27 Jul

ON IP TI SC R SU B

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister makes debut

More deaths, arrests as Syria presses crackdown

150 FILS

Sleep with your iPhone?

You are not alone

11

7

www.kuwaittimes.net

SHAABAN 26, 1432 AH

Phelps suffers shock defeat in Shanghai

20

27

40 PAGES

NO: 15162

Kuwait denies bombings at Mubarak port project

Iraq threatens to ‘internationalize’ issue • Kuwait blamed for Iraq drugs problem

Max 49º Min 35º Low Tide 01:52 & 16:14 High Tide 07:38 & 22:53

By A Saleh and Agencies conspiracy theories

Coping with the heat

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

L

et’s talk about something else today. No dirty politics, no bombings! No massacres by extremists!

No Anders Behring Breivik; no electricity cuts; no education headaches; no segregation; no demonstrations; no Tabtabaei; no Musallam Al-Barrak. Thank God, MPs are on holiday. Guys, you know what? Their holiday is until Oct 25. Wow! That is what I call a holiday. I pray to God and I wish I could become an MP just to enjoy the holidays and the free car and an army of secretaries. Most of all I’d like to enjoy the wasta in awarding tenders. Oops, I promised you not to talk politics.

I want to talk about the heat. How can you cope with the heat? How can you cope with the announced 49 degrees Celsius. Many people think that the actual temperature is actually over 51 degrees Celsius.

Hamdullilah, our houses, shops, offices and 99 percent of the facilities are equipped with air conditioning. It is the only time that I remember the guy who invented the AC. I think we should build a statue in the Arabian Peninsula in his honor. Does anyone know his name?

I miss my evening walks after work. I used to go to the seaside despite the stink from the sewage, which if you live in Kuwait have heard of - Mishrefgate. If you haven’t heard of it, here is the brie: The sewage system broke down in Mishref and they decided to dump the sewage, guess where, in the sea. Back to my sport. With a heat of 48 degrees Celsius in the night, I could not even step out of the car. The only hope for people who want to walk in Kuwait is to go to the Avenues. I am not trying to serve as PR for Mr Al-Shaya but honestly, it is a nice jogging place. Many people go there not to shop but to enjoy the environment. They can use the facility and walk over a kilometer. You can walk upstairs, down stairs, back and forth and cover a distance of not less than 5 km.

Initially, I was not much in favor of the mushrooming of malls but come the searing heat when I cannot walk outside and cannot enjoy, I am more appreciative.

Norway killer insane: Lawyer OSLO: The lawyer for the Norwegian gunman who has claimed responsibility for killing 76 people in twin attacks last week said yesterday that everything about his client’s case indicates he is “insane”. “This whole case indicates that he’s insane,” Geir Lippestad told journalists of Anders Behring Breivik, adding that a medical evaluation would take place to establish his psychiatric condition. “He believes that he’s in a war and he believes that when you’re in a war you can do things like that without pleading guilty,” the lawyer said of the 32-year-old Norwegian who claims to be trying to bring about an anti-Muslim revolution.

Asked about the implications of his client being adjudged medically insane after blowing up the Continued on Page 15

AMMAN: King Abdullah of Jordan (center) meets a high-profile Kuwaiti media delegation yesterday. Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan is seen at left. (See Page 3)

7-mth-old weighs same as newborn DADAAB, Kenya: Mihag Gedi Farah is 7 months old, and weighs as little as a newborn with the weathered skin of an old man. His mother managed to get him to a field hospital in a Kenyan refugee camp after a weeklong odyssey, but the baby’s anguished eyes, hollow cheeks and fragile limbs show just how severe Somalia’s famine is becoming. Officials have warned that 800,000 children could die across the Horn of Africa, and aid workers are rushing to bring help to dangerous

and previously unreached regions of drought-ravaged Somalia.

Mihag’s sunken face brings new urgency to their efforts and raises concerns about how many children like him remain in Somalia, far from the feeding tubes and doctors at this Kenyan refugee camp. His fragile skin crumples like thin leather under the pressure of his mother ’s hands, as she touches the hollows DADAAB, Kenya: Mihag Gedi Farah, a sevenmonth-old child with a weight of 3.4 kg, is held where a baby’s chubby cheeks Continued on Page 15 by his mother in a field hospital yesterday. — AP

Muslims prepare for summer fast MIAMI: The holy month of Ramadan falls during the long, hot days of August this year, and Muslim Americans are getting ready to accommodate the daylight fasts required during Ramadan with adjustments in their schedules and eating habits. It can be even tougher for Muslims in America than for their counterparts in majority-Muslim countries, where business slows down during Ramadan and people take it easier during the day, says Dr Elizabeth Rourke, an internist at Boston Medical Center. “In the US, everyone is required to do what they would do ordinarily, the entire month,” Rourke says, “so it makes the fast much more demanding for American Muslims.”

Mubarakah Ibrahim, a personal trainer, hopes to cram all her clients in the morning when she has the most energy. She’ll serve vegetables as the first course when her family breaks their fast in the evenings to make sure they get their nutrients for the day. And she’ll buy her four kids - ranging in age from 10 to17 - shiny new water bottles as a reminder to hydrate during the hours they’re not fasting. “We know spirituality can get you through anything,” says Ibrahim, who lives in New Haven, Conn. “But the choice really is, you can suffer through it and still do it, or you can do it and do it efficiently without making your health suffer.”

Ramadan requires daily fasts of food and water during daytime hours. Typically observers eat a meal before dawn and break their fast at sunset.

Continued on Page 15

KUWAIT: Government spokesman and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ali Fahd Al-Rashed yesterday categorically denied reports published by a local daily yesterday about bombings at the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port project, citing an Iraqi source. Work on the project is in full swing and no bombings or terrorist acts took place near it, Al-Rashed confirmed.

A local paper had claimed that workers at the site of the Mubarak port had reported grenade attacks near the project ten days ago and Kuwaiti authorities blacked out news about the attacks.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s parliamentary speaker said yesterday that Iraq will resort to the UN if the committee set up to negotiate the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port issue fails to resolve the problem. The speaker, MP Mohammad Al-Khaldi, said that the Iraqi parliament is following the issue of the Mubarak port closely and with great concern and is keenly awaiting a report by the parliamentary committee which is working closely with the country’s transport ministry and foreign ministry.

Iraq will raise the issue with the UN and the US government if necessary, he warned, adding that the US is Iraq’s main partner. He stressed, however, that the issue of Mubarak Al-Kabeer port had still not reached the point of political escalation, pointing out that nobody in Iraq is expecting external assaults from Kuwait or any other party. Al-Khaldi claimed that Kuwait has already begun damming waterways in the second phase of the project, calling upon the Kuwaiti authorities to deal fairly with Iraq.

Continued on Page 15

Moroccan military plane crash kills 80 RABAT: A military transport plane slammed into a mountainside in bad weather in southern Morocco yesterday, killing all 80 people on board, hospital and military sources said. The army said 78 people were killed on the spot and two rushed to hospital after the Hercules C-130 crashed on the edge of the Sahara desert in Morocco’s worst military aviation disaster. A hospital source later told AFP that the injured died of their wounds.

Authorities earlier reported that 81 people were aboard the doomed plane but it emerged later that one passenger did not board in Laayoune in the Western Sahara and was mistakenly included in the total.

The plane crashed into a mountain northeast of Guelmim, located about 830 km south of the capital Rabat, the army said in a statement. Most of those onboard the aircraft Continued on Page 15

GUELMIM, Morocco: Bodies are seen by the wreckage of a military transport plane after it crashed yesterday. — AFP

in the

news

Bahrain arrests Briton in air security scare

US lawmaker accused of misconduct to quit

Hamas executes two ‘Israeli collaborators’

Mubarak weak after refusing solid food

DUBAI: Bahrain security forces arrested a British man on suspicion of carrying explosives aboard a plane, but a search of the aircraft failed to find any, the interior ministry said yesterday. “Security forces stopped a British man of Asian descent on suspicion that he was carrying explosives on a plane coming to Bahrain in transit and headed to Britain,” the interior ministry said on Twitter. “After ensuring the safety of all the passengers and inspecting them and the airplane, no explosives were found aboard the plane and investigations of the suspect are continuing,” the ministry said. Gulf Air confirmed that the aircraft involved was one of its fleet. “Flight GF 547 with 39 passengers from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain ... was taken to an isolated part of the airport upon landing at Bahrain Airport following a security alert,” Gulf Air said in a statement, adding the plane had since returned to service. Pan-Arab news channel Al Arabiya said the man was taken off the plane in a hysterical or drunken state. The British embassy in Bahrain said it could not confirm that the man in question was a Briton.

WASHINGTON: Oregon Democratic US Representative David Wu, who has been accused of an unwanted sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a campaign contributor, will resign, his spokesman said yesterday. Wu, 56, had already announced this week that he would not seek an eighth term. Nancy Pelosi, the top-ranking Democrat in the US House of Representatives, had referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee. Wu said in a statement that he planned to step down “effective upon the resolution of the David Wu debt-ceiling crisis”. While he made no explicit mention of the exact misconduct he is accused of, Wu said in his statement, “I cannot care for my family the way I wish while serving in Congress and fighting these very serious allegations.”

GAZA CITY: The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip hanged a father and son at dawn yesterday for collaborating with Israel, a government spokesman said. The two were found guilty of helping Israel target a top Hamas leader and identify other militants who were later killed by Israeli forces, said Ihab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza. They were arrested in 2003 and charged a year later, and had exhausted all legal means to appeal the sentence, he said. The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights identified them as 51-year-old Mahmoud Abu Qenas and his 22-year-old son, Rami Abu Qenas. The family of the two men burned tyres and tried to shut down a Gaza City road in response to the deaths. Family members were quickly pushed back into their homes by Hamas police who also shooed away journalists and told them not to take photos. The rights group said the men were accused of involvement in a 2003 assassination attempt against Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas cofounder. Israel killed Rantisi in 2004.

CAIRO: Egypt’s hospitalised former President Hosni Mubarak, who is due to stand trial next week over the killing of protesters, is weak and refusing solid food, the official news agency MENA reported yesterday. The statement about Mubarak’s condition followed reports that he had died. The condition of the 83-year-old former leader has been a frequent subject for speculation. Many Egyptians see his illness as a ploy so he can avoid trial. Mubarak, toppled in February by a popular uprising, has been in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April when he was first questioned by the authorities.

Mubarak “is completely refusing to eat food but consumes some liquids and juice only. He lost a lot of weight and suffers weakness and severe infirmity,” MENA quoted Mohamed Fathallah, head of the hospital where Mubarak is being treated, as saying. The report also quoted a medical source as saying medical supervisors would decide in the next few hours whether to put him on a drip or to continue normal feeding, saying his current food intake was “not sufficient to live”.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

local

KUWAIT: A ceremony was held at Bayan Palace yesterday to mark His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s receiving the credentials of four new ambassadors to Kuwait.

The new diplomatic envoys are from Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and India. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, along with other senior dignitaries.

Hayef slams ‘High School Girls’ TV show ‘The series portrays Kuwaiti schools as dens of vice and corrupt manners, making the girls appear to be lewd and shameless. It also depicts teachers to be those who encourage committing such vices and indecent behavior.’

By Hussain Al-Qatari

Amir receives students KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday Chairman and administrative members of the National Union of Kuwaiti Students in Kuwait and abroad.

His Highness received head of the US branch Fahad Al-Sebaiei, who said His Highness was keen on encouraging the students and supporting them morally.

His Highness provided valuable advice and urged all to concentrate on their studies as well as mind their conduct, which would reflect on their homeland.

Head of the UK and Ireland branch Hamad Al-Shimmiri said His Highness

had stressed it was vital to shun sectarianism and anything that would cause divide. He also urged all to seek knowledge and enlightenment with all their might.

It was an honor that His Highness had given us a part of his time and expressed his encouragement and support, he said.

His Highness also received head of the Egypt branch Fawwaz Al-Ajmi, who said the Amir focused on the role and duties of students abroad who are ambassadors of their homeland.

His counsel, Al-Ajmi said, focused on study and proper conduct and expressed a fatherly interest. — KUNA

MEW to build 9 new water towers in Sabah Al-Ahmad

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) has finalized contracts for the construction of nine new water storage towers in the Sabah Al-Ahmad housing estate. The reinforced concrete towers, costing a total of KD8.5 million, should be completed and ready for use within the next year, said an MEW official, adding that they will provide water for Sabah Al-Ahmad residents and any others in the area requiring it.

Meanwhile, the MEW is awaiting the delivery of a number of massive new soundproofed diesel generators. The generators, costing a total of KD15 million, are expected to arrive before Ramadan when the demand for power peaks and will be allocated to those areas prone to power cuts just in case of any blackouts.

On a separate issue, MP Mohammad AlHuwaila has supported parliamentary colleagues’ calls for an emergency meeting of the National Assembly council to discuss the problems faced by high school graduates unable to get places at Kuwait University despite meeting the entrance criteria due to the university’s overcapacity problems.

Al-Huwaila added that if the government and university succeeded in resolving the problem beforehand, there would evidently be no need for such a meeting.

The MP further demanded that the government reform the current education system in Kuwait to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of high school graduates, which require a corresponding

increase in the number of places available at Kuwait University.

Similar scenes of panic are seen over this issue every year, Al-Huwaila pointed out, asserting that since the youngsters themselves have nothing to do with this intolerable policy of negligence which fails to provide them with the necessary places, they should not be made to suffer for it and that the problem should be resolved as quickly as possible.

On another subject, MP Ali Al-Deqbasi submitted a lengthy list of questions to Minister of Commerce and Industry Amani Buresli on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s (MCI’s) livestock import policy.

Al-Deqbasi asked the ministry to detail the costs of the subsidies offered for each creature imported and the total annual amount paid in subsidies, as well as requesting information on how the ministry monitors the local livestock market and the activities of the Livestock Transportation and Trading Company (LTTC), the only government-approved livestock importer.

The MP further requested details on the ministry’s livestock quality control assessment methods, as well as on any violations of these, and asked for information on public complaints about non-availability of meat at local butchers. In the case of any complaints being received, he asked, what measures had been taken.

Amongst the many other questions put by the MP to minister Buresli on the subject were a number on pricing mechanisms, rules on livestock provision, and legal action taken against any offenders.

Islamist acquitted in jihad case KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti artist-turned-Islamist was acquitted on Monday on charges of waging jihad after being found not guilty of conspiring to fight alliance troops in Afghanistan.

Citizen Husain Al-Ahmad was accused of receiving military training by the hand of militants in Afghanistan and of conspiring with jihadists. He was previously sentenced to three years in prison by the Court of First Instance, which found him guilty of carrying out an aggressive act against a friendly

nation (Afghanistan), as well as conspiring to threaten Kuwait’s relationship with a foreign country.

On Monday, the Criminal Court of Appeals acquitted Al-Ahmad of all charges, based on the results of an investigation which indicated that Al-Ahmad was on a philanthropic mission to Afghanistan, but fell into the wrong hands which made it hard for him to return home to Kuwait when he planned to do so two months after his arrival there. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef issued a statement on Monday warning against the dangers of screening Ramadan television series. The conservative lawmaker claimed that these series contain negative portrayals of Kuwaiti women, depicting them as corrupt. The subject of Hayef’s criticism was in particular a series entitled ‘Banat AlThanawiya’, or High School Girls.

Condemning the media for broadcasting entertainment series rather than religious programs during the month of Ramadan, Hayef asserted that these series help to spread negative behavior in society out of proportion. “How could the Minister of Information allow such a series to be shot in Kuwait?” the lawmaker stormed.

He continued: “The series portrays Kuwaiti schools as a den of vice and corrupt manners, making the girls appear to be lewd and shameless. It also depicts teachers to be those who encourage committing such vices and indecent behavior.” He urged parents and students alike to sue the producers, writer, and cast of the series for depicting them in what he called an offensive and derogatory manner. Hayef also urged teachers and the Minister of Education to take legal action against the team behind the series, saying that it is utterly disrespectful to portray schools as “filthy pits of vice and sin.”

The television series Banat Al-Thanawiya is based on the novels of young Kuwaiti writer Mohammad Al-Nashmi. The author published the first book in 2009, followed by two sequels in 2010 and 2011. The novels narrate the story of five teenage girls at a local high school who are struggling to find a balance between their aspirations and the pressures placed on them by society. Coming from different social and

ideological backgrounds, the characters in the series collide with one another, resulting in a kaleidoscope of stories and reactions, some happy and others tragic. One of the main subplots is one of the girls’ relationship with her boyfriend, which is challenged by society due to their disparity in religious background as each of the lovers belongs to a different religious sect and social background. The series’ screenplay is written by Al-Nashmi himself and

the series is directed by Jordanian TV director Saied Al-Hawari The month of Ramadan is the busiest month for television in the Middle East, with many TV networks competing to produce series and entertainment shows to entertain the audience. These are usually subject to much criticism from conservative politicians and clergymen alike, who urge people to spend the month of Ramadan in worship instead of entertainment.

KUWAIT: A picture released by the producers of Banat Al-Thanawiya shows the five lead actresses of Kuwaiti television series which will be televised on various channels across the Middle East.

Al-Adwa slams MAIA over imam suspension

By A. Saleh

KUWAIT: MP Khalid Al-Adwa has become the latest parliamentarian to condemn the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs’ (MAIA) decision to suspend an imam over a sermon condemning the Syrian regime over its actions. Al-Adwa said yesterday that the MAIA should call a halt to its repressive role in inhibiting imams’ freedom of speech in their sermons, accusing the ministry of wishing to make sermons monotonous and irrelevant to actual national concerns.

MAIA officials should instead be looking to mosque imams as important figures with a responsibility for shaping society and directing its members in the correct way, socially, politically and economically, as well as morally, particularly in their Friday sermons, he said.

Imams are not civil servants, the MP pointed out, adding that the ministry must show empathy for the Kuwaiti people’s cares and concerns and face up to challenges.

Al-Adwa recalled that in 1989 he and a number of other Kuwaitis had been reprimanded by the Kuwaiti authorities after publicly condemning the massacre perpetrated by Saddam Hussein’s regime in Halabja, Iraq in March the previous year, in which between 3,200 and 5,000 people were murdered. One year after that, he added, Saddam Hussein’s regime invaded Kuwait.

The MP praised the attitude of all imams who speak out against the current behavior of the Syrian leadership, adding that by doing so they are performing their national duty towards their brothers in Syria.

He urged the MAIA to listen to the country’s thinkers and intellectuals and let the imams speak freely in order to practice their proper role in society.

In other news, a number of members of the National Democratic Alliance and the Democratic Forum yesterday issued a joint declaration and petition asserting that Kuwait’s Central Bank has been “taken hostage” for the sake of some commercial deals and political games that have nothing to do with national loyalty. The signatories to the petition expressed a wish to distance themselves from those who falsely claim to be patriots, calling on others to do likewise and to sign the petition in order to proclaim their opposition to the corrupt business deals.

Motor accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A car accident took place along the Fourth Ring Road between Hawally and Jabriya. A 37-year-old female fractured her right knee and was admitted to Mubarak Hospital. Another car accident took place at Al-Maqwaa, the driver at the helm of the vehicle died instantly after sustaining a fatal head injury. His body was removed for an autopsy by the coroner.

A car accident took place near Bnaider road. Two Kuwaiti teenagers 14 and 17 years old respectively were admitted to AlAdan Hospital. Also, a car accident took place near a military base, towards the Iraqi border. A 36-year-old Indian expat suffered multiple injuries and was admitted to Jahra Hospital.

In two other incidents, one accident took place opposite Araifjan camp, a 26year-old Indian expatriate suffered injuries to the head. Both were admitted to AlAdan Hospital. A car accident took place near Fahaheel Expressway, opposite to the Coast Club. A 26-year-old citizen complained of giddiness and was admitted to Al-Adan Hospital.

Street fight A fight took place at a garage in Subhan.

A 29-year-old Nepalese national was stabbed to his stomach and right knee. He was admitted to Al-Farwaniya Hospital.

Another fight took place in Farwaniya at a grocery store, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi expatriate suffered an eye injury and was administered first aid treatment.

Kuwait leading supporter of Palestinian Authority CAIRO: Kuwait is one of the leading financial and political backers of Palestinian Authority, Kuwait permanent representative at the Arab League Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim said here yesterday. “ This aid is offered directly to the Palestinian Authority or indirectly through international organizations aiding Palestinians,” Al-Ghunaim said on the sideline of the Arab League extraordinary meeting held here yesterday to discuss the financial crisis from which the Palestinian Authority

suffers. He added that meeting also tackled the Palestinian Authority bid to present a request for recognition and full membership to the UN next September and the 55th meeting of the international Atomic Energy Agency. “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah AlSalem Al-Sabah and Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi are contacting each other and discussing the Arab plans to push for the successes of the Palestinian statehood bid,” Al-Ghunaim said. — KUNA

Forged disability certificates busted KUWAIT: The director of the Public Authority for Persons with Disabilities’ medical committee has requested that his official seal be changed following the discovery of a number of forged disability certificates bearing a copy of his official signature.

The authority head, Dr. Jassem AlTammar, reportedly approved Dr.

Abdullah Ayadah’s application, subsequently issuing a memorandum instructing all the authority’s departments to accept only the new signature on future transactions. Insiders at the authority have reportedly criticized Dr. Al-Tammer for failing to launch an investigation into the forgeries to discover who was behind them. — Al-Rai

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

LOCAL

Jordan proud of strong ties with Kuwait AMMAN: King Abdullah II yesterday said Jordan and Kuwait enjoy excellent ties at political, economic, security and military levels. The King said he is proud of the strong relations with His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed AlJaber Al-Sabah, which reflect positively on the two peoples’ interests.

The king told visiting Kuwaiti media leaderships and chief editors of Kuwaiti dailies that he hopes to meet the Amir in the coming few weeks. “There is a strong opportunity to develop and increase economic and investment cooperation between Jordan and Kuwait,” the King said, noting that Kuwait is the biggest Arab investor in Jordan.

media delegation. Addressing the peace process in the Middle East, King Abdullah said it is going through a “dark tunnel” and that the situation does not warrant optimism. “Failing to reach a just and lasting solution for the Palestinian issue that ends occupation and establishes an independent state on 1967 borders, means continued tension and violence and lack of security and stability,” the King said.

“Achieve peace between Palestinians and Israelis requires Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and recognize the right of Palestinian people of sovereignty over their land,” he added. Jordan, the king said, is pressing ahead with

AMMAN: Kuwaiti journalists pictured with King Abdullah II

AMMAN: Members of the KJA delegation pictured with the Speaker of Jordan’s Lower House Faisal Al-Fayez and Senate President Taher Masri yesterday.

He pledged full support for Kuwaiti investors through removing all obstacles hindering their projects in the Kingdom.

King Abdullah said Jordan’s joining the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would be a big and important stride towards cementing ties between the two sides. Jordan’s membership of the GCC is a win-win deal, the King noted.

Better ties among Arab countries require addressing all issues in transparent and clear methods, the King told the

reform “fearlessly”, stressing the importance of economic reform to move in parallel with political reform.

“I am optimist regarding reform and citizens should play a key role in decision-making process,” His Majesty said, noting that Jordan has a clear roadmap for reform.

King Abdullah noted constitutional amendments that would be announced in the coming few days. The recommendations would be presented for lawmak-

‘Save students from legislative haggling’

By Hussain Al-Qatari KUWAIT: MP Musallam Al-Barrak said the cabinet will be held responsible if the Kuwait University student dilemma is not solved by the end of this week. Speaking to the press yesterday afternoon, AlBarrak said that the cabinet should have taken the right measures to ensure that the students are admitted to university.

“The number of university applicants should have been predicted many years ago. This crisis only proves the failure of the government to do its duty and serve the people,” he said. Al-Barrak added that the government should take an immediate decision and solve the problem before things get worse. “This cabinet keeps disappointing people with its bad performance. This time it is crushing the spirits of the youth who are entitled according to the law to pursue their education, and it is tampering with the feelings of the parents,” he said.

A solution to the Kuwait University’s lack of capacity issue for the next academic year will be finalized on Thursday, announced Ahmad Al-Mulaifi Minister of Education and Higher Education.

In a statement issued to reporters during a press conference, the minister said that a meeting will be held Thursday; a day after the deadline to receive applications expires. This is in order to assess the number of applications and devise effective mechanisms to accommodate more students. According to unconfirmed statistics, the number of applications submitted as of Monday reached 10,900. AlMulaifi had previously announced plans to raise the number to 9,000, while assisting 1,000 others to be covered by statesponsored scholarship programs.

On the other hand, KU rector Dr Abdullatif Al-Badr said in statements published yesterday that the KU administration can only admit 8,000 new students as per an agreement reached during the last

meeting of the KU council. Meanwhile, officials suggest that the number of enrollment applications could reach 13,000 by the end of the application period. The ministry announced that only 1,373 out of the 4,000 scholarships applications have been approved, according to sources at the Ministry of Education.

On Monday, MP Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi criticized fellow lawmakers who advocate the ban on co-education, demanding that they provide permanent solutions “considering their enthusiasm to place the ban intact.” “It has been proven that segregation is one of the main reasons for the KU ‘s overcapacity problem in the KU,” AlAwadhi said, urging the Parliament to act so as to “save the future of students from legislative haggling.”

Meanwhile, MP Jamaan Al-Herbish slammed Kuwait University for not taking the right action in dealing with the nine female students allegedly rejected from admission in the faculty of dentistry. AlHerbish said: “The university did not accept them in the major they chose, despite being qualified. They were entitled to be accepted in the faculty of pharmaceutical studies; why is the university pointing that out as if it is an act of generosity from their part? The students demanded that they be accepted in the faculty of medicine and dentistry, and they have all the qualifications. The university should have done something about that.” As published in the Kuwait Times yesterday, the Kuwait University spokesperson clarified on Monday that the students allegedly rejected admission were in fact accepted in the program of the pharmaceutical studies because the competitors to the other faculties scored higher GPAs. “When all applicants to the same faculty are qualified, the faculty chooses the best scores. The system is fair and clear,” said the spokesperson of Kuwait University Faisal Maqseed on Monday.

warning sirens tested KUWAIT: The General Department of Civil Defense successfully tested warning sirens yesterday morning. In an announcement made on Monday, Major General Yousuf Al-Roudan, the Department’s Director said that the test “is meant to examine their efficacy and raise citizens’ and residents’ awareness about siren sounds, in addition to identi-

fying areas that require installation of more warning siren devices.” At least 237 high-tech rotating sirens have been activated starting 10:00 am. The rotation enables the sound to reach all directions continuously even when the direction of wind changes. Furthermore, the sirens are connected to microphones that can be used to sound warnings to the public.

ers in an extraordinar y session during September, he added. “Elections and political parties’ laws would be approved to establish a partisan and parliamentary life, which we hope would help achieve positive change for Jordan’s future,” King Abdullah said.

Political activities, demonstrations and sitins are protected and respected, the King said, noting his directive to protect demonstrators and ensure their safety.

Members of the Kuwaiti delegation hailed King Abdullah’s wisdom and reform vision.

They also noted his stances towards Arab issues and keenness to cement ties with Kuwait. Jordan’s membership to the GCC is a value-added step and would benefit both sides, they said.

The Kuwaiti delegation is headed by Kuwait Journalists Association chairman Ahmad Behbehani, Editor-in-Chief of the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Rashid AlRuwaished, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anba daily Yousuf Al-Marzouq, Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan, as well as Alam Al-Yawm daily Editor-in-Chief Abdulhameed Al-Da’as, Al-Daar daily Editorin-Chief Abdulhusain Al-Sultan, KJA director

Adnan Al-Rashid, Al-Rai daily’s Deputy Editorin-Chief, Majid Al-Ali, and Faisal Al-Qana’ie; KJA secretary general and Al-Jarida daily’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

Earlier, the Speaker of Jordan’s Lower House, which is formally known as the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis Al-Nuwaab), yesterday praised the solid and distinguished ties maintained between Jordan and Kuwait in a wide range of areas, adding that the two countries also work closely on a number of regional issues.

The Speaker, Faisal Al-Fayez, also told a delegation of Kuwaiti journalists currently visiting his country that Jordan has introduced modern legislation to attract foreign investors, noting that the current value of Kuwaiti investments in the Kingdom stands at nine billion Jordanian Dinars (KD3.4 billion), reflecting the distinguished level of bilateral ties.

Speaking on Jordan’s reform efforts, AlFayez said the Kingdom has embarked on a comprehensive reform drive to increase popular participation in the decision-making process and push forward the pace of development.

On the same day, the Kuwaiti delegates also met with another senior Jordanian government official, Senate President Taher Masri, who expressed pride in JordanianKuwaiti relations and stressed the need to further strengthen them, primarily in the fields of parliament and the media.

During the meeting, which was also attended by the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jordan, Hamad Al-Duaij, Masri explained that Jordan’s bid to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bloc is a very important objective for the country, calling on Jordanian institutions and their Gulf partners to redouble their efforts so as to ensure that Jordan can become a GCC member as quickly as possible.

Masri also revealed that the royal committee specially established to revise the country’s constitution in the wake of regional protests earlier this year has completed its work and will present its recommendations to His Majesty King Abdullah II in a few days.

The Senate leader also briefed the Kuwaiti delegation on the democratic progress made

by Jordan, as well as its political reform process. — Petra News Agency

y

A

4

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

LOCAL

in my view

Local Spotlight

Food of mass infection

Are expats to be blamed for our country’s traffic problems?

By Lisa Conrad

By Muna Al-Fuzai

lisa@kuwaittimes.net muna@kuwaittimes.net arious reports and stories have been popping up recently regarding old, out of date food being sold in stores and restaurants.

Whilst we had been hearing such claims constantly, I hadn’t actually seen anyone I know falling sick. Until now.

Suddenly, friends and colleagues are complaining of food poisoning and the awful, continuous feeling of nausea that comes along with it. They’re falling like dominos and, dreading the thought of getting food poisoning myself, I’ve now started avoiding anywhere my newly nauseated friends visited recently.

Whilst some have managed to knock out their nausea with the usual methods of consuming plain foods such as plain bread, boiled potatoes and laban, others haven’t been as lucky. As one suffered a rising temperature, she was admitted to hospital with Gastroenteritis.

Before I came to Kuwait, I heard about the strict health and safety regulations, with offenders having their doors sealed with red wax to not only halt their operation, but as a clear message to the public. Raids have taken place, tons of food has been confiscated, and some offenders have even faced jail time. But as complaints of food poisoning seem to be on the rise, it appears that the problem hasn’t been eradicated.

For youngsters, the elderly and pregnant women, food poisoning is especially dangerous.

The blatant disregard for the health of others that such food sellers are showing is extremely worrying, and citizens and expatriates alike have been encouraged to report instances of expired food being sold.

Eating at restaurants here is a great way to enjoy free time with friends, but there are easy ways to double check the cleanliness of your restaurant of choice. The first, and easiest, way is to check out the bathrooms. If they are even slightly unclean, leave. If they don’t look after areas in plain sight of customers, how clean is the out-of-sight kitchen going to be?

Second, how’s your waiter/waitress looking?

Clean nails? Clean uniform? Don’t assume that luxury equates to cleanliness either: once while dining at a popular London eatery, I saw my waiter licking stray sauce off of his fingers in between serving customers. Such an efficient, yet uninventive, method of spreading bacteria.

Finally, the food itself should be an indicator of freshness and quality. Whilst some are difficult to test when masked in sauces, the smell will usually be a giveaway, as will the texture.

Make sure dishes are served piping hot, especially meats. I went to a popular fast food chain a few days ago, and when I complained of my food being cold, was told that they would make some fresh ‘especially for me’. Especially for me?

Shouldn’t ALL food be fresh, all of the time?

V

uwait’s traffic situation is problematic, but who is responsible for it? In a recent newspaper interview, one local official blamed expatriates for the problems, claiming that they obtain driving licenses through deception. Now, where did he get that piece of information from and how true is it?

First of all, if this is true, then the Ministry of Interior (to which the official in question is affiliated to) must launch an investigation and arrest those involved in issuing driving licenses to unqualified drivers who fail to meet the ministry’s safety criteria for licenses.

Secondly, if expatriates are the ones creating the mess, then what role do the traffic department and traffic engineers play? Aren’t they in charge of planning Kuwait’s road system? Does that mean all Kuwaitis are guiltless? It is easy to blame the expatriates here for all our mistakes, even for offenses that directly involve our own country!

I think such allegations are baseless and unjust. This is our, Kuwaitis’, country. However, instead of admitting our share of the blame for corrupt practices, some Kuwaitis find it easier to attack others, especially non-Kuwaitis, for every fault. I see no harm in allowing anyone to obtain a driving license if he or she meets with the required criteria.

K kuwait digest

A new step to a new life

By May Al-Sharaa have just finished high school and embarked on a new step in my life. I have started working as a journalist. I instantly loved the atmosphere and my colleagues. And I loved the fact that I don’t have homework in the summer. What I discovered is that everyone has a turning point in their life. When entering a new field you don’t know what to expect and what will be different. Everything happens so fast. The questions you need to ask are: which university do you want to enroll at or what kind of job do you want to do?

However, a turning point does not necessarily come once in a person’s life. I think I have already had more than one changing points. But in the process I discovered that successfully negotiating this moment depends on the person’s thoughts, knowledge and their way of handling their problems in life. Many people fail to achieve their dreams even if they are talented or goal-driven. Sometimes they don’t get that chance so they spend their life looking for a small thread to hold onto and follow their dream.

Dreams are something everyone can relate to. Some people want to be famous, others want to be great ath-

I

letes, a third group; want to land their dream job. The most important thing is for everyone to know what they want from the start. Knowing one’s dreams and believing in them is the key. Because following someone else’s dreams leads to wasting one’s time. For me this summer job has been a learning experience. I found out what I want to do, which is to follow my dream and do the job I enjoy - writing. Enjoying your life and savoring every second of it is very easy when you are doing what you want. You will feel that you can do anything wherever you are whatever you want and through that you will reach your dreams. After all that you will really feel the greatness of it, use it right and complete your life’s goals with positive thinking and actions.

There are stories around the world of people achieving their goals and reaching their dreams. Every one of us can be one of these people. Let your mind go and think about the many things that you can do in your life. Everything is possible when you don’t let go of your dreams. Deal with problems, stumble, then get up and run again. I followed these steps and I chose what I wanted. I got what I dreamed of and I’m happy about it.

kuwait digest

Govt should enforce all regulations

By Waleed Al-Ghanim he Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs suspended a number of Imams in connection with violating the ‘Mosques Charter.’ I understand that the ministry took action that it perceived was right. They enforced a set of regulations to protect places of worship. What I do not understand, however, is the fact that stringent violations have not been fully enforced. Also, more serious violations other than those committed against the Mosques Charter are allowed to take place.

For example, the Kuwait University has a number of profes-

T

sors who spread atheistic ideology among students. If a charter is released against these practices, it could be regarded as an attempt to curtail freedom of opinion.

Corrupt merchants have been flooding our markets with spoiled food for years, and no one has any idea who they are or what kind of punitive measures were taken against them. A law prevents them from exposing identities.

Rumors have been going on for a long time now about lawmakers taking bribes, while neither the Cabinet or the Parliament has enforced financial disclosure laws that removes all ambiguities.

Meanwhile, a law that regulates the state’s real estate market is yet to be implemented properly, allowing corrupt contractors to continue taking advantage of violations. All that happens right under the noses of state officials. An Imam is suspended for criticizing a ruler who oppresses his own people!

Countless number of laws have been passed in Kuwait previously.

Similar to how they are, keen on enforcing the Mosques Charter which is not a law or decree, only a charter. I hope that the government will properly enforce all regulations that have been passed since 1950. — Al-Qabas

If expatriates are the ones creating the mess, then what role do the traffic department and traffic engineers play? Aren’t they in charge of planning Kuwait’s road system? Does that mean all Kuwaitis are guiltless?

It is easy to blame the expatriates here for all our mistakes, even for offenses that directly involves our own country!

Honestly, the country’s terrible traffic planning should be discussed more openly. For example, for years people waited for the Fifth Ring Road to be repaired and upgraded. Now look at it, it is like a game of snakes and ladders.

Motorists have been suffering because of the Sheraton roundabout. Take a look at it - right up till now we have only been witnessing the roundabout’s expansion. It’s probably time now for the authorities to consider turning it into a tunnel!

I was angry to read the official’s falsehoods. Blaming others will not help resolve the situation. We Kuwaitis should serve as role models to every expatriate. Instead of doing so, we like to heap insults on them and accuse them of being cheats simply because they were able to obtain driving licenses. Kuwait has a dry and extremely hot climate and it is impossible to be mobile in this country without a car. So, yes, everyone wants to buy a car of their own. Also, most working people require a car. If the procedures involved in issuing driving licenses are shameful, it doesn’t mean that everyone is a cheat! Kuwait needs a change. I don’t mean in terms of adjustment but a complete change in road planning. We Kuwaitis need to respect the traffic laws. When we are ‘perfect’ we can consider ourselves worthy enough to blame those who threaten our traffic system and punish those who flout the norms.

Muna Al-Fuzai is currently on holiday. This column was published last year.

kuwait digest

kuwait digest

The only solution

The Kuwait University dilemma

By Hamad Al-Enizy

By Terki Al-Azmi

ue to the dilemma between Kuwait University’s overcapacity problem and the increasing number of enrollment applications submitted by high school graduates, minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi has proposed the establishment within six months of a second state university operating in tandem with KU, which would work during evening hours.

Whilst the proposal seems okay, I’m afraid the reality on the ground makes the six month deadline for its achievement seems rather farfetched (the new university project in Shaddadiya comes to mind).

In my opinion, the best solution that the government can take to tack le this problem is to open a branch of a prestigious American or British university in Kuwait, which could adopt similar hours for classes to those followed by American universities, with not only morning and afternoon classes, but evening classes from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, in addition to weekend classes from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. That being said, there

D

are many unanswered questions regarding the problem, such as the main reason behind it and what role is played by private universities in helping tackle the new students’ enrollment crisis. Furthermore, are KU’s graduates leaving the university with qualifications suited to the demands of the local labor market?

Al-Mulaifi’s ‘new university in six months’ proposal give the impression that it was conceived of as a hasty reaction to contain the fury of lawmakers who demanded measures to ensure that all Kuwaiti high school graduates receive state-sponsored higher education. The failure in tackling the students’ enrollment problem is a testament to the fact that the state’s educational executives don’t have the ability to assess the current situation properly, and achieve a connection between academic output and the demands of the local market. Unless and until this is achieved, establishing a second or even a third university won’t help solve the problem. — Al-Rai

he controversy over segregation practiced in the Kuwait University is as old as the university itself. It pertains to a struggle between two rival groups; one which views the situation logically, while the other allows religious fervor to cloud their perceptions, and insist on an unfair regulation that was passed in 1996. It has had an impact on thousands of students.

Regardless of whether I support or object to co-education, I believe that students should have the right to choose the method of education. Of course, this is not an available option due to the ban that is religiously followed at Kuwait’s only public university.

As the KU suffers from a serious overcapacity problem which is likely to continue for many years to come. This is especially because of the snail-paced construction of Shaddadiya university project. Many have demanded that the ban on co-education be lifted at least temporarily to help all high school graduates. In my opinion, these demands are legitimate because of the negative effects, such as the necessity of holding more classes and increases the efforts made by teaching staff members.

Meanwhile, students who are not lucky enough to enroll into the KU, will not be lucky enough to apply for statesponsored scholarship programs that are already limited.

Therefore, I believe that the best solution is to lift the ban placed on co-education. Students should be asked if they seek higher education at mixed or segregated classes. For example, separate faculties for female students can be built, and leave the choice to students themselves.

Regarding Islamist lawmakers who have pledged to intensify protests should the current ban be lifted, I urge them to stop thinking selfishly for a moment, think about the fate of thousands of students who fail to find a university seat, and realize that this is the only solution until new public universities are set up. — Al-Jarida

T

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

LOCAL

No concrete plan for overseas Filipinos in Aquino’s speech Filipinos in Kuwait, Mideast unimpressed

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Members of the Filipino community in Kuwait expressed slight disappointment with the recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by their country’s leader on Monday. For the second time, after a year in office, President Benigno Aquino III addressed the nation on July 25.

This is to assure them that what he had promised during his campaign in 2010 will be delivered-at least not now, but during the remaining five years in office. He said that his administration remained focused on the goal of wiping out corruption and to continue leading the Filipinos to the ‘straight and righteous path.’ But Migrante Middle East, a Filipino migrants rights group advancing Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rights and welfare, and providing protection to abuse and distress Filipinos said, the President who delivered his ceremonial function [SONA] was an act comparable to ‘picking good apple.’

John Leonard Monterona, a Saudi-based Migrante-Middle East Regional Coordinator said, “ The President was ‘picking good apples’ by delivering his SONA rather than outlining, in concrete terms, its plans and programs for the Filipino people, various marginalized sectors including OFWs and their dependents.” Monterona’s comments

were relayed to the Kuwait Times from his office in Riyadh. He noted that he had watched the live telecast of Aquino’s SONA, hoping that he could hear Aquino’s work programs and plans for OFWs and their dependents. Just like last year, Aquino thanked OFWs who contributed toward helping keep the country’s economy afloat.

“On plans and programs to uplift their conditions, there was no mention about it,” Monterona added. Monterona also questioned the 500,000 jobs available for Filipinos posted in Philjobsnet as those that may not exist in reality. “They are just based on a databank of recruitment agencies on speculative jobs opening as advertised by foreign employers,” Monterona argued.

Monterona also said the 1 million jobs created last year are not purely local jobs, but many are overseas ones. “Aquino failed to outline concrete terms taken tocreate or generate local jobs. Of course, we are expecting decent jobs to be created not just the ones overseas which are demeaning and dangerous because OFWs working abroad are not protected from abuses, maltreatment and labor malpractices,” Monterona added.

According to statistics, there are about 4.5 million unemployed Filipinos. Many opt for greener pastures abroad. Some Filipinos in Kuwait shared the same thoughts on

John Leonard Monterona Aquino’s speech. “I do not see anything for us, for the Overseas Filipino Workers. What is the plan, what is the concrete plan to uplift our conditions as OFWs?,” aked Madeline, a Filipino office worker, who has at least two children that are students at college/university back in the Philippines.

“We need a president that can say - we plan to bring you back home because there are jobs created for you. Tell us that our new graduates have jobs to after completing

President Benigno Aquino III years of schooling,” she said. Madeline also commented on too much politicking and blaming the previous administration.

“Enough of slamming Arroyo, we need results. Let the Department of Justice tackle corruption cases pressed against the Arroyos; for God’s sake Arroyo stepped down and people knew that she had no power unlike him. So, stop dwelling on the past. Wake up, we are not in the campaign period at all, we need to work and show

Bneid Al-Gar clean-up sees 15 abandoned vehicles towed away

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Municipality’s cleaning department yesterday launched a major clean-up in the Bneid Al-Gar area, removing 15 abandoned vehicles and eight lorryloads of dumped construction materials, as well as six truckloads of discarded furniture in the three-hour operation.

Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, the manager of the municipality’s Capital area cleaning department, revealed that during the operation six citations were issued to householders and business owners in the area of misuse of state property, whilst seven others were issued for public littering offences.

Al-Yahya called on the public to comply with municipality regulations and not abandon vehicles in public areas or on main streets or block public thoroughfares with them.

Rashid Al-Hashan the director of the municipality’s Public Relations department, who helped supervise the operation, said that the municipality does its utmost to inform both citizens and expatriates of their civic rights and duties’ in return, he said, it would appreciate active participation from members of the public in complying with the relevant laws and informing the municipality of any violations they discover in their areas as partners to the municipality.

Bahraini Deputy PM applauds ties with Kuwait MANAMA: Bahraini Deputy Premier Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa yesterday hailed ties with Kuwait as role model for distinguished bilateral relations.

“The recent visit of His Highness Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah had a great impact on Bahraini people and was an important addition to the distinct relations between both countries,” Sheikh Khalid said during his reception of the Kuwaiti Ambassador here Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah earlier yesterday. For his part, Sheikh Azzam said the two countries are linked to each other by the bond of one destiny.

The meeting has tackled bolstering bilateral relations and issues of common concern, as well as the recent developments in the region. — KUNA

Co-op branches in state schools?

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of Education (MoE) is working with the country’s Union of Cooperative Consumer Societies (UCCS) in order to open small Coop outlets at state schools to replace the existing school canteens, revealed the education minister on Monday. “The project aims to provide students with their needs for healthy food through grocery and cafeteria services,” explained education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the MOE’s undersecretaries’ council.

The minister also indicated that the meeting discussed the possibility of providing iPad devices to all Kuwaiti high school students and public sector teaching staff rather than laptops as was originally proposed as part of the ministry’s e-education plans.

The discussion focused on comparing the specific benefits of each device, although a final decision on the subject was put on hold pending the return of the ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Planning from his vacation. — Al-Qabas

good results,” she added.

Another Filipino community leader who spoke with the Kuwait Times requesting anonymity said, Aquino’s speech was just a repeat of the siren issue mentioned in his first SONA. “I am quite tired of the wangwang issue. He mentioned that several times last year and he repeated it again, it is too shallow to dwell upon. It is not anymore tasteful, since it was a repeat of last year,” he said. However, Dr Chie Umandap, another community leader, lavished praises on Aquino’s SONA, “I think he said the right thing, these have been substantiated by facts. He was just reporting facts, the reality on the ground. In fact, I was impressed and deeply touched by the manner in which he puts an end to his speech,” he said.

Aquino’s concluding remarks were, “Let us stop pulling our fellow men down. Let us put an end to our mentality. Let us make the effort to recognize the good that is being done. If you see something right, do not think twice-praise it. If you see a policeman directing traffic, coatless during a heavy downpour-go to him and say, ‘Thank you.’ If you fall sick, and see your nurse caring for you, when she could easily be treating foreigners for a higher salary-say ‘Thank you.’ Before you leave school for home, approach your teacher who chooses to invest in your future - say ‘Thank you.”

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

6

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

LOCAL

MSAL official arrested for human trafficking Doctors save kid’s life KUWAIT: A labor department official has been remanded in custody pending the results of an ongoing investigation into a suspected forgery case connected to human trafficking activities. According to the police report, the official, who works in a Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) department, was involved in knowingly falsifying recruitment transactions for a local firm.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior Undersecretary Lt Gen Ghazi Al-Omar felicitated vehicle inspector Mohammad Al-Rashid for making outstanding efforts. Maj Gen Mustafa Al-Zaabi, Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs and Brig Gen Abdullah Al-Sanafi, Acting Assistant Director for Technical Affairs attended the event.

‘Smart’ power system achieved using the latest technology KUWAIT: Minister of Electricity and Water Salem Al-Othayna said on Monday that the improvements in Kuwait’s power network are being carried out using the latest equipment and sophisticated power conservation techniques.

Al-Othayna, who is also the Acting Minister of Information, said that, as well as conserving power, the ‘smart’ system used by the MEW ensures that the power supply is directed towards those areas where it is most needed.

In a statement released after he inaugurated Salwa’s second main power plant, which uses the ‘smart’ system, the minister said that the new system “contributes to reducing consumption levels by 15 to 20 percent through conserving the previously wasted power.”

Kuwait has taken the regional lead in introducing the ‘smart’ system, which was first suggested by an MEW expert committee in 2008, said Al-Othayna, lauding the efforts of the five Kuwaiti engineers, all female, who first launched the project and of the additional eight who also played a part in ensuring the successful introduction of the cutting edge system.

The five-year contract for the KD3.6 million system, signed in 2009, includes the setting up, operation and maintenance of Kuwait’s 50 power plants, and will shortly be extended to the secondary power stations across the country.

Another MEW official, Saleh AlMusallam, the Assistant Undersecretary

of Transportation Networks, said that the new system is vitally important to Kuwait’s power network, and will provide an additional 1,000 megawatts to each of the country’s secondary power stations.

Al-Musallam explained that the introduction of the ‘smart’ system was first put forward by Kuwaiti experts in 2008, as well as being established by Kuwaitis, adding that it is the first of its kind in the Arab Gulf region.

The system is also distinctive in enabling the ministry to meet customers’ demands and increase the capacity of electricity substations, thus helping the MEW to meet its commitments to generating sufficient levels of electricity without constructing new power plants, particularly in those areas without the necessary infrastructure or space to do so.

The head of the Kuwaiti female engineers who supervised the introduction of the new ‘smart’ system, Afnan AlKhalifi, said that the project to introduce the system was a wholly Kuwaiti initiative, first visualized in 2008 by Kuwaiti female engineers and brought to fruition this year through their and others’ efforts.

Whilst the introduction of the new system is a relatively small one in terms of its material value, it is a major one in terms of its ability to reduce power consumption levels, said Al-Khalifi, expressing gratitude for all the support given to the project team’s members in order to realize this vital enterprise. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Manal Al-Mattar, Haitham Al Hajji and Khalid Jaafar at the press conference.

NBK to launch Ramadan TV ad campaign KUWAIT: Celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), in another first-of-its-kind initiative, will launch a creative Ramadan TV commercial campaign comprised of a series of musical tableaux. The commercials will highlight the festive traditions and spirit of Ramadan and will be aired and broadcasted daily via all audio and visual media in Kuwait.

Speaking at a press conference, Manal Al-Mattar, Executive Manager of Public Relations and Advertising at NBK said, “This unprecedented Ramadan TV commercial campaign was developed on the initiative

Snapshot from the TV campaign.

and instructions of NBK’s management calling for the creation of an artistic work that reflects the spirit and traditions of the holy month of Ramadan.”

“The Ramadan TV commercial campaign, a piece of art that is rich in connotations and invokes remarkably vivid community-related associations, will be presented as a commemorative gift for the people of Kuwait throughout the holy month of Ramadan. It will be a part of NBK’s annual Ramadan social program that includes a host of activities and functions that highlight the spirit of the month,” AlMattar added.

Fatal accident A construction worker died at a building site in Wafra after being ran over by a concrete mixer truck. Although emergency services personnel were quickly at the location, the Asian worker was pronounced dead at the scene due to the multiple injuries he sustained. The driver of the truck was detained for questioning and the body was removed for autopsy.

Maid abuse A Sulaibiya resident has been summoned for questioning after one of his sons reportedly threw scalding hot water over one of the family’s maids, leaving her with first degree burns. The traumatized victim, a 28-year-old Sri Lankan woman, managed to escape the abusive family’s home shortly after the brutal attack and fled to her country’s embassy, with staff there immediately taking her to Mubarak Hospital where staff, noting the extent of her burns, transferred her to the specialist Babtain Burns Unit. After the distressed victim told police what had taken place, an investigation was opened into the vicious attack.

Docs save kid’s life Doctors at Jahra Hospital were able to resuscitate a three-year-old girl whose heart stopped beating after she sustained a massive electric shock while playing at her family’s home in Waha. The toddler’s distraught father rushed her to the hospital immediate-

ly after the incident took place, with medical staff using defibrillation equipment to restart the girl’s heart. She was then admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to monitor her recovery.

Monkey business Police rushed to a Kuwaiti family’s home in Firdous after the householders called emergency services hotline to report that a monkey had burst in and was wreaking havoc. The police, accompanied by animal specialists, discovered the creature, a chimpanzee, running around the house in a frenzy, only capturing it after a three-hour chase. The chimpanzee, which is believed to have escaped from the home of an irresponsible owner, was taken to Kuwait Zoo. Experts recommend that chimps and other primates should never be kept as pets.

Brothel bother Police arrested three Kuwaiti men who reportedly stormed into a brothel after receiving a call from one of the prostitutes there asking for their assistance and beat up three of the ‘customers,’ as well as stealing KD750 in cash before fleeing. The brothel owner, also Kuwaiti, reportedly approached officers at Nugra police station to tell them about the incident, admitting that he owned and ran the illegal establishment. He informed them that one of the prostitutes he had recruited had arrived for ‘work’ only to find out that three customers, rather than the one she was

expecting, were waiting to employ her services. Irate at what she felt were excessive management expectations of her, the woman, an Iraqi, allegedly took revenge by quickly calling three male friends, all Kuwaiti, to ‘teach them a lesson.’ Shortly afterwards, the three well built men arrived and assaulted the three customers before fleeing with the cash accompanied by the prostitute. Police were able to quickly apprehend the three men and the prostitute, whose accounts of the incident tallied with that of the brothel owner. They are being held pending the results of the investigation. There has been no word to date on what punishment awaits the brothel owner or the other prostitutes.

Child molested A Kuwaiti man filed a complaint at Abdullah Al-Salem police station, telling officers there that his four-year-old son had been sexually molested by a male stranger whilst he was using the toilet in a local gym. A hunt is underway for the suspect.

Landmine found Bomb squad officers safely detonated a landmine that was found in an open area adjacent to Entertainment City. After a passerby reported spotting the device, police and bomb squad officers were quickly at the scene, with the landmine being positively identified as having been left after the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and occupation.

—Al-Qabas, Al-Rai, Al-Anbaa, Al-Watan

Kuwaiti embassy donates for Japanese quake victims TOKYO: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi donated $6,400 to Japanese Red Cross Society for the sake of helping Japanese victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the embassy said yesterday.

Al-Otaibi decided to support the projects of Japanese Red Cross Society with a check of $6,400, a part of the proceeds from a successful charity bazaar which was organized by the Kuwaiti embassy on May 14 in Tokyo, according to the embassy.

During their meeting, Tadateru Konoe, President of Japanese Red Cross Society, who also doubles President of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, promised the ambassador that Japanese Red Cross Society, a member of the Distribution Committee, which is formed around the local governments of the disaster-affected prefectures, will make a good use of the embassy’s donation.

Konoe also expressed his gratitude to Al-Otaibi and the Kuwaiti government for the donation of 5 million barrels of crude oil, which is equivalent to some $550 million.

“We are negotiating with the local governments and the pri-

vate companies to distribute the huge amount of the Kuwaiti generous donation direc tly, effectively, and equally among the affected population,” Konoe

between the Japanese government and related institutions.

The magnitude -9.0 ear thquake and tsunami killed nearly 21,000 people in the north-

TOKYO: Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi and Japanese Red Cross Society President Tadateru Konoe. told the ambassador.

The use of 5 million crude oils and petroleum products, the donation from Kuwait as the directives of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, has been consulted

eastern area.

For his part, Al-Otaibi told Konoe, “I trust Japanese Red Cross Society, the institution itself and its activities.” There is some controversy over the role of Japanese Red Cross Society for

delaying the aid distributions.

“The Kuwaiti government and its people deeply consider the needs of the people, who still have suffered from the scale of the March 11. And we just hope that our donations will reach the people in need as soon as possible by any means,” he added.

Al-Otaibi visited Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the most affected areas by the March 11, to bring the relief goods in April and saw the real life and situation.

With this experience, he expressed his greatest sympathy to the Japanese people in the affected areas, and especially the people in Fukushima Prefecture, in which has been affected by the nuclear problems. “I sincerely hope that the small donation from the embassy will help the projects of Japanese Red Cross Society,” he said.

Since the March 11, Japanese Red Cross Society has been sending medical teams, psychosocial support teams to the afflicted areas, as well as undertaking projects to improve the living conditions in the temporary homes, providing special cares for the elderly people and other vulnerable groups. —KUNA

Kuwaiti divers remove discarded coral reef ropes KUWAIT: A large quantity of rope discarded by fishermen was removed from coral reefs in the waters around Kubbar Island in a recent operation by members of the Kuwait Dive Team.

Operations supervisor Faisal Al-Harban, who oversaw the removal of the discarded objects, which can damage the delicate coral and endanger marine life, explained that the divers from the Environmental Voluntar y Foundation’s team had removed 20 meters of rope, which was tangled around the coral reef in the southeastern part of the area.

He added that airbags weighing over one ton in total were employed in raising the discarded items, with divers participating in the two-hour operation taking great care not to damage the delicate reefs.

“Some fishermen and sailors dispose of their rubbish into the sea, which has a negative impact on marine biodiversity, as well as shipping activities in Kuwaiti waters,” said Al-Harban, adding that the Kuwait Dive Team has been putting tremendous effort into helping protect the country’s marine environment.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Diving Team recently organized a training workshop on conducting observation missions to monitor coral reefs, an initiative undertaken by the University of Queensland, Australia. It was held in association with the Environmental Voluntary Foundation (EVF) and the Kuwait

Scientific Center.

Dary Al-Houwail, an official who held the workshop emphasized participants were made aware of the importance and benefits of the program.

Monitoring the marine environment, sifting through large quantities of information about coral reefs available online, working on the program (CoralWatch) to

monitor coral reefs, comparing between and determining several species of coral reefs to conduct training were some of the topics discussed. He also mentioned that at least 1,000 participants shared their findings with over 600 websites all over the world.

The university organizes a universal voluntary program with

the best-known diving schools from around the world under PROJECT AWARE. In the end, certificates were distributed to participants. AlHouwail emphasized that four other workshops will be held this year. He thanked the administration of the Kuwait Scientific Center for extending support to the initiative.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Strauss-Kahn accuser: Schemer or survivor?

Hezbollah on edge in face of Syria revolt Page 8

Page 10

Storm Nock-Ten batters Philippines MANILA: Ten people died and five fishermen were missing in the central Philippines as storm Nock-Ten battered the main island of Luzon, suspending schools and grounding domestic flights and ferries, local officials said yesterday.

The weather bureau raised storm alert levels in nearly 30 provinces in northern Philippines as Nock-Ten gained strength and speed, bringing heavy rains, and was spotted about 50 km northeast of Daet, Camarines Norte on Luzon. Many areas in the coconut-growing Albay and Camarines Sur provinces in the central Bicol region were inundated, with some areas submerged in chest-deep flood waters, said Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province in the central Philippines.

No damage to rice fields has been reported but the storm is expected to pass through a major rice production province today. Packing centre winds of 75 kph and gustiness of up to 90 kph, Nock-Ten is moving west-northwest at 15 kph and is expected to make landfall today, said Graciano Yumul of the weather bureau, warning of floods and landslides. Three people were buried in landslides as the volume of rainfall the local weather bureau had collected in the last 24 hours became more than the total amount of rain for the month of July, Salceda added.

Benito Ramos, executive director of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said five fishermen were reported missing and they were still assessing damages on crop and public infrastructure. “We need rain to fill up our dams and irrigate our farms, but too much rainfall could damage our ricelands in northern Luzon,” he added. At least 22 domestic flights were cancelled due to heavy rain and near zero visibility in central and northern Philippines. Ferry services were also halted, stranding hundreds of people. — Reuters

10 dead, 5 fishermen missing

ALBAY: Rescuers pull an inflatable boat as they evacuate residents in Legazpi City, albay province, south of Manila yesterday as heavy rains brought about by tropical storm Nock-Ten hit the province. — AFP

y

A

8

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

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

Iraqi jihadists back anti-regime protests in Syria BAGHDAD: Iraqi jihadists have strongly backed protests against President Bashar Al-Assad even though his regime purportedly aided the militants by allowing arms and fighters to cross into Iraq. One Internet posting on jihadist website Honein, a forum for AlQaeda supporters, equated Assad’s Alawite regime to Iran’s former Safavid dynasty, in an effort to show that both are Shiite heresies. “The Syrian Safavid regime has destroyed the country, tortured and murdered Muslims and showed no mercy to sheikhs (religious leaders), women or children,” said a posting signed Ibn Ard Al Nahwi (Son of the land of courage).

The jihadists regularly invoke Iran’s

Safavid past, referring to the Shiite dynasty that ruled between the 16th and 18th centuries in Persia, and conquered part of Iraq. Syria is predominantly Sunni Muslim, but ruled by Assad’s Alawite minority. Syria “is a corrupt regime, which fought the believers and the religious, and allowed Iranians to enter Syria, Lebanon and Iraq,” the writer added. In the early 1980s Hafez Assad, father of the current president, launched a brutal attack against the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, killing some 20,000 people in a 1982 massacre in the Sunni city of Hama.

Honein also carries especially gruesome video reports on Syria, “showing

the crimes of Bashar,” and updating the site every day with new information.

Another contributor, identifying himself as Kataz, predicted that “Bashar and his supporters will end up in the dustbin of history.” “Go to hell, you and your supporters, Bashar,” said a posting signed Mohammad Al Fatah.

Washington and Baghdad have accused Syria in the past of failing to control its 605-kilometre border with Iraq, harboring “terrorists,” and letting Sunni insurgents and arms transit through Syria for attacks inside Iraq.

Ehsan Al-Shammari, a professor of political science at Baghdad University said that “Iraqi Sunni jihadists are responding in a purely religious man-

ner. “Syrian Islamists in the past have funded jihadists in Iraq, and now the latter believe it is time to pay back (the favor,)” he said. “Some Iraqi insurgents cross the border to supply weapons to groups in Syria. Those who are armed (inside the protest movement) belong to the Islamist movement,” he said. The only Iraqi fundamentalist to defend the Syrian regime has been Sheikh Mahdi Ahmed Al-Sumaidi, who until 2006 was the head of Baghdad’s Ibn Tamiya mosque, the most popular prayer centre in the capital. The jihadist forum had harsh words for the cleric, accusing him of publishing a fatwa, or religious decree, on his own website last March in support of

Assad’s regime.

The cleric had apparently said it was “haram,” or religiously forbidden, for Iraqi and Syrian Muslims to support or take part in the demonstrations against Assad’s regime. “The Iraqi people, especially Sunnis, are reminded that this country has helped the mujahedeen in Iraq,” he had said. But on the jihadist forum, contributors said it was time for the cleric to keep his opinions to himself. “I say to all institutions and Islamic groups that are supported by the Syrian regime that the best thing they can do for the revolution is to keep quiet and refrain from talking,” wrote Abu Obeidi Al-Azzawi, a contributor to Honein.—AFP

Horn of Africa food aid caravan too late, again Aid agencies failing for decades; Media ignores politics EL ADOW: A besuited UN official wearing well-buffed shoes crouches in the orange dust near a cluster of huts in northern Kenyan, and, as his tie wafts in the breeze, raises an iPad and carefully films the rotting carcass of a cow. Since drought gripped the Horn of Africa, and especially since famine was declared in parts of Somalia, the international aid industry has swept in and out of refugee camps and remote hamlets in branded planes and snaking lines of white 4X4s.

This humanitarian, diplomatic and media circus is necessary every time people go hungry in Africa, analysts say, because governments-both African and foreign-rarely respond early enough to looming catastrophes. Combine that with an often simplistic explanation of the causes of famine, and a growing band of aid critics say parts of Africa are doomed to a never-ending cycle of ignored early warnings, media appeals and emergency UN feeding-rather than a transition to lasting self-sufficiency.

“Although humanitarian agencies are gearing themselves up to mount a response, it is far too late to address anything but the worst symptoms,” Simon Levine, an analyst at the Overseas Development Institute think-tank, wrote on its website. “Measures that could have kept animals alive-and providing milk, and income to buy food-would have been much cheaper than feeding malnourished children, but the time for those passed with very little investment,” Levine said.

The drought gripping the region straddling Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is the worst for 60 years, some aid groups say, and is affecting more than 12 million people. In the worst-hit area in Somalia, 3.7 million people are at risk of starvation. “It seems once again that slow onset disasters don’t get attention until they become critical,” said a senior humanitarian adviser at a UN agency in the region “One can understand this with rapid onset disasters as they come out of the blue, but drought ... we’ve seen it before and we will again,” said the official, who declined to be named.

The man filming the dead cow with an iPad was just one in a series of incongruous episodes when the director of the UN food agency, Josette Sheeran, flew for a day-trip to a small village and the world’s biggest refugee camp in Dadaab to see how her organization is delivering emergency food.

Sheeran posed awkwardly next to the dead carcasses, an uneasy almost-smile on her lips as her staff snapped away with cameras and phones, watched by bemused locals.

Officials then had stilted conversations with refugees used to answering questions from Western aid workers who come

get air time, or chance upon the “haunted” mother with the most dead children. For many analysts, however, the story being told in the Horn of Africa by the humanitarian and media caravan is simplistic and misleading. There is clearly a drought, they say, but the reason tens of thousands of people are leaving their homes in

DOOLOW: Somali women fleeing drought arrive for food distribution in the Doolow region, southern Somalia, close to the border with Ethiopia. —AFP with sometimes sympathetic nods, always promising that they can make things better. “While international NGOs can be very active around humanitarian response many of them don’t have a long-term development strategy for these areas,” Andrew Catley, an expert on the Horn of Africa at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, told Reuters.

THORNY POLITICS Reporters accompanied Sheeran, knowing they might need the iconic, loathed-byAfricans footage of the most emaciated babies they could find to

Bibi under fire JERUSALEM: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was yesterday to unveil a series of urgent reforms to address a growing housing crisis which has sparked mass nationwide protests and forced him to cancel a trip to Poland. Over the last 12 days, tens of thousands of Israelis have flocked to camp out on the streets in a series of massive tent protests across the country, which on Sunday reached the gates of the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem. At the same time, doctors across the country stepped up a long-running strike over pay and conditions, with the Israel Medical Association chief embarking on a hunger strike to demand action from the prime minister, who is also responsible for the health portfolio.

As the protests swelled across the country, with new tent cities springing up the south, Netanyahu was forced to cancel a one-day trip to Poland in a bid to address the issue, which has dominated the headlines and sparked furious debates in parliament over the last week. With Netanyahu poised to unveil a new plan to ease the housing crisis, a survey in the Haaretz newspaper showed 87 percent of Israelis firmly backed the tent protests, while more than 54 percent said they were unhappy with the way the premier had handled the issue.

On Monday evening, Netanyahu’s office said he had delayed his trip to Warsaw in a bid to “promote a law dealing with housing market reforms” aimed at helping some of the hardest-hit groups-students, young couples and discharged soldiers. —AFP

search of food is also because a festering insurgency in Somaliaalong with the forced recruitment of youths-is making things worse.

Much of southern and central Somalia is controlled by al Shabaab Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda who imposed a ban on food aid in 2010. They have since lifted the ban but maintained the embargo on the WFP, calling it a “spy agency.” “This is not political,” Sheeran briefed frontline aid workers in northern Kenya, saying that responding to the crisis was all that mattered now. “It’s about saving lives.” Al Shabaab accused the United Nations last

week of exaggerating the severity of the drought and said it would not allow agencies with “hidden agendas” to return.

Part of the problem, analysts say, is that much of the funding for WFP, and some other aid agencies, comes from the United States, opening them to charges of skewed objectives. “What they are really interested in is security in Somalia. Since 9/11 a development for security agenda has come in with big donors like USAID and (Britain’s) DFID,” said a former senior aid worker in the Horn of Africa.

“Humanitarian issues and real development have basically played second fiddle to their security agendas,” he said. The State Department website says that although USAID is independent, it “receives general direction and overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary”. According to WFP’s website, the United States has contributed 45 percent of its government funding since the start of 2007 — or $7.3 billion out of $16.3 billion. Analysts say that, without tackling the political complications that influence the distribution of food aid, and even the use of the word “famine”, droughts will remain difficult both to prevent and to manage.

“Whilst it is tempting to say that the causes of the crisis are natural causes, it’s much more difficult to look at the man-made causes of the crisis such as governance, conflict and economic trends,” Catley said. Several senior aid officials spoken to by Reuters did not want to be named when criticizing the aid system for fear of losing their jobs or being banned entry by African governments, but said the industry desperately needed an overhaul.

“Some of these organizations have been in these regions for 20/25 years and they’re doing the same things today that they were doing 25 years ago,” one said. “If you were in any other sector-and you had such a terrible impact-you’d be out of business.” —Reuters

Washington blasts ‘barbaric, reprehensible’ Syrian army WASHINGTON: The United States has denounced Syria’s army as “barbaric” and “reprehensible” after the latest violence, renewing its charges that President Bashar Al-Assad has lost legitimacy. The State Department highlighted the death of 12-year-old boy Talhat Dalat, who human rights activists said died of his injuries on Saturday after a policeman earlier shot him at close range during an antiregime rally.

“The behavior of Syria’s security forces, including other such barbaric shootings, widescale arrests of young men and boys, brutal torture, and other abuses of basic human rights, is reprehensible,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. “President Assad must understand that he is not indispensable, and we believe he is the cause of Syria’s instability, not the key to its stability,” she said. “The regime should make no mistake that the world is watching, and those responsible will be held accountable for their crimes,” she said, repeating Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks that Assad has “lost legitimacy.”

Syrians have been taking to the streets almost daily since March 15 to demand democratic changes amid a wave of protests across the Arab world.

At least 1,486 civilians have died in Syria, according to human rights groups.

Under pressure, state media said Sunday that Syria’s cabinet has adopted a draft law to operate alongside the ruling Baath Party.

But violence has persisted, with activists saying the army has consolidated its grip on the hotbed city of Homs. US Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier on July 7 visited another hotbed city, Hama, triggering strong condemnation from Syria. Crowds attacked the US and French embassies.

Nuland, speaking earlier at a press briefing, voiced alarm at signals that Syria wanted to restrict Ford’s movements but said that the United States has not received any formal notification from Syria.

“Whether it is in Syria or anywhere else in the world, we reserve the right for our diplomatic personnel at all levels to travel as necessary to do their jobs, to represent US views to a broad cross-section of population and leaders, but also so that we can gather the information that we need to evaluate internal dynamics,” she said.

President Barack Obama appointed Ford through a controversial tactic that bypasses Congress, where lawmakers of the rival Republican Party had said it was wrong to send an ambassador to Syria. —AFP

BEIRUT: Supporters of President Bashar Assad’s regime kiss a picture of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut. —AP

Hezbollah on edge in face of Syria’s revolt BEIRUT: The unprecedented revolt threatening the regime in Syria has placed key ally Hezbollah in a tight spot and prompted the Lebanese militant group to adopt a more measured attitude, analysts say. “Hezbollah’s margin of maneuver is currently very limited because the strategic Iran-SyriaHezbollah axis is threatened by the revolt and this forces the group to act prudently,” said Paris-based Middle East expert Agnes Levallois. The Shiite party, also backed by Iran, is the most powerful militar y and political group in Lebanon and is a key player in the new government formed last month.

But the upheaval in neighboring Syria caught Hezbollah off guard and threatens its position, analysts say.

When the revolt erupted in mid-March, “Hezbollah initially thought the Syrian regime would be able to quickly put down the revolt and that it would not be affected,” Levallois said. “But with the revolt showing no signs of dying down, Hezbollah is realizing that it needs to protect itself by commenting little on the situation in Syria so as not to be at odds with what is happening on the ground and not to alienate itself,” she added.

The party, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Washington, has adopted the Syrian regime’s official line in blaming the unrest on armed extremist gangs and outside agitators. This has prompted anger among protesters in Syria who, in what would have been unthinkable a few months ago, have torn down and burned pic tures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to images posted on YouTube. Nasrallah has also been criticized for acting like a “Syrian television presenter,” prompting his par ty to adopt a more low-key approach.

“The Syrian regime became aware that Nasrallah’s popularity was not serving its interest in this case, but quite the contrary,” said Paul Salem, head of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre.

The deep crisis threatening the regime of Syrian President Bashar AlAssad could also impact on Hezbollah’s

weapons supply through Iran and Syria, analysts believe. Intelligence officials estimate that Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of more than 40,000 shortand medium-range missiles which the party has said could reach deep into Israel.

“There is no question that they are worried, because if the regime (in Syria) collapses, that would affect them strategically speaking, especially if the new regime that takes over is keen on exacting revenge on Iran and Hezbollah,” Salem said. “If there is chaos, a new regime or a continuation of the current regime, which has been weakened, all of these scenarios don’t bode well for Hezbollah,” he added. The party’s image has also been dented given its support for the other revolutions shaking the Arab world, including Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, but not Syria.

“Nasrallah is torn between his support for Assad’s regime and his image as a resistance leader keen on defending the people’s rights,” Levallois said.

The Arabic-language daily An-Nahar, which is close to Lebanon’s opposition, summarized the dilemma facing the party in a editorial at the weekend. “ Tomorrow, when the Syrian regime falls-and it will fall-what will Hezbollah, which supported those who assassinated women, children and the elderly, say?” it asked.

Nadim Shehadeh, a fellow at the London-based Chatham House, said Hezbollah was in a bind given the platform on which it has built support.

“Their power is based on such big words as freedom and liberation and their constituency follows them blindly on this,” he said. “But they supported the Arab spring in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya, everywhere except Syria, and that is contradictory,” Shehadeh said. For now, analysts say, Hezbollah will probably continue to adopt a low-key approach and avoid any confrontation. “ We thought that Damascus would ask Hezbollah to launch an attack against Israel to divert attention,” Levallois said.

“But the Syrian regime understood that it could loose on all fronts if it did so because it is too weak.” —AFP

BENGHAZI: A Libyan relaxes with his son before the evening prayer in the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya. —AP

y

A

9

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

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

Doom and gloom in Tunisia restive Gafsa mining basin GAFSA: For years, the phosphaterich Gafsa region of southwestern Tunisia has been reeling from mass unemployment and repeated strikes.

And there is no indication that the popular uprising that ousted strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January will make any difference.

Home to 400,000 people, this mining basin located near the Algerian border is wallowing in deep poverty, with the jobless rate unofficially estimated at more than 55 percent.

“Here, you work at the mine or you get involved in black market trafficking with Algeria, Thats’ all there is,”

said one resident.

Others point out that the region paved the way for the country’s 2011 revolution with 2008 riots that were harshly put down by the Ben Ali regime. The government-controlled CPG (Company of Gafsa Phosphates), the area’s main employer since the end of the 19th century, is the world’s fifth largest phosphate producer. But today, it employs only 5,000 people, down from 13,000 in the early 1980s and the economic model it imposed on the entire region is now rejected by many. “ The CPG mobilized the entire

workforce, the entire infrastructure of the area. Even farming is impossible because water was monopolized to clean the phosphate,” said Ali Labidi, a construction entrepreneur who was jailed during the Ben Ali years. “We have to find a way out of this economic model but no one seems interested,” he added. “ This region is cursed. It was under (president Habib) Bourguiba, under Ben Ali and it still is now.”

“The transitional government gave people dreams. They made promises and then after four months they realized that they had nothing to offer,”

TUNIS: Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Mouldi Kefi (left) meets with the new Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, Youssef Amrani of Morocco yesterday in Tunis. Obeidi is on a three-day official visit to Tunisia. —AFP

Vietnam’s PM re-elected amid economic troubles Activists fear the return of Dung HANOI: Vietnam’s one-party parliament waved through Nguyen Tan Dung for another term as prime minister yesterday, confirming him as the country’s most powerful politician at a time of economic instability. A symbolic vote by the communist-controlled National Assembly brought no surprises as it elected 61-year-old Dung, the sole candidate, for a second five-year stint. “Dung has been reelected prime minister with 94 percent of votes,” in the 500-member assembly, a parliamentary source said.

Activists fear the return of Dung, Vietnam’s seventh premier, will herald a further assault on freedoms in a country where dozens of political critics have been jailed since late 2009, according to Amnesty International. There was a crackdown in the lead-up to the ruling Communist Party’s secretive Congress in January, which determined top leadership positions being confirmed this week. Dung was re-elected to the 14member Politburo at the Congress, where support from security and defense delegates helped him fend off a leadership challenge.

His re-election as prime minister may mean a harder time for dissidents, but Dung’s strong position could also help him push through “the right medicine” for the economy, an Asian diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The prime minister will... face a tremendous challenge on the economy, which has been destabilized very much in his first term,” said economist Le Dang Doanh. Vietnam’s numerous economic imbalances include galloping inflation,

a large trade deficit, high current account and budget deficits, inefficient state spending, and increasing foreign debt, Doanh said. “Many small and medium-sized enterprises are on the brink of collapse.”

The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam on Monday said business confidence among its members has continued to decline. Long focused on growth, the government this year shifted towards economic stabilization, but Doanh said problems persisted.

Vietnam’s inflation is among the highest in the world, an estimated 22 percent for July compared with the same month last year. Even official media have said the number of strikes is rising fast as people struggle to cope.

“People’s tolerance with inflation is getting less and less. Pressure on the new cabinet on this front is naturally overwhelming,” said Vuong Quan Hoang, of DHVP Research and Consultancy. He said the economy was in a crisis-”a major one”. But the government says the economy is stabilizing, with key indicators on

Medvedev in mystery super hero poster MOSCOW: A mysterious poster depicting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as Captain America, a skinny kid turned comic super hero, appeared yesterday in Moscow causing Kremlin irritation. Wearing a black leather jacket and leather gloves, the Russian president is shown in a spoof movie poster for “Captain America: The First Avenger”, a movie which hit US screens earlier this month. The words “Captain of Russia. The First Ruler” are emblazoned across the Moscow poster.

Instead of a shield the comic superhero holds in the movie poster, the Russian president is depicted with a huge iPad in his hands. A Kremlin official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the stunt “some sort of stupidity.”

The Captain America movie tells the story of a skinny kid who is selected for a top secret process which transforms him into a hero with the body of a Greek god who is sent on a mission to fight against the Nazis.

The Kremlin and the government have been touchy about attempts to hijack the images of Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month several placards posted round central Moscow depicted Putin as James Bond, causing the Russian government to loudly protest. It is still not clear whether Putin or Medvedev will stand in presidential polls next year, with rival factions on both sides promoting their candidacy.

In May, equally mysterious posters, apparently created by the same artist, showed Russia’s ruling tandem posing in matching tennis shorts. The artist, who declined to give a name, has said the posters were “street art.” He is believed to be behind several other, less innocent posters making acerbic references to the Western military campaign in Libya and posted at www.monolog.tv One of his works shows Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi looking to rent a flat. But it is not clear who is behind the current Medvedev poster campaign.—AFP

the rise. Dung’s rival Truong Tan Sang, who was elected to the largely symbolic post of president on Monday, said the country faced “huge opportunities and challenges” on its path to development.

Quoted in the state-controlled Dan Tri online newspaper, he said Vietnam would overcome these issues to become “a rich, civilized country”.

Activists predict that concerns about economic dissent and Arab Spring-style unrest will prompt the one-party state to further tighten its grip on freedoms.

They foresee a strengthened role for the security ministry after Congress increased the department’s representation in the elite Politburo from one member to two. On the eve of Dung’s reelection one of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents, Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, was re-arrested, according to official media. Convicted in 2007, he was serving an eight-year prison term for propaganda against the state but the sentence was suspended in March last year to allow him to seek medical treatment.- AFP

Labidi added. “The result is that in order to buy social peace, they do anything, bow to all the demands and do not try to come up with a new (economic) model.” Since Ben Ali’s ouster, strikes have multiplied in the mining basin. In the three months which followed the popular revolt, the CPG operated at only 20 percent of capacity, according to one of its executives, Khaled Ben el Hammami.

Most company sites remain blocked by workers demanding compensation for families of fellow workers who were killed in the 2008 repression, new hirings and pay hikes.

The CPG has pledged to hire 3,000 people even though its chief said only 1,500 new recruits are needed. It also invested 300 million dollars (208 million euros) in other projects, including construction of brand new facilities for the Japanese automotive par ts maker Yasaki and garment industry plants. “We are a socially aware company trying to help boost the region’s economic activity but we can’t do it all,” said Ben el Hammami.

But strikes and sit-ins continue unabated, prompting Yasaki to consider relocating in Morocco.

Gafsa’s national cereal office has

been shut down for nearly three months, blocked by former workers demanding payment of back wages.

As a result, 80,000 tonnes of wheat and barley rotted in silos of the abandoned plant. “ The revolution has changed nothing for this region. It only led to anarchy. Jobless workers block traffic on roads. Or if you start working, some will come and tell you ‘Get out of here’. It’s demoralizing,” said a Gafsa journalist who identified himself only as Hedi. “We have to be careful. There is nothing more dangerous than disappointed people,” he added.—AFP

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

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

Inquiry: Chavez wrong on Bolivar murder theory CARACAS: South American independence hero Simon Bolivar was not murdered by Colombian foes as suggested by Hugo Chavez but may have died of accidental poisoning, according to a study ordered by Venezuela’s leader. The remains of Bolivar-a brilliant Venezuelan soldier who freed much of the region from Spanish rule before dying in Colombia in 1830 - were exhumed last year on Chavez’s orders. The colorful socialist leader had long argued Bolivar was murdered and hoped the committee of scientists he appointed to study the bones would prove that in time for Venezuela’s celebration of its independence bicentennial this year.

The resulting investigation discovered traces of toxins that may have contributed to Bolivar’s death, but were probably in medicines widely used at the time, the scientists on a government appointed committee said on Monday. They did not rule out death by tuberculosis-the most common theory cited by historians and authors. “We could not establish the death was by non-natural means or by intentional poisoning, none of those who say this could prove it,” Vice President Elias Jaua said.

The committee, including various foreign experts, said it confirmed via forensic tests the remains in Venezuela’s National Pantheon were of the man some call Latin America’s George

Washington. Medicine including traces of arsenic or a toxic plant were present in Bolivar’s bones, said scientists reporting their findings in a Caracas ceremony shown live across Venezuelan TV networks on the orders of Chavez. The social-

HAVANA: Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa (left) Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro (second left) Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez (second right) and Cuba’s President Raul Castro seen in an unknown location in Havana, Cuba.— AP

Guns from US sting at Mexican crime scenes WASHINGTON: At least 122 firearms from a botched US undercover operation have been found at crime scenes in Mexico or intercepted en route to drug cartels there, according to a Republican congressional report issued yesterday.

Mexican authorities found AK-47 assault rifles, powerful .50 caliber rifles and other weapons in late 2009 that were later linked to the US sting operation to trace weapons going across the border to Mexico, the report said.

Guns from the program, dubbed “Operation Fast and Furious,” also were found at the scene of the murder of a US Border Patrol agent in the border state Arizona last December. It is not clear if they were the weapons responsible for his death. The sting has become an embarrassment for the Obama administration and its Justice Department, rather than a victory in cracking down on the illegal flow of drugs and weapons to and from Mexico. It has also hurt ties with Mexico, which has been battling the violent cartels in a war in which thousands have died.

The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and federal prosecutors had hoped the sting would help them track gun buyers reselling weapons to cartels. But US agents did not follow the guns after the initial purchaser re -sold them. The House of Representatives Oversight Committee, led by Republican Darrell Issa, and the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles Grassley, have been investigating the sting.

Their investigators say at least 122 firearms bought by suspected gun traffickers were found at Mexican crime scenes or caught going to the cartels. Of the 2,000 weapons sold to the suspected gun traffickers, just over half remain unaccounted for, the report added. The Justice Department said that the ATF was not aware of the majority of those gun sales when they occurred. “Given the vast amount of ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ weapons possibly still in the hands of cartel members, law enforcement officials should expect more seizures and recoveries at crime scenes,” said the congressional report.

The independent watchdog at the Justice Department is also conducting its own investigation of the sting operation.

The Justice Department said it could only confirm 96 guns recovered in Mexico were tied to suspects being tracked in the operation, but it said that ATF did not have complete information on how many were recovered at crime scenes there. The agency said another 274 weapons were recovered in the United States and, so far, about a dozen were found at US crime scenes, according to information given to Grassley obtained by Reuters. Soon after the sting began, Mexican authorities arrested a young woman with 41 AK-47s and a Beowulf .50 caliber rifle that were bought the previous day by a so-called straw buyer, or somebody buying a weapon for somebody else. She told police she was taking them to the Sinaloa drug cartel, the congressional report said. —Reuters

CHIHUAHUA: Members of the state and federal police take positions behind trucks during a shootout at the prison of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on July 25, 2011. — AFP

11 die in shootings in southern Mexico ACAPULCO: A gun battle in a rural area south of Mexico City has led to the death of nine suspected gunmen on Monday, police said. People in several cars were exchanging gunfire and police began to chase them, Guerrero state police said. Soldiers also joined the hunt. Officials said the gunmen shot at their pursuers, then some abandoned their cars and fled on foot. They were chased to a cockfighting ring and six were found dead there. Three others were found dead or dying in the cars.

It is unclear whose shots caused the deaths. Police also reported two dead in the state’s largest city, Acapulco. They were found shot to death on a major avenue, possibly after an attempt to hang them from an overpass. Drug gangs were suspected in both incidents. Also Monday, five gunmen were killed in a firefight and car chase with soldiers on a highway near Laredo, Texas. Soldiers gave chase after an SUV they were inspecting pulled away and the passengers started firing at them, said prosecution officials in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. The gunmen were shot while trying to escape their vehicle after it swer ved off the Laredo highway and crashed into a ditch.

The bodies of 14 migrants massacred

ist Chavez, who has sought to cast himself as the ideological heir to Bolivar who ruled for 12 years, had said last year the Colombian “oligarchy” had killed his idol who, despite his triumphs, died lonely, bitter and trying to exit the region.

with 58 others on a ranch in northern Mexico last August have still not been identified, Mexico City’s rights ombudsman said Monday. Authorities blamed the Zetas drug gang for the brutal killings of 72 migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, in Mexico’s violent northeastern Tamaulipas state, where another 193 bodies were also found in hidden graves last April. Ombudsman Luis Gonzalez Placencia told a Mexico City news conference that 14 remaining unidentified bodies from the migrant massacre had now been moved to Toluca in central Mexico.

He referred to media claims that the bodies would be sent to a common grave, and called on the Special Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, Felipe Gonzalez, to help the victims’ families. Rights groups from Mexico and Central America sought to highlight the plight of hundreds of thousands who risk their lives trying to cross Mexico to reach the United States each year as Gonzalez visited Mexico this week. They called on the authorities to increase efforts to find and identify the missing. “The families of the deceased migrants cannot be allowed to take the same risks their loved ones did” to try to find them, said Mexican activist Ana Lorena Delgadillo.—Agencies

Chavez kept up his line on Monday despite the inquiry report. “I think they murdered him,” Chavez said in a telephone call carried live on Venezuela TV. “I assume my humble responsibility before the people and before history. I don’t have proof, I don’t know if we will have, but those are the circumstances.” In veneration of Bolivar, Chavez has changed Venezuela’s name to the “Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”, normally appears in front of pictures of him and peppers speeches with references to and quotes by the nation’s founding father. He returned from Cuba at the weekend, where he received chemotherapy following the removal of a cancerous tumor, singing and proclaiming poems by Bolivar.

Opposition figures say Chavez has cynically sought to boost popularity among Venezuelans by linking himself to Bolivar, who is second only to Jesus as a figure of reverence in Venezuela.

Critics say Chavez is an autocrat who carefully avoids quoting some of Bolivar’s words on freedom and rights. They said the exhumation and study of Bolivar’s bones were a waste of time and money purely intended to satisfy a whim of Chavez’s. Amid the flurry of rumors and gossip doing the rounds about Chavez’s health situation in recent weeks, some Venezuelans have been whispering that his cancer is a result of a curse for opening Bolivar’s tomb last year.— Reuters

Strauss-Kahn accuser: Schemer or survivor?

Association with petty criminals may harm credibility NEW YORK: First she was portrayed as a model of virtue who was violated by a rich and powerful man. Then she was presented as a liar, a schemer associated with criminals in the New York underworld, who may have taken down the next president of France for her own financial gain. The world remains divided on the hotel maid who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of assaulting her in a New York hotel on May 14, an explosive case which like many sex cases comes down to whose account of the incident you believe.

Nafissatou Diallo, whose story had been told through prosecutors and defense lawyers, gave her own account to the media this weekend in a graphic interview with Newsweek and ABC, saying Strauss-Kahn behaved like a “crazy man.” It was the first time the widow with a teenage daughter, an immigrant from Guinea in West Africa, had spoken publicly since she alleged Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom of his luxury suite and forced her to perform oral sex. Defense lawyers insist any sex was consensual and called the interview an effort to extract money from Strauss-Kahn.

Diallo’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said she wanted people to know she is not a “shakedown artist or a prostitute.” The illiterate daughter of a Muslim imam, she was working as a cleaner at the luxury Manhattan hotel. “She is not a whore, she is a good mother,” said Blake Diallo, the Senegalese manager of a Harlem restaurant she once frequented, who is not related to her. “She was a wonderful, caring, hard-working African woman.” To women’s rights advocates she is a survivor who embodies the immigrant story of fleeing poverty and repression for a better life in America. They also lament how the accuser so easily becomes the accused.

Yet defenders and political supporters of Strauss-Kahn were also handed material they could eagerly latch on to. Prosecutors hoping to jail Strauss-Kahn for up to 25 years were forced to report troubling information about Diallo’s background. In order to win US asylum she had lied about being gang-raped and she changed details of her story about what happened minutes after her encounter with Strauss-Kahn. What’s more, the woman appeared to be surrounded by shady characters. The revelations threw the case into disarray, providing Strauss-Kahn’s defense lawyers with ammunition to undermine her credibility should the case ever reach trial.

SHATTERED HOMELAND According to lawyers for the accuser, prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said they had found a recorded telephone conversation after the incident between her and a man detained in an Arizona jail in which she said “words to the effect” that “this guy has a lot of money. I know what I am doing.” The precise context of the conversation has been clouded by the difficulties of interpretation of a dialect of Fulani, but they were seen as seriously undermining the prosecu-

tion case. Despite speculation that he might drop the charges, New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance has yet to do so, indicating prosecutors may believe parts of both narratives-that she was a victim but she also has inconvenient facts in her background.

“Poor immigrants of violence often do things to survive ... and are sometimes drawn into criminal or unsavory activity and often end up with really poor quality immigration assistance,” said Dorchen Leidholdt, director of the battered women’s servic-

seamstress. Her ties with her family back in the Labe region then appeared to weaken. Later, in her asylum application, prosecutors said she fabricated and embellished her story, claiming she and her husband were persecuted and harassed by the Guinean regime and her husband was jailed, tortured, deprived of medical treatment and eventually died as a result. After the encounter with StraussKahn, she told prosecutors she had fabricated the statement with the help of an advisor. Kenneth Thompson, a lawyer representing her, said she vol-

NEW YORK: In this image from video provided by ABC News, Nafissatou Diallo, the alleged victim in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn assault case, speaks during an interview with Robin Roberts. — AP es group that has provided services to the accuser.

“She’s typical of so many of the very vulnerable immigrant women in our city.” Despite Guinea’s ample natural resources, decades of misrule mean its 10 million residents mostly make do on average incomes of around $3 a day.

One of six brothers and sisters, Diallo’s early life was one of limited horizons and expectations. Her home village in the remote Labe region, a hard day’s drive north of Conakry, still has no water, electricity or phone lines. It is reached only after a 30-minute scramble on foot through thick forest.

Her family is of Fula ethnicity, like 40 percent of the population. Her late father was known as a devoted and learned Muslim. Like many West Africans, her family practiced the Tidjiane version of Sunni Islam. “Here, the girls get married at 16 and the boys at 20. We don’t know anything about that other way of life,” her older brother Mamoudou told Reuters, referring to the Western lifestyle his sister found in New York.

Her own arranged marriage to a distant cousin ended with the death of her husband-the cause is unclear-after which she left her home village in the mid-1990s, traveling to the capital to become a

unteered to prosecutors she had lied on her asylum application due to that bad advice.

FROM AFRICA TO THE BRONX Diallo was a victim of genital mutilation, and she wanted to avoid the same fate for her daughter, Thompson said. Those facts would have been enough to win asylum without the need to invent a story, he said. “We’ve seen ... clients are encouraged to make misrepresentations, even when the true story might be the very strong basis for an immigration claim,” Leidholdt said.

Prosecutors said Diallo was the victim of a rape in Guinea, though not a gang-rape as related in her asylum application. Within days of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, his advisers worked to collect information about Diallo’s history. They quickly turned up links with people involved in criminal activities, but it was Manhattan prosecutors who uncovered some of the most damaging information on Diallo, according to William Taylor, one of Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers. The man she spoke with in the Arizona jail had been arrested for bartering counterfeit designer clothes for marijuana, the New York Times reported. —Reuters

US vows to continue spy flights near China WASHINGTON: The US military vowed yesterday to press ahead with sur veillance flights near China despite opposition from Beijing, after reports Chinese jets crossed a boundary with Taiwan to pursue a US spy plane. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked about a June 29 incident in which two Chinese Sukhoi-27 fighters briefly crossed a line in the center of the Taiwan Strait that is considered an unofficial air boundary between both countries. Asian media reported the Chinese jets were attempting to intercept a US U-2 reconnaissance plane.

“We won’t be deterred from flying in international airspace,” Mullen told reporters in Washington in response. “ The Chinese would see us move out of there. ... We’re not going to do that, from my perspective. These reconnaissance flights are important.” His spokesman later told Reuters that Mullen did not have

specific knowledge of the reported incursion and was only speaking generally about the US right to conduct surveillance flights in international airspace in the region. The Pentagon did not immediately confirm or deny details about the incident.

Chinese jets regularly attempt to intercept US reconnaissance aircraft to show they are aware of the US presence.

Still, Mullen said it was important not to repeat what happened in 2001, when a US Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet trying to intercept it over the South China Sea. The US aircraft made an emergency landing on a Chinese island and its crew were briefly detained.

“These are lives that are at stake up there, in addition to creating an incident ... that escalates the tension over there and could put countries in a position to miscalculate,” he said.

FIGHTER JETS FOR TAIWAN? The comments follow a trip by Mullen to China, part of a broader effort to improve ties with the People’s Liberation Army, whose rapid buildup and territorial disputes in the South China Sea have set off alarms in the region. Selfruled Taiwan, claimed by China as part of its sovereign territory, has been at the center of Sino-US military friction. China severed military ties with the United States for most of 2010, furious about a package of US arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $6.4 billion.

For US-China watchers, the big question is when the United States might resume arms sales to Taiwan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told Sen John Cornyn that she will announce on Oct 1 whether the United States will answer a call from Taiwan for more F-16 fighter jets, an aide to the senator said.

Cornyn had delayed Senate confirmation of a senior State Department appointment in a tac-

tic to force Clinton to review a request from Taiwan for the aircraft.

At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland declined on Monday to offer a timeline, saying: “We’ll let you know when we do have something to report.”

When he visited Washington in May, Chinese General Chen Bingde warned that new US weapons sales would damage ties. Mullen noted that the United States was obligated under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself. “We have a relationship (with Taiwan) and responsibilities and there are legal responsibilities in my country to support the Taiwan Relations Act,” Mullen said.

“So when we have another bump in the road, should that occur, I hope we work our way through that with the Chinese military.”

Taiwan is also still waiting for an upgrade to its existing US-made F16 fighter jets, six new cargo aircraft and an overhaul to a fleet of Lafayette frigates.— Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

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

Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister makes debut ISLAMABAD: Hina Rabbani Khar, aged just 34 and the first woman to be appointed foreign minister of Pakistan, will be thrust into the spotlight when she holds talks with her Indian counterpart this week. Khar, who was only appointed last week after serving as a junior foreign minister since February, has become the face of Pakistani diplomacy at a critical time, despite questions over her youth and inexperience. She will make a high-profile debut at today’s talks between Pakistan and India-one of the world’s most fraught cross-border relationships which has led to war three times since 1947.

Few breakthroughs are expected during the meeting between Khar and Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, who is 45 years her senior, as the two countries make their first contacts at that level in one year.

The nuclear-armed rivals came to the brink of conflict as recently as 2002 and frictions have remained high since 2008 when Pakistan-based militants were blamed for attacks on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed. Khar, a headscarf-wearing mother of two daughters, is inevitably compared to Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic female prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated when trying to regain power in 2007.

She has already attracted widespread attention in the Islamic nation where women seldom feature in public life, and a newspaper picture of her wearing tight jeans caused a shimmer of disapproval.

Politics in Pakistan can be a dangerous trade, with one minister and a provincial governor killed already this year over their opposition to a blasphemy law. Khar, much like Bhutto, comes from one of Pakistan’s leading political and land-owning families.

Her clan have extensive farms in Punjab, the richest and most populous province, where they attract loyal support from local communities.

Khar’s father is veteran politician Ghulam Rabbani Khar and her uncle was a chief minister of Punjab, and she has inherited much of their political influence. Educated in Lahore before completing her degree in business management in the United States at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Khar was elected to parliament in 2002 and first served under then President Pervez Musharraf. She later changed allegiance to the Pakistan People’s Party, which took power in 2008, and held a senior role in the economic ministry on her rapid rise to one of international diplomacy’s most sensitive positions. Some observers say her eleva-

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s newly installed Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar talks to media upon her arrival at the airport in New Delhi, India yesterday. — AP tion is evidence that Pakistan is still run by select families, such as the BhuttosPresident Zardari is Benazir’s widower and the opposition Sharif clan.

Khar’s critics say she is a lightweight who

Afghan violence kills 35 US trucking funds end up in Taleban’s hands KABUL: Afghan and NATO forces said yesterday that 35 people - most of them insurgents - have been killed in escalating violence as the Taleban try to regain territory lost during the winter months to the USled coalition. There has been fierce fighting around Afghanistan, but most has been focused in the southwestern Helmand province and other parts of the southern Taleban heartland. Violence has increased since the insurgents launched an offensive last April.

The office of Helmand Gov Gulab Mangal said that two separate clashes on Monday left a total of 22 insurgents and two police officers dead. The governor’s office also said two young boys were killed as they stepped on a roadside bomb in Helmand. The provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, was one of seven areas where the coalition last week handed over responsibility for security to Afghan forces. The handover was part of a transition plan that eventually will give the Afghan government control of security around the country by the end of 2014, when foreign combat troops are to leave Afghanistan.

Monday’s clashes occurred in central and northern Helmand, the statement from the governor ’s office said. In one of the clashes, eight insurgents were killed near the town of Nadiali - located near the provincial capital. Another 14 were killed and eight wounded when they attacked a police checkpoint in the Musa Qala district. The two police officers were killed in that attack, the statement said.

NATO announced separately that nine insurgents were killed Monday in three separate incidents elsewhere in Afghanistan, including five during a raid to capture a local

ARGHANDAB: US troops from the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, Task Force Dealers under the International Assistance Force Afghanistan prepare for a patrol in Arghandab district, a former Taleban stronghold said. — AFP Taleban leader in eastern Laghman province.

More than $6 billion a month Cash from part of a $2.16 billion US transportation contract in Afghanistan has ended up in the hands of Taleban insurgents, the Pentagon said. The disclosure is another example of the persistent difficulty the US militar y has in keeping its massive war funding from reaching the insurgents it is fighting in the unpopular, decadeold Afghan war. The United States is spending more than $6 billion a month in the conflict.

Pentagon officials have repeatedly warned of the need to tighten controls on US contracts and last year announced the creation of a task force to crack down on misuse of funds by contractors, some of whom pay Taleban protection money. Pentagon spokesman Colonel

Dave Lapan said the discovery of the siphoning of funds from the trucking contract was part of that previously announced effort. He said the US militar y ’s Central Command, which oversees the Afghan war, aimed to sign a new trucking contract in September.

“Central Command’s contracting command is working on a new Afghan trucking contract to ensure greater transparency into subcontractors,” Lapan told reporters. The details from the internal study by NATO forces in Afghanistan were first reported by the Washington Post. The news came just days after Reuters reported on a study being completed by a congressional commission showing that some $34 billion in US taxpayer dollars have been wasted on contracts with the private sector in the wars in Afghanistan in Iraq. — Agencies

Gold dust lures scavengers in Pakistani city Peshawar PESHAWAR: When the sun sets and shops close, Pakistan’s gold scavengers come to life, sifting through dirt and sewers for precious yellow scraps they can turn to profit. It is a painstaking, filthy job reserved for those dreaming of a rags-to-riches fortune in one of the poorest countries in Asia, better known for AlQaeda and bombs than social mobility. Yet after nine years on the job and standing up to his waist in muddy water, 19-year-old Murad Ali keeps the dream alive. “Hey, I got it,” he shouts, yanking out a hand clutching a small gold ring.

Droplets of grime splash his face and clothes, but nothing can wipe the grin from his mouth or the glint of happiness in his eyes. “This is a gold ring. It’ll fetch 2,500 rupees ($29),” he says, springing out of the filth to run it under clean tap water.

But pieces of jewelry dropped by careless owners are hard to come by. The usual job is going through the dirt and mud he stores in polythene bags searching, literally, for gold dust. For the barely literate in Pakistan, the job brings in enough money to feed families and rent homes that would be hard to match in other menial jobs.

Gold prices reached a record high of more than $1,600 an ounce in London this week, boosting incomes for the scavengers. “I earn 6-7,000 rupees ($81) in a week,” Ali says. “My father is a hashish addict.

I’m taking care of my family.” Ali grew up in the Shah Dhand suburb of Peshawar. He left school at nine and started working a year later. He

got married at 17 and is now the father of a son, living in a rented home that costs 3,000 rupees a month. “This job depends on your luck and fortune. Sometimes I earn more. I once got a ring worth 10,000 rupees ($116),” he said.

The only precautions he takes are a good bath and some scent in a bid to get rid of the stench of nights spent up to his waist in filth. “A good soap, a shampoo and a good perfume are now a compulsory part of my life,” he joked. There is no specific data about the number of workers, but local jewelers estimate that hundreds dig for gold in the northwest, where troops are fighting homegrown Taleban insurgents and bombings are routine. ‘One day I’ll find my luck’- Jewelry, particularly gold, is a symbol of pride, wealth and superiority in Pakistan.

Therefore, it is big business.

It plays a central role at weddings, for many the only wider social gatherings they frequent in a conservative society. For women, the gold they are given on their wedding day is often their only financial protection. There are hundreds of shops in the main jewelry market, in old Peshawar. There are thousands more in the surrounding areas and adjacent streets. Sifting for gold on the streets and in drains begins at dusk and can last until dawn. The dust and filth contain minute particles of gold discarded from goldsmiths who grind down the metal to make jewelry.

The job begins with cleaning the streets with brushes. Others scoop

out filth from the drains. Some work alone, more in groups. Pieces of gold, like Ali’s ring, detected by the naked eye, are collected and washed clean but the smaller particles can only be separated from sand and dust by applying a special acid, says jeweller Arifullah Khan.

The acid dissolves ever ything, including other metals and iron, leaving only shimmers of gold behind.

Khan, who has owned a shop in the market for 45 years, said hundreds of people scavenged for gold in Peshawar while bomb attacks and power cuts squeezed mainstream trade. “We are living in a real war zone. Customers are frightened and afraid of visiting the bazaar.

Business is being destroyed,” said the 65-year-old. “This is not our war.

It’s America’s war. The government should stop supporting America.” In the Andershehr jewelry market, the market association says a contractor pays 20,000 rupees ($232) for the exclusive rights to sweep the area.

Traders, in turn, have spent the money on hiring security guards.

The peak activity of washing, cleaning and sweeping the market and draining system begins on Sunday, the day of rest.

Vehicles and pushcarts are banned from the market because of the fear of car bombs, which helps workers by reducing slightly the level of muck left behind. “I’m earning a suitable amount of money,” said Javed Masih, the contractor, but he refused to divulge the exact amount. — AFP

will be little more than a voicepiece for others. “The people in power, including the military, are comfortable that she will follow whatever brief is given to her,” foreign policy analyst Hasan Askari said. “She will

not make waves and this is what the Prime Minister (Yousuf Raza Gilani) and the military want.” Askari said Khar was a contrast to her outspoken predecessor Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was seen as having ambitions to become prime minister until he was removed from his post in February. “The choice confirms the impression that foreign policy is made by the military and she will be a political front only,” Askari said.

But President Asif Ali Zardari said Khar’s appointment broadcast “the soft image of Pakistan” to the world and demonstrated “the government’s commitment to bring women into the mainstream of national life.” Khar’s performance in today’s talks will be watched closely by Western nations as Pakistan’s foreign policy is seen as crucial to stability across South Asia, including in Afghanistan.

“She’s a woman, young and good-looking, and that may help the countr y ’s image,” one foreign diplomat in Islamabad told AFP. “She’s quite westernized, but that does not mean that she’ll be pro-west.

“Foreign policy remains in the hands of the army, so she may be more effective on issues like economic relations with western countries.” — AFP

Pakistan warned 1 year after worst-ever floods ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has failed to invest in prevention measures since last year’s floods that killed 1,750 people and is vulnerable to another disaster this monsoon season, Oxfam said yesterday. The relief agency marked one year since the beginning of the 2010 disaster, when flooding inundated a third of Pakistan, by calling for more to be spent on reconstruction, suitable housing and early-warning systems.

About 21 million people were affected by the worst floods in Pakistan since the country was founded in 1947, and tens of thousands of people are still living in emergency camps. “Pakistan needs to act now. Investing in measures today that reduce the impact of disasters is essential to save lives and safeguard development gains in the future,” said Neva Khan, head of Oxfam in Pakistan. “It will ensure schools built with aid funds are not washed away and that farmers can keep the crops they have toiled over.

A year after Pakistan’s mega floods it’s time we learnt this lesson.”

Releasing a new report entitled “Ready or Not”, Oxfam said that 37,000 people were still in camps in Sindh, the worst-hit province, and 800,000 families nationwide were without proper homes one year on.

It warned that river embankments had not been

rebuilt, leaving villages more open to flooding, and that two to five million people were likely to be affected by this year’s monsoon floods. “Villagers in areas that we work fear new flooding. Many are planting fewer crops than usual as they are worried that their harvests will be destroyed in fresh floods,” Khan said.

“In some areas, where fresh flooding has already begun, families have started to dismantle their houses and move to higher ground as they are scared of losing everything again.”

The Pakistan government’s response to the 2010 floods, which began in the last week of July, was widely criticized, with much of the emergency relief aid coming from foreign donor nations. Kaniz Mai, 48, a farm worker from Punjab province, told a press conference in Islamabad that Pakistani authorities “did nothing for our protection and we handled the situation ourselves”. “We therefore appeal to people to make arrangements themselves before any tragedy hits,” she said. “Nothing is expected from the government this year and they are not going to do anything in the future.” Crops, roads, schools, electricity lines and bridges were all washed away last year in a country already suffering from Islamist militant attacks and political instability. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

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

Kazakh president’s son-in-law hinted as successor ALMATY: President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s sonin-law is his likely successor, a top advisor said Monday, in the first official hint of who may follow the strongman who has dominated Kazakhstan for two decades. Timur Kulibayev, the head of the giant Kazakh holding company Samruk-Kazyna and husband of Nazarbayev’s middle daughter Dinara, would take over if the president suddenly left power, his top advisor Yermukhamet Yertysbayev said.

But Kuliayev shot back Monday night, calling Yertysbayev’s comments “inappropriate”. “It is inappropriate to talk of a successor right now”, he told the official Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

“I deal with economic questions and world development and I like that. I have never tried to be a politician”, he added. Yertysbayev’s speculative comments came in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant newspaper after Nazarbayev this month disappeared for what officials described as a holiday but Germany’s Bild newspaper said was hospitalization for prostate surgery.

“It is Kulibayev who would be able to continue

the president’s strategic course, in the case of an extraordinary situation connected with the sudden departure of the head of state,” Yertysbayev told Kommersant. The president’s absence-which ended on Thursday when he re-emerged to chair an official meeting in Astana-caused jitters among investors in the energy-rich state worried about the uncertainty over the succession issue.

Analysts have long seen Kulibayev as the most likely figure to succeed Nazarbayev but this is the first time one of the key figures in the president’s inner circle have indicated that he is the main contender. Speculation that Kulibayev was being groomed for the top mounted in April when he was made head of Samruk-Kazyna, which controls the state’s stakes in key industries, $80 billion in assets and generates around 53 percent of GDP. Political observer Dosym Satpayev said Kulibayev, 54, could be a compromise figure for Kazakhstan’s hugely powerful and sometimes feuding elite. “We don’t have personalities that would suit absolutely everybody. It means a choice will be made among those who do not

suit everybody, but a significant portion of the elite.” “From this point of view, the candidacy of Kulibayev is not the worst,” he said.

US cables published by Wikileaks described Kulibayev as the “ultimate controller of 90 percent” of the economy in Kazakhstan and a man so important for access to the president’s inner circle he is known as “the hyphen”. Exiled oligarch banker Mukhtar Ablyazov-the former chairman of Kazakh lender BTA Bank-told opposition TV channel K-Plus in a recent interview he did not see Kulibayev as a successor, but expected Prime Minister Karim Massimov to fight for power. But Yertysbayev retorted: “I perfectly well know that (Massimov) doesn’t even think about aspiring to the role of the first person.”

Ablyazov, who funds K-Plus, has fled to London where has applied for asylum and is being sued in a multi-billion dollar case by the company that he used to run. Nazarbayev is also at odds with his ex-son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev, whose marriage to the president’s eldest daughter Dariga ended in divorce in 2007 when her

husband fell out with Nazarbayev and took refuge in Austria.

Aliyev, who was sentenced in absentia to 40 years in jail on charges including kidnapping in Kazakhstan, told K-Plus that Nazarbayev wanted to stay “as the head of state until the last breath.”

Nazarbayev came to power while Kazakhstan was still a Soviet republic and was elected president after it won independence. Along with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, he is the longest serving leader in the former USSR. The president, 71, won another four-year mandate this April with 95.5 percent of a vote which international observers said was flawed and his advisors have said he could run again in the next polls if his health allows. Nazarbayev’s absence of 10 days this month prompted a flurry of questions about his health amid the reports that he had undergone a serious operation at a clinic in Germany. Yertysbayev said the president had undergone a “medical examination” but said this was a routine procedure that he had twice a year, once in Kazakhstan and once abroad. — AFP

Chinese pastor Shi sent to labor camp Beijing cracks down on unapproved churches BEIJING: An underground Protestant leader has been sentenced to two years in a labor camp as China cracks down on unapproved churches that are getting bolder in confronting government religious policy, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday. The expansion and growing influence of unofficial churches has unsettled China’s rulers, always suspicious of any independent social group that could challenge Communist authority. China Aid Association said Pastor Shi Enhao, 55, was sentenced over the weekend for organizing illegal religious gatherings. He had been detained June 21 in the eastern city of Suqian in Jiangsu province. Labor camp sentences are handed out without trial on the recommendation of police and can be extended beyond the usual two-year term.

Shi’s church was also ordered to cease meeting and its car, cash donations, musical instruments and even choir robes were seized by police, said China Aid, based in Midland, Texas.

China’s officially atheistic ruling Communist Party claims to protect freedom of worship and

authorities usually refuse to comment on prosecutions against religious figures. A man who answered the phone at the Suqian police spokesman’s office said he had no knowledge of the case. The man gave only his surname, Tian, because he was not authorized to speak with media. Another man who answered the phone at the Suqian local government’s Religious Affairs Bureau said he knew of no such case. The man refused to give his name as is common among Chinese bureaucrats.

Shi is a deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, a national group of underground congregations established to provide mutual support and intercede with authorities who routinely threaten and harass unofficial churches.

China Aid said Shi’s son, Shi Yongyang, was forced to sign a document confirming his father’s sentencing, but was not provided with the required copy in an apparent attempt to downplay news of the sentence. In detaining him on June 21, police cited the charge of “suspi-

cion of using superstition to undermine national law enforcement,” according to a charging document scanned and posted to China Aid’s website. That was apparently replaced with the lesser charge of organizing illegal gatherings to avoid a trial.

In an example of the growing boldness of religious organizations in China, underground Protestant church leaders issued a petition to the National People’s Congress, China’s rubberstamp legislature, in May that called for an end to persecution of a Beijing church. The Shouwang Church and its 1,000 members have been blocked from their worship place for weeks and members detained at home to prevent them protesting. The crackdown on underground Protestant churches comes amid faltering relations with the Vatican over Beijing’s refusal to recognize the Holy See’s exclusive right to name bishops. On Monday, China called the Vatican “extremely unreasonable and rude” for expressing anger at three recent ordinations done without the pope’s approval.— AP

Malaysia refugee swap could expand: Australia

ZHEJIANG: A derailed train car is removed from a bridge as workers clear up the wreckage after a train accident in Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. — AP

Beijing muzzles reporting on high-speed train crash BEIJING: China has ordered its media not to probe a deadly high-speed train crash that has triggered public anger and raised questions over the rush to develop the rail system, reports said yesterday. Journalists have been ordered to focus on “touching stories” and avoid questioning official accounts of the disaster, which killed at least 39 people, Chinese bloggers and the US-based China Digital Times website said.

China’s railway minister said Saturday’s accident, which left nearly 200 people wounded and was the worst ever to hit the country’s rapidly expanding high-speed rail network, had taught the country a “bitter lesson”.

“We must on one hand extract these lessons and deeply examine and reflect on them, while rousing ourselves from this setback and concentrating our efforts on inspecting and rectifying hidden safety problems,” said Sheng Guangzu. The government has sacked three senior railway officials and announced an “urgent overhaul” of the national rail network. But the moves have failed to stem a tide of criticism in the media and online of the government’s handling of the disaster, which initial reports blamed on a lightning strike knocking out power to the first train.

Despite the reporting ban, many continued to question why the driver of the second train, which ploughed into the firstcrushing some carriages and forcing others off the rails-was not warned in time to stop.

The official China Daily said yesterday there were “unanswered questions” over the signaling system, and quoted experts as saying the accident may have been caused by “a failure in despatch management”. The front page of the English-language Global Times carried the headline “Anger mounts at lack of answers” and interviews with family members of victims who questioned the official death toll.

In a commentary, the daily said that safety “should be the core principle of China’s development”, but that “blind and hasty finger-pointing should be avoided”.

Criticism on the Internet was more outspoken, with many bloggers voicing outrage.

“Maybe a fact we have to face is that we are

paying the price for chasing after an excessively rapid pace of development,” wrote one blogger under the name Tong Dahuan.

“The government and officials that dominate public construction do not have any natural advantages when it comes to morality, intelligence or capability.”

Shares in railway stocks dropped again yesterday, although the falls were not as dramatic as Monday. Shanghai-listed shares of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CSL), which was involved in making both trains in the accident, closed down 3.6 percent. The first train in the collision was jointly manufactured by China and Japan, while the second was produced by a joint venture between China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corporation and Canada’s Bombardier.

China’s high-speed rail system only opened to passengers in 2007, but has grown at breakneck speed thanks to huge state funding and is already the largest in the world, with 8,358 kilometers of track at the end of last year. The trains involved in Saturday’s collision were the first generation of China’s high-speed trains, and designed to travel at a top speed of 250 kilometers per hour. More recently, China has introduced a second generation of bullet trains that can run up to 380 kph, although their speed is restricted to 300 kph for safety reasons. China’s propaganda authorities typically move swiftly to limit coverage of major disasters that could embarrass the government.

The China Digital Times said the nation’s media had been ordered to focus on positive stories such as blood donors coming forward and free taxi services. “All reports regarding the Wenzhou high-speed train accident are to be titled ‘7.23 Yong-Wen line major transportation accident’ and use ‘in the face of great tragedy, there’s great love’ as the major theme,” the directive said.

“Do not question. Do not elaborate. No reposting on micro-blogs will be allowed!”

The People’s Daily, the Chinese-language Communist Party mouthpiece, carried stories yesterday of how villagers “dashed to the disaster scene” to help with the rescue effort after the crash. — AFP

SYDNEY: Australia may expand its unique refugee swap deal with Malaysia, with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen saying the nations saw the controversial agreement as a “pilot project”. Bowen and Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Monday signed a pact where 800 boat people will be sent to the Asian country from Australia, which, in return, will resettle 4,000 refugees processed by Kuala Lumpur. “My Malaysian counterpart, Mr Hishammuddin, has made it clear he regards this as a pilot project, and if it works and is successful, then they will examine potential extensions,” Bowen told ABC television late Monday. “And that is completely consistent with my point of view.”

The Australian minister, who was speaking from Kuala Lumpur, said the cost of the arrangement could also rise from the forecast of about Aus$292 million (US$316.5 million) over four years. Australia has agreed to pay for the basic healthcare and education of the children of the asylum seekers sent to Malaysia, where they will join some 90,000 registered refugees already in that country. Unlike other refugees, they will be permitted to work to support themselves.

Refugee activists have attacked the deal, accusing Australia of dodging its duties to boat people and ignoring their human rights by sending them to a country that is not a signatory to the United Nations convention on refugees.

Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) not to endorse the agreement, warning it could erode protection for asylum seekers across the Asia-Pacific.

“This would set the worst type of precedent and we’re concerned it could start a wider erosion of protection for refugees throughout the Asia-Pacific region,” warned Phil Robertson of HRW’s Asia division. “The talk in the neighborhood will be, if Australia can do it, why can’t we?” The UNHCR said its preference was for asylum-seekers arriving by boat in Australian territory to be processed in Australia. But it said it had been consulted on the deal and both governments recognized the special arrangements needed for vulnerable people, including unaccompanied minors.

Amnesty International, however, warned that adequate safeguards were not in place and asylum seekers sent to Malaysia could face lengthy waits to determine their status, as well as inhumane detention conditions and even caning. —AFP

OKUMA: Abandoned cattle run alongside a road in the town of Okuma, inside the contaminated exclusion zone, near the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan. — AP

Nuke power to grow despite Japan’s crisis TOKYO: The head of the UN atomic watchdog said yesterday that nuclear power will keep growing in the world despite the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, which he visited Monday. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was speaking after meeting Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who has advocated a phase-out of nuclear power in the quake-prone nation. “It is certain that the number of nuclear reactors will increase, even if not as quickly as before,” Amano, a Japanese former senior diplomat, said after a meeting with the centre-left premier in Tokyo.

“Some countries, including Germany, have reviewed their nuclear energy policy, but many other countries believe they need nuclear reactors to tackle problems such as global warming,” he told reporters.

“Therefore, securing safety is more important than anything.” Amano, who visited the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant on

Monday, said he affirmed to Kan that the international nuclear body will help the disaster-hit country bring the atomic power plant under control.

The Fukushima plant was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, suffered meltdowns and explosions in the days that followed, and continues to release radioactive material into the environment.

“I told the prime minister that the IAEA can help Japan because we have knowledge and experience on decontamination and the management of melted or spent nuclear fuel,” he said. Kan has also announced “stress tests”, modeled on a similar program in the European Union, for all nuclear reactors in Japan. The majority of the nation’s 54 reactors are currently offline for safety checks. “I think it’s very good that countries check the safety of nuclear generation after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant,” said Amano. —AFP

China bars activist priest as Vatican tension escalates HONG KONG: China blocked a Hong Kong Catholic priest and rights activist from entering the mainland last week in what he said may have been a show of unhappiness with the Vatican for excommunicating two bishops recently ordained

by Beijing. In a sign of escalating tension between the Roman Catholic Church and Beijing, China said on Monday the Vatican’s recent excommunication of the Chinese bishops who were ordained without papal approval was “unreasonable” and “rude.” Father Franco Mella, who recently took part in protests in Hong Kong against China’s unilateral ordination of priests, said Chinese immigration officials did not give him any explanation for cancelling his Chinese visa when he presented

himself at a checkpoint in China’s southern city of Shenzhen on July 19. “Perhaps it was due to the ordination of the bishop of Shantou (in southern China). That was not recognized by the Vatican and the bishop was then excommunicated by the Vatican,” Mella said yesterday.

Mella, who had intended to visit a church in central Henan province, said this was the first time in 20 years of living in Hong Kong that he had been denied entry into mainland China.

Milan-born Mella, 62, is well known for helping refugees and campaigning for residency rights for mainland Chinese women married to Hong Kong men. “They didn’t say anything. They kept me waiting for an hour, watching TV and then three

of them came to show me my passport and the stamp on the visa showed it was cancelled,” Mella said. “When I asked them when I can apply to visit China again, they said they didn’t know,” he added. Two other Hong Kong-based foreign priests who did not join the protests were also turned away by Chinese immigration officials, one of them on July 21 and the other about six weeks ago, Mella said. “We are just common priests and we shouldn’t bear the confrontation between Beijing and the Vatican,” he added.

Mella said he would press on with his work and apply for a China visa in September, when he plans to lead a group of Catholics from Italy on a tour to China. —Reuters

14

opinion

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

Analysts believe scientist death was foreign hit

By Andrew Hammond estern security agencies were most likely behind the killing of an Iranian scientist in an operation that underlines the myriad complications in the conflict over Iran’s nuclear programme, analysts say.

Darioush Rezaie, 35, a university lecturer, was shot dead by gunmen in eastern Tehran on Saturday, the third murder of a scientist since 2009. One was killed in a car bomb, the second by a device detonated remotely. The Iranian government’s responses to past such incidents have appeared confused but the Rezaie case has surpassed previous levels, with the authorities speaking in strikingly different voices from the outset.

“Assassinations will continue to be a tool used in this covert war. While it’s impossible to tell with certainty whether Rezaie was an active nuclear scientist, his death appears to be another episode in that war,” said Londonbased analyst Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of Cornerstone Global Associates. “The Iranian narrative has been confused about Rezaie’s work and this adds credence to the speculation that he has been involved in the nuclear program.”

When news of the shooting first came out, semi-official news agency Mehr published information on Rezaie’s background which indicated involvement in Iranian nuclear activities that have brought international sanctions on the Tehran government. But the report was then immediately withdrawn by Mehr and Iran’s intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi and other officials denied Rezaie had any links to the nuclear energy program.

Then when parliament speaker Ali Larijani blamed the United States and Israel in a speech broadcast live on state television on Sunday, Moslehi said it was too early to tell. “We have not found any trace of foreign spy services involvement in Rezaie’s assassination case yet,” state television quoted him as saying. Other bodies involved in investigations would normally include the Revolutionary Guards and the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and possibly others.

Analysts believe that Iran might wish to play down the accusations of blame as the incident is embarrassing for its security agencies and could become an issue in domestic politics. “I suspect, just based on what’s known in the Iranian media reporting, that Rezaie was assassinated because of his relationship to Iran’s nuclear program,” said Afshon Ostovar, an Iran analyst based in Washington. After the initial confusion, Ostovar said he detected “a PR campaign to both downplay the impact of his death on Iran’s nuclear program and to discredit any sense of legitimacy of the assassination”.

Several analysts said they believed the killing to have been carried out by US or Israeli agents. Both countries have said they are prepared to take military action to stop the Islamic Republic becoming a nuclear power.

They fear Iran’s uranium enrichment program is designed to take Tehran to the point where it can quickly put together atomic weapons if it wanted to, although Tehran insists the programme is for peaceful purposes. A US spokeswoman denied any US involvement. “It’s frequent practice for Tehran to accuse the West for these kinds of incidents, and we hope that Tehran is not planning to use this incident to distract attention from what it needs to do, which is to come back into compliance with international obligations,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a press briefing. Asked about Israel’s response to the accusations, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday: “It’s not responding”.

Despite public infighting within the Iranian ruling establishment, which has seen President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters fall out of favour with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Western analysts see signs that Iran is pushing ahead with plans to develop the means to develop nuclear warheads. Last month Iran said it would shift production of higher-grade uranium to an underground bunker and triple output capacity. It also test-fired 14 missiles in one day including some it says can reach Israel and US bases in the region. The killing took place at a time when both Iran and Israel are nervously watching the spate of popular protests that have spread across the Middle East this year. Some analysts in Iran have even suggested the assassinations could be the work of elements inside the ruling system as a warning to academics and officials who might be tempted to leak information to foreign governments. The Arab protests have so far they have failed to provoke a return of Iranian opposition to the streets after massive demonstrations over the reelection of Ahmadinejad in 2009. — Reuters

W

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.

Syria faces slide into sectarian mayhem

By Samia Nakhoul he popular upheaval in Syria is growing bolder and the cracks in the establishment are getting deeper - yet there is a long and bloody road ahead if protesters are to unseat President Bashar Al-Assad and end his family’s 40 years in power. The price of stalemate is rising daily: sectarian mayhem, a growing protest movement and a faltering economy, with no sign that Bashar and his minority Alawite clan are considering an exit strategy after four decades in power. Yet so far, there is no sign of a tipping point that would assure success for protesters, as in Tunisia and Egypt, where millions took to the streets to topple autocratic leaders.

“The situation has not reached a critical mass,” said Patrick Seale, biographer of Bashar’s father, Hafez Al-Assad. “Damascus hasn’t risen, the security services haven’t split yet, the economy hasn’t collapsed. The regime looks weak and the opposition looks weaker,” he said.

Sectarian killings in the city of Homs this month may be a foretaste for a country with an ethnic and religious mix and a long history of repression by the Alawite-led security forces.

The Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiism, is a minority in Syria, which has a Sunni Muslim majority, as well as smaller numbers of Druze, Christians and non-Arab Kurds. A group of Alawite men, including four security men, went missing on July 14. The bodies of four of them were found killed. Some Alawites from their neighbourood in Homs took to the streets, torched and destroyed shops belonging to Sunnis.

The danger of sectarian strife is real, analysts say. It might even appeal to the authorities - and some of their opponents - as a way to break the deadlock. But it carries high risks for the Assad dynasty, as well as the opposition. “This is a dangerous strategy for a regime trying to survive,” said Eugene Rogan, director of the Middle East Centre at Oxford University. “You watch your army disintegrate if sectarianism becomes an issue.” Analysts say the Homs killings were provoked by a ferocious security clampdown, including the arrest, disappearance and torture to death of hundreds of men. Islamists, long persecuted by the security forces, have their own axe to grind.

“The security solution hasn’t worked. The regime has decided to go for civil strife because it senses that it is losing. The protests are spilling over and spreading to the capital,” said a Damascus-based Arab journalist who declined to be named. Alawite villagers say authorities have been arming young men to fight the insurgency. Mutilated bodies of some shabbiha men, handed over by security forces to their families for burial, served to incite sectarian hatred in those villages.

Sectarian paranoia is evident, with Assad trusting only two elite units commanded by his brother Maher - the 4th Armoured Division and the Republican Guard - as well as secret police and Alawite militia, known as shabbiha, to deal with dissent. “The coherence (of the security forces) is already in question. Sectarianism is already a problem, the loyalty of other units cannot be counted on,” Rogan said. While the authorities blame the upheaval on a “bunch of Islamists”, the reality appears more complex.

Some Syria-watchers say the protest movement is driven mainly by youths and includes rural Sunni tribes, nationalists, leftists, secularists and also Islamists, united in their goal of overthrowing an autocratic and corrupt government.

Geographically, the protests have spread since March to many rural and tribal regions, cities such as Hama and Homs, and even to Damascus, although not on a huge scale in the capital.

Security forces and shabbiha militiamen, armed

T

with metal bars, are everywhere. The army has deployed tanks around the main cities to keep out protesters from the countryside. “The savagery of the regime has increased 180 degrees.

The hostility against it has massively increased too among ordinary people, not just protesters.

There are wide scale arrests in all areas, in cities and villages,” the Syrian journalist said.

Residents said the Alawite units, though overstretched, have stepped up their offensive and are showing resilience in facing the growing demonstrations. The protest movement, however, is growing and showing no sign of dying down, residents add. In a country where once no one dared utter a word against the president, chants such as: “Bashar you butcher we won’t rest until we bury you” show how fearless the activists have become. Graffiti on rubbish bins read: “Bashar: this is your final grave.”

Toppling the system, analysts say, is hazardous because of Syria’s power structure under which Alawites hold key posts in the military and Assad family insiders run the key security bodies, tying senior officers closely to Assad’s own fate. Sarkis Naoum, an expert on Syrian affairs, said Assad was not likely to be overthrown quickly, but the conflict could develop into a bloody civil war. “It is not clear how it would evolve and how much time it would take.

The regime cannot win and also the opposition cannot win either,” said Naoum, a columnist at Beirut’s an-Nahar daily.

What complicates the Syrian scene is that the Assads will fight to the end rather than leave because they fear that their family and their sect would be targeted under Sunni rule. “The Assads won’t relinquish power. They are refusing reform because it will make them have to give up power,” Naoum said. Rogan said that Assad’s departure was not imminent. “It is a long way before we reach the point where Bashar has to go. The regime is a lot stronger than people like to think but Assad is weak and has no sense of leadership.”

The protests have virtually crippled Damascus. Shops open for a few hours during the day and close early. Business activity is grounded and many people have lost their jobs. The city, which once buzzed with nightlife, is tense and eerie after dark. Signs of stretched resources and a strained economy are very evident.

The Syrian economy could prove to be Assad’s curse. With no end in sight to the crackdown on protesters, the country’s key revenue streams look shattered. A more marked decline in Syria’s economic health may force the regime to fall.

After growing at an average of 5 percent over the last five years, the economy is forecast to contract as much as 3 percent this year as tourism, which accounts for 23 percent of Syria’s hard currency earnings, and foreign investment grind to a halt. With hotels almost empty and the growing likelihood of oil sanctions, Syria is desperately trying to retain local and foreign currency by increasing interest rates on deposits and curbing foreign currency sales.

Tehran, which regards Syria as a

close ally in a mainly Sunni-dominated region suspicious of non-Arab Shiite Iran, is reported to have come to his help in funds and expertise.

Iran is considering offering $5.8 billion in financial help, French business newspaper Les Echos said. Iran, which quashed its own pro-democracy youth movement after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in 2009, has sent experts to help the Syrian authorities monitor and jam satellite communication and the Internet, according to Ausama Monajed of the Syrian opposition.

The opposition said the government had been finding it hard to monitor the activists’ communications until the Iranians stepped in, providing authorities with Chinese and North Korean equipment to intercept and eavesdrop on conversations. Monajed, spokesman for the Syrian opposition in Europe, said the opposition is lobbying to raise funds and rally world opinion to slap more sanctions against Assad and his aides. While close observers of Syria weigh the multiple scenarios, none of them appears to have a neat end.

“The sooner this mafia is gone the better,” Rogan said. “A lot worse can happen trying to get rid of these guys than we have seen already.”

Seale said: “The more blood is spilled the more difficult is to find a solution. There has to be a negotiated solution of sort. If there is no solution there will be a civil war.” — Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

ne ws

CAIRO: Egyptian artist Taha ElKorany puts final touches on his painting “Al Shuhadaa” (The Martyrs), showing Maj Gen Muhsen Al-Fangary giving a military salute to the “martyrs” of the revolution at his atelier yesterday. — AP

Moroccan military plane crash kills 80 Continued from Page 1 were s old i e r s f lying fro m Laayoune in Western Sahara to the coastal city of Agadir. But the army said civilians, including famil y mem b e r s, we re a l so o n t he flight. King Mohammed VI “has sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims in his role as the supreme leader of the FAR (Royal Armed Forces)” an official said.

The army statement blamed the accident on “bad weather conditions”. “Above all, it was the fog and bad weather conditions that are believed to be behind this accident. But for the moment, we don’t have enough information,” an interior ministry official said.

The plane slammed into a mountain around 10 km from Guelmim, k n own as the gate way to the

Sahara desert. “The accident happened in a desert and mountainous area,” a Guelmim provincial official told AFP by telephone.

Another provincial official said the plane had been preparing to land at the local military airport at Guelmim when “a huge pall of smoke came from the mountain”.

He said the plane had hit the well known mountain of Sayyert. The bodies of several vic tims have been recovered from the mountainside and taken to the military hospital at Guelmim, the army said in t he statemen t. Loc al sources said family members were milling around the wreckage for traces of their loved ones.

The US-made Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a turbo-prop military transport plane in use in dozens of countries around the world. “ This is a militar y plane that is

used for the transport of troops, but also of their families. I t is widely used in the Sahara,” the in ter ior min istr y offic ial said.

Yesterday’s crash was the country’s worst air disaster involving a military aircraft. It’s also Morocco’s worst k nown air disaster since 1 9 7 3 , wh en 1 0 5 people were killed after a Royal Air Maroc airc r af t c r ash ed n ear th e c apital Rabat. The country’s most recent major plane crash was in 1994 wh en all 4 4 passen ger s an d crewmembers aboard a Royal Air Maroc aircraft died in a crash near the southwestern city of Agadir. A government committee later said the Agadir crash was deliberately caused by the pilot. In Dec 2001, a twin-engined plane used by the paramilitar y police crashed in southern Morocco with at least five people on board. — Agencies

7-mth-old weighs same as newborn Continued from Page 1 should be. Sirat Amine, a nurse nutritionist with the International Rescue Committee, puts the little boy’s odds of survival at just 50-50. Mihag weighs just 3.4 kg when a boy his age should weigh three times that. “We never tell the mother, of course, that their baby might not make it,” the nurse says. “We try to give them hope.”

Mihag is the youngest of seven children in his family.

His mother brought him along with four of his siblings on the journey from Kismayo to northern Kenya after all their sheep and cattle died because of drought. Like the tens of thousands of other Somalis fleeing starvation, the family traveled by foot, other times catching rides with passing trucks, cars or buses. His mother, Asiah Dagane, isn’t sure of her age but appears in her mid-30s.

She sits at her baby’s bedside with little to say: “In my mind I’m not well. My baby is sick. In my head I am also sick,” she says softly.

The United Nations estimates that more 11 million people in East Africa are affected by the drought, with 3.7 million in Somalia among the worst-hit because of the ongoing civil war in the country. Somalia’s prolonged drought devolved into famine in part because neither the Somali government nor many aid agencies

can fully operate in areas controlled by Al-Qaeda-linked militants, and the UN is set to declare all of southern Somalia a famine zone as of Aug 1.

Aid organizations including the UN World Food Program have not been able to access areas under the control of the Al-Shabab militants, who have killed humanitarian workers and banned the WFP. The UN has said it will airlift emergency rations later this week in an effort to try and reach at least 175,000 of the 2.2 million Somalis who have not been helped yet. The new feeding efforts in the four districts of southern Somalia near the border with Kenya and Ethiopia could begin by tomorrow, slowing the flow of tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes in hope of reaching aid.

But the WFP hasn’t operated there for more than two years, and must find and rehire former employees to help with distribution. Transportation is also a substantial obstacle, as land mines have severed key roads and a landing strip has fallen into disrepair. Donations are also desperately needed to sustain the aid effort in the Horn of Africa: The UN wants to gather $1.6 billion in the next 12 months, with $300 million of that coming in the next three months. Today, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said a coordination conference is due to be held in the Kenyan capital. — AP

Kuwait denies bombings at Mubarak port...

Continued from Page 1 Responding to the Iraqi speaker’s comments, Kuwaiti legal expert Tariq Harb called on Iraq to fight the United Nations Security Council rather than Kuwait as it’s the body that issued the 1993 decision that reallocated much of the Iraqi waterfront area in the Gulf to Kuwait, which helped Kuwait to plan the new port.

Another Iraqi MP Abdul Elah AlNaely earlier called upon the Iraqi government to make the issue of Mubarak Al-Kabeer port an international one in case negotiations on the issue with Kuwait fail to produce the desired results. Al-Naely accused the Kuwaiti negotiators of being inflexible in their attitude to the issue, insisting that if no acceptable compromise can be reached between the two nations, the Iraqi government should resort to the Security Council and make the case an international one. Claiming that there has been some antagonism towards the Iraqi government from Kuwaiti MPs, the Iraqi lawmaker said that it was regretful that some of his parliamentary colleagues are siding with Kuwait on the issue, adding that there are no shortcuts to reaching a diplomatic settlement.

Another Iraqi lawmaker, Alya Naseeb, said that the Kuwaiti authorities were about to announce the completion of a quarter of the construction work on the new port whilst the Iraqi side is busy forming committees. Naseeb said that the Iraqi committee currently examining the contentious issue has not yet provided any clear evidence on the subject, adding that whilst the committee’s duty is to provide information about the possible effects of the port on the Iraqi economy, the

questions put by the committee members to Kuwaitis on the issue had been “naive: - she cited in particular the committee members’ questions about the port’s location, suggesting that the Kuwaiti authorities had easily managed to sidestep these. She claimed Kuwait is racing against time to complete the project and aims to conclude the first quarter of the work quickly in order to ensure that it is complete and unchallengeable.

A third Iraqi parliamentarian went even further, accusing Kuwait of corrupting young Iraqis by making drugs available to them. MP Faleh Al-Zayadi did not point the finger at Kuwait alone in making his outlandish claim, also accusing Saudi Arabia of being behind the widespread use of drugs amongst young Iraqis. Kuwaitis don’t want to have relations or real friendship with Iraq due to Kuwait’s abiding memories of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s atrocities, AlZayadi suggested.

The Iraqi MP said that the spread of drug abuse in Iraq’s Muthanna governorate was underpinned by political motivation rather than sociological reasons, suggesting rather implausibly that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are attempting to destroy Iraq’s infrastructure by ensuring that young Iraqis become drug addicts. He praised Muthanna governorate’s governing council in admitting to the scale of the drug problem amongst young people there, pointing out that given the widespread nature of the problem, it is less easy to hide than in other governorates.

Al-Zayadi alleged that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had been working closely together directly and indirectly since the fall of Saddam’s

regime to ensure insecure and unstable conditions in Iraq, adding that Kuwait’s relentless opposition to Iraq being allowed to drop its Chapter 7 obligations despite all the compensation it (Kuwait) had received was the most obvious proof of this. The MP was also scathing about Kuwait’s construction of the Mubarak port project, describing Kuwaiti policy towards Iraq as “revenge policy” rather than one of neighborliness and suggesting that the Kuwaiti authorities’ decision to build the port in the location chosen was taken to damage the Iraqi economy.

Iraq is serious about adopting a strategy of building positive and amicable relations with neighboring nations after the collapse of the former regime, said Al-Zayadi, adding that the Iraqi government has given guarantee after guarantee to Kuwait.

He asserted, however, that some Kuwaitis do not want to live with the new situation and insist on continuing with the feud between the two nations and hold the whole country of Iraq responsible for the crimes perpetrated by Saddam’s regime.

Another Iraqi MP Jawad Al-Bolani, was calmer and more conciliatory, however, appealing to Kuwait to review its attitude towards Iraq, warning that if Kuwait was to continue its antagonistic policy which only harms Iraq, this would lead to creating further regional tensions. Both Iraq and Kuwait should work for better future growth policy, and for economic and cultural strength and stability, he stressed, adding that the language of threats does not resolve crises whilst coming together to resolve outstanding issues in an adult fashion is the only guarantee of building positive relations between the two states.

Muslims prepare for summer fast Continued from Page 1 The fast-breaking meal - which varies by ethnic group but traditionally starts with a handful of sweet dates - is seen by many Muslims as an opportunity to gather with family and friends. This year Ramadan begins Aug 1, when the period from dawn to sunset in the continental US can range from around 14 to around 16 hours, depending where you live. The Islamic calendar follows the lunar cycle, which is shorter than the sun-based Gregorian calendar, so Ramadan creeps up 11 days every year. Ramadan can last 29 or 30 days, again depending on the lunar cycle.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the most important duties in Islam, one that even the not-so-religious typically observe. Children are not required to fast until they hit puberty, though many start building up to it when they’re younger with half-day fasts. Also exempt are the elderly, women who are pregnant or nursing, and people with chronic medical conditions. But even for healthy Muslims, the daily fast from dawn until sunset can be grueling.

Rourke teaches medical residents about Ramadan and its implications for patients - how to adjust medication regimens to fit the daytime fast when possible, how to advise patients on avoiding dehydration, how to enlist help from a local religious leader if someone who shouldn’t be fasting expresses the intention to do so. Even for a totally healthy person to sustain that fast for a long period of time during a time where it can be very hot, it’s a very demanding thing to ask of your body,” Rourke says.

Sheikh Ali, a college student from Boca Raton, Florida, tries to ease his body into Ramadan mode by fasting intermittently the prior month, a practice of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that some people emulate. The premed chemistry major also extols the benefits of eating a high-fiber breakfast, like whole grain cereal, especially in the predawn meal before fasting to help keep him feeling full.

Still, many Muslims say they won’t do much differently this year and they’re not too worried about the summer Ramadan. “Once you’ve done it for this long,” says Natasha Chida, a medical resident at the University of Miami who’s been fasting since she was in middle school, “it’s not really something that’s physically difficult, it’s just about continuing to learn self-restraint.”

Beyond abstaining from food and drink, Muslims try to avoid negative words, thoughts and actions while fasting.

Ramadan is seen as an opportunity to improve oneself, spiritually and personally. Rizwan Jaka, a technology man-

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: This July 20, 2011 photo shows personal trainer Mubarakah Ibrahim as she stretches during her early morning boot camp class. — AP ager in Washington, DC, puts the fast in perspective by reflecting on and empathizing with those in need, one of the main purposes of fasting. “In the end, we have to realize that people go without food and water on a regular basis,” Jaka says. Whatever hardships people feel during their fast, he adds, “we’ve got it easy compared to people who don’t have access to food and running water.” — AP

Norway killer insane: Lawyer Continued from Page 1 government centre in Oslo and shooting dead 68 people on a nearby island, Lippestad said: “He can’t be punished in a jail.” Also yesterday, Norwegian authorities indicated they may charge the suspect with crimes against humanity as the government rose to the defence of police following criticism of the response to the island shooting spree.

Lippestad, appearing to pave the way for a defence that could see his client escape prison, after medical experts acceptable to the prosecution are found, said Breivik “has a view on reality that is very, very difficult to explain”. He said his client used unspecified drugs to make himself “strong, efficient, to keep him awake” going into Friday’s rampage. “He thought he’d be killed after the bombing, after the action on the island, and he also thought he’d be killed at trial,” Lippestad said. In fact, “he was a little bit surprised that he succeeded, that in his mind he succeeded,” Lippestad added.

Asked whether Breivik had shown any empathy for his mainly young victims, Lippestad said: “No.” Breivik wrote and published a 1,500-page manifesto immediately before starting his bombing and shooting spree.

“He believes this war will continue for 60 years and in 60 years this war will be won,” Lippestad said of the events he believes he has triggered, preparations for which are painstakingly chronicled in the tract.

In Oslo, the head of the Labour Party’s youth movement vowed to restore its summer camp on the island.

“We are sending a clear message: we are going to reclaim the island,” party youth leader Eskil Andersen said. A Norwegian businessman already having pledged around €600,000 ($870,000) to redevelop the island, 40 km northwest of Oslo. Authorities said earlier they were considering charging Breivik with crimes against humanity over the massacre in Norway as the government leapt to the defence of the police over its handling of the tragedy.

Faced with the worst crimes on its territory since World War II, many in Norway have been dismayed by the prospect that the perpetrator could serve just 21 years behind bars - the maximum sentence allowed for the terrorism charges that Behring Breivik currently faces. But prosecutor Christian Hatlo told the Aftenposten newspaper that police are now envisaging charging him with crimes against humanity for the bombing of Oslo’s government district and a shooting bloodbath on a nearby island. “Police have so far cited... the law on terrorism but seeking other charges has not been excluded,” police spokesman Sturla Henreiksboe told AFP. “No final decision has yet been taken,” he said.

Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks at his first court appearance on Monday when he was remanded in custody for eight weeks. He says he was on a Crusade to

save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim invasion and that the attacks targeting the Labour Party-led government and its youth wing were “cruel” but “necessary”.

Police also started releasing the names of those killed, many of them children. The father of one of the first victims to be named said his son was full of love for people and for the outdoors - and his last words were “Dad, someone is shooting.” Police named the first four of at least 76 people killed. Although only names, ages and hometowns were listed, it will likely bring another shock to friends and acquaintances who did not already know of their deaths. The first release listed three who were killed in a bomb blast in Oslo’s government quarter and one killed at the island youth camp. They were Gunnar Linaker, 23, from Bardu in northern Norway, who was killed at the camp; and Oslo residents Tove Aashill Knutsen, 56; Hanna M. Orvik Endresen, 61; and Kai Hauge, 33.

Gunnar Linaker’s father told AP by telephone that Gunnar was “a calm, big teddy bear with lots of humor and lots of love”. Linaker says he had been on the phone with his son concerning another matter when the shooting started. He says, “He said to me: ‘Dad, dad, someone is shooting,’ and then he hung up.” Earlier yesterday, the national newspaper Dagbladet posted the names and photos of 16 people it said were killed in the attacks or missing. The information, apparently received from friends or relatives, showed three victims who did not appear to be ethnic Norwegians - examples of the multiethnic Norway that Breivik says he despised.

The police have come in for heavy criticism over the time it took them to reach Utoeya island where Behring Breivik shot dead 68 of his victims in a spree that lasted around 90 minutes. It also emerged on Monday that police investigated Breivik in March for a purchase of chemicals, but the probe was dropped. In a press conference yesterday, Norway’s Justice Minister Knut Storberget rejected criticism of a delay in police getting to the Utoeya island, saying the force had “delivered extremely well” with “fantastic” work. The manifesto saw Breivik boast that he was one of up to 80 “solo martyr cells” recruited across Western Europe to topple governments tolerant of Islam. Police are probing his claim that he is part of a network with more active cells.

Lippestad said that one of the reasons Breivik’s first court appearance on Monday was behind closed doors was for fear he would send coded signals to other cells.

His client was disappointed that the hearing was not open to the public, Lippestad added. But in signs that police are sceptical that Breivik was part of a wider network, border controls imposed on July 22 were lifted late on Monday. Norway has not asked other countries to launch probes, nor has it raised the threat level for terrorism. — Agencies

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

Doubts over Kaneria integrity KARACHI: Pakistan Test spinner Danish Kaneria will not be considered for national selection until the Pakistan Cricket Board have no remaining doubts about his integrity, the PCB told a High Court hearing yesterday. The board’s legal counsel, Tafazzul Rizvi, made the statement at a hearing of the Sindh High court that is hearing a petition filed by Kaneria against the PCB’s refusal to clear him to play international cricket. Kaneria claims the PCB should not consider him ineligible. The leg-spinner had his contract terminated

by English county Essex last season after he had come under investigation in a spot-fixing case involving a Pro-40 match. Essex police cleared Kaneria, 30, who submitted letters to the PCB from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and his county team to prove he was not under investigation.

“Kaneria cannot be considered for selection unless he produces the documents and material related to his questioning by the police last year,” Rizvi told the court after Kaneria asked the court to direct the PCB to consider him for next month’s tour of Zimbabwe. — Reuters

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Monday. San Diego 5, Philadelphia 4; NY Yankees 10, Seattle 3; Cleveland 3, LA Angels 2; Kansas City 3, Boston 1 (14 innings); Pittsburgh 3, Atlanta 1; NY Mets 4, Cincinnati 2; Texas 20, Minnesota 6; Chicago White Sox 6, Detroit 3; St. Louis 10, Houston 5; Oakland 7, Tampa Bay 5; LA Dodgers 8, Colorado 5.

Boston NY Yankees Tampa Bay Toronto Baltimore

American League Eastern Division W L PCT 62 38 .620 60 40 .600 53 48 .525 51 51 .500 40 58 .408

GB 2 9.5 12 21

Detroit Cleveland C’ White Sox Minnesota Kansas City

Central Division 54 48 .529 52 48 .520 50 51 .495 47 55 .461 43 59 .422

1 3.5 7 11

Texas LA Angels Oakland Seattle

Western Division 59 44 .573 55 48 .534 45 57 .441 43 59 .422

4 13.5 15.5

Philadelphia Atlanta NY Mets Washington Florida

National League Eastern Division 64 37 .634 59 44 .573 51 51 .500 49 52 .485 49 53 .480

6 13.5 15 15.5

Pittsburgh St. Louis Milwaukee Cincinnati Chicago Cubs Houston

Central Division 53 47 .530 54 48 .529 54 49 .524 50 52 .490 42 60 .412 33 69 .324

.5 4 12 21

San Francisco Arizona Colorado LA Dodgers San Diego

Western Division 59 43 .578 55 47 .539 48 55 .466 46 56 .451 45 58 .437

4 11.5 13 14.5

India buoyant despite loss NEW DELHI: India coach Armando Colaco believes his team can turn around its 2014 World Cup qualifier against United Arab Emirates tomorrow, despite having lost the first leg 3-0 last weekend after being reduced to nine men during the first half. Colaco, who blamed the referee for Saturday’s defeat in the first leg of their second round contest, was upbeat as he prepared for the return fixture at Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. “It’s a new game and we will try to put our best foot forward,” Colaco was quoted as saying by The Indian Express yesterday. “We know we have a tough task in hand but we are ready for the next encounter and if we can

get an early goal, the result can be overturned.”

Colaco felt his side could have beaten UAE in the first leg had it not been for the two red cards shown by Qatari referee Banjar Al Dosari within the first 23 minutes of play in Al Ain. The UAE converted both the resulting penalties to go 2-0 up and added the third goal in the 82nd minute. “The two red cards were unfair. I had written to the Asian Football Confederation in the past that Gulf referees should be kept out of matches involving a Gulf team,” he said.

Colaco, who replaced England’s Bob Houghton earlier this year, praised his team for a spirited display.—Reuters

Polanski in Poland squad WARSAW: Polish-born former German youth international Eugen Polanski has become the latest foreign name in Euro 2012 hosts Poland’s squad, as embattled manager Franciszek Smuda seeks new faces. Yesterday’s decision to call up Polanski, 25, for an August 10 home friendly against Georgia is controversial because until recently he showed no interest in playing for the land of his birth.

Smuda’s decision reportedly has divided the rest of his squad, some of whom already question his tactical choices and allegedly erratic player-naming policy.

“Smuda picks Polanski and splits his team,” headlined the tabloid Fakt. With Poland desperate to shine in the 2012 European Championships-which they will co-host with neighbours Ukraine-their PZPN football association has been scouting for new faces in the world’s huge Polish diaspora. For Michal Zachodny, author of the respected blog “Polish Football Scout”, Polanski will struggle to convince. “He is too weak for Germany, despite playing 19 games for U21. — AFP

Indians down Angels CLEVELAND: Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis delivered his first career hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning to give the Indians a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the American League on Monday.

Kipnis hit a pitch from Hisanori Takahashi throught the gap between first and second base, giving the Indians their 11th home win in their last at-bat this season, and breaking a four-game losing streak.

Bobby Abreu’s two-run homer had put the Angels ahead 2-1 in the eighth, but Cleveland reliever Tony Sipp (5-2) pitched a scoreless ninth to enable the late rally.

Rangers 20, Twins 6 In Arlington, Texas, the hosts piled on a league-best 27 hits to rout Minnesota.

Ian Kinsler homered and drove in four runs; Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz had four hits as all but one of the Rangers starters had at least two.

Michael Young also went deep and had three RBIs for Texas, which had 18 runs by the end of the fifth inning.

Things were so one-sided that outfielder Michael Cuddyer pitched the eighth inning for the Twins.

He gave up a double, a single and a walk to load the bases but got outs on a fly ball and a pop-up to complete a scoreless inning. He was the first Twins position player to pitch in a game for 21 years.

Royals 3, Red Sox 1 In Boston, Eric Hosmer doubled leading off the 14th inning and scored when a bunt bounced over the head of an onrushing fielder, giving Kansas City victory over Boston.

Mike Aviles’ bunt went over the head of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Royals reliever Louis Coleman (1-2) went two innings and twice pitched out of jams to take the win.

The Red Sox threatened to score five times in the last six innings, but the Royals made their best chance count.

Hosmer doubled off Randy Williams (0-1).

CLEVELAND: Los Angeles Angels’ Vernon Wells (10) steals second base as Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera takes a throw in the fourth inning. —AP Tigers manager Jim Leyland was ejected He also tripled in the eighth.

White Sox 6, Tigers 3 In Chicago, the hosts downed Detroit before the start of the sixth. There was Athletics 7, Rays 5 to move within 3-1/2 games of top spot no immediate word on why he was In Oakland, the hosts came from in the AL Central. Mark Buehrle (8-5) thrown out. three runs down to defeat Tampa pitched six innings and allowed a runBay.Conor Jackson hit a two-run double Yankees 10, Mariners 3 ner on base in each but the Tigers manIn New York, the home team handed in the seventh inning, Cliff Pennington aged to only get two unearned runs against him.Carlos Quentin hit a bases- hapless Seattle its 16th straight loss. homered and David DeJesus added two loaded double for the White Sox while After a two-hour rain delay, the game hits, including an RBI single to start the Paul Konerko hit his 23rd homer of the was barely under way when M ark A’s comeback. Brian Fuentes (2-8), the season and A.J. Pierzynski also went Teixeira began the procession with a second of five A’s pitchers, worked twotwo-run homer to left field. In the third, thirds of an inning for his first win since long.

Detroit rookie Duane Below (0-1) sur- Derek Jeter hit his first homer since April. Rays reliever J.P. Howell (2-2) took rendered four runs in 4 2-3 innings. connecting for hit No. 3,000 on July 9. the loss. —AP

US defeat rival Japan for softball World Cup title OKLAHOMA CITY: The United States beat Japan 6-4 on Monday to win its fifth straight title in the World Cup of Softball. Taylor Hoagland hit a two-run home run and Valerie Arioto and Megan Langenfeld had RBI singles for the home team.

American starting pitcher Jordan Taylor (1-0) retired the first eight batters she faced and did not give up a hit until the fifth inning.

“It feels amazing, just because nobody really knew who this group of girls was,” said Taylor. “We were just kind of underground a little bit. It definitely felt good to come out and still show that USA softball is staying strong.”

In the latest clash between the sport’s two powers, the US avenged a loss to Japan in the championship game of the Canada Cup earlier this month.

The Americans won the first three Olympic gold medals and have won the past seven world championships, but Japan holds the gold medal from the 2008 Olympics. The teams have met in the finals in five of the six World Cups, with the US winning four times.

Japan was without injured ace pitcher Yukiko Ueno, who had been a nemesis for the US with wins including the 2008 gold medal game, the 2005 World Cup title game and a shutout in Canada earlier this month.

Makiko Fujiwara (1-2) started in her place and walked four straight batters in the first before Brittany Schutte’s sacrifice fly put the U.S. up 2-0.

The U.S. was lucky in the third when Kaitlin Cochran appeared to be out at third base but the triple was allowed to stand, and she scored on Arioto’s

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

sp orts

single to right to make it 3-0. Japan got within 3-1 on Rie Nagayoshi’s RBI groundout in the fifth.

Then Haruka Kageyama was given a single when her ground ball hit Mika Suzuki as she ran down the third base line. Japan coach Reika Utsugi protested, and then returned to the home plate umpire to motion for her to look at a replay, to no avail.

Langenfeld had a pinch-hit single to bump the Americans’ lead to 4-1 in the fifth and Japan replied with a run from Hoagland’s throwing error in the sixth to make it 4-2.

Hoagland’s two-run blast made it 6-

2 in the bottom of the sixth. That proved crucial because Japan got two runs in the seventh when Michelle Moultrie dropped Eri Yamada’s twoout flyball in the seventh. Two runs scored and Yamada reached third, but Misa Okubo popped up an attempted bunt to end the game.

Much of the star power was missing in this World Cup, with no Olympic veterans on the US roster as the sport won’t be played on that stage until at least 2020 - if then. Several stars have retired since the 2008 games, and others decided to play pro ball instead of continuing on Team USA. —AP

Pirates see off Braves ATLANTA: Pittsburgh’s James McDonald struck out a careerhigh nine batters in 5 1-3 scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Monday to stay equal top of the National League Central division.

Pittsburgh is tied with St. Louis for first place in the division, half a game ahead of Milwaukee, which was off Monday.

McDonald (6-4) had the most strikeouts by a Pirates pitcher in almost two years. He did not walk a batter and ended each of the first five innings with strikeouts. McDonald has not allowed a run in two straight wins.

Padres 5, Phillies 4 In Philadelphia, San Diego beat Philadelphia for the first time in more than a year, ending a run of 10 straight defeats by the Phillies.

San Diego starting pitcher Aaron Harang (9-2) outpitched Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee, giving up four runs in six innings. Lee (9-7) lasted only four innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. He allowed five runs and made a pickoff blunder that allowed San Diego’s Chris Denorfia to steal home.

His soft toss to first gave Denorfia the opening he needed to bolt from third and give the Padres a 3-1 lead. Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 29th save.

OKLAHOMA: The US team holds the trophy in the air after defeating Japan in the championship game of the World Cup of Softball. The U.S. won 6-4. —AP

Mets 4, Reds 2 In Cincinnati, Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly started a four-run

PHILADELPHIA: Phillies’ Ryan Howard (right) is tagged out at home plate by San Diego Padres catcher Rob Johnson while trying to score on a double by Shane Victorino in the first inning. —AP rally in the seventh inning that vaulted New York past Cincinnati.

The Mets rallied against Reds pitcher Mike Leake (8-6) and two relievers. New York starter R.A. Dickey (5-8) allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings and was backed up by David Wright’s run-scoring single and RBI doubles from both Daniel Murphy and Jason Bay. Cardinals 10, Astros 5 In St. Louis, catcher Yadier Molina fell only a a triple shy of hitting the cycle for the second time in three games as St. Louis downed Houston.

After a single, double and a homer, Molina missed his only shot for the cycle when he took a called third strike in the eighth. His homer came in the fourth off J.A. Happ (4-12).

Cardinals star ter Kyle McClellan (7-6) ended an eightgame victory drought, allowing

only one run and no walks.

Colby Rasmus homered for the second straight game and had three RBIs for St. Louis.

Trailing 8-1, Houston’s Carlos Lee made it interesting with his 16th career grand slam in the eighth, cutting the gap to three runs before St. Louis answered with two.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 5 In Los Angeles, Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer to help Los Angeles defeat Colorado. Aaron Miles and recently acquired Juan Rivera had run-scoring doubles to help starting pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (4-4) end a winless stretch of six straight starts.

He allowed one run over six innings, striking out five. De La Rosa has an ERA of 3.49 in his nine big league starts. Rockies starter Juan Nicasio (4-3) gave up five run in 5 2-3 innings for the loss. —AP

y

A

17

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

S P ORT S

Carmont wants Cup as leaving gift for Maguire LONDON: George Carmont has called on Wigan to win the Challenge Cup as a parting gift for coach Michael Maguire before he leaves for South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The 33-year-old centre, who played 83 times for the Newcastle Knights, had a hand in three of the Warriors’ eight tries as they ended Warrington’s bid to win the Cup for a third successive season with a 4424 quarter-final win.

Ex-Wests Tigers wing Pat Richards booted six goals and scored two tries for a personal points tally of 20 while centre Josh Charnley followed suit in crossing twice for Wigan.

To their credit, the Wolves came close to edging in front of Wigan thanks mainly to a double from centre Matt King, who like Maguire

is also off to the Rabbitohs next season, but they couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

And Carmont, who signed a new one year deal with Wigan this month, wants them to not only concentrate on retaining their Super League crown but also adding the Challenge Cup to it in Maguire’s last season.

“The Challenge Cup has got a lot of history and tradition, especially where Wigan is involved, and it means a lot to the boys,” Carmont said.

“We have a good group of people at the club and Michael has been great since he has been here.

As a group of people, it would be good to win it this year.

“I think everyone knows how much it means to each other and

everyone is doing their best to try to go down in history as one of the Wigan teams to win the Challenge Cup. “But we know we can’t look too far ahead. It is back to work next week and back into the Super League and we have got to take each week as it comes.”

Wigan, who have won the Challenge Cup 17 times including eight straight between 1986 and 1995, will face St Helens in the semi-finals after they made light work of seeing off Hull KR 54-6.

Saints ran in ten tries to Rovers’ one -including one from New Zealander Iosia Soliola-to reach the last four for the 11th successive time, leaving coach Royce Simmons to reflect on the club’s Challenge Cup pedigree.

“It is hard to single out one particular player after a performance like that. A lot of the guys performed close to their best and that is going to result in a good team performance,” Simmons said.

“We have never spoken about 11 semi-finals in a row, it was all about players preparing to get this job done and they did just that.

“But I do remember my dad waking me up as a young kid to watch the Challenge Cup on T V back home in Australia. It would be fantastic to get to Wembley.”

Castleford coach Terry Matterson will also bid farewell at the end of the season and his Tigers saw off Huddersfield 22-18 to set up a last four clash with Leeds, who beat Hull 38-22.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s my last

year, my first year or my third year or whatever, you want to get as far as you can,” Matterson said.

Meanwhile, England’s decision to wear a controversial black strip during the upcoming World Cup has left New Zealand great Jonah Lomu “dumbfounded” with the former winger questioning the motives of the decision in an interview with Reuters.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) released a statement on Friday saying the England team would wear the new second strip for the home international against Wales on Aug. 6 and then for their opening World Cup match against Argentina on Sept. 10.

The move has been met with derision in New Zealand, who will host the Sept. 9-Oct. 23 tourna-

ment, and the hulking 1.96m former All Black winger has also thrown his considerable weight behind those questioning England’s plans.

“I find it really weird,” a puzzled Lomu explained to Reuters in an inter view on Tuesday beside a rooftop swimming pool overlooking the city-state’s stunning skyline.

“When I saw the picture, I was just saying, ‘one thing is for sure, the All Blacks are the original and anybody who is after the original is an imitator.’

“England don’t need to do that, they don’t need to wear it. They are synonymous with wearing white... we have always known them in the white shirt and its a huge step in a different direction from the history they have had.”—Agencies

Russell topples Tursunov

Allyson Felix celebrates in this file photo

Felix seeks gold in both 200 and 400m at worlds R ALEIGH: Three -times world 200 metres champion Allyson Felix will seek to become the first woman to win world championships gold at both 200 and 400 metres next month in South Korea, she said on Monday.

“Decided to go for the double (200/400) at WC’s,” Felix said on her Twitter account. “Will be very difficult, but first step to accomplishing greatness is trying.”

France’s Marie-Jose Perec won both the 200 and 400 metres at the 1996 Olympics but no woman has been successful in the world championships.

Felix, 25, had debated whether to attempt the double at the Aug 27-Sept 4 championships in Daegu, S outh Korea because of the schedule.

The 400 metres will come first on the programme, with its three rounds putting ex tra strain on Felix ’s legs before she tries for an unprecedented fourth world 200m title.

“The fourth 200 is something that would be very special,” Felix said last month, “but the opportunity to double is something that does not come around a lot. “If the 200 was first in the

Abdullah Abbas

world championships, it would kind of be a no-brainer for me,” she said in an interview while pondering her decision. “For me it is easier to sprint first, and then come back.”

Felix earned a chance to try for the double by winning the 400 metres at last month’s U.S. world trials. She had a bye in the 200 as the reigning world champion.

She also is a member of U.S. pools for the 4x100 and 4x400 metres relays.

Felix won gold medals in the 200 and both relays at the 2007 world championships but did not try the 400.

Although the Diamond League champion at both 200 and 400 metres last year, she does not have the world’s fastest time in either event this season.

American Shalonda Solomon tops the 200 metres list at 22.15 seconds.

Russian Anastasiya Kapachinskaya has clocked 49.35 seconds in the 400.

Felix, who was beaten by compatriot Carmelita Jeter in the 200 metres at Friday’s Diamond League meeting in Monaco, ranks third in the world at 400 metres (49.81 seconds) and fifth in the 200 (22.32 seconds). —Reuters

Ahmad Sultan

LOS ANGELES: American Michael Russell pulled off the first upset of the 2011 Los Angeles ATP tournament, rallying to topple sixth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-2.

Tursunov, ranked 46th in the world and a title winner already this year at Rosmalen, saved two set points against his serve in the 12th game of the opening set, holding to force the tiebreaker.

After eking out the victory in the first set, however, Tursunov went flat and the 110thranked Russell went on to triumph in 1hr 52min.

Tursunov was the only seeded player in action Monday.

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun emerged victorious from a potentially tricky first-round match, downing American wild card Robby Ginepri 6-4, 7-5.

Lu needed little more than an hour and a half to defeat Ginepri, who is coming off a serious elbow injury and playing only his second ATP tournament of the year.

But Lu said he knew Ginepri, owner of three career titles, would be a difficult test, even if his injury layoff has seen his ranking plummet to 370th in the world.

“He just got back, but everyone knows he’s a fighter,” Lu said. “I expected a lot of deuces. I just told myself to be strong, to keep up with him and try to win.”

Lu admitted he found it a bit difficult to adjust to the conditions in Los Angeles after the sticky humidity last week in Atlanta, where he reached the quarter-finals.

But he was pleased to get through to a second-round clash with third-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Juan Martin del Potro is also looking ahead-in particular to the US Open, scene of his breakthrough Grand Slam triumph in 2009.

“I am very excited to come back to New York,” said del Potro, who didn’t get a chance to defend his title at Flushing Meadows in 2010 after a wrist injury cut short his season.

“If I could start to play tomorrow I would. First I have very important tournaments before. “This tournament it’s important for me-it will be my first tournament after clay and grass season.”

The Argentinian is the second seed behind American Mardy Fish in the $619,500 tournament, with Baghdatis and Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci rounding out the top four, who all have first-round byes.

LOS ANGELES: Dmitry Tursunov of Russia returns a shot during a match against Michael Russell at the Farmers Classic tennis tournament. —AP Del Potro, who has painstakingly climbed from 484th in the world rankings to 19th, said he was ready to put the wrist injury behind him and just focus on his game.

“It has been a very long while since my wrist injury. Now I’m OK and getting better with my tennis, with my mind, and all my problems are in the past,” said del Potro, who joked that he had answered so many questions about the injury that he now just pushes “play” and starts talking when asked about it. He’s less concerned with the past than with the future and his goal of returning to the top 10. “I still believe in my game,” said Del Potro. “I’m very confident with my level at this moment.” American Ryan Sweeting, who captured his first career title at

Houston in April, turned the tables on Somdev Devvarman, notching a straight-set victory over the Indian who had beaten him in the first round at Atlanta last week.

Sweeting triumphed 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), but Devvarman turned it into a dogfight at the end as he recovered an early second-set break then broke Sweeting in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.

Neither player could hold serve for the next three games-until Sweeting held to knot the score at 5-5. Sweeting needed three match points to put away the tiebreaker and said he was happy to avenge his Atlanta defeat. “Any time you play Somdev you know it’s going to be a battle,” he said. “It’s never easy.” —AFP

Sharapova looking ahead to renew rivalry with Serena STANFORD: The prospect of renewing her long rivalry with Serena Williams has provided Maria Sharapova with added incentive to win this week’s Stanford Classic.

The Russian and the American are both on comebacks from health problems and could meet in the quarter-finals at Stanford as they launch their U.S hard court seasons in California. “I love playing against her,” Sharapova said. “We’ve had very, very tough matches against each other.

“I don’t have a great record against her and I would love to change that. There is no doubt I

would love to play her this Summer at some point.” The pair have played each other eight times, with Williams winning six and the Russian twice. Sharapova beat Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final but the American has won their last five in a row.

“Rivalries are exciting for me and for the sport,” Sharapova said.

“That’s what women’s tennis really needs and men’s tennis doesn’t lack. To be able to create those types of rivalries in the women’s game is important.” Sharapova is also planning to play at Toronto and Cincinnati before heading to New York for the US Open.

The three-time Grand Slam winner made the finals at Stanford and Cincinnati last year but ran out of steam at Flushing Meadows, falling to Caroline Wozniacki after an error- strewn performance, but said she would be better prepared this time.

“I played some great matches during last summer,” she said.

“There’s no doubt about it. The problem was it wasn’t enough for the US Open. For some reason, that level didn’t come to the one where it really mattered most.

That’s just the way it goes.”

Sharapova has won four titles since returning from shoulder sur-

gery in 2009 but has not won a grand slam since 2008. However, she showed signs this year she is getting closer to her peak, reaching the semi-finals at the French Open then the final at Wimbledon.

“I was glad I didn’t come home after Wimbledon empty handed,” the fifth-ranked Russian said.

“To have that moment where you’re walking out in the final stage of Wimbledon, even though you didn’t leave with the big trophy, gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that I’ve been doing something right in the last few months and I’ve been getting better.” —Reuters

Nasser Al-Shwwaf

Kuwait to participate in Taekwondo championship

Lee Hye yoon

Bader Saleh

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Taekwondo National Team will participate in the World Taekwondo Championship 2011, to be held in Namyangju city, South Korea, August 10-13.

The team stated in a press release that the participating delegation will include the team’s Korean coach, international referee Lee Hye yoon, in addition to the Kuwaiti coach Bader Saleh, and players Ahmad Sultan, Nasser AlShwwaf, and Abdullah Abbas.

They are black belt players holding several titles. —KUNA

IOWA: Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong (center) rides in The Des Moines Register’s annual bike ride across Iowa, also know as RAGBRAI yesterday in Lidderdale. —AP

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

sp orts

London Games will outdo Beijing because of freedom LONDON: If Johnnie Walker lived in China, the police would have knocked on his door by now: “You, come with us.” Because Walker bad-mouths the Olympic Games.

Publicly, vocally.

To park buses and other vehicles a year from now, organizers of London 2012 have requisitioned a dozen of his best football pitches from the amateur league that Walker runs. The chirpy Londoner is, in local parlance, mightily cheesed off about that. “We’re being pushed aside for three weeks of elitist sport,” says Walker, chairman of the Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League, founded in 1947.

The vast and boxy new Olympic media center to host journalists next summer, which Walker can see from his East London home, is also “bloody awful,” he gripes.

“I’ve seen better buildings pulled down.”

Sssshhh! You’ll get into trouble! That’s what we might have said to someone like Walker in Beijing in 2008. Had we actually seen and heard them, that is. Vocal complainers, impassioned protesters, critical and searching public debate about the pros and cons of an Olympics were largely notable by their absence in China.

The Olympic movement was poorer for it. There was the brave soul I saw being marched away after he distributed leaflets outside Beijing’s Olympic park that com-

plained about games construction.

There were the labor camp grannies, Wu Dianyuan and her neighbor Wang Xiuying, ladies in their 70s who were threatened with prison after they showed that government promises were hollow and cynical. Having said they would allow protests in designated zones during the Olympics, Chinese authorities refused all those who applied. The elderly women called the government’s bluff, repeatedly trying for a permit, and were instead told they’d be sent to a labor camp for one year.

After the Olympics, Wu and Wang’s sentence was revoked, but the list of people who were locked up or otherwise made to shut up was still too long for the games to leave a sweet taste, despite the sporting feats of Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and other champions.

The London Olympics a year from now won’t match Beijing for grandeur. Pennypinching Britain doesn’t have the moneyno-object resources that Communist leaders marshaled, with minimal public scrutiny, to dress China in the best possible light for its Olympic coming-out ball.

London’s Olympic venues won’t be as iconic as Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium or its Water Cube where Phelps struck gold 8 times. The terrorism risk in London will be higher. The city’s groaning public transport

Contador’s doping hearing postponed GENEVA: World sport’s top court said yesterday it has agreed to postpone a doping hearing concerning Spanish three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, with the new dates likely to be in November.

“As a consequence of the parties’ request, the hearing which was scheduled for 1, 2 and 3 August, 2011 is cancelled and will be rescheduled for new dates, probably in November 2011,” said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a statement, marking the second delay in the hearing. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and world cycling’s governing body UCI are appealing against the Spanish cycling federation’s (RFEC) decision to acquit 28-year-old Contador over a failed doping case.

The case was originally due to be heard before CAS over three days in Lausanne from June 6-8 in order to have the decision before the start of the Tour de France on July 2.

But Contador’s defence team was granted a delay until August. Just a week ahead of the rescheduled hearing, the CAS said the latest request for the delay was put forward by the dispute’s complainant WADA, with the unanimous agreement of other parties in the dispute. The delay would allow time for another round of written submissions on some scientific issues, added the Lausanne-based court.

The new dates would be fixed in the coming days, it added. Contador tested positive for a tiny amount of the banned muscle-building substance clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France, which he went on to win. But he was cleared to compete when the RFEC rescinded an initial decision to hand down a one-year competition ban, accepting the rider’s claim that he had unknowingly consumed drug-contaminated meat and was therefore not negligent.

Contador finished fifth in this year’s Tour.—AFP

FRANCE: France’s rugby union national team No. 8 Louis Picamoles (left) jumps to grab the ball during a training session on July 26, 2011 in Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans.

French squad begins its second altitude training as part of its preparation for the upcoming 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.—AFP

Patel maiden century not enough for Kenya NAIROBI: Kenya batsman Rakep Patel’s maiden century was not enough as the UAE battled back to claim a four-wicket victory in the second one-day international at the Nairobi Gymkhana club grounds yesterday.

After being put into bat, Kenya, who won the first match by 66 runs on Monday, made 230-9 on the back of Patel’s 124 off 154 balls, which included six sixes and nine fours.

He also shared a middle-order partnership with Tanmay Mishra, who contributed 51. The UAE lost an early wicket in their run chase, but Amjad Ali (60) and an unbeaten 65 from skipper Khurram Khan propelled their hot pursuit. They managed to overhaul the Kenyan total with 20 balls to spare. The two teams meet again in the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup opening match at the same venue tomorrow.—AFP

Australia overhaul bowling unit SYDNEY: Australia included three uncapped bowlers in their 15-man squad named yesterday for three tests against Sri Lanka in an overhaul of the unit which was hammered by England in the Ashes debacle.

Spinner Nathan Lyon and quick Trent Copeland were surprise inclusions, while another paceman, James Pattinson, had been expected to be selected for the September tests after touring with the one-day team to Bangladesh earlier this year.

Off-spinner Lyon, who has played just a handful of first class matches, will be the 11th spinner to be used in a test match since Shane Warne retired in 2007 should he make his debut in Sri Lanka.

“Nathan may be a surprise selection, but he impressed all who have seen him in the last year and bowled beautifully (on the A team tour to Zimbabwe),” chief selector Andrew Hilditch said of the 24-year-old.

“He is a young man with immense potential and we feel he will take this opportunity should he get the chance to play in Sri Lanka.”

Left-armer Michael Beer, who emerged from obscurity to play in the final Ashes test, was the other specialist spinner included in the squad but Jason Krejza has been left out after a disappointing tour of Zimbabwe.

“Unfortunately Jason did not bowl as well as we, or I am sure he, would have liked during this tour and therefore he has not been rewarded with selection,” said Hilditch.

Ryan Harris returned to the squad after

missing the end of the Ashes series through injury but there was no place for his fellow pacemen Doug Bollinger or Ben Hilfenhaus, who struggled against England.

“Ryan Harris has recovered well from injury and deserves to come back after bowling so well during the Ashes series,” Hilditch added. “We have also added two exciting young fast bowlers in Victoria’s James Pattinson and New South Wales’ Trent Copeland. “Trent has earned his position with some fine performances for New South Wales and has bowled very well on the Australia A tour.

“James is a young fast bowler with the potential to play an important role for Australia in all three forms of the game and we look forward to watching his further development during this tour.”

Top order batsman Shaun Marsh is the fourth uncapped player to be included in the party, which will play tests in Galle, Kandy and Colombo from Aug. 31.

After the dumping of the experienced Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes will step up to play with Shane Watson in the first-choice opening partnership, Hilditch said. “We believe the squad has a really good blend of experience and young talented players who we are sure are ready for the challenges ahead,” he added. “Since the immense disappointment of the Ashes series, the coaching staff and playing group have worked tirelessly to prepare for the challenge ahead.”—Reuters

system may not run as smoothly. The food won’t be as good.

But these will still be better Olympics in some ways, they already are - because London has the key ingredient that Beijing sorely lacked to host truly soul-searing games: freedom.

To feel comfortable, an enterprise as expensive, as huge and as disruptive as an Olympics should always be subject to the highest possible degrees of public scrutiny.

When taxpayers watching their wallets in tough economic times are having to fund a sports event that they likely won’t even get tickets for, then they must be allowed to complain and be listened to. Officials with control over Olympic billions should publicly account for every penny. If you want to daub yourself in body paint and run through town in only your briefs and a cardboard sign reading “Olympics(equals)hate” you should be able to do that, too - without needing a permit first. In Beijing, these essential elements were missing. The result was the instrumentalization of the Olympics. They became the expensive and elaborate propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party. The Olympics suffered in credibility and atmosphere as a result. In choosing Beijing, the International Olympic Committee bet that the games would spur

significant human rights changes. Seeing the IOC cast around for excuses when the bet didn’t pay off was unedifying.

A rare public critic of Beijing was internationally known artist Ai Weiwei. Initially a consultant on the Bird’s Nest, he later disassociated himself from the design, calling it a “fake smile” to mask social and political problems in China. Chinese authorities struck back at the outspoken Ai this year, detaining him for nearly three months on tax allegations.

London 2012 is a polar opposite, operating under impressive levels of transparency and public accountability. The Olympic movement - even a year before the flame is lit in London is better for it.

London Olympic officials are regularly and publicly grilled about everything games-related.

Even expense claims filed by Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt and other games leaders are published on www.london2012.com. Armitt spent, for example, 6 pounds, 70 pence on refreshments at London City Airport on March 1, 2010. In their glass-fronted meeting chamber that symbolizes the city’s openness, Londoners’ elected representatives last week peppered 2012 coordination director Neale Coleman with questions that drilled down to even nitty-gritty issues like the

flags and bunting that will prettify the English capital.

And Johnnie Walker got an hour-long meeting with Mayor Boris Johnson to tell him how unhappy he is about losing his pitches to Olympic parking.

Openness could backfire when inevitable Olympic hiccups arrive and thousands of journalists are here next summer to record them. Transport chaos or a terror attack could hurt London’s image for years to come.

“A lot of this is about reputation management,” London Assembly member John Biggs noted in the questioning of Coleman. “Journalists will be looking for other stories about how crap the food is; how the buses don’t work.”

That is good. Because mega-events like the Olympics and sporting bodies like the IOC are too big and too powerful to operate in shadows. They should continually have to justify their existence, especially amid belt-tightening when some people feel the money could be better spent elsewhere.

And no Olympics should be an excuse for threatening to imprison elderly women.

Beijing had Bolt and Phelps and opening ceremonies so grand as to be unforgettable. But warts and all London will be more honest, and feel better for it.—AP

London ready to mark Olympic countdown LONDON: With most of the venues already completed, tickets nearly sold out and a massive security operation in the works, London is preparing to mark the one-year countdown to the biggest sports show on earth.

Exactly one year from Wednesday, London will be staging the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, using the backdrop of one of the world’s most popular capitals and becoming the first city to host the event for a third time after previous games in 1908 and 1948.

“London is on time and on budget, with a great quality in the preparations,” International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge told The Associated Press. “I’m very happy it’s going well.”

A year from now, London will be welcoming 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries, 5,000 coaches and team officials, 20,000 media personnel and hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The 17-day festival will feature athletes competing in 26 sports in more than 300 medal events in 32 venues.

Picture the scene on July 27, 2012: A capacity crowd of 80,000 people packed into the new Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle; the Olympic cauldron lit; fireworks bursting over the London skyline. And then, for two weeks, the world’s best athletes competing in iconic venues across the city including Horse Guards Parade (beach volleyball), Hyde Park (triathlon and opening water swimming), Lord’s cricket ground (archery), Greenwich Park (equestrian) and Wembley Stadium (football).

Usain Bolt will be defending his Olympic titles in the 100 and 200 meters; Michael Phelps will be back in the pool after his record eight gold medals in Beijing; the United States, Russia and China will be battling to top the medals count.

London will mark the year-to-go countdown with a televised ceremony from Trafalgar Square, with Rogge on hand to formally invite the world’s athletes to the games. British medal hopeful Tom Daley will perform the first dive into the Olympic pool.

The aquatics center will be officially opened on Wednesday, the last of the six main permanent venues in the Olympic Park to be completed. The main stadium, the velodrome, handball arena, basketball venue and international broadcast center were all finished earlier this year.

“We’ve got 90 percent done in construction terms, and this is great a year out,” organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe said in an interview

Oswald, the IOC executive board member who heads the coordination commission for London, said in an interview. The London Games will also have the most rigorous anti-doping program in history. Rogge said more than 5,500 drug tests will be conducted, in and out of competition, with many carried out ahead of the games to weed out any cheats before they get to London. Samples will be frozen for eight years. Intelligence and law-

LONDON: British Labor Party politician and current Mayor of the London Borough of Newham, Sir Robin Andrew Wales, talks about the regeneration of the areas of London which are hosting the Olympic games in 2012.—AP with the AP. “That’s not remotely to say that we could stage the games tomorrow.”

Venues still need to be fitted out and dressed up, the running track laid in the stadium, the broadcast technology installed, many sports test events held. While Athens struggled to the last minute to finish venues for the 2004 Olympics, and Beijing was battered for its record on Tibet and human rights ahead of the 2008 Games, London has enjoyed a comparatively smooth and crisis-free ride so far. “Obviously there are things to do in the remaining year, but if we compare with previous games, we are well advanced and this is a very comfortable position to be in,” Denis

enforcement agencies will help bust any doping networks.

“We are making steady progress,” Rogge said. In addition, the IOC will continue to monitor betting patterns to crack down on any gambling or match-fixing schemes, which Rogge calls as serious a threat to the games as doping.

In the six years since Britain was awarded the games, the most dramatic change has been the development of the Olympic Park in east London, a 226-hectare (560-acre) former industrial wasteland that is the centerpiece of a massive regeneration project. The urban park should stand as the main legacy of the games.

“I’ve seen so many things that have

happened, so much transformation, so many things that have changed,” Coe said. “I don’t believe that east London would have changed in that way in my lifetime.”

Security and transportation remain the biggest challenges. The British government has been planning for the national terror threat to be classified as “severe” during the Olympics, meaning an attempted attack is highly likely. A day after London was awarded the games in 2005, homegrown suicide bombers attacked London’s transport network, killing 52 people.

“London was awakened to the security issues long before the games were awarded - the issue of Northern Ireland and so forth,” Rogge said. “This is a country where security forces are very well trained and well prepared.”

Rogge and British Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said U.K. security officials will have taken into account the type of attacks that shook Norway, where a man set off a car bomb in Oslo on Friday and opened fire at a youth camp, killing at least 76 people. “It’s not just the physical security of the athlete in the Olympic village,” Rogge said. “It’s not just sweeping a bus with mirrors under the floor.

There’s also the surveillance on the Internet, and the collaboration between different agencies of different countries. There is a lot of intelligence going on.”

Billions of pounds (dollars) have been invested in upgrading the city’s public transportation network ahead of the games. But the system is already stretched, Underground strikes are not ruled out, and London’s roads are often traffic-clogged at the best of times.

A new survey, commissioned by the BBC and carried out by the Ipsos Mori polling group, found that while 73 percent of Londoners support the Olympics, 52 percent feel the transport system won’t be able to cope.

“People cannot just go to the games and say we are going to a normal football match on a Saturday afternoon,” Rogge said. “It will be a bit more tense.”—AP

Trott, Anderson climb to second in ICC rankings LONDON: England’s Jonathan Trott and James Anderson have risen to second place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings respectively after their side’s 196-run win over India at Lord’s.

Trott has climbed two places, above India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, to second spot in the batting rankings, after innings of 70 and 22 during the 2000th Test in history, which was also the opening game of a fourmatch series.

Anderson’s seven-wicket haul in the match, including his 11th five-wicket Test return of five for 65 in the second innings, saw him overtake team-mate Graeme Swann in the bowling rankings.Meanwhile, England fast bowler Chris Tremlett went into ninth place on the back of his four wickets at Lord’s.

India still have two bowlers in the top ten, with Zaheer Khan-who suffered a hamstring injur y at Lord’s-and Ishant Sharma lying in fifth and seventh place respectively. As well as Tendulkar, India have Venkatsai Laxman (seventh) and Virender Sehwag (tenth) in the batting top 10 although Sehwag was left hanging on to his place among the elite after missing the Lord’s Test with a shoulder injury.

Tendulkar, who needs one more century to become the first batsman to score a 100 international hundreds, dropped down to fourth place after scores of 34 and 12 at Lord’s. The South Africa pair of Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn remained top of the batting and bowling rankings respectively. ICC Test player rankings (rank, change, player, team, rating points, average, highest rating):

Batting 1 (-) Jacques Kallis(RSA) 883 57.43 935 v NZL at Centurion 2007 2 (+2) Jonathan Trott(ENG) 840 61.21 856 v SRI at Cardiff 2011 3 (-) Kumar Sangakkara (SRI) 838 56.18 938 v ENG at Kandy 2007 4 (-2) Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 832 56.68 898 v ZIM at Nagpur 2002 5 (-) Alastair Cook (ENG) 783 48.53 826 v SRI at Lord’s 2011 6 (+1) Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WIS) 775 49.04 901 v NZL at Napier 2008 7 (-1) Venkatsai Laxman (IND) 771 47.19 781 v WIS at Dominica 2011 8 (+1) Thilan Samaraweera (SRI) 766 54.08 766 v ENG at The Rose Bowl 9 (+1) AB de Villiers(RSA) 760 47.41 810 v IND at Centurion 2010 10 (-2) Virender Sehwag (IND) 759 53.43 866 v SRI at Galle 2010

England’s bowler James Anderson

Bowling 1 (-) Dale Steyn (RSA) 899 23.21 899 v IND at Cape Town 2011 2 (+1) James Anderson(ENG) 800 30.74 800 v IND at Lord’s 2011 3 (-1) Graeme Swann (ENG) 780 28.13 858 v PAK at Lord’s 2010 4 (-) Morne Morkel (RSA) 751 30.23 775 v IND at Centurion 2010 5 (+1) Zaheer Khan(IND) 735 31.78 752 v RSA at Durban 2010 6 (-1) Mitchell Johnson (AUS) 727 29.71 825 v ENG at Cardiff 2009 7 (+1) Ishant Sharma (IND) 665 32.72 671 v WIS at Dominica 2011 8 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) 648 32.09 650 v IND at Chittagong 2010 9 (+2) Chris Tremlett(ENG) 638 25.67 638 v IND at Lord’s 2011 10 (-) Daniel Vettori(NZL) 623 33.98 681 v AUS at Auckland 2000 —AFP

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

S P ORT S

Bin Hammam’s fall puts Qatar 2022 under scrutiny DUBAI: The downfall of Mohamed bin Hammam has put Qatar’s surprise success in bidding to host the 2022 World Cup under fresh scrutiny.

FIFA on Saturday banned bin Hammam for life from football for his role in a bribery scandal, making the Asian football president the most senior official convicted of corruption in the governing body’s 107-year history.

The link between the fall from grace of bin Hammam, Qatar’s football powerbroker, and the 2022 World Cup may come naturally for Qatar’s critics. But the prospect of dealing with two controversies is a daunting one for Qatar and the whole of the Gulf region where sport has been elevated to something akin to a national cause.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and his fellow rulers around the Gulf toasted Qatar’s World Cup win as a “source of pride” for the entire Muslim world. Rulers of the region’s oil-rich states compete for vanity projects. Dubai boasts the world’s tallest skyscraper, while Abu Dhabi has a New York University campus and will soon be home to Louvre and Guggenheim art museums.

The competition between the Gulf’s deep-pocketed sheiks has been particularly fierce in sports with one oil-rich sheikdom trying to outdo the other in hosting a tennis or a golf tournament and luring A-list athletes to their desert fiefdoms.

The World Cup is by far the biggest prize yet awarded to the Gulf. It is, however, in danger of being compromised. The FIFA scandal unfolded just months after the 62-year-old bin Hammam helped secure for his tiny, but immensely rich country the world’s biggest sporting event after the Olympics.

“The fact that he was a key figure in the bid could rub off on Qatar’s World Cup for sure,” said James Dorsey, a senior research fellow of the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer.

Managing bin Hammam’s quest to clear his name and waging an international campaign to prove the critics of Qatar 2022 wrong is a daunting task for any Gulf ruler, unaccustomed to being held accountable by anybody.

“It’s a tall order, let’s face it,” Dorsey said. The ruler’s dilemma: save a disgraced football official who helped win Qatar the World Cup or defend the World Cup from critics who claim his country was a poor choice to host the 2022 event.

Part of good governance in the oil-rich region is boosting the importance of loyal servants and wealthy allies, but keeping them firmly in their place and pulling the plug on their ambitions before they overshadow their own.

“Guys like bin Hammam never operate inde-

pendently from the rulers,” said Christopher Davidson, an expert on the Gulf and a lecturer at Britain’s Durham University.

One way to separate the World Cup from the bin Hammam scandal is to direct attention toward the technological developments that will enable Qatar to stage the event in the sizzling Gulf summer, experts said.

“They need to reinforce the message that they can deliver good matches and entertainment for fans at 50 degrees Celsius,” said Sean Ennis, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

A lengthy legal fight by bin Hammam will not help divorce the bribery scandal from the World Cup, even though the Qatar bid has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

“All this comes as a package - the presidential election and the World Cup,” said former Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan after the punishment against the 62-yearold Qatari. Velappan described the one-time candidate for the FIFA presidency as “the architect of bribery and corruption” in the region. Bin Hammam maintains he’s innocent and says he’ll will prove in Swiss courts he was a victim of a conspiracy.

While football officials around the Gulf remained silent on bin Hammam’s guilty verdict, newspaper

editorials - often the only insight into the thinking of the Gulf’s ruling elite - heavily criticized football’s governing body.

The Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper called FIFA an “ethical Neverland” and an “assembly of venal, conniving, self-perpetuating Old Boys who have their boots on the neck of the beautiful game.”

Bin Hammam was “the Arab Spring (for) world football,” the paper said, referring to a wave of revolts against autocratic rulers across the Middle East. “His ideas resonated. They excited.”

Most encouraged the disgraced Qatari to fight back, although they also fear his personal battle might plunge the whole region into a media war.

“The life ban is the last bit of negative publicity that Qatar needs as it prepares itself for the ambitious task of hosting the 2022 World Cup,” said an editorial in the Dubai-based newspaper The Gulf News. For now at least, bin Hammam has every intention to fight FIFA and Blatter in order to stay in football and be part of his country’s decade-long effort to stage the World Cup. “It’s clear that bin Hammam, who had a huge role in ensuring Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup bid, wants to be around when the football jamboree comes to his country,” said a Dubai-based sports daily Sport360. “Expect him to move mountains, if not Blatter.” — AP

Argentina parts ways with coach Batista

VIENNA: Rapid’s Hamdi Salihi (left) challenges for the ball with Valencia’s Dani Parejo during a friendly match. — AP Preview

New-look Lille set for Marseille curtain-raiser TANGIERS: French fans will get a first real glimpse of Lille’s new-look line-up when last season’s double-winners face Marseille in the season-opening Champions Trophy here today.

Lille ended a 55-year wait for silverware by beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in last season’s French Cup final and then secured a first league title since 1954 by wrestling the Ligue 1 crown from defending champions Marseille.

The two trophies were fitting recompense for a side that has played some of the most attractive football in Europe over the past two years, but close-season departures mean they will never play together again.

France centre-back Adil Rami completed a move to Valencia that was agreed in January, while Ivorian attacker Gervinho joined Arsenal and midfield organiser Yohan Cabaye made an unexpected switch to Newcastle United.

Widely coveted Belgian winger Eden Hazard remains at the club, however, and Lille moved shrewdly in the transfer market by acquiring like -for-like replacements for his three former teammates.

Marko Basa, who played under Garcia at Le Mans, will replace Rami in the heart of defence, Dimitri Payet has arrived from Saint-Etienne to take Ger vinho’s place on the flanks and Benoit Pedretti will take over playmaking duties from Cabaye after joining from Auxerre.

Garcia can also call on Czech centreback David Rozehnal, after his loan move from Hamburg was made permanent. Another new signing, right-back Laurent Bonnart, was withdrawn during the 1-0 friendly defeat by Saint-Etienne over the weekend, but Garcia said it was

merely a precaution.

“Laurent felt his hamstring tighten up, so that’s why I took him off immediately,” said the Lille coach, who is without injured first-choice right-back Mathieu Debuchy (back).

“I didn’t want to take any risks and jeopardise his participation in Wednesday’s Champions Trophy, which would be really bad news.”

Lille also have doubts over Polish winger Ludovic Obraniak (calf ), Payet (knee) and Brazilian striker Tulio De Melo (periostitis).

Today’s game, which will take place overseas for the fourth straight season, usually pits the league champions against the French Cup winners, but with Lille holding both titles, OM have stepped into the breach.

Didier Deschamps’s side have also lost some familiar faces over the summer break, with left-back Taye Taiwo joining AC Milan and centre -back Gabriel Heinze arriving at Roma after being released from his contract.

OM moved quickly in the market too, however, with Jeremy Morel, Nicolas N’Koulou, Morgan Amalfitano and Alou Diarra all arriving at Stade Velodrome in the early weeks of the transfer window.

Cameroon international centre-back N’Koulou is suspended for the match at Stade de Tanger, while striker AndrePierre Gignac did not travel to Morocco as he continues his recovery from a groin problem.

“In terms of pre-season, we’re where we were hoping to be,” said Deschamps, whose side lost 2-1 to Udinese in their most recent game on Saturday. “I’m satisfied by the work and the attitude.

Things aren’t perfect yet, but the players have got the right idea.” — AFP

TANGIER: Lille footballer Rio Mavuba speaks during a press conference ahead of his team’s Champions Trophy match against Olympique de Marseille. —AFP

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s failure to win the Copa America as hosts and end an 18-year wait for a major title cost coach Sergio Batista his job on Monday.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA), facing an identity crisis in the national game, announced Batista had stepped down after his team were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals nine days ago.

“The national teams commission has decided to rescind the contract,” AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo told a news conference.

“Batista wasn’t sacked,” Cherquis Bialo said. “(Batista) put his future as the head of the national team up for consideration by the (AFA) executive committee.”

Cherquis Bialo also said Argentina’s Aug. 10 friendly against Romania in Bucharest on Aug. 10 had been cancelled. “The coaching staff of Argentina teams at all levels are under evaluation by the national teams commission,” he added.

“There are no deadlines, there¥s no rush, no urgency (to name a new coach) so there will be a process of consideration and study.”

National teams director Carlos Bilardo, who as coach steered Argentina to their second World Cup triumph in Mexico in 1986, has also come under scrutiny and risks losing his job.

There had been mounting media pressure for the AFA to make a decision to rescue Argentina from years of underachievement with Batista in the eye of the storm after AFA board members questioned his capacity for the job.

Batista, 48, had been in charge for a year, initially in an interim capacity after predecessor Diego Maradona was refused a new contract following Argentina’s quarter-final elimination at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

His contract was to take him to the end of the South American qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil with Batista vowing to build a team around Lionel Messi, the world’s best player, to win the title. Batista, nicknamed Checho,

Argentina’s coach Sergio Batista did not promise to deliver the Copa America but said it was Argentina’s obligation as hosts to win the trophy and he was confident they would, having lost to Brazil in the previous two finals.

However, Argentina struggled against tough South American opponents also preparing for the World Cup qualifiers by building their teams from the back in contract to Batista’s stated aim to play in the mould of European champions Barcelona, Messi’s club.

His Argentina side had good results in friendlies with wins against world champions Spain, arch-rivals Brazil and Portugal but his competitive debut almost ended in a shock defeat by Bolivia who held them 1-1 in their Copa America opener. Batista, holding midfielder in the 1986 World Cup-winning team, came into the senior job via the Olympic team he steered to

Argentina’s second successive soccer gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.

With South America’s World Cup qualifiers kicking off in October, the AFA decided an overhaul critics said should have been made a year ago had to be done at once.

Argentina have gone 18 years without a major title since their last Copa America victory in 1993 and the youth programme led by former coach Nestor Pekerman that reaped five world under-20 titles between 1995 and 2007 was dismantled.

Local media have made Alejandro Sabella, assistant to former Argentina boss Daniel Passarella at the 1998 World Cup and coach of the Estudiantes side that won the South American Libertadores Cup in 2009, favorite to take over. — Reuters

Polish fans can avoid hooligan ban WARSAW: Poland’s premier league said yesterday it would not extend a blanket away-fan ban imposed in the dying days of last season, but that supporters are on notice to behave, amid pressure to beat hooliganism before Euro 2012.

In a statement, the Ekstraklasa said the decision came at crunch talks in Warsaw yesterday between its board and heads of its 16 clubs, after meetings that also involved fan organisations.

The Ekstraklasa kicks off on Friday.

“Organised groups of away fans will be allowed to attend matches in the T-Mobile Ekstraklasa, provided each official fan club signs up an agreement between the fan clubs and the Ekstraklasa,” the statement said.

“Under that agreement, the fans clubs have pledged to obser ve the law at T-Mobile Ekstraklasa matches, both on the way to the stadium and inside,” it added.

“Violation of the pledge will result in sanctions being imposed by the Ekstraklasa’s legal arm, including possible away-fan bans for the team concerned for the rest of the 2011-12 season,” it said.

If any fan clubs refuse to sign up, home sides will have the automatic right to bar them from away games. The Ekstraklasa decision echoes that on July 14 by the governing body of the second division, which kicked off last Friday.

At the end of June, police asked Poland’s PZPN football association to prolong a sweeping ban imposed in May into the new season.

The PZPN passed the decision to league authorities, who said barring fans ran against the spirit of the game but nonetheless pledged to act.

Poland is striving to stamp out hooliganism before the 2012 European Championship, which the country will host with neighboring Ukraine.

The authorities say there are up to 5,000 hardcore hooligans in this nation of 38 million, in a gang culture which has arisen since the communist regime crumbled in 1989 and apes England’s once-notorious “firms”.

Police and the PZPN got tough following crowd violence at the May 3 cup final between Legia and Lech Poznan. The authorities imposed empty-stadium orders at Legia, Lech and a handful of other violence-hit clubs. —AFP

HONG KONG: Chelsea’s Frank Lampard (left) and Petr Cech (second from left) shake hands with young fans during a soccer clinic at a facility run by Chelsea FC in Hong Kong . —AP

Worries persist over Brazil’s readiness for World Cup SAO PAULO: FIFA will Saturday fire the starting gun for the build-up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, with the qualifying draw in Rio. But lingering worries over security and the country’s infrastructure continue to occupy the minds of organisers. Several of the 12 venues, including the mythical Maracana in Rio, remain either behind schedule on construction or renovation, and/or over budget.

A mooted new venue in Natal in the north east of the huge country of almost 200 million people has yet to see the light of day and another in Minas Gerais state in the south east is behind schedule owing to worker protests.

“If work goes on at its current rate, when we have the Confederations Cup a year before the World Cup, there won’t be matches in Rio and Sao Paulo — the World Cup venues won’t be ready,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter fretted in March. Organisers in Rio say they believe that the Maracana will finally be spick and span in time - but only after renovations costing some 625 million dollars. Brazilian

President Dilma Rousseff insists that the construction programme “will be duly completed on time,” in the words of her Ministry of Sports assessor Alcino Rocha. But above and beyond the stadium costs further associated public funds of public investment are still required to the tune of an estimated 11.4 billion dollars.

Much of that will go on improving the road network, boosting hotel capacity, reinforcing security, modernising telecommunications systems and also improving air traffic capacity with the current network’s capacity already full to bursting point.

A major influx of tourism on a nationwide scale would likely see the system collapse, causing chaos to the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of fans.

“During June and July 2014, the Cup will generate an additional flow of some 2.25 million passengers through Brazilian airports,” according to a report from the Getulio Vargas Foundation and consultancy Ernst & Young Terco. —AFP

Russell topples Tursunov in Los Angeles

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Argentina parts ways with coach Batista

17 19

London Games will outdo Beijing because of freedom Page 18

SHANGHAI: US swimmer Michael Phelps competes in the men’s 200-metre butterfly swimming event in the FINA World Championships. —AP

Lochte stuns Phelps in Shanghai SHANGHAI: Michael Phelps’ rocky season took another turn for the worse yesterday when the 14-time Olympic gold medallist was stunned in the world championships 200m freestyle by US team-mate Ryan Lochte.

Phelps led over the first 100m until Lochte surged from third place to claim a narrow win in 1min 44.44sec, with defending champion Paul Biedermann of Germany third.

The result means Phelps, the Olympic champion and former world record-holder in the event, fails to regain the crown he lost to supersuit-wearing Biedermann two years ago. South Korea’s Park Tae-Hwan was fourth.

“I think that if I was on the other side of the pool that race could have been played a little different. I think I woke him up in the first 100 and he went with it,” Phelps said.

“I can’t complain. I’m bummed I didn’t win. But at the same time with what we’ve done over the last 18 months, I’m over a second faster than I was last year and a secondand-a-half off my best time in a suit.”

Phelps remains on course for a possible five gold medals in Shanghai, which would match his haul in Rome two years ago. He claimed bronze on Sunday when the United States suffered a rare defeat in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Meanwhile Camille Lacourt and Jeremy Stravius bizarrely became France’s first male world champions-in

the same race. Both swimmers won the 100m backstroke in 52.76, in only the second such incident in world championships history.

The unusual result echoes 2007’s 100m freestyle world title race when Italy’s Filippo Magnini and Brent Hayden of Canada both topped the podium with identical times of 48.43. In other results, America’s Rebecca Soni defended her 100m breaststroke world crown ahead of Olympic champion Leisel Jones of Australia and Asian title-holder Ji Liping of China.

And Zhao Jing secured China’s second swimming gold in another upset win when she beat Olympic title-holder Natalie Coughlin into third place in the women’s 100m backstroke.

Zhao finished in 59.05sec, just one-hundredth of a second faster than 2009 silver-medallist Anastasia Zueva of Russia. “The really difficult thing about backstroke is you never really know where you are in the race. In prelims yesterday morning I thought I was in fourth place and I was ahead,” Coughlin said. “Being that the meet’s here in Shanghai I knew the Chinese were going to be very, very strong.”

The win for Zhao, 20, follows 15-year-old Ye Shiwen’s stunning triumph for China in the women’s 200m individ-

ual medley, when she shocked the reigning world and Olympic champions on Monday.

Also yesterday, Danish 800m world champion Lotte Friis built an early lead and stayed ahead to win the women’s 1500m by six seconds from American world record-holder Kate Ziegler and China’s Li Xuanxu.

But most attention focused on Phelps, who has said he is into the final year of his career as he builds towards London 2012, where he will aim to add to his 14 Olympic titles-including a record-breaking eight in Beijing.

The 26-year-old Baltimore Bullet admits he has struggled for motivation since the 2008 Games, and has slumped to a series of shock defeats this season. But he says he is back on track and training well under coach Bob Bowman. He arrived in Shanghai with 22 world titles but suffered a disappointing start when the United States finished third in the 4x100m relay, ending an unbeaten world and Olympic streak stretching back to Athens 2004.

In 2009, Biedermann beat Phelps by a wide margin in the 200m freestyle and shattered his world record with a time of 1:42.00. The German was wearing one of the hightech, polyurethane swimsuits that are now banned.

Phelps also finished second in his men’s 200m butterfly semi on Tuesday to secure a place in today’s final. —AFP

SHANGHAI: Medals table for swimming events at the world championships after the third night of pool action yesterday: United States China France Australia Italy Brazil Netherlands Norway South Korea Denmark Britain Russia Germany South Africa Japan

Gold 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Silver 3 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Bronze 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1

Total 9 6 4 6 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1

Asia takes on the best in mixed martial arts

Beware the wounded Phelps, warns Peirsol SHANGHAI: Aaron Peirsol has sounded a warning to the world swimming community that his former US team mate Michael Phelps could be a wounded beast at next year’s London Olympics if he ‘fails’ at the world swimming championships.

“This (meeting) for him is important. He wants to do well,” the bearded Peirsol told Reuters in the seats high above the pool deck at the Oriental Sports Centre.

“If he doesn’t do well, to be honest, it may push him that much harder into London. “I would be more afraid of Michael next year if he does not do well here (and) if I was his other competitors I’d be thinking... ‘you know what that means?’.”

Peirsol said he had not seen Phelps swim much since his own retirement from competitive swimming in February, but he was in no doubt the multiple world and Olympic champion would give his best in Shanghai even though his eyes were firmly fixed on London.

“He will want to do well (in Shanghai) and I am sure he will...(but) I know the one meet he will be ready for will be London,” Peirsol said.

“He is on a different schedule and... you can’t worry about Michael, he will take care of business.”

The 28-year-old Peirsol, who won five Olympic gold medals and spent a decade as the sport’s premier backstroker, said the drive to swim competitively had gone for him and he would not be returning to the pool. “It’s always right now. It’s always a year out from the Olympics people come back,” he added. “(But) I made sure that when I moved on, I had no questions or doubts and it’s the last thing that keeps me up at night. “I can sit up here and enjoy it and not feel like I belong down there (on the pool deck). “I feel like I did that. There are other things in my life that I want to do and you have to move on at some point.”

Peirsol said he still kept busy, travelling and working with several of his sponsors. He was also planning to begin postgraduate study at university later this year, and while he was still looking for a future direction beyond that, he was quite happy to keep “decompressing” after more than 10 years of competition. “I am in no hurry to find what it is that I want to devote as much time into that I devoted to swimming,” he said. —Reuters

Medals table

CHICAGO: Shawn Johnson competes on the balance beam during the Covergirl Classic gymnastics competition. The 2011 CoverGirl Classic is the final qualifying event for the 2011 Visa Championships, which is USA Gymnastics’ national championship scheduled for Aug. 17-20. —AP

MACAU: It has taken time and a few false starts but Asia, the spiritual and physical home of martial arts, now seems ready to take on the best in the world of modern mixed combat.

When Bae Myung Ho raised the Legend Fighting Championship welterweight title belt last Saturday night he showed it briefly to his fans and then the South Korean mixed martial artist went straight for the television cameras.

Bae fought in front of around 1,500 people inside Macau’s City of Dreams casino complex-but an estimated 150 million households across the globe watched on TV. Mixed martial arts incorporates the skills of everything from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, through judo, wrestling, karate and Muay Thai kick-boxing. From the soldout ringside in Macau it was easy to see why MMA has become so popular.

Fight fans were treated to everything from a knockout to a submission and, finally, Bae’s high-octane display in wresting the welterweight crown from New Zealander Rod MacSwain through a unanimous points decision over three rounds. The fighters enter the ring through smoke, lights and pounding

beats. There are rules, of course, including no eye-gouging or blows below the belt, but pretty much everything else goes. For Bae that meant making use of his superior strength over MacSwain and dumping him to the canvass for long periods in both the second and third of their five-minute rounds.

Once pinned, MacSwain could do little more than try to cover up as his opponent pounded knee after knee into his head and upper torso. “We are experiencing a tonne of momentum now,” said Legend co-founder Chris Pollack. “You have to have world-class fighters and we have that. We now think we are producing something that is as good as anything you will see.”

In the United States, mixed martial arts-primarily through the Ultimate Fighting Championship-has long been the most-watched sport on pay-per-view television, a feat it first achieved in 2006 when its bouts generated more than $200 million in revenue over the year.

The sport also has a long and successful history in Japan but the rest of Asia has struggled to consistently organise and market its major events internationally. —AFP

A

y

e niv rsar n

Business

Dubai’s Shuaa Capital swings to small profit

Years

Page 22

Global stocks help KSE equities gain Page 24

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

India hikes rates by 50 points over inflation

BP fails to convince investors on strategy Page 23

Page 26

BOSTON: A JetBlue aircraft takes off at Boston’s Logan International Airport. JetBlue said yesterday, its second-quarter earnings fell 19 percent as rising costs for fuel and maintenance overshadowed a steep uptick in revenue due to higher fares. —AP

IMF warns of global perils of US default Investors selling dollars as debt fracas continues WASHINGTON: IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned yesterday the clock was ticking on a US debt deal, as the dollar slid to new lows amid concerns of a looming and unprecedented default by the world’s top economy.

President Barack Obama, in a solemn late night address to the nation, hit out at what he called a “dangerous game” being played by rival Republicans with the two sides deadlocked over a deal to raise the debt ceiling by August 2.

“We can’t allow the American people to become collateral damage to Washington’s political warfare,” Obama said Monday in his White House address, and warning of a “deep economic crisis” if the US defaults. For weeks Obama’s Democratic allies have been at loggerheads over a deal with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and agree on ways to cut the ballooning US deficit.

The dollar is falling as US politicians remain divided on how to raise the government’s ability to borrow, with a key deadline a week away. Analysts say a default could send stocks plunging and interest rates soaring, further damaging the weak economic recovery.

In morning trading yesterday in New York, the dollar is weakening against the euro, British pound and Japanese yen. The euro touched above $1.45 for the first time since July 5, while the dollar fell below 78 yen for the first time since mid-March. The world’s major central banks had intervened to weaken

WASHINGTON: Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) speaks to the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday on the state of the world economy and priorities for global policymakers. — AFP the yen in March because of its steep rise.

Republicans have called for a raft of deep spending cuts-which Obama has agreed tobut emboldened by newly elected arch-con-

Saudi strikes India oil deal after Iran gridlock NEW DELHI: Top exporter Saudi Arabia has struck deals to sell 3 million barrels more oil to India next month, stepping into the vacuum created by regional rival Iran after it cut supply to New Delhi.

The sale could stoke simmering tension between Riyadh and Tehran over oil policy.

Saudi sources say the kingdom is not actively seeking to wrest market share from the Islamic Republic, but with Brent at over $100 a barrel Riyadh has taken a $300 million slice of Iran’s oil sales to India. “If Iran can’t get the [payment] issues resolved with India we will send them supplies and we have already alerted them to that,” said a Saudi government advisor. Iran has already criticised Saudi Arabia for boosting oil supply unilaterally after Tehran-led opposition defeated a Saudi proposal for a coordinated supply increase at an OPEC meeting in June. Iran told Indian refiners last week it would cut oil shipments amounting to about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August. Tehran aims to pressure the refiners into settling $5 billion in debts for crude already supplied and to find a way around US and UN sanctions that make trade with Iran difficult.

Iranian oil normally meets about 12 percent of India’s total demand of 3.46 million bpd. Saudi Arabia approved the extra sales for August, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday. The amount covers a quarter of what Iran exported on a daily basis to India before the halt.

The sources at Indian refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Essar Oil said that state oil

giant Saudi Aramco had confirmed it would supply each of them with an additional 1 million barrels of crude in August.

The crude would be a mix of Arab Light, Arab Heavy and Arab Medium, another source said. “By purchasing crude from the Saudis, India is sending out a strong message to Iran that it can diversify away from Iran if the need arises,” Praveen Kumar at FACTS Global Energy said.

Buyers in Asia’s third-largest oil consumer reached out to Aramco last week to request additional crude to plug the gap from Iran.

They have also sought more crude from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq. Iran sent refiners a letter on June 27 threatening to halt supplies and has followed through on its threat. Tehran had previously tolerated unpaid shipments as the price it had to pay to defend its crude market share.

“It is of course a relief to India that the gap can be readily plugged,” said Victor Shum, an analyst at Purvin & Gertz. “It also indicates that there are alternative sources.

Nobody really can have a monopoly in the oil markets.” India’s Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said last week New Delhi had a backup plan to cope with a halt in oil supplies, but he did not elaborate.

India and Iran have failed since December to find ways for New Delhi to pay for imports, after India’s central bank stopped payments through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism. There is no ban against buying Iranian crude, but sanctions have made financing trade with Iran tough. —Reuters

servative Tea Party lawmakers they have refused the president’s calls for matching revenue increases from the nation’s wealthiest.

Lagarde, the new head of the International

Monetary Fund, waded into the debate yesterday urging the two sides to find a compromise, as both parties touted rival plans. “The clock is irremediably ticking, and people really have to find a solution,” she said in New York.

She warned a default “would be a very, very, very serious event. Not for the United States alone, but for the global economy at large.” But there was no sign of any give from Republicans, as House Speaker John Boehner hit back within minutes after Obama’s speech blaming him for the crisis.

“The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today,” he said. World markets wobbled again as global fears spread of no end to the stalemate before next Tuesday’s deadline when the US administration says it will run out of money to pay its bills.

US stocks fell on opening yesterday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 73.30 points (0.58 percent) at 12,519.50 after the first half hour of trading. European equities also dropped while the dollar slid against the euro and yen, hitting an all-time low against the safe-haven Swiss franc.

“The foreign exchange market seems to be losing faith that the US Congress will reach an agreement... This has caused a sell-off in the dollar across the board,” said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading group Forex.com.

Boehner is proposing a two-step plan with debt increases first to February or March 2012, and later to 2013. “Time is running short and it

would be irresponsible for the president to veto this common-sense plan and run the risk of default,” said Boehner.

But Obama has rejected the idea of a temporary debt limit increase, arguing it would leave the underlying problem unresolved and risk repeating the current crisis in six months’ time.

Obama has warned of “Armageddon” if the United States defaults on its debt repayments for the first time in history, which could see the US lose its coveted AAA debt rating status and plunge the global economy back into turmoil. Washington hit its debt ceiling on May 16 but has used spending and accounting adjustments, as well as higher-than-expected tax receipts, to continue operating normally.

The United States, still recovering from the 2008 recession with unemployment hovering around 9.2 percent, would be faced with tough choices-meeting either its debt obligations, or reneging on government checks to the poorest, most vulnerable Americans.

The political stakes are also high ahead of the November 2012 elections, and Obama appealed to Americans to “make your voice heard” to members of Congress.

Reports suggested many had heeded the call and that some congressional websites had crashed and the Congress switchboard was flooded with calls. There are signs the standoff is exacting a political toll on both the president and Republicans ahead of next year’s White House race. —Agencies

Emaar reports 69% net profit plunge DUBAI: Emaar Properties , the UAE’s largest developer by market value, reported a 69 percent plunge in second-quarter net profit yesterday as it handed over fewer homes and wrote off its investments in Dubai Bank.

The builder of the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, made net profit of 250 million dirhams ($68.1 million) for the quarter to June 30 — its smallest quarterly profit in two years — against 801.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Analysts polled by Reuters had, on average, expected quarterly net profit of 358.18 million dirhams. “We expected the writeoff on Dubai Bank, and the fall in the number of handovers was not a surprise as this is the state of the market,” said Ahmed Badr, head of MENA research at Credit Suisse in Dubai.

Emaar handed over around 244 units in the second quarter, against 612 in the same period last year, it said in a statement on Dubai’s bourse website. This was also lower than the 270 handed over in the first quarter.

Emaar, which has set up a core team for a strategic review of its operations, said revenue in the second quarter fell 23 percent to 2.03 billion dirhams. The developer wrote off its investment in Dubai Bank, valued at 172 million dirhams, it said. Dubai’s government said in May it would take over the troubled lender.

Revenue from rental and hospitality income rose 24 percent from the same period last year, with this stream accounting for 41 percent of Emaar’s total, it said.

“The contribution from its malls and hos-

pitality remains very strong and that’s why I am a buyer of the stock,” said Badr.Among Emaar’s high-profile assets is Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping centre. It also has a global joint venture with Italian fashion house Georgio Armani to develop luxury hotels. Net profit for the first six months fell 49 percent to 843 million dirhams,

Emaar said. Emaar’s shares closed 0.3 percent lower on the Dubai bourse before the results were announced. The shares have fallen 19 percent year-to - date.

House prices in Dubai will fall another 10 percent, deepening a three-year rout to nearly 60 percent from their peak , a Reuters poll showed in July. — Reuters

US new home prices up, consumers perk up WASHINGTON: New US single -family home sales unexpectedly fell in June, but a sharp rise in prices and declining supply suggested the market for new houses was starting to stabilize, a government report showed yesterday.

Other data showed consumers grew more confident about the future this month, even though there were still concerns about lack of jobs. The Commerce Department said new single family homes sales slipped 1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 312,000-unit annual rate.

However, the median sales price for a new home increased 5.8 percent last month to $235,200.

Compared to June last year, the median price rose 7.2 percent. The rise in prices is the latest sign that home values are starting to stabilize. “New home prices ... appear to have reached a bottom.

However, that conclusion must remain tentative given the large number of distressed properties,” said Steven Wood,

chief economist at Insight Economics in Danville, California.

“Fortunately, with no excess ... inventory of unsold new homes, any sustained rebound in new home sales should quickly translate into firmer prices.”

US stocks pared losses as a better-thanexpected reading on consumer confidence boosted investor optimism, while US bond prices were steady at higher levels. The dollar fell because of the stalemate in Washington over raising the debt limit.

The Conference Board said yesterday its index of consumer attitudes rose to 59.5 from 57.6 last month, beating economists expectations for a reading of 56.0. The reports were hopeful signs for the economy, which has struggled to pull out of a soft-patch. “You got some improvement (in consumer confidence) but I think the one thing that was not very encouraging is that the present situation actually fell,” said Tom Porcelli, US economist at RBC Capital Markets. — Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

business

Dubai’s Shuaa Capital swings to small profit Results aided by asset management business, cost cuts DUBAI: Investment bank Shuaa Capital eked out a small second-quarter net profit yesterday, helped by aggressive cost cuts and strength in asset management business. Shuaa, which took companies like port operator DP World to the market, posted a profit of 0.6 million dirhams for the second-quarter, compared with a loss of 56.6 million dirhams in the same period last year.

The results included a 27.7 million dirhams of gains on other investments and a seven percent reduction in total expenses to 62.8 million dirhams, it said in a statement to the bourse. An HSBC analyst estimated that the company would post a loss of 29 million dirhams in the quarter, according to a poll by Reuters.

Shuaa’s second-quarter revenues stood at 35.7 million dirhams, up from 33 million in the comparable

Nick Levitt, Head of CMB, HSBC, UAE

HSBC offers businesses RMB accounts HSBC yesterday announced that its business customers will now be able to open dedicated RMB accounts at HSBC branches throughout the UAE. This move means that UAE customers will be able to trade with China, subject to People’s Bank of China rules, and receive - as well as pay - in RMB without having to convert their currency exposure, helping them lower their trading costs, reduce foreign exchange risk and strengthen their relationships with Chinese partners.

Nicholas Levitt, Head of Commercial Banking for the UAE said, “Our trade research tells us that the RMB has already overtaken the pound sterling in its use as a settlement currency and traders are telling us that they expect it be one of their top 3 settlement currencies this year. And, as trade with Asia increases, so does global interest in this important currency.”

“Last year, China’s total trade volume was just over RMB 20 trillion, of which just RMB 506 billion was settled in RMB. In the first quarter of this year alone, RMB 360 billion of China’s total trade was settled in RMB. Given the rate of trade growth with China, we predict that more than half of the trade between China and emerging markets will be settled in RMB in the next 2-4 years - our customers need to be ready for this.”

With almost 150 years of experience in China and Hong Kong with largest foreign branch bank network in both these locations, HSBC is ideally placed to ensure businesses in the UAE make the most of the exciting opportunities in the Far East.

Natasha Patel, Regional Head Global Payments and Cash Management, HSBC added: “We were the first foreign bank to settle cross-border RMB Trade across six continents. With our roots in Asia and a 60 year presence in the UAE there’s no one better placed to help customers trade between these vital regions. The trade opportunity is there - the World Trade Authority put the UAE 4th in a list of new primary exporters of commodities. Conversely China comes in at third highest net importer. Customers need a bank that’s represented in both the developed and emerging markets and can help then connect the two”. Recently, Stephen King, HSBC’s Chief Economist, talked about the emergence of a new ‘Southern Silk Road’ - a network of new ‘South South’ trading routes connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. According to King, these are set to “Revolutionize the global economy, we believe that trade and capital flows between emerging areas of the world could increase tenfold in the next forty years.”

Interested business customers can contact their Relationship Manager or set up an account in any HSBC branch.

period a year ago. The company, one of the Gulf Arab region’s largest investment banks, was hit hard by the global financial downturn as impairments related to troubled assets erased profits. Shuaa has been shedding risky assets from its investment portfolio after Dubai’s property crash and asset bubble.

Non-core assets stood at 397 million dirhams, 78.1 million dirhams lower than at the end of the first quarter, Shuaa said. In the first quarter, Shuaa said it would cut 10.7 percent of its staff, or 39 jobs, to reduce costs following the regional turmoil which hit its quarterly results. “It is reasonable to expect that with an improvement in market conditions, we will generate further momentum with our clients, build market share and start executing investment banking mandates,” said Sameer Al Ansari, chief executive of Shuaa Capital.

But the company said it saw strength in the second quarter, with its asset management business posting a 48 percent increase in asset under management to 959 million dirhams as compared with 649 million in the year-ago period. The segment posted a profit of 2.6 million dirhams compared with a loss of 8.8 million dirhams in the year-ago period.

Investment banking segment remains under pressure as Shuaa’s traditional strength of arranging initial public offerings have come to a virtual standstill in the region.

That division posted a loss of 2.5 million dirhams in the second quarter, although narrower than the 2.8 million dirham loss it recorded in the same period in 2010. In April, Shuaa said its Chief Financial Officer David Deards had resigned effective April 5. — Reuters

Exciting offers for Burgan Bank VISA platinum cardholders KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that it has launched a new and exclusive promotion for its VISA Platinum Card holders. Through this tie up, customers are entitled to special offers in store at Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, SEGA Republic and Dubai Ice Rink at The Dubai Mall, the UAE. Burgan Bank Chief Retail Banking Officer- GM Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem said, “This exciting offer presents a range of opportunities to enjoy relaxing holidays.

We understand the dynamic needs of our account holders and have developed tie ups that reflect and cater to their needs. Traveling with Burgan Bank VISA Platinum credit card will ensure that our customers have the most distinctive experience, something that has always been synonymous with Burgan Bank.”

Burgan Bank VISA Platinum Credit Card holders that purchase one Ultimate, Platinum or Combo Aquarium ticket will receive the second ticket for free at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo. With SEGA Republic, customers purchasing one Power Pass will receive the second one for free, while customers purchasing one 2hour public Ice Skating session at AED 50 will automatically receive the second one free.

The offer is valid till July 2012. For more information call 1804080, or visit www.burgan.com. More information on The Dubai Mall can be accessed through www.visamiddleeast.com.

Joyalukkas announces winners of Easy Gold Plan in Kuwait KUWAIT: Joyalukkas has announced the winners of their Easy Gold Plan for the month of June. The Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan is a unique installment based initiative for customers to save and buy jewelry of their choice in easy installments.

The Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan assures the customers of more value for their savings, since Gold is considered one of the safest investment options today.

Under the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan, customers can choose a monthly payment option starting from KD 10 and retain it for a period of 12, 18 or 24 months. At the end of the period customers can pick

the jewelry of their choice from the Joyalukkas showrooms based on the value saved. Most customers who have participated in the scheme have endorsed that the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Scheme has given them much better returns than Fixed Deposits.

“Joyalukkas is committed to giving customers convenience, value, choice and excellent service. The Easy Gold Scheme is part of our convenience initiative to make the purchase of jewelry very easy and secure for our customers.

We assure their returns and we give them the flexibility of picking the jewelry they like and would love to own,” said Mr. Joy Alukkas,

Chairman, Joyalukkas Group. The winners for the month of June under the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan are Ms. Lakshmi P Nair (EGP card no 1491002659) and Mrs. Sheela Surendran (EGP card no.

1491001967). They each get to win gold coins from Joyalukkas.

Joyalukkas is one of the first ISO certified jewelery retailers in the Middle East and recently they won the status of Superbrand in the UAE. In addition to this, Joyalukkas has been recognized with the Dubai Quality Awards certificate for its best practices in all aspects of jewelry retailing and has also been named Middle East’s Retailer of the Year by Retail ME.

Abu Dhabi 2010 nominal GDP rose 15.9%: Report DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s nominal gross domestic product jumped 15.9 percent in 2010, data showed yesterday, as the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which accounts for most of the country’s oil wealth, rebounded from the global financial crisis supported by higher oil prices and growth in the non-oil sectors.

Nominal GDP of 620.2 billion dirhams ($168.9 billion) for 2010, was up from 546.5 billion in 2009 and 666.7 billion dirhams in 2008, according to data from the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. It did not give real growth in GDP for Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates’ real

GDP grew 1.4 percent in 2010 after shrinking 1.6 percent in 2009 due to the global financial downturn. A Reuters poll in June forecast the UAE economy will grow 3.7 percent in real terms in 2011.

The economy of Dubai, the country’s glitzy finance and business hub, expanded by 2.4 percent in 2010, reversing a 2.4 percent contraction the previous year.

“The economy of Abu Dhabi has overcome the impact of the financial crisis, boosting the confidence of both firms and consumers,” the centre said in its 2011 statistical yearbook. — Reuters

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

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2700000 .4420000 .3860000 .3310000 .2850000 .2930000 .0040000 .0020000 .0738890 .7198690 .3810000 .0700000 .7049050 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2727000 GB Pound/KD .4445960 Euro .3914880 Swiss francs .3331500 Canadian dollars .2876130 Danish Kroner .0525150 Swedish Kroner .0430620 Australian dlr .2957700 Hong Kong dlr .0350030 Singapore dlr .2256520 Japanese yen .0034720 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0745060 Bahraini dinars .7258860 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0729660 Omani riyals .7107960 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.525 6.168 3.163 2.492 3.866 227.470 35.110

.2765000 .4530000 .3890000 .3400000 .2950000 .3020000 .0072500 .0035000 .0753140 .7337480 .4010000 .0770000 .7184950 .0072000 .0530000 .2748000 .4480200 .3945030 .3357160 .2898280 .0529190 .0433940 .2980480 .0352720 .2273890 .0034990 .0062310 .0025190 .0031990 .0036940 .0750780 .7314580 .3898870 .0735260 .7162530 .0064710

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

3.651 6.460 9.208 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 72.936 75.151 710.410 726.450 74.476

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.825 Yemen Riyal 1.251 Tunisian Dinar 201.770 Jordanian Dinar 386.240 Lebanese Lira 182.300 Syrian Lier 5.905 Morocco Dirham 35.506 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 273.400 Euro 397.800 Sterling Pound 448.650 Canadian dollar 291.320 Turkish lire 160.070 Swiss Franc 343.470 Australian dollar 298.500 US Dollar Buying 272.200 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

SELL CASH

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

302.400 726.750 3.900 292.700 536.800 36.300 53.700 167.800 47.930 399.500 35.760 6.490

SELL DRAFT

300.900 726.750 3.655 291.200

228.100 45.890 398.000 35.610 6.165

0.033

386.210 0.184 93.820 3.870 239.500

342.900 5.600 9.390 74.400 273.200

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

Currency

Selling Rate

273.850 292.300 448.430 396.900 334.925 726.070 74.535 75.165 72.990 385.475 46.000 2.497 6.181

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

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

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 448.500 273.200

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

3.183 3.664 6.448 671.724 3.580 9.276 5.758 3.945 90.962

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 709.590 3.180 6.465 75.170 72.960 228.090 43.320 2.492 448.500

GOLD 1,654.380

10 Tola

GOLD 295.000 149.000 77.000

0.033 0.241 0.238 3.600 388.230 0.185 93.820 47.200 4.290 241.000 1.853 51.900 709.770 3.280 6.600 75.600 72.960 228.090 43.320 2.629 450.500 44.400 344.400 5.600 9.520 198.263 74.500 273.600 1.200

273.200 3.175 6.180 2.510 3.660 6.500 74.485 73.055 726.300 45.825 453.200 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 387.300 5.750 398.600 296.500

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

272.750 398.500 450.200 291.000 3.520 6.166 45.860 2.492 3.652 6.447 3.166 726.500 74.300 72.900

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

BUSINESS

Gulfmart brings affordable quality to Jahra Gulf Bank announces Ramadan opening hours KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced the opening hours for its branches during the holy month of Ramadan based on the resolution of Kuwait Banking Association (KBA) to standardize working hours for all local banks.

Therefore, Gulf Bank’s branches will be receiving its customers between 10:00 am and 1:30 pm throughout the holy month of Ramadan, resuming its regular working hours on the first business day following the Eid Al- Fitr holidays.

During the holy month, customers will continue to have round-the-clock access to Gulf Bank on 1805805, where Gulf Bank staff are available 24 hours to directly assist customers. Customers can also log on to Gulf Bank’s bilingual website, www.e-gulfbank.com, to get more information about the Bank’s latest products and services.

On this blessed occasion, Gulf Bank would like to convey its sincere congratulations and best wishes to the Amir of the State of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah - May Allah Almighty safeguard and preserve them for their nation, as well as to the government and people of Kuwait.

May Allah protect Kuwait and its people from all harm.

UAE lender FGB plans $650 million sukuk DUBAI: First Gulf Bank, the second-biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates by market value, plans to raise $650 million from the sale of a five-year debut Islamic bond, or sukuk, according to a document from lead arrangers, seen by Reuters.

Pricing is expected later yesterday and final guidance is at 200 basis points over midswaps, tighter than the earlier indicated guidance of 210 basis points over midswaps, the document showed.

A source close to the bank said the sukuk would price at 1230 GMT yesterday. Two market sources said First Gulf Bank (FGB) cancelled the final leg of roadshows in Switzerland yesterday, and that demand for the sukuk was very high, although there was no clear indication of book size yet.

Citi , Standard Chartered and HSBC are mandated bookrunners for the sale. FGB, 67 percent owned by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, set up a new $3.5 billion Islamic bond programme this month, paving the way for its first sukuk sale.

Recent market volatility, mainly due to euro zone debt worries, led some other Gulf issuers, including Abu Dhabi’s Dolphin Energy and Tourism Development and Investment Co (TDIC), to refrain from issuing bonds until conditions are considered more stable.

But FGB is taking advantage of improved market sentiment, after a new Greek debt deal was agreed last week, and a limited window of opportunity to issue ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. The bank posted a 13 percent rise in second quarter profit. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Gulfmart, the fastest growing supermarket chain with the largest number of branches in Kuwait, is set to open their newest branch in the countr y in Jahra. The tenth outlet of Gulfmart, located in the heart of Jahra City, will be inaugurated on Thursday, 28th July at 10am by Dr Vidhu P Nair, Charge de Affaires at the Indian Embassy. Residents of Jahra who have long yearned to have convenient access to quality products at affordable prices, will now have their wish realized with the opening of the latest branch of Gulfmart.

Speaking on the opening of the new branch, Arif Sheikh, Director of Gulfmart Group, said, “We are extremely thankful to all our customers who have patronized Gulfmart over the years. By opening our tenth branch in Jahra, we are

our customers. But, at the same time, we do not believe in burdening our customers with the costs associated with operating from a high-cost, fancy venue. The savings that we achieve through lower infrastructural and other operating costs are directly passed on to customers, who benefit from the value pricing of our products.”

Gulfmart has always endeavored to provide customer satisfaction through convenient shopping locations that deliver quality products at affordable prices. And, this commitment to customer satisfaction is evident from the large number of Gulfmart outlets across the country; in addition to their existing two branches in Jleeb Al Shuyoukh and Hawally, they have one outlet each in Shuwaikh, Salmiya, Fahaheel, Farwaniya, Khaitan and now in Jahra.

“With the launch of our latest branch in Jahra, we will have accomplished the first phase of our development strategy, which envisaged opening ten branches in Kuwait. However, our earlier assessments were completely upturned by the overwhelming public response to existing branches, as well as demand by customers for even closer access to their favorite supermarket. This called for a total reevaluation of the Group’s strategies and consequently we are now initiating an assertive new expansion plan that will see the addition of three more branches by the end of 2011 - one in Salwa and a second branch each in Fahaheel and Farwaniya. And, we plan on adding 15 more outlets by early 2013, taking the total number of Gulfmart outlets in Kuwait to 25,” concluded the Country Manager.

BP fails to convince investors on strategy Underlying Q2 profit $5.6bln, lags $6.0bn forecast LONDON: BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley’s promise of strong long-term growth failed to convince investors concerned about the company’s post oil-spill strategy.

A year after BP, Europe’s secondlargest oil company by market capitalization, staunched the massive leak at its Gulf of Mexico well, investors say Dudley has still not set the company on the road to recovery. Yesterday he sought to address that concern, saying deals to secure new reserves this year would help drive performance in 2012 and 2013. But some analysts were unimpressed.

“Other companies have clearly redefined their strategies over the last 12 to 24 months .. ExxonMobil continues to build its shale gas business in the US and Shell is focused on mega gas projects.

But what is BP doing?” Dougie Youngson, oil analyst at Arbuthnot, said in an email to clients.

BP shares were down 2.6 percent at 0920 GMT, the second-biggest faller on the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks.

The STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index was down 0.8 percent. Investors are frustrated at the share price which has failed to recover materially in the past nine months despite some progress in oil spill lawsuits and indications the final cost to the company will be less than many had feared.

Dudley told shareholders: “We are committed to seeing the true value of the business more strongly reflected in our share price”.

Some analysts, bankers and investors

Investment Dar forms investors’ coordination, liaison committee KUWAIT: The Investment Dar KSCC is pleased to announce that, in line with the Company’s voluntary governance structure for the implementation of its restructuring plan, an Investors’ Coordination and Liaison Committee (“the Committee”) representing its banks and investors has now been finalized.

The Committee will liaise with the Company at regular face-to-face meetings, establish regular reporting processes and will appoint a qualified individual to be the first contact point for all TID banks and investors to disseminate information. The members of this Committee include, Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation, Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, and Arab Banking Corporation.

meeting the long-standing demand by customers in this area for easy access to quality products at affordable prices.”

With nine other branches spread across residential areas in Kuwait, Gulfmart is now in the enviable position of providing value offerings to customers from Fahaheel in the south to Jahra in the north. Elaborating on the new branch opening, T A Remesh, Gulfmart Country Manager in Kuwait, said, “Opening a branch in a strategic location like Jahra City has always been part of Gulfmart’s expansion plans. However, the difficulty in finding an appropriate location hindered our earlier attempts to open a branch in Jahra. Before we select a location for a new branch, it has to fulfill several stringent criteria, including security, accessibility, convenience and a comfortable shopping ambience for

Abdullah Al Humaidhi, CEO of the Investment Dar commented, “We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the previous Coordinating Committee whose hard work and commitment was instrumental in assisting the Company to navigate the restructuring process.

The establishment of the Investors’ Coordination and Liaison Committee is in line with TID’s commitment to ensure compliance with international best practice, maximizing visibility and transparency for its banks and investors. We are grateful to the Banks who have volunteered to become members of the new Committee and look forward to working with them as we seek the expedite the implementation of the restructuring plan.”

LONDON: Bob Dudley, chief executive of British energy giant BP, speaks during a press conference in central London, yesterday. British energy giant BP rebounded into net profit in the second quarter of 2011, aided by high oil prices, after a huge loss last year due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, it said yesterday. — AFP are beginning to ask whether the best way for BP to address its valuation discount is to break itself up. US rivals ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil and Murphy Oil have followed strategies of

DP World says H1 volumes rise to boost profitability DUBAI: DP World, yesterday said an 11-percent rise in container volumes for the first half of the year, would result in “significant improvement” in the port operator’s profitability for the period.

Gross volumes in the first half of the year climbed to 26.2 million TEU or “twenty-foot equivalent container units”, driven by strong growth in the Asia Pacific, United Arab Emirates, Africa and Americas regions, DP World said in a statement yesterday. DP World-considered one of the more profitable assets of debt-laden Dubai World-said its consolidated terminals handled 13.5 million TEU in the first six months of the year.

“The strong container volumes seen in the first half of the year will result in a significant improvement in first half profit after tax against the same period last year,” Mohamed Sharaf, the firm’s chief executive said in the statement. The world’s thirdlargest port operator sold 75 percent of its Australian port operations for $1.5 billion last year and its shares began trading on the London Stock Exchange last month. DP World bought controlling interest in two port services firms in Suriname last week for an undisclosed amount. DP World made a net profit after tax from continuing operations of $206 million in the first six months of last year. — Reuters

Iran says China has no oil debt

JAKARTA: Laborers work on a construction site in Jakarta yesterday. Indonesia faces limited exposure to a large exit of foreign capital at a time of global risk aversion due to strong fundamentals and relatively low dependence on external demand, the IMF said. — AFP

spinning off their oil refining and fuel retail units. BP has rejected suggestions it should follow this route but said yesterday it was making progress in plans to sell its Texas City and Carson, California

refineries. BP’s underlying second-quarter results fell short of analysts’ forecasts and benefited less than rivals such as Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are expected to from a 50 percent rise in crude prices from a year ago.

Excluding one-offs, the replacement cost net income was up 13 percent to $5.61 billion, below an average forecast of $6.02 billion, from a Reuters poll of 12 analysts. Rivals Exxon and Shell are both expected to post a 50 percent rise in underlying net income. “For the Bulls on BP there is little in today’s results to get excited about,” analysts at Bernstein said in a research note.

The London-based company said maintenance work in the North Sea and Angola and continued outages in the Gulf of Mexico had weighed on results in the quarter and would continue to impact performance in the second half of the year. BP said oil and gas production fell by 11 percent in the quarter to 3.43 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, after the company sold fields to pay for the spill and due to maintenance work.

The company again increased its estimate for the cost of dealing with the spill, adding around $500 million to the bill, although contributions of $1.1. billion from partners allowed the total charge taken by BP to be reduced.

Replacement cost net income was $5.31 billion, compared with a loss of $16.97 billion in the same period last year that included the cost of tackling its massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. — Reuters

TEHRAN: Iran has no unpaid oil bills by China as some news reports have suggested, Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini told reporters. “China has no oil debts to Iran,” the minister said. The Financial Times reported that US sanctions have blocked China from paying at least $20 billion for oil. Iran is China’s third-largest crude supplier, behind Saudi Arabia and Angola, shipping around 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first six months of the year, or more than 10 percent of Beijing’s 5.1 million bpd of imports. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told a weekly news conference yesterday that Iran had no problem over selling crude to China. — Reuters

AHMEDABAD: Maruti Suzuki Alto cars to be exported out of India at a holding area at the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZL) at Mundra, some 400 km from Ahmedabad. — AFP

India Maruti profit jumps surprise 18% NEW DELHI: India’s top carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported yesterday a surprise 18-percent jump in quarterly net profit but warned of sluggish sales as higher interest rates crimp consumer borrowing.

Maruti, 54-percent owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor, said fiscal first quarter profit rose to 5.5 billion rupees ($124 million) from 4.65 billion a year earlier on sales up 3.3 percent to 83.2 billion rupees.

The bottom-line performance was boosted by tight cost controls and one-off financial gains, defying market forecasts that profit would fall to around four billion rupees in the three months to June. “Sales volumes have not grown significantly, we have tried to control expenses across the spectrum,” chief financial officer Ajay Seth told analysts in a conference call. The New Delhi-based company’s earnings have become an increasingly important contributor to its parent, Suzuki Motor, Japan’s second-largest compact car maker.

Seth said he expected market conditions to “continue to be sluggish,” hit by higher fuel costs and a series of interest rate hikes by India’s hawkish central bank to tame near-double-digit inflation, the latest of them yesterday.

“The rate hikes will have an impact on consumer sentiment,” he said, but added he hoped

India’s religious festival season, which starts in September and is the traditional buying season, would lure consumers back into showrooms.

Sales were strongest in the small family car segment, rising 22 percent in the quarter from a year earlier. Overall domestic sales grew just 3.2 percent to 250,683 units while exports slipped nearly a quarter to 30,843 units.

Maruti’s results yesterday coincided with an unexpectedly aggressive 50 basis point rate hike by the central bank-its 11th increase since March 2010 — that alarmed business leaders.

Shares in the group fell 0.32 percent to 1,177.95 rupees on investor worries about its sales outlook. India’s auto industry is expected to grow by 10 to 12 percent this year, far slower than last year’s scorching 30 percent growth as rising borrowing costs and higher fuel prices put the brakes on rising demand. “The interest rates hike and fuel prices could dampen sales,” Mahantesh Sabarad, analyst with Fortune Equity Brokers in Mumbai, told AFP. Maruti also faces intensifying competition from South Korea’s Hyundai, which is India’s second-largest carmaker, and other global entrants from General Motors to Ford seeking to counter demand stuck in low gear in the West. — AFP

y

A

24

e niv rsar n

Years

Global stocks help KSE equities gain GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) strongly rebounded yesterday, supported by gains in world stocks. These gains came despite a speech by US President Barack Obama that gave no sign a deadlock in Washington over raising the debt limit was easing. This trend was geared by most of the market sectors except for the services and the non-Kuwaiti sectors where all other sectors went up by the end of the session.

High trading activities were seen during yesterday’s session, and investors conducted more deals than the earlier day.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.6 percent, at 186.43 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day reaching KD30.51bn. Showing a positive note, KSE Price Index closed at 6,089.1 point, adding 23.8 points (0.39 percent) from its previous close.

Market Breadth During the session, 107 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 46 equities advanced versus 28 decliners.

Trading activity was mixed this session. Total volume traded was up by 32.07 percent with 74.99mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD9.09mn (23.99 percent lower compared to the day before).

The investment sector was the volume leader today, accounting for 25.4 percent of total shares.

The services sector was the value leader, with 31.76 percent of total

traded value. KGL Logistics Company was the most active in terms of values traded during yesterday’s session, with 2.42mn shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD0.675mn.

In terms of top gainers, Sokouk Holding Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 12.5 percent and closed at KD0.023.

On the other hand, Real Estate Trade Center Co. shed 8.33 percent and closed at KD0.110, mak-

index to a positive closing.

Recovered from the previous decline, Global Banking Index went up by 1.33 percent, at 329.35 point. All the banks in the sector went up except for Gulf Bank that declined by 1.92 percent and Kuwait Finance House (KFH) which remained unchanged.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait had the best performance within the sector by advancing 3.57 percent and closed at KD0.870.

the performance of the index was pushed up by the single advancer; Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana). The stock closed at KD1.500 , adding 2.74 percent to its previous close. The Services Sector Index ended the day down by 0.24 percent.

Services companies had mixed closings, but decliners dominated. Two of the top losers; Future Communications Company and Automated Systems Company, went down by 7.69 and 7.26 percent, respectively. Heavyweight, Zain also declined by 1.0 percent and closed at KD0.990.

Oil News The price of Kuwaiti crude oil decreased $0.22 to reach $111.11pb on Monday, compared to $111.33pb the day before, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday. The decline of crude prices is due to rising fears concerning the US policy to solve its debt crisis.

ing it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sector-wise Market indices had positive performance during the session, but two sectors; Services and Non-Kuwaiti, went down affecting the overall performance of the general index.

The banking sector with its high positive performance during the session pushed the general

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

BUSINESS

The scrip was the biggest decliner in the sector during the previous session.

Global Food Index was the biggest advancer for the day as it closed 1.89 percent higher. The index had three traded stocks, with two decliners and one advancer. Livestock Transport & Trading Company and Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Company went down by 3.51 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively. However,

Trading hours during Ramadan On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) announces that trading hours will be as follows: l Placement of orders: From 10:30 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. l Cash trading: From 10:40 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. lForward and Option: From 1:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Oil rises, supported by dollar weakness LONDON: Oil prices rose yesterday, bol s te re d by dol l a r we a k n e s s a s a political tussle on raising the US debt ceiling persisted, though investors shrugged off fears that a U.S. default would undermine the appetite for riskier assets.

US crude oil was 49 cents higher at $99.69 a barrel by 1125 GMT after earlier touching a high of $99.80. Brent crude was up 28 cents at $118.22 a barrel, retreating from the day’s high of $118.60.

The index of the dollar against a basket of currencies was down 0.5 percent. The dollar also hit another allt ime l ow a g a in s t t h e Swis s fra n c, t h ou g h it re cove re d s l ig h t l y in European morning trade.

A weaker dollar boosts oil, priced in the US currency, as it makes it more attractive to holders of other currencies. President Barack Obama urged Republican and Democratic leaders to reach a fair compromise on raising the US debt ceiling to avoid default, warning that failure to act could cost jobs and do serious damage to the world’s biggest economy. “ Th e re is a pol it ic a l c irc u s, a n d everyone is saying it could be a disaster if the ceiling is not raised, but the market is not pricing in any catastrophic potential,” said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland.

If the debt ceiling is not raised, the US would not be able to pay bills that include monthly Social Security checks, which may lead to a drop in energy consumption. Still, analysts expect the United States to reach an agreement soon and prices to recover, driven by expectations of steady demand amid reduced global output.

Weighing on assets perceived as sensitive to decreasing risk appetite and keeping oil gains in check, Italy’s debt auction results showed rising yields, signalling mounting pressure on the country’s finances.

Jakob at Petromatrix pointed to thin volumes and entrenched ranges, with Brent crude hemmed in between its 100-day moving average of $116.50 and the psychological level of $120

and US crude seeing resistance at the $100 per barrel level.

Commerzbank said in a note that low volumes could lead to the breaching of these levels for a short time. “On London’s ICE, for example, not even half as many Brent contracts have been traded over the past few days as on average in June,” the note said.

“Tighter liquidity also leaves prices more likely to fluctuate substantially, so that Brent could well breach the ceiling of its trading range for a short time.”

Oil and other assets such as base metals and equities that tend to reflect the demand outlook were robust in the face of grim economic data. German consumer sentiment fell more than expected in August to a 10-month low on worries over the Greek debt crisis a n d h ig h e n e rg y price s, a s u r ve y showed . The UK’s second-quarter GDP data showed that the economy barely grew.

In the United States, ratings agencies have warned that even if Congress raises the debt ceiling and averts a default, they may still strip the United States of its AAA credit rating if lawmakers fail to agree on deeper longterm budget cuts.

I nvestors will watc h week ly oil s toc k s da ta from th e A me ric a n Petroleum Institute due later yesterday to gauge the country’s demand following disappointing macroeconomic data that showed a slowdown in the nation’s recovery.

US crude oil inventories were forec a s t to h ave fa l l e n for t h e e ig h t h straight week last week as the import level is likely to have leveled off, a preliminary Reuters poll showed ahead of the data.

On a longer term outlook, ANZ has cut its forecasts for the third quarter.

“We expect oil to consolidate this quarter, with trading likely a tale of two markets - supportive oil-specific fundamentals on the one hand and more bearish macro-economic concerns on the other,” the bank said in a note. “We also see some downside risk should geopolitical tension ease.” —Reuters

y

A

25

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

business

China oil barter system won’t solve Iran’s woes DUBAI: Iran may not have much choice, but selling oil under a barter system won’t solve the country’s woes. International sanctions make it increasingly difficult for buyers of Iranian oil to finance their imports. A payment dispute recently led to a suspension of Iranian oil sales to India. Now Teheran and Beijing are exploring ways to barter oil for Chinese goods. But even if China sends machinery instead of money to circumvent US sanctions that are increasingly hampering payments, Iran’s economy will remain vulnerable with-

out hard currency. The oil-for-something system is tried and tested, although it is more common among poorer countries. Venezuela, for example, provides around 100,000 barrels of discounted oil to Cuba, accounting for around half of the island country’s total consumption. In return, Cuba acts as a contractor, sending teachers and doctors to Venezuela.

The arrangement helps Cuba to get oil it could not afford otherwise.

Similarly, China manufactures goods that Iran needs- machinery accounts for around

15 percent of the Persian Gulf country’s imports. With bilateral trade already at around $30 billion last year and growing, it wouldn’t be too hard to offset the oil trade estimated at around $10 billion, or 540,000 barrels per day, in the first half of this year.

That is equivalent to about 20 percent of Iran’s total oil exports. Iranians are accustomed to bartering their way around international sanctions. Speedboats zip daily across the Strait of Hormuz to the Musandam Peninsula in Northern Oman carrying sheep

or goats. Vessels make the return journey loaded with electronics and cigarettes that US manufacturers are prevented from exporting to the country. But sanctions are also making it harder to get things like spare parts for airplanes.

A barter system could preserve Iran’s valuable relationship with China, which extends beyond oil and into areas like transport and aluminium. However it would still leave Iran searching for the steady supply of foreign funds it relies on to stabilize its own currency,

which was devalued last month and remains under pressure amid inflation fears. It is unclear how much of Iran’s forecast $122 billion reserves have been spent addressing the problem. But as sanctions bite into key trade relationships, Iranians aren’t inclined to trust their own currency. Iran and China are discussing using a barter system to exchange Iranian oil for Chinese goods and services, as US sanctions have blocked China from paying at least $20 billion for oil, the Financial Times said on July 25. — Reuters

Ford profit tops expectations Q2 revenue $35.5bn Shares up 2.3% l

A new 2011 Ford Mustang is seen at an auto dealership in Springfield, Illinois. — AP

South African strikes to spread to gold sector JOHANNESBURG: South African gold miners will join thousands of workers already in a nationwide strike this week, threatening supply of the precious metal at a time when bullion is at record highs.

Hundreds of thousands of workers across the country have downed tools in recent weeks, or are threatening to do so, seeking raises double or triple the 5 percent inflation rate in the midyear bargaining session known as “strike season”. The powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants a 14 percent increases in wages from gold employers-including AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony , which have offered rises between 7 and 9 percent.

“We are disappointed by the decision taken by the unions. The offers made by employers today were a big jump from where we were the last time and were made as an indication of commitment by employers to reach a resolution with the unions,” Elize Strydom, the chamber of mines’ negotiator for the gold sector, said in a statement issued late on Monday.

The NUM said it would ser ve employers with a 48-hour strike notice, which would lead to miners going on strike on Thursday. Coal miners walked off the job on Monday, following workers in the diamond, fuel and engineering sectors, although power utility Eskom said there was no immediate danger to supply to its coal-fired plants due to sufficient stocks.

Optimum Coal , South Africa’s sixth largest coal miner which sold 10.6 million tonnes of coal in the 2010 financial year, is operating at 10 to 20 percent of its normal capacity due to a strike over wages which started with the late shift on Sunday, an official said yesterday. “ We are producing a ver y small amount of coal ... in the order of 10-20 percent of our normal production,” a

company official said, but declined to be named. “We know that there is a meeting today between the chamber of mines and the National Union of Mineworkers and we are confident that there will be an offer that is acceptable.

We hope that by Thursday we will be back in production.”

Should the strike be prolonged, it could hit already strained supply of electricity and coal exports.

Unions and employers in the sector will resume talks yesterday in a bid to end the dispute.

The NUM has been seeking inflation-busting 14 percent wage increases, above the employers’ offer of 7 to 8.5 percent. Employers over the past two years have struck wage deals averaging about 8 percent with many firms seeing the above-inflation settlements as a necessary cost of doing business in South Africa.

They have also slashed jobs over the period to make up for the higher personnel costs. Unions will also hold talks with employers in the fuel sector, hoping to end a strike which is into its third week and has left hundreds of pumps dry across the country.

Economists have said wage settlements well above inflation hurt competitiveness and long-term outlook by driving up the costs for a labour force already more expensive than those in other emerging markets and far less efficient.

Gold held steady below its record high yesterday as investors waited to see if President Barack Obama’s appeal for an agreement on stalemated US debt talks would provoke signs of progress, while the euro-zone debt crisis and the looming South African strike in the sector lent support.South Africa was the world’s fourth-largest gold producer in 2010, after China, Australia and the United States, Reuters’ data show. — Reuters

Chrysler reports Q2 loss due to bailout repayment DETROIT: Chrysler is reporting a second-quarter loss, but the company says it would have made money without expenses from paying off government loans. The automaker says it lost $370 million from April through June because of $551 million in expenses for refinancing bailout loans from the US and Canadian governments.

Without the expenses, Chrysler says it would have earned $181 million. The company says its turnaround plan is on track. Its lineup of cars and trucks is catching on with Americans. Sales rose more than 20 percent for the quarter.

Revenue climbed 30 percent to $13.7 billion because company is also getting higher prices for its models. — AP

SPRINGFIELD: A setting sun is reflected in the front grill of a new Chrysler for sale at the Chrysler dealership in Springfield, Illinois. Chrysler is reporting a big second-quarter loss, but the company said yesterday, it would have made money without expenses from paying off government loans. —AP

DEARBORN, Michigan: Ford Motor Co’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations helped by higher prices and improved sales in North America. In North America, Ford’s pre-tax profit rose 0.5 percent to $1.91 billion. North America was the only global region where the company’s profit improved. In Europe, where Ford’s performance has been lagging in recent quarters, its pretax profit was trimmed nearly in half to $176 million.

Ford shares rose 2.3 percent in early trading on Tuesday at $13.47 per share.

The company did not alter its North American production outlook or its 2011 US auto sales forecast.

Excluding one-time items, Ford’s quarterly profit fell to 65 cents per share from 68 cents a year ago. Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 60 cents per share excluding one-time items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 13 percent to $35.5 billion. Net income fell to $2.4 billion in the quarter, or 59 cents per share, from $2.6 billion, or 61 cents per share.

Ford has posted eight straight quarterly net profits after recording net losses totaling $30 billion from 2006 through 2008 when it cut jobs, sold unprofitable brands and reshaped a lineup l a d e n w i t h l a rge S U Vs a nd p i c kup trucks. — Reuters

Hershey Q2 profit rises HARRISBURG: Hershey, the secondlargest US candymaker, is reporting that in nearly tripled its second-quarter profit, largely because of one-time costs that dampened profits a year ago. Yet the Hershey Co also said yesterday that sales will rise by 6 percent and earnings will jump by 10 percent for the full year.

Earnings at the Hershey, Pennsylvania, company, famous for its Hersheyís Kisses

and Reeseís cups were $130 million, or 56 cents a share. Thatís up from $46.7 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts expected 55 cents per share.

Revenue rose 7.5 percent to more than $1.3 billion due to higher prices, strong sales and some earlier-thanexpected orders. After accounting for a one-time credit of $1.8 million, it met Wall Streetís expectations. — AP

KANSAS: Hershey’s chocolate is seen in Overland Park, Kansas. Hershey, the nation’s second-largest candymaker, reported almost triple its second-quarter profit, largely because of expensive one-time costs that dampened profits a year ago. —AP

UK economy hit by royal wedding, Japan quake LONDON: Britain’s economy, already struggling to absorb deep budget cuts, slowed to a trickle in the second quarter when output was also hit by the royal wedding and Japanese earthquake.

The economy narrowly turned in growth, with expansion of 0.2 percent.

The slowdown had been widely forecast as the coalition government pursues a strategy of tough budget measures to slash a huge budget deficit, in the belief this will eventually give the economy room to grow.

Following the latest data, British finance minister George Osborne launched a staunch defense of the government’s policies, arguing that Britain was a “safe haven” amid a global debt storm in the euro-zone and the United States. “There’s positive news today which is: the economy is growing and creating jobs, and crucially at a time when many other countries in the world are facing a lot of instability, we are providing stability in Britain and we are a safe haven in the storm,” Osborne told Sky News.

He added: “ There is enormous instability in the euro area, there is a big argument in the United States at the moment about debt, and here in Britain we have got a plan that has provided stability in a very unstable world and has brought our interest rates down-and that has helped the economy grow.”

However British gross domestic product (GDP) expanded only slightly in the second quar ter, or three months to June, by 0.2 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

said in a statement.

Analysts had forecast anaemic growth of about 0.1-0.2 percent in the second quarter, as the economy struggled under the weight of high inflation and flagging consumer sentiment.

The economy grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter-but that only offset a 0.5-percent drop in the last three months of 2010, leaving activity broadly flat over the six month period.

“The GDP report is weak but not as bad as it could have been,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight research group.

“While the worst fears were not realised, growth of just 0.2 percent in the second quarter after flat activity in the previous two quarters combined is hardly a performance to celebrate.”

The ONS added that a series of one-off events had knocked as much as 0.5 percentage points off GDP in the second quarter-which would otherwise have registered impressive growth of 0.7 percent.

“There were a number of special events in Q2: the additional bank (public) holiday for the royal wedding; the royal wedding itself; the aftereffects of the Japanese tsunami; the first phase of Olympic ticket sales; and record warm weather in April,” it said.

Most workers in Britain did not work on April 29, the day of Prince William’s marriage to Catherine Middleton. Also during the second quarter, British manufacturing was hit by a shortage of parts arriving from earthquake-hit Japan. —AFP

Combo shows Indian-born member of Deutsche Bank board Anshu Jain (left) and German Juergen Fitschen, Head of Global Markets and member of Deutsche Bank board, who will replace the current Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann after he steps down in May 2012. — AFP

Deutsche Bank appoints Indian as co-chairman FRANKFURT: Deutsche Bank is taking the groundbreaking step of naming a co-chairman born in India, Anshu Jain, after he helped the bank dodge the worst of the global crisis.

Deutsche Bank, a pillar of the German financial establishment, posted stable second-quarter results yesterday soon after saying that Jain and German Juergen Fitschen would succeed Swiss Josef Ackermann as co-chairmen in May 2012. This is the first time that a non-German speaker is to run Deutsche Bank, the most important bank in Europe’s biggest economy, as operations both in Asia and Germany take on greater importance.

The dual-chairmanship solution announced late on Monday, with Ackermann likely to remain in the picture as head of the Deutsche Bank supervisory board, has yet to prove itself in practice. The bank reported a second-quarter net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion) after taking a charge of 155 million euros stemming from the Greek debt crisis.

The net result was an increase of 6.2 percent from the figure for the same period in 2010 but the bank did not change its previous forecasts for the year as a whole.

“Our efforts to recalibrate and rebalance our platform are paying off nicely,” a statement quoted Ackermann as saying in reference to better results at the private client and asset management units and the purchase of Postbank, which has Germany’s largest retail banking network.

Deutsche Bank has also acquired Luxembourg-based investment bank Sal Oppenheim, which has a strong presence in Germany. But the German bank has stressed its future lies also in Asia, and when Fitschen joined in 1987, he worked first in Thailand, Japan and Singapore.

More than half of the bank’s staff of around 100,000 work outside Germany. Jain earned an undergraduate degree in India before moving to Massachusetts in the United States for graduate work and then to London where he made his mark with Deutsche Bank’s core corporate and investment banking division. He is credited with steering the CIB unit safely through the 2007-09 global financial and economic crisis, and in the second quarter of 2011, it accounted for 4.9 billion euros in net revenues of the bank’s total of 8.5 billion euros.

“Despite increasingly difficult market conditions, our business model has proven to be robust,” Ackermann was quoted by a statement as saying.

Deutsche Bank said Monday that Ackermann, who is 63, would move to the supervisory board after he steps down in May 2012 and be replaced by Jain, 48 and Fitschen, 62, both of whom said they were delighted to be paired up. Some observers were skeptical about how it would work with Ackermann remaining in a high-profile role, however. — AP

Qatar CB chief optimistic on US debt talks DUBAI: Qatar’s central bank Governor Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al-Thani is optimistic that a solution to the US debt crisis can be agreed within a week, he was quoted as saying yesterday. Qatar and other Gulf Arab states are major holders of US Treasuries and Sheikh Al-Thani was quoted by Doha-based Al Arab newspaper as saying Washington would be able to find a solution to the financial dilemma within the next seven days.

The United States edged closer to a devastating default as Republicans and Democrats were deadlocked over competing plans to raise the debt ceiling, one week before an Aug 2 deadline to act. Other central bank officials in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar were not immediately available for comment on their views on the US debt crisis. Bahrain’s central bank declined to comment. An official at Oman’s central bank said in June the bank had started to actively discuss a potential US debt default and feared such a move would, at least briefly, destabilize Gulf Arab foreign asset reserves. OPEC member Qatar held foreign reserves worth 70.5 billion riyals ($19.4 billion) at the end of May, down 13.7 percent from 79.4 billion at the end of April, latest central bank data showed.

Gulf Arab states mostly peg their currencies to the US dollar and their main source of revenue, oil, is priced in dollars but they do not usually disclose the composition of their foreign currency reserves. “I would assume there would be no major shift in reserves in the Gulf at this time,” said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. — Reuters

y

A

26

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

business

Indian traders protest foreign retail chains NEW DELHI: India’s biggest traders’ association held a series of demonstrations yesterday against proposals to allow supermarket chains like Wal-Mart and Tesco into the country’s retail sector.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) organized protests in several cities, including the capital New Delhi where about 150 shopkeepers voiced anger about proposed changes to foreign direct investment regulations in India.

Multi-brand foreign groups such as USbased Wal-Mart currently operate as wholesalers, but cannot sell directly to the public amid fears that they could swamp small, traditional, family-run stores.

Suresh Bindal, president of the Mercantile Association of Wholesale

Textile Traders, led the demonstration in Delhi, telling AFP that “foreign retail chains will turn us into their servants if we don’t stop them”.

“First the international companies will sell to consumers at a cheaper rate, and crush small shopkeepers, then they raise prices. They will turn independent traders into suppliers to multinational companies,” he added. India’s tight foreign investment rules are aimed at protecting small “mom-and-pop” stores in the retail sector. Fewer than 10 percent of consumers in India shop in bigger, local department stores.

Large foreign retailers have urged India to open the consumer market to foreign chains as they seek to grow outside saturated Western markets. Some

analysts say the chains could help solve India’s chronic food distribution problems, bringing in modern refrigeration and storage facilities that would help reduce waste.

The government is yet to decide whether to loosen the FDI laws, but a high-powered panel called the Committee of Secretaries approved the idea last week.

The panel recommended, however, that investors put in at least $100 million to set up multi-brand retail stores and only operate in cities with at least one million people. India has already allowed 51 percent foreign investment in singlebrand retail operations such as Nokia or Reebok and 100 percent in wholesale cash-and-carry operations. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Activists of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) shout slogans during a protest in the old quarter of New Delhi yesterday. Traders criticized the Indian government for its unilaterally moving ahead in granting permission to foreign direct investment in retail. —AFP

India hikes rates by 50 points over inflation Repo rate stands at 8%, reverse repo at 7% MUMBAI: India’s central bank hiked interest rates by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points yesterday, its 11th increase since March last year as it struggles to combat near double-digit inflation. After a meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India Duvvuri Subbarao argued a hike was required because of rising inflation fuelled by higher fuel prices and manufacturing costs.

“Although the impact of past monetary policy actions is still getting transmitted, considering the overall growth and inflation scenario, there is a need to persevere with the anti-inflationary stance,” he said. India has the highest inflation of any major world economy except for Russia, with the latest reading for June putting it at 9.44 percent over 12 months from 9.06 percent the previous month.

The central bank has expressed concern that inflation has spread from the food sector into the rest of the economy, leading to rising wages and a danger of a damaging price spiral. “If RBI wants to be seen as an inflation fighter, it cannot stop hiking interest rates.” said Ritika Mankar, economist with research firm Ambit Capital in Mumbai.

After the hikes yesterday, the RBI’s repo rate at which it lends to commercial banks stands at 8.0 percent and the reverse repo-the rate it pays to banks for deposits-is at 7.0 percent.

The repo rate is now at a near three-year high and the reverse repo is at its highest level in more than a decade, analysts say. Indian shares tumbled after the decision, with the benchmark 30-share index on the Bombay Stock Exchange down nearly two percent intraday, reflecting concerns that economic growth will slow.

Business leaders have called for a halt to the rises, amid fears that the rising cost of credit-and a lack of economic reforms-could hit further spending by consumers and investment. Subbarao said the RBI now expected inflation to be around 7.0 percent at the end of the fiscal year in March from 6.0 percent earlier. He warned that “inflation could remain elevated for a few months before moderating towards the late part of this year”.

Most economists, who had predicted a

MUMBAI: An Indian journalist speaks on a phone outside the head office of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai yesterday. India’s central bank yesterday hiked interest rates by a higher-than-expected half a percentage point in its 11th increase since March 2010 to combat near double-digit inflation. — AFP quarter point rise, were surprised by the sharper hike in rates and warned that India’s economic growth this fiscal year could slow further, possibly to below 8.0 percent.

“The hike was much sharper than expected,” added Siddhartha Sanyal, chief India economist with Barclays Capital. “An 8.0 percent growth now looks difficult to achieve,” he said. Reducing prices has become a political priority for the Congress-led coalition in New Delhi, even as higher growth is seen as key to reducing crushing poverty in the nation of 1.2 billion.

The RBI had signaled its intent to raise rates late Monday, outlining in its macroeconomic and monetary review that it would maintain its anti-inflationary position. The bank has been on its longest streak of monetary tightening in a decade and is on record as saying that short-term economic growth may have to be sacrificed to fight inflation running at “uncomfortable” levels. The government has revised down its growth forecast from 9.0 per-

UBS cuts forecasts after profit disappoints in Q2 GENEVA: Swiss bank UBS AG lowered its annual earnings forecasts and announced fresh job cuts yesterday after posting sharply diminished second-quarter net profits of 1.02 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion).

UBS said net profit fell almost 50 percent from 2 billion francs in last year’s April-June period and was below analysts’ predictions of more than 1.3 billion francs. Operating income fell to 7.17 billion francs from 9.19 billion francs.

Investors were spooked by the report and sent shares in UBS down 2.2 percent to 13.60 francs ($16.93) on the Zurich exchange. “Banks’ returns have declined overall in the last 12 months, reflecting deleveraging and the actions being taken in advance of increased capital requirements,” chief executive Oswald Gruebel said in a statement.

He said the bank wouldn’t achieve the target it set for itself in 2009, shortly after Gruebel came into office. At the time, the bank said it would aim for a pretax profit of 15 billion francs a year by 2014.

UBS declined to say how many staff would lose their jobs in the cost-cutting exercise that aims to save 1.5-2 billion francs over the next two to three years. But it did indicate that it would book “significant restructuring charges later this year.” Media reports in Switzerland have been for 5,000 job losses at the bank, which currently employs some 65,000 people worldwide.

Analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank said the planned cuts don’t bode well for UBS’s management forecasts. UBS chief financial officer Tom Naratil warned that market conditions would continue to be difficult in the coming months.

“The current economic uncertainty ... shows little sign of abating and we believe it will have effects on the broader banking industry,” he told reporters. “We don’t envisage material improvements in market conditions in the third quarter of 2011, given the usual seasonal decline in trading activity.”

Naratil said the bank would now concentrate on shoring up its profits, but added that “we won’t increase risk excessively in order to achieve any of our objectives.”

The Zurich-based bank won’t be paying a shareholder dividend in the foreseeable future, he said. — AP

cent to 8.6 percent for the current fiscal year due to what it called a “perceptible slowdown” in the past two financial quarters.

Analysts believe at least one more rate increase is on the cards before the end of the calendar year. Ambit Capital’s Mankar refused to rule out another 50 basis points hike by the end of the financial year in March. India’s annual industrial output growth decelerated in May to 5.6 percent, its weakest pace in nine months, down from 8.5 percent expansion in the same month a year earlier.

The surge in inflation was initially triggered by spiralling food prices and then exacerbated by rising global commodity prices and higher fuel costs. Subbarao said crude prices remained volatile and higher fuel costs would keep upward pressure on inflation.

“The monetary policy stance will depend on the evolving inflation trajectory which will be determined by trends in domestic growth and global commodity prices,” he added. The next RBI meeting is on September 16. — AFP

Norsk Hydro profit tops forecast OSLO: Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro posted a bigger than expected rise in secondquar ter earnings yesterday, thanks to a rise in output volumes and prices. It also announced the sale of a 21-percent stake in a Norwegian power production firm located in an area where Hydro has no industrial power consumption, for 1 billion Nor wegian crowns ($185 million), news which helped lift its share price.

Overall economic uncertainty may dent demand for aluminum, but Hydro still plans to further increase its production, its Chief Executive Svein R ichard Brandtzaeg said.

“We remain optimistic about the prospec ts for aluminum demand,” he said. “However, recent increased uncertainty due to a more volatile macro environment and sovereign debt issues may result in increased demand fluc tuations in the coming months.”

Brandtzaeg told a news conference yesterday that the uncertainty connected to the European debt situation was “not only a worry for aluminium but something which affects all industry in Europe.” “We see the effect already with considerably lower investments in newbuilds,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the news conference.

Shares in Norsk Hydro rose 2.9 percent to 40.03 crowns at 0819 GMT, outperforming a 0.1 percent rise in the Oslo Stock Exchange

benchmark index .

RS Platou analyst Carl Christian Bachke said he believed the main reason for the share price reaction was Hydro’s sale of shares in the power production assets, which highlights the value of the firm’s remaining power assets. “ They manage to sell Norwegian power stations at 3 crowns per kilowatt hour, which is very good and that is probably what the share is reacting on,” he said.

Hydro repor ted underlying April-June earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 1.91 billion Norwegian crowns ($353 million), up on the 1.11 billion crowns made in the same period last year and ahead of the average market forecast of 1.75 billion given in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Underlying net profit rose to 1.40 billon crowns from 530 million a year ago, a result which was 284 million crowns above the average market forecast.

Warren Securities analyst Tor Klaveness said the report was not quite as good as the forecastbeating bottom line suggested, since some of the more impressive gains-in the energy and “other” line items-were one-off items.

“The bottom line is definitely better than expected, but if you look at the underlying EBIT it’s no more than OK,” he said, adding that the most important underlying businesses-primary metal and the bauxite and alumina business units-performed as a whole “just so-so”. — Reuters

Malaysian oil firms KNM, Zecon ink $5.7bn projects KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian oil and gas companies KNM Group and Zecon signed a preliminary agreement with Gulf Asian Petroleum to undertake two projects worth 17 billion ringgit ($5.7 billion), boosting their shares.

Shares of Zecon rose as much as 30 percent, their biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly two years, while KNM shares rose as much as 9.1 percent. The projects, to be constructed in Teluk Ramunia in Johor, the country’s southernmost state bordering Singapore, comprise a petroleum refinery and a storage terminal worth 15 billion ringgit and 2 billion ringgit, respectively.

Though investors cheered the announcement, analysts said they need more clarity on the projects before changing their calls on the stocks.

“There may be a positive knee-jerk reaction (in the share price), but a sustainable rise will hinge on more clarity of the project,” HwangDBS Vickers research analyst Quah He Wei said in a note.

Gulf Asian Petroleum, a Malaysian company half-owned by Abu Dhabi

investment fund Mubadala Development , has been licensed by the government to develop oil and gas facilities in Johor. OSK Research said it had doubts on the feasibility of the project and cited potential issues with financing. “ We harbor some doubts on whether the project will take off due to past events,” OSK Research said.

“In March 2008, Qatar-based Gulf Petroleum Ltd’s plans to construct a $5 billion oil and gas complex in Malaysia petered out even though it had earlier signed an agreement with the Malaysian government.”

The increasingly competitive regional oil and gas sector require Malaysian companies, which have typically been dependent on Malaysian state oil firm Petronas for jobs, to compete with international players such as Murphy Oil and Royal Dutch Shell.

The government has called for oil and gas companies to scale up as part of its economic transformation program, and has seen some results such as the proposed merger between midsized companies Kencana and Sapuracrest. — Reuters

Nissan and China partner Dongfeng to invest $8bn BEIJING: Nissan and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Co will invest 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) and launch around 30 models in China over the next five years, the Japanese auto giant said yesterday.

The two firms-through their Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd. (DFL) tie-upalso plan to nearly double annual sales and launch a zero-emission electric car, in a bid to increase DFL’s share in the world’s largest auto market. “Nissan’s strong partnership with Dongfeng Motor Corporation has been the primary driver of its robust growth over the past eight years in the Chinese market,” Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s chief executive, said in a statement.

“The new plan, with its investments in capacity, products and innovation, will ensure that China continues to be Nissan’s largest global market.” China, which overtook the US to become the world’s top auto market in 2009, has become increasingly important for global players. Auto sales in China rose more than 32 percent last year to a record 18.06 million units.

But the sector has since lost steam after Beijing phased out sales incentives such as tax breaks for small-engined vehicles, first introduced to ward off the impact of the global financial crisis.

The government is considering new incentives to revive the sector. But an industry group predicted this month that auto sales growth was likely to slow this year, despite showing a slight rebound in June.

Analysts nevertheless welcomed the announcement, saying the outlook for China’s auto market remained positive despite recent setbacks. “You have very

low car penetration, you have consumers with very high cash levels and we don’t even have car loans starting yet in China,” Scott Laprise, a Beijing-based auto analyst with brokerage firm CLSA, told AFP. Nissan said DFL planned to achieve and maintain a 10 percent share of the Chinese market over the next five years.

Ghosn told reporters at a press conference the Japanese group currently has a 6.2 percent share of the sector. DFL also aims to increase sales from nearly 1.3 million vehicles in 2010 to more than 2.3 million units by the end of 2015, it added.

Sales of the first passenger vehicle sporting the Dongfeng Nissan brand Venucia are scheduled for next year, and a total of five new models will be launched under that brand.

The two firms will also build a new manufacturing facility in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which will reinforce existing plants in other parts of the country to achieve the 2015 sales target, Nissan said.

Another passenger vehicle-producing plant in the southern province of Guangdong is also due to start operations in 2012, and a separate factory in central China is set to be inaugurated this year. Klaus Paur, China managing director for Synovate Motoresearch in Shanghai, said the Nissan-Dongfeng joint venture had a good position in the Chinese market.

“They believe that the lower-tier cities and the inland markets have potential, and they are ramping up production capacity in order to be ready to cater for that demand,” he said. — AFP

BEIJING: Nissan Motor Co CEO Carlos Ghosn (sixth right) and chairman of Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd Xu Ping (fifth left) applause as they pose with both company executives at a news conference in Beijing yesterday. — AP

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

TECHNOLOGY

EMC extends leadership in VMware integration KUWAIT: EMC Corporation, announced full technology support, services and the industry’s most comprehensive integration with the new VMware cloud infrastructure suite including VMware vSphere 5, VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5, and VMware vCloud Director 1.5 at general availability. This pervasive and immediate support further validates EMC as the industry-leading storage vendor* in VMware virtual and cloud environments and highlights EMC’s commitment to its shared vision with VMware to help accelerate customers’ journey to the cloud and extend their technology investments. Customers will be able to more easily and quickly enjoy the availability, ease of management, performance, security, and cost-reduction benefits of virtualization in their mission-critical application environments. RSA, the security division of EMC, today also announced collaboration with VMware vShield 5 to deliver, for the first time, embedded data loss protection (DLP) through VMware vShield Data Security capabilities.

“At Expedia, we are leveraging EMC’s commitment to being the storage leader in VMware vSphere(r) virtual environments. Using EMC technology with VMware vSphere 5, Expedia is realizing increased agility, scalability, and performance through EMC’s use of the new VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration with EMC VNX, and improved application availability and scalability with EMC PowerPath/VE data path optimization.

As we strive to be more of an IT-as-a-Service organization through cloud computing, we will look to EMC and VMware to help us achieve our goals,” said Travis Gunther, Principal Architect, Expedia.

Customers looking to virtualize their missioncritical applications have two main concerns: performance and cost. As the number one storage provider for VMware environments, EMC announced the broadest day-one support of VMware vSphere 5 across EMC VNX(tm), EMC VMAX(tm), and EMC Isilon(r) storage platforms to efficiently and effectively scale with the VMware

cloud infrastructure suite to support thousands of virtual machines (VM). Through support of four new VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration, EMC increases its close-knit integration points with the VMware platform- delivering more than 75 points of integration - across storage, backup and security products to offer the most business value, ease-of-use and enhanced performance of VMware environments. EMC also has broadened VM object-level awareness to include EMC VNX in conjunction with EMC VMAX - the only midrange and enterprise storage systems to offer this native platform capability at no additional cost. Additionally there are new free VMware vCenter plugins for all EMC storage platforms so VMware administrators can manage their VMware vSphere cluster, VMs and storage all from within VMware vCenter’s management console.

Utilizing EMC PowerPath/VE in VMware vSphere 5 will also be able to dramatically reduce the costs

of growing virtualized environments ranging to thousands of VMs through PowerPath/VE’s ability to automate and optimize data paths to provide high availability and to more easily scale missioncritical applications. PowerPath/VE has been updated to integrate with the new VMware vSphere 5 auto-deploy capability, and simultaneously simplifies licensing and management.

Additional cost reductions will be attained by leveraging EMC FAST VP (fully automated storage tiering for virtual pools) to augment VMware Storage DRS. EMC FAST VP lowers costs and improves performance by leveraging dense, highcapacity storage and high-performance SSDs as appropriate, and also provides finer control by extending mobility to sub-VM granularity. EMC and VMware have collaborated to enhance dynamic mobility of virtual machines over distance in this release using EMC VPLEX(tm) in conjunction with enhancements to the core VMware vSphere 5 high availability capabilities.

Chinese sub reaches new depth milestone Latest technological feat

NEW YORK: One of the pages of “Today’s Deals,” appears on the screen of an iPhone, in New York. While smartphone users worry about mobile hacking and other security threats that are making news these days, psychologists and others are concerned about another equally troubling issue: the growing obsession among people who would much rather interact with their smartphones than with other human beings. — AP

Sleep with your iPhone?

NEW YORK: You gave it a pet name. It knows more about you than your mother does. Sometimes you even sleep with it. In fact, you’re so attached to it that being separated for only a few minutes could send you into a panic. While smartphone users worry about mobile hacking and other security threats that are making news these days, psychologists and others are concerned about another equally troubling issue: The growing obsession among people who would much rather interact with their smartphones than with other human beings.

“Watching people who get their first smartphone, there’s a very quick progression from having a basic phone you don’t talk about to people who love their iPhone, name their phone and buy their phones outfits,” said Lisa Merlo, director of psychotherapy training at the University of Florida.

The increasing dependence comes as more Americans ditch their iPods, cameras, maps and address books in favor of the myriad capabilities of a smartphone. After all, companies have rolled out thousands of applications that do everything from track your heart rate to guide you through the streets of New York City. While smartphones have made life easier for some, psychologists say the love of them is becoming more like an addiction, creating consequences that range from minor (teenagers who communicate in three-letter acronyms like LOL and BRB) to major (car accidents caused by people who text while driving).

Merlo, a clinical psychologist, said she’s observed a number of behaviors among smartphone users that she labels “problematic.” Among them, Merlo says some patients pretend to talk on the phone or fiddle with apps to avoid eye contact or other interactions at a bar or a party.

Others are so genuinely engrossed in their phones that they ignore the people around them completely.

“The more bells and whistles the phone has,” she says, “the more likely they are to get too attached.” Michelle Hackman, a recent high school graduate in Long Island, NY, won a $75,000 prize in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search with a research project investigating teens’ attachment to their cell phones. She found that students separated from their phones were under-stimulated - a low heart rate was an indicator and lacked the ability to entertain themselves.

Most of the teens at Hackman’s affluent high school own smartphones, she says, and could even be found texting under their desks during class. “It creates an onedge feeling and you don’t realize how much of the lecture you’re missing,” Hackman says.

For some, the anxious feeling that they might miss something has caused them to slumber next to their smartphones. More than a third of US adults - 35 percent - now own a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center, and two-thirds of them sleep with their phones right next to their beds. Michael Breus, a psychologist and sleep specialist, said in his clinical practice, his patients often describe how they answer emails, text and surf the Web as

they’re trying to wind down at night. He says this is a bad idea. “This behavior can increase cognitive arousal,” he says, “leading to the No. 1 complaint I hear: ‘I can’t turn off my mind and fall asleep’.”

Trouble sleeping isn’t the only problem smartphones junkies exhibit. Some people are willing to do almost anything to feed their addiction — including spending more money for the data plans than they can afford. According to J.D. Power and Associates, the average smartphone user spends about $107 each month for wireless access — more than the average household pays for electricity each month.

And consumers’ dependence on mobile phones is only expected to grow as people use their phones for things like shopping and banking. Mobile commerce - purchases made when shoppers access stores’ websites or mobile applications through their phones - is expected to account for $6 billion in sales this year, according to Forrester Research.

For instance, Kristyn Wilson, a marketing professional in Columbus, Ohio, uses her phone to locate stores and compare prices, in addition to ordinary tasks like checking email and sending texts. She also uses it to buy entertainment vouchers through daily deal site Groupon and even to pay for her coffee at Starbucks, where she simply has to wave the phone in front of a scanner. As a result, she rarely separates from the device.

“My phone is in my hand all the time,” says Wilson, who stops short of sleeping next to her phone. “You have to draw the line somewhere.” For others, being away from their phone will almost certainly cause separation anxiety. According to researchers at the Ericsson ConsumerLab, some people have become so dependent on being able to use their smartphones to go online anytime, anywhere, that without that access, they “can no longer handle their daily routine.”

Keosha Harvey, a party booker in Burlington, NC, can attest to that. She uses her iPhone for both personal and business communications, so she panicked when it crashed earlier this month, taking all of her “important contacts” with it. Apple replaced it for free, but she lost her pictures and more than 400 songs, she says.

“The most frustrating part is that lost feeling you get when you are so used to having a phone,” says Harvey, who also has had Blackberry devices “go dead” on her in the past. “You feel a sense of nakedness without it.” Tonia Zampieri lost her iPhone in a cab on New Year’s Eve while on vacation in Washington D.C. Having paid her fare with cash, she had no way of tracking down the cab company, and her oldermodel phone didn’t have the tracking software that comes standard now. She had backed up her contacts on her computer six weeks earlier, but she lost other data, including videos of her niece.

The worst part, Zampieri says, was the feeling of being cut off. “I was without a phone for four days, and it was excruciating. I kept going to look for it but then I’d be like, ‘I don’t have it. That’s right,’” Zampieri says. “It’s definitely a borderline addiction for me.” — AP

BEIJING: A Chinese submersible conducted the country’s deepest manned dive yesterday in the latest technological milestone for China, which theoretically puts most of the ocean floor’s vast resources within its reach.

The Jiaolong undersea craft-named after a mythical sea dragon-reached 5,057 metres (16,591 feet) below sea level in a test dive in the northeastern Pacific, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said.

Though less than half as deep as a record dive by the US Navy in 1960, the achievement highlights China’s push to catch up with advanced nations in space, sea, and polar exploration, and points to its fast-growing technical capabilities. This campaign has been exemplified by a space programme that in 2003 made China just the third nation to conduct manned space flight.

The Jiaolong-designed for a maximum depth of 7,000 metres-carried three people to 4,027 metres down in a test on Thursday. It conducted the test dive to break the 5,000metre mark early yesterday morning in international waters, the SOA said.

Afterwards, the submersible’s three-man crew appeared on the deck of the mission’s main ship triumphantly holding a Chinese flag in images broadcast on state television.

The test’s success indicated that the submersible was capable of reaching more than 70 percent of the planet’s seabed, the SOA said.

China has pushed hard in recent years to obtain oil, minerals and other resources needed to fuel its growth, and has said its submersible programme is aimed at scientific research and the peaceful exploration and use of natural resources.

Scientists say the oceans’ floors contain rich deposits of potentially valuable minerals, but the extreme depths pose technical difficulties in harvesting them on a wide scale. But it may not take China long to begin reaching these riches, Jian Zhimin, director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology at Shanghai’s Tongji University, told AFP. “I don’t think it will be a very long time before China can perform deep-sea ocean-

JIANGYIN: This photo taken on July 1, 2011 shows the Chinese submersible “Jiaolong” as it is lifted into the Huanghai sea in Jiangyin, east China’s Jiangsu province, in preparation for the country’s deepest manned dive. The Jiaolong undersea craft — named after a mythical sea dragon — reached 5,057 metres (16,591 feet) below sea level in a test dive in the northeastern Pacific yesterday, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said. — AFP

floor mining,” he said, noting that many of the most valuable oceanic mineral resources are located around the Jiaolong’s maximum designed depth of 7,000 metres. The SOA said the submersible would attempt a 7,000-metre dive in 2012.

The US Navy reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench-the deepest point in the world’s oceans at 11,000 metres-in 1960. But China’s appetite for resources, rapid military expansion and increasing assertiveness over maritime territorial claims have caused concern. During a Jiaolong dive to the bottom of the disputed South China Sea last year, it planted a Chinese flag in the seabed in what some saw as a provocative act.

The South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas, is claimed in whole or in part by China and several other nations. Some con-

Zynga, Tencent launch China online game SAN FRANCISCO: US social games star Zynga made its debut in Mainland China with a localized “Zynga City” title launched in an alliance with leading Chinese Internet service Tencent. The free online game is a version of a “Cityville” game playable in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English when it was released in December.

In the game, players build dream cities complete with businesses, homes, park and landmarks and then invite friends to take up virtual residence in the form of animated characters that run shops, enforce laws, and more.

Zynga boasted that “Cityville” is the most widely played game at social network Facebook, citing figures from industry tracker AppData. “Cityville” had slightly more than 80 million monthly active users as of Monday, according to the AppData website.

The test version of the game launched on the month-old Tencent Open Platform lets people in China play in their own language. “We hope that Zynga City will be a success on Tencent Open Platform,” said platform general manager Lin Songtao. “We are expecting that more and more international social game developers will bring their popular games to Tencent Open Platform for Chinese Internet users and this will support the rapid growth of the social game market in China,” he continued. The development of “Zynga City” is led by the San Francisco-based social game creator’s studio established in Beijing in May of last year with the purchases of XPD Media.

The game features decorations, architecture, storytelling, quests, events, and action mechanics tailored to Chinese culture, according to Zynga. “Zynga is committed to building a truly local offering in China and the announcement today is a continuation of the company’s overall international initiative of creating high-quality games that can be enjoyed across all cultures and languages,” the company said in a release. — AFP

cerns also have been raised that deep-sea vessels could have military applications such as tapping into or severing communications cables.

China’s successful dive comes after Japanese media earlier this year said Japan planned to step up its search for undersea mineral reserves, setting up a potential race for seabed resources. Japanese researchers earlier this month said they had detected vast reserves of rare earths-substances used in many high-tech electronics-on the Pacific seabed.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted the submersible’s chief designer Xu Qinan as touting its “state-of-the-art” systems but noting that some components had been imported from abroad, such as the high-definition video and transmission equipment. — AFP

HTC’s patent war with Apple a potential threat TAIPEI/HELSINKI: Taiwan’s HTC, which rose from obscure origins making phones for others to become one of the world’s top smartphone companies, is facing a test of its mettle as investor faith in its rapid growth wanes in an increasingly competitive market.

The world No.5 has had a fairytale ride, with its shares more than tripling in the 14 months to April 2011 and sales surging 300 percent over the past 18 months, as consumers snapped up its innovative phones with their distinctive large clock numerals. But worries over faltering demand and stiff competition from Apple Inc and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and legal challenges over patents have since pushed its shares to as much as 30 percent below their peak.

Analysts say HTC needs new markets to sustain growth and will have to call on the speed and innovation that turned it to a global brand in five years and propelled its market value beyond Nokia this year. “In the near-term, HTC’s biggest challenge is to combat the growing competitive threats from Samsung and Apple in the profitable US market,” said Neil Mawston at research consultancy Strategy Analytics.

“In the mid-term, its biggest challenge is to increase its low market share across the highgrowth regions of China, India and Asia.” In the first quarter, Asia-Pacific was the largest and fastest growing smartphone market with 37 million units sold, followed by Europe, Middle East and Africa with 33 million and North America with 25 million, research firm Canalys said. China and India are home to 1.7 billion mobile phone subscribers, but last year only 10 percent of HTC’s revenues came from Asia, compared with 85 percent from North America and Europe.

Nokia has traditionally dominated the developing markets, but HTC is facing new rivals in the likes of Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei Technologies , which are aggressively muscling in on mobile devices . “But in terms of

quality, HTC is still much better than the Chinese brands; the Chinese brands are not as competitive,” said Michael On, a managing director of Beyond Asset Management in Taipei.

And then there’s Apple. It reported a neardoubling of revenue in the third quarter thanks to a surge in iPhone sales, and said it was “just scratching the surface” in China. Its Asia-Pacific revenue more than tripled in the quarter. Apple is also studying a cheaper version of its iPhone for emerging markets, according to sources, touching on an issue- pricing-that could be a hurdle for HTC in low income markets. “We expect HTC to remain at the forefront of smartphone development,” said Geoff Blaber, London-based director of devices, software and platforms at mobile technology research firm CCS Insight.

“But its biggest challenge will be managing expansion into an increasingly price-sensitive, low-cost smartphone segment.” Nokia’s average selling price was $85 per handset in the first quarter this year, compared with HTC’s $360, Strategy Analytics says. The price of phones in Asian stores can go as low as $20.

One reason HTC sells more phones in the US and Europe is its close relations with local operators who provide heavy subsidies-a sale structure not as popular in Asia. As a result, the cheapest phone that HTC has launched this year, the Wildfire, with a retail price of around $300, is more expensive to get from stores in Asia than its most expensive phone in the US, the Thunderbolt, running on Verizon’s 4G LTE network with a bundle price of $249, $50 more than the iPhone.

Investors have been worried by signs of tougher times with HTC’s gross margin falling to 29.3 percent in the first quarter, down 1.3 percentage points from the same quarter last year. On top of that, the company is embroiled in an acrimonious patent war with Apple that has the potential to hurt.— Reuters

28

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

health & science

Jailed Afghan kids need health, study help KABUL: Across Afghanistan there are about 850 children in juvenile rehabilitation centres who lack access to adequate food, health and education, and there is inadequate coordination among aid groups trying to help, a senior official said yesterday.

Mohammad Seddi Seddiqi, head of the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre department at the Ministry of Justice, said the services provided by government ministries to centres around the country were failing their young charges. “The juvenile rehabilitation centres are facing some

challenges for example ... lack of access to adequate food, lack of access for children to health services,” Seddiqi said.

“Services provided by the ministries are not adequate. There is lack of access to gymnasiums and libraries, we don’t have social workers with experience to work with us ... there is a lack of coordination with organisations providing help.”

Seddiqi was speaking at the opening of a vocational training workshop and gym at a Kabul centre, funded by the Italian government, and appealed to aid groups to coordinate work

through the Ministry of Justice to avoid duplicating projects.

After 30 years of conflict, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, where children make up half the population, a quarter of children die before the age of five and the average Afghan life expectancy is 44 years. The number of children in rehabilitation centres for various offences accounts for a tiny percentage of Afghanistan’s 15 million children. Experts say up to 40 percent of children work to help their impoverished families.

“Children have been the most vulnerable class

of our society, who lost their parents and who lost the opportunity to get an education,” said Mohammad Yousef, director of Aschiana, a group that works to help educate street children. “If they are breaking the law there are different reasons, for example psychological problems, security problems, economic problems that the parents could not take care of their children,” Yousef said at the Kabul centre. He said more training opportunities needed to be offered to children in a bid to stop them breaking the law and ending up in one of the centres. — Reuters

Frequently ill children may have immunodeficiency Early diagnosis and therapy can prevent serious damage

TRINIDAD: This handout photo taken by The Chilli Factory in March, 2011 and released yesterday shows newly harvested deadly Trinidad Scorpion Butch Taylor chillies in the town of Morisset, 120kms north of Sydney. — AFP

Heath Brief New salmonella outbreak WASHINGTON: Health regulators advised people not to eat papaya from Texas distributor Agromod Produce as they investigate a possible link to a salmonella outbreak in 23 US states.

The outbreak of Salmonella Agona has resulted in 97 reported cases of illness across the country, the US Food and Drug Administration said.

Exercise for heart health NEW YORK: A combination of weight training and aerobic exercise might be the best prescription for overweight people at risk for diabetes and heart disease, a new study suggests. People doing only aerobic exercise dropped weight and inches off their waistlinesso an aerobic-only program is also a good (and less time -consuming) option, researchers said. Those in the study who just lifted weights saw very little benefit in terms of heart health, although they did gain strength.

Breast cancer more lethal in blacks NEW YORK: It is still a mystery why black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than whites, according to a new study that shows the racial disparity can’t be chalked up to obesity differences. As a group, black women in the US tend to be heavier than whites and researchers had thought that might explain why only 78 percent survive five years after diagnosis, compared to 90 percent of white women.

Kids with ADHD may misjudge risk NEW YORK: Children with ADHD are more likely than their peers to cross the street when cars are dangerously close, according to a study published

Monday. The findings, researchers say, may help explain why children with the disorder have a higher-than-average risk of being hit by a car.

Antibiotics prevent UTIs NEW YORK: Antibiotics were better than cranberry capsules at preventing urinary tract infections in a new study of women in the Netherlands who suffered from recurring infections.

Women taking the drugs had fewer UTIs over the next year than those taking cranberry capsules, but they also built up resistance to the antibiotics meaning that their bodies might not respond to the drugs if they needed them to treat another infection.

Cadmium in kids’ jewelry TORONTO: The Canadian government said it plans to restrict the use of cadmium in children’s jewelry, all but banning the toxic metal. Guidelines proposed by the Health Depar tment would limit the total concentration of cadmium in to 0.013 percent, a level the government says would protect children who suck on or accidentally swallow the jewelry items.

‘Snake-oil salesmen’ LONDON: A leading professor of complementar y medicine accused Britain’s heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and other backers of alternative therapies on Monday of being “snake-oil salesmen” who promote products with no scientific basis.

Edzard Ernst, who is stepping down from his post as Britain’s only professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, also said a long-running dispute with the Prince about the merits of alternative therapies had cost him his job - a claim Prince Charles’s office denied. — Reuters

BERLIN: A child who comes down with more than two sinus infections a year, repeatedly develops deep pus-filled sores on the skin or simply shows slowed growth may have a congenital immunodeficiency.

The possibility usually occurs to parents and paediatricians late, if at all, because the disorder is quite rare and manifests itself only indirectly. Early diagnosis and therapy can prevent serious damage to health. The purpose of the immune system, which a person is born with and which adapts over time, is to defend the body against invaders such as infectious organisms. “If processes in this complex system don’t function or components are damaged, infections can be more troublesome or frequent than normal.

“Or they can cause permanent damage to organs,” explained Volker Wahn, head of the Immunodeficiency Centre of Charite university hospital in Berlin. A case of herpes encephalitis, for example, which is an inflammation of the brain, can leave lasting damage.

Cases of pneumonia can develop into bronchiectasis, characterized by abnormal cylindrical or saccular dilations of the bronchi, the major air passageways of the lungs.

More than 200 immunodeficiency syndromes are now known. The number of affected people is only guesswork, though. “We treat about 450 patients at Charite.

Extrapolating from that comes to about 3,000

diagnosed cases in Germany,” Wahn said.

There are also cases that go undetected or unreported. Nearly 30,000 random telephone interviews in the United States indicated a frequency of one in 2,000 Americans with an immunodeficiency. “This methodology is questionable, but we don’t have better numbers,” Wahn said. “My personal guess is that one in 5,000 people in our population is affected.”

Because the number of cases is low and the symptoms are extremely varied, a diagnosis is very difficult. “This makes it all the more important to be on the lookout for possible warning signs, particularly in infancy and childhood,” noted Gabriele Gruendl, cofounder and chairwoman of the German Patient Organisation for Primary Immunodeficiencies.

An important part of the group’s work is its distribution of a list of 12 warning signs of a possible congenital immunodeficiency in children. “Although this list isn’t evidence-based, it’s an outgrowth of decades of professional experience and can be applied to the majority of our patients,” said Gruendl.

The parents and doctor of a child with an immunodeficiency regard many of the warning signs, such as sinus infections, as normal illnesses at first. Their suspicion is not aroused until the infections are recurrent, so valuable time is lost. A further difficulty is that symp-

toms appear at very different times. “Some symptoms become evident during or immediately after birth, which is the case in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), for example,” said Ulrich Baumann, a specialist in paediatrics and adolescent medicine at Hanover Medical School.

“Others appear in different phases of life.

Still others come suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, such chronic granulomatous disease,” a genetic disorder of the immune system leading to repeated and severe infections. If an immunodeficiency is suspected, the first step towards a diagnosis can be taken in a doctor’s surgery. “A paediatrician or general practitioner does a differential blood count and measures immunoglobulin (infection-fighting proteins) levels along with one or two antibodies to immunisations,” Wahn said. Should these tests detect evidence of a congenital immune defect or if the doctor is uncertain, a second diagnosis follows and, if necessary, therapy or observation at an outpatient clinic. The therapy is geared to the immune defect. “For the various forms of antibody deficiencies, immunoglobins, which are antibodies, are taken from donors’ blood plasma and then regularly injected into a vein or subcutaneous fatty tissue of the patient,” Gruendl said. In cases of SCID, a bone marrow or stem cell transplantation may be performed. — dpa

Deadly Australian horse virus found in dog BRISBANE: A lethal bat-borne horse virus has been detected in a dog for the first time, authorities in Australia said yesterday, prompting fears it has jumped species. “This is the first time outside of a laboratory that an animal other than a flying fox or a horse, or a human, has been confirmed with Hendra virus infection,” Queensland state Chief Veterinary Officer Rick Symons said.

So far, 14 horses have died or been put down in Australia since June as a result of the Hendra virus, which was only discovered in 1994. No humans have yet been infected in the current outbreak, which has affected farms in New South Wales and Queensland, but four of the seven people ever to have contracted the disease have died.

Symons said the dog, which tested positive for antibodies for the disease but appeared healthy, was on a property where Hendra had been confirmed and was currently under quarantine. He added that the case raised many questions for biosecurity and health officials and researchers. “We don’t know how the dog contracted the virus or when it happened,” he said. “Based on our knowledge to date, it is most likely that the dog caught the virus from an infected horse.” The virus is thought to be spread to horses via half-chewed fruit, or water and food contaminated by bats’ droppings.

Malaysia has imposed a ban on the import of horses from Australia as a precautionary measure following the outbreak. — AFP

KABUL: Female members of Afghan street families receive family planning and general health advise at the Ashiana center in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday.

An Afghan aid agency, Ashiana, and the World Food Program have been involved in a joint venture to provide education and food to families of thousands of Afghan street children, who go there for food and education in the afternoons. — AP

Germany declares E coli outbreak BERLIN: The official German health research foundation, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), declared the recent outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of E coli bacteria over yesterday.

“The largest EHEC outbreak in Germany has come to an end,” said RKI President Reinhard Burger. The last infection connected with the pathogen was reported three weeks ago, which covers the incubation time (from diagnosis to transferral) of the enterohemor-

rhagic E coli (EHEC).

Since the first known cases of the outbreak in mid-May 2011 in the northern port of Hamburg, there have been 3,469 confirmed cases of EHEC reported to the institute.

Though not all of those affected became ill, many others were admitted to hospital with diarrhoea, stomach aches and nausea.

Some 852 patients came down with the severe complication of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause kidney failure.

Fifty people ultimately died in Germany from EHEC or HUS. The institute said it will intensively monitor EHEC O104:H4 (which caused the latest outbreak) as well as other strains. The researchers speculate that in the future due to the higher awareness of EHEC and HUS there will be more reports of infections than before.

Individual cases of the HUS/EHEC infections are also possible after the end of an outbreak, RKI stated. — dpa

German researchers turn skin cells into stem cells

ROME: Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), holds a package of Wawa Mum, a special food for infants and young children, during a press conference about a program to the aid of drought- and famine-affected populations in the Horn of Africa in Rome’s FAO headquarters. — AP

MUENSTER/HANOVER: German medical researchers have cured serious liver disease in mice using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in an important first that shows promise for use in people with liver metabolism ailments.

The researchers from Muenster and Hanover took skin cells from the mice, returned them to an embryonic state and subsequently corrected a gene defect in the cells. The cells were then used to create healthy mice. “For the first time, a living organism has been cured of an illness using iPS cells repaired using genetic methods,” researcher Tobias Cantz told the German Press Agency dpa.

Cantz ’s team from the Max Planck

Institute for molecular biomedicine in Muenster and their colleagues at the Hanover-based Institute for Cell and Molecular Pathology published their results in the scientific magazine PLoS Biology.

They noted that research using iPS cells is broadly seen as ethically unproblematic, as embryos are not needed to provide a source for them. “We have de-programmed the skin cells of mice with liver disease into iPS cells and subsequently corrected the gene defect that caused the liver disease,” Cantz said.

Using a method known as tetraploid embryo complementation, the researchers were able to produce healthy mice from the treated iPS cells. “The animals are healthy, and their lifespan has not been shortened,”

Cantz said. “This demonstrates that IPS cells can be changed in such a way that the cause of genetically conditioned illnesses can be corrected, while the pluripotent characteristics are retained.”

Professor Hans Schoeler of the Max Planck Institute in Muenster emphasised the importance of the results: “Current debate has been extremely critical of iPS cells, but our results show that liver metabolism diseases in mice can be treated with iPS cells.

“The cells are just as stable as embryonic stem cells and well suited to combined cell and genetic treatment,” Schoeler believes.

Cantz’s researchers are currently working on culturing liver cells directly from the corrected iPS cells for later use in the body. —dpa

y

A

29

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

health & science

Chronic diseases account for over 80% of deaths China’s mortality rate for strokes is higher than Japan and US BEIJING: The World Bank yesterday urged China to step up efforts to fight chronic diseases, the main cause of death in the country, warning of rising health expenditure and an economic slowdown if rapid action is not taken.

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) — such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes-account for over 80 percent of all deaths in the world’s most populous nation, the World Bank said in a report on non-communicable diseases in China. The report warned that “a reduced ratio of healthy workers to sicker, older dependents will certainly increase the odds of a future economic slowdown and pose a significant social challenge” in the world’s secondlargest economy.

“The issue that should concern all of us is with the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases, that will imply more people using expensive and costly hospital care for long periods of time,” said Patricio Marquez, a World Bank lead health specialist and co-author of the report at a

news conference in Beijing.

“The key issue facing society as a whole is how to control the escalation of healthcare costs,” he said. “One could say that if unchecked, this would make the current reforms unsustainable.” China launched a $125 billion healthcare reform plan in 2009 to try and extend health insurance and basic health care to all of its people. Out-of-pocket payments, which represent 37 percent of total health expenditure, will continue to rise, said Shiyong Wang, a World Bank senior health specialist and co-author of the report.

Richard Yeh, a healthcare analyst with Citigroup in Hong Kong, said the rising healthcare costs will have broader implications for the Chinese government, which is aiming to reduce the economy’s dependence on export earnings.

“Part of the reason that people don’t want to spend is because the healthcare system is not taking care of the entire healthcare bill for the people,” he said. “If there’s no strong national healthcare supporting system, people will con-

breath deeply

tinue to have a high savings rate. That will definitely ... hold up national consumption.”

The World Bank report said China’s “healthcare system is not responding effectively” to tackle non-communicable diseases, which is why the country’s deaths from those diseases are higher than other leading G20 countries. For example, China’s mortality rate for strokes is four to six times higher than that in Japan and the United States. A rapidly ageing population and more sedentary lifestyles, with bad diets and lack of exercise, were also factors contributing to the increasing rates of the diseases, the report said.

The World Bank report said that the economic benefit of reducing cardiovascular diseases by one percent per year from 2010-2040 could generate more than $10.7 trillion, equivalent to 68 percent of China’s real GDP in 2010. The World Bank estimates that without action, China will lose $550 billion in national income between 2005 and 2015 due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Fifty percent of the risk factors of non-communicable diseases can be prevented by the adoption of certain measures, which would cost the Chinese government $220 per capita per year, Marquez said. One way was to increase taxes on tobacco to create “an economic disincentive for people to smoke”, he said.

Excise taxes on cigarettes in China are less than 30 percent, far lower than Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, where they hover around 65-80 percent, he said. China has the world’s largest number of smokers, with more than 300 million smokers. It is also the world’s largest cigarette producer and has embarked on years of half-hearted campaigns to stub out the habit in some cities.

China’s health ministry said it will ban smoking at all indoor public venues from May. Restricting access to alcohol, introducing taxes on unhealthy food and cutting salt in food would also prevent non-communicable diseases, the report said. — Reuters

A Al-Seef Hospital Hospital Internal In nternal Medicine and annd Pulmonary Pulmonary Diseases Diseeases Clinic Drr. Abdulaziz Muqim, MD, FR Dr. FRCPC, CPC, FCCP Co nsultant in Internal Medicin ne and Pulmonar Consultant Medicine Pulmonaryy Diseasess Fe llow of the American Colleg ge of Chest Physicians and the Royal College of Physic cians of Canada Fellow College Physicians 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ 5gh\\aU UbX ch\Yf U``Yf[]W X]gYUgYg 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ 5gh\aU UbX ch\Yf U``Yf[]W X]gYUgYg 8 ]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ 7\fccb]W CVghfiWh]jY Di`acbUfm 8]ggYUgYg 7CD8 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ 7\fcb]W CVghfiWh]jY Di`acbUfm 8]gYUgYg 7CD8 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ g`YYd X]gcfXYfYX VfYUh\]b[ 8 ]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ g`YYdd X]gcfXYfYX VfYUh\]b[ 8 ]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ DbYi [ iacb]Ug UbX bcb a]WfcV]U` ]bZ`UaaUhcfmm `ib[ X]gYUgYg UWihY [

Y UbX W\fcb]W 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ DbYiacb]Ug UbX bcb a]WfcV]U` ]bZ`UaaUhcfm `ib[ X]gYUgYg UWihY UbX W\fcb]W 8]U[bcg]g cZ di`acbUfm HiVYfWi`cg]g 8 ]U[bcg]g cZ di`acbUfm HiVYfWii`cg]g 8 ]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ di`a acbUfm Z]Vfcg]g 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ di`acbUfm Z]Vfcg]g 8]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ cZ di`acbUfm GUfWc]Xcg]g UbX ch\Yf Uihc]aaibY `ib[ X]gYUgYg 8 ]U[bcg]g UbX hfYUhaYbh cZ cZ dii`acbUfm GUfWc]Xcg]g UbX ch\YYf Uihc]aaibY `ib[ X]gYUgYg Kcf_ id cZ h\cfUW]W hiacfg K Kcf_ id cZ h\cfUW]W hiacfg D YfZcfaUbWY cZ VfcbW\cgWcdm ]ZZ W`]b]WU``m ]bX]WUhYX DYfZcfaUbWY cZ VfcbW\cgWcdm ]Z W`]b]WU``m ]bX]WUhYX For Reser Reservation vation and Further F inquires: FUd]X `ib[ ZibWh]cb hYgh]b[ F Ud]X `ib[ ZibWh]cb hYgh]b[ 25764234 2576423 34

To advertise advertise on this this page l t t us: please contact

Dermatology tology & CCosmetology osmetology t Derma t General Medicine t Int Internal ernal Medicine t Ent tO Ophthalmology phthalmology t PPeadiatric eadiatric t Ob & G Gynecology ynecology

tO Orthopedic rthopedic t XX-ray -ray & Ultrasonograph Ultrasonography g y t General Ph Physician ysician t Dental t LLaboratory aboratory t Pharmac Pharmacyy

Cosmetology C osmetology Clinic.

Clinic.

248 33 199 ads@kuwaittimes.net

Non SSurgical Non urggical FFacelift, acelifft, Antii AAgeing ggeingg W Wrinkle rinkle Frown Li / Pigmenta Pigmentation D b CChin Frown Lines g tion Double hin Correction Botox Correction i Sk SSkin kiin RRejuvenation ejuv ox / FFillers illers j enation Bot Painless Laser Laser Hair emoval Dermar ollerr, Painless Removal Dermaroller, H i R Skin Brighting Skin Whitening Whitening & Brightin ng VVail aail TTreatment reatment

Wee Accept W Accept All All Major Ma ajjor IInsuramce nsuramce C Cards ards FARWANIYA FA ARWANIYYA - OPP. OPP P. POLICE POL LICE STATION ST TATION T Behind Behind Magadheer Magadheer Commercial Comm mercial Complex Complex

s - 65561619 TEL: 24734000 6

shifakuwait@gmail.com shifak uwait@g gmail.com www.shifakuwait.com www.shifakuwait.com Working m to to 12:00am Working i Hours: 8.00 am

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

30

W H AT ’ S O N

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Announcements Your diet Come and join us tomorrow, (Tuesday July 26) at 7 pm for a free lecture “Your Diet During Ramadan.”

We look forward to seeing you there! To find out more, call 9967-2918 or email hanlon_elaine@hotmail.com. The lecture will be in Arabic.

Farewell reception for ambassadors

M

ohammad Al-Qadiri hosted a reception for the outgoing Ambassador of Egypt Taher Farahat and Romanian Ambassador Constantin Nister at Ghaddir Gallery on Sunday evening. Diplomats and media person attended the reception. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Aware lecture A lecture at AWARE centre by Dr Theresa Lesher During the Holy month of Ramadan, many changes occur in Kuwait. Restaurants will change their working hours as will most workplaces and shopping malls. Traffic patterns also change and one may find their paperwork halted. There are laws and many tips that will help the western expatriate better understand the etiquette and rules associated with this month. Join us for a guideline of how to best experience the month of Ramadan with your Muslim neighbor and colleagues. Dr. Teresa holds her PhD in Information Science from the UK and is now assistant professor at Kuwait’s teachers college. She held the position as manager of the AWARE Center for three years and returns often to host presentations related to Arab and Islamic culture. Date: July 26 at 7 pm at Villa 84, Surra Street, Block 3, Surra Area.

Attention kids!

CEF VBS 11 starting from August 22nd 2011. Six exciting days of singing, games & bible stories for children of all ages. Hurry !!!. Limited Seats.

Register Online: www.cefkuwait.org Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. So step forward to grab this opportunity to show your caliber and entertain. Dance, music, art or any special talent- now is your chance to showcase it - and be part of this year’s Talent Hunt & Tulu Parba. Talent Hunt event is open to all Tuluvas. For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva- 23726164, Suma Bhatt- 97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana66585077 Sanath Shetty- 67712409.

Pathanamthitta’s Onam The executive committee of Pathanamthitta District Association has decided to hold 2011 Onam Festival celebrations on Friday October 28, 2011 with a grand public function attended by Member of Parliament from Pathanamthitta Loksabha Constituency, Anto Antony and other prominent dignitaries from Kerala and Kuwait. All residents of Pathanamthitta District and persons of Pathanamthitta District origin are hereby invited to attend this function and friends and families.

Art salon Bouhshari Art Gallery Exhibition runs through 15 September. Daily working hours: 10am - 1pm and 5 - 9pm, except on Friday and on Thursday evening.

Marina Hotel Kuwait welcomes holy month of Ramadan

M

arina Hotel extends Ramadan Kareem greetings to guests and their families on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan. Experience a memorable Ramadan through an extraordinary culinary journey and share this special time with friends and family in the traditional settings of Ramadan and the wonderful Oriental ambience at all outlets of the Hotel.

Break your fast with an exquisite Iftar buffet at the Atlantis restaurant with panoramic views of the Arabian Sea and experience a remarkable Ghabka and Sohour buffet with a wide selection of delicacies at the Kamar Al Marina Tent inside the Six Palms. The Kamar Al Marina Tent is the best choice to dine, it is fully equipped to cater for groups and organizations with a capacity to accommodate upto 180 guests at a time.

For private functions and corporate events, Salwa Sabah Al Ahmed Theatre and Hall gives special personalized attention, this exquisite hall can accommodate up to 750 guests at a time. It also offers a selection of different menus for Iftar and Sohour at exclusive prices and is fully equipped to cater for groups and organizations.

The highly qualified and professional chefs of the hotel will prepare mouthwatering dishes to satisfy every palate. Savor the delicious delicacies from the open buffet and live cooking stations and quench your thirst with the traditional Ramadan

Indian bowling league Indian Bowling League Season 2 would like to invite you and your families to participate in an Indian bowling event where all nationalities, the young and the old can have fun playing an enjoyable game while meeting new people in a healthy competition from July 12th - August 15th For more details contact: Uly 99503348, Amaldo 66052062, and Nasha 99516960. If anyone is looking to assist them in this event with sponsors, they will be really obliged to have your help to make this event a success. Registrations are open.

Rink soccer Don Bosco Oratory is pleased to announce its Major 4-A-Side “Rink Soccer Fiesta” in Kuwait! This event is for the soccer lovers in Kuwait and will be played on a League (round robin) cum knock out basis from August 2nd at the IEAS Quadrangle in Salmiya. Last date to register for participation is on July 28th. Draws will be announced on the July 30th. For details contact Chris: 6651-9627, Alex: 66069282 from 6-9pm.

Konkani musical show

beverages including Jelab, Ark Sous, Kamardine and Tamarhindi. Guests can feast on an extensive array of Arabic and Oriental cuisine in a tranquil setting complemented by live cooking stations, sweets, beverages and a wide selection of flavored Shisha.

Nabil Hammoud, General Manager of Marina Hotel said: “The Holy Month of Ramadan highlights the spirit of togetherness; we wish to extend our warmest greetings to you and your families during

this month. Celebrating these values, with all efforts prearranged we look forward to giving guests a Ramadan gathering to look back on for the years to come. Our outstanding Oriental cuisine, exceptional Ramadan decorations, our well trained employees and live entertainment will complete your Ramadan experience at Marina Hotel” further concluded Hammoud.

Guests are invited to avail a multitude of room packages where they can relax and

enjoy their stay in the luxurious rooms at discounted prices throughout the Ramadan period. The Hotel’s rooms are specially designed and have all the requisite facilities and luxurious amenities. They can also use the spa, and the state of the art fitness centre.

For the entire period of Ramadan the “Kamar Al Marina Tent” will be sponsored

by Marina FM, Air France KLM and Al Rai TV. Savour the authentic Arabian flavours at Marina Hotel Kuwait this Ramadan.

Comedian Philip, the 1st NRI Goan comedian, is all set to entertain you with a Konkani music show titled “Ani, Anik Zaiem?” to be presented by the United Friends Club on September 9 at 4pm at the AIS (American International School) Auditorium, Maidan-Hawalli. This is Kuwaitbased comedian Philip’s third musical show after the overwhelming success of staging “Tum Vhoir Aum Sokol” and “Hem Kazar Koslem” in Kuwait and overseas.

Aware Arabic courses

Yousuf bin Essa Secondary school graduation day Yousuf Bin Essa Secondary School celebrated their graduation day with sponsor of the school Engineer Adel Al-Khorafi. A graduation party was held in Al-Raya Hotel with the presence of the students’ parents and a number of invited guests along with the staff.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

“The AWARE Management is glad to announce that Ramadan Arabic language courses will begin on August 7th till September 15th, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community.

We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight lIntroductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic lCombine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings lProvide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, call 25335260 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

y

A

31

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA In order to inform that 23rd of October 2011, will be Argentine national election where all Argentinean citizen residents permanently in Kuwait can vote only if they are registered at the Electoral Register of the Argentine Embassy. The procedure of inscription ended on 25 of April 2011. To register it is necessary that Argentinean citizens should come personally at the Argentinean Embassy (Block 6, street 42, villa 57, Mishref ) and present the DNI and four personal photos (size 4x4, face should be front on white background). For further information, contact us on 25379211. nnnnnnn

Institute of Nursing honours graduates

EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will follow office hours during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Sunday to Thursday : 09:00 A.M 3:00 PM. Friday and Saturday : Weekly Holidays.

This is for information of all concerned. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-ukkw.com. And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170.

The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates. For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk

S

ponsored by the president of the Institute of Nursing Shaikha Al-Mathen, a graduation ceremony was held to honor the graduates of the institute. On this occasion the president thanked the graduates for their excellent performances at the institute and told them to focus on their work to achieve their goals. She honoured the graduates with certificates.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants.

Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IM M5257E.PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/52 56E.PDF. nnnnnnn

ADOPT A PET Ringo the Spudel Ringo is a friendly and playful one-year-old Spudel.

He loves attention and tagging along. Ringo is gentle, communicative and responsive. He will be a great companion to a home that regards a pet as a member of the family. To adopt Ringo, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org.

Maximus the Persian-Himalayan mix cat Maximus is a friendly and affectionate two-year old Persian-Himalayan mix cat who loves attention. Maximus likes a quiet environment and enjoys lounging on a table-top. He will be a great addition to a family with older children who appreciate his independence. To adopt Maximus, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org.

Photography contest

Greetings

T

he Cancer Aware Nation (can) in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes Institute will be holding a photography contest during Ramadan. The theme of photo contest is to highlight the quality and quantity of healthy foods against unhealthy foods and the correct or wrong methods of preparing and cooking foods. This activity is part of the awareness campaign of CAN during the season of Ramadan to educate and encourage the public to observe healthy eating habits to eat cancer - fighting foods and to promote an active lifestyle to stay fit and healthy and especially to prevent cancer diseases.

The contest is open to the public and exciting prizes await the winners. The following prizes will be awarded: first place KD 1000, second place KD 200 and gift vouchers third - fourth fifth places KD 50 and gift vouchers sixth to tenth place gift vouchers.

All participants will receive certificates of appreciation. Deadline for submitting the photo entries is on 24/8/2011. More information about this contest can be found at www.Shireenalmutawa.blogspot.com or call 22250226.

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

H

appy birthday to Tamer Medhat Mohamed Khattab who celebrated his birthday on July 25 and Aiyman Medhat Mohamed Khattab who celebrates his birthday today. May Allah bless you both in health and happiness and may you both celebrate many more birthdays together. Greetings coming from Mama and Antie Susan.

EMBASSY OF INDIA During the Holy month of Ramadan, the office timings of the Indian Passport and Visa Service Centres of BLS International Visa Services Co., Kuwait, situated at (a) Emad Commercial Centre, Basement Floor, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait, and (b) Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street, Fahaheel, Kuwait, will be from 8 am - 3 pm from Saturday to Thursday (i.e. six days a week). Embassy of India, Kuwait, will maintain its usual working hours. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

00:45 Dogs 101 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz 03:30 Lions and Giants 04:25 Buggin’ with Ruud 05:20 Animal Cops Houston 06:10 Cats 101 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Natural Born Hunters 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 11:55 Meerkat Manor 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 K9 Cops 13:45 Animal Cops Houston 14:40 Animal Precinct 15:30 SSPCA: On the Wildside 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 17:00 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Orangutan Island 19:15 Crocodile Hunter 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Austin Stevens Adventures 22:00 Planet Earth 22:55 Human Prey 23:50 Speed of Life

00:00 00:30 01:15 02:10 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:50 05:10 05:40 05:50 06:10 06:30 07:00 07:20 07:40 08:10 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:30 09:40 10:40 11:25 12:15 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:35 23:05 23:40

2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Holby City Spooks Eastenders Doctors 2 Point 4 Children Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Himalaya With Michael Palin Doctors Eastenders Holby City 2 Point 4 Children Himalaya With Michael Palin The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Himalaya With Michael Palin The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Bleak House Bleak House 2 Point 4 Children

00:00 Cash In The Attic USA 00:20 Cash In The Attic USA 00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 01:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 02:20 Cash In The Attic USA 03:50 Cash In The Attic USA 04:10 Britain’s Dream Homes 05:05 Daily Cooks Challenge 06:30 Daily Cooks Challenge 07:15 Glamour Puds 07:40 Glamour Puds

08:05 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 08:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 08:55 Antiques Roadshow 09:45 Cash In The Attic USA 11:05 Cash In The Attic USA 11:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 11:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 12:20 Antiques Roadshow 13:05 Cash In The Attic 13:55 Bargain Hunt 14:40 Come Dine With Me 15:30 Cash In The Attic USA 16:55 Cash In The Attic USA 17:15 Rhodes Across India 18:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 18:25 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 18:50 Antiques Roadshow 19:40 Cash In The Attic 20:25 Bargain Hunt 21:10 Come Dine With Me 22:00 Britain’s Dream Homes 23:00 Masterchef Australia 23:45 Masterchef Australia

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 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Adventure Time 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 Angelo Rules 10:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 10:55 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 11:45 Skunk Fu! 12:35 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 13:00 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 13:25 Ben 10 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 15:05 Samurai Jack 15:50 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 16:10 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 16:35 Robotboy 17:15 Angelo Rules 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 Cartoon Network Dance Club 18:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 19:20 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 Inside Africa World Report Backstory World Report World Sport Earth’s Frontiers World Business Today World One World Sport Talk Asia Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk Earth’s Frontiers Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05

Dirty Jobs Miami Ink Ultimate Survival Twist The Throttle Mythbusters How It’s Made How Does It Work?

Dirty Jobs

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 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

Twist The Throttle Street Customs Berlin How It’s Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Taking On Tyson LA Ink Ultimate Survival Miami Ink Dirty Jobs Twist The Throttle Mythbusters Survivorman Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings How Does It Work?

How It’s Made Science Of The Movies Mythbusters The Future Of...

Survivorman

Bouncebacks 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 09:45 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Holly’s World 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 THS 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Khloe And Lamar 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 The Dance Scene 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami

00:05 Weird Or What?

00:55 Mighty Ships 01:45 Space Pioneer 02:35 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 03:25 Catch It Keep It 04:15 How Does That Work?

04:45 Mighty Ships 05:40 One Step Beyond 06:10 Superships 07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:55 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 08:50 The Gadget Show 09:15 The Gadget Show 09:40 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 14:05 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 14:55 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 15:45 Weird Connections 16:10 Brainiac 17:00 Race To Mars 17:50 Sci-Fi Science 18:15 The Gadget Show 18:40 What’s That About?

19:30 Weird Connections 20:20 Catch It Keep It 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 What’s That About?

22:50 Weird Connections 23:40 The Gadget Show

00:15 Glutton For Punishment 00:40 Mantracker 01:30 World Combat League 02:20 Glutton For Punishment 03:10 Wrestling With Reality 04:00 Untracked 04:50 Mantracker 05:40 World Combat League 06:30 FIA European Drag Racing 2008 08:00 Cape Epic 08:25 IFMXF 2010 09:15 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

10:05 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

10:55 Final Fu 11:45 Fantasy Factory 12:35 Glutton For Punishment 13:25 Mantracker 14:15 World Combat League 15:05 Final Fu 15:55 Fantasy Factory 16:45 Cape Epic 17:10 IFMXF 2010 18:00 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

19:40 Mantracker 20:30 Glutton For Punishment 21:20 I’ll Do Anything 22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Wrestling With Reality 23:50 Glutton For Punishment

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 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 13:55 14:20 15:20 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:25 18:15 18:45 19:10 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperors New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperors New School The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Phineas & Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck S3 Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck S3 Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas & Ferb The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Fish Hooks Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck S3 Fish Hooks Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck S3 Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Jake & Blake Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 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 08:05 Kick Buttowski 08:30 American Dragon 09:00 Zeke & Luther 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 The Super Hero Squad Show 10:40 Suite Life On Deck 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas & Ferb 12:45 Kid Vs Kat 13:50 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 Suite Life On Deck 16:50 Zeke & Luther 17:40 Phineas & Ferb 18:30 Escape From Scorpion Island 18:55 Kick Buttowski 19:20 American Dragon 19:45 Aaron Stone 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

SHRINK ON OSN CINEMA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

00:25 00:55 01:25 02:20 03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00

Kendra Style Star E!es THS 25 Most Stylish Sexiest Extreme Hollywood 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body

01:25 03:20 05:15 06:50 08:35 09:50 11:50 13:40 15:20 16:55 18:30 20:10 22:00 23:50

Ghost Lab A Haunting Deadly Women Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Dr G: Medical Examiner Amsterdam Vice Ghost Lab Mystery Diagnosis Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Royal Inquest Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Royal Inquest I Almost Got Away With It Serial Killers Dr G: Medical Examiner

Audrey Rose-PG Kalifornia The January Man-PG Love Is All There Is-PG Just Another Story-PG The Horse Soldiers-PG Hickey And Boggs-PG Salt And Pepper-PG The Defiant Ones-PG Breakheart Pass-PG Lawman-PG Brannigan-PG The Believers-PG Dead On

00:00 Wild Amazon 01:00 Among The Great Apes With Michelle Yeoh 01:55 Killer Shots 02:50 Shane Untamed 03:45 World’s Deadliest 04:40 My Life Is A Zoo 05:35 Swamp Men 06:30 Super Predators 07:25 Planet Carnivore 08:20 Restless Planet 09:15 Killer Shots 10:10 Shane Untamed 11:05 World’s Deadliest 12:00 Planet Carnivore 13:00 Snakezilla 14:00 Built For The Kill 15:00 Dolphin Army 16:00 Killer Shots 17:00 Shane Untamed 18:00 World’s Deadliest 19:00 Snakezilla 20:00 Built For The Kill 21:00 Dolphin Army 22:00 Killer Shots 23:00 Shane Untamed

00:15 02:00 04:00 06:00 07:30 10:00 12:15 14:15 16:45 18:30 20:30 22:15

Diary Of The Dead-18 The Final-18 Speed-PG15 Star Runners-PG15 Independence Day-PG15 Lost In Space-PG15 Obsessed-PG15 Independence Day-PG15 The Betrayed-PG15 Obsessed-PG15 The Descent 2-18 Wild Things: Foursome -18

01:00 Broken Embraces-18 03:15 Attack On Leningrad-PG 05:15 At Risk-PG15

THE BOX ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:45 15:00 16:45 18:45 21:00 23:00

Dean Spanley-PG Attack On Leningrad-PG Flying By-PG15 Invictus-PG15 Skellig-PG15 Secretariat-PG15 Shutter Island-18 Shrink-U A Way With Murder-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 02:00 The Cleveland Show 02:30 Party Down 03:00 Malcolm In The Middle 03:30 Hope And Faith 04:00 Yes Dear 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Coach 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Yes Dear 08:30 Malcolm In The Middle 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Raising Hope 10:00 Cougar Town 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 Coach 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Yes Dear 13:00 Hope And Faith 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 Seinfeld 14:30 Raising Hope 15:00 Cougar Town 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Coach 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Just Shoot Me 19:00 Parks And Recreation 19:30 The Simpsons 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Louie 22:30 Party Down 23:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:15 10:05 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Body Of Proof House Private Practice Hawthorne Strong Medicine Good Morning America Glee Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Body Of Proof Hawthorne Live Good Morning America Strong Medicine The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Terriers Supernatural Mildred Pierce Private Practice Glee

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00

Alias Lie To Me House Body Of Proof Hawthorne Detroit 1-8-7 Alias 8 Simple Rules ...

Coronation Street No Ordinary Family Detroit 1-8-7 Body Of Proof House 8 Simple Rules ...

No Ordinary Family Alias Sons Of Tucson No Ordinary Family

19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Terriers Supernatural Mildred Pierce Lie To Me Detroit 1-8-7

01:00 Zombieland-18 03:00 Speed-PG15 05:00 Dead Snow-PG15 07:00 Shinjuku Incident-PG15 09:00 The Box-PG15 11:00 Surrogates-PG15 13:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 15:00 The Box-PG15 17:00 Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 19:00 King Arthur-PG15 21:15 Timber Falls-18 23:00 Rage: Carrie 2-PG15

00:00 Dragnet-PG15 02:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 04:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15 06:00 Monsters vs. Aliens-PG 08:00 The Good Girl-PG15 10:00 The Out Of Towners-PG15 12:00 Jack-PG15 14:00 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 16:00 Dragnet-PG15 18:00 Four Last Songs-PG15 20:00 Hanging Up-PG15 22:00 Road Trip: Beer Pong-18

01:00 I Love Your Work-18 03:00 The Mirror Has Two FacesPG15 05:15 Five Minutes Of Heaven-PG15 07:00 Tuck Everlasting-PG 09:00 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 11:00 Run-PG15 13:00 Lost In Yonkers-PG 15:00 Everybody’s Fine-PG15 17:00 By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama-PG15 19:00 Life-PG15 21:00 Everything Put Together-PG15 23:00 Shining Through-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:15 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 PG15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Say It Isn’t So-18 Star Trek-PG Astro Boy-FAM The Lizzie McGuire Movie-PG Private-PG15 Planet 51-PG The Sorcerer’s ApprenticeFlicka 2-PG15 Private-PG15 Mona Lisa Smile-PG Shrink-U My Best Friend’s Girl-18

00:00 Barney’s Great AdventureFAM 02:00 Dinosaur Island-PG 04:00 Scooby-Doo Meets The Boo Brothers-FAM 06:00 Scooby-Doo! AbracadabraDoo-FAM 08:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 10:00 Barney’s Great AdventureFAM 12:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 14:00 Dennis The Menace: Cruise Control-FAM 16:00 Shorts-PG 18:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 20:00 Globehunters-FAM 22:00 Dennis The Menace: Cruise Control-FAM

00:00 Dare-18 02:00 Paper Man-PG15 04:00 Carnera: The Walking Mountain-PG 06:00 Moon-PG15 08:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 10:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 12:00 Paper Man-PG15 14:00 Marmaduke-PG 15:30 The Boys Are Back-PG 17:30 The Blind Side-PG15 20:00 Grown Ups-PG15 22:00 Too Big To Fail-PG15

00:00 03:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:30 20:30 21:00 22:00

UFC 132 NRL Premiership Super Rugby Highlights WWE NXT Darts World Matchplay NRL Premiership Rugby Union International WWE NXT Powerboats F1 H2O Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Powerboats Trans World Sport Darts World Matchplay Le Mans Series Powerboats F1 H2O NRL Premiership

00:30 01:00 02:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 21:00

Futbol Mundial Golfing World NRL Premiership NRL Full Time FIVB Beach Volley Ball Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport World Hockey Darts World Matchplay Trans World Sport ICC Cricket World Futbol Mundial Rugby Union ITM Cup Spirit of Yachting FIVB Beach Volley Ball Rugby Union International ICC Cricket World World Hockey Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport Golfing World European Tour Weekly AFL Highlights Masters Football

00:00 ICC Criket World 00:30 Masters Football 03:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 04:30 Rugby League 06:30 Futbol Mundial 08:00 Rugby Union 10:00 FIVB Beach Volleyball 10:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 11:30 World Hockey 12:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 12:30 ICC Criket World 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 Trans World Sport 15:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 16:00 Asian Tour Golf 16:30 Asian tour Highlights 17:30 FIVB Beach Volleyball 18:00 Darts World Matchplay 20:00 Rugby Union 22:30 Asian tour Highlights 23:30 Futbol Mundial 00:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

UFC 132 Speedway V8 Supercars Championship UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection Speedway Super Formula Powerboats WWE NXT V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Extra Le Mans Series Magazine Modern Pentathlon Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway UFC 132 UFC Unleashed

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Tales Of The Gun Ice Road Truckers Patton 360 American Pickers Pawn Stars Tales Of The Gun Ice Road Truckers Patton 360 American Pickers Pawn Stars Tales Of The Gun Ice Road Truckers Patton 360 American Pickers Pawn Stars Tales Of The Gun Ice Road Truckers Patton 360 Britain At War Gestapo

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Science Matters

Put recycling in one bin ...

Techniques for separating trash for recycling have advanced to the point that in many cities, citizens can put all their recycling in one or two bins.

1

Single-stream recycling Paper, metals glass and plastic

NOTE: Separation plants vary; this one is typical

1

First screen

Heavy plastics and paper

2 3

Easiest separations first Air sorter picks up small objects; magnets pick up steel cans

2

Coarse pieces next Workers manually remove boxes; rollers kick out aluminum; screen removes some containers Hammer mill Fine pieces last Broken glass, plastic; magnet removes bottle caps; blower removes paper shreds

FOR SALE Toyota Rav4 - Jeep 2007, 4 doors, full options, white color, 4 cylinder, KD 3,900/-.

Contact: 55323839.

(C 3539)

Second screen

3

Honda City 2009, white color, full automatic, 16000km, KD 2,300/-. Contact: 65085629. (C 3540)

SITUATION WANTED

... or two

Sharing accommodation available opposite Khaitan Jamiya in a flat from 1st August, for RC Goan or Mangalorean family.

Contact: 99453500.

(C 3543) Sharing accommodation available at New Riggae.

Please contact: 65026013/ 69901960. (C 3544) 25-7-2011

No: 15162

I am looking for a part time job morning or evening.

Experienced in all office administrative work with computer knowledge.

Contact: 60988705.

(C 3545) 26-7-2011

Citizens put paper in one bin and glass, cans and plastic in another; they are sorted further at a transfer station and sent on for recycling

Double-stream recycling

ACCOMMODATION

Source: “Energy and Raw Materials in the Future” by Robbin Kerrod, Healing Web Community, MCT Photo Service Graphic: Helen Lee McComas

© 2011 MCT

Furnished sharing accommodation available in a 2 bedroom, C-A/C apartment in Farwaniya good location, for decent working lady.

Contact: 66235897.

(C 3546) 26-7-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines RJA JZR THY ETH UAE DHX MSR FDB GFA QTR JZR JZR THY JZR FCX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA FCX MEA JZR JZR IRM JZR RBG KAC MSR IRC UAL RJA MSR FDB KAC KAC QTR SVA

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 27/7/2011 Flt Route 642 AMMAN 267 BEIRUT 772 ISTANBUL 620 ADDIS ABABA 853 DUBAI 370 BAHRAIN 614 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 211 BAHRAIN 138 DOHA 529 ASSIUT 241 AMMAN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA / BANGKOK 157 LONDON 1541 CAIRO 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 284 DHAKA 302 MUMBAI 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 132 DOHA 125 SHARJAH 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 203 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 121 BAHRAIN 5066 MASHAD 561 SOHAG 3557 ALEXANDRIA 672 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 6791 MASHAD 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 640 AMMAN 621 ASSIUT 57 DUBAI 802 CAIRO 790 MEDINAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:35 3:55 4:10 5:15 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:40 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:20 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:15 11:50 12:30 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:00 14:05 14:15 14:30

KNE CLX QTR KAC JZR JZR KNE SYR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC JZR FDB ALK JZR KAC IYE KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI FDB JZR BBC OMA VOS MEA MSR DHX UAE GFA QTR UAL JZR JZR MSR DLH SAI AXB JZR KLM PIA

745 792 134 546 201 535 701 341 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 550 481 63 227 177 166 824 502 542 618 786 614 674 102 774 575 572 61 787 45 647 81 402 618 372 859 217 136 981 135 185 612 636 441 393 539 447 215

JEDDAH LUXEMBOURG DOHA ALEXANDRIA DAMASCUS CAIRO RIYADH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG SABIHA DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME SANAA / DOHA BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON RIYADH CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI DUBAI RIYADH DHAKA MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT LAHORE / KARACHI KOZHIKODE / COCHIN CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN KARACHI

14:45 14:50 15:15 15:30 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:30 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:55 21:00 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:10 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:15 23:30 23:35 23:55

Airlines BBC JZR AXB DLH RJA AIC PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX MSR QTR THY JZR JZR GFA KAC VOS JZR BAW KAC FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR JZR ETD GFA JZR IRA FCX MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC IRM KAC RBG JZR MSR IRC

Departure Flights on Wednesday 27/7/2011 Flt Route XXXX DHAKA 1541 CAIRO 390 MANGALORE / KOZHIKODE 637 FRANKFURT 643 AMMAN 982 AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 615 CAIRO 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 801 CAIRO 94 DUBAI / KANDAHAR 120 BAHRAIN 156 LONDON 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 534 CAIRO 177 FRANKFURT / GENEVA 671 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 789 MEDINAH 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 549 SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG 133 DOHA 480 SABIHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 200 DAMASCUS 602 SHIRAZ 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 238 AMMAN 103 LONDON 501 BEIRUT 5065 MASHAD 785 JEDDAH 3558 SOHAG / ALEXANDRIA 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 6792 MASHAD

Time 0:00 0:20 0:25 0:40 1:00 1:05 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:10 5:55 6:55 7:10 7:20 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:50 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:25 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 14:20 14:25

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

RJA FDB MSR UAL KAC KNE KAC SVA KAC QTR CLX KAC JZR JZR KNE SYR ETD QTR UAE GFA ABY JZR JZR SVA FDB JZR JZR ALK IYE KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA MSR DHX UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR UAL MSR KAC SAI

641 58 622 982 673 746 617 503 773 141 792 613 786 538 704 342 304 135 858 216 128 184 266 511 64 204 134 228 824 283 361 571 62 331 351 648 403 619 373 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 502 554 981 613 415 442

AMMAN DUBAI ASSIUT BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA HONG KONG BAHRAIN RIYADH CAIRO MEDINAH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH DUBAI DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO SANAA DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA LAHORE

14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45 15:10 15:30 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:20 16:35 16:40 16:45 17:30 17:35 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:55 19:10 19:10 19:40 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40 23:50 23:50 23:59

34

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 391

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are aggressive in the pursuit of gaining insight into all that is new, different and out of the ordinary. You communicate with excellent skill and it is stimulating just being with you. You could be most persuasive and successful with others today. A group situation may need some guidance and you can affect a positive change among the group. This calls out for your experience and grace. This is a natural for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas and thoughts. You will find good communication between your co-workers, friends and neighbors this afternoon. This is a great time to be with others in an atmosphere of work or play. You will have plenty of energy for whatever you choose to do today.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You have an inner urge to be all things to all people and will respond, or find someone to respond, particularly if there is a need to meet. You may find plenty of opportunities to be a coordinator of events today. You are a natural diplomat, always courteous and concerned with the comfort and welfare of others. You stay in the background, but are able to manipulate and bring out cooperation in others every time. You are very motivated when it comes to matters of care and service—taking care of details. You are up for any task that requires conservation. There is an urge to salvage everything.

You love other people, large and small groups and relationships in general. You may want to enjoy your hobby this evening or visit with a friend.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Inquire about.

4. The world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in North Africa.

10. A master's degree in library science.

13. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

14. Any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

15. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

16. (Old Testament) The minister of the Persian emperor who hated the Jews and was hanged for plotting to massacre them.

18. (Norse mythology) God of thunder and rain and farming.

19. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

20. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.

21. A student enrolled in (or graduated from) Eton College.

23. An associate degree in applied science.

24. Either extremity of something that has length.

25. A male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917).

33. The property of being large in mass.

34. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

37. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

39. A public promotion of some product or service.

40. Well matched.

41. Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean.

45. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

47. A light touch or stroke.

48. Informal terms for a mother.

51. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

53. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

57. Jordan's port.

59. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

62. A resource.

63. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

64. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

66. A unit of pressure.

67. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

68. A port city in southwestern Iran.

69. A proportion multiplied by 100.

70. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

DOWN 1. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

2. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

3. God of love and erotic desire.

4. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

5. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

6. Headdress that protects the head from bad weather.

7. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

8. Troublemaker who participates in a violent disturbance of the peace.

9. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

10. A member of a rural Finnish people living in eastern Russia.

11. A Russian river.

12. The act of scanning.

17. Remote and separate physically or socially.

22. A yellow trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

26. A strong-smelling plant from whose dried leaves a number of euphoriant and hallucinogenic drugs are prepared.

27. (old-fashioned) At or from or to a great distance.

28. The cry made by sheep.

29. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

30. (of champagne) Extremely dry.

31. The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on.

32. Type genus of the Hylidae.

35. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

36. Jordan's port.

38. Any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species.

42. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

43. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

44. A bachelor's degree in religion.

46. A genus of Ploceidae.

47. A very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses.

49. A Loloish language.

50. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

52. A small ball with a hole through the middle.

54. An inhabitant of Lappland.

55. (computer science) A kind of computer architecture that has a large number of instructions hard coded into the cpu chip.

56. A nearly horizontal passage from the surface into a mine.

58. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

60. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

61. A device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces.

65. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Mundane tasks are not for you just now, for your interests are elsewhere—you may yearn for an adventure to take you out of the usual. You busy yourself this morning with chores anyway, but your mind is fixed on the fun stuff you and your friends will do at a certain time. If there is competition to be enjoyed, you can bet you will be on the winning team. Good luck comes to you this afternoon regarding a hobby that you enjoy. This may mean that you will have more time or more space. There is an opportunity to show your obvious sense of love, understanding and compassion for others. This may come through art, music, poetry, painting and the like. There is sensitivity for matters of value and of the heart; passion happens.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Today you will be able to tackle tasks that require real discipline or organization. You find yourself in a very practical mood and working with the rise and fall of an interesting day. You can really convey yourself to others at this time. You are very career-oriented and your personal reputation and honor are important. If you are trying to convince others of some new type of equipment or technique, it may be a good idea to have some supported statistics to back up your words. You possess a natural sense of organization and practical insight and may excel at managing or supervising others. You love large-scale organization; career or business will always be close to your heart. You have a lot of energy to enjoy some out-of-doors fun tonight.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You have a strong sense of duty to complete whatever is set before you in the workplace today. A conservative streak sets you against anything that is not realistic. You have no patience for pie-in-the-sky ideas and things that are not secured. Remember a slower pace will get you where you want to go. Mysticism and psychic phenomena intrigue you, despite your convictions to the contrary. You could take a vacation from your responsibilities and explore some more imaginative regions. Short trips or some hobby activity are in your plans for this evening. You concentrate on some fun project and plan next weekend’s social activities. Your creative abilities give you little advantage over others when it comes to problem solving or creative ideas.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may find yourself more interested in security these days.

You are, by nature, very domestic and enjoy nice surroundings. You may become expert at search and inquiry into the nature of a subject—be it life, scientific research, etc. You have a passion for searching, finding out and communicating. If you are more concerned with security these days, call the police department and have an officer come to your house to inspect your home and give suggestions. You will discover things you didn’t know and you will be pleased to find many things you are doing that actually make your home more secure than most. Perhaps one or two of your neighbors will want their homes inspected as well. You will have time to tidy up around the house this afternoon.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

In-depth discussions and probing conversations find you at your mental best. Your problem-solving abilities work very well today. This could be a good time to come to grips with any repeat difficulties—for taking control of the forces within you that slow your progress. In other words—negative moods and plans that slow you down could be worked through—let go and move forward. Do not burn your bridges behind you; learn that the only things we truly can control are ourselves. This afternoon is a good time to become better organized or rearrange your living situation. Catching a glimpse of a special sale in a store window may have you investigating some new home or yard equipment. Things to help create a simple life are important now.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There is a sense of emotional coolness or detachment at the personal level today. It is ideas that count for you now, more than narrowly personal concerns. Progress with a new relationship is positive. Your ambitions are of high caliber and you attract high-caliber people into your life. You try hard and you always push on toward whatever goals you have in mind. This is an impressionable time, highlighting your more spiritual nature.

Anything that stirs your higher emotions will be favored now. A love of music and art will feed your soul. The social scene in general is very important during this time and can have a very decided influence on your career or community life. Politics would be an option, if you are interested.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You have an innate love of the law and working things through and you are not put off by problems and obstacles.

On the contrary, you look forward to solving them. You will be working with others regarding vocation or career guidance today. There may be a careercounseling weekend soon for the young people in your community. You can wisely advise. Frivolous people and time-wasters, however, had better keep their distance from you. There is a sense of emotional coolness when you become focused, but you have a special affinity with helping others. Many find you a generous and loving person. Shopping this evening, the new and the unusual may grab your attention. Careful, you may not have gotten paid yet.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

A quiet time this morning allows you time to focus and enjoy that “floating” feeling. Your imagination is very powerful today. You and your loved one(s) may find fun conversations about dreams. This is a good time to write and communicate with real originality—there are new story ideas. Inventions and breakthroughs are possible. You sense and have a built-in knowledge of what others can only guess. This is nothing that you have accomplished or labored for as you were born with this ability and this information. Others sense this and learn about themselves from being with you. They soak up the information you convey so effortlessly. This whole day is a day of appreciation, for the people that love you.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) New ways to communicate or an easy manner will make conversations and interactions go well today. You may find yourself more talkative than at any other time. A dialogue with an older person or someone in authority may take place. You have an unusual ability to motivate other people; especially in group work today. Your enthusiasm is catching, making you an ideal teacher or group leader, especially with young people. You will want to be aware that you may push others a little harder than necessary at times. A tremendous drive to succeed, plus some sheer good luck, brings about some real accomplishments now. You have a lot of physical energy this evening and may enjoy some form of outdoor exercise or team sport.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Whatever frustration appears this morning will be short term.

You might feel that some avenue of support has been cut off or blocked. Do not take these problems personally. Arguments of an emotional kind are just a part of life from time to time. Your inner self-confidence may be lacking just now—consider this a great time to test your ability to rise above a difficult situation. If you listen to that inner voice of yours instead of the ego, you will quickly know the right path to take in most situations. Do not forget that you are very gifted, having great magnetism and a powerful mind. You can do anything you want to do in this life, if you can manage to get moving in one direction and keep at it. There are possibilities for a romantic and fun evening.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

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

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

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

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

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

Dentists

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25655535

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

General Surgeons

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

lifest yle G o s s i p

Winehouse’s ex needs to acknowledge blame in her death Georgette Civil - whose son got divorced from Amy in 2009 after two turbulent years of marriage - thinks Blake, who is currently serving 32 months in prison for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm, needed to take responsibility for the late singer’s problems with drug abuse. In an interview with UK TV show ‘Daybreak’, she said: “I think he has to take his portion of blame. “I can’t say whether or not Amy did drugs prior to meeting Blake, I can’t. I think that’s something that nobody will ever really know. But yes, in my heart I think that Blake has to take a portion of blame.” After Amy was found dead in her home in Camden, north London, on Saturday afternoon at the age of just 27, Georgette voiced her fears that heroin addict Blake would “kill himself” when he found out about the tragedy. She said at the time: “Blake will kill himself. He won’t make it without her. He will be devastated, totally and utterly devastated. He’ll go straight back to self-harming. I’ll have to ring the prison and he’ll have to be put on watch. “He was always ringing her and she was always ringing him. Blake always wanted her

back. She couldn’t walk away from him and he couldn’t walk away from her. Her and Blake were both lost and we handled it badly.” Meanwhile, Blake’s current girlfriend Sarah Aspin - who is mother of his newborn baby son Jack - admitted the divorced pair were “soulmates”. Sarah explained: “He is devastated and shattered. He just can’t take it in that she’s dead and he’ll never see her again. Blake is the father of our son.

But I saw him and Amy together and I know they were really in love and they were soulmates. She always loved him and he always loved her - but it was just never going to work. Basically they couldn’t live with each other and they could not live without each other. It is hard for me knowing he still loved her, but I do understand his feelings.”

Jesse James and Kat VonD

Arnold Schwarzenegger thanks fans for support after son’s injury hristopher Schwarzenegger - the youngest son of the former Governor of California and his estranged spouse Maria Shriver - is expected to be back “at full speed” after the 13 year old suffered a collapsed lung, various broken bones and broken

C

have called off

speed soon.” The 62-year-old actor - who recently split from Maria following revelations he fathered a child with their former housekeeper Mildred Patricia Baena - tweeted on the same day his lawyer filed an updated version of his Response to Maria’s divorce petition, which reversed his original decisions asking for the court not to award Maria spousal support or attorney fees. Last week, Arnold and Maria released a joint statement last week revealing Christopher is expected to make a “full recovery” and thanking medical staff and emergency personnel for their help during the episode. They said: “A few days ago our son Christopher suffered an accident at the beach.

While it has been a very scary week, Christopher is surrounded by his family and friends. He is a brave boy and is expected to make a full recovery. “On behalf of our entire family, we want to sincerely thank the paramedics and lifeguards who responded so swiftly as well as the doctors, nurses, emergency room and hospital staff who have cared for our son.

“They have been extraordinary to him and to us. We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and ask for respect and privacy for Christopher and our family.”

their engagement he motorcycle entrepreneur - who was married to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock for five years until 2010 - has split from the tattoo model after the distance between the pair became “too much”. Kat is based in Los Angeles, while Jesse raises his kids Chandler, 16, Jesse Jr, 17, and seven-year-old Sunny, in Austin, Texas. He told People: “I’m so sad because I really love her. The distance between us was just too much.” The couple who got engaged in January - had been planning a wedding to mark their one-year anniversary later this summer. Writing on her twitter page, Kat confirmed the separation, saying: “I am no longer w Jesse, and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats all the info I’d like to share. Thanks for respecting that. (sic)” Jesse - who had multiple affairs throughout his marriage to Sandra - recently insisted he would forgive Kat if she ever cheated on him. He said: “If she cheated on me, I would forgive her and still love her.”

T

ribs during the incident in Malibu, California, earlier this month that left him in intensive care. Arnold wrote on his twitter account: “Thanks for all your support for Christopher. It means a lot to me & to him.

He’s doing much better & we’ll have him back at full

he TV host-and-model tied the knot with Nick Lachey in an intimate Caribbean ceremony on Necker Island in front of only 35 guests earlier this month and since the romantic ceremony she has become obsessed with her marriage band. She said: “I’m absolutely in love with the ring. I still stare at my hand and look down at it and just feel really lucky.” One thing Vanessa really likes about the ring is that it compliments her engagement band - which has diamonds fashioned in the intricate Asscher-cut pattern. Speaking to Britain’s OK! magazine, she explained: “Nick gave me a beautiful Asscher-cut engagement ring, when you’re looking into it, it looks like you’re looking into forever. When I got to my wedding band, in keeping with that theme, I just did smaller Asscher cuts all around.” While Vanessa’s found picking a ring relatively easy, she agonized over what wedding dress to wear, and eventually had to ask Nick to help her choose. She said: “I finally turned to Nick when we were lying in bed the night before probably my fifth fitting at a store and said, ‘What do you want to see me in when you marry me?’ And he sat up and said, ‘I love you with your hair down, so I want your hair down.’ Check. “Then he said, ‘I want you to be a traditional

he ‘S&M’ singer was honored for her charity work, pop success and her ability to tackle adversity in her personal life, which includes troubled relationships with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and drug addict father Ronald Fenty. The magazine said: “Independent, energetic, the young Robyn Rihanna Fenty (only 23) is our woman of the year and not just by virtue of numbers and figures but also, and foremost, for her kind and fighting spirit. The same spirit that brought her from Barbados to the top of the music charts achieving a career which she has forged and mastered completely by herself (whose last move was to become the new ambassador for Armani). “Rihanna is the undisputed best contender to the role of queen of pop. “She has managed to cultivate her career despite the many tragedies affecting her private life: from her father’s addiction to crack ... to the violence caused to her in 2009 by [her] thenboyfriend, Chris. Rihanna - who first graced the cover of the famous fashion magazine in September 2009 - has campaigned to raise awareness for breast cancer and world famine, and has worked tirelessly to find a bone marrow donor for Jasmina Anema, a young fan battling leukaemia.

The blog post by Italian Vogue continued: “She has joined and supported campaigns for the fight against breast cancer as well as the fight against

T

T

bride but with a modern flair.’ The next day, I had three dresses that I narrowed it down to, and then chose one.” The nuptials took place at British businessman Sir Richard Branson’s private Balinese-inspired retreat and featured a performance by musician Steve Tyrell who per formed the couple’s favourite song ‘A Kiss To Build A Dream On’ for their first dance.

he ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ singer is keen to create a culinary guide which contains her mother Tina’s soul food recipes and is confident it would be very popular. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Her mum Tina started the tradition whereby anywhere in the world they are, she always puts on a soul food spread of collard greens, cornbread, mac ‘n’ cheese and fried chicken. Beyonce would love to include these family recipes in a book.”

T

Beyonce is being encouraged to go ahead with her cook book plans by her good friend Gwyneth Paltrow. The ‘Iron Man’ actress - whose husband Chris Martin is pals with Beyonce’s spouse Jay-Z - has released her own cookbook, ‘My Father’s Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness’, and thinks the R&B star should follow in her footsteps. The source added: “As she (Beyonce) thinks about a family, she’s spoken about this with Gwyn

world famine but also offered her help to ill or less fortunate people such as the very young Jasmina Anema who saw the pop star on the frontline in the search for a bone marrow donor to save her from leukaemia.”

and is raring to go.” Despite having a passion for food, Beyonce has previously admitted she isn’t the greatest cook, but tries her best and has mastered creations with one ingredient. She said: “I took a year off and I even did some cooking, although I didn’t really enjoy that. I’m not the greatest cook - I can do things with oxtail, though.”

— Bang Showbiz

y

A

37

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

lifestyle

ichael Jackson’s mother and four siblings announced Monday plans for a star-studded tribute concert for the late pop icon, but the show was blasted as “ill-timed” by two other Jacksons. Jermaine and Randy Jackson said the family should be concentrating on the upcoming manslaughter trial of their brother’s doctor, which will be going on in Los Angeles when the planned show is staged in Britain in October.

The Michael Forever show is set for October 8 in

M

Michael Jackson

Cardiff, Wales, and will be broadcast to 30 countries around the world, said his mother Katherine Jackson, sister La Toya and brothers Tito, Marlon and Jackie. “ The world’s greatest performing artists” will play at the show, according to its website, although promoter Chris Hunt declined to name names, saying they will announce artists at another press conference in London on August 3.

Jackson’s mother said “as many members of my family that are available” will be at the concert, adding: “Michael gave his entire life to the world through his love, his music and his devotion to healing the planet. “I am positive that this event will be an event great enough in scale, talent and imagination to form a worthy celebration of Michael’s life,” she said at a press conference in Beverly Hills. But Randy and Jermaine Jackson-who tried but failed to organize a tribute show after Jackson’s 2009 death-blasted the timing of the new show, which will coincide with the September manslaughter trial of Jackson’s doctor.

“While we wholeheartedly support the spirit of a tribute that honors our brother, we find it impossible to support an event that is due to take place during the criminal trial surrounding Michael’s death,” they said. Doctor Conrad Murray, charged with manslaughter for giving the singer an overdose of powerful sedative propofol, is due to go on trial with opening statements on September 20, less than three weeks before the Cardiff concert. “In light of this, we feel it is inappropriate to be involved with such an ill-timed event and its promoter, Global Live,” said Jermaine and Randy Jackson in a statement.

“Furthermore, the decision to proceed with this concert disrespects opinions and wishes expressed in the strongest terms to Global Live during conversations in April when this event was presented to the majority of the family.” Global Live chief Chris Hunt defended the Cardiff plans, saying they would be “worthy of Michael’s musical

But the plans were eventually shelved after organizers failed to get artists on board to play the show as scheduled. Jermaine and Randy Jackson stressed Monday they were not against the principle of a tribute concert. “There will come a time and place for an amazing and deserving tribute to Michael. But we feel that the most important tribute we can give to our brother at this time is to seek justice in his name,” they said. — AFP

genius ... something fun and authentic that you would envision Michael attending with excitement and joy.” Tickets for the concert in the 75,000-seat Millennium Stadium in Cardiff- with a fully retracting roof the biggest indoor venue in Europe, according to the organizers-will go on sale online on August 4, they added.

The concert will raise money for charities including Prince Charles’ Prince’s Trust in Britain, and the AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA). Jackson, whose career had been hobbled by child sex abuse allegations, died on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50, as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts at London’s O2 arena. Shortly after his death in 2009, Jackson’s brother Jermaine announced a tribute concert that was supposed to be held in Vienna, with artists Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, Chris Brown, and Akon said to be lined up.

Katherine Jackson and musicians La Toya Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jackie Jackson and Marlon Jackson attend a live press conference announcing Global Live Events’ International Historical Tribute Concert honoring the late pop icon Michael Jackson. — AFP

Review

he bulls used to be beaten to the point of fury before entering the ring, their horns given steel extensions to increase the ferocity. These days, though, the legendary bull-on-bull fights in the Balkans are a mellower affair - and everybody seems satisfied. Some 70,000 people came to a small valley that serves as a natural amphitheater near the village of Cevljanovici, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Sarajevo to attend a annual two-day country fair that ended with the traditional bullfight that has taken place here since 1947.

Every July people from villages throughout Bosnia converge on this village to barbecue, drink and dance to blaring folk music - and watch the fights. The battles changed three years ago as part of a package of reforms aimed at burnishing Bosnia’s credentials for European Union member-

T

Bosnian people watch two bulls fighting head to head during a bullfight in the village of Cevljanovici.

ship. The fights never ended with death but with horns sharpened “like needles” and bulls beaten with shovels and sticks to enrage them, the beasts would be often be seriously injured and end up being slaughtered and sent to the butcher.

Authorities announced a ban on the Bosnian tradition that dates back two centuries, but fans and bull owners insisted that a compromise be found. “Bulls fight in the wild by their own rules, they rarely injure each other and the battle ends with one of them pulling out,” said Besim Gljiva, head of the Association of Fighting Bull Breeders.

Authorities said the fights could go on only under veterinary supervision and if they resemble a natural fight for dominance between male animals in the wild.Now, before entering the arena, inspectors check the horns and even cut off the tips if they are

too sharp. They check the animals’ anti-doping test results and make sure the bulls clash heads only if they want to.

Around half of the scheduled battles end with one of the animals leaving the ring without even trying. If there is a fight, the clash sometimes lasts just a few minutes, with the two beasts clashing heads until one of them just turns around and leaves. “There is no more blood in the arena and the fights are longer and nicer to watch,” said Hidajet Kuckovic, the owner of 10-year-old Ringo, who calmly chewed while waiting to enter the makeshift arena. Out his 37 fights, Ringo has only lost three. But this Sunday the star bull walked into the arena, judged his opponent for a few moments - and calmly walked out. The judge declared his rival to be the winner. Ignoring thousands whistling and shouting “You brought a cow!” or “Turn him into a sausage!”, Kuckovic just stroked his pet and whispered in its ear: “Next time, OK?”.

A bull’s price can double to about euro10,000 wins a bout - with or without fighting. The loser’s price can slump to about euro3,000. There’s no prize money - just the glory of being named champion at Cevljanovici. “The way nature set the rules, that’s how the law wrote them down,” Djulovic summed it up. Inside the arena, the winner Prijezonja - just stood there as his owners, three brothers, ran inside to hug and kiss him and throw a red championship blanket over his back. — AP

Spectators sit on a grassy slope, which forms a natural amphitheater, as they watch bulls fight in the village of Cevljanovici. — AP photos

Joss Stone

Joss Stone’s “LP1”: Most arresting effort yet oss Stone may not be the most original performer to inhabit the world of white English soul singers, but her fifth album, “LP1,” may be the partial antidote we need to help cure the post-Winehouse blues.

It’s her most arresting effort yet, largely because it takes her out of her R&B comfort zone -an area that Amy Winehouse could reinvent through sheer force of wit, but where the more earnest Stone could sound a bit more affected as she established her old-soul credentials.

This time, she’s less Aretha and more Janis. Working with her for the first time, producer Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) goes for a much harder-rocking sound than she’s had before, working with a Nashville band that sounds like the Stones when they aren’t veering a bit westward to evoke the steamier side of Memphis soul.

Not coincidentally, perhaps, Stone and Stewart have joined Mick Jagger for a supergroup, Super Heavy, that is set to release an album in the fall. At times, “LP1” sounds like it could be a primer for that forthcoming effort, especially with the keyboard-and-guitar interplay of “Karma” sounding like it’s right out of the “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” era. “Cutting the Breeze”-a bonus track that ends the deluxe edition-might have you studying the credits to make sure Keith and Ronnie didn’t sneak in for a guest appearance.

Fans of Stone’s previous albumsdating back to her 2003 debut, released when she was a precocious

J

soul mama of 16 — may not cotton to the louder, more raw stuff here, with the singer abandoning classic R&B for rock just when Adele is making her former style more commercially palatable than ever. But Stone is big on nothing if not setting her own course.

She fought to escape her contract with her former major label, to the point that her last album opened with a song that had her wailing, “Free me, EMI!” Now she’s on her own label, and regardless of whether she was a bit insolent in her past anti-majors protests, she’s not wasting her independence. This isn’t the first time she’s used an album title to signify a fresh, more artistic start. Her third one, after all, was called “Introducing Joss Stone.” But the rockiness really does invigorate “LP1.”

There are moments of overreaching, as just about anyone with one of the most powerful voices in music might be susceptible to. A couple of numbers that have her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, like “Landlord,” could have used more toned-down vocals, too, in contrast to her all-or-nothing intensity.

— Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

lifestyle

Ann Patchett

gives hometown the gift of books

A

nn Patchett lives in a different era. The best-selling author of “State of Wonder,” “Bel Canto” and other novels doesn’t tweet, and you won’t find her on Facebook. Her rarely powered-up flip phone is 8 years old. She has a television but doesn’t turn it on. And she’s never even Googled herself. Now, she’s decided to retreat even further in time: She’s opening an independent bookstore at a time when many retailers are struggling, Borders is going out of business and e-books continue to flourish.

Talk about back to the future. “I think the time is coming back for the independent bookstore,” says Karen Hayes, who has worked for Random House Inc. and Ingram Book Co. and has now teamed with Patchett to sell books. “You are seeing the chains are failing. And there are people who will always want the printed book - it’s just something special. There are times where even when it’s convenient to read on your e-reader, you want that printed word, you want that piece of art. You want it on your shelf. You want it in your hands. It just means something so special.”

Patchett and Hayes are launching their business in Nashville, a town that doesn’t have a first run bookstore, only shops for used books and remainders. Barnes & Noble recently announced a partnership with Vanderbilt University that will bring another store to Nashville to join Patchett’s, which she hopes to open before Christmas. “I see this as a gift to the city,” Patchett says. “I see this as a charitable contribution ... not as an investment, not as a smart business move, but really as somebody who loves Nashville and somebody who doesn’t want to live in a city without a bookstore.”

Nashville’s bookstore history is complicated and ever-changing and mirrors the rest of the nation: The independents were gobbled up by superstores such as Borders and box stores, and then Amazon gobbled up the big ones. And now readers are slowly - but increasingly - turning to e-books. Music City was so bookstorechallenged that when “State of Wonder” came out, friends who owned framing and alteration shops offered to put Patchett’s book on the counter. So Patchett decided to sell books, working with Hayes, who focused on independent bookstores for much of her career. They want to open a shop that will connect with true book lovers. The 47-year-old Patchett plans to hire people who read and who can inform customers of both the latest and the best books. She intends to bring authors into her store to discuss their work, and she’s fascinated by the idea of books as art.

Michael Norris, a senior analyst at market research firm Simba Information, says Nashville’s book scene has been “deprofessionalized,” like most of America. Even where books still exist for sale, employees who stock them know very little about them and likely wouldn’t be able to recommend something to fit a reader’s needs.

These stores often only carry the latest best-selling thriller and rarely venture beyond the mass market. “A store like Wal-Mart or Target will just put books at the end of the aisle next to space

heaters and if someone picks them up, they pick them up. If they don’t, they don’t,” Norris said. “A lot of people get carried away with a lot of the things going on in digital, but if you look really closely at the industry, it’s still really held together selling one book at a time to one person at a time.”

While Borders - which began liquidation sales around the country on Friday - and other major retailers are struggling, book sales are not. The introduction of the e-reader has spurred a boom of sorts that coincidentally spills over into the bricks-and-mortar market - meaning there seems to be room again in the book-selling circle of life for the small indies. The American Booksellers Association reports an increase of membership two years running after years of decline that cost independents more than half their number. Customers who still seek out bookstores are usually very different from their online-buying counterparts. They often head to the bookstore with a general idea of what they want, but are also looking for help in identifying new things to read. A knowledgeable clerk or instore event can offer untold vistas.

Patchett and Hayes want to bring that experience to their shop, and Patchett says she’s aiming for something “back on a human scale.” What she’s not really interested in is the bottom line.

She needs the store to pay for itself, but beyond that she’s more concerned about what Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee, calls the “social profit.” During her recent book tour, Patchett scoped ideas she could incorporate into her own store. Goldin was a beacon in the fog, helping her with the fine details of putting together a store from scratch. He talked about the importance of flooring bids and payroll taxes. But he also talked about the importance of making sure his store is a cornerstone for the community.

“I’m going to make a lot of decisions as if I’m sort of a nonprofit,” Goldin said. “I’m going to be very careful about my dollars, but sometimes I’m still making these decisions about what’s best for the community, what’s best for my customers. ... The secret is to say you’ve just got to get into the love. It’s all relationship and it’s all emotional reaction.” Though it might seem like an obvious business choice, few well-known authors own bookstores. The best-known author-owner is Larry McMurtry, whose sprawling Booked Up fills four buildings in Archer City, Texas. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has two, owned by Louise Erdrich and Garrison Keillor.

Their stores are small, tucked away in quiet settings and completely reflect the personality of their owners. Like Goldin’s store, Erdrich’s Birchbark Books aims to reap a large social profit.

Birchbark is hard to find, but its tiny 800 square feet contain a world’s worth of ideas.

Made from “all reclaimed materials,” the store focuses on Native American literature, history and politics, and on the study of sudden, climactic change in society, all interests of Erdrich and her daughters, who launched the store 11 years

ago. It’s become much more than a place to buy books. “We’re a locus for Native American intellectuals,” Erdrich said. “It’s not part of our stereotype of the stoic native. The image of the Native American in the United States often does not include a pair of eyeglasses and a thoughtful expression. Our goal is really to talk about the philosophical tradition in Native American thinking and the interesting currents right now in Native American thinking. It’s our bookstore. We have a lot of fun.”

Patchett says she has learned the importance of identity well and is applying the lesson. By naming the store Parnassus Books, she hopes for an emotional response from readers in Nashville, dubbed “the Athens of the South.” Mount Parnassus was the source of literature, learning and music in Greek mythology. She wants Parnassus to be the kind of store where readers can completely cut their connections and lose themselves in a new world - just as the characters do in “State of Wonder.” At the book’s heart is a mystery as enigmatic as the Amazon rivers that take Dr. Marina Singh to the rainforest home of the Lakashi, a people who hold the secret to limitless fertility - and drug company profits. Singh, a cholesterol drug researcher adrift in life, has been sent to this unnamed tributary off the Rio Negro to find out about the death of a colleague and to assess the progress of her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, the Kurtz to Marina’s Marlow in this gentle, moving riff on “Heart of Darkness.”

Midway through the book, Marina loses her connection to the outside world when her luggage and cell phone are lost, allowing her to learn things about herself she might never have while plugged into the constant input of the Internet age. Patchett has created a similarly isolated life. “Email bugs the hell out of me,” she acknowledges. Very few people have her coveted email address, and she won’t dip her toe any further into the information age. “But it’s not like I made a decision and gave something up,” Patchett said. “It repulses me, this whole input world that you’re talking about, the constant facts. There’s this tribe in my book, the Lakashi tribe, and I’ve had so many people who are interviewing me say, ‘I’ve been Googling and I can’t find the Lakashi anywhere.’ It’s as if people can’t imagine something that can’t be Googled.

No, I made them up, you can’t Google them.

Unless you get inside my head, they just don’t exist.” In a sense, Erdrich says, visiting Parnassus Books will be another way to get inside Patchett’s head. And she can’t wait to take a look around. — AP

In this undated publicity photo released by HarperCollins, author Ann Patchett is shown.

Patchett is the author of the current best-seller ‘State of Wonder.’

— AP

Journalist in UK hacking scandal signs book deal

T

M

ark Keating could never find pirate novels he liked to read so he decided to write his own. Most of the fiction he consumed had fantasy or supernatural elements, or was about people who became pirates out of need and then went straight as soon as they could. “That’s not what I felt about pirates. I thought, I’ll write one about pirates who want to be pirates, who enjoy the freedom,” Keating said on the sidelines of the Semana Negra book fair in northern Spain which attracts a million visitors a year.

The British author does not write about romantic swashbucklers like those portrayed

by Errol Flynn, but tough men living in tough times at the beginning of the 18th century.

“They’re dirtier, grittier, harder, with quite easy morals. They’re violent because they lived in violent times. There’s also a lot drink involved, because there was a lot of drink around,” Keating said.

Keating, who jokes that he took up writing to persuade his wife to buy a computer, also wanted to steer clear of the dancing skeletons and vampire goddesses which feature in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. “All kudos to the films for putting pirates centre-stage.

They’re very popular characters, but that filters it down too much,” he said. “I always say, there’s no romance, no monsters and no romantic monsters.”

Freedom Agents agreed with Keating’s approach and he soon had a deal to publish “The Pirate Devlin” in 2010. It is about an Irish boy sold into servitude who grows up to become a pirate and challenge his former master. “We have less and less personal freedom, it gets eroded every year, so I wanted the pirates to

be a metaphor for freedom and personal democracy,” he said.

Keating recalls that 7,000 pirates once roamed the Caribbean. They handled one third of the trade between Britain and its American possessions by capturing cargoes and helping colonists avoid the stiff import duties levied on official commerce. “ The image of a pirate swinging across a ship and cannons broadsiding is a bit of myth. Often there wasn’t a shot fired. The ships were insured,” he said.

Keating is under contract to write five books about Devlin. The second, “White Gold”, came out in January and takes its title from the name given to porcelain from China, which at the time was as valuable and soughtafter as the precious metal. The third Devlin book is due out in January 2012 and has the

working title of “Blood Diamond”. It is about the “Pitt Diamond” and is set at the time of the speculative South Sea Bubble which burst in 1720.

He notes that the most famous pirates of the era, like “Black Bart” Roberts, were hunted down and killed. He likens his characters to the outlaws in Sam Peckinpah’s classic film “The Wild Bunch”, who lived and died at the end of a golden age. “ They don’t really belong in the world anymore. Over the five books they will get older and come down to the conclusion that that’s the end of it.”

— Reuters

he British journalist whose dogged reporting helped uncover phone hacking that has rocked media giant News Corp and its chairman Rupert Murdoch, has agreed to write a book about the scandal, his publisher said on Monday.

Nick Davies, a reporter for The Guardian newspaper of London, broke the story in 2009 that News International, the UK division of News Corp, had paid 1 million pounds to settle legal cases dealing with hacking by staff members at the company’s now defunct News of the World tabloid.

Davies spent two more years following the case and tracking down sources who could verify that reporters had illegally tapped into cell phones of celebrities, politicians and even a young murder victim to get private information the News of the World could trumpet in headlines. The scandal has inflamed passions around the world and spurred investigations into News Corp’s other operations.

Arrests of top officials have been made, and Murdoch and his son James Murdoch, chairman of News International, were forced to testify in front of a British parliamentary committee.

Murdoch, the tough-minded businessman who sits at the head of a multibillion dollar media empire that includes the 20th Century Fox movie studio and Fox TV network, called his appearance, “the most humble day of my career.” Davies’s book will be titled “HACK ATTACK: How the Truth Caught up with the World’s Most Powerful Man,” his publisher Faber and Faber Inc, an affiliate of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, said in a statement.

“Davies, author of the bestseller ‘Flat Earth News’, intends to provide an authoritative account and commentary on the News International scandal, including new revelations,” the publisher said.

Publication is planned for late 2012. — Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

Years

lifestyle

A searing, magical T

he irrational tyranny of kings is a wellmined subject in Shakespeare’s plays, but the self-destructive jealousy of King Leontes in “The Winter’s Tale” is particularly shocking, especially when performed as searingly as the current Royal Shakespeare Company production in New York, a partnership with the Lincoln Center Festival and the Park Avenue Armory.

The tragedy begins warmly, with a playful young Prince Mamillius (Alfie Jones in a review performance) at an Edwardian-style Christmas party, donning a paper crown. It is a tragic glimpse of all that his father, King Leontes, will soon destroy in the kingdom of Sicilia. Things quickly sour, as Greg Hicks’ seething portrayal of a delusional and jealous Leontes takes center stage.

Kelly Hunter radiates decency and honor as the pregnant Queen Hermione, yet Leontes’ increasing madness causes him to view his wife as a harlot, and to accuse her of having an affair with his lifelong friend, Polixenes (Darrell D’Silva) the king of Bohemia. David Farr’s direction adds powerfully to the scripted impact of the random cruelty of royalty. Hicks is fearsome as Leontes, vitriolic and implacable, prowling scornfully about the stage. He brutally imprisons his wife and directs an aide to kill his old friend.

Antigonus (a stalwart David Rubin) reluctantly takes his deluded king’s banished newborn daughter to be abandoned in Polixenes’ kingdom. In the midst of a terrible storm, a dreadful fate overtakes him and his party, involving a neat execution of one of Shakespeare’s more famously impossible directions, “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Even the persistent Paulina (a regal, formidable Noma Dumezweni), wife to Antigonus and close friend of Hermione, fails to convince Leontes that he is mistaken. Hunter is majestic in her courtroom scene as, wrapped in bloodstained rags, Hermione confronts her husband, declaring her anguish at his mistreatment of her and at having her children torn from her.

Not until Apollo himself rules that Hermione is chaste and Leontes a tyrant, and Mamillius and Hermione both die, does Leontes return, tragically too late, to his senses. While a dark winter of anguished remorse settles over Sicilia, the season and mood completely change in the second half of the play to a magically bright summer festival 16

‘Winter’s Tale’ is mounted

In this theater publicity image released by Lincoln Center Festival, Samantha Young, left, and Tunji Kasima are shown in a scene from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of ‘The Winter’s Tale’ in New York. — AP years later in Bohemia. Designer Jon Bauser has created a set decoration in Bohemia made of pages from books - mounds of landscape, leaves on trees and even a bear.

Book pages also adorn the crudely stomping herdsmen in a fertility dance scene.

The prevalence of pages may reflect the fantastical nature of the tale, one of Shakespeare’s last works, which combines many impossible coincidences and even implies rebirth. In a play often viewed as schizophrenic, some continuity is provided by having the ruined library of Leontes provide the pages that adorn the meadows of Bohemia. Lost princess Perdita (Samantha Young) has been raised by shepherds (comedic performances by Larrington

Walker as the father, and Gruffudd Glyn as the slow-witted son) and is wooed by Polixenes’ son, Prince Florizel, in disguise as a commoner. Tunji Kasim is delightfully fresh as Florizel, while Young is a sweet, shy Perdita.

An improbable series of events sends everyone packing to Sicilia, hot on the trail of fleeing young lovers. In the deep sorrow of Sicilia, Paulina is still hectoring Leontes, but reconciliation, forgiveness and joy soon abound. In a breathtaking finale, the unveiling of a lifelike statue of Hermione brings the tragi-comedy to a dramatic close. Farr’s fluent combination of arresting staging, lighting (Jon Clark), and both live and recorded music (composer Keith Clouston

and sound designer Martin Slavin), along with intelligent acting by the ensemble, create a “Winter’s Tale” well worth experiencing. The Royal Shakespeare Company is performing five Shakespeare plays in repertory at the Park Avenue Armory, in association with The Ohio University, through August 14. — AP

Kelly Hunter is shown in a scene from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of “The Winter’s Tale” in New York. — AP

Zach Braff uses some old tricks in his new play

N

‘Captain America’ knocks Potter off box office top spot

“C

aptain America: The First Avenger” has done his duty at the box office, debuting with a $65.1 million weekend to take over the No. 1 spot from the “Harry Potter” finale. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” slipped to second-place with $47.4 million, raising its domestic total to $273.5 million after just 10 days. The top 20 movies at US and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

Jacob Gawaran, 5, poses in a Captain America costume at the Comic-Con International 2011 convention. ‘Captain America’ knocked out top competitors, including Potter, to take the number one spot at the box office. — AP

1. “Captain America: The First Avenger,” Paramount, $65,058,524, 3,715 locations, $17,512 average, $65,058,524, one week.

2. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Warner Bros., $47,422,212, 4,375 locations, $10,839 average, $273,539,281, two weeks.

3. “Friends With Benefits,” Sony Screen Gems, $18,622,150, 2,926 locations, $6,364 average, $18,622,150, one week.

4. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Paramount, $12,051,735, 3,375 locations, $3,571 average, $325,841,185, four weeks.

5. “Horrible Bosses,” Warner Bros., $11,884,319, 3,104 locations, $3,829 average, $82,566,703, three weeks.

6. “Zookeeper,” Sony, $8,702,055, 3,215 locations, $2,707 average, $59,206,255, three weeks.

7. “Cars 2,” Disney, $5,655,857, 2,668 locations, $2,120 average, $176,375,295, five weeks.

8. “Winnie the Pooh,” Disney, $5,162,046, 2,405 locations, $2,146 average, $17,594,297, two weeks.

9. “Bad Teacher,” Sony, $2,610,925, 2,034 locations, $1,284 average, $94,365,688, five weeks.

10. “Midnight in Paris,” Sony Pictures Classics, $1,804,662, 621 locations, $2,906 average, $44,783,206, 10 weeks.

11. “Bridesmaids,” Universal, $1,325,985, 680 locations, $1,950 average, $163,832,870, 11 weeks.

12. “Larry Crowne,” Universal, $1,019,475, 1,035 locations, $985 average, $34,327,405, four weeks.

13. “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” Fox, $935,068, 591 locations, $1,582 average, $63,500,820, six weeks.

14. “Super 8,” Paramount, $760,042, 658 locations, $1,155 average, $124,235,102, seven weeks.

15. “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,” Eros International, $670,258, 100 locations, $6,703 average, $2,003,930, two weeks.

16. “The Tree of Life,” Fox Searchlight, $555,573, 230 locations, $2,416 average, $11,038,150, nine weeks.

17. “Monte Carlo,” Fox, $475,973, 360 locations, $1,322 average, $21,772,588, four weeks.

18. “Beginners,” Focus, $425,205, 157 locations, $2,708 average, $4,607,418, eight weeks.

19. “Green Lantern,” Warner Bros., $381,612, 421 locations, $906 average, $113,920,209, six weeks.

20. “X-Men: First Class,” Fox, $348,046, 295 locations, $1,180 average, $144,210,364, eight weeks. — AP

o one can accuse Zach Braff of violating the first law of playwrighting: Write what you know.

The former star of the TV show “Scrubs” and creator of the gentle film “Garden State” clearly has not strayed far from his comfort zone while penning his debut stage piece “All New People,” a dark comedy that opened Monday at Second Stage Theatre. The elements are all plucked from a Braff catalog of greatest hits.

Depressed lead inclined to self-absorption? Check. Small band of kind-hearted misfit friends? Yup. New Jersey? Oh, yes. A woman who is both adorable and a bit of a mess? Gottcha. Smart use of cool music? Of course. ( This time it’s the band Gaelic Storm.) Even Braff’s personal pilot training bleeds into the script. The result is both overly familiar and yet familiarly comfortable.

Justin Bartha plays Charlie, who suffers from depression, as a charisma-less mope and one prone to sudden bouts of explosive anger, which blunts his sweetness. He turns out to be the least interesting character on stage and spends much of it slumped in a chair or silently aghast at the weirdness going on around him.

As the play opens, Charlie is trying to hang himself in a luxurious beach house in New Jersey in the dead of winter. Why he has arrived at this point will be revealed at the end, but suffice it to say it’s overwrought.

His plan is interrupted when a British real estate agent barges in, trying to show the house. Krysten Ritter plays the realtor

as quirky, lovely and crazy. If anyone saw “Garden State,” she’s basically Natalie Portman with a British accent - though the accent Ritter adopts is so terrible as to be distracting.

Two others soon arrive: a firefighter played by David Wilson Barnes, who is also the local drug dealer; and an air-head, high-end escort, played by Anna Camp, who has been sent by a friend of Charlie to cheer him up. These are the strongest characters of the four and the best acted.

The four form a faux-family, boozing and getting high while revealing more about their lives and secrets, all slathered with pop culture references to Facebook, “Beverly Hills Cop,” the Sims and “Home Alone.” Braff is trying to explore love, friendship and hypocrisy, but ultimately he returns to what made “Scrubs” and “Garden State” so disarming - namely how a band of ragtag strangers can fill the void in modern hearts.

Or, as the firefighter says to Charlie: “Even in your lonesome existence, there is love, there is compassion, there is a genuine desire on behalf of these kind strangers to see you discover something that makes your life worth living.”—AP

In this June 22, 2011 photo, Zach Braff poses for a portrait in New York. Braff made his debut as a playwright in the off-Broadway production ‘All New People,’ which opened July 25 and is running through until Aug. 14. — AP

e niv rsar n

y

A

‘Captain America’ knocks Potter off box office top spot Years

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

39

In this file photo, British singer Amy Winehouse performs during her concert at the Volkshaus in Zurich, Switzerland.

Winehouse family, friends attend singer’s funeral

F

riends and family were saying goodbye to Amy Winehouse yesterday at a private funeral ceremony in London. Producer Mark Ronson and media personality Kelly Osbourne - her hair piled beehive-high in an echo of the singer’s trademark style - were among mourners arriving for the service at Edgwarebury Cemetery in north London.

Photographers and a few fans lined the lane outside. The service was expected to be followed by cremation and a family gathering at a local synagogue. The soul diva, who had battled alcohol and drug addiction, was found dead Saturday at

Candles are lit amongst flowers and tributes left for British singer Amy Winehouse outside her house in London yesterday.

her London home. She was 27. An autopsy held Monday failed to determine the cause of the singer’s death. Police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which will take two to four weeks.

On Monday the singer’s father, mother and brother visited the house where she died, thanking mourners who had left flowers and cards. Father Mitch Winehouse said “Amy was about one thing and that was love.” “Her whole life was devoted to her family and her friends and to you guys as well,” he told fans.

The singer’s mother, Janis, was in tears as she examined the flowers, candles, vodka bottles, flags, drawings and handwritten cards left by neighbors, fans and well-wishers. Many of the offerings expressed the same sentiment: “What a waste.” “I’ll remember her as a troubled soul,” said fan Ethna Rouse, who brought her 4-year-old son to leave a bouquet. “Like many artists in the world - they are tortured souls, and that’s where the talent comes from.”

“She was too young to die and too talented, and too beautiful,” said Peggy Conlon, landlady of the Dublin Castle pub, where Winehouse occasionally stopped for a drink. “She’s sorely missed by everyone, not one person had a bad word to say about that kid.”

Winehouse released only two albums in her short career - winning five Grammy awards for the second, “Back to Black” - and often made headlines because of drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, destructive relationships and abortive performances.

Since her death, her records have re-entered album charts around the world, and tributes have poured in from fans and fellow musicians. George Michael called her “the most soulful vocalist this country has ever seen,” and soul singer Adele said she “paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again.”

The cause of death is still unknown, as an autopsy on singer failed to determine what killed her, leaving fans and family with a weeks-long wait for the results of toxicology tests. The Metropolitan Police said Monday that a forensic post mortem “did not establish a formal cause of death and we await the results of further toxicology tests.” Those are expected to take two to four weeks.

An inquest into the singer’s death was opened and adjourned at London’s St. Pancras Coroner’s Court. During the two-minute hearing, an official read out the name, birth date and address of Winehouse, described as “a divorced lady living at Camden Square NW1.” “She was a singer songwriter at the time of her death and was identified by her family here at St. Pancras this morning,” said coroner’s officer Sharon Duff. Duff said the scene of Winehouse’s death “was investigated by police and determined non-suspicious.”

People look at flowers and tributes left for British singer Amy Winehouse outside her house in London yesterday. — AP photos In Britain, inquests are held to establish the facts whenever someone dies violently or in unexplained circumstances. Assistant Deputy Coroner Suzanne Greenaway said Winehouse’s inquest would resume on Oct. 26.

Last month, Winehouse canceled her European comeback tour after she swayed and slurred her way through barely recognizable songs in her first show in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Booed and jeered off stage, she flew home and her management said she would take time off to recover. Her last public appearance came three days before her death, when she briefly joined her goddaughter, singer Dionne Bromfield, on stage at The Roundhouse in Camden, near her home.

Actor Russell Brand, a former drug addict, wrote a lengthy tribute in which he urged the media and public to change the way addiction is perceived “not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill.” “Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction,” he wrote.

“Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death.”

Celebrity fans continued to pay tribute to an artist whose appeal crossed genres and generations. On Twitter, singer George Michael called her “the most soulful vocalist this country has ever seen.”“I hope she is at peace now,” he added. Soul singer Adele - one of a generation of British chanteuses whose success Winehouse helped make possible - said Winehouse “paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blasÈ about the whole thing.” “Although I’m incredibly sad about Amy passing I’m also reminded of how immensely proud of her I am as well, and grateful to be inspired by her,” Adele wrote on her website. — AP

Media personality Kelly Osbourne leaves Edgwarebury Cemetery, in London yesterday after attending the funeral of singer Amy Winehouse.

Music producer Mark Ronson leaves after attending the funeral of Winehouse.