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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Syrian forces kill 11 in ‘vengeance’ raid on dissent

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India, Pak ministers hail ‘new era’ in ties

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Debt deal still elusive as US default deadline looms

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London enters final Olympics countdown with a splash

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halt work on megaport Kuwait ‘dismayed’, says construction to continue

Inflation at 10-mth lows KUWAIT: Kuwait’s annual inflation slowed to a ten-month low of 5 percent in June helped by a fall in food prices, data showed yesterday, but generous government spending is expected to keep levels above those of neighbors this year.

Inflation in the world’s fourthlargest oil exporter has been hovering above 5 percent since the beginning of this year, well below double-digit levels seen in 2008. It stood at 5.4 percent year-on-year in May, after climbing to a nearly twoyear peak of 6 percent in December. On a monthly basis, consumer prices in the OPEC member grew 0.2 percent in June, according to data from the Central Statistics office. That was below a 0.3 percent rise in May. Inflation in the Gulf, the world’s top oil exporting region, is expected to creep higher this year on robust global commodity prices, a weak dollar and increased govern-

ment spending following popular unrest in the Arab world. But slow lending growth and ongoing weakness in the property sector in parts of the region are seen keeping consumer price growth well below the record peaks seen in most Gulf states in 2008, despite oil prices above $90 per barrel.

In Kuwait, food costs - which account for 18 percent of the consumer basket - fell for the first time in four months, by 0.6 percent month-on-month, the data showed. “Kuwait has one of the highest inflation rates in the GCC for the year. But it’s still not anywhere near of what we saw three years ago,” said Nancy Fahim, Standard Chartered economist in Dubai. “One of the big drivers of inflation this year is government spending and their cash packages that they have provided their citizens, which should be driving overall headline inflation.” — Reuters

BAGHDAD: Baghdad called on Kuwait yesterday to suspend work on a controversial megaport until Iraq is assured its shipping lanes will not be squeezed by the project but Kuwait said work on the project will continue. The $1.1 billion facility, on Kuwait’s Boubiyan Island, is scheduled for completion in 2016. Baghdad fears the Mubarak port will compete with its own Faw and Khor Al-Zubair ports and “strangle” Iraq’s shipping routes.

“The Iraqi government asks the Kuwaiti side to stop work on the Mubarak port until we are assured that Iraqi shipping lanes, and free and safe navigation, will not be affected,” government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said in a statement. “There is no information and data to assure the Iraqi government that its navigation interests will not be damaged” by the project, the statement said. It requested Kuwait to “hand over all information needed by Iraq to ensure that its rights will be preserved.”

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari A Kuwaiti foreign ministry offispeaks to reporters yesterday. — AFP cial expressed “dismay” at the

“statement made by the spokesman of the Iraqi government, who called on the state of Kuwait to halt work in Mubarak Al-Kabir port project”. Kuwait “confirms that construction work at the Mubarak port will continue,” said the unnamed official quoted by the state news agency KUNA, adding that Iraq “has no legal basis” to call for a halt.

However, the official said Kuwait was ready to “receive again an Iraqi technical delegation to be briefed on technicalities related to the project” after having done so in May. At a news conference yesterday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his country would send an expert mission to Kuwait, but did not specify when. He said Kuwait had agreed to receive a mission of experts and officials from several ministries “to find a solution acceptable to both sides”. “We try to resolve the problem through official channels to guarantee Iraq’s interests and freedom of navigation,” Zebari said. “ We want a positive approach, and do not seek an escalation,” he

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added. Zebari stressed that relations with Kuwait remained delicate.

In Aug 1990, troops under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the country until being driven out by an international coalition in early 1991. “August 2 will be the anniversary of the invasion of the state by Iraqi forces and the crimes they committed. In our comments, we must respect the sensitivity of our neighbour,” Zebari added. “Kuwait has every right to build on Boubiyan, which is its territory, and there is no dispute about that. Our problem is the freedom of navigation in the channel leading to Khor Al-Zubair,” a major port Iraq is developing. “Kuwait has the right to lead this project, but we are neighbours, so we need an explanation in defence of our interests,” Zebari said.

The Gulf is the main export outlet for I raqi oil, which accounts for the lion’s share of the countr y ’s revenues, and Baghdad has star ted major work to modernise its outdated ports. — AFP

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AMMAN: Members of the Kuwait Journalists Association delegation pose for a group photograph with Jordan’s King Abdullah. (Right) Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Alyan pictured with King Abdullah.

AMMAN: K JA Treasurer Adnan AlRashid and King Abdullah.

KJA chief Ahmad Behbehani with the Jordanian Monarch.

KJA Chairman Ahmad Behbehani pre- KJA Secretary General Faisal Al-Qanaie senting a memento to King Abdullah. with King Abdullah.

Kuwait-Jordan relations ‘a role model’ Jordanian monarch meets KJA delegation AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II yesterday lauded his country’s relations with Kuwait, revealing that he will shortly pay a visit to the Gulf nation.

During a reception he hosted for a delegation of Kuwaiti journalists, who are currently visiting Jordan, the King described Kuwaiti-Jordanian relations as “excellent” at all political, economic, security and military levels and an example of an advanced model of relations between two brotherly Arab countries. King Abdullah II also confirmed Jordan’s full support for providing all the necessary facilities to Kuwaiti investors and overcoming any obstacles and difficulties that could impede their investments, voicing optimism that doing so would increase the volume of foreign investments in Jordan.

He noted that there are great opportunities available to develop, strengthen and increase the economic and investment cooperation between

the two countries, “especially since Kuwaiti investments are among the largest Arab investment in the Kingdom and there is a unique and great experience between the two countries in this area.” He said that strengthening and enhancing relations between Arab countries requires the discussion of all issues in transparency and full clarity to reach outstanding levels of integration and cooperation.

The Jordanian monarch stressed that “while discussing the mechanism of Jordan’s accession to the Gulf Cooperation Council, matters should be discussed openly and transparently.”

On the current political turbulence in the region, especially the issue of the Middle East peace process, King Abdullah II said that the region is “going through a dark tunnel and that the situation does not call for optimism.” He emphasized that “not finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause that terminates the

Israeli occupation and establishes an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders means a continuing case of tension, violence and lack of security and stability in the region.”

He added that achieving peace between Palestinians and Israelis would require Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and recognize the right of the Palestinian people to sovereignty over their land.

On the Jordanian Kingdom’s desire to join the GCC, King Abdullah II stressed that this wish is “not new, but was made many years ago.”

He said that his country’s accession to membership of the GCC would be a large and important step towards the documentation of historical relations of cooperation between Jordan and the GCC states in order to achieve the common interests of both parties. On the subject of reform in Jordan, the King said that his country is going

ahead with a process of comprehensive reform, “and there is nothing to fear in this matter,” stressing that it is vitally important that economic reform take place alongside political reform, so as to address economic challenges and provide employment opportunities while meeting the aspirations of the new generation.

The King also briefed the delegates on constitutional amendments and his administration’s desire to approve recent parties and elections’ laws providing for party and parliamentary life, “which we hope to reflect in the achievement of positive change for the future of Jordan.”

On the political rallies and sit-ins that have taken place in the Kingdom since the beginning of the year, King Abdullah II said they are “protected,” adding that the Jordanian leadership decided from the very beginning of the unrest to protect the protesters and ensure their safety. For their part,

Capital Municipality office to open in evenings

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Kuwaiti and expatriate residents of the Capital area can now process their municipality-related transactions during evening hours every Tuesday, said a senior municipality official yesterday. Faleh Al-Shemmari, the director of the Capital area’s municipality division, also revealed that staff at the Capital area municipality office will be processing transactions using the ‘one-window’ system whereby the public need only hand their documents in to one office rather than having to visit a series of departments to conduct a transaction, which will mean less stress for patrons, especially those who find it difficult to visit the municipality’s offices in the morning while they are at work. The new service will be available

from 4:00-8:00 PM, he said, adding that during the upcoming month of Ramadan the offices will be open from 1:00-3:00 PM only.

On the Capital branch’s preparations for the holy month, Al-Shemmari said that the municipality minister Dr. Fadhil Safar has called for a crackdown on those attempting to take advantage of the holy month to get off with negative behavior. The senior municipality official revealed that the minister has banned the erection of decorative banners and other decorations in public places to mark Ramadan. AlShemmari also revealed that the municipality will be stepping up its action against hawkers and vendors during the Ramadan period, particularly those selling dairy products which go off extremely quickly in the searing outdoor heat of Kuwaiti summer.

the delegates praised the reform-oriented vision of the Jordanian monarch, lauding his supportive stance towards Arab causes, particularly his commitment to strengthening relations with Kuwait in particular and the GCC in general.

The head of the Kuwaiti delegation, K JA chairman Ahmad Behbehani, stressed the importance of the delegation’s visit, saying that it provides an opportunity to meet with Jordanian officials in order to further strengthen the ties of brotherly cooperation between the two countries and peoples. As well as the KJA chief, the Kuwaiti delegation also includes the Editor-in-Chief of the Kuwait Times Abd Al-Rahman Alyan and the Editorsin-Chief of the Kuwait News Agency and Al-Anba daily, Rashid AlRuwaished and Yousef Khalid respectively. The delegation arrived here on Tuesday and has held a series of meetings with senior officials. — KUNA

‘Ban on visas for Yemenis’ KUWAIT: Immigration authorities in Kuwait have suspended all visa transactions for Yemeni nationals until further notice, according to a recent report quoting a immigration department insider.

Speaking on condition of anonymity since no official statement is yet forthcoming from the Ministry of Interior on the issue, the insider said that the Migration General Department has suspended all transactions for Yemeni nationals due to the current unstable conditions in their homeland. The official added that similar restrictions apply to Syrian, Iraqi, Pakistani, Iranian and Afghani nationals for the same reason.

The new regulations mean that Kuwaiti nationals will be unable to obtain visitor visas, work permits or even dependents’ visas for family members. “Nationals of countries with troubled domestic situations usually tend to assist family members to come to Kuwait, either because they’re waited by authorities in their home countries or due to fear of oppression,” said the insider, explaining the reasoning behind the new ban. “Kuwaiti authorities try to protect Kuwait from becoming the destination of Arab expatriates fleeing unrest in their own countries.” — Al-Qabas

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KUWAIT: (Left) The Grand Mosque in the night. (Center) The Western Diwaniya inside the Grand Mosque. (Right) Mohammed Al-Meteb.— Photos by Ben Garcia

Grand Mosque ready to welcome worshippers

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The Grand Mosque [Masjid Al-Kabir] is ready for the holy month of Ramadan, a Grand Mosque official said. Speaking with the Kuwait Times yesterday at his office, Mohammed Al-Meteb, Head of Western Perception of Islam Center at the Grand Mosque, said that Kuwait’s biggest mosque is now fully prepared to receive worshippers from day one till the last ten days of fasting.

“Everything is prepared for a large number of worshippers that are expected to visit the mosque during Ramadan,” said Al-Meteb. “We have already erected several tents that will be used for Futoor, tents that will be used by children, tents that will be set aside for senior citizens and people who are wheelchair-bound.

Extension prayer rooms for men and women are ready,” he disclosed. “We are mobilizing more than 1,000 volunteers [students, boyscouts] to help us accommodate an expected crowd,” Al-Meteb added.

In his words, the mosque also prepares between 500 and 750 Futoor meals daily to accommodate workers from local and expatriate communities who will break their fast in the Grand Mosque. “We are also preparing Suhoor meals although lesser [in number] when compared with Futoor because we knew people prefer staying at home or visiting their nearest mosque instead of attending the Grand Mosque because of the heat,” he said.

Al-Meteb noted that many businessmen in Kuwait have donated, shared foods and other supplies.

Tents and safety Companies and several affluent people have donated tents for Ramadan. During this year’s Ramadan, according to Al-Meteb there will be less number of attendees when compared to last year because Ramadan falls in summer. “I think Ramadan will fall in the summer in the next nine years to come,” he noted.

With regard to the security and safety of worshippers, Al-Meteb said there has been no reported crimes committed in the mosque’s vicinity specifically during the holy month of Ramadan since the Grand Mosque’s opening in 1980’s. “Besides, we know how the Ministry of Interior has been protecting worshippers.

They are always ready and have a mobile station that will be posted in the area. They man traffic, and direct the influx of people. They are also in-charge of directing motorists to the right parking areas,” he asserted. The Ministry of Health will also provide ambulances, doctors and nurses to immediately attend anything that may arise. “People who may faint because of a heat stroke and several health related issues will be attended to immediately because health personnel can help us,” AlMeteb added.

The Kuwait Red Crescent Society is taking part to provide necessary assistance to the

MoI to enforce Ramadan regulations

Col Emad Al-Mulla

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has released a press statement enforcing law number 44/1968, which penalizes eating and drinking in public during the day in the holy month of Ramadan. Penalties of a maximum one month in jail and/or KD 1,000 fine will be levied on offenders.

“Public consumption of food and drink during the day hurts the religious sentiments of Muslims during the holy month,” said Col Emad Al-Mulla, Acting Director of Public Relations and Moral Guidance Department.

The same law also allows security officers to revoke the licenses of restaurants or shops that serve food or drinks before sunset for two months. Al-Mulla urges citizens and residents to “respect the sanctity of the holy month and Islamic traditions,” by refraining from public consumption during the day.

Crescent watch on Saturday in anticipation of Ramadan KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Crescent Sighting Authority is to convene at 7:30 pm on Saturday, July 30, to watch for the crescent of the new lunar month of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer.

A statement issued yesterday by the authority, which comes under the control of Ministry of Justice, said that the authority incorporates Deputy Premier and Minister of Justice and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi, Justice Undersecretary Abdulaziz Al-Majid, and assistant undersecretaries at the ministry. The group’s co-director is the head of

the Court of Appeals Chief Justice Rashed Al-Sharrah, whilst other members include the Deputy Chairman of the Court of Cassations Chief Justice Yousef Al-Mutawa, and Court of Cassations Deputy Chairman Chief Justice Ishaq Al-Kandari.

The statement said that the ministry encourages anyone who sights the crescent to come forward and give official testimony to this effect before the authority.

The ministry also used the occasion to extend its best wishes to the Kuwaiti leadership and people on the advent of the holy month. — KUNA

LTTC advises public to register for Eid sheep KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Livestock Transportation and Trading Co. (LTTC) announced yesterday that a shipment of over 84,000 Australian sheep is on its way to the country to augment the existing stocks in time for Ramadan and meet the annual surge in demand.

LTTC advised those wishing to obtain a sheep in time for the Eid festival at the end of Ramadan, when the creatures are traditionally slaughtered to provide food for the event,

to put their names down at the company headquarters as soon as possible in order to ensure that they can obtain one of the animals. A large number of people lined up at the LTTC’s headquarters from the early morning yesterday in order to ensure that they would receive one of the creatures in time for the major festival, said a statement from the company, adding that it should take around two weeks.

Flow of Kuwaiti tourists to Abu Dhabi ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has this year recorded the highest-ever number of Kuwaiti tourists staying at hotels in the emirate, with 7,506 Kuwaitis booking into hotels there between January and last month.

In a statement issued yesterday, the ADTA said that the increase was 19 percent higher than the number of Kuwaiti tourists seen there for the same period in 2010.

The increasing number of Kuwaiti holidaymakers visiting Abu Dhabi means that Kuwaitis are now amongst the 20 top visitor nationalities, with Kuwaiti guests registering a

total of 20,114 nights at Abu Dhabi hotels in the first half of 2011.

The latest figures from the emirate’s hotels show the best half-yearly results to date, with a significant increase in all the basic indicators of hotel performance, including visitor numbers, hotel occupancy rates, income and length of stay, the ADTA added. Guests from the UK maintained their position as the most populous group of holidaymakers heading for Abu Dhabi, with 72,998 guests from Britain staying at the emirate’s hotels in the first six months of 2011, a 20 percent increase on the same period last year.

Grand Mosque, “KRCS is part of our preparations every year and they have a mobile unit stationed within the compound during Ramadan. They have played a significant role in the Grand Mosque’s success during the past Ramadan and the coming Ramadan,” he said.

The Grand Mosque will also provide maps to direct people to the right path. A list of imams/people who will be reading the Holy Quran will be posted.

Business as usual There are no changes made to the regular schedule of tours in the Grand Mosque during Ramadan. “Tours will continue daily, but of course depending on our timing.” As for the safety and security of children who will be accompanying their parents to the Grand Mosque, staff members have arranged a plan.

Two tents have been set-up to accommodate children. “We separated boys and girls. In the tent, they can play, read books and will be guarded accordingly,” he said.

As for the comforts and safety of tents, AlMeteb said, that safety of tents are certified by the Kuwait’s Baladia. “Also, our tents are all airconditioned they are fire-proofed and had several fire extinguishers inside. It has wide entrance and exit so as to allow the smooth flow of people,” he said.

For newly converts, Al-Meteb noted that they will be guided accordingly, “For westerners, we have a diwaniya or coffee shop inside.

We have erected a mini-tent to demonstrate Kuwaiti culture; we also have stocked upon several English and other religious books that can be read inside. Female western women will be asked to wear abayas inside the tent and the mosque. Disabled people will be assisted properly, and will have their own exit

and entry points as well. “In the mosque, there are three British Muslim women that can provide assistance. For men, we have an expat from Kosovo who speaks seven languages; an Englishman and a Yemeni will help them,” he added. The Grand Mosque was toured by about 5,800 Western tourists in 2010.

Historical background of the Grand Mosque The Grand Mosque is the largest mosque in Kuwait, located along Arabian Gulf Road opposite Seif Palace. Its area spans 45,000 square meters, out of which the building itself covers 20,000 square meters. The remaining area consists of gardens with a variety of flowers, plants, palm trees, fountains and waterfalls. Towards the east, a vast courtyard has been built spanning a total area of 6,500 square meters. The main Prayer Hall is 72 meters wide on both sides, has 21 teakwood doors and lighting is provided by 144 windows. The Dome of the Grand Mosque is 26 meters in diameter, 43 meters high and is decorated with ‘Isma AlHosna,’ the 99 attributes of God [Allah].

The Grand Mosque can accommodate up to 10,000 men in the main prayer hall

and it has a separate daily prayer hall for men also. A ladies’ prayer chamber is located on a level above, which can host upto 950 female worshippers. There are staircases and an elevator for easy access. I ts entrance gate is located toward the southern wall.

During Ramadan, annually, 180,000 men, women and children from Kuwait and all across the globe, attend the Grand Mosque to pray to God (Allah) at the same time during the Last Ten Nights. People pray, awaiting what is called The Night of Power - Laylat Al-Qadr. The Grand Mosque contains a 350 square meter librar y of Islamic reference books and documents.

Construction on the Grand Mosque started in 1979 and was completed in 1986.

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LOCAL Local Spotlight

kuwait digest

Let our economy thrive! he Ministry of Finance has demanded solutions to ‘structural flaws’ present in the national economy. Meanwhile, the Central Bank expressed its reservations on the ”unprecedented growth” of the state’s budget. The Supreme Council of Planning and Development warns that achieving a balance in the budget is “extremely difficult.”

With these facts in front of us, we have to ask ourselves the main reason that created flawed Kuwaiti economy. What (or who) will allow for these flaws to persist? Who is responsible for policies that result in a growing inflation, flaws in the labor market, regression in capital spending, and obstacles that stop the economy from developing?

It is the short-sighted vision that is based on fulfilling demands of today, we disregard what is necessary for tomorrow. It is the inability to come up with ways to ensure the most basic requirements for the economy to improve. It is the process of submitting economy to politics, which is the obstacle that always hinders any ambitious growth.

In short, the government suffers from a lack of vision, lack of planning, corruption, hesitation, shortsightedness, overspending, lack of accountability and yielding to public demands that ignores the welfare of future generations.

Many experts, officials, and even international studies have warned about the risk of our economy’s flaws, since oil prices began declining in price in 2003. Some of the problems include: - Income increased by an average of 2.8 percent during the period between 2001 and 2011; which saw spending rates quadruple due to inflation in public sector salaries.

- The salaries in public sector has been increased by 250 percent during the past decade, with an average of 9 percent a year, according to official statistics received from the Ministry of Finance, which also speculates that the salaries will double during the next ten years even if no new allowances or pay raises are enforced during that period.

- Kuwait’s budget depends primarily on revenues obtained from oil sale. Oil exports comprise 93 percent of the total average Kuwaiti exports.

They provide at least 70 percent of the state’s revenues. This places the state’s budget at serious risk should oil no longer become a top source of energy.

- The private sector’s contributions to the local product does not exceed 25 percent, which is little when compared to other developing countries.

And while the government is to blame for the aforementioned points, the Parliament also shares some of the blame through certain practices such as: - Recurrent demands of salary increases and allowances in the public sector without a parallel increase in levels of productivity and accountability.

- Making efforts to enforce such regulations by dropping citizens’ loans or increasing expenses of the state’s overseas treatment program.

- Passing regulations that place extreme, noneconomically-friendly conditions, such is the case with the private sector labor law, privatization law and the Build-Operate-Transfer law.

- Placing many reform-achieving economic laws on hold, in favor of ongoing political strife.

- Usual skepticism in the state’s projects that eventually lead many major projects to be startled, similar to the Fourth Refinery Project, the Dow Chemical etc.

All these facts prove that Kuwait’s economy is indeed suffering from serious structural flaws, and is going downhill unless radical solutions can be presented. Our politics need to be transformed to serve economy, development and the future. We need to learn how to plan so as to supply demands for a bright future— Al-Qabas

Is wasta in Kuwait more powerful than professionalism?

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By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net oes wasta wield more power over professionalism?

This question was posed to me a couple of times by job seekers, many who failed to secure employment owing to the widespread practice of wasta in Kuwait. In fact, I could never give a proper answer.

It is really hard to judge and give a concrete answer not only because you would not know the fate and future.

However, the country’s employment procedures and processes are really very dull. When it comes to whether a man can get a job depending on wasta or not, and if, the said company does really employ such methods in its terms and methods of hiring employees! It is a risky and scary method.

I’m not sure anyone would like to work for someone who is infinitely more powerful than them. This could be used as a weapon for both the employee and his boss - the first can use this in favor of his work. But in case a fight takes place, wasta can be used against the company and employer. On the other side, qualifications, experience and abilities are not any less relevant than the skills needed to make any small job flourish and succeed. This is where hard work comes into place. So, I think that merely exerting wasta is not enough, no matter what!

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Staying in and doing good

By May Al-Sharaa very school pupil waits for the summer vacation anxiously because this is the time to relax from school and its routine. The summer vacation is different for everyone. Some people want to travel and others want to stay in Kuwait either to work or just to relax and enjoy getting a suntan on any of the numerous beaches. I personally made the choice to stay in the country because I can do lots of things here. I will go to the mall with my friends, visit some spa resorts and many other places just to have fun and relax.

Classmates of mine who just graduated have made a similar choice. Coming out fresh from high school we have embarked on a new project: setting out to find a job. We have decided to stay in the country, get jobs and start making money all the while we gain experience from the work. Suddenly, the carefree summer looked like a distant unfamiliar friend to me.

Instead, I wanted to learn a craft and get new skills.

Internet, chats, malls and watching TV are at the top of most people’s schedule in the summer.

Maybe those who cannot find anything to occupy

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their time will choose to spend the summer vacation working on themselves and improving themselves.

One group of friends got involved with various projects, such as voluntary work. In that way they’ve turned a hobby into a cause, as well as doing good for society.

Those who choose to travel discover new places and cultures - this, in my opinion, is also a great thing to do.

We could look at what the summer was like in the past. In Kuwait people had many different skills in the past, making their own games and toys and spending quality time together. But now every year you find a new technology to replace these games and toys. This has led to traditions fading away.

This summer will be great because Ramadan falls during the summer vacation. We will gather with our families more than we do during the rest of the year.

All in all, my summer will be fascinating. I will have fun this summer vacation and I will try my best to enjoy the summer in order to start my new year fresh and relaxed.

kuwait digest

Supporting an evil regime

By Abdulaziz Al-Fadhli ccording to an old tale, Khosrau, a leader of Ancient Persia, once hired a tutor to teach his son good principles and morals. One day, the tutor beat the young boy for no apparent reason, leaving the child with bitter feelings towards the teacher as he grew up.

When, as a young man, Khosrau’s son succeeded his deceased father in ruling Persia, he summoned the tutor and confronted him about the beating he had administered years before. At that point, the tutor said that, knowing that his young pupil would succeed his father as ruler one day, he wished to ensure that the young king-in-waiting knew what it felt like to be subjected to injustice so that he wouldn’t treat

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anyone unjustly when he became king.

I have used this tale to illustrate a point before going back more than 20 years to when I first used it during my first ‘khutba’ (religious sermon) following Kuwait’s liberation from the Iraqi invasion in 1991. That sermon concerned the injustice Kuwaitis experienced during the preceding traumatic period of invasion and occupation.

Today, our brethren in Syria are being subjected to all kinds of terror and oppression, committed by a Baath regime that is not very different to the Iraqi Baath Party which invaded Kuwait. It is therefore understandable when Kuwaitis, who know how it feels to be sub-

jected to injustice by a criminal regime, sympathize with the people of Syria against their own oppression. We felt great appreciation of those countries that supported our cause when our country was invaded, and had completely opposite feelings towards countries that stood in support of the invader. If rumors which claim that the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) gave financial support to the Syrian government turn out to be true, isn’t the Kuwaiti government worried that the Syrian people will feel similar animosity towards Kuwait to that which we felt for countries which supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion? — Al-Rai

‘There are two kinds of wasta: The good and the bad. The one that helps the poor or people under bad condition like disease.

This helps those who are unable to reach a doctor or get the right medication. This is what I would call good wasta. However, when you help rob someone’s rights then nothing good can come out of it. This, I call bad wasta.

Now, I have seen some local companies hire people owing to familial connections and good looks. One can reason out by saying that they can do whatever they wish as they own the particular establishment. If they want to hire a woman, for example, who happens to look very pretty, this is her biggest wasta. Wasta is not necessarily a powerful relative. Even physical attractiveness can attract customers, say, in the sales department. This is an attitude that I do not agree with but it does exist.

Does that make wasta more powerful here? In the government field, I guess the answer is, yes. However, in the private sector, I doubt that it actually happens. Why do some private companies hire people belonging only to a certain nationality?

I also think there are two kinds of wasta here: The good and the bad. The one that helps the poor or people under bad condition like disease. This helps those who are unable to reach a doctor or get the right medication. This is what I would call good wasta. However, when you help rob someone’s rights then nothing good can come out of it. Wasta is meant to help. If help came from a powerful relative and it is for a good cause, that would be great. However, who decides that? You, me? Maybe this perception about wasta that we have in our minds is not true. So, when someone fails to get a job which he dreams or wishes he or she tends to use this element to justify the reason before others. Is wasta what many use to justify their failures?

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

in my view kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Time to fulfill our duties

Crossing the fine line of insanity

By Ahmad Jabr

By Sheikha Al-Jiran e do not feel good when we hear about our history. We take a deep breath and sigh. We recount what we had and now, are afraid of fulfilling any obligations we must have had. In short.

People around us are revolting, and time stands witness to our gradual regress. Parliaments are symbolic of an absent conscience, thoroughly encouraged by the media.

During many instances, when one reads novels about the formerly colonized countries that fought a military invasion, I am reminded about migration, isolation or exile from one’s homeland. This is not related to anything to which our history has been warning us about. History does not lie or ask us to appease anyone when it teaches us about solidarity, strength, understanding and communication that accounts for an Islamic political address - away from noisy quarrels and destructive demands.

We need personalities that respect accountability and rationale, to prove that there are people who fear Allah on earth and that there are living beings that accept trust and work hard toward preserving it.

We admit, before anything else, that we need to rebuild our thoughts to clean people’s thoughts. This cannot be achieved unless our hearts are clean, and a firm belief that Allah disciplines us.

The summary is that there will be no solution without trust, and its source should be realistic and wise.

It takes the ruler to decide what is sublime in the form of presentation and content. So, dear members of Parliament, fulfill your duties! — Al-Anbaa

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Torn between two worlds

ndres Behring Breivik’s attorney, (Breivik is the man behind Norway’s most devastating massacre since World War II), said on Tuesday that the killer suffered from mental instability. News reports quote Geir Lippestat as saying that his client believed his attack would “launch a necessary revolution,” which - according to the attorney - tantamount to a psychological horror.

Breivik was quoted in reports a day before as saying that he was part of a campaign to “save” Europe from Muslim invasion, and that his attack was part of a campaign to prevent it. Reportedly, Breivik will plead guilty to mass murder, but not terror charges. His attorney confirmed that there is a possibility that he would plead insanity.

In the wake of the bombing-shooting attack that was motivated by the killer’s fundamentalist view of the Christian faith, many comparing it to terror attacks committed by Muslim extremists in the recent. There are many similarities between the attack in Norway, and major attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda, for example. The way in which Breivik planned the attack for years to ensure maximum potency, as well as the belief that it is necessary to fight a religious belief that threatens the presence of his own in his religion. These aspects bear a striking resemblance to the mindset of Al-Qaeda’s signature attacks. According to reports, Breivik told his lawyer he was “surprised and satisfied” with the number of people he had killed. Likewise, Osama bin Laden used to describe heavy casualty as a victory to his cause. Breivik’s attorney also told reporters following Tuesday’s hearing that his client

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felt compelled to commit the crime with the aim of fanning a revolution in the Western world. This is almost identical to the excuses provided by Al-Qaeda to justify mass murders. “He views himself as a warrior.

He starts this war and takes some kind of pride in it” you might assume that this is taken from a script that originally describes Osama bin Laden. They are words used by Breivik’s attorney on Tuesday to describe his client. Though I see how Breivik can be described as an insane individual for the atrocious act he committed, I believe you have to be a little more than just that to commit a complicated, well-planned and almost perfectly executed crime.

Chances are that an insane man would have grabbed his weapon and began shooting people randomly, targeting a certain group in a manner that is more spontaneous. Planning a very detailed 1500+ manifesto of a criminal master plan and proceeding with a complex execution process. These are acts committed by a criminal mastermind.

There is an old saying that genius and insanity are separated by a thin line. When Al-Qaeda waged a war against the civilized world, the world retaliated by uniting to rid itself from the venom that bin Laden and his accomplices spewed. I am hoping that Breivik is similarly held accountable. To simply say that the mass murder committed at Utoeya island were spurred by bouts of insanity, is - if anything - utterly disrespectful to the 68 reported teenagers who were killed. There exists a fine line between insanity and pure evil. Breivik is not insane, he - like Osama bin Laden before him - is purely evil.

By Lama Al-Haqhaq e’ve all seen shows and movies about people who lead double lives. Take the popular children’s show Hannah Montana for instance. I happen to lead a double life myself. Granted, it’s not as glamorous as secretly being a pop princess, but it’s a double life nonetheless. I love the fact that I get to live between two different cultures: my university life in Lebanon and my life in Kuwait. I get to experience two completely different worlds, and it’s almost as if the two worlds complete each other. Each life gives me what the other lacks.

My life in Lebanon is filled with the hectic work that comes with university, incredible times with friends, and the fastpaced lifestyle of Beirut. It’s great, of course. I’m not complaining, but a lot of times I find myself missing my family so much that I want to get on the next plane home. My life in Kuwait is more comfortable, family-oriented, and moves in a steady pace. It’s the perfect time for me to sit back, relax and get my head straight. That is, until I start missing my friends and the hustle and bustle that comes with life in Lebanon.

At times, it becomes a culture shock for me when I return to either life after being away for too long. It takes a few days for me to settle down and become accustomed to a world that I am meant to be a part of. It’s not as bad as it sounds though, it’s like visiting a new place every six months and learning how things work there.

Other than the fact that I terribly miss the people in either country, I feel that this variety of worlds is the perfect way to balance out my life. Being able to live in and experience two different societies has helped me put together the pieces of the puzzle that ultimately make me the person that I am. I was able to take the fun and free-spirited nature I found in Lebanon and incorporate it with the values I was taught in Kuwait. I believe that every new experience I am faced with, big or small, can add something positive to my character. Life is a lot bigger than what we are born into, and if I’m ever given the chance to live in yet another new life, I would definitely jump at it.

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LOCAL

Al-Noumas announces $500,000 aid package for Somali people Praise for Amir’s positive gesture KUWAIT: Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammed AlNoumas yesterday announced that the ministry’s Endowment General Secretariat is to provide $500,000 worth of emergency humanitarian aid to the drought and famine-stricken people of Somalia. Al-Noumas, who is also the Minister of State for Housing Affairs, told reporters that the aid will be provided to the Somali people through the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) to support its efforts to provide emergency relief to those affected by the devastating humanitarian disaster there and to contribute to alleviating their suffering.

The minister explained that the decision followed the example set by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-

Sabah’s initiative in immediately donating towards the appeal for aid to the stricken country.

HH the Amir immediately recognized the immense magnitude of the disaster affecting the Somali people and the need to provide urgent relief to the needy and displaced, Al-Noumas added. The senior government official said that the disaster has seen a sharp rise in the number of deaths among Somali refugees in Ethiopia, particularly children, due to the health problems caused by malnutrition, adding that the aid provided by Kuwait to the Somali people confirms Kuwait’s previous and continuing status as a pioneer in providing humanitarian assistance to the afflicted. Al-Noumas expressed his immense gratitude to and appreciation of HH the Amir for

his generous initiative towards the Somali people, saying that this shows the ruler’s tremendous humanity.

The minister also thanked the various Kuwaiti agencies and individuals for their generous contributions in extending a helping hand to the people of Somalia to overcome their painful ordeal.

Meanwhile, Arab Parliament Speaker Ali Al-Deqbasi of Kuwait hailed Tuesday the tireless efforts made by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) to reduce the devastating effects of disasters in many countries around the world.

In a press statement following his meeting with KRCS Chairman Barjas Hamoud Al-Barjas, AlDeqbasi said the KRCS has become an active and leading organization in the field of inter-

national humanitarian work.

During the meeting, AlDeqbasi conveyed to KRCS Chairman, the acknowledgement of Arab Parliament to the organization’s contribution to alleviate the sufferings of affected people in disaster-hit countries.

The meeting also tackled the current humanitarian situation in some Arab countries and proposed means to increase panorganization in relief work. On his part, Barges welcomed AlDeqbasi’s visit to KRCS. “This is a real and strong support to KRCS and its humanitarian efforts,” he said.

Al-Barjas expressed his organization’s readiness for cooperation and coordination with the Arab Parliament for better future for humanitarian and relief work in Arab countries. — KUNA

Lebanese businessmen laud Kuwait’s contributions KUWAIT: Maj Gen Dulaihi Al-Hajri, General Director of Jahra Security Directorate, honored a number of security officers for their efforts to maintain order in schools when examinations were being conducted in full swing last month. Many high ranking security officers graced the occasion.

Students hopeful of KU-ministry meeting results KUWAIT: More than 11,000 high school graduates have applied to enroll into the Kuwait University, according to the latest official statistics obtained. While the KU administration has not received orders on raising the 8,000 limit, thousands of students are anxiously waiting for the results of a meeting to be held today between the KU administration and Ahmad AlMulaifi, Minister of Education.

Meanwhile, Assistant Dean of KU’s Admission and Registration Department Dr Subaih Al-Mukhaizem stated that the

KU will strictly follow the gender segregation policy unless instructed otherwise.

He also argued that no studies have been conducted which explicitly state that allowing co-education leads to the creation of extra seats in the state’s only public university. The department announced that atleast 1,431 students have been admitted to the university as of Tuesday. On a separate note, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training(PAAET) announced that 13,255 applications were received on Tuesday.

HAMMANA, Lebanon: A number of prominent Lebanese businessmen and other figures yesterday lauded Kuwait’s countless contributions to Lebanon, expressing their immense gratitude to the leadership of Kuwait, especially to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Haitham Abu Al-Hassan, one of the Lebanese businessmen who spoke to KUNA at a business gathering currently taking place in Hammana, said that the deeprooted Kuwaiti-Lebanese relations are “exceptional” on many levels.

Al-Hassan added that Kuwaiti investments in Lebanon, especially in the fields of real estate and banking, are considered a “cornerstone” amongst Arab investments.

In conclusion, Abu Al-Hassan hailed the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) for promoting essential services in some of the main Lebanese tourist areas such as Hammana, Al-Shabaniya, Bhamdoun and Al-Qala, which he said have helped to advance the economic and social cycle in the country.

The gathering was also attended by several Lebanese military figures and KFAED representative Engineer Nawaf Al-Dabous, as well as businessmen from Lebanon Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar. — KUNA

Six hurt in road accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 37-year-old Indian man was rushed to Adan Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after suffering serious neck injuries in a car accident.

In a separate incident, a 27-yearold Indian man suffered a head injury and injuries to one hand after he was hit by a car in Sharq. He was rushed to the nearest hospital.

In a similar incident, a 59-year-old Indian man was admitted to Sabah Hospital after suffering fractures to his right thighbone when he was hit by a car on Canada Dry Street, Shuwaikh.

In a fourth case, a 53-year-old Egyptian man suffered fractured ribs in a car accident near Kabad. He was admitted to Farwaniya Hospital.

Meanwhile, two Kuwaiti men in their thirties were taken to Sabah Hospital after they complained of shoulder pain following a car accident near Saad Al-Abdullah College.

Street fights A 57-year-old citizen sustained a cut to his head in a fight that took place along Julaiah resort. He was admitted to Adan Hospital. In another case, a 40-year-old Indian national complained of severe abdominal and

genital pain after a fight that broke out at the headquarters of a company based in Sabhan. He was admitted to Adan Hospital.

Painful fall A 36-year-old Sri Lankan woman was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital after suffering neck and facial injuries, as well as an open fracture to her left thigh.

Smoke inhalation A 54-year-old Egyptian was taken to Farwaniya Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in an apartment in Khaitan.

Ouch A 34-year-old bedoon man suffered a broken nose after accidentally walking into the glass door of a closed restaurant. He was admitted to Adan Hospital.

Drunk citizen Police arrested a 44-year-old Kuwaiti man who was found in an inebriated state.

Drug death The body of a Kuwaiti man in his fifties was found at his home in

Khaitan surrounded by drug paraphernalia. The deceased had a record of arrests for drug-related incidents, but had been exonerated in all the cases. The body was removed for autopsy.

Abduction foiled Jahra police have arrested three young men who attempted to abduct a young Filipina woman with the intention of sexually assaulting her.

The screams of the victim during the abduction attempt in a Saad AlAbdullah street thankfully drew the attention of passersby and the three men fled empty-handed. One prudent passerby was able to note the license plate number of the would-be abductors’ car, which led to the three men being quickly arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, amongst other offences.

Ambulance clamped After over-zealous traffic police officers clamped an ambulance whose occupants were monitoring psychiatric patients released for the day to enjoy a picnic, the emergency department had to provide another ambulance to substitute for the clamped one.

Disposal of 80 tons of rotten food at landfill site KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality invited local media outlets to cover the disposal of 80 tons of bad food on Tuesday afternoon at the municipality’s landfill site near the Seventh Ring Road.

“We are here today to confirm that the rumors claiming that bad food items are leaked onto the black market following their seizure are not true”, the municipality’s managing director Ahmad Al-Subaih told reporters following the disposal of tons of meat and other food products that are either expired or rotten. AlSubaih expressed his willingness to provide documents proving that no municipality personnel have been involved in any illegal activities concerning reselling rotten or out-of-date food.

The site used by the municipality beside the Seventh Ring Road is used for the disposal of all confiscated foodstuffs, the municipality executive continued, adding that the collected foodstuffs are incinerated every Thursday. “The disposal process is carried out according to the laws and

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality officials in action near the Seventh Ring Road yesterday. —Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh regulations that the municipality follows,” he said, adding that legal action is taking against all suppliers or retailers found to be trading in rotten or out-of-date foodstuffs.

Regarding the delay in enforcing stricter penalties against traders found to be selling rotten food, Al-

Subaih said that although the Minister of Public Works and State Minister of Municipality Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar asked the Municipal Council to hold an extraordinary meeting in order to enforce new penalties, the council has declined to date to cut their summer break short in order to do so. — Al-Rai

HAMMANA, Lebanon: Lebanese and Kuwaiti businessmen pose for a group photograph during their meeting in Hammana yesterday.

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Casanova conman targets teenage girl in Sulaibiya Syrian tries to commit suicide KUWAIT: An Iranian national is facing multiple charges including theft and sexual assault to a minor, following his arrest in Sulaibiya. The suspect reportedly became romantically involved with a teenage girl after meeting her at a Farwaniya mall.

He was able to gain her trust with promises of marriage, to the point at which she agreed to sleep with him, as well as stealing her mother’s jewelry for him when he told her he was having financial troubles. The girl was reportedly confronted by her mother when she discovered the disappearance of the jewelry. At that time, the girl had been trying to contact her boyfriend for a week, but to no avail. She had no other choice but to tell her mother exactly what happened, after which the mother reported the case to officers at the Sulaibiya police station.

Detectives were able to apprehend the suspect at a house in the same area, and he was detained after the girl identified him in a police lineup. He confessed during questioning that he had already sold some of the jewelry he obtained, while the remaining items were still at his house. He is currently being held pending trial.

Work accident A construction worker sustained multiple injuries when he fell from a high platform at a building site in Al-Naseem. Emergency ser vices personnel were quick ly at the scene, with paramedics rushing the Asian worker, who suffered multiple fractures, to Jahra Hospital. An investigation has been launched to determine how the accident took place.

Suicide bid A 29-year-old Syrian woman was saved by her young daughters’ intervention after she took an overdose in an attempt to kill herself after her husband abandoned her and their children to return to their homeland. On discovering their mother writhing in pain, the woman’s quick-witted young daughters immediately called the emergency services hotline and paramedics were quickly at the scene, rushing her to hospital. After her condition had stabilized, the woman explained that her heartless husband had abandoned her and their children and gone to Syria, vowing never to return to Kuwait. A case has been opened at Nugra police station.

Road rage Police arrested a Kuwaiti motorist who attacked traffic police whilst they were detaining him for drug possession and driving whilst intoxicated. The officers pulled the man over after becoming suspicious of his erratic driving as he drove down a street in Sabah Al-Salem. As he was being apprehended, the man launched a vicious assault against the arresting officers, but was quickly restrained. The officers also found a quantity of heroin and hashish in his vehicle. He was referred to the relevant authorities.

KIA disturbance A middle-aged Kuwaiti woman was taken into custody after her behavior at Kuwait International Airport (KIA), where she was reportedly acting indecently, caused a disturbance. Police were quickly at the scene after receiving complaints that the scantily clad woman in her fifties was approaching strangers and making offensive gestures. On being questioned, she said that she had no plans to travel, but was spending her spare time at the airport.

Early investigations indicate that the woman may be suffering a psychiatric disorder.

Fugitive caught Police apprehended a bedoon (stateless) fugitive who was wanted in connection with 15 different offences during a routine operation in Shuwaikh industrial estate. The man was taken into custody and is facing multiple charges, including fraud, forgery and unlawful financial transactions.

Missing persons report A worried Kuwaiti grandfather reported his 27-year-old daughter and four-year-old granddaughter missing after they failed to return to the family home in Sabah Al-Salem.

Detectives suspect that a child of the same age who was apparently abandoned at a local beauty salon a few days ago could be the granddaughter and an investigation is underway to determine if this is the child and what has happened to the mother.

Road rage Police arrested a Kuwaiti motorist who attacked traffic police whilst they were detaining him for drug possession and driving whilst intoxicated. The officers pulled the man over after becoming suspicious of his erratic driving as he drove down a street in Sabah AlSalem. As he was being apprehended, the man launched a vicious assault against the arresting officers, but was quickly restrained.

The officers also found a quantity of heroin and hashish in his vehicle. He was referred to the relevant authorities.

Enterprising thieves Thieves dismantled an air conditioner unit outside a Kuwaiti man’s home apparently to get the jet ski which he had chained to it, ironically in a bid to deter thieves. The Khaldiya resident was shocked to discover that the thieves had taken both the jet ski and the air conditioner unit, immediately reporting the theft to local police.

—Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, Al-Watan

KSC diving team leaves Port Ghalib on Red Sea expedition KUWAIT: The Kuwait Scientific Centre’s Diving Team yesterday embarked on its eighth expedition exploring the waters of the Red Sea, setting off from Egypt’s Port Ghalib resort. The venue was chosen as a tribute to the Kuwaiti founder of the resort, the late Nasser Al-Khorafi.

Talal Al-Sarhan, the diving team captain, said in a press release issued to announce the expedition launch, that prior to his demise earlier this year Al-Khorafi had invited the divers to use Port Ghalib as the departure point for this year’s expedition. Al-Sarhan further explained that the 22 divers participating in the event are looking forward to discovering new marine sites and taking part in training programs to improve their skills.

The diving team head revealed that the vessel used for the expedition is a 120-foot safari boat, which is fully equipped with all the essentials required for the seven-day voyage.

Nasser Al-Khorafi

‘No rotten food reaches consumers’ KUWAIT: The Director General of Kuwait Municipality Ahmad AlSabeeh stressed yesterday that all retailers selling rotten foodstuffs or other foods unfit for human consumption are being pursued and any foods in these categories are confiscated and destroyed, rejecting claims that some of these foodstuffs have

been offered for sale in local shops.

Al-Sabeeh told KUNA that the municipality will ensure that the upcoming holy month of Ramadan will be “free of any spoilt food items.”

He continued, “Kuwait Municipality is serious about blocking the entry of any food unfit for human consumption through con-

ducting heavy monitoring and ongoing inspection campaigns.”

The senior official explained that all confiscated rotten food items are destroyed at the municipality’s landfill sites beside the Sixth Ring Road, with the work going on throughout the week, encouraging media outlets to attend the food incineration oper-

ations to help refute claims that the municipality is “not doing its job properly.”

He noted that strict procedures are followed in confiscating bad food, explaining that the Municipality, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Commerce work closely together in these operations. —KUNA

Kuwaiti youth with great potential, must be nurtured UNITED NATIONS: Kuwaiti youth have great potential and talent, and His Highness the Amir shows and encourages great care to realize that potential in all fields, a youth affairs official said yesterday.

Board Chairman of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS) Faisal Al-Jazzaf was talking after his participation in a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on youth issues on Monday and Tuesday, representing the Kuwaiti Amir, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Al-Jazzaf noted that the Amir Channels great care to young talents through programs of such institutions as the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and PAYS, and this applies at schools as well as at other venues. “As they represent over 60 percent of the Kuwaiti population, it is natural that youth should be greatly involved in all aspects of life and in political decision making, and they must be shown trust and given an opportunity.” Al-Jazzaf added that youth affairs took up due priority in the state’s development plan and budget. The areas for spending in this regard include programs related to the environment, countering drug use, awareness, national unity, and other social, cultural, and even recreational interests.

A current project to provide more care to youth is establishment of “Family Centers” across the country. The centers would organize sports, social, cultural, and recreational activities that would attract youth as well as parents with participation and guidance from the Ministry of Education, he explained.

PAYS, he noted, plays an important role in all gestures regarding youth in the country as it coordinates and interacts with international specialized bodies and attends conferences and events. It would also complete drafting a special program in cooperation with the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“Though Kuwait does not suffer from poverty, our youth are still affected by drug use, and we have a standing committee that addresses the issue. We also intend to invite international experts to give lectures and organize programs in cooperation with specialized Kuwaiti bodies.”

The official also remarked Kuwait is to host an important event under the supervision of Arab League in November, on youth affairs. Kuwait, he added, had presented a number of proposals regarding youth activities and care in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

UNITED NATIONS: Kuwait’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Mansour Al-Otaibi recently held a lunch banquet to welcome Faisal Al-Jazzaf, Chairman of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports. He is in Washington to attend a high-level UN General Assembly meeting on youth issues, representing His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

On utilization of modern means of communication and social networking portals by youth, Al-Jazzaf remarked that constructive use of such media is warranted. One must shun aggressive tone and attitudes that would foster divide.

Al-Jazzaf, who represented His Highness the Amir at the high-level meeting, met with Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sports Belkhayat, who addressed the Assembly on behalf of the Arab group, as agreed earlier in July.

Belkhayat had said that fulfilling the aspirations of youth in the Arab countries had always been the overriding concern of the national policies and the decisions taken at Arab summits.

Regardless of the magnitude of the national effort of each individual country, and of the degree of effectiveness of the espoused youth policies, he stressed, success remained contingent on concerted regional and international efforts to overcome the challenges facing youth.

That was the objective of the Arab Youth Observatory, recently established in Rabat, which would be a mechanism to predict future youth trends, he explained. He expressed hope that the observatory would help “erase” borders and create a new communication dynamic among the peoples of the Arab region, in the interest of economic integration and the mobilization of the capabilities of youth in guaranteeing development. At the end of its two-day High-Level meeting on Youth, the General Assembly adopted by consensus an outcome document in which senior government officials

called on member states, with the support of the United Nations, to take action to enable young people to overcome widespread unemployment and other problems and to ensure that they participated integrally in global efforts for peace and sustainable development.

The document enumerated a number of areas of action by member states, pledging “to fulfill our commitments to promote youth development, dialogue, and mutual understanding, paying due attention to the relevant internationally agreed development goals”.

It also called for measures to strengthen educational opportunity and to promote human rights knowledge among youth, as well as dialogue for mutual understanding. Member states were also urged to take measures to protect young people affected or exploited by terrorism and incitement.

Many participants spoke of the need to harness the energy of youth that had been witnessed in recent upheavals in Arab countries. Benin’s President, Boni Yayi, said the outcome document was “the crowning point for the International Year of Youth” which ends on International Youth Day celebrated annually on August 12.

He stressed that the energy exhibited in the revolutions in the Arab world made young people agents for change and an invaluable asset for development all over the world. “The twentyfirst century will be the century of human capital, embodied in young people,” he stressed. —KUNA

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Storm kills 25 in Philippines

Syrian forces kill 11 in ‘vengeance’

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UK recognizes Libya rebels, frees assets Deadline expires for Gaddafi to ‘step down, stay in Libya’ LONDON: Britain yesterday recognized the Libyan rebel movement as the country’s legitimate government and swiftly unblocked 91 million pounds in frozen assets. It also invited the opposition to replace diplomats of Muammar Gaddafi’s government in London, who have been expelled. The move was announced after a United Nations peace envoy left Libya having spoken to both sides but apparently failing to make a breakthrough in ending the fivemonth uprising against Gaddafi’s 41year rule. The United States and some 25 other nations have also recognized the Benghazi-based opposition, potentially freeing up billions of dollars in frozen funds. Russia, however, has criticized such moves, accusing nations of pursuing a “policy of isolation” and taking sides in a civil war.

Deadline expires A deadline for Libyan strongman Gaddafi to step down and stay in the country has expired, the chief of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) said yesterday, as the warring parties spar over ways to end the conflict. Meanwhile, Britain gave a major boost to the rebels by inviting them to take over the Libyan embassy in London, which drew a welcome response from the NTC. NTC chief Mustafa Mohamed Abdel Jalil told journalists in Benghazi the rebels had delivered to UN special envoy Abdul Ilah AlKhatib “a very specific, well-intentioned offer that Kadhafi can stay in Libya under three conditions. “We made a proposal. The deadline has

LONDON: Libyan opposition supporters chant anti-Gaddafi slogans as they stand outside Libya’s embassy in London, yesterday. The British government says it is expelling all remaining staff from the Libyan embassy in London, as it recognizes the country’s rebel National Transitional Council as the legitimate national government for Libya. The Foreign Office says the charge d’affaires was summoned yesterday morning and informed all eight remaining staff must leave the country. — AP passed. The proposal has expired,” he and he would be under “close super- added it is “disappointing and unexsaid of the month-old offer. Under vision,” Abdel Jalil said. “The period of plainable that the NTC has received a the offer, Gaddafi would have had to this proposal has passed,” he said. counter-proposal stating that the step aside and relinquish all responsi- “We cannot ignore the fact that the council, being the representative of bilities, his place of residence would people who have been standing the Libyan people, should share be the “choice of the Libyan people” against him want him out.” Abdel Jalil responsibilities of government of

Ban seeks Mideast cash to fight famine UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday called the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to urge them to make hefty donations to help fight famine spreading in east Africa. Ban called Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-

Thani to urge them to donate funds for the Horn of Africa, a UN statement said. He also called the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed AlNahayan, to ask him to respond to the UN appeal for emergency funds, it added. An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia - around a third of the country’s population - are on the

brink of starvation. Millions more in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been struck by the worst drought in the Horn of Africa region in 60 years. UN officials said on Monday that the UN has received about $1 billion since first launching an appeal for the region in Nov 2010 but needs $1 billion more by the end of the year to cope with the emergency. —AFP

Libya with the Gaddafi regime.”

On Tuesday, following visits to the rebel bastion Benghazi and the capital Tripoli, Khatib said Libya’s rivals “remain deeply divided on how to reach a political solution.” A statement quoted Khatib as saying both sides “remain far apart on reaching agreement on a political solution” but had reaffirmed to him “their desire to continue to engage with the UN in the search for a solution.”

Troops loyal to Gaddafi and rebels seeking to oust the strongman have fought their way into a stalemate five months after the start of a popular uprising that quickly turned into a civil war.

The Libyan leader is in control of much of the west and his Tripoli stronghold while the opposition holds the east from their bastion in Benghazi. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday that his country has expelled all remaining staff at the Libyan embassy and recognized the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya’s sole legitimate government, inviting it take over the embassy in London.

“The prime minister and I have decided that the United Kingdom recognizes and will deal with the National Transitional Council as the sole governmental authority in Libya,” Hague said. Britain is one of the lead nations in a Western alliance that has been carrying out an aerial campaign against Gaddafi’s regime since March. The NTC chairman hailed the British decision, saying “we express tremendous appreciation for this recognition. The council, Abdel

Jalil said, expects the United Kingdoms and Turkey to become the first countries to release some of Libya’s frozen assets, which “unfortunately have not been liquidated to date.” In that vein, Hague said Britain would also unlock £91 million ($149 million, 102 million euros) of Libyan oil assets frozen under a UN Security Council resolution so that the rebels could benefit from them. Abdel Jalil promised that the rebels would honor all of Libya’s international agreements made prior to February 17 and that it would comply with the wishes of the international community over the fate of Gaddafi, who is now a “wanted man.” “Gaddafi and his followers as a result of all these recognitions from the international community have become outlaws,” Abdel Jalil said.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Luis MorenoOcampo said in a statement in the Hague that Libya and any future government of the countr y has the “obligation” to arrest Gaddafi. On June 27, ICC judges issued arrest warrants for the embattled Libyan leader, his son Seif Al-Islam, and Libyan spy master Abdullah Al-Senussi for crimes against humanity allegedly committed since the uprising started against Gaddafi in mid-February.

Britain and France have indicated it was up to Libyans to decide whether Gaddafi stayed in the country, but it has been suggested he might stay on if he quits power, despite demands that he faces international justice for atrocities committed to put down the revolt. — Agencies

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US failing to help the wounded: Iran exiles BRUSSELS: An exiled Iranian opposition group criticized the United States yesterday for not doing enough to help victims of clashes at a dissident camp in Iraq. Camp Ashraf, some 65 km from Baghdad, is the base for the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, the PMOI, which mounted attacks on Iran before the US-led removal of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. The future

of the camp’s more than 3,000 residents is uncertain since the United States, which says the group is a terrorist organization, turned the camp over to the Iraqi government.

Baghdad plans to close it before the end of this year.

More than 30 people were killed in violence between residents and Iraqi security forces in April. Rights group Amnesty International says the resi-

dents are subject to harassment by the Iraqi government and are refused access to basic medicine. A Parisbased representative of PMOI said US forces should have done more to protect the camp.

“The US has provided very little help to the wounded people,” Mohammad Mohadessin told reporters in Brussels. “Of the total 345 wounded just seven were transferred

to the US army hospital near Camp Ashraf.”

Washington has proposed to move Camp Ashraf residents temporarily to a new location in Iraq but they rejected the plan, saying it would lead to a “massacre”.

They have called for UN protection with the help the United States and the European Union. In Brussels, Mohadessin said the United States

could easily provide help. “It is simple for the United States to allocate 30 or 20 soldiers,” he said. A former FBI head, present at the group’s news conference, said plans to settle camp residents in Iraq were not “rational”. “It would be like somebody ... suggesting that the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto relocate and disband as a religious organization. It is not practical, it is offensive.”— Reuters

Syrian forces kill 11 in ‘vengeance’ Troops storm Kanaker

TEL AVIV: Israelis write on a billboard set up by the Israeli Peace Initiative to offer suggestions to their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on how to move the peace process forward yesterday.— AFP

US military chief nominee warns Tehran over nuke WASHINGTON: The nominee to be the next chief of the US military on Tuesday warned Iran not to pursue nuclear weapons or sponsor attacks in Iraq, saying it would be making a “serious miscalculation.” At his confirmation hearing, General Martin Dempsey pledged to guide the world’s most powerful military through a new era of tighter budgets and challenges such as cyber war. He promised to carry out orders for a drawdown in Afghanistan and to keep up pressure on Pakistan to fight Islamic militants. But Dempsey, now the US Army’s chief of staff, saved some of his toughest criticism for Iran. In prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, he called the clerical regime a “destabilizing force.” “With its nuclear activities and its surrogate activities in southern Iraq, there is a high potential that Iran will make a serious miscalculation of US resolve,” said Dempsey, nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey said that Iran may be seeking a “Beirut-like moment” in Iraq-a reference to the devastating 1983 attack against US and French forces in the Lebanese capital claimed by Iranianlinked Islamic militants. Dempsey said Iran wanted to “send a message that they have expelled us from Iraq.” The United States plans to pull its remaining 47,000 troops from Iraq at the end of the year, ending a deeply polarizing military mission. “As long as we’ve got those soldiers there, we’re going to do whatever we have to do to protect them, and I want to make sure that’s clear to everyone,” Dempsey said during questioning.

Iran, which has had tense relations with the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution, has refused to halt uranium enrichment, which it contends is for civilian energy. The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions, with Western nations accusing Iran of building a nuclear bomb. Iran has repeatedly denied US accusations of arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is led by Shiite Muslim clerics, who share the faith of Iraq’s majority, which was suppressed under late dictator Saddam Hussein.

Dempsey, who led units in Iraq during

some of the war’s bloodiest years, admitted candidly during the hearing that he did not fully appreciate Islam’s ShiiteSunni divide before president George W. Bush ordered the invasion. “I didn’t understand the dynamic inside that country, particularly with regard to the various sects of Islam that fundamentally on occasion compete with each other,” Dempsey said. “When we took the lid off of that, I think we learned some things ... and I’m not sure we could have learned them any other way,” he said.

Dempsey, whose four-decade career has included teaching English to West Point cadets, would oversee the military as Obama begins the pullout of some 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer. Dempsey said he supported Obama’s decision. But grilled

by Senator John McCain, a Republican and staunch military advocate, Dempsey said of the pullout plan: “I think it did increase the risk, yes.”

Obama has tripled troop numbers in Afghanistan since taking office. But the war is increasingly unpopular with a public that questions the human and financial cost of the longest war in US history. The United States has stepped up its focus on neighboring Pakistan, launching drone attacks in border areas and killing Osama bin Laden in May. Dempsey voiced concern that Pakistan was more preoccupied with historic rival India than with Islamic extremists in its western region.

The United States is working to convince Pakistan that extremists are “as great a threat and probably a greater threat to them than any threat that India might pose,” Dempsey said. Dempsey acknowledged he had limited experience with China, whose defense spending has been rising sharply. He echoed outgoing military chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, who recently traveled to China and encouraged further exchanges. “We should welcome a strong, prosperous and successful China that plays a responsible role in world affairs,” Dempsey said in the prepared testimony. “However, a lack of transparency into the pace and scale of China’s military modernization raises concerns within the region,” he said.— AFP

DAMASCUS: Syrian forces pursued a deadly crackdown on antiregime dissent yesterday, killing 11 people in a “vengeance” raid near Damascus and arresting hundreds outside the capital, activists said. The latest violence came as some 200 Syrian youth activists opened a four-day meeting in Istanbul, to discuss ways of improving coordination among groups seeking to topple President Bashar Al-Assad. The dawn raid targeted Kanaker, a town of 250,000 people west of Damascus, Ammar Qorabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights said in Nicosia.

“The security forces entered homes at dawn yesterday and during the operation 11 people were shot dead and more than 250 arrested,” said Qorabi, providing AFP with the names of the victims. “A bulldozer and army tanks” backed the operations, while 11 vehicles were used to whisk away those arrested, namely people aged between 15 and 40, he said, adding that electricity, water and the Internet were cut. Qorabi said the raid was an “act of vengeance” because Kanaker residents had provided supplies to the southern town of Daraa, epicenter of more than four months of anti-regime protests.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in a statement emailed to AFP, said Daraa has been under curfew since Saturday and provided the names of eight people it said were killed in the crackdown in Kanaker. It said troops and security forces stormed Kanaker at dawn under the cover of heavy gunfire. “Residents of Kanaker threw stones at the tanks”, set tyres ablaze to block their approach and chanted Allah-oAkbar. According to the Observatory 18 tanks positioned themselves at the entrances of

ISTANBUL: Anti-Syrian regime activists from different countries meet in Istanbul yesterday. Syrian activists gathered in Istanbul to discuss current developments in their country. — AFP Kanaker but four of them which had come from the east had to withdraw under a barrage of stones from angry residents.

The Observatory also reported that security forces also raised yesterday the Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh, quoting witnesses at the scene. “Around 14 green trucks crammed with armed men and cars carrying others holding machine guns were seen on the main street” of Barzeh, following a dawn raid, it added.

The head of another rights advocacy group, Abdel Karim Rihawi, reported that around 300 people were arrested Monday and Tuesday in Sayyeda Zeinab, a district just south of Damascus, home to a revered Shiite shrine.

The shrine, a favorite among Shiite Muslim pilgrims, is dedicated to Zeinab, the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammed and

daughter of Imam Ali, the most revered figure of Shiite Muslims.

Rihawi, who heads the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights, said “Security forces continued yesterday to conduct arrests in Barzeh and in Zabadani,” just outside the capital. The Observatory said “several military vehicles” headed to Zabadani, which has been rocked by anti-regime protests and arrests in the past two days.

Meanwhile, a rights activists reporting from Aleppo said “hundreds of lawyers” staged a sit-in in Syria’s second city and economy hub yesterday chanting “freedom, freedom.” n Istanbul, Syrian youths from home and abroad got together to discuss strategy and how to bring about regime change. “The objective is basically to get the activists together, put together a strategy for coordination,” said Moaaz Al-

Sibaai, an organizer. Anti-regime activists will learn how to use technology to communicate safely and, if necessary, anonymously, particularly with protesters living in Syria, Sibaai said, as most of those attending came from outside Syria.

Imaddin Rashid, a leader of the Syrian protest movement, urged the young activists “to build a civil society that transcends ideological, religious and ethnic divides.”

At least 1,486 civilians have been killed in the crackdown on the uprising that star ted in midMarch while thousands have been arrested and thousands fled the country, human rights groups say. Some rights groups say at least 12,000 people have been detained since the antiregime protests erupted, but it is unclear how many are still being held and how many have been released.—AFP

Israel troops raid theatre, arrest 2 JENIN: Israeli troops raided the Freedom Theatre in the northern West Bank city of Jenin yesterday, arresting two employees, their colleagues said. The raid comes three months after the theatre’s director, Juliano Mer-Khamis, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in the city’s refugee camp. But there was no immediate indication that the operation was linked to the death of Mer-Khamis, an actor who described himself as Israeli-Palestinian and had lived in Jenin for seven years.

The Israeli military confirmed that it had arrested “wanted Palestinians” during an operation in Jenin, but declined to say who it had arrested or why. Jacob Gough, the theatre’s British general manager, named the arrested employees as Adnan Naghnaghiye, one of the managers, and Bilal Saadi, a member of the board of directors. “Around 3:00 am (0000 GMT), I got a call saying that the Israeli army was at the theatre, that they were throwing

rocks at the theatre,” he said. “They got the cement blocks that they use to build houses here, they were breaking them down and throwing them at the building.”

“They’ve damaged quite a lot of the outside of the theatre, quite a few windows were smashed,” he added. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on allegations that troops had thrown stones at the theatre, saying only “soldiers did not enter the theatre in Jenin.” Gough said he and Jonatan Stanczak, a Swedish co-founder of the Freedom Theatre, tried to drive to the theatre after they were informed of the raid but were stopped by troops who held them at gunpoint on the roadside with a Palestinian family.

“We tried talking to the Israeli army but whenever we tried to talk to them they just said ‘shut up, shut up... or we’ll kick you’,” he said. At the theatre, troops also briefly detained a staff night watchman and his broth-

er, he said. “He was made to lift up his shirt, drop his trousers, he was handcuffed along with his brother and then he was escorted to where we were.” The theatre was first established in 1987 by Mer-Khamis’s mother, Arna Mer, who wanted to create a space where the children of Jenin could escape the violence of the first intifada which had begun several months earlier. Fifteen years later, it was destroyed during the second intifada when Israeli troops launched a massive operation against gunmen in the refugee camp then a major militant stronghold. It was rebuilt in 2004 by her actor son Juliano, who was killed in April in the Jenin refugee camp when a gunman opened fire on his car as he was driving home with his infant son and the baby-sitter.

Palestinian police have yet to make any arrests in connection with Mer-Khamis’s death. A local man was briefly detained over the murder, but was released shortly afterwards.— AFP

EU tells Yemen to launch ‘credible’ transition plan BRUSSELS: Yemen must launch a “credible” transition plan and all sides in the political crisis should reject violence, the EU’s chief diplomat said yesterday after talks with the Yemeni foreign minister. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the government to work with all parties in Yemen to “immediately take forward” a political transition after six months of anti-government protests. “Individual and party differences must be set aside in favor of the broader interests of the Yemeni nation,” Ashton said after talks in Brussels on Tuesday with

Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi.

A plan by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to cede power within 30 days in return for immunity from prosecution, paving the way for elections, is still the key point of reference for transition, she said. “I asked the foreign minister to transmit this message to the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is currently recuperating from a deplorable attack on his palace compound,” Ashton said. “I have also made clear that the Yemeni people can no longer be subjected

to the current political, economic and humanitarian crisis afflicting Yemen, which also has serious regional and international implications,” she said. Saleh has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since early June for wounds sustained in a blast at his palace.

Protesters have demanded the veteran leader’s ouster since January. “I urge all sides in Yemen to reject violence and show restraint. By activating a credible plan for transition, the government could unlock the potential for significant international assistance to Yemen,” Ashton said.— AFP

SANAA: Yemenis sell souvenirs during an anti-government protest in Sanaa yesterday. — AFP

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Traumatised Norway tries to return to normality Oslo station evacuated, police say suitcase was harmless OSLO: Jittery Norwegians tried to restore some normality yesterday after mass killings by a far-right zealot traumatised the nation, but a security alert forced the evacuation of Oslo station, keeping nerves on edge. Norway’s domestic intelligence chief said she believed Anders Behring Breivik had acted alone in killing 76 people in a bomb attack and shooting spree, and contested an assertion by the killer’s lawyer that his client was probably insane.

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Elysee palace for a working lunch yesterday in Paris. —AFP

African land grabs threaten food security CHICAGO: Rich countries grabbing farmland in Africa to feed their growing populations can leave rural populations there without land or jobs and make the continent ’s hunger problem more severe, an environmental think tank said on Tuesday.

The trend is accelerating as wealthier countries in the Middle East and Asia, particularly China, seek new land to plant crops, lacking enough fer tile ground to meet their own food needs, Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institute said.

Worldwatch said its researchers interviewed more than 350 farmers’ groups, NGOs, government agencies and scientists over 17 months. The meetings, held in 25 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, addressed issues that hinder the efforts of African farmers to alleviate hunger and poverty.

“People are always saying that Africa needs to feed itself. It can’t do that if the Chinese and the Saudis are taking up the best land for production for food,” Danielle Nierenberg, director of Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet project, told Reuters.

The International Food Policy Research Institute reports that 15 million to 20 million hectares of land in sub-Saharan Africa have been purchased by foreign

investors between 2006 and mid-2009.

“There are millions more hectares that are being sold by governments that have not been documented,” Nierenberg added. In many cases, farmers whose families may have tilled the land for years are unaware the land-owned by the government or a community-shared plot-has been sold.

Investors say land deals help alleviate the world food crisis by tapping into a country’s “unused” agricultural potential and providing poor countries with money, infrastructure and other resources that improve food security. The International Institute for Economic Development, World Bank, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development have issued studies on the economic possibilities of international land deals.

“If all governments capably represented the interests of their citizens, these cash-for-cropland deals might improve prosperity and food security for both sides,” Robert Engelman, Worldwatch executive director, said in statement. “But that’s not often the case. It’s critical that international institutions monitor these arrangements and find ways to block those that are one-sided or benefit only the wealthy,” he said. —Reuters

Oslo’s central station was evacuated after a suspicious suitcase was found on a bus, and all train and bus services were halted. Police cars, fire trucks and ambulances ringed the station, but police said later the suitcase was harmless. “Nothing was found that was of interest to the police,” Chief Superintendent Tore Barstad told reporters, adding that the suitcase search had no known link with Friday’s attacks.

In another false alarm, police retracted a search alert for a man who identified with Breivik, saying in fact they wanted to detain a disturbed man with no link to the killer. A cabinet minister made a symbolic return to her office in Oslo’s government district where Breivik detonated a powerful home-made bomb that killed eight people on Friday.

The bomb blew a hole in Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s office. For now, he will work from the defence ministry in another area of Oslo and cabinet meetings will be held in a mediaeval fort near the waterfront. It is not clear whether the 17-storey prime ministry building will be rebuilt or torn down.

“I am glad to be back in my office...to be able to resume the more normal work functions,” Administration and Church Minister Rigmor Aaserud told reporters. Her office, in a government complex, was little damaged. In Stoltenberg’s building, which took the brunt of the car bomb blast, curtains flapped from a host of broken windows.

Stoltenberg has won high opinion poll ratings from voters for his handling of the crisis, with about 80 percent of Norwegians reckoning he has performed “extremely well”, according to a survey published in the daily Verdens Gang. The prime minister, who knew some of the victims, has caught the national mood, urging his compatriots in a voice often cracking with emotion to unite around democratic values.

Norwegians, unused to violence in a quiet country of 4.8 million, must now struggle with how to improve security without jeopardising the freedom and openness of their society.

Putin considering Kremlin return MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is close to a decision to bid for the presidency in an election next year because he has doubts about his protege, President Dmitry Medvedev, senior political sources say.

Putin ruled as president from 2000 to 2008 before handing over to Medvedev to comply with a constitutional ban on a third consecutive term.

He will be free to run in the March presidential election. Putin, 58, and Medvedev, 45, have repeatedly refused to say which of them will run but as Russia’s paramount leader, officials and diplomats say the decision is Putin’s.

“I think Putin is going to run, that he has already decided to,” said a highly placed source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the political situation. The source said Putin had been troubled by the perception that his protege, whom he has known for more than two decades, did not have sufficient support among the political and business elite or the electorate to ensure stability if he pushed ahead with plans for political reform.

“Putin has much more support from the people than Medvedev.

Medvedev has overestimated his weight inside the system,” he said.

Another highly placed source who declined to be identified said: “Putin wants to return, really wants to return.”

The source said an attempt by Medvedev to assert his authority in recent months had unsettled Putin, but the two leaders communicated well on a regular basis. A third source also said Putin was thinking of running and that if he became president he could appoint a reformist prime minister, an apparent attempt to dispel fears

that his return would usher in a period of stagnation two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Investors see few differences between the two leaders’ policies but many say privately that Medvedev would be more likely to carry out reforms than Putin. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, dismissed talk of any discord between them. “I do not quite understand where these rumours come from because the president and the prime minister communicate not only on formal issues, but informally too,” Timakova said.

A senior Kremlin source said it was up to the people, not the elite, who ruled Russia. “The discussion should be not about support within the elite but about who has more support from the people,” the Kremlin source said.

“Support from the elite is not always decisive for the country to move forward.”

Asked whether Putin was considering a return to the Kremlin, the prime minister’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said: “Vladimir Vladimirovich is working, working hard, rather than thinking about whether to run in the election.”

Most officials and foreign diplomats believe that, as the ultimate arbiter between the powerful clans that make up the Russian elite, Putin will have the final say on who will run in 2012. As Russia’s most popular politician and leader of the ruling party, Putin would be almost certain to win a newly extended six-year term if he decided to return to the presidency.

He could also then run again for another term from 2018 to 2024, a quarter of a century since he rose to power in late 1999. He would turn 72 on Oct. 7, 2024. The picture of Russia’s

“alpha-dog” ruler eyeing another Kremlin term corresponds to the assessment of US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle who cast Medvedev as playing “Robin to Putin’s Batman”, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.

“Russia’s bicephalous ruling format is not likely to be permanent based on Russian history and current tandem dynamics,” Beyrle wrote in February 2010 according to a copy of the cable on http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/02/10M OSCOW272.html Because of Medvedev’s weakness in relation to Putin, the Kremlin chief’s attempt to present himself as anything other than Putin’s loyal protege has puzzled investors and irked some of the officials who make up part of Putin’s court. In a host of choreographed public events, Medvedev has pitched himself as the right man for Russia, calling for opening up the tightly controlled political system crafted by Putin and even reportedly lobbying Russia’s powerful tycoons for support.

A Kremlin insider said it appeared that both Medvedev and Putin wanted to be president, but that the tandem had not shown itself to be an effective way to rule Russia. “Neither Medvedev nor Putin have shown that this construction is stable,” said the source, who added that talk of any discord was overblown and that Putin had shown his confidence in Medvedev by steering him into the Kremlin in 2008.

Asked about Medvedev, the source said: “He is not stupid but he is not a brilliant manager and I am not completely convinced he has enough steel... Putin does not plan to leave power anytime soon.” —Reuters

Aid groups battle to deliver aid to Somalia NAIROBI: Relief groups struggled to deliver emergency aid yesterday to hunger-stricken Somalia, where the World Food Programme was to airlift some 14 tonnes of food for victims of an extreme drought. Somalia is the worst affected country in the Horn of Africa by a prolonged drought that has put some 12 million people across the region in danger of starvation and spurred a global fund-raising campaign.

Nearly half of Somalia’s estimated 10 million people are in need of relief assistance, owing to the effects of relentless violence and the drought that prompted the UN to declare famine for the first time this century.

The WFP’s delivery, which had been delayed by bureaucratic hurdles in Kenya, is destined for the Somali capital Mogadishu, where tens of thousands have fled to in search of food.

“It is looking good. The clearance has been granted and the loading of the airplane continues,” said WFP spokesman David Orr. “We are hoping that it will take off later today.”

The airlift is to kick off a series of food deliveries that will also go to the Ethiopian town of Dolo on the border with Somalia and to the town of Wajir in northern Kenya, Orr said.

However, by yesterday afternoon, the first suplies were yet to be flown

to Mogadishu and it was unclear what has caused the delay. The WFP was forced to pull out from southern Somalia in early 2010 after they were banned by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels, who control large areas of the region.

A handful of relief groups were however spared the insurgents’ ban, but have been struggling to cope with the rising numbers of people in need of humanitarian aid. At the weekend, the International Red Cross said it had handed out 400 tonnes of food in drought-hit areas controlled by the hardline Shebab rebels, the first ICRC-led drops into such areas since 2009. —AFP

On Tuesday night police destroyed an explosives cache found at a farm rented by Breivik, some 160 km (100 miles) north of Oslo. They believe he made his bomb using fertiliser which he had bought under the cover that he was a farmer.

After the bombing, Breivik, 32, drove to an island hosting a youth camp of the ruling Labour Party and coolly shot dead 68 people, mostly youngsters, before surrendering to armed police.

sion. “So far we don’t have any evidence of the cells, neither in Norway or in Britain,” Janne Kristiansen, head of the PST security police, told the BBC. Breivik’s online manifesto referred to a secret meeting in London in 2002 to found a ‘Knights Templar’ group to drive Islam out of Europe.

“I would be surprised if this person was insane,” Kristiansen said. “I mean he’s calculating, he’s focused, he’s been going on with his plan for years, and

blown-out windows.

“Fixing the glass (windows) will take a week or two and the wood looks better painted,” said deputy store manager Aykan Bastas. “We will fix it up nicely, just like before.” Breivik, who was remanded in custody for eight weeks on Monday, has been charged under the terrorism act, which carries a maximum penalty of 21 years in jail, but the authorities are considering whether to charge him with crimes against humanity.

OSLO: Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and political party leaders speak during a press conference at his residence yesterday. —AFP Breivik’s lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said his client was probably a madman, but it was too early to say if the loner and computer game enthusiast would plead insanity at his trial. Breivik has confessed to his actions, but denied guilt, saying he was part of a network with two cells in Norway and more abroad that was fighting to save European “Christendom” from the spread of Islam and the danger of multi-culturalism.

But police believe Breivik probably acted alone in staging his assaults, which have united Norwegians in revul-

this is not what I have learnt a person who is insane will do.” Flowers left by Norwegians to show their grief for Breivik’s victims decked Oslo’s main thoroughfare, Karl Johans Gate. Police say about 200,000 people, a third of the city’s population, turned out for a commemorative rally on Monday.

Police reopened some streets around the blast site in Oslo and vendors gradually reopened for business.

Workers at a corner store about 150 metres (yards) away have painted the plywood boards put up in place of

“We are looking into it,” police attorney Christian Hatlo said when asked about possible crimes against humanity charges, which carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. In both cases, sentences can be extended if there is a risk of repeat offences, so Breivik could be behind bars for the rest of his life. His lawyer has said his client expects this. Hatlo said it was not clear if legislation to cover crimes against humanity was applicable in Breivik’s case. —Reuters

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Mexico: Multinationals undeterred by Ciudad Juarez violence CIUDAD JUAREZ: While local businesses have been devastated by high murder rates and criminal gangs in Mexico’s most deadly city of Ciudad Juarez, multinational industr y is booming. Many small shops lie empty on the desolate streets of the border city across from El Paso, Texas, while foreign manufacturers are setting up more plants known as “maquiladoras”, which import and assemble duty-free components for export.

Once a hive of activity, Rafael Garcia’s restaurant is now shuttered, another victim of a vicious shakedown campaign by local drug cartels.

Gang thugs were after their “cuota”, a monthly tax they charge to thousands of local businesses.

“The threats came every few days, every few weeks, until after about a year of holding on without being able to come to the restaurant, I decided to close,” Garcia told AFP. Violent killings have exploded in Ciudad Juarez since 2008, with more than 3,100 deaths attributed to drug violence last year alone.

As tougher border control measures make it harder to move drugs into the United States, organized crime networks are branching out into other revenue streams, including extortion. But crime bosses rarely target the area’s most profitable businesses-the factories set up by companies from the United States to Asia, drawn by close proximity to the US

market and Mexico’s low wages.

Nearly 10,000 new jobs were created just this year at factories by companies such as MFI International manufacturing. “The security situation in Mexico and Ciudad Juarez has not affected the maquiladora industry at this point,” director of operations Lawrence Wollschlager told AFP. Some companies have increased their security costs in northern border cities such as Ciudad Juarez but officials say maquiladoras are not threatened because they lack what gangs want most. “ The big corporations manage everything in checks and international transfers, they don’t work with cash,” said Juan Benavente, deputy

secretary of the economy for northern Chihuahua state.

“Here the local businesses manage ever ything in cash, depositing in banks here in the city, so they’re more vulnerable,” Benavente added.

The factory workers enjoy some social benefits from the foreign companies but are also vulnerable to the city’s violence-last October gunmen fired on a bus carrying maquiladora workers near Ciudad Juarez, killing four people.

Some 390 maquiladoras employing almost 180,000 people operate in the city of 1.3 million, according to city authorities. Some have gained from plant closures in the United States, and Mexico picked up faster than its

close business partner to the north after the economic crisis, with its economy expanding 5.5 percent last year.

Foreign direct investment in Ciudad Juarez reached 1.4 million dollars last year, compared with one million in 2009, according to city authorities. But Benavente admitted the government still has much work to do to improve the situation for local businesses. They created a small “green zone” guarded by federal police a couple of months ago in an attempt to keep extortionists at bay.

But until real progress is made, people like Rafael continue to suffer, forced to choose between payoffs or closing their doors. — AFP

American lobbying for Pakistan to be released Defendant must stay at home, travel restricted

BUENOS AIRES: In this Oct. 25, 2007 picture Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner, right, gestures as his wife and presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner dries his hair at her closing campaign rally in Buenos Aires. An authorized biography of Fernandez written by journalist Sandra Russo was released Tuesday. — AP

Debt-ceiling showdown: The legal battleground NEW YORK: President Barack Obama says he will not bypass Congress and cite an obscure part of the US Constitution to prevent a government debt default, but legal experts say it would prove difficult to challenge him in court should he change his mind.

Former President Bill Clinton argued last week that the 14th Amendment that states the “validity” of government debt “shall not be questioned” means that Obama could simply ignore the congressionally imposed debt ceiling and go on borrowing. Obama has indicated he considered the possibility, but on Tuesday his spokesman, Jay Carney, appeared to rule it out. “ The Constitution makes clear that Congress has the authority, not the president, to borrow money and only Congress can increase the statutory debt ceiling. That is just a reality,” Carney told reporters.

But if the country is about to go into default, the temptation to act to avert calamity will grow. Legal experts say if the president were tempted to act unilaterally he might escape without his actions being overturned in court. Regardless of how controversial a 14th Amendment maneuver might be, a legal challenge would be very hard to mount and so far, no one has stepped forward to say they would challenge him in court.

Nor has anyone said they would sue him if he took the alternative, equally controversial, step of using his broad authorities as guardian of the constitutional order to unilaterally raise the borrowing threshold. Theoretically, there are aggrieved parties who might consider legal action, including Congress, individual citizens or interest groups, and investors such as foreign governments.

A successful lawsuit against the executive branch of the United States would not be unprecedented. In 1952, during the Korean War, the country’s steel companies successfully sued President Harry Truman and prevented him from seizing mills in Ohio.

In 1971, The New York Times Company and the Washington Post Company took President Richard Nixon to court over the right to publish the Department of Defense’s Pentagon Papers, detailing U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

The Supreme Court prevented Nixon from

obtaining an injunction to block publication.

The plaintiffs in those cases were able to demonstrate standing, the legal doctrine under which parties must show they are harmed in order to bring a case in court.

Anyone suing Obama over the debt ceiling would confront that same burden. It wouldn’t be enough for a plaintiff to claim that Obama is overstepping his authority or acting illegally. “In order to sue, you have to have injury in fact. The touchstone issue is, can someone get to court?” said Jonathan Zasloff, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

That same standard would apply if a party pre-emptively filed a lawsuit to stop Obama invoking the 14th Amendment. Challengers might argue that relying on the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling qualified as an abuse of executive power. But it would be extremely difficult for them to show that they would suffer specific harm such as lost money, property or rights, legal experts said.

The anti-tax group Club for Growth, which opposes increased federal borrowing, does not consider a legal challenge over the 14th Amendment likely, said executive director David Keating. “It’s difficult to get standing,” Keating said.

Individual members of Congress, congressional leaders, or Congress itself might have better luck suing, by claiming their constitutional authority to handle appropriations was violated by the President’s move.

Members of Congress have taken presidents to court before. In 1996, President Clinton signed the line-item veto act, allowing the president to veto separate parts of a spending bill. Six members of Congress who opposed the law sued the treasury secretary and the director of the Office of Management and Budget, claiming the law was an unconstitutional over-reach of executive power.

But in 1997 the Supreme Court said the lawmakers did not have standing to sue, ruling they did not allege personal injury or that the institution of Congress was harmed. A third potential aggrieved party-the kind that typically shows up in court-is a jilted investor, whether an individual holding US treasury bonds or, perhaps, a foreign country that buys US government debt.— Reuters

LIMA: In this Friday, June 17, 2011 file photo, Peru’s Presidential Alan Garcia, left, and Peru’s President-elect Ollanta Humala wave to reporters during a meeting at the government palace in Lima, Peru. Outgoing President Alan Garcia is leaving his successor a rapidly growing economy, record international reserves and social unrest simmering across much of this Andean country. — AP

WASHINGTON: A naturalized US citizen, accused of illegally lobbying the US government for Pakistan and its spy agency over the disputed territory of Kashmir, can be released from jail while awaiting trial, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Magistrate Judge John Anderson rejected the argument of a US prosecutor. who said that Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, represented a flight risk and should be kept in jail. Fai, a native of Kashmir, was arrested last week. Fai and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, were charged with taking part in a conspiracy to act as Pakistani agents in the United States without registering as foreign agents.

Ahmad, also a naturalized US citizen, is believed to be in Pakistan.

The case could add to the already difficult relationship between Washington and

Islamabad after US forces conducted a secret raid in Pakistan in May that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. At a federal court hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, the judge ruled that Fai must post $100,000 in bond and he required detention at Fai’s home in Virginia, along with electronic monitoring.

Fai’s travel is restricted to the Washington, DC, area, and he must have no contact with Ahmad, any potential witnesses or with any foreign government representatives, Anderson ruled from the bench at the end of the 30-minute hearing.

The courtroom was packed was Fai’s supporters.

Fai served as executive director of a Washington group, the Kashmiri American Council, also known as the Kashmir Center, that described itself as a nonprofit

organization run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans.

But an FBI affidavit filed in court last week said Fai and the group received more than $4 million from the Pakistani government since the mid-1990s in an effort to influence the US government’s position on Kashmir. The affidavit said a confidential witness told US investigators that Pakistan’s military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, secretly sponsored and controlled Fai’s organization and directed him for years.

Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg said at the hearing that Fai admitted to an FBI agent after his arrest last week his affiliation with the Pakistani intelligence agency for 15 years and that he had been in contact with his “handlers.” Kromberg said the foreign intelligence service

has an obligation to protect Fai and that he presented a risk of fleeing the country.

Defense lawyer Nina Ginsberg disagreed. She said Pakistan has strenuously denied the allegations in the case and that there was no evidence to support Kromberg’s claims that the intelligence agency would try to help Fai. Fai, who did not say anything during the hearing, faces up to five years in prison if convicted. No date has been set for his trial.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the mountainous region in full. They have fought two of their three wars over it. Kashmiri separatists in India want to carve out an independent homeland or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. — Reuters

Anger in Haiti as new leader stumbles in politics PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian President Michel Martelly has styled himself as a man of the people, a showy former pop star who waded easily into adoring crowds.

So the reception he received on his latest trip to his country’s north was a surprise: Protesters pelted his entourage with soft drink bottles and rocks.

Martelly wasn’t injured during the unexpected protest Sunday in Cap Haitien, the country’s secondlargest city, and police haven’t determined a precise motive for the ruckus.

But it is becoming increasingly apparent in a country overwhelmed by poverty, natural disasters, disease and decades of unfulfilled governmental promises that Haitians have little patience for politicians who don’t produce - even if it is a president who has been in office for less than three months. “Martelly made a lot of promises - but so far nothing,” said Frantz Nelson, a 34-year-old who voted for the former singer. Nelson said he had hoped Martelly would help get him and his family out of an encampment across from the National Palace where they have lived since a massive earthquake struck the country in January 2010.

“We are impatient and our children are impatient.”

One of the keys to Martelly ’s success in last November’s election was his outsider status, which attracted voters apparently tired of the traditional, educated elite who tend toward higher office in the Caribbean country.

He was a popular performer of a style of Haitian music known as compas, and was notorious for occasionally bawdy performances and foul-mouthed stage antics. Though he had been known to espouse political views, he came from a radically different mold than the country’s usual politicians. He ultimately won a race that at one point included a hand-picked successor to President Rene Preval and a former senator who was also a former first lady.

His dearth of experience is partly what constrains him now, however: He lacks much of a power base beyond his music fans, and relies heavily on a tightknit team of close friends who are also new to government. That he has failed to win over lawmakers to approve his choice for prime minister explains in part why he so far boasts of few accomplishments. He has almost no support in parliament, which flatly rejected his first pick for prime minister and appears ready to vote against his second choice as well.

Consequently, he has made little progress on promises to build homes for the hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake as well as to create jobs in a country with an unemployment rate of more than 50 percent. Martelly has also done little to provide free education in a country where half of all children didn’t attend school even before the quake.

Martelly, aware of the growing signs of disenchantment, insists he’s still on track to achieve his lofty campaign pledges. “I promise to do this for the benefit of the masses and our citizens and create conditions for the recovery of our country,” he said at a meeting of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission earlier this month. The president has made some attempts at progress: His administration launched a program that aims to put kids in school with fees collected from wire transfers and international phone calls, and presented a plan to relocate 30,000 people from six major earthquake encampments into repaired houses.

Former US President Bill Clinton, the UN Special Envoy to Haiti, announced last week that his foundation would kick in $1.25 million to help raise school funding, but the new fees have angered Haitians overseas because it raised the cost of calling and sending money back home for a largely working-class community. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Nafissatou Diallo (C) the hotel maid accusing French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault arrives at the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance yesterday in New York with her lawyer to listen to recordings - which she claims may have been mistranslated. Diallo revealed her identity Sunday for the first time since the May 14 incident in which she alleges Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund at the time and a leading French presidential candidate, forced her into oral sex when she went to clean his room. — AFP

Venezuela criticizes ‘extremist’ US stances CARACAS: Venezuela’s foreign minister criticized US conservatives for what he called “extremist” stances against President Hugo Chavez’s government. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro condemned what he called actions by the “US far right.”

He did not give details.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee last week backed an amendment to slash the $48.5 million that the US provides for the Organization of American States. US Rep. Connie Mack, a Florida Republican who suppor ted the measure, said it was targeted at an organization that he feels backs a US foe in Venezuela.

“We strongly reject these steps that the far right is taking, and which in its steps drag along a good part of... the United States Congress and the United State government with an absurd, extremist policy against Latin America and against our homeland,” Maduro said after a Cabinet meeting.

He accused the US “far-right” of trying to “meddle in the affairs of our country and maintain a policy of permanent aggression.” Last month, a

US State Department report included Venezuela in a list of countries that it said are failing to combat human trafficking. US officials also have said Venezuela is failing to take adequate steps to curb drug trafficking. Venezuela’s government has denied the accusations and said Washington is singling it out for political reasons.

Chavez has long been embroiled in tensions with the US government.

Maduro said last month that relations with the US are frozen and that Venezuela sees no possibility of improving them.

Relations have grown particularly strained since the State Department in May imposed sanctions on the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA for shipping fuel to Iran. The US Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July 2010.

Chavez rejected the US nominee for ambassador, Larry Palmer, accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about his government. That led Washington to respond in December by revoking the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador. — AP

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China premier orders probe into deadly train crash BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday ordered a sweeping and transparent probe into the weekend collision between two bullet trains that k illed at least 39 people and raised public anger about the government’s handling of the accident. Facts must be uncovered, responsible parties held to account, and investigation results made public, Wen told a cabinet meeting, according to a news release posted to the government’s official website.

“Provide the people with an honest, responsible reckoning,” Wen said.

Six carriages derailed and four fell about 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters) from a viaduct Saturday night after one train plowed into the back of a stalled train. More than 190 people were injured. The government on

Tuesday ordered a two-month safety campaign for its railway system amid questions about how the crash occurred. Wen called for the campaign to be widened to target all transport infrastructure, coal mines, construction sites, and industries dealing with dangerous chemicals.

The accident was the biggest blow yet to China’s burgeoning high speed rail ambitions that have been highlighted as a symbol of the countries rising economic and technological p ro we s s. R a p i d e x p a n s i o n o f t h e ser vices has been dogged by concerns about safety, corruption scandals and criticism that schedules are impractical and tickets too expensive for ordinary Chinese. Open just one month, the much-ballyhooed 820mile (1,318-kilometer) Beijing-

WENZHOU: Relatives of the victims in Saturday’s train crash, with a banner demanding pursuit of truth of the accident, block the entrance gate during a protest at Wenzhou South Railway Station in Wenzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, yesterday. — AP

Shanghai line has been plagued by power outages and other malfunctions.

Saturday ’s accident outside the eastern city of Wenzhou prompted an outpouring of anger among the public and even in the usually docile state media, with questions posed over the cause of the crash and the government’s handling of the aftermath. The sacking of three top officials at the Shanghai Railway Bureau did little to tamp down criticism that authorities made only passing attempts to rescue survivors while ordering tracks swiftly cleared to restore service.

It also isn’t known why the second train wasn’t warned about the stalled train ahead of it, despite anti-collision technology being standard on such lines. — AP

‘New era’ for Pakistan, India relations: Ministers Ministers agree need to strengthen counter terror cooperation

KANDAHAR: In this undated handout photograph provided by the Kandahar media office Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, the mayor of Kandahar speaks during a press conference in Kandahar province. The mayor of Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of the Taleban movement, was killed in a suicide attack yesterday police said. — AFP

Suicide blast kills mayor of Kandahar KANDAHAR: A suicide bomber killed the mayor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar city yesterday, two weeks after the assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother in the same city created a power vacuum in the country’s turbulent south.

The death of Mayor Ghulam Haidar Hamidi, a US citizen, is the latest in a string of assassinations of Karzai allies. While it is unclear if all were the work of insurgents, the killings have stoked instability as foreign troops begin withdrawing ahead of Afghan forces taking full security control by the end of 2014.

Hamidi, 65, was killed and another person wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a corridor near Hamidi’s office, said Zalmay Ayoubi, the spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor. “It appears the bomber was carrying the bomb in his turban,” Ayoubi said.

Kandahar province is the Taleban’s birthplace and a focus of recent efforts by a surge of US troops to turn the tide against the insurgency in the decade-long war. More than half of all targeted killings in Afghanistan between April and June were in Kandahar, according to a UN report.

Two of Hamidi’s deputy mayors were killed in attacks by insurgents last year. Kandahar Police Chief Abdul Razaq said Hamidi was meeting elders from a district of Kandahar city when one of them got close to the mayor and detonated a bomb hidden in his turban.

The mayor wanted to speak with the elders after they accused city staff of killing a woman and two children when they destroyed some houses and shops in their district on Tuesday, Razaq said. The buildings were unplanned, he said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi initially said it was too early to tell what had happened but later claimed responsibility for killing Hamidi on behalf of the militant Islamist group. Ahmadi said the mayor had been on the Taleban’s hit-list and that the main motivation for the attack was the deaths of the woman and children on Tuesday when the buildings were destroyed.

The Taleban are normally very quick to claim responsibility for the deaths of highprofile political figures. US Ambassador to

Afghanistan Ryan Crocker condemned the killing of Hamidi, but warned there should not be a rush to judgment over who carried out the attack.

“There was a demonstration in front of the mayor’s office over a road-building incident that resulted in the deaths of one or two young girls. This could turn out to be a murder that didn’t have anything to do with the Taleban,” he said. “It is another indication again of both the challenges Afghanistan faces, but also the extraordinary resilience of the Afghan government and people,” he said.

The US embassy in Kabul confirmed Hamidi was a US citizen. His death comes at a time when experts say a dangerous power vacuum has been created in Afghanistan’s south by the assassination of Karzai’s brother Ahmad Wali Karzai. Ahmad Wali Karzai was head of the Kandahar Provincial Council, a largely consultative role, but his power came from his family and tribal connections, and his fortune. He was killed by a guard at his home in Kandahar city on July 12. Then at his funeral service a couple of days later, a suicide attacker who also appeared to have concealed explosives inside his turban killed a senior cleric-the head of the provincial Ulema council, an influential body of clerics that regulates religious issues-and at least four other people.

A top Karzai adviser, Jan Mohammad Khan, a former governor of southern Uruzgan province, was killed in an insurgent attack on his home in Kabul on July 17, while the police chief of Kandahar province, Khan Mohammad Khan, was killed by an attacker wearing a police uniform in mid-April.

Hamidi had been mayor of Kandahar since 2007 when he was appointed by president Karzai, a long-time friend. He grew up in Kandahar province, studied at Kabul University and worked at the country’s Ministry of Finance for 13 years, said the Kandahar province media office. He moved to Pakistan and then the United States, where he lived for 20 years.

Hamidi was working as an accountant in a travel agency in Alexandria, Virginia, before moving back to Afghanistan to become Kandahar mayor. He has five daughters and two sons. — Reuters

JAKARTA: Smoke billows up into the sky as firefighters try to extinguish the flames of a burning shop building in Jakarta yesterday. Dozens of firefighters and rescue personnel tried to extinguish the fire from a shop that was used to manufacture clothing - the 49th fire incident in the greater Jakarta area this year. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers hailed a “new era” in ties between the nuclear-armed rivals yesterday and agreed to fight terrorism and boost trade and travel, a step forward in reducing tension in the world’s most dangerous region.

Peace talks between Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, were surprisingly positive, but analysts cautioned in raising hopes until there was progress on resolving the status of disputed Kashmir and eliminating cross-border militancy.

“This is indeed a new era of bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” Khar, Pakistan’s first female and youngest-ever foreign minister, told the media after two and a half hours of talks in New Delhi, standing next to Krishna. Peace across the heavily militarised frontier between India and Pakistan is crucial for the United States to draw-down troops and stabilise Afghanistan without sparking off a proxy war between New Delhi and Islamabad in that country.

Expectations of a breakthrough in talks any time soon remain modest given the fact that neither country has yet to take significant steps to normalise relations, such as withdrawing large numbers of troops from the border. But the fact the rivals keep talking, and agreeing to small steps such as efforts to improve the lives of those living in the divided Kashmir region, indicate that neither side wants to slide back towards conflict.

“The fact that there is no train wreck is a positive augury,” said Uday Bhaskar, director of strategic think-tank National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi. Pakistani foreign affairs expert Hasan Askari Rizvi said the two sides had skirted confrontation over the most controversial issues dogging ties for years, such as terrorism and Kashmir, and had been able to conclude the talks on a positive note.

“They haven’t entered the minefield. They stayed out and they made a good statement,” Rizvi said. The countries have fought three fullscale wars since winning independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, the Himalayan region both claim in full but rule in part.

India and Pakistan in February resumed a formal peace process broken off after the 2008 attack on India’s financial capital of Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants, which killed 166 people. Importantly, they agreed to work more closely to fight militancy, which has plagued both countries, and to bring to justice perpetra-

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar (R) meets Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna (L) in New Delhi yesterday. India and Pakistan’s foreign ministers were set to hold their first talks in a year, looking to breathe fresh life into a peace process still stifled by the trauma of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. — AFP tors of militant attacks. It was unclear what these steps were and analysts cautioned against any quick result given the deep mistrust between each country’s intelligence services as well as armed forces. India has long criticised Pakistan for failing to hand over suspected militants believed to be behind the Mumbai attack and has accused Pakistani intelligence agents of having a hand in planning them. “We have agreed that terrorism poses a continued threat to peace and security and reiterate the firm and undiluted commitment of our two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all forms,” Krishna said.

“We have also agreed the need to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice.” The United States has also stepped up efforts to bridge the divide between the neighbours, coming at a time when ties between Washington and Islamabad have soured over the US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. US

HRW urges fairness in Bangladesh mutiny trial DHAKA: A human rights group expressed concerned about group indictments and trials of hundreds of border guards accused in a bloody 2009 mutiny and urged Bangladesh to ensure international standards for fair trials were followed.

Yesterday, a civilian court indicted 310 guards on serious charges such as murder and arson, after indicting 430 people last week. More than 800 total are accused, and the court set the indictment of the rest for Aug. 10. The country instead should attempt to identify the individuals responsible for specific crimes, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday. “The mutiny was ugly and brutal, but the current approach appears to be a witch hunt against a group, rather than an attempt to identify the individuals responsible for specific crimes,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“The government should rethink its approac h to make sure t he m a s te r minds and perpetrators of serious offenses are brought to fair trial, but end the prosecutions of the rank-andfile who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. He said it is impossible to try hundreds of people at the same time and expec t anything resembling a fair trial.

“The massacre shocked Bangladesh, but each of the accused should only be found guilty if the government provides specific evidence against them,” he said. The guards revolted in 2009 over pay disputes and other grievances and most of the 74 people who were killed were commanding officers. The two-day violence started at the forces’ headquarters in the capital, Dhaka, and spread across the country. The killings occurred only at the headquarters, and the chief of the force and his wife were among the dead.

Special courts of the Bangladesh Rifles, renamed recently as Border Guards Bangladesh, are handling charges of mutiny against the accused. Hundreds of guards have been convicted and sentenced up to seven years in jail for that crime. Charges other than mutiny will be tried under the national criminal code, which includes the death penalty as possible punishment.

Human Rights Watch said the detainees’ lack of access to counsel remains a serious concern. It alleged that many of the accused in the mutiny cases were not allowed to consult with their lawyers, and that many of them have been allowed only a 20-minute consultation at the beginning and end of each court day and a 30-minute consultation in between. — AP

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited New Delhi last week and urged them to work on ties as well as stabilising the volatile region.

As in previous peace efforts, progress has been slow and vulnerable to any attempts by Pakistan-based militants, fighting Indian security forces in its part of Kashmir, to try to trigger a war by launching another Mumbai-style attack.

But both sides kept their cool in the aftermath of a triple bomb attack in Mumbai this month that killed 24 people and injured more than 130.

Police have yet to identify the suspects but security analysts suspect the home-grown Indian Mujahideen.

Krishna said the two countries had agreed to ease travel restrictions, boost bus services frequency and double the number of days goods could be traded across a United Nations-drawn Line of Control dividing Kashmir between them.

“I can confidently say our relations are on the right track,” he said. — Reuters

Thai rebels kill two police, bomb troops PATTANI: Suspected insurgents waging a separatist rebellion in Thailand’s Muslim deep south killed two police and wounded two soldiers in separate gun and bomb attacks yesterday, police said. Militants armed with M-16 assault rifles ambushed two policemen riding on a motorcycle in Pattani province, killing one instantly. The other succumbed to bullet wounds on the way to hospital. In a second incident in the same province, rebels planted a home made bomb in a roadside shrub and detonated the device as three soldiers rode past on motorcycles, wounding two. In Narathiwat province bordering Malaysia, two battery-operated bombs exploded on a railway track, destroying it in two spots about 200 metres apart and disrupting train services.

Bomb disposal officials sent to the scene deactivated explosive booby traps laid for them by the militants. Thailand’s Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces, which are dominated by ethnic Malay Muslims, have seen a spike in violence this year, with roadside blasts and ambushes occurring regularly.Some analysts say violence in recent weeks could be an attempt by shadowy rebels to attract the attention of a new government expected to take office by the middle of next month. About 4,600 people have been killed and nearly 9,000 wounded in violence since 2004 in the three provinces, which were once an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand in 1909. — Reuters

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US pressures Vietnam to release dissident priest HANOI: The US government and international rights groups have called on Vietnam to immediately release a dissident priest suffering from a brain tumor who was sent back to prison after being granted more than a year of medical leave. The US State Department expressed concern for the Rev. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 65, in a statement yesterday. A day earlier, he was transported from the church he had been staying at in central Hue city to Nam Ha prison in Ba Sao town, outside the northern capital of Hanoi. “ We urge the government of Vietnam to release him immediately,” Heide Bronke Fulton, State Department acting deputy spokeswoman, said in the statement. “No

individual should be imprisoned for expressing the right to free speech,” it added.

In March 2010, Ly, a longtime human rights activist, was released from prison with a brain tumor after suffering three strokes during his three years in custody. Ly’s one-year medical parole expired March 15, and the official Vietnam News Agency reported Tuesday that he continued to distribute anti-communist leaflets and encourage others to demonstrate against the government despite being warned many times that he was breaking the law.

“The continued imprisonment of Nguyen Van Ly is necessary (and) completely in accordance with the law and

supported by the majority of people,” it said. Communist Vietnam does not tolerate any challenge to its one-party rule. Publicly calling for a multiparty system or speaking out against the government can result in long prison sentences.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International strongly condemned Ly ’s imprisonment and demanded his release. “ Throwing Father Ly back in prison only compounds the cruelty and injustice of his original sentence,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “Father Ly was convicted solely for expressing peaceful political beliefs and should never have been imprisoned in the first place.” Ly, who uses

crutches to walk, was in “normal health condition” after making the 300-mile (500-kilometer) trip from Hue to the prison, according to a prison official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy. He has spent more than 16 years in jail, most recently for helping found a group called Bloc 8406, which promotes multiparty democracy.

In 2007, Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison for disseminating antigovernment propaganda. During the dramatic trial, an officer clamped his hand over Ly’s mouth to stop him from shouting anti-communist slogans and accusing Vietnamese authorities of practicing “the law of the jungle.”

Last year, the UN Working Group on

Arbitrary Detention also called for Ly’s release after determining that he was not given a fair trial and was being imprisoned without cause. It said Ly had been held in solitary confinement in a small room with no bed since his 2007 conviction, adding that he had no access to books and was denied a Bible.

Several members of the US Congress have repeatedly called for Ly’s release, including a letter signed by 37 senators appealing directly to Vietnam’s president two years ago.

Earlier this year, the US strongly protested the treatment of an American diplomat who was roughed up by police while trying to visit Ly in Hue. — AP

Landslides kill 28 after downpours in S Korea Hundreds of people forced to evacuate homes

DALIAN: This photo taken on July 4, 2011 shows China’s first aircraft carrier, the former Soviet carrier Varyag which China bought from Ukraine in 1998, undergoing a re-fitting at the port of Dalian, in northeast China’s Liaoning province.

China sought to downplay the capability of its first aircraft carrier yesterday, saying the vessel would be used for training and “research”, amid concerns over the country’s military build-up. — AFP

China boosts naval presence with carrier program BEIJING: China is building two indigenous aircraft carriers as part of a broad modernisation programme that has rattled nerves regionally, sources said yesterday, as the government confirmed it was refitting an old Soviet carrier for training.

China is ramping up military spending as the United States discusses cutting its defence budget, though the US still far outspends China on security and is much more technologically advanced.

President Hu Jintao has made the navy a keystone of China’s military ramp-up, and the carriers will be among the most visible signs of the country’s rising military prowess.

“Two aircraft carriers are being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai,” one source with ties to China’s Communist Party leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk about the programme.

The Defence Ministr y has only officially confirmed the existence of one carrier, which was bought from Ukraine in 1998 and was once destined to become a floating casino.

That will be used for training and research purposes, ministr y spokesman Geng Yansheng said, seeking to reassure other countries that China would stick to its defensive military policy.

But he said China it had a right to protect its extensive maritime territory and coast. “This is the sacred responsibility of China’s armed forces,” Geng said, in a statement carrier on the ministr y ’s website (www.mod.gov.cn). “Building a carrier is extremely complex. We are currently refitting an old aircraft carrier, to be used for research and testing,” Geng said.

“An aircraft carrier is a weapons platform; it can be used for offensive or defensive purposes. It can also be used to maintain global peace and for rescue and relief work,” he added.

While Geng gave no timetable for starting sea trials, he said pilots were being trained to operate from the carrier. Sources with ties to the Communist Party and the military said that ship would likely be based in the southern island province of Hainan, which sits atop of the vital trade lanes of the sensitive South China Sea. The news comes as China has been flexing its muscles more aggressively in those waters, where a territorial dispute with Taiwan and several nearby countries including Vietnam and the Philippines has fes-

tered for years.

Geng said the timing “had nothing to do” with the tension there. The carrier will add to regional concerns about China’s military modernisation and arms build-up. Defence spending is rising fast, and Beijing continues to test new high-tech equipment, including a stealth fighter.

“China’s next moves have to be watched carefully, or there eventually could be a negative impact on maritime safety in Asia,” said Yoshihiko Yamada, a professor at Japan’s Tokai University. Xinhua news agency said it was the first time the government had confirmed it was pursuing a carrier programme.

The old Soviet carrier’s refitting has been one of China’s worst-kept military secrets. Pictures of it sitting in Dalian harbour have circulated on Chinese websites for months, and it has been widely discussed in state media. China would be the third Asian country to have a carrier after India and Thailand, but it will take time before it can go to sea in Asian waters that have largely been the domain of the US navy since World War Two. “It will be a long while before China develops a fully-fledged carrier capability, it will take a long time to train the necessary crews ... it may be up to decade until China has carrier capability,” said Tim Huxley, director for defence and militar y analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

For Beijing, the rationale of an aircraft carrier is more than just about modernising a navy whose most notable engagements of the past few years have been skirmishes in the South China Sea with some of the other claimant nations. Sending naval vessels further afield, to the waters off Somalia to fight pirates, and through the southern Japanese islands, has also partly been about ensuring trade routes are protected.

Yet China frets about the powerful US militar y presence close to its shores, in par ticular US bases in Japan and South Korea, and Washington’s close but unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own. “Aircraft carriers are essential for China primarily to defend its territory and territorial waters and bring a semblance of parity among the world’s big powers,” Wang Baokun, a defence studies professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, wrote in the China Daily earlier this month. — Reuters

SEOUL: Torrential rain pounding South Korea yesterday triggered landslides which killed 28 people and inundated hundreds of homes in the country ’s worst flood damage in decades. Main roads turned to rivers of churning, muddy water, while the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that swollen streams and rivers killed an additional three people and left 10 others missing across the country.

Thirteen people died when a mudslide hit an inn and three homes in the mountainous Chuncheon area 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Seoul early Wednesday, it said. Fifteen people were killed the same day in southern Seoul by landslides from Umyeon mountain in the city, which was hit by 433.5 millimetres (17.34 inches) of rain in 40 hours between Tuesday and yesterday.

Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes.

A river in Gonjiam, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) southeast of Seoul, overflowed, killing three residents, the agency said.

Search and rescue effor ts by more than 500 firefighters and police were still underway at Chuncheon, where ten of the victims were students from Inha University in the western city of Incheon, who were in the area for volunteer work.

“I was sleeping on the second floor of the pension (inn) when I heard the thunderous sound of a landslide. The stairs collapsed and I was buried under mud,” one student rescued by firefighters told Yonhap news agency. NEMA said 20 others were injured, four of them seriously.

GWANGJU: Residents on a makeshift raft evacuate from a flooded area in Gwangju, South Korea, yesterday. A quick blast of heavy rain sent landslides barreling through South Korea’s capital and a northern town yesterday. — AP In Seoul, police declared an emergency, and more than 4,000 officers were mobilised to help ease traffic gridlock, block roads deemed too dangerous to use, and aid rescue efforts. Streets, subway stations, underpasses and residential districts were flooded throughout the capital.

“We are overwhelmed by so many rescue requests and it’s not easy to keep track (of the damage),” a NEMA official told AFP. The agency said floods or mudslides shut 37 major roads nationwide, including 23 in Seoul, and more than 700 homes were flooded in the capital.

Others in the city were meanwhile prevented from leaving

home by landslides or flooding.

News reports said more than 150 traffic lights were malfunctioning in Seoul, worsening the jams, while mobile phone networks were cut off in some areas.

TV images showed main streets turned into a sea of muddy water dotted with the roofs of submerged cars, with some drivers abandoning vehicles to run to safety.

Apartments and houses struck by landslides were destroyed or buried under a mass of mud, with scores of destroyed cars tossed on top of each other and tangled with uprooted trees.

Photos posted on social networking sites showed scores of cars

stranded on motorways, with rising water forcing some drivers to climb onto the top of vehicles.

A video posted on YouTube showed a torrent of brown water engulfing houses and everything else on its way, with the person behind the camera yelling, “My house is almost gone!” The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) forecast more downpours until Friday, with expected rainfall of up to 250 millimetres until today in some areas in Seoul and nearby regions. Rare downpours tallying more than 110 millimetres of rain per hour were recorded in southern Seoul, a KMA spokesman he said. — AFP

North Korea demands peace treaty with US

LEGAZPI: Motorists negotiate a portion of a highway following a landslide brought about by heavy rains from the slow-moving storm Nock-ten (local name Juaning) in Legazpi, Albay province in northeastern Philippines. Nockten unleashed massive floods and landslides Tuesday in northeastern Philippines. — AP

Storm kills 25 in Philippines MANILA: At least 25 people were killed and as many as 31 others went missing as a slowmoving tropical storm dumped enormous amounts of rain across the Philippines’ main island, authorities said yesterday.

Nock-ten, named after a Laotian bird, was expected to cause more damage in the mountainous northern areas of Luzon island last night, while also bringing heavy rain to Manila, civil defence chief Benito Ramos told AFP. “We are closely watching northern Luzon. There have already been landslides there but no casualties (there) so far,” said Ramos, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Nock-ten, which struck the eastern Philippines on Tuesday, had already killed 25 people, with many of the victims caught in floods or consumed by landslides, Ramos said. Most of the missing were fishermen or sailors lost at sea, he added. More than 645,000 people were also forced to flee their flooded homes, particularly in the southeast of Luzon where Nock-ten first hit land. He said

the government was waiting for the skies to clear and the seas to calm before sending emergency supplies by air and water to those provinces. “We can’t use the army trucks because the roads are flooded,” he said. The council said dozens of flights had been cancelled because of the storm. Nock-ten had initially been expected to pass much closer to Manila, the nation’s sprawling capital of 12 million people, and schools were closed across the city yesterday as it prepared for heavy rains. But Ramos said Nock-ten was following an erratic course and the worst of its fury had spared the densely populated areas of Manila and its suburbs. The storm, now packing maximum winds of 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour, was moving northwest at 17 kilometres per hour and was expected to be out of the country by late yesterday, the government weather station said.

Nevertheless, Ramos warned that all areas within 500 kilometres of the eye of the storm, including Manila, should expect rain until it moved out to the South China Sea.—AFP

SEOUL: North Korea demanded yesterday that the United States sign a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, as a senior North Korean diplomat visited New York to negotiate ways to restart six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. In an editorial marking the 58th anniversary of an armistice that ended the 195053 war, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency insisted a peace treaty could go a long way toward resolving a deadlock over Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

North Korea has long called for a peace treaty with the United States. The armistice left the Korean peninsula in a technical state of war. Its latest push comes as North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan makes a fresh attempt to reopen six-nation talks that were last held in December 2008. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited Kim to New York to meet with US officials later this week only after nuclear envoys from the rival Koreas held surprise talks last week.

Seoul blames North Korea for two attacks that killed 50 South Koreans last year and has demanded that Pyongyang show remorse. The United States has insisted that its ally Seoul must be satisfied that interKorean ties are improving before it will pursue more nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang. Kim told reporters after landing Tuesday in New York that he was “optimistic of the prospects for the six-way talks and the North Korea-US relationship,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “I believe North Korea-US relations will improve, as now is the time for countries to reconcile.”

Despite Kim’s positive tone, North Korea is making clear ahead of the New York talks that it wants a separate dialogue on signing a peace treaty, in addition to six-nation nuclear negotiations, said Kim Keun-sik, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University in South Korea. North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun told his Malaysian counterpart in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday that Pyongyang “has always supported measures to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula,” the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Pak voiced “readiness to resume the six-party talks without conditions.” — AP

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

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Issues

Medical checks reignite Kazakh succession talk

By Raushan Nurshayeva eteran Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev’s brief trip abroad for medical reasons has reminded investors of the biggest uncertainty they face doing business in Central Asia’s biggest economy: who will eventually succeed him? Nazarbayev, 71, appeared to quell a behind-the-scenes struggle for influence in the oil-producing state by calling and winning a snap election in April.

The landslide victory secured five more years in power and was largely welcomed by investors. Then came an unsourced report in German tabloid Bild that Nazarbayev underwent prostate surgery in Hamburg this month. With the presidential office saying only that Nazarbayev was on holiday, it was left to his close adviser to break the silence.

“He is full of strength and energy and this (the succession) is a closed question until December 2016,” Yermukhamet Yertysbayev told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday, only a 1/2 hour after meeting with Nazarbayev in the presidential palace. Yertysbayev, renowned in Kazakhstan for floating ideas to gauge public reaction, had said the same thing in an interview with Russian business daily Kommersant published a day earlier. Nazarbayev hosted a meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Karim Masimov and several cabinet ministers, the presidential website reported. It had said on July 11 that the president was on a “short holiday”, giving no further detail. He was pictured on the Internet and appeared on television.

Yertysbayev confirmed Nazarbayev was abroad for a planned medical screening, something he does routinely every year in addition to a separate check-up at home. He did not say Nazarbayev was ill. Perhaps more tellingly, he also mentioned Timur Kulibayev. Kulibayev, 44, is the billionaire husband of Nazarbayev’s middle daughter, Dinara.

A shrewd businessman who rarely speaks in public, he is chairman of several major, state-owned resource companies, including oil and gas giant KazMunaiGas .

Yertysbayev named Kulibayev as the person he believed most likely to continue the course set over the last two decades by the only leader independent Kazakhstan has known. He insists he did not name Kulibayev as a “successor”, telling Reuters: “We were talking about force majeure. In a force majeure situation, I would consider Kulibayev’s candidacy acceptable.” He added: “I’m not the first to say this. It’s simply that my surname is Yertysbayev and, if Yertysbayev says something, then it kicks up an unimaginable storm.”

Uncertainty is the key risk in the eyes of foreign investors who have pumped more than $120 billion into Kazakhstan. Renewed succession talk sent the cost of insuring exposure to Kazakh assets higher. Five-year credit default swaps were up five basis points to 161-169 bps on Tuesday, data from Markit showed, bucking the overall market trend. Kulibayev was placed in charge of around $80 billion worth of assets when Nazarbayev appointed him head of sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna shortly after the election. He is also a board member at Russian gas giant Gazprom .

In a rare statement issued late on Monday, Kulibayev himself played down any talk of his political ambitions. “I concern myself with economic issues and business development, and I like this. I have never positioned myself as a politician,” Kulibayev said in a statement published by the wealth fund on its website. “Nursultan Abishevich won presidential elections in April. It’s improper to be discussing the question of a successor now,” he said, using the president’s name and patronymic. His emphasis on the economy echoes Nazarbayev’s long-stated prioritisation of economic growth over democracy in a country holding 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves. Per capita gross domestic product has grown twelvefold since 2004.

But Alexander Knyazev, Central Asia analyst and senior researcher at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, said he thought Kulibayev would prefer to play a background role that would allow him to maintain his many business interests. “I believe he would prefer ... to promote a figure who could eventually replace Nazarbayev and be under his influence, while keeping all his current positions,” said Knyazev. Kulibayev would not assume the presidency should the president leave office unexpectedly. The post would instead pass to the Senate speaker, currently former prosecutor-general Kairat Mami, for the rest of the existing presidential term. Arkady Dubnov, a Moscow-based expert on Central Asia, said any move by the president to include Kulibayev among the 15 senators that he is entitled to appoint to the 47-seat chamber would provide a strong clue to his plans. But for now, Nazarbayev appears set to continue in charge. — Reuters

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Iran may cope with India oil money loss

By Daniel Fineren nternational sanctions designed to stop Iran’s disputed nuclear program would only really bite if its other big Asian buyers follow India’s lead and bow to US pressure to cut the flow of oil money to Tehran. The Islamic Republic will forego around $45 million a day or a total of $1.4 billion next month - if it halts around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports to India - where refiners have run up a $5 billion debt since India’s central bank blocked payments to Iran after pressure from Washington. With Iranian heavy crude selling for around $40 more a barrel than a year ago, Iran’s 2 million bpd plus sales to other customers should make up for the Indian export dip - especially as Iran is likely to store the oil and to sell it later.

But some in the Iranian government fear other buyers could also yield to pressure from Washington to stop helping Tehran’s nuclear plans indirectly through state-controlled oil sales.

“This move by India could also encourage Iran’s other oil customers. Such a trend will harm Iran as the country’s economy is reliant on petrodollars,” said a senior Iranian oil official in Tehran, who asked not to be named.

The US government estimates oil exports generate around half of Iranian government funds and Iran says it can meet all its development needs by selling crude for around $81.50 per barrel.

Iranian heavy crude sells for less

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than light futures on international markets, where the benchmark Brent was trading above $117 a barrel yesterday.

But at over $112 a barrel, according to Reuters data, Iranian crude is still $30 a barrel above Iran’s budgeted price for this year and has remained comfortably above $80 since late 2010. “Iran is still raking in plenty of oil revenue ... but as it is not just how much money they are pulling in but how much they need to balance their current account,” Jamie Webster, senior country strategies manager at PFC Energy in Washington, said.

International sanctions targeting Iran’s lucrative energy industry do not forbid dealing in Iranian crude but many companies, especially those with US operations, have shied away from buying it to avoid clashing with Washington and because of difficulties in organising bank transactions. Until India’s central bank stopped clearing payments to Tehran in December, Iran was still able to sell all it could produce to energy-hungry buyers in Asia. In the unlikely event that China also stops buying Iranian crude, it could slash Tehran’s crude earnings by another $60 million a day, wiping out the higher crude price cushion on Iranian finances.

There is little sign that Chinese buyers who took and paid for around 540,000 bpd of Iran’s crude in the first six months of 2011 will follow the example of US-friendly India. But US

allies South Korea and Japan, which are still seen buying Iranian crude purchases after cutting back last year, could cave in to sustained pressure not to dabble in Iranian crude. Iran does not give official data on where it sells its crude to so it is difficult to build a precise picture.

The threat of billions of dollars in lost oil revenues being pocketed by rival crude exporters like Saudi Arabia, which has already stepped in to fill the gap in Indian crude supplies left by Iran, should serve as a stark warning to the government in Tehran. “This dispute will be solved but it is a reminder to the Iranian government that before saying sanctions have no impact on the country, they should think twice,” independent Iranian analyst Sadegh Sofi said. “ This is a clear result of President Ahmadinejad’s hard line and harsh policies.”

Iranian government officials have repeatedly said sanctions are not hurting and that Iran can develop its vast gas and oil wealth without external project funding or vital technology transfers. But already the reality is that western sanctions have effectively prevented Iran from fully exploiting the world’s second largest gas reserves, costing the isolated Islamic Republic hundreds of billions of dollars in potential export earnings over years.

“Sanctions on gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are more serious,” Webster said. “While they may be able

to put together some pipeline deals, sanctions will largely keep LNG technology out of their grasp.”

Iran has long dreamt of boosting gas exports to levels close to leading LNG exporter Qatar with which it shares one of the world’s largest fields.

But western sanctions have been highly effective in limiting access to funds and technology it needs to produce enough gas to meet even its own rapidly rising demand, let alone liquefy any gas for export by tanker. Iran’s own gas consumption has risen more markedly than its output as a result, making it a net importer for most of the last two decades but it remains hopeful of some day being able to produce enough to sell some excess gas some day.

The Iranian government has admitted LNG plans may be set back by a tight sanctions stopping any complicated gas liquefaction technology from falling into Iranian hands. US ally Qatar has become one of the world’s wealthiest countries by pumping, freezing and selling tens billions of dollars worth of gas a year from the field it shares with Iran. Tehran still hopes to export gas to Europe by pipeline and signed a deal with uneasy and unstable neighbours Iraq and Syria earlier this week, but analysts say that sanctions discouraging any foreign investment in Iran’s gas fields will likely delay even pipeline export projects for years to come. — Reuters

Train crash threatens China rail exports

By Allison Jackson fatal crash on China’s highspeed train network could scuttle Beijing’s ambitions to sell the technology overseas and could also hit its existing rail exports, analysts said yesterday.

Shares in Chinese rail and train builders have fallen sharply since the accident which killed at least 39 people and injured 200, and raised questions over Beijing’s rush to develop the world’s biggest highspeed rail network. Initial reports blamed Saturday’s collision on a lightning strike that knocked out power to the first train, which was then rammed from behind by a second express, crushing some carriages and shunting others off a viaduct. The incident has badly shaken public faith in the rail system, especially the high-speed network which has been plagued by corruption allegations and repeated delays caused by power shortages. Experts say unanswered questions, including why the second train was not warned on time to stop, have exacerbated concern over the rail systems developed in China and could jeopardise future deals. “There are already concerns overseas about the quality of some of this technology,” Alistair Thornton, a senior analyst at research group IHS Global Insight, told AFP. “I think this will make it very difficult for policymakers in the West to rely on China as a source.”

Beijing - keen to show off its technological prowess and growing wealth at home and abroad - has been pushing to export high-speed

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train technology even though its own network only opened to passengers in 2007. The Chinese government has poured large sums into developing the world’s largest high-speed rail system, with 8,358

newer high-speed equipment it is trying to sell abroad. China is helping build high-speed links in Turkey, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia and last December CSR signed an agreement with US con-

based on Western technology.

“I think people would say ‘your trains are unreliable and therefore your systems are not perfected so we don’t want them’,” Tokyo-based Merner told AFP. “It just reconfirms

Chinese rescuers work around the wreckage of train cars in Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province on July 24, 2011. – AP km of track at the end of last year. It is expected to exceed 13,000 km by 2012 and 16,000 km by 2020.

Observers said the accident would raise doubts about the quality of the traditional technology that still makes up the bulk of China’s rail exports, as well as the

glomerate General Electric to make high-speed trains in the United States. But Atlantis Investment Research president Edwin Merner said China had “zero” chance in the next five to 10 years of exporting its high-speed trains and equipment - even if it was originally

that if you try to go too fast and if you talk big then probably something is wrong.” The companies behind China’s rail network gained the right to use certain rail technology when they bought equipment from Western firms. Chinese train builders CSR Corp and CNR Corp

along with China Railway Group and China Railway Construction Corp acquired significant technology from industry giants such as Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens.

Now, they are battling those companies for a share of the overseas market. CSR, which was involved in making both trains in last weekend’s crash, had 13 billion yuan ($2.02 billion) in outstanding overseas contracts at the end of 2010, according to the company’s annual report. Chinese exports of locomotives, rolling stock, parts, tracks and signalling equipment reached $2.9 billion in 2009, down from $10.2 billion in 2008, according to the latest government data.

A breakdown for high-speed rail exports was not available.

“The accident does not mean the end of high-speed, but it will force other countries to think more about whether they really need it and where they get those technologies,” Ingrid Wei, an analyst at Credit Suisse, told AFP. Shanghai-listed shares in CSR have fallen as much as 12.5 percent since the crash, while CNR fell as much as 13.8 percent as analysts warned the pace of railway construction was likely to slow down as China focused more on safety.

Merner said the disaster had exposed key flaws in China’s railway system and it could take 20 years for local train and rail builders to convince foreign buyers their highspeed technology was safe. “The construction - even if the designs are very good - depend on very reliable parts and Chinese parts technology leaves something to be wondered about,” he said. — AFP

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

a na ly s i s

Iran courts Egypt, worrying allies

By Karin Laub ne of Egypt’s ruling generals took great pains this week to reassure his American audience: the military-led caretaker government has no intention of mending ties with Iran, a longtime foe and regional rival. But once an elected government takes over from Egypt’s interim rulers in coming months, it would have to be responsive to public opinion, Maj Gen Mohammed Al-Assar said in a speech to a think tank in Washington, suggesting that a different course is then possible. Iran has been strongly cour ting Egypt since the February fall of Hosni Mubarak, seeking to break its isolation and extend its influence in the Middle East. The prospect has alarmed Egypt’s allies - particularly Saudi Arabia and the Arab countries of the Gulf, as well as Israel, all of which fear increasing Iranian power in the Middle East.

With its own suspicions of Iran and war y of alienating its allies, Egypt is unlikely to run into an embrace with Iran.

But how much it does improve ties will be a major indicator of how far its future government will take a more independent foreign policy after decades under Mubarak, who stuck closely to the United States’ line in the region. “What we might be witnessing in the next few months is a struggle within Egypt to define and redefine Egyptian foreign policy,” said Fawaz Gerges, head of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.

There is strong popular support in Egypt for a foreign policy that does not so strongly mirror Washington’s, which proponents argue will help restore the country’s clout as a regional leader. For most Egyptians, the top priority is to back off from the close cooperation that the Mubarak regime had with Israel on economic and security issues. But it could also mean an easing of Mubarak ’s staunchly anti-Iran stance. One of the leading contenders for the Egyptian presidency, ex-Arab League chief Amr Moussa, argues that Egypt would gain from peaceful or less tense relations with Iran.

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Any warming would mark a shift in the political map of the region, which has sharply split between Iran’s sphere of influence, including Syria and the Islamic militias of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and a US-backed camp led

by Saudi Arabia, Gulf nations and Mubarak’s Egypt. As recently as 2009, Mubarak’s then-intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, told the US that Iran - with its

Arab League chief spot - came just as the Cold War between predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and mainly Shiite Iran was deepening: In March, Saudi troops helped put down a Shiite-led uprising in Sunni-ruled Bahrain that Gulf leaders saw as a stalking horse for Iran.

Apparently startled by the signals from Egypt, Saudi Arabia pledged $4 billion for Egyptian economic recovery. In July, Egypt

In this Feb 22, 2011 file photo, the Iranian navy frigate IS Alvand passes through the Suez Canal at Ismailia, Egypt. The frigate, accompanied by the replenishment ship IS Kharg, entered the Suez Canal en route to Syria. — AP suspected nuclear weapons program and funding of anti-Western militants - posed a threat to the entire region.

Just two weeks after Mubarak’s fall, Iran tested the new Egypt, asking to send two warships through the Egyptian-controlled Suez Canal. Egypt granted the request, a first since 1979, saying it was bound by canal rules of free passage. A month later, Egypt ’s new foreign minister, Nabil Elaraby, declared that “Iran is not an enemy” and that Egypt would seek to open a new page with every country in the world, including Iran. The conciliatory message

by Elaraby - who has since moved to the

changed course, saying relations with Iran won’t come at the expense of security of the Gulf countries. That same pressure will certainly remain on Egypt’s next, elected government.

And Egypt has its own suspicions about Iran’s policies, particularly its suppor t of Islamic militants around the region. Gerges expects Egypt will try to seek a middle ground. “This new thinking (in Egypt) revolves around Iran not being a threat to regional security,” he said. “Iran is an integral par t of the region and should be engaged politically, as opposed to a policy of confrontation.” Iran seems to

be the more eager side in the courtship.

“As soon as I receive an invitation from Egyptian officials I will go immediately and with pride to Egypt,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling a 45-member Egyptian delegation visiting Tehran in June.

Relations between Egypt and Iran broke down after Tehran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Contacts have been channeled through interest sections, a low-level form of diplomatic representation. In May, Egypt expelled a low-level Iranian diplomat on suspicion he tried to set up spy rings in Egypt and the Gulf countries. Yet in a sign of a relationship in flux, the same plane that flew home the expelled Iranian diplomat also carried the Egyptian delegation of legislators, ex-diplomats and uprising activists to Tehran for their ice-breaking trip.

Former Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Ghamrawy, who led the group, argued that closer ties would help stabilize the Middle East. “Why is the West troubled by Iranian relations with Egypt, even though the Gulf countries all have ambassadors in Iran?” he said. Still, the trip also highlighted the ambivalence. Mustafa El-Naggar, an Egyptian uprising activist in the delegation, told an Egyptian TV interviewer that when his Iranian hosts claimed the popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world were part of an “Islamic awakening”, he told them that the anti-Mubarak revolt was “not a religious revolution, but a human evolution”.

Israel is watching the prospect of an improvement in Egypt-Iran ties with trepidation. Israel’s military intelligence chief, Maj Gen Aviv Kochavi, told Israeli lawmakers this month that Iran has begun funding Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood ahead of parliament elections in the fall. He did not provide evidence, and the Brotherhood denied the claim. “We are keeping our fingers crossed for Saudi Arabia and Egypt, hoping that Iran will not succeed in its ambitions to penetrate into other areas of the Middle East,” said Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt. — AP

Politics behind Boehner’s debt hike

By Richard Cowan o many Americans are so sick of political acrimony over raising the US debt limit that it might seem unfathomable to have to do it all over again early next year.

But that is exactly what the top US Republican, John Boehner, is proposing for some practical political reasons. If Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, prevails, President Barack Obama will sign legislation by Aug 2 to raise U.S. borrowing authority by about $1 trillion, or just enough to carry the government through March.

That would set up a second tortured debt limit debate to avert default just as the US presidential campaign heats up. Obama and his fellow Democrats, citing the need to ensure financial stability, demand the Treasur y Depar tment ’s credit limit be extended for longer, through the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Democrats and Republicans are rattling financial markets with their stand-off over raising the debt limit by the August deadline. Both sides have offered competing plans for making sure the United States can pay its bills. “I’m not sure there’s any grander strategy than to do what’s possible,” said John Feehery, a former adviser to House Republican leaders. “The two-step process makes sense if you think the House of Representatives can handle only so

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much in a hurry.”

Boehner, who took the US government to the brink of shutdown in April during a nasty fight over short-term spending, struck an agreement with Obama at the last minute, saying he held out for the best deal he could get for his Tea Party-driven conservatives.

The incoming Tea Party-aligned lawmakers had campaigned against the overall size of the US government, the size of its deficits and the mountain of national debt, which has ballooned to $14.3 trillion.

And so the smaller the debt limit hike the better for Boehner and his ability to get along with the Tea Party, even if public opinion polls show growing impatience with Republican tactics. “To the Republicans, it’s more important to please the Tea Party base than it is to take the chance that the general public might be turned off to their methods,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “The theory is that the Tea Party is the group paying attention to the debt vote whereas the general public (including independent voters) will vote on the state of the overall economy” next year, Sabato said.

Boehner still has a way to go to solidify Tea Party support. For example, Senator Rand Paul, a leading Tea Party activist, has dismissed the House leader’s deficit-reduction/debt limit plan as “not serious”. But if Boehner can firm up support with others in

the Tea Party by advocating a two-step approach, the Republican Party can then move on to trying to appeal to the electorate more broadly. By staging a second debt limit vote next year, said Ron Bonjean, another former aide to Republican leaders in Congress, “It keeps the spending and tax issues alive and makes Democrats go on record during an election year in favor of increasing taxes at a time of high unemployment.”

“It’s a perfect setup,” Bonjean said, for Republican presidential candidates to attack Obama during their primary nominating season. He noted that a second debt limit debate could be getting under way in Washington just as the nation focuses more closely on Republican presidential candidates in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary and other key contests.

Paul Sracic, head of the political science department at Youngstown State University in the swing state of Ohio, said, “ What Republicans really want is to get entitlement reform. They know they can’t get that in one step,” he said of moves to cut benefits in federally-funded healthcare and retirement programs. So, a two-step procedure could provide a second shot at luring Democrats into some benefit cuts after failing to do so this time around. — Reuters

Watch and wait before treating victims

By Kate Kelland lashbacks, fear, guilt and anger will torment the minds of survivors of the shooting and bomb attacks in Norway, but mental health experts say doctors should resist the temptation to rush in and flood them with trauma counselling. More effective is to watch and wait a few weeks, allowing those who saw loved ones die, or played dead to avoid being killed themselves, to go through a natural process of recovery.

Norway and its people will recover, experts say, and they’ll do so quite swiftly if a careful and targeted treatment strategy is deployed.

Monica Thompson, a clinical psychologist who coordinated the trauma response to the 2007 London suicide bombings, said much has been learned from previous mass killings like the Sept.

11, 2001 attacks in the United States. “It’s quite understandable and natural for people to be traumatised, shocked and take a while to adjust, but on the whole the majority of people come out of it relatively unscathed,” Thompson, from London’s Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, said in a telephone interview.

Lawyers, psychiatrists and police were discussing the mental health of Anders Behring Breivik after the anti-Islam radical admitted to a bombing and shooting spree that killed 76 people. More than 100,000 Norwegians attended a rally in Oslo on Monday, many carrying white and red roses in mourning. Thompson said that while it was important for sur-

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vivors and grieving relatives to feel that there are people there who can appreciate what they’re going though, it’s also crucial not to push them into formal counselling unless and until they need it.

“What they tried to do after 9/11 was to give everybody counselling and therapy, literally en masse. And that actually isn’t

backs, such as sudden images or sounds of blood being spattered or the gunman opening fire, or the look of fear in a victim’s eyes, will be common in the first weeks but should gradually fade away.

Roughly 20 to 30 percent of those most closely involved in such experiences will still have symptoms a month or so later

Helene Boersei Olsen, who survived the massacre at Utoeya but lost her mother, speaks at a rally at Hole near the Utoeya island on Tuesday. At left is speaker of the Norwegian parliament Dag Terje Andersen. – AFP helpful, because those responses of fear, shock, thinking about it all the time, having nightmares about it are all perfectly normal. It’s a natural process.”

Re-experiencing symptoms, or flash-

and may develop mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and need specialist help.

Jennifer Wild, a clinical psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatr y at King’s

College London, said the toughest psychological issues for the survivors of the shooting spree and those closest to the bombing would be guilt, loss and fear.

“One of the most difficult emotions to deal with is survivors’ guilt,” she said. “And because it was so unexpected, there will also be feelings of fear, that the world is unpredictable, that anything could happen at any time. When those beliefs start to develop and become rooted in somebody, it can really affect their behaviour.”

For those who continue to have flashbacks, and who are still finding it difficult to sleep or seek to block memories from their minds, experts say counselling known as trauma-focused therapy can be very effective. This involves cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) aimed at helping people to process the traumatic memories by talking about the experience, reliving it in their minds, understanding their own responses and shifting the experience into their long-term memory where it will gradually stop flashing back.

Wild, who has worked in Norway, advised health authorities there to adopt a “screen and treat” strategy similar to one deployed after the London 2007 attacks in which suicide bombers killed 52 people.

“That program was very effective,” she said, with sufferers of PTSD likely to be helped to recover within a matter of months of counselling sessions once a week. “One of the things we’ve learnt from major incidents and terrible tragedies like this is that thankfully, human beings are incredibly resilient,” she said. “A nation can recover.” — Reuters

Focus

Nuclear could be costlier Japan option

By Linda Sieg an Japan afford to go nuclear-power-free?

The country’s atomic power industry and many big business clients say “No”, arguing the step would boost electricity bills and pollution and hasten the hollowing out of Japanese manufacturing. But the Fukushima nuclear disaster is galvanising a coalition of safety-conscious voters and future -minded companies who increasingly believe that Japan cannot afford to stick with the status quo if it wants to be globally competitive. “Japan has a span of about a year to assert itself as a clear leader in clean energy, storage batteries, solar cells. They can compete, but they are no longer the only guys in the global game,” said Jesper Koll, director of equities research at JP Morgan in Tokyo. “This is where government policy helps - it can create a domestic market that is captive and rich and creates jobs and puts Japan on the map as a global leader.”

To be sure, short-term economic pain is in store if utilities, faced with deep public mistrust after the world’s worst radiation accident in 25 years, are unable to restart reactors taken offline for checks. “We will have real pain for the next one to two years due to the holes opened up by the lack of nuclear energy,” said Martin Schulz, an economist at Fujitsu Research Institute. “But the pain is there because of what was done in the past. The moment you focus on future opportunities, it’s not so painful anymore.”

Even nuclear power proponents acknowledge that their dream of supplying more than 50 percent of electricity from atomic energy by 2030, up from about 30 percent before Fukushima, has been dimmed by the radiation disaster. More than 70 percent of voters in a Kyodo news agency survey published on Sunday supported Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s call last month for a future free of dependence on nuclear power. The vision has sent shivers through the nexus of political, business and bureaucratic interests dubbed Japan’s “nuclear village”, which has responded with dire warnings.

“If we completely abandon nuclear power generation ... I think most industries would lose competitiveness and go out of Japan,” Masakazu Toyoda, chairman of the quasi-government Institute of Energy Economics, told Reuters. “But 50 percent might be too much. Twenty-five or 30 percent might be digestible.” Kan has promised a blank-slate review of the 2010 national energy plan and vowed to promote renewable sources such as wind and power with a law that would require utilities to buy electricity from a wide range of sources through generous feed-in-tariffs - subsidies paid by end-users.

That law, originally conceived as a way to promote renewables as a replacement for fossil fuels rather than nuclear power, looks likely to pass in a week or two. Proponents see the legislation as a welcome step toward moving away from reliance on centralised nuclear power production to a model of dispersed electricity producers linked by a high-tech “Smart Grid”.

But with the unpopular premier under pressure to keep a promise to resign and the “nuclear village’s” tentacles deep in both ruling and opposition camps, experts say the outlook for bolder measures may depend more on private sector and local government initiatives than the corridors of power in Tokyo.

Mobile phone carrier Softbank’s charismatic president, Masayoshi Son, has become Japan’s most prominent corporate apostle of alternative energy. This month, he launched a clean energy group with 35 of Japan’s 47 prefectures keen to get involved in renewable energy projects. “The vested interests dominate a lot of the political process, but we are seeing a challenge from the local government level,” said Rikkyo University professor Andrew DeWit, adding that Son was also attracting interest from a range of companies and non-profits.

Hiroshi Mikitani, president of online retailer Rakuten Inc , has defected from Japan’s biggest business lobby, the pro-nuclear Keidanren, out of pique with its opposition to opening the power industry to competition. Electronics and IT firms are eager to help upgrade Japan’s power network to a “Smart Grid” needed to handle an influx of electricity from decentralised, fluctuating power sources such as solar and wind farms and construction firms are eyeing profits from designing and building “Smart Cities”.

Reactor maker Toshiba Corp, for one, has said it would increase its focus on renewables and smart grids and in May announced it would buy Swiss smart-meter maker Landis+Gyr. “The companies are way ahead of the government,” said an electronics industry analyst who declined to be identified. “But it would help to have a coherent policy to support what they are doing.”

Still, formidable barriers to drastic policy changes remain, including a murky political outlook that makes it hard to predict who will be running the country a month from now. Japan’s massive public debt, already twice the size of its $5 trillion economy, means finding government funds to invest in new technologies and upgrading the power grid will be tough.

“The current strategy to rely on nuclear to replace fossil fuels is a non-starter. Nuclear power is much more expensive than people believed given decommissioning costs, long-term uranium costs and (waste disposal) costs,” said Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG in Tokyo. “But we can’t just snap our fingers and have great energy technology ... We have to orient with a 50-year horizon.” — Reuters

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‘Speedy’ commits suicide SALT LAKE CITY: Olympic silver medalist skier Jeret “Speedy ” Peterson has committed suicide near Salt Lake City, days after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving, police said on Tuesday.

Peterson, 29, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Monday night, shortly after he had called emergency dispatch to say he was going to kill himself, said Lieutenant Justin Hoyal, a spokesman for Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake.

He was a silver medalist in the men’s freestyle aerials competition at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. Peterson’s

MADRID: Wealthy Malaga have made their ninth signing of the close season by luring Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla from La Liga rivals Villarreal, the clubs said on Tuesday.

Neither team published financial details of the deal but local media reported that Malaga had agreed to pay 20 million euros ($29 million) for the 26-year-old, which would be a club record fee.

One of a group of talented playmakers in the current Spain squad, Asturian Cazorla came through the youth ranks at Real Oviedo before joining Villarreal in the 2003-04 season. He made his debut for Spain in May 2008, helping them to victory at Euro 2008 later that year, but a back injury meant he missed out on their World Cup triumph in South Africa last year.

“They have been very enjoyable years but football carries on and I have a very exciting project ahead at Malaga and now I must focus on that,” Cazorla said at a farewell news conference at Villarreal’s training ground.—Reuters

body was found beside his vehicle on a road just outside Salt Lake City, Hoyal said. Police said he left a suicide note, but they declined to reveal the contents of the message.

Peterson’s death on Monday came three days after the Olympic athlete was arrested in Idaho on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving. He was released from the Blaine County Jail in Idaho after posting $500 bail. He had been arrested after speeding in a Dodge Dakota pickup through Hailey on Friday, in south-central Idaho, at an estimated 70 miles per hour-over the local speed limit of 25 mphpolice said.—Reuters

DETROIT: Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper retired from the National Hockey League on Tuesday after a stellar 20-year professional career that included winning four Stanley Cups. The 40-year-old spent three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets then 17 with the Red Wings before finally calling it quits after playing in 1,157 regular season games, spent mostly as a third and fourth-line center. “Kris Draper has represented the Detroit Red Wings with nothing but class and dedication for the last 17 years,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “His extraordinary work ethic has provided a great example for all players within our organization and his influence on the young players in our system will be felt for years to come.” Draper represented Canada at international level, winning gold medals at the 2003 world championships and 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He was also a member of the Canadian team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was traded to Detroit for $1 in 1993 after spending three seasons with the Jets and established himself as a key player in the Red Wings roster. In the 2003-04 season, he was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward.—Reuters

Phillies bring down Giants

Rory McIlroy seen in this file photo.

Major winners converge on buzzing Irish event DUBLIN: Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell’s involvement in the Irish Open will make certain this week’s event is special, according to fellow major winner Padraig Harrington After Irishman Harrington’s 2007 British Open triumph, three Northern Irish winners have tasted success in a major in more recent times.

McDowell won his first major at the 2010 US Open, McIlroy broke all kinds of records in landing his first at this year’s US Open then Clarke lifted the British Open earlier this month.

“There’s no doubt that me winning helped Graeme, and I don’t know if we helped Rory, I think that might have happened,” Harrington, the 2008 US PGA champion joked on the European Tour website (www.europeantour.com).

“Martin Kaymer certainly said my wins helped him, and I’m sure the lot of us winning has helped Darren do it,” the world number 64 added of German Kaymer’s US PGA victory last August.

Since his heady days of 2007 and 2008

Harrington has not won on either the PGA or European Tour, but rather than feel any pressure he said he was enjoying soaking up the great atmosphere at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in Ireland.

“There is already a real buzz here and it’s only Tuesday. It’s really going to be a special week,” the 2007 Irish Open winner told Sky Sports.

Defending champion Ross Fisher, also struggling for form, said the vast crowds actually help his game rather than distract him.

“I would rather play in front of 100,000 than a hundred as it makes me help myself focus more, and I want to try that little bit harder,” the European 2010 Ryder Cup member said.

“We are out there to win for ourselves, but at the same time, I feel like we are out there to try to put on a show for the crowd. That’s what I try to do for them.

“Last year, I put on a pretty decent show, and hopefully I can do the same this year,” added the Englishman, without a win since last year’s triumph.—Reuters

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

NY Yankees 4, Seattle 1; LA Angels 2, Cleveland 1; Florida 11, Washington 2; Philadelphia 7, San Francisco 2; Baltimore 12, Toronto 4; Boston 13, Kansas City 9; NY Mets 8, Cincinnati 6; Minnesota 9, Texas 8; Milwaukee 3, Chicago Cubs 2; Detroit 5, Chicago White Sox 4; St. Louis 3, Houston 1; Arizona 6, San Diego 1; Oakland 6, Tampa Bay 1; LA Dodgers 3, Colorado 2; Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 3 (19 innings).

American League Eastern Division W L PCT GB Boston 63 38 .624 NY Yankees 61 40 .604 2 Tampa Bay 53 49 .520 10.5 Toronto 51 52 .495 13 Baltimore 41 58 .414 21 Central Division Detroit 55 48 .534 Cleveland 52 49 .515 Chicago White Sox50 52 .490 Minnesota 48 55 .466 Kansas City 43 60 .417

2 4.5 7 12

Western Division Texas 59 45 .567 LA Angels 56 48 .538 3 Oakland 46 57 .447 12.5 Seattle 43 60 .417 15.5

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 65 37 .637 Atlanta 60 44 .577 6 NY Mets 52 51 .505 13.5 Florida 50 53 .485 15.5 Washington 49 53 .480 16 Central Division St. Louis 55 48 .534 Milwaukee 55 49 .529 Pittsburgh 53 48 .525 Cincinnati 50 53 .485 Chicago Cubs 42 61 .408 Houston 33 70 .320

0.5 1 5 13 22

Western Division San Francisco 59 44 .573 Arizona 56 47 .544 3 Colorado 48 56 .462 11.5 LA Dodgers 47 56 .456 12 San Diego 45 59 .433 14.5

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia rookie pitcher Vance Worley threw a complete game to steer the Phillies to a 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants in Tuesday ’s clash of National League divisional leaders.

Worley (7-1) had five strikeouts and one walk, and has allowed two earned runs or less in 11 of his 13 career starts. It was his fifth straight win. Chase Utley had a rare insidethe-park home run, while Ryan Howard, John Mayberry Jr. and Raul Ibanez went by the standard route of clearing the fences.

Giants starter Barry Zito (3-3) - a late replacement for an ill Tim Lincecum - allowed six runs in seven innings.

Braves 4, Pirates 3 In Atlanta, a hotly-contested play at the plate gave Atlanta victory over Pittsburgh in a game that was the longest in Turner Field history. Just as the game looked like going into a 20th inning, Julio Lugo took off from third base on a ground ball toward third.

The throw easily beat Lugo, who tried to avoid the tag. Replays showed Pirates catcher Michael McKenry did tag the Braves runner but the home plate umpire ruled him safe.

Pittwburgh manager Clint Hurdle argued the call vigorously, following the umpire off the field as the Braves celebrated a marathon victory. The game matched the longest in the majors this season by innings and at 6 hours and 39 minutes it was the longest by time for both teams.

Mets 8, Reds 6 In Cincinnati, New York took advantage of one of Cincinnati’s worst defensive performances of the season. The Mets scored six unearned runs off Johnny Cueto (64) with the help of three errors, matching the Reds’ worst for a game. Jason Pridie put New York ahead with a two-run double, while David Wright continued his hitting surge since returning from a back

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia Phillies’ Vance Worley follows through with a pitch on his way to throwing a complete game in their 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.—AP injury, getting two more hits and (3-10) allowed five runs over seven driving in a run to improve to 10 for innings. San Diego, which leads the 24 with seven RBIs in his five games majors with 110 stolen bases, failed back. Mets starter Jonathon Niese to steal a base for the first time in (10-8) went five innings, giving up 13 games.

Marlins 11, Nationals 2 five runs in five innings.

In Washington, Greg Dobbs D’backs 6, Padres 1 In San Diego, Joe Saunders drove in a career-high five runs, came within one out of a shutout, including a solo homer, in Florida’s guiding Arizona past San Diego. defeat of Washington. Dobbs drove Saunders (7-8) had two outs in the in Florida’s first run in the first on a ninth when he surrendered a groundout. He added another runhomer. Justin Upton hit a solo scoring single in the seventh and homer for the Diamondbacks and drove in two more with a single a drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In five run ninth inning.

Logan Morrison and John Buck his past seven games, Upton is 15 for 26 with three homers and 13 both homered for Florida, which RBIs. Kelly Johnson had three hits, reached double figures for only the including an RBI triple, and Willie second time this season. Emilio Bloomquist had three hits with two Bonifacio extended his hitting streak to 24 games. runs scored.

Ricky Nolasco (7-7) pitched into Padres starter Dustin Moseley

the sixth inning, allowing three hits as the Marlins won their third straight. Jordan Zimmermann (6-9) gave up six runs for the Nationals, which have lost five of six.

Brewers 3, Cubs 2 In Milwaukee, Casey McGehee hit a two-run triple as Milwaukee pipped Chicago. Ryan Braun doubled in a run for the Brewers, who ended the Cubs’ season-best threegame winning trot.

Milwaukee starter Chris Narveson (7-6) went five innings but needed a reliever to bail him out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. John Axford tied a franchise mark with his 25th consecutive save. Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (7-8) continued his string of sharp outings against Milwaukee with seven strikeouts over six innings, but took only his second loss in 13 decisions against the Brewers.

Dodgers 3, Rockies 1 In Los Angeles, the hosts made it four straight wins by downing Colorado. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (12-4) threw a career-high 125 pitches over 6 2-3 gritty innings, allowing only two runs with six strikeouts. He increased his major league-leading strikeout total to 173. Matt Kemp drove in two runs for Los Angeles. Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin (8-8) was charged with three runs in six innings. He is 0-4 with a 4.87 ERA in his past seven starts.

Cardinals 3, Astros 1 In St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning and that proved enough for St. Louis to beat Houston. Pujols hit the first pitch he saw from Brett Myers (3-11) over left-center field.

The ball appeared to hit the top of the wall, but was ruled a home run.

David Freese homered for the Cardinals, who have won five of six.

St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook (94) allowed one run in six innings.

Houston fell to 0-5 on its seasonlong, 10-game road trip and 0-4 at Busch Stadium.—AP

Angels edge Indians

CLEVELAND: Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver asserted his claim to being the best pitcher in the American League by notching his eighth straight win as the Angels edged the Cleveland Indians 2-1 on Tuesday.

Weaver (14-4) gave up one run over seven innings and lowered his ERA to 1.79, best in the majors. In going 8-0 in 12 starts since May 23, he has a 1.27 ERA. Los Angeles closer Jordan Walden, who blew a save Monday, earned his 24th save in 31 chances. In the bottom of the ninth, Cleveland loaded the bases with no outs. Walden induced a double play, then a strike out to end it.

Twins 9, Rangers 8 In Arlington, Texas, Joe Mauer drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth, lifting Minnesota over Texas.

A day after being hammered 20-6, the Twins were more competitive Tuesday. They trailed 8-7 in the top of the ninth when they put runners on second and third via a Delmon Young single and a Jim Thome double off Rangers pitcher Neftali Feliz (0-2).

Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus fumbled a groundball for an error, allowing Young to score, tying it 8-8.

Mauer, getting a game off, came in as a pinch hitter and lashed a double to left to put the Twins in front. Minnesota reliever Glen Perkins (3-1) worked a scoreless eighth for the win and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for the save.

Red Sox 13, Royals 9 In Boston, David Ortiz had four hits and five RBIs to help power Boston past Kansas City. With the previous night’s game only ending at 2 a.m., the teams backed up impressively, combining for 31 hits and 22 runs.

Dustin Pedroia had four of Boston’s 16 hits; a total that forced the Royals to even turn to outfielder Mitch Maier for pitching, and he rewarded the team with a scoreless inning.

Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves (6-1) threw 3 1-3 scoreless innings in relief to improve to 20-2 in his career. Nathan Adcock (1-1) got just one out for the Royals, allowing three earned runs and three walks as Boston scored six times in the fifth inning to turn a back-and-forth game into a blowout.

Tigers 5, White Sox 4 In Chicago, Detroit eked out its lead in the AL Central division by edging Chicago. Tigers starter Justin Verlander (14-5) allowed seven hits in eight innings, with all the runs coming from

CLEVELAND: Indians third baseman Jack Hannahan tracks down a ground ball

by Los Angeles Angelsí Jeff Mathis during the third inning. —AP

two-run homers to Adam Dunn in the first and Paul Konerko in the sixth. Verlander, who threw 125 pitches, came back to strike out Konerko and Dunn with a runner on in the eighth.

Detroit’s Wilson Betemit had a two-out, goahead single in the eighth inning, and Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 27th save in as many chances. Detroit leads the division by two games over Cleveland and the third-place White Sox are 4 1-2 games back.

Yankees 4, Mariners 1 In New York, Seattle slumped to a new low, managing only one hit and striking out 18 times against New York, going down to its 17th straight defeat.

Yankees starter CC Sabathia (15-5) did not allow a baserunner until the seventh inning and recorded his seventh straight win against Seattle. He struck out 14 of the 25 batters he faced; seven in a row at one point.

The Mariners are four shy of matching the Baltimore Orioles’ American League-record 21game losing streak to start the 1988 season. The 1961 Phillies dropped 23 straight for the modern major league mark.

Curtis Granderson homered off Doug Fister (3-12) to put New York ahead 1-0 in the fourth

and Mark Teixeira connected for his 100th homer with the Yankees in the eighth.

Athletics 6, Rays 1 In Oakland, Cliff Pennington had three hits to remain the hottest hitter in the major leagues since the All-Star break, powering Oakland past Tampa Bay. Pennington singled twice and had an RBI double in the sixth, extending his career-high hitting streak to 10 games. He raised his average to .500 (18 for 36) since the break.

Brandon McCarthy pitched eight innings, Conor Jackson went 3 for 4 and Hideki Matsui added an RBI double for the Athletics. Tampa Bay’s Johnny Damon hit his 506th double to tie Babe Ruth for 47th on baseball’s all-time list.

Orioles 12, Blue Jays 4 In Toronto, J.J. Hardy homered twice while Derrek Lee and Nolan Reimold also connected as Baltimore thumped Toronto.

It was the first multihomer game of the season for Hardy and the fifth of his career. He went 2 for 5 with four RBIs. Lee went 4 for 5 with five RBIs. Every member of the Orioles’ starting lineup collected at least one hit. Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta (10-7) allowed five hits in five innings to snap a five-start winless streak.—AP

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GERMANY: Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia stops at pit lane in this file photo. —AP

F1 championship hots up in Hungary BUDAPEST: The Formula One season hots up in more ways than one this weekend when McLaren’s jubilant Lewis Hamilton looks to add further spice to the championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where temperatures could also soar.

The Briton produced a stunning drive to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday as world champion and championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered a rare blip to come home fourth at a cold and damp Nuerburgring.

The runaway German is still 77 points in front of nearest rival and Red Bull team mate Mark Webber, who won in Hungary last year, but their dominance during the first half of the season is quickly ebbing away.

Hamilton has triumphed twice at the twisty Hungaroring although the likely improvement in the weather from the Nuerburgring does not totally enthuse the 2008 world champion, who loves changeable conditions.

“Germany is a massive bonus or positive for us, but there’s still a long, long way to go and it’s about trying to keep doing this, trying to get some consistency,” said Hamilton, who has moved up to third in the standings.

“I say something now and then the next race could be a disaster because it’s a very, very hot track. I would prefer to keep my mouth closed and let the pace of our car do the talking.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was second in Germany and feels the

Hungary heat could help his resurgent team, although the quick turnaround from the Nuerburgring means the cars should be identical with no time for any upgrades to be installed.

McLaren were stunned by Hamilton’s pace in the last race having struggled previously and they will hope to gain the same advantage this weekend even if the Briton’s immaculate overtaking had as much to do with the Germany success as the new found power of the car.

The British team also have another reason to celebrate on Sunday when Jenson Button will become only the 11th man to race in his 200th grand prix, beating Alain Prost who finished on 199. Button has suffered two suc-

cessive retirements to drop out of the title picture but the 2009 champion will be doing everything to help his team and Hamilton.

Harmony seems less apparent at Red Bull where Webber was ordered not to overtake Vettel during Alonso’s win in Britain two outings ago and then said at the Nuerburgring that he hoped the chasing pack could catch the German.

Vettel responded by asking why Webber’s car was suddenly faster than his. It all sets up an intriguing contest before F1 heads off for a summer break. “Hungary is always a good grand prix, with a good atmosphere I think it’s one that most of the drivers enjoy,” Webber said.

“The track is pretty short and very technical, so it’s a busy lap for us.

There are limited places for overtaking, so we’ll see how the DRS helps with that this year. The Hungaroring should suit our car well, we were very strong there last year.”

Yet again Vettel failed to agree with his team mate and seems less excited about heading to Budapest as his early season invincibility rapidly disappears even if the chances of him losing his title still look very remote.

“The Hungarian GP is one of the hardest for the drivers. It can get very hot in the cockpit due to the hightemperatures, which means we lose a lot of body fluid during the race,” the champion said.

“There are a lot of bumps on the track, which means you can get shaken up a bit and, because the track has hardly any straights, you have almost no chance to rest. That’s what makes the Hungarian Grand Prix so exhausting.” As well as Button’s milestone, Nico Rosberg races in his 100th grand prix as stuttering Mercedes finally seek some good news at a track where Michael Schumacher won four times. Among other teams, Jarno Trulli is expected to come back into the Team Lotus after India’s Karun Chandhok had the seat in Germany while Bruno Senna will drive the Renault during first practice on Friday with Nick Heidfeld standing down momentarily.—Reuters

Storm down Mercury

PHILADELPHIA: Eagles’ Michael Vick listens to a question after coming back out to talk to the media at the teams NFL football training facility.—AP

NFL teams, players brace for shopping frenzy NEW YORK: National Football League (NFL) teams, players and their agents braced for a flurry of fast-paced negotiations and a frenzy of deal-making as clubs returned to business on Tuesday. Teams can now sign rookies and begin talks with free agents in an abbreviated run-up to the season after a lockout in March had halted all offseason league activities.

“Chaos. The best word for it is chaos,” 16year NFL veteran fullback Tony Richardson, a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee, told the New York Times.

The labor deal reached this week between NFL owners and players ended the lockout and will now see teams scrambling to get their rosters set in time for the start of the regular season on Sept. 8.

Players were allowed to report to teams starting Tuesday and one prominent rookie, 2011 first overall draft pick Cam Newton, arrived early to the Carolina Panthers facility eager to make up for lost time. “I’ve got to get to business,” the quarterback told reporters outside the Panthers’ facility.

Newton is not yet signed, but players will not be putting on pads for contact drills just yet and his agents said they plan to begin contract negotiations soon, according to a report on the NFL’s website.

Under the new rookie wage system

agreed to in a settlement unanimously approved by player representatives Monday that put an end to the lockout, Heisman Trophy winner Newton can sign a four-year deal for about $22.3 million with a $14.3 million option for the fifth year, the website said.

Open season had also started for trades, and many prominent names, including quarterbacks, are believed to be available.

The Philadelphia Eagles are believed to be testing the market for Kevin Kolb, who backs up signal caller Michael Vick, and the Arizona Cardinals are considered a potential suitor.

Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton is on the trading block, according to the Denver Post, which cited two league sources for its report on the seven-year veteran.

The Post said Denver head coach John Fox decided to start last year’s first-round draft pick Tim Tebow behind center. The newspaper said the Titans might welcome Orton aboard, while the NFL Network said Minnesota, Arizona and Miami were among teams that could also be interested.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will likely be a much-coveted free agent by teams with openings at the critical position, while Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer could be available.—Reuters

Boycott and Donald back England to topple India LONDON: Geoffrey Boycott has said India’s defeat by England in the first Test at Lord’s marked the “beginning of the end” of their time as the world’s number one Test team.

England, who won the first Test by 196 runs, will replace India at the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table if they win the ongoing four-match series by a margin of at least two Tests.

And former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald believes Andrew Strauss’s side “deserve” to be at the summit of Test cricket.

The second Test starts at Trent Bridge on Friday and Boycott, writing in the London Daily Telegraph, said the tourists’ bowling was “not good enough to worry England”.

Zaheer Khan, India’s strike bowler, broke down early on at Lord’s with a hamstring strain and is struggling to be fit for the second Test.

Former England opener Boycott was not surprised, saying: “Zaheer Khan is a quality bowler but even before the series started I never expected him to survive bowling in four Test matches in five weeks.

“His ability has never been in doubt but his fitness has always been a worry,” he added. “The great thing for England is they have two good back up seamers queuing up to take places.

“Tim Bresnan has done wonders when he has played. He has surprised me and probably deserved to play at Lord’s. And then there is Graham Onions who is back bowling for Durham and was a raving success against Australia in England. “India do not have back up seamers like that and that is where England’s advantage lies.

“Now they all have self-belief as well.

They have confidence in each other and they also know if they don’t perform somebody else will get their place.”

Meanwhile Donald, briefly England’s bowling coach in 2007, told BBC Radio: “England deserve to be the number one, there’s no question about it.

“They are a good side, they’re progressing every game,” Asked if their attack was the best in the world, Donald, who has since worked with New Zealand, replied: “There’s no question. —AFP

PHOENIX: The Seattle Storm clung on for an 83-77 win over Phoenix on Tuesday to move within one game of the Mercury in the WNBA’s closely contested Western Conference.

Phoenix went on a 17-6 run to get within a point with 1 minute remaining, but Camille Little took the ball away from Diana Taurasi and made a breakaway layup with 24 seconds left to help secure the win. Taurasi missed the second of two free throws, leaving the Mercury down 79-77 with 20 seconds remaining. Seattle’s Sue Bird slipped on the subsequent possession and was forced into a jump ball. Phoenix’s DeWanna Bonner won the tip but Tanisha Wright got possession for Seattle and made two free throws with 14 seconds left. Bird had 18 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals while Little added 15 points and five rebounds for the Storm.

Taurasi scored 26 points and added four assists for Phoenix.

Sun 77, Sky 66 In Rosemont, Illinois, Connecticut moved to the top of the Eastern Conference by breaking open the game against Chicago in the third quarter.

Chicago had led by ten points in the second quarter before Asjha Jones scored nine straight points during Connecticut’s 15-2 run later in the quarter that gave it a 34-29 lead. Jones had another seven points as the Sun extended a twopoint halftime lead to 51-39 with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter. The Sky got no closer than six the rest of the way.

Jones scored 22 points and Tina Charles had 21 for the Sun, who have won four straight and leapfrogged idle Indiana.

Epiphanny Prince scored 16 points to lead Chicago.

Lynx 85, Sparks 72 In Minneapolis, Minnesota made

PHOENIX: Seattle forward Swin Cash (right) draws the foul on Phoenix Mercury forward Penny Taylor of Australia, during the second quarter of a WNBA basketball game.—AP it six wins from seven games by beating Los Angeles, staying top of the Western Conference. The Lynx never trailed, and held a 20-point lead at one point for the eighth time this season.

Minnesota won despite the ejection of All-Star forward Rebekkah Brunson in the fourth quarter after she was whistled for her second technical foul.

Seimone Augustus scored 22 points, while Lindsay Whalen had 16 points and seven assists for the Lynx, who scored a franchise record 35 points off the Sparks’ 25 turnovers. Kristi Toliver scored 28 points for Los Angeles, which lost a third straight game to fall to 2-3

since interim coach Joe Bryant replaced Jennifer Gillom.

Silver Stars 73, Mystics 67 In Washington, San Antonio got 35 points from its bench players in the win over Washington. Quiet offensively for much of the second half, Becky Hammon’s 3-pointer with 4:56 left in the game broke a 57-57 tie and gave the Silver Stars the lead for good.

Trailing by two points with 2:54 remaining, the Mystics missed an opportunity on the subsequent possession to tie the game again.

The Silver Stars then scored the next six points, capped by Hammon’s two free throws, and made six straight from the line over

the final 29 seconds. Hammon scored 22 points for San Antonio, while Crystal Langhorne scored 19 points to lead Washington.

Dream 76, Shock 68 In Tulsa, Angel McCoughtr y scored a career-high 37 points and Atlanta held off struggling Tulsa.

McCoughtry shot 11 of 22 from the field and was 15 for 19 on free throws. Coco Miller added 12 points to help the Dream win the their fourth straight game.

Rookie center Liz Cambage scored 16 points to lead the Shock.

Sheryl Swoopes had five rebounds to top 1,500 for her career and Ivory Latta scored nine points to get to 1,000 in her career.—AP

Majestic Frankel wins Sussex Stakes GOODWOOD: Frankel underlined his superstar status and took his career record to eight wins in eight races with a majestic defeat of Canford Cliffs in the Sussex Stakes here yesterday.

‘Freak ’ was the word being bandied about after Sir Henr y Cecil’s three-year-old trounced his year older rival, a horse who turned up for this ‘Duel in the Downs’ seeking his sixth successive Group One victory.

Frankel, named in tribute to the late American trainer Bobby Frankel, led from pillar to post, stretching clear down the straight to beat Canford Cliffs by five lengths. The only other two runners, Rio de la Plata and Raisaman from France, were mere bit-part players.

Cecil, who has been training for 40 years, told Channel 4: “I think Frankel is the best horse I’ve ever seen, with Blushing Groom, and Shergar. I can’t go fur ther

back than that as I wasn’t around.

“I did think he could win easily, but I do respect the second an awful lot it’s a marvellous day.”

Frankel was sent off at 8-13, with one punter waging £240,000 ($393,000) with a British bookmaker.

H is jockey, Tom Queally, described his mount’s performance as “amazing”. “He’s a freak,” he said. “He gradually picked himself up, I used my initiative (to take the lead) and luck ily it worked out. He keeps finding more.”

Frankel first fired the public’s imagination with his runaway victory in the English 2,000 Guineas back in May, and yesterday’s win was equally impressive.

Among his admirers was beaten trainer Richard Hannon, who, when asked what he thought of Frankel, replied: “I don’t have much to do with him, do I? I only see his arse (bottom) occasionally!

LONDON: Jockey Tom Queally urges Frankel on to win the Sussex Stakes during the Glorious Goodwood Festival at Goodwood Racecourse. —AP “But my horse doesn’t like this track, he doens’t like going downhill, so I wouldn’t be frightened to take him on again.”

This was Frankel’s third straight Group One of the year, and on

this showing that tally is set to grow before the curtain comes down on the 2011 season. The nex t stop could be the Juddmonte International Stakes at York over ten furlongs.—AFP

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Aquatics Centre opens to complete London’s big five LONDON: Five years after the earth-movers began levelling the bleak, puddle-strewn industrial landscape just east from the City’s financial heartland the waveshaped Aquatics Centre became the fifth and final permanent venue to be completed in London’s Olympic Park on Tuesday.

With exactly a year to go until the start of London’s third summer Games, the 2.5 square kilometre park in working class Stratford, one of Britain’s most ambitious and costly urban renewal projects, now boasts all its main structures that will stage next year’s sporting drama.

The Aquatics Centre, which will officially open its doors late yesterday, joins the towering Olympic Stadium, the sleek-looking Velodrome, the multi-use handball arena and the enormous International Broadcast Centre (IBC) which have changed the skyline of London’s eastern approaches.

Basketball’s gleaming white 12,000-seat rectangular venue is also ready for use, although despite its imposing size it will be dismantled after the Games.

In a handy piece of synchronisation British diving hopeful Tom Daley will plunge off the boards on Wednesday to ripple the waters for the first time as the country also celebrates the start of the one-year countdown to the world’s biggest festival of sport with a series of events.

Even a two-month delay in completing the 268 million pounds Aquatics Centre, it seems, has its advantages. “Marking the one year to go, by diving in the Aquatics Centre is an incredible honour,” Daley said.

“Only a few years ago, this was a distant dream.”

The iconic Aquatics Centre, which houses two 50m pools and a diving pool and can seat 17,500 spectators during the Games, came in over budget and also missed its completion date because of complications over its roof design and heating systems.

There are also concerns about its long-term viability and the thousands with tickets for the swimming events next year might be slightly underwhelmed by the “bolt-on” temporary stands which rather diminish the striking stingray concept envisaged by Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid.

While it’s true value to Londoners can only be gauged in the years after memories of next year’s gala

have faded, its completion marks the end of an involved construction phase which has turned an unloved backwater of east London into a modern, compact sporting district which has won plaudits from International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge. The cosmetics are still to be applied, such as the greening of the park with thousands of trees and plants, temporary venues constructed, and

LONDON: Synchronised swimmers perform to mark the one year countdown to the start of the London 2012 Olympics at the Aquatics Centre.—AP

the athletes Village to be fitted out, but London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said the handover of the sixth main building project on the Park with a year still remaining was a cause for pride.

“With construction now complete on the Aquatics Centre, we are another step closer to the spectacular Olympic Park which will be host to world class sport in 2012,” Coe said.

“After the Games, the venue will become a muchneeded swimming facility for London with community use at its heart, epitomising the spirit of London’s bid.

“Everyone involved can be very proud of this venue and the progress of the Olympic Park as a whole.” More than 160,000 tonnes of soil, much of it contaminated, were dug out to build the Aquatics Centre-an operation that uncovered several Iron Age skeletons as well an assortment of rusting relics from the area’s former uses.

Now, the venue, which will lose its temporary stands after the Games and return to a 2,500-seat facility, has become a landmark for commuters travelling into the city by train and its sweeping 160m long roof will be one of the first impressions visitors will have of the Games.

Inside too, it will have a distinctive look, with 37,000 individual strips of hardwood forming the ceiling. The test event, the British Championships and Olympic trials, will take place in the Aquatics Centre early next year.

The focus will not only be on the swimming pool. In Trafalgar Square Rogge will join Coe and London Mayor Boris Johnson to launch the one-year countdown and reveal the design of the medals for the Games.

A huge “1” has been mown into the turf of the Olympic Stadium which was completed on time in May but is still to have its track installed.—Reuters

London 2012 enters final countdown with a splash

STANFORD: Serena Williams returns to Anastasia Rodionova, of Australia, during the Bank of the West tennis tournament.—AP

Serena trounces Anastasia STANFORD: Serena Williams has only played a handful of matches since her comeback from foot surgery and a life-threatening illness, but that won’t deter her from attempting to reclaim the top spot as soon as possible.

After trouncing Australian Anastasia Rodionova 6-0 6-0 in the first round of the Stanford Classic, the 13-times Grand Slam champion said that while she should be patient given what she has gone through during the past year, that approach is not in her makeup.

“I want to get back to the top,” Williams told reporters. “And I have no patience. But maybe this is teaching me to be more patient. And it’ll come, but not necessarily-No. 1 is great, but I really want to be able to do well in the Grand Slams.” Williams returned to the WTA tour at the grasscourt tournament in Eastbourne, winning one match before falling to world number three Vera Zvonareva.

As the defending champion at Wimbledon, she won three rounds before going to down to France’s Marion Bartoli. While she cautioned at Wimbledon that she shouldn’t be expected to do much given that she nearly died while experiencing a pulmonary embolism in February, she

was less than pleased with her early exit.

After the tournament, she flew home to Los Angeles and immediately started practicing.

“Definitely I was disappointed even though I shouldn’t have been, so I hit the courts,” she said.

“I didn’t deserve a break. I didn’t practice on the plane ride back, so that was about it.

Entering Stanford, Williams’s ranking had fallen to No. 169 as she only has two tournaments in her points total. It is her lowest ranking since she began playing semi-regularly in 1997.

Williams needed to use special injury exemption to enter the US Open, but if she does well at her scheduled tournaments at Stanford, Toronto and Cincinnati, she may be seeded anyway.

Williams could face rival Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals of Stanford, and said that while she relishes their clashes, she has bigger goals ahead. Few players have been able to return to the tour after a year off and win a major shortly after, but Williams considers herself a player apart and has her sights set on her fourth US Open title. “If I don’t think I have the chance to do well or be on top or to win, then...” she said. —Reuters

LONDON: The London Olympics entered its final year countdown yesterday with diver Tom Daley poised to make a splash in the newlyopened Aquatics Centre before the call goes out to the world to come and join the party.

“With a year to go, we are inviting the athletes, spectators and visitors from around the world to come to the UK next summer. It’s ‘London Calling’,” declared London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe. The completion of the wave -shaped Aquatics Centre, with Daley due to make the first dive in the evening, allowed organisers to congratulate themselves on delivering the Olympic Park’s permanent venues with 12 months to go, on time and on budget.

“To have all... permanent venues complete with a year still to go to the Games is a great achievement, and a firm sign that we are well on track to deliver a truly spectacular show in 2012,” London Mayor Boris Johnson declared.

“It’s a pretty big moment for us,” said Coe of entering the final stretch after years of hard work-the most important milestone on the journey so far and marked by a ‘1’ mown into the turf at the new Olympic Stadium.

London won the bid for the Games in 2005, and will be the first city to host the Olympics for a third time after previously doing so in 1948 and 1908.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge will formally invite the world ’s athletes to the G ames at an evening event-at 20.12 European time -in Trafalgar Square that will give a taste of the excitement to come.

“One year to go is a special time for any host nation,” he said in a statement. “It is the moment... when Olympic dreams star t to come into focus and when the world turns its attention in earnest to the city that will welcome it in only 365 days’ time.

“London 2012 is now ideally placed not just to deliver top level Olympic competition but also to leave a great legacy to the British people.” added Rogge, congratulating organisers for their work to date.

Johnson will also welcome the world while the design of the medals, an eagerly awaited secret, will be unveiled for the first time.

“There is much to do in the next 12 months but we can take huge comfort in the progress that has been made so far,” said Coe. “ We are absolutely on track and determined to stage Olympic and Paralympic Games which will deliver on the promises we made in Singapore (in 2005), inspire the athletes and make the nation proud.”

More than 3.5 million tickets have been sold so far, with all sports bar soccer sold out in the British offering, and a quarter of a million people have applied for 70,000 volunteer

LONDON: British Sports and Olympic Minister Hugh Robertson (left), Chairman of the London 2012 Olympics Lord Seb Coe (center) and Olympic silver medallist Colin Jackson (right) stand with clay moulds, after having made impressions of their feet, at St Pancras Railway station in central London to celebrate the oneyear-to-go mark. —AP

London opening ceremony will be easier for athletes

LOS ANGELES: James Blake lunges for a return during a match against Michael Berrer of Germany at the Farmers Classic tennis tournament. —AP

Harrison tops Berankis LOS ANGELES: US teenager Ryan Harrison celebrated his move into the world’s top 100 with a three-set first-round victory over Richard Berankis at the ATP Los Angeles hardcourt tournament on Tuesday.

Harrison, who reached his first career semifinal in Atlanta last week, rallied from a set and a break down to notch a 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lithuania’s Berankis, who is only 21.

“I was down a set and 4-2 and he had a game point on his serve,” Harrison said. “I was four points from being out of there. To get through one of those matches early in the tournament, it’s like a kickstart.”

Harrison was already riding high after breaking into the top 100 at 94 after reaching the final four in Atlanta. “I got to 101 after Wimbledon-so close... finally got through last week ... to crack that barrier is obviously the first of many goals I want to achieve.”

Another 19-year-old, Daniel Kosakowski, won his first match at the ATP level as he defeated fellow qualifier Tim Smyczek 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Kosakowski completed his first season representing the University of California at Los Angeles in May, but says he is now going pro.

In the second round he’ll face Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who snapped a five-match losing streak with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) upset of fifth-seeded Belgian Xavier Malisse. Gulbis had not won a match since the second round at the Nice Open in May. Eighth-seeded Russian Igor Kunitsyn advanced on schedule, beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-4, 6-3 to book his place in the second round. Kunitsyn saved all five break points he faced and broke Gonzalez three times.

Another US university standout was in action Tuesday as Steve Johnson, the reigning collegiate champion for the University of Southern California, took on Luxembourg veteran Gilles Muller.

Johnson delighted the California fans by taking the first set off Muller, before the Luxembourg player came back to win 2-6, 6-3, 64. Johnson didn’t go quietly. After dropping his serve in the seventh game of the final set he saved two match points in the ninth game to force Muller to serve out for the win. While players like Harrison, Kosakowski and Johnson are trying to work their way into the game’s elite, Mardy Fish is getting comfortable with his status as America’s top-ranked man. —AP

LONDON: Athletes should decide for themselves whether to attend next year’s Olympic opening ceremony and the benefits are likely to far outweigh any disadvantages, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said on Tuesday.

UK Athletics head coach Charles Van Commenee has said that Britain’s track and field team must not take part in the ceremony for their home Games because of the risk to per formance in events. “They would not go shopping for eight hours a few days before they compete, so why would you be on your feet for that length of time?,” he said this month. “Some are tempted because (it is a) once in a lifetime experience, but in the end we are aware that performance is number one.”

Coe, who won 1,500 gold in the 1980 and 1984 Moscow and Los Angeles Games without taking part in an opening ceremony at either, said London would be very different to Beijing in 2008 where athletes had to stand around for hours.

“Most athletes come to the right decision,” he told reporters as organisers prepared to celebrate the one year to go mark late yesterday.

“I can understand someone like Charles Van Commenee wanting to make sure athletes

positions.

Some 15,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with some 10,000 team officials and 20,000 accredited media also expected.

Britain, fourth in the gold medal table in Beijing in 2008, will have 550 athletes competing across the 26 sports and chasing an even greater tally. “Knowing full well that we have gone from being the hunters to being the hunted, no detail is being overlooked and absolutely nothing is being left to chance,” said British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Colin Moynihan.—Reuters

perform at the very highest level.

I think it’s different in London, on this occasion.

“If you want athletes to be a part of the opening ceremony, you have to provide holding areas, places to sit, you just have to provide an environment that does not remotely eat into performance over the next two or so weeks,” he agreed.

“Of course in London we have a big advantage because the village is actually in the park....the athletes are within walking distance.” Coe said taking part in the opening ceremony would be a major part of the Olympic experience for many of the more than 10,000 athletes arriving from around the world next year.

“That is one of the key memories they are going to take from London so we will make sure that the upside of being there (at the ceremony) is so much greater than any downside in hanging around and not being fed and watered properly and spending a long time-which of course won’t happen because of the proximity of the village,” he said.

“Traditionally the inhibitors have been what time in the evening do you have to get there, what time do you leave and ...get back to the village? We are in much better shape for just geographical reasons this time.”—Reuters

Walking Briton calls for an Olympic truce SARAJEVO: A Briton who is walking across Europe from Olympia in Greece to London, venue for the 2012 Olympics, arrived in Sarajevo yesterday and called for an international truce during next year’s Games.

“My campaign ... is to try to make sure that next year in London the Olympic truce is implemented again,” Michael Bates told journalists exactly one year before the 2012 Games get underway.

“Sarajevo is very significant.

Sarajevo was the first place where the (modern) Olympic truce was implemented in 1994. “It was to allow humanitarian aid to enter the city, which was under siege.

Very sadly, that was the last time the Olympic truce was implemented.” The Bosnian capital, which hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, was ravaged during the inter-ethnic war in the 1990s.

During the 1992-1995 war it was held in a siege by Bosnian Serb forces for 44 months, during which some 10,000 civilians, including 1,500 children, died. The United Nations’ first resolution on the Olympic truce was reached ahead of the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer,

Norway, and was briefly respected during Bosnia’s war.

According to Bates, a similar resolution is proposed and adopted ahead of every Olympic Games but they are never respected.

The idea of the Olympic truce dates back to 776BC in ancient Greece. King Iphitos of Elis is said to have visited the oracle at Delphi in a bid to bring an end to the civil wars that were plaguing the Hellenic world.

The priestess advised that he should restore the Olympic Games in honour of Zeus, the mightiest of the Gods, and institute a truce-or ekecheiriafor their duration.

Iphitos agreed and the truce was installed to allow competitors free and safe passage to Olympia. Bates left Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics, on April 22 and is planning to arrive in London in spring 2012, after walking some 5,600 kilometres (3,472 miles).

The 50-year-old Bates has so far walked around 1,600 kilometres, passing across Greece, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. London hosts the 2012 Olympic Games from July 27 to August 12 next year.—AFP

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Spain needs fairer TV cash system — Betis chief SEVILLE: Barcelona and Real Madrid’s growing control of La Liga is causing serious damage and their dominance of television revenue must be addressed, according to the president of promoted Real Betis.

European and La Liga champions Barca and great rivals Real, the world’s richest clubs in terms of revenue, take about half the total pot of TV income of 600 million euros ($868 million), allowing them to buy the best players and pay exorbitant wages.

The remaining 18 teams earn far less than their peers in rival European leagues, where a system of collective bargaining allows for

fairer revenue distribution, and have no chance of challenging for the title.

Seville-based Betis, one of Spain’s best-supported teams, have slipped deep into the red just like many other clubs as they strive to remain competitive. They have also been forced to seek court protection from their creditors.

“As we have seen the last few years there are only two teams that have a chance of winning La Liga,” Betis president Miguel Guillen told Reuters in an interview held in his modest office on Tuesday.

“The gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid and the rest is

going to get bigger and bigger,” added the 42-year-old business administration graduate.

“This is doing great damage not only to the other clubs that are not Real Madrid and Barcelona but also to our league.

“In the long term we are hurting our league because there will be less interest and it will generate less TV revenue.” Guillen is the latest president to call for change in the distribution of Spain’s TV money and the introduction of a system similar to the one used in the English Premier League.

Jose Maria del Nido, president of Betis’s city rivals Sevilla, said this month that the Spanish league

was “third world” and “a load of rubbish”.

An agreement Barca and Real brokered last year with 11 other top-flight sides on sharing some of the TV cash from 2015 is likely to cement their advantage while helping the other clubs only marginally, analysts have said.

Figures collated by Jose Maria Gay, a professor of accounting at the University of Barcelona, show Barca earned 158 million euros from their TV deal in the 2009-10 season, or 26 percent of the total, and Real 136 million euros, or 22 percent.

Real’s city rivals Getafe, 2008 UEFA Cup quarter-finalists, earned

six million, or one percent.

In the English Premier League, Manchester United made 64.5 million euros from domestic TV rights in 2009-10, 5.8 percent of the total.

Smaller clubs like Wolverhampton Wanderers (43.8 million) and Wigan Athletic (42.8 million) were allocated about four percent of the pie.

“We do think [the Spanish system] needs to be changed,” said Guillen who has been tasked by Betis administrators with getting the club’s finances back in order after years of mismanagement.

“Considering that it’s such an important part of income, the distribution needs to be more equal

between the clubs.

“People in South America, in Asia, in the United States, are going to lose interest because they know there is nothing much outside the matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona. “We’ll have less consumers and in the long term this is not good for Spanish football,” said Guillen.

The terms of Betis’s TV deal limited their earnings from selling audiovisual rights to 2.8 million euros last season while they were in the second tier, he added.

The club’s return to the top flight is set to boost income for the 2011-12 campaign to 29 million euros. —Reuters

Jordan’s Prince Ali: Quick justice for bin Hammam

PORTLAND: Portland Timbers David Horst follows the ball as Club Atletico Independiente goalkeeper Hilario Navarro traps a shot in an exhibition match at Jeld-Wen Field. The Timbers won 2-0. —AP

Crunch time for Asian hopefuls in World Cup SEOUL: With continental powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran virtually assured of advancing to the next stage of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, much of the second-round drama is expected to center on Southeast Asia this week.

Of the fifteen second-round matches played last weekend, the few that remain finely balanced in Thursday’s return legs involve one of the continent’s most passionate football regions.

The last time a country from Southeast Asia made the World Cup was 1938 - when Indonesia was known as the Dutch East Indies and after none of its teams qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup in January, having just a single representative in the group stage of qualifying for Brazil 2014 would be another disappointment.

One Southeast Asian spot in the next round is guaranteed as archrivals and neighbors Singapore and Malaysia were drawn together, with Singapore winning a thrilling first leg 5-3 at home. Other countries from the region are still in contention after the first leg of the second round: Indonesia earned a 1-1 draw in Turkmenistan, Thailand takes a 1-0 advantage to Palestine; while in Yangon, Myanmar has to reverse a 2-0 first-leg loss to Oman.

The 15 winners will progress to the third round where they will be joined by Australia, Bahrain, Japan, North Korea and South Korea, with the 20 teams to be divided into five groups of four teams. The top two teams from each of those groups in turn progresses to the fourth round.

Singapore may regret allowing a 4-1 home lead in the first leg become 5-3. The return match promises to be a grand occasion, with the 85,000 capacity Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur expected to be full. “Malaysia will

progress to the next round,” B.Sathianathan, who left his post as Malaysian head coach in 2008, told the Associated Press. “The full capacity is extra motivation for Malaysia and will spur the players to go the extra mile to qualify for the next round. The fitness level of both teams will decide the outcome especially in the second half of the game.

“Both teams showed in the first leg that their weak point is defending. My prediction is based on the Singapore defense, which is not as solid and strong as it used to be. The Singapore coach has done a remarkable job since taking over but he needs to inject new blood in the team for the future.”

With political wrangling off the field, it has been a tough year for Indonesian football.

Those problems cost Alfred Reidl his job as head coach just over a week ahead of the Turkmenistan match. Despite the dismissal, Reidl believes his former charges will progress to the next stage with a win in the home leg.

“Indonesia deserved the draw and the players are clearly better than their opponents at an individual level,” Riedl said. “Indonesia had problems only in the first 20 minutes in defense but after that, controlled the match, despite having to play on a terrible pitch.

“It would be a big surprise if Indonesia does not reach the next round.” Thailand’s prospects of making the group stage - when seeded teams Australia, Japan, Bahrain and North and South Korea enter - would be much better if Suchao Nutnum had not missed a last-minute penalty against Palestine in the first leg.

Thailand, which parted company with former England captain Bryan Robson as coach in June, dominated the game but only won 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Jakkraphan Kaewprom. —AP

Iraq athletes demand that Bahrain release held player BAGHDAD: Dozens of athletes rallied in Baghdad yesterday, demanding the release of a 16-year-old Iraqi football player detained in Bahrain earlier this year when the country was swept by anti-government protests.

Hussein Aboud, a coach in Baghdad’s al-Hadoud club, says the arrest of Zulfiqar Naji was not justified and was politically motivated.

Naji plays for Bahrain’s al-Muharraq club, and his supporters say he did not participate in protests against the Bahraini government.

“We demand the release of Naji, whose arrest was unjustifiable,” Aboud said. “He is being kept in prison because Bahraini authorities want to show that the protests are a foreign conspiracy.”

The Baghdad protesters were wearing their club jerseys. They held posters of Naji and banners urging the Iraqi government to intervene to ensure his immediate release. His father, Abdulameer Naji, accused the Iraqi government for doing little to help.

“The whole family has been living in constant ordeal for the past four months,” the father said. “My son did nothing wrong, and he is now in custody based on false information.”

Earlier this month, Iraq’s foreign ministry said it was trying to obtain the release of the young player from Bahrain’s custody.

Hundreds of opposition supporters, protesters and at least 150 athletes and sports officials have been detained since Bahrain imposed martial law in March to quell dissent.

Dozens have been tried in a special security tribunal with military prosecutors.

Bahrain lifted the emergency rule in June. The country’s Sunni rulers also halted trials in the military-linked tribunal and shifted all protest-related detainees to civilian courts.

S everal weeks ago, FIFA said Bahraini football officials have given the sport’s governing body assurances that national team players haven’t been disciplined during political turmoil in the Gulf kingdom. —AP

DUBAI: FIFA vice president Prince Ali Al Hussein has expressed concern over a drawn out dispute involving Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam, who has urged Asian members for patience while he appeals a life ban for bribery.

China’s Zhang Jilong has been interim AFC president since bin Hammam was suspended last month. Bin Hammam, who helped his native Qatar win the right to host the 2022 World Cup, has stated he has no intention of quitting as AFC president and will appeal his ban to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The AFC executive committee will meet Friday and Jordan’s Prince Ali, who has ruled out standing for the AFC presidency, said that while bin Hammam has the right to appeal, the process of replacing him should not be allowed to drag on.

“Mr. bin Hammam has the right to appeal and that is his own personal decision and we respect that,” Prince Ali told The Associated Press in an email. “However, it would be unacceptable for anyone to try and drag AFC and Asian football into any process through irresponsible action. I certainly will not accept that.”

Bin Hammam denies giving cash to Caribbean officials in exchange for supporting his bid to become FIFA president and contends that the allegations were made because he was a threat to FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s re-election to football’s highest job.

On AFC-headed paper, bin Hammam wrote to Asian members on Monday urging their support during his appeal and anticipated delays before he can present his case.

Prince Ali’s view was echoed by Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura, who said earlier Tuesday that bin Hammam

“has been banned for life so I think an election needs to be held.”

“He doesn’t think he has done anything wrong and said he has no intention of quitting as AFC President and FIFA executive,” Ogura said, referring to a letter he received from bin Hammam.

Zhang responded to the FIFA decision at

Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein the weekend by issuing a statement saying it was a “sad day for the AFC and Asian football.”

“AFC respects FIFA’s decision and we also acknowledge former AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam’s inalienable right to

lodge an appeal against the decision.”

Requests for interviews with Zhang and AFC executive members have been repeatedly declined by the AFC, which says the outcome of Friday’s meeting will be announced in a statement and no members will be available for comment.

Prince Ali said he didn’t think the bin Hammam affair would damage the reputation of Middle East football, which was on an upswing after Qatar was last year awarded the right to host the 2022 World Cup. “Football in the Middle East is advancing step by step and we all must continue to focus on developing the game in the best interest of the players and the fans,” he said.

“I have great faith in my colleagues in west Asia and across the continent and I am confident that we will work hand in hand and in all transparency,” Prince Ali told the AP by E-mail.

“That is the work ethic that we aspire to. At the same time, we have to be vigilant and address any misconduct.”

Prince Ali said that the ideal choice for the next AFC president would be someone who “runs on a clear platform, who explains himself and his vision and presents a program on how he sees the future of AFC, rather than running on a political platform or based on geography.”

“Bearing in mind that this is about Asian football and not about one individual - that is why I have faith in all football leaders in AFC to work together and move forward in the best interest of the game,” he said.

Prince Ali did not suggest a possible replacement for bin Hammam, with his spokeswoman saying it is premature since there are no official candidates yet.

Bin Hammam, a 15-year veteran of the FIFA executive committee, is the most senior football official convicted of corruption in its 107-year history. —AP

Phelps snaps losing streak

England soccer star David Beckham

Beckham and Rooney to meet in MLS All-Star game NEW YORK: David Beckham plans to be an ambassador for England at the 2012 London Olympics, preferably as a player for his nation’s football team. Wayne Rooney isn’t exactly known as an ambassador for his sport.

The Manchester United stars of past and present will meet late yesterday in the Major League Soccer All-Star game. The 36-year-old Beckham, now with the Los Angeles Galaxy and an MLS All-Star, hopes to compete for his home country at next year’s Olympics in what could be one of the final chapters of his career.

“I don’t want to just be an ambassador. I will be an ambassador for the games and for our country, but I want to be involved,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I want to play.”

The 25-year-old Rooney is the one scoring goals - and creating controversy - for Manchester United these days. Among the antics: cursing directly into a camera during a Premier League match in April.

“Sometimes in games the emotions do take over,” Rooney said at an event showing off Manchester United’s new Nike uniforms. “You do things you regret afterward. That’s part of the game.” Manchester United takes on the MLS All-Stars at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena as part of its US tour.

Beckham last talked to Olympic organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe two months ago about his potential role and isn’t sure when a decision will be made. He attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics. —AP

SHANGHAI: American great Michael Phelps got his world championships back on track yesterday with a convincing 200m butterfly victory that kept alive his hopes for a second straight five-title haul.

The Olympic champion and world record-holder, who has been in uninspiring form, stormed ahead over the early stages and fought off a late challenge by Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda to win by 0.67sec, with China’s Wu Peng third.

A relieved Phelps smiled and shook Wu’s hand after the win, which seals his fifth 200m butterfly world title and makes up for a disappointing third place in the 4x100m relay and silver in the 200m freestyle.

“I didn’t want to lose that race again.

Having a number of defeats this year is extremely frustrating for me and I didn’t like the feeling,” said Phelps.

“So I kind of wanted to have the feeling of winning a race again. It feels good to win a race.” Phelps arrived in China, scene of his record-breaking eight-title haul at the Beijing Olympics, on the back of a string of losses, and admitted he had neglected training and spent too much time playing golf.

His slump reached a nadir in May, when Wu beat him in the 200m butterfly for the second time in two months-ending a nineyear unbeaten streak Phelps had hoped to preserve until retirement.

On a busy night for the American, Phelps also qualified second behind Ryan Lochte for Thursday’s 200m individual medley final, where he will try to avenge defeat to his team-mate in the 200m freestyle.

Phelps won five titles at the 2009 world championships in Rome, a year after his Beijing success, and now has a career tally of 23.

Also yesterday, Italy’s Federica Pellegrini claimed her second successive world freestyle double when she surged from fifth at halfway to win the 200m in 1:55.58 from Australia’s Kylie Palmer and Camille Muffat of France.

Olympic champion Pellegrini, who successively defended her world 400m crown on Sunday, appeared in trouble at 100m but she closed emphatically to win it by nearly half-a-second.

Meanwhile China’s Sun Yang won the men’s 800m freestyle title ahead of Canada’s Ryan Cochrane with Gergo Kis of Hungary third, delighting a packed Sea Crown stadium which has now witnessed three gold medals for the hosts.

Sun, 19, who led throughout, was never seriously troubled despite Cochrane’s best efforts and won by a healthy margin of 3.29sec, earning his first world title after finishing second in the 400m freestyle on Sunday. —AFP

SHANGHAI: China’s Sun Yating (blue 6) prepares to score near Russia’s Ekaterina Prokofyeva (white 3) during a semifinal match for the women’s water polo event at the FINA Swimming World Championships. China beat Russia 13-12 to advance to the final. —AP

Jordan’s Prince Ali: Quick justice for bin Hammam

Storm down Mercury in WNBA

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London 2012 enters final countdown with a splash Page 18

HONG KONG: Blackburn Rovers’ David Dunn (center) battles for the ball with Aston Villa’s Stiliyan Petrov (left) during the Barclays Asia Trophy soccer match.—AP

Villa edge Blackburn in Hong Kong Barclays Asia Trophy HONG KONG: Aston Villa edged a scruffy pre-season showing against Blackburn Rovers yesterday, winning 1-0 in the first match of the Barclays Asia Trophy.

A goal from Darren Bent sealed the contest for Villa early in the second half after a lofted cross from Barry Bannan from the right edge of the box.

Villa made the early running with promising play from Bannan. The 21-yearold Scot showed some nice moves down

the right flank as he tried to impress new manager Alex McLeish, who is looking to plug a gap left by the transfers of Stewart Downing and Ashley Young.

Bannan said he was pleased to get valuable minutes in the first team. “It was hard work-I was happy getting 60-odd minutes on the pitch,” he said.

“When you’ve got players like Benty there, you just try to get involved. I put the ball in the right area and he finished it.”

The win puts Villa through to the final of the four-team tournament on Saturday, where they will face Chelsea. The London club saw off Hong Kong champions Kitchee, with three second-half goals putting the gloss on a 4-0 win. Blackburn will play Kitchee for third place on Saturday.

Villa and Blackburn sweated through a goalless first half in front of a near-capacity crowd in the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium, many of them dressed in

Chelsea blue. Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor posed the main threat early on, connecting well with right-back Luke Young and switching wings dangerously.

McLeish said Agbonlahor and Bent looked a powerful combination but he was still trying to decide whether to play Agbonlahor on the flanks or up front.

“He looked very threatening, he gets into some attacking positions,” McLeish said. “We’d like to think we could play

either Gaby or Benty together-they’re both England players-every week. But that won’t happen. It’s horses for courses, and a long season, and you can’t always play 4-4-2.” Villa almost scored in the 24th minute when a Bannan cross ran through a crowd of bodies in the area to Stephen Warnock, but his scuffed shot was pushed away by French defender Gael Givet.

Blackburn midfielder Steven N’Zonzi saw the only yellow card of the game

2014 World Cup dates confirmed despite worries SAO PAULO: The 2014 World Cup in Brazil will take place between June 12 and July 13, FIFA announced yesterday, insisting that the country will be ready to host the sport’s greatest tournament.

“The World Cup in 2014 will start on June 12 and finish on July 13. I know everyone wants to know the city that will host the opening game of the tournament, but that will be decided in October,” said FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke. Five-time champions Brazil will host the tournament for the second time after 1950, when they lost the final at the Maracana stadium to neighbouring Uruguay.

The last South American hosts were Argentina in 1978. Valcke also confirmed that the Confederations Cup would be held in Brazil between June 15 and June 30, 2013. The preliminary World Cup draw takes place on Saturday in Rio. There have been concerns over the progress of construction of the stadiums being used for the competition, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted on Wednesday that the country of 190 million will be ready. “The reality of facts is that still there is some work to be done,” said Blatter. “Brazil and FIFA together will deliver an exceptional World Cup in 2014.”

Valcke likened the build-up to the finals to similar doubts that were expressed over South Africa’s readiness to stage the 2010 event.

“In Brazil we have the same con-

cerns with South Africa and in the end you saw how it went. The World Cup will take place in Brazil, it will be great and they are working to be the best World Cup,” said Valcke. “Brazil is not ready for the World Cup tomorrow morning, as was the case in South Africa two years before the World Cup. We know most of the stadiums should be ready for the World Cup, the latest for late 2013.”

The World Cup final may yet be in Rio’s famed Maracana, though the hosts had initially slated Sao Paulo’s Estadio do Morumbi for the honour.

However, last year it was dropped amid worries over financial guarantees for stadium improvements. Security remains an issue but it is the state of the 12 venues that is posing a headache, with several behind schedule on construction or renovation, and/or over budget.

A mooted new venue in Natal in the north-east 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.

Organisers in Rio say they believe that the Maracana will be ready in time, but only after renovations costing some $625 million.

A further logistical issue is an airport system already running at capacity. A further influx of around 2.5 million football fans means a huge upgrade of the whole system is required.—AFP

when he brought down Agbonlahor, who threatened to break through on Villa’s left flank. Rovers manager Steve Kean gave Chris Samba the captain’s armband in the absence of Ryan Nelsen, who is still recovering from a knee operation.

The crowd had good reason to cheer in the 53rd minute, as Samba went on a marauding run before laying off nicely to Brett Emerton, but the Australian’s curled shot was tipped around the post.—AFP

Rubin score shock win at Shevchenko-less Dynamo

BRAZIL: Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff (left) shakes hands with former Brazilian soccer player Pele at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. Rousseff named Pele an ambassador for the 2014 World Cup Brazil.—AP

Aguero poised to move to City MADRID: Argentina forward Sergio Aguero is in Manchester to finalise a move from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, the player said yesterday.

“Just arrived in Manchester to tie up the details of the signing for City,” Aguero said on his Twitter feed, which can be reached via a link on his official website (www.sergioaguero.com).

“Everything is going well,” he added. “I’ll tell you more in a little while.” Juventus had also been chasing the diminutive forward who upstaged team mate Lionel Messi at the Copa America by scoring

three times in four games.

Aguero, 23, was one of the few bright spots for Argentina, who bowed out of the event they were hosting at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shootout defeat to eventual champions Uruguay.

Aguero, married to one of Diego Maradona’s daughters, has spent five seasons at Atletico Madrid where he won the Europa League in 2009/10. He is expected to replace unsettled compatriot Carlos Tevez at the Premier League side. He was raised at Independiente where he made his professional debut as a 15-year-old. —Reuters

LONDON: Dynamo Kiev, who left out former European footballer of the year Andriy Shevchenko, slumped to a 2-0 home defeat against Rubin Kazan in a Champions League third qualifying round first-leg tie on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, 1966 European Cup runners-up Partizan Belgrade lost 2-1 at Belgian league champions Racing Genk while Dutch side Twente Enschede eased past Romanians Vaslui 2-0 thanks to a double from Austria striker Marc Janko.

The third qualifying round winners are battling for a spot in the playoff matches where they could seal a berth in the competition proper. In Ukraine, Alan Kasaev struck from close range in the sixth minute to give Rubin the lead before Bebras Natcho added a second goal for the Russians with a 68th-minute penalty.

Shevchenko was left sitting on the bench as an unused substitute while Dynamo failed to capitalise on a host of scoring chances. Coach Yuri Semin’s team will now have a mountain to climb in next week’s return match.

The two teams also met in the Champions League group stages two seasons ago, Dynamo winning in Kiev 3-1 before holding Rubin to a 0-0 draw in Kazan.

In Belgium, Genk came from behind to earn a 2-1 home win over Serbian opponents Partizan thanks to a superb injury-time goal from late substitute Marvin Ogunjimi. The striker, who came on in the 85th minute, sent a vociferous home crowd into raptures when he controlled a deep, searching pass and beat goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic with a delightful lob from 10 metres.

Genk defender Calvin Anele Ngcongca was sent off for violent conduct in the 32nd minute but Partizan also had forward Stefan Babovic dismissed shortly after the interval for two bookable offences. Nemanja Tomic had put Partizan in front but the same player also gave away a soft penalty five minutes later that was converted by Jelle Vossen in the 70th minute.

In Enschede, two-goal Janko led Twente to victory over Vaslui in a match played at the Gelredome in Arnhem. Twente were unable to use their home ground after a roof collapsed at the stadium earlier this month, resulting in the death of two construction workers. Janko converted a penalty after 34 minutes before adding a second goal after the break.

In Scotland, 1979 European Cup runners-up Malmo won 1-0 at Rangers thanks to a 18th-minute goal from Daniel Larsson.

In other matches, Lithuania’s Ekranas Panevezys drew 0-0 at home to BATE Borisov of Belarus while FC Zestafoni were held to a 1-1 draw in Georgia by Sturm Graz of Austria.

Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava drew 0-0 in Cyprus against APOEL Nicosia and Polish side Wisla Krakow triumphed 2-1 at Litex Lovech of Bulgaria.

There are eight more qualifying games late yesterday including former European champions Benfica hosting Trabzonspor and Panathinaikos travelling to Odense BK.—Reuters

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Moody’s downgrades Cyprus bond rating Page 26 THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Turkey lira drop fuels fund flight

Is US default deadline truly August 2?

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Clock ticks on US Aug 2 deadline Lack of US debt progress lifts gold; stocks flat WASHINGTON: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev (right) accompanied by Sen Charles Schumer, D-NY, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, as they announce a new proposal to solve the debt limit crisis.— AP

SINGAPORE: Gold prices hit a record high of more than $1,625 an ounce yesterday and Asian stock markets were largely flat as news out of Washington indicated politicians were making little progress in ending a deadlock over raising the US debt ceiling. Republicans had to delay bringing a plan to a vote in the US House of Representatives because it was being rewritten, while an analyst at Standard & Poor’s told CNBC that prioritizing debt payments to avoid a default would be “deeply disruptive” to the economy. Debt and inflation were globally the main focuses of investors. The Australian dollar jumped to a post-float high above $1.1060 after second quarter inflation figures were higher than forecast, squeezing investors who had recently increased bets that the Australian central bank would cut rates this year.

The Australian dollar and other AsiaPacific currencies have been rising as traders anticipate more policymaker action to keep quickening inflation and capital inflows at bay.

The threat of a US default and a credit rating downgrade loomed over equity markets and the dollar, which was sold across the board on Tuesday, though a one-notch cut may not have a lasting impact on markets. “The impact of a credit downgrade on the financial markets would be negative for growth. The induced shocks to the economy could lower next quarter’s real GDP growth to

close to zero. However, a likely rebound in Q4 growth, following a resolution of the budget debacle, could leave growth in the second half lower by 0.6 percent,” said Michael Carey, North American chief economist with Credit Agricole, in a note.

DEBT POLITICS The crisis over Washington’s borrowing limit has not triggered a persistent selloff in risky assets, especially since many investors see few alternatives to the depth of the US Treasury market and contrast the political nature of the US crisis with the structural problems in the eurozone. Most market watchers expect some sort of last-minute deal in Washington.

But the standoff has made investors increasingly hedge against an adverse outcome, particularly with the clock ticking toward an Aug 2 deadline when the US Treasury said it would not be able to borrow anymore. Japan’s Nikkei share average fell 0.5 percent, led by Honda Motor Co shares, which ended the day down 1.7 percent.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.4 percent, though trading volume was low throughout the region, suggesting many investors were choosing to sit on the sidelines until the outlook becomes clearer. The US dollar index, which gauges its value against a basket of six other major currencies, was largely unchanged on the day after earlier hitting a fresh 2-1/2-month low at 73.42.

The dollar hit a four-month low against the yen, just below 77.70, though the march lower has been sluggish because of fears that Japan may step into markets unilaterally to slow its currency’s gains.

Japanese policymakers are becoming alarmed at persistent yen rises and considering solo currency intervention as an increasingly viable option for the near term, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was at 2.97 percent , up around 2 basis points from late Tuesday in New York.

The yield has darted around 3 percent for the past week, with traders highly uncertain about the near term outlook.

Shorter-term securities reflect more of the unease among investors, with T-bills maturing in August yielding 2 to 3 basis points more than debt coming due in September. In commodity markets, gold climbed to an all-time high of $1,625.24 an ounce, having risen more than 14 percent so far this year, greatly exceeding the S&P 500 index’s 6 percent gain so far.

“The same arguments about potential government bond fallout are still being made,” said a Singapore-based trader, “but people are on the sidelines ahead of the August deadline waiting to see whether or not the US is going to avoid a technical default.” US crude oil futures fell 19 cents to $99.40 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were up 10 cents at $118.40.—Reuters

AUB records profit of KD19.1 million KUWAIT: Ahli United Bank records high rate of profitability in the first half of 2011 with net profit of KD 19.1 million, representing an increase of 50.1% over the same period of last year. This profit has been achieved through operating income of KD 37.2 million. Earnings per share reached 18.9 fils per share compared to 12.6 fils per share for the same period in 2010. This demonstrates the solid financial position & the ability to maintain sustainable operating profit. Customer deposits have increased by 15%.

Commenting on the positive results achieved by the Bank, the Chairman and the managing Director of the Bank, Hamad Abdul Al-Mohsen Al-Marzouq, mentioned “these results are due to adopting a prudent policy, implementing the best practices and principles of corporate governance within a comprehensive matrix in all local and regional markets. This has enabled the Bank to overcome the global financial crisis that hit the markets and have had an adverse direct impact on credit and finance activities.

Hamad Al-Marzouq added that the generated profit was mainly due to the growing performance at all levels due to the diversity of sources of income, the expansion of activities, the proper risk diversification and the continues customer satisfaction in meeting their financial needs through introducing innovative services and products. He also highlighted that the next period would be full of challenges especially in light of the rapid changes taking place worldwide. AlMarzouq affirmed that the Bank continues

to implement its prudent policy and distinct management approach. Many neutral international rating agencies have commended the bank’s solid and stable financial standing future as well as the quality of its assets.

He also highlighted that “the Bank’s Risk Management supports the stable credit rat-

Hamad Al-Marzouq ing according to Fitch Report. The Fitch Report has commended the quality control and the improved asset quality in 2010. The high credit rating reveals the successful conversion of Bank’s operations to be Sharia’a compliant commenced in April 2010, which rendered AUB as the ideal choice for customers’ banking needs. Al-Marzouq added that Ahli United Bank, after conversion into a fully fledged Sharia compliant Bank exerts all

efforts to introduce diversified Islamic banking products & services and enhance the quality level of customer service.

Al-Marzouq said that AUB returns on the investment deposits have significantly exceeded the returns on similar deposits in the market as of first half of 2011 being the highest returns in the State of Kuwait. Based on the Bank’s results for the second quarter in 2011, the profit distribution on annual deposits in Kuwaiti Dinar has reached 3.11% on “Al-Yousr Plus” and 2.33% on “Al-Yousr”, the return on the investment deposits for three months in Kuwaiti Dinar “Bashayer AlDuha” reached 1.54%, and the rate of return on the quarterly investment savings accounts in Kuwaiti Dinar “Al Safa” reached 1.62%. The Bank distinguishes its investment depositors by announcing the profit quarterly thus securing their profit based on the declared profit rates at each period. This has enriched the customers’ confidence in the Bank. As for the Financial Statements during the current year and the potentials of profitability, Al-Marzouq said that - by the grace of Allah - the Bank would accomplish more achievements during the current year. Ahli United Bank has become one of the distinguished Islamic banks, and is well prepared to acquire a significant share in Kuwaiti market, deriving its strength and high solvency from a deep-rooted banking history dating back to 70 years ago. Over this honorable history, the Bank was, several times, placed as one of the best banks as per global banking standards.

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BUSINESS

Turkey lira drop fuels fund flight Lira slumps on current account gap, doubts over policy ISTANBUL: Ten years after a financial crisis which caused banks to collapse and foreign investors to pull out, Turkey again risks market turmoil as its currency slides-and the drop may not halt unless the central bank hikes interest rates. Many fund managers and analysts believe Turkey’s situation will not become as serious as it was during the repeated crises of 2000-2001, when the country had to resort to over $10 billion of loans from the International Monetary Fund, and the 1990s.

The economy is stronger and larger than it was then, and the Turkish banking system does not have the big exposure to foreign currency debt that sank it in 2000-2001. Foreign currency reserves are near record highs above $90 billion.

But large amounts of foreign portfolio investment have withdrawn from Turkey in the last few months, and the lira’s slide is an unwelcome reminder to investors that despite the country’s economic success over the past decade, unpredictable policies can still make the country risky.

“For this to be a currency crisis the lira should hit over 2 against the dollar in the short term.

However, I don’t feel it will go over 1.9, and I don’t think the central bank will allow this to turn into a crisis,” said Umit Ozlale, economics professor at the country’s TOBB University. But Ozlale added, “The central bank should immediately raise its policy rate by 100 to 150 basis points to renew confidence. If it fails to do this, the move in the currency may get steeper.”

LIRA The lira has lost about 10 percent of its value to hit a 28-month low of 1.7340 against the US dollar this year, making it the worst-performing investment currency in emerging markets. It has plunged about 16 percent against a euro/dollar basket. JP Morgan’s latest monthly investor survey showed a sharp fall in foreigners’ lira posi-

tions, to their lowest since the survey began in 2003. The Turkish stock market has dropped 10 percent this year and is the world’s worst-performing big emerging bourse after Brazil; a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch poll showed foreign fund managers’ positions in Turkish stocks were near their lowest since March 2008.

Meanwhile, concern about inflation and Turkey’s current account deficit have pushed bond yields up sharply since the start of the year, with two-year yields rising almost 2 percentage points. The IMF has forecast the deficit will balloon to 10.5 percent of gross domestic product this year from 6.7 percent last year; it totaled $37.3 billion in the first five months of this year.

“They need a billion dollars a week in portfolio inflows to finance the current account deficit and the number of people willing to take that risk is beginning to dry up,” said Kieran Curtis, who helps manage $1.4 billion in emerging local debt at Aviva Investors in London.

The central bank has raised reserve requirements for banks in an effort to cool loan growth in the economy, and on Monday it cancelled its foreign exchange buying auctions and eased reserve ratios for longer-term foreign currency deposits in an apparent effort to slow the lira’s slide. But neither the central bank nor the government seem alarmed by lira weakness or the resulting outflow of foreign investment funds-in the initial stage at least, they appeared to welcome a soft currency. At its July rate-setting meeting, the central bank abandoned its tightening bias and said it might even loosen policy if international events hurt Turkish growth.

Earlier this month Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said a lira stronger than 1.60 to the dollar would make Turkish goods less competitive. Authorities appear to be hoping a weaker lira will stimulate Turkey’s exports, there-

Chinese retail giant surges 47% on debut HONG KONG: China’s top hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail group soared as much as 47 percent on its Hong Kong trading debut yesterday, after raising $1.06 billion from its initial public offering. Shares in the retail giant-backed by France’s Groupe Auchan SAtouched HK$10.58 ($1.36) at one point, well above its HK$7.20 IPO price, before easing slightly to close at HK$10.12. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.13 percent lower.

The retailer has bucked a recent downturn in the Hong Kong IPO market, the world’s biggest, and said its share sale was 41.1 times oversubscribed, defying a batch of weak new listings in the Asian financial hub. “It is really surprising. It is absolutely amazing that the stock can shoot up more than 40 percent,” said Francis Lun, managing director of financial services firm Lyncean Holdings. “This is certainly good news for companies planning to list in Hong Kong soon because the IPO market has been quite weak recently,” he said.

Some firms have decided to delay or cancel their listings citing turmoil global markets. Italian luxury goods maker Prada made a lackluster debut in the financial hub in June after raising a lower-than-expected $2.14 billion in its IPO. And Australian miner Resourcehouse also shelved an IPO originally slated to raise as much as $3.6 billion, citing weak market conditions.

Sun Art Retail Group was originally scheduled to make its Hong Kong debut on July 15 but it was delayed after it overstated its earnings per share in its IPO prospectus. It later issued a supplementary prospectus. The retailer, previously known as Sun Holdings Greater China Ltd, is a joint venture between Taiwanese supermarket-to-cement conglomerate Ruentex Group and France’s Groupe Auchan. The Chinese firm has said it plans to use half of the share sale proceeds to open 51 stores in mainland China by the end of next year. Sun Art currently has 197 hypermarkets in the country. — AFP

by cutting the current account deficit without sacrificing economic growth. Private analysts, however, fear costlier imports may drive up inflation, ultimately choking off growth. “The message from the market is that it doesn’t understand the central bank’s policy,” wrote Simon Quijano-Evans at ING. REGULATION The loss of investor confidence in Turkey is not nearly as complete as it was in 2000-2001, however. Stricter regulation of Turkish banks since then appears to have limited the threat from the latest currency slide. “The main difference between now and then is that in 2001, the Turkish banking system was running huge forex exposure and when the lira fell the system went bankrupt...This time because of the problem in 2001, the banking system hasn’t been allowed to run big positions in open forex exposure,” said fund manager Claude Tiraman at Lutetia Capital.

Also, irritation at Turkey’s economic policies is to some degree offset by its newfound political stability, and by hopes that credit rating agencies will classify the country as investment grade in coming years-once the current account deficit is brought under control. “There is an underlying willingness to buy the Turkey story amongst the investor base, driven by an acknowledgement of the solid fundamentals - stable/majority government, high growth, favorable demographics, the sound state of public finances and healthy banks,” wrote Tim Ash, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.

And many analysts think the central bank may take fresh steps in coming weeks to support the lira, once it sees that cancelling forex buying auctions has had little impact. An indication of its intentions may come when it issues its quarterly inflation report today. The central bank’s next likely step is to increase its overnight borrowing rate from the current 1.5 percent, predicted economist Ozlem Bayraktar Goksen at Unicorn Capital.

Its main policy rate, the one-week repo rate, which has been held at a record low of 6.25 percent since January, might then be increased at a later date. The central bank has shown it can quickly rein in currency weakness when it desires. In mid-2006, the lira fell more than 20 percent against the dollar during a pullout of funds from emerging market economies in general; the Turkish central bank raised its key rate by 4.25 percentage points in June and July, and the lira then appreciated through the end of 2007.— Reuters

Habes Al Howail

Mohammed Qdaei

Mazaya Qatar appoints six new Qatari talents Firm works in line with Qatarisation plan KUWAIT: As part of its ongoing search for national talent, Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Development Company has added six new Qatari nationals to its staff in support of its existing project management and development team. The six nationals, who joined different departments, were employed in line with the ambitious Qatarisation program that was launched by the company prior its participation in Qatar’s annual Career Fair.

The new employees were selected based on criteria such as experience, qualifications, proficiency and competencies consistent with the company’s ambition, its reputation in the real estate market, its ongoing strategy of developing revenue-generating projects, its recent focus on infrastructure projects, and it compliance with sustainability and environment-friendly standards.

Speaking on the occasion, Seraj Al Baker, CEO of Mazaya Qatar, said, “National responsibility requires all companies operating in the Qatari market to consider the potential of Qatari nationals, prepare career development programs for them, and help them take up their role in serving the nation’s goals, working together to achieve progress and welfare.

All Mazaya Qatar’s initiatives in this regard, including our Qatarisation program, our participation in career fairs, and our open-door policies are important steps in the right direction to support Qatari national talent in different fields”.

“We are thrilled to have more national talent on board, and we would like to reiterate that the doors of Mazaya Qatar are still open, and the company is still able to offer rewarding careers to a large number of young Qatari nationals. Job openings at Mazaya Qatar are not restricted to particular times or needs,

but rather are available for any nationals with a sense of creativity, which we will be happy to help them explore, discover and refine. We wish our new colleagues at Mazaya Qatar great success,” Al Baker continued. Mazaya Qatar’s new employees received a warm welcome and expressed their thanks to the team, who helped remove obstacles from their paths and offered assistance when it was needed. They promised to spare no effort to prove the ability and efficiency of Qatari nationals to perform well in performing the tasks.

The appointees were Salem Mohamad Al Hadfa (Government Liaison), Ms Kholood Mostafa (Accountant), Dalal Yaqoob (Customer Liaison), Habes Al Howail (Human Resource Officer), Mohammed Qdaei (Public Relation Asst Manager), and Latifa Al Obaidli (Administrative Assistant-Finance & Admin).

Speaking of her appointment, Kholoud said, “I am delighted to be starting my career at Mazaya Qatar.

I appreciate their desire to improve employee’s skills through training and career development programs, and I plan to capitalize on the experience and opportunities at Mazaya Qatar, as this experience will be critical to building my career on a strong foundation.” Al Howail also expressed his delight at joining the team: “Mazaya Qatar offers graduates a rewarding and fascinating career, as well as a friendly work environment that is among the very best in the personal and practical aspects, which will deeply impact my personal and practical life”. Mazaya Qatar’s Human Resources department is currently seeking highly-qualified engineers with excellent experience to join the projects team.

Abraaj Capital not exploring Citadel Capital’s transaction KUWAIT: In response to market speculation, Abraaj Capital confirmed yesterday that following a review, it is no longer currently exploring a transaction with Citadel Capital, a private equity firm based in Cairo and listed on the Egyptian Exchange. This does not preclude Abraaj Capital from exploring such a transaction in the future should performance, deal terms and/or circumstances change.

Abraaj Capital confirmed that it had been in exploratory discussions regarding a potential

transaction with Citadel Capital senior management for the past two months. However these discussions were of an initial nature to evolve a framework, deal terms and mechanics that could be workable for both parties. As no agreement has been reached to date between the two parties, Abraaj Capital feels it is appropriate to disclose this fact to the respective stakeholders in order to quell further speculation on this matter.

Abraaj Capital is the leading private equity and alternative asset management group in the

Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA). Headquartered in Dubai, the group regularly explores potential investment opportunities in the MENASA region. Some of these transactions for various reasons may not reach closure. The group strongly believes in the economic fundamentals of the region and remains committed to identifying future investment opportunities in Egypt specifically, and the wider MENASA region in general, and continues to enjoy a robust pipeline of potential transactions at various stages of execution.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2700000 .4420000 .3860000 .3310000 .2850000 .2930000 .0040000 .0020000 .0738890 .7198690 .3810000 .0700000 .7049050 .0040000 .0430000

.2765000 .4530000 .3890000 .3400000 .2950000 .3020000 .0072500 .0035000 .0753140 .7337480 .4010000 .0770000 .7184950 .0072000 .0530000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2727000 .2748000 .4445960 .4480200 .3914880 .3945030 .3331500 .3357160 .2876130 .2898280 .0525150 .0529190 .0430620 .0433940 .2957700 .2980480 .0350030 .0352720 .2256520 .2273890 .0034720 .0034990 .0000000 .0062310 .0000000 .0025190 .0000000 .0031990 .0000000 .0036940 .0745060 .0750780 .7258860 .7314580 .0000000 .3898870 .0729660 .0735260 .7107960 .7162530 .0000000 .0064710

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.532 6.225 3.156 2.491 3.899 227.690 35.084 3.648

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

6.483 9.201 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 72.882 75.096 709.890 725.920 74.421

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 48.500 45.830 1.250 202.070 385.960 182.000 5.900 35.481

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 273.200 Euro 397.780 Sterling Pound 449.820 Canadian dollar 291.260 Turkish lire 161.080 Swiss Franc 343.000 Australian dollar 301.830 US Dollar Buying 272.000 GOLD 296.000 149.000 77.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL CASH 302.400 726.220 3.900 292.900 536.400 36.300 53.700 167.800 47.890 400.900 35.730 6.500

0.033 0.240 0.238 3.590 387.950 0.185 93.750 47.100 4.290 242.500 1.852 51.900 709.250 3.280 6.600 75.540 72.910 227.920 43.320 2.627 452.400 44.400 344.100 5.600 9.510 198.263 74.500 273.400 1.200

10 Tola

GOLD 1,658.270

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

SELL DRAFT 303.900 726.220 3.653 291.400

227.900 45.857 399.400 35.580 6.220

0.033

38.930 0.184 93.750 3.910 241.000 709.070 3.170 6.485 75.110 72.910 227.920 43.290 2.489 450.400 342.600 5.600 9.380 74.350 273.000

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 450.400 273.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees

Selling Rate 272.950 287.750 448.881 398.614 336.036 723.683 74.287 74.920 72.747 384.203 45.810 2.490

Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

6.230 3.163 3.652 6.476 669.512 3.571 9.218 5.739 3.937 90.730

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 273.000 3.170 6.235 2.505 3.660 6.520 74.430 73.000 725.800 45.825 454.000 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 387.900 5.750 402.200 295.400

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) 272.650 399.200 450.200 291.200 3.540 6.220 45.815 2.490 3.650 6.468 3.154 726.100 74.300 72.870

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

business

Carphone not immune to consumer cutbacks Shares down 1.4%, lagging European retail sector

Al Ahli Bank’s Ramadan timings KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait extends its warmest greetings to ABK customers and the people of Kuwait as we near the holy month of Ramadan. During this auspicious month, ABK’s branches will remain open to serve customers from 10 am to 1:30 pm.

However, ABK is accessible round the clock to its customers through various other channels. Ahlan Ahli, at 1 899 899, will be accessible 24/7 as it always is.

In addition, “Ahli Chat” features on our

website www.eahli.com, where you can chat live with an ABK agent for your banking needs. Online Banking is a convenient and secure way to conduct banking transactions from your own comfort zone. With SMS banking you can send & receive account updates instantly via your mobile and last but not the least, iPhone users can download iAhli from your App store to enjoy a whole new world of mobile banking. So you can reach ABK from anywhere, anytime!

Gulf Bank announces winners Of 28th Al Danah Weekly Draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its TwentyEighth Al Danah weekly draw on July 24, 2011, announcing a total number of ten Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 28th Al Danah Weekly Winners are: Moiz Abddulkayyum Kapasi; Saminah Akil Bhajat ; Husain Abdullah Husain Alajmi ; Awaad Mobark Ali Mobark ; Ali Mohammed Hussain Almesri ; Aksam Ali Mohamed Ibrahim ; Hushenk Taqi Irani Dost; Naser Bader Ali Abutaleb ; Rabea Mohd Abdulsamad Abdulhafith; Khateja Malak Shaikh Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to open an Al Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1000 for 10 winners each), and the annual draw (1 Million Dinars). Gulf Bank’s Al Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner.

To be part of the Al Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 54 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s bilingual website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.e gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al Danah and who the winners are.

Avocet buys back 20% of its gold hedge book LONDON: West African-focused Avocet Mining said it bought back 20 percent of its gold hedge book to give it greater exposure to the metal’s record high prices at a time when its costs of production are rising. The news boosted the miner’s shares, despite a decline in its second-quarter earnings. The company said yesterday that core profit (EBITDA) fell to $26.1 million from $33 million in the previous three months on an expected decline in production. The shares were up 5.2 percent at 236.75 pence at 0817 GMT, close to a threemonth high and outperforming a British mining index .

Avocet had previously warned that output from its Inata mine in Burkina Faso would fall in the second quarter due to lower grades and industrial action. The company announced a $120 million expansion plan for Inata yesterday. It is targeting an additional 80,000 ounces a year from the mine, with production starting in early 2013. The mine is expected to produce 165,000 ounces of gold this year. “If you don’t have higher grade, one of the ways to mitigate higher costs is to increase production,” Chief

Executive Brett Richards said. “Disappointing operating results are likely to be overshadowed by plans for future expansion and the trimming of its hedge book,” said Numis Corp.

Group gold production fell to 62,803 ounces in the second quarter, from 71,708 ounces in the first quarter, as cash costs surged to $802 an ounce from $678. Its highest production costs were from its Southeast Asian operations. It has completed the sale of two key assets there for $170 million and expects to receive the remaining $30 million this quarter. The company raised its full-year cash cost guidance to around $675 an ounce, from $600-650. It also initiated a dividend program with an interim payout of 2.1 pence per share.

Avocet will buy back 20 percent of Inata’s hedge book for about $40 million, doubling to 80 percent the proportion of output from the mine that will be exposed to spot gold prices.

Finance Director Mike Norris said the company did not want to close the hedge book altogether, which would have cost about $190-200 million, as Avocet’s priority is growing production. — Reuters

Amazon revenue surges SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon.com Inc reported a surge in quarterly revenue on sales of its kindle electronic reader and other electronics and forecast far better-than-expected revenue for the current quarter, sending its shares up more than 6 percent. The largest Internet retailer benefited from growth in ecommerce, though margins continued to be pressured by heavy spending on distribution, technology and digital content.

But the market focused more on sales growth than profits. “If you look at top-line growth it was extremely strong,” Dan Geiman, analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen, said. “At this point it’s a question of how long the company is going to continue to invest at their current levels. Presuming these investments don’t go on forever, earnings should grow going forward.” The world’s largest web retailer reported a 51 percent climb in revenue to $9.91 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations for $9.4 billion.

Operating margin fell to 2.0 percent from 4.1 percent a year earlier. Amazon is investing heavily to build warehouses and distribution to support its main e-commerce business. It is

also spending on servers and datacenters for its cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services, while buying more digital content to bolster media offerings such as streaming video. The company is expected to introduce a tablet computer later this year that would compete with Apple Inc’s iPad. Amazon forecast third-quarter sales of $10.3 billion to $11.1 billion, compared with the average forecast for $10.35 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Operating income is expected to be between $20 million and $170 million in the period, the company also estimated. The guidance includes about $180 million of stock-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets. It also assumes no other acquisitions or investments close in the quarter. Shares of the company, which have risen about 18 percent since the start of 2011, gained 6.3 percent to $227.57 in after-hours trade.

Second-quarter net income came in at $191 million, or 41 cents per share, versus $207 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. — Reuters

LONDON: Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s biggest independent mobile phone retailer, is struggling to sell high-priced accessories to cash-strapped shoppers, even though demand for smartphones and tablet computers is helping it to cope better than most. “You’re not going to sell 150-pound headsets in this environment as easily as you would in another,” chief executive Roger Taylor said yesterday.

Many European retailers are struggling as shoppers are squeezed by rising prices, subdued wages growth and government austerity measures. German group Metro on Tuesday reported a weaker-than-expected performance at its MediaMarkt-Saturn business, Europe’s biggest electrical goods retailer, while rival Kesa has put its loss-making British chain Comet up for sale. Carphone, which owns 50 percent of a venture with US electricals group Best Buy , has fared better than most thanks to its focus on the fast-growing markets for smartphones and tablet computers like Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Taylor said yesterday that outperformance had continued, though the group was feeling

the tough conditions with weak demand for prepay phones in both Europe and the United States. “We have to be impacted, but maybe not as extremely as others,” he said in a telephone interview. At 0745 GMT, Carphone shares were down 1.4 percent at 399.25 pence, lagging a 0.1 percent rise on the STOXX Europe 600 retail index. The shares have beaten that index by 4 percent this year.

SHIFT TO LONGER CONTRACTS Britain-based Carphone said sales at European stores open over a year fell 3.3 percent in the first quarter of its financial year, with growth in mainland Europe offset by a hit in Britain from a switch to longer phone contracts.

The overall decline was ahead of analysts’ average forecast for a drop of 4.75 percent, according to a company poll, and Taylor said underlying sales were up 2-3 percent excluding the impact of the contract switch in Britain.

Connections at Best Buy Mobile in the United States climbed 12.3 percent, lagging forecasts for a 17.5 percent rise. But Taylor said

weakness in prepay phones there was offset by a stronger performance in more profitable postpay contracts. Carphone also said it added a net 68,000 customers at Virgin Mobile France, ahead of an expected 40,000 increase. Citi analysts saw little change to full-year expectations as a result of the update. They are projecting a 28 percent rise in earnings per share to 18.5 pence. Taylor said Carphone and Best Buy were still evaluating the future of their 11 British megastores.

He declined to comment on whether the pair might be interested in buying Comet.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday they were not involved in the auction.

Taylor said Carphone hoped to announce a refinancing of the Best Buy Europe joint venture in the next couple of days, while some analysts think could lay the foundations for a return of cash to shareholders. While the group was interested in selling property assets, it was not looking to do so just yet, Taylor added. “We haven’t seen the yields necessarily contract as much as we’d still like to see,” he said.— Reuters

Gulf Express organizes training for Jassim Transport engineers KUWAIT: Gulf Express Co, an Al Babtain company, as per their commitment towards supporting their esteemed customers, has conducted TOTAL lubricants technical training programs course for the engineers & technical staff of Jassim transport at their training room in Kuwait on Sunday 24th July ’11. Hasan Ali, Sales Manager Lubricants has welcomed the guests for their participation & explained the importance & the need of training in every field of life. He took this opportunity to recognize that through the years the relations between Jassim

Transport & Gulf Express Co have been strengthened & now TOTAL Lubricants are the most preferred lubricants by Jassim transport at their Shuwaikh, Ahmadi & Meenaabdullah locations. Hasan Ali thanked them & assured for continuous support.

Lubricant’s training was given by highly experienced Export Manager of TOTAL Lubricants Dubai Mr. Abdullah Siddiqi, who tailored & developed the training program to match the specific requirements of Jassim transport Co. The module has been prepared to improve technical

Peugeot Citroen reports profit rise PARIS: French auto group PSA Peugeot Citroen reported a firsthalf net profit rise of 5.0 percent yesterday but its outlook for the year disappointed the market and the shares fell by 6.14 percent to 27.69 euros. Net profit for the first half rose to 806 million euros ($1.17 billion) and current operating profit by 1.8 percent to 1.16 billion euros. The group, which sold slightly more than 1.8 million vehicles in the first half, said that sales had risen by 9.7 percent to 31.1 billion euros. Disruption caused by earthquake damage in Japan had hit the global auto industry and the negative effect for the group amounted to 147 million euros. Finance director Frederic Saint-Geours said a further impact of 100 million euros was expected in the second half owing to problems with the supply of parts. The group also suffered from a rise in raw materials costs, which represented an extra charge of 366 million euros in the first half. “We estimate the negative repercussion of raw materials for the whole year at 700 million euros,” Saint-Geours said.

The group is the biggest car maker in France and the secondbiggest in Europe after Volkswagen of Germany. In the first half it made 38 percent of its sales outside Europe compared with 33.0 percent 12 months ago. Sales in China rose where its second joint venture has just been approved by the authorities. It has not yet chosen the site where it will set up production in India. The group maintained its forecasts for the year, counting on an increase in current operating profit. It expected the market in Europe to be stable despite the ending of government subsidy schemes for new cars when old cars were scrapped.—AFP

Eurozone’s money supply growth slows FRANKFURT: Growth of the eurozone’s money supply eased markedly in June, the European Central Bank said yesterday, a development likely to keep interest rates on hold for the forseeable future. The ECB’s M3 indicator of money supply rose by 2.1 percent last month, following a gain of 2.5 percent in May, a bank spokesman said. The central bank had initially estimated the increase in May at 2.4 percent, and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had penciled in a rise of 2.3 percent in June.

The ECB regards the M3 figure as a key guide to pressures likely to affect inflation in the medium term and bases its interest rate levels in part on the current trend. The central bank seeks to keep eurozone inflation below but close to 2.0 percent, whereas it stood at 2.7 percent in June. Meanwhile, the rate of growth in eurozone bank loans to the private sector also declined in June, the ECB said, though a breakdown of the data showed mixed results for businesses and households. Overall lending increased by 2.5 percent compared with the same month last year, but that was a decline from the 2.7 percent level registered in May. The figures nonetheless revealed a marked pick-up in loans to non-financial sector, with the rate of expansion climbing to 1.5 percent in June from 0.9 percent the previous month. “This suggests that banks are becoming more willing to lend to corporates and modestly eases concern that persistently tight credit conditions may hold back corporate activity in many countries,” IHS Global Insight chief European economist Howard Archer said.-—AFP

knowledge for Jassim Transport’s staff regarding lubrication of their various current fleet of equipment’s. Jassim Transport Co. has been introduced with the Profit Booster Lubricants that will help to reduce their fuel consumption, extend their drain intervals, optimize their lubricants stocks, and reduce their equipment’s wear, at the same time would be environment-friendly.

Jassim Transport Co has been introduced with the Profit Booster Lubricants that will help to reduce their fuel consumption, extend their drain intervals, opti-

mize their lubricants stocks, and reduce their equipment’s wear, at the same time would be environment-friendly.

Participants have very enthusiastically taken part in question & answers session during the presentation. DC Page, Maintenance Manager from Jassim Transport thanked the Gulf Express Co & TOTAL team for conducting a world class training program which helped their staff to be more confident while dealing with Total Lubricants & have requested to have such updates frequently in future.

Commercial Facilities Company announces new working hours KUWAIT: On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, the Commercial Facilities Company (CFC) announces its new working hours during the month, which will be in two shifts: 10:00 am - 1:20 pm for the first shift, and then 8:45 pm - 10:45 pm for the second shift, Sundays to Thursdays.

Mohammed Bader Al Qattan, Manager of Services Development, Commercial Facilities Company said, “On this holy occasion, we would like to wish all our customers in Kuwait a blessed month. We at CFC are continuously seeking new means to provide the best services that comply with our customers’ needs during the month of Ramadan.

In addition to the morning shift, the company will also open its doors for its customers who would prefer to apply for their transactions after iftar, a measure that reflects the company’s policy of maintaining its flexibility for the best benefits of its customers.” Al Qattan added, “Customers can complete their transactions by visiting any of our five branches within the specified timings. In addition, they can also visit us in any of our 21 representative offices that are located in the car dealerships during their own located timings.” Moreover, customers are also encouraged to utilize CFC’s quick online service by making their payments through CFCOnline. ‘“It can’t be made any easier,” emphasized Al Qattan. “In seven steps only, customers can make their online payments in about 45 seconds.”

CFCOnline provides quick financing applications, required information for customers’ documents, a clear financial policy, loan calculator, and the balance of a current loan, all which have received positive feedback from customers. Meanwhile, Al Qattan announced the new location of the Hawalli branch, which has been moved to Al Bahar Center. The new

branch provides a spacious interior and more parking lots for its customers, all contributing to quicker transaction processing.

CFC has over 200 employees across its five branches and 21 representative offices located in all major car dealerships. CFC’s online service, http://www.cfc-kw.com, provides customers a convenient portal to manage their accounts, apply for applications, pay installments, and calculate loans.

CFC was established in 1977 as the first Kuwaiti closed shareholding company with an initial capital of KD3.8 million ($ 12.7million). CFC, which is ranked as one of the leading facilities companies in Kuwait, is specialized in providing credit facilities to finance consumer and commercial products, in addition to providing credit facilities to individuals. CFC can be reached in Kuwait City (head office), Jahra, Hawalli, Al Riggae and Fahaheel, or by visiting http://www.cfc-kw.com.

Mohammed Al Qattan

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

BUSINESS

Investors fret over uncertainties

Local dollar hits record

GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed lower yesterday, as investors fretted about a variety of uncertainties even as they got some fresh 1H2011 financial results during the session. Four companies announced realizing an increase in their net profit during 1H2011 compared with the same period in 2010.

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI) ended the day down by 0.11 percent, at 186.22 point. Market Capitalization was down for the day reaching KD30.47bn.

Showing a negative note, KSE Price Index closed at 6,065 point, shedding 24.10 points (0.40 percent) from its previous close.

Market Breadth During the session, 92 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 48 equities retreated versus 15 advanced.

Daily Trading Activity Trading activity was down this session. Total volume traded was down by 29.52 percent with 52.86mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD7.53mn (17.21 percent lower compared to the day before). The investment sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 27 percent of total shares. The banking sector was the value leader, with 30.12 percent of total traded value. National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was the most active in terms of values traded during yesterday session, with 0.82mn shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD0.89mn. The scrip closed flat at KD1.100.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, Ekttitab Holding Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 6.25 percent and closed at KD0.026. On the other hand, Housing Finance Company (ISKAN) shed 14.29 percent and closed at

KD0.030, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors Wise Market indices were mostly negative during the session. However, the biggest two sectors; the Banking sector closed flat while the Services sector remained almost unchanged. The banking sector surprisingly remained unchanged to close at the same 329.35 point at the end of the session. All the banks ended the day flat with 3.08mn shares traded on six of the stocks under the sector. Global Services Index marginally went up by 0.01 percent to close at 809.8 point. The two heavyweights in the sector; Zain and National Mobile Telecommunication Company (Wataniya), were traded during the day

but ended the session flat. However, another heavyweight stock, Agility managed to record some gains as its share price wend up by 1.67 percent and close at KD0.305.

Real estate sector was the biggest loser, shedding 1.11 percent. Kuwait Remal Real Estate Company was the only incliner. The scrip went up by 1.56 percent and closed at KD0.325.

Heavyweights, Mabanee Company closed with a 2.38 percent decline at KD0.820. Union Real Estate Company was one of the top decliners in the market. The scrip closed 7.41 percent lower compared to its adjusted price at KD0.100. It is worth mentioning that the scrip traded ex-dividend during the day after distributing 7 percent to its shareholders.

Australia inflation up

Oil News The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $113.65 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $113.33 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Corporate News Aref Energy Holding Company yesterday said its 75 percent-owned unit Nordic Energy Company has been awarded a $17.5mn deal by Dragon Oilan oil and gas exploration and production company based in Dubai. Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) approved, on July 26, 2011, the request of Kuwait Financial Centre Company (Markaz) to extend the period for repurchasing 10 percent maximum of issued shares for additional six months as of July 23, 2011.

SYDNEY: Australian inflation unexpectedly jumped in the June quarter, data showed yesterday, adding pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates further and sending the local dollar to a record high. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 percent in the three months to June compared with the first quarter, while it was 3.6 percent higher year on year. The figures were above market expectations of 0.8 percent and 3.5 percent respectively.

Economists said the data removed any chance of a cut in interest rateswhich some analysts had touted this month as the domestic and global economies show signs of cooling-and increased the likelihood of a hike.

“Clearly with this sort of inflation there is no respite,” UBS chief economist for Australia Scott Haslem said. “The RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) is going to be looking for the first opportunity, or any signs that growth is stabilizing or picking up, to lean against inflation.”

Dubbed the “Wonder from Down Under ” after it sur vived the global slump without dipping into recession, the Australian economy already has one of the highest official interest rates in the developed world at 4.75 percent.

It was the first to raise rates as it recovered from the downturn, lifting them a total of 175 basis points bet ween October 2009 and November 2010. The central bank aims to keep inflation within a 2.0-3.0 percent range and economists said it would not want to be caught “behind the curve” as it was in 2006 and 2007 when interest rates remained at low levels. “ The signal for the RBA is crystal clear and if they are in any way competent, they will hike rates at the next meeting,” said ICAP senior economist Adam Carr. “The consequences of them delaying for another six months could be dire in 2012. They really need to get a grip and do what is good for the

country.” Last week the RBA said the eurozone crisis, weaker commodities prices and a global economic slowdown remained a “significant downside risk” on the economy that could lead to uneven domestic growth.

The RBA comments followed a sharp slump in consumer confidence which prompted major bank Westpac to revise its rates forecast, tipping a 25point easing in December and further cuts to 3.75 percent by late 2012.

Yesterday ’s inflation news sent the Australian dollar to its highest level against the US currency since being floated almost 30 years ago. The “Aussie” soared to 110.62 US cents from 109.60 just before the data was released. It was at 110.51 US cents by 0600 GMT. The local unit has been strengthening against the greenback since last year on the back of its resource-rich mining boom, and it has been given extra momentum over the past week due to the debt impasse in the United States. Its previous post-float high of 110.11 US cents was reached on May 3.

Haslem said the “Aussie” was attractive because the economy was in a “pristine fiscal condition that is going to hold a triple A status in the case of a potential US debt downgrade” looming in Washington.

Despite devastating summer floods and cyclones, Australia expects growth of 2.25 percent for the year to June, with projects worth Aus$430 billion on the horizon, mostly in mining.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said the flow-on impact of the natural disasters were still being felt, with the sharpest increase-of 26.9 percent in the price of fruit over the quarter. The price of bananas are 470 percent higher than before the floods and cyclones, he said. “Despite of all of this, the fundamentals of our economy remain strong and the medium-term outlook is strong,” Swan told reporters. —AFP

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

BUSINESS

Land acquisition conflicts ripple across India Land, votes and progress at stake in India’s property crunch GREATER NOIDA: On the eastern fringes of teeming New Delhi, construction sites criss-cross vast tracts of cleared farmland in the city of Greater Noida as a stampede of developers rush to build cheaper, suburban apartments for India’s swelling urban middle class. But this is India, a nation struggling to modernize, and the building boom has become entangled in a lot of the same problems that have often held back the breakneck growth of Asia’s third largest economy: corruption, political meddling, haphazard development planning, and a shifting legal landscape.

Greater Noida’s land woes are also a microcosm of a broader dilemma facing India: balancing the livelihoods of villagers with the need to maintain economic growth, revamp shoddy infrastructure and acquire enough land to build mass housing for urban dwellers. Like in many other parts of India, the development projects in Greater Noida have collided head-on with legal challenges by farmers, and some have succeeded in halting multi-billion dollar projects and regaining land acquired years ago.

Greater Noida is part of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, and while acquiring the land, the state government invoked so-called “urgency” clauses which allow it to buy the land swiftly and in bulk from the villagers, as long as it would be used for infrastructure or industrial projects. Urgency clauses are contentious at best, and the Uttar Pradesh government made matters worse by selling the land to real estate developers, who would have

likely paid more to the villagers than the state did.

Scores of villages are now embroiled in land disputes, putting at risk at least 50,000 apartments, developers in Noida say. In addition to the legal petitions, farmers are digging up roads and staging marathon vigils to block projects.

“We will become a stronger force with the support of more villagers and claim what is ours,” said Surender Nagar from Bisrakh village that won a court case to recover land. Rajesh Kumar, 38, is also happy that his village won a court case to recover land. The village Sabheri is ringed by building sites, many of which have been silenced by the court orders. “The most important demand by us farmers is to get our land back so we can regain our source of livelihood,” he said, his spectacles covered by construction dust.

POLITICS HIJACKING DEVELOPMENT? Land acquisition has long been a politically charged issue in this country of 1.2 billion, where hundreds of millions of poor farmers are a vital voter base for politicians gearing up for the next national elections in 2014. But in addition to requiring land for industry and infrastructure-protests by villagers have already stalled major projects such as a steel mill by South Korean firm POSCO and halted the development of key highways-India also has a shortage of 26.5 million housing units according to government data, with millions more streaming into cities from the countryside each

year, creating a property crunch.

A third of India’s population live in urban areas versus almost 50 percent of China’s, official figures show.

The number of Indians in cities will almost double to 590 million by 2030 from 340 million in 2008, according to consultancy firm McKinsey. The ruling Congress party has pledged to overhaul archaic

any other key policy, is likely to be dictated by the desire for re-election rather than broader development goals. “There is an atmosphere that farmers’ interests should come first and public interest is not as relevant,” said DH Pai Panadikar, president of RPG Foundation, a private think tank. Signs of battle for farmers’ backing in Uttar Pradesh, which

SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri vegetable seller steers his boat on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India, yesterday. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley full of fruit orchards and surrounded by snowy mountain ranges.

About 100 lakes dot its highlands and plains. —AP land acquisition laws, but a slew of corruption scandals have distracted the government from any broader development goals, and a land reform bill has yet to come up for discussion in an increasingly fractious parliament.

With elections in Uttar Pradesh due next year and national polls in 2014, any change in land policy, like

is home to 200 million people-a population bigger than Brazil-are already emerging.

India’s ruling Congress party wants to wrest support in the state from popular chief minister Mayawati, called the “untouchables’ queen” for her championing of poor, low caste Indians. Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s most prominent

political dynasty who is seen as a prime-minister in waiting, has seized on the land disputes to support farmers. Not to be outdone, Mayawati last month unveiled a new land acquisition policy that makes it easier and more lucrative for farmers to sell land directly to developers by removing the government middleman and pricing the land at market rates.

In the longer term, experts say India needs to draft more transparent, equitable land management policies if burgeoning satellite cities such Noida can lift and sustain economic growth to a level that could rival fellow Asian powerhouse China.

The upside is potentially huge.

China, by systematically freeing up vast areas of farmland in special economic zones like the coastal Pearl River Delta for factories and new cities to take root, fostered a “workshop of the world” industrial region and a powerful engine for growth.

PROPERTY GRIDLOCK The stalling of projects in the Noida region has raised the risks of major Indian mortgage lenders such as HDFC, who have frozen loans to home buyers, denting investor sentiment in a market already hit by rising prices and mortgage rates. “At the macro level you’re sending a very confused signal to the outside world and at a micro level, you’re shaking the confidence of stakeholders, builders, buyers and investors,” said Pranay Vakil of property brokerage firm Knight Frank.

So far this year property stocks in the financial capital Mumbai have

underperformed the broader stock market index , while poor market sentiment has frozen $4 billion dollars worth of real-estate IPOs. Anil Kumar Sharma, the chairman of Amrapali Developers, a major developer in Noida, says court orders have put at risk capital outlays of at least 15 billion Indian rupees ($340 million) by developers so far.

“Buying land from the government was seen as the safest bet, but the court order has changed that,” said Sharma. It is not only the villagers who are complaining.

Hundreds of disgruntled middle class homeowners recently held a protest near Sabheri village, brandishing banners with slogans such as “Where will we get affordable homes now?” and chanting “We want justice”. “We hope that the court can provide us with the right solution so that nobody has to face any losses,” said Shanta Rana, 51, a buyer of a flat in Supertech’s Ecovillage, a gated complex of landscaped gardens.

Ultimately, the resolution of Greater Noida will boil down to money, some say. Many of the farmers, whose villages are little more than warrens of dingy homes linked by rutted roads, bordered by fetid gutters and garbage heaps, have spent their initial compensation money and now want more.

“Farmers want higher compensation and we are trying to mediate between farmers and the government so that projects can be saved,” said R K Arora, chairman of Supertech, which has around 1,000 half-built apartments in Greater Noida. —Reuters

Dubai’s Emaar net profit plunge 69% Revenue falls 23 percent DUBAI: Emaar Properties, the UAE’s largest developer by market value, reported a 69 percent plunge in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday 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 write-off 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 real estate and construction research at Credit Suisse. 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 hospitality 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

Nigerian oil output solid, but future growth in the balance

YOKOSUKA: Nissan car “Note” is seen at the Japanese automaker’s Oppama plant in Yokosuka near Tokyo. —AP

Nissan quarterly profit drops 20% TOKYO: Nissan’s quarterly profit dropped a smallerthan-expected 20 percent as Japanese automakers took a battering from the quake and tsunami disaster that disrupted car production and destroyed dealerships. A soaring yen and rising material costs also helped drag net profit for the fiscal first quarter down to 85 billion yen ($1 billion) from 106.6 billion yen in the April-June quarter last year, Nissan Motor Co said yesterday.

But Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the numbers show the maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models is holding up despite the huge odds. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11 in northeastern Japan destroyed key suppliers of components, disrupting production for all Japanese automakers. But Nissan’s production has been recovering faster than its rivals - and Nissan officials acknowledge faster than they had expected themselves. The result also outdid forecasts. A FactSet survey of analysts had forecast a profit of 55 billion yen ($705 million).

Nissan, Japan’s second biggest automaker, sold 1.056 million vehicles in the quarter, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier. Quarterly sales edged up 1.6 percent to 2.08 trillion yen ($26.7 billion). “Our rapid recovery from the natural disasters in March once again shows the power of Nissan in responding effectively and decisively to crisis,” Ghosn said. —AP

LAGOS: Nigerian oil output has rebounded to levels not seen in years, but crucial issues after April elections remain unresolved and could have a major impact on future growth in Africa’s largest oil producer. The boost in production has occurred thanks to relative calm in the main oil region, the Niger Delta, hit by years of militant attacks before a 2009 amnesty deal. According to OPEC’s 2010 figures, Nigeria overtook Iran as the cartel’s second-largest crude exporter.

But new investment has stalled over longdelayed reforms, expired leases for major oil firms are yet to be renewed and the relationship between the industry and the country’s oil minister has been brought into question.

At the same time, the calm in the delta is a fragile one, analysts say, since it has been achieved mainly through payouts to ex-militants, with underlying issues of poverty and unemployment unaddressed. “You’re back to where you were 10-15 years ago,” Kayode Akindele of Greengate Strategic Partners financial advisers said of production, adding that it will now be vital to focus on the future.

Some industry figures have privately criticized the oil minister, Diezani AlisonMadueke, and President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to reappoint her following April elections raised eyebrows. Criticism has ranged from her ministry’s alleged ineffectiveness to accusations of corruption under her watch and claims that certain companies have been shown favoritism.

Some, however, call such criticism unfair and point to alleged misdeeds by her predecessors, questioning whether she would face the same accusations if she were not the first woman to hold the post.

A spokesman for the state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, called the accusations against Madueke unfounded. “It will not,” Levi Ajuonuma said when asked whether the relationship between the minister and major oil companies would be affected. “She has a job to do.”

It is one of the most important jobs in Africa’s most populous nation, a country where the oil-and-gas industry accounts for some two-

thirds of government revenue and more than 90 percent of export earnings.

Production has risen to some 2.3 million barrels per day, according to June figures from the International Energy Agency. One of the first post-election tests for Madueke will be how she resolves issues surrounding leases for US oil giant ExxonMobil’s Nigeria unit. The three leases-believed to have a capacity of some 500,000 barrels per daywere agreed to in 2009 under a previous minister, but were recently ruled invalid, with discussions now ongoing to resolve the matter. Exxon declined to comment in detail.

Ajuonuma said he expected a deal in the coming days, and that would be followed by renewals for long-expired leases for other oil majors, including Shell and Chevron. “It was just that we need to ensure that due process, transparency and accountability are adhered to,” he said of the Exxon leases.

Meanwhile, new investment in oil projects has ground to a halt over uncertainty linked to proposed sweeping reforms to the industry years in the making. Madueke and others have repeatedly given deadlines for when the legislation would be passed-all of which have come and gone without action.

Oil firms cannot be sure how much they will have to pay in taxes and royalties when the new rules take effect. “Nobody wants to make any further calls and investment decisions until they are sure what the taxes are going to be,” said Victor Ndukauba of Afrinvest financial advisers.

Other moves have begun reshaping aspects of the industry. Shell, historically the largest producer in Nigeria, has been seeking to sell off its share in four onshore oil blocks viewed as marginal. Analysts say the moves appear to indicate a willingness by Shell to move more of its focus offshore, where the risks of militancy are lower. It has also come under pressure to increase local involvement in the oil industry and Shell says it is committed to that goal. Increased local investment is partly aimed at preventing further flare-ups of violence in the delta, but analysts say the risks remain strong. —AFP

SOFIA: People walk in front of the Lukoil Neftochim Headquarters in Sofia yesterday. —AFP

Bulgaria’s sole refinery halts production over lost licenses SOFIA: Bulgaria’s sole oil refinery, Russiaowned Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, said yesterday it was halting production after the customs agency stripped it of two key licenses necessary for its operations. “We are... following the (agency’s) instructions.

We have put the refinery on an emergency operations regime and lowered production with a view to halting it for the time being,” Neftochim supervisory board member Valentin Zlatev told journalists.

Bulgaria’s customs agency said in a statement yesterday that it had withdrawn the company’s licenses to operate two so-called tax warehouses, where excise goods such as oil and fuels can be produced or stocked before being subjected to a duty. The decision, which entered into force late on Tuesday, was prompted by Neftochim’s failure to install important online connections between the fuel meters at the warehouses and the Bulgarian revenues agency by midJune.

As a result, “the company no longer has the right to refine oil and sell fuel on the Bulgarian market,” customs chief Vanyo

Tanov told state BNT television. Neftochim is Bulgaria’s leading producer and supplier of fuel with a 40-percent market share and a capacity of 142,00 barrels per day, finance ministry data shows. The company, which has one of the largest petrol station chains in Bulgaria with some about branches, makes up 9.0 percent of Bulgarian gross domestic product (GDP) and also exports fuel to neighboring Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey.

However, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov assured journalists before meeting Lukoil officials in Sofia on Wednesday: “There will not be a (fuel) shortage.” “We have to show that both the large and the small companies are equal before the law and have to abide by its requirements,” he added to explain the license decision. To better monitor the payment of excise duties and taxes, the finance ministry obliged petrol station owners to link their meters to its revenue agency. Tanov meanwhile told national radio the company could have its licenses back “within the next two, three months” if it installed the links soon. —AFP

Oil dips amid US debt stalemate LONDON: Oil fell yesterday as partisan wrangling over the US debt limit unnerved investors and sent them fleeing from assets perceived to be dependent on growth.

Brent fell 33 cents to $117.95 a barrel by 1019 GMT, US oil dropped 58 cents to $99.01, also pressured as an industry report showed crude stocks in the country rose unexpectedly. “The main factor is the debt situation (in the United States), there are fears about growth and the country’s AAA rating is under threat,” Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets said.

A Republican plan to cut the US deficit faced delay and stiff opposition yesterday, piling anxiety onto investors and ordinary Americans hoping for a late compromise to avoid a crippling debt default. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the US will probably lose its top-notch AAA credit rating from at least one major rating agency, believing the wrangling over the debt ceiling has already

damaged the economy. Bank of Japan board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki said that global growth is slowing and there is uncertainty about its outlook as emerging nations battle rising costs and the debt crisis in the US and Europe threaten to derail recovery.

An unexpected rise in crude oil inventories also weighed on prices as data from oil industry group American Petroleum Institute showed weekly refinery operations fell. Crude stocks rose by 4 million barrels confounding analysts’ expectations for a 1.7 million-barrel draw in a Reuters poll. Analysts said this pointed to further potential weakness for crude as it is often a pointer for data for the more closely followed US Energy Information Administration, which is due out at 1430 GMT. “Over the past 12 months, there have been only 15 weeks in which API and DoE data pointed in different directions,” Commerzbank said in a note. —Reuters

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business

Is US default deadline truly August 2?

Analysts say real threat of default is mid-August WASHINGTON: Will the sky fall on Aug 2 if the US Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling? Not likely, according to analysts, who say that even without the ability to borrow more money, the government could avoid a devastating default for another week or so. That raises the question of how urgently action is needed to increase the nation’s borrowing limit. For weeks, President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretar y Timothy Geithner have stressed that the US Treasury will run out of room to borrow funds next Tuesday and have warned of dire consequences if Congress does not raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in time.

But Treasury officials have never said when the government will run out of cash to pay the nation’s bills, and the consensus among Wall Street analysts is that the cash won’t run out until about two weeks after the August debt-ceiling drop-dead date. “The first risk of a legitimate default is Aug 15,” said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist and managing director at Jefferies & Co. “Cash is not going to be an immediate problem. The debt ceiling space is not going to be an immediate problem.”

McCarthy and other Wall Street analysts predict that the Treasury will have enough cash to meet its early-to-mid August obligations, including $23 bil-

debt cap by the deadline and the US Treasury is unable to tap markets for funds.

Analysts also expect that the US Treasury will be able to roll over the $90 billion in US debt that matures Aug. 4. “In all forecasts, it appears as if they have ample cash to cover their obligations,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist with research firm Wrightson ICAP. Wrightson and Jefferies expect the United States would start defaulting on its obligations on Aug 15, the date the government must pay out $41 billion, including around $30 billion in interest on US debt. Barclays Capital has said Treasury may run out of cash to pay its bills around Aug 10, when $8.5 billion in Social Security payments are due. A Treasury spokesperson on Tuesday had no comment.

WASHINGTON: Chinese students from Hangzhou visit the US Capitol in Washington as Congressional leaders try to reach a bipartisan accord to avert a debt-ceiling crisis. — AP

lion in Social Security payments to the elderly and disabled on Aug 3. That view lends credence to claims that some Republicans have been making for days now that the US government

will be able to keep functioning and paying its bills even if there is no deal

by Aug 2. But it does not take into account how the market and investors will react if Congress fails to raise the

POLITICAL SUICIDE Analysts do not expect the credit rating agencies to downgrade US debt if Congress does not raise the limit by Aug 2 and the government is still able to pay its bills. That could potentially give a divided Congress more time to craft a plan to cut spending and raise the limit on how much Treasury can borrow. “We think there is enough money in the month of August to take care of things,” said Representative Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House

Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 150 conservative and Tea Party-aligned lawmakers.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and Republican House Speaker John Boehner are locked in a bitter battle over how to control spending and increase the debt cap. Reid and fellow Democrats have proposed a one-step plan to cut the deficit by $2.7 trillion and raise the cap by the same amount to carry the administration through the November 2012 elections.

Meanwhile, Boehner has pushed for a two-stage deficit reduction plan that would provide an initial increase in the debt limit that would only last a few months.

Any sign from the administration that Congress has more time to negotiate a budget deal could undermine Geithner’s credibility. The US Treasury has shifted the forecast of when it would initially bump up against the borrowing cap three times and once pushed back its drop-dead estimatenow Aug 2 - of when it would exhaust all special measures that let it keep borrowing. “It doesn’t help that they have shifted dates. There is definitely a perception from lawmakers that even if they pass the deadline, they may be OK,” said Tom Simons, a money market economist with Jefferies & Co. “There will come a point where it is no longer true.” — Reuters

Greece: Cheap rescue loans are a euro bond PM defies calls for u-turn on taxi reforms ATHENS: The euro zone is taking steps to move beyond being only a monetary union, Greece’s prime minister said yesterday, welcoming low-rate rescue loans agreed at a summit last week as being effectively a joint euro bond. George Papandreou has long supported the launch of euro bonds to deal with the debt crisis troubling countries in the euro zone’s periphery, an idea resisted by a number of other members of the 17-nation bloc including Germany.

“The decision of our European partners to lend us at 3.5 percent, an interest rate just above the one at which Germany itself is borrowing, is in essence tantamount to introducing a European bond, regardless of the fact that this system has not been completed yet,” Papandreou told party lawmakers. Six days after clinching a new 109 billion euro rescue package that covers Greece’s funding needs up to mid-2014, Papandreou said Europe was slow to take decisions but was also becoming more united. “Europe is becoming more political, stronger.

It is moving beyond the stage of being just a simple monetary union,” he said. He said bond buybacks in the secondary market through the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) rescue mechanism, part of the steps

agreed at last week’s summit, showed that a common debt management approach was taking shape, in embryonic form, in the euro zone.

Taxi reforms Papandreou yesterday invited taxi owners for talks to end a 10-day strike that has caused disruption to tourism but insisted he would push ahead with planned reforms. “Closed profes-

ATHENS: Athenians drive their cars in front of the Central Bank of Greece building in central Athens. — AP

KFH sees increase in sales KUWAIT: Deputy Banking Cards Manager at Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Salem Al-Doweisan announced that the Takaful insurance documents that KFH offers its clients in collaboration with AlMuthanna Insurance Company, especially the travelling insurance, witness high demand that was evident by the increase in sales of those documents in the few previous travelling season days.

He added that many passengers seek to benefit from the travelling insurance programs that cover overseas risks, not to mention that those programs are Shariah compliant and offer clients more benefits for competitive rates. He expected that KFH’s insurance sales will continue to rise in the near future, especially during Ramadan when people plan to go to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. He noted that the fierce competition found at the local insurance market and the multiple programs reinforce KFH’s status as a major player in that sector.

Moreover, Al-Doweisan explained that KFH offers its clients a bouquet of travelling insurance programs to select the suitable one for them. He added that the benefits include low competitive rates, and the coverage of several insurance programs that protect the passenger during his travelling period. The insurance program also offers medical care and protection against accidents and personal

sions will open despite the stubbornness of guilds ... who shut down ports, airports and roads in the midst of the tourism season,” Papandreou said in a televised address to ruling party lawmakers. “The government will hear every proposal ... but this liberalization will take place,” Papandreou said, referring to a reform demanded by Greece’s international creditors who are now keep-

responsibilities up to $1 million.

Furthermore, he said that KFH’s travelling insurance policies can be issued at any branch within minutes, in addition to making fast claims if accidents occur. The service also offers free of charge immediate assistance during travelling if client calls service center from anywhere in the world; in addition to the fact that it is accepted at all foreign embassies and meets the Shingle visa terms. Concerning protection of families, the program offers this service and grants complete insurance program of accidents occur in Kuwait or overseas.

ing the Greek economy afloat.

The strike began after a new transpor t minister appointed in June ditched a previous reform draft agreed by his predecessor with unionists that would have capped the number of taxi licenses based on population in each region. Taxi owners argue that full liberalization will cause a cabbie glut and sink the value of their operating licenses, which used to exchange hands for six-figure sums. Tour operators and the government have said the protest has damaged the country’s reputation abroad at the height of the holiday season.

“I appeal to taxi owners for cooperation on this point. I call them to be conscious of the negative effects of their mobilization during a critical period for tourism, the country’s economic life and citizens,” Papandreou said. The European Union and International Monetary Fund have demanded sweeping deregulation in various Greek labor sectors in exchange for multi-billion-dollar loans needed to save Athens from defaulting on its debt. Some 8,000 taxi drivers protested against the reform in Athens on Tuesday and their union leaders have threatened to cause further disruption unless their demands are satisfied. — Agencies

Moody’s downgrades Cyprus bond rating NICOSIA: Ratings agency Moody’s yesterday downgraded its Cyprus government bond rating by two notches to Baa1 from A2, citing the eurozone member’s weakening medium-term credit fundamentals and a blast which took out its main power station.

“The outlook is now negative,” Moody’s said, adding that it had also reduced its forecasts for Cyprus’s economic growth to 0 percent in 2011 and one percent in 2012. In February, Moody’s had downgraded the bond rating by two notches to A2 from Aa3.

The ratings agency said in a statement one of the key driver’s for the latest downgrade was ongoing concern about Cyprus’s fiscal position, amplified by the fiscal fallout from the massive explosion on July 11 of munitions stored at a naval base which killed 13 people and took out the Vasilikos power plant. Moody’s also cited the “increasingly fractious domestic political climate, which has increased implementation risks to the government’s new fiscal plans.”

It warned further that there was a material risk that at least some Cypriot banks will require state support over the medium term as a result of their exposure to Greece. “The negative outlook reflects Moody’s view that, in the current environment, the risks to the Baa1 rating are skewed to the downside,” it said. While the government had recently announced a range of structural measures intended to improve fiscal sustainability, “the positive impact of those measures for the next few years will be reduced by the (power) plant’s destruction,” Moody’s said. “This incident has caused material disruption to the Cypriot medium-term economic and fiscal position.”

The Cyprus government was plunged

into a political crisis after the blast, with the defense and foreign ministers already having resigned and the junior government partner considering pulling out altogether.

“The second driver of the downgrade is the increasingly fractious political climate in Cyprus in the wake of the plant’s destruction,” Moody’s said. “This adverse development increases implementation risk to the government’s plans, many of which will require not just cross-party support, but also acceptance by the trade unions,” it said.

It also warned that the Cypriot government may need to extend capital support to at least some of its banks over the next few years given the “substantial exposure of Cypriot banks to a sovereign default and macroeconomic stress in Greece.” “Overall, just under 40 percent of the total loans extended by the three largest domestic Cypriot banks are to customers based in Greece,” it said. Central bank governor Athanasios Orphanides last week warned that Cyprus could be headed for a bailout in the wake of the blast.

In a letter sent to Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, Orphanides warned that the Cyprus economy “is in a state of emergency.” “To avoid the worst, including admission into a support mechanism, further and more drastic measures must be taken immediately,” Orphanides said. According to Moody’s, the latest rating action concludes the review for possible downgrade which the ratings agency initiated on May 16. It also warned that a resumption of the deterioration in the current account deficit could also put downward pressure on the rating “if this deterioration were judged to be more structural than cyclical.” —AFP

Study: Creative people more prone to cheating DUBAI: In findings that have important implications for workplaces in the region and beyond, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business - in a joint study with Harvard Business School has established that creative people are more likely to behave in an unethical manner. Although the study clarified that it is not compulsory that a creative person will cheat or lie, there is a link that trying to be innovative can make people think about ethical loopholes, thus establishing an important correlation between creativity and immorality.

This dispositional creativity is a better predictor of unethical behavior than intelligence, driving people, for example, to inflate expense reports and steal office supplies. Dan Ariely, Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business said: “This study is both interesting and alarming, since it suggests that people who work in roles involving creative thinking are more apt to develop ways to bypass moral rules and hence behave dishonestly.”

The researchers conducted five

experiments, using between 71 and 111 people in each experiment, and found an association between out-ofthe-box thinking and deceitful actions. This led them to the conclusion that most likely the cognitive skills that boost creativity in individuals simultaneously foster the ability to justify their underhand deeds.

“Although creativity is a beneficial trait in employees, driving much business success, it has to be kept in check.

Managers within organizations must not allow the negative consequences of creativity to thrive,” said Professor Ariely.

In order to control such tendencies in the workforce, organizations need to understand the limits of a creative work atmosphere. Managers can promote a work culture that rewards good conduct and create environmental cues that remind employees to be scrupulous. Francesca Gino, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and co-author of the study, refers to the findings as “a first step in uncovering some of the potential dark consequences of being creative.”

UK’s Virgin Media loses customers LONDON: Britain’s Virgin Media lost 36,000 cable customers in the second quarter, offsetting some of the benefit of an increase in average spend by those who remained. Virgin Media, which has Britain’s fastest broadband connections and also sells TV and telephony services, increased sales by 2 percent to 986 million pounds ($1.62 billion), broadly in line with analysts’ forecasts. The company also announced a new, larger-thanexpected 850 million-pound share buyback and debt repayment program and said it was on track to meet its debt target of 3 times operational cashflow over the next one to two years.

Virgin Media shares were down 3 percent in London, where they are thinly traded, with their main listing in New York. “We believe this weakness will prove temporary and VMED’s pricing power in consumer cable will sustain strong FCF growth, with large share buybacks emphasizing management’s confidence,” Goldman Sachs analyst Tim Boddy wrote. Chief Executive Neil Berkett said he was sat-

isfied with the results in a seasonally weak quarter when the British economy grew just 0.2 percent. “We are acquiring and growing data-savvy, data-hungry customers,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Asked about the current quarter, he said: “The confidence level of consumers has not really lifted.”

Virgin Media competes with telecoms provider BT and satellite broadcaster BSkyB to supply broadband, broadcast and on-demand TV and mobile and home telephony. By mid2012 it aims to offer broadband speeds of 100 megabits per secondfast enough to download a music album in 5 seconds-to all homes on its network, which covers about half of Britain’s households. Virgin Media’s second-quarter operating cashflow rose 6 percent to 392 million pounds, beating expectations, and free cashflow rose 13 percent to 123 million pounds.

Average revenue per cable user rose 3 percent to 47.35 pounds per month, while average monthly churn-the percentage of customers leaving-rose slightly to 1.4 percent. — Reuters

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TECHNOLOGY

Invisible wounds of war: There’s an app for that?

Apps help post-traumatic stress and brain injuries WASHINGTON: When terrifying battlefield memories come rushing back, causing night sweats, flashbacks or a panic attack, some troops and vets now find comfort by reaching for their smartphones. Using new-age technology to cope with age-old wounds of war, they tap into mobile phone applications, or “apps,” designed to help with post-traumatic stress and brain injuries.

WASHINGTON: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Julie Brill testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing to examine privacy and data security, focusing on protecting consumers in the modern world. —AP

Internet privacy controls challenge tech industry WASHINGTON: The federal government has put Google, Microsoft, Apple and other technology companies on notice: Give consumers a way prevent advertisers from tracking their movements across the Web or face regulation. Yet for all its innovative know-how and entrepreneurial spirit, the technology industry has yet to agree on a simple, meaningful solution to protect consumer privacy on the Internet. So privacy watchdogs and lawmakers are stepping up the pressure, calling for laws that would require companies to stop the digital surveillance of consumers who don’t want to be tracked. They argue that effective privacy tools are long overdue from an industry that typically moves at breakneck speed.

“I want ordinary consumers to know what is being done with their personal information, and I want to give them the power to do something about it,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W Va, said at a recent hearing. Washington’s call to arms is a response to growing concern that invasive Internet marketing practices are eroding privacy online as ever y consumer move is observed, analyzed and harvested for profit. Online publishers, advertisers and ad networks use “cookies,” Web beacons and other sophisticated tracking tools to follow consumers around the Internet - monitoring what sites they visit and what links they click, what they search for and what they buy. Then they mine that information to deliver what they hope will be relevant pitches - a prac tice called behavioral advertising.

“Right now we have a lawful system for tracking all of our movements online,” says Christopher Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

“And not only is it legal. It’s the business model.” Calls for online privacy protections began with the Federal Trade Commission, which has challenged the industry to offer a digital tracking off switch. The FTC envisions something akin to the government’s existing “Do Not Call” registry for telemarketers. Consumers who don’t want to receive telemarketing calls can add their numbers to the list online or over the phone. Companies including Microsoft and Mozilla have responded with various “Do Not Track” technologies. But an industry-wide solution is not close at hand.

That’s because putting the Do Not Track

concept into practice is much more complicated than simply adding phone numbers to a database. The challenge is in reaching industry consensus on what Do Not Track obligations should mean, designing standard technology tools that are easy for consumers to use and setting common rules that all Websites and advertisers will follow. One big part of the problem is that the industry needs to find a way to let consumers halt intrusive online marketing practices without preventing tracking critical for the Internet to function. After all, Internet companies rely on tracking not just to target ads, but also to analyze website traffic patterns, store online passwords and deliver customized content like local news. Nobody wants to stop those things.

Also complicating efforts to reach broad agreement is the lucrative nature of behavioral advertising.

Industry leaders argue that many consumers like targeted ads since they deliver personalized pitches that people may want. And because these ads tend to be more effective, advertisers are willing to pay more for them, says David Hallerman, an analyst with eMarketer. Research firm eMarketer projects US spending on online behavioral advertising will hit $2.6 billion by 2014, up from $775 million in 2008. That enables Internet companies to offer everything from online stock quotes to unlimited email storage for free, says Anne Toth, Yahoo’s chief trust officer. Without sophisticated advertising technology, more websites and services could wind up behind pay walls, companies warn.

The problem, argues Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy group, is that many consumers don’t k now they ’re being tracked. And even if they do, they have no idea what happens to their information whether it is used to create personal profiles, merged with offline databases or sold to data brokers - and no practical way to stop the data collection. With growing alarm in Washington, a coalition of industry trade groups- called the Digital Advertising Alliance - has established a self-regulatory program that places icons inside the online ads of participating advertisers, ad networks and websites. The icon links to a site that explains online targeting, and lets consumers install an opt-out cookie if they just want standard ads. —AP

US Congress embracing social media tools: Report WASHINGTON: Democrats and Republicans in Congress may be split over how to deal with the US debt and a host of other issues but they are united when it comes to social media.

Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate from both parties have seized on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and integrated them into their communications operations, according to a report published on Tuesday. The survey of congressional staff by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) found that most members of Congress are using social media to “gauge public opinion, communicate with constituents, and reach new people.”

It found some resistance to the new media tools among older staffers but most congressional staffers surveyed said Facebook, Twitter and YouTube now rival more traditional communications tools.”While congressional offices may lag behind some leading private-sector organizations in their use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the legislative branch has adopted social media much more quickly than it adopted other technologies, such as fax machines, email and websites,” the report said. “Social media tools have been adopted more rapidly than previous technologies,” said Bradford Fitch, CMF president and chief executive.

“These technologies are starting to change how Congress communicates with their constituents and is allowing

members to reach citizens who otherwise might not engage in the democratic dialogue,” Fitch said. The CMF, a nonpartisan group whose goal is to improve congressional office operations, surveyed 260 congressional staff on social media between October and December 2010. Sixty-four percent of the senior managers and social media managers surveyed said that Facebook is a somewhat or very important tool for understanding the views and opinions of constituents.

Forty-two percent said that Twitter is somewhat or very important for understanding constituents’ views and 34 percent said the same about YouTube. Even higher percentages thought Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were important for communicating a members’ views. Seventyfour percent said Facebook is somewhat or very important for communicating their members’ views, 72 percent said this is the case with YouTube and 51 percent said it of Twitter. Fiftyfive percent of those surveyed said they believe social media provides their offices with more benefits than risks.

The survey suggested there was a generational divide when it came to the use of social media among congressional staffers. Sixty-six of the staffers aged 30 and younger said social media is worth the time their offices spend on it. Only 32 percent of their colleagues aged 51 and older felt the same. —AFP

“I’m not going to lie - when this came out, we sort of wanted to slam it,” a once skeptical Staff Sgt. Meg Krause said of her group of veteran friends. “But it surprised us and has been a phenomenal tool,” said the 29-year-old reservist and medic, who has had counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder. A half-dozen apps with names like “T2 MoodTracker,” “PTSD Coach” and “Breathe2Relax” have been developed by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department, but not to diagnose illness or replace psychiatric counseling. Rather, the apps offer at-your-fingertips information about what the military calls “invisible wounds” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - and techniques for managing the symptoms.

All but one were the work of the Pentagon, starting with MoodTracker, which lets users rate how they’re feeling - worthless, happy, lonely and so on - and keep a record of their ups and downs over time. The newest, released in May, was a joint Pentagon-VA effort - PTSD Coach. It helps self-assess symptoms, gives step-by-step instructions in muscle relaxation and breathing, helps users create a phone list of people to call when they need support and helps vets contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in an emergency.

“Someone who’s struggling ... all they have to do is pull out their smartphone or their iPhone and say, ‘I can help myself,’” Krause said.

“To know that there is something that I can pull out and watch, and it will help me go through my breathing techniques so I don’t get to that crisis moment, I think is immensely important.” There’s also an app for health care providers that includes definitions, causes and severity ratings for mild traumatic brain injury - or concussions - suffered by so many troops from roadside bombs and other explosions. Another for doctors treating PTSD is expected in the coming months. Officials hope the apps for troops, vets and their families will encourage more people to get professional help and will be used by others to supplement professional therapy.

Krause served twice in Iraq and has worked for the “Real Warriors” campaign, a separate defense program in which service members tell their personal stories to encourage other troops to go for counseling.

Finding others to talk about using the apps is hard since the free downloads are anonymous.

Preserving that privacy is a big selling point for a military population that hides its problems for fear of

appearing weak or being passed over for promotions. “Engaging veterans on their own terms is especially crucial in the area of mental health,” said Dr. Sonja Batten, a clinical psychologist who works on national mental health policy for the VA. Providing services that are safe, reliable and private is a priority for the VA, she said, where the number of vets getting mental health care has increased to 1.2 million from 900,000 in the past four years. Last year alone, over 400,000 veterans who received mental health treatment had a diagnosis of PTSD, Batten said. Among troops

vention to resilience training to family counseling. They’ve promoted the efforts with booklets, boot camp training, interactive websites, social media, call-in phone lines and more. Still, some troops complain that there isn’t enough help.

And others simply won’t go for psychological treatment. Up to half of soldiers in the most recent battlefield sur vey said they feared it would make them appear weak to buddies and their leaders.

Defense officials in 2008 set up the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, known as T2, to look at leveraging technology

them more on the battlefield. For instance, the Army is testing several iPhones, Androids and computer tablet devices to allow more troops in battle to see real-time images of insurgents taken by drone aircraft.

“Like the old adage about having to fish where the fish are, using online media to reach an online generation will be worth it even if it just helps one veteran,” Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said of the phone apps. Just how many troops and vets are being reached - and helped - is hard to know.

Because of the anonymity, there

WASHINGTON: Sgt Mark Miranda, a public affairs specialist stationed at Joint Base LewisMcChord in Washington state, demonstrates the use of a program for tablet computers and smart phones that is designed to help calm symptoms of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. —AP still in the military, officials estimate 1 in 5 has suffered acute stress, anxiety, depression or other mental problems from a war zone deployment. Some 2.3 million men and women have served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade. The apps are among the latest ideas by a government still struggling to prevent, treat and more fully understand the mental health problems that have ballooned over that time.

In a vast and unprecedented wartime effort that has struggled to keep up with troop needs, the government in recent years has increased mental health screening, hired more psychiatric staff, sent mental health survey teams directly to the battlefields, launched new research and started or bolstered myriad programs from suicide pre-

against the mental health problems. “The Defense Department is doing something different, is doing everything, to try and reach the audience instead of trying to simply put out a better-looking brochure,” T2 spokesman Joseph S. Jimenez said of the apps and other initiatives started at the T2 center in Fort Lewis, Wash. “Some people don’t respond to a better brochure, some people don’t respond to being told to go to the doctor.”

Aside from the anonymity, the apps virtually put into the pockets of troops a tool that today’s young, tech-savvy force can relate to.

“They like portable technology and they are very much into gaming and smartphones,” Jimenez said. Use of smartphones for mental health issues comes amid a larger military effort to incorporate

is little feedback on the program that started last summer with MoodTracker. But officials said they plan to find volunteers in the future to help with a study on the program’s effectiveness. For now, what’s known is that MoodTracker was downloaded about 17,000 times since it was introduced. Since PTSD Coach was released in May, it has been downloaded about 11,000 times in 37 countries, including Mexico, Latvia and Japan.

Although the app is particularly tailored to the needs of active-duty troops and veterans, some users may also be PTSD sufferers with no militar y background. Officials believe it’s likely some are civilians who’ve had other types of trauma, such as from physical or sexual assaults, car accidents or natural disasters. —AP

What’s cool for back to school? Mobile tech NEW YORK: What’s on top of the school supply list this year? It isn’t T-shirts and tennis shoes. It’s the other T, for mobile tech. Kids as young as elementary age are looking for smartphone upgrades, while the college set is sussing out the explosion in tablets, said Craig Johnson, president of the retail consulting and research firm Customer Growth Partners in New Canaan, Connecticut.

“The single most important thing is the acceleration of technology for back to school. Kids don’t get excited about a new lunch box these days, or a new backpack. Cool means technology,” he said. That means e-readers with high functionality like highlighting, underlining, pagination and touchscreens. “All of the features are out now or in the process of coming out,” he said. The new Nook has a 6-inch (15.2-centimeter) touchscreen and crisp, clear print for reading in bright light, tech analyst Andrea Smith told reporters at a recent Consumer Electronics Association trade show. It also indicates how many pages to the end of a chapter and has received praise for long battery life.

Back-to-school tech also means tablets. Once hallowed Apple ground, iPad 2 competitors are everywhere this season. Apple’s still the big kid but Android technology is in pursuit. Some of the new tablets run Adobe Flash software, which Apple doesn’t have. In addition to the iPad 2, Smith suggests the 10-inch Toshiba Thrive for back to school. It runs on Android, has two USB ports and an South Dakota card reader.

The new TouchPad by Hewlett-Packard, she said, runs on webOS, has a 9.7-inch screen and touts easy multitasking among open apps.

For analyst Natali Morris, iPad 2 “really is the only tablet on the market that kids are coveting,” though she added that some Android technology is good for note-taking and syncing. Tablets are cool, but are they practical for actual schoolwork? That might have everything to do with the popularity of bluetoothenabled keyboard add-ons, including the new one Smith and Morris like from Logitech with a case that easily turns into a tablet stand. Toshiba has a keyboard, too, also sold separately. Morris’ picks for student laptops: MacBook Air with an 11-inch or 14-inch screen.

They weigh as little as 2.3 pounds and boot up in

about five seconds, she said at the CEA line shows in June. Those features are good for students moving from class to class.

Going head to head with MacBook Air for PC-prone students is the sleek new Samsung Series 9, Morris said. It’s light, boots Windows in 20 seconds and offers

This product image courtesy of Staples shows the Quiksilver SurfDrive USB Flash Drive. Flash drives in different shapes, from animals to surfboards and skateboards, have become more popular with kids for their school supply list. —AP 160-degree viewing for group work. Christine Mallon, vice president of retail marketing for Staples, agrees that mobile tech is leading the back-to-school drive and creeping onto supply lists for ever-younger kids.

“One of the biggest trends that we’ve seen is that technology is becoming a school supply,” she said. “Kids need laptops, they need flash drives. We’re seeing it in a very big way this year.”Flash drives shaped like ani-

mals - safari to farm - have taken off, she said. Also look for Tony Hawk-branded skateboard drives this year.

More cool from the supply list: STUFF THAT WRITES: Pilot’s B2P pens (for bottle to pen) are made from recycled plastic bottles and designed to look like one. They’re lightweight with gel ink. “The quality of recycled products has gotten so much better this year,” Mallon said. Animal print pens and erasers are everywhere, including Staples. Post-it has been putting flags for tagging into the tops of pens and highlighters for a while now. There’s a highlighter-pen combo in a three-pack with room for 50 color-coordinated flags on a shirt clip.Sharpie has gone gel for highlighters for a wider variety of paper, including ink jet, glossy and extra-thin surfaces. Twist the bottom to push up the gel. Crayola has a box of dry-erase crayons that come with an eraser mitt.

STUFF THAT STICKS: Kids still care about going green, especially when it comes to paper products.

Environmentally-friendly sticky paper has come into its own. Sustainable Earth by Staples comes in 3-by-3inch sticky notes that are 50 percent sugarcane fiber and 50 percent recycled paper. Post-it Greener Notes are made with 100 percent recycled materials and a plant-based adhesive. “A certain amount of excitement has gone out of that because green has become almost a cliche,” Johnson said. “It’s still a big thing, though, and strikes a chord with a lot of kids.” STUFF FOR PAPERS: Eco-friendly notebooks, composition books and binders abound, if that’s your kid’s thing.

In the simple reuse category, Pottery Barn Teen sells full-zip, water-resistant fabric homework holders in a variety of tween-girl patterns, from peace signs to zebra stripes. There’s a three-ring binder inside and a front zip flap for quick access. Includes an insert for pencils and pens. Avery’s Style Edge plastic dividers offer a groovy rainbow of translucent bubble tabs.

Look for rhinestone-studded scissors, staplers, pens and calculators, along with glitter binders in four colors, at Staples. Any true re-inventions on the horizon?

Watch for Azuna 3D technology on notebook covers, Mallon said. They’re available only at Staples. “It’s literally 3D,” she said. “It’s very, very cool.” —AP

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Diet foods that appeal to your inner glutton Products offer baby steps for struggling dieters When’s the last time you were guiltily scraping your way to the bottom of an ice cream carton and noticed this message: “150 calories per 1 pint”? Yes, per pint.

Foods aimed at helping you slim down have been around for decades, but a recent wave of ultra-low calorie products - such as the 150-calorie per pint dessert Artic Zero - is making a direct appeal to our national sense of gluttony. “What we’re seeing here is a strategy that says Americans like to stuff their faces,” says food industry analyst Phil Lempert. “And these mean we don’t have to sacrifice.”

With two-thirds of American adults over weight or obese, health officials have long warned that ballooning portion sizes are a major factor. Now food manufacturers are testing whether the desire for big servings can make peace with our need to shed kilos - or at least make big profits.

“It’s fine to eat one serving of ice cream, but I can’t remember the last time I sat down with a pint and ate half a cup,” says Amit Pandhi, CEO of Arctic Zero, Inc., whose pints of “ice cream replacement” prominently feature the 150-calorie message. “We feel like a serving is an entire pint. And if you’re looking at it from that point of view, our product is the only one where you can eat a whole pint and not feel like you’re doing something terrible,” says Pandhi.

And though Tofu Shirataki noodles from California-based House Foods America Corporation, offer two 20-calorie servings per 227-gram package, it’s understood that you’ll eat the whole bag. “Most people eat the whole bag for a meal,” says Yoko Difrancia, the company’s marketing supervisor. “The whole bag is more realistic.” Which means that if you were feeling a need to binge, you could pound down a pile of noodles, a couple brews and a pint of “ice cream” all for 300 calories - the same as one McDonald’s cheeseburger.

Consumers seem to be buying it. Sales of Arctic Zero, introduced

in 2009, have grown 15 to 20 percent per month for the past 18 months, Pandhi says. Many of these products are achieving their low-calorie status with different ingredients than similar products in the past. Arctic Zero is made primarily of whey protein and gets its sweetness from

ble? UCLA neuroscientist Dean Buonomano says in his new book, “Brain Bugs: How the Brain’s Flaws Shape Our Lives,” that the human brain was designed to guide us through a world in which dying from starvation was a greater possibility than becoming obese.

“There is little doubt that our

CONCORD: Tofu Shirataki noodles offer two 20-calorie servings per 8-ounce package. —AP organic monk fruit, an Asian gourd the company says is 150 times sweeter than sugar. Tofu Shirataki noodles are made by blending tofu and the root of konnyaku, an Asian yam. Health advocates, dietitians and government programs decr y the American propensity to over indulge. But what if we were meant to eat as much as possi-

proclivity toward overeating is in part a product of the fact that we were programmed to derive pleasure from eating, and that in the modern world many of us have essentially unlimited amounts of food at our disposal,” Buonomano said via e-mail. In 2000, Penn State professor Barbara Rolls began promoting what she calls volumetrics, an

approach to healthy eating that shifts the focus from reducing portion size to reducing the number of calories per portion.

“When people sit down to a meal and don’t know the calorie count they tend to take a set amount by weight and volume,” says Rolls, whose new book “The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet” will be published next year. So she says the solution is not to reduce the volume of food on the plate, but rather the number of calories in the same volume (called the calorie density). She urges people to do that by adding plenty of water-rich, calorie-light foods, such as fruits and vegetables.

“The idea is not that you can or should eat a much bigger volume than you typically do,” Rolls says.

“It’s that if you eat your usual amount you’re going to feel full but with fewer calories.

Some experts say there’s a place for these ultra-low calorie products in that kind of equation.

Lisa Lillien, creator of the daily email service Hungry-Girl.com and author of five cookbooks, relies on many specific products, including Tofu Shirataki noodles, to create satisfying, abundant, but still calorically light meals.

“The Hungry Girl philosophy is, ‘How do you swap out certain foods for other foods so you can make recipes taste great but still come in with fewer calories?’”

Lillien says. “I want to get the biggest bang for my calorie buck because I like eating a lot of food.”

Health advocates and dietitians remain committed to the idea that portion sizes must come down. But they say these products could offer baby steps to people struggling to control their weight. And they might also be useful when you feel that binge coming on. “We have some diehard fans who’ve told us they’ve eaten five or six pints in a day,” says Pandhi. “We believe everything should be eaten in moderation. But if you’re going to choose five or six pints of ice cream, it’s definitely healthier to choose our product than a full-fat premium ice cream.” —AP

Mexican papayas sicken 99 WASHINGTON: Mexican papayas tainted with salmonella have sickened 99 people in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. No deaths have been reported but the outbreak spans 23 states and health authorities warned people not to eat fresh, whole papayas imported from Mexico by Agromed Produce of McAllen, Texas.

“Consumers should not eat recalled papayas, and restaurant and food ser vice operators should not serve them,” said the CDC. The company issued a voluntary recall last Saturday of all Blondie, Yaya, Mananita, and Tastylicious Brand papayas sold prior to July 23 because they could be contaminated. The first cases in the salmonella agona outbreak arose in January and have continued to be reported through mid-July, the CDC said.

Twenty-five of the 99 illnesses have been in Texas, the worst hit US state. In Mexico, the Agriculture M inistr y said Tuesday that it was too soon to know if the Mexican papayas in question were the source of the illness.

US and Mexican authorities “are carrying out an investigation in both countries to determine the source of the outbreak of salmonella” so it is not time for any conclusive comment on cause, said Enrique Sanchez, who heads up Mexico’s food safety agency.”For now, Mexican papayas cannot be named as the source of the illness,” Sanchez said. Salmonella poisoning usually causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach pains within 12 to 72 hours of eating, and symptoms can last up to a week. Most people recover without treatment, but people with weak immune systems, the elderly and the very young could be at risk if the infection spreads to the bloodstream. —AFP

WARRENTON: Campers listen to Tom Gaile from Old Dominion Eye Foundation, foreground, as he explains how to cut the cornea out of a human eye at the Fauquier Hospital. —AP

Eye anatomy at camp? Kids get taste of medical careers WARRENTON: Again and again, 12-year-old Brianna Bowens cautiously pokes the human eyeball. On purpose.

The donated eye is tougher than you’d think. It takes a few slices with a sharp scalpel to pierce the white part the sclera, she learns - and eventually remove the cornea in front. Dissecting a human eye isn’t the normal fare of summer camp. It’s part of an unusual program at a small northern Virginia hospital that aims to hook kids as early as middle school on the possibilities of a medical career.

It’s not for the squeamish. But no one’s ever fainted over the eyes. “I’ve got a strong stomach,” says Brianna, of Stafford, Va., who wants to be a pediatric surgeon “or maybe a nurse.” She betrays her excitement when she’s done, the twig-like optic nerve, magnifying lens and clear cornea carefully laid out. Whipping out her cellphone, she exclaims, “Wait, I’ve got to take a picture.” Tom Gaile of the Old Dominion Eye Foundation teaches the crash course at Fauquier Hospital’s medical camp, using eyes donated for education, to explain the importance of organ and tissue donation.

“This is something that’s going to stay with them the rest of their lives,” he says. Programs to entice budding scientists, from building robots to measuring pollution, increasingly are becoming part of the summer ritual. On the health side, it can be harder to find hospitals that free up space and staff to give youngsters a taste of what beginning medical students learn - how to suture skin, take blood pressure, put on a cast, insert an IV, type blood - much less handle precious donated eyes.

But more medical camps are cropping up, although no one keeps a count. And if 12 sounds young, well, Virginia in particular is targeting middle-school students so they line up enough science courses for the best shot

at increasingly competitive college training programs.

“You can’t wait ‘til you’re a senior and decide ‘I want to go into health care,’” says Barbara Brown, vice president of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, which helps fund the camps. She counts 760 mostly middle-school students going through one- to five-day medical camps at 26 hospitals this summer.

The idea is to show kids a wide variety of critical health careers, from nurse-anesthetists to pharmacists to physical therapists. “Nobody ever says, ‘I want to be an organ recovery technician,’” says Julie Fainter of Fauquier Health, who coordinates the medical camp in this town west of Washington, DC Judging from the questions that pepper Gaile, maybe some will. Does removing the eye affect funeral viewing? No, the lids are closed. People can donate only the cornea or the entire eye, important as the sclera is transplanted in some eye surgeries and the rest is used for research. Does an eye’s color change after it’s out of the body? Yes, all irises turn brown after a while.

Marquesia Atwater, 14, came from suburban Atlanta after her mother did a Google search for medical camps. “I decided my whole life I wanted to be a doctor,” she says, a decision the camp cemented. As she examined the eye’s lens, she says, “I never knew there was so much stuff in an eye.”During July and August, 92 kids will spend two days each in Fauquier’s camps designed for either beginners or returning students. Funded mostly through a $15,000 hospital association grant and staff contributions, kids pay $50 to attend. Eyes aren’t the only hands-on experience.

How do you learn to stitch up a cut when you can’t practice on people? They use pigs’ feet, but nurse Wendy Greenwood makes sure the kids keep things sterile just like as if it was a person.—AP

BRUSSELS: Anesthesiologist Fabienne Roelarts hypnotizes patient Christel Place prior to her thyroid surgery in the operating theater of the Cliniques Universitaires St Luc Hospital. —AP

For some, hypnosis eases pain, recovery of surgery LONDON: As the surgeons cut into her neck, Marianne Marquis was thinking of the beach. As she heard the doctors’ voices, she was imagining her toes in the sand, the water lapping. Marquis had been hypnotized before surgery to have her thyroid removed. She’s among a growing number of surgical patients at the Belgian hospital, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc in Brussels, who choose hypnosis and a local anesthetic to avoid the groggy knockout effect of general anesthesia.

These patients are sedated but aware, and doctors say their recovery time is faster and their need for painkillers reduced. This method is feasible for only certain types of operations. In her case, Marquis, 53, imagined herself in a field near a beach - which her anesthetist began describing by whispering into her ear about 10 minutes before surgery. She remembers hearing the doctors talk to her, but said it was as if they were far away.

“I was imagining squishing my toes in the sand and feeling water come up over them,” Marquis said. She felt a little pressure on her neck with the first incision but said it wasn’t painful. Since doctors began offering hypnosis at the hospital in 2003, hundreds of patients have chosen it. At another Belgian hospital, more than 8,000 surgeries have been done this way since 1992.

Doctors say nearly any surgery usually done with a local anesthetic could work with hypnosis and less pain medicine. Proponents say hypnosis can dull patients’ sense of pain and that it also cuts down on the need for anesthetic.

That means patients recover faster and hospitals save money, according to some studies. But it may require doctors to spend more time with patients beforehand to do the hypnosis and they may need more careful monitoring during surgery. The technique has become increasingly popular in France and Belgium in recent years. Some plastic and facial surgeons in Germany also use hypnosis, as well as some British dental surgeons. The French Society of Anesthesiologists describes hypnosis as a valid way to supplement anesthesia to reduce stress, anxiety and pain but neither the Belgian nor British anesthesiology groups offer specific hypnosis advice.

Because of demand, the French Society of Anesthesiologists created a special hypnosis branch in their organization last year.

There are no figures on how widely hypnosis is used across Europe. In several of the nearly dozen French hospitals in Rennes, a northwest city of about 200,000 people, it’s used in about half of all operations, says Claude Virot, a psychiatrist and director of the Institute of Research and Training in Therapeutic Communication there. Virot helps organize hypnosis training and said about 500 health professionals get it every year in France.

Dr. Fabienne Roelants, Marquis’ anesthetist, described hypnosis as a modified state of consciousness. “The patient’s mind goes to a pleasant place, but the body stays in the operating room.” At Roelants’ hospital,

one-third of all surgeries to remove thyroids and one-quarter of all breast cancer surgeries, including biopsies and mastectomies, use hypnosis and local anesthetic. She and colleagues hope to expand the technique to procedures like hernias, knee arthroscopies and plastic surgeries. Roelants said if patients feel any pain during the procedure, anesthetists immediately give them a painkiller shot.

During a recent procedure in Brussels where Christel Place, 43, had her thyroid removed, she furrowed her brow a couple of times to signal to Roelants she needed more drugs. In a green-lit room that helps relax the patients, Place pictured herself hiking in the French Alps while surgeons sliced her neck open. The thyroid is a small gland at the bottom of the neck and makes hormones to control the body’s metabolism. It is sometimes removed when it becomes enlarged, overactive or cancerous. The surgery can be done either with local or general anesthesia and is considered low-risk.

Place said waking up from the surgery was more abrupt than she’d expected. “It was like I was really in the mountains and then ‘poof,’ it was over,” Place said, laughing.

Other experts caution that hypnosis would be impossible in major operations involving the heart or other internal organs because the pain would be unbearable. “If hypnosis doesn’t work and you’ve got somebody’s abdomen or chest open, then you’re in big trouble,” said George Lewith, a professor of health research at Southampton University.

“You need to be able to switch to another option immediately,” he said.

Consistency is also an issue. “It’s not used routinely because it’s not effective in everyone and it takes a while,” said Dr. Mark Warner, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He said doctors would need extra time to conduct hypnosis and would need to work more closely with surgeons. Warner said there are no guidelines on its surgical use in the US He often uses music therapy or asks patients to picture a soothing scene to distract them from any discomfort. “If we could get more research on the right patient groups that would benefit from (hypnosis), that would be wonderful,” he said.

Some experts said hypnosis is a hard sell because no one really profits from it.

“The problem is the money doesn’t really go into anyone’s hands, and the only person who really benefits from it is the patient,” said Guy Montgomery, an associate professor at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, who led a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2007. In that research, Montgomery and colleagues randomly assigned 200 patients in the US having a breast biopsy or lumpectomy to either get hypnosis or a brief session with a psychologist beforehand. They found hypnotized patients needed fewer painkillers and sedatives and required less time in surgery.

On average, each hypnotized patient cost the hospital about $770 less than those who weren’t hypnotized. —AP

US man tries to repair hernia with butter knife LOS ANGELES: A 63-year-old California man tried to operate on his own hernia by cutting open his stomach with a six-inch butter knife, police said Tuesday. The man was apparently frustrated with the painful medical condition, and took matters into his own hands-alarming his wife, who immediately called 911.

“She said her husband was trying to remove a hernia. He was frustrated,” said Sergeant Tom Lorenz of Glendale police, east of Los Angeles, after the incident Sunday. “Pending arrival of paramedics, he removed the butter knife himself,” he told AFP. The man was placed on a psychiatric

hold-a legal term meaning confining a patient to prevent them from selfinjury-and taken to hospital where he was reported to be in a stable condition.

But doctors said he had probably only made his condition worse. “It is absolutely impossible for someone to fix their own hernia,” Sam Carvajal, a surgeon at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times newspaper. “Obviously, there is some amount of psychosis going on,” said Carvajal, adding that repairing a hernia is relatively easy, and usually takes about 20-30 minutes for a trained surgeon. —AFP

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H E A LT H

Study scrutinizes NYC fast food menu calorie counts NEW YORK: Like any fitness program, it works only if you pay attention to it. A new study on New York City’s effort to encourage healthy eating by posting calorie counts on menus shows that it worked for about one in six customers - or those who paid heed to them. Those who ignored the numbers or didn’t see them ordered whatever they wanted, regardless of how fattening it was. City health officials who conducted the study said that’s good news. On any given visit, customers who looked at the counts generally ordered about 100 fewer calories than those who didn’t, according to the results of the study published Tuesday in the British medical journal BMJ. In 2008, New York became the first municipality in the US to require chain restaurants to post the counts, and other places including California and Seattle followed suit. Starting next year, a federal law will require all chains with 20 or more locations to print calorie counts on menus. British fast-food restaurants are set to introduce a similar but voluntary initiative. The study was the first large-scale look at the initiative’s success at several different chains. Lynn D. Silver, director of the Office of

Science and Policy at the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and one of the study’s authors, said it showed modest gains in getting people to order lower-calorie meals. But she said the law also led restaurants to widen their offerings of healthier food, such as salads.

“Calorie labeling alone won’t cure the obesity epidemic but it is one part of trying to address it,” said Silver, a medical doctor. About a third of adults in the US are obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study looked at lunchtime purchases at 11 fastfood chains around New York in 2007, before the city law was passed, and then again in 2009.

Researchers asked nearly 16,000 customers for their receipts and spoke to them about their orders. There was no significant change overall. But customers did order fewer calories, on average, at three major chains: McDonald’s, Au Bon Pain and KFC. The study notes that those restaurants also introduced healthier choices around the same time the law was passed.

Meanwhile, the sandwich shop Subway showed a big increase in the average calorie count of a

breath deeply

lunch order, which the authors linked to the popularity of its “$5 foot-long” deal, introduced nationally in 2008. The study found that more than 20 percent of customers at Subway and Au Bon Pain paid attention to the calorie counts, an increase from the overall average of 15 percent. Women were more likely to use them when deciding what to order, as were people in wealthier neighborhoods.

Young people were the least likely to use them.

The study noted that people are increasingly relying on food prepared away from home. “There is a strong and growing consensus that consumers want to know what they are eating so that they can make informed choices,” the authors wrote.

In a separate development on Tuesday, McDonald’s announced changes to its iconic Happy Meal, making the portion of french fries smaller and adding fruit. Marion Nestle, a professor at New York University’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health and author of the blog “Food Politics,” said the study confirms that once people pay attention to the calorie counts, they make dietary changes. “The next step has to be to get more people to look at

the info,” she said.

In New York City’s Midtown at lunchtime on Tuesday, Carlos Munoz, a 29-year-old student at a technical school, munched on a chicken wrap, fries and a soda from McDonald’s. “I don’t really pay any mind to it,” he said of calorie counts. “I figure one bad thing a day I should be able to burn away.” But he supported their presence on menus.

“You should know what you’re putting into your body,” he said. “If I’m ever curious, I’d like to know I can get the information.”

Inside Starbucks, Alexandra Casey, 23, of Worcester, Mass., said she looks at calorie counts when they’re posted. But as a vegan and avid runner, she was more concerned with overall nutritional content rather than just calories. For example, nuts might be high in calories but they’re still a better choice than cake. Casey applauded New York for leading the way in posting the counts but said eateries should provide more comprehensive information about the food and beverages they offer. “It’s not just about a number,” she said. “The question is, what’s the content of those calories.” — AP

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 [

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shifakuwait@gmail.com shifak uwait@g gmail.com w www.shifakuwait.com ww.shifakuwait.com Workiing Hours: 8.00 am m to to 12:00am Working

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W H AT ’ S O N Announcements 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

The Sheraton Ramadan tent

Exquisite culinary experiences during Ramadan at the Sheraton Kuwait

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njoy your Ramadan nights at Sheraton Kuwait’s famous Ramadan tent where the traditional settings of Ramadan and the warm family atmosphere can be experienced.

Sheraton’s team of expert chefs will be preparing mouthwatering dishes to titillate every palate. Enjoy our open buffet

and live cooking stations for Iftar and Suhour including traditional Ramadan beverages that include Jelab, Tamarhindi and Kamardine to name a few.

Al Hambra international restaurant will be open for “A La Carte” dining daily from 7:00 pm until 1:00 am during the holy month of Ramadan.

For a moment of respite, relax in the elegance of the English Tea Lounge and enjoy the traditional English hospitality open daily during the holy month of Ramadan from 7:00 pm until 2:00 am.

The English Tea Lounge is also available now at The Avenues Mall and will welcome you everyday during the Holy

Month of Ramadan from 8:00 pm until 1:00 am where you can discover the best of English Tea. For your private functions during the holy month of Ramadan, the Sheraton Kuwait has prepared a wide selection of Ramadan menus for Iftar, Gkabka and Suhour.

Ministry of Education encourages educational clubs for kids

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The Sahara Resort

Sahara Resort ready for Ramadan

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ork teams at the Sahara Resort has prepared all of its facilities which include the spa, villas as well as the golf academy, to provide best quality service to customers during the holy month of Ramadan.

Restaurants of the resort will serve special iftar buffets throughout the holy month, featuring dishes from local, regional and international cuisines, prepared by

an elite team of senior chefs. Furthermore, visitors can enjoy special ‘Ghabqa’ evenings starting from 9:00 pm every day during Ramadan.

“The distinguished atmosphere provided by the resort which spans over a 450 thousand square meters area of grass areas, give a special feeling of tranquility to visitors during their stay”, said managing director Hassan Bairly in a press release.

he president of the school activities in the MOE Mon AL-Fraih said that the ministry seeks to make the child clubs to work during the whole school year after proving its success in the summer. He emphasized that it will be with the evening school clubs and it will begin next year after the officials in the ministry approve on it. Al-Fraih said after sponsoring the closure events for the kids summer clubs, on the stage of Al-Shorouq school, that the private clubs will start work after the final exams until the beginning of Ramadan. Many children were chosen, from the age of five and above. Al-Fraih said that the program included a lot of activities such as IT, painting, English and trips. She emphasized that the students activities section in the ministry aims to invest in the students leisure time by encouraging useful activities and that the clubs are evenly distributed in different educational areas, including the Kuwait club center for autism.

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.

Kids learning IT skills at their educational clubs

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going for a fasting day. Ruby Tuesday Sohour buffet starts from 11:30 PM to 1:30 AM. For Ruby Tuesday food lovers, the regular menu

is always available in all Ruby Tuesday restaurants.

Enjoy your Iftar or Sohour the way you

like followed by Shisha at Ruby Tuesday Sharq (Next to Kuwait Towers) or Shaab (on the Gulf Road).

men’s and ladies teams have the pleasure of training and playing on the KOC sand pitch in Ahmadi, the home of the Kuwait Nomads.

Training nights are Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm-9pm. Inter-Gulf matches are played on Thursdays or Fridays. www.p8nompds.com

MOTOR SPORTS Kuwait Motor Bike League / The Amateur Car & Motorbike Association Motorbike track (for trail/dirt bikes) and rally car-racing centre located behind the Science Club on the northern side of the 6th Ring Road (between roads 401 and 50). Car and bike races held on Fridays. Use of facilities and participation in competitions limited to members only. office on 3td Ring Road, near Road 50.

RUNNING For anyone who likes walking, jogging or cycling in Kuwait there is a very good track

NETBALL Kuwait Netball Meet Monday for mixed games 6:30 -7:30 and Tuesday for Woman only check the website for more info. www.kuwaitnetball.com RUGBY Kuwait Nomads The rugby season in Kuwait runs from September to May. Mens, ladies and minis rugby are played and the teams frequently travel to participate in AGRFU tournaments.

Any interested child between the ages of 5-17 can participate in the Minis rugby. Training is held every Friday between 9am-llam on the grassed pitch at the Yarmouk stadium. The

around the area of Mishref. The track is 4.9km long and is marked out in distances of 100m. There are also a number of outdoor exercise machines located near the start and the end of the track. Please note, however, that the track is more of a horseshoe shape rather than a complete circuit as there is a gap of at least a mile between the start and finish. Decide how far you want to walk, walk half the distance and then turn back. There are roads to cross so take care if you have young children with you. Despite all of this,

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 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 Kuwait-based comedian Philip’s third musical show after the overwhelming success of staging “Tum Vhoir Aum Sokol” and “Hem Kazar Koslem” in Kuwait and overseas.

Don Bosco Oratory announces cricket tournament

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Summer Activities KAYAKING Kuwait Surf-Ski Kayak Club 99706742 Sea kayaking is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world today. Call if you are interested in purchasing a kayak, getting involved in the sport.

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.

Ruby Tuesday: We have seen the Crescent & prepared our feast lthough Ruby Tuesday is one of the High Quality Causal Dinning restaurants in Kuwait, it does not miss the Holy Month of Ramadan without being Oriental. Ruby Tuesday offers Iftar and Sohour Buffet in a distinctive Ramadan ambience created in line with the spirit of the holy month.

The luxurious Iftar buffet spread is open from sunset to 8:00PM presenting a huge collection of appetizers, main courses, desserts, special Ramadan juices and many more. Ruby Tuesday also offers Sohour Buffet, which is full of scrumptious dishes for a fulfilling Sohour experience to keep you

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.

it’s still very worthwhile going along and trying it out.

Contact John Morley johnmorley@hotmail.com

HASH HARRIERS 23982219 Social jogging on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Hash Harriers has been operating around the world since 1938. Hash is for a mixture of abilities from walkers to experienced runners. It is social rather than athletic. Length of course depends on time of year.

Contact Gerry Burton on the above number or on 99764028. www.hasher.net

Fahaheel Sailing Club (see Dive Caroline) 2371 9289 www.horn3.com

SAILING The Arabian Gulf waters are an ideal environment in which to learn to sail. Offshore the seas are seldom rough and there is often a moderate breeze. Many of the sea clubs organize sailing activities.

CATAMARAN SAILING 66587737 Dive Caroline Beach Fafaheel The Kuwait Catamaran Club is a group of enthusiasts who love sailing on fast cats in the Arabian Gulf’s waters around Kuwait. Usually an informal group sail on Friday afternoons.

Boats are privately owned but visitors are very welcome and can be taken out as crew.

Boats for hire, a Dart 18 and Hobie 16.

KOSA 23983365 99745383 The Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Dive Caroline clubhouse, which is located at the Fahaheel Sea Club. Fortnightly racing plus International events in Bahrain and Dubai.

Boats often require crew and will take you if you turn up! Catamaran racing is arranged after KOSA morning races, followed by a sunset barbecue on the beach. An Annual Regatta, usually during April, is also organised. www.kospg8.com SCUBA DIVING The Arabian Gulf is the perfect place in which to learn to scuba dive. Although dive sites are not as spectacular as those in the Red Sea and Thailand, the local environment is conducive to teaching youngsters who wish to do fairly shallow dives and build up their confidence. A parent/guardian is required to accompany all children between the ages of 10-12. Thereafter the child may be accompanied by a diving instructor. It is a good idea for adults to attend the theory classes with their children.

on Bosco Oratory is pleased to announce its Major 7-a-side ‘Box Cricket Tournament’ in Kuwait. This event is for the cricket lovers in Kuwait and will be played on a League cum Knock out basis at the IEAS Indoor grounds at Salmiya. The last date for entries for participation is August 9th. Entries are accepted on a first come first serve basis. Draws will be announced on 10th August. We wish all teams the very best and request to help us in succeeding to organize this major event. When: The tournament begins on August 13th We request all interested teams to contact the organizer at the school grounds between 7-8 pm Mon - Thurs or: Philip: 66047730, Alex: 6606-9282, Liston: 9984-9649

Aware Arabic courses “The AWARE Management is glad to announce that Ramadan Arabic language courses will begin on August 7th till September 15th, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community.

We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight ● Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics ● Better prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic ● Combine language learning with cultural insights ● Taught in multi-nationality group settings ● Provide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, call 25335260 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

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W H AT ’ S O N

Paragon Marketing Communications work published in design publication

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aragon Marketing Communications one of Kuwait’s leading advertising agency has its work featured in LogoLounge Master Library Volume 3 3000 Shape & Symbol logos.

LogoLounge Master Library Volume 3 3000 Shape & Symbol logos by Rockport Publications is a collection of 3000 shape and symbol based designs gathered from LogoLounge.com, the largest online collection of logos in the world. The book features a total of 3000 logos selected from a collection of 160,000 logos and counting. This issue is the 3rd part of a 7 book series that focuses on different genres of logo designs such as initials & crests, animals and mythology, shapes and symbols, typography, people,

nature and food and arts and culture.

Paragon Marketing Communications recently also announced its venture into the Omani market as it realizes its aim of being a truly global

integrated marketing communications agency.

Paragon Marketing Communications has been featured in 18 more international books on advertising and graphic design: Design &

Design Book of the Year 2010, 1000 More Greetings by Rockport Publications; The Best of Business Card Design

by Sibley/Peteet Design/Austin, Letterhead & Logo Design 9 by The San

Francisco Design Office Mine, Letterhead & Logo Design 11

by Design Army, Logo Lounge 4 by Bill Gardner, Identity Crisis

by Jeff Fisher, The Big Book of Self promotion by Peleg Top and Ilise Benun, Logo Lounge Master Library 3000 Initial & Crest Logos and Logo Lounge Master Library 3000 Initial & Mythology Logos by Catharine Fishel and Bill Gardner, Recycling & Redesigning Logos

by Michael Hodgson, Really Good Logos Explained by Margo Chase, Rian Hughes, Ron Miriello and Alex White, Portfolios 01 by Maura Keller, Crack, Celebrations Graphics Sourcebook by John Stones, Kuwait Arab Advertising Award Book, Complete Graphic Designer by Ryan Hembree, Creating Great Graphic Design to a Budget by Scott Witham.

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.

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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.

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EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.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 ■■■■■■■

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.

Graduation party for the eighth batch at Al-Esllah nursery

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l-Esllah nursery held a graduation party for the eighth batch of graduates. The event was held at the center of the nursery in Al-Shamiya in the presence of the president of the nursery Mona Bouresly and the parents of the graduates. There were media representatives on hand for the occasion. Certificates were distributed during the ceremony.

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EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com ■■■■■■■

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.

Adopt a pet

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I am Gary, a 9 month old mischievous and playful, bright, male domestic short-haired cat. After my time here at PAWS I am well socialised with people and other cats and am fully vaccinated. I am in fact all ready for my new home! Now all I need is you!!

To adopt Gary, learn more about PAWS or make a donation please visit us at www.paws-kuwait.org Protecting Animal Welfare Society At PAWS we work tirelessly to provide much needed care for entirely animals throughout Kuwait. PAWS relies upon donations and needs your help. Donate now.

Burti is a poodle cross. He is a very friendly little guy. He gets on very well with all of the dogs at the shelter and is a favorite among the volunteers. Burti would make a great family pet with his playful and affectionate nature.

To adopt Burti, learn more about PAWS or make a donation please visit us at www.paws-kuwait.org Protecting Animal Welfare Society At PAWS we work tirelessly to provide much needed care for entirely animals throughout Kuwait. PAWS relies upon donations and needs your help. Donate now.

EMBASSY OF IRAN The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kuwait announced their official working hours during the holy month of Ramadan, which will go between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm on weekdays. The Iranian embassy extends will wishes to His Highness the Amir, the government as well as the people of Kuwait on this occasion.

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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

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TV PROGRAMS

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:30 04:25 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:40 09:10 10:05 11:00 11:55 12:20 12:50 13:45 14:40 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:25 18:20 18:45 19:15 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:50

Dogs 101 Untamed & Uncut Austin Stevens Adventures Planet Earth Human Prey Animal Cops Houston Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Meerkat Manor The Really Wild Show Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Breed All About It Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Dogs 101 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Meerkat Manor Wildlife SOS Animal ER Animal Cops Houston Animal Precinct SSPCA: On the Wildside The Really Wild Show Crocodile Hunter Must Love Cats Breed All About It Orangutan Island Crocodile Hunter Dogs 101 Escape to Chimp Eden Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Seven Deadly Strikes Speed of Life

00:10 00:40 01:25 02:20 02:50 03:20 03:50 04:20 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 14:05 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:40 23:30

2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Casualty Bleak House Bleak House Eastenders 2 Point 4 Children Charlie And Lola 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 Born And Bred Doctors Eastenders Casualty 2 Point 4 Children Born And Bred The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Born And Bred The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Ray Mears Goes Walkabout 2 Point 4 Children

00:10 The Naked Chef 00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 01:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 02:20 Masterchef Australia 03:35 The Naked Chef 04:00 Britain’s Dream Homes 04:55 Daily Cooks Challenge 07:20 Glamour Puds 08:05 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 08:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 09:00 Antiques Roadshow 09:50 New Scandinavian Cooking

With Andreas Viestad 10:15 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 10:40 Ching’s Kitchen 11:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 11:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 12:20 Antiques Roadshow 13:10 Cash In The Attic 14:00 Bargain Hunt 14:45 Come Dine With Me 15:35 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 16:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 16:25 Ching’s Kitchen 17:10 Rhodes Across India 18:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 18:25 New Scandinavian Cooking 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

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 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 10:00 The Secret Saturdays 10:30 The Secret Saturdays 10:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 11:45 Bakugan: New Vestroia 12:35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 13:25 The Powerpuff Girls 14:15 Adventure Time 15:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 15:50 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 16:35 Skunk Fu! 17:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 17:40 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 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

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45

Backstory World Sport The Situation Room World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport Talk Asia World Report Backstory World Report World Sport The Boss World Business Today World One World Sport Icon Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk Icon Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

Dirty Jobs Miami Ink Ultimate Survival Twist The Throttle Mythbusters How It’s Made How Does It Work?

Dirty Jobs Twist The Throttle Street Customs Berlin How It’s Made

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 22:25 22:50 23:45

Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Science Of The Movies The Future Of...

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 Track Me If You Can Sons Of Guns Sons Of Guns Frontline Battle Machines...

Survivorman

00:05 00:55 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 08:50 09:15 09:40 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

Weird Or What?

Mighty Ships What’s That About?

Weird Connections Catch It Keep It How Does That Work?

Mighty Ships One Step Beyond Engineered Catch It Keep It Race To Mars The Gadget Show The Gadget Show How Stuff Works Weird Connections Brainiac How The Universe Works Sci-Fi Science The Gadget Show Prototype This Bang Goes The Theory Junkyard Mega-Wars The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Prototype This Bang Goes The Theory The Gadget Show

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

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 Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Forever 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

CAIRO TIME ON OSN CINEMA

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Then And Now 01:25 25 Most Memorable Swimsuit Moments 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Khloe And Lamar 10:15 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 12:05 E! News 13:05 Extreme Close-Up

13:35 Extreme Close-Up 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 E!es 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Holly’s World 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Khloe And Lamar 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami

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 I’ll Do Anything 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 Eds Up 11:45 Fantasy Factory 12:35 Glutton For Punishment 13:25 Mantracker 14:15 World Combat League 15:05 Eds Up 15:55 Fantasy Factory 16:45 Cape Epic 17:10 IFMXF 2010 18:00 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

18:50 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

19:40 Mantracker 20:30 Glutton For Punishment 21:20 FIM World Motocross MX3 Championships...

22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Wrestling With Reality 23:50 Glutton For Punishment

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 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 Jones 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting I Almost Got Away With It Serial Killers Dr G: Medical Examiner Amsterdam Vice Ghost Lab Mystery Diagnosis Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Royal Inquest FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Undercover Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Royal Inquest FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Undercover True Crime With Aphrodite

01:25 02:55 04:40 06:25 08:10 10:15 11:40 11:55 13:35 15:00 16:55 18:25 20:15 22:00

Dark Angel (1990) A Prayer For The Dying The Mean Season-PG Dream Lover Man Of LA Mancha-PG Haunted Honeymoon-PG Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM Memories Of Me-PG Awake To Danger-PG Play Dirty-PG Mosquito Squadron-PG The Perez Family-PG Gaily, Gaily-PG The Alamo-FAM

Most Evil Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:00 World’s Deadliest 01:00 Planet Carnivore 01:55 Secrets Of The King Cobra 02:50 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 03:45 I, Predator 04:40 The Living Edens 05:35 Hidden Worlds 06:30 The Kill Zone 07:25 Hidden Worlds 08:20 World’s Deadliest Animals 09:15 Secrets Of The King Cobra 10:10 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 11:05 I, Predator 12:00 Frogs: The Thin Green Line 13:00 Ultimate Predator 14:00 Hidden Worlds 15:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 16:00 Built For The Kill 17:00 Predator CSI 18:00 I, Predator 19:00 Ultimate Predator 20:00 Hidden Worlds 21:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 22:00 Built For The Kill 23:00 Predator CSI

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 18 22:15

The Wizard Of Gore-R The Descent 2-18 Wild Things: Foursome -18 Obsessed-PG15 Star Trek: Generations-PG The Betrayed-PG15 Ransom-PG15 Star Trek: Generations-PG Darkness Falls-PG15 Ransom-PG15 The Manchurian Candidate-

01:00 03:00 05:15 07:00 09:15

5 Dollars A Day-PG15 Secretariat-PG15 Flying By-PG15 Invictus-PG15 Secretariat-PG15

The Rig-PG15

THE BLEEDING ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 11:30 13:15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:30

Far North-PG15 Messengers-PG15 Cairo Time-PG15 Hurricane Season-PG15 Crazy On The Outside-PG15 The Karate Kid-PG Jennifer’s Body-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 02:00 Louie 02:30 Party Down 03:00 Just Shoot Me 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 Just Shoot Me 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 The Simpsons 10:00 Parks And Recreation 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 Coach 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Yes Dear 13:00 Just Shoot Me 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 Seinfeld 14:30 The Simpsons 15:00 Parks And Recreation 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 19:00 Happy Endings 19:30 Community 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 State Of The Union 22:30 Party Down 23:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Supernatural Mildred Pierce Private Practice Terriers Strong Medicine Good Morning America Glee Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Supernatural Terriers Live Good Morning America Strong Medicine The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Look-A-Like Bones White Collar Burn Notice The Good Guys 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 16:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Alias Lie To Me Supernatural Mildred Pierce Terriers Detroit 1-8-7 Alias Sons Of Tucson Coronation Street No Ordinary Family Detroit 1-8-7 Terriers Supernatural Sons Of Tucson No Ordinary Family Smallville Sons Of Tucson Look-A-Like No Ordinary Family Bones White Collar Burn Notice The Good Guys The Gates

01:00 King Arthur-PG15 03:15 Timber Falls-18 05:00 Rage: Carrie 2-PG15 07:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 09:00 Deceit-PG15 11:00 Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 13:00 Dick Tracy-PG15 15:00 Deceit-PG15 16:45 Enemy Of The State-PG15 19:00 No Time To Fear-PG15 21:00 Triangle-18 23:00 The Bleeding-18

00:00 17 Again-PG15 02:00 Four Last Songs-PG15 04:00 The Out Of Towners-PG15 06:00 Jack-PG15 08:00 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 10:00 Leaving Normal-PG15 12:00 Houseguest-PG15 14:00 How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days-PG 16:00 17 Again-PG15 18:00 Management-PG15 20:00 Mallrats-18 22:00 French And Saunders Still Alive-18 01:15 Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation-18 03:00 Everything Put Together-PG15 05:00 Life-PG15 07:00 Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation-18 09:00 Everybody’s Fine-PG15 11:00 By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama-PG15 13:00 Witness To Jonestown-PG15 15:00 Guarding Tess-PG 17:00 In God’s Hands-PG 19:00 No One Knows About Persian Cats-PG15 21:00 The Damned United-PG15 23:00 Stuart: A Life Backwards-18 01:00 Hanging Up-PG15 03:00 Planet 51-PG 05:00 The Sorcerer’s ApprenticePG15 07:00 Flicka 2-PG15 09:00 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 11:00 Dr. Dolittle-PG 13:00 Dr. Dolittle 2-PG 15:00 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 17:00 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 19:00 Black Death-PG15 21:00 The Karate Kid-PG 23:30 Little Ashes-R

00:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 02:00 Globehunters-FAM 04:00 Dennis The Menace: Cruise Control-FAM 06:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 08:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 10:00 Shorts-PG 12:00 The Country Bears-PG15 14:00 The Amazing Zorro-PG15 16:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 18:00 The Country Bears-PG15 20:00 Daddy Day Care-PG 22:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 00:00 Long Weekend-PG15 02:00 Cinema Verite: The Saga Of An American Family-PG15 04:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 06:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 08:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 09:45 Saved!-PG15 11:45 The Blind Side-PG15 14:00 Another Year-PG15 16:15 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 18:00 Alice In Wonderland-PG 20:00 Cop Out-PG15 22:00 Robin Hood-PG15

00:00 00:30 01:30 02:30

Powerboats Trans World Sport Speedway Super Rugby Highlights

03:30 04:30 05:30 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 20:00 21:00

Powerboats F1 H2O Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Aquabikes WWE Vintage Collection WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line Rugby Union International WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line Darts World Matchplay Live PGA European Tour UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 132

00:00 European Tour Weekly 00:30 NRL Premiership 02:30 Asian Tour Golf Show 03:00 Asian Tour Highlights 04:00 Currie Cup 06:00 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 06:30 European Tour Weekly 07:00 NRL Full Time 07:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 08:00 Trans World Sport 09:00 Asian Tour Highlights 10:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 11:00 European Tour Weekly 11:30 AFL Highlights 12:30 NRL Premiership 14:30 Darts World Matchplay 16:30 Total Rugby 17:00 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 17:30 Trans World Sport 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 AFL Highlights 20:00 Total Rugby 20:30 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 21:00 NRL Full Time 21:30 Live RFL Championship 23:30 Darts World Matchplay

00:00 01:00 01:30 04:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:30 16:00 20:00 21:00 21:30

Trans World Sport Euro Tour Weekly AFL Premiership Masters Football Rugby Union Darts World Match ICC Criket World Total Rugby Trans World Sport Asian Tour Golf Golfing World Euro Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour Trans World Sport Euro Tour Weekly PGA European Tour

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Modern Pentathlon UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line Modern Pentathlon WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line V8 Supercars Championship Modern Pentathlon Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 132

00:00 Gestapo 01:00 Ice Road Truckers 02:00 Ax Men 03:00 Britain At War 04:00 Gestapo 06:00 Rudolf Hess: The Man Who Died Twice 07:00 Ice Road Truckers 08:00 Ax Men 09:00 Britain At War 10:00 Gestapo 12:00 Rudolf Hess: The Man Who Died Twice 13:00 Ice Road Truckers 14:00 Ax Men 15:00 Britain At War 16:00 Gestapo 18:00 Rudolf Hess: The Man Who Died Twice 19:00 Ice Road Truckers 20:00 Ax Men 21:00 Sliced 22:00 Modern Marvels 23:00 The Korean War In Colour

Classifieds THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Room available for an executive bachelor with Malayalee family in Farwaniya near Gazali Street. Contact: 66790833.

(C 3547) 27-8-2011 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 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 Accommodation available in 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom C-A/C apartment for a decent couple, executive bachelor or working lady in Mahboula, close to Gulf Road. Contact: 66216713.

(C 3534)

SITUATION WANTED 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 FOR SALE Room available for an executive bachelor with Malayalee family in Far waniya near Gazali Street. Contact: 66790833.

(C 3547) 28-7-2011 Toyota Rav4 - Jeep 2007, 4 doors, full options, white color, 4 cylinder, KD 3,900/-.

Contact: 55323839.

(C 3539) Honda City 2009, white color, full automatic, 16000km, KD 2,300/-. Contact: 65085629. (C 3540) Volvo S60 2001, light green metallic, run 190,000km, very good condition, price KD 900 only. Contact: 99881982. (C 3541) Chevrolet Tahoe 1996, two doors, dark green, very good condition, price KD 850. Contact: 97792794.

(C 3542) 24-7-2011

No: 15163

“PILATE POWER GYM” for all over body strength and Aerobic training, almost brand new with owner’s manual nutritional guide and CD for details info pls do Google search, price less than half from market KD 55. Contact: 99430379.

(C 3535) 23-7-2011

SITUATION VACANT A Kuwaiti family is looking to hire a part-time driver.

Please Contact: 99774658.

(C 3548) 28-7-2011

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 JZR MEA THY ETH MEA UAE DHX ETD MSR FDB GFA QTR THY JZR FCX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC FDB KAC RJA KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY ETD GFA MEA JZR MSR JZR SYR KAC MSR UAL SHY RJA MSR FDB OMA JZR QTR KAC KAC SVA KAC

Flt 642 205 267 400 772 620 406 853 370 305 614 67 211 138 770 503 201 555 412 157 1541 206 382 605 302 53 332 5366 352 284 362 855 132 125 301 213 404 165 623 561 341 672 610 982 4125 640 621 57 645 357 140 562 546 500 552

Arrival Flights on Thursday 28/7/2011 Route AMMAN DAMASCUS BEIRUT BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA ISTANBUL LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON CAIRO ISLAMABAD DELHI ISFAHAN MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM AMMAN COCHIN DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI SOHAG SOHAG DAMASCUS / DEIREZZOR DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES ANTALYA AMMAN ASSIUT DUBAI MUSCAT MASHAD DOHA AMMAN ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH DAMASCUS

Time 0:05 0:25 0:35 0:45 1:15 1:45 2:10 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 4:10 5:15 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:40 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:35 10:55 11:10 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:35

KAC KNE JZR QTR JZR KNE KAC MLR ETD UAE KAC GFA SVA JZR TAR JZR ABY FDB ALK JZR RBG KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI SIA IRA FDB VOS OMA JZR MEA KAC MSR DHX KLM UAE GFA QTR UAL AIC JZR MSR JZR JZR MSR DLH LZB AXB JZR PIA

788 745 257 134 535 789 118 403 303 857 154 215 510 777 327 239 127 63 227 177 3555 104 502 542 618 786 614 674 774 572 458 617 61 93 647 179 402 178 618 372 445 859 217 136 981 981 135 606 513 185 612 636 7787 389 539 205

JEDDAH JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO JEDDAH NEW YORK COLOMBO / DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI ISTANBUL BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH TUNIS / DUBAI AMMAN SHARJAH DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA LONDON BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH MUMBAI SINGAPORE / ABU DHABI AHWAZ DUBAI KANDAHAR / DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI BEIRUT GENEVA / FRANKFURT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN LUXOR SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT SOFIA KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO LAHORE

14:40 14:45 15:10 15:15 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:00 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:05 18:35 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:45 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:30 23:55

Airlines AXB JZR DLH AIC KLM PIA MEA THY ETH MEA UAE FDB DHX MSR QTR THY JZR JZR RJA GFA KAC JZR BAW IRA FDB RJA JZR KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR ETD GFA KAC MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC MSR KAC JZR SYR MSR SHY RJA FDB MSR UAL

Departure Flights on Thursday 28/7/2011 Flt Route 394 COCHIN / KOZHIKODE 1540 CAIRO 637 FRANKFURT 576 GOA / CHENNAI 447 AMSTERDAM 216 KARACHI 401 BEIRUT 773 ISTANBUL 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 407 BEIRUT 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 615 CAIRO 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 356 MASHAD 156 LONDON 606 MASHAD 54 DUBAI 5367 AMMAN 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 153 ISTANBUL 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 551 DAMASCUS 561 AMMAN 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 101 LONDON / NEW YORK 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 165 ROME / PARIS 405 BEIRUT 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 238 AMMAN 501 BEIRUT 624 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 342 DEIREZZOR / DAMASCUS 611 CAIRO 4126 ANTALYA 641 AMMAN 58 DUBAI 622 ASSIUT 982 BAHRAIN

Time 0:15 0:20 0:40 0:50 0:55 1:10 1:45 2:15 2:30 3:10 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:10 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:40 8:20 8:25 8:40 8:40 8:45 8:50 8:55 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:10 9:15 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 13:00 13:10 13:30 13:40 14:00 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

OMA KAC KNE KAC SVA JZR KAC JZR QTR KAC JZR KNE VOS ETD MLR QTR UAE GFA TAR ABY JZR JZR SVA FDB RBG ALK JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB IRA KAC KAC OMA MEA SIA MSR KAC DHX KLM KAC JZR UAE GFA FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR MSR JZR UAL KAC KAC MSR

646 673 746 617 505 178 773 512 141 613 538 790 82 304 404 135 858 216 328 128 184 266 511 64 3556 228 134 283 361 571 62 616 331 351 648 403 457 619 543 373 445 677 206 860 218 102 137 301 205 502 554 607 240 981 411 415 613

MUSCAT DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH SHARM EL SHEIKH DOHA BAHRAIN CAIRO JEDDAH BAGHDAD ABU DHABI DUBAI / COLOMBO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN TUNIS SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI / COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI AHWAZ TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ABU DHABI / SINGAPORE ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM DUBAI / MUSCAT DAMASCUS DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA LUXOR AMMAN WASHINGTON DC DULLES BANGKOK / MANILA KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA CAIRO

15:00 15:10 15:30 15:35 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:10 16:15 16:20 16:40 16:45 17:00 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 19:10 19:10 19:30 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:55 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:25 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:50

34

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

s ta rs CROSSWORD 392

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are fair-minded and above-board, always direct and honest in thought. Directing or guiding others today, you are able to keep the flow of energy in a forward movement without too many stops and starts. You manage to come up with things to keep everyone out of trouble. You are more interested in eternal thoughts and broad landscapes than in minute details. You always manage to get the picture right away. Farsighted, you have a wandering mind that loves to travel and are at home with the bare bones of truth. Your presence has a way of easing things; helping those around you to let go of any differences and stand behind what unites us all. Your afternoon is less stressful and the evening romantic— who could ask for anything more?

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Gathering and exchanging information becomes a more important part of your life just now. This may not take place in the form of gossip, but in the form of education. There could be some research necessary today that will find you in a library or bookstore. Law, politics, education, travel and religion are some of the areas where thoughts are organized. Big ideas that affect your career, status and reputation are likely at this time. Daring to be different gets you noticed and could get you ahead in ways you never expected this afternoon. It could even land you in hot water if you are not discreet. A high-tech or idealistic approach sets you apart. Neighbors or sibling(s) have a big impact on your goals. This is a mentally and socially active period.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A large round wicker basket (used on farms).

5. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

10. An associate degree in applied science.

13. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

14. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

15. A member of the Dravidian people living in southeastern India.

16. Evergreen Indian shrub with vivid yellow flowers whose bark is used in tanning.

18. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

20. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

21. A motley assortment of things.

23. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

26. A sedimentary rock formed by the deposition of successive layers of clay.

27. A notable achievement.

30. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

31. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

32. An edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle.

33. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

38. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

40. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

43. A primeval personification of air and breath.

44. Affect with wonder.

48. Hardy coarse-haired sheep of central Asia.

51. German mathematician (1804-1851).

54. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

55. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

56. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

57. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills.

61. A long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river.

62. A constitutional monarchy in northern Europe on the western side of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

63. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels.

64. Chief port of Yemen.

65. Squash bugs.

66. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

DOWN 1. (trademark) A tinned luncheon meat made largely from pork.

2. (Polynesian) An alcoholic drink made from the aromatic roots of the kava shrub.

3. A card game for 2 players.

4. (obstetrics) The number of live-born children a woman has delivered.

5. A large fleet.

6. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

7. A castrated tomcat.

8. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

9. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

10. Jordan's port.

11. Of or pertaining to hearing or the ear.

12. The action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack.

17. (informal) Of the highest quality.

19. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

22. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

24. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

25. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

28. A set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge.

29. An administrator in charge of a division of a university or college.

34. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

35. A branch of the Tai languages.

36. A public promotion of some product or service.

37. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

39. A fine closely woven cotton fabric.

40. (obstetrics) The number of live-born children a woman has delivered.

41. A town in northern Egypt.

42. A male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917).

45. A genus of tropical Asian and Malaysian palm trees.

46. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

47. The capital and largest city of Lithuania.

49. Mammary gland of bovids (cows and sheep and goats).

50. A spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle.

52. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

53. A sign of something about to happen.

58. The longest division of geological time.

59. A widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells.

60. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Working at an art fair or flea market is fun and profitable. During the noon break you may see an old friend. A walking encyclopedia, a yen to know a little bit about everything and everyone; you may find yourself prying, perhaps too much—easy-does-it. Talking, writing, keeping a finger on the pulse of all that’s happening makes this is a time of curiosity and social as well as intellectual growth. Such things are an end in themselves, rather than a means to any other end. A rewarding afternoon brings new opportunities your way. This could mean that you are secure in a new marriage or home or you have helped someone else to do the same. You are feeling like a bit of celebration tonight. A loved one or a close friend will be happy to join in with you.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You are more than ready for any task that is put in front of you today—others just stand and watch. Gut-level is the way you think, speak and perceive in the cycle you have just begun. Time is of the essence and you can organize and get things accomplished better than most. This day may call for a bit of imagination, resourcefulness and creativity when it comes to ideas and thinking.

However, this, coupled with the ability to put your thoughts into words and ideas into action, allows you to dazzle others. You could complete tasks that no other person would want to begin. You may see the end results of a long-time project this afternoon. You are in the limelight with your accomplishments. A good book or movie is appreciated this evening.

Leo (July 23-August 22) There is an instinctive push to lend your energies to productive, healing and constructive situations today. It could be you are involved in finishing touches of redecorating a room or completing class lectures, teaching young people or just tending to your own chores. An opportunity to help care for young people or old people will emphasize your abilities in playing the role of a coordinator or guide. Being more in touch with your emotional roots is a keynote of the cycle that now takes hold in your life.

You may have the opportunity to gain some feedback on a few problem-solving ideas. You work to make the things you feel and care about a reality. There could be a lecture or a book review as well as a greater focus on family.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Financial ties to other people are highlighted today. You may have borrowed money and are now ready to return the favor, or the other way around. Connections with people on a grand scale would be easy to find. This may mean a wedding or baby is about to widen the family unit. Education, advertising and travel could play a part in this as well and you will find yourself traveling so that you can be a part of the wedding or the birth.

Law and philosophy and/or religion has much potential to impact your lifestyle.

You love a social life—friends and relationships play a major role in your makeup.

Your taste in art and appreciation in general are heightened. Perhaps while you are away from the home you will find a good art investment.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) The exchange of ideas becomes a focal point in a family gathering today. This may be the way you and your family choose to run a meeting when any one person is making decisions that touch others. Hopefully, by teaching these considerations, everyone gains. This may even mean that music, chores, food or finances will be a topic of discussion, instead of tolerated. You are constantly learning, knowing a little about a lot of things, staying in touch and on top of the latest developments: these things satisfy a need for mental stimulation. This is a time of much mental energy and initiative, perhaps with an element of conflict tossed in for good measure. You may find yourself very pleased at the way this day has progressed. Tonight is for relaxation.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) A clear-minded insight into your own plans and methods is available to you today. This is a good time to share your dreams with others, all of them taking a little time to talk about just where they want their lives to take them. This afternoon you will put your mind to work and take care of any details that you may have—mental discipline should come easily. You are at your mental best. Problems and obstacles that have seemed difficult before now should find easy explanations under your keen examination. This evening you may enjoy the company of friends and neighbors. Others may find you especially witty and eccentric. A loved one is upset for reasons other than what he or she says—do not take things too personal—patience.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Early this morning a family member may have to come and look for you in the garden. In order to have beautiful plants it takes cultivation, water and nutrients. Later today you may find yourself in charge, or partly in charge, of the purchase of some business equipment. If you are in business for yourself and are looking to purchase a copier, computer, car or camera consider visiting the library to look at comparisons and gain suggestions that will save you many miles and the gas it takes to run to those different stores. Make sure you get a second opinion if you are spending family money. This is a good time to reorganize in your office, home or vehicle. Think about putting that budget in effect; you will have the money you need for a special trip this fall.

Personal issues are solved easily today. Taking care of family is a major theme where your emotional orientation is concerned.

You crave organization and practicality and you want to get things accomplished. You are willing, however, to stop whenever necessary to help a young or elderly person become better focused. Being successful in life is easy for you— you have a built-in sense of how to problem-solve. If you are not working, that professional attitude is carried out in all you attempt to accomplish and be productive. You may find yourself communicating and helping a neighbor project or visiting a friend this evening—perhaps a family member. You are wise to keep all your communications positive and forward moving.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Self-discipline and a sense of self-worth become important issues in your life now. A fear of asserting yourself can hold you back—as can coming on too strong. The trick is learning to make the most of your personal talents and abilities, working within your limitations instead of feeling hemmed in by them. Continued success on the career level may point to your abandoning some of your ideas; the time will be right soon. While success is important, do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Your ideals got you where you are—try for a good compromise just now. If you are not involved in a volunteer service this evening, give yourself three months to find one you really like and really give of yourself. This could involve teaching young people.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

In-depth discussions and probing conversations find you at your mental best this afternoon. There are subjects you love to talk about and you may finally have found a new friend that loves to listen. Your investigative abilities are at a high point and problems are easily solved—especially the technical ones. It could be that you and this new friend of yours could make an attempt to write a play together or film a short movie, etc. Create a fictitious product and sell it on film with all your heart. You could enter your film to a company that needs new advertisement ideas and you will gain quite a bit; perhaps a new job. This is a great time to work on personal or team projects.

This may also mean a sports game is in order this evening.

A

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THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Years

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

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist 25340300

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada) Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581 22641071/2

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Salem soso

22618787

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

Dentists

Internists, Chest & Heart

25339330

25655535

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

General Surgeons

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

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Years

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

li fe s t y le G o s s i p

icki Minaj has been fined for swearing on stage. The 28-yearold singer was handed a court summons by police in Jamaica following her expletive-filled performance at the Reggae Sumfest festival at the Catherine Hall Complex in Montego Bay in the early hours of Sunday but did not appear in a local court to answer charges of breaching local laws against profanity. Instead, local lawyer Hugh Thompson pleaded guilty on her behalf and she was fined J$1,000 - the equivalent of just $11 in the US. It is unclear if Nicki was still in Jamaica when the punishment was given out, but her attorney paid the fine for her. Despite the legal problem with her stage show, the ‘Your Love’ hitmaker didn’t let it upset her and took to twitter after her performance to profess how much she had

N

enjoyed herself. She wrote: “I had the time of my life at Reggae Sumfest... Jamaica I fell in love tonight.” Earlier this month, Nicki was hit in the face during an argument at a hotel. The ‘Check It Out’ star was struck on the lower lip during the heated row with the man she was staying with at the Palomar Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Nicki told an employee at the complex to call the police and she later explained to the authorities the man had hit her when the fight continued inside her hotel room. But the hip-hop star did not want to press charges against the mystery guy, who she told officers was not her boyfriend.

Stone offered lead role in ‘Gangster Squad’ arner Bros has offered Emma Stone the role of Jean, a woman romantically attached to two men: the gangster Mickey Cohen and the police officer who is chasing him down, TheWrap has confirmed. Sean Penn is playing Cohen. Ryan Gosling is playing Sgt Jerry Wooters. Josh Brolin and Michael Pena also star. The movie is about Cohen, the Brooklyn-born gangster who was sent to Los Angeles by Meyer Lansky to keep an eye on Bugsy Siegel. Cohen became a mob kingpin himself in the 1940s, and at one point fired rounds from two .45-caliber handguns into the ceiling of the Hotel Roosevelt lobby. “Gangster Squad” is based on a series of articles by Paul Lieberman. “LA Rex” author Will Beall wrote the script. Ruben Fleischer is directing and Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick are producing.

W

F

an Peek, a co-founder and musician for the folk rock band America, famous for the No 1 hit “A Horse with No Name,” has died. He was 60. Peek, who died Sunday, founded the band in the late1960s with bandmates Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell while they attended high school together in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force. America’s self-titled debut album, which featured “A Horse with No Name,” shot to the top of the charts in 1972. The group won a Grammy for best new artist that year, and enjoyed a string of other popular hits including “Ventura Highway” and “Lonely People.” “We created lasting music together and experienced a life that we could never have imagined,” wrote America cofounder and bandmate Dewey Bunnell on the band’s website. “This news brings me great sadness. My sincere condolences go out to his wife, Catherine, and the entire Peek family. May Dan rest in peace, and his memory be cherished forever.” Neil Portnow, chief executive of The Recording Academy which gives out music’s highest awards, the Grammys, and sucking your stomach in. You just want to be able called Peek “a dynamic individual and to stand tall and let the corset do what it has to do.” great talent.” He noted that Peek was a Frieda - who is dating Dev Patel - also credits her stunmulti-talented musician who played guitar, ning figure to her consumption of vegetable juices bass, keyboards and harmonica. Peek left with herbs and spices. She has previously said: “I make America in 1977 and went on to perform loads of fresh vegetable juices with coriander or pepcontemporary Christian music, but never per so that it’s tastier. The concoction makes my skin found the sort of fame he enjoyed with the glow and is good for the digestive system too.” popular band that recorded hit singles.

Beckley, who called Peek “a dear friend for many years,” said the man “and his music will live on in the great songs he shared with us all.”

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Pinto felt sorry for calorie controlled co-stars reida Pinto “felt bad” she could eat more than her co-stars on the set of ‘Immortals’. The ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actress claims most of the movie’s cast - which includes Henry Cavill, Kellan Lutz and Luke Evans as mythical Greek figures - had to stick to strict diet and exercise plans to maintain the muscular physiques required for the film. She, however, did not have to abide by the same food restrictions. Freida said: “I didn’t have to keep it as strict as the boys had to.

I would see them and offer them fruit and they’d say, ‘No, we can’t have fruit.’ “And I’m like, ‘Fruit? Fruit’s healthy!’ And they’d say, ‘Yeah . but it’s sugar.’ I just felt bad for them.” The former model is adamant she always watches what she eats, even off-set, so she had no problems fitting into tight costumes worn by her character oracle priestess Phaedra. She added to Access Hollywood: “I generally just take good care of myself. I just watch what I eat - especially when you’re going to be in a tight costume. “You don’t want to be bloated

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Lovato: ‘I was a poor role model’ emi Lovato admits she was a poor role model. The ‘Skyscraper’ singer - who entered rehab last November for three months to receive treatment for her eating disorders and self-harming - shot to fame playing the lead role in Disney show ‘Sonny with a Chance’ and used to get upset when young girls told her she was an inspiration to them because she knew her true life was different. The 18-year-old star said: “Kids used to tell me, ‘You’re my role model.’ And I’d want to shake them and be like, ‘Whyyyyyy? ‘“ However, after seeking help for her problems, Demi believes she is now a person young people can look up to. She said: “I finally feel like I can inspire people. I can be proud of it.” Demi recently revealed how she hopes her honesty about her personal problems will give her fans the courage to seek help for any difficulties they may have.

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ormer “Jersey Shore” star Angelina Pivarnick has revealed that she suffered a miscarriage-and as far as she’s concerned, the media bears a large part of the blame for the loss of her child-to-be. Pivarnick appears on the Aug. 4 episode of the recently launched syndicated show “Father Albert” to discuss the miscarriage, and tells the white-collared host that pressures created by the media played a part in ending the pregnancy. “Everyone in the tabloids and media weren’t really leaving me alone about it,” Pivarnick said in the interview. “Basically I wanted it to be my personal business, and it really wasn’t. It was really hard, and I went through a lot of stress, and I ended up losing the baby.” Pivarnick goes on to claim that the lack of support from the baby’s father-described as “just a guy I was with”-also contributed to the miscarriage. “He wasn’t even there for me...he was tormenting me,” Pivarnik recalled.

“And it was definitely a big reason why I think what happened to me, happened to me. It was definitely a reality check.” News broke that Pivarnick, who exited the hit MTV reality series after its second season, was pregnant in late April. “Father Albert,” which premiered on July 11, airs in select cities on Fox Television Stations.

When asked why she’s been so vocal about her personal issues, she said: “Because I know that if I can use my voice to speak to one person, or one family, then I’ve done my part. I feel like it’s no coincidence that God put me through all of this and has also given me the voice that I have. I feel like my purpose on earth is much greater than just being a singer, a musician or actress. I think it’s to reach out to people and to raise awareness of these issues that not many people speak about.”—Bang Showbiz

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Show goes on for Japan’s Fuji Rock festival s Japan plunged into crisis with a triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March, organizers of the Fuji Rock Festival were faced with a choice over whether the show should go on. In the aftermath, “audiences didn’t want to go to concerts,” said Johnnie Fingers, director of the Fuji Rock festival organizing company SMASH. “Japan needed time for healing.” However, Fingers-aka John Moylett-a pop pianist and founding member of new wave band The Boomtown Rats featuring Bob Geldof, said it was clear that staging the festival this year would give tens of thousands of fans a release from the steady drum beat of bad news. “Being the first major gathering of its kind this year in Japan, Fuji Rock will definitely be very emotional,” said Fingers. “Many will want to voice their feelings, both artists and the audience.”

A number of Japanese music festivals will take place this summer as the nation strives to return to a semblance of normality following the disasters that ravaged its northeast coast and left more than 20,000 dead or missing. Tokyo and Osaka will host Summersonic in August, boasting the likes of The Strokes and The Horrors. The Rock in Japan Festival will take place in Ibaraki prefecture, at a site just 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Fukushima nuclear plant which was crippled by the tsunami, triggering reactor meltdowns and explosions. Fuji Rock, which opens Thursday through Sunday, is Japan’s biggest and most internationally recognized festival but has faced adversity before, when first put together by founder Masa Hidaka.

The inaugural event, which drew 30,000 people, was held at a Mount Fuji ski resort in 1997.

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Halfway through a headline set by the Red Hot Chili Peppers the then one-day festival was cancelled due to a typhoon. These days the three-day event attracts around 125,000 people at its current venue far from Fuji, at the picturesque Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata. Just over an hour’s train ride out of Tokyo, the mountain festival is as famous for rainy weather as the bands it attracts, but it is also regarded as one of the best designed, cleanest and most environmentally conscious events of its kind.

Western acts rub shoulders with Japanese favorites at the festival which costs 42,000 yen ($540) for three days.

This year 214 artists including Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, The Chemical Brothers, Kaiser Chiefs and Lee Scratch Perry share the bill with Yello Magic Orchestra, Shonen Knife and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. But with the basic lineup and logistics of the festival put together months in advance, the tragic events of March 11 left organizers scrambling to reassure overseas acts as a cascading disaster unfolded. Challenges grew as foreign governments advised their nationals not to come to Japan, as panic spread over the radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant. “We had to clearly inform artists and their managements, with the local reports on the situation rather than the international media and TV news crews which arrived and ran some terrible misinformation,” said Fingers.

“When the United States eventually lifted its travel warning to Tokyo and all other areas outside the 50 mile zone (around the Fukushima plant recommended by the US) and other countries followed their lead, it gave agents, managements and

artists confidence,” he said. Three bands considered cancelling over the disasters but only one ended up doing so, said Fingers. Fuji Rock will this year collect donations for Fukushima prefecture to help with earthquake and tsunami damage as well as the impact of radiation leaks from the atomic plant.

Famed for being an environmentally conscious festival, it will also hold an anti-nuclear, solar-powered

event “Atomic Cafe Festival” on the sidelines in support of natural energy and what it calls “the promotion of the shift of attitudes in society.”—AFP

Photo taken on July 25, 2009 shows Fuji Rock Festival 2008 in Naeba ski resort in Niigata prefecture.—AFP

British designer wins battle of Star Wars helmet British prop designer yesterday struck back against the Star Wars empire, winning a court battle against US film company boss George Lucas over his right to sell replica Stormtrooper helmets. Lawyers for Andrew Ainsworth, who helped make the original helmets for the white-clad soldiers of the evil galactic empire in the film series, successfully argued at England’s highest court that he could sell the replicas in Britain. The Supreme Court judges upheld a 2009 ruling from a lower court that said the helmets were functional and not artistic works, and so not subject to full copyright laws.

They dismissed arguments from lawyers for Lucas’s studio Lucasfilm, which made the Star Wars movies, that the filmmaker first needed to grant Ainsworth a license before he could sell the headgear in Britain. However, the judges ruled that the director’s copyright had been infringed in the United States by the 62year-old designer selling his work there, paving the way for proceedings to be brought in England over the alleged breaches.

“If there is a Force, then it has been with me

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Festival goers enjoy a set by a dubstep DJ at the ‘Lounge on the Farm’ festival near Canterbury in Kent, on July 8, 2011. — AFP

Dubstep leaping to international acclaim ive years ago, dubstep was just another fresh but obscure strain of dance music, limited almost exclusively to a handful of nightclubs in south London. Today it is taking over dance floors worldwide. Born out of drum’n’bass and the 2-step UK garage movement which propelled Craig David to fame, dubstep completed its journey from quirky curiosity to commercial success story earlier in July when DJ Fresh’s “Louder” hit the top of the UK singles chart.

Having been eagerly gobbled up by clubbers across Europe, dubstep now looks set to conquer the final frontier with US DJs bringing it to the attention of the traditionally electro-sceptic Americans. “You have to hear it live to understand what it’s all about,” British dubstep producer Jakwob told AFP. “There’s two extremes. It’s either very loud and angry or very minimal and bass driven and more ambient. It’s a groove thing.” Pioneering producers Skream and Hatcha helped define the early dubstep sound while working at the Big Apple Records record shop in Croydon, a south London suburb previously only notable as the birthplace of model Kate Moss.

“It used to be quite underground, about five years ago in Croydon, then started spreading,” DJ Magazine’s clubbing editor, Adam Saville, told AFP. Early dubstep tracks clocked in at a brisk 140 beats per minute, but the placement of a kick drum on only two beats of the bar-a legacy of its 2step influence-gave the songs a half-tempo feel. The syncopated, sparse rhythms were filled out using liberal dollops of the echoing “reverb” effect, and combined with an omnipresent sub-bass-often treated with a drum’n’bass “wobble”-to create the genre’s dark signature sound.

Jakwob said he was inspired to make dubstep after an early gig by Skream and another leading producer, Rusko, left him “absolutely blown away you can listen to it at home but for full impact you need to hear it on a big system,” he added. The States is waking up to dance-The road to chart recognition began with Burial’s Mercury Prize nomination in 2008 and continued through the more accessible sounds of Rusko and Magnetic Man,

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a project by three pioneers, Artwork, Benga and Skream. “It used to be quite esoteric but these days it has hit the mainstream,” said Saville. Magnetic Man, whose eponymous album was released at the end of last year, “was very important in crossing over. That was a turning point.”

As well as writing his own music, Jakwob made a name for himself by remixing pop tracks, most notably Ellie Goulding’s “Starry Eyed”. He was soon inundated with remix requests from record labels, as the industry clambered to give its pop artists some underground credibility. “I’m coming into it more traditionally-almost commercially-and a lot of people are doing that now and giving it a different feel,” said Jakwob, who has remixed M.I.A, Temper Trap, Lily Allen and Robyn.

Baltimore DJ Joe Nice is widely credited as being the first person to take dubstep to US clubbers.

However, its adoption by college radio threatens to turn it from an underground fad into a mainstream phenomenon in a country opening its ears to electronic music.

“The States is really waking up to dance for the first time through David Guetta, The Black Eyed Peas and even Lady Gaga,” said Saville.

But Jakwob, who often DJs in the United States, said there were differences in the two nations’ approach to the genre. “In America it’s not really the same style. It’s really industrial and really heavy,” he said. As the world of dance music continues to turn apace, the early sound is already being superseded by a raft of sub-genres. “ There’s different strands of it appearing every other minute; dubstep, post-dubstep and all hybrid strands,” Saville said. This is unlikely to reach global dance floors just yet, however. “It takes the mainstream a long time to catch up with what’s going on underground. In six months, a year or maybe two it will rise to the surface,” he said. — AFP

these past five years,” said Ainsworth after the ruling, in a jokey reference to one of the Star Wars films’ best known lines, “May the Force be with you”. “I am proud to report that in the English legal system David can prevail against Goliath if his cause is right,” he said.

Lucasfilm first attempted to take action against Ainsworth, who produces the replicas in his south London workshop, in the United States but the battle shifted to Britain in 2008, where it eventually reached the Supreme Court. In a statement after yesterday’s ruling, Lucasfilm criticized an “anomaly” of British copyright law. “The decision unfortunately also maintains an anomaly of British copyright law under which the creative and highly artistic works made for use in films... may not be entitled to copyright protection in the UK,” it said.

“Lucasfilm remains committed to aggressively protecting its intellectual property rights relating to Star Wars in the UK and around the globe through any and all means available to it.”—AFP

George Lucas poses in front of a Stormtrooper exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston.—AP

An official Star Wars replica stormtrooper helmet in a fantasy memorabilia store in London.

A Minute With: Neil Patrick Harris about ‘Smurfs’ Harris outdoes himself in every ‘Harold and Kumar’ film with a new drug and a new level of outrageousness. I have a great big song-and-dance number, and I’ve taken a liking to crack. That’s all I’ll say.”

eil Patrick Harris may be the most versatile star in showbiz. The Emmy-award winner can sing and dance, perform voice-overs, host award shows, and still finds to act in the TV show “How I Met Your Mother.” Now, he’s working with little people in family film “The Smurfs,” which mixes live-action characters with the blue animated creatures made famous in the cartoons.

The film hits theaters on Friday with Harris playing a marketing executive whose life and career are thrown into chaos when the Smurfs magically appear in his New York apartment. Harris spoke to Reuters about his outrageous behavior in the “Harold and Kumar” movies and how he avoided the traps of Hollywood stardom as a child actor.

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Q: Were you a Smurfs fan as a kid?

A: “I watched the cartoons, but I wasn’t a rabid fan like a lot of people, and I’ve been wildly surprised at how many people I know are secret Smurf freaks. They all wanted to know, did I have to be painted blue? And which Smurf am I playing? So I had to keep explaining, I’m not a Smurf in the movie.”

Q: How hard was it acting with creatures that don’t exist?

A: “It was hard, especially at first. But I’m a very technical actor and I love all the stuff like green screen. But then you don’t know how far to push it physically. I found the bigger you go the better-but that’s so counter-intuitive when you’re on stage with no one there. It seems so silly, making all these faces to nobody, but later when you watch it with the Smurfs animated in, it makes perfect sense.”

Q: Speaking of, how come you’re never caught in some tawdry sex or drug scandal like a normal star? What’s wrong?

A: “Maybe I’m too busy at work, and when I get home I just want to cuddle up and watch TV. I’m kind of boring in that sense. I lived my craziest chapters in Hollywood when I had a fake ID and did the whole club scene. But when I turned 21, 22, I was done with the partying and just wanted to get serious about my career.”

Neil Patrick Harris Q: How much of you is in your character?

A: “A lot. I wanted to make sure, since it’s a family film for a younger audience, that all my dialogue sounded natural and not like a note from a studio executive. So I used my own writers and we worked hard to find the right tone.”

Q: It looks like you had a lot of fun making it?

A: “We did. The cast-Jayma (Mays) and me, Sofia (Vergara), Hank (Azaria) — we all had a blast shooting in New York. I’d happily do another one if this is a hit.”

Q: You’re next in “A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas,” a slight change of pace from “The Smurfs.”

A: (Laughs) “Yeah, it’s very dark! Neil Patrick

Q: You started off as a child star. Do you come from a showbiz family?

A: “Not at all. They’re all lawyers. But my parents are kind of hams, and there was a lot of artistic encouragement growing up, and I was an extrovert kid who loved singing and going on local talent shows.”

Q: Most child stars never make the transition to adult stars. How did you manage to do it?

A: “I love working and I’m very wary of the fame, and that’s probably a healthy place to start. If you love all the fame and you don’t like working hard, you’re probably doomed.” — Reuters

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Egypt, in turmoil, loses billions as tourists stay away

Identical copies of Pharoah statues sit unsold at a Giza tourist bazaar.

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gyptian tourism officials say the country had lost more than $2.6 billion by the end of June because of the upheaval surrounding former President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and ongoing protests against the interim military government. The Tourism Ministry says a lack of security and reports of violence topped the reasons that tourists canceled trips to Egypt this year or chose other countries in which to spend their holidays.

Hotel and tour operators say it isn’t just Americans and Europeans who are forgoing trips to Egypt. The capital, Cairo, known as “sin city” to Persian Gulf Arabs, isn’t swarming with oil-rich visitors for the first time since 1997, when an attack by Islamist militants on a busload of tourists who were visiting the ancient southern city of Luxor left 58 foreigners dead and caused a sharp decline in tourism.

“This summer season, which is considered a high season for Arab tourism, is totally destroyed,” said Ghada Abdel Khalek, the marketing director at the Marriott Cairo Hotel, a favorite among well-heeled tourists. Tourists “have other options, countries that are politically stable and they view as safer than Egypt,” he said. “Our branches in Turkey, London and Paris are fully booked.”

Horse carts are parked empty at the back entrance of the Pyramids hill in Giza. — MCT photos

Tourism was a $12.5 billion industry for Egypt last year, with the Great Pyramids, Luxor and other attractions drawing millions of visitors. But at the beginning in January of the violent revolution that toppled Mubarak’s regime, 1 million tourists fled the country in just three days.

Officials had hoped that Mubarak’s resignation in February would restore stability to the biggest country in the Middle East. But thousands of protesters, impatient with the reforms enacted by the ruling military, have returned to the streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt, occasionally clashing with soldiers. Since the revolution, when police disappeared from the streets, there’s been no sign of an active police force. Residents of Cairo report an increase in crime, even in usually safe, upscale neighborhoods.

Tourism officials say that hotels on the Red Sea, a popular summertime vacation spot far removed from the unrest, are operating only at about 40 to 45 percent of capacity. In Cairo, the figure is barely 35 percent. “Tourists are afraid of the instability, and it’s hard for them to understand that what happens in Cairo and major political centers is not affecting other tourist destinations,” said Hisham Za’zou, the deputy tourism minister.

One recent afternoon, at a multimillion-dollar tourist bazaar adjacent to the Pyramids in Giza, south of Cairo, only two foreigners were browsing at an antiques shop that sells replicas of Pharaonic masks, jewelry and other pieces from the famed Egyptian Museum. “Those are the only customers we received in May, June and the first half of July,” complained Ahmed Ali, a co-owner of the shop.

“The police force has to start fully operating. No tourist will come to Egypt if they hear of crimes, bloody confrontations between police and protesters, and different forms of political instability.”

The Tourism Ministry has asked the ruling military council to approve a measure that exempts some incoming tourists from having to obtain tourist visas, in order “to encourage them to visit Egypt,” Za’zou said.

He declined to specify which nationalities would be exempted under the measure, which is still under consideration.

At the same time, some foreigners who live in Egypt say the government has denied dozens of tourist-visa extensions in recent weeks as immigration officials try to crack down on “resident tourists,” foreigners who live and work in the country while on tourist visas, in violation of immigration laws.

The immigration department also has been roiled with problems. It’s part of the Interior Ministry, which is undergoing a major reorganization as it lays off hundreds of officials in response to public anger over the killings of protesters by police during the revolution.

Dropping prices at hotels and other tourist facilities failed to bring back many of the visitors who fled.

Tourism officials said it wasn’t a matter of price, it was the general instability.

“Offering such discounts is actually harmful to the business. It will be very difficult to bring the prices back to normal,” said Abdel Khalek, of the Cairo Marriott.

The political uncertainty doesn’t figure to end soon: The military council said last week that the first postrevolution parliamentary elections wouldn’t be in September as scheduled, but that it would announce the date for the elections by that time. Ali, the antiques shop owner, said: “We don’t expect any real tourism before next winter, after a government comes into office and a president is elected.” — MCT

Dinosaurs come to LA Natural History Museum

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he Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has opened its doors to the distant past when dinosaurs ruled the earth. The new stateof-the-art Dinosaur Hall, a contemporary exhibit, will put the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History at the forefront of the paleontological world.

Five years in the making, the 14,000-square-foot Dinosaur Hall frames the museum’s most fascinating discoveries against a brightly lit background of steel and glass, punctuated by colorful murals, wall displays and multi-media tools.

“I truly believe we’re building one of the best dinosaur exhibits of today,” says world-renowned paleontologist Luis M Chiappe, the hall’s curator and director of the museum’s Dinosaur Institute. “It’s exactly what a museum like this one needs — what a world-class city like Los Angeles deserves.”

Dinosaurs, Chiappe says, are recognized as the museum’s strongest draw, and were poorly served by the dark, cramped layout of their former hall, phased out from 2006 to 2008. “It was old. A bunch of skeletons put together without a story. Some of the specimens were nice, but they didn’t have a story. We wanted to have an exhibit with a uniform theme and an overriding story,” Chiappe said.

“Dinosaurs are icons of the Natural History Museum. We expect this to be the most popular exhibit we’ve ever had.” In the new exhibit, the dinosaurs truly come into their own, with their story presented via a series of case studies in four themes revealing how scientists learn about dinosaurs, the diversity of the animals and their world, how they moved, grew and lived.

Massive windows help provide warm lighting and a mezzanine ensures close-up examination of specimens from all angles. The fossil displays themselves range from stalwarts of the museum’s collection, gathered in the 1960s and earlier, to a slew of new

finds unearthed during the last decade. The centerpiece is a young adult Tyrannosaurus rex dubbed “Thomas” by the museum’s researchers — considered one of the 10 best T.rex specimens in the world. The 34-foot fossil is displayed with a baby and a juvenile Trex to show how the giant meat eater developed throughout its life.

Also new is an impressive, 25-foot Triceratops, assembled from four different discoveries. The specimen has prompted researchers to revise their beliefs on how the animal positioned its hands. Other displays include a wall of about 100 fossils — from bones to dung to skin to teeth —showing how these remnants of ancient times teach scientists about the world as it was. Visitors are unlikely to absorb everything the hall has to offer in one trip. It offers countless opportunities for in-depth discovery and will likely prompt many returns as dinosaur lovers move through the different themes and case studies. That, according to Chiappe, is how it should be. “One of the things we wanted to do with this exhibit is to inspire,” he said.

Dinosaurs have a story to tell people — one that continues to be relevant 65 million years after they’ve ceased to dominate the earth. “They are telling us that the world in which we live has changed in millions of years, and will continue to change. It gives you that deep-time perspective,” Chiappe said. “They come to remind us that the world is fragile, the world is always changing, that it is ruled by change.”

Twelve-year-old Julian Diepenbrock photographs the new Dinosaur Hall’s Tyrannosaurus Rex displayed.

If you go

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atural History Museum of Los Angeles County Dinosaur Hall, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007. The museum is in the Exposition Park complex of museums a few minutes southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Museum hours: 9:30 am -5 pm daily Admission: $12 adult, $9 college students, seniors; $8 ages 13-17; $5 ages 5-12; free, members and 4 and under.

Dinosaur hall tickets: Due to the popularity of the hall, free ticket reservations are being taken online.

Tickets: www.tickets.nhm.org/ or (213) 763-DINO (3466)

Twice the size of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum’s older dinosaur galleries, the new Dinosaur Hall will consist of two large, brightly lit viewing spaces. The second space along the tour will allow viewers to look down at the dinosaur displays from a balcony as well as to look up at them from the floor. — MCT photos

More to come: The new Dinosaur Hall is one component in a much larger, $135 million expansion of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Already, the expansion campaign has funded an Age of Mammals exhibit, a modern presentation of mammal development that includes multi-mediate tools. Next up is an indoor/outdoor project that will create an urban nature experience, a new pedestrian bridge and parking area and a Nature Lab, among other elements. — MCT

A 30-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the main attractions.

Julian Diepenbrock, looks at the “Wall of Bones” at the soon to be opened Dinosaur Hall.

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Tyler Thompson rehearses with the Great Wall Youth Orchestra in Oakland, Calif. — AP photos

Tyler Thompson gets a hand from a fellow Great Wall Youth Orchestra member during a rehearsal.

Black teen’s unusual talent: Singing Chinese opera T

yler Thompson is an unlikely star in the world of Chinese opera. The black teenager from Oakland has captivated audiences in the US and China with his ability to sing pitch-perfect Mandarin and perform the ancient Chinese art form. “As soon as he opens his mouth and sings in Chinese, the Chinese are very surprised and then feel very proud of him,” said his music teacher Sherlyn Chew. “When he puts on the costume, and all the acting, you can see that he’s pretty good.”

Tyler, 15, is a standout student in Chew’s Oakland-based Purple Silk Music Education program, which teaches children and youth mostly from low-income immigrant families how to sing and play traditional Chinese music.

The program’s Great Wall Youth Orchestra & Chorus has performed around the country.

Tyler has learned to sing several well-known pieces of Chinese opera, a centuries-old form of musical theater known for its elaborate costumes, clanging gongs and cymbals, wideranging vocals and highly stylized movements.

At the World Children’s Festival in Washington in June, Tyler, dressed in a black robe emblazoned with golden dragons, got a standing ovation when he performed as Justice Bao, a famous Song Dynasty judge who fought government corruption, from the Chinese classic “Bao Qing Tian.”

“The music is very beautiful, and it’s very passionate. You can hear it when it’s being

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s she scoops out some mouth-watering ice cream during training at Italy’s “Gelato University”, Holy Randrianasolo dreams of setting up the first gelato parlor in her native Madagascar. The 44-year-old is one of thousands of students from around the world flocking to courses near Bologna in central Italy at the headquarters of Carpigiani, the leading global manufacturer of ice cream making machines.

“My project is to open an Italian ice cream parlor in Antananarivo. There aren’t any,” said Randrianasolo, currently a textile business executive. She spoke in an unusual type of university laboratory, surrounded by multi-colored vats filled with a bewildering array of gelato flavors. The lab produces traditional tastes like raspberry, hazelnut or lemon, but there are also more innovative flavors like fennel and mortadella. Sweet-toothed and business-minded students attend technical lectures on traditional gelato methods given in English by Italian veteran ice cream makers, as well as practical courses using gleaming chrome machines.

There are even more advanced lessons in management and marketing. Students pay around 800 euros ($1,138) a week for the courses and are housed in a hotel in the small town of Anzola dell’Emilia in a region that has given the world Lamborghini cars, Ducati motorbikes and Bolognese sauce. The school’s director Kaori Ito, a 31-year-old of Japanese origin who has lived in Italy for the past seven years, said the stereotype that ice cream parlors are always run by old-school Italian immigrants is changing fast. “This is the first year in which the participation of Italians is less than 50 percent. We’ve added courses in English and French and there’s been a real boom in people signing up,” said the multi-lingual executive.

The school will have 12,000 students this year-up from 9,000 last year. Luciano Ferrari, 53, a “professor” at the ice cream university wearing a smock and glasses , said the face of gelato is increasingly non-Italian. “Before it was always the Italian who brought ice cream abroad. Now ice cream is being exported by foreigners who come here and learn and then

played,” said Tyler, a theater student at the Oakland School for the Arts. “It’s made me want to know more about the world outside of America or California or Oakland.”

David Lei, chairman of the Chinese Performing Arts Foundation in San Francisco, has seen Tyler perform several times and arranged to have him sing at the opening of a Chinese opera exhibit several years ago. “It’s very authentic because he hits the tones just right, so you understand everything,” Lei said.

“People just don’t expect an Afro-American kid to be doing it. It’s the initial shock. There’s a sense of novelty.”

Tyler, who comes from a music-loving family, began learning how to sing in Chinese a decade ago when he was a kindergartner in Chew’s music class at Oakland’s Lincoln Elementary School, where about 90 percent of students are Asian.

Chew quickly recognized Tyler’s talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a fourstringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

“I really took a liking to him and thought he had quite a large range,” said Chew, who started the music program at Oakland’s Laney College in 1995. “He hears pitch very well, and his pronunciation of Chinese characters is very

accurate.” Tyler’s mother, Vanessa Ladson, said her son’s education at a predominantly Asian elementary school and participation in the Chinese music program have made him more open-minded. “He’s grown a lot,” she said. “He’s learning a different culture, and the Asian children are learning his culture, so it’s a plus-plus for everybody.” Tyler said friends and classmates sometimes poke fun at him, wondering where a black kid from Oakland learned how to sing Chinese opera.

“Sometimes they don’t understand it,” Tyler said. “It’s just joking about the fact that as dark as I am, I’m singing Chinese. What’s up with that? If I go to China, I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb. It’s just those types of jokes. All in good fun.”

Since his first solo at age 6, Tyler has performed at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theater, on television shows such as “Good Morning America” and at the U.S. State Department, where he sang for thenSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi. Tyler became a sensation in China several years ago after Chinese Central Television broadcast his performance at a Lunar New Year show in San Jose. Tyler, who has learned to speak some basic Chinese, was scheduled to make his debut performance in China in July, but he and his mother ran into trouble getting visas in time, Chew said. In recent years, Tyler

has begun studying theater and acting more seriously, but he plans to keep performing traditional Chinese music, which has opened up a world of opportunities to him. “I’ve been sticking to this to see where else it will take me,” he said. — AP

bring the skills back to their own country,” Ferrari said after delivering a lecture.

Ambassadors of gelato “We teach people the art of Italian artisanal ice cream. These traditions go back hundreds of years and have spread around the world,” he said. Gelato as we know it today is believed to have been created for the courts of Italian Renaissance princes and first exported abroad by an Italian pioneer, Procopio Cuto, who opened a cafe in Paris in the 17th century.

Carpigiani, which was set up by two brothers in 1946, also has production sites in China, Spain and the United States and employs around 400 people worldwide. The company is planning to set up a gelato museum next year.

Students serves ice cream during a course at the ‘Gelato University’ of Carpigiani in Bologna on July 21, 2011. — AP photos One particularly keen student at the “Gelato University” is 25-year-old Kevin Koh, who works for his father’s fruit import company in Singapore. “I’ve been a fan of gelato since when I was young,” he said. “There are quite a few gelato and ice cream parlors in Singapore

but I haven’t really come across one that is of the same standard as in Italy. So hopefully I can come up with something good to bring back home,” he said.

Yasmeena Abdel Ghani, 29, said she was attending the course with her husband from Dubai for an original kind of holiday in Italy and to learn how to make some real Italian ice cream to impress her dinner party guests. “I love gelato a lot and my husband has a passion for it. I’m having lots of fun! I think I’m going to do it more in the future,” she said. “We have a different kind of ice cream. Arabic ice cream is very gummy. They only have vanilla and pistachio,” she added. Nur Schnitzer, 21, a half-Jewish half-Arab Israeli said he was keen to open an ice cream parlor in the port of Jaffa.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted! I’ve been eating it since I was young,” he said.

Among the students from Western Europe and the United States who are on the course, many see the gelato business as a way of changing pace. Andrea Morelli, 37, a former Italian bank manager, said he really wants to move to Key West in Florida next year with his wife and open a gelateria. “I decided to change my life around,” he said. “I started this course in January and I completely fell in love with making ice cream.” He said he would adapt to American tastes and serve up pancakes and maple syrup as well. “We’ve decided to call it ‘Ambassadors of Gelato’”. — AFP

KUWAIT: Octium has hosted its Pre-Ramadan event on Tuesday the 26th of July 2011 in its boutique at 360 Mall, where the traditions met the contemporary in its first time ever jewelry with fashion collaboration in its unorthodox methods by combining the traditional Azza Fahmy jewelry with a new feeling of modern Kaftans from Sherifa Al-Sayer, a Kuwaiti fashion designer. Octium chose Azza Fahmy to be the first jeweler in focus for a first-time event ever in its history to highlight a solo jewelry designer recognized worldwide and known for her unique Cultural Collections, where traditional proverbs written with beautiful calligraphy, inscribed on silver and laid with gold. She successfully transformed the concept of jewelry making from a craft to an art and has managed to add a new dimension to the wearing of jewelry.

From the highlights of the event to a surprise that is complementing the luxury life style of Octium. As they have presented their custom made ravishing jewelry boxes from exquisite fine Italian leather exterior with a Swiss made interior velvet. A proof of the way Octium is approaching a soothing way to indulge luxury in its finest form. To the level where the client glamorously reach his way in a comfortable method made to fit his image. Fahad Al-Hajiri and Shaikha Alanood Al Sabah, Octium’s valiant ambassadors have met its promise to successfully pave a way for a new shopping experience. Showcasing the relationship between jewelry designers and jewelry enthusiasts all over Kuwait to live in an extravagant satisfaction fulfilling the delighting jewelry lovers with unique creations each time.

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Venessa Arizaga Pinata bracelet.

Venessa Arizaga Pinata necklace.

—MCT photos

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he wardrobe surrounding summertime travels and events (think warm Sunday afternoon barbecues, outdoor dinner parties in bare feet and long weekends outside of the city) doesn’t call for cumbersome statement jewelry. But it’s still enjoyable to punctuate a long simple dress or tissue-thin T-shirt and cutoffs with accessories that liven up the look without seeming too weighty.

Enter Venessa Arizaga, a designer who creates jewelry that’s whimsical, fes-

tive and even a bit wacky. Her Pinata bracelet and necklace caught my eye, for the explosive color, texture and random little charms-including lucha libre masks, pigs and skulls-that hang from neon pink cord and silver chain. Her Locust Dancing necklace incorporates primary-color beads and religious charms on a gold chain with a slightly earthy appeal.

Arizaga, a graduate of the Parsons School of Design as well as a former designer for Tuleh and Carolina Herrera and, most recently, design director at

Venessa Arizaga dancing Locust necklace.

Zac Posen, became inspired to start tinkering with jewelry during a trip to Puerto Rico in 2007. It was there that she was drawn to the vibrant colors found in nature and began stringing personal charms, shells and beads onto colorful silk, for a result that feels organic and laid-back, but full of contrasts and quirky details. — MCT

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Models wear creations by Colombian University students of design.

A model wears a creation by Colombia’s brand Alado during the Colombia Moda fashion show in Medellin, Colombia, Tuesday. — AP photos