimated at 3.7 percent in 2011, down from 4.9 percent last year. Further south, Ncube said economies have been affected by a drop in money sent home by Africans from elsewhere on the continent who had been working in North Africa.

Niger, for example, had 200,000 citizens working in oil-rich Libya, according to bank statistics. Another knock has come from the reduction in Libyan investment across Africa as well as declining numbers of Libyan tourists within Africa, Ncube said. But he said that while the economic impact was painful, the long-term effect of political changes made it worthwhile.

“Democracy is far more important,” Ncube said. He noted that protests last month forced Senegal’s longtime president to cancel a proposed legislative change that would have made it easier for his son to take charge of the West African nation.

“It was really the North Africa effect,” Ncube said. “The youth will not tolerate any behavior they don’t perceive as democratic.” Ncube also cited Morocco, which has seen protests calling for change even though the king remains popular. The king presented a new constitution, approved by 98 percent of voters last week, designed to curtail his powers and make his government more accountable.

Ncube said the large number of unemployed youth, who used social networks to organize, helped drive protests that forced out a president in Tunisia and were followed by uprisings around the Arab world.

Sub-Saharan African countries with high unemployment should also be wary, Ncube said. He noted in an interview with The Associated Press after his speech Monday that former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, which is struggling to cut unemployment, particularly among the young - was ousted in 2008 by his own African National Congress in campaign led by the party’s youth wing. That might have been democratic South Africa’s version of upheavals in the north, Ncube said.

South Africa, the continent’s strongest economy, has suffered from the global recession more than other African economies, and is recovering more slowly, according to the annual economic outlook the African Development Bank released Monday. Its GDP is expected to grow 3.6 percent this year.

Ncube said South Africa should draw lessons from Nigeria, where growth predicted at 6.9 percent in 2011 is tied in part to reforms that have encouraged entrepreneurship. Or from Kenya, where growth predicted at 5.3 percent is linked to East Africa’s progress in creating a regional market and improving infrastructure. Ncube also cautioned South Africa against nationalizing mines and other industries, a proposal pushed by younger ANC members but opposed by key party leaders and by businesses.

“Nationalization, it’s not a good idea,” Ncube told the AP. “Governments themselves do not create jobs. They create an environment for jobs to be created.” — AP

SINGAPORE: The second-half economic recovery that many prognosticators predict assumes Japan’s quake-hit factories regain near-normal functioning, oil prices remain subdued and consumer spending rebounds. The first two factors appear to be in place. Consumption is the missing ingredient.

Demand looks sluggish throughout most of the advanced economies, as evidenced by a string of weak retail sales readings from the United States, Germany and Britain.

If this week’s June US employment report looks anything like May’s disappointing figures, it may deepen concerns that US consumers are not prepared to assume their usual role of the world’s buyers of last resort. Indeed, the labor market is the biggest caveat in economists’ forecasts for an imminent bounce-back. Paul Dales, an economist with Toronto-based Capital Economics, predicts a June payrolls gain of 80,000, spot on the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll. Despite the pessimism that has built up with each disappointing economic data point, Dales said the chances of a negative jobs reading in Friday’s report were slim.

“That tends to happen only when the economy falls off a cliff,” he said. The recent batch of weak data looks more like a gently sloping hill than a cliff, and there are a couple of reasons to believe the slope may soon level off. Oil prices are down 18 percent since a May 2 peak, and Japan’s factory output expanded at the fastest rate in 60 years in May as production disrupted by the March earthquake and tsunami came back on line. This should put the world’s factories on a better footing. Japan is a critical supplier of parts for making autos and electronics, so when its manufacturers get back to work, so can their counterparts around the world.

The drop in oil prices has also begun to cool inflation, easing the profit margin squeeze. But price pressures remain uncomfortably hot in many countries, and further interest rate hikes are widely expected in India, China and other major emerging markets. That makes it even more important for US consumption to revive. Even the advanced economies are feeling the pressure. The European Central Bank holds its next policy-setting meeting on Thursday, and economists polled by Reuters were unanimous in forecasting a quarter-point interest rate hike to try to tamp down inflation. The Bank of England announces its decision on the same day. But it is widely expected to hold borrowing costs steady even though inflation is running well ahead of the central bank’s target. —Reuters

negative real wage growth, the increasing fiscal squeeze, high unemployment and elevated debt levels,” IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer said.

Weak consumer spending has become the main drag for the UK economy, struggling to gain momentum after a shock contraction at the end of last year, and it is also weighing on house prices and prospects for the building industry. “The worry is that the level of business confidence has fallen to a six-month low in the sector, which suggests that companies are expecting growth to weaken over the next twelve months,” Markit economist Bingham said.

“That is perhaps not altogether surprising given a marked easing in the rate of expansion of new business inflows in June,” she said. The survey also showed that firms cut back staff as a result of the slowdown in orders. — Reuters

Volkswagen secures a majority stake in MAN GERMANY: Volkswagen, the biggest European automaker, said yesterday that it now holds a majority of the heavy truck maker MAN, a key step towards the creation of a third European truck giant.

VW, which was obliged by German law to make a public offer for MAN shares after its holding rose recently above 30 percent, was “more than pleased with the result,” a statement quoted chief executive Martin Winterkorn as saying.

The group has acquired 53.7 percent of the capital and 55.9 percent of the voting rights in MAN, paving the way for a tie-up with Scania of Sweden, which VW also owns.

It wants to merge the two truck makers along with its own heavy vehicle activities to create a rival for two other European heavyweights, Daimler Trucks and Volvo Trucks. Regulatory approval for various parts of VW’s plans must still be obtained however, and the group plans to begin by working for 200 million euros ($290 million) in cost savings

through joint purchases for the different brands. VW had offered 95.00 euros ($138.51) for ordinary shares and 59.90 euros for preference shares in MAN, which also makes diesel engines and industrial turbines. According to an AFP calculation, VW thus paid a little more than 3.4 billion euros for 35,857,607 of the former and 164,613 of the latter.

“Our objective of realizing substantial synergies between MAN, Scania and Volkswagen in the interest of all shareholders, employees and customers is moving closer,” Winterkorn said. VW would now work quickly to obtain necessary global regulator approvals for “a closer cooperation” of the truck makers, the statement added.

The automaker owns 70.94 percent of the voting rights in Scania, while MAN owns another 17.4 percent. VW had initially sought only 35-40 percent of MAN’s equity to provide it with a decisive vote during shareholder general assemblies. — AFP

SALZGITTER: A worker passes a row of MAN trucks waiting for delivery in the MAN plant in Salzgitter, northern Germany. Volkswagen AG has secured a majority stake in German truck maker MAN SE, taking a major step toward deepening an alliance that also includes Scania AB of Sweden. — AP

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TECHNOLOGY

Internet scams: New tricks, old goals WASHINGTON: Internet scammers generally want one thing: your money. To get it, they ’ll tr y to scare you into divulging account information, trick you into opening a harmful attachment, or dupe you into sending personal information. In short, scammers trade on the hope that you’re gullible enough to fall victim to their deceptions, which are constantly changing. Here’s a rundown of some of the latest types of Internet fraud schemes and advice on how to protect yourself.

Deactivation messages From the “scare you to act” department come email messages that threaten to deactivate your account if you do not click an embedded link to verify account details.

Often, these messages claim that some kind of suspicious activity has occurred with your account, and the only way that you have to keep your account from being shut down is to click the embedded link immediately or within a certain amount of time.

Facebook users have recently been hit

with such a scam. A message purporting to be from the “Facebook Security Team” tells recipients that their accounts have been compromised and they have 12 hours to follow a link or they risk de-activation.

Bottom line: Never click links in messages that claim that your account will be de-activated if you don’t. If your account with a reputable organisation is ever actually compromised, the company will be smart enough to provide information about the situation in a way that does not require you to click any link, either to confirm any information or to re-activate your account.

Requested attachment messages Email attachments, especially in messages from people you don’t know, are common carriers of malware, spyware, or viruses. Scammers know that, by now, most people either do not open attachments sent by strangers or set up spam filters to remove such messages from their inbox automatically.

But senders of harmful attachments have

become smarter, targeting users who may be expecting to receive attachments by email or who can be tricked into thinking they may have requested an email attachment. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation recently uncovered a scheme in which cyber criminals sent email attachments disguised as resumes to businesses who had posted jobs online. The attachments, once opened, unleashed malicious software that allowed the scammers to gain access to online banking credentials and ultimately to initiate wire transfers of money.

Bottom line: Always be suspicious of attachments, and be sure you use security software that scans email attachments before you open them.

Prize collection messages Who wouldn’t like to wake up one day to find that they had won a prize, a sweepstakes, or some money that they weren’t expecting? Fraudsters know that the answer is “almost no one,” which is why email mes-

sages claiming that “you won” continue to flow. The latest twist on this tactic, however, is for the email scammer to claim that in order to receive the prize or monetary award, you must first provide a host of information by email.

A “2011 Rugby World Cup Lotto Promotion” email message is just the latest example of this type of fraud. The message, which purports to be from the “International Rugby Board (IRB),” claims that the recipient has won one million dollars by having one of the lucky email addresses drawn in a lottery that allegedly involved “all the email addresses of people that are active online.”

Scammers know that people are suspicious of embedded links these days, however, so instead of having the recipients click a link, this scam asks the recipient to send a great deal of personal information to the email address of a “claims administrator.”

While no account information is solicited, enough personal information to facilitate identity theft is.

Bottom line: Never send personal information - including name, address, age, and date of birth - to any stranger or supposed organisation by email.

‘Facebook team’ messages It’s no surprise that with over half a billion users, Facebook garners its own category of scam alert. Messages claiming to be from the “Facebook team” are on the rise, and most of these prompt recipients to divulge account logon credentials.

One prevalent scam, for example, instructs recipients that Facebook is implementing a new login system that offers increased account security. To use the new system, the message says you must click a link to update your account. If you do, your login information will be stolen once you enter it. Bottom line: Never “update your account” via a link provided in a message. If you suspect that such a message is valid, visit your account by opening a web browser yourself and accessing it the usual way. — dpa

Spanish firm launches book-sharing site Takes aim at giant Amazon

In this screen shot provided by Electronic Arts Inc., a scene from Mass Effect 3, is shown. Game makers are crafting more sophisticated story lines and creating characters that evolve based on their experiences within a game. It’s an attempt to interest new customers and reverse a decline in video game sales as the maturing business fights for people’s attention in the face of new devices such as the iPad. — AP

Sony to restore PlayStation network TOKYO: Sony said yesterday it would fully restore all PlayStation Network and Qriocity online distribution services in Japan on Wednesday, after shutting them down in April due to hacker attacks. In the wake of the cyber attack, Sony shut down those services on April 20 to conduct an investigation and boost the overall security of the network infrastructure, it said in a statement.

Except for Japan, the Japanese electronics giant had already restored the services in all other countries and regions where they operated before the shutdown, including the Americas, Europe, Hong Kong and South Korea.

MADRID: Tiny Spanish firm 24symbols has launched a digital book reading and sharing site modelled on European digital music service Spotify, aiming to generate income from publicity and subscriptions. Users can read books for free if they accept viewing display ads in the margins, or pay a monthly fee to read without commercial publicity. The service was launched on Thursday and is currently available on computers and telephones.

“The advantage for users is they can read for free, if they view a bit of publicity,” said Aitor Grandes, chief executive of the small firm, told Reuters in an interview. The company aims to attract 8.5 percent of its users into premium subscription accounts. Grandes said 24symbols-the name refers to the Greek alphabet-would help fight piracy that has

plagued the music, publishing, movie and television industry online by keeping material on servers rather than allowing it to be downloaded to individual consumer devices.

“If you make available an easy-to-use service with reasonable prices people won’t spend time going to pirate networks to download things,” he said. “Time is money.” 24symbols will be a small player attempting to take on some giant rivals, such as Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle for downloadable books, Barnes & Noble Inc’s digital books and reading services already available on Apple’s iPad. Google is also working on an online books project.

Grandes said 24symbols is different from all those competitors because of its subscription model, which means people don’t have to pay for each individual title, and because of

its integration with social networking sites.

The company will distribute 70 percent of revenue to publishers in proportion to pages read by consumers. Also, publishers will be able to see how many their books are shared and recommended through social sites.

Currently 1,000 titles are available-almost all classics in the public domain-in Spanish, English, Portuguese and Dutch, and Grandes hopes to reach 30,000 titles by the end of the year. 24symbols is also awaiting Apple’s approval for its iPad application. Grandes said he was seeking financing. “To market a bit, to keep having a quality product and be able to get international content we will need to get another round of financing. We’re looking at risk capital from the U.S. and Europe,” Grandes said. — Reuters

News

in brief

The hacking attack on Sony compromised personal data from 100 million accounts. Sony later suffered attacks on websites including in Greece, Thailand and Indonesia, and on the Canadian site of mobile phone company Sony Ericsson.

The technology giant faces a battle to regain the trust of millions of consumers after the attacks on networks integral to its strategy. Analysts say the breach could cost it around $1 billion, but that attacks threatened deeper damage to Sony ’s brand image and its efforts to link its gadgets to an online network of games, movies and music. — AFP

Tired of typing WASHINGTON: Tired of typing your name, address, and other repetitive information into forms on the web?

There are plenty of form fillers available today, but the grand-daddy of them all is RoboForm (www.roboform.com), and it’s still the best. This nifty tool inserts a toolbar into your browser. Once you provide your information, a few clicks will suffice to fill in just about any form on the Internet.

Find out RAM on your PC Sooner or later, you’ll need to know how much memory (RAM) your PC has. Find out now. Open the System dialogue box of Windows Control Panel. From there, youíll find the amount of RAM installed. You should also note the type and speed of your processor and other system details, just so that you know in case someone asks you.

China’s Baidu teams up with Microsoft for English searches SHANGHAI: Chinese web giant Baidu said yesterday it had reached an agreement with Microsoft to provide Englishlanguage results generated by the US software giant’s Bing search engine.

Some English search requests from Baidu users will be automatically directed to Bing and its results will be displayed in pages in Baidu’s search engine, the Chinese company said in a statement.

“The cooperation between Baidu and Bing will bring into play technological advantages of both parties and jointly provide best search experience for users who need to search in English,” Baidu senior executive Zhang Dongchen said.

The move will also help Baidu to explore the overseas Internet search market, Zhang said, without elaborating.

Baidu receives around 10 million English-language search requests a day,

mostly from professionals and students in major cities, Zhang said. The Chinese search engine and Bing are expected to start offering the service later this year, the statement said. Baidu is the dominant search engine in China, the world’s biggest online market with at least 477 million Internet users, according to official data.

Google has lost part of its share of the lucrative Chinese search market to Baidu since the US web giant last year engaged in a very public spat with Beijing over cyberattacks that it claimed had originated from China.

Baidu had a 75.8-percent share of China’s overall search market in the first quar ter of 2011, dwar fing Google’s dwindling 19.2 percent, according to figures from research firm Analysys International. — AFP

TOKYO: Roderick Lappin chairman of NEC and Lenovo’s joint venture “NEC Lenovo Japan” speaks before press in Tokyo yesterday. NEC Lenovo Japan officially launched on July 1 with the new company becoming Japan’s largest PC provider with nearly 25 percent market share in Japan’s PC market. — AFP

A child surfing the Internet.

Surfing and sharing Tips for secure WLAN usage BERLIN: We all use it, and have a hard time imagining life without it. Wireless Local Area Networks, better known as WLAN, make our lives easier, at least so far as internet surfing is concerned. But those networks are rarely pushed to the limits of their capacity. In theory it would be easy and beneficial to split WLAN usage, sharing cost and capacity with those around you. One problem: the nasty legal situations that can arise.

It’s not hard to find a wireless network when on the go: Cafes, bars, and restaurants frequently post stickers on their doors announcing free WLAN use. Customers need only request the access key from the bartender, or in many cases it’s printed right on the menu. There are also a variety of websites specializing in cataloging hotspots, organized down to the city and street.

Some municipal government websites include listings of free access points as well.

Discretion is often advised when using public WLAN hotspots, though. If you end up connecting to a WLAN network with poor or even no encryption, then your data - including sensitive access data - can easily be intercepted. “WLAN using the outdated WEP procedure must be regarded as open,” warns the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI).

The agency recommends avoiding open WLAN networks if the data traffic isn’t encrypted from start to finish, which can be identified through the “HTTPS” in the address. If through exceptional circumstances use of an open WLAN

and unencrypted pages is inescapable, then the BSI recommends at least turning off automated synchronisation of online services, especially on mobile devices. One thing that applies for all devices: after finishing a session with open WLAN networks, that network’s profiles should be deleted from the device to prevent it from logging into them again automatically in the future.

Hotspots working with WPA2 encryption, the current standard, can be considered adequately secure. The BSI recommends a complex password using at least 20 characters but with no existing words or names. They also advise that WPA2 be used on home routers. The factory default SSID should also be changed.

Why is it necessary to lock down access so diligently? Because in some countries or jurisdictions, the operator of an insecure WLAN access point can be held partially liable for crimes such as downloading of illegal content. The operator of the hotspot then has to bear lawyer fees, but is not entitled to compensation for the copyright violation itself.

“Leaving a network unsecured as a goodwill gesture can bring big risks with it,” says Joerg Heidrich, legal advisor at c’t computer magazine.

In principle that applies for WLAN access shared with neighbours, and for case-by-case divulging of the network password as well. How do restaurants and cafes get around this issue?

Forcing customers to log in using the access key helps alleviate concerns about unsupervised usage.

Multitask Windows is made to multitask.

But that doesnít mean you should leave open applications or documents that you’re not using. When you close an application or document, you free up valuable memory that active programs need. If you find your machine slowing down during the day, close anything that you’re not using. Performance will likely improve as a result.

Web browser Text hard to read in your web browser? In most browsers, you can increase or decrease text size in a couple of ways. First, if you have a scroll wheel mouse, just hold down the Ctrl key and scroll the wheel forward to increase text size; scroll it backward to decrease text size. You can also hold down the Ctrl key and tap the plus key (+) to increase text size or the minus key (-) to decrease text size.

Battery power Notebook users have some control over how long their batteries last. While using a notebook on battery power, turn down the brightness of the screen, which draws the most current from the battery. Also, use the power-saving features of your notebook to have the hard drive spin down and the CPU go into low-power mode after a brief idle period. When you’re using the notebook on electric power, remove the battery to prevent frequent recharges from shortening the life of the battery.

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Wind of change: Aussie ‘farting camels’ cull under attack PARIS: The world’s association of camel scientists fought back angrily yesterday over Australian plans to kill wild dromedaries on the grounds that their flatulence adds to global warming.

The idea is “false and stupid... a scientific aberration”, the International Society of Camelid Research and Development (ISOCARD) charged, saying camels were being made culprits for a man-made problem. “We believe that the goodhearted people and innovating nation of Australia can come up with better and smarter solutions than eradicating camels in inhumane ways,” it said. The kill-a-camel suggestion is floated in a paper distributed by Australia’s

Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, as part of consultations for reducing the country’s carbon footprint. The scheme is the brainchild of an Adelaide-based commercial company, Northwest Carbon, a land and animal management consultancy, which proposes whacking feral camels in exchange for carbon credits.

Camels were introduced to the Outback in the 19th century to help early settlers cope with hot, arid conditions.

Now they number around 1.2 million and, say some, are a pest because of the damage they inflict to vegetation and their intestinal gases. Each camel, according to the champions of a cull,

emits 45 kilos (99 pounds) of methane, the equivalent of one tonne a year in carbon dioxide (CO2), the main warming gas. Northwest Carbon says it would shoot the camels from helicopters or corral them before sending them to an abattoir for eating by humans or pets.

But ISOCARD, an association of more than 300 researchers headquartered at al Ain University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said the calculations were absurd. “ The estimation of methane emission by camels is based on cattle data extrapolation,” it said in a press release.

“The metabolic efficiency of camel is higher than that of cattle, (...) camels are

able to produce 20-percent more milk by eating 20-percent less food, they have different digestive system and are more efficient in the utilization of poor quality roughages,” it noted. In addition, the bacterial flora of camel intestines means their digestion is closer to that of monogastric animals, such as pigs, rather than as cattle and sheep, said ISOCARD. “Therefore, the estimation of camel methane emission is quite debatable, as well as the estimated feral population.” The 28 million camels in the world represent less than one percent of all vegetation-eating biomass, and their emissions are just a tiny fraction of those made by cattle, it argued. “The feral

dromedary camels should be seen as an incomparable resource in arid environments,” the group said. “They can and should be exploited for food (meat and milk), skin and hides, tourism etcetera.”

Australia is heavily reliant on coalfired power and mining exports and has one of the highest per-capita carbon levels in the world. The government plans to tax the nation’s 1,000 biggest polluters for carbon emissions from mid2012, with a fixed price giving way to a cap-and-trade scheme within five years.

To offset their emissions, polluters could buy carbon credits-CO2 or other greenhouse gases that are avoided through other schemes. — AFP

Insurers, govt urged to solve UK elderly care crisis British population is ageing

NEW DELHI: An HIV positive woman feeds her child as she participates in a protest outside the Indian Health Ministry in New Delhi, India, yesterday. The protesters demanded an immediate passage of a legislation regarding HIV/AIDS, which is pending for the last five years. — AP

India PM hails success in halving HIV infections NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday hailed the country’s success in slashing new HIV/AIDS infections by half in the past decade. “Our HIV/AIDs programme can justifiably claim a measure of success,” he told a conference in New Delhi on the disease, but added “there should be no room for complacency” with an estimated 2.3 million Indians still living with HIV. “With the introduction of antiretroviral treatment, HIV has become a chronic but manageable health condition,” Singh said.

But while Singh was praising government efforts to combat the virus, around 100 people living with HIV protested outside the ministry of health saying efforts were insufficient.

So-called “first-line” antiretroviral therapy (ART) — a cocktail of drugs to slow the effects of the virus on the body’s immune system-has been widely available and free of charge in India’s public health system since 2004. But more expensive “secondline” ART is also free, although access to it is limited to just a few centres across the country. “India’s testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS have increased their reach, Singh said.

Now, Indian health workers are focusing on prevention of transmission from infect-

ed pregnant women to their newborn children, making it a “priority area,” Singh said.

India’s AIDS control programme has reduced new HIV/AIDS infections by 50 percent in the last 10 years and mortality rates amongst those infected with HIV have also fallen, Singh noted.

Indian pharmaceutical companies have helped to drive down the cost of life-saving generic drugs to treat people with HIV in India and other developing countries.

Singh said one of India’s key strategies has been to scale up preventive education campaigns among high-risk groups such as sex workers.

Unprotected sex, particularly between sex workers, their clients and partners, is the main factor behind the spread of the disease, UNAIDS says. Contaminated needles also play a key role in spreading the virus in India’s northeastern regions, the UN agency says. Singh said there should be no discrimination in India against people living with HIV, condemning frequent denial of school admission to children with the virus. “We must see that there is no social ostracisation,” he said.

He also urged the global community not to slacken in its fight against what called “one of the “biggest health challenges confronting humanity.” — AFP

IVF and Down’s syndrome: New test raises questions STOCKHOLM: A test designed to spot chromosome abnormalities in eggs could be a “revolution” in fertility, helping older women determine their chances of having an IVF baby, doctors said yesterday.

But in developing the test, they added, worrying evidence emerged that in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) may boost the risk of a baby with Down’s syndrome “It is a fair question to ask,” said Alan Handyside, director of The London Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetics Centre, who led a team of doctors from eight countries.

“But we have no direct evidence yet, and I don’t want to worry women.”

The test was presented Monday at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Stockholm. The method entails counting the sets of chromosomes in oocytes, as human eggs are called, at stages in a maturation process known as meiosis. The idea was to vet imbalances in chromosome numbers that cause embryo abnormalities and thus miscarriage-or, in the case of an additional chromosome 21, the mental handicap known as Down’s syndrome. The technique looks at something called a polar body, a tiny by-product cell jettisoned by the egg during the meiosis phases. The investigators scrutinised eggs provided by 34 women, average age 40, who were undergoing IVF. It compared polar bodies left from two meiosis stages with the egg after it was fertilised by her partner’s sperm. The new test helps pinpoint healthy eggs and damaged eggs, enabling doctors to advise a woman whether it is worth the emotional and financial investment to try for a pregnancy, said Handyside.

At present, IVF clinics tend to go for a wholesale approach. They administer powerful hormones to prod follicles in the ovaries into producing eggs. The eggs are harvested, fertilised in a lab dish and two or more early-stage embryos are then transfer to the uterus in the broad hope that one will develop into a pregnancy and eventu-

ally a life birth. Handyside predicted the new technique would be a boon for women aged 35-plus, an age where the remaining stock of oocytes dwindles as menopause looms.

Oocytes among these older women also tend to have a higher rate of abnormalities, although the risk varies enormously from individual to individual. “I think it will cause a revolution because we will be able to say to some women, ‘we recovered eggs but unfortunately all of them are abnormal so your only option is oocyte donation,’” Handyside said by phone.

“But for another group we will be able to say, ‘actually it’s good news, only about half of your eggs were abnormal, so you have a good likelihood of getting pregnant.’

And at the same time we can screen and reduce the possibility of having a Down’s child.” The “proof-of-concept” study entailed unravelling the DNA of the polar bodies through so-called array comparative genomic hybridisation.

But, in so doing, the team also found troubling, but unconfirmed, evidence that IVF may lead to more Down’s babies. After IVF hormone stimulation, fertilised eggs bore patterns of chromosome abnormalities that were quite distinct from abnormalities in eggs that had been harvested naturally, said Handyside. “We raise the possiblity that ovarian stimulation in some of these women has something to do with it, because we find so many of these errors,” Handyside said.

One theory is that fertility drugs break the “glue” that holds the multiple sets of 23 chromosomes together during a key stage of meiosis. As a result, chromosome numbers get mixed up in the oocyte before fertilisation, when a single set of chromosomes from the egg teams up with a single set from the sperm.

“It could be stimulation, particularly as there is evidence (for this) in vitro,” he said referring to earlier research on oocytes in the lab dish. “But we don’t have any direct evidence as yet.”— AFP

LONDON: Britons will be urged to buy insurance to cover the potential costs of care in their old age while the cash-strapped government will also be asked to shoulder more of the financial burden, a report will recommend later yesterday.

Economist Andrew Dilnot, the author of a government-commissioned report, has branded it a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance to fix the way Britain finances care for its growing numbers of old people. Like other European countries, Britain has an ageing population. Many elderly people need expensive care either at home or in special accommodation at a time when state spending is shrinking and family budgets are under huge pressure.

Residential care for the elderly is means-tested and anyone with more than a relatively modest 23,250 pounds ($37,372) in assets has to pay their own way. As a result, older people fear that their life savings could be swallowed up by care costs, leaving them nothing to pass on to their children. Political parties have debated the question for several years, but there are no simple and cheap answers.

Dilnot is expected to recommend a cap on how much any elderly person has to pay for their care-a figure of between 35,000 and 50,000 pounds has been suggested. That would allow financial companies to tailor insurance products to cover that potential liability. At present, insurers are reluctant to cover what could be a limitless cost.

Dilnot is also expected to recommend the government contribute more to cover the cost of care-potentially up to 2 billion pounds per year. That will cause a headache for a Conservative-led coalition determined to cut public spending. It also runs contrary

to its efforts to shift the burden of paying for things like university education and public sector pensions from the state to the individuals benefiting.

The issue has risen back up the political agenda after care home provider Southern Cross ran into financial problems, raising concerns about the welfare of its 31,000 residents, many of whom are elderly and frail.

The government has said it will not bail out the company but indicated that local authorities might try to keep homes running, rather than shunt vulnerable peo-

ple to new accommodation.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he had not yet seen the Dilnot report, but agreed that reform was needed. “At the moment we’re in a situation where it’s a terrible lottery,” he told BBC TV. “One quarter of people have effectively no substantial care costs, whereas there’s another quarter where the costs exceed 50,000 pounds, and for 1 in 10 it’s over 100,000 pounds. “Some people end up through just what is in effect chance events-they happen to have dementia in old

age, for example-they end up losing everything that they worked for in life.”

Leaders of 26 charities involved in providing care to the elderly wrote to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper calling for cross-party talks to follow the report and a timetable for a consensus to be reached. “Our political leaders must not let reform fall off the table for another generation,” the letter said.

“Otherwise the terrible stories of the last months, of neglect and abuse of the most vulnerable, will only grow worse.” — Reuters

DENPASAR: An Indonesia marine policeman carries a rescued and injured green turtle at Benoa harbour in Denpasar on Bali island yesterday. Indonesian marine police seized 18 green turtles from a speed boat at a water sports area in Tanjung Benoa.— AFP

Five-kilometer runs boost for fitness NEW YORK: Five kilometer (3.1 miles) races and run/walk events offer fair weather exercisers the chance to support a favorite charity without too much wear and tear on out-of-shape joints. But experts say for anyone who really wants to kick-start a fitness regimen, lose weight, or just change their sedentary ways, training for a 5K run may be the shortest distance from couch potato to easy runner. “It’s a better first step than just setting a goal to lose weight,” said Matt Fitzgerald, a coach and editor at Competitor magazine. “Human beings are natural game players: we like having a goal, a game plan. There’s no game in losing 10 pounds (4.5 kg).”

And there’s no glory in staring at a scale. “The magic of crossing the finish line is what hooks people,” said Fitzgerald, who is based in San Diego, California. “It’s life changing.” Thanks in part to charity events, the little race has come to dominate the field. Some 4 million people nationwide crossed a 5K finish line in 2009, according to Running USA, a non-profit organization for the running industry.

“Event organizers push it because of the accessibility of the distance.

Marathons are not for everyone. The 5K is a lot easier to host,” Fitzgerald said, and a healthy adult can get in shape for a 5K within 10 weeks. “Most people can walk a 5K right now,” he said. “Just try to get to a point where you can jog the whole way.” Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist with the non-profit American Council on Exercise, said a top distance runner can knock out a 5K in 14 or 15 minutes.

For beginners 30 minutes is a mod-

erate and accessible target.

But be prepared to walk before you run. “Walk three-to-five minutes, then run three-to-five minutes, then gradually increase the amount of time you run,” McCall said. “It’s all about setting goals and giving your body time to adapt.”

He said any realistic plan should also involve flexibility and at least three days per week of core-stabilizing exercises. To avoid overuse injuries, runners refrain from doing too much too quickly.

McCall recommends that the novice invest in a shoe designed specifically for running. “A running shoe has a different design and structure than a training shoe, which is wider with a different type of foot bed.” Both the ACE and Competitor offer the beginner 5K training tips and plans. McCall said anyone aiming for a more challenging race should find a trainer. “From what I’ve seen the 5K gets people more involved in running,” he said. “You establish a goal, and train for it. When you see your time drop from, 30 minutes to 28, you say, ‘Yes. I can do this.’”

He said even if a person’s sights are set on the marathon, the first goal should be the 5K. Fitzgerald said while some use the 5K as a stepping stone to longer races, others stick with the short and speedy.

“Marathons are really not for everyone,” said Fitzgerald, who has run 14 of them. “Some people just get so excited that they jump straight up to half marathon, but no one should feel compelled.” He said many find their niche in the 5K. “After all, you can go to the Olympics with 5000 meters.” — Reuters

Life after prostate surgery worse than men expect NEW YORK: Nearly half of men who undergo surgery for prostate cancer find that life after the surgery is worse than they expect, with less sexual function and greater incontinence problems than they anticipated, according to a poll.

Before the surgery, some men in the study, published in the Journal of Urology, had expected to have better urinary and sexual function a year after the surgery than before it-a belief that researchers, led by Daniela Wittmann at the University of Michigan, said was out of step with reality. “Men have unrealistic expectations of urinary and sexual function after prostatectomy despite preoperative counseling,” Wittmann and her colleagues wrote.

As part of the survey, 152 men undergoing radical prostatectomy filled out a questionnaire before they had surgery but after they had received counseling on the risks of the procedure. The questions asked about their expectations of urinary, bowel and sexual function a year after the surgery. About half the men expected the same function after surgery than before, but 17 percent anticipated better sexual function after the surgery.

On a follow-up survey one year later, just 36 percent of the men said their expectations for urinary function matched the true outcomes, and 40 percent said their expectations for sexual function matched reality.

Wittmann, the sexual health coordinator at the urology department at the University of Michigan, noted that it’s hard to predict how likely a patient is to recover urinary and sexual function.

“We can only (inform them) in terms of overall statistics, we can’t predict for the individual man, which means that, if in doubt, people tend towards being hopeful and optimistic,” she said. Recent studies have showed than only about one in four men recovered the ability to have intercourse one year after surgery, and that some degree of incontinence was common, although men tended not to be significantly bothered by it.

Tracey Krupski of the University of Virginia, who wrote an editorial published with the study, said that men’s unrealistic expectations can be double-edged sword. Optimism is known to help people heal, but on the other side, “it may ultimately lead to disappointment when adjusting to a long-term disability.” Krupski said that a support network may help new cancer patients understand the realities of life after surgery, while Wittmann said that involving patients’ partners is also vital to successfully regaining sexual relationships. —Reuters

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Menu labels don’t influence student food choices NEW YORK: Who chooses high-vegetable food options over hamburgers?

Not college students, if a study is any guide. Menu labels on college cafeteria food that highlight the nutritional good and the bad of various meal options make no difference in students’ choices, according to the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The results add to evidence that despite laws in some cities mandating calorie counts on fast-food menus, nutritional information makes little difference to people when they are eating out. “Although it is important to inform consumers about the nutritional characteristics of the food offered, providing nutrition information in less healthy food environments such as fast-food restaurants is unlikely to alter consumers’ food choices,� wrote Christine Hoefkens and Wim Verbeke, two of the study’s authors, in an email to Reuters health.

The research team, based at Ghent University in Belgium, asked 224 people who regularly ate at two of the uni-

versity’s cafeterias to log their diets for several days. Then the researchers put up posters in the cafeterias that rated meals on how healthy they were-zero stars for the least healthy to three stars for the most healthy. Study participants and other diners didn’t know the posters were part of a study.

Labels next to menu items also highlighted whether a meal was high in salt, calories, saturated fats or vegetables. Six months later, the participants, who were mostly female undergraduates, again logged what they ate for a few days. Though the researchers predic ted the diners would have responded to the posters and made healthier food choices, they found no difference in the number of meals eaten from each star category. The results were not surprising, said Lisa Harnack, a professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, who was not involved in the study. “In studies, when you ask people how important nutrition is to them when they’re ordering food from a restaurant menu, it’s far less important

A Word of Solutions

than a food price or taste. It’s just not a consideration,� she told Reuters Health.

US cities such as New York and Philadelphia require fast-food chain restaurants to include calorie information on menus, while the health care reform bill passed in 2010 will also require that fast-food restaurants and vending machines include nutritional information.

What was concerning about the college student population was that the cafeteria meals were often their main source of food, Hoefkens and Verbeke said. But others, such as Gail Kaye, the nutrition program director at Ohio State University, said that menu labels might still work to encourage healthier eating if they were paired with a healthier-leaning menu.

In the Ghent study, for instance, 70 percent of the meals earned zero or one stars, both before and after the labels, with the students’ meal choices mirroring the proportion of offerings in each star category. “If they had more healthy options there, they might have chosen them,� she added.— Reuters

Warming ocean melts ice faster WASHINGTON: Warming air from climate change isn’t the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles — so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out.

Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels. But little attention has been paid to the impact of warmer water beneath the ice.

Now, Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona and colleagues report the warming water could mean polar ice melting faster than had been expected. Their report was published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. While melting floating ice won’t raise the sea level, ice flowing into the sea from glaciers often reaches the bottom, and grounded ice melted by warm water around it can produce added water to the sea. “Ocean warming is very important compared to atmospheric warming because water has a much larger heat capacity than air,� Yin explained. “If you put an ice cube in a warm room, it will melt in several hours. But if you put an ice cube in a cup of warm water, it will disappear in just minutes.� In addition, Yin explained, if floating ice along the coastal areas melts it will allow the flow of glaciers to accelerate, bringing more ice into the seas. “This mean that both Greenland and Antarctica are probably going to melt faster than the scientific community previously thought,� co-author Jonathan T. Overpeck said in a statement. —AP

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30

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

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Al-Asmaa’ bint Al-Hareth Secondary School Graduation Al-Asmaa’ bint Al-Hareth High School celebrated its 2010/2011 graduates in a ceremony held at the Al-Raiya Hall, and was attended by the students’ parents, school’s staff and other guests including parliament member Marzouq Al-Ghanim.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Signor Sassi applies novelty concept for the world of Italian cuisine

W

ith a meticulous selection of the best dishes with excellent ingredients that reflect La Bella Figura (meaning: A way of life emphasizing beauty) culture of the authentic hospitality and refined service of the Italian restaurants, Signor Sassi takes off with a new concept that redefines gourmet food for the connoisseurs and the majority of the Italian cuisine lovers.

Due to this novelty, Signor Sassi Kuwait is no longer a host for the elite including politicians,

royal kings, art, sports and music celebrities and VIPs only, but welcomes all Italian food lovers with its sophisticated cuisine which has been granting Signor Sassi its great fame since 1984.

A one-of-its kind restaurant in the Middle East that boasts a group of the best skilled Italian chefs, Signor Sassi unveiled a new strategy that welcomes families and friends of all segments and contributes to the events of the Kuwaiti society at all levels; an approach that reflects Signor

Sassi s willingness to share the sublime of its innovation with all Italian food fans.

Mouth watering and unique dishes prepared with the best quality ingredients outsourced from Europe and Italy, Signor Sassi promises diners with authentic Italian dishes found only in Italy. A sumptuous menu that abounds with delicious pasta, exceptional pizza, fresh fish and other seafood, in addition to starters, cocktails and many more, is Signor Sassi s promise to

his diners.

Apart from its fabulous dishes, Signor Sassi enjoys a prime location adjacent to Kuwait towers, including a fascinating sea view, elegant interior design, exceptional service and skillful Italian chefs- features that take you to the heart of Italy: Rome, Milan, Naples and Venice.

“We are committed to the most strict quality assurance standards applied by Signor Sassi Kuwait and the chain group across the UK. We are very much concerned

to adhere to the principals of offering only the best Italian food prepared by the best Italian chefs.

Such principles gave us the fame we enjoy today” Says Marcelto Dl Stefano, the Restaurant Manager.

“Our new approach following a year of providing the best Italian dishes in Kuwait is focused on reaching all segments of the Kuwaiti society, not only the elite and celebrities. We are keen to let everybody enjoy a unique Italian experience with a breath taking ambience”, Marcello added.

Commenting on the ways that Signor Sassi meets the different needs of the Middle East diners, Marcello explained “Italians are well known for their love of delicious food and refreshing atmosphere. Hence, we have applied these principles to the Middle East. We show great concern to share Signor Sassi s experience with all Italian food lovers. In Fact, we have combined the San Carlo fresh seafood concept with our Italian homemade pasta and pizza to satisfy different tastes”.

Indian film critic Vijayakrishnan to arrive

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ational award winning Indian film critic, director and writer Vijayakrishnan is arriving today in Kuwait to participate this weekend’s Jeevan TV mega show at American International School, Maidan Hawally. Famous playback singers MG Sreekumar and Renjini Jose will lead the show which will have comedy numbers led by Ayyappa Baiju. The two shows on July 8 will also stage numerous local talents.

Jeevan TV, Kuwait one of the most popular Indian channels in Kuwait that has raised itself to the status of a family club and socio cultural organization will also give out the first annual awards in various fields. The 8 awards, co organized by Al-Mulla Exchange will be presented during the mega cultural event.

The awardees are Dr Nasar Al Sani (Social Service to Expats by a Citizen),

M Mathews (Overall Contribution), Thomas Chandy (Expat MLA), KG Abraham (Industrialist), TA Ramesh (Support to Cultural Activities), Dr Biji Basheer (Helper to the Downtrodden), Babuji Batheri (Cultural Activities) and Indian Doctors Forum (Health Care).

GREETINGS Happy 10th birthday to Cherish (right). Wishing you rains of blessings.

Sweet greetings from Alma and Liva.

—Photos by Yasser Zayyat

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The groom, Yousuf Al-Najjar.

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Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah is pictured with the groom and father of the bride, as director of the Directorate General of Drug Control Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah is seen on Al-Qanaei’s right.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah stands between the groom and Al-Qanaei for a photo.

Faisal Al-Qanaei’s daughter weds

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ecretary General of the Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) Faisal Al-Qanaei celebrated the wedding of his daughter to Yousuf Al-Najjar. Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Directorate General of Drug Control Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah, MPs, journalists and other top officials from various ministries attended the function which was held at the Al-Farisi Hall in Surra on Sunday night.

Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah and Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad greeting.

Sheikh Faisal Al-Mubarak and Mohammad Al-Saud

MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun

MP Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi

MP Adnan Al-Mutawa’a

KJA General Director Ahmad Behbehani greets his fellow KJA official Al-Qanaei and the groom.

Ministry of Interior undersecretary assistant for traffic affairs Major General Mahmoud Al-Dousary stands between the groom and Al-Qanaei in a group photo.

Ministry of Interior official spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Al-Sabr greeting.

Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor undersecretary Mohammad AlKandari shares a photo with the groom, the father of the bride and other guests.

KJA honorary president Ahmad Al-Jarallah greets his long time colleague.

Journalist Bashar Al-Sayyegh stands between Al-Qanaei and the groom in a Hawally Governor Lieutenant General (retired) Abdullah group photo.

Al-Faris.

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00:45 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Queens of the Savannah 03:30 Speed of Life 04:25 I’m Alive 05:20 Animal Cops Houston 06:10 Must Love Cats 07:00 Lemur Street 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Natural Born Hunters 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Cats 101 10:05 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 11:00 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 11:55 Lemur Street 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Animal ER 13:45 Animal Cops Houston 14:40 Animal Precinct 15:30 RSPCA: On the Frontline 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Planet Wild 19:15 Crocodile Hunter 20:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 21:05 Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz 22:00 Wildest Africa 22:55 Buggin’ with Ruud 23:50 The Animals’ Guide to Survival

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12:00 12:50 13:35 14:20 17:10 17:35 18:00 19:00 19:50 20:35 21:20 22:10 23:00

Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Sweet Baby James Sweet Baby James New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me The Home Show Cash In The Attic USA

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 World Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 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 The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 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 Samurai Jack 04:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 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

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Adventure Time 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 Hero 108 09:30 Hero 108 10:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 10:55 The Powerpuff Girls 11:20 The Powerpuff Girls 11:45 Adventure Time 12:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:25 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:50 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 14:15 Skunk Fu! 15:05 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 15:25 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 15:50 Ben 10 16:10 Ben 10 16:35 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 16:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 17:15 Hero 108 17:40 Hero 108 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 Cartoon Network Dance Club 18:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Chowder 19:20 Adventure Time 19:45 The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 20:35 Cow And Chicken 21:00 Best Ed 21:25 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 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 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 The Situation Room World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport World View World Report Backstory World Report World Sport Inside Africa World Business Today World One World Sport World’s Untold Stories Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk World’s Untold Stories Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00

Dirty Jobs LA Ink Ultimate Survival Battle Machine Bros Mythbusters How It’s Made How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Battle Machine Bros Street Customs 2008 How It’s Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters Flying Wild Alaska Swords: Life On The Line Ultimate Survival LA Ink Dirty Jobs Battle Machine Bros

16:55 Mythbusters 17:50 Extreme Fishing 18:45 Cake Boss 19:10 Border Security 19:40 Auction Hunters 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 The Next Great Baker 21:55 LA Ink 22:50 Police Women Of Maricopa County 23:45 Extreme Fishing

00:05 Science Of The Movies 00:55 Kings Of Construction 01:45 Things That Move 02:10 Things That Move 02:35 Nyc: Inside Out 03:25 Da Vinci’s Machines 04:15 How Stuff’s Made 04:45 Kings Of Construction 05:40 One Step Beyond 06:10 Nextworld 07:00 Da Vinci’s Machines 07:55 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:50 The Gadget Show 09:15 The Gadget Show 09:40 Catch It Keep It 14:55 Catch It Keep It 15:45 Weird Connections 16:10 Brainiac 17:00 Super Comet: After The Impact 17:50 Sci-Fi Science 18:15 The Gadget Show 18:40 Space Pioneer 19:30 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 20:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 The Gadget Show 22:00 Space Pioneer 22:50 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 23:40 The Gadget Show

00:00 00:25 00:50 01:15 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:35 09:00 09:10 09:25 09:40 09:50 10:10 10:35 10:50 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:30 15:20 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Emperors New School Emperors New School Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Emperors New School Phineas & Ferb Phineas & Ferb Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Sonny With A Chance Fish Hooks Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Hannah Montana Jump In The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Fish Hooks Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck S3 Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Jake & Blake Hannah Montana Phineas & Ferb Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas

06:00 Kid Vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:05 Phineas & Ferb 07:40 Phineas & Ferb 08:05 Kick Buttowski 08:30 American Dragon 09:00 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 09:25 The Avengers: Earths 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas & Ferb 12:20 Phineas & Ferb 12:45 Kid Vs Kat 13:30 Kid Vs Kat 13:50 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 14:15 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 14:40 Zeke & Luther 15:05 Kick Buttowski 15:35 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 16:00 I’m In The Band 16:25 Escape From Scorpion Island 18:30 Escape From Scorpion Island 18:55 Kick Buttowski 19:20 Kick Buttowski 19:45 Kid Vs Kat 20:15 Kid Vs Kat 20:40 I’m In The Band 21:05 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 21:30 Zeke & Luther 22:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 22:20 The Super Hero Squad Show

MOTHER AND CHILD OSN CINEMA

00:25 00:55 01:25 02:20 03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15

Kendra The Soup E!es E!es 25 Most Stylish Sexiest Extreme Hollywood 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups Behind The Scenes E! News Married To Rock

09:45 Married To Rock 10:15 E!es 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 14:05 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami 14:35 THS 15:30 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Holly’s World 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney And Kim Take New York

00:15 00:40 01:30 02:20 02:45 03:10 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:40 06:30 2008 07:00 2008 07:30 2008 08:00 08:25 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 2009 11:20 11:45 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:25 14:15 15:05 2009 15:30 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 Jones 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 Jones 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Glutton For Punishment Mantracker World Combat League Glutton For Punishment Glutton For Punishment Fight Girls Final Fu Final Fu Mantracker World Combat League FIA European Drag Racing FIA European Drag Racing FIA European Drag Racing Quattro Events 2009 Winter X Games 15 2011 X Games Heroes X Games Heroes Cape Epic Cape Epic Ride Guide Mountainbike Dr Danger Man’s Work Man’s Work Glutton For Punishment Glutton For Punishment Mantracker World Combat League Ride Guide Mountainbike Dr Danger Man’s Work Man’s Work Quattro Events 2009 Winter X Games 15 2011 X Games Heroes X Games Heroes Cape Epic Cape Epic Mantracker Glutton For Punishment Glutton For Punishment Final Fu Final Fu World Combat League Aiya TV Aiya TV Glutton For Punishment

The Haunted A Haunting Nightmare Next Door Most Evil Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters The Haunted Mystery Diagnosis Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Disappeared FBI Files True Crime With Aphrodite Fugitive Strike Force Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Fugitive Strike Force Deadly Women Ripped From The Headlines Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:30 The January Man-PG 03:05 Police Story: The Freeway Killings-PG 05:30 Love At Large 07:05 Number One Fan-PG 08:35 Mosquito Squadron-PG 10:05 Across 110th Street-PG 11:45 Chance Of A Lifetime-PG 13:20 Hickey And Boggs-PG 15:10 Love Bites-PG 16:45 Comes A Horseman-PG 18:40 Brannigan-PG 20:30 Crime And Punishment (1998)-PG 22:00 Body And Soul (TV Movie)-PG 23:35 A Green Journey-PG

00:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 01:00 Valley of The Wolves 01:55 Shark Nicole 02:50 World’s Deadliest Animals 03:45 How Big Can It Get 04:40 Predator CSI 05:35 Hunter Hunted 06:30 Africa’s Secret Seven 07:25 Search For The Giant Octopus 08:20 Monster Fish 09:15 Shark Nicole 10:10 World’s Deadliest Animals 11:05 How Big Can It Get 12:00 Phantom Wolverine 13:00 The Rise Of Black Wolf 14:00 Project Manta 15:00 Fish Warrior 16:00 Hammerhead Highway 17:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 18:00 How Big Can It Get 19:00 The Rise Of Black Wolf 20:00 Project Manta

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 21:00 Fish Warrior 22:00 Hammerhead Highway 23:00 World’s Deadliest Animals

00:00 Fast Lane-PG15 02:00 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 04:00 The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day-18 06:00 Ransom-PG15 08:00 Courage Under Fire-PG15 10:00 S.W.A.T.-PG15 12:00 Unbreakable-PG15 14:00 Courage Under Fire-PG15 16:00 Shinjuku Incident-PG15 18:00 Unbreakable-PG15 20:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 22:00 The Bannen Way-PG15

01:00 Mother And Child-18 03:15 Attack On Leningrad-PG 05:15 5 Dollars A Day-PG15 07:15 The Lizzie McGuire Movie-PG 09:00 It’s A Wonderful AfterlifePG15 11:00 How To Train Your Dragon-PG 13:00 Echelon Conspiracy-PG15 15:00 The Last Word-PG15 17:00 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-PG15 19:00 An Education-PG15 21:00 The Front-PG15 23:00 Mr. Nice-18

00:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 Boondocks 02:00 Comedy Central Presents 02:30 Comedy Central Presents 03:00 Malcolm In The Middle 03:30 Hope And Faith 04:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 According To Jim 06:30 Coach 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 08:30 Malcolm In The Middle 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Sons Of Tucson 10:00 Seinfeld 10:30 According To Jim 11:00 Coach 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 13:00 Hope And Faith 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 According To Jim 14:30 Sons Of Tucson 15:00 Seinfeld 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Coach 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Malcolm In The Middle 18:30 Hope And Faith 19:00 Seinfeld 19:30 Raising Hope 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Cleveland Show 22:30 Party Down 23:00 Boondocks 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00

The Closer In Treatment In Treatment Grey’s Anatomy Cold Case The View Good Morning America Glee Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View

12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The Closer Cold Case Live Good Morning America Grey’s Anatomy The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Hawthorne Body Of Proof House Grey’s Anatomy Glee

00:00 Criminal Minds 01:00 The Unit 02:00 In Treatment 03:00 The Closer 04:00 Cold Case 05:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent 06:00 Criminal Minds 07:00 Cougar Town 07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 The Event 09:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent 10:00 The Closer 11:00 Cold Case 12:00 Cougar Town 14:00 The Event 15:00 Criminal Minds 16:00 Cougar Town 18:00 The Event 19:00 Hawthorne 20:00 Body Of Proof 21:00 House 22:00 The Unit 23:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:00

Mindhunters-18 Gothika-18 Ballistica-PG15 Hardwired-PG15 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-PG15 Raising Cain-PG15 Hollywood Homicide-PG15 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-PG15 The Day After Tomorrow-PG The Final Destination-18 The Bannen Way-PG15 Altitude-PG15

00:00 Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian-PG15 02:00 Reality Bites-PG15 04:00 The Out Of Towners-PG15 06:00 How To Go Out On A Date In Queens-PG15 08:00 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 09:30 He’s Just Not That Into YouPG15 12:00 Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs-FAM 14:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 16:00 Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian-PG15 18:00 The Shape Of Things-PG15 20:00 Management-PG15 22:00 Rock Slyde-PG15 23:30 Under The Tuscan Sun-PG15

01:45 04:45 07:25 09:00 10:45 12:45 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:15

Beloved-18 12-PG15 Born Free-PG The Shock Doctrine-PG15 Of Mice And Men-PG15 Seven Years In Tibet-PG15 Drumline-PG15 Awakenings-PG Cry Baby-PG15 The Hurt Locker-18 The Medicine Show-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:45 13:00 14:45 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Garage Days-18 Flying By-PG15 Malibu’s Most Wanted-PG15 Dean Spanley-PG 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 Star Trek-PG Head Of State-PG15 Secretariat-PG15 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 Cop Out-PG15 Legion-18 The Hangover-18

00:00 Casper Haunted ChristmasFAM 02:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 04:00 Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs

Bunny Movie-FAM 06:00 Casper Haunted ChristmasFAM 08:00 The Three Musketeers-FAM 10:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 12:00 War Of The Buttons-PG 14:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG 16:00 Scooby-Doo! Camp ScareFAM 18:00 War Of The Buttons-PG 20:00 Green Lantern: First Flight-PG 22:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG

00:00 Deadly Impact-18 02:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 04:00 The People Speak-PG15 06:00 Hey Hey Its Esther Blueburger-PG15 08:00 My Dog Tulip-PG15 10:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 12:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 14:00 How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days-PG 16:00 My Dog Tulip-PG15 18:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 20:00 Cemetery Junction-PG15 22:00 Robin Hood-PG15

00:00 Super Rugby Highlights 01:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 02:00 Super Rugby 06:00 Ladies European PGA Tour Highlights 07:00 Super Rugby Highlights 08:00 World Hockey 08:30 ICC Cricket World 09:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 09:30 FEI Equestrian World 10:00 Spirit of Yachting 10:30 AFL Highlights 11:30 Masters Football 14:30 ICC Cricket World 15:00 World Hockey 15:30 AFL Highlights 16:30 Asian Tour Golf Show 17:00 Spirit of Yachting 17:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 18:00 NRL Premiership 20:00 NRL Full Time 20:30 NRL Premiership 22:30 Futbol Mundial 23:00 Super Rugby Highlights

01:00 NRL Premiership 03:00 Futbol Mundial 03:30 ICC Criket World 04:00 Trans World Sport 05:00 Super League 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 09:00 Asian Tour Golf 09:30 Aussie Rules Highlights 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 15:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 15:30 Super League 17:30 NRL Full Time 18:00 Golfing World 19:00 Ladies European Tour Highlights 20:00 FIVB Beach Volleyball 20:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 NRL Full Time 23:00 Aussie Rules Highlights

01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Speedway WWE Vintage Collection WWE SmackDown UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE SmackDown Speedway Powerboats Aquabike World WWE Bottom Line Powerboats Le Mans WWE Vintage Collection UFC Wired UFC 132 Prelims UFC 132

Classifieds TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

ACCOMMODATION

Sharing accommodation available for a single person in a fully furnished CA/C building, in Farwaniya near Burger King with kitchen & parking facilities. If interested please contact: 99038601.

(C 3490) 2-7-2011 Sharing accommodation available for decent Indian Hindu or Catholic bachelors or family with Mangalorean Catholic family in a window A/C building off Rashid Hospital, Shara Amman, Salmiya.

Contact: 55995437/ 99200186.

(C 3487) 30-6-2011 Spacious bedroom with separate bathroom available for sharing in a two bedroom two bathroom flat in Abbasiya, near United Indian School for Keralite couples from June 5 onwards. Contact: 66846299. (C 3484) 29-6-2011 Spacious hall available from July onwards near Edee Stores, Salmiya, suitable for classes like Breathing/ Aerobics etc.

Please contact: 55394933.

(C 3479) Sharing accommodation available for RC Goan or Mangalorian bachelor in a flat near Khaitan Jamiya.

Rent KD 40/-. Contact: 99453500. (C 3480) 28-6-2011

FOR SALE Sony LCD T V, 32 inches, excellent condition, KD 120/- final. Contact: 99598324. (C 3497) 5-7-2011

SITUATION WANTED Seeking job as accountant, M.Com, PGDBA, Indian, 10 years Kuwait experience possess car, residence valid till July 2012, join immediately. Contact: 99214246.

(C 3498) 5-7-2011 Commerce graduate, Indian (Keralite) seeking employment as Accountant/ Junior Accountant in good companies. Visa transferable, ready to join. Contact: 66509373. (C 3491) 3-7-2011

SITUATION VACANT Need baby sitter part time or stay-in at Al-Muthana, Kuwait City. Contact: 66809431.

(C 3493) A well organized lady is needed to do light cleaning and cooking for a single Arab/ American man living in a house located in Salmiya. Working hours: 3:00pm to 8:30pm. Salary: KD 85/ month. Telephone: 66417504.

(C 3492) Full time and part time website developers, designers, administrators, sales and marketing specialists.

Email: thinkq8@gmail.com (C 3494) 3-7-2011

MATRIMONIAL We are inviting marriage proposals from Pakistani families for our MSc daughter from Mughal family.

Contact Email: wasimughal2003@yahoo.com (C 3495) 4-7-2011 Proposal invited for Marthoma male, 29 years, company foreman. Invite proposal from MOH staff in Kuwait. Email: vijige orge83@yahoo.com / vijigeorge83@gmail.com (C 3489)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines RJA JZR THY KAC ETH LZB UAE DHX ETD MSR JZR FDB GFA QTR AFR JZR KAC JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC FCX JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE IRA QTR ABY ETD GFA IRA MHK MEA JZR JZR JZR QTR KAC MSR UAL RJA KAC FDB QTR MHK KAC

Flt 642 267 772 1502 620 7779 853 370 305 614 269 67 211 138 6700 529 544 505 555 412 157 416 201 1541 206 302 53 332 352 284 855 605 132 125 301 213 619 711 404 165 121 201 6130 672 610 982 640 512 57 140 713 562

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 5/7/2011 Route AMMAN BEIRUT ISTANBUL BEIRUT ADDIS ABABA SOFIA / BOURGAS DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA PARIS ASSIUT CAIRO LUXOR ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR BAHRAIN CAIRO ISLAMABAD MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DHAKA DUBAI ISFAHAN DOHA SHARJAH ABU DHABI BAHRAIN LAR BAGHDAD BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DOHA DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN TEHRAN DUBAI DOHA NAJAF AMMAN

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:15 1:45 2:00 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:25 3:35 4:40 5:50 6:10 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:00 7:10 7:15 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:35 9:40 10:20 10:55 11:10 11:15 12:45 13:15 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:15 14:20 14:20

SVA KAC KAC JZR QTR KAC JZR MLR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR FDB RBG ALK JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI SIA FDB VOS OMA MEA KAC SYR MSR DHX KLM UAE JZR GFA QTR UAL AIC JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR PIA

500 546 746 257 134 1802 535 403 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 63 3555 227 177 104 166 502 542 618 786 614 774 674 790 572 458 61 93 647 402 552 341 618 372 443 859 183 217 136 981 981 135 787 612 636 389 539 205

JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI / DAMMAM BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO CAIRO COLOMBO / DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI LONDON PARIS / ROME BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI MEDINAH MUMBAI SINGAPORE / ABU DHABI DUBAI KANDAHAR / DUBAI MUSCAT BEIRUT DAMASCUS DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN RIYADH CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO LAHORE / PESHAWER

14:30 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:25 15:50 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:55

Airlines JZR DLH AIC PIA THY ETH LZB UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR AFR JZR RJA GFA JZR KAC JZR BAW FDB KAC JZR KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA KAC QTR ETD GFA IRA MHK KAC MEA KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC KAC JZR MSR RJA FDB KAC

Flt 1540 637 576 240 773 620 7780 854 68 371 306 615 139 6700 164 643 212 200 545 120 156 54 1801 534 671 745 256 511 561 856 126 604 101 133 302 214 618 712 165 405 541 776 212 238 501 785 176 611 641 58 789

Departure Flights on Tuesday 5/7/2011 Route CAIRO FRANKFURT GOA / CHENNAI SIALKOT ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA BOURGAS / SOFIA DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI / HONG KONG DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN LONDON DUBAI CAIRO CAIRO DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI BEIRUT TEHRAN AMMAN DUBAI SHARJAH ISFAHAN LONDON / NEW YORK DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN LAR NAJAF ROME / PARIS BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH DEIREZZOR AMMAN BEIRUT JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI MEDINAH

Time 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:30 2:55 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:05 5:00 5:10 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:15 7:40 8:20 8:25 8:40 8:45 8:50 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:40 9:50 9:55 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:40 11:10 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:10 13:00 13:30 13:40 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

UAL QTR KAC MHK KAC KAC SVA KAC QTR KAC JZR VOS JZR ETD MLR QTR UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA RBG FDB JZR JZR ALK KAC KAC JAI FDB JZR KAC KAC OMA MEA SIA SYR MSR DHX KLM JZR UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR KAC UAL MSR

982 6131 551 714 673 617 501 773 141 613 538 82 182 304 1405 135 858 216 128 266 511 3556 64 786 134 228 283 361 571 62 528 343 351 648 403 457 342 619 373 443 240 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 502 554 411 981 613

BAHRAIN DOHA DAMASCUS NAJAF / BAGHDAD DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN CAIRO BAGHDAD DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI / COLOMBO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH BEIRUT RIYADH ALEXANDRIA DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI ASSIUT CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ABU DHABI / SINGAPORE DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO

14:45 14:45 14:55 15:00 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:40 17:00 17:05 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:35 18:40 18:40 19:10 19:10 19:30 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:55 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40 23:40 23:50

34

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

s ta rs CROSSWORD 369

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) A smooth day today should allow you to devote some of your time to catching up with unfinished business. Interactions with influential people may prove to be informative. Working with—rather than against—the flow should be easy to do. Your ambitions go hand-in-hand with communication and using the mind—the two should never be far apart. You may find yourself more agreeable than usual today. A dialogue with an older person may take place this afternoon. Appreciating things of beauty and value plays a bigger role in your life. Provided you do not spend it all on the fancy things that catch your eye, this can be a financially beneficial period. Your drive for independence is obvious—the unusual has your attention.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You are driven when it comes to fulfilling your ambitions and carving out a career. There is no lack of energy and nothing can stand in your way. Everything is poured into making the right moves—the correct decisions. You are outgoing, enthusiastic and diplomatic; everybody’s favorite. You have a natural instinct for making the correct move at the right time. Politics or some public career seems inevitable. There is a constant desire for unity and atonement. You may have a secret urge to put out to sea and visit other countries—you may be saving and plotting to do just that. Your drive to make dreams real is the secret to your continued hard work. The ideal should be made real. This is a good time to take risks and dare to be a little unconventional.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

5. English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles.

10. A former monetary unit in Great Britain.

13. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

14. Long-winged web-footed aquatic bird of the gull family.

15. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

16. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

18. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

19. A beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water.

20. With good sense or in a reasonable or intelligent manner.

21. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

23. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

26. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

28. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

32. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

35. A port city in southwestern Turkey on the Gulf of Antalya.

37. A public promotion of some product or service.

38. Back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked.

40. A heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group.

41. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

42. A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep.

44. A decree that prohibits something.

45. A telegram sent abroad.

47. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

48. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

49. A small cake leavened with yeast.

54. An implement used to propel or steer a boat.

57. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

58. Of or in or relating to the nose.

62. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

64. A Spanish unit of length (about a yard) having different values in different localities.

65. Offering fun and gaiety.

66. A transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images.

67. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

68. In bed.

DOWN 1. Squash bugs.

2. Relating to the deepest parts of the ocean (below 6000 meters).

3. Any customary and rightful perquisite appropriate to your station in life.

4. Something causes misery or death.

5. A metric unit of volume equal to one tenth of a liter.

6. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

7. A large fleet.

8. Waterfall in Canada is the Horseshoe Falls.

9. Hormone secreted by the posterior pituitary gland (trade name Pitressin) and also by nerve endings in the hypothalamus.

10. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

11. Evergreen trees and shrubs having oily one-seeded fruits.

12. Slanting diagonally across the grain of a fabric.

17. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

22. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

24. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

25. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

27. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

29. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

30. The face of a timepiece.

31. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

33. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

34. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

36. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

39. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

43. A young woman making her debut into society.

46. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

47. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

50. An officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer.

51. Acute lung injury characterized by coughing and rales.

52. Type genus of the Anatidae.

53. Made from residue of grapes or apples after pressing.

55. (usually followed by `to') Having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something.

56. Having been read.

59. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of the genus Iva with small greenish flowers.

60. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

61. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

63. An associate degree in nursing.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You could find yourself getting emotional—perhaps this feeling just needs time to bring into focus. Try to take a walk and think through things. You will then have a better handle of what is really going on with the people around you. This could be a difficult time to relax and remain calm, especially if you are not able to get away from the negative vibrations around you at this time. It’s a time of refinement, tact and of an urge to please others that is so strong as to make it hard to decide or act for fear of offending someone. Cheer up! This could be a lucky day—at the very least, a time of material gain. Your romantic desires are strong and you will want to enjoy yourself with a loved one this evening. A fun evening may already be planned.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Careful—you may tend to take paths at right angles to your real ambitions and self-interest today. This could result in trouble with authorities or older people. The answer here is to say the word no when it comes to extra projects that take you away from your present work. Your struggle to succeed is aided when you show self-control or discipline and find the middle road. You may be guiding young people in artistic endeavors this afternoon. You have an ability to work with the imagination, reaching beyond the mundane to the future potential. You are enthusiastic and an excellent teacher in artistic and creative matters. Involve yourself with more visualization techniques and bring some focus into play for your current goals.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Gut-level is the way you think, speak and perceive in the cycle you have just begun. You are not interested in the superficial—you want to get right to the root of things. Decisive action is the main order of business now: how you maintain your independence is a major focus. This is no time to coast; this is a time to look for new and innovative ways to handle things. But remember that change for change sake is not the answer: you have got to be smart about it!

Friendships are in a state of transformation—old ones are either revitalized or else they come to an end; new ones are formed. Fate seems to bring you your friends or you to them and to change your relationship with them. A group you associate with could blur the line between means and ends.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You can be as self-confident and assertive as you like today. You will get what you go after today. There is luck as well as a determination to complete whatever is set before you now. This afternoon you could be diving into some form of creative endeavor—perhaps through teaching. Much of the negative that you have been experiencing with one particular person will be resolved soon. You may think that you are not making a positive difference and people do not listen but your style of expression gains much attention and you mentor many through your attitude. You will find yourself listening as well as speaking and young people appreciate your attention to their plight. You are great at bringing out the best qualities of others, discovering hidden talents.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You really enjoy that feeling that comes with being in touch with all the new trends and interests that are emerging into the work world at this time. Today you spend a lot of time updating yourself in new technology and economic trends. This is a great time to reflect and understand your own situation, just how you feel about your progress with goals at this time. You discover and appreciate the beauty in your life and may spend quite a bit of time photographing a beautiful rose in your garden or a child in a swing this afternoon. You can find the humor and positive aspect in just about everything. This is a time when you can expect a little boost, some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you.

Young people help you decide on a vacation.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may have insights or breakthroughs with regard to your working situation today. Your drive to invent and find new ways to use things is both well coordinated and intense. You have a strong urge to be different in your profession and to do something that is unique in your creative life as well.

Others value you for your independence and special qualities. Obtaining and exchanging information takes on more emotional significance. Being more involved with neighbors or sibling(s) this evening is important. Communicating and helping out in a group meeting is beneficial. You may find a partner or loved one is moody or inattentive. Understand that this is probably work pressure and do not worry. Cook a special dinner tonight; enjoy.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Ambitious schemes and the pursuit of success and status take on a high priority. This brings a focus on the practical, the successful and—whatever it takes to get you ahead in the long run. You could feel much more intuitive and psychic than previously possible. Very workable and successful plans can be put into effect. You could gain some positive feedback with regard to superiors or business associates in relation to your work or work plans. You may enjoy your job or the responsibility it entails more than usual. This afternoon it would be good to find some activity that is not related in any way to work or home—music, golf, etc. You are, however, most original when concentrating on areas of home and family this evening—you feel secure.

You have good practical job-related thoughts and ideas.

Ambitious schemes and the pursuit of success and status take on high priority this day. This is a great time to be at work or play with others. Social life may be a bit slow after the workday is over. This is a great time to become acquainted with the public library or a used book store. You can meet the most delightful people in some of these places as well. A poetry book may give you ideas of your own type of writing exercise—poetry, mystery, etc. Unfinished personal business can be completed this afternoon. A good conversation with those you love is easy and rewarding this evening. The time is perfect for expressing your dreams, ideas and thoughts to each other.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) With animal-like instincts, when it comes to big business, you are always where the action is most intense. You are in the mood to work and complete whatever task has been left undone. Your penetrating mind gets through the unessential every time. Persistence, regeneration and dynamic energy are key ingredients in your success. You may be called upon to help in some important decision-making task. Exciting to be near, you are an entrepreneur, the big wheel.

You may find yourself involved in community matters this evening. With your community spirit, you will make a good contribution toward any project of humanitarian interest. On a personal note, do not think your help in the home is not appreciated; you are a source of inspiration.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Financial savvy and a practical turn of mind are qualities that take on greater importance in your life. You are like the “wheeler-dealer,” with a knack for knowing how to put people, ideas and things together profitably. Playing the role of a peacemaker can be rewarding. Yours is a career deep in change and transformation. You have a way of entrancing others and bringing them under the spell that you weave so well. You like the changes and experiences that your profession brings about—you pursue them for their own sake. You head straight for whatever challenges your sense of identity in order to improve and grow. Tonight, you and your friends enjoy discussing subjects such as reincarnation and psychic experiences.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE STATE ST TATE T OF KUWAIT K KUW WAIT A

112

WWW .MET.GOV V.KW . W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

BY Y NIGHT: NIGHT:

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

BY Y DAY: DA AY:

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Dust will subside gradually with moderate wind in general north no orth westerly wind, with speed speeed of 20 - 38 km/h h

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Hot with w moderate wind in general generral north westerly wind, with h speed of 20 - 38 km/h with h a chance for blowing bl blow wing i dust d t

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

No Current Warnings Warnin a ngs

MAX. REC.

MIN. MIN N. EXP. EXP P.

Al-Mangaf

23711183

KUWAIT KUW WAIT A CITY

43 °C

3 °C 32

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

KUWAIT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT AIRPOR RT

44 °C

30 °C 3

Al-Jahra

25610011

NUWAISEEB NUW WA AISEEB

45 °C

30 °C 3

Al-Salmiya

25616368

W A AFRA WAFRA

45 °C

30 °C 3

SALMI

42 °C

25 °C 2

ABDALY ABDAL LY

44 °C

28 °C 2

JAL ALIYAH ALIY YA AH

43 °C

26 °C 2

F A AILAKA FAILAKA

43 °C

28 °C 2

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

PORT AHMADI POR RT

42 °C

32 °C 3

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

UMM AL-MARADEM AL-MARAD DEM

38 °C

31 °C 3

W A ARBA A - BUBYAN BUBY YA AN WARBA

43 °C

28 °C 2

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

SFC. CHAR CHART RT

04/07/2011 04/07/2011 1200UTC 120 00UTC

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

4 DAYS DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures Temperatures DAY DA AY

DATE DA AT TE

WEA WEATHER AT THER R

MAX.

MIN.

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Tuesday Tuesday

05/07

hot + blowing dust

45 °C

30 °C

NW

20 - 38 km/h

24849807

Weednesday Wednesday

06/07

hot

47 °C

31 °C

NW

10 - 32 km/h

Thursday

07/07

very hot

48 °C

32 °C

NW

20 - 35 km/h

Friday

08/07

raisin ng dust very hot + raising

49 °C

35 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

PRAYER P PRA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED RECORDE ED YESTERDAY YESTERDA AY AT AT KUW KUWAIT WA AIT AIRPORT AIRPOR RT

Fajr

03:18

MAX. M T Temp. emp.

43 °C

Sunrise

04:53

Temp.

MIN. T M emp.

30 °C

Zuhr

11:52 11:52

MAX. RH M

17 %

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Asr

15:26

MIN. RH

Dasmah

22532265

Sunset

18:51

Wind MAX. W M ind

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Isha

20:23

TOTAL RAINFALL T OT TA AL L RA AINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

Wind Wind Speed

Wind Wind Direction Direction

Adhaliya Keifan

22545171

Sabhan

STATION ST TATION T

24812000

Al-Shohada’a

24810598

WARNING W ARNING A

Hospitals

22418714

22545171

19:00

Issue Time Time

Expected W Weather eeather for the Next 24 2 Hours

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Al-Madena

Al-Nuzha

04/07/2011 04/07/201 1

Ministry of Interior

Amiri Hospital

Ext.: 2627 26 627 - 2630

Fax: 24348714

Al-Shuwaikh

DA AY: Y Monday DAY:

Sabah Hospital

Tel.: T el.: e 161

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE AT TE GEN GENERAL NERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION AVIA V AT TION METEOROLOGICAL L DEP DEPARTMENT PA ARTMENT

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

06 % NW 60 km/h N .03 mm

04/07/11 14:08 UTC 04/07/11

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

y

A

36

e niv rsar n

Years

TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011

li fe s t y le F e a t u r e s

ritish pop star Sting cancelled a concert he was due to give in Kazakhstan’s capital yesterday, blaming violations of the human rights of striking oil workers in the ex-Soviet state. Sting said in a statement published on his website that he cancelled the concert, part of his Symphonicity world tour, after campaign group Amnesty International told him of repressions against oil and gas workers.

“Hunger strikes, imprisoned workers and tens of thousands on strike represents a virtual picket line which I have no intention of crossing,” Sting was quoted as saying in the statement late Sunday. He took the decision to cancel after Amnesty International warned him that his concert would appear as an “endorsement” of the administration of the country’s strongman President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the statement said.

Sting was due to perform songs from his days as leader of band The Police as well as his solo hits with a symphony orchestra backing as part of city day celebrations, with tickets selling for up to $690. The Kazakh organizers had initially said Sunday that Sting’s concert had been cancelled for “organizational and technical reasons.” Several hundred oil and gas workers went on strike in May in the Mangistau

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region on the shores of the Caspian Sea demanding higher wages, picketing the regional administration and attempting to close off highways.

Police detained strikers for taking part in an unsanctioned protest and several dozen people were sacked. There was no official reaction to the cancellation from Kazakhstan yesterday, but it swiftly became a hot topic of discussion among bloggers. “Sting did what even the top Western politicians, with their double standards, cannot do. Good for him! “ wrote one anonymous blogger. But another slammed Sting as a “pathetic jester spitting in the face of democratic Kazakhstan.”

The snub will come as a huge embarrassment for Nazarbayev, who has sought to raise the country’s international standing with summits and spectacular building projects. Yesterday, the president opened a grandiose three-day festival for the Astana city day, which coincides with his 71st birthday tomorrow, and includes a staging of a specially commissioned play about his life. Nazarbayev has led the oil-rich state since before the fall of the Soviet Union and won over 95 percent in the latest election in April, while his party controls every seat in the parliament.

While fostering economic stability and good rela-

tions with both Russia and the West, he has choked public protest and kept a tight grip on the media.

Astana, the country’s shiny new capital, is his showpiece, featuring the world’s largest tent and a giant silver pyramid, both designed by British architect Norman Foster. The city has recently hosted a summit of the OSCE and the annual meeting of the EBRD. Kazakhstan’s wealthy elite has reportedly flown in top stars for lavish private celebrations in the past.

A US cable from 2008 posted on the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website last year alleged that Nazarbayev’s son-in-law hired British pop singer Elton John to perform for his birthday. Sting, known for his espousal of environmental causes, has been criticized for giving a concert in Tashkent in 2009 organized by the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who has been castigated for human rights abuses. — AFP

British singer, Sting, performs with a Symphonic Orchestra during his “Symphonicity World Tour” at the Vingio park in Vilnius.— AFP

Writers unite for n what its editor called a publishing first, 26 authors with combined sales of tens of millions of books have joined forces to write a single thriller called “No Rest For the Dead”. Andrew Gulli, who runs Strand Magazine specializing in crime thrillers and mystery short stories, came up with the idea for a plot and initially invited 12 writers to contribute chapters of their own.

“I had an idea about a woman who was executed for a crime she didn’t commit,” said Gulli. “So I wrote a prologue and handed it to the first author and he and the others started to write.” What he got back was not enough to make a coherent novel, so he invited more writers and ended up with a total of 26. The list includes novelist Jeffery Deaver, best known for his Lincoln Rhyme series and now the latest authorized James Bond sequel, Alexander McCall Smith and Kathy Reichs.

“If you add up the group of writers who have taken

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crime thriller

part in this book, you’ll find they have sales of hundreds of millions of books,” Gulli told Reuters. “In the history of publishing nothing like this has ever occurred.” No Rest For the Dead centres around Jon Nunn, a detective who helped convict a woman for murdering her husband, the curator at a San Francisco museum.

But 10 years later he is convinced he got the wrong woman, although it is too late to save Rosemary-she was executed. He plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher Thomas died, and uncover what really happened, suspect by suspect. “But this is not another Agatha Christie, or her creation Hercule Poirot, where the group is gathered and the detective details the case and points the finger at the story’s end,” Gulli said of the novel.

“There are flashbacks, and a policeman’s life has been ruined. It is a tale of redemption after he made a huge

mistake, and there is a real twist.” The project took Gulli four years, and his greatest challenges were finding authors willing to contribute for a nominal fee as well as keeping the style and story constant enough for it to be readable. “I think it’s a very entertaining read. When we re-read it, we thought it had the best of all possible worlds in that you can still see the different styles.”

Gulli called in his sister Lamia to help edit the novel and share the workload. The pair plan to give all of their proceeds from the book to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society after they lost their mother to the disease in 1997. No Rest For the Dead is published by Simon & Schuster on July 5.—Reuters

Indian writer Aravind Adiga poses with his book “The White Tiger” after winning the 2008 Booker Prize in London.—AFP

to bite ‘Shining India’ euds over property and deadly clashes over land are as much a part of India’s economic rise as call centers and the foreign acquisitions made by its leading companies. The background of millions of personal struggles between the forces of economic development and those clinging to their homes has been taken up by one of India’s brightest young literary talents in his second novel. Aravind Adiga, whose debut novel “The White Tiger” won the Booker prize in 2008, sets his new book in a scruffy tower block in his adopted home of Mumbai, a swirling mass of 16 million people, slums, apartment buildings and Bollywood.

The plot revolves around the battle between a hard-nosed property magnate, who wants to knock down the cooperative housing tower to build a new luxury development, and a minority of older residents who resist his lucrative offer.”It poses some very fundamental questions about democracy in India. I tend to side with the person who refuses to take the money, but he’s frustrating the aims of the other people,” Adiga told AFP in an interview. ”This stuck me as crucial not just to Mumbai, but everything that is happening in India,” he added ahead of the launch of the book, titled “Last Man in Tower”, in his homeland.

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Fights over land Land acquisition has emerged as one of the biggest political issues in India and a pressing economic problem as companies and governments consistently clash with protesters over large development projects. Car company Tata Motors abandoned a proposed factory in 2008 in the face of demonstrations by farmers and the country’s biggest foreign direct investment project, by South Korean steelmaker Posco, has been stalled for six years. Last month, several farmers died in a protest over compensation for land acquired to build a new highway linking New Delhi and the Taj Mahal city of Agra, the latest fatalities in a long-running dispute.

“These issues come up anywhere in the world where you’re having a new road built or a new stadium,” said Adiga, who was the New Delhi-based correspondent for Time magazine before turning to fiction. “In India it’s more visceral because it’s for the most part a developing country. For a man to say ‘no’ to a large sum of money strikes me as an extraordinary thing.” And millions of farmers in overcrowded India are adamant they will not move from their ancestral property in the name of industrialization.

regg Allman is a believer in the healing power of music.

Barely a year after undergoing a liver transplant, the veteran American musician is back on the road with his regular band, looking a little frail but in good voice and excellent spirits. The Gregg Allman band kicked off a European mini-tour at London’s Barbican Centre on Friday, with two further UK dates scheduled plus more in Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany before they head home next month for a lengthy tour of the United States and Canada.

The backbone of their set is a series of songs from the album “Low Country Blues”, his first record for 14 years. It was released in February to critical acclaim and commercial success to match, debuting at No 7 in the US Billboard chart.

Diagnosed with hepatitis C and advised he needed a new liver, Allman decided to go into the studio to record an album of songs by his blues heroes, before going under the surgeon’s knife in June last year. With award-winning producer/guitarist T-Bone Burnett at the helm, the result is a spare, no-frills collection of classics by the likes of “Sleepy” John Estes, Skip James, BB King and Muddy Waters. It shows off Allman’s skills as a hollering blues performer and a musician of eclectic good taste.

Allman, 63, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band with his brother Duane in 1969, says music was a consolation during his traumatic health problems before and since his transplant surgery. “It was a great feeling to have a real good record in the can”, he told Reuters backstage at the Barbican. His famous long blond tresses are now white and tied in a ponytail and his bushy beard trimmed neatly.

He said the operation was “the most horrendous pain I have ever been through” and it had taken him a year to recover enough to be able to tour again, although he is still in pain and will need further treatment later in the year. “I feel like someone hit me with a sledgehammer. But I’m alive.” As part of his musical therapy, he went on a brief tour with Elton John and Leon Russell four months after the operation. “But it was good and it got me out of the house.”

Greeted by a standing ovation when he took to the Barbican stage, Allman was subjected

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White Tiger returns

Picture taken Sunday of legendary US blues guitarist musician BB King, performing on the Stravinski Hall stage during the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland. — AP

arry Potter author JK Rowling said yesterday she had ended her 16-year association with the literary agent who helped to launch the multi-million-selling series of books about the boy wizard.

Christopher Little began working with Rowling in 1995, although it took until August 1996 to find a publisher for her first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. Their partnership lasted through the seven-book series, which sold 400 million copies and made Rowling into one of the richest women in the world.

But just days before the final film based on the books hits the big screen, the author confirmed their working relationship had come to an end, without giving any further explanation. “We can confirm that JK Rowling has terminated her association with the Christopher Little Literary Agency,” said a statement from a public relations agency on Rowling’s behalf. “This was a painful decision, especially as Ms Rowling had actively sought a different outcome for some weeks.

However, it was not taken without good reason and it finally became unavoidable.”

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“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, the final film in the epic saga starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, has its world premiere in London on Thursday. Rowling laid down her pen-and Harry’s magic wand-when she finished the seventh book in 2007. But the author has yet to let go of her creation. Last month she unveiled an interactive website featuring new material about Potter’s world, and announced that his adventures would be sold as e-books for the first time.

The free website, www.pottermore.com, will go live from July 31 for one million Potter fans who pass a special online challenge, and to the general public from October. The seven e-books will be available through the website from October in partnership with Sony. Rowling’s fortune is estimated at £530 million (580 million euros, $855 million), according to this year’s annual list of Britain’s wealthiest people published in The Sunday Times newspaper. — AFP

An ‘unsentimental’ view Adiga’s second novel is a more complex undertaking than the punchy White Tiger and again demonstrates his role as a unique chronicler of contemporary India at a time of wrenching change. It returns to some of the themes that propelled him to fame, including his savage take on the new middle class and his brutally frank descriptions of the grime and deprivation that characterize much of the country. “Some novels that come out of India tend to be sentimental in their outlook on life,” added Adiga, 36. “They (his characters) are figures that I see around me.” What he sees around him has earned him millions of fansas well as an army of critics who objected to White Tiger’s mockery of the optimistic national narrative of a new “Shining India” and emerging superpower. Instead, it shone a deeply unflattering light on poverty, inter-caste tension and the country’s economic inferiority to neighboring China. “I am entirely aware that if I had written this book in Pakistan or Sri Lanka or any neighboring country I’d be in jail,” he said. “I’m very grateful that I live in India that is liberal and tolerant.—AFP

Kem performs at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, Sunday. —AP

throughout the performance to shouts and whoops from an audience that was more like a meeting of the faithful than a gathering of music fans. However, he dealt with them with grace and southern charm and led the band on a brief tour through his back catalogue and some choice cuts from “Low Country Blues”, switching between his trademark Hammond B-3 organ and electric and acoustic guitars.

Gregg Allman Shunning the airs and mannerisms of the rock star performer, he preferred to showcase the talents of fellow musicians in his rocking ensemble, with some stunning solos from guitarist Scott Sharrard, pianist Bruce Katz and sax man Jay Collins. For the London gig only, the band was augmented by two British horn players, Lee Badau on sax and trumpeter Alistair Walker.

Saving the best until last, the hyperactive crowd was treated to encores of Estes’ “Floating Bridge” a haunting track from “Low Country Blues”, and a barnstorming rendition of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues”, a vinyl classic from the Allman Brothers’ 1971 live album “At Fillmore East”, with Sharrard recreating the slide guitar of the late Duane Allman.

Allman appeared genuinely touched by the warmth of the reception from the London crowd.

As he left, he wound his way slowly along the edge of the stage to shake outstretched hands and mumble thank-yous. — Reuters

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File photo shows Papuan tribesmen perform with their traditional drums known as ‘tibas’ during the Lake Sentani festival located in Indonesia’s eastern Papua province. — AFP

Houses of Papuan tribes built on stilts on the edge of Lake Sentani.

Papuan tribesman using a shell as a horn during the Lake Sentani festival.

‘paradise lost’

Indonesia’s opens up to bold tourists or decades, the only foreign visitors to venture into Papua were gold-diggers, anthropologists, missionaries and soldiers fighting imperial wars.

But the vast, western half of New Guinea island is slowly opening its doors to tourists as a “hidden paradise”, a land of ancient tribal cultures, glittering reefs, soaring glaciers and teeming wildlife.

Recreational travelers are still few, at most a few thousand a year; people like Sarah Gabel, a 29-yearold American who says she is “captivated by people who live in harmony with nature”. That’s what she found in the Baliem valley, the long-isolated home of the Dani tribe high in the Papuan central highlands, outside the town of Wamena. “I made a one-week trek. I crossed rivers in the wild, slept in huts and met semi-naked men hunting wild boars with arrows,” she said.

This kind of “ethnic tourism” has become the main market for New Guinea, the largest island in Asia, where a thousand indigenous tribes are divided between the independent state of Papua New Guinea to the east and the Indonesian-controlled provinces of Papua and West Papua to the west. “The clients come mostly from Europe and the US. They don’t look for five-star hotels but want to discover unknown territories and authenticity,” explained Iwanta PeranginAngin, whose agency, Papua Adventure, offers stays in Baliem.

Packed with exotic wildlife, Papua also attracts nature buffs and ornithologists in search of birds of paradise and cockatoos. Environment group WWF this week announced the discovery of more than 1,000 new species on New Guinea, including a frog with fangs and a round-headed dolphin. The Raja Ampat marine park has also earned a reputation as a diving mecca, with more and more live-aboard boats offering extended voyages around the area’s dozens of pristine reefs.

“Papua is a hidden paradise. It’s a unique destination with a lot to offer, from wild beaches to high mountains and deep jungle, with a strong culture and beautiful art,” Trisakti University Institute of Tourism Professor Azril Azahari said. “It’s a niche market because it’s very expensive and visitors need to be in good shape to support the climate, the hilly landscape and the very basic transport.” And then there’s the political situation. Indonesian troops are accused of widespread human rights abuses against indigenous tribes which have been waging a low-level separatist war since the 1960s, often armed with little more than slings and arrows.

Foreign journalists and aid workers are barred from visiting the resource-rich provinces of Papua to report on the rebellion. “The political situation has been quiet for some time but Papua is still seen abroad as an unsafe destination. The government has to do something to change this reputation,” Azahari said. “It is essential to develop grassroots, communitybased tourism which benefits local people and

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increases their incomes. The future doesn’t lie with luxury resorts.”Others warn against the worst outcomes of “ethnic tourism”, such as promoting tribal people as “primitive” when they are not.

This is already happening in the form of reconstructions of tribal wars. When tourists arrive, the Dani men take off their shorts and T-shirts, paint their bodies and attach traditional penis gourds known as “kotekas”. “Papuans are very proud of their traditions but they are weakened by the modern world,” said Yotam Yorgen Fonataba, organizer of an annual cultural festival at Sentani Lake, near the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura. “I’m still optimistic our culture is strong and we want to protect it. For this, we need to show the world our creativity.”

Launched four years ago, the festival brings together thousands of people from 24 communities scattered around the huge lake. To the rhythm of traditional drums known as “tibas”, warriors sing haunting tribal songs while dancers, clad in richly colored costumes, sway on boats that glide across the still lake. A student choir sings a song which goes: “I am Papuan, I have dark skin, I have curly hair. Papua, a piece of heaven fallen on the Earth”. — AFP

Papuan tribesmen riding a ceremonial boat during the Lake Sentani festival.

Papuan tribesmen crowned with preserved plumes of Birds of Paradise feathers riding a ceremonial boat during the Lake Sentani festival.

Papuan tribesmen crowned with preserved plumes of Birds of Paradise feathers participating in the Lake Sentani festival.

A boy from a Papuan tribe holding a traditional drum known as “tiba” during the Lake Sentani festival.

Latvia turns Soviet military past into tourist attraction ouncing along a dirt track in the middle of Latvia in the back of an old Soviet army truck, breathing a heady mixture of petrol fumes and dust, might not be everyone’s idea of fun. But Edgars Karklevalks says there is no shortage of people who find it a delightful way to spend a holiday. Over the roar of the engine, Karklevalks shouts: “Some of my guests find this a very familiar experience from their pasts, but there are also young people who know very little about what happened in Soviet times.”

Resplendent in an authentic Red Army uniform to match his immaculately maintained GAZ-66 truck, Karklevalks was a Soviet military driver in the 1980s and still has the badges to prove his best-in-battalion status. Following Latvian independence in 1991 after five decades of Soviet rule, he opened a guesthouse before hitting on the idea of combining that business with his enduring interest in military vehicles. Now he provides truck excursions through former Soviet tank training zones, and insists that after a hard day’s driving a cold beer and barbecue taste much better.

Karklevalks also has a ready answer for those who ask

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whether there is a danger of turning the Soviet Union’s half century of occupation into nostalgia. “Everything is history,” he says. That sentiment is echoed by Asnate Ziemele of the Latvian Country Tourism Association, which has included Karkelvalks’s tours in a new European Union-backed project which aims to make the most of Latvia’s military heritage sites.

“Military tourism is positive from the point of view that whether or not the actual sites or events were positive or negative, they are all part of our common heritage,” Ziemele tells AFP. A special heritage map listing 60 sites has been produced, but the idea is to build an online database of hundreds of locations to tap the military tourism market that could attract wealthy foreign visitors on Baltic cruises or city breaks. “We think these sites have real potential, but locally people don’t always see that. It would not require a lot of investment to make them more attractive to tourists-in some cases just cutting the grass or erecting an information board,” says Ziemele.

The Baltic nation of 2.2 million has suffered the ravages of many wars. From crusading knights in the 13th century through periods of Swedish and Polish domination, to inde-

pendence battles in the wake of World War I and periods of Nazi and Soviet occupation, Latvia is studded with castles, battlefields, military cemeteries and former bases. Some sites, such as the missile facilities which were the pride of Soviet power, are in a poor state of repair. One, on the edge of the port town of Ventspils, is now a shabby collection of collapsing concrete bunkers, most of them filled with litter. The grounds have been scarred by people digging up cables and pipes to sell as scrap.

But Russian signs can still be seen stenciled on the walls and to military historian Yuri Melkonov, the base is well worth a visit. “It’s of interest to tourists because it is a unique object,” he says, explaining the construction methods, the strategic location and how the base combined with others to form a formidable defense of the USSR’s western flank. Ironically, the years as restricted military zones under Soviet rule and their subsequent abandonment have given many sites an added significance as nature reserves, which explains why the military heritage drive has also been included as part of the EU’s Baltic Green Belt initiative. Another set of underground

bunkers 30 kilometers away near the village of Usma is in better shape, but only because of the efforts of local enthusiast Andris Keizars.

Hidden deep in a pine forest are the former hideouts of the “Rubenis battalion”, partisans who in 1944 took on both the Soviets and the Nazis in an attempt to restore Latvian independence. Surprisingly, the exploits of commander Roberts Rubenis, and his 600 soldiers remain little known even inside Latvia, which prompted Keizars to take action.

As well as restoring the battalion’s bunkers and establishing a walking trail, Keizars has opened a small museum. “It’s not easy for me to run the museum, particularly as I have to make a living as well. But last independence day we had young people coming to the bunkers with pots and pans to eat and drink and mark the occasion. I think people are rediscovering their past.” — AFP

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ow bones, car parts and old toggle buttons don’t sound like the most glamorous materials to use in jewelry. But some designers are managing to turn such found and throwaway objects into chic and versatile pieces, proving that with good design, repurposed everyday items can look as beautiful as precious stones and metals.

Case in point: L A-based design duo Amy Walker and Maxandra Short, who formed their jewelry line Kora in 2008 after Walker spent time working for a nonprofit group in Rwanda. In Africa, Walker was introduced to the bones and horn of Ankole cattle, which are indigenous to east Africa. She quickly became inspired to turn what had been waste products (bones and horn are generally discarded after the cattle, a major food source for the region, is eaten) into a line of jewelry that not only utilized the materials, but employed local craftspeople and stimulated the economy, particularly in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. Walker and Short also incorporate brass and aluminum from scrap metal such as pots, pans and discarded car parts Sohal keeps the buttons intact and to create wire wrapping and small metal details attaches them to handmade brass rings that adorn some of their jewelry. or fastens them to steel posts as ear“We draw from traditional ceremonial designs we rings. — MCT photos come across when traveling,” Short says. “Antiques and ancient design have so much integrity. We wanted to modernize those concepts with these materials and

really create something that’s outside of the trend machine.”

The result is a collection comprising a mainly neutral natural palette, where brass wire wraps horn bangles (these are priced at about $135 for a set of three) or cow bone is carved into the shape of a padlock that dangles from a silver link chain link bracelet ($90).

Kora (the word for “work” in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda’s native language) also has an extensive selection of statement cuffs that are made from horn or brass and can be stacked and mixed with smaller bangles. Horn cuffs are $175; hammered brass cuffs are $75. The aesthetic of their line has resonated with the fashion set and is carried at selective stores such as Henri Bendel in New York and Roseark, Ten Over Six and Lost and Found in LA. But the central focus of the brand is Walker and Short’s “trade not aid” ethos of building sustainable business for the East African craftspeople and material sellers by creating jobs and a market for what had been waste.

Vintage buttons might be a less exotic material than cow bones, but designers are proving these found objects too can be used to create jewelry without the result being kitschy or looking like someone got carried away with a hot glue gun. LA-based designer Jeet Sohal and Sydney, Australia-based Mark Sorrenti both incorporate old buttons into their lines in sophisticated and understated ways. Sohal started collecting steel-cut buttons from the Victorian through Art Deco periods 10 years ago, while she was a design student in Paris.

decidedly more whimsical, but definitely far from hokey- or juvenilelooking. The bold rings he creates make statements with just small pops of color that liven up an outfit without overwhelming the wearer’s hand with a whole color wheel of old buttons. His circular, solid color button rings have a very Mod feel. A horn toggle button ring most likely came from a cozy Fair Isle ski sweater, but when fastened to a ring looks edgy and interesting.

The Chanel buttons speak for themselves and are a no-brainer for anyone who loves the French label or wants to add some easy sophistication to a look. Prices range from $75 to $220, depending on the kind of button being used. Sorrenti’s jewelry is available at www.marcosydney.com.au.

Sorrenti added the button rings to the Marco Sydney line two years ago after a laser-cutting process he initially wanted to use with acrylic material proved too pricey. He began noticing different shapes of buttons that had an aesthetic similar to the laser-cut pieces he was envisioning, and he started layering buttons together to create new shapes and dimensions. “Once I started buying and collecting buttons,” Sorrenti says, “I quickly noticed that there are already a lot of beautiful existing shapes out there.” — MCT

A necklace is featured by LA-based design duo Amy Walker and Maxandra Short.

Sohal uses Victorian shoe buckles and combines them with leather to form feminine cuffs that don’t look overtly antiquated or ornate.

Last holiday season, she became inspired to start creating pieces with them to add to her minimalist, handcrafted line of jewelry called Bare. Sohal keeps the buttons intact and attaches them to handmade brass rings or fastens them to steel posts as earrings. The appeal here is that they don’t look like chintzy old buttons, but rather a sunburst of delicate metal and stones, curved up to add a little more dimension than a flat disc.

Sohal also uses Victorian shoe buckles and combines them with leather to form feminine cuffs that don’t look overtly antiquated or ornate. Instead they are versatile and mix in with other jewelry. “I wanted to make them wearable in a contemporary fashion, without changing the actual piece,” says Sohal about the vintage collection, which ranges from $219 to $575 for the rings and $288 to $690 for cuffs. The pieces are sold exclusively at the Des Kohan boutique in Los Angeles.

Sorrenti’s use of old buttons for his Marco Sydney label is

The result is a collection comprising a mainly neutral natural palette, where brass wire wraps horn bangles or cow bone is carved into the shape of a padlock that dangles from a silver link chain link bracelet.

Romper around I

After years of muted lip gloss, creamy lipsticks in vivid hues have come to the fore on the runways and in the stores, a trend inspired by celebrities, retro TV and better times. — MCT photos

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ig news, makeup mavens: Our vintage friend the lipstick is strutting her way back to our kissers in a bevy of cool, creamy nudes and corals. But that doesn’t mean she’s not bringing some heat along. The super-chic are loving this season’s a-little-bitlustrous, a-little-bit-opaque oranges, and by the time fall rolls around, our pouty puckers will be popping with shades of persimmon.

This is especially true if we take our cues from the fall 2011 runway favorites: Diane Von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, and Betsey Johnson. Lip gloss-our preferred, barely-there default color for the last 10 or so years-is so yesterday. (And let’s not forget, greasy.)

“The consumer just wants to exhale a bit,” said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst at the NPD Group.

“Coming out of the recession, it seems consumers’ thirst for color and play was being reawakened.”

Last week NPD reported that sales of “prestige lip products”-any lip product sold in department stores-were up 7.2 percent, from $172.6 million in January through April last year, to $185 million for the same period this

year. Even more surprising, NPD also reported that sales of lip color-that’s lipstick only, not gloss _ were up 11.2 percent, from $82.7 million in the first four months of 2010 to $92 million this year. “For years, everyone was going with the bare lip, the nude lip, just a bit of shimmer,” Grant added. “Now the new colors and textures are making lipstick cool again.”

Clothes for this season are pushing the trend, with bold color combinations such as pinks and oranges and turquoises and yellows the most popular. And fashion’s recent love affair with all things 1940s pinup-pencil midis, vintage pin curls, dotted shirt dresses-is a driver as well. All these looks require a full, retro lip.

It was the February launch of MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam Gaga 2 — inspired by Lady Gaga-that really got our attention.

According to NPD, MAC has been the No 1-selling lipstick this year, followed by Lancome’s L’Absolu Rouge, Clinique’s Long-Lasting Soft Shine Lipstick, Lauder’s Pure Color Lipstick, and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine.

It also helps that the lip color of today feels different than that of yesteryear. Part of the reason many women moved away from lip-

stick in the early millennium was, yes, they wanted the Jennifer Lopez sun-kissed, dewy look, but classic lipsticks were drying and left a weird aftertaste. Women opted instead for rosy cheeks and colorful eyes. Now, many lipstick brands, including MAC and drugstore brands such as Maybelline, are infusing lipsticks with Vitamins D and B, and even shea butter, for moisture.

So when it comes to makeup this season, there are two different looks, Grant said. One is sheer foundation and nude or coral lips. This goes best with a khaki summer suit. Beyonce wears this well in the beginning of her new “Run the World (Girls)” video. Or, Grant said, women are going for the more dramatic look-a 2011 version of the porcelain-skinned girls in Robert Palmer’s 1986 “Addicted to Love” video.

You can still wear a sleeveless black sheath and a smoky eye, but to make this more modern, think Catherine Zeta-Jones in her glittering, red-sleeved Elie Saab gown at this year’s Tony Awards. But if you’re still traumatized by the too-red lips you wore in the 1990s and want to know how to achieve the sultry vibe without looking like you lost a fistfight with a clown, here’s a tip from MAC senior artist Jennifer Karsten: Use a darker lip liner to define the outer edges of the lip and lightly fill in. Then apply a brighter, more tomatoey red in the center of the lip, blend, and touch it up with a bit of gloss. Remember, a bit of shine, not a can of Crisco. “That’s how you get this beautiful, faded dimensional lip,” Karsten said. “And it’s a way that women of all complexions can have a true red.” — MCT

t’s hard to imagine actress Cameron Diaz in anything but a snow white bikini, gripping a surfboard as a Charlie’s Angel on the beach. Sure, it was for a film, but Diaz is famous for wearing clothing that accentuates her best assets, both on and off the set. At nearly every major appearance, Diaz is sure to be in a look that gives more than a peek at her killer legs and toned arms.

The 38-year-old has been busy promoting her new film “Bad Teacher,” which hits theaters Friday, and in which she stars opposite Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake. At a photo call for the film in Madrid, Diaz showed off her signature legs, looking summer-ready in a crisp white Equipment romper, fiery red belt and pink tweed blazer by Elizabeth and James. She accessorized with a navy and gold braided necklace by Giles & Brother and strappy heels by Sergio Rossi.

Diaz’s romper might be summer’s most versatile closet staple. Wear it over a bathing suit by the pool or go effortlessly glam like Diaz with the right accessories. With so many colors, patterns and styles available, it might be hard to narrow it down to just one, but a plain white version is always a good investment. For a sleeveless style, go for the Planet Gold romper from Macys.com for $13.99. For something a little more casual, try the

For something a little more casual, try the Sparkle & Fade Dolphin short romper from Urbanoutfitters.com for $59.

Sparkle & Fade Dolphin short romper from Urbanoutfitters.com for $59 or the Roxy Rollick romper from Roxy.com for $39.50. If you’re looking for a little more detail, the Asos linen bandeau pleated short playsuit features a flirty bow detail for $60.34.

The best part of Diaz’s outfit is her belt.

The color screams “look at me,” and it gets ample attention against the white romper.

For a similar effect, get the Pieces Lisbeth slim jeans belt for $12.07 from Asos.com or the Unisex solid web belt with leather buckle from American Apparel for $30. To go for a chunky look, get the wide quilted belt from Armani Exchange for $58.

It’s always nice to have a light jacket for when those warm summer days turn into heavenly nights. The Asos soft draped suit blazer in fuchsia for $86.20 will keep you warm and add a nice pop of color. For something a little redder, snag the Carmine blazer from Anthropologie.com for $98 or the PME blazer in houndstooth red and white from Yoox.com for $160. Wear your new romper with any kind of footwear-whether a pair of strappy sandals or your highest heels. — MCT

Snag this PME blazer in houndstooth red and white from Yoox.com for $160.

Maryam Sherif, 23, receives lipstick from Andie Kaguer at the Mac Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Monday, June 13, 2011.

To go for a chunky look, get the wide quilted belt from Armani Exchange for $58.

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talian luxury design house Prada has issued additional shares to boost its Hong Kong initial public offering to more than $2.46 billion, after a lacklustre trading debut last month. The familycontrolled firm said in a statement late Sunday that the extra shares raised HK$2.5 billion ($321 million), after its highly anticipated IPO raised a lower-than-expected $2.14 billion. The so-called over-allotment option saw Prada issue 63.5 million shares at the IPO price of HK$39.50, which was at the lower end of its forecast range.

Prada initially sold 423.2 million shares after floating 20 percent of its stock. Before the IPO, the brand had been 95 percent owned by the Prada family and executives. Since their weak June 24 trading debut, Prada shares have climbed above their IPO price, with the stock trading at HK$45 by the break Monday. Choppy global markets and concerns about the price of Prada shares weighed on the firm’s debut, analysts said.

The Italian group, which includes the Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s and Car Shoe brands, is the lat-

est high-end fashion brand to tap the huge Chinese market, the world’s fastest-growing market for luxury goods. China is forecast to be the world’s top buyer of products such as cosmetics, handbags, watches, shoes and clothes by 2015, according to consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.—AFP

People walk past a Prada shop on a rainy afternoon in Hong Kong on June 22, 2011.—AFP

Models present creations of Hong Kong fashion designer Himma Wong during the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2012 in Hong Kong, yesterday. Hong Kong Fashion Week attracts more than 1,700 exhibitors participating in the four-day event. — AFP/AP

A model presents a creation of Hong Kong fashion design Unit “Chewthecud”.

Models present creations by French designer Anne Valerie Hash during the Fall/Winter 2011-2012 Haute Couture collection show yesterday in Paris.—

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Indonesia’s ‘paradise lost’ opens up to bold tourists Years

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Now what?

Life post breakup: Tips you need to use today

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f you are in the middle of a divorce right now or your divorce is final, it might seem like you are stuck in a broken record of the pain of the past and trying to figure out what went wrong. You might also feel doomed to make the same mistakes in future relationships and that you are a failure. Take heart! You CAN learn from the past and let go of the pain and stop reliving your old relationship. You can move forward to the happiness you want for yourself. Whether you were the one who chose to leave the relationship or the one who was left, here are two tips you can use to heal your pain and turn toward your future..

TIP 1: Take responsibility for only your part When a marriage or love relationship ends, too often a “blame game” ensues. As much as we think it will ease our hurts, it is essential that you realize that usually both people bear responsibility in a relationship. The degree and intensity may vary, but when challenges come up, chances are that both people have played a role.

An important step in healing from a divorce is to let go the “blame game” and turn your focus to what you want to change about yourself and what you would like in a new

relationship. Hanging onto anger or the need to be right will make your process more difficult.

Taking responsibility means accepting the role you played in ending the relationship. As important as it is to own up to the part you played, it is just as important to allow the other person to own up to his or her role but not making your recovery dependent on it. Again, take responsibility, let go, and consider ways that you can change in future relationships.

again when you experience a relationship breakup or divorce. Conversely, you may feel the urge to cover up pain by rushing into another relationship. We encourage you to choose another path. Choose one where you take time to learn from the relationship, take responsibility for your patterns, and find gratitude for where you are. On the path of responsibility and gratitude you can begin moving towards the relationships and life you really want!—MCT

TIP 2: Change your attitude through appreciation It may be difficult to hear, but the truth is that everything in your life (including your relationships) is a result of choices you’ve made. The good news is, however, if you don’t like how your life is going right now, you can decide to make different choices. This might require a shift of focus from blame to acceptance. It could take the shape of cultivating appreciation for what you have. Opening to a sense of gratitude for where you are and the lessons you’ve learned is a positive move in the direction of what you are wanting in your life. In short, change your attitude to change your life.

It’s tempting to close down and vow to never love

What’s your

divorce risk?

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f you knew graduating from college, waiting a few years to marry, settling down and having a child would make your marriage last, would you do it? Your answer might be up in the air-but the statistics are solid as a rock. They show that your risk for divorce is significantly less if you do those things. While they can’t show whether you’ll be happy or not, experts say they do show your marriage is more likely to last until death do you part.

“People who marry older with more education have the lowest divorce rates,” said Betsey Stevenson, assistant professor of business and public policy, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. Stevenson, who studies marriage and divorce statistics, recently used the statistics to develop the Marriage Calculator, which allows users to examine their risk of divorce compared to others who married about the same age, have the same education level and have been married for about as long.

It also uses historical census data to predict a user’s risk of divorce in the next five years.

Keeping in mind that anything more than 7 percent is a high risk, the Marriage Calculator, predicts that “The Hills” stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have a combined average of 12 percent of divorcing within the next five years.

“No one has done this before,” Stevenson said. “People can use this tool to think about hypotheticals.”Though most Americans think the divorce rate is high at 50 percent, the good news is that the number of divorces has fallen since 1979. Stevenson, who also studied “Trends in Marital Stability” with Wolfers, said couples who marry today are less likely to divorce than couples in previous generations.

Today’s statistics show that a little more than 40 percent of Americans divorce each year. But the risk for divorce can depend on the circumstances, said Stevenson, who studied divorce rates in “Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces,” research co-authored with Justin Wolfers. “Different types of people face different divorce rates historically,” Stevenson said.

David Popenoe, co-director of the National Marriage Project, said the age of first marriages has increased since the 1950s, when women married at age 19. That’s climbed from 23 for men and 21 for women in 1970 to 27.5 for men and 25.5 for women in 2006, said William A. Galston of The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization.

That’s about the age of approval for most parents, according to an as yet unpublished study by Jason Carroll, an associate professor at Brigham Young University. Carroll recently told USA TODAY that college students from 18-25 suggested 25 was the best age to get married, while their parents suggested they should wait another year - until they were 26 - to give themselves a better shot at making it work.

New York Attorney Bernard Rothman, author of “Loving & Leaving: Winning at the Business of Divorce” said couples tend to divorce after only a few years of marriage. “...Today, people approach marriage differently. Their philosophy is, ‘If it isn’t smooth, we’ll just get out,” he said.

Marrying young an issue First marriages with women under the age of 18 are more likely to end in divorce, according to Brette Sember, a retired attorney, author of “The Divorce Organizer and Planner.”“The divorce rates are quite high for this group.” Kay Moffett, author of “Not Your Mother’s Divorce: A Practical, Girlfriend-toGirlfriend Guide to Surviving the End of a Young Marriage,” said young couples usually get married for the wrong reasons: “They’re simply too excited about their relationship, about being married, having accomplished what they feel they’ve been pressured to do, often by their peers.”

Older couples are more willing to compromise: “Couples who have dated more are not so shocked, they tend to see their partner in a more realistic light,” Moffett said.

A 2001 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 48 percent of those who married before 18 were more likely to divorce within 10 years. “...The brains of teens and those in their early 20s are not fully mature, so to expect someone to make a lifelong commitment and be able to stick to it at this age is just not realistic,” Sember explained.

Sociology instructor Caroline Schacht of East Carolina University agreed, saying it’s not that tough to tell when you’re ready for marriage. “At some point, most adults reach a level of stability in their self-concepts, values and priorities so that there is not a drastic change over a five-year period. A good rule of thumb is that if a person can look back over the last five years and feel that they are essentially the same person as they are today (in terms of self-concept, values, and priorities), then they are ready for a marital commitment,” she said. Whether you agree with that theory or not, waiting until later in life to get married is a good idea, according to Lori Gorshow, the owner and president of Dating Made Simple, at www.makedatingsimple.com, a dating coach service. “As you gain more real-world experience, you gain wisdom,” Gorshow said. “And with wisdom, you can apply that to your relationship.”

Other divorce denominators Some other common divorce denominators, according the National Marriage Project’s report “The State of Our Unions,” include: an income lower than $25,000; a child before marriage; a divorced family; no religious affiliation; no college education. A couple making less than $25,000 has a 30 percent increased chance of divorcing. A couple with a child before marriage has a 24 percent increase of divorce. And those who come from divorced families are 14 percent more likely to divorce.

Jay P Granat, PhD, a psychotherapist in New Jersey, often sees young couples who had a child before marriage or early in the marriage. He said they are young, immature and haven’t reached stability in their jobs or finances. Only if both partners are willing to work on the relationship is there a chance to repair it. “What’s common is that they have poor communication skills, and they have not been in the situation where they have to compromise,” Granat said. — MCT

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he heat and anger which inevitably rises during divorce has been known to turn perfectly nice people into demons. It happens to the best of us when the person you have pledged to love for you entire life suddenly turns on you. Although the division of children and assets seems fair in the eyes of objective observers, both parties react emotionally to the fact that anything if being taken away at all. “I gave birth and raised those children! What do you mean I only get 50 percent of their time?” “How can she kick me out of the house I bought and paid for?”

Alas, these are the realities of divorce: The division of the dreams you both worked hard to build.

The law is clear, so the choice is yours: How will you choose to get through your divorce?

Diana Mercer, co-author of “Making Divorce Work,” encourages readers to set realistic goals for their divorce and stick with them, both legal and emotional goals. If you want to keep the house, for example, be prepared to give up something of equal financial value. If you want the children to attend your church on Sundays, then be prepared to give up Saturdays with them. These are painful choices, but they must be made. The sooner you identify your “nonnegotiables,” the quicker and more effective your attorney will be in wrapping up the negotiations.

Emotional goals are equally important. As recent divorcee “Jessica” says, “My father gave me the best advice: Make sure to be the best person you can - no matter what happens - so you can look yourself in the mirror and your children in the eye. Homes, furniture, cars all come and go, but your integrity is all you have.”

Bill Ferguson, author of “How to Divorce as

Friends: And Maybe Save Your Marriage,” writes “The more you fight someone, the more of a threat you become to that person. You force that person to fight you even harder. This in turn puts you at even greater risk. Everything you do as an adversary creates more adversariness against you.”

Instead, Ferguson says to stop being a threat to your ex-spouse. By being fair and committed to a reasonable settlement, your ex will back down and stop threatening in return. If they don’t, the court will likely lean in your favor anyway since you have demonstrated good faith in negotiating. Not only will the divorce proceed more smoothly, but you and your children will no longer be subject to emotional outbursts and threats from you ex.—MCT