9 Aug

ON IP TI SC R SU B

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Rebels in captured town plan push towards Tripoli

ACK formed to forge better links with Kuwait

www.kuwaittimes.net

RAMADAN 9, 1432 AH

Lee out to make history

Mogadishu residents flee rebel clashes

Emsak: Fajer: Shoruk: Dohr: Asr: Maghreb: Eshaa:

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Syria isolation grows Bahrain too follows Saudi action • Bloodshed unacceptable: Kuwait

Max 47º Min 32º Low Tide 00:31 & 14:38 High Tide 06:14 & 21:31

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Not vice versa

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

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am afraid my article today might upset many people. But at the end of the day I am writing what I feel is in the best interest of Kuwait. The Mubarak megaport is the new problem in Kuwait.

It is a great project. But I think the way it is planned in the Middle East will make it one of its kind. On the other hand, building the port and completing it is going to ignite old turmoil between Iraq and Kuwait. As it is we have already received threats from various groups in Iraq.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not asking the government to bow to the threats of violence and halt the project. What I think is the solution for the time being is that the multibillion project could be put on hold for a while. Iraq is in turmoil and, unfortunately, it will stay in this state for years to come. We cannot deny that it can affect Kuwait too.

It is so sad to see Iraq in this state of chaos. The killings, explosions and violence have been going on for a while. There is no strong government there to take charge. The Americans are slowly pulling out. Is that the right time to build a megaport very near to the Iraqi border when Iraq is in the current situation of insecurity. The idea behind building the port is that it would be a multibillion container port that is to serve as a logistics hub for the Middle East. May I ask which investor or financer would come and use that port if the area is in turmoil, if we are receiving threats and if any skirmishes take place near that port?

Do we really think that we are going to compete with Dubai? Everybody knows that Dubai is a country that sells services to the whole world. It has done this perfectly in the past decade. Many rules and regulations have to be implemented and changed in Kuwait if we want to compete with Dubai on the level of services. The simplest of these rules are the immigration and entry visa regulations. Before you start from the top you have to actually build your domestic infrastructure which will cope with such services. For instance, fix the power problem in the country; fix the healthcare and education; fix the highways and streets; reduce congestions; build the necessary infrastructure for such a port; turn Kuwait into a country of services; create efficiency everywhere and in every ministry.

Where are the projects which are going to compete? Tell me. For the last five years the country is only going through a state of chaos between the government and parliament and you are talking about a megaport... You should apply a bottom-totop approach in the country’s development and not vice versa.

Enjoy your Ramadan!

PESHAWAR: People offer prayers at a local mosque decorated on the occasion of the fasting month of Ramadan in Peshawar. — AP

Assad replaces defense minister as tanks roll on DAMASCUS: President Bashar AlAssad named a new defense minister yesterday as he faced regional isolation after three Gulf states recalled their envoys and Sunni Islam’s top authority urged an end to Syria’s bloodshed.

The announcement came as rights activists said security forces shot dead at least seven people including a mother and her two children in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where 42 people were reported killed in an army assault on Sunday.

State television said Assad signed a decree naming General Daood Rajha, 64, the former army Continued on Page 13

Kuwait denies joint oil development with Iran KUWAIT: The Kuwait oil ministry yesterday denied that it has started a joint oil development with neighboring Iran.

“There is no cooperation between the two sides in this regard,” said the ministry assistant undersecretary for technical affairs Ali Sabt, cited by the official KUNA news agency.

KUNA said Sabt was commenting on reports that an Iranian oil official said the two countries have star ted work on developing a joint oilfield.

It was unclear which official he was referring to. Seifollah Khajavian, director of joint fields in the Iranian Offshore Oil Company, said last week that Tehran plans to produce 19,000 barrels of oil from its joint oil field with Kuwait, but he did not mention any cooperation deal.

Kuwait and Iran have been involved in

Ramadan Kareem

How to avoid some common problems

By Dr Farouk Haffejee

T IDLIB: In this image made from amateur video released by Ugarit News and accessed via The AP Television News yesterday shows members of the Syrian military standing near the body of a man in the northern Syrian province of Idlib. —AP

US still a AAA country: Obama WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama yesterday blamed a downgrade in the United States’ credit rating on political gridlock in Washington and said he would offer some recommendations on how to reduce federal deficits.

Obama stopped short of sharp criticism of Standard & Poor’s for its downgrade of US debt to AA-plus from AAA on Friday. Senior administration officials have accused S&P of going ahead with the downgrade despite a $2 trillion mathematical error.

“Markets will rise and fall, but this

unsuccessful talks to resolve a decadesold dispute over a maritime border area that is rich with natural gas. The dispute dates back to the 1960s when Iran and Kuwait awarded offshore concessions to the former Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Co, now part of BP, and Royal Dutch/Shell that overlap in the northern part of the Dorra field.

Recoverable gas reserves from Dorra are estimated at some 200 billion cubic metres (seven trillion cubic feet). The two countries also failed to implement a $7 billion 25-year deal signed in 2005 to supply Iranian gas to Kuwait. Ties between the two countries strained after a Kuwaiti court in May sentenced three people to death and two others to life in prison after convicting them of being members of an Iranian spy ring. — AFP

KUWAIT: Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said yesterday the country has decided to recall the Kuwaiti ambassador Aziz Al-Deehani from Damascus for consultations over the crackdown on protesters.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the National Assembly foreign relations committee, Sheikh Mohammad said that “no one can accept the bloodshed in Syria” and called for the military crackdown to be halted.

He also praised the measure taken a day earlier by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia who strongly condemned the Syrian regime and recalled Riyadh ambassador to Damascus for consultations.

“Saudi Arabia announces the recall of its ambassador for consultations,” King Abdullah said in a statement after Syrian security forces killed more than 50 people on Sunday.

He urged Damascus to “stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late” and called as well for “comprehensive and quick reforms.”

“The future of Syria lies between two options: either Syria chooses willingly to resort to reason, or faces being swept into deep chaos, God forbid,” he said. Saudi political science lecturer Sadaqa Fadhel said King Abdullah’s message reflected a “firm Arab and Muslim position” which could lead to further pressure. “The Saudi position is just a warning for now, but the kingdom could take tougher measures,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bahrain also recalled their envoys from Damascus. Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, said in a brief statement on Twitter: “Bahrain is recalling its ambassador in Damascus for consultation, and has called for a resort to reason.”

Continued on Page 13

is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we have always been and always will be a triple-A country,” Obama said.

As Obama spoke, stock markets were registering another steep decline, dropping more than 450 points in afternoon trading. Obama said in a White House appearance that he hopes S&P’s downgrade of US debt will give US lawmakers a new sense of urgency to tackle long-term deficit spending and said he did not believe the reductions could be carried out with spending

cuts alone. A joint bipartisan congressional committee, to be formed under the legislation passed last week that averted a government default, is to report its recommendations in late November on how to cut $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade.

Obama said he would offer his own recommendations for fixing the problem and cited again the need to raise taxes on wealthier Americans and make modest adjustments to popular but expensive entitlement programs.

Continued on Page 13

his article provides useful advice on how to avoid some common problems encountered in Ramadan. If followed, it would enable one to fast comfortably and enjoy fully the spiritual benefits of Ramadan.

During the holy month of Ramadan, our diet should not differ very much from our normal diet and should be as simple as possible. The diet should be such that we maintain our normal weight, neither losing nor gaining. However, if one is overweight, Ramadan is an ideal time to normalize one’s weight.

In view of the long hours of fasting, we should consume slow digesting foods including fibre containing-foods rather than fast-digesting foods. Slow digesting foods last up to 8 hours, while fast-digesting foods last for only 3 to 4 hours.

• Slow-digesting foods are foods that contain grains and seeds like barley, wheat, oats, millet, semolina, beans, lentils, wholemeal flour, unpolished rice, etc. (called complex carbohydrates).

• Fast-burning foods are foods that contain sugar, white flour, etc. (called refined carbohydrates).

• Fibre-containing foods are bran-containing foods, whole wheat, grains and seeds, vegetables like green beans, peas, sem (papry), marrow, mealies, spinach, and other herbs like methie, the leaves of beetroot (iron-rich), fruit with skin, dried fruit especially dried apricots, figs and prunes, almonds, etc.

Continued on Page 13

World stocks crash as investors flee NEW YORK: The fallout from Standard & Poor ’s downgrade of the United States pushed world stocks to their lowest level in nearly a year yesterday and drove investors to the safety of gold and bonds.

Strange as it may be, investors sought shelter in the asset that was downgraded-choosing US government bonds for their liquidity and perception of the high quality of US credit. Investors shunned stocks and commodities, struggling to discern the effects of the downgrade, which could hit various components of the financial sector, from mortgage lenders to municipal issuers and insurers.

US stocks dropped sharply yesterday, while Treasury bond prices actually rose in the wake of Standard & Poor’s unprecedented downgrade of the United States’s credit rating. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 334.68 points (2.9 percent) to 11,109.93 at 1630 GMT. The broader S&P 500 dropped 45.64 points (3.8 percent) Continued on Page 13

NEW YORK: A Dow Jones news ticker in Times Square, NY carries headlines including reaction to US economy yesterday. —AP

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Marina Hotel holds ghabqa for media KUWAIT: Representatives of local press and media were invited to a ghabqa held recently at the Marina Hotel.

Guests enjoyed Arabic, Oriental and Mediterranean cuisine, with a special ambience designed specifically to reflect the traditional atmosphere during the holy month of Ramadan.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

Women only days at E-Dama tournament

Dr Nouri Al-Wattar

KUWAIT: The organizing committee of the 7th Annual Late Sheikh Yousuf Al-Saud Al-Sabah E-Dama Tournament hopes to rope in a sizeable number of female participants just like the previous years.

In a statement made to the press, Committee Chairman Dr Nouri Al-Wattar urged Dama enthusiasts, especially women, to register for the tournament which begins

on August 11, under the patronage and attendance of Sheikh Ali AlYousuf Al-Saud Al-Sabah. Dr AlWattar added that exclusive days will be reserved for women’s competition.

Registration is open every day from 8:30 pm to 12 am at the Touristic Enterprises Company’s Yachts Club, near the Sultan Center Restaurant.

VIVA invests in Ramadan ‘Iftar Saem’ program

KUWAIT: Shoppers at a local market pass by stands where various fruits and vegetables are displayed. Many Muslims in Kuwait choose to shop for the foodstuffs necessary for the sunset fast-breaking Iftar meal during the daytime fasting period. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

New govt body to help curb overspending KUWAIT: The government has reportedly set up a central body to monitor and rationalize government spending with the objective of protecting public funds through measures that include obser ving the process of collecting overdue payments for public services.

“The [new body] will help the government monitor ministries’ spending and reduce the squandering of funds as much as possible”, said a

government insider speaking on condition of anonymity, citing the “huge and unjustified squandering of public funds” by several state bodies noted in recent State Audit Bureau reports.

The insider indicated that the Supreme Council of Planning and Development took the decision to form the new body based on the SAB reports in a bid to rationalize governmental spending. — Al-Jarida

KUWAIT: Consistent with its involvement in community outreach, Kuwait Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Company VIVA invests in the ‘Iftar Saem’ program, to assist in offering those in need with the proper nourishment during the Holy month of Ramadan.

VIVA remains active during the holy month of Ramadan with its involvement in charitable donations, helping to host the ‘Iftar Saem’ programme, to ensure that each fasting Muslim in need is breaking their fast with a healthy, warm meal. Each day of Ramadan, meals will be prepared and offered in selected locations where people can sit, enjoy and break their fast during this time of worship.

In line with VIVA’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, offering a hand to those in need and contributing the overall betterment of the community in which we work and live, is the main objective in wanting to sustain a strong foundation of ethics and corporate governance. VIVA aims to create awareness to the importance of such donations and charitable investments and hopes to encourage citizens to participate in such programs.

Enjoy Iftar in style at Hotel Missoni KUWAIT: Hotel Missoni’s food and beverage outlets Cucina and newly opened Luna - present unique and authentic Iftar menus inspired by Middle Eastern flavours and classic Italian cuisine.

Luna began welcoming diners at the beginning of Ramadan and is Hotel Missoni Kuwait’s newest restaurant. Luna is located on the 18th floor and provides spectacular views of the city skyline and the glittering Arabian Gulf. Luna’s menu features a fusion of Arabic-oriental and Mediterranean cuisine and is the ideal venue to gather with friends and family for Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan.

Open for Iftar from 6 pm until 8:30 pm, the restaurant offers a different buffet selection including Arabic delicacies for each day of the week. Highlights include a sushi station, ouzi trolley, shawarma station and a kataif station as well as a gastronomic selection of Mediterranean dishes. Dates and dried fruits are served at each of the hotel’s food and beverage outlets for guests to break their fast at the start of Iftar.

Cucina, set right in the heart of the hotel, is serving

an Iftar buffet featuring traditional Arabic dishes alongside contemporary dishes founded on the very principles of classic Italian cuisine.

Italians are passionate about their food and this is shown through the careful balance of flavours, textures, and aromas of Cucina’s dishes. Cucina’s Iftar buffet is open from 6 pm until 8: 30 pm.

Cucina is also offering a la carte dining from 9 pm until midnight during Ramadan.

Choco Cafe, inspired by the Italian passion for great coffee and chocolate, is open from 7 pm until 11 pm on weekdays and until 2 am at the weekend during Ramadan. Guests can indulge in a variety of chocolates made in-house, decadent cakes, heavenly pastries all accompanied by the staple, classic rich Italian coffee. Choco Cafe will also be selling a range of Ramadan sweets with a Missoni twist.

For guests who are not fasting, complimentary breakfast is still available for all in-house guests and room service is available 24 hours a day.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

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KRCS steps up relief efforts for Somalia

Caravans distribute food in 18 Egypt governorates KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti charitable trust in Cairo began an Iftar feasts project for the twenty fourth year in Egypt. Caravans loaded with food items, donated from Kuwait are distributed across various governorates in the North African country.

“This initiative is held annually during the Holy month of Ramadan, as part of the Trust’s periodic activities held throughout the year,” said Director Ismail AlKandari. The caravans that will tour across 18 governorates, loaded with 8,500 boxes of

basic food items that will be distributed to orphans and impoverished families. The project also includes distributing 13,000 cooked meals at Iftar time, in coordination with a number of Egyptian charity organizations.

“The operation is funded by the Kuwait Zakat House and the International Islamic Charity Organization, as well as donations made

by Kuwaiti donors, in line with the directives issued by late Amir His Highness Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah,” Al-Kandari said. — KUNA

Daoud Basha from Quakers

For the Meat: • 1/2 kilogram of minced meat • 1 large onion, chopped • 2 tablespoons of Quaker Oats • 1 teaspoon of salt • 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper • 1/4 teaspoon of fresh hot chilli • Dash of allspice (optional) For the Sauce: • 2 large onions, sliced • 2 tablespoons of olive oil • 4 fresh tomatoes (peeled and chopped) • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste • Salt, pepper and curry (as desired) • Pine nuts (as per taste) • 1 cup of hot water (or meat broth).

Preparation: 1. Mix all the meat ingredients together, and form equal sized balls of 1 inch diameter.

2. Stir fry the sliced onions in olive oil until light brown.

3. Add meat balls to the fried onions and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add chopped fresh tomatoes, tomato paste and allspice to the mixture with one cup of hot water (or meat broth), and leave it to simmer until the sauce is fairly thick.

5. Serve it with white rice topped with pine nuts.

Cheese Kunafa with Pistachio

Ingredients: - Semolina 500grs - Bread Crumbs fresh 200grs - Butter 130grs - Rose water 20grs - Blossom water 20grs - Akawi cheese 240grs - Sugar syrup 150grs - Pistachio slivered 30grs - Apricot essence 2grs Preparation: 1. Bread crumbs mixed in butter provide as a base of kunafa 2. Akawi cheese soaked in a water for atleast 6 hours (to remove the saltiness and preserve smoothness) 3. Make the Semolina as a pudding and preserve akawi cheese for filling 4. Sealed with bread crumbs mixture 5. Baked until golden brown for 25 minutes 230∞ 6. Topped with freshly slivered pistachio served with sugar syrup

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) has intensified its relief efforts to help families of the drought-stricken victims of the Somalian famine, said a senior KRCS official yesterday, adding that the society is doing so based on its humanitarian duty in such circumstances.

The KRCS’ field team is currently providing the basic needs for thousands of affected people who have lost everything and been driven from their homeland.

KRCS Chairman Barjas Humoud Al-Barjas said that the field team has already overseen the distribution of a large among of food, including 2,000 tons of flour, 9,000 cartons of food and 1,000 cartons of oil, in addition to 300 tons of rice and powdered baby milk.

He added that the team was continuing to provide Iftar for about 8,000 people a day in a number of camps near the capital, Mogadishu, in coordination with the Relief Committee and the Somali Red Crescent, along with Somali authorities.

The KRCS chief pointed out that the team had earlier carried out a number of inspection tours during which the members reviewed the situation at first hand and were informed by local officials about the prevailing conditions and needs. Al-Barjas stressed that the KRCS is not only providing humanitarian aid to famine victims, but also to those affected by homelessness. — KUNA

—KUNA photos

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

LOCAL satire wire

in my view

Competing with the heat

Lackluster lineup this season

By Hussain Al-Qatari

By Sawsan Kazak

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sawsank@kuwaittimes.net uring Ramadan the main focus is on the extravagant and typically over the top feasts at sun down. After having sufficiently stretched their stomach linings, fasters usually turned their focus to the TV and faithfully watch the many soap operas aired during the holy month.

These Arab, or dubbed in Arabic, soaps have become part of the Ramadan experience. They deal with social issues, hint at political problems and poke fun at culture and tradition.

For a few days now after Iftar, I grab the remote on a mission to find that awesome show that will entertain me for the month. I flip from channel to channel trying to find something to grab my attention. Well into the month now, and I still haven’t got hooked up on anything specific. I have asked friends and family to tell me what they are watching and they all seem to be in the same situation I am in. This year’s Ramadan features somewhat of a lackluster lineup.

For the past few years the big hit on TV was the Syrian soap ‘Bab el Hara’ meaning the doors of the neighborhood. The acting might have been over the top and the story line slow, but Arabs from around the world tuned in to see what would happen next to these loveable and relatable Syrian characters.

Is this year’s lineup uninspired because Ramadan came during the summer this year and all directors and producers were on holiday? Or is it because countries usually known to produce great Ramadan TV serials (Syria or Egypt) are busy with revolutions and protests?

As menial as this might sound to most, the meaning behind the shows and what it does to the Arab world is what is important and not the actual content itself. Having a show in common is what unifies us in a weird way. It’s what we talk about the next day, debate amongst each other and what makes us think. For a moment, we stop and simultaneously watch the same program and somewhat realize how similar we are rather than focus on our differences.

Well, Ramadan is far from over, there might still be a chance for a show to grab our attention and unite us once again.

What are you watching this Ramadan?

don’t understand why the summer is still ‘news’ to some people. We live in Kuwait, a country that has summer for nine months, good weather for two months and the cold only visits for a month. If you have been here long enough, you should know that talking about the weather is an issue that’s done with. However, many people still find it interesting to talk about the soaring temperature.

“It’s 57 degrees today!” to which another answers, “No, it’s 58 in the shade! In the sun it’s probably 70 degrees!”

Seriously, 70 degrees Celsius is the recommended temperature for steeping white tea. Do you think the temperature outside is 70 and it hasn’t been reported in the news?

I don’t think so.

What I find strange is that people believe the government is intentionally deceitful about declaring the temperature. What is it that the government will benefit from lying about the temperature? Being the only citizen at your workplace can place you in an awkward position. You are immediately treated as the spokesperson of your country, and you are treated as if you are conspiring with the government to make your expatriate colleagues suffer.

Does it occur to anyone that Kuwaitis and expatriates walk the same streets and suffer from the same bad weather? I guess not. A friend of mine suggests playing along with the claims of the said self-victimized individuals. When they complain about the weather, he suggests I should say, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Our government gives us houses in areas in which the weather is cool all year long. What heat do you speak of?” I’m starting to give this idea some serious thought.

One fascinating and exhausted metaphor that people never tire from using is ‘frying an egg on the hood of the car.’ Ever since a picture was circulated online of someone doing that, it instantly became the metaphor used when describing a hot day. “It’s so hot outside, I could fry an egg!” Let me explain to you something you might not be aware of: your car thermometer is placed on the underside of the front bumper. Your car is parked on asphalt, which gets really hot during the summer. The metal of which your car is made is most probably under direct sun for many hours, so the reading on your thermometer will most certainly be higher than the actual temperature. So quit complaining. It’s hot already, and that’s enough reason to strain people’s nerves.

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kuwait digest

The right to criticize

By Hassan Abbas P Fal ah A l - Saw wagh the government to lend sup- criticize another country. When urged the government port to Syrian protestors (I’m MPs demand that the Kuwaiti to take a strong stance not sure if he meant emotional, government support the Syrian in support of the people in people, it means that they Syria, while fellow Islamist don’t exercise the right to l awmake r s i nc l u d i ng criticize demands made to M ohammad Haye f and “MPs like Hayef who urged the s u ppo r t pro te s to rs in Jamaan Al-Harbash called Bahrain. In the same vein, upon the Foreign Ministry to government to lend support to you can’t accuse the United sever links with the Syrian Syrian protestors (I’m not sure if States’ Department of State of interfering with Kuwait’s regime.

Of course, this is the man- he meant emotional, financial, internal matters, especially ne r i n whi c h Isl ami st or even military support), don’t in terms of Kuwait being activists react to the Syrian placed on Tier 3 in a watch c r i si s. I hop e t hat t he se have the right to criticize anoth- lis t fo r f a ilin g to re s o lve human trafficking. ac tivists are aware of the er country” fac t t hat su c h me asure s I am not objecting to the include placing pressure on lawmakers’ right to criticize, the government to yield, in I’m simply stating that whocontradiction to their own ever criticizes others must approach. financial, or even military sup- a c c e p t c r i t i c i s m f r o m t h e m MPs like Hayef that urged port), don’t have the right to too. —Al-Rai

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kuwait digest

The absurdly realistic

By Abdellatif Al-Duaij lmost all the problems that the Kuwait society has been facing are abnormal. It appears as if viable solutions exist to resolve them. It is now time to devise ‘super’ solutions to resolve them. If the recent solution for those that failed gain admittance to the Kuwait University, is to stay at home like civil servants - the situations is simply appalling.

How can a solution be devised to the unemployment problem, if citizens shy away from work.

Most of this year ’s ‘craz y budget ’ has been reserved for them.

Why doesn’t the government not encourage technical jobs? Rather, the question is why doesn’t it stop supporting the old-school mentality?

Why are those that do not even take the trouble to attend offices paid heftier salaries than those that toil tirelessly? In fact, how can the person

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‘Why are those that do not even take the trouble to attend offices paid heftier salaries than those that toil tirelessly?’

who spends time sitting at home be even compared with the ones that sweat out to produce electricity and water for us, or those who control traffic under the blazing sun?

More clearly, why do not we pay only to lure Kuwaitis to work in technical jobs? All what is required to be done, includes raising salaries or allowances 10 fold if necessary? I mean if KD 1,000 does not attract a Kuwaiti to work in the nursing sector, we raise their salaries to KD 2,000, 3,000 or KD 5,000 respectively?

These are crazy solutions that appear realistic solutions, because this is the only way citizens can be goaded into working! It is better than paying somebody who enjoys the comfort of home and hearth. It will save the cost of having to pay salaries to expatriates. It will also save subsidization costs on materials and services. In the end, the government will have freedom from the un-parliamentary behavior of ‘genius’ legislators. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

The criminal cleaner

By Jaafar Rajab Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. ardar Kapur is an Indian man who arrived in Kuwait three months ago with the promise of a good job and decent pay, but eventually found himself holding a broom and sweeping the streets. During one searingly hot summer day, Sardar took a short rest under a bridge. He took a small bite from a piece of bread he grabbed from his pocket, and sipped some water from a bottle in his hand.

He sat down and began daydreaming about the house he was going to build back in his village using the paycheck he had never received since being hired by a local cleaning company.

Suddenly, Sardar found himself surrounded by three police vehicles, and was quickly arrested by a group of officers, while drivers inside their air-conditioned cars gave a round of applause at what they had just witnessed.

Sardar was taken for interrogation at the nearest police station, where he had the following conversation with the detective: Detective: What were you doing under the bridge?

Sardar: I was daydreaming.

Detective: No, you were eating and drinking!

Sardar: Yes, and daydreaming as well.

Detective: Do you know that we are currently going through Ramadan?

Sardar: Yes, I heard of that month.

Detective: Do you know that eating or drinking in public is banned during fasting hours in Ramadan?

Sardar: A workmate told me that, but I thought he was making fun of me because where I came from, people eat when they’re hungry and drink when they’re thirsty.

Detective: So, you admit to committing your illegal action!

Sardar: Yes but, how did you know I ate and drank water?

Detective (proudly): We received ten emergency calls reporting your case. You see, where we come from, every man is a watchman!

Sardar: Excuse me but, isn’t Ramadan supposed to be a month of mercy?

Detective: Yes Sardar: What mercy are you talking about when a person gets punished for drinking water in this heat?

Shouldn’t poor people be taken care of especially in this month, or maybe you thought I was a millionaire who likes sweeping streets in my free time?!

Detective: We do care for the poor. Haven’t you seen ads about donating for the poor in Somalia and other countries - not naming Kuwait itself?

Sardar: You said ten people reported witnessing me eating and drinking... how come nobody reported the person who took my money with the promise of giving me a decent job, but instead made me work as a cleaning worker? How come no one reports my sponsor taking my hardearned money for a residency visa? How come no-one reported my company not paying me for three months?

How come no-one reported the incident when a man beat me up the other day because he thought some of the dust I was sweeping got onto his car?!

The detective cut Sardar off, and wrote down on the investigation report that the suspect admitted his crime, and was caught in possession of the crime tools: a piece of bread and a bottle of water. He also wrote down the testimonies of three people who reported Sardar drinking water in public at 2 pm, and causing emotional suffering to fasting people.

Sardar was sentenced to one month in jail and a KD 100 fine. He served his time, paid his fine, and was then deported for his hideous crime. Sardar went back to his poor village loaded with debt - and all he wants now is for anyone to believe that he was jailed and deported because he drank some water. —Al-Rai

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Hayef threatens ambassador with ICC over ‘war crimes’ Controversy continues over Syrian envoy

KUWAIT: At Seif Palace yesterday, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah received Kuwaiti author Jassem Mhalhal Al-Yaseen, who presented the monarch with a copy of his book on ‘The National Initiative to Strengthen National Unity in High Schools.’ — KUNA

Zain launches MoI security SMS service KUWAIT: In cooperation with the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Zain Kuwait, the largest mobile network operator in the country, has launched a security alert SMS service that uses the very latest mobile technology to facilitate the processing and registering of official documentation. Among other services, the alerts remind customers when to renew passports and residency permits as well as to inform them how much longer they have on their entry visas. They also help customers keep track of their citizenship files and electoral roll status, as well as give driving license, vehicle registration, and even traffic violation details.

All Zain subscribers have to do

to register for the new service is send letter “⁄” in Arabic or “E” in English, followed by a space and their civil ID number, to 992. Each customer will then receive a welcome message validated by his or her passport number.

Registration for the new service costs only KD 1.000. Further SMSs received from MOI-992 will be free, while an SMS received from ALDAKHILIYA will be charged at 40 fils. The new initiative further cements Zain’s partnership with the interior ministry, which was consolidated in June with the hugely popular nationwide ‘Drive Zain’ campaign, which discourages the use of mobile phones while driving.

KUWAIT: Controversy over the Syrian Ambassador to Kuwait’s presence in the country continued yesterday, with Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef announcing his intention to file criminal charges against the envoy, whilst a foreign ministry undersecretary insisted that there are no immediate plans to expel him from the country.

The concerns continue to rise as Hayef said in a statement that he has asked his legal team to cooperate with “victims of the ambassador” in Syria and Lebanon to file lawsuits against the diplomat with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over his “war crimes.”

The lawmaker said the Syrian Ambassador, Major General Bassam Abdel Majid, had worked as a senior officer in Lebanon and was subsequently appointed to the interior minister’s post in Syria between 2006 and 2009, accusing the envoy of taking part in criminal activities against Lebanese and Syrian victims.

Hayef said that he is currently conducting research into the alleged crimes committed by the ambassador as a prelude to filing the cases. “This is the least assistance we can provide to our brothers,” Hayef asserted.

The lawmaker has been leading a campaign calling on the government to expel the ambassador over his role in the Syrian regime which has continued a bloody crackdown on protesters in the Arab country. Foreign ministry undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah, meanwhile, said that Kuwait has no plans to expel the ambassador, stressing that the envoy will remain in the country in accordance with diplomatic agreements.

The Syrian ambassador was among a number of foreign diplomats who yesterday attended a presentation delivered by the Foreign Ministry on the subject of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer mega-port, which has been generating increasing controversy in Iraq. A number of fellow Islamist MPs have condemned Hayef ’s earlier outburst in

which he suggested that religious scholars should be consulted over whether or not the ambassador should be killed for his actions.

The MPs expressed shock at Hayef’s controversial suggestion, made during a protest outside the Syrian Embassy in Kuwait on Saturday, insisting that it does not represent the general opinion of Islamist politicians in Kuwait. Hayef first made the allegations of the envoy ’s involvement in war crimes the next day on his Twitter account.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one Islamist parliamentarian complained that Hayef had gone too far, voicing a wish that he would retract his statements, which they warned “could be used by opponents of Islamist activities to accuse them of disrespecting the constitution and the state’s laws.” The anonymous MP called on Hayef to avoid “overreacting” to events, and to keep in mind the fact that Kuwait has signed diplomatic agreements which it is legally bound to follow. The parliamentarian also urged the fellow MP to remember that nobody amongst antigovernment protesters has called for fighting Syrian ambassadors in other countries.

Dr Mohammad Al-Tabtabaie, the former Dean of the Sharia Faculty at Kuwait University also condemned Hayef’s “call for killing the ambassador or attacking embassies,” stressing that harming people is prohibited in Sharia law. “How can a person condemn the killing in Syria then advocate the killing of the ambassador who is a Syrian citizen?” he asked.

The chairman of Kuwait’s Sharia Scholars’ Conference supported AlTabtabaie’s view, stressing that attacking the ambassadors of other nations is “strictly prohibited” under Sharia law due to the fact that they are under the protection of the country which they are sent to.

In a related development, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has warned expatriates not

to take part in any demonstrations in the country, reminding them that doing so is illegal for non-Kuwaitis and threatening to penalize any expatriate violating this legislation to the fullest extent of the law.

The warning came after a few Syrians took part in two protests against the Syrian regime on Friday. Although several of the Syrian protesters were arrested, the ministry decided against deporting them for humanitarian reasons.

MP Faisal Al-Muslim praised the interior ministry’s decision not to deport the Syrian protesters, fellow lawmaker Mubarak AlKhurainej objected to it, insisting that the ministry should prosecute the protesters and apply the law equally to all those who break Kuwait’s laws.

The head of the parliamentary interior and defense committee MP Shuaib AlMuwaizri, meanwhile, called on the MoI to be cautious since some individuals might attempt to exploit regional events in order to stir up domestic unrest and create problems in Kuwait.

In other news, the parliamentary education committee is expected to hold an important meeting with the education minister today to discuss the problem of the 6,000 university applicants who failed to be awarded places by Kuwait University despite meeting all the necessary qualifying criteria.

More than 33 MPs have signed a request to hold an emergency parliamentary session on August 15 to talk about the problem, which was discussed by the Kuwaiti cabinet yesterday.

On a separate political issue, anti-government MP Musallam Al-Barrak has strongly condemned the government’s decision to appoint a chairman for the credit and savings bank from outside the bank, saying that this violates the bank’s governing regulations law by ignoring the deputy chairman Sayed Sandaouh AlDhafiri.

Govt approves demands for new KU enrollments KUWAIT: The Cabinet has reportedly approved a hastily compiled plan to finance all the necessary requirements to allow Kuwait University to accept a further 2,000 new students in the second semester of the 2011-12 academic year. One government insider described this as the only possible solution to the students’ dilemma, despite the fact that a number of KU staff have warned that academic standards will fall as the already notable overcapacity problem at the university worsens still further.

The overcapacity problem at KU, Kuwait’s sole state university, dominated discussions during the Cabinet’s weekly meeting on Sunday. According to the insider, the Cabinet instructed the Ministry of Finance and the Civil Service Commission to coordinate with the university administration on fulfilling the necessary prerequisites before the university accepts the 2,000 additional new students in the second semester. The proposal was put forward by education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi.

The university administration has demanded a massive increase in the number of teaching staff to cope with the flood of new students, as well as demanding that it be allowed to recruit more non-Kuwaiti faculty members. It has also demanded a sizeable increase in the university’s overall budget, as well as insisting that the authorities quickly devise ways to increase the university’s capacity in terms of facilities and infrastructure.

The insider revealed that the KU administration has flatly informed the government that unless all these demands are met by the second semester it will be unable to accept the 2,000 additional students.

The would-be students are amongst 3,000 recent graduates from local high schools whose applications were earlier rejected by KU, despite their meeting all the university’s criteria, on the basis of its massive overcapacity problem. The other 1,000 students will reportedly be granted scholarships either at private universities in Kuwait or overseas. — Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: The representatives of the member countries of ASEAN. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

ACK established to forge better links with Kuwait

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commemorated the geo-political association’s 44th anniversary at the Indonesian embassy yesterday. Each year the event is held at a different member country’s embassy. The Indonesian Embassy played hosts to this year’s event as the country holds presidency for the current year.

Pg Haji Mustapa Bin Pg H Aliuddin, Ambassador of Negara Brunei Darussalam, Long Kern, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Ferry Adamhar, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, E Thongphachanfi Sonnasinh, Ambassador of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Mohiuddin Ghazali, Charge d’Affaires of Malaysia, Ko Ko Latt, Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar, Shulan Primavera, Ambassador of the Philippines, Chet Derapattana, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Biu Quoc Trung, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam gathered at the Indonesian Embassy to witness the historic moment of hoisting the ASEAN flag alongside the national flags of each ASEAN countries in honor of the 44th ASEAN anniversary.

Recognizing the spirit of ASEAN, the Head of Mission of its member states in Kuwait, agreed to establish the ASEAN Community in Kuwait (ACK) on May 5, 2011. Ferr y Adamhar, the Indonesian Ambassador, serves as the chairman.

The hoisting of ASEAN flag alongside the respective national flags of other ASEAN member countries was agreed on at a meeting held with the committee of permanent representatives to ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 27, 2011.

“Most members of ASEAN are also among the most productive labor- exporting countries. The domestic laborers have not been accorded any protection in the new Kuwaiti labor law. We hope that a new improved law will be passed along with the creation of a new sponsorship system.

The Philippines is interested in protecting its workers. Also, the country has been expor ting labor since the 1960s to Vietnam. We promote welfare,” noted Shulan Primavera, Ambassador of the Philippines to Kuwait.

Ferry Adamhar, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia highlighted that the ASEAN has adopted the ‘no visa require-

ment policy ’ for member countries of ASEAN for two months. “We hope that visa-free travel will promote tourism. We will soon take a decision on introducing a common visa for foreign tourists to visit all countries instead of one only. They have not really reached a common consensus on adopting a unified currency,” he said.

Established on August 8, 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has expanded to become an important regional organization not only in maintaining regional development and stability, but also in fostering closer collaboration in the regional and global arena.

From an original membership of five member states namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, ASEAN has expanded to include ten member states. Brunei Darussalam joined on January 7, 1984, Vietnam on July 28, 1995, Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar on July 23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, 1999.

At the 12th ASEAN Summit in January 13, 2007, the Head of States of ASEAN countries affirmed their commitment to accelerate the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015. This ASEAN Community is based on three pillars, namely, the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-cultural Community.

Overall, the ASEAN active collaboration is based on mutual cooperation in the fields of economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative. It also explores all avenues for closer cooperation with international organizations and countries around the world. As an economic entity, ASEAN consists of 600 million people and boasts a GDP of US$. 1.8 trillion. It also functions as a trading bridge between China, India, the Middle East and the Pacific.

The flag hoisting is a symbol of ASEAN’s commitment to community building efforts. The ACK will continue its effort to reach the vision of ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations. The ACK will also increase the mutually beneficial relationship between ASEAN and Kuwait, the host country being a strong economic potential partner to be explored, walking hand in hand towards the future of the ASEAN Community in 2015.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

LOCAL

Social media megaphone reaches to more people Social media plays an important role in political process

By Lama Al-Haqhaq KUWAIT: “Facebook, Twitter, and other channels help spread the message more widely. They work as a megaphone allowing the efforts to reach more people and be louder,” Ayman Itani, a social media entrepreneur, explained.

Social media platforms are no longer limited to merely connecting people socially. In today ’s world, these platforms have acquired a far greater role. They are being used for purposes such as business, marketing, and entertainment. Another use of social media which has been growing rapidly in recent months is as a political tool.

According to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of Americans who surfed the Internet over the past month did so for political purposes. The recent Arab spring which included countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Bahrain, has proven the rapid increase of people in the Middle East using social media platforms for similar purposes.

“Social media have been playing an important role in current political processes in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and definitely deserve attention,” said Anastasia Kononova, Assistant Professor of Journalism at the American University of Kuwait.

Kuwait has not fallen far behind in this new and powerful trend. Young Kuwaitis have taken enthusiastically to social media in order to project their political views to large number of readers who they would not have reached otherwise. “ When young people in Kuwait, impacted by social media messages, became more active on Twitter, it was a natural political reaction to the events happening in the region,” Kononova said.

Twitter has become the most popular platform used for political purposes, with its wide audi-

In this file photo, a woman is seen browsing the Internet. ence reach, instantaneous speed, and ability to send out shor t, straight-to-the-point messages helping it achieve this status.

The fact that many people now use smartphones has also assisted in encouraging the use of social media. People can access platforms such as Facebook and Twitter straight from their mobile phones wherever they are, with Internet connection now available for whoever wishes to register for it, there is no longer a need to be sitting behind a laptop to access such platforms.

Kuwaiti technophile Mustapha Said points out another important and convenient aspect that may appeal to young people.

“The feature of social media that allows you to become anonymous has encouraged many people to use them and become actively involved,” he said.

In Kuwait, the traditional social forum has always been the diwaniya, a public or private gathering place where people meet to debate many topics regarding current events, including political issues, in the country.

The new generation has changed this by making social media plat-

forms the new public forums for political discussion.

Several political figures, such as MPs Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi, Ahmed Al-Mulaifi, Ali Al-Deqbasi, and Faisal Al-Meslim have noted this shift of forums and boarded the Twitter train themselves.

According to Kononova, this is a great opportunity for politicians as they can now read conversations between the people of Kuwait, as well as interact with them. “ What has happened in the past few months has restored the importance of the people-government dialogue. It is inevitable that the younger generation is becoming part of this dialogue, and social media can surely provide an excellent tool to participate in it,” Kononova explained.

The fact that the demonstrations in Kuwait cannot, as yet, be compared to those in Egypt and Bahrain should not be seen as a sign of failure on the part of these social networking platforms. The mere fact that these young people can finally make their voices heard is proof of the power of social media and the vast range of people they can reach.

Maid stabs sponsor KUWAIT: An Ethiopian maid stabbed her sponsor, a doctor, for as-yet unknown reasons, unexplained circumstances. The doctor, an Arab expatriate who lives in a private hospital’s staff quarters, was taken with the maid, who had subsequently taken an overdose, for treatment at Amiri Hospital.

A security source said that emergency services personnel were quickly at the scene after receiving a call from the doctor, finding the medic in a bad condition with stab wounds to her neck. They discovered the maid unconscious in a bathroom in the accommodation, having drunk a large quantity of a toxic liquid believed to be household bleach following the attack.

Paramedics rushed both women to Amiri Hospital and once the maid had recovered she was taken to Daiya police station for questioning to determine the reasons behind her act.

Hunt on for Sharq rapist Police are hunting for a man, possibly an Egyptian expatriate, dressed in a traditional Egyptian jalabiya, who has raped and attempted to rape a number of women in the Sharq area recently. The attacks by the man, who reportedly has a distinctive scar on his face, follow a similar pattern, with the attacker following Asian maids whilst they are out and waiting till they get into an elevator alone before launching a brutal sexual assault. In the last reported case, his selected victim screamed so loudly that the assailant gave up on the idea of raping her and simply kept his hand over her mouth to silence her until the lift door opened again, at which point he fled. The hunt is continuing for the attacker.

Cowardly attack A gang of seven men brutally attacked and stabbed two others in Taima for unknown reasons. The two victims were apparently stand-

ing next to the car belonging to one of them when a four-wheel drive vehicle containing the seven men pulled up beside them. The attackers piled out of the vehicle and launched a brutal, sustained assault on the two defenseless victims, battering them before stabbing them a number of times.

Horrified passersby called the emergency services hotline to report the incident, but the attackers had fled before police arrived.

Paramedics rushed the two injured men to Jahra Hospital and a hunt is underway for the cowardly attackers.

Shisha attack A hunt is on for a woman who attacked staff at a Hawally café after they informed her she could have no more shisha since dawn was about to break.

The unpleasant customer had apparently arrived at the café the previous night, smoking a number of pipes of the flavored tobacco, a favorite pastime across the Middle East. As dawn was about she was still at the café and asked a waiter to get her another pipe. When he informed that the restaurant was about to close and she could not have any more shisha pipes since it is illegal in Kuwait to eat, drink or smoke between dawn and dusk, she became angry, demanding to see the café owner. The owner duly talked with the woman, attempting to reason with her and explaining that the law dictates that cafés must close at dawn during Ramadan. The belligerent shisha enthusiast then threw a tantrum, shouting insults and throwing a glass at the owner. Although employees called police, the woman escaped before they arrived.

Beggars busted Police arrested an Asian man wearing a very obviously fake long beard, along with three female

Young man’s body found in Kabad

expatriates from other Gulf countries, for begging in the Farwaniya area. The detectives who arrested the male indigent said that his beard was very evidently a fake and had caused some hilarity amongst the officers who took him into custody. The three Gulf women who were begging passersby for money were discovered to have come to the country earlier in the month specifically to beg for money. All have been referred to the relevant authorities.

Jealous wife A jealous wife who lodged unsubstantiated charges against her husband accusing him of sexually harassing the maid employed by the couple subsequently decided to drop the charges. After the Arab expatriate woman reported her suspicions at Farwaniya police station, the husband was summoned for questioning about the allegations. He strenuously denied them, asserting that his wife was making the accusations due to an earlier domestic dispute. The woman subsequently decided to drop the charges, saying that she would instead leave the hapless maid at a neighbor’s house whenever she was out in order to ensure her husband’s good conduct.

Drunk driver caught After police in a patrol vehicle that stopped at a red light in Jahra noticed a man apparently swigging something from a container encased in a brown bag, they attempted to pull the man over after the lights turned green. The motorist refused to stop, instead speeding off, with a brief car chase ensuing him. When the driver was eventually stopped, he told the officers he had not noticed their siren or flashing lights. The officers did notice that he reeked of alcohol, however, and he was taken into custody. — Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, AlAnbaa, Al-Watan

Fish prices soar to new highs

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A janitor at a livestock farm in Kabad immediately called police on discovering the body of a young man at the property.

Emergency services personnel who were quickly at the scene determined that the young man had probably died of a heroin overdose and the body was removed for autopsy to verify the cause of death. Police are seeking another youth who was seen with the man before he died.

Suicide attempt A Kuwaiti girl was rushed to Jahra Hospital after throwing herself from a high window at her family’s home in the area in a suicide attempt. The girl, in her early teens, remains in a critical condition and police are waiting for her to recover before questioning her over her reason for trying to kill herself.

Cross-dresser captured Police arrested a young male transvestite in Maidan Hawally. The man was referred to the relevant authorities on charges of impersonating the opposite sex.

Beggars busted A Ministry of Interior (MoI) crackdown on begging resulted in the arrest of around 17 male and female expatriates and three bedoon (stateless) women, all of whom are being held in custody pending trial.

KUWAIT: Fish prices have risen to new highs, reaching to as much as KD 50 for a single large-size Hamour (Greasy Grouper) variety, spurred by increasing demand on freshly caught fish.

“Consumers prefer fresh fish rather than the frozen varieties in light of recent incidents where rotten fish were confiscated,” said Salem Al-Failakawi Kuwait Fishermen Association’s General Supervisor. He blamed the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, reported Al-Watan.

PAAAFR’s ban on the use of nylon fishing nets has created a shortage in local catch, “Fishermen from nearby countries catch fish from Kuwaiti waters and export them to Kuwait. Here, it is sold as an imported product,” Al-Failakawi added.

The Zubaidi (Silver Pomfret) fish, a popular sea food item is sold at KD 9 per kilograms at local markets. Al-Failakawi warned that fish prices may rise again following the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

Defaced banknotes raise concerns KUWAIT: A financial expert has warned against a rise in the number of banknotes vandalized with inflammatory messages calling on the people of GCC nations to rise up against and overthrow their leaders. An increasing number of banknotes defaced with seditious messages of this nature have been discovered in recent weeks, apparently in response to the recent and current turbulence in the region.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the financial expert said that despite the existence in Kuwait of laws prohibiting the defacing of banknotes, this legislation only prohibits defacing Kuwaiti currency rather than that of any other nations. At first, the insider explained, it was believed that the defacing of banknotes was simply due to a few isolated pranks; since then, however, the number of such notes in circulation has grown steadily. — Al-Shahed

Senior MAIA officials seen at the Hajj and Umrah Expo at the International Fair Ground in Mishref. — KUNA

MAIA launches Hajj, Umrah Expo at Int’l Fairground KUWAIT: Inaugurated and sponsored by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (MAIA), an exhibition of Hajj and Umrah of Kuwaiti campaigns for the year 2011 began on Sunday at the International Fairground in Mishref.

The ministry’s sponsorship of such an exhibition is important to the Kuwaiti Hajj market, which brings together various companies with similar interests to share their experiences and showcase their services to pilgrims, said the Director of the MAIA’s Hajj Affairs

Department, Roumi Matar Al-Roumi, in a press release issued after the launch of the event.

Al-Roumi added that the purpose behind the ministry’s participation in the exhibition, which is set to run until August 13, is to bolster the MAIA’s partnership with the private sector, stressing that the ministry also wants to get to know pilgrims better and provide them with all the information they need on the burgeoning Hajj market.

The ministry’s sponsorship of the event is also intended to encourage

all Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage organizing firms, as well as other specialist companies, to join the ministry through its Hajj Affairs Department and to help pilgrims, meet with Hajj pilgrimage firms’ owners. The event will also help to shed light on problems facing pilgrims like high prices for pilgrimages, delays during arrival or departure, and traffic congestion, added the senior MAIA official, noting that the ministry has always been keen to solve such issues, unlike a number of the pilgrimage organizing companies. — KUNA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Dalai Lama’s political successor sworn in

Mogadishu residents flee rebel clashes Page 10

Page 11

Rebels in captured town plan push towards Tripoli Advance on capital likely to encounter stiff resistance BENGHAZI: A man takes pictures of a toddler sitting on a destroyed army tank at the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya, Sunday,.—AP

BIR AL-GHANAM: Libyan rebels who seized this town 80 km (50 miles) south of Tripoli said yesterday they would now push on towards Muammar Gaddafi’s stronghold in the capital but expected a tough fight. This small settlement in the desert is now the closest rebel position to Tripoli and its capture at the weekend is likely to inject some new momentum int o a six-month campaign to oust Gaddafi which has been faltering over the past few weeks. Anti-Gaddafi fighters had been camped since late June on the outskirts of Bir Al-Ghanam, unable to advance. According to rebels in the town yesterday, they moved in on Saturday under cover from NATO warplanes.

They said their next target was Zawiyah, a town on the Mediterranean coast 50 km west of Tripoli.

Zawiyah was the scene of two failed uprisings against Gaddafi’s rule since February. Many of the fighters in Bir Al-Ghanam are from there, although a number of those who took part in the uprisings are now in prison or dead. “Our aim is to get to Zawiyah.

Once we do that Gaddafi is finished,” said rebel fighter Murad Bada, who was sitting under the shade of a tree and humming a song about Zawiyah.

In the eastern third of Libya, rebel officials said they had created a security force to protect oil installations, a step which could allow them to resume regular crude exports. The capture of Bir alGhanam is the biggest rebel breakthrough in weeks of largely static fighting on three fronts across Libya.

But that alone is not enough to undermine Gaddafi’s grip on power. The small rebel force approaching from the south could face much stiffer resistance as it draws nearer to the capital, where Gaddafi’s troops are concentrated and where he can count on a cer tain level of popular suppor t. The rebel advance elsewhere has been hampered by divisions and infighting, as well as a lack of experience in warfare.

Libya’s prime minister told reporters in Tripoli on

Sunday that government forces were in control of Bir Al-Ghanam after fighting off a rebel attack. But in the town early yesterday, the only sign of government forces was the weaponry they had left behind when they fled, said a Reuters reporter in the town centre. One artillery piece was abandoned, and three tanks were burned out. Next to one tank-still mounted on the trailer of a tank transporter-was a deep crater which appeared to have been caused by a NATO air strike. Rebel fighters were resting in the heat. One was wrapping a wound on his arm which he said was caused by rocket shrapnel.

Another fighter, 32-year-old Salim Shawsh, said in the five -hour battle on Saturday to take Bir alGhanam, rebels attacked on foot from behind ridges on the outskirts of the town, with NATO air support.

He said five rebel fighters were killed, including a Libyan-American father and son, part of a large contingent of foreigners with Libyan roots who have come back to fight against Gaddafi.

The pair was hit by rocket fire and they died with the father clutching the son, Shawsh said. By yesterday afternoon, rebel fighters had pushed on a few kilometres north of Bir al-Ghanam, coming to a stop at a point they said was about 35 km from Zawiyah.

Fighters near the new front line said pro-Gaddafi forces were positioned in the nearby village of Nasr.

The rebels said they expected a tough fight to push onwards towards Zawiyah.

Rebels stopped pumping oil to Mediterranean Sea export terminals under their control after proGaddafi raiding parties attacked oil facilities in the desert. A rebel military spokesman in the eastern city of Benghazi, the main rebel base, said a dedicated force had been created to protect the oil fields.

He said it was equipped with weapons, vehicles and night-vision equipment.

That raised the prospect of oil exports resuming soon from rebel-controlled terminals, a step which would provide the rebel administration with badlyneeded revenue.

The rebels and their NATO allies hope Gaddafi will eventually be forced to relinquish power if they maintain the pressure on him by starving him of weapons, fuel and cash and attacking his forces. But if NATO’s commitment to the campaign wavers, that could give Gaddafi an opportunity to hold on to power. Some alliance members are unsettled by how long the Libyan campaign is dragging on and how much it is costing, especially at a time of economic uncertainty.

There are doubts too in some Western capitals about whether the rebel leadership is capable of holding the country together if Gaddafi is no longer in charge. Those concerns heightened last month after the rebel military chief was assassinated by people on his own side.

For now, at least, there is no sign of any let-up in the NATO bombing campaign. The alliance says the air strikes are to protect civilians from Gaddafi’s forces but there is evidence of NATO coordinating its attacks with rebel offensives. On Sunday, British Apache attack helicopters took off from a warship in the Mediterranean Sea and fired Hellfire missiles at military vehicles in Al-Watyah, the site of a government air base 170 k m southwest of Tripoli, spokesman Major General Nick Pope said.—Reuters

8

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

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

Iran MP: Nuclear plant’s launch delayed again TEHRAN: An Iranian lawmaker said the country’s first nuclear power plant will not start up by late August as planned, and blamed the delay on Russia, local media reported yesterday. The disclosure by Asgar Jalalian, a member of a special parliamentary committee on the Bushehr nuclear plant, reflects the continued the difficulties Iran has faced in moving forward with its controversial nuclear program. The 1,000 megawatt plant being built in the southern port city of Bushehr has experienced repeated delays that come on top of the unyielding pressure Tehran faces from the United States and its allies, who are convinced the program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful uses

like power generation.

The plant is being built by Russia’s Rosatom, and was to be finished by 1999, four years after construction of the $1 billion facility began. Jalalian, in comments carried by the reformist daily Aftab, blamed the his country’s Russian partner for the latest delays.

He said the committee on which he serves has determined that the late August star t-up deadline will be missed and that they had handed over a report dealing with the issue to the parliament. “ We believe the Russians are not being honest ... about the plant,” Jalalian said. He urged Iranian officials to clarify the terms of the deal through “transparent and firm talks, without any ‘buts’ or ‘ifs’.”

Jalalian said Iran had already paid at least twice more than the planned construction costs on the project, and additional funds are being demanded.

The contracts with the Russians have no “clear financial ceiling, timetable and end date,” he said, also claiming that the Russian partner had reneged on a promise to transfer technology to Iran, as promised in the deal. It was unclear when the full parliament would review the committee’s report on the delay or what steps they might take. But the report is the first issued at such a high level to be circulated among Iranian officials.

The Bushehr project dates back to 1974, when Iran’s US-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi contracted with the German company Siemens

to build the reactor. The company withdrew from the project after the 1979 Islamic Revolution brought hard-line clerics to power. In 1992, Iran signed a $1 billion deal with Russia to complete the project and work began in 1995. Since then, the project has been beset by problems linked to construction and supply glitches.

Iranian officials have acknowledged that a malicious computer worm infected laptops belonging to Bushehr employees last year, but denied that the Stuxnet worm had affected the facility. Tehran later blamed the US and Israel of being behind the malicious software, saying it was part of a covert plan by Iran’s enemies to sabotage its nuclear pro-

gram which it claims is intended for peaceful purposes only. Western nations have imposed sanctions on Iran over its uranium enrichment program, targeting in particular Russia had already delivered 90 tons (82 metric tons) of fuel for the reactor in eight shipments in 2007 and 2008.

That amount is enough for a one-year of operations in Bushehr’s light-water reactor.

But in February, Russia ordered that fuel be removed because of concerns that metal particles might be contaminating fuel assemblies.

Reloading began in April. The delays at Bushehr have hurt relations with Moscow and prompted Iranian officials to describe Russia as an “unreliable partner.” —AP

Egypt court demands details of web, phone blackout Appeal lawyers say head of ruling army council involved CAIRO: An Egyptian judge yesterday asked to see minutes of a meeting when a decision was taken to cut mobile and Internet services during an uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, a move that could draw the ruling military into the controversy. Mubarak and Egypt’s former prime minister and interior minister were fined a total of 540 million Egyptian pounds ($91 million) in May for cutting mobile services, in what was described as a bid to disrupt mass protests across the country.

The three are appealing against the fine, saying other officials, including the head of Egypt’s current ruling army council, were all present at a ministerial meeting that took the decision, and shared responsibility. Judge

Minister Habib al-Adli told the court the decision to fine his client was illegal because it ignored the role played by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s defence minister at the time of the uprising, and

responsible for the decision.

Mubarak’s lawyer said mobile and web services were restored once officials saw the protests were peaceful, al-Ahram newspaper reported yesterday. The army has denied Tantawi was involved

CAIRO: An Egyptian soldier stands guard outside Al Azhar headquarters, the highest Islamic Sunni institution, in Cairo yesterday.—AP Magdy Hussein el-Agaty, from the High Administrative Court that is hearing the appeal, adjourned the case until Oct 3 saying he wanted to read the minutes of the ministerial meeting Mubarak held on Jan. 20, together with a list of the people who attended.

The lawyer for former Interior

other officials. Tantawi now heads the army council that took over the running of the country after Mubarak’s ousting. Adli’s lawyer Mohamed Abdel Aziz said Tantawi, as well as Mubarak’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and other ministers, were also present at the meeting and

in the decision. The militar y, which has said it had a neutral role in the uprising and only stepped in to protect national security, has faced increasing criticism over its handling of the transition of power after Mubarak’s ousting. About 850 people were killed during 18 days

of protests that toppled Mubarak, and more than 6,000 were wounded by live ammunition, rubber bullets, water cannon and batons.

Activists used text messages and websites including Facebook to organise the protests.

Telecoms operator Vodafone said in January it and other mobile operators had to comply with an order from the authorities to suspend services in parts of the country during the peak of the anti-government demonstrations. Judge Magdy Hussein elAgaty said he also wanted to adjourn the hearing to read a non-bonding report by a judicial panel.

The report said the fine should be overturned because the suit had not spelled out what damages were caused by the communications shutdown, the state news agency reported. In May, the court ruled that Mubarak and the ministers were guilty of “causing damage to the national economy” and the fines would be paid to the country’s treasury. Egypt’s communications and information ministry said it would have to compensate mobile operators for losses caused by the service disruption.

Mubarak went on trial last week charged with conspiring to kill protesters and other crimes. He was wheeled into court lying on a hospital bed, and was kept inside a cage during the hearing.

Lawyers for Mubarak, Adli and victims in that case called for Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Enan to give testimony, a move that analysts say could open the military up to further scrutiny.— Reuters

UN calls rights situation in Iraq ‘fragile’ BAGHDAD: A UN report released yesterday said the human rights situation in Iraq is still “fragile,” citing issues including economic and political stagnation, continued violence and attacks on minorities. “The human rights situation throughout Iraq remains fragile as the country slowly transitions from a conflict to post-conflict country that faces enormous development challenges,” the 2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq said.

“Widespread poverty, economic stagnation, lack of opportunities, environmental degradation and an absence of basic services constitute ‘silent’ human rights violations that affect large sectors of the population,” it said. The report, from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq’s human rights office and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, also cited inconclusive March 2010 parliamentary elections and the ensuing nine-plus months of deadlock as a source of rights problems.

“It is believed that this fuelled instability, but it also contributed to a degree of inactivity in relation to implementing reforms and other measures aimed at ensuring the

protection and provision of human rights to the Iraqi population,” it said. “Also affecting security was the withdrawal of all (US) combat troops during the year that was completed in August 2010.” Deadly violence remains a significant issue: “Civilians were subjected to arbitrary loss of life and injury, but also limiting access to, and enjoyment of, other basic rights,” the report said.

Attacks are still carried out almost daily in Iraq, more than eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein. Violence has, however, fallen from its peak in 2006-2007.

“Minorities suffered from various attacks throughout Iraq during 2010,” the report said, citing an October 31 assault on a Baghdad church that killed 44 worshippers and two priests as the worst single attack.

It also criticised the fact that only one woman was appointed to the Iraqi cabinet, and said that serious problems remain in terms of “honour crimes” against women, as well as female genital mutilation. The report noted that ending criminal impunity was a “serious challenge” and that freedom of the press “remains under threat.” —AFP

Israel MPs recalled for social discontent debate

Fatah: Ex-Palestinian strongman poisoned Arafat RAMALLAH: Loyalists of the Palestinian president have accused a rival of poisoning the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in an apparent effort to discredit him politically. Top officials of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party issued a report Sunday contending that former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan sent poison disguised as medicine to Arafat while he was in a Paris hospital.

They offered no evidence to back up their claim, other than to say Dahlan ordered Arafat guards to burn the vials in which the alleged poison was stored. The report also says, without providing evidence, that Dahlan stole $300 million the U.S. sent the Palestinians to build a security force. “There are false and baseless accusations of Abbas and his people, they are clearing Israel of Arafat’s blood,” Dahlan said yesterday in a telephone call from Dubai. “If Abbas spent his time preparing for independence instead of fighting me, he would have won.”

Arafat died in November 2004 under mysterious circumstances in France. Many Palestinians believe Israel poisoned him. Dahlan was widely blamed by colleagues for the 2007 loss of Gaza to Fatah’s rivals, the militant Hamas group, when he was the security chief in the seaside strip. He and Abbas have been feuding for months.

Dahlan has accused the Palestinian president of being a weak leader and of allowing his sons to benefit financially from his rule. Fatah expelled Dahlan from the party in June because of his repeated criticism of Abbas, and Palestinian police recently raided his West Bank home. —AP

BAGHDAD: People take an open air shower in central Baghdad, yesterday. —AP

WEST BANK: Palestinian Muslim men and youths read from the Quran during the holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin yesterday. —AP

JERUSALEM: Israel’s parliament said yesterday it was recalling members from their summer break for a special session next week on the government’s handling of a growing wave of social discontent.

The debate is to take place on August 16 in response to a request signed by 50 opposition members, the Knesset said in a statement.

They have filed motions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet “is fighting the middle class and the disadvantaged,” “ignoring the distress of doctors and hospital residents,” and “has failed to find a solution to the housing problem.” The opposition also charges that the government’s taxation policy “is divorced from the people and a mockery of their public protest.” Separately, the statement added, Netanyahu is to attend next Monday a meeting of the Knesset finance committee to discuss “the government’s socio-economic policy.”

Israel has been roiled by a growing protest movement which started in midJuly when a disgruntled apartmenthunter used her Facebook page to call for demonstrations over the cost of housing. The grassroots movement has surged, with more than 250,000 people taking to the streets in cities across Israel on Saturday night, demanding cheaper housing, education and health care.

Netanyahu’s office yesterday announced the formation of a committee he ordered to be set up to meet protesters’ representatives and discuss their demands. It is to begin work later this week.

Chaired by distinguished economist and educational administrator Manuel Trajenberg, the committee has 14 regular members, including economists, senior civil servants and academics. Eight additional experts will take part in meetings “as needed” and others brought in when needed, it said in a statement. —AFP

Sudan vows to supply more dollars KHARTOUM: Sudan said yesterday it would pour more dollars into its economy and warned dealers not to exploit a rise in demand for foreign currency after the secession of the country’s oil-rich south. Sudan has been hit by a scarcity of dollars that analysts say could get worse after South Sudan took away 75 percent of the 500,000 barrel of oil production when it became independent on July 9.

South Sudan relies on northern oil

facilities and refineries to sell the oil but analysts say Khartoum will probably get less for usage fees from the South than the equal split of oil revenues agreed under a 2005 peace deal. Falling oil revenues would make it more difficult for the north-where 80 percent of 40 million Sudanese live-to get foreign currency needed for imports in a country weighed down by years of conflict, high inflation and a US trade embargo.

The central bank in Khartoum said it was able to meet a rising demand for dollars due to “speculators” and southerners who get their final paychecks in hard currency before returning home.

In July, the central bank poured more than $500 million into banks to stabilize the currency on the key black market at a rate of a dollar buying around 3.4 Sudanese pounds. This week some black market traders cited rates of 3.45 or 3.5,

well below the official rate of around 3.

“Speculators of foreign currency through illegal and unlicensed channels will be imprisoned and face confiscation,” the central bank said in a statement.

Annual inflation was 15 percent in June after 9.8 percent in November when the central bank effectively devalued the pound to erase the need of a black market, a measure that has had little success. —Reuters

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American, 61, swim in record Cuba-Flo

Electrical field shields her fr

MIAMI: In calm seas, 61-year-old American swimmer Diana Nyad stroked north yest to set a new world record with a 103-mile (166 km) crossing from Cuba to Key West and cheered on by well-wishers, the veteran long distance swimmer had plunged int the western outskirts of the Cuban capital Havana as the sun set in a fiery glow.

OHIO: Bambi Lynn of Fairlawn, Ohio, wipes away tears during a prayer vigil at Copley Community Park in Copley Township, Ohio, Sunday. —AP

Police, neighbors piecing together Ohio rampage OHIO: A gunman killed seven people and wounded another, before being killed himself in a gunfight with police. Police say the gunman shot his girlfriend in one home before 11 am Sunday, then ran to a nextdoor neighbor’s house, where he shot her brother and gunned down four neighbors in the Ohio town of Copley. He then chased four people - two through neighboring backyards - shooting one of them before bursting into a nearby home, where two others had sought refuge.

Police said he shot his eighth victim in that home and left, only to get into a gunfight outside with a police officer and a citizen who had been a police officer. The gunman, whose name was not released, was killed. Only one of those shot survived.

Police said that victim was taken to an area hospital but did not disclose a condition or identity. None of the victims was identified and their ages were not disclosed.

Neighbors said the dead included an 11-year-old boy; a school official said he had been told two of the victims were students at the local high school. Neighbors say at least three victims were from one family. Gilbert Elie, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years, heard the gunshots and cries for help as he got ready for church. In an account that differed slightly from the police version, Elie said he went to a house across the street and found the

woman who lived there lying in the driveway, her husband shot near the garage, and their young granddaughter and another woman shot in the front seat of a vehicle, the windows apparently blown out by gunfire.

A third woman came out of the house next door and tried to talk to Elie, he said, but their brief exchange ended abruptly when a man followed her out of the house and shot her, sending the 76-year old Elie running for safety behind a truck. “She was talking to me, and he come up behind her and shot her, so I figured, maybe I’m next,” he told The Associated Press. He hid until he could see the gunman was gone, then returned home. Police arrived, and Elie said he heard a second round of shots coming from behind the houses and assumed officers had killed the gunman.

Elie said his neighbors, Russ and Gerdie Johnson, lived across the street. He said the ordeal has left residents of their wellkept neighborhood shaken. “They’re all in shock,” said Elie. Elie described the gunman as generally unfriendly, a rarity on the street, and said he often worked on his car outside his house but never waved at anyone. Police, who did not have a motive, planned a news conference at noon yesterday. The neighborhood remained blocked off by police late Sunday. —AP

At 8:30 am yesterday, CNN reported she was some 13 miles (21 km) from the Cuban coast, still in the early stages of a grueling swim expected to last around 60 hours. The live CNN report from one of the accompanying boats showed Nyad stroking methodically through calm waters, nearby a specially equipped kayak that projects an electrical field to drive off sharks.

In the early hours of yesterday, when she was swimming through the darkness, a message on her Twitter account read: “It’s dark, overcast, with a hazy moon overhead”. She will be stopping each hour to take liquids and highenergy food, treading water. Rules for the record ocean swim attempt forbid her to touch any accompanying boat.

Nyad, who was raised in south Florida and turns 62 later this month, tried the crossing from Cuba in 1978 when she was 28, but failed in the face of winds and heavy waves. The same swim was completed successfully in May 1997

by Australian Susan Maroney, who was 22 at the time. But Nyad’s claim to a world record will be that unlike Maroney, she is doing it without a shark cage in the straits’ warm, shark-infested waters. Weather forecasters have predicted doldrums-like conditions until Thursday in the waters that separate the United States and Cuba, giving her a good window to complete the swim.

Nyad, who has the muscled body and broad shoulders of a marathon swimmer although she retired from swimming and took up sports journalism more than 30 years ago, says she is trying the swim to help people her age and older

average of 366 people were deported every day over the same period.

During the 2 1/2 years of President Barack Obama’s administration, the US has deported a million people, almost of all them Mexican, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Deportations are going to increase because the economic situation in the United States has not stabilized yet,” says Jorge Bustamante, the UN special investigator on migrants’ human rights.

Most repatriated Mexicans find a way to return to their homes. But others like Perez are forced to stay, disoriented, without money or contacts. Many left Mexico as children or adolescents and don’t have social security numbers or a voter registration card, the document Mexicans use as their general identification, much like driver’s licenses in the US. Getting copies of their birth certificates is complicated and expensive. Some are drug addicts who rob their fellow camp members.

Arturo Macias, 41, says he has lived in the river bed with about 50 people the last 2 1/2 years. The camp has the stench of decaying food that no one seems to notice and is littered with used syringes. “Here on the border we hustle every day to see who can give us something to eat and (money) for drugs. Why am I going to lie?” said Macias, who is addicted to heroin. “I’m tired of this life, but the main thing is to get up in the morning with the gang and see how you are going to get something to buy food or drugs.” An accord signed by US and Mexican authorities covering deportations from the San Diego area in 2008 guarantees a “safe, dignified and orderly ” arrangement for depor tees that safeguards human rights.

It pledges not to separate families, to ensure deportations occur between 8 a.m. and 6 pm for children, women and the elderly.

Convicted criminals from three border-area California prisons should be sent back only on weekdays, when government offices are open and authorities can be notified.

realize they still can do many things. “A couple of years ago turning 60 I didn’t want to feel old yet. I started thinking what if I went back, what if I went back to the elusive dream of Cuba,” she said on Sunday before she started her swim. “I started training and found it was in my heart and in my body ... I want to be there to say we have many, many years of vitality and strength and service left in us.”

She also wants her effort to help improve US contacts with communist-ruled Cuba. Many Cuban rafters have died in the straits trying to

Colombia’s Santos seeks new tactic BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos vowed on Sunday to develop better strategies in the war on Marxist guerrillas who still manage regular small attacks despite being at their weakest in decades. The conservative leader and US ally marked his first year in office on the weekend with high popularity levels and economic advances that have won Colombia investment grade status from the three leading rating agencies.

Those accomplishments have been tarnished, however, by a recent

In Tijuana, deported migrants struggle to survive TIJUANA: After 15 years of installing marble in homes in Escondido, California, Porfirio Perez was caught without a driver ’s license during a February traffic stop and deported. Now the 42year-old just tries to survive in this sprawling industrial border city, 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from his birthplace of Puebla in central Mexico. He is among hundreds of deportees who are stuck in Tijuana, which sits across from San Diego, California, because they don’t have the Mexican documents required and need permanent addresses to get them. He and about 350 others live in and around the Rio Tijuana canal that separates the two cities.

“I’m looking for work here but I can’t get any because I don’t have papers or a voter ID,” Perez said. “It’s a real awful change, you know.

There, when I was hungry I’d go to a restaurant. Here, you eat if you can get it. You walk back and forth, looking out for the police.” During the day the depor tees look for work, wash cars at intersections or flee Mexican police who will jail them for not having papers, just like in the US At night they take refuge in drainage tunnels feeding the canal, beneath bridges or in shacks made of wood, cloth and plastic a few feet from the rusty barrier that separates the country of their bir th from the countr y where they worked years for a better life.

The Padre Chava soup kitchen in Tijuana has offered 900 free breakfasts a day for the last 12 years, along with haircuts and medical services. About 80 percent of the people it serves have been repatriated from the United States.

“Society has to turn to the reality that deportees and migrants are a part of our city,” said the Rev. Ernesto Hernandez Ruiz, kitchen director. “We can’t consider them a plague ... they’re human beings in a difficult situation who need a hand.” An average of 254 migrants were deported to Tijuana every day from the United States in the first half of this year, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute.

That’s down from 2010, when an

HAVANA: Followed by Stuart Nex, a mem swimmer Diana Nyad swims in Cuban wat

But Vicki Gaubeca, director of the American Civil Liber ties Union’s Regional Center for Border Rights, said the agreement is often violated and it provides no protection to keep a deportee from being left alone in an unfamiliar region without papers, money, friends or relatives. “We are aware, for example, of repatriations of women at midnight (along the border) ...

There is also a committee that is supposed to meet to oversee these agreements, but to date we do not know a single member,” she said.

ICE in San Diego follows that agreement, said Robert Culley, director of deporations and removals in San Diego. But other offices in Los Angeles, Seattle or San Francisco could be deporting outside those hours, Culley said. Each region has its own arrangement.

Mexico’s National Institute of Migration has run a program for three years whose objective is to pay the full costs for repatriated migrants to return to their hometowns and work with their home state to find them employment.

But that program is not adequately funded and requires a birth certificate or ID card to participate, said the labor department representative in Baja California, Monica Garcia. Most deportees arrive with only a deportation notice.

Just 397 migrants participated in the program in the first half of this year. Agustin Banos lives with his wife in a shack by the canal, far closer to the Los Angeles textile factory where he worked as a tailor for two years than to his hometown of Acapulco, the Pacific resort whose poor neighborhoods are often bloodied by drug violence.

The couple takes turns looking out for police in the afternoons and night.

In the mornings he heads to a local market to clean vegetables and wash cars, but it’s not enough to afford the seven pesos (59 US cents) to use a pay toilet down the street. “We’re going to try to cross again, maybe tomorrow or th e day af ter,” h e said. “ We’re going alone, that ’s our only choice. Sometimes one wants to finish what he’s started.” —AP

increase in violence by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), such as an attack last week that killed an oil worker and injured six people. “I’ve asked the defense ministry to revise the way the (army) controls territory, including our borders, so our forces are more efficient and effective,” Santos said in a speech. He became president of the Andean nation, which is one of Washington’s main allies in Latin America, vowing to deepen the security successes of his

predecessor Alvaro Uribe Uribe’s crackdown on to rebel desertions, high-p and the killing of top co The overall decline in v attracted billions of dolla investment to Colombia’s oil sectors over the las which has allowed the boost crude and coal outp highs.

Yet the rebels rema some remote areas of the million people, aided

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Kenyans find unity in helping those in drought NAIROBI: Hashim Mohammed Elmogo spontaneously decided to donate his entire July salary of $376 to help those suffering from hunger after seeing a scrolling headline on television about a young child trying to nurse from his dead mother.

Friends who heard of his generosity have since pledged to support him financially through the month of August. “I am very touched by the images of starving children and emaciated women,” the 36-year-old police constable said. “We need to do all we can to ease the situation and save our fellow Kenyans.” Three years ago, postelection violence led Kenya to the brink of civil war and left the country divided along tribal lines more than ever before. Now in a show of unity, ordinary Kenyans - majority of whom live

on less than a $2 a day - have contributed more than $1.3 million in a little over a week. Corporate donations to the “Kenyans for Kenya” drive brought in another $4 million for the relief effort. While famine in neighboring Somalia has killed tens of thousands, there have been hunger-related deaths in Kenya as well. At least five people have died in Turkana, the hardest hit area located in northern Kenyan near the border with Ethiopia.

Joseph Kimeu, 31, a driver for a nongovernmental organization, donated $1 to the fundraising effort. “The way I see those kids they are like my kids,” he says. “If my kids are eating and I see another kid starving I feel like it’s not good for a human being. Especially if you are a Kenyan, I feel it is still my family. They are my family too and that’s

why I gave.” Critics accuse the Kenyan government of being slow to respond.

Kenya’s well-paid legislators - who include government ministers - are preoccupied fighting a move by Kenya’s tax authority ordering them to pay back taxes for their hefty allowances.

Currently 2.4 million people are receiving food aid in Kenya. The UN ‘s World Food Program is feeding 1.6 million and the government of Kenya another 800,000. But the UN says the number of those needing food assistance is expected to rise to about 3.2 million by mid-August. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua in a statement said the Kenyan government has allocated $11.3 million (10.5 billion shillings) to aid the people affected by drought. The distribution of the resources has been slow due to logisti-

cal problems, he said.

Ikal Angelei, a program officer with Friends of Lake Turkana, said fundraising done by Kenyans is a commendable but says the government needs to implement long-term solutions to help the Turkana people withstand the recurrent droughts in the region.

Angelei said it shows bad management by government when people in parts of Kenya are going hungry while there are other parts of the country that have such bountiful harvests that food is rotting in the farms.

“My only problem is when people are not starving, food security is no longer an issue and no one sees the need to discuss the root causes and the structures needed to tackle the issues,” Angelei said. “So really it is a great effort but unfortunately may be repeated

again in a year if we don’t tackle the underlying issues.” In another troubling sign, eight women in Turkana were killed by Merille tribesmen from Ethiopia on Friday because of conflicts over pasture and water, Angelei said.

Kenyans fought along tribal lines following disputed presidential election late 2007 which international observers said was flawed.

More than 1,000 people died when tribal alliances supporting President Mwai Kibaki and those of opposition candidate Raila Odinga engaged in reprisal attacks after Kibaki was announced winner. Peace was restored after former UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan brokered a political agreement in which Odinga became prime minister and Kibaki retained the presidency. —AP

Mogadishu residents flee rebel clashes AU troops set up bases in former Shebab strongholds

KIEV: Supporters of Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko cheer and shout slogans in front of the Pechersk district court yesterday in Kiev as Tymoshenko’s return to trial today on charges of abuse of power over gas deals she signed with Russia in 2009. —AFP

Ukraine court bars release for defiant Tymoshenko KIEV: A Uk rainian cour t yesterday rejected requests to release detained opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko despite global concern, as the former prime minister defiantly proclaimed her trial was run by the mafia. Judge Rodion Kireyev threw out two motions to reverse Friday ’s order to place Tymoshenko under arrest, including an unusual request backed by the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to put her under clerical supervision. The trial has raised alarm in the West about the rule of law in Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych, who defeated Tymoshenko and other leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution uprising in presidential elections last year.

In dramatic scenes, the opposition leader was delivered to court in central Kiev in a prison van hours before the trial was due to open as hundreds of supporters outside shouted “Yulia!” and “Hands off Tymoshenko!”. She yelled “Glory to Ukraine!” as the judge entered the cramped courtroom and showed no sign of softening her uncompromising attitude to the court. “I will not stand in front of you, because it would be kneeling in front of the mafia. You are not break ing me but Uk raine’s young democracy,” she told Kireyev.

The authorities have so far made no attempt to remove a camp of dozens of tents set up by her supporters outside the court. But units of the elite Berkut anti-riot police arrived in half a dozen buses in the early morning. Despite spending the last three nights in prison after her arrest on Friday, Tymoshenko was as ever immaculately turned out with full make-up and her trademark hair braid wrapped around her head.

She was not in handcuffs.

“Prison is prison but I am not going to complain,” she told her supporters, accompanied by two priests. “This is a test, but it is also the mission of my life, to help Uk raine become a true European state.” Kireyev however said the defence had presented no convincing argument that her detention conditions needed to be changed and gave

Tymoshenko another warning for her “mafia” comment. He also rejected a second request that was backed by the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Filaret and representatives of other confessions.

Her rarely-seen husband Olexander also appeared in court to provide support, saying his wife was unhappy that one of her cellmates smoked.

Tymoshenko’s former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, also imprisoned and on trial in the incumbent government’s anti-graft drive, was taken to court in the same van. Tymoshenko, who is on trial on charges of abuse of power over gas deals she signed with Russia in 2009, was placed under arrest for contempt of court after describing her successor as “corrupt” and mocking the judge on Twitter.

She says that she is the victim of a vendetta pursued by Yanukovych against leaders of the Orange uprising that annulled a fraudulent election and brought a pro-Western government to power.

EU members and the United States expressed alarm after her arrest, saying they were concerned about a selective prosecution by the Yanukovych-led authorities of their foes. Her lawyer Sergei Vlasenko has said he fears she risks being handed a jail sentence of between seven and 10 years.

Yanukovych’s administration has denied having anything to do with the trial.

Tymoshenko is accused of inflicting a 1.5-billion-hryvnia ($190-million) loss on Ukraine in 2009 when she signed a gas deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin that resolved a disruption of deliveries that also affected Europe.

She already has experience of jail after briefly being imprisoned in 2001 under former president Leonid Kuchma on forgery charges that were eventually quashed. Yanukovych-whose Regions Party unsuccessfully tried to forge a political coalition with Tymoshenko in 2009 — also spent time in jail under the USSR in 1967 and again in 1970 on convictions of robbery and assault. —AFP

Turkey issues arrest warrants for seven senior officers ISTANBUL: A Turkish court issued arrest warrants for seven active generals and admirals pending trial over an alleged plot to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government, Anatolia news agency said yesterday. The suspects included generals Nusret Tasdeler, the head of the army’s educational command and Ismail Hakki Pekin, the intelligence chief of the general staff, NTV news channel said.

Retired General Hasan Igsiz, the former head of the First Army, is also among the suspects, Anatolia said. There were no immediate reports of the officers being detained. The officers were among 22 charged last month for attempting to oust the government led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a liberal offshoot of a banned Islamist movement. They were accused of founding websites to publish antigovernment propaganda.

About one tenth of the army’s generals are already in custody over a separate 2003 coup plot dubbed “Operation Sledgehammer” that AKP officials say was hatched shortly after the party took power in 2002. The suspects face 15-20 years in jail, though the case has been marred by serious doubts over the authenticity of some of the documents involved. Last month, Turkey’s military top brass resigned in a row with the government over the promotion of the jailed officers.

Tensions between Turkey’s fiercely secularist military and the government have been building for years. Since 1960, the military, which views itself as the defender of secularism in the country, has ousted four Turkish governments, including that of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s mentor Necmettin Erbakan in 1997. — AFP

MOGADISHU: Residents of Somalia’s war-torn capital fled fighting yesterday after remnants of extremist Shebab rebel forces, who pulled out of Mogadishu at the weekend, battled with government troops overnight. “We are very worried, and many people have already fled to stay away from the firing,” said Abdulahi Duale, a resident from the faminestricken capital’s northern Suqaholaha district.

“We could hear shooting close to our neighborhood,” he added.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels-who had controlled around half of Mogadishu-abandoned their positions in a surprise withdrawal on Saturday. Fighting late on Sunday took place in several locations in the south and north of the city, as African Union-backed government troops set up bases in former Shebab strongholds.

“We could hear the heavy fighting on Sunday night,” said Huda Ali, another resident.

“We are planning to flee because there are stray bullets reaching close to us now.”

Government officials celebrated the hardline rebel pullout, but the Shebab say it is merely “a change of military tactics.” “It was the second day of our changed tactics, and the mujahedeen fighters carried out at least five attacks,” Shebab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told reporters.

“We have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy... where the Christian invading forces tried to expand,” he added. Government forces dismissed the rebel claims, reporting only sporadic shooting as soldiers moved cautiously into former Shebab-held areas. “Our forces are making a gradual advancement into areas of the city where the Islamist militants have left,” said Abdikarin Dhegobadan, a senior government officer.

“There is no resistance we are encountering so far-the very few rebels remaining are running away, and just firing shots from far away,” he added. The city was quieter yesterday morning after fighting during the night, but residents continued to move out, fearing further conflict. About 100,000 people from drought-stricken areas have come to Mogadishu over the past two months in search of food, water and shelter, and aid

MOGADISHU: In a handout photograph provided by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team on Sunday Ugandan soldiers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) move to reinforce newly occupied positions around Mogadishu Stadium in the north of the Somali. —AFP efforts to reach them continued yesterday.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) airlifted urgent supplies into the city, the group’s first such operation in five years. Relief items are normally delivered by road or sea, but the “unprecedented rise” in civilians fleeing famine forced the agency to airlift supplies to save time, it said.

The 31-metric-tonne delivery, the first of three flights due in coming days, included 2,500 kits containing plastic sheeting for shelter, sleeping mats and blankets, as well as water and cooking utensils.

“This airlift of emergency assistance items will allow us to continue delivering aid to those displaced by drought and famine,” UNHCR Somalia representative Bruno Geddo said in a statement. It renewed a call for funds, warning that the $65 million (45 million euros) it has received or been promised was less than 45 percent of the $145 million the UNHCR estimates it needs to deal with the cri-

Jill Biden in East Africa to visit famine refugees DADAAB: A US aid official warned yesterday that hundreds of thousands of Somalis could die as famine spreads, amid a visit to Kenyan refugee camps by the wife of US Vice President Joe Biden. Jill Biden yesterday visited the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, where tens of thousands of Somali famine refugees have arrived in recent weeks.

Biden’s trip is the highest-profile US visit to drought-stricken East Africa since the numbers of refugees began dramatically increasing in June. Biden said the aim of her visit was to raise awareness and convince donors to give more. “ What I’m asking is for Americans to reach out and help because the situation is dire,” said Biden, who met with two Somali moth-

ers and their eight children during her visit to the camp. “There is hope if people start to pay attention to this.” More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia alone, according to US estimates. The UN says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, suggesting the death toll of small children will rise in the coming weeks.

USAID administrator Raj Shah said models predict that hundreds of thousands of people could die from famine.

More than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa are in need of immediate food aid, including nearly half the Somali population. The UN has declared five famine zones in Somalia, including the camps for displaced people in Mogadishu. —AP

DADAAB: In this photograph taken during an official White House organized visit, Jill Biden, wife of US Vice President Joe Biden, greets workers at a UNHCR screening center on the outskirts of Ifo camp outside Dadaab, eastern Kenya, 100 kms (60 miles) from the Somali border yesterday. —AP

sis affecting the Horn of Africa. The United Nations has officially declared famine for the first time this century in Somalia, including in Mogadishu and in four southern Somali regions, and warned that it could spread.

Much of southern Somalia-including the majority of regions declared to be in famine-is controlled by the Shebab rebels, who have banned several key aid agencies from operating. Drought-hit Somalia is “the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa’s worst food security crisis since Somalia’s 1991-92 famine,” the United Nations has warned.

Parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda have also been hit by the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades. The Shebab had for two years been promising to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu, but always fell short of smashing its last defenses despite a deadly and costly offensive. —AFP

British boy had polar bear teeth in skull LONDON: One of the British youths attacked by a polar bear in the Norwegian Arctic had to have its teeth removed from his skull, his father said, as the uninjured survivors prepared to return home yesterday. Patrick Flinders, 16, from Jersey in the Channel Islands, suffered a fractured skull in the attack Friday on Spitsbergen island, which killed 17-year-old Horatio Chapple.

“The bear attacked his head while he was trying to fight it off and bit into him, so the operation he had in Norway was to remove some bone and some of the polar bear’s teeth from his skull,” his father Terry Flinders told BBC radio.

“He can walk and he’s starting to get back to his normal, cheeky self.” Flinders punched the 250-kilogramme polar bear on the nose in an attempt to fend it off, but he was smashed across the face and head by the animal, which also ripped his ear and damaged his eye. The teenager is being treated in Southampton on the southern English coast, but his father said he worried more about the mental scars than the physical ones.

“He can’t really remember what happened. It’s starting to come out now a little bit but I don’t want to push him,” Terry Flinders said. “I think that’s going to be the worst. The injuries, six months down the line, they’ll all be gone. “Whereas to me, I just don’t understand how anybody can go through that, especially 16-, 17-year-old kids, seeing another lad ripped to pieces.”

Flinders and another of the injured teenagers, Scott Bennell-Smith, 17, were transferred to hospitals in Britain over the weekend. The two other injured party members-including expedition leader Michael “Spike” Reid, 29, who shot the bear dead-and the remaining eight who were not wounded were making their way back to Britain yesterday. The teenagers were travelling on a British Schools Exploring Society expedition. They were camped on the Von Postbreen glacier on Spitsbergen, north of the Norwegian mainland. According to Norway’s TV2, Friday’s attack was the first deadly polar bear attack in the Svalbard archipelago since 1995. — AFP

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NATO: Probe continues at site of helicopter crash Coalition has not yet determined exact cause KABUL: International military forces worked yesterday to recover every last piece of a C hi no o k h e l i cop te r t hat crashed over the weekend, k illing 30 American troops, seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, NATO said.

G e r m a n B r i g G e n Ca r s te n Jacobson, a spokesman for the U S - l e d coa li t i on, to l d repo r te r s t h a t t roo p s had sec u re d t h e c r a s h s ite in a rugged area of eastern Wardak p rov i n ce a n d n ob ody w as being allowed in or out of the area while the investigation was ongoing.

Jacobson said the coalition still had not yet determined the exact cause of the crash, but some officials have said t he h e av y a n d lu m b ering t r ansp or t h e l i cop ter w as a pp are n t l y s h ot dow n.

Officials said the helicopter was hit as it was flying in and approaching the area. “We are still investigating this incident so we have no picture of what was the cause for the incident.

That is what the investigation i s b a s i c a ll y a l l ab o ut ,” Jacobson said.

The helicopter was ferrying a group of US Navy SEALs to reinforce a group of US Army Rangers who were under fire.

I t rem a i n s u n c le a r if t he Rangers and SEALs were taking part in a night raid to capture or kill an insurgent leader.

It was deadliest single incid en t for U S force s in t he d ec a d e - l on g wa r. A no t her NATO helicopter made a hard landing yesterday in eastern Paktia province, the US - led coalition said.

It did not report any casualties and said the cause of the hard landing was under investigation. The coalition said

there was no enemy activity in the area at the time. The helico p ter w as a C H -4 7 of th e same t ype that crashed on Saturday. It was flying in to p ick u p sp ecial oper ation s troops, but apparently suf-

reducing the overall number of troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. A current and a former US official said the Americans included 22 SEALs, three Air Force members and a dog handler and his dog. The

SEALs killed in the crash took part in the bin Laden mission.

The Rangers, special operations forces who work regularly with the SEALs, secured the c r ash site in t he Ta ngi J oy Zarin area of Wardak province,

KABUL: People stand near the dead body of an Afghan man during a protest in Ghazni, west of Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. Hundreds of demonstrators shouting anti American slogans protested the death of two men. —AP fered a mechanical failure and crash-landed, an officer in the war zone said. He could not be named because he was not authorized to comment publicly. The crew was rescued by the troops.

The fatal crash on Saturday hig hl ig ht s t he risk s con fronting the US -led coalition as it looks to rely more on special operations forces while

t wo spok e on con dition of anonymity because military officials were still notifying the families of the dead.

All but t wo of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the un it th at k illed Osama bin Laden in Pak istan last May, officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the in for mation . N on e of th e

about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Kabul, one of the officials said.

Many of the officials spoke on condition of anonymit y because the investigation was still ongoing. Eight Taleban fighters were also killed in the battle, Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement. Jacobson said that despite the tragedy, the coali-

protests shut parliament again

DHARMSALA: Lobsang Sangay, left, the new prime minister of Tibet’s government in exile, is blessed by Tibetan Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during his swearing-in ceremony at the Tsuglakhang Temple in Dharmsala, India yesterday.—AP

Dalai Lama’s political successor sworn in DHARAMSHALA: Lobsang Sangay, a 43-year-old Harvard scholar, took office yesterday as head of the Tibetan government in exile, vowing to free his homeland from Chinese “colonialism”. After being sworn in at a colorful ceremony in the Indian hill town of Dharamshala, Sangay warned China that the Tibet movement was “here to stay” and would only grow stronger in the waning years of the Dalai Lama.

In an historic shift from the dominance of Tibetan politics by religious figures, the new prime minister, who has never set foot in Tibet, is assuming the political leadership role relinquished by the 76-year-old Dalai Lama in May. In his inauguration speech, Sangay sought to dismiss concerns that the Dalai Lama’s advancing years and eventual death would mark the demise of the movement that the Nobel peace laureate has led since fleeing his homeland in 1959.

Sangay said his election in April had sent “a clear message to the hardliners in the Chinese government that Tibetan leadership is far from fizzling out.” He pledged to sustain the movement “until freedom is restored to Tibet,” stressing that the fight was “not against the Chinese people or China as a country. “Our struggle is against the hardline policies of the Chinese regime in Tibet... against those who would deny freedom, justice, dignity and the very identity of the Tibetan people,” he said.

“There is no ‘socialism’ in Tibet. There is colonialism.

Chinese rule in Tibet is clearly unjust and untenable.” Sangay’s age and former membership of the pro-independence Tibetan Youth Congress has fuelled speculation that he may harbour a radical agenda of seeking full independence for Tibet. In his speech, however, he stressed his commitment to the principle of non-violence and support for the Dalai Lama’s “middle-way” policy, which seeks “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet under Chinese rule.

Despite devolving some powers to a democratically-elected premier, the Dalai Lama will retain the more significant role of Tibet’s spiritual leader and a major influence on major policy-making decisions. The political transition makes Sangay a far more prominent figure than his predecessor as prime minister, but the challenges he faces are daunting. The government-in-exile is not recognised by any foreign states, China refuses to acknowledge it, and its legitimacy in the eyes of Tibetans in Tibet might be questioned without the Dalai Lama’s patronage. Born and raised in the northeast Indian teagrowing region around Darjeeling, Sangay went on to study at Delhi University before completing a master’s degree at Harvard Law School. —AFP

NEW DELHI: Opposition lawmakers shut down the Indian parliament yesterday after demanding that Delhi’s chief minister quit over graft allegations, the third enforced closure since it reopened last week. As well as disrupting business, the closure put India’s coalition government even further on the defensive as it struggles to push a reformist agenda. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants the resignation of Sheila Dikshit, a stalwart in the ruling Congress party, after a state auditor slammed costly tenders given to questionable contractors for the 2010 Commonwealth Games on her authority. Dikshit has denied any wrongdoing.

The ruckus is the latest in a string of corruption scandals to plague Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second term in office, denting his government’s credibility as it tries to maintain growth in Asia’s thirdlargest economy. The parliamentary shutdown may scupper plans to introduce reform bills, including one to make it easier for industry to acquire land, that were blocked in the previous session amid similar opposition protests. A poll by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) published in the Hindu newspaper yesterday showed the number of people who think Singh should continue in office fell to 22 percent from 40 percent during his first term in 2006.

Graft scandals have hit the country at a time when its economy is showing signs of slowdown, grappling with high inflation and a series of rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), against a background of global economic uncertainty. “It’s a lame duck government and a lame duck parliament, it has reached that point,” said N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman of New Delhibased think-tank Centre for Media Studies. “That being the case, one needs to worry that the global economic trend being what it is, how are we going to cope with that, with the declining stock markets.” Indian shares fell to their lowest level in more than a year yesterday following news that Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the United States’ sovereign debt rating. That prompted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to say India’s growth story remained “intact”. —Reuters

KOLKATA: Indian street children swim in a flooded road following heavy rain in Kolkata yesterday. The strength of the annual June-September downpour is vital to hundreds of millions of farmers and to economic growth in Asia’s third largest economy which gets 80 percent of its annual rainfall during the monsoon. —AFP

tion was undeterred in its mission. “The incident as tragic as it was in its magnitude will have no influence on the conduc t of operations I t was a tragic day. It was a tragic loss,” Jacobson said. “The campaign is going to continue. We will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy in the fight that we are taking too them.”

SEALs, Rangers and other special operations troops are expected to be the vanguard of the American military effort in Afghanistan as international militar y forces star t pulling out, handing over control to the Afghan forces they have spent billions of dollars arming and training. Special operations troops are expected to remain in the countr y after t he t roop w i t hd r awa l for counterterrorism missions and advisor y suppor t. Just how many will remain has not yet b e e n ne got i a te d w i t h t he Afghan government, but the United States is considering from 5,000 to 20,000, far fewer than the 100,000 US troops there now.

Special forces are frequently used to target insurgent com m a nd e r s a s p a r t of a n effort to force the Taleban ‘s leadership to agree to a negotiated peace. The operations, mostly in the form of night raids, are often carried out by Afghan and coalition special operations forces. Night raids have d r aw n c r i t i c i s m f rom human rights ac tivists and infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who says they anger and alienate the Afghan population. Associated Press Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this stor y f rom Wa s hi ngton, D e b Riechmann from Kabul.—AP

News

in brief

Bomb wounds 10 Pakistani soldiers MIRANSHAH: A bomb attack yesterday wounded at least 10 Pakistani soldiers in the Taleban and AlQaeda hotspot of Waziristan on the Afghan border, officials said. The device was detonated by remote control as a military vehicle passed through the Sararogha village area in the mountains of South Waziristan, which is part of Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal district. “At least 10 soldiers were wounded, three of them seriously,” a security official told AFP. A local intelligence official confirmed the bomb blast and casualties. Pakistan carried out a sweeping offensive in 2009 in South Waziristan targeting the country’s main Taleban faction, but many of their commanders and foot soldiers are believed to have fled to neighbouring North Waziristan. Washington is pressing Islamabad to launch an all-out offensive in North Waziristan against the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, which is responsible for killing US troops in Afghanistan and to which Pakistani spies have close connections. But relations between Islamabad and Washington plummeted after US commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, and the military says it is too overstretched fighting Taleban elsewhere to open a new front in Waziristan.

Death toll from Karachi building collapse at 33 KARACHI: A rescue official says four more bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, raising the death toll to 33. Chief Fire Officer Ehtisham Uddin said yesterday that 20 women were among those killed when the five-story building collapsed Thursday in the city’s Musa Lane residential area. Rescue workers were still searching for one more person believed trapped under the rubble. Karachi is Pakistan’s most populous city, with 18 million residents. It has many old and poorly maintained buildings.

Arrest warrant issued for ex-Bangladesh PM’s son DHAKA, Bangladesh: A Bangladesh court has issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son for allegedly transferring millions of dollars in bribes overseas. The court indicted Zia’s oldest son Tarique Rahman in absentia yesterday.

Rahman traveled to London for medical treatment in 2008 and refused to return home to attend the court hearing. Prosecutors say Rahman and a friend smuggled $2.73 million to Singapore after receiving it in bribes from a company while his mother was prime minister. In June, Zia’s younger son was sentenced to six years in jail on charges of laundering money from bribes. Zia’s opposition party has denied all charges against the sons, saying they are aimed at destroying her family’s reputation.—AFP

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Australia’s expulsion of asylum seekers delayed CANBERRA: Australia’s plan to expel asylum seekers to Malaysia as part of a new refugee swap deal was delayed yesterday for at least two weeks until the Australian High Court can rule on its legality. Refugee advocates obtained an injunction in the court late Sunday against the government flying the first 16 asylum seekers to Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning. Justice Kenneth Hayne said yesterday the injunction will remain in

force until the full bench of seven judges hears the case in the week beginning Aug 22.

The delay is a blow to the government, which had said it would post video on social networking sites Facebook and YouTube showing the asylum seekers boarding the first chartered flight to Kuala Lumpur as a way of deterring others from coming by boat to Australia.

Lawyer David Manne, who leads the Melbourne-based Refugee

and Immigration Legal Center, said he was challenging the government’s claim that Malaysia would provide adequate protection. Critics have said Malaysia has a poor record of respecting refugees’ human rights, and note that it has never signed the Refugee Convention or Convention Against Torture.

Manne said some of the asylum seekers “have expressed very serious concerns that they would be persecuted in

Malaysia, including on the basis of their religious beliefs.” The 16 in the test case are among 55 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Pakistan who arrived by boat last week at an immigration detention camp on the Australian territory of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

Manne said they should have a right to seek refugee status and protection in Australia instead of being expelled to Malaysia.

Amnesty International wel-

comed the injunction, saying it was “horrified that the Australian government is continuing to try to make an example out of vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children,” according to a statement. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the government was considering asking that the case be moved up, saying “it would be better that the case were heard as urgently as possible.” “Any uncertainty around this issue, of

course, has the danger of playing into people-smugglers’ hands,” he said.

The 55 Afghan and Pakistani asylum seekers would be the first sent to Malaysia under a new bilateral agreement that would see Australia eventually sending 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia over four years in exchange for Australia resettling 4,000 registered refugees from among 93,000 now in the Southeast Asian nation. —AP

Toxic spill averted as storm nears China Three killed by storm in South Korea BEIJING: China said yesterday it had temporarily averted a toxic chemical spill at a plant on its northeast coast, but remained on alert as a tropical storm that has killed three people in South Korea approached. Workers managed to repair a dyke protecting a chemical plant after it was breached by high waves in the province of Liaoning, which has been lashed by torrential rain as the storm nears. Residents near the Fujia Group plant in the port city of Dalian had been evacuated as a precaution, the state Xinhua news agency said in a report confirmed by an official with the Liaoning border police. The official, who refused to be named, would not provide further details when contacted by AFP. Workers were continuing to dump rocks and concrete onto the dyke breaches to make sure water did not gush through again, Xinhua said.

Authorities did not say which chemicals had been in danger of spilling from the plant, which makes paraxylene-a flammable, carcinogenic liquid used in the production of polyester films and fabrics, it added. Torrential downpours and high winds

expected to make landfall in Liaoning province, but the national meteorological centre predicted in its latest weather report it would now hit North Korea yesterday evening. Muifa drenched Shanghai over the weekend, triggering hundreds

Fur ther up nor th in the province of Shandong, more than 100,000 people were moved to safety when the storm passed by, local authorities said.

US oil giant ConocoPhillips was also forced to suspend clean-up operations on a two-

SHANDONG: A Chinese man watches heavy seas by the coastline in Qingdao, in eastern China’s Shandong province yesterday, as typhoon Muifa travelled north, drenching the eastern province of Shandong. —AFP unleashed by Muifa-which was a typhoon before it gradually weakened to a tropical stormhave already wreaked havoc in China and in neighbouring South Korea.

The storm is currently still at sea. I t had originally been

of flight cancellations and prompting authorities to call fishing boats back to port. In neighbouring Zhejiang province, one person went missing after a boat sank, and the storm destroyed nearly 170 houses.

Philippine marines kill 3 Abu Sayyaf in new clash MANILA: Philippine troops killed three Abu Sayyaf gunmen in a clash with the al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for killing seven marines and wounding 26 others in a recent gunbattle, officials said yesterday.

Army chief Lt Gen Arturo Ortiz said a soldier was wounded in Sunday ’s brief but fierce clash with about 30 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Patikul town in the mountains of southern Sulu province. Troops have been scouring the jungle area in search of the militants who killed seven marines in a July 28 clash, including two who were beheaded.

A Philippine military report said the militants withdrew and left behind one slain fighter near Patikul’s Bungkaong village early Sunday. Two other militants were killed but their bodies were not recovered. An angry President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the military to hunt down the militants involved in the July clash. At least 13 militants were killed in that battle.

Philippine military offensives backed by US training and intelligence have weakened the Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization, but it remains a key security threat. The group is notorious for bombings, kidnappings and beheadings over the last two decades. Military chief Gen. Eduardo Oban said yesterday that while beheadings have truly been “demoralizing and devastating on our part, we will never go down to such pointless savagery just to get even with our enemies.”

“There is no place for barbarism in the noble profession of arms,” Oban said at a ceremony marking International Humanitarian Law month. “In fact our profession demands that we remain as humane as possible even in the face of beastly and savage aggressor.” Human rights offenses have remained a concern but are now an isolated problem in the 120,000-strong military, which has adopted safeguards against violations, he said. —AP

month-old oil spill in Bohai Bay off the coast of Shandong due to Muifa, the firm said in a statement. “Clean-up activities will resume as soon as it is safe to do so,” it added. Muifa also left four people dead and two missing as it battered nearby South Korea

with strong rain and winds that toppled hundreds of power lines, signposts and trees. Power was cut to 320,000 houses in southwestern provinces, while roads, port facilities and breakwaters were destroyed in dozens of locations. A 76-year-old fisherman was found dead Sunday on the southern island of Wando on the southern tip of South Jeolla province, while trying to moor a boat.

Two more people died in the same province while another was reported dead in the southern port city of Busan following torrential rain and strong winds.

Two people are still missing af ter being swept away by stormy seas. Authorities in Dandong, a border city in Liaoning, have set up more than 750 temporary shelters that are capable of accommodating more than one million people in anticipation of the storm, Xinhua reported.

Thousands of soldiers are also on standby to conduct rescue and relief work after Muifa passes, it said. The city stands on the border with North Korea, which is still reeling from summer rains and floods that have killed 30 people, destroyed more than 6,750 houses and inundated more than 48,000 hectares (120,000 acres) of farmland. But so far, the storm has not caused as much damage as initially feared. Authorities had expressed concern that Muifa could cause destruction similar to that unleashed by Typhoon Saomai in 2006, which was the worst to hit China in 50 years and killed at least 450 people. —AFP

Myanmar activists mark 1988 uprising anniversary the next month. “ We must not forget those who had sacrificed their lives in the democratic struggle and we should never lose sight of our original aim of ending military dictatorship and establishing a democratic system in the country,” 82year-old Win Tin, a prominent journalist and opposition party leader, told The Associated Press.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar independence hero Gen. Aung San, rose to prominence during the 1988 uprising.

Her National League for Democracy faced continuous repression under the military government, with Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the time since 1989. The organization no longer exists as a political party after not par ticipating in last year’s general election, but it continues to press for democratic reforms and the release of about 2,000 political prisoners.

Last year ’s election NEW DELHI: A young girl holds a placard during a was widely viewed as protest held to mark the 23rd anniversary of the unfair and undemocrat1988 pro-democratic students uprising that inspired ic, and the elected, civiltheir still uncompleted crusade to bring democracy ian government that took office earlier this to Myanmar in New Delhi, India yesterday.—AP year is dominated by the and 350 followers gathered at a military. Authorities have generally tolermonastery in western Yangon to recall ated ceremonies like the one held yesterhow about 1 million people rose up on day, but Suu Kyi’s first political trip outAug 8, 1988 to protest an entrenched mil- side Yangon on August 14 poses a larger itary-backed regime that had wiped out challenge. She will visit Bago, 50 miles (80 the savings of many by a sudden demon- kilometers) north of Yangon and a town nearby to open libraries and meet supetization of the currency.

An estimated 3,000 people were killed por ters and par ty members, her before the demonstrations were crushed spokesman Nyan Win said. —AP YANGON: Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other ac tivists marked the anniversary yesterday of the anti-military uprising that inspired their still uncompleted crusade to bring democracy to Myanmar. The low-key commemoration came a week before Suu Kyi’s first planned political trip outside of Yangon since her release from house arrest last November, a proposed action that has drawn strong warnings from the statecontrolled press. Suu Kyi, her colleagues

TOKYO: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan at the end of their talks at Kan’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan yesterday. —AP

UN asks Japan to share lessons on nuclear safety TOKYO: United Nations chief Ban Kimoon yesterday pledged solidarity with Japan after its quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters and asked Tokyo for input to a UN meeting on atomic safety next month.

The UN secretary-general spent the day touring the rubble-strewn tsunami zone and meeting evacuees from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, before holding talks with centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo.

“I’m here to express the solidarity of myself and the United Nations to all the people of Japan, particularly the affected people,” said Ban after also expressing his sympathy in a short message spoken in Japanese. “While I was struck and saddened by the level of destruction by the triple crisis, I was also encouraged by what I have seen,” said the UN chief.

“I have seen such strong will and unbreakable strength and determination and the resilience of the Japanese people,” he said, sitting next to Kan after their talks. “I am sure Japan will be able to overcome this very soon.” Ban was visiting almost five months after Japan’s most powerful quake on record shook the region and sparked the massive tsunami that left over 20,000 dead or missing and crippled the coastal Fukushima nuclear plant.

Some 85,000 people have fled from a 20-kilometre (12-mile) no-go zone around the plant, and more from radiation hotspots further afield, after the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago. Ban-who has convened a nuclear safety summit for the UN General Assembly in New York in Septemberasked that Japan share its experiences and lessons learnt from the disasters with the international community. “I expect the Japanese government to contribute constructively to the success of a high-level conference in the United Nations on September 22 on nuclear safety and nuclear security,” said Ban. “I am very encouraged by assurances of Prime Minister (Naoto Kan) that the

Japanese government will share invaluable experiences learned from the tragedy with the international community, particularly in the areas of disaster risk reduction, preparedness and also strengthening of nuclear safety standards.” Kan promised Japan’s “maximum cooperation” at the meeting. Nearly five months on from the disaster, Japan’s government and the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company ( TEPCO) are struggling to stabilise three reactors at the plant following a series of meltdowns and explosions.

Japan wants to bring all reactors to stable “cold shutdown” by January. But lethal hotspots were detected inside the plant last week, with radiation so high that it would kill anyone exposed for one hour within weeks. TEPCO has also faced a series of technical glitches affecting a system to decontaminate radioactive runoff water used to cool the reactors. Earlier in the day Ban, joined by his wife, visited a shelter where more than 300 evacuees, mainly from Minamisoma city and the evacuation zone around the plant, have lived in cramped conditions since the disaster.

“You will hang in there,” Ban said in Japanese to the evacuees, who live in tiny spaces separated by cardboard partitions.

Ban, who arrived in Japan on Sunday, also visited Fukushima Minami High School, where he gave words of encouragement to some 100 teenagers, telling them, “the entire world and the United Nations are behind you”. The UN chief then visited tsunami-ravaged Haragama beach in Soma city, 40 kilometres north of the Fukushima plant, where he observed a moment’s silence.

Ban is on an Asian tour that will also take him to his native South Korea today, where he will launch a UN youth conference in Incheon. He will also address an academic forum in Seoul and meet President Lee Myung-Bak and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan during his fiveday stay there. —AFP

Anwar’s defense lawyers to interview Malaysian PM KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers for Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial will be allowed to interview the country’s prime minister as a potential witness, Malaysia’s High Court ruled yesterday. Anwar had been expected to testify this week for the first time to rebut charges that he sodomized Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 26-year-old male former aide, in 2008. The hearing was delayed until Aug 15 to allow the defense time to interview 20 people, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, to determine whether to call them to testify Anwar claims the government fabricated the sodomy charge that could send him to prison for 20 years.

Najib has denied any conspiracy.

The trial has become a distraction for Anwar as he prepares his opposition alliance for general elections widely expected by early 2012. Najib’s ruling coalition is working to regain at

least a two-thirds parliamentary majority and recapture several states that Anwar’s alliance wrested in 2008 polls.

The potential witnesses include Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor and the former national police chief. Both Najib and Rosmah met Saiful shortly before Anwar was charged.

However, prosecutors have indicated that even though the prime minister and his wife will likely have to meet with Anwar’s lawyers this week, they won’t answer any of the defense’s questions in private unless they are summoned to the witness stand for public testimony. Anwar nevertheless said he welcomed the court’s move to allow his team to interview the witnesses. “I don’t believe we have had a fair trial so far, but it gives us an avenue to interview the key witnesses,” Anwar told reporters. —AP

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

NEWS World stocks crash as investors flee Continued from Page 1 to 1,153.74, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 100.11 points (4.0 percent) to 2,432.30.

Standard & Poor’s lowered the US longterm sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA+ after markets closed Friday, citing Washington’s inability to rein in its mounting deficits.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index dropped 3.6 percent. The index was at its lowest level since September 2010.

The sell-off since July 29 has wiped $3.4 trillion off the value of global stocks, the equivalent of Germany’s gross domestic product.

“Everyone’s hair is on fire,” said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

The sell-off crowded out any relief from news that the European Central Bank was buying Italian and Spanish government bonds in the latest move to

staunch the euro-zone debt crisis.

The downgrade-and the threats of subsequent moves by S&P or the other ratings agencies-raise uncertainty as to the credibility of the United States in the global economy as investors increasingly worry about another recession.

Central to S&P’s argument was that the political paralysis in Washington has reached a point where it would be unable to deal with worsening deficits and sagging economic growth. This burdens a stock market already skittish after last week’s outbreak of fear.

“In many ways this is not about the downgrade. I think it’s about the underlying fundamentals and issues that are embodied in the downgrade itself,” said Jonathan Golub, chief US equity strategist at UBS in New York.

“Now the market is really focusing on long-term sustainable growth issues and that is why you have the market taking it on the chin.”

Several major brokerages have in recent days lowered their expectations for economic growth and share appreciation for 2011 and 2012. Moody’s repeated a warning that it could downgrade the United States before 2013 if the fiscal or economic outlook weakened significantly. But it said it saw the potential for a new deal in Washington to cut the budget deficit before then.

Investors looking for a safe place to park their money pushed gold to a record high above $1,700 an ounce. The dollar dropped against the Swiss franc and yen, while the euro fell.

The euro last traded at $1.4174, near a session low of $1.4150 on trading platform EBS and well off a session peak of $1.44320. The euro hit a record low against the Swiss franc, falling as low as 1.0640 Swiss francs.

The dollar fell 0.8 percent to 77.79 yen and was down 0.5 percent at 0.7635 Swiss franc. — Agencies

Assad replaces defense minister as tanks...

Continued from Page 1 chief, to replace General Ali Habib as defense minister. Assad was in line with decisions taken after meetings with residents of protest hubs to make changes in top state posts, it said. On the diplomatic front, the recall of ambassadors by Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s Sunni Muslim heavyweight, and neighbors Kuwait and Bahrain marked a major escalation of pressure on Assad.

The regime’s repression of Syria’s pro-democracy uprising has left at least 2,059 people dead, including almost 400 members of the security forces, according to the Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Announcing the recall of his ambassador from Syria, the Saudi king urged Damascus to “stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late” and called for “comprehensive and quick reforms.”

Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based top Sunni authority, piled the pressure on the Assad regime, terming the crackdown a “tragedy” that “has gone too far.” Al-Azhar “asks Syrian leaders to work immediately to end the bloodshed and to respond favorably to the legitimate demands of the Syrian masses,” said the grand imam, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb.

“The vast repression, the use of the highest levels of violence, arrests and intimidation represent an unacceptable human tragedy,” he said in a statement. Arab League chief Nabil Al-Arabi urged Syria to launch a

“serious dialogue” with protesters who have rallied almost daily since mid-March, urging democratic reforms in a country ruled by Assad’s Baath party for nearly 50 years.

“When people take to the streets... and seek change, presidents and governments must reach that solution through dialogue without making use of violence or force,” Arabi told reporters.

On Sunday, the 22-member panArab League issued its first formal statement on Syria with Arabi calling for an “impartial probe” into the bloodshed, and warning against “chaos” and “religious strife.”

There was more bloodshed yesterday in Syria, with the Observatory reporting that seven people were killed, including the mother and her two children shot dead as they were fleeing a military assault on Deir Ezzor.

The Observatory, quoting residents, said an elderly woman was killed in the city’s Al-Jura district.

It also reported that security forces shot dead three people in the southern protest hub of Deraa as they took part in the funeral of a man who died on Sunday. It identified one of the victims as Maan Awadat, brother of prominent dissident Haitham Manaa. “He was hit in the head, it was an assassination,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory.

Witnesses and activists yesterday reported tanks and troops entering Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province bordering Turkey and carrying out “a

large number of arrests,” while tanks also deployed outside the town of Sarakeb. The website of Syria’s defence ministry was offline yesterday after being defaced by the Internet vigilante “hacktivist” group Anonymous to protest the crackdown on protesters.

Assad on Sunday defended the actions of his security forces saying they were confronting “outlaws” while SANA news agency quoted an official military source as denying charges that tanks were shelling Deir Ezzor. The European Union is mulling new sanctions against individuals and business linked to the clampdown, EU diplomats said yesterday, as Germany warned that Assad would lose legitimacy if his regime kept up the deadly crackdown. Assad’s replacement of the defense minister is his latest in a series of measure since protests broke out in mid-March. He ordered a new government in April after the former prime minister quit and has sacked several governors, including those of the flashpoint provinces of Hama, Homs and Deir Ezzor.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said “free and transparent” elections to a new parliament would be held by the end of 2011 and that the regime was committed to reform announced by Assad. Two days earlier Assad issued a decree allowing opposition political parties, and in April ordered an end to five decades of draconian emergency rule and abolished the feared state security courts. — AFP

How to avoid some common problems Continued from Page 1 The foods eaten should be well balanced, containing foods from each food group, i.e. fruits, vegetables, meat/chicken/fish, bread/cereals and dairy products.

Fried foods are unhealthy and should be limited. They cause indigestion, heartburn, and weight problems.

AVOID • Fried and fatty foods.

• Foods containing too much sugar.

• Over-eating especially during the meal before Dawn (sehri. or suhur) • Too much tea during the meal before Dawn (sehri. or suhur). Tea makes you pass more urine taking with it valuable mineral salts that your body would need during the day.

• Smoking cigarettes. If you cannot give up smoking, cut down gradually starting a few weeks before Ramadan. Smoking is unhealthy and one should stop completely.

EAT • Complex carbohydrates during the meal before Dawn (sehri. or suhur) so that the food lasts longer making you less hungry.

• Haleem is an excellent source of protein and is a slow-burning food.

• Dates are excellent source of sugar, fibre, carbohydrates, potassium and magnesium.

• Almonds are rich in protein and fibre with less fat.

• Bananas are a good source of potassium, magnesium and carbohydrates.

DRINK • As much water or fruit juices as possible between iftar (Breaking fasting) and bedtime so that your body may adjust fluid levels in time.

Common Medical Problems: CONSTIPATION Constipation can cause piles (haemorroids), fissures (painful cracks in anal canal) and indigestion with a bloated feeling.

Causes: Too much refined foods, too little water and not enough fibre in the diet.

Remedy: Avoid excessive refined foods, increase water intake, use bran in baking, brown flour when making roti.

INDIGESTION AND WIND Causes: Over-eating. Too much fried and fatty foods, spicy foods, and foods that produce wind e.g. eggs, cabbage, lentils, carbonated drinks like Cola also produce gas.

Remedy: Do not over-eat; drink fruit juices or better still drink water. Avoid fried foods and add ajmor to wind-producing foods.

LETHARGY (‘low blood pressure’) Excessive sweating, weakness, tiredness, lack of energy, dizziness, especially on getting up from sitting position, pale appearance and feeling faint are symptoms associated with “low blood pressure”. This tends to occur towards the afternoon.

Causes: Too little fluid intake, decreased salt intake.

Remedy: Keep cool, increase fluid and salt intake.

Caution: Low blood pressure should be confirmed by taking a blood pressure reading when symptoms are

present. Persons with high blood pressure may need their medication adjusted during Ramadan. They should consult their doctor.

HEADACHE Causes: Caffeine and tobacco-withdrawal, doing too much in one day, lack of sleep, hunger, usually occur as the day goes by and worsens at the end of the day.

When associated with “low blood pressure”, the headache can be quite severe and can also cause nausea before Iftar (Breaking Fasting).

Remedy: Cut down caffeine and tobacco slowly starting a week or two before Ramadan. Herbal and caffeine-free teas may be substituted. Reorganize your schedule during the Ramadan so as to have adequate sleep.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR Weakness, dizziness, tiredness, poor concentration, perspiring easily, feeling shaky (tremor), unable to perform physical activities, headache, palpitations are symptoms of low blood sugar.

Causes in non-diabetics: Having too much sugar i.e. refined carbohydrates especially during the meal before Dawn (sehri or suhur). The body produces too much insulin causing the blood glucose to drop.

Remedy: Eat something at suhur (sehri) and limit sugar-containing foods and drinks.

Caution: Diabetics may need to adjust their medication in Ramadan, consult your doctor.

MUSCLE CRAMPS Causes: Inadequate intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium foods.

Remedy: Eat foods rich in the above minerals e.g. vegetables, fruit, dairy products, meat and dates.

Caution: Those on high blood pressure medication and with kidney stone problems should consult their doctor.

PEPTIC ULCERS, HEART BURN, GASTRITIS AND HIATUS HERNIA Increased acid levels in the empty stomach in Ramadan aggravate the above conditions. It presents as a burning feeling in the stomach area under the ribs and can extend up to the throat. Spicy foods, coffee, and Cola drinks worsen these conditions.

Medications are available to control acid levels in the stomach. People with proven peptic ulcers and hiatus hernia should consult their doctor well before Ramadan.

KIDNEY STONES Kidney stones may occur in people who have less liquids to drink.

Therefore, it is essential to drink extra liquids so as to prevent stone formation.

JOINT PAINS Causes: The increased pressure on the knee joints during Salat. In the elderly and those with arthritis this may result in pain, stiffness, swelling and discomfort.

Remedy: Lose weight so that the knees do not have to carry any extra load. Exercise the lower limbs. Being physically fit allows greater fulfillment, thus enabling one to be able to perform Salat with ease. —Dr Farouk Haffejee, Islamic Medical Association of South Africa Durban — www.zawaj.com

ENFIELD: A couple runs past a police cordon on Sunday during unrest in Enfield, North London. New unrest erupted on north London’s streets late Sunday, a day after rioting and looting in a deprived area amid community anger over a fatal police shooting. — AP

UK police arrest over 200 after London riots LONDON: Residents surveyed shattered streets and police vowed a wave of arrests yesterday after riots and looting erupted in an impoverished London neighborhood and hopscotched across the city that hosts next summer ’s Olympic Games.

The unrest was sparked by a police shooting, but some blamed unemployment, insensitive policing and opportunistic looting for the worst violence the city has seen in years. Police and politicians insisted the disorder was the work of a criminal minority and not a sign of social tensions or security lapses ahead of the 2012 Games.

In the hardest-hit area, Tottenham, many residents agreed that the looting was the work of greedy youths, aided by instant communication through SMS texts and instant messaging.

“It’s nothing to do with the man who was shot, is it?” said 37-yearold Marcia Simmons, who has lived in the diverse and gritty nor th London neighborhood all her life.

“A lot of youths ... heard there was a protest and joined in. Others used it as an opportunity to kit themselves out, didn’t they, with shoes and T-shirts and everything.”

Scattered violence continued yesterday, with a skirmish breaking out between police and groups of youths in the Hackney area of east London. Several youths attacked shops and windows, and police in riot gear were pelted with pieces of wood and other objects.

Tottenham’s main shopping street remained cordoned off, with steam still rising from burnt-out buildings two days after violence broke out amid community anger over a fatal police shooting. Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday in Tottenham. A peaceful demonstration outside the Tottenham police station turned ugly as several hundred people threw bottles filled with gasoline at police lines and confronted officers with baseball

bats and bars. Two police cars and a double - decker bus were set alight, stores were looted and several buildings along Tottenham’s main street - five miles (eight kilometers) from the site of the 2012 Olympics - were reduced to smoldering shells.

“I saw cars on fire, and the neighbors came out saying there’s a full blown riot,” Simmons said.

“We saw the bus set alight, and we saw it blow up. All our homes were full of smoke.”

Police condemned the “copycat criminal” violence that star ted Sunday and hit areas including the leafy suburb of Enfield, a few miles (k ilometers) fur ther nor th; Walthamstow in northeast London, where police said 30 youths vandalized and looted shops; and the busy shopping and tourist district at Oxford Circus, where about 50 people damaged property.

Police said more than 160 people had been arrested and 35 police officers were injured. “This has changed from a local issue into organized criminality,” police deputy assistant commissioner Steve Kavanagh said yesterday as he announced a “momentous investigation” to track down the perpetrators. “We will make sure that this criminality is not allowed to continue,” Kavanagh told Sky News.The perpetrators were relatively small groups of youths - their heads and faces covered - who used social media such as Twitter, mobile phone text messages and instant messaging on BlackBerrys to organize and keep a step ahead of police. One BlackBerry message Sunday, whose authenticity could not be verified, urged young people from across London to converge on Oxford Circus for “pure terror and havoc & free stuff.”

Once the preserve of businesspeople, BlackBerry handsets are popular with teenagers thanks to their free, fast instant messaging system. Blackberry’s manufacturer, Research in Motion, said in a statement: “We feel for those impacted

by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.” Police said they would be monitoring Twitter feeds and those who incited violence could face arrest.

In the south London neighborhood of Brixton - the scene of riots in the 1980s and 1990s - youths smashed windows, attacked a police car, set fire to garbage bins and stole video games, sportswear and other goods from stores on Sunday night.

Like Brixton, Tottenham is an impoverished area with an ethnically diverse population, a large black community and a history of unrest. Tottenham was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the fatal stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others - and underscored tensions between London police and the capital’s black community.

Since then police have made concerted, and fairly successful, efforts to build better relations with London’s ethnic communities.

But mistrust still lingers, and the shooting of Duggan - a popular figure in the community - has stirred old animosities. Few details of Duggan’s death have been released, and in the void rumors have swirled. Police say Duggan was shot dead when police from Operation Trident - the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community - stopped a cab he was riding in. The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, said a “non-police firearm” was recovered at the scene, and media reports said a bullet had been found in an officer’s radio.

But the Guardian newspaper repor ted that the bullet in the radio was police-issue, indicating Duggan may not have fired at the officer. Duggan’s family said they did not condone the violence, and politicians condemned attempts to use his death as an excuse for the riots.—AP

US still a AAA country: Obama Continued from Page 1 “Making these reforms doesn’t require any radical steps. What it does require is common sense and compromise,” Obama said. He said US problems are “imminently solvable” but that political gridlock has made compromise extremely difficult and has contributed to a picture of economic uncertainty.

Obama called on Congress to extend a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, saying if this is not

soon it will lead to 1 million fewer jobs and less economic growth.

The loss of 30 US troops in Saturday’s helicopter crash in Afghanistan will not deter the United States from its mission in the country, Obama said.

“I know that our troops will continue the hard work of transitioning to a stronger Afghan government and ensuring that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists,” he said in remarks delivered at the White House.

“We will press on and we will succeed.” —Reuters

Kuwait pulls envoy as Syria isolation...

Continued from Page 1 Sheikh Mohammad said the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will hold a meeting shortly to discuss the situation in Syria. Various Kuwaiti groups and MPs have called for a march on the Syrian embassy in Kuwait to press the government to expel the Syrian ambassador from the country.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister also said that Kuwait will go ahead to complete the construction of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port on Boubyan Island as planned despite Iraqi objections.

Sheikh Mohammad reiterated that the Kuwaiti port will not hinder navigation in Khour Abdullah, a narrow waterway that separates Kuwait and Iraq. Baghdad has protested vehemently that the Kuwaiti port will harm the navigation canal leading to its ports in the area.

An Iraqi technical delegation is

due in Kuwait shortly for detailed questions on the scope of the port which is due for completion in 2016.

In another development, Education Minister Ahmad AlMulaifi discussed the university admission crisis with the assembly’s educational committee and vowed that more than 2,000 students will be admitted in the second semester.

Mulaifi said after the meeting that he informed the committee that Kuwait University will admit 2,095 students in the second semester and that the government will provide all the necessary facilities to achieve that.

The problem was created when Kuwait University could not admit more than 5,000 students who fulfilled all admission conditions despite raising the number of students admitted from the normal 7,000 to more than 8,100 in the first semester.

MPs have signed a request to convene an emergency parliamen-

tary session to discuss the crisis and debate a draft law stipulating additional budget allocations of KD 30 million to send more Kuwaiti students on scholarship abroad.

Following the meeting yesterday, MP Hassan Jowhar denied that the minister had promised to admit 2,000 students in the second semester, saying that the minister told the committee that Kuwait University will admit only 1,000 students and that more students will be sent on scholarships.

Jowhar said that after the meeting, holding the emergency session has become a national necessity to study ways to resolve the problem of thousands of Kuwaiti students who have not been admitted.

MP Faisal Al-Muslim said he was pained by the minister’s statements during the meeting and warned the government it will be held to account if it fails to find an adequate solution to the problem of the students.

14

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

opinion

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Issues

Somali rebel retreat prompts hope, fear

By Peter Martell omalia’s government celebrated after Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab rebels made a surprise pullout of famine-struck Mogadishu, but prospects for peace remain far off, analysts say.

“The Shebab can still wage a guerrilla war, and can probably carry on a prolonged hit-and-run campaign,” said Peter Pham, a senior analyst with the Washington-based Atlantic Council think-tank.

“It would be premature to write it off,” he added.

Shebab fighters are waging a bloody campaign to overthrow the country’s Western-backed transitional government, and still control large areas of the south and centre of the country.

Rebel fighters on Saturday abandoned well-defended positions in the capital which African Union-backed government troops failed to seize despite years of bloody assault-saying their organized and planned retreat was merely “a change of military tactics”. “Some interpret it as a defeat and retreat, or as a tactical move to switch to guerrilla war,” said Ken Menkhaus, associate professor at North Carolina’s Davidson College.

The US-designated terrorist group is well practiced in insurgent techniques including roadside explosives, and last year claimed responsibility for suicide blasts that killed 76 people in the Ugandan capital Kampala. “It is important that we acknowledge that real security risks, including from terrorist attacks, remain and must not be underestimated,” the UN special representative in Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said in a statement to welcome the withdrawal. Pro-Shebab websites warned of renewed attacks on the AU force, recalling the waves of attacks launched against Ethiopian troops in 2007 after their USbacked invasion to overthrow an Islamist movement many Shebab members had belonged to.

“The move will enable the Shebab to gain the upper hand over the African invaders, as was the case against Ethiopian troops,” one of the sites, Somalimemo.net, boasted.

But the group is weakened, with a slump in popular support and rifts within the leadership between nationalist factions and a foreign fighter-dominated wing. The killing in Mogadishu in June of the presumed head of AlQaeda in east Africa, Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, was a blow to fighters with an international extremist agenda.

“The Shebab are on the backfoot-they are a very young and makeshift organization,” said Sally Healy, from Britain’s Chatham House think-tank.

Until Saturday morning, government troops and the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) controlled just over half of war-torn Mogadishu, including the airport and port, while the Shebab controlled the city’s northeast.

“Some within the leadership believed that they could not sustain conventional war against AMISOM, and therefore called for abandoning the whole idea of controlling territories,” said Afyare Elmi, assistant professor at Qatar University. There has been growing local resentment at the Shebab’s draconian ban on key foreign aid agencies.

While extreme drought is affecting 12 million people across the Horn of Africa, it has spiraled into famine only in areas they control or were fighting over. The withdrawal from Mogadishu was a strategic defeat and a major economic blow for the extremist rebels, losing them control of Mogadishu’s main Bakara and Suuqbaad markets.

Taxes on trade there netted the group up to $60 million annually, according to a recent UN report, although the bulk of businesses had already shifted across the frontline into government zones in recent months.

“The insurgency has clearly been weakened by the famine, not just in terms of political legitimacy lost and internal divisions revealed, but also in terms of its revenue stream having dried up,” added Pham.

But the gunmen who make up the Shebab remain a threat. Others believe an overstretched Shebab pulled out troops to redeploy “south to Kismayo,” Menkhaus added, a rebel stronghold pressured by pro-government forces. The pullout from war-torn Mogadishu could open emergency relief access for some 100,000 people who fled drought into the city in recent months, now starving in famine-hit camps rife with disease. But after decades of war-and the rise and fall of multiple warlords-Somalia has become wearily accustomed to rapidly shifting military and political dynamics that provide little or no relief for ordinary people struggling to survive.— AFP

S

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

Beyond debt, a wider globalization crisis?

Deregulation, technology all fuel growing volatility

By Peter Apps he crises at the heart of the international financial and political system go beyond the debt woes currently gripping the Western world and to the heart of the way the global economy has been run for over two decades.

After relying on it to deliver years of growth, lift millions from poverty, keep living standards rising and citizens happy, nation states look to have lost control of globalization. In the short term, that leaves policymakers looking impotent in the face of fast-moving markets and other uncontrolled and perhaps uncontrollable systems-undermining their authority and potentially helping fuel a wider backlash and social unrest. In the longer run, there are already signs the world could repeat the mistakes of the 1930s and retreat into protectionism and political polarization. There are few obvious solutions, and some of the underlying problems have been building for a long time.

“In times of economic recession, countries tend to become isolationist and retrench from globalization,” says Celina Realuyo, assistant professor of National Security affairs at the US National Defense University in Washington DC. “Given the increased number of stakeholders on any issue-climate change, the global financial system, cyber security- it is unclear how traditional nation states can lead on any issue, let alone build consensus globally,” she said.

The financial system, the Internet and even the supply chains for natural resources have quietly slipped beyond effective forms of state control.

These instruments of globalization have delivered huge wealth and kept economies moving with arguably greater efficiency, but can also swiftly turn on those in authority.

Just as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discovered that shutting down the Internet was not enough to prevent social-media fuelled protest overthrowing him, the world’s most powerful nation states are confronting their helplessness in controlling markets and financial flows. Technology and deregulation allow both information and assets to be transferred around the world faster than ever

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before-perhaps faster than states can possibly control, even with sophisticated laws, censorship and other controls.

The broad consensus at the 2009 London G20 meeting has already been replaced by a much uglier tone of polarization and mutual recrimination at both domestic and international levels. Where once they would have lobbied quietly, Russia and China now angrily criticize the United States, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin describing it as an economic “parasite”. In the United States and Europe, far right groups including the Tea Party, euroskeptics and nationalist forces look to be rising, sometimes potentially blocking policy-making. On the left, calls grow for greater controls on unfettered markets and capital. Over the past year, global currency valuations have become the source of new international tensions as major states accuse

each other of “competitive devaluation” to boost exports. In cyberspace, nations worry powerful computer attacks on essential systems could one day spark war, with rows over cyber spying already fuelling mutual distrust.

CONTROLS IMPOSSIBLE? It’s unlikely that nations can genuinely pull back from globalised systems on which they have become reliant. “The Net sees censorship as damage and routes around it,” computer science guru John Gilmore said in 1993.

In the modern, high-speed globalised system, one could say the same of attempts at financial and economic restrictions. Many areas of the global economy have also become effectively “ungoverned space” into which a host of actors- from criminals to international firms such as Google and Goldman Sachs to countless other individuals and groups-have enthu-

BEIJING: Chinese shoppers leave a grocery store named “Wonderful” in Beijing yesterday. The crises at the heart of the international financial and political system go beyond the debt woes currently gripping the Western world and to the heart of the way the global economy has been run for over two decades. —AFP

siastically jumped.

International companies and rich individuals move money- and even entire manufacturing operations-from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to seek low wages, avoid tax, regulation and sometimes even detection. In many states, that helped fuel a growing wealth gap that is self producing new tensions.

Some argue demands to impose new controls may miss the point. In any case, many of the current crises in the system are the result of attempts to control or distort markets and economic flows.

“Ironically, the theory was always that.. the (euro) single currency would stop the unpleasant capitalists from destabilizing Europe,” says Charles Robertson, chief economist at Russian-British bank Renaissance Capital, pointing to its intention of freeing European states from never-ending local foreign exchange hassles. “So the short answer is no, without massive capital controls, states cannot stop this.”

Arguably, the wider global financial system has similar inbuilt problems and imbalances-but after decades of being largely ignored, they look to be unravelling rapidly, by the same fast-moving markets that previously fed them. That is a problem not just for already struggling Western countries but the emerging powerhouses some hoped would replace them as a source of global leadership.

UNSUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS UNRAVEL? “For most of the last decade, growth and economic activity in many places has been driven by forces that were inherently unsustainable,” says Simon Derrick, head of foreign exchange at Bank of New York Mellon.

“What’s happening now is these... are coming under pressure and it’s getting to the stage where that can no longer be ignored.

But none of these issues are going to be politically easy to do anything about.” Low US interest rates and taxes particularly after 9/11 and the dot-com crash fuelled the asset booms that produced the credit crunch.

But they were only sustainable in part because US government spending-including on expensive foreign wars- was effectively underwritten by emerging economies, particularly China, buying up their debt.— Reuters

Water trade could help curb food price inflation

By Nina Chestney and Barbara Lewis arkets in water rights are likely to evolve as rising population leads to shortages and climate change causes drought and famine. But they will based on regional and ethical trading practices and will differ from the bulk of commodity trade.

Detractors argue trading water is unethical or even a breach of human rights, but already water rights are bought and sold in arid areas of the globe from Oman to Australia.

“We at Blackhawk strongly believe that water is in fact turning into the new gold for this decade and beyond,” said Ziad Abdelnour, president and chief executive of US-based private equity firm Blackhawk Partners.

“No wonder smart money is aggressively moving in this direction.” For now, however, he cited buying shares in water treatment companies or utilities, rather than water trade per se.

Some of the big investment banks dominant in commodities are among those who have voiced skepticism water could ever attract direct trade. A senior executive at one bank said exposure through agricultural commodities, whose price is heavily dependent on water availability, was his preference.

One reason water markets may never be attractive to big banks and financial players is that they are driven by water-stressed regions.

Given the difficulty of transporting water long distances or of establishing a single trade delivery point, as used on other commodity

M

markets, water dealing may never become global. That’s good news for those worried that turning water into a tradable commodity could attract speculation. Buying shares in utilities or positions on the grains market has not solved the lack of investment and huge amounts of wasted water, which have played a role in crop failures and rises in grain prices.

Albeit according to clearly defined parame-

ters distinct from exchange-based global commodity dealing-is Peter Brabeck, chairman of Nestle. He and others at the Swiss headquarters of the world’s biggest food group, whose profitability relies in large part on managing commodity prices, cite research showing 30 percent of global cereal crop production will be at risk by 2025-2030 unless current trends can be halted. But he does not expect water

SAN ANGELO: Fence contractor and rancher Randy Bolf (right) walks toward his all-terrain vehicle navigating around the small pump-fed watering hole on a ranch that straddles Tom Green and Coke county near San Angelo, Texas. Bolf said that he had numerous run-off and rain-fed tanks similar to this one on the 7,000 acre ranch that he has been leasing for the past 22 years for his herd. — AP

trade to provide a solution in time for any 2025-2030 crisis. Australia’s water markets, for instance, have taken over a decade to become established by farmers and regional governments.

SHORT-TERM SOLUTION For the nearer future, Nestle has embraced the concept of a cost curve that assesses demand and supply from the same river basin or other water source to help farmers and other users share out supply in the most efficient way. Also based in Switzerland and working away on the problem is Valerie Issumo, a commodities trader for 15 years, who says she is progressively winning backers for her plan for an ethical water exchange.

“Producing food with desalinated water or increasing use of fertilizers because of water scarcity or pollution due to lack of sanitation increases the price of the food,” she said.

Her “ethical water titles” would, as futures contracts, transfer ownership of waste waterensuring a commitment to process it to a useable quality-to big water users such as mines and farmers, who would buy treated waste water or water treatment.

Just as Issumo emphasizes the ethical and environmental benefits of recycling and ensuring proper treatment of waste water, Fredrick Royan, a research director specializing in water at London-based consultancy Frost & Sullivan, flagged up the “re-use resell” model.— Reuters

15

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

a na ly s i s

Gulf states toughen stand on Syria Stop the killingmachine... a clearwarning

By Ali Khalil he decision of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to recall their envoys from Damascus reflects a tough new Arab stand on the Syrian regime’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

“This is the first clear toughening” of the position of Saudi Arabia, the Sunni Arab heavyweight and leader of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said Paul Salem, director of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre.

King Abdullah yesterday sent a firm message to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, telling him to “stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late,” after months-long Saudi silence on the protests.

The Saudi monarch also urged the Syrian government to introduce “comprehensive and quick reforms.”

“The future of Syria lies between two options: either Syria chooses willingly to resort to reason, or faces being swept into deep chaos, God forbid,” the ultra-conservative state’s ruler warned.

Kuwait followed suit yesterday as Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah announced that the Gulf state was also recalling its envoy from Damascus as he slammed the “bloodshed” in Syria. With neighboring Bahrain also taking the same action, Sheikh Mohammed said that foreign ministers of the six-nation GCC would meet soon to discuss the crisis in Syria.

“This is an indication of a movement in the Gulf, at the level of people and governments, to put pressure on the Syrian regime,” said Kuwaiti political analyst Anwar Al-Rasheed.

“It does not seem that Saudi Arabia has really put its weight and money behind the revolution. So far, this is

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the first indication that they are taking a tough stand,” Salem told AFP. “We don’t know yet if it will translate into direct financial support to the rebels,” he added. Saudi political science lecturer Sadaqa Fadhel said that King Abdullah’s

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz

message reflected a “firm Arab and Muslim position” which could lead to further pressure. “The Saudi position is just a warning for now, but the kingdom could take tougher measures,” he said.

An editorial in the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan said the king’s statement “drew the path for the Syrian regime to exit the crisis ... as it includes a clear call to use reason, end bloodshed and introduce serious reforms.”

The call appeared to have followed “contacts which hit a brick wall.” Ties between Riyadh and Damascus have hit rough patches in the past, notably after the 2005 assassination of Saudi Arabia’s protege in Lebanon, former premier Rafiq Hariri, at a time when Syrian troops controlled the country.

But the absolute monarchy had so far shied away from declaring support for pro-democracy uprisings which have swept several Arab countries, apparently for fear of a knock-on effect. “We do see a response to Arab and Sunni public opinion... The leader of the Sunni world cannot continue to say nothing,” said Salem.

“Events have passed the point of being ignored. Even though Saudi Arabia is not enthusiastic about revolutions, it has to take a stand,” he said.

“They are worried that if the revolution succeeds in Syria, it could reach Saudi Arabia,” he said, although protest calls in the kingdom have fizzled out, apart from small-scale Shiite demonstrations in its Eastern Province. The Arab League on Sunday made its first official statement on the unrest in Syria, calling on Damascus to “immediately” stop the violence that has raged since mid-March. The League’s secretary general, Nabil Al-Arabi, also urged an “impartial probe” into the bloodshed, warning against “chaos” and “religious strife” in Syria. — AFP

Texas Gov Perry grabs spotlight

By Steven R Hurst ick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas who’s likely to soon join the race for the party’s presidential nomination, cast his lot and burnished his credentials this weekend with the vastly important base of evangelical Christians and social conservatives.

His flashy Houston day of prayer, in which he exhorted Christians to turn to God for answers to the nation’s troubles, re-emphasized a vexing US political reality: The battle to win a party’s nomination for national office - be it for president or member of Congress - often requires that candidates shun moderation in favor of ideological extremes.

And that reality can distort outcomes.

Voters can be left with a choice of candidates who ignore the vast American middle ground in favor of the loudest and most driven extremes. While it is impossible to truly know Perry’s motives for using the day of prayer as his biggest day in the national spotlight so far, it undoubtedly sealed his credentials among some of the country’s most conservative Republican forces - battalions who will flock to state primary elections when the process of selecting a 2012 presidential candidate begins in less than six months.

As Perry’s light shines bright among many Republican conser vatives, he won’t be present for premier par ty events this week in Iowa, where others already in the nominating fight jockey for positive outcomes - a booster rocket

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for their candidacies fueled by a deeply conservative fervor.

The entire field of announced Republican candidates planned to participate in a Thursday debate in Iowa the first that will include former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman - and most were staying in the leadoff caucus state for a straw poll two days later when Republican activists cast their presidential preferences for the first time. Perry, since he hasn’t announced his candidacy, won’t debate in Iowa but plans to deliver speeches to the Alabama Republican party on Friday and to a convention of conservative bloggers in Charleston, South Caroline, on Saturday - the same day as the straw poll. The Texas chief executive’s likely run, however, casts a big shadow across Iowa.

Perry’s main competition - current front-runner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty - are all sharpening their attacks on President Barack Obama. They are assembling their most cutting messages to heap blame on him for the crisis in the US economy.

For months, Romney has led the Republican field in polls and money while no less than a half-dozen Bachmann, Pawlenty and Huntsman among them - have fought to emerge as his main challenger. All the while, the Republican electorate has made clear in polls that it wants more choices, perhaps

a conservative who is strong on both economic and social issues.

That’s where Perry could come in and is what led him to consider a White House bid. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also is keeping the door open and will be a star attraction at a tea party rally in Iowa on Sept. 3. While many Republicans consider her far less likely than Perry to run, she still has deep support among the small-government, lowtax tea party wing of the party.

“He has the potential to appeal to both the economic conservatives and social conservatives,” Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who is unaligned in the race, said of Perry. “The economic conser vatives are somewhat up for grabs. I really think it comes down to what does Perry do. I think there is the potential for him to change the race.”

Romney, who paid great attention to Iowa in his failed 2008 bid for nomination, returns at midweek for a low key event among supporters as he girds for the inevitable debate attacks on his front-runner status from fellow Republicans. His biggest weakness: He pushed through a Massachusetts health care reform program that is uncomfortably similar to the one Obama shepherded into law nationally. The measure is an anathema to most Republicans who have vowed to repeal the law.

Bachmann has risen quickly in national polls and is near the top in Iowa. She has worked in recent weeks to reach Republican voters beyond her tea party base of strong social conservatives.

Iowa would be a chance to show broader appeal among Republicans and prove her organization is ready for a national campaign. Pawlenty has worked to build his campaign the past year and a half, but has not caught fire either nationally or in Iowa, the first state south of his home territory of Minnesota. He has spent heavily in Iowa and has campaign workers blanketing the state, which he is counting on the raise his prospects.

Neither Romney nor Huntsman, a fellow Mormon who is bypassing Iowa altogether because of his moderate views don’t play well among conservative state activists, will participate in Saturday’s straw poll event.

Although absent, Perry’s chances in the Iowa caucus early next year should he make a run, are seen as good. He’s proven, so far, his comfort with the kind of conser vatism and evangelical Christian values important to the state’s Republican activists. What’s more, he brings with him a record of economic and jobs successes in Texas that have confounded most other governors who are fighting to keep their states’ heads above water in the long US economic struggle back from the country’s most profound downturn in 80 years. As Obama has shifted his policies to appeal to the broad middle ground occupied by most Americans, the challenge for which ever Republican wins the nomination will be to find an elegant way to shift back toward centrist voters - the majority of Americans who typically elect a president. — AP

London riots reveal social strains

By Guy Jackson wo nights of riots that rocked London point to deeper social unease in poor areas of the British capital, community leaders said yesterday, but police and politicians said much of the violence was opportunistic.

The touchpaper for the unrest was lit on Thursday when police shot dead Mark Duggan, a resident of the multiethnic district of Tottenham in north London, after officers stopped the taxi in which he was a passenger.

Hooded youths set fire to police cars and a double-decker bus in Tottenham on Saturday night after a peaceful protest against the death descended into violence. A block of 26 flats was completely gutted by fire after the carpet showroom on the ground floor was set alight, sending terrified families fleeing into the street.

The violence then spread to other parts of London on Sunday, including Brixton in south London, another racially mixed district which like Tottenham was rocked by riots in the 1980s.

Young men were seen carrying new televisions out of some shops, while others tried on looted sports shoes. The scenes in Tottenham evoked memories of severe rioting on the Broadwater Farm housing estate there in 1985, sparked when a local woman died after police raided her home. In the ensuing violence, a policeman was hacked to death.

A quarter of a century on, with Britain’s economic growth almost at a standstill and government cuts to public spending hitting areas of high unemployment like Tottenham, some residents said they saw the seeds of more unrest. Osagyefo Tongogara, a community activist who was in Tottenham during the Broadwater Farm riots, said:

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“There are a lot of parallels with 1985. I don’t call it rioting, I call it rebellion.

“People are angry and frustrated. If you have a community with high levels of unemployment and cutbacks in welfare then this is what you are going to get,” he told AFP. “We are told that this is a global financial crisis and that we are all in this together but why should we

Monday that the “anger and frustration arising from the tragic death” of Duggan was no excuse for the violence that followed. “It’s shocking, it’s completely opportunistic and it’s totally unacceptable,” he said. “Those in the community and local businesses pay the price for this kind of random violence and people will not put up with it.”

NORTH LONDON: A dog keeps watch inside a shop damaged during unrest in Enfield, North London on Sunday. — AP be? “I don’t know everything about the crisis surrounding this young man’s death. But you can’t just put it (the unrest) down to that or down to criminality. That’s a simplistic explanation for this.” But Chuka Umunna, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party who represents a district near Brixton, said

London’s deputy mayor Kit Malthouse, who watched Sunday’s violence unfold from the central police control room, said he saw no evidence of a protest, just looting.

“We’re talking about opportunists,” he told BBC television. “There’s no coordinated action up there, there’s no Mr Big,

there’s no sense of protest, it’s criminality pure and simple. We need to be careful in the media and in politics not to create this atmosphere of excuse for what happened.” The incident that sparked the Tottenham violence was shrouded in mystery yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, initially said 29-year-old father-of-four Duggan was killed in an exchange of fire. Doubt has now been thrown on the initial version of events.

The IPCC were even forced to issue a statement to deny rumors that Duggan had been shot in the head, “executionstyle”. Ballistic results were expected today. Professor Gus John of the University of London, a Grenada-born academic who has written extensively about race issues in Britain, said dismissing the rioters as thugs was “fatuous” and failed to acknowledge the deeper issues.

“When I hear Home Secretary Theresa May saying this, it is almost identical to what the then home secretary Willie Whitelaw said during the Brixton riots of 1981. Such labels don’t solve anything,” he told AFP. “The question is, what disposes these young men to be like that?

Why is the largest section of the young offender population in Britain young and black?”

However, John said that the black community needed to take a critical look at its reaction to Duggan’s death. He said the police who had stopped the taxi Duggan was travelling in had been acting “apparently legitimately” as part of Operation Trident, set up to prevent young black men killing other young black men with guns. “How can the black community want something to be done about this kind of violence and then when something is done, react like this?” he asked. — AFP

Focus

Merkel popularity dips on euro crisis

By Noah Barkin and Sarah Marsh

ermany’s Angela Merkel has vowed for months to do all in her power to save the euro-zone while doggedly resisting pressure from Brussels and other capitals to move towards some form of fiscal union for the 17-nation bloc.

Now the tension between these dual pledges-one intended for her European partners and the other for an increasingly eurosceptic domestic audience-is building to breaking point. In a statement issued with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday, Merkel appeared to go further than she has in the past in promising support for euro zone stragglers, pledging in essence that the bloc’s rescue fund would actively buy up their debt on the open market once it gets new powers this autumn.

That promise in and of itself is probably not enough to spark a rebellion in her party or the German parliament, which must approve the changes to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the blueprint for its successor, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), in September.

But after crossing a series of self-imposed “red lines” on euro zone policy over the past year, Merkel has moved closer to the point where new pledges of euro solidarity could spark a serious domestic backlash.

Many lawmakers in Berlin would see an increase in the size of the EFSF, for example, as a step too far in the direction of the dreaded “transfer union” Merkel herself has repeatedly warned against, although to bail out a country the size of Italy would overwhelm the fund as it stands.

The issuance of common euro-zone bonds-a solution which would allow all members of the bloc to borrow at sustainable rates but a cost to Germany’s borrowing rates-is also a taboo that Merkel can’t break without serious consequences for her own political standing, German analysts and lawmakers said.

“We’ve entered into a limited liability union, where countries like Germany are liable for other euro zone members but only to a limited degree. This is where Berlin wants to hold the line,” Thomas Mayer, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, told Reuters.

“If you increase the EFSF substantially, you’re essentially talking about a Eurobond. If they do this I would expect strong grassroots opposition in Germany. A government that went down this path would probably not make it through the next election.”

Aggressive buying of Spanish and Italian debt by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Monday pushed down the borrowing costs of the two countries whose fate is likely to determine the future of Europe’s bold 12-year old currency experiment. The joint statement

by Merkel and Sarkozy was probably crucial to the central bank’s decision to wade into the bond markets again. The German and French leaders stopped short of promising to take bonds bought by the ECB off its hands once the EFSF is fully operational in the coming months. But they did make clear that the enhanced fund would take over the role of bond-buyer of last resort if the central bank agreed to set aside its concerns about debt purchases temporarily and step in to stem the crisis.

Just weeks ago, Merkel’s advisers were telling reporters that secondary bond market purchases by the EFSF were a line they wouldn’t cross. When eurozone leaders finally agreed to this step at a summit in late July, German officials downplayed it, stressing that such purchases would only be made under exceptional circumstances and could be stopped by a Berlin veto.

Pushed into a corner following worrying turbulence on euro zone bond markets in recent weeks, Merkel has now come full circle. Her red lines began to look yellow last month. Now they seem bright green. “At the beginning, Germany refused to do anything but in the end, it has agreed to everything because it has to,” said Gustav Horn, who directs the economic policy institute of the Hans-Boeckler foundation in Duesseldorf.

“Merkel has been pushed by reality into this position. Given her initial strategy, which was not very credible, it will be more difficult to get parliamentary approval.” Despite increasingly vocal warnings from rebel lawmakers in her conservative camp, senior members of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and junior coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDP) scoff at the prospect of a Bundestag veto of the EFSF and ESM next month. Volker Wissing, deputy leader for the FDP in parliament and head of the Bundestag’s finance committee, told Reuters yesterday he expected a “clear majority” for the measures agreed by euro-zone leaders at their summit last month.

Michael Meister, a senior finance expert in the CDU, also played down the risks of a veto. Even if some members of the ruling party refuse to back the euro zone’s new anti-crisis powers, Merkel should be able to rely on the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens to see them through.

But clearly Merkel’s domestic room for manoeuvre has narrowed significantly over the past weeks. If turmoil returns to the markets, or even if Spanish and Italian bond rates begin creeping up again to levels that are unsustainable over the long-term, it will be extremely hard for her to deliver new, bolder steps in the months ahead. Senior CDU members called at the weekend for a special party conference to discuss eurozone policy in a sign that uneasiness with Merkel’s course is spreading. A poll last month showed her popularity dropping to its lowest level in nearly five years, and running neck-and-neck in a hypothetical battle for chancellor with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the grey SPD politician she trounced in 2009. — Reuters

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

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McIlroy headlines odyssey SINGAPORE: US Open champion Rory McIlroy has signed up to headline a made-for-television golf odyssey through China this year to showcase the sport in the country and the nation’s fast-growing cities to the rest of the world.

Former world number one Ernie Els, Englishman Ian Poulter and China’s number one Liang Wen-chong will also compete in the four-man event from Oct. 10-16, at which the quartet will play just 18 holes, competing on two or three holes at each of eight courses.

The event, sponsored by property development company Shui On Land , will tee off in Shanghai before heading to the northern cities of Dalian and Beijing, west to Chongqing then south through Haikou on the tropical island of Sanya, Dongguan and the former Portuguese colony of Macau.

No prize money is on offer, but McIlroy said the event was more about the experience. “I’m always keen for a challenge, but this is different to any golf tournament I’ve competed in,” McIlroy said on Monday as the event was unveiled. “For me, this will be as much about exploring China as competing.” —Reuters

Qatar end Rajevac reign

Pumas on top in Mexico MEXICO CITY: Pumas lost their perfect record to open the season, but a 0-0 draw with Chivas was enough to put the Mexico City club in first place in the Mexico Apertura tournament.

Monterrey defeated Morelia 2-0 to improve to nine points - one behind Pumas.

Chivas is in third with seven points from three games, and Cruz Azul is in fourth after a 2-1 win against Atlante. Early front-runners Santos fell off the pace, losing 3-1 at home to newly promoted Club Tijuana, which recorded its first ever points in the first division.

In other matches this weekend, relegation-threatened Queretaro defeated Pachuca 2-1, Toluca drew 0-

0 with Atlas, Puebla lost 2-1 at home to Jaguares and Tigres won their first game of the season 1-0 at Estudiantes Tecos.

Defenses dominated during Chivas’ scoreless draw with Pumas, which extended Pumas’ winless streak against Chivas in Guadalajara to 34 matches. Chivas edged the game with Marco Fabian, who scored twice against Barcelona on Wednesday in a friendly, going close early with a scissors-kick. Fabian also forced Pumas keeper Alejandro Palacios into two difficult saves.

Monterrey is statistically the best team in Mexico based on points won over the last three years, and is again challenging at the top.—AP

DOHA: Qatar have ended Milovan Rajevac’s five-month spell in charge and replaced him with former Brazil boss Sebastiao Lazaroni, despite the Serbian helping the team advance to the next round of World Cup qualifiers. Qatar beat Vietnam 4-2 on aggregate in the second round of World Cup qualifiers Asian zone last month but the Qatar Football Association (QFA) said they decided to end the contract after the “rather alarming fashion” in which they edged the “humble” southeast Asians.

Qatar, who have never qualified for the World Cup finals but will host the tournament in 2022, lost 2-1 to Vietnam in Hanoi in the second leg after easing past the 144th FIFAranked side 3-0 in Doha. “We thank him for his efforts. But we feel this is a time to move on so we mutually agreed to end the contract,” QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said in a statement late on Sunday night. The first task for the much-travelled Lazaroni will be to ensure the tiny Gulf emirate finishes in the top two of a group containing Iran, Bahrain and Indonesia in order to qualify for the fourth round of Asian qualifying.—Reuters

Padres destroy Pirates

BOSTON: New York Yankees’ Mariano Rivera pitches in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox.—AP

Red Sox roll over Yankees BOSTON: Josh Reddick hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Sunday.

With the win, the Red Sox took over sole possession of first place in the American League East and clinched a win in the season series against New York for the first time since 2004.

The Yankees led 2-1 on homers by Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner before Mariano Rivera came in to close it out in the ninth. But he gave up a leadoff double to Marco Scutaro - his fourth hit of the game. Jacoby Ellsbury moved him up with a sacrifice - and almost beat the throw at first - and Dustin Pedroia brought him home on a sacrifice fly.

White Sox 7, Twins 0 At Minneapolis, Jake Peavy pitched eight crisp innings to win for the first time in more than six weeks as Chicago swept a threegame series in Minnesota for the first time in more than seven years.

Brent Lillibridge, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios homered for the White Sox, who had lost 29 of 36 games to Minnesota until winning three straight at Target Field this weekend. The backsliding Twins have lost seven of their last eight games overall. Peavy (5-5) last picked up a victory by pitching four shutout innings in his first career relief appearance, June 25 against the Washington Nationals, three days after he beat the crosstown rival Cubs with a so-so start.

Rangers 5, Indians 3 At Arlington, Texas, Elvis Andrus hit a goahead two-run single in Texas’ five-run eighth.

Josh Tomlin shut out the Rangers over seven innings, but the 25-year old right-hander walked Mike Napoli leading off the eighth and gave up a single to Mitch Moreland, his final batter. Sidearm right-hander Joe Smith (2-3) came in, giving up an infield single to Yorvit Torrealba to load the bases. David Murphy delivered an RBI single to make it 3-1, and Smith walked Ian Kinsler to force in a run.

Andrus followed with his two-run single to center. Darren Oliver (4-5) got two outs for the win. Mike Adams threw a perfect ninth for his first AL save. Michael Brantley homered and drove in two runs for the Indians.

Royals 4, Tigers 3 At Kansas City, Missouri, Johnny Giavotella hit his first major league home run and doubled to lead Kansas City over Detroit.

Giavotella, promoted Friday after hitting .338 in 110 games with Triple A Omaha, is 5 for 11 in his first three games. Giavotella led off a

three-run fourth with a double and hit a solo home run in the fifth. Bruce Chen (6-5) left in the sixth after a 46-minute rain delay. He gave up three runs and five hits, striking out five without a walk.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 2 At Baltimore, Ricky Romero pitched eight innings of four-hit ball and Brett Lawrie hit his first major league homer as Toronto downed Baltimore. John McDonald had three hits and two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who took two of three from the Orioles and have won seven of 11 overall. Romero (10-9) struck out five and walked none to win his third straight start, a streak that began on July 27 with a victory over Baltimore. The only runs the left-hander allowed were on solo homers by Mark Reynolds. Romero is 6-1 in his last eight starts against Baltimore.

Athletics 5, Rays 4 At St. Petersburg, Florida, Josh Willingham led off the 10th inning with a home run as Oakland edged Tampa Bay. Willingham lined a pitch from Jake McGee (0-1) into the left field stands for his 17th homer this season. Fautino De Los Santos (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first major league win and Andrew Bailey allowed two singles in the 10th before getting his 13th save. Hideki Matsui also homered for Oakland, which stopped a stretch of 12 consecutive non-winning road series by taking two of three from the Rays.

Tampa Bay got homers from Casey Kotchman and Evan Longoria. David DeJesus scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on JP Howell’s wild pitch.

Angels 2, Mariners 1 At Anaheim, California, Ervin Santana pitched into the ninth inning of his fourth straight phenomenal start, and Mark Trumbo homered off Felix Hernandez as Los Angeles beat Seattle. Santana (8-8) held the Mariners to seven hits and won his duel with Hernandez (10-10), whose 12 strikeouts were one shy of his career high. Santana lost his shutout bid on Mike Carp’s one-out homer in the ninth, and manager Mike Scioscia pulled him two outs short of his third consecutive complete game. Santana, who threw a no-hitter against Cleveland two starts ago, is 5-0 in eight starts since June 21, yielding just 17 hits and two runs in 33 2-3 innings over his last four starts. He has struggled for run support throughout the season, but the Angels provided just enough to beat Hernandez, the defending AL Cy Young winner.—AP

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

St Louis 8, Florida 4; Atlanta 6, NY Mets 5; Toronto 7, Baltimore 2; San Diego 7, Pittsburgh 3; Oakland 5, Tampa Bay 4 (10 innings); Milwaukee 7, Houston 3; Kansas City 4, Detroit 3; Chicago White Sox 7, Minnesota 0; Cincinnati 8, Chicago Cubs 7; Washington 3, Colorado 2; LA Angels 2, Seattle 1; San Francisco 3, Philadelphia 1; Arizona 4, LA Dodgers 3; Boston 3, NY Yankees 2 (10 innings);Texas 5, Cleveland 3.

American League National League Eastern Division Eastern Division Philadelphia 74 40 .649 W L PCT GB Atlanta 66 49 .574 8.5 Boston 70 43 .619 NY Mets 56 57 .496 17.5 NY Yankees 69 44 .611 1 Washington 55 59 .482 19 Tampa Bay 59 54 .522 11 Florida 55 59 .482 19 Toronto 58 56 .509 12.5 Central Division Baltimore 44 67 .396 25 Milwaukee 65 50 .565 Central Division St. Louis 62 53 .539 3 Detroit 61 53 .535 Cincinnati 55 59 .482 9.5 Cleveland 56 56 .500 4 Pittsburgh 54 59 .478 10 Chicago White Sox 55 58 .487 5.5 Chicago Cubs 49 66 .426 16 Minnesota 51 63 .447 10 Houston 37 77 .325 27.5 Kansas City 49 65 .430 12 Western Division Western Division San Francisco 63 52 .548 Texas 64 51 .557 Arizona 62 52 .544 .5 LA Angels 63 52 .548 1 Colorado 53 62 .461 10 Oakland 51 63 .447 12.5 LA Dodgers 52 61 .460 10 Seattle 49 64 .434 14 San Diego 51 64 .443 12

PITTSBURGH: The fading Pittsburgh Pirates finished up the worst home series in their 125-year history to lose their 10th straight game overall, beaten by Mat Latos (6-11) and the San Diego Padres 7-3 Sunday.

Latos’ mastery continued the misery for the Pirates, who completed an 0-7 stay at PNC Park against the last-place Padres and Chicago Cubs, two teams that were a combined 39 games under .500 when the week began.

Pittsburgh was winless on a homestand of at least seven games for the first time in franchise history, STATS LLC said. No team in the majors has had a homestand that long without a win since Kansas City in May 2006.

A day after the Pirates held a players-only meeting following a 13-2 loss, they trailed 7-0 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Kevin Correia (12-10) allowed one run on three hits through 5 2-3 innings before running into twoout trouble in the sixth. He was charged with four runs on five hits and four walks, falling to 2-8 at home this season.

Giants 3, Phillies 1 At San Francisco, Tim Lincecum stayed sharp until getting hit in the right knee by Chase Utley’s bounding bat as San Francisco ended Philadelphia’s season-high ninegame winning streak, tagging Roy Oswalt and beating the Phillies.

Jeff Keppinger had four hits as the Giants spoiled Oswalt’s return from the disabled list. San Francisco avoided a four-game sweep in a matchup of NL division leaders.

Lincecum (10-9) went down in the eighth inning when Utley accidentally lost his grip and the bat skittered toward the mound. Utley went out to check on Lincecum, who handed back the bat, walked it off and stayed in the game.

Utley then hit a one-out single.

Utley’s act of sportsmanship was a far cry from the bench-clearing brawl between the clubs Friday night. Brian Wilson finished for his 34th save in 38 chances, closing out the Giants’ second win in 10 games.

PITTSBURGH: Pirates ‘first baseman Garrett Jones (left) puts the tag on San Diego Padres’ Jason Bartlett (8) after taking a high throw from shortstop Brandon Wood during the sixth inning. —AP Braves 6, Mets 5 At New York, Chipper Jones hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning of a wild game that included injuries to New York’s top two hitters, Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy.

Jason Heyward, Alex Gonzalez and Jose Constanza homered early for the Braves, who finally solved rookie Dillon Gee and handed the Mets their sixth loss in seven games. Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to a career-best 28 games. It was the first major league homer for Constanza - he also got his first stolen base, spiking Murphy in the process.

Reyes, the National League batting leader, was lifted in the second because of stiffness in his left hamstring, the same spot that landed him on the disabled list last month.

Brewers 7, Astros 3 At Houston, Zack Greinke equaled a season high by going seven innings and Prince Fielder homered to help Milwaukee beat Houston for its sixth straight win.

Fielder had three hits and scored four runs for the Brewers, who have won 11 of their last 12 games.

Piercy wins Reno-Tahoe Open RENO: Scott Piercy squandered a three-stroke lead, then dodged more trouble before making a 7-foot par putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Reno-Tahoe Open by one stroke. Piercy shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 15-under 273, beating Pat Perez by one stroke.

“Finally,” Piercy said after squandering a three-stroke lead then dodging more trouble down the stretch to beat Pat Perez by one stroke at Montreux Golf & Country Club on the edge of the Sierra Nevada.

“It kind of feels like I got the monkey off the back,” said the 32-year-old Las Vegas native whose best previous finish in his three years on tour was a tie for sixth at the Honda Classic in 2009.

“I’ve been in the final group five times I think and didn’t close the deal,” he said. “I always thought I could do it and it was just a matter of doing it. Now I did it ... A big sigh of relief.” His final round of 2-under 70 to finish at 15-under 273 didn’t come without some drama.

A day after setting the course record with a 61, he had to scramble his way around the 7,472-yard mountain layout to claim the $540,000 winner’s check.

Piercy picked up where he left off on Saturday with a birdie on the first hole and closed out the front nine where he shot an 8-under 28 the day before with two more birdies to make the turn with a three-stroke lead at 16-under.

He still led by three through No. 11, but Perez birdied the par-4 12th and par-5 13th. Piercy then bogeyed the 365-yard, par-4 14th when he tried to drive the green, hit a cart path and bounced 30 yards left.

Tied with two holes to go, Perez gave a stroke back with a bogey the par-4 17th, missing an 8-footer for par.

Piercy hit his drive 387 yards on the 616-yard downhill closing hole but it ran right into the sage brush. After helping his playing partner Josh Teater look for his errant drive in sage on the other side of the fairway for more than five minutes, Piercy knocked his own ball out safely then pitched onto the green about 30 feet from the pin.

Needing only a 2-putt to win, he sent his first attempt 7 feet past the hole before wobbling in the winner.

“Yeah, 30 feet and 2-putting is not as easy as it looks sometimes,” said Piercy, who started the week ranked 142nd on the money list with $365,162 but now will see his earnings approach $1 million for the second time.

“I had one little hiccup and just played solid from there,” he said about the lone bogey. “Coming down the stretch, you know, making pars is sometimes as good as making birdies.”—AP

Yuniesky Betancourt drove in three runs.

Mark Kotsay added three hits and an RBI in place of the injured Corey Hart.

Greinke (10-4) allowed a run and four hits. He’s won his last three starts and kept opponents to two earned runs or fewer in his last six.

Cardinals 8, Marlins 4 At Miami, Matt Holliday drove in three runs with a pair of two-out singles and Albert Pujols homered as St. Louis rallied to complete its first four-game series sweep on the road since 2004 by beating Florida.

In a single series, the Cardinals matched their longest winning streak of the season.

Pujols hit his third home run of the series and his 27th this season, and his intentional walk backfired on the Marlins in the sixth inning, when Holliday followed with a tying single. The Marlins then intentionally walked Lance Berkman, and Jon Jay foiled that strategy with a two-run single.

After Florida tied the game, the Cardinals went ahead to stay with three unearned runs in the seventh

after a throwing error by shortstop Emilio Bonifacio. Ryan Theriot’s RBI single put St. Louis up 5-4, and Holliday added a two-run single.

D’backs 4, Dodgers 3 At Phoenix, Cody Ransom made his first homer of the season a memorable one, lifting a two-run shot off All-Star Clayton Kershaw in the seventh inning to help Arizona rally past Los Angeles and avoid a three-game sweep.

Kelly Johnson hit two-run homer to the pool deck in rightcenter off Kershaw (13-5) in the first inning and Ransom’s shot to left to put the Diamondbacks back ahead.

Ian Kennedy (14-3) pitched seven effective innings to win his sixth straight start and J.J Putz worked a perfect ninth for his 26th save to keep Arizona within a half-game of the NL West-leading Giants.

Reds 8, Cubs 7 At Chicago, Ryan Hanigan hit a tiebreaking single off Sean Marshall in Cincinnati’s two-run eighth inning as the Reds ended Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.

Center fielder Marlon Byrd slipped while chasing Joey Votto’s shallow pop fly to start the eighth against Marshall (5-5). Votto scored on Todd Frazier’s double to tie the game. Frazier, Drew Stubbs and Edgar Renteria all hit home runs for Cincinnati. Nick Masset (2-5) got the final out in the seventh. Starlin Castro and Blake DeWitt homered for Chicago.

Nationals 3, Rockies 2 At Denver, Jonny Gomes hit his first home run for Washington, Jayson Werth delivered a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as the Nationals beat Colorado.

The Rockies split the four-game series and went 2-5 on their homestand. Eliezer Alfonzo got three hits for Colorado and Troy Tulowitzki had two. Washington scored the deciding run off reliever Matt Belisle (5-4). Danny Espinosa opened the eighth with a double and moved to third on Ryan Zimmerman’s groundout.

Af ter an intentional walk to M ichael Morse, Wer th singled sharply to left field.—AP

Scott seals Firestone win AKRON: Australian Adam Scott held off a bold early challenge from Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa to clinch his eighth PGA Tour victory by four shots at the WGCBridgestone Invitational on Sunday. One ahead overnight, Scott tightened his grip on a maiden World Golf Championships (WGC) title with three birdies in five holes after the turn before closing with a flawless five-under-par 65 to match the day’s lowest score. With Tiger Woods’s former caddie Steve Williams on his bag for a fourth tournament in a row, Scott kept his cool on a hot and humid afternoon at Firestone Country Club to post a 17-under total of 263. The 31-year-old Australian finished in style, sinking a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th green and pumping his fist in triumph before being warmly embraced by Williams. “ Today it was on, I stayed so patient,” a beaming Scott said greenside. “It was a good round of golf. To win here at this place, and a World Golf Championships title, it’s huge.” Asked how much he had benefited from having Williams on his bag, Scott replied: “Are you kidding me? He knows this place better than anyone.”

Williams, fired by Woods on July 3 after a highly successful relationship dating back to 1999, told CBS television: “I’ve been caddying for 33 years, 145 wins, and that’s the best week of my life.”

Ishikawa, at 19 bidding to become the youngest PGA Tour winner in 100 years, bogeyed the final hole for a 69 to finish tied fourth at 12 under with Australian Jason Day (69). British world number one Luke Donald and American Rickie Fowler each birdied the 18th for matching 66s to share second place at 13 under.

Woods, a seven-times champion at Firestone with Williams on his bag, ended an erratic week with a level-par 70 to finish joint 37th, 18 shots off the pace after his first tournament start in three months.

For much of an intriguing afternoon the tournament came down to a head-to-head between Scott and Ishikawa before the 19year-old’s challenge faded over the closing stretch. Ishikawa came close to eagling the par-five second after unleashing an exquisite three-iron to within five feet of the cup.

However his first putt slid past and he had

AKRON: Adam Scott, from Australia, raises the trophy after winning the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club.—AP to settle for a tap-in birdie.

That left him at 12 under, and a stroke behind Scott who also birdied the hole after getting up and down from a greenside bunker. Ishikawa closed the gap at the par-three fourth where he nervelessly rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt to join Scott at the top.

The Japanese briefly slipped back with a bogey at the fourth after he drove into the left rough but he recovered with a birdie at the tricky par-four sixth where he drained a 21-footer. Ishikawa again faltered with a bogey at the eighth but went on to trade birdies with Scott at the par-four 10th to remain a stroke behind.

The Australian doubled his lead at the par-three 12th where a chip-in from the fringe of the green put him at 15 under.

Scott forged three strokes clear by rolling in a curling 28-footer to birdie the 14th before pumping his right fist in celebration. Though he failed to birdie the 16th, he picked up his fifth shot at the last to become the second Australian to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, following Craig Parry in 2002.—Reuters

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Rugby World Cup debutants set modest goals MONINO: Russia believe they can win their opening match on their rugby World Cup debut with coach Nikolai Nerush saying their inclusion is a big boost for a set-up which receives “peanuts”.

A struggle to find talent has led to eligibility problems in the past but with two players now at English clubs and a Melbourne Rebels lock with Russian ancestry, the fledgling rugby nation is targeting victory over United States on Sept. 15.

Russia then face Italy, Ireland and Australia in Pool C. “We go to New Zealand with a simple goal in mind-hoping to win one match,” Nerush told Reuters in an interview in Monino, a sleepy Moscow suburb surrounded by century-old pine trees where the Russians were getting ready for the Sept 9-Oct. 23 tournament. “ They beat us recently,” he said, referring to last month’s 3922 defeat by the U.S. at the Churchill Cup in England. “But we feel that the two teams are evenly matched and it would be our

best chance to get a win. As for the other three teams in our group, they’re all in a different league.” As three dozen players were going through their workouts following a gruelling threeweek training camp in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Nerush discussed the problems facing Russian rugby.

The lack of major international experience is his team’s biggest handicap, he said, pointing to the disparity between the sport’s major powers and smaller nations such as 19th-ranked Russia. “In other team sports like soccer, smaller nations have at least a chance to play big powers in qualifying, either for the World Cup or European Championship.

“But rugby is different. Take the Six Nations tournament for example-it’s like an exclusive club,” he said. “So the World Cup is our only chance to face major teams but the gulf in class is so huge that it often becomes a mismatch.” Rugby Sevens’ inclusion in the Olympic programme

starting from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, however, would be a huge boost to Russian rugby, Nerush feels.

“All Olympic sports in Russia are financed by the state and we get peanuts but I hope that would change soon,” he said. “ With sound financing the game would be much more popular.” With only 4,000 registered players and eight clubs playing professional rugby, Nerush, who replaced Frenchman Claude Saurel in 2008, struggles to find good enough players for the national team. “ We only have a couple of guys who have played at top level internationally,” said Nerush, who also coaches Russian champions VVA (Air Force Academy) Monino. Winger Vasili Artemyev earlier this year became the first Russian to join an English Premiership side when he signed a two-year contract with Northampton Saints. Second row forward Andrei Ostrikov soon followed him to Britain, signing

with Premiership rivals Sale Sharks. Nerush could also count on Australia’s Adam Byrnes, who has Russian ancestry. The 30year-old lock, who plays for the Melbourne Rebels, has expressed his desire to represent Russia. “I think his grandmother was Russian and he has the papers to prove it,” Nerush said, adding that the International Rugby Board (IRB) has already given its approval. “We’ve checked with the IRB and they’ve given us their permission to use him.”

The Russians have taken all the necessary precautions before including Byrne in their preliminary World Cup squad this time round after they were disqualified from participating in the 2003 edition for using ineligible players in the qualifiers.

Then, following a protest by Spain, the IRB ruled that three South Africans-Johan Hendriks, Reiner Volschenck and Werner Pieterse-had been ineligible to play for Russia because they could not prove their Russian

ancestry. Byrne will join his new team mates on a two-week tour of Britain-Russia’s final test before departing for New Zealand.

“We’ll see if he really wants to play for Russia and gets along with the rest of the team before we make a final decision. We don’t want to create any animosity in the team,” Nerush said.

“The British tour, where we’ll play four matches against top teams, including two clubs from the Premiership-Northampton and Gloucester-should give us a good indication of where we stand in terms of our preparation. “In Sochi we worked mainly on our fitness and conditioning.

In Britain we’ll concentrate more on tactics and strategy.”

Despite all the shortcomings, Nerush wants his players to enjoy their first trip to rugby’s greatest spectacle. “Don’t get me wrong-it was a great achievement for Russian rugby just to qualify for the World Cup,” he said. “Look at Russian soccer-clubs have multimillion dollar budgets, still they

couldn’t find enough good players to qualify for (last year ’s) World Cup in South Africa,” he added. “But we finally made it after several unsuccessful attempts and it should give a huge boost to our game in this country. We may have modest goals in New Zealand, but we want to show the world that Russian rugby is not dead despite all our problems.”

Britain’s Steve Diamond, who coached Russia’s forward line in 2009-10, thinks rugby has a bright future in the country.

“By getting to the World Cup, and if they have a good competition, I’m sure that the game will grow,” he told Reuters.

“What they have got is a brilliant structure. In the last 20 years since perestroika sport went out of the window but it is back now.

(Russian Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin, (Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman) Abramovich-those people are firmly into sport. Rugby now has the same credence as soccer.”—Reuters

Stepanek upsets Monfils to win Washington title

Lindsay Whalen of Lynx in action against Sparks

Lynx extend winning streak LOS ANGELES: Lindsay Whalen scored a season-high 24 points as the Minnesota Lynx extended their best-ever winning streak to nine games with an 84-78 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

Seimone Augustus had 19 points and Rebekkah Brunson scored 18 for Minnesota (16-4). Whalen, the league’s assists leader, had eight.

DeLisha Milton-Jones led the Sparks (713) with 18 points, while Tina Thompson had 17. Leading by 15 points with 4:49 left, the Lynx fended off a late rally. The Sparks went on a 13-2 run, using six straight points from Ticha Penicheiro to pull to 78-74 with 59 seconds to go. The Lynx then made three free throws to seal it.

Sky 88, Fever 69 At Rosemont, Illinois, Sylvia Fowles and Shay Murphy scored 21 points each as Chicago snapped a seven-game losing streak to first-place Indiana.

Cathrine Kraayeveld added 12 points, Tamera Young had 10 and Fowles also had 12 rebounds for the Sky (10-12). Katie Douglas scored 14 points and Tangela Smith had 10 for first-place Indiana (15-7), which had won six straight overall.

Chicago led 35-34 at halftime and used a big third quarter to take command.

Kraayeveld hit a three 3-pointers to help the Sky to a 60-47 lead by the end of the third.

Sun 96, Mercury 95 At Phoenix, Tina Charles made a 12-foot shot with 5 seconds left in overtime, and

the shot clock about to expire, to lift Connecticut over Phoenix.

Renee Montgomery scored 28 points, Asjha Jones had 27 and Charles finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds to help the Sun (13-7) win their third straight and seventh in the last eight.

Diana Taurasi scored 29 points, and DeWanna Bonner added 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mercury (11-9), who have lost five of six. Candice Dupree had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Nakia Sanford added nine points and nine rebounds.

Taurasi, who also had eight rebounds and six assists, missed a jumper and Candice Dupree missed a 14-footer at the buzzer.

Dream 70, Storm 53 At Atlanta, Angel McCoughtry scored 17 points and Erika de Souza added 13 as Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak.

In a rematch of last year’s WNBA finals, the defending champion Storm (12-9) committed 29 turnovers, tying the league’s single-game high this season. Swin Cash scored 16 points and reserve guard Katie Smith had 11 for Seattle, which ended a three-game winning streak.

Coco Miller had 10 points for the Dream (9-11). Atlanta’s Armintie Price was carried off the court after twisting her left ankle late in the second quarter. She finished with eight points, four assists and three steals in 16 minutes. Cash and Sue Bird combined for 12 turnovers and five assists.—AP

WASHINGTON: Unseeded Radek Stepanek’s net-charging style carried him to the Legg Mason Tennis Classic title at age 32, making him the tournament’s oldest champion since Jimmy Connors was 35 in 1988.

Stepanek won an ATP final for the first time in 2 1/2 years by upsetting top-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4 Sunday at the hard-court warmup for the US Open. “We are like a wine: The older we are getting, the better we are,” Stepanek said with a smile.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to compete with the young guys and still beat them,” added the Czech, who is eight years older than Monfils.The Czech won the point on 29 of his 39 trips to the net.

Monfils, in contrast, was content to stay close to the baseline and only made it forward four times.

“He was very aggressive,” said Monfils, who fell to 3-11 in tour finals. “It was very tough to impose my game.” And that’s exactly what Stepanek’s intention was.

“I want to be in control of the match, be the, I would say, ‘boss’ of the court,” said Stepanek, who ended an eight-match losing streak against top-10 opponents.The No. 7-ranked Monfils might have been feeling the effects of his semifinal, which ended about nine hours after Stepanek’s did Saturday.

Monfils’ 21/2 hour, rain-delayed victory over big-serving John Isner finished at 1:15 a.m., with the Frenchman winning in a third-set tiebreaker after saving a match point.

“Today I was a little bit - a fraction - slower,” said Monfils, who didn’t get to bed until about 4 a.m., then was back on court about 11 hours later. More showers came Sunday, resulting in two delays that totaled about an hour.

Stepanek entered the week ranked 54th, but he won six consecutive matches, including three against seeded players. He earned

$264,000 for his fifth career title and ended a drought that extended to San Jose in February 2009, then celebrated by dropping to the court and contorting his body in a dance move known as “The Worm.”

WASHINGTON: Radek Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, poses with the trophy after defeating Gael Monfils, of France, in the singles final match at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. —AP He won 52 of his 56 ser vice games in Washington and never even faced a break point against Monfils, who lost serve once in each set Sunday. Stepanek is eight years older than Monfils but, as the Frenchman noted, “He’s in good

partly the same course, which goes out of the Royal Park to take in landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and the Wellington Arch, it was always likely to be one of the most straightforward of the test events for London 2012 venues.

Race organisers and Olympic officials were delighted with the large crowds and actionpacked racing, which was also tested by traditional British summer conditions of snatches of sunshine interspersed with torrential downpours.

Fears that algae growth would cause problems for the 1,500-metre Serpentine swim also proved unfounded and Spaniard Gomez and Olympic champion Jan Frodeno of Germany led the 65-man field out of the water. The Brownlee brothers, who finished one-two in the Madrid leg of the world series in June, were right behind them as a large group swept out of transition one together. —Reuters

understandably, Monfils got off to something of a sleepy start against Stepanek, double-faulting twice in the opening game before managing to hold. Then, in Monfils’ next service game, he got broken to trail 2-1.

Clearly not at his best, Monfils did manage to delight the crowd with his usual athleticism and showmanship. At 15-30 in the third game, Stepanek hit a volley too strongly, and Monfils - at the baseline - leaped and let the ball sail through his legs and drop long.

There were other such moments, including a tremendous jumping save of an overhead to extend another first-set point, and a misguided attempt at reaching another overhead in the second set, resulting in Monfils’ racket flying end-over-end and landing at least 10 feet away from him.

Seconds later, after Stepanek won a point thanks to a favorable net-cord bounce, Monfils juggled the ball with his feet as though playing football, then kicked it over the net, drawing applause from the crowd.

Stepanek, ranked as high as No. 8 in 2006, closed the first set with a 119 mph serve, one of his two aces.

Monfils hit eight aces - including one at 141 mph - but was less dominant when the ball was in play. “He didn’t miss a lot,” Monfils lamented.

Keeping the pressure on, Stepanek opened the second set by breaking Monfils again. At 30-all, both men wound up at the net, Monfils hit a tentative volley, and Stepanek replied with a crisper volley to earn a break point. He converted the chance by putting a volley into the corner that Monfils slapped into the net.

Stepanek then held at love to make it 2-0, while Monfils chucked his racket to the blue court after each of two consecutive unforced errors at the baseline. Later, Monfils slid and stumbled while chasing a shot. He dropped his racket and stayed down on his back for a few seconds before checking his right elbow.

He played on. Stepanek played better. “Until my body falls apart,” Stepanek said, “I’ll be trying to stay competitive at this level.”—AP

Radwanska bags San Diego title SAN DIEGO: Agnieszka Radwanska won the biggest hard court title of her career when she upset world number three Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3 6-4 to win the San Diego Open on Sunday.

The third-seeded Radwanska adeptly mixed up the pace and direction of her ground strokes, took over the net and showed no evidence that her heavily taped shoulder was bothering her.

Brownlee completes British double on Olympic course LONDON: Alistair Brownlee delivered another devastating run for a crushing victory in the London leg of triathlon’s world series on Sunday to stoke up expectation he can repeat the feat when next year’s Olympic race is run over the same Hyde Park course.

Britain’s Brownlee, the 2010 world champion, controlled the race to finish in one hour 50.09 minutes. Russian Alexander Bryukhankov was second 25 seconds back with Brownlee’s younger brother Jonathan taking third after overhauling current world champion Javier Gomez with a terrific run.

The victory completed a great weekend for British triathlon after Helen Jenkins won Saturday’s women’s race. Subject to rubberstamping of the British Triathlon Federation, she and both Brownlees are now sure of their place at London 2012, where they will seek to win the country’s first medals in the sport first introduced at Sydney 2000.

With the London race in its third year on

shape.”

About an hour before the first point of the final, Monfils headed out to a practice court - and he was toting a soccer ball, which he used to get his blood flowing. Still, rather

CARLSBAD: Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, holds the trophy after beating Vera Zvonareva, of Russia, in the singles final tennis match at the Mercury Insurance Open. —AP

“Playing the Russians in the finals is always tough,” Radwanska told reporters. “I played very well today. I’m very happy with my performance. Winning a tournament with a lot of great matches against top players, it’s always very special.”

Radwanska began the match near perfectly and never let her foot off the pedal. She broke Zvonareva to 3-1 with a forehand winner down the line and easily held in her next three ser vice games before she won the first set with a leaping backhand winner.

Zvonareva, who had played late on Saturday to hold off Ana Ivanovic, tried to push herself forward, but her usually searing ground strokes were a little off and Radwanska won most of their extended rallies. “I think I was playing the right shots,” said Zvonareva, who hit 25 winners but committed 28 unforced errors. “I was maybe just a little slow.

“My footwork wasn’t perfect, and that’s why I had a few mistakes. Of course against Agnieszka, when she’s playing well, if you have those mistakes, it’s tough to win.”

Radwanska broke the Russian to take a 3-1 lead in the second set when Zvonareva erred on backhand, and then fought off her only break points of the match to hold to 4-2.

In the final game Zvonareva tripped and fell trying to chase

down a forehand but was unhurt before Radwanska won the title when Zvonareva hit a forehand long.

“Ever ything was working,” Radwanska said. I was playing very well, even when I had a really tough two matches in the quarters and semi-finals. I really wanted to win this tournament. So I was really focused from the beginning.”

It was the fifth title of the 22year-old’s career, but was her first WTA premier title on hard courts, with her only previous premier title on grass at Eastbourne in 2008.

The victory ensures Radwanska will rise to 12th in the WTA rankings when they are released on Monday and gives her a major confidence boost heading into the U.S. Open.

“I was pretty close (to reaching a grand slam semi-final) a few times, but I was always against top players and it was always close,” she said.

“I cannot say I was playing bad before, but I couldn’t close those tight matches. “A lot of good matches, but it was always something wrong with me in the end that I couldn’t win.

“But I think I can do it, and if I play like that (like Sunday), for sure.

“So I’m just going to keep going and hope I can show some good tennis especially at the US Open.”—Reuters

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English Premier League Preview Resurgent Liverpool target top-four finish

Wenger faces toughest test of Arsenal reign skill.

LONDON: Arsene Wenger faces the sternest test of his His stubborn refusal to 15-year reign at Arsenal as he struggles to stop the club’s spend reached farcical slide into the ranks of the also-rans against a backdrop of heights during the close-seastar players clamouring for the exit door. son when he offered less for Everton defender Phil Wenger’s team have now gone six years without a trophy after last season’s miserable meltdown saw the north Jagielka than he had bid for the same player a year earlier. Wenger hopes the arrival of Ivory Coast striker Londoners’ dream of a quadruple end in abject failure.

Gervinho for £10 million from French champions Lille will That shocking finale was the final straw for captain add the kind of dynamic presence that was missing in Cesc Fabregas, influential winger Samir Nasri-who have both made it clear they want to leave-and France defend- attack last season. But the only other signing has been Carl Jenkinson, a 19-year-old right-back from Charlton er Gael Clichy, who jumped ship to Manchester City. who announced his arrival at the club with a spectacular Fabregas has missed virtually all of Arsenal’s pre-seaown goal in a pre-season friendly against Cologne. son preparations as a result of his angst over Barcelona’s interest and Wenger let his frustrations boil over when he Jenkinson’s qualities may well prove to be bountiful but it was hard to ignore the symbolism of another member of admitted before the Emirates Cup that the Spaniard was Wenger’s youth movement not quite living up to his “unsettled” and needed to prove his commitment to the billing.—AFP Gunners. Fabregas finally returned to training with just over a week to go before Arsenal’s Premier League opener at Newcastle, but he was again left out of Saturday’s friendly against Benfica amid suggestions of a new Barca bid. Wenger wants to keep the star but his problem is that, LONDON: Robin van while Fabregas may protest that only the chance to return home to Persie has vowed to learn the lessons of Catalonia could lure him from Arsenal, the Spaniard’s desire to Arsenal’s meltdown last quit is also motivated by a feeling season as the Dutch forhis club are no longer serious con- ward aims to end his tenders for the game’s top prizes. club’s miserable run of The belief that last season’s six years without a trofourth place finish represents a phy. Blessed with exquidepressing sign of things to come site technique and the is clearly shared by Nasri, who kind of combative perwould dearly like to join sonality missing from Manchester City if only he could many of his Arsenal persuade Wenger to sell him. team-mates, Van Persie Unfortunately for Nasri, Wenger is has qualities that should Robin Van Persie keen to make it a point of princihave enabled him to ple not to sell Nasri in the same amass a significant haul of medals by this stage of his career. year as Fabregas. Whether that But it is Van Persie’s misfortune to have burst onto the scene at Arsenal just hard-headed approach can withas Wenger’s greatest team was breaking up. The slow demise of the group of stand an improved City offer of ‘invincibles’ who won the Premier League in 2004 without losing a single over £25 million for Nasri, who is match has left Van Persie as one of the last genuine world-class talents in in the final year of his contract, Arsene Wenger’s squad. As a result he has only one winners medal-from a remains to be seen. And, even if substitute appearance in the 2005 FA Cup final against Manchester United-to Wenger manages to keep one or both of Fabregas and Nasri, he show for seven years in north London. runs the risk of putting his faith in It is source of regret for Van Persie, who turned 28 earlier this month, but a pair of unhappy players who he knows individual excellence is no guarantee of success, especially when a would rather be elsewhere and team is rebuilding. “Of course I want to win things but winning things doesn’t alienating others in his squad who come from out of the blue. I am just a part of the whole story, it depends on do wish to play for the club. To many things,” he said. Even so, after so many seasons of toil without reward, make matters worse, the fans are Arsenal’s collapse last season was hard for Van Persie to stomach. also losing faith and the team He was sidelined for two months after suffering an ankle injury while on were booed off after a lacklustre international duty and initially struggled to find any rhythm on his return to draw against New York Red Bulls in the side in November. His malaise didn’t last. Van Persie had scored just once pre-season. Wenger hasn’t helped in the first half of the season, but from January onwards, he was virtually himself. So far he been unable or unplayable. He set a new record when scoring in nine consecutive Premier unwilling to sign the dominant League away games before finishing the season with 10 goals in 12 games to centre-back and midfield warrior take his season’s tally to 22.—AFP required to add steel to Arsenal’s

Van Persie vows to inspire Arsenal revival

LONDON: The honeymoon period that Kenny Dalglish has enjoyed since his return to Anfield may not have yet run its course but the Liverpool manager is only too aware of the pressure to deliver this season.

After a two-season exile from the Champions League, Liverpool are determined to reassert themselves as members of the big four after being usurped by Tottenham and Manchester City.

Liverpool’s American owners the Fenway Sports Group have maintained their side of the bargain by funding a 100-million-pound spending spree which

has included the signings of Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam. Now it is up to Dalglish, who steered Liverpool to a respectable sixth place finish after taking over in January from Roy Hodgson, to ensure that the progress made at the end of last season does not stall.

“It’s too early for us to start talking about winning the league,” said Liverpool owner John W. Henry. “In my opinion Manchester United (are the team to beat). They have a good squad and look good. Our main goal is to qualify for the Champions League. If we don’t it would be a major disappointment.” With those words ringing in his ears, Dalglish will hope that his forays into the transfer market start paying dividends rapidly.

Several observers have questioned whether the likes of Henderson, who has yet to establish himself as a regular international, and Downing are LONDON: For the best worth their respective price tags, of part of a decade, Steven around 20 million pounds each. Yet Gerrard has been the Dalglish will feel that it has been heartbeat and conmoney well spent if the crossing and science of Liverpool, set piece skill of Downing and Adam through good times and bad. can help to realise the potential of But as the Andy Carroll, who has endured a slow Merseysiders embark start to his Anfield career following on a new era under the his 35 million pound transfer from returning Kenny Newcastle in January.

Dalglish, it remains to Liverpool’s pre-season form has be seen whether been underwhelming, although the Gerrard will be able to Reds have missed both captain lead from the front in his customary “Roy of Steven Gerrard (injured) and Luis Steven Gerrard the Rover” style. The 31Suarez (Copa America duty), both of year-old England international struggled with injuries last season, playing in whom are expected to be key players just 21 of 38 Premier League matches befor his campaign ended in March folthis term. Most worrying for Dalglish lowing groin surgery.

Gerrard, who made his Liverpool debut 13 years ago in 1998, had hoped to will be the form of his defence, which has leaked 15 goals in five matches return for the start of the new season refreshed and raring to go.

However he is now not expected to play until September as his groin con- against relatively modest opposition.

“The important thing is we’ve got tinues to cause problems. He is determined to make an impact when he does return though. “I want to come back with a bang, I want to have a big season,” to be better when we don’t have the Gerrard said. “It’s been non-stop football for me since I started when I was 17. ball, but the boys aren’t shy of hard I’ve never had a period of more than four or five weeks out of the game, so it’s work,” Dalglish said earlier this month been nice to rest mentally. after a 3-3 draw with Norwegian side “You don’t want to miss games but when you’re watching them it gives Valerenga in Oslo. Dutch striker Dirk you that edge, that buzz to get back. “I’ll come back hungry and hopefully Kuyt insists Liverpool’s poor defenthere’s a very productive season ahead for me.” sive form will be forgotten if they Gerrard is also fiercely determined to claw back parity with Manchester open with a win against Sunderland United, who edged ahead of Liverpool as the most successful English team last season by winning a record 19th title. at the weekend. “We are letting in too “The challenge for us is to equalise. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a many goals but the point is we have squad capable of going into the season and competing with Manchester to defend like a team. That starts United,” Gerrard declared. “It’s important this team delivers very soon because from the front and we need to we’ve been a number of seasons without putting a trophy in the cabinet and improve,” Kuyt said.—AFP that’s not what Liverpool is about.”—AFP

Will Gerrard lead Reds revolution?

Wilshere, McEachran the pick of EPL starlets

Jack Wilshere

LONDON: Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere and Chelsea’s Josh McEachran will be rivals in this season’s Premier League title race, but together the teenage duo represent the future of English football.

Although they have only made 45 Premier League starts between them, Wilshere and McEachran are already being hailed as a new breed of English midfielder with the ability to fuse the country’s traditional qualities of tenacity and energy with a more cerebral approach.

The blueprint has been provided by Barcelona’s Xavi and Andres Iniesta, the diminutive playmakers who proved that size isn’t everything by taking central roles in their club’s dominance of domestic and European football, as well as inspiring Spain to World Cup glory.

Wilshere and McEachran possess the same slender frames as their Spanish counterparts and both show signs of being equally adapt with a ball at their feet.

It was Wilshere who burst onto the scene first, giving a tantalising glimpse of his potential with Arsenal last season. The 19-year-old convinced Fabio Capello that he could be the fulcrum of his England team with an astonishingly mature display in Arsenal’s Champions League second round first leg victory over Barcelona last season.

Wilshere may miss the start of the season due to an ankle injury but, with Cesc Fabregas still desperate to leave Arsenal, he is likely to be given more responsibility by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger over the course of the campaign.

Capello is sure he is up to the task. “It is incredible.

In the last few months he improved a lot,” he said.

“Everyone can understand his value after the games against Barcelona.”

McEachran has only one Premier League start to his name and just 17 career appearances, yet he has done enough in that short time to convince many astute judges that he has the ability to follow Wilshere’s rapid rise to prominence.

The 18-year-old idolised Zinedine Zidane when he first fell in love with the game and he plays with an elegance that suggests those hours watching the Frenchman on television were time well spent.

McEachran, who signed recently signed a fiveyear contract worth £30,000-a-week, rightly avoids any comparisons with Zidane but he is happier to name his pal Wilshere as the perfect figure to emu-

late. “We speak quite a lot and text each other,” McEachran said. “We say good luck before we play. “I watch most of his games, see how he’s doing, and give him encouragement.

We’ve got similar abilities but Jack’s a year or so ahead of me. “Jack’s one of the best young players in the world. He’s done really well. Hopefully I can do what he’s done.”

At Arsenal, Wenger’s ability to turn raw talents into world-class performers has never been in question and he hopes Wilshere, midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 20, left-back Kieran Gibbs, 21, and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, 21, will play with a maturity that belies their tender years as Arsenal try to end a six-year trophy drought.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish also has high hopes for his crop of youngsters, with defenders Martin Kelly, 21, John Flanagan, 18, and Jack Robinson, 17, all impressing towards the end of last season. Sir Alex Ferguson loves to work with young talent at Manchester United, but has often had to buy in his best rookies in recent years.

This season is no different and David De Gea, a 20year-old from Atletico Madrid, will replace Edwin van der Sar in goal, while Phil Jones, 19, arrives from Blackburn as the future of Ferguson’s defence. Other young guns who could make a name for themselves this season include Aston Villa winger Marc Albrighton, Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge and Everton midfielder Ross Barkley.—AFP

Promoted trio set for season of struggle LONDON: Queens Park Rangers’ fans were put through the wringer before the club secured their return to the Premier League last term-but the coming season threatens to be just as turbulent.

Despite a superb season which saw them claim the Championship title, QPR fans were made to sweat through the possibility the club may be hit with a hefty points deduction over the illegal signing of Alejandro Faurlin.

That threat was removed on the final day of the season when the club received only an 875,000 pound fine. But any hope that Rangers’ reprieve over the Faurlin affair would lead to an outbreak of tranquility at Loftus Road have proved ill-founded.

Manager Neil Warnock continues to face relentless speculation over his future, while the club may also face a takeover from Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes.

Factor in an outcry from fans over a 40-percent increase in season ticket prices, as well as a transfer tussle over captain Adel Taraabt, and it all adds up to a summer of simmering discontent.

The fact that Warnock has largely been forced to augment his squad with free transfers, most notably Cardiff’s Jay Bothroyd, has fuelled conspiracy theories that the clock is ticking on the manager’s tenure. Nevertheless Warnock was given £1.25 million to acquire Blackpool striker DJ Campbell, and the club have also been linked with Liverpool’s Joe Cole. The other side who gained automatic promotion from the Championship, Norwich, have had a relatively quiet summer by comparison.

Under the astute management of Paul Lambert, the Canaries have been catapulted into the

Premier League via back-to-back promotion campaigns. Norwich, who return to the top-flight following a six-year absence, have had a quiet pre-season but Lambert is confident his team will deliver when their campaign kicks off at Wigan on August 13. “I never read too much into pre-season, that is not my concern,” Lambert said. “It is the Wigan game we have to be ready for and I am pretty sure once it starts for real, the football will become a different breed.” Norwich’s schedule includes consecutive away fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool in October-something Lambert is relishing. “You look at back-to-back away games at Manchester United and Liverpool in October and that just shows the level we’ve worked hard to get to. “We’ve earned the right to be here - it is a great challenge and exciting times for the club and the fans.” Norwich’s plans have been disrupted by injuries to centre-back Elliott Ward and striker James Vaughan.

However Belgian defender Ritchie de Laet has joined on loan from Manchester United while former West Brom centre-back Leon Barnett has also returned to full fitness.

The third promoted side are Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea, who are most pundits favourites to go straight back down.

The charismatic Rodgers however is unfazed about the prospect of leading the first Welsh club into the Premier League.

“Having the big teams go to Swansea-they’ve never played there and it’s a new story. I’m looking forward to challenging, knowing we’ll be underdogs in nearly every game,” Rogers said. —AFP

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New-look United hunt 20th title LONDON: The most daunting rebuilding job of Sir Alex Ferguson’s career gets under way this season as the Manchester United manager attempts to shape a team capable of vying for domestic and European honours.

Humbled by Barcelona in the Champions League final in May, sources close to Ferguson say the ferociously competitive United boss has spent much of the close season simmering over his team’s 3-1 defeat at Wembley.

It was a match that saw the swansong of several United stalwarts including Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes, while other long-serving United squad players such as Wes Brown and John O’Shea have since been sold.

Arriving in the opposite direction are Aston Villa’s Ashley Young, Blackburn defender Phil Jones and Atletico Madrid’s Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea. Ferguson will also welcome back young prospects Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley, both of whom spent last season on loan at Sunderland and Wigan respectively.

The infusion of fresh blood, with the possibility of more signings to follow, could well be the foundations of United’s next great side.

“We’ve actually got 11 players aged 22 and under with us, so it could be an emerging team again,” Ferguson said. “There are also some experienced players who are maturing and will carry the responsibility. Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand have responsible roles. So do Ryan Giggs, even though he is 37, Michael Carrick and Michael Owen.

“These are experienced players and the young players will be desperate to get in their positions so I think it’s a healthy position we’re in.” The signs from United’s pre-season tour of North America were encouraging, with Cleverley impressing in a 2-1 victory over Barcelona.

Perhaps most significantly, United’s talisman

Wayne Rooney looks ready to rediscover the swagger which deserted him last term, when he came close to leaving United after accusing the club of failing to match his ambitions.

Rooney looked lean and sharp during the US tour, suggesting that he is ready to lead United’s quest for a 20th title.

Ferguson meanwhile accepts that Manchester City have joined Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool as the biggest threats to United’s campaign. “There was a period not so long ago when they were actually in the Second Division and they were never a thorn in our flesh, whereas every year we’ve had to contend with either Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool,” Ferguson reflected. “Nothing changes, one of them will always be a thorn in our flesh. You can’t change history.

Rather than isolating City, Liverpool or Arsenal, one of them will be a thorn in whether we like it or not.” Ferguson insists the club will not obsess over avenging their Champions League drubbing by Barcelona, stressing that United would never prioritise Europe over the Premier League.

“You have to combine the two. The Premier League is such a tribal confrontation between different parts of the country that you’re forced into trying to beat them all the time. You can’t get away from that.

“I’ve got absolutely no doubt Real Madrid would give up anything to win the European Cup. But our mentality is different. I’ve got to try and show that we’re challenging for the league all the time and hopefully have the bonus of winning the European Cup. “It’s cyclical. The Barcelona team is a team of its time and it’s a cycle for them, a fantastic cycle.

We will try and move on and get above them, but the target is to be in Munich (for the Champions League final) next year,” Ferguson said.—AFP

Young has strength to cope with life at United LONDON: Ashley Young insists he won’t be fazed by the pressure of being a central figure in Sir Alex Ferguson’s rebuilding plans at Manchester United.

Ferguson paid £16 million ($26 million) to prise Young from Aston Villa during the close-season after targeting the England winger as a key component of his overhaul at Old Trafford.

With Paul Scholes retired, Ryan Giggs now mostly used as a central midfielder in the twilight of his career and Dimitar Berbatov a constant source of frustration, Ferguson needs a player like Young who can play wide, drift in-field and also shine in the link role behind a frontman.

Ferguson was able to rely on Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez to provide a potent cutting edge as United swept to a record 19th English title last season, but the supply lines from midfield were often unproductive, especially away from home, and that is where Young comes in.

The 26-year-old was already a proven Premier League performer with Villa, but Young raised his game to another level last season with some intelligent and at times devastating displays for England.

Even when Young was surprisingly dropped by England coach Fabio Capello for a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June, his reaction under-

Villas-Boas faces test of mettle at Chelsea points record in the process, and became the youngest LONDON: John Terry believes new Chelsea manager Andre coach to win a European trophy thanks to victory over Villas-Boas has won his first battle at Stamford Bridge, but Braga in the Europa League final. the real test of the Portuguese coach’s mettle is still to Even so, he will be tested like never before in London. come. First impressions are everything in the cut-throat Villas-Boas hasn’t managed outside Portugal or in the Chelsea dressing room, where managers have to deal with Champions League and now he must pit his wits against a group of streetwise and influential stars who don’t suffer rivals like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Kenny fools gladly.

Dalglish, who can all draw on a vast wealth of experience.

Avram Grant and Luis Felipe Scolari both paid the price Adding to the challenge, he inherits a squad that for failing to win the players’ support, while even the affaseemed to lose its’ hunger during last season’s trophyless ble Carlo Ancelotti lost respect after his assistant Ray campaign and clearly needs an infusion of new blood.

Wilkins was sacked by owner Roman Abramovich without With that in mind, he has signed Oriol Romeu, a 19-yearthe Italian’s knowledge. old midfielder from Barcelona, and highly-rated young To succeed at Chelsea means earning the trust of senior Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, but a deal for Luka Modric is pros including captain Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech and also on the agenda. Villas-Boas’s preferred 4-3-3 formation Didier Drogba and, judging from the early noises emerging from the Bridge, it seems that Villas-Boas has done just that. is likely to leave room for only one of Drogba and Fernando Torres, the £50 million forward who flopped so badly fol“Andre is a modern manager,” Terry said. “He’s come in lowing his January move from Liverpool. and, really, from day one, he’s been on the ball with us all.

It is believed Villas-Boas has been more impressed by “He won’t mumble on for 20, 30 minutes at a time. It’s Drogba, but getting the best out of Torres is essential to quite short, quite brief, but he covers everything, whether keep Abramovich happy after the Russian played a major that be in training or in the team meetings, and everyone role in the British record signing.—AFP seems to finally understand the way he wants us to play.”

With nine players over 30 in Chelsea’s squad and twoDrogba and Lampard the same age as Villas-Boas, it has been suggested that the new boss will struggle to retain authority over his players.

LONDON: Fernando Torres is confident he But Lampard was can rediscover the form that made him one impressed with the personof the most feared strikers in football as he Fernando able and intelligent way Torres Villas-Boas conducted himself attempts to spearhead Chelsea’s Premier during the club’s pre-season League campaign.

The 27-year-old Spaniard has endured a tour of Asia. miserable start to his career at Stamford “We always respect the manager, and that applies to Bridge since joining from Liverpool in a any manager,” Lampard said. record 50-million-pound deal in January, scoring just one goal in 18 appearances “A lot has been made of Andre being 33 but he has a last term.

Torres’ struggles have seen him battling great maturity about him.

He’s more mature than me!” to avoid comparisons to another expensively acquired Chelsea misfit, Andriy However, while winning the players’ support is essen- Shevchenko, the Ukrainian striker foisted tial, the real power-broker at on former coach Jose Mourinho by owner the Bridge is Abramovich and Roman Abramovich.

Just as Mourinho had done with satisfying the Russian is the Shevchenko, Chelsea’s former manager only way Villas-Boas will be Carlo Ancelotti struggled to find a system able to survive.

That means Chelsea must which brought the best out of Torres, who win the Champions League. was invariably out-shone by Didier Drogba The Premier League would be in key matches. nice as well, but success in Now the Torres conundrum has landed Europe has been in the lap of new manager Andre Villaswith a sure-footed finish with his first Abramovich’s holy grail since Boas, who insisted during Chelsea’s recent touch after coming on as a substitute. he bought the club in 2003. pre-season tour of Asia that the striker’s Torres, who admitted the goal had givAfter one final loss and problems were overblown. en his confidence a lift, had previously brifour semi-final defeats, “My obsession is to win trophies with dled at suggestions that his best days were Ashley Cole confirmed the this team and take them to success,” Villasbehind him.

Champions League remains Boas said. “Rather than individually, I’d pre“I’m 27. I don’t forget to score goals, I the main motivation for fer to address it as a ‘forward sector’ and will score,” Torres said bluntly during a Chelsea’s players as well. focus on people gaining confidence to find function in Hong Kong. Chelsea captain “A lot of the players in this the back of the net.

John Terry has also dismissed comparisons Chelsea team have not won it “That comes with training, patience and between Shevchenko and Torres, rejecting so the hunger is still there,” tolerance, which it looks like he isn’t getsuggestions that the injury problems Cole said. “If they did finish ting at this moment. But we at Chelsea are which have sporadically dogged the their careers without winning ready to give our forwards this kind of Spaniard in recent seasons were more serithe Champions League it patience. ous than feared. would kill them.”

“I disagree that he is lacking in confi“That’s unfair to Nando,” Terry said.

Villas-Boas’s rapid rise to dence. Every time a player doesn’t score, “Torres’ been open about the injury he had the top in just two seasons as people ask questions about him. I know he at the 2010 World Cup. We knew about a professional coach means is a 50 million pound striker but people’s that. Then he joined us and ideally would failure must seem a distant focus is purely on the individual and not have scored more goals than he did. prospect. the performance of the team. You know “For now we’re all 85-90 percent with He led Porto to the the importance the collective has for me. our fitness and so is he. But we’ll keep Portuguese league without “I’m not going to lose time over this.” working and hopefully he will be ready losing a single match last sea- The first sign that Villas-Boas’s faith in and he’ll hit the ground running when the son, establishing a new Torres would be justified came in the final season starts. “He’s happy. He’s settled. of the Asia Trophy in Hong Kong, when the Naturally there’s a bit of pressure on him Spaniard sealed victory over Aston Villa but he can deal with it.—AFP

Make-or-break season for Torres

lined his maturity.

He came off the bench at half-time with England trailing and scored the equaliser before creating several more squandered opportunities.

That is exactly the kind of decisive intervention under extreme pressure that should stand Young in good stead as he starts his new life at a club where even two successive draws can be regarded as a mini-crisis.

Young appears to have blended in seamlessly judging by his influential performance for United in their Community Shield win over Manchester City and he can’t wait for the real thing to start against West Bromwich Albion on August 14.

“No disrespect to the Villa boys but as soon as I heard of Manchester United’s interest, I just wanted to get the deal done and start training,” Young said.

“The manager bought me for a reason, to get assists and goals and work hard for the team. If I can do that every time I am selected, my job is done.

“I can play left, right, off the front striker or as a main striker, so I just have to concentrate on my own game and wherever I am picked, do myself justice.”

Controlled aggression is a vital ingredient of United’s style and although it rarely comes naturally for wingers, Young has

Ashley Young needed a combative edge from the moment he started his professional career.

Young was a raw teenager still finding his way in the game when he jogged onto Vicarage Road pitch ahead of his Football League debut for Watford in 2003.

So it would have been forgivable if his confidence had been completely shattered when he was approached during the warm-up by Millwall’s Australian hard-man Kevin Muscat, who delivered a sinister threat intended to intimidate a novice like Young. “Some players get nervous even now. I’m just one of those who doesn’t,” Young said. —AFP

United neighbors ready to make some more noise assuming control at Eastlands in late 2009, Mancini has slowly taken ownership of his squad, purging several players signed by his predecessor Mark Hughes, such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Robinho. The upshot is that City’s first team now appears to possess a greater unity of purpose than at any time since the club were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.

One of Mancini’s most astute buys, the Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure, believes the City dressing room has been brought closer together following last term’s successful FA Cup campaign, which included a memorable defeat of United in the semi-finals.

“I think our team bond developed throughout the season and we were strong at the end,” said Toure, who scored the winning goals in both the semi-final and final. “Both of those victories were down to us being a strong team,” the former Barcelona midfielder said.

Toure however believes City will have to raise their standards if they are to challenge for the Premier League while making their Champions League debut.

“The new season will be very, very hard and we need to improve because this season the club will play in the Champions League,” he said. “We expect to stay in the top four of the Premier League and we expect to win the Premier League Sergio because now we are comAguero ing with more confidence, the players know each other better. I think this year will be fantastic for us.” City’s sense of purpose is also matched by their plans for the club beyond the first team. A lucrative 10-year deal with Etihad Airlines, valued at 400 million pounds, will help fund the redevelopment of land around Eastlands which will eventually include a training centre directly adjacent to the happy squad and I have only heard good ground. Patrick Vieira, things,” said Aguero, who sat on the bench who has recently retired on Sunday as City surrendered a 2-0 lead from playing to take up a to lose 3-2 to Manchester United in the position as football develCommunity Shield. opment executive, “After I spoke to Zabaleta and when we believes City’s plans were talking, I asked my agents to do augur well for the future. everything they could because this is a “There was a time good club and I always wanted to play in when Manchester City the Premier League. It is a good club and were calling the players this feels right. to come but now we will “I don’t think I’ll have too many problems settling into the team,” he said. “I’ll get the time where the obviously be doing my best to do what the players call Manchester manager asks and try to work the way he City because they will wants me to, and of course he will know want to come and be a how he wants to use me. part of what’s happening,” “Once I’m out on the field I will get to Vieira said. know my way round, but I can’t say that for “I wish I was 15 years sure because I have not even made my old again because when debut yet. But I’m sure everything will be I see the facilities that fine. I’m going to be relaxed about it.”

City are trying to put in Aguero, a gold medallist with Argentina at place, it’s very exciting. the 2008 Olympics and a leading light in This shows what City are Atletico’s Europa League win in 2009, about. There is everybelieves he can add to his collection of silthing for the players to verware with City. “I saw them win the FA improve to stay at the Cup last season and I think we are a team top and challenge any of that will be fighting every year to win the biggest clubs around major trophies - and I hope it is quite a few the world.”—AFP

LONDON: Sir Alex Ferguson may have famously dismissed Manchester City as ‘noisy neighbors’ but the veteran United manager may well find himself reaching for a pair of earplugs by the end of this season.

After ending their 36-year wait for a trophy last season with victory in the FA Cup, Manchester City and Roberto Mancini are aiming their sights higher as they prepare for an assault on the Premier League and Champions League.

With seemingly limitless transfer funds at his disposal, Mancini has strengthened an already powerful squad with the close season signings of Sergio Aguero, Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic, and more could follow.

Even allowing for the likely departure of Carlos Tevez, and recent grumblings from wayward striker Mario Balotelli, City appear well-placed to fulfil Mancini’s stated desire of improving on last season’s trophy haul. “Last year I said we needed to win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League and we achieved that,” Mancini said.

“But this year my aim is to win two trophies.” Since

Aguero ready to light up EPL LONDON: Sergio Aguero has vowed to “fight to the death” as he attempts to make an instant impact on the Premier League following his 38 million pound transfer to Manchester City.

The 23-year-old Argentine striker is seen as the natural replacement for Carlos Tevez should the City captain decide to follow through on his stated desire to engineer a transfer closer to South America.

But unlike Tevez, Aguero has made it plain that he intends to stick with City for the long haul after spending the first five years of his career in Europe at Spanish side Atletico Madrid.

“My style has always been to fight to the death for every ball and give 100 per cent in every game,” Aguero said.

“I’m not a player who can do everything but I still have plenty to offer,” added Aguero, who is the son-in-law of Diego Maradona.

Like Maradona, Aguero is blessed with phenomenal close control which allows him to dribble at pace, aligned with a low centre of gravity which enables him to change direction swiftly and leave defenders groping at shadows.

Lokomotiv Moscow coach Anatoliy Byshovets was left awestruck after one scintillating Aguero performance in the Champions League.

“He reminds me of Romario except that he pressures all over the pitch and plays a greater role in the team’s play,” he said.

Aguero’s Argentina team-mate Javier Mascherano says the youngster’s unpredictability is his greatest asset. “(Aguero) is dangerous because it’s impossible to know which way he is going to go. His dribbling is a 10 out of 10 and his imagination is too. He never does the same thing twice — he is always inventing something new,” Mascherano said.

Aguero had reportedly favoured a move to Juventus before City clinched his transfer. Aguero said he had been encouraged to head to Eastlands after speaking to another Argentine team-mate Pablo Zabaleta.

“Zabaleta told me all about them and it is all very positive. He told me that it is a

major trophies,” he said.—AFP

Scott seals Firestone win

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Lee out to make history LONDON: Lee Chong Wei said yesterday he still believes he can become the first Malaysian to win the world badminton title despite an indifferent first round performance at the Wembley arena.

Lee trailed 8-11 in the second game against the sharp left-handed attacking of Tanoongsak Saensomboonsuk, and was still in a dogfight at 18-17 before getting through 21-15, 21-17.

Despite this, Lee’s famously quick movement and vastly improved mental strength were in evidence against the world number 31 from Thailand, and his words were confident too.

“I didn’t play very well, but sometimes that happens in the first round,” he said. “I believe I will play better in the second, and it’s my aim to still be here on Sunday. “I’ve won five titles in six tournaments this year, and this is my sixth world championship, and perhaps that will be my lucky number.”

If it is, Lee will prevent China from retaining all five titles, which they won in Paris last year. His main rival may be Lin Dan, the three times former champion

who is seeded second and is in the other half.

Chen Long was China’s first major casualty on Monday, the up and coming fifth seed being stunned

by Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-19, 8-21, 27-25.

There were certainly signs that Lee’s form, arguably better this year than it has ever been, will soon display its highest level.

He glided around the court effortlessly, despite gossip about a troublesome back, and appeared to change defence into attack with no difficulty.

He produced several ambushing smashes in the first game, and two brilliant block winners switched across court in the second. But the most eye-catching aspects of Lee’s game were its variety and resilience.

Earlier Taufik Hidayat, the former world champion from Indonesia, made a languorously brilliant start in a 21-10, 21-14 win over Rodrigo Pacheco Carrillo, a hard-working world number 61 from Peru.

Hidayat admitted to not having the best preparation for his attempt, as fourth seed, to win the title back. There was though no doubting his enduring tal-

Zimbabwe toast win on Test comeback LONDON: Number one seed Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei hits a shot during his menís singles match against Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk during the World Badminton Championships.—AP

Argentina eyes seventh title BOGOTA: Argentina has won this championship a record six times, which means absolutely nothing to coach Walter Perazzo as his team prepares to face Egypt in the knockout round of 16 at the Under-20 World Cup. Egypt played out a 1-1 draw with Brazil in the group stage, which caught Perazzo’s attention. For many, Brazil and Spain are the favorites to claim the trophy when the event ends on Aug. 20.

Today’s three other round-of-16 matches include Colombia vs. Costa Rica, Cameroon vs.

Mexico and Portugal vs. Guatemala.

Four other matches are set for tomorrow; Nigeria vs. England, Spain vs. South Korea,

Brazil vs. Saudi Arabia, and France vs. Ecuador.

“We are entering into the most risky stage where we can’t afford a mistake, where the team has to be 100 percent,” Perazzo said. “We have to be careful, but I think we are confident. We recognize, however, that Egypt played a good game against Brazil and it’s a top-notch opponent.” Argentina will have Roma forward Erik Lamela back in the lineup after sitting out the last group match with an ankle sprain. No Argentine player has scored more than one goal in the first three matches, and Egypt is led by Mohamed Ibrahin, who has three goals. Colombia’s team is the talk of the entire nation. —AP

HARARE: Zimbabwe celebrated in style after ending their six-year absence from Test cricket with a 130run victory over Bangladesh here yesterday.

The jubilant home team had set the tourists a daunting target of 375 to win, and secured the victory when Kyle Jarvis trapped Robiul Islam lbw for 12 to end Bangladesh’s second innings on 244.

Zimbabwe had made 370 in their first innings, helped on their way by a fine 104 from Hamilton Masakadza.

After ending Bangladesh’s reply on 287, the hosts then reached 291 for five in their second innings, including an unbeaten century from Brendan Taylor, before declaring at tea on Sunday. The result was of major significance to Zimbabwe on their return to Test cricket after a selfimposed six year absence from the

game, and the players cracked open the champagne bottles in celebration as they made their way off the field.

“We feel totally justified now at returning to Tests,” said Taylor, who was named man of the match in his first Test as captain after following up his first innings 71 with 105 not out in the second innings.

“It has been a long, hard haul. I believe we won mainly because we have worked so hard during the last 12 months. “ The fact is we wanted to win more than Bangladesh did. Our team really put themselves on the line. We had some setbacks, but we had the strength to recover,” continued Taylor, who becomes only the seventh player in cricket history to score a century in his first Test as captain.

This victory may have been recorded against the lowest-ranked

ent as he projected a wide stream of winning shots, sometimes at a stroll.

After an early deficit during the first eleven points, Hidayat went on a five-point winning streak, and then an eight-point streak, establishing that, barring an earthquake or an injury, he would be the winner.

This cushion enabled him to go through the repertoire, not only of his favourite net shots, but some disguised fast drops, tenacious defence, overhead attacks, and one stunning backhand half-smash winner. “I was just warming up today,” he said. “Maybe I will play better than in the last tournaments. And yes, I like the arena,” Hidayat added, claiming not to know that this would be the Olympic arena next year.

Hidayat was also forthright about the investigation which the Badminton World Federation has been conducting into withdrawals from tournaments which might contravene player commitment regulations. Asked if it might be a good idea if there were bans for such transgressions, he replied: “Yes, I think so.”—AFP

SCOREBOARD HARARE: Scoreboard at stumps on the fifth day of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club yesterday: Zimbabwe 1st innings 370 (H. Mazakadsa 104, V. Sibanda 78, B. Taylor 71, Al Hassan 362, R. Hossain 3-84) Bangladesh 1st innings 287 (M. Ashraful 73, S. Al Hassan 68, S. Hafeez 50, B. Vitori 4-66) Zimbabwe 2nd innings 291-5 dec (B. Taylor 105 n.o., T. Taibu 59) Bangladesh 2nd innings (overnight 112-3) T. Iqbal b Mpofu 43 Kayes c Taibu b Jarvis 31 S. Nafeez b Jarvis 9 M. Ashraful v Vitori 39 M. Rahim c Ervine b Mpofu 28 Mahmudullah c Taibu b Mpofu 11 S. Al Hassan c Taylor b Chigumbura 6 A. Razzak b Chigumbura 43 S. Islam b Jarvis 7 R. Hossain not out 8 R. Islam lbw b Jarvis 12 Extras (4b, 2lb, 1nb) 7 Total (57.3 overs, 272 mins) 244 Fall of wickets: 1-65 (Iqbal), 2-87 (Kayes), 3-

Test-playing nation, but Zimbabwe can now look forward to further oneoff Test matches at home to Pakistan next month and in New Zealand in the New Year. Bangladesh began the

102 (Nafeez), 4-140 (Ashraful), 5-167 Mahmudullah, 6-174 (Shakib Al Hasan), 7-174 (Mushfiqur Rahim), 8-224 (Abdur Razzak), 9-228 (S. Islam), 10-244 (R. Islam) Bowling: Vitori 14-1-56-1; Jarvis 16.3-4-61-4; Chigumbura 15-3-50-2; Mpofu 10-0-51-3 (1nb); Price 2-0-20-0.

Zimbabwe: Vusi Sibanda, Timotenda Mawoyo, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor (capt), Craig Ervine, Tatenda Taibu, Elton Chigumbura, Raymond Price, Ky;e Jarvis, Brian Vitori, Christopher Mpofu Match position: Zimbabwe win by 130 runs.

day on 112 for three, still chasing another 263 for victory, and they retained some hope of pulling off a stunning fightback on a wicket that remained ideal for batting. —AFP

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Ice cream makers try to eat high ingredient costs

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A man is photographed as he watches the display boards at the Australia Stock Exchange in Sydney yesterday. (Inset) Robert Halver, chief analyst of a German private bank, makes a phone call under the curve of the German stock index DAX at the stock market in Frankfurt yesterday, where the stock index fell after the opening of the trading.—AP

World rallies to tame debt crisis ECB backs Italy, Spain • G20 ready to act together FRANKFURT: The G20 vowed to bolster stability and the European Central Bank went shopping for eurozone bonds yesterday to stem a debt crisis gone global but economists raised doubts and battered markets were knocked back down.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialised and emerging economies pledged to “take all necessary initiatives in a coordinated way to support financial stability and to foster stronger economic growth in a spirit of cooperation and confidence.” Their statement came after Asian stock markets posted substantial losses while European trade saw promising gains disappear by midday, with Friday’s unprecedented US ratings downgrade adding to the toxic mix.

A sharply-worded editorial in the Chinese People’s Daily - the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party said Western nations threatened global prosperity by “ignoring their

responsibility ” to the rest of the world. The G20 stressed that members would maintain close contact in coming weeks “and cooperate as appropriate, ready to take action to ensure financial stability and liquidity in financial markets”. Earlier, the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised countries - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - made a similar commitment.

Sentiment on major European financial markets picked up briefly as a result and crucially as the ECB bought eurozone government bonds, taking the pressure off Italy and Spain but the feel-good factor faded fast. Economists warned that even the long-awaited ECB intervention was no “silver bullet” and that big obstacles remained to stabilising strained public finances and putting adequate eurozone defence mechanisms in place quickly.

The G7 and G20 statements came after a whirlwind of weekend confer-

ence calls and contacts between political leaders and officials who feared a debacle on the markets Monday if nothing was done. The moves were part of a global response made additionally necessar y by Standard & Poor’s taking the historic step of cutting its US credit rating to AA+ from the top notch triple-A on Friday. As Europe struggles with its problems, global markets also want to know how Washington will reduce its more than $14 trillion debt without choking off economic recovery since a modest US debt deal left Congress bruised and bitter.

Late Sunday, the ECB said it would “actively implement” a program that buys eurozone bonds, a measure which seemed to be working yesterday, at least initially, as pressure eased on Italian and Spanish government debt. That was also after Italy and Spain announced measures to curb their debt and deficits and France and Germany pushed for full

and rapid implementation of measures agreed at an emergency eurozone summit last month to protect the euro.

Asian stock markets suffered heavy losses as they responded to the prospect of a serious global economic slump, highlighted by the US downgrade. Tokyo shed 2.18 percent, Hong Kong lost 2.11 percent, Sydney fell 2.91 percent, Seoul sank 3.82 percent and Shanghai lost 3.55 percent.

In Europe, stock markets initially showed signs of resilience but were all solidly in the red in midday trading. London was down 1.57 percent, Paris lost 1.94 percent and Frankfurt off 2.50 percent at around 1030 GMT. Markets in Madrid and Milan bounced sharply higher on the ECB lead but then slipped, giving back all their gains. Analysts said a likely lack of unanimity among ECB governers could limit its inter vention and UniCredit strategist Luca Cazzulani stressed that “a credible mix of fiscal

and growth enhancing measures is of the essence to restore market confidence”. Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec said “the market will focus evermore” on the lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the eurozone’s rescue fund that is too small to bail out Italy or Spain if they go the way of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

But a German government spokesman said there were no plans to boost the €440-billion ($625-billion) EFSF, which is supposed to take over bond buying from the ECB as soon as possible. “Given this, the extent to which the ECB is willing to intervene remains unclear,” Citi analyst Giada Giani said, echoing the concern of many. The ECB is the only European institution capable of acting fast and keeping markets from ravaging Italy and Spain but Barclays Capital economists warned that it might be hard to buy enough government debt to keep the pressure

Mideast markets also close lower DUBAI: Most Middle East markets edged lower yesterday on lingering investor concerns about slowing global growth but declines were stymied after the European Central Bank said it was buying bonds of euro zone strugglers Italy and Spain. The Saudi market, the largest Arab bourse, ended 0.3 percent lower, after recovering slightly on Sunday, following its drop to a five-month low on Saturday on a US downgrade. The US rating downgrade by Standard & Poor’s sent regional bourses to lows of at least several months on Sunday, with an uncertain debt situation in Europe weighing. “ The downgrade is not a major issue for US, it can survive with such a rating but the bigger issue is the outlook on global growth,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. “ The GDP numbers in the last week show slowness in growth and the recovery is not going as expected,” he added.

Egypt’s main index extended Sunday ’s 4.2 percent decline, slipping 2 percent to a fresh two-year low as retail investors continued a bout of selling begun by foreigners.

Orascom Construction

Industries lost 2.5 percent.

Orascom Telecom dipped 3.8 percent and EFG-Hermes fell 4.6 percent. Dubai’s index ended slightly lower, giving up modest earlier gains. It lost 0.8 percent, after slumping to a 20-week low on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi’s index rose from Sunday’s 10-week low, ending up 0.4 percent. Proper ty stocks supported, with Surouh Real Estate and Aldar Properties both closing 0.8 percent higher.

Qatar’s index ended 0.8 percent to 8,215 points. Bargainhunting helped limit declines in Oman, whose benchmark ended 0.8 percent lower.

“Overall the risk reward ratio is turning positive with the market pricing in for most of the uncertainties,” said Kanaga Sundar, head of research at Gulf Baader Capital Markets.

“The market is going beyond fundamentals right now and is looking more at risk aversion. Already our market has underperformed for the current year and we may see institutions bottom-fishing for blue-chips,” he added. Bank Muscat fell 0.9 percent. Oil and gas industry services firm Renaissance Services slipped 2 percent. In Kuwait, the measure eased 0.2 percent to 5,956 points. —Reuters

off Italy and Spain.

Goldman Sachs economists estimated the ECB would have to purchase at least €100-130 billion worth of Italian and Spanish bonds, compared with the total amount it had purchased so far of €74 billion. Italy, the eurozone’s third largest economy, saw its borrowing costs hit record highs last week on concern over its massive debt - equal to 120 percent of total annual output - poor growth prospects and political tensions.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi then vowed that lawmakers would push through additional austerity measures including a constitutional amendment to force governments to keep balanced budgets.

It was believed that came in exchange for the ECB agreeing to step in with bond purchases - an ECB statement said “decisive and swift implementation” of the Italian announcement was “essential”. —AFP

ICD vows to repay $4bn loan in full

RIYADH: A Saudi investor monitors stocks at the exchange market department at the Saudi Investment Bank yesterday. — AFP

DUBAI: A Dubai governmentrun conglomerate that controls some of the emirate’s industrial powerhouses will repay in full $4 billion worth of debt coming due later this month, the city-state vowed yesterday in a move that could reassure investors amid fresh concerns about the strength of the world economy.

Investment Corporation of Dubai, whose holdings include the Middle East’s biggest airline, Emirates, is widely seen as the healthiest of Dubai’s three major government-linked conglomerates.

Yesterday’s announcement

by Dubai’s official media office comes as world markets are slumping following Standard & Poor ’s one -notch downgrade on Friday of the United State’s credit rating. The emirate is still recovering from global financial crisis two years earlier, as well as the near-default of one of its key government-related business conglomerates, Dubai World.

Severe debt problems at that conglomerate sparked credit fears that sent world markets reeling in late 2009.

In a statement, ICD’s chief said his company has the resources and is committed to paying its debts. “This substan-

tial repayment is the result of our strong portfolio of diverse and successful companies across Dubai, as well as the underlying strength of our economy,” said Mohammed Al-Shaibani, the ICD executive director and CEO. “Dubai is witnessing a recovery and remains a stable financial center ... and has proven its resilience in recent times.”

Besides Emirates and the airline’s related businesses, ICD controls aluminum smelter Dubal, the Emirates National Oil Co., the Dubai World Trade Center real estate complex and stakes in local banks. It is also owns part of Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest tower, and Borse Dubai, which runs the city-state’s stock markets and holds a 20 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange. The government said ICD would repay the $2.5 billion in conventional debt and $1.5 billion in Islamic loans it owes by the Aug 21 due date. It expects to cover the debts mainly using cash dividends generated from the company’s operating units.

ICD has another $2 billion worth of debt from the same pile of loans that matures in 2013. - AP

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

business

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Q2 provisions jump 75%

BBK forms BBK Geojit Securities

Non-performing loans, loan growth disappoint DUBAI: Surging provisions and a high number of non-performing loans took the shine off a slight boost to second quarter earnings at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank yesterday. Credit provisions and impairments jumped 75 percent to 235.8 million dirhams from the yearago period.

Non-performing loans also grew in the second quarter, said Raj Madha, MENA banking analyst at Rasmala Investment Bank, who calculated an adjusted NPL figure of 12.5 percent, accounting for 91-plus days of delinquency on a loan. “ADIB is primarily a retail bank and the retail NPL cycle is improving at most of the banks,” he said. “It’s interesting and a little bit disappointing that it doesn’t seem to be improving at ADIB.” ADIB officials were not immediately available for comment.

ADIB took a further 86.9 million dirhams in

impairments against its real estate portfolio and said it expects the real estate portfolio to post further losses in 2011. ADIB said in April that it will see provisions going forward and expects to post single-digit credit growth in 2011. The lender, the second biggest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates, posted a profit of 316.6 million dirhams, up 5 percent from 301.6 million in the year-ago period. Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast profit of 279 million and 350 million dirhams.

Overall financial results were mixed, analysts said, with weakness in loan growth and loan quality, while fee income was boosted by credit card revenue and strong spreads. The lender reported revenue rose to 909.6 million dirhams, up 22.2 percent from 744.2 million dirhams in the same quarter last year. Net loans were flat sequentially and loan loss pro-

visions were higher than expected although stronger revenues bolstered the quarter, added Jaap Meijer, senior analyst at HC Securities.

ADIB Chief Executive Tirad Mahmoud said global economic uncertainty and regulatory oversight on the market would make the year ahead a challenging one, adding he expects single-digit growth in both assets and liabilities this year. ADIB said its transaction banking and investment banking operations posted a 62-percent rise in fee and commission income. The lender said is stock brokerage unit had a challenging quarter due to low volumes and market uncertainty, but posted a profit of 800,000 dirhams in the second quar ter. ADIB is 41-percent owned by National Holding through the Emirates International Investment Co. — Reuters

US downgrade impact on India ‘limited’: RBI MUMBAI: India’s central bank yesterday said risks to the growth of Asia’s third-largest economy were “limited” after the US credit downgrade that has spooked global markets. “India is not insulated from global developments. But in the worst phase of the recent global crisis, India’s economy grew by 6.8 percent, suggesting high resilience emerging from local factors,” the bank said in a statement.

“While downside risks to growth may have increased in the wake of global developments, they are likely to have a limited impact,” the RBI added.

The bank said it would maintain sufficient rupee and foreign-currency liquidity to prevent any excessive volatility in local markets. “The Reserve Bank (of India) is closely monitoring all key indicators and will continuously assess the impact of global developments on the rupee and macroeconomic stability,” it said. Indian shares slid more than three per-

cent to a 14-month low in morning trade Monday, led by a sell-off across Asia on concerns that a double-dip recession may be on the horizon. India posted nearly seven percent growth during the 2008 global financial crisis, helped by substantial fiscal stimulus and a still relatively inward-looking economy. While the country ’s economy has liberalised in the past two decades, it still remains largely domestically driven. India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said the US downgrade was “grave” but insisted the country’s economy would still grow strongly. Economic output, however, has fallen as a result of 11 interest rate hikes since March 2010 to tame near double-digit inflation. Annual industrial output growth slowed to 5.6 percent in May - its weakest pace in nine months and down from 8.5 percent expansion in the same month a year earlier. Data for June is expected on Friday. — AFP

MANAMA: BBK - Bahrain’s pioneer in retail and commercial banking- has announced that they have come to an agreement with the Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd (India) and JZ Associates LLC (Kuwait) to form a new joint venture. The new entity, BBK Geojit Securities KSC, will be headquartered in Kuwait City and will initially start operations with two offices .The Company will meet the needs of the burgeoning NRI population in accessing the Indian Capital Markets. As one of India’s leading financial services provider, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd with its experience and technical capabilities along with the established presence of BBK and the reputation of JZ Associates LLC, offers a unique opportunity to the NRI population to participate in the Indian Capital Markets. BBK Geojit Securities KSC will offer services including Brokerage services, Dematerialisation Consultancy Services and Mutual Funds of Indian Stock Markets.

The move by Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd is in line with its overall strategy of ramping up its presence in the booming Middle East region. Kuwait, with over 600,000 NRI population, is expected to be a lucrative market for the new venture and plans are afoot to increase its presence to six offices.

Abdulkarim Bucheer y, Chief Executive of BBK said, “BBK has completed 25 years of banking in India pre-

dominantly serving the NRIs from the GCC countries. NRI services desk of the Bank at Bahrain has been offering services relating to Indian stock market to expats from the region. Encouraged by the good response and to further enhance the level of these activities, BBK has taken initiative to forge a partnership with India’s leading stock market services company, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd along with JZ Associates LLC, a highly reputed Financial consulting firm from Kuwait”. He also stated that the expats from Kuwait would benefit from this initiative.

C J George, Managing Director, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd said, “Geojit BNP Paribas has been expanding its footprint in GCC countries over the last decade. This Joint Venture in Kuwait with BBK is the latest step in our efforts to provide savings and investment services relating to Indian Stock Market to NRIs in Kuwait who presently do not enjoy any such facility.”

Jassem Hassan Zainal of JZ Associates LLC, a leading Financial Consulting firm in Kuwait, said, BBK NRI Services at Kuwait has a long presence in Kuwait offering wide range of banking products to expats. This new initiative of incorporating an exclusive company to offer broking services pertaining to Indian Stock Market to expats would be a welcome change for the large expat population of the region.

Gulf Bank announces winners of 30th Al Danah Weekly Draw

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its 30th Al Danah weekly draw on Aug 7, 2011, announcing a total number of ten Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

KOLKATA: An Indian woman walks past a billboard advertising gold jewellery yesterday. — AFP

Burgan Bank announces winners of Yawmi Account KUWAIT: Burgan Bank held its Yawmi account draw announcing a total of 5 lucky daily prize winners, each taking home KD 5,000. The winners are: 1. SULTAN MOHAMMED ABDULLA AL-QADERY 2. AHMAD ABDUL-KARIM ALI AL-IBRAHIM 3. REFAAT ABDEL-HALIM NASR 4. PHILIP MATHEW N G MATHEW 5. SHAHAD WALEED AHMAD ALKANDARI Burgan Bank’s Yawmi account was the first in the country to have a daily draw, thereby entitling account

holders who deposit KD 500 to win every day. For every KD 50 deposited in the account, the account holder receives an additional entry into the draw. Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner.

The more you deposit, the higher the chances of winning the draw. Opening a Yawmi account is simple, just visit your nearest Burgan Bank branch and get all the details. Or simply call our Call Center 1804080 and our customer service representative will be more than happy to assist you.

The 30th Al Danah Weekly Winners are: Badriya Marzouk Dawoud Al-Bader Mohammad Abdullah Al-Hajeri Basem Abdulameer Mohammad Shehab Hassan Wahid Ahmad Mohammad Akram Abdulrahman Haji Ali Ahmad Al-Mahdi Tarek Marwan Saleh AbuRezq Sahasranamaiyer Narayanan Fatima Meshal Mohammad Hassan Mufarej Mubarak Al-Ajari Rouh Mohammad Sadaat 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 (KD 1,000 each for 10 winners), 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 55 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance.

Customers can also log on to www.egulfbank.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.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2700000 .4440000 .3860000 .3520000 .2750000 .2820000 .0040000 .0020000 .0738870 .7198570 .3810000 .0700000 .7056880 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2721500 GB Pound/KD .4460950 Euro .3886850 Swiss francs .3545470 Canadian dollars .2773220 Danish Kroner .0522700 Swedish Kroner .0421210 Australian dlr .2841930 Hong Kong dlr .0348580 Singapore dlr .2236420 Japanese yen .0034710 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0741250 Bahraini dinars .7221710 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0725930 Omani riyals .7071590 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2765000 .4580000 .3970000 .3640000 .2910000 .2950000 .0072500 .0035000 .0746290 .7270920 .4010000 .0770000 .7127800 .0072000 .0530000 .2742500 .4495370 .3916840 .3572820 .2794620 .0526740 .0424460 .2863860 .0351270 .2253680 .0034980 .0061770 .0025090 .0031780 .0036860 .0746970 .7277430 .3879070 .0731530 .7126150 .0064830

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.525 6.065 3.151 2.482 3.799 225.330 34.998

GCC COUNTRIES 72.856 75.069 709.630 725.650 74.394

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.650 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.794 Yemen Riyal 1.250 Tunisian Dinar 200.370 Jordanian Dinar 385.820 Lebanese Lira 1.833 Syrian Lier 5.898 Morocco Dirham 35.103 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 273.100 Euro 392.580 Sterling Pound 449.520 Canadian dollar 279.530 Turkish lire 157.130 Swiss Franc 360.770 Australian dollar 283.480 US Dollar Buying 271.900 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

287.300 725.950 3.850 281.200 536.200 36.300 52.900 167.800 47.880 397.000 35.680 6.320

SELL DRAFT

285.800 725.950 3.650 279.700

225.800 45.840 395.500 35.530 6.080

0.033 0.240 0.237 3.570 387.670 0.185 93.410 47.100 4.200 231.200 1.851 50.700 708.990 3.280 6.590 75.520 72.880 225.790 41.980 2.626 453.000 42.800 363.800 5.600 9.480 198.263 74.420 273.300 1.210

0.033

385.790 0.184 93.410 3.810 229.700

362.300 5.600 9.350 74.320 272.900

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees

Currency

Selling Rate

272.950 287.750 448.881 398.614 336.036 723.683 74.287 74.920 72.747 384.203 45.810 2.490 6.230

3.163 3.652 6.476 669.512 3.571 9.218 5.739 3.937 90.730

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 451.000 272.900

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 708.810 3.170 6.410 75.090 72.880 225.790 41.980 2.485 451.000

GOLD 1,749.500

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Bahrain Exchange Company SELL CASH

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 US dollars Yemeni Riyal 10 Tola

GOLD 305.000 155.000 80.000

COUNTRY

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

3.647 6.419 9.158 0.271 0.273

272.900 3.165 6.100 2.500 3.660 6.445 74.395 72.975 725.500 45.795 455.200 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 387.700 5.750 398.000 285.700

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)

272.550 395.300 450.800 279.400 3.535 6.070 45.795 2.484 3.654 6.400 3.150 725.900 74.275 72.800

A

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e niv rsar n

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Years

BUSINESS

Drivers of employee loyalty in workplace I

t is a commonly accepted fact that employee loyalty today plays a central and pivotal role within the success strategy of any organization aiming at long lasting market presence, regardless of size and activity sector. But what is it exactly that makes job loyalty such a powerful and critical topic in today’s ever-changing business environment?

An extensive recent HR survey conducted by the Middle East’s #1 job site Bayt.com entitled Employee Loyalty in the Middle East shows that 64 percent of employees in the Middle East region feel loyal towards their jobs. So what is it exactly that triggers employee loyalty? What is it that pushes employees to like, engage with, respect and commit to their companies on a long-term basis? The following are just some of the essential drivers of employee loyalty in an organization: ● Being conscious of the company vision: Employees feel much more involved, engaged and trusted when top management regularly shares the company’s vision, mission, direction and important decisions with them. ● Owning a career, not only a job: Employees who feel that their job is an important milestone along a rewarding career path are more motivated to perform well, engage in their work and invest in the welfare their company. ● Feeling part of a bigger scheme:

Belonging to a company that is publicly committed to society’s well-being and knowing they are an integral part of a larger goodwill effort, reinforces employees’ commitment to both their jobs and their organizations. ● Getting fair remuneration packages in light of their job duties: It might be true that money cannot buy loyalty but not paying your employees what they are worth can definitely chase them away. ● Feeling empowered: Having the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas and the authority to take decisions that relate directly to their roles are great boosters for both self esteem and job loyalty. ● Being positively challenged everyday: Believing in your employees’ capabilities and setting high standards for them to meet is key to elevating motivation levels and positive feelings about their jobs. ● Receiving proper training and development: Employees tend to put more effort into their jobs when they feel valuable to their company. If you invest in your employees (trainings, seminars, skill development...) and cater to their professional needs, they’re most likely to invest right back in their jobs, thereby producing more revenues and committing to their jobs even more. ● Being recognized and rewarded where relevant: A simple word of recognition for a job well done can do wonders for

an employee’s morale . Companies that recognize and reward their employees’ contributions routinely and systematically have already curtailed one of the main reasons for staff turnover. ● Maintaining strong relationships with Management: This does not entail merely the direct boss but the upper hierarchies as well. Employees feel much more sheltered knowing their work and contributions are recognized throughout the organization in the circles that matter and that all work relationships are solid and healthy. ● Maintaining a work life balance: This has become increasingly important in today’s workplace. Companies that encourage a healthy lifestyle and accommodate for different priorities are most likely to expect improved motivation and productivity levels amongst their staff.

In conclusion, far from being a luxury, employee loyalty is an essential commodity in today’s corporation and a measure of organizational welfare that cannot be ignored. The good news is that companies that are attuned to this important barometer of corporate wellbeing and gauge and monitor internal loyalty levels periodically, putting studied and proactive programs in place to cultivate and encourage employee loyalty, are able to benefit from increased profitability, reduced turnover and higher staff commitment, productivity and morale.

Joyalukkas opens new showroom in Chittoor C ontinuing the drive to expand its presence across key cities and major towns in India, Joyalukkas, the world’s favorite jeweler, opened their latest showroom in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh on Aug 7, 2011.

Strategically located at the junction of Bangalore-National Highway 4 and National Highway 18, on the busy Prakasham Road, the new showroom is one of the largest jewelry showrooms in Chittoor, The new jewelry showroom was inaugurated by C K Jaya Chandra Reddy, MLA, in the presence of Salman Arogya Raj, IAS, District Collector, and Kanthi Rana Tata, IPS, Superintendent of Police, who lit the auspicious lamp. The occasion was also graced with the presence of Joyalukkas’ Brand Ambassador and cine artist, R Madhavan.

The 4,000 sq ft. showroom offers a wide choice of jewelry designs catering to different customer and price segments; ample car parking space is an added advantage for customers.

The showroom, stored with everything for the jewelry lovers in Chittoor, offers exclusive diamond and gold jewelry along with a host of platinum, precious stones, pearl and silver jewelry. Joyalukkas products are 100 percent BIS hallmarked for gold, 100 percent IGI certified for diamond and 100 percent PGI certified platinum jewelry.

“We have been looking for a strategic location between Chennai and Bangalore, to open a jewelry showroom, since people in and around Chittoor now have to travel all the way to Chennai or Bangalore for their jewelry shopping. Our location on Prakasham Road is one of the most frequented parts of Chittoor town and convenient for all Chittoor residents and

people living around Chittoor. With this kind of location, added to our expertise, range in jewelry and trained and friendly staff, I believe we will offer the jewelry lovers of Chittoor an enjoyable experience in jewelry shopping,” said Joy Alukkas, Managing Director of Joyalukkas India Ltd. Joyalukkas brand ambassador R Madhavan said, “Joyalukkas is my favorite jeweler and I am happy to welcome the people of Chittoor to come and experience the joy of shopping here.

Joyalukkas’ showrooms provide a luxury retail shopping experience, as well as wide range of product offerings.”

The elegantly designed signature jewelry showroom of Joyalukkas with ethereal interiors has been created with the objective of offering a warm and welcoming feel to jewelry buyers.

The store is well-designed with the aim of providing the pleasure of choosing favorite jewelry with comfort and convenience for their esteemed customers.

“Our aim is to appeal to the niche as well as

regular jewelry buyers, for whom jewelry shopping is a complete package of product, price, choice, service and location,” added Alukkas.

The Chittoor launch was in line with the Joyalukkas’ retail strategy of expanding its presence across various cities in India. Joyalukkas already has a pan India presence and has recently opened a showroom in India’s capital, New Delhi. The well-known South India based retail jewelry chain is all set to open three more showrooms in different parts of India by December 2011.

Joyalukkas India Ltd, has 23 retail stores across India, of which 10 are large format stores, each having a floor area of 12,000 sq ft or more.

It is also engaged in selling textiles, apparels and accessories through its Wedding Centers in Kerala. Joyalukkas received the Best Single Retail Store of the Year 2011 - Award for its Chennai showroom and the Best Retail Jewelry Chain of the Year 2011 - Award at the National Jewelry Awards 2011, instituted by the All India Gems and Jewelry Trade Federation.

Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co holds second draw

A

s part of its summer activities, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company is conducting a promotion for its oil & filter change customers until Sept 30. Every customer who brings in his Mercedes-Benz car for an oil and filter change during this period can enter a draw to win gift vouchers worth KD 550 every month which can be redeemed in the MercedesBenz accessories and boutique items area in its service and parts center in Shuwaikh.

There will be a total of 3 winners every month for the gift vouchers, worth KD 50, KD 100 and the grand prize of KD 400. This promotion is valid in the Mercedes-Benz Quick Lube Center in Shuwaikh and ExpressService Centers in Al-Rai and in Ahmadi.

“We wanted to ensure that our customers use the recommended oil and filter for their Mercedes-Benz cars and also to make their Quick Lube visit a rewarding experience this summer!” said Ralph Geyer, Service Manager, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company.

The second draw of this promotion was held on 3rd August and the 3 lucky winners are: Mr Jamal Saleh Aljimaz - Gift Voucher KD 50 Mr Imad Abdel Hadi Abdel Nab iGift Voucher KD 100 Mr Nushwan Khaled Al-Nashuwan Gift Voucher KD 400 The third draw in this promotion

will be happening on 4th Sept 2011 and we hope many more customers will take this opportunity to not only do the oil & filter change service but also avail of the opportunity to win the gift vouchers.

To serve our customers better in the month of Ramadan the Quick

Lube Ser vice Center located in Shuwaikh and Express Ser vice Ahmadi are now open from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, Saturday to Thursday.

And Express Service Al-Rai is open from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Saturday to Thursday.

Tehran gets €1bn of India oil cash Iran discovers big gas field TEHRAN/NEW DELHI: Iran has received €1 billion ($1.4 billion) from India in the last 10 days for long overdue oil debts, indicating the likely end of a sanctions-related problem that had blocked payments all year, an Iranian official said yesterday. Indian refiners expect Iran to resume 400,000 barrels a day of oil expor ts in September, following an uncertain August, now that they have been able to start paying the debt that Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said amounted to $4.8 billion.

India, Asia’s third-largest economy and Iran’s second-largest oil buyer after China, racked up the debt after the Reserve Bank of India scrapped a clearing house system last December - a move welcomed by Washington as it tries to isolate the Islamic Republic.

Sources in India told Reuters that refiners had paid about $1.43 billion through Turkey ’s state -controlled Halkbank. The refiners hope to settle immediately payable debts in the next few days, the sources said.

Qalebani also said Iran has discovered a new onshore gas field with 495 billion cu m of gas that it estimates is worth $133 billion. The field, dubbed Madar, is east of the por t city of Assalouyeh, Qalebani said. An estimated 80 percent of the gas is recoverable, he added. “The estimate of gas condensates in the field is 1.5 billion barrels from which 658 million barrels are recoverable,” Qalebani told reporters at a press conference.

Iran, the world fifth largest oil producer, has given the estimates of its oil and gas reserves as 155 billion barrels and 33 trillion cubic metres successively. The Islamic state is hoping to discover 2.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 23 trillion cubic feet of gas in the course of its fifth five-year development program to 2015. Iran has the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, but international sanctions which deter investment by Western firms with capital and technology have slowed its development as a major exporter.

Qalebani, who is also managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), denied that the Indian payments problem - one of Iran’s biggest headaches to come out of the US-led sanctions drive - was spreading to other key markets. “So far there is no report from Iran’s Central Bank of any problems with Korea or China, so our assumption is there is no problem with other countries except India,” he said, pointing out the central bank was the body in charge of coordinating payments.

Korean government sources told Reuters last week that Iran could face a problem of nearly $5 billion of cash trapped in South Korea by the end of the year as sanctions stop it from repatriating money from oil sales.

Tehran has previously denied a Financial Times report last month that sanctions might have prevented China from paying as much as $30 billion for oil from Iran. Washington has tightened sanctions on Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. It has pressured

other countries to go further than the UN sanctions to isolate the Iranian economy and has succeeded in making it increasingly difficult for the Islamic Republic to make international financial transactions.

Qalebani denied that Iran had cut its exports to India in August as a way to pressure the refiners into finding a way to settle the debts, saying export levels were normal.

However, Indian refiners say Iran has so far not issued them with firm crude supply plans for August, forcing them to look for alternatives. To replace Iranian barrels, some of the Indian refiners bought 3 million barrels of Saudi oil for August. That would be unwelcome news to Tehran, which is keen to maintain its share of Asian markets against its main Middle Eastern rival.

NIOC is confirming supply of August cargoes to its biggest Indian client, Mangalore Refiner y and Petrochemicals Ltd, on a cargo-by-cargo basis, one of the sources said.

Refiners in India said they were confident supplies would return to normal.

“They (Iran) had asked us to pay at least a token amount, then they will allocate oil to us,” said an executive at one of the Indian refiners. “All of us (Indian firms) have released a good amount of money, so we expect Iran will keep their word and give supply next month,” the executive said, on condition of anonymity.

MRPL has paid about Ä1 billion, reducing debt that had not been paid on time to $1.2 billion, a source said.

Indian companies are first clearing debts whose credit period has expired.

Iran had been selling oil to Indian clients mostly with 90-days credit.

Essar , Iran’s second-biggest Indian customer, and state-run HPCL have each paid $50 million, cutting debts whose credit period has expired to $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, the sources said.

IOC , the country’s biggest oil refiner but Iran’s smallest customer, has paid $20 million, reducing its immediately payable debts to $600 million. Heads of finance at the state-run firms and Essar spokesman Manish Kedia declined to comment on remittances to Iran.

The move to clear debt in small batches limits the pressure on the local currency from such huge sums. “Why would anybody want to buy big lots in such a volatile market? Isn’t it much better to wait till the dust settles down?” said Ashutosh Khajuria, treasurer at Federal Bank. The Indian rupee has weakened in the previous four sessions mainly due to higher dollar purchases by refiners to settle their Iran payments.

State-run banks had been buying dollars through the week on behalf of domestic oil refiners to make the payments. At the end of foreign exchange trading in India, the rupee was 44.97 to the dollar. It has depreciated 2 percent since Aug 1 as traders see the largely services-driven economy suffering after Standard & Poor’s cut the longterm US credit rating by one notch to AA-plus.

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KSE continues bearish trend GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT

Market Breadth During the session, 91 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 30 equities retreated versus 28 advanced.

Daily Trading Activity Trading activity was down this session. Total volume traded was down by 19.69 percent with 79.44 million shares changing hands at a total value of KD 16.16 million (37.34 percent lower compared to the Sunday session). The real estate sector was the volume leader today, accounting for 33.35 percent of total shares. The banking sector was the value leader, with 38.61 percent of total traded value. Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was the most active

GCC markets see more losses in July MARKAZ MARKET REVIEW

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) continued its bearish trend yesterday, dropping to its lowest level since July 07, 2010. KSE started the session with margin gains waiting the reaction of the international markets when they open during the session. The gain did not last for long before the indices reversed their gains once again. KSE staged its fourteen losing session in the past 27 trading days after H1 2011. Both small caps and large caps pulled back during the day. The negative performance is a reaction of the earlier, Standard & Poor’s historic downgrade of US government debt.

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI) ended the day down by 0.29 percent, at 180.79 points, its lowest level for almost one year.

Market Capitalization was down for the day reaching KD 29.58bn.

Showing a negative note, KSE Price Index closed at 5,956.4 points, shedding 11.90 points (0.20 percent) from its previous close.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

KUWAIT: GCC markets were down again in July as investors turned their eyes to the US debt crisis in addition to on-going sovereign issues in Europe. Corporate and regulatory issues at home kept investors shying away from the market ahead of the Holy month of Ramadan.

The S&P GCC lost 2.8 percent after shedding 2 percent in June, bringing YTD losses to almost 7 percent. Dubai was flat while Qatar eked out a gain of 0.50 percent. The largest decline was in Kuwait’s Weighted Index, down 4.24 percent.

in terms of values traded during yesterday’s session, with 2.52 million shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD 2.26 million. The scrip closed up by 1.12 percent at KD 0.900.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, Tijara & Real Estate Investment Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 6.25 percent and closed at KD 0.034. On the other hand, Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Company shed 9.46 percent and closed at KD 0.067, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors-Wise With the exception of the real estate and insurance sectors, the market moved only south.

Industrial stocks paced the losses, dropping by 1.74 percent. United Industries Company was the second biggest percentage decliner

during the day, slipping by 8.33 percent, and closing at KD 0.110.

The scrip reached its peak of KD 0.140 in early February 2011, before going on a losing spree. It has depreciated by 21.43 percent since hitting its record high level in 2011. Kuwait Cement Company too reported a 4.12 percent slide, closing at KD 0.465.

Investment stocks were also notable losers, Global Investment Sector Index shed 0.91 percent from its value. Kuwait Syrian Holding Company was the biggest loser in the sector, shedding 7.94 percent and closing at KD 0.029.

International Financial Advisors Company followed. The scrip closed down by 6.67 percent at KD 0.035. Among stocks moving on specific news, National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya) reported a 1.02 percent appreciation in its share value during the day and closed at KD 1.980. The telecom operator said

its second-quarter net profit increased 18.7 percent, to KD 23.3 million ($85.4 million), from KD 19.6 million a year ago, as the revenue jumped due to its Tunisian operations. The result exceeded the KD 22.8 million figure predicted by Global Investment House. It also surpassed Morgan Stanley’s forecast of KD 20.4 million.

Despite the price increase of heavyweight, Wataniya other heavyweights in the sector negatively affected the sector’s performance. Zain remained flat at KD 0.960 while Agility ended the day down by 3.57 percent at KD 0.270.

Global Services Index closed down by 0.06 percent.

Oil News The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $103.30 a barrel on Friday, compared with $107.48 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

News in the region included: The UAE made a surprise announcement post the conclusion of the US debt deal; the Central Bank said it had no US Treasury Bills in its reserves or any other financial instrument issued by the US government, citing “very low return”. The announcement came as a surprise given the currency peg to the dollar. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Central Bank has turned to Japan for dollar-denominated government debt. The Kuwait market hit a 7 year low in the middle of the month, dipping below 6,000 points on a compendium on poor news. The Central Bank governor announced that the economy suffered from precarious imbalances which needed to be addressed urgently.

The Kuwait Capital Market Authority extended the deadline for fund compliance with investment limits, under Article 347, to March 2012 from the previous September 2011 deadline citing adverse market conditions and a need to review the article.

Kuwait Airways privatization process has begun with a 35 percent stake on offer for expression of interest through August. The airlines is hoping for interest from regional or international strategic partners and will exclude local airlines.

Liquidity was down significantly in July; GCC value traded declined 22 percent to USD 20.8 bn while volume was down 31 percent to just 7 bn. Saudi and Kuwait saw value traded decline by 21

percent and 12 percent, respectively.

GCC Value Traded in the YTD period is at USD 215 bn, 10 percent higher than the same period last year. Risk in the GCC (as measured by the Markaz Volatility Index MVX) was up just 1 percent in July after increasing 21 percent in June. MVX Kuwait was up the most, jumping 56 percent for the month while MVX Qatar saw a fourth consecutive month of declines, down 37 percent for the month.

Global Markets review Monthly returns were negative across the board; excepting a flat Asia Pac ex.

Japan and a scant 0.17 percent monthly gain on the Nikkei 225. Losses were led

by India and MSCI Europe which lost 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The S&P 500 shed 2 percent for the month as the debt crisis peaked.

Global markets were preoccupied with the US debt deal saga which reached a fever pitch during the month.

Gold was up on the uncertainty, gaining 8.5 percent for the month. Crude oil gained almost 4 percent for the month, with a YTD gain of almost 27 percent.

Investors shifted to the US as the debt crisis boiled over with political stalemates causing S&P ratings to indicate a 50 percent chance that it would downgrade the US if a deal was not reached as the country rapidly approached the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. An 11th hour deal was finally struck which advocated a $2.1 trillion, 10-yr deficit-reduction plan, about half the aimed for $4 trillion.

Following the announced, Moody’s affirmed the US ‘AAA’ rating but placed the country on “Negative” outlook due to low economic growth and fiscal weakness while S&P downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a “negative” outlook.

The ECB is expected to put a stop to its tightening policy as economic growth shows signs of weakening while trouble brews in Spain and Italy in addition to resuming purchases of distressed government debt.

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Crises cloud holidays for European leaders MADRID: A widening eurozone debt crisis cast has played havoc with European leaders’ plans to spend their summer vacations quietly basking in the sun from southern Spain to Sardinia. Plunging stock prices and collapsing bond markets - plus an outbreak of riots in London - provided an awkward backdrop for leaders to be seen abandoning their offices. Even while on vacation, prime ministers were tracking bond yields and stock prices or making calls to each other to coordinate a response to the crisis instead of sightseeing.

As Spain’s bond market buckled Aug 2, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero delayed his planned morning departure for the southern Spanish nature reserve of Donona until late in the day. But after accompanying his family there in the evening, he returned to Madrid the very next morning and stayed in the capital throughout the week to meet with his economic team and speak

to eurozone financial leaders. Zapatero finally left on vacation Friday evening but even there he was tracking the market. “At the moment he is following the market movements and the risk premium and everything that is happening with the crisis, as is logical,” a government official said yesterday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron came under fire in the press for staying on a family holiday at a villa in Tuscany. But he found time to speak by phone on Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and on Saturday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who repeatedly had to interrupt his vacation in Cap Negre on the French Riviera to grapple with the markets.

Britain’s finance minister George Osbourne is also on holiday - the Daily Telegraph yesterday showed him at Disneyland in Los Angeles with his children while Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg only returned from holiday in Spain on Sunday.

Back at work, Clegg defended the government against accusations that the absence of so many top ministers had left the country rudderless. “I reject completely this notion that somehow this government hasn’t been functioning very effectively indeed last week and this week. I have been speaking to members of the government,” he said, before reeling off a list of figures from Cameron downwards he had held phone discussions with in recent days.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called a crisis meeting on the debt crisis Friday, saying he had spoken to Cameron by phone and insisting the government was still “fully functioning”. “The government is always operating 24 hours a day, we’re not in the 18th century, of course everyone is constantly in touch by telephone or whatever means necessary,” he said.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed

Saturday to work through August “without interruption”. Berlusconi said that, unlike previous years, he would not spend a whole week in his Sardinia villa until his oldest daughter Marina’s birthday Aug 10. Instead he will be making a special trip for the event. He also denied press reports that he might head for a vacation in the holiday dacha of his friend Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin near Saint Petersburg.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was back in Berlin yesterday “as planned”, her deputy spokesman Christoph Steegmans said, after a sojourn hiking in South Tyrol. Her summer holiday was officially due to last until August 13, when she will take part in ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. But she frequently spends part of her August break at her flat in central Berlin or her dacha north of the capital. — AFP

Fresh credit warnings as US lawmakers trade blame Geithner insists US economy strong

BEIJING: Chinese workers unload furniture to a new nightclub yesterday. China accused Western nations yesterday of putting the global economic recovery at risk by ‘ignoring their responsibility’. —AFP

China: West ‘ignoring responsibility’ on debt BEIJING: China accused Western nations Monday of putting the global economic recovery at risk by “ignoring their responsibility”, in an editorial published days after an unprecedented US credit rating downgrade. The criticism in the People’s Daily - the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party - was the latest in a series of harshly-worded articles in state media about the US and European debt crises. “If developed countries including the US and European Union don’t take responsibility, it will impair the stable development of the global economy severely,” the newspaper said.

“Only if Western nations stop ignoring their responsibility and use a sharp blade of determination and courage to cut through the ropes binding their policies and strengthen coordination with developing countries will the global economy have hope of a stable recovery.” The article appeared under the name Zhong Sheng, which means “voice of China”, and is often tagged to editorials in the People’s Daily. China, the largest foreign holder of US debt with about $3.2 trillion in reserves at the end of June, has not yet given an official government response to Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the United States. The ratings agency docked the United States from a topflight AAA to an AA+ rating late Friday, largely because of the failure of bitterly divided US leaders to reach a consensus on containing the country’s spiralling debt. However, the harsh criticisms in Chinese media are a significant indicator of the government’s feeling about the US crisis. Earlier yesterday, China’s official Xinhua news agency urged Washington’s

Democrats and Republicans to stop blaming each other over the downgrade and find solutions. “Disappointingly, instead of reflecting on themselves and sitting down to fix problems in a cooperated way, the Democrats and Republicans... are questioning the credibility of the downgrade ruling and blaming each other for the... shame of slipping out the top-credit rating club,” Xinhua said. “It is time for the policy-makers in Washington to settle down, to show some sense of responsibility and fix their fiscal problems.”

Other critical voices in the Chinese press likened the US crisis to an illegal financial scam. “ The US debt is the biggest Ponzi scheme in history,” writer Chen Sijin, identified as an employee of the Royal Bank of Canada, said in an opinion piece in the China Securities Journal. “US debt will continue but the US will finally have to say goodbye to the game one day.”

In a separate commentary about the ratings agencies’ role in the current crisis, the People’s Daily said that S&P and fellow agencies Moody’s and Fitch were partly to blame as arbiters of global credit risks. “In recent years, the three ratings agencies disregarded the US debt problems but made trouble for the EU and China constantly,” the paper ’s Washington-based deputy international director Wen Xian said. “The agencies’ direct credit downgrades for some European countries and a ‘red flag’ warning given to China were harsh compared with this ‘slap on the wrist’,” Wen wrote in the comment piece co-authored with three other colleagues. — AFP

Germany seeks to block air traffic control strike FRANKFURT: Germany’s air traffic control authority is taking legal action for a second time to block a planned strike that could disrupt thousands of flights today morning during the peak summer holiday season. After being prevented from striking last week in a row over pay and conditions, the GdF union called on its members to strike for six hours from 0400 GMT until 1000 GMT today. The air traffic control authority DFS, which successfully brought an injunction against last Thursday’s planned strike, said it believed some demands being made by the union were illegal as it filed for another temporary injunction yesterday. “I am confident we will win in the court,” DFS labour director Jens Bergmann said.

Airlines and airports were bracing for the strike, which the BDL air travel association said would affect about 3,000 German and international flights and some 400,000 passengers. Lufthansa said it regretted the uncertainty caused for passengers by the strike. “We have already started to make first preparations and, should it come to a strike, we will do everything in our power to minimise disruption,” a spokesman said.

Should a strike take place, airlines and travel companies would likely bring forward flights or delay them until the afternoon, but long delays would be inevitable. Planes which would normally fly over en route to and from other

countries could be rerouted to avoid German airspace. GdF wants a 6.5 percent pay rise over 12 months, and has asked that pay be linked to the number of years in service. It rejected the latest offer from the DFS for a raise of 3.2 percent plus a onetime payment this year, and an increase of at least 2 percent next year.

The DFS had offered fresh talks for this week, and said yesterday it was still prepared to sit down with the union.

The union said it would not return to the negotiating table unless there was a change in circumstances. Faced with a lack of sympathy for the planned strikes, the union also said the strike was not just about more pay for air traffic controllers, but all employees of the DFS. Airport operator Fraport, whose Frankfurt airport sees about 1,300-1,400 flights a day, described the refusal by the union to enter talks as “incomprehensible”. Airlines have previously successfully fended off strikes using the courts. Last year, pilots of German flagship carrier Lufthansa and the country’s No.2 carrier Air Berlin were forced by judges to call off or curtail strikes.

Analysts have estimated a six-hour strike could cost Lufthansa a doubledigit million euro amount, but the impact would be small compared with disruption caused by last year’s volcanic ash cloud or uprisings in North Africa this year. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner insisted the economy was strong and blasted an unprecedented credit downgrade as “terrible judgment” yesterday as he sought to reassure jittery investors rushing to sell US securities. Geithner spoke in a television interview late Sunday as G7 central bankers and financial chiefs pledged to “take all necessary measures” to support financial stability and growth in the wake of a eurozone crisis and the US credit downgrade. But Standard and Poor ’s managing director warned of possible further downgrades if Washington fails to get its fiscal house in order.

“If the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates further, or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched, then that could lead to (another) downgrade,” S&P ratings head John Chambers told ABC television. The first day of trading following the downgrade saw Asian stocks tumble. Tokyo shed 2.18 percent, Seoul sank 3.82 percent, and Sydney fell 2.91 percent while Shanghai lost 3.79 percent.

Major European markets also opened with losses but sentiment picked up after the European Central Bank bought eurozone government bonds, taking the pressure off Italy and Spain. Futures pointed to upcoming losses on Wall Street as well - just hours before trading was due to resume. Dow Jones Industrials futures were off 2.3 percent while broader S&P 500 futures shed 2.6 percent.

Standard and Poor’s stunned Americans Friday when it lowered the credit rating for US Treasures for the first time ever from a sterling AAA to AA+, pointing out deep divisions in Washington over its long-term fiscal standing.

“I think S&P has shown really terrible judgment and they’ve handled themselves poorly, and they have shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal budget math, and I think they came to exactly the wrong conclusion,” Geithner said. Geithner used the interview with NBC News and CNBC to assure investors that the US economy remains strong and resilient despite the political battles in Washington, and that US Treasuries were as safe as ever. “There is no risk the United States of America would ever not be in a position to meet its obligations,” he

NEW YORK: A pedestrian walks past the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. — AP said. A deal reached by Congress to cut some $2.5 trillion over 10 years in exchange for raising the congressionally-set debt ceiling fell short of the S&P’s call for the United States to cut $4 trillion over the same period. US lawmakers, meanwhile, spent the day blaming each other for the credit downgrade, with some Republicans calling for Geithner’s resignation. But the White House said Geithner would stay on at Treasury, ending speculation that he would leave after two-and-a-half years in the hot seat during a period that saw the US economy plunge into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking earlier on NBC, said he believes the markets will react negatively to the downgrade and that it’s “going to take a while to bottom out”. Greenspan, however, said that US Treasury bonds are still a solid investment. Obama’s former top economic advisor Larry Summers, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” attacked the S&P downgrade as an unwarranted piling on atop an already weak economy. Summers said the country could pay its bills, and repeated the administration’s allegations that S&P’s deci-

sion to downgrade was linked to a $2 trillion accounting error and its use of a faulty baseline. These assurance notwithstanding, China accused Western nations yesterday of putting the global economic recovery at risk by “ignoring their responsibility.”. The criticism in the People’s Daily-the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party - was the latest in a series of harshly-worded articles in state media about the US and European debt crises.

Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican lawmakers continued the finger pointing Sunday over the downgrade debacle.

Democratic Senator John Kerry described it as a “Tea Party downgrade”, referring to the ultraconservative anti-tax movement, and said a debt deal reached after weeks of heated negotiations fell short because some Republicans “were willing to shoot the hostage”. “What we need is a Washington that stops this bickering,” Kerry told NBC’s “Meet the Press”. Republican Senator John McCain, also appearing on NBC, blamed Obama, saying he had failed to put forth a specific debt plan. “I agree that there is dysfunction in our system, but a lot of it has to do with the failure of the president to lead,” he said. —AFP

Gold at record over $1,700 LONDON: Gold vaulted above $1,700 an ounce for the first time yestereday, after the respective pledges by the G7 and the European Central Bank to quell the turbulence in the financial markets did nothing to put investors at ease. Traders said the ECB had made good on its promise to solve the euro zone debt crisis by widening its bondbuying program to include paper from Spain and Italy , but the move was not enough to allay deep rooted concerns about Europe’s spreading debt crisis.

Friday’s downgrade to the quality of US sovereign debt by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s was widely anticipated, but its longerterm impact on anything from mortgage rates to the economy is unclear. Spot gold was set for a second consecutive trading rally, up 2.5 percent from Friday at $1,704.19 an ounce by 1135 GMT, having hit a record $1,715.01 earlier and having traded at alltime highs in sterling and euros.

“Everyone was talking about Armageddon at the weekend and this morning, it’s held the rot but doesn’t remove the themes that have been driving the stock markets,” said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.

Investors have bought more gold in the last month than in the prior six months, looking at the increase in open interest on COMEX for speculators and money managers, as well as inflows into exchange -traded products.

Hansen said the upward progress of gold could be jerky. “The question right now is if gold will be allowed to move much further.

There has been a huge build-up in speculative and long positions across the board over the last couple of weeks, but I suppose that central banks buying more bonds is not helping the overall worr y about how the economies are going to do over the months ahead,” he said.

According to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which collects information on holdings of futures and

options, and to ETF data collected by Reuters, investors bought over 18 million ounces of gold, or 30 percent of total identifiable investment demand in 2010, in the last month alone, compared with about 8.4 million in the year to early July. Finance chiefs from the world’s industrial powers pledged on Sunday to take whatever actions were needed to steady financial markets, spooked by the political wrangling in Europe and the United States over slashing their huge budget deficits.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said US Treasury debt is as safe as it was before the S&P downgrade, urging European leaders

SEATTLE: In this July 27, 2011 photo, a clerk takes a close look at a gold and diamond ring that a customer brought in to sell at a coin shop. The price of gold is streaked past $1,700 an ounce for the first time yesterday. — AP

to ensure there is an “unequivocal financial backstop” for euro zone governments facing fiscal and debt problems. “The uncertainty in the financial markets is keeping gold prices underpinned. It’s essentially safe-haven buying,” said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures. “One of the events that investors will watch is of course the FOMC meeting that is scheduled Tuesday ... investors will scrutinise the statement on the assessment of the economy and outlook for monetary policy.”

Investors are watching for any statement on whether the Fed will ease monetary policy further. The Fed’s $600 billion quantitative easing program, which ended in June this year, has been instrumental gold’s rise, even if adjusted for inflation, the bullion price remains well below the all-time highs above $2,000 in the early 1980s.

The prospect of an even longer period of low US interest rates prompted Goldman Sachs to raise its longer-term forecast for the gold price. Goldman said it had lifted its forecasts to $1,645, $1,730 and $1,860 on a three, six- and 12-month horizon, respectively.

Goldman had previously forecast the gold price peaking at $1,600 an ounce in mid2012. Meanwhile, gold in euros hit a record Ä1,195.66 an ounce, bringing gains in the last month alone to over 12 percent, while gold in sterling hit a peak of £1,043.76, for a gain of 9.3 percent in the same period.

In other precious metals, silver got a lift from the strength in gold as it can sometimes act as a cheaper safe -haven proxy for investors. Spot silver was last up 3.7 percent on the day at $39.72 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.8 percent to $1,725.74 an ounce.

The ratio of gold to platinum earlier fell to around parity for the first time since late 2008. Palladium was last down nearly 1 percent at $734.45. The palladium price has fallen by more than 14 percent in the last 6 trading days, since hitting a five-month high.

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BUSINESS

Searching for a new Sony in the rubble TOKYO: On a recent trip to Japan’s devastated northeast coast, venture capitalist Yoshihito Hori chanced upon a group of fishermen outside an evacuation center collecting wood from the debris where homes once stood. They were pulling out the nails and cutting it up to sell as firewood for 500 yen ($6.37) a bundle. The quake that triggered a once-in-a-thousand year tsunami had destroyed the port and boats that provided their livelihood, forcing the men to become small-time entrepreneurs to get by.

“History tells us that after a major quake or war there are more entrepreneurs coming up,” says Hori, the founder of Globis Capital Partners and Globis Business School.

Many of Japan’s best-known firms, Sony and Honda included, grew from ventures that got their start amid the wreckage of World War II as America dismantled Japan’s military-industrial complex. Two generations on, however, entrepreneurs struggle to survive beneath a canopy of sprawling conglomerates able to lavish money on inhouse research and development. As a career option, entrepreneurship is not encouraged or valued. Most graduates - at the urging of mom and dad - pick the safety but low return of a salaryman or civil servant job.

In its 2010 annual report, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which ranks attitudes toward entrepreneurship by country, the perception toward starting businesses in Japan was the worst among 22 developed nations. Japan’s score of 5.9 is less than a fifth of the average at 33.4. The United States was at 34.8, with Australia at 45.7 and Sweden at the top of the rankings with 66.1. According to a survey by the Japan Venture Capital Association, investment in startups in Japan dipped by 23 percent in 2010 to 15.1 billion yen.

Overall, the value of venture funds in Japan stands at around $22 billion compared with $190 billion in the United States.

The hope of venture capitalists is that the quake that shook Fukushima will jolt attitudes enough to nurture a new generation of entrepreneurs. “I am always saying the next Sony is going to come out of Fukushima. It’s why I am trying so hard to find that next company,” says William Saito, a start-up investor who moved to Tokyo after selling his biometric technology company in California to Microsoft .

Five months after the quake, a few green shoots are appearing, but mostly in niche areas. One company is making air-conditioned jackets and ventilated shoes to deal

with a power squeeze in the sweltering summer. Another is selling steel ‘arks’ designed to float occupants out of harm’s way should a monster tsunami strike again. But adding to expectation that business activity will expand beyond quirky products is an example from Japan’s last big deadly earthquake in 1995 centered on the western Japan city of Kobe that killed more than 6,000 people.

It spurred Hiroshi Mikitani, who after loss of two family members in the disaster, set up Rakuten , convinced that if he didn’t act on his business idea, fate may rob him of his chance. Today it is Japan’s largest online shopping mall with a value of $14 billion.

Rather than a dotcom, however, the next big idea may be in energy. After destroying large swathes of northeastern Japan, the temblor now threatens to fell one of the biggest trees in Japan’s corporate forest, Tokyo Electric Power . The sole provider of power to Tokyo and the surrounding region and owner of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, Tepco, as it is known, is now facing a taxpayer funded bailout and the prospect of a break-up. Such a move would “show that there aren’t any sacred cows anymore,” says Saito. “They transcended the word too-big-to-fail.”

Shuhei Abe, the founder of investment

firm Sparx Group , wants the giant disbanded to give other companies a chance to grow. “Energy all of a sudden has become a very big issue,” says Abe, who wants to see Tepco split into three parts; generation, transmission and at the delivery point retailers to package it to households and businesses. “The Tepco kingdom is almost like a government, sometimes stronger than the government. If you don’t pay tax you can live, if you don’t pay your bill to Tepco you have no life, nothing.”

Already leading the entrepreneur charge on Tepco’s weakened ramparts is Masayoshi Son, the founder of Softbank, Japan’s fastest growing mobile phone company and owner of 35 percent of Yahoo Japan. Son, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, is promising hundreds of million dollars of investment to construct an archipelago of solar power plants across Japan that would sell electricity to a deregulated grid. By cracking open Japan’s largely closed energy market, Son may open the door to smaller ventures supplying equipment and services to his new company.

Like their postwar forbears, ventures that emerge from the wreckage of Japan’s latest disaster, will have to succeed globally as well as in Japan, says Yoshikazu Tanaka the

founder of Japan’s biggest social game site Gree. Named by Forbes magazine in 2010 as Asia’s youngest self-made billionaire, 30something Tanaka is the poster boy for many of Japan’s wannabe entrepreneurs.

“The important point is finding a company that can sell its services or goods globally,” explains Tanaka. Being coddled at home, where there are fewer rival ventures, has been a stumbling block, says Tanaka, who is trying to take his company to China and North America. “In the US you have 10 or 15 times as many competitors.”

Investor Saito, who describes his own experience in California as a “knife fight”, won’t put any money into a company unless he is sure it has a chance of succeeding overseas. Recently he has made the recipients of his cash relocate to Dubai to learn what he calls the “last mile” of doing business. Even with enough cash and management expertise, however, ventures may still lack one crucial ingredient; political leadership strong enough to force giants like Tepco to splinter, shove bureaucracy aside and give new companies the space to flourish. Embroiled in infighting around the refusal of Japan’s increasingly isolated prime minister, Naoto Kan, to step down, such political boldness remains a rarity. —Reuters

US ice cream makers try to eat high ingredient costs Price increases for raw materials have been steep CHAMPAIGN, Illinois: The cost of the milk, butter fat and sugar that are key to Jim Capannari’s ice cream have spiked this year, but he hasn’t passed much of the cost along to customers. The Illinois ice cream maker and a lot of his colleagues don’t feel like they can, saying customers will only pay so much in a down economy, even for high-end treats. “The bottom line is you want to stay in business,” said Capannari, who went so far as to hang a sign in his suburban Chicago shop, explaining why cones went up 10 cents.

There’s no question the price increases for ice cream’s raw materials have been steep - milk prices have gone up an average 38 percent in the past year, according to the US Department of Agriculture, while sugar prices are up almost 20 percent and the cost of high-fructose corn syrup rose just over 22 percent. Yet the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average price of a half-gallon of ice cream has increased just 7 percent in that time.

In this case, he said, economic growth has turned the Chinese into major consumers of dairy products, but they don’t trust their own country’s powdered milk after tainted milk killed a number of babies and sickened thousands more. The relatively weak dollar makes American powdered milk a bargain in China and, as a result, the cost of a hundred pounds of milk - a standard wholesale measure - hit $22.10 last month. “That is the highest price that we’ve ever seen,” Dunn said.

thing that caught him way off guard at the time.

Since then, he’s gotten used to that sort of thing. And he’s gotten used to absorbing most, if not all, of the hit in his store and catering and wholesale businesses. He opens his store in Mount Prospect on St Patrick’s Day with one set of prices and keeps them there until he closes in October. This year, with the cost of ingredients already rising, he raised the price of a cone by a dime, to $3.25. But even

MOUNT PROSPECT, Illinois: In this Aug 3, 2011, photo Jim Capannari, a small ice cream maker, makes ice cream at his shop. —AP The factors behind the price increases for ice cream’s base ingredients are much the same as those for food in general - global demand, a weak dollar that makes American products more affordable overseas and the high cost of the mostly corn feed that most dairy cattle eat, according Penn State University economist Jim Dunn, an expert on the dairy business.

Similarly, sugar prices have been increasing over several years of high demand and big producers like Brazil coming up short. “That was one of those things that I never knew I would have to get into, commodities markets,” joked Capannari, who said his start in the business a decade ago coincided with a roughly 400 percent increase in the cost of vanilla, some-

then, he felt he had to post an apology.

Ice cream buyers like Lana Bradley, say he’s right to be wary of price-conscious customers. She shopped Thursday at a Schnucks grocery store in Champaign with a list full of sale items on a clipboard. Her ice cream, a seasonal flavor she really likes, wasn’t among them, but she said the price - almost $5 a half gallon - was about as much as

she’d pay. “It is quite good,” the retired grandmother said, nodding toward the carton in her cart. “(But) I probably wouldn’t buy it if it went up any higher than it is now.”

High-end ice creams, however, have carved out a niche for themselves during the recession and now-stalled recovery, said Larry Finkel, the food and beverage research director for the market research company Packaged Facts in New York. The products represent a form of affordable luxury, a treat that stands in for more expensive indulgences, such as travel or electronic toys.

“I think of Graeter’s ice cream,” Finkel said, referring to the 141-year-old Cincinnati company that only recently started selling nationally. “They use premium ingredients and they charge a good healthy amount of money for a pint of ice cream - and it becomes a good healthy kind of planned indulgence.”

But even companies that charge a premium for their pints say they aren’t making much money. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams runs just shy of $10 a pint, but CEO John Lowe said much of that goes toward the ingredients. “Grass grazed cows,” Lowe said, explaining where some come from. “We direct ship in from Uganda these amazing vanilla beans.” The cost, he said, adds up. But the Columbus, Ohio-based company won’t bet customers will pay more. “We have worked hard not to raise prices and in the last year have not done so,” he said, explaining that Jeni’s has tried to save money elsewhere, on transportation in particular.

“But the increase in commodities and fuel does impact the bottom line. We joke that we work in not a not-for-profit, but a low profit.”

Back at the Schnucks grocery in Champaign, most shoppers in the ice cream aisle said they look for sales these days and buy based on price.

Most said they’d probably give up ice cream if the cost went up too much.

But when pressed, a few reconsidered and said even a sharp price jump wouldn’t change their habits. —AP

HONG KONG: Indonesian women, many of them part of the city’s nearly 300,000 domestic helper workforce, socialize on their day off near Victoria Park on Sunday. —AFP

Hong Kong gears up for landmark labour case HONG KONG: Hong Kong is set to hear later this month a Filipino domestic helper’s legal bid for permanent residency in the southern Chinese city, in a landmark case that has sparked heated debate. A successful legal challenge will be a first of its kind in Asia, activists said, and a recognition of rights and equality for domestic workers, who are mostly from labour-exporting countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a Filipino maid who has worked and lived in Hong Kong since 1986, launched the case last year after her attempts for permanent residency were denied by the city’s immigration authorities.

Under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, a mini constitution, non-citizens are entitled to permanent residency - which allows them to vote and better access to public services - if they have “ordinarily resided” in the city for a continuous seven years. The immigration laws however specifically exclude the 292,000 foreign domestic helpers. The case, due to be heard from August 22, has prompted a series of debates with critics fearing that if the court rules in favour, it will open up the floodgates to thousands of foreign maids to apply for permanent residency.

“Just like bankers and teachers, they live here and contribute to the economy, why do we have to differentiate them just because of the nature of their job?” activist Doris Lee told AFP, branding the law “discriminatory”. Lee, of labour rights group Asia Monitor Resource Centre, urged Hong Kong to continue to lead in protecting the rights of domestic helpers.

Domestic workers in the Asian financial hub are guaranteed one day off a week, paid sick leave, maternity leave, statutory public holidays, allowed right to form union and earn at least $480 a month.

Their counterparts in many other parts of Asia - such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan - are worse off in comparison, rights groups say, lacking legal protection and often facing abuses. Foreign maids in Malaysia, for example, one of Asia’s largest labour importers, earn as little as $130 a month and reports have emerged from there of shocking mistreatment.

“Hong Kong is already kind of a leader but I don’t think it is enough when there is still fundamental inequality between domestic workers and other workers in Hong Kong,” said Lee. “If successful, (this case would) mark the first where migrant domestic workers could gain the right of abode after they live in the place for a certain number of years,” added the activist.

Supporters and critics of Vallejos’s bid have held rally and counter-rally over the upcoming case, while newspaper columns and letter pages have been filled with split opinions for weeks. The government has held special meetings to discuss the possible outcome and is reportedly mulling the possibility of limiting years of service of foreign domestic workers to prevent their bid for residency in the future.

A pro-government party warned there would be an influx of as many as 500,000 people - including children and spouses of foreign maids - and it would cost an extra HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) in social welfare spending. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said any influx would come at the expense of local workers and forecasted unemployment could jump from the current 3.5 percent to 10 percent. “We are worried and we hope the government can evaluate every possible outcome of the case as early as possible and be prepared on how to deal with it,” the biggest pro-government party said in a statement. —AFP

Mongolia frets as giant coal mine launch looms ULAN BATOR: Mining coal from landlocked Mongolia’s largest and least populated province located in the Gobi Desert, and then shipping it abroad, was never going to be easy. Banks and mining firms have been drooling over the 7.5 billion tonne Tavan Tolgoi project, believed to be the world’s largest coking coal deposit and named after the “five hills” that rise from the empty plains of the south Gobi around 300 km (190 miles) from the Chinese border. But last month’s botched bidding process to develop the western block of the property has left potential investors scratching their heads and put a much-heralded initial public offering of as much as $15 billion for the mine’s eastern block next year in doubt.

At stake is the promise of prosperity for Mongolia’s 2.8 million citizens, many of whom live on the edge of subsistence.

The mine’s transformational potential also has implications as a whole for the region, which produces more than half of the world’s steel and aims to wean dependence on primary coking coal supplier Australia. But Mongolians are worried that their two powerful neighbours, China and

Russia, will take their resources on the cheap unless key donors Japan and South Korea join the bidding - a point crucial for parliamentary approval later this year.

“It’s a big question mark on whether they can come up with a deal that can please everybody and have it approved in parliament when the autumn session opens in September,” said Akmal Aminov, an analyst at Eurasia Capital. Mining giants and trading houses from across the globe were involved in what had been promised to be a fair and transparent bidding war.

But they are now unsure whether a hotly disputed decision to award the mine to China’s Shenhua , US-based Peabody and a mysterious Russian-Mongolian consortium is final.

At least 150 representatives from 20 global investment banks landed in the Mongolian capital, a city marked by massive concrete block buildings built during its days as a Soviet client state, in midJanuary to pitch for a deal that could raise as much as $15 billion for the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine. Taking a night off from the task of drawing up bids, some of the bankers braved subzero temperatures and bracing

winds to gather in Ulan Bator’s exotically named Grand Khaan Irish Pub. Tensions over the bid were enough to start a brawl.

The matter seemed to be settled in February, after a similarly confusing sequence of events in which the government announced a list of winners and then backtracked, leaving the door open for others to join at a later stage. It eventually settled on BNP Paribas , Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie to lead the IPO, but recent events may have turned the lucrative listing into a poisoned chalice. The proposed share issue, possibly in Hong Kong, will cover the eastern block, but its fate is intimately linked with the western section, the subject of July’s abortive investment agreement.

“You need clarity on both before you can have anything marketable to the public capital markets,” said an Ulan Bator-based source involved in the process.

The investment agreement was expected to reach parliament for approval on July 7. But after South Korea complained the process was “unclear and unfair”, Erdenes - the state-owned firm in charge of Tavan Tolgoi - said a final deci-

sion had not yet been reached. Shenhua submitted its bid jointly with Japanese trading firm Mitsui & Co, while the Russian-led consortium originally included Itochu Corp, Sumitomo Corp, Marubeni Corp and Sojitz Corp. However, none of them were listed in the investment agreement, but Itochu and Mitsui, along with the Korean Resources Group, will be allowed to buy 30 percent of the coal purchased by China’s Chalco in a deal signed last week. Terms to be reworked include management duties, equity splits, mining royalties, participation from Japan and South Korea and production capacity, said a government source, adding “just about everything is back on the drawing board.” South Korea and Japan have been major donors to Mongolia since it became a democracy in 1991, funneling money to the country in the hopes of securing trade deals. But Mongolia’s unique geopolitical problems dominate everything from the divvying up of its resources to the direction of its railways, and while it is eager to please its allies, the success of Tavan Tolgoi will ultimately depend on Russia and China. “Mongolia is landlocked and we are

98 percent dependent on Russia for fuel and 90 percent dependent on China for trade - there is no choice,” said Baasanjav Enkhbaatar, chairman of the Mongolian Mining Club, a private sector industry group. Mongolia, facing elections next June, not only has to balance the interests of Russia and China and its donors in Japan and South Korea, but must also appease public opinion. “It is obvious what they did. You have China, you have Russia, and they included the United States. It is a typical Mongolian strategy,” said Oscar Mendoza, chief operating officer with the Ulan Bator-based Frontier Securities. “Did they use the Japanese and the Koreans to convince the people that this was not going to be handed to Russia and to China, and then in the end, take out the Japanese and the Koreans anyway?”

Estimates show that mining-related foreign investment in coal to copper and gold could exceed $10 billion in the next five years alone, far higher than the country’s total GDP of around $6 billion in 2010. But Mongolia has been under pressure to spread the wealth and fulfil the

promises it made at the last elections in 2008. The democratic government hopes to put $250 million from the Tavan Tolgoi project into its human development fund this year, and it has also pledged to distribute 10 percent of Tavan Tolgoi’s shares to citizens, with some saying it might raise that figure to 20 percent before polls open next year.

“The talk about shares to every Mongolian citizen is just to show that politicians are implementing their election promises,” said Dambadarjaa Jargalsaikhan, an economist well-known in Ulan Bator for taking the government to task. “Politicians are only promoting the IPO because they promised to do so during the last election, but there is a lack of voice from critical experts or financial analysts on whether this IPO is the right way,” he said. Until the uncertainties over the investment agreement are ironed out, the listing will remain under a cloud. “It has been a fiasco and it is giving all the investment bankers a headache,” said Mendoza of Frontier Securities. “Whoever did not win the initial bid for the Tavan Tolgoi IPO is very lucky.” —Reuters

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Kaspersky Lab’s KIS, KAV available Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announces the availability of the 2012 versions of its home user products KIS and KAV for customers across the Middle East region to benefit from its new and updated features that provides ultimate protection to PC’s from the rapid growth of threads. The two products are available in many of the specialized and unspecialized stores across the region, to make it available to the widest range of users possible.

The all-new Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 incorporate the most advanced and effective protection technologies: a sandbox for launching suspicious

applications, a program activity monitoring module, a script emulator, a cloud-based reputation database, a virtual keyboard plus many other features.

In the 2012 versions of Kaspersky Lab’s home user products, cloud-based technologies, the cutting-edge of antivirus development, have been improved. By regularly exchanging information between products installed on users’ machines and the centralized databases in the cloud, the most up-to-date threat information is made available for the protection of users. In addition to superior protection from the cloud, the new product versions also demonstrate how they do it. The main program window pro-

vides users with in-depth information about which cloud components are active and how they are protecting users’ computers and personal data.

Kaspersky Lab believes that the combination of cloud protection and security software running on users’ computers is an ideal way of ensuring multilayered protection. At present, this hybrid approach is the best option in terms of combating the wide range of threats out there in the wild. That is why both of the new product versions feature improved cloud technologies and enhanced program capabilities.

Tarek Kuzbari, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab Middle East and Turkey, said, “This launch comes as an assurance on our commitment to our loyal

customers in the Middle East region, who are becoming more and more tech savvy and security aware, especially with the increase use of social media and online services. The products are now available in all authorized stores”. “Being aware of the availability of pirated KL softwares in the region, our team have initiated a number of measures aimed at providing Middle East consumers with the supported and official products which are tailor made for the local needs,” continued Tarek Kuzbari, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab Middle East and Turkey.

“Our paramount priority is the protection of our customers from buying illegally imported products and indirectly lending their support to pirates in this

respect. And we want to ensure that channel partners stay well away from grey imports and turn to legitimate business practices instead.”

Kaspersky Lab has put together an anti-grey market drive that comprises a range of concrete steps designed to tackle the issue at its root. Kaspersky Lab will only activate codes designed for use within the Middle East region.

Localized versions of the products ensure that buyers gain technical support and activation codes. Moreover, the vendor has introduced boxes that include a territorial belonging identifier - a special line on the box in Arabic and English that specifies the region that the product is sold in, in addition to a stretch-card with ME barcode.

Microsoft gets artistic touch with flexible mouse ‘It’s a piece of jewelry that’s perfectly put together’

EMC highlights cloud computing in KSA JEDDAH: EMC Corporation and its security division RSA, were the main sponsor of the 4th Annual KSA Cloud conference held in Riyadh the June 12 and 13. EMC took the opportunity to discuss and emphasized on the importance of cloud computing in businesses’ success.

The 4th Annual KSA Cloud conference, focused on security, infrastructure and regulations specific to the Middle East region, and was attended by a senior EMC delegation, including ValentinPaniagua, Consulting Director, EMEA South, and Mark Tutton, Sales Manager, RSA, Saudi Arabia.

They discussed insights on the importance of cloud computing for customers and businesses and highlighted the essential impact of virtualization adoption on improving operational efficiency, quality of services and business agility. EMC also openly shared its own journey as it moves from a physical to virtual IT infrastructure, and ultimately, to the private cloud, and how this journey helped the company in reducing costs and transforming IT services to greater business innovations and competitive advantages.

Commenting on the event, Zaher Haidar, Regional Pre-Sales Manager at EMC Turkey, Emerging Africa and Middle East said, “Legacy IT infrastructures suffer from a high-level of complexity coupled with a low-level of utilization. Analysis shows that around three-quarters of our IT budgets are spent on maintaining existing hardware and software leaving only a small fraction to be spent on new service offerings”. The process of virtualization and cloud adoption as many benefits for businesses; it provides a greater level of flexibility, scalability, availability and savings, both economic and environmental.

EMC suggested following a pragmatic approach to deploying Cloud technologies. A Private Cloud model should be the first step onto the journey to the cloud. During this transformation, key enabling technologies such as Virtualization and Federation help improving the efficiency and agility of data centers andis enabling companies to build the VDC (Virtualized Data Centre.) A phased approach should be adopted to get to

a full Private Cloud environment: 1. In a first phase, IT production applications are virtualized leading to improved efficiency and higher simplicity. This phase is characterized by lower costs of IT as compared to traditional IT. 2. In the second phase, Business product applications are virtualized leading to improved scalability and continuity. This phase is characterized by improved Quality of Service as compared to traditional IT. 3.

In the third phase, Standardization and Automation are the enablers for reaching IT-as-aService. This phase is characterized by high-level of IT agility enabling IT to be run as a business.

During the conference, EMC presented Callaway golfing as a recent successful IT transformation, deploying EMC and VMWare solutions case study. An independent economic analysis of the Callaway Golf storage and landscape virtualization project was conducted by ASG, leveraging the Gartner advisory firm’s TCO model, the independent analysis quantified and qualified a ROI of 289 percent, meaning for every dollar invested in EMC and VMware solutions, Callaway Golf would save or earn $2.89, over a three year period. This included a 13 month payback-breakeven, showing the project would be self-funding in little over a year, and deliver over $1.8M in capital and operative expense savings.

Zaher Haidar

SEATTLE: When people pick up Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse, it’s as if they’ve picked up a toy. The pop-up mouse curls and flattens, and they instinctively begin snapping it back and forth. Microsoft has been chanting for two years that it wants its products to “delight” people. Delight is not the most common reaction to Windows. But, with the Arc Touch Mouse, it seems to have achieved its goal. “It’s not just a gadget. It’s a piece of jewelry that’s perfectly put together,” said Young Kim, the designer behind the mouse, which started selling in December for $70.

It’s strange to think of Microsoft taking baby steps, but that’s what this diminutive mouse represents to an elephant. Form long has been an afterthought to function at Microsoft, which for decades delegated design to PC makers such as Dell and HewlettPackard. The result: The company has become crusty in a design-savvy world, left in the dust

by Apple’s sleek iPhone and iPad. In part, that’s why Apple’s market cap - its shares outstanding multiplied by its stock price - is now more than $100 billion higher than Microsoft’s.

One of Microsoft’s recent device carcasses is the Zune, the music player meant to compete with Apple’s iPod. Microsoft pulled the plug on the Zune in March. Kim is a senior user-experience designer in Microsoft’s Hardware group, which makes mice, Web cameras and keyboards. Known for his ability to solve knotty problems with clever solutions, Kim started building the Arc Touch Mouse two years ago. He’s better known by his alias “youngki.” Despite his artfully arranged bedhead, he’s down-to-earth in a place where design arrogance can be common, lighthearted where company fights can be furious.

“Are we trying to design something cool or something that people can actually use?

Product design gets mistaken for something that looks good,” Kim said. “What’s most important is figuring out what kind of problem you need to solve.” His team went to a Seattle coffee shop and to the University of Washington campus to observe how people used their laptops. They noticed most portable mice were too small to maneuver, but a full-sized mouse was too bulky to pack.

The Arc Touch Mouse, which curls for use

and flattens for travel, was the answer. Tech reviewers have complimented its unique design. Microsoft declined to disclose sales numbers, but the device is ranked No 10 among computer mice on Amazon.com. Kim, 29, believes hope springs eternal for design, even at Microsoft. “We can take a traditional, somewhat stale category and when you have the right group of obsessive people, you can do some really cool stuff,” he said.

He is one of 35 industrial designers at a company with more than 88,000 employees.

“We’re people designing plastics, not pixels,” Kim said. There was a time when even Microsoft employees didn’t realize the company made hardware. That’s changed - especially with the success of the Xbox- but Microsoft remains first and foremost a software company. “You can release software, then release a patch,” said Dan O’Neil, a former Microsoft Hardware designer and Kim coworker now working at Dell as a senior lead industrial designer. “With hardware, you’ve really got to get it right. There’s capital investment and tooling investment in Asia. You can’t hide anything when you’re designing hardware.

“Getting the culture to understand that and the value of hardware is still probably a challenge at Microsoft, but I think they’ve made huge strides.” In Microsoft’s Hardware design workshop, windowless rooms are littered with foam cores that designers carve with X-acto knives. A 3-D printer builds objects by printing multiple layers of plastic on top of one another. Another room has a table saw and a jigsaw.

“We spend a lot of time arguing over even a 0.1-millimeter gap,” Kim said. On a wall, the team hangs design guideposts - copies of PowerPoint slides that have key words and photos on them. One says “clean aesthetic” next to a photo of a curvy electric tea kettle.

“It’s clean and soft at the same time,” Kim said.

“It’s not just gooey like Play-Doh. You have to have a level of confidence.”

He uses the words “clean and soft” to describe a simple pasta dish at Spinasse, a restaurant on Capitol Hill. “Sometimes you go to a restaurant, and the plate is covered with parsley and all this stuff. It shows insecurity,” Kim said. “They have a buttered sage pasta. It’s just a handful of noodles that is awesome.”

The rigor and discipline required to make hardware is not always appreciated at a company made up of software engineers. Two years ago, Kim said, “We met with the engineering team and we said, ‘We want something that is going to go from flat to curved repeatedly.’ They were like, ‘No way.’”

Growing up in South Korea, Kim said, the prevailing thought was that you couldn’t make a living doing art. His father, a business owner, nevertheless suggested he find an art school. Kim moved to Pasadena, Calif., to attend the Art Center College of Design. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in product design, he worked at a small design-consulting firm in Santa Monica called Ashcraft Designs. He introduced the designers there to Korean barbecue and soju, a Korean vodka distilled from rice.

The first thing he worked on was a speaker that he couldn’t even afford to buy. “It was $300, but it was still too much for me,” he said.

He was looking through the Microsoft jobs website and saw a listing with the Microsoft Research group to design objects. He thought a company like Microsoft would have a lot more resources to work with, and so he joined as an intern. Greg Jones, principal design manager at Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment business, hired Kim in 2004.

“He’s someone we kind of identified early as a real strong designer on the team,” Jones said.

“In addition to the design, it was his ability to think about how the product would be used. ... He has really clever ways of thinking through that.” Some designers can be pushy, Jones said, but Kim is not. “He really has a kind of lightheartedness but also a humbleness to his work,” Jones said. Kim now manages a team, after working in China between 2008 and 2010 setting up a design studio to work on the ground with electronics manufacturers.

Dell’s O’Neil says he remembers spending hours sketching designs with Kim. Once, the two were designing a new webcam and struggling with how to attach it to the laptop.

“Young’s approach was to make a little magnetic dot that would adhere to the back of the laptop,” O’Neil said. “It was just a more elegant way to solve it. That’s kind of the angle - finding that nice, simple, pure, core idea. That’s where Young’s strengths are.” — MCT

Do you want a handheld or a smartphone for gaming?

MUNICH: Can a mobile phone replace a portable gaming device? Both have pros and cons for gaming, meaning consumers have to decide where they ’re planning to play, how much money they’d like to invest and what depth of play they’d like. Still, the lines between the two platforms are ever blurring, a big difference from the days when the two were distinct devices. Then, casual gamers goofed off on their smartphones here and there while the true gamers needed a mobile console. “There’s still this distinction, but the borders are more in flux,” explains Andreas Leisdon of the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software. “Even staunch PC and console gamers use smartphones for playing.”

On top of that, smartphones are good for a lot that, until now, had nothing - or next to nothing to do with interactive entertainment, giving it inroads into the world of gaming. “Smartphone gaming is great for letting you fill the gaps in your day, like when you’re sitting in the subway or have a few minutes at the supermarket checkout,” says Markus Schwerdtel of the German computer magazine Gamestar. But, as has always been the case, handheld games are usually more complex and demand more playing depth, and tend to need more time if they’re to be played properly.

Handheld consoles also win by a nose when it comes to graphics, at least in most cases. True, Sony’s next generation of handheld, the Playstation Vita, expected to go on sale by the end of the year, won’t have HD resolution. “But it should come close to the graphics possibilities of a Playstation 3,” explains Marco Haentsch of German computer magazine, Computerbild Spiele. The consoles need to stay a step ahead of the smartphones, graphically, the way Nintendo has done with its mobile console 3DS. On the other hand, the first smartphones with 3D images on their displays came out this year.

And smartphones have one other advantage. “People already own them and always have them nearby,” says Haentsch. “If you have an additional handheld console, you always need to have another device with you and that can be a nuisance for a lot of consumers.” Plus, games for smartphones can be downloaded quickly and easily. Handheld games - aside from the new PSP Go - require gamers to go to the store or order them online. Of course, smartphones usually cost a lot more than a mobile console.

At the same time, the apps tend to cost less than 1 euro (1.44 dollars). Many of them are free.

Download statistics are impressive. “About 13 million apps were purchased in Germany alone last year,” says Leisdon. Those kinds of

prices mean people are more likely to grab an app than a handheld game. Those cost, on average, 25 euros. But there are limits to what you can do with smartphones vis a vis games. “The working memory isn’t sufficient for complicated games like Grand Theft Auto,” says Haentsch. “The iPad, which actually has a screen ideal for this kind of game, is overwhelmed when asked to display big, detailed, 3D worlds.” Directing play is also a problem on smartphones, especially when it comes to adventures or sports games with complex

gameplay, or where console games have been refigured for the smartphone. “Designers usually limit themselves to just transferring known concepts, without matching them up to the abilities of the smartphone,” says Schwerdtel.

“A virtual joypad doesn’t usually function so well on a touchscreen since it’s too cumbersome and inexact.” On the other hand, smartphones are great for dexterity, jump-n-run, design or strategy games. But not all the best-known series have been released for smartphones. — dpa

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

Years

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Surviving NASA rover nears rim of crater LOS ANGELES: Months after the death of the Mars rover Spirit, its surviving twin is poised to reach the rim of a vast crater to begin a fresh round of exploration. Driving commands sent up to Opportunity directed the six-wheel rover to make the final push toward Endeavour crater, a 14-mile (22-kilometer)wide depression near the Martian equator that likely could be its final destination. At its current pace and barring any hiccups, Opportunity should roll up to the crater’s edge today. The finish line was a spot along a ridge that the rover team nicknamed “Spirit Point” in honor of Opportunity’s lost twin.

“I’m totally pumped. We’ve been driving for so long,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St Louis who is part of the team. The milestone

injects a sense of adventure back into a mission that wowed the public with color portraits of the landscape and the unmistakable geologic discoveries of a warm and wetter past. The NASA rovers parachuted to opposite sides of Mars in 2004 for what was a planned three-month mission, but both have operated beyond their factory warranty.

Spirit’s journey ended in May after NASA ceased trying to contact it. It had been trapped in sand and unheard from for more than a year.

Opportunity has been on a driving spree since 2008 after it crawled out of a much smaller crater and trundled south toward Endeavour, stopping occasionally to sightsee and examine rock outcrops. Unlike the early days of the mission when

the public tracked Opportunity’s every move, the march to Endeavour has been largely low-key. In early 2009, Opportunity caught its first peek of the uplifted rim on the horizon. At the time, scientists were unsure if the rover would make it all the way.

The roughly seven-mile journey took longer than the estimated two years to fulfill.

Opportunity, driving backward to prevent its right front wheel from wearing out, could not travel as the crow flies because of dangerous obstacles. So it took a circuitous route and ended up driving twice the distance. Project manager John Callas of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Endeavour crater is arguably the most important science target since landing.

Opportunity, which logged more than 20 miles since landing, will spend several months imaging the rim and interior, which has been partially filled in by rocks and sediments. There are no plans to drive across the crater for fear of getting stuck, Callas said. Instead, it will traverse south along the rim in search of clay minerals thought to form under wet conditions. While these clay minerals have been extensively studied by orbiting spacecraft, Opportunity will be the first to examine them on the ground. “We will likely spend years at this location,” Callas said. “What a destination. It’s not just one spot.

There’s kilometers of interesting geology to explore.” — AP

Living alone after heart attack tied to death risk People living alone twice as likely to smoke NEW YORK: Living alone after a heart attack is associated with a higher risk of death over the next four years, while a lack of support at home was also linked to a lower quality of life just one year after the attack, according to a study. While the risk of death one year after a heart attack was about the same among people who lived alone and those who lived with others, after four years the risk of death was about 35 percent higher for people living by themselves, the study in the American Journal of Cardiology said. “Social support should be an important consideration after a heart attack,” said Emily Bucholz, lead research for the study and a student at the Yale School of Medicine.

“Special consideration should be given to ensure patients who live alone receive adequate social support from family, friends and neighbors to improve recovery.” Although the study could

not prove that living alone caused earlier death, the team did account for differences between the people living by themselves and those living with others, such as gender, race, marital status and pet ownership. That’s important, because these differences alone can affect well being and the risk of death, said Sharonne Hayes, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

“There are fundamental differences between those who live alone and those who don’t. You’re comparing apples to oranges,” said Hayes, who was not involved in the study. For example, nearly one-third of the study subjects who lived with others were at a healthy weight for their height, compared to only one-fifth of subjects who lived alone. People living alone also tended to be older and were twice as likely to smoke.

“This study confirms that there are differences between people who do or don’t live

alone,” Hayes added. Some studies have found that a strong social network, for example, is linked to health. Other research has shown that having a pet is also tied to survival. In addition to a lack of social support, people living alone may not have the assistance they need to exercise, take their medications or coordinate the logistics of attending doctor’s appointments.

Caregivers can reduce the risks that may come with living alone by providing extra support or follow-up care for people who recently had a heart attack, Hayes said.

Heart attack patients who may lack social support need to be proactive in seeking connections among people in their community, workplace or place of worship. “These things are not going to come to them, so they should seek it out. But people also shouldn’t think they’re doomed if they are living alone.” — Reuters

Staying fit when your workout is on holiday

BRISBANE: A beached humpback whale calf lies in front of the Surfers Paradise skyscrapers before rescuers dragged it back into the surf yesterday. — AFP

Beached baby whale returned to sea BRISBANE: A baby whale that beached in Australia has been returned to the ocean, but fears remained yesterday over whether the infant humpback would be able to find its mother. The week-old whale landed at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in the early hours yesterday and was returned to deep water some 12 hours later in an operation that involved rescuers hauling the calf into the surf. Staff from the nearby Sea World marine park and Gold Coast lifeguards searched from air and sea for the calf’s mother without success.” The hope of this exercise is that he will now be able to communicate with his mother but we don’t know where his

mother is,” said Sea World’s Trevor Long, who directed the rescue involving some 50 people. “However, they can communicate for many tens of kilometers so if his mother is 20 or 30 kilometers away she might be able to pick him up.” Long said the animal had been lying on one pectoral fin all night and was clearly sore and not moving freely. The baby would also only survive for up to five days without feeding from its mother, he added.

He admitted the creature could return to the beach. “We’ve done everything we can at this stage but at some point in time we’ll have to leave the animal and let nature take its course,” he said. — AFP

NEW YORK: There’s nothing like a week in paradise to derail a fitness regimen. Plucked from routine and surrounded by temptation, even the most healthconscious vacationers can find themselves torn between exercise and excess. A recent poll of over 1,000 American travelers by the travel website TripAdvisor showed that 52 percent exercise on their vacations. But 81 percent confess they are more likely to overindulge on food while away. The good news is that a week away from the treadmill will not turn you into a formless blob. The bad news is if you don’t plan to do something, guilt could ruin your good time.

When his exercise-addicted clients express their fear of taking a break to Mark Hendricks, the group fitness manager at an Equinox fitness center in New York, he often tells them their anxiety is more mindset than matter. “A week’s vacation, which is generally what most people take, will make no difference in your cardio vascular fitness,” Hendricks said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily such a bad thing to take a week off and let your body recover from all the workouts.”

Even gaining excess pounds is unlikely within a week, he said, “And if you do gain a few, they will come off just as quickly when you get back on your routine,” he added. Hendricks added that for many Type A personalities the greater challenge is to stop themselves from thinking that something awful will happen if they’re not able to work out for a few days.

“But for those individuals, the guilt is not worth it, so I tell them: splurge a little here and there but don’t fall off the wagon because it will make your vacation miserable. If not now, when you get back and for weeks after,” he said.

Hendricks speaks from experience. He used a recent trip to the Caribbean to control his own addiction to the gym. “I told myself ‘not every day.’ I decided I couldn’t be ruled by that because my mind was going there.” Instead he got his exercise by climbing cliffs, swimming and exploring the island. “I stayed active every day and I didn’t feel I had to be at the gym,” he said. “A vacation can be an ideal time to get out of that routine and get a workout out of the vacation.” Jessica Matthews, a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, tells her vacation-bound clients to plan their fitness ahead. “Find out if your hotel has a gym,” she said. “If you’re a morning exerciser, try to adhere to that routine.” For those less structured, Matthews recommends looking for little ways to be more active on your trip. “Start at the airport. Wear comfortable sneakers so you can briskly walk from one terminal to the next,” she said. “On a long flight, take a lap around the aisle every 30 minutes, or do some isometrics in your seat. — Reuters

MARYLAND: Ken Johnson from Waterloo, Illinois, works out at Bally Total Fitness. — MCT

Bodybuilders go all natural ST LOUIS: When Keith Hunter competes in a bodybuilding contest, he actually wants to have a polygraph test and urinalysis. That way he knows he’ll get a fair shake. The tests are administered at a growing number of “all-natural” events to detect the use of steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone, diuretics and a long list of other banned substances.

If they indicate that Hunter, 52, of St Louis, has been doping, he’ll be barred from competition for up to seven years, depending on the federation promoting the event.

About 30 years ago, the world of bodybuilding split into two types of federations: Those that do not (and never did) test every competitor before their events, and those that do. The later call themselves all-natural. Today, there are about half a dozen international allnatural federations, with pro and amateur divisions. Each of those divisions has dozens of regional and local promoters staging events. The difference in aesthetic between competitors in the two types of federations is noticeable, Hunter said. For instance, female bodybuilders in all-natural events still look feminine, while those who compete in sporadically tested events sometimes have bigger muscles than he does. They also often have manly jaw-lines and deep voices, he added, traits that don’t go away when they stop using steroids.

According to Rich Fitter, chairman of the International Natural Bodybuilding Federation in New York, those differences are growing. “If you look at the physiques of nontested bodybuilders 30 years ago versus now, it’s become a lot more extreme,” he said. “Where someone was impressive at 230 pounds back then, now you have them competing at 300 pounds and they have less body fat and are more defined.

They keep pushing the envelope, and it’s scary.” Very few natural athletes, even at the elite level, Fitter said, go above 210 pounds, and in many cases they’re far below 200 pounds.

Hunter stopped entering bodybuilding contests for three years during the early 1990s. He couldn’t compete against the hulking 300-pounders without doping and hadn’t heard about the all-natural groups yet. Hunter said he’s never used steroids but has seen the toll they’ve taken on others over time. The human body can only take using the drugs for so long, he said. It starts breaking down with injuries to ligaments and muscle tears. Hunter said he knows a lot of steroid users who have damaged livers and kidneys. Then there are the moral issues.

“I have a son who plays college football.

How would I explain that to him? It’s cheating.

It just is,” he said. Many of the banned substances are also illegal. Big-name competitors including Hidetada “Hide” Yamagishi, Eddie Moyzan, Greg Whiteley and Brian Chamberlain, have been arrested for selling or possessing anabolic steroids. Hunter now pro-

motes all-natural events. On July 9, he’ll stage the St Louis Natural Bodybuilding, Figure and Xtreme Fitness Championship at The Roberts Orpheum Theater. All participants must pay $40 in cash for a polygraph test, in addition to their registration fees. Licensed professionals will perform the tests.

When he’s not preparing to compete, Hunter works out 90 minutes a day, four days a week. Each workout includes an hour of weight lifting and 30 minutes of cardio. When he’s preparing for an event, he trains four days on, one day off. He doubles the weight he lifts and does two 30-minute cardio workouts a day. He also eats a high-protein, low-carb diet, drinks protein shakes and takes supplements including creatine, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Ken Johnson, 60, of Waterloo, Mo., is among the oldest men on the bodybuilding circuit, and he credits steering clear of banned substances for it.

“It’s like the turtle and the hare,” he said.

“Do you want fast results or do you want to do this long-term?” Johnson, 6 feet and weighs 185 pounds, hopes to still be competing in 10 years. Skin elasticity is an important part of that. “Once (bodybuilders) get off steroids (for health reasons), their skin elasticity is gone,” he said. “It’s like with obesity and losing weight; they have folds of skin.” Competitors in all-natural competitions must submit to at least one test as determined by the federation sponsoring it.

At some events, it’s just a polygraph test, and only the winners have further testing.

Other times, all competitors must submit to a polygraph and urinalysis. The natural federations also randomly test between competitions. Those who fail tests are banned for specified periods of time. Denny S Kakos, president of the International Natural Bodybuilding Association in Los Angeles, goes a step further by banning users for life and putting their name and picture on his website’s “Hall of Shame.”

Testing guidelines are much looser with federations that don’t claim to be all-natural.

According to the group’s website, The International Federation of BodyBuilders, which stages the Mr Olympia contest, can randomly test competitors during weigh-in and registration at events. Or they can randomly test competitors chosen from among the top finalists. Or they can target test athletes that they suspect have used banned substances.

The rules don’t specify that must do at least one. They also select bodybuilders from among top finalists at their world championships to be tested between events. In March, about 200 participants competed in the National Physique Committee’s Midwest Classic at St Louis University. The committee is the US arm of the International Federation of BodyBuilders. None of the contestants was tested, said promoter Jack Titone of St Louis.—MCT

Singing has health benefits for elderly HAMBURG: Inge is unlikely to ever get a solo part in the opera Aida, yet every week she goes to her choir group for rehearsals. The choir has members from over 10 different countries and more than half are aged between 40 and 60. “I’ve been singing since I was a school child,” says the 67-year-old. What does singing mean for her? “It’s relaxing and I can switch off from the routine of daily life.” Whether you are 50 or 70, singing is something that you can do, even as a very elderly person. Experts agree that it helps improve the memory and your sense of hearing.

“If you have to concentrate on vocal tone, you will keep yourself mentally fit, because it keeps the brain active,” says Elisabeth Bengtson-Opitz. The 65year-old has been singing since she was three and spent many years teaching singing at Hamburg’s

University for Music and Theatre. Since the 1990s she’s been focusing on the subject of the “ageing voice”. The process of singing a note is a complicated one, and just like other body parts, the vocal cords are subject to the aging process.

“A 55-year-old will have less breath than a person of 25,” says Bengtson-Opitz. Elderly singers cannot hold a note for long and have difficulties with high notes. Women’s voices can also become very shrill or “droney”. The change is caused by the muscles between the ribs, in the back and stomach area becoming flaccid. But a good bass voice or a clear soprano are not impossible to achieve for an elderly person. The best thing to prevent your muscles from going limp is to take exercise. Bad notes are best corrected with plenty of training with an experi-

enced choir master. Claudia Ruebben-Laux is one such person. She’s the deputy head of the Choir Association of the State of North Rhine Westphalia.

She’s also the voice coach of the “German Silver Singers”, a choir whose members must be at least 66-years-old. “It’s important to develop a routine.

The breaks between practice should be small and you should rehearse new pieces very often,” is her advice. Elderly people are less open to learning modern works, in Ruebben-Laux’s experience.

However, much depends on how new songs are brought across to the elderly. “The best method is to present new works in a cohesive fashion that makes sense. Try describing the composer and then go over the lyrics with the choir group together,” says Ruebben-Laux. —dpa

DUISBURG: The yet unnamed newborn female Siberian tiger cub is on a first trip with mother Gisa at the enclosure of the Zoo. Worldwide there are only 200 tigers left in the wilderness of Siberia. — AP

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Few replicas as first cloned cat nears 10 COLLEGE STATION: Nearly 10 years after scientists cloned the first cat, predictions of a vast commercial market for the “resurrection” of beloved pets through cloning have fallen flat. The leading US pet cloning company halted operations in 2009 and the livestock cloning business remains relatively small with only a few hundred pigs and cows cloned every year worldwide.

But CC’s doting owners still consider her a great success. She may be slowing down a bit these days, and her grey and white figure has gotten a bit plump after giving birth to kittens three years ago, but that’s part of what makes CC so extraordinary: she is completely normal.

“People expect there to be something different about her,” said Duane Kraemer, a Texas A&M University researcher who was part of the team that cloned her. “We took her to a cat show once. A guy who came by to see her said she looks like any other barn cat.” CC-which stands for Carbon Copy-was born in an A&M lab on December 22, 2001, from a cell taken from a calico cat named Rainbow that was inserted into another cat’s embryo. The embryo was then implanted into a surrogate named Allie.

While CC has Rainbow’s exact genetic

construct, she lacks her orange coloring because generally only two colors-not three-can be transferred when cloning calicos. “Cloning is reproduction, not resurrection,” Kraemer, who is now semi-retired, told AFP in an interview at his College Station home.That-along with a price tag which could reach six figures-is one of the main reasons why cloning pets hasn’t worked out.

‘The market is actually extremely small’ Too few pet owners sought its services, Lou Hawthorne, the head of BioArts, wrote on the company’s web site two years ago when explaining why the firm was getting out of the pet cloning business. “After studying this market for more than a decade-and offering both cat and dog cloning services-we now believe the market is actually extremely small,” he wrote on BioArts’ now-defunct website.

And while many of its dog clones turned out normal, researchers could not explain why some were plagued by physical defects.

“One clone-which was supposed to be black and white-was born greenish-yellow where it should have been white,” he wrote.”Others have had skeletal malforma-

BRATISLAVA: A woman holds her cat on August 6, 2011 during the two-day international cat exhibition. — AFP

tions, generally not crippling though sometimes serious and always worrisome,” he added. “These problems are all the more worrisome given that cloning is supposedly a mature technology in general.”

The first successful animal clone-Dolly the sheep-was born in 1996 at the Roslin Institute in Scotland and was euthanized in 2003 after developing lung disease.

Researchers at Seoul National University cloned the world’s first dog, Snuppy-a combination of the university’s acronym and puppy-in 2005. CC’s history is intertwined with that of Genetic Savings and Clone, a company also headed by Hawthorne that was a forerunner of BioArts. John Sperling, the founder of the for-profit University of Phoenix, pumped

$4 million into animal cloning research at Texas A&M in the 1990s. He wanted to clone Missy, the beloved dog of his longtime beau who is also Hawthorne’s mother. Hawthorne partnered with A&M and set up the for-profit Genetic Savings and Clone as a business that charged owners tens of thousands of dollars for cloned pets. “When CC was born and didn’t look like the donor, the business side and A&M began to have a falling out,” said John Woestendiek, author of Dog, Inc: The Uncanny Inside Story of Trying to Clone Man’s Best Friend.

For Hawthorne, CC undermined his effort to market cloning as a way to get back a beloved pet. A&M researchers were uncomfortable that the company was telling people that it could provide replicas of pets. Eventually, Sperling and Hawthorne split with A&M. Genetic Savings and Clone moved to Wisconsin, where it unsuccessfully tried to clone dogs. It later closed and Hawthorne went on to found BioArts.

Cloning livestock has more success Cloning livestock has had more success because of the commercial value of good livestock: breeders are willing to pay

tens of thousands of dollars for a clone of a prize-winning cow or horse. Some livestock also are easier and cheaper to clone than dogs, Woestendiek told AFP. Austinbased Viagen: The Cloning Company is one of two primary US companies cloning livestock and several others operate in other parts of the world. “We have produced cloned horses from sterile donors that are now reproducing effectively and offering genetic opportunities that were not possible with the donors,” Aston said.

“We have produced dairy cows that have won international competitions.”

Viagen estimates that about 3,000 livestock animals have been cloned since Dolly was created, company spokeswoman Lauren Aston told AFP. About 200-300 cows and 200-300 pigs are cloned annually worldwide. Viagen charges $165,000 to clone a horse, $20,000 for a cow and $2,500 per cloned piglet. Piglet clones are usually part of a litter, and owners buy the litter. Viagen’s livestock clones, she said, have not been plagued by malformations and its researchers do not know why BioArts experienced such results when cloning dogs.—AFP

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W H AT ’ S O N

Sheraton Kuwait, Four Points hold Loyac summer program

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he Sheraton Kuwait and Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait were pleased to welcome students from the Lothan Youth Achievements Center (LoYac) to undergo a constructive training in the various departments of the hotels. The students were individually interviewed by the Human Resources team in order to discover the student’s area of interest and accordingly, they were allocated to the departments that best reflects their interests. Exposure to the working environment of the hospitality industry at the Sheraton Kuwait and Four Points

by Sheraton Kuwait will enhance their growth potential and help them evolve into competent professionals. Thus, the Sheraton Kuwait and Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait once again provide a guiding force in the community and continue to have an active role in supporting youth affairs. On this occasion, Fahed Abushaar General Manager of the Sheraton Kuwait stated “this training program has been carried out for years at both hotels and we are very happy to be welcoming different students every year acknowledging them about the hospitality industry and its different departments and to be giving them a better understanding of this dynamic industry. We hope that with this condensed training we have helped develop their professional future and we look forward to training more students in the years to come”.

A very happy birthday to Layan Basim Naser.

Best wishes and blessings come from dad, mom, Judy, Salam and Ghanim.

Squash tournament Aware Arabic courses

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he 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.

Photography contest

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he Cancer Aware Nation (CAN) in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes Institute will be holding a photography contest during Ramadan. The theme of photo contest is to highlight the quality and quantity of healthy foods against unhealthy foods and the correct or wrong methods of preparing and cooking foods. This activity is part of the awareness campaign of CAN during the season of Ramadan to educate and encourage the public to observe healthy eating habits to eat cancer - fighting foods and to promote an active lifestyle to stay fit and healthy and especially to prevent cancer diseases.

The contest is open to the public and exciting prizes await the winners. The following prizes will be awarded: first place KD 1000, second place KD 200 and gift vouchers third - fourth fifth places KD 50 and gift vouchers sixth to tenth place gift vouchers. All participants will receive certificates of appreciation. Deadline for submitting the photo entries is on 24/8/2011. More information about this contest can be found at www.Shireenalmutawa.blogspot.com or call 22250226.

Birthday Greetings

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

Don Bosco Oratory announces cricket tournament

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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 13.

We request all interested teams to contact the organizer at the school grounds between 7-8 pm Mon - Thurs or: Philip: 6604-7730, Alex: 6606-9282, Liston: 99849649

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nce again this year, the stage is set for the third annual ‘Ramadan Stars Squash Tournament’ to be held from 15th August to 22nd August at the Kazma Sporting Club, Adailiya. Abdulrahim Al Awadi, the Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee has announced that doors are now open for registration to all those who are interested in participating, stating that the deadline for registration will be 13th of August.

The participation in this tournament is open to all and will fall under three categories this year. The first category is for amateurs from ages 17 and above, second category is for professional players from ages 20 and above and the third category is for ladies 17 and above.

Following its last two years of grand success, the 3rd annual Ramadan Stars Squash Tournament is being organized during Ramadan for squash lovers who will have an opportunity to practice the sport while being encouraged to develop their skills in a healthy and competitive environment.

Al Awadi, the Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, commented, “In our last two tournaments, we have received very positive feedback and have witnessed a huge number of interested participants thus giving us immense encouragement to hold an exciting tournament this year. The 2011 squash tournament offers a great opportunity to all squash players to accept another challenge and build on their sports skills in midst of a friendly atmosphere. I highly encourage all interested players to maintain their level of activity during Ramadan while balancing fitness and fasting and to register before the deadline ends”.

All details pertaining to the tournament and means to participate can be found on the tournaments facebook page under ‘Ramadan Stars Squash Tourney’. The registration is taking place at GO SPORTS located at The Avenues Mall.

Alawadi also pointed out the great interest the ‘Ramadan Stars Squash tournament’ received from the private sector, where companies took the initiative in sponsoring the tournament. Alawadi expressed his gratitude and thanks to Go Sports, Comtel, Right Guard, TRACCS Public Relations, and Unite Colors, guaranteeing unique prizes for all winners.

For details contact Sarah Saeed TRACCS Tel: 22916093/ 66491539 Fax: 22916095. E-mail: sarah.saeed@traccs.net

Happy birthday to Ammu Kuttan. May you have all the joys your heart can hold, all the smiles a day can bring, all the blessings a life can hold. We celebrate a person who brings happiness to everyone, someone who gives more than she gets, and fills our lives with joy and fun. Many, many happy returns of the day (5th birthday) to our Ammu Kuttan (Kripa Mariam Laku). Chackochan, Appa, Amma, Linupa, Thottathil and Areekal family.

Announcements Gergean Fashion Show Get your kids dressed up in their best Gergean costumes or Fairy tale costumes! The Kids Gergean Fashion Show event is sponsored by Fantasy World & it includes lots of entertainment & goodies. It is open to kids aged 2 to 15 years. This event will be covered by many magazines :) When: Thursday, August 11th, Time: 8:30pm, For more info: 9722-4813 GIRGIAN: A fun Girgian party at Baroue! :) When: August 12th, 13th & 16th, Where: Baroue, Avenues Mall, Time: 8pm, For more info: 2259-7457 to 60 Ernakulam iftar Kuwait Ernakulam Residents’ Association (KERA) iftar on August 13, at Rhythm auditorium, Abbassiya, from 5.30 pm onwards.

Attention kids!

CEF VBS 11 starting from August 22. Six exciting days of singing, games & bible stories for children of all ages.

Hurry !!!. Limited Seats. Register Online: www.cefkuwait.org Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. So step forward to grab this opportunity to show your caliber and entertain.

Dance, music, art or any special talent- now is your chance to showcase it - and be part of this year’s Talent Hunt & Tulu Parba. Talent Hunt event is open to all Tuluvas. For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva23726164, Suma Bhatt- 97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana- 66585077 Sanath Shetty- 67712409.

Pathanamthitta 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.

Al-Jahra Copthorne Hotel’s Ramadan celebrations

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l-Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort has announced that it will host celebrations during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Tamia the main restaurant of the hotel presents an open buffet filled with rich assortments of delicious Ramadan delicacies, a

colourful spread of cold and hot appetizers and eastern specialties imbued with the sweet aroma or herbs and an amazing selection of refreshing beverages and luscious desserts that will satisfy your appetite.

As for the young ones, the

hotel offers its swimming pool which will be opened from 8:00 am till 11:00 pm for them to perform swimming exercises during the month of Ramadan. The private tents of the hotel add a special flavour to all those who wish to enjoy Ramadan under the

moon and stars, offering a la carte menus for those wanting to have Shour at Al-Jahra copthorne Hotel & Resort or just Ramadan drinks and shisha for those who just want to spend their time watching their own private TV. Packages have been prepared

for the companies that will be organizing treats for their employees during the month of Ramadan whether it is Iftar, Shour or a ghabqa. Al-Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort wishes Kuwait Times and all its readers Ramadan Mubarak.

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.

Indian bowling league Indian Bowling League Season 2 would like to invite you and your families to participate in an Indian bowling event where all nationalities, the young and the old can have fun playing an enjoyable game while meeting new people in a healthy competition from July 12th - August 15th For more details contact: Uly 99503348, Amaldo 66052062, and Nasha 99516960. If anyone is looking to assist them in this event with sponsors, they will be really obliged to have your help to make this event a success. Registrations are open.

Rink soccer Don Bosco Oratory is pleased to announce its Major 4A-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. 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.

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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. ● The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed on Monday, 15 August 2011 on the occasion of the National Mourning Day, the 36th Death Anniversary of the Father of Nation - Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Embassy will arrange the following programmes to observe the National Mourning Day, the 36th Death Anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Monday, 15 August 2011 at the Chancery. The programme on this occasion will be as follows: 0830 hrs Roof top Hoisting of the National Flag at half-mast 1630 hrs First Floor Recitation from the Holy Quran one-minute silence in honour of the martyrs.

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Iftar party and dua mahfil held

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alalabad social welfare association (Jalalabad Association) organized an Iftar party and Dua Mahfil on August 4, 2011 at a hotel in Kuwait City.

The ambassador of People Republic of Bangladesh Sayed Shahid Reza was the chief guest of the party, counselor of Bangladesh embassy Nur Islam, Military Attach Brigadier General Aminul Hassan and 1st secretary of labor K M Ali Raza and country manager of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were among the other special guests of the Iftar party.

Chief guest conveys his good wishes and Ramadan blessing to the Muslim Umma and Bangladeshi People in homeland and abroad especially in

Kuwait, and request the community to abide by the rules of inhabitant country.

Abdul Khaliq Chowdhury, Al-Haj Nazmulislam Muheet, Jalal-uddin Khan Babul and Syed Rehan Ahmad were also the honorable guests of the Iftar party.

Al-Haj Abdul Mumin Chowhdury president of Jalalabad association presided over the Iftar party. Secretary Moinul ul-Islam also participated in organizing the function. The recitations of Holy Quran were made by Hafiz Molana Aftab uddin, Molana Abdul Ahad and Munwar Hussain. Special duas were offered for the Muslim Umma on the occasion of Ramdan.

Other organizer of the function were, Dr Jamal uddin (VP) Mayoob Ali

Mahboob (VP) Anhar Miah (VP) Aleem uddin (VP) Moinul Islam (Organization Secretary) Salah uddin (Deputy Secretary) Akhlaq uz-Zaman Munna (Assistant Secretary), Faisal Ahmed (VP) and Liton Ahmed (VP).

President and representatives of other social and cultural group, local business men, and a large number of other community member, attended the dua ceremony, Bangaldesh Awami Leage, BNP, Jatio Party, Jubo League, Sromik Leage, Such ShaBok League, Jobodol, Awami Foundation, Jassas, Bongo Bondo Soink League, Mukti Judha Sonhoti Porshed, Jonht Porshed, Chitagong somitti, Commilla Probashi somitti.

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y name is Salsa and I am a playful, loving domestic short-haired female cat. I adore receiving attention from PAWS staff and volunteers and am just waiting patiently for one of them to take them home with me so I can spend the rest of my life in domestic bliss!

To adopt Salsa, learn more about PAWS or make a donation please visit us at www.pawskuwait.org

Chudogram somitti, Barishal somitti, Samol Sylhet, Anchur Cultural Group, Abdul Kareem Sheiphi Gushti, Rituranga Sheiphi Gushiti, Bangaldesh Sanskrit Karia Chakro, Bangaldesh Sanbadik Preshad, Sommilloto Media Group, Asker Shurjudai, Probash Bangla, Probash Konto, Bangladesh Bharta, Jalalababd Shilpi Gushit, Media Television Kuwait, Sobuz Bangla, Sanskritik Jute, managers association, and Doctors, Engineers, and other expatriates attended the function. Mumin Chowdhury thanked the chief guests and all other honorable and distinguished guests who attended the Iftar and Dua and wished them blessings of Ramadan Kareem.

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enny is a very special dog, she was rescued with a badly broken leg and suffered a lot till she was saved.

She is a medium size Labrador Mix who is so friendly and playful. She is completely recovered now and is such an angel. During her long time of treatment and recovery she was always friendly and thankful. She deserves a really good home.

To adopt Jenny, learn more about PAWS or make a donation please visit us at www.paws-kuwait.org

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.

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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.

MOTOR SPORTS Kuwait Motor Bike League / The Amateur Car & Motorbike Association Motorbike track (for trail/dirt bikes) and rally car-racing centre located behind the Science Club on the northern side of the 6th Ring Road (between roads 401 and 50). Car and bike races held on Fridays. Use of facilities and participation in competitions limited to members only. office on 3td Ring Road, near Road 50.

NETBALL Kuwait Netball Meet Monday for mixed games 6:30 -7:30 and Tuesday for Woman only check the website for more info. www.kuwaitnetball.com RUGBY Kuwait Nomads The rugby season in Kuwait runs from September to May. Mens, ladies and minis rugby are played and the teams frequently travel to participate in AGRFU tournaments. Any interested child between the ages of 5-17 can participate in the Minis rugby. Training is held every Friday between 9am-llam on the grassed pitch at the Yarmouk stadium. The men’s and ladies teams have the pleasure of training and playing on the KOC sand pitch in Ahmadi, the home of the Kuwait Nomads. Training nights are Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm-9pm. InterGulf matches are played on Thursdays or Fridays. www.p8nompds.com RUNNING For anyone who likes walking, jogging or cycling in Kuwait there is a very good track

around the area of Mishref. The track is 4.9km long and is marked out in distances of 100m.

There are also a number of outdoor exercise machines located near the start and the end of the track. Please note, however, that the track is more of a horseshoe shape rather than a complete circuit as there is a gap of at least a mile between the start and finish. Decide how far you want to walk, walk half the distance and then turn back. There are roads to cross so take care if you have young children with you.

Despite all of this, it’s still very worthwhile going along and trying it out.

HASH HARRIERS 23982219 Social jogging on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Hash Harriers has been operating around the world since 1938. Hash is for a mixture of abilities from walkers to experienced runners. It is social rather than athletic. Length of course depends on time of year. Contact Gerry Burton on the above number or on 99764028. www.hasher.net SAILING The Arabian Gulf waters are an ideal environment in which to learn to sail. Offshore the seas are seldom rough and there is often a moderate breeze. Many of the sea clubs organize sailing activities.

CATAMARAN SAILING 66587737 Dive Caroline Beach Fafaheel The Kuwait Catamaran Club is a group of enthusiasts who love sailing on fast cats in the Arabian Gulf’s waters around Kuwait. Usually an informal group sail on Friday afternoons. Boats are privately owned but visitors are very welcome and can be taken out as crew. Boats for hire, a Dart 18 and Hobie 16.

Contact John Morley johnmorley@hotmail.com Fahaheel Sailing Club (see Dive Caroline) 2371 9289 www.horn3.com

KOSA 23983365 99745383 The Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Dive Caroline clubhouse, which is located at the Fahaheel Sea Club. Fortnightly racing plus International events in Bahrain and Dubai. Boats often require crew and will take you if you turn up!

Catamaran racing is arranged after KOSA morning races, followed by a sunset barbecue on the beach. An Annual Regatta, usually during April, is also organised. www.kospg8.com SCUBA DIVING The Arabian Gulf is the perfect place in which to learn to scuba dive. Although dive sites are not as spectacular as those in the Red Sea and Thailand, the local environment is conducive to teaching youngsters who wish to do fairly shallow dives and build up their confidence. A parent/guardian is required to accompany all children between the ages of 10-12.

Thereafter the child may be accompanied by a diving instructor. It is a good idea for adults to attend the theory classes with their children.

DIVE CAROLINE 2371 9289 Fahaheel Sea Club, Fahaheel Dive Caroline is a friendly sailing and diving club with pool, beach, sauna, steam room, fitness and social areas. Scuba diving training and equipment sales; skippered sailing yacht charter for up to 8 passengers; fishing charters (up to 6 passengers with a max. of 2 trawling lines); skippered power boat hire for 6, 8 or 14 passengers.

Birthday parties are hosted at the DC pool for children 8 years old and over (maximum of 16 children). Swimming lessons for children as well as private lessons for adults. Banana boat rides, water skiing, kayaking. 10% dIscount for BLS Members (and friends) on stock purchases and on training courses for groups of 6 or more participants,

Medic First Aid courses and Paedlatrlc First Aid courses. www.divecaroline.com Dive Centre 99649482 The Palms Hotel, Salwa A full service PADI 5 Star Dive Centre catering for all of your diving requirements. www.thepalmsdivecenter.com KIM Dive Centre 23716002 Villa 365, Hilton Kuwait Resort Kuwait International Marine (KIM) Centre is a full service PADI 5 Star Dive Centre catering for all of your diving requirements. 10% discount for all BLS Members on courses, boat trips and Dive Shop. www.kimcenter.selmpb.com Kuwait Mantas Non profit scuba diving group See ‘Interest Groups’. info@kuwaitmantas.com www.kuwaitmantas.com SHOOTING Hunting & Equestrian Club 24739199 Shooters can sharpen their skills at the range.

Members aren’t charged any fee but have to bear the costs of the cartridges while guns are provided by the club.

Shooting Range Complex 2475 9999 Off the 6th Ring road and drive past the Hunting and Equestrian Club. www.nrckuwait.com SOFTBALL Ahmadi Softball Located at the softball grounds situated behind the Governorate Building in Ahmadi SQUASH Squash courts are available at a few of the 5star hotels as well as at the Salmiya Club. There are a number of squash leagues and tournaments are held throughout the year.

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 The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following dates on August 15, 2011 (Monday) - ‘Independence Day’ and August 22, (Monday) - ‘Janamashtami’.

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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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF SLOVAK REPUBLIC The Embassy of the Slovak Republic to the State of Kuwait would like to inform the public that from 8th August 2011, the working hours of the Consular Section will be on Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 till 13:00 hrs.

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00:45 Dogs 101 01:40 Untamed And Uncut 02:35 Killer Crocs Of Costa Rica 03:30 Crocodile Feeding Frenzy 04:25 I’m Alive 05:20 Animal Cops Houston 06:10 Dogs vs. Cats 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Natural Born Hunters 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 11:55 Meerkat Manor 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 13:45 Animal Cops Houston 14:40 Animal Precinct 15:30 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 Dogs 101 18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Orangutan Island 19:15 Crocodile Hunter 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz

00:00 00:30 01:15 02:10 02:55 03:25 03:55 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 12:20 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:40 23:30

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One Foot In The Grave The Weakest Link Holby City The Fixer Eastenders Doctors One Foot In The Grave Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola One Foot In The Grave The Weakest Link Britain’s Royal Weddings Doctors Eastenders Holby City One Foot In The Grave Britain’s Royal Weddings The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Britain’s Royal Weddings The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Spooks One Foot In The Grave

Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me New Scandinavian Cooking What Not To Wear Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge Cash In The Attic USA Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge What Not To Wear

09:55 Indian Food Made Easy 10:20 Indian Food Made Easy 10:50 Cash In The Attic 11:35 Antiques Roadshow 12:25 New Scandinavian Cooking 12:50 New Scandinavian Cooking 13:15 Britain’s Dream Homes 14:10 Come Dine With Me 15:00 What Not To Wear 15:25 Indian Food Made Easy 15:50 Indian Food Made Easy 16:15 Cash In The Attic 17:00 Antiques Roadshow 17:50 New Scandinavian Cooking 18:20 Britain’s Dream Homes 19:10 Indian Food Made Easy 19:35 Indian Food Made Easy 20:05 Cash In The Attic 20:50 Antiques Roadshow 21:40 New Scandinavian Cooking 22:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 23:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Claus Meyer 23:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Claus Meyer

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 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

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Dirty Jobs Miami Ink Ultimate Survival Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How Does It Work?

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Street Customs 2008 How Does It Work?

Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Flying Wild Alaska Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Miami Ink Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters Deadliest Catch Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings How Does It Work?

Cash Cab (US) LA Ink Taking On Tyson Pit Bulls And Parolees Deadliest Catch

00:05 Smash Lab 00:55 Man Made Marvels Asia 01:45 Things That Move 02:10 Things That Move 02:35 Kings Of Construction 03:25 Scrapheap Challenge 04:15 How Stuff’s Made 04:45 Man Made Marvels Asia 05:40 One Step Beyond 06:10 Nextworld 07:00 Scrapheap Challenge 07:55 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:50 The Gadget Show 09:15 The Gadget Show 09:40 Catch It Keep It 14:55 Catch It Keep It 15:45 Weird Connections 16:10 Scrapheap Challenge 17:00 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 17:50 Sci-Fi Science 18:15 The Gadget Show 18:40 Space Pioneer 19:30 How The Universe Works 20:20 Smash Lab 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 The Gadget Show 22:00 Space Pioneer 22:50 How The Universe Works 23:40 The Gadget Show

00:15 00:35 01:00 01:25 Cody 01:50 02:15 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:35 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:15 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:35 09:00 09:20 Cody 09:45 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:20 11:30 11:35 12:00 Splits 12:10 12:20 12:30 12:40

Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up The Suite Life Of Zack And Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School The Suite Life Of Zack And Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Splits Mickey Mousekersize Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Splits The Hive Handy Manny Splits Jake & The Neverland Pirates

STONE OF DESTINY ON OSN CINEMA

Splits 12:50 Sonny With A Chance 13:10 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 13:35 Phineas And Ferb Splits 13:50 Shake It Up 14:15 Hannah Montana 14:35 Suite Life On Deck 15:00 Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior 16:30 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 16:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 17:20 Hannah Montana 17:50 Hannah Montana 18:20 Suite Life On Deck 18:45 Fish Hooks 19:10 Shake It Up 19:35 Jake & Blake 20:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 20:25 Hannah Montana 20:50 Fish Hooks 21:15 Hannah Montana 21:45 Shake It Up 22:10 Suite Life On Deck 22:35 Good Luck Charlie 23:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:25 Jake & Blake 23:50 Hannah Montana

06:00 American Dragon 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:00 Zeke & Luther 08:15 Zeke & Luther 08:40 Kick Buttowski 09:00 Zeke & Luther 09:25 Zeke & Luther 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 I’m In The Band 10:40 Suite Life On Deck S3 11:05 Suite Life On Deck S3 11:30 Phineas & Ferb 11:55 Phineas & Ferb 12:20 I’m In The Band 12:45 I’m In The Band 13:10 Hatching Pete 14:35 Phineas And Ferb 14:50 Zeke & Luther 15:15 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 17:15 Zeke & Luther 17:40 Phineas & Ferb 18:05 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 21:50 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 22:15 The Super Hero Squad Show

00:05 Jungle Junction 00:15 Little Einsteins 00:40 Higglytown Heroes 00:55 Higglytown Heroes 01:10 Jo Jo’s Circus 01:30 Special Agent Oso 01:45 Special Agent Oso 02:00 Jungle Junction 02:15 Jungle Junction 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:50 Higglytown Heroes 03:20 Jo Jo’s Circus 03:40 Special Agent Oso 04:10 Jungle Junction 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Higglytown Heroes 05:30 Jo Jo’s Circus 05:50 Jungle Junction 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Higglytown Heroes 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 Timmy Time 08:20 Handy Manny 08:30 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 08:45 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 08:55 The Hive 09:10 Handy Manny 09:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 10:15 The Little Mermaid 10:40 Little Einsteins 11:05 Jungle Junction 11:20 Lazytown 11:45 Handy Manny 12:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 12:25 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 12:40 The Little Mermaid 13:05 The Hive 13:15 Special Agent Oso 13:25 Little Einsteins 13:50 The Little Mermaid 14:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:05 Handy Manny 15:30 The Hive 15:40 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 15:55 Imagination Movers 16:20 Lazytown 16:45 Jungle Junction 17:00 The Hive 17:10 Little Einsteins 17:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 17:55 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 18:10 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 18:25 The Little Mermaid 18:50 Special Agent Oso 19:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:50 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:00 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:10 The Hive 20:20 Timmy Time 20:27 Animated Stories 20:30 The Little Mermaid 20:55 Little Einsteins 21:20 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 21:35 Jungle Junction 21:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:15 Timmy Time 22:25 Handy Manny 22:40 Jungle Junction 22:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:20 Special Agent Oso 23:50 Jungle Junction

00:25 Kendra 00:55 The Soup 01:25 15 Unforgettable Hollywood Tragedies 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Married To Rock 10:15 50 Cutest Child Stars: All Grown Up 12:05 E! News 13:05 The Dance Scene 13:35 The Dance Scene 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 E!es 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Holly’s World 21:55 Holly’s World 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:15 Man’s Work 00:40 Mantracker 01:30 World Combat League 02:20 Man’s Work 02:45 Man’s Work 03:10 Kick Ass Miracles 03:35 Aiya TV 04:00 Untracked 04:25 Untracked 04:50 Mantracker 05:40 World Combat League 06:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 07:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 08:00 Cape Epic 08:25 FIM World Motocross MX1/MX2...

09:15 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 09:40 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 10:05 Railmasters 10:30 Stairsmasters 2010 10:55 Dr Danger 11:20 Dr Danger 11:45 Fantasy Factory 12:10 Fantasy Factory 12:35 Man’s Work 13:00 Man’s Work 13:25 Mantracker 14:15 World Combat League 15:05 Dr Danger 15:30 Dr Danger 15:55 Fantasy Factory 16:20 Fantasy Factory 16:45 Cape Epic 17:10 FIM World Motocross MX1/MX2...

18:00 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 18:25 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 18:50 Railmasters 19:15 Stairsmasters 2010 19:40 Mantracker 20:30 Man’s Work 20:55 Man’s Work 21:20 Untracked 21:45 Untracked 22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Aiya TV 23:25 Aiya TV 23:50 Man’s Work

00:30 01:20 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting Stalked: Someone’s Watching Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghost Lab Mystery Diagnosis Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Disappeared FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Fugitive Strike Force Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Fugitive Strike Force Deadly Women Couples Who Kill Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 02:00 Word Travels 02:30 Market Values 03:00 The Best Job In The World 03:30 Madventures 04:00 Which Way To...

05:00 Word Travels 05:30 Market Values 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 08:00 Word Travels 08:30 Market Values 09:00 The Best Job In The World 09:30 Madventures 10:00 Which Way To...

11:00 Word Travels 11:30 Market Values 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled

THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:30

Cycling Home First Ascent Banged Up Abroad Eccentric Uk Eccentric Uk Weird & Wonderful Hotels

By Any Means Earth Tripping A World Apart Cycling Home First Ascent Banged Up Abroad Eccentric Uk Eccentric Uk Weird & Wonderful Hotels

By Any Means Earth Tripping

00:15 02:00 03:45 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 PG15 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Final-18 Triassic Attack-PG15 Se7en-18 Collateral-18 Unbreakable-PG15 Dick Tracy-PG15 The Marine 2-PG15 Unbreakable-PG15 Beyond A Reasonable DoubtThe Marine 2-PG15 The Alphabet Killer-PG15 D4-PG15

01:00 The Waiting City-PG15 03:00 At Risk-PG15 05:00 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 07:00 Emotional Arithmetic-PG15 09:00 The Sunset Limited-PG15 11:00 Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea-FAM 13:00 5 Dollars A Day-PG15 15:00 The Spy Next Door-PG15 17:00 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 19:00 Meet Bill-PG15 21:00 Everywhere And NowherePG15 23:00 She’s Out Of My League-18

00:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 02:00 Comedy Central Presents 02:30 Comedy Central Presents 03:00 Just Shoot Me 03:30 Just Shoot Me 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Just Shoot Me 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Traffic Light 10:00 Cougar Town 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 Just Shoot Me 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 Seinfeld 14:30 Traffic Light 15:00 Cougar Town 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Just Shoot Me 19:00 Cougar Town 19:30 Raising Hope 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Cleveland Show 22:30 Rita Rocks 23:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30

Smallville Lie To Me In Treatment In Treatment

03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The Closer Cold Case Detroit 1-8-7 Smallville 8 Simple Rules ...

Coronation Street Tower Prep Detroit 1-8-7 The Closer Cold Case 8 Simple Rules ...

Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tower Prep Smallville 8 Simple Rules ...

Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tower Prep Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice House Lie To Me Detroit 1-8-7

01:30 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 03:00 Bugsy-18 05:15 Legion-18 07:00 Timeline-PG15 09:00 The Taking Of Pelham 123-18 11:00 Set It Off-18 13:00 The Hunt For Red OctoberPG15 15:15 The Taking Of Pelham 123-18 17:00 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time-PG15 19:00 Fast Lane-PG15 21:00 D4-PG15 23:00 Stag Night-18

00:00 Ball & Chain-PG15 02:00 I Love You Beth Cooper-PG15 04:00 Houseguest-PG15 06:00 102 Dalmatians-PG 08:00 School Of Rock-PG15 10:00 Dragnet-PG15 12:00 The Ramen Girl-PG15 14:00 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 16:00 Ball & Chain-PG15 18:00 Dance Flick-18 20:00 The Prince And Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon-PG15 22:00 I Love You, Man-18

01:00 Soul Food-18 03:00 Le Code A Change-PG15 05:00 The Mirror Has Two FacesPG15 07:00 Capitalism: A Love Story-PG15 09:15 Everybody’s Fine-PG15 11:00 In God’s Hands-PG 13:00 End Of The Spear-PG15 15:00 Where The Wild Things ArePG 16:45 By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama-PG15 19:00 Cape Fear-PG15 21:00 Cheri-PG15 22:45 Shining Through-PG15

01:00 03:30 05:30 07:00 09:00 10:45 13:15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Forrest Gump-PG15 Dean Spanley-PG 9-PG Glitter-PG15 A Lot Like Love-PG15 The Lovely Bones-PG15 The Last Song-PG15 Inside Job-PG15 A Lot Like Love-PG15 Cop Out-PG15 Case 39-18 Moulin Rouge!-PG15

01:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 03:00 Time Kid-FAM 05:00 The Country Bears-PG 07:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 09:00 Wild Records!-PG 11:00 Toy Story 3-FAM 13:00 Ulysses-PG 15:00 Stuart Little 2-FAM 17:00 Toy Story 3-FAM 19:00 War Of The Buttons-PG 21:00 Ulysses-PG 23:00 Stuart Little 2-FAM

00:00 02:15 04:00 06:00

South Solitary-PG15 A Fork In The Road-PG15 Moon-PG15 District 9-PG15

08:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 10:00 Marmaduke-PG 12:00 Make It Happen-PG15 14:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 16:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 18:00 Whip It-PG15 20:00 Shanghai-PG15 22:00 Predators-18

00:00 01:00 03:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 17:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

WWE Vintage Collection NRL Premiership UFC 133 Trans World Sport Tri Nations Speedway WWE SmackDown!

Le Mans Series Magazine Powerboats UIM Class One NRL Premiership International Rugby Union UFC 133 Trans World Sport Speedway WWE Vintage Collection Powerboats UIM Class One

00:30 AFL Highlights 01:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 02:00 Rugby League Challenge Cup 04:00 Masters Football 07:00 Rugby World Cup Classics 07:30 Futbol Mundial 08:00 NRL Premiership 10:00 FEI Equestrian World 10:30 Tri Nations 12:30 Rugby World Cup Classics 13:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 13:30 Trans World Sport 14:30 ICC Cricket World 15:00 World Hockey 15:30 AFL Highlights 16:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 17:00 Spirit of Yachting 17:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 18:00 Scottish Premier League 20:00 International Rugby Union 22:00 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 22:30 Tri Nations

00:00 Futbol Mundial 00:30 Tri Nations 02:30 AFL Highlights 03:30 Rugby World Cup Classics 04:00 Trans World Sport 05:00 Scottish Premier League 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 08:30 AFL Premiership 11:00 Scottish Premier League 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 AFL Highlights 15:00 Scottish Premier League 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 NRL Full Time 18:30 Golfing World 19:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 20:00 Five Beach Volley Ball 20:30 Futbol Mundial 21:00 Rugby World Cup Classics 21:30 NRL Full Time 22:00 Trans World Sport 23:00 AFL Highlights

00:00 Speedway FIM World 01:00 Powerboats F1 02:00 UFC 133 Prelims 03:00 UFC 133 06:00 UFC Unleashed 07:00 WWE Bottomline 08:00 V8 Supercars Championship 10:00 Powerboats F1 12:00 WWE Vintage Collection 13:00 V8 Supercars Championship 15:00 WWE SmackDown!

17:00 WWE Vintage Collection 18:00 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 19:00 Powerboats F1 19:30 Powerboats UIM Class One Highlights 20:00 Speedway 21:00 UFC 133 Prelims 22:00 UFC 133

Classifieds TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation in Abbassiya near Balansiya Bakery, from 1st September, full furnished 2 bedroom flat with mini split A/C, looking for executive bachelor or couple to share with Keralite family.

Contact: 66944127 or (afternoon) 24334240. (C 3560)

9-8-2011 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya, near United Indian School.

For a couple KD 80 or bachelor KD 50. Contact: 99645213.

(C 3557) 8-8-2011 Furnished sharing accommodation in a 2 bedroom apart, for an executive bachelor or couple in Farwaniya, for RC Goan or Mangalorean with Mangalorean bachelor behind Crowne Plaza.

Contact: 97521167, 24762183. (C 2554) 7-8-2011 One room fully furnished in 3 bedroom C-A/C flat is available for rent. Muslim bachelor/ Pakistani is preferred. Contact 99714430.

(C 3553)

FOR SALE Nissan Sunny 2009, white color, 71000km, KD 2,300/-.

Contact: 65085629.

(C 3559) 9-8-2011

PGDBA born & brought up in Kuwait and employed in MNC Kuwait since 2008 from parents of Orthodox / Jacobite / Marthoma girls B.Tech/MCA/MBA/M.Com employed in Kuwait.

Contact email: thekalloors@gmail.com (C 3555) 7-8-2011

MATRIMONIAL Proposals are invited for a RCSC girl, 30, 165 working as accountant with a reputed company in Kuwait.

Email: anson7714@yahoo.com (C 3556) 8-8-2011 Kuwait Orthodox parents invite proposals for their son 29/172cm, M.Com

SITUATION VACANT A driver for a family of two adults, will have to carry other tasks, must have a valid driver’s license and transferable visa interested call Tell: 99160902 9-8-2011 British family in Fintas looking for live-in maid.

Please Contact: 23908092 after 2pm. (C 3558) 8-8-2011

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 THY ETH UAE DHX ETD MSR GFA QTR AFR JZR KAC KAC BAW KAC FCX JZR KAC JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE IRA QTR ABY QTR ETD GFA MEA MHK MSR UAL RJA KAC FDB KAC SVA KAC KNE KAC

Flt 642 772 620 853 370 305 614 211 138 6700 539 544 412 157 416 201 557 206 533 302 53 332 352 284 855 605 132 125 6130 301 213 404 711 610 982 640 512 57 562 500 546 745 746

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 9/8/2011 Route AMMAN ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BAHRAIN DOHA PARIS CAIRO CAIRO MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ISLAMABAD ASSIUT MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DHAKA DUBAI ISFAHAN DOHA SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAGHDAD / NAJAF CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN TEHRAN DUBAI AMMAN JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH ABU DHABI / DAMMAM

Time 0:05 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:15 3:20 3:25 3:50 4:40 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:00 7:05 7:15 7:30 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:10 9:30 9:35 10:55 11:00 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:05

JZR QTR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY FDB RBG ALK KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB VOS KAC OMA MEA KAC MLR MSR DHX KLM KAC UAE GFA QTR UAL AIC MSR JZR DLH JZR AXB KAC PIA

257 134 303 857 215 510 213 201 127 63 3555 227 104 166 502 542 786 774 777 674 790 572 61 93 1730 647 402 552 1405 618 372 443 614 859 217 136 981 981 612 185 636 135 389 1732 205

BEIRUT DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DEIREZZOR DAMASCUS SHARJAH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO / DUBAI LONDON PARIS / ROME BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH RIYADH JEDDAH DUBAI MEDINAH MUMBAI DUBAI KANDAHAR / DUBAI JEDDAH MUSCAT BEIRUT DAMASCUS COLOMBO / DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DOHA / BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD CAIRO DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE JEDDAH LAHORE / PESHAWER

15:10 15:15 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:40 17:55 17:55 18:00 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:25 23:55

Airlines DLH JZR AIC PIA THY ETH UAE DHX ETD MSR QTR AFR RJA GFA KAC BAW FDB KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA KAC QTR ETD GFA JZR QTR KAC MEA KAC JZR MHK KAC KAC JZR MSR RJA FDB KAC

Flt 637 532 576 240 773 620 854 371 306 615 139 6700 643 212 545 156 54 745 256 511 561 856 126 604 101 133 302 214 212 6131 165 405 541 200 712 501 785 776 611 641 58 1729

Departure Flights on Tuesday 9/8/2011 Route FRANKFURT ASSIUT GOA / CHENNAI SIALKOT ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI / HONG KONG AMMAN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA LONDON DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI BEIRUT TEHRAN AMMAN DUBAI SHARJAH ISFAHAN LONDON / NEW YORK DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN DEIREZZOR DOHA ROME / PARIS BEIRUT CAIRO DAMASCUS NAJAF / BAGHDAD BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH

Time 0:40 0:45 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:55 4:05 4:05 5:00 5:10 7:00 7:10 7:40 8:25 8:40 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:40 9:50 9:55 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:30 10:40 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:15 12:20 13:00 13:30 13:50 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC UAL KAC KAC KNE SVA KAC KAC VOS ETD QTR UAE GFA KAC ABY RBG SVA FDB JZR ALK KAC JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC JZR KAC OMA MEA MLR MSR DHX KLM UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC KAC UAL MSR JZR

789 982 551 673 746 501 773 613 82 304 135 858 216 1731 128 3556 511 64 184 228 283 134 361 571 62 343 538 351 648 403 1405 619 373 443 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 411 981 613 556

MEDINAH BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA / BAHRAIN BAGHDAD ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN JEDDAH SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA RIYADH DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI / COLOMBO DHAKA BAHRAIN COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI CHENNAI CAIRO COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT COLOMBO ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO ALEXANDRIA

14:40 14:45 14:55 15:10 15:40 15:45 15:50 16:20 17:00 17:35 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:15 18:20 18:35 18:35 18:40 18:45 19:10 19:30 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:55

34

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 404

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Everything looks like candy—good business deals, great ideas, etc. If you get to pick and choose—go for the long-run instead of fulfilling the needs of the moment. You are respected for your ability to pick and choose accordingly. You develop a knack for organizing things and people. Work, achievement and ambition are the things that mean a lot to you. Your words and ideas can transport and enchant listeners; carrying them beyond the world they know and into a world as they wish it could be. Your imagination and sense of what connects all of life are felt in your speech and in the way you communicate. Take the time to give a helping hand or a listening ear to young people. A fable will help you get your message over to a young person this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This is a great time to team work. You may be chosen to perform a particular job. You may decide to take a few risks and dare to be different. You will prosper through new insights, inventions and an independent point of view. You have great ideas and your career could improve and open up through some new approaches. Don’t be afraid to assert yourself. Freedom is a watchword of yours and if your professional life does not include travel, you could feel rather trapped. It could be time to look into ways in which you could benefit the company for which you work, perhaps through some travel and contact with other businesses or customers. A friend visits you this evening, and you find that you have more in common than you thought!

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

5. A town in southwestern Idaho.

10. Tag the base runner to get him out.

13. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

14. (informal usage) A general feeling of boredom and dissatisfaction.

15. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

16. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

17. (Norse mythology) Goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match.

18. Seed of a pea plant.

19. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

21. Mostly white aquatic bird having long pointed wings and short legs.

23. The villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife.

25. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

28. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

29. A constitutional monarchy in southeastern Asia on Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.

34. An imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children.

36. A hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color.

38. Widely known and esteemed.

39. South American plant cultivated for its large fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers.

41. The fatty flesh of eel.

42. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

43. (Jungian psychology) The inner self (not the external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious.

46. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

49. Wild sheep of northern Africa.

51. Water buffalo of the Philippines.

54. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

58. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

59. Small genus of aquatic or semiaquatic plants.

62. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

63. A room equipped with toilet facilities.

64. An area where many people go for recreation.

65. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

66. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

67. Cause to be confused emotionally.

68. A light touch or stroke.

DOWN 1. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

2. Someone who copies the words or behavior of another.

3. A small cake leavened with yeast.

4. Of or relating to Iraq or its people or culture.

5. A soft gray ductile metallic element used in alloys.

6. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than beer.

7. A master's degree in library science.

8. Apathy demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions.

9. The largest continent with 60% of the earth's population.

10. Chevrotain somewhat larger than the kanchil.

11. Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829).

12. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

20. System of measurement based on centimeters and grams and seconds.

22. A river that rises in western New Mexico and flows westward through southern Arizona to become a tributary of the Colorado River.

24. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

26. The cry made by sheep.

27. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

30. A federation of North American labor unions that merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955.

31. Type genus of the Amiidae.

32. Not only so, but.

33. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

35. Jordan's port.

37. A man who is the lover of a girl or young woman.

40. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

44. A form of communism developed in China by Mao Zedong.

45. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

47. A drug (trade names Calan and Isoptin) used as an oral or parenteral calcium blocker in cases of hypertension or congestive heart failure or angina or migraine.

48. An anti-TNF compound (trade name Arava) that is given orally.

50. Make less active or intense.

52. An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect.

53. On or toward the lee.

55. (computer science) A data transmission rate (bits/second) for modems.

56. God of love and erotic desire.

57. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

60. A former French coin of low denomination.

61. A form of address for a married woman.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You are a natural architect and builder, able to use your mind to make decisions in matters of form and function. For you, the goal and the way to get to it are the same thing. You like to build each step and have each decision clear. Things must be done right, which can become worrying for others at times. You might work better by yourself or within an assembly program. You also have great skill with the law, whether man-made or those of nature; you can put all of this into words. You understand how to handle authorities and have a natural gift at solving problems. Careful review of your finances may find you planning a vacation or a budget. Lovers, children and other people or things dear to you are emphasized tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Ambition and achievement questions are on your mind today.

This is a time for getting ahead, for combining business and pleasure, for enjoying your career and savoring its rewards. The social graces can help you in your quest to succeed. This is a good day for practical ideas and planning pertaining to your work or vocation. You may receive some recognition regarding your particular skills and abilities. Outer circumstances and the flow of events make it easy for you to make good decisions, see the road ahead and move forward. Things seem to fall into place and progress is easy. Be careful not to overextend or bite off more than you can chew. Perhaps a visit to a spa for a massage and perhaps a soak in the special waters would be nice.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Self-discipline and a sense of self-worth become important issues in your life this morning. There are plenty of opportunities to excel in business at this time. The way you work is transformed; there is a high-tech element to this, plus a reorganization of the way you work with other people. A fear of expressing yourself can hold you back. The trick is in learning to make the most of your personal talents and working within your limitations instead of feeling hemmed in by them. Stop funding energy to what does not work and you will become successful. Some of you have not changed your health habits. However, radical new approaches to health, diet and exercise can change your life now, as a whole new health—consciousness appears.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Everything points to your taking the initiative this day. You will have more support than you thought possible. This is a lucky day and energies are in your favor for whatever you want to accomplish. Your career, practical vision and skills are of central importance to you. You are organized and deliberate in this area of life. Your reputation and image are a source of concern and you do everything you can to make them solid. Interestingly enough, if you look around, you will find your job security is more secure than ever. You may find that over the past few months you have enlarged your scope of friends. The new people have similar goals to your own new goals—you will help each other to reach. Your life seems to be moving in very positive ways.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There is a need to be respected. Perhaps someone is trying to take credit for your hard work. This could become an emotionally charged issue—if you allow it. All will be discovered in due time—stay quiet, if at all possible—there is much to do. Work, achievement and ambition are the things that mean a lot to you now. You are always exploring and testing theories, other’s and yours. This afternoon is perfect for making new friends. You may also find yourself drawn to the unusual when it comes to love at this time— you should feel free to express your needs. The ability you and a loved one share to read the other’s thoughts may bring unexpected rewards. Involve your family in some fun games and puzzles this evening.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There is a drive to probe and penetrate now—this may find you examining and working through some strong internal changes.

Push too hard and you could be too dominating to yourself and others. This is a great time to be with others and to work together—much is accomplished. You alter between the radical, rebellious and independent person you feel yourself to be and a more conservative and traditional bent. Your organized moments may lack originality and your crazier moments want caution—an ongoing battle. The rebel in you likes to ignore your dreams and ideals and just let come what may. You relish your freedom and independence and pursue it even at the expense of what you really want. Put yourself in a creative environment this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

You could have difficulty getting your ideas across to others this morning. Pay attention, but know that this is probably the result of a fully packed weekend! Try a different method of expressing yourself later in the day. Your efforts will not go unnoticed. Logic seems to get you where you want to go. Your ambitions and goals are central to your character.

Much of your personal life hinges on pursuing your own success. This is a time to take risks and dare to be a little unconventional. You will prosper through new insights, inventions and an independent point of view. Your career could assume a more resolute and solid form. This afternoon a try at some group sports will work off some of the stresses from earlier today.

This is a time when you can expect a little boost, some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you. You may feel that you are in touch and in harmony with others and the lines of communication are open. The support you need is available for whatever you want to accomplish.

Your own inner psychology and vulnerabilities are open to you now; almost as if in a waking dream. A renewed interest in exploring the realm of dreams and imagination finds you getting to the heart of your sensitive areas. This is a time of soul-searching during which you examine your ideals and goals with an eye to separating the wheat from the chaff. You could take an interest in world unity and a more communal type of existence.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a day to strengthen your career. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility may guide your movements today.

You appear your usual easygoing self today. Everything seems to be working together and you may find yourself expressive and able to communicate well. Your patience may be needed, however, when you are called on to instruct or update another in some business technique. This is a time that is perfect for starting something or for taking care of business. Others may find you a smooth talker with a quick wit and ready tongue—very physical too. Your home environment, friends and surroundings get your attention this evening. It could be dinner out or arranging time to just relax and communicate with a loved one.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

This may be a difficult day to keep your mind on the business world. There is a real possibility that the decisions you make and the solutions you find in this business world may have to be reworked tomorrow. Others want to help you, if help is needed. A community, church, business or a charity planning committee may be in the making this afternoon. The planning committee has been a long time in coming and now there may be an opportunity to have people work together in a most positive way. Your part in all of this may be in helping to encourage voting or support those that want to make a difference. You will have an opportunity to speak about an important matter. Love is in the air this evening; enjoy receiving or giving attention.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

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4732263

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22517733

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22517144

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24848075

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24849807

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24848913

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24814507

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22549134

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22526804

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24814764

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22515088

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22532265

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22531908

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22518752

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22459381

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22451082

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22456536

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22465401

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25746401

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25316254

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25623444

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25388462

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25381200

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22630786

Sabah

24810221

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24770319

New Jahra

24575755

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24772608

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24775066

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24775992

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24311795

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24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

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PHARMACIES

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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

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New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

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24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

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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

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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

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Years

lifestyle A w a r d s

Selena Gomez, center, accepts her award onstage. — AP photos

Justin Bieber accepts the award for choice music: male artist at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday.

S Emma Stone accepts the award for choice movie actress: romantic comedy ‘Easy A’.

Ashton Kutcher accepts the award for choice movie actor: romantic comedy for “No Strings Attached”.

elena Gomez conjured five wins at the Teen Choice Awards - one more than boyfriend Justin Bieber. The star of “Wizards of Waverly Place” was selected as choice TV actress, female hottie and music group with her band The Scene.

Gomez and her ensemble were also awarded the choice single trophy for “Who Says” and love song for “Love You Like a Love Song,” which the 19-yearold actress-singer performed at Sunday’s freewheeling fan-favorite ceremony.

“This is for all of you guys,” Gomez told the screeching crowd. “This isn’t mine.” Bieber, Gomez’s 17-year-old actor-singer boyfriend, picked up four surfboard-shaped trophies as choice male music artist, male hottie, twit and TV villain for his “CSI” guest starring role. Other multiple winners included “Glee,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “The Twilight Saga,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Robert Pattinson and Taylor Swift. “I feel like it’s been a long time since I was a teenager, like, two years,” Swift joked. Swift tied Gomez with five awards: choice female music artist, country female artist, female red carpet fashion icon, country single for “Mean” and break-up song for “Back to December.”

The 21 year-old crooner was also honored for her contributions to entertainment with the Ultimate Choice Award, the show’s version of a lifetime achievement award.

“The Big Bang Theory” leading lady Kaley Cuoco hosted the 13th annual extravaganza at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Gibson Amphitheatre.

Between dispensing awards like candy, Cuoco battled “Chuck” star Zachary Levi in table tennis, danced alongside “America’s Best Dance Crew” winners Poreotix and jokingly quizzed teenagers about current affairs. There were moments of seriousness amid the silliness. Sean Kingston made his first live televised appearance since recovering from injuries he suffered after crashing a watercraft into a Miami Beach bridge in May. Demi Lovato, who entered a treatment facility last November to deal with “emotional and physical issues,” was on hand to accept two awards. “You guys are what got me through this last year,” she told the audience.

Other winners who picked up surfboard-shaped trophies included Cameron Diaz as choice movie comedy actress for “Bad Teacher,” Ellen DeGeneres as choice comedian and Ashton Kutcher as choice romantic comedy movie actor for “No Strings Attached.” Before leading the crowd in a singalong

(From left) Shaun White and Zooey Deschanel present the award for choice comedian to Ellen DeGeneres.

Selena Gomez performs.

(From right) Rupert Grint, Tom Felton and in background via satellite Daniel Radcliffe accept the “Harry Potter” awards. of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Kutcher provided some topical advice. “Don’t ever charge anything on a credit card if you don’t already have the money in the bank to pay for it,” he said.

The ceremony ended with a tribute to the “Harry Potter” film franchise. The final two installments apparently bewitched online voters, winning such categories as choice sci-fi/fantasy movie, liplock, villain for Tom Felton and summer movie star for both Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, who accepted his surfboard via satellite from New York. — AP

LL Cool J and Cat Deeley present an award at the Teen Choice Awards.

Members of the cast of “Vampire Diaries” accept the choice TV show: sci-fi/fantasy award.

Cameron Diaz accepts the award for choice movie actress: comedy.

(From left) Tom Felton and Rupert Grint are seen onstage with the “Harry Potter” awards.

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Years

lifestyle A w a r d s

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Choice Movie Action: “Fast Five.”

Choice Movie Actor Action - Johnny Depp, “The Tourist.”

Choice Movie Actress Action - Angelina Jolie, “The Tourist.”

Choice Movie Sci-Fi/Fantasy: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”

Choice Movie Actor Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Taylor Lautner, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”

Choice Movie Actor Romantic Comedy: Ashton Kutcher, “No Strings Attached.”

Choice Movie Actress Romantic Comedy: Emma Stone, “Easy A.” Choice Movie Actress Comedy - Cameron Diaz, “Bad Teacher.”

Choice Movie Actor Drama: Robert Pattinson, “Water for Elephants.”

Choice Movie Villain: Tom Felton, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”

Choice Movie Liplock - Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”

Choice Movie Hissy Fit: Ed Helms, “The Hangover Part II.” Choice Movie Male Scene Stealer: Kellan Lutz, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”

Choice Movie Female Scene Stealer: Ashley Greene, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”

Choice Summer Movie: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” Choice Summer Movie Star Male: Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

Choice Summer Movie Star Female: Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

Choice TV Show Drama: “Gossip Girl.”

Choice TV Actress Drama: Blake Lively, “Gossip Girl.”

Choice TV Show Fantasy/Sci-Fi: “The Vampire Diaries” Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Ian Somerhalder, “The Vampire Diaries.”

Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Nina Dobrev, “The Vampire Diaries.”

Choice TV Male Scene Stealer: Michael Trevino, “The Vampire Diaries.”

Choice TV Female Scene Stealer: Katerina Graham, “The Vampire Diaries.”

Choice TV Villain: Justin Bieber, “CSI.” Choice TV Reality Show: “Jersey Shore.”

Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: Paul “Pauly D” Del Vecchio, “Jersey Shore.”

Choice TV Show Comedy: “Glee.”

Choice TV Actor Comedy: Cory Monteith, “Glee.”

Choice TV Actress Comedy: Selena Gomez, “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

Choice TV Breakout Star: Darren Criss, “Glee.”

Choice Music Male Artist: Justin Bieber.

Choice Music Female Artist: Taylor Swift.

Choice Music Group: Selena Gomez and The Scene Choice Music Single: “Who Says,” Selena Gomez and The Scene.

Choice Music Female Country Artist: Taylor Swift.

Choice Music Country Single: “Mean,” Taylor Swift.

Choice Music Love Song: “Love You Like a Love Song,” Selena Gomez.

Choice Music Breakup Song: “Back to December,” Taylor Swift.

Choice Summer Music Star Male: Bruno Mars.

Choice Summer Music Star Female: Katy Perry.

Choice Summer Song: “Skyscraper,” Demi Lovato.

Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Taylor Swift.

Choice Male Hottie: Justin Bieber.

Choice Female Hottie: Selena Gomez.

Choice Comedian: Ellen DeGeneres.

Choice Twit: Justin Bieber.

Choice Vampire: Robert Pattinson.

Choice Web Star: Rebecca Black.

Ultimate Choice Award: Taylor Swift.

—AP

Members of the cast of “Glee” accept their awards onstage.

Ellen DeGeneres accepts the award for choice comedian.

Ashley Greene accepts the choice movie female scene stealer for ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.’

Jason Derulo performs onstage at the Teen Choice Awards.

Kellan Lutz the choice movie male scene stealer for ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.’

Taylor Swift accepts the ultimate choice award.

(From left) Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner arrive at the Teen Choice Awards.

Ed Helms accepts the choice movie: hissy fit for “The HangoverPart II”.

Nina Dobrev is seen with the choice TV show: sci-fi/fantasy award.

Taylor Lautner is seen onstage with the Choice Movie Actor Sci-Fi/Fantasy award.

Robert Pattinson accepts the award for choice movie actor: drama for “Water for Elephants”.

Ryan Tedder of One Republic, performs onstage.

Blake Lively accepts the award for choice TV actress: drama.

Ian Somerhalder is seen onstage with the choice TV show: sci-fi/fantasy award for “Vampire Diaries”.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

lifestyle T r a v e l

The view of Al-Quds Souq in Jerusalem.

A journey too near, yet too far

Kuwaiti journalists visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories

By Badrya Darwish

I

t was a trip too near, yet, to me it sounded too far. This was my second journey to the Holy Land, to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I was lucky enough to make this pilgrimage three years ago accompanied by a group of Kuwaiti journalists and organized by Kuwait Journalist Association. It was simple good luck that allowed me to join the third such trip to the OPT as the KJA organized another trip a year ago.

As a reader, you might think, ‘So what? So someone’s travelling why should we bother? People travel every second nowadays; this is the modern world, after all.’

This is not an ordinary trip to an ordinary country, however. It is not the kind of trip where you open your laptop and book yourself into a resort to lounge around in the sunshine. This is a trip to an occupied territory. That means you have to apply for a permission from the occupier a couple

of months before your trip. He might give it to you...but he might also change his mind the next moment. Your permission might be canceled by the occupier, with Israelis regularly citing 101 reasons to reject travel requests. There are no guarantees.

The perseverance and patience I found in Adnan Rashid, the KJA General Manager and coordinator of the delegation, is amazing. He does not give up. He kept doggedly pursuing every lead to get us permission to enter the Holy Land - whether the Jordanians or the Palestinians, but never the Israelis. That made the trip harder because the Israelis would play on your nerves and keep you waiting. Despite this, however, we made it. There are a few other people I should give my thanks to who made this trip come true. My thanks also go out to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Jordan, Attalah Khairi, who did his utmost to convince the Israelis to let us in. Last but not

least, I am not going to miss out on an opportunity to thank Kuwait’s Ambassador to Jordan Hamad Al-Duaij, who did his best to make our trip easy. There’s a long list of people I want to thank for making that happen.

I felt that the Jordanian authorities were keen to enable us to visit the Holy Land and break the siege that has suffocated the country. My gratitude goes to all of them for making this historic trip go well.

In Part 1 of my series on the trip I will introduce my friends who joined me on the journey. Besides the experience of my trip I was lucky to get to know a few other people who made the trip easier and more interesting. Of course I mentioned my old friend Adnan Rashid but I also made new friends, such as Ahmad Behbehani, whom I knew as the President of Kuwait Journalist Association. This time I saw him as not only that, but also as a very nice and passionately committed man. It was sweet of him to share that he and Yousef Al-Marzouq, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anbaa have

(From left to right) Kuwait ambassador to Jordan Hamad Al-Duaij, Al-Rai Journalist Reem Al-Wuqaiyan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian ambassador to Jordan Attalah Khairi are pictured.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Aliaqsa magazine Dalia Al-Shatar is pictured with Abbas.

Photographer Majed Al-Sobej receives a memento from Abbas.

(From left) Al-Rai TV reporter Abdullah Abuftain, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anba, Yousef Al-Marzouq and Kuwaiti singer Abdullah Ruwaished are seen in the Church of Nativity posing for a picture in the place where Christ was born.

Al-Wuqaiyan, Adnan Rashid and Abdulahakeem Al-Zuraiki from the Palestinian Authority who was also a coordinator for the trip are seen.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

lifestyle T r a v e l

The delegation from Kuwait Journalists Association poses for a picture with the Kuwait Ambassador to Jordan, Dr Mohammad Al-Duaij (center).

Yousef Al-Marzouq with Abbas.

co-financed the whole trip. Yousef is a young and dedicated charming and always smiling chap whose sincerity radiates from his face. One only had to glance at him to see his great compassion for everything happening around him. By the way, this was the second trip he co-financed to Palestine. Thank you for this immense kindness, Yousef!

One of the most interesting people I met on this trip was the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Aliaqsa magazine, Dalia AlShatar, a passionate and perceptive woman. You could read her emotions on her face during the trip and the great sympathy she had for the Palestinians living under occupation.

I was highly impressed with the youngest member of the group, Abdullah Abuftain, a reporter from Al-Rai TV. The guy has endless energy and dedication. He wouldn’t mind going out at any time to chase up a story. I think he made a nice serial which was broadcast on Al-Rai TV sometime last week. I missed watching it as I was out of the country, but friends and colleagues texted me to tell me our group was on Al-Rai TV in “amazing coverage” by Abdullah.

And we mustn’t forget the young writer from Al-Anba, Reem Al-Wuqaiyain. This charming young reporter wanted to know everything and did not mind asking. Every time I remember Reem I laugh my head off because she loved to take pictures everywhere. If the photographer was not there Reem would not mind snapping photos of herself with everyone and in every corner of Palestine. Another invaluable member of the group was lawyer Siham AlWashmi, who took the pain of flying all the way from London to join us in Amman, before returning to London to join her family. Bader Al-Mutawa, a charming young man and an economist, also joined us on the trip. We were also fortunate enough to be accompanied by a dedicated photographer, Majed Al-Sobej, who did not let his camera rest

throughout the whole trip. Thanks, Majed for the beautiful and striking photos you provided for us at the end of the journey.

And of course I am not going to forget Kuwaiti celebrity and celebrated singer Abdullah Ruwaished, who is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Abdullah performed at Al-Najaah University in the famous West Bank city of Nablus for a massive audience, with apparently the whole city turning out to enthusiastically greet him. I thought that Abdullah’s songs were well-known in the Gulf, but quickly realized that they are incredibly popular everywhere in the Middle East. Thanks, Abdullah for the beautiful evening and the beautiful songs you sang. You brought happiness and joy to thousands of people who have been deprived from visits by artists for many years under the occupation.

Adnan Rashid, KJA General Manager is greeted by the priest at Nativity Church in Bethlehem.

Ahmad Behbehani, President of KJA with the Mayor of Hebron Kamel Hameed.

A coffee vendor offers coffee in a souq in Ramallah.

A group photo of the delegation at Nativity Church in Bethlehem.

Abdullah Abuftain is seen at Al-Aqsa mosque.

Kuwaiti singer Abdullah Ruwaished performs on stage in Nablus.

Dalia Al-Shatar is pictured in a souq in Ramallah.

Lawyer Siham Al-Washmi in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. — Photos by Majed Al-Sobej

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

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A Bangladeshi vendor sells prayer beads during the holy month of Ramadan in Dhaka. Like millions of Muslims around the world, Bangladeshi Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to dusk. — AFP

M

ouse ears in the mud. It seemed a fitting end to the 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza, the three-day music festival that started under warm, sunny skies but ended on Sunday night in a rainy dance party. The Canadian progressive dance music artist deadmau5 — pronounced like “dead mouse”-was one of two headliners, along with the Foo Fighters, to close out of the event. Tens of thousands of fans grooved in puddles to deadmau5’s pulsating rhythms, many of them wearing their signature mouse ears on their heads, a seemingly fitting tribute to this year’s festival that was heavy on dance music.

A record 270,000 people were estimated to have attended the sold-out Lollapalooza, founded in 1991 by Perry Farrell, frontman of the alternative rock group Jane’s Addiction.

British rockers Coldplay and Muse were featured on the festival’s first day on Friday while the second day was marked by US hip-hop acts Eminem and Atmosphere and neo-soul artists Cee Lo Green and Mayer Hawthorne, as well as the Country.

Two bands that rose to stardom in the early 1980s each played rousing sets over the weekend, with new wave group The Cars steely performing hits “Good Times Roll” and “Just What I Needed.” Big Audio Dynamite, led by former Clash singer Mick Jones which reunited earlier this year, delivered their mix of arena rock, funk and world music in what

seemed a perfect soundtrack for a summer night in Chicago’s Grant Park.

Eight stages, 140 music acts Over the three-day festival, revelers took in some 140 different musicians on eight different stages, with the two main sets located on separate ends-more than a mile apart- of the sprawling park. “It was the perfect venue. It’s a really cool setup,” said AJ Sunder, who traveled to Chicago from Minnesota with his girlfriend and who, at 20 years-old, was born the same year as the first Lollapalooza.

The dance music tent, Perry’s Stage, was one of the more popular destinations and on the first night of the concert. Los Angeles dubstep artist Skillrex inspired such an outpouring of people that the stage had to be temporarily shutdown. Saturday, part of the tent’s paneled roofing was removed to allow for better air flow after it became so hot and humid that some concertgoers struggled to catch their breath.

Torrential rain led to an early end of Sunday’s show for some, with the crowd noticeably thinner after the downpour. Sunder, who sought shelter under a nearby parking garage, said it was worthwhile even with the storm. “I got my money’s worth,” he said, adding that his personal favorite performance was by the New York electronic act Ratatat.—Reuters

T

he largest auction to date of Bruce Lee memorabilia in the birthplace of the kung fu legend shot past estimates to rake in $220,000, with a fur-lined costume jacket made for an unfinished film claiming the highest price. Thirteen items belonging to Lee, who is credited with bringing martial arts into the mainstream and has long been one of Hong Kong’s proudest exports, went under the hammer on Saturday and were promptly snatched up by avid fans.

Fetching the highest price of nearly $600,000 HKD ($76,850) was the fur-lined coat, which was made for the film “Game of Death” and worn by Lee just before his death in 1973 due to a reaction to medication. The winning bidder, Greg Manning from New Jersey in the United States, said that buying the coat was simply a way to show his respect to the late film legend.

“I think Bruce Lee is, worldwide, recognized as one of the most important people in the martial arts field,” Manning said. “He really pioneered the film genre and we respect him as a human being and a person for his work, and his art, and for what he did.” A hand-written, three-page 1966 letter to Taky Kimura, a Seattle friend and fellow kung fu instructor who was best man at Lee’s 1964 wedding, sold for over $400,000 HKD ($51,233).

Organizers had expected that all 13 lots-from the same US collector-would fetch around $113,000.

Other items that went under the hammer included signed student membership cards to Lee’s kung fu schools, and a martial arts book inscribed by the actor. “He also try his best to search for excellence-that means, to challenge the unlimited,” said businessman and martial arts expert Albert Wong, who bought several smaller items.

“This is a very good spirit-not just in martial arts, but in the business world, in all walks of life.

It’s very important. In fact, it’s guided my last half-century.” The last known auction of Lee items was in Los Angeles in 1993 when his widow, Linda Lee, auctioned off 200 items. The star of martial arts classics such as “Fists of Fury” and “Enter the Dragon” was raised in Hong Kong before moving to the United States in 1959 to teach kung fu.—Reuters

groom for one more

e fell in love with his first wife because she was sincere and eager to please. His second wife, a cousin, was irresistible because she did everything he wished and nothing he didn’t. “That alone made me love her.” His third wife won him because she submitted to his every request. “I saw her, I liked her. I went to her parents and asked for her hand in marriage.” Wife No 4 was very obedient. So was wife No 5. Wife No 6, the same. As were wives 7 and 8 and 9 and ...

Well, by then - it was the late 1980s - things had taken off for Bello Maasaba, an Islamic faith healer from this city in Niger state. He went from a wedding every few months to one every few weeks. All told, the 87-year-old has married 107 women, which, even in a society with a tradition of polygamy, is on the high side. The Nigerian government is not amused.

Neither are Islamic authorities in the state.

But he’s still marrying, every time Miss Right comes along. He now has 86 wives, the youngest 19 and the oldest 64. Nine have died and 12 he divorced (for disobedience). But how on earth does he ... ? To ask the delicate question about how a man with so many wives, well, manages, one first has to cross a dusty street in this hot city in northern Nigeria where the sun bleaches the color from the street. Droning Chinese motorcycles belch choking fumes. Women in flowing garments sit under umbrellas in the market, selling fruit and vegetables.

A looming four-story house with 89 rooms and a broad veranda supported by gold columns overlooks the street with an air of faded grandeur. But its view is inauspicious: an open gutter running from a bank of rickety street toilets, their wooden doors askew. On the porch, dozens of men are seated - some relations, some followers. They rustle in excitement at the approach of guests. Choruses of “You are welcome” echo like bells as visitors are seated on a red couch beside a large, patterned red rug. The carpet, an island in the sea of Maasaba’s followers, lies bare but for one white pillow and one white facecloth.

The pillow awaits. Suddenly, the crowd of males leaps to its feet, bursting into a traditional song of praise. He is coming. At the doorway, his long, pointy white shoes are removed by aides and placed in an empty plastic shoe rack tacked high on the wall. Then he rustles in, enveloped by a tumble of shiny white cloth, which the aides spring forward to arrange whenever he stands or sits.

He ignores the pillow and sits beside it. He wears a tall white hat, and smiles a crookedtoothed smile. The pouches under his eyes give him a mournful air. But there’s barely a wrinkle on his forehead, and he professes to have no worries. An aide proffers a microphone hooked up to speakers on every floor of the house so his wives and children can listen.

Questions are blasted through speakers over the street so his followers (and anyone happening by) can hear.

Which makes it a little awkward to ask that delicate one. He begins with his family history, almost singing the story of his roots. After school, he led an ordinary life for 21 years, involved in the clothing business and later working for a sugar company, keeping just two wives. Life was normal until a religious “vision” in the 1970s, which he says involved a visit from the archangel Gabriel. He fell deeply ill, unable to eat or sleep for days, and all the medicine the doctors gave him only made him worse. He gave up work and became a traditional faith healer who eschewed medicine.

The angel also instructed him to take wife after wife after wife.

“I get a revelation from God telling me any woman I’m going to marry. If it wasn’t from God, I wouldn’t have gone beyond two,” he explains in a wispy, singsong voice. Maasaba has to pause to remember the number of children he has - an ever growing figure, with the youngest just 1 month old. He has fathered 185, and 133 are still living. He has acquired an extended family of some 5,000 people, many who live in the sprawling compound in the block surrounding his house. It takes three enormous sacks of rice a day and prodigious quantities of meat and vegetables to feed his enormous clan. He’s rich because of the hand-

some fees paid by those who come to be healed.

Maasaba’s many marriages underscore the gulf between modern urban Nigeria and traditional rural towns, where women often have few choices. Aishetu Ndayako, about 57 years old, clocked in at wife No 40 or so. She had heard Maasaba was a good man who looked after his wives and solved all the problems of the family.

She was a widow with six children and no means of support when she married him, leaving her children living in her late husband’s house. “There were no problems between the wives. They were all very peaceful. Honestly, we never had a quarrel, not even once,” she says. “He loved me. The food was good. He slaughtered a cow so many times. He gave enough money to each of the wives.

“I was always happy in his house. I understood the man. I felt he was sent by God.” But after five years, her children demanded that she return. “They said no one was with them, and they were lonely,” she says. “They asked me, and I felt I should go because of my love for them.” After leaving Maasaba’s house, she never saw him again. “I really miss him,” she says.

Three years ago, Islamic authorities in Niger, a majority Muslim state with shariah, or Islamic law, ordered that Maasaba divorce 82 of his wives, keeping four. He refused and was ordered by the shariah court to leave town.

(Muslim scholars generally agree that the Quran allows up to four wives, provided each gets equal treatment.) Police raided Maasaba’s house at 3:45 am on Sept 15, 2008. He was taken away to jail.

Disobedience, the trait intolerable in a wife, was his own sin. “In prison they asked me what was my offense. I said they hate me because I won’t do what they want me to do.” Refused bail, Maasaba spent 22 days behind bars, while his wives (11 of them pregnant) demonstrated for his release. In the end, a group of civil rights lawyers came to Maasaba’s rescue and had him freed on bail. That November, at the High Court in the capital, Abuja, the lawyers called in his wives and their parents, one by one, to testify that they had agreed to marriage. At wife No 57, the court told the lawyers to stop, and ordered Maasaba freed.

Maasaba is unyielding in his refusal to seek medical care, even if his wives or children are dying. When any died, “I didn’t feel annoyed or upset,” he says. “I didn’t feel anything because it’s God who gave them to me and it’s God who takes them away.” But when a child becomes ill, that can try a mother’s obedience.

“I told them not to go to hospital,” Maasaba says. “They must report to me and pray. Some of my wives don’t have that confidence. They would take them to hospital behind my back.

If anyone goes behind my back, the child will develop a swelling in the body and will eventually die.”

Some of the wives, wearing bright costumes of pink and blue, gold and yellow, meet visitors to the house in a white-tiled entry room, chorusing hellos. Others, surrounded by a clutch of children, cascade down a wooden staircase and peer curiously around a door.

As Maasaba talks, they are hidden within, listening to the squawking speakers, as the delicate question is finally posed. With so many wives, how does he meet their romantic needs? He smiles. Everyone asks him that. “In his wisdom, God has given me the power and strength to give them the sexual portion they need,” he says. “If I didn’t satisfy them, they would leave.” Then he stands up, and his aides rush to him, putting his white shoes on his feet and arranging his white costume, just so. — MCT

The Cars lead singer Ric Ocasek, right and guitarist Elliot Easton perform during the Lollapalooza music festival.—AP

Son of Anthony Quinn, dies at 48 Franceso Quinn

F

rancesco Quinn, who like his father Anthony Quinn embraced a career in acting, died at his home in Malibu, California on Friday at the age of 48, his agent said Sunday. “We are extremely saddened to announce the untimely death of our dear client and friend, Francesco Quinn,” said his talent agent, Arlene Thornton, in a statement Sunday. The son of legendary actor Anthony Quinn, who passed away in 2001, was pronounced dead in Malibu, the beachside haven for celebrities west of Los Angeles.

“The exact cause of death has not yet been determined,” added Thornton.

According to local media reports, Quinn died from a heart attack.”He was an amazing talent, but more importantly, an amazing human being,” said Thornton. “It was an honor to call myself his agent.” Born in Rome in

1963 to Anthony Quinn and his second wife Jolanda Addolori, Francesco Quinn successfully pursued the same career as his father.

He made his debut in Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” in 1986 and went on to act in more than 30 films. The most recent box-office hit was “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” which was released in theaters this summer. The younger Quinn also played many television roles including parts in series such as “The Shield,” “Criminal Minds,” “ER” and “24.”

Francesco Quinn had three children.—AFP

Bello Maasaba, 87, a religious faith healer, is surrounded by some of his followers, who hang onto his every word. — MCT