31 Jul

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SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Jet breaks in half in Guyana crash landing

Turkey’s military in turmoil as top brass quit

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SHAABAN 30, 1432 AH

‘World’s best restaurant’ elBulli serves last supper

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www.kuwaittimes.net

Brazil welcomes the world to Cup draw

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Syria army deploys in restive eastern city Defectors ready to confront any attack on Deir Ezzor

Ramadan begins Monday, Aug 1 KUWAIT: The holy fasting month of Ramadan will begin tomorrow in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, it was officially announced in all six countries. Saudi state television AlEkhbariya said Ramadan will begin tomorrow in the kingdom, home to Islam’s holiest shrines, Makkah and Madinah, because the sighting of the new moon could not be confirmed by the authorities. The exact dates of the start and the end of Ramadan depend on the sighting of the new moon as many Muslim countries reject using astronomical calculation for the Muslim lunar calendar. If the new moon had been sighted yesterday, the start of Ramadan would have been today.

HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah congratulated yesterday all Kuwaiti citizens and residents on the holy month of Ramadan, the Amiri Diwan said. The Amir and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will receive well-wishers at Bayan Palace from 8:45 am to 10:15 am on the first and second days of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, it said. The Amiri Diwan wished HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah permanent health and well-being, and all Arab and Muslim countries continuing security, safety, development and prosperity. — Agencies

JERUSALEM: Palestinians are silhouetted at the entrance of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem yesterday as people prepare for the upcoming holy fasting month of Ramadan. — AFP

Max 49º Min 35º Low Tide 05:59 & 19:03 High Tide 00:55 & 11:25

DAMASCUS: Syrian troops shot dead three people who stoned a massive military convoy yesterday as it headed to quash growing anti-regime dissent in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, an activist said.

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as a Syrian army colonel told AFP in Nicosia that he had defected and has “hundreds” of troops under his command ready to confront the regular army in Deir Ezzor.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a convoy of about 60 military vehicles including tanks, personnel carriers and trucks crammed with soldiers deployed in Deir Ezzor, mainly at the governor’s office. “The troops opened fire to frighten residents after reaching the governor’s office,” Abdel Rahman said, quoting witnesses in the eastern city.

There were mounting fears the army was preparing to crack down on Deir Ezzor, increasingly at the forefront of more than four months of protests against the autocratic regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. “People chanted ‘Allahu akbar’ (God is greater) in the city as a warning against a huge military operation and residents began setting up sand barricades to prevent the army from spreading into the city,” Abdel Rahman said.

As the tanks and military vehicles rumbled towards Deir Ezzor they were confronted by an angry mob from the nearby village of Tibneh who hurled stones at the troops to stop their advance. “The soldiers opened fire on them to disperse them, killing three people,” the activist said by phone from Britain.

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SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

LOCAL

KJA delegation’s visit to Jordan ‘big success’ AMMAN: Ahmad Yousef Behbehani, the chairman of the Kuwait Journalists’ Association’s (KJA) board of directors, yesterday lauded the high-level meetings attended by a delegation of Kuwaiti journalists currently visiting Jordan.

Behbehani noted that the Kuwaiti delegation attended a number of meetings with senior Jordanian officials, most importantly Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the Speaker of Jordan’s House of Representatives Faisal Al Fayez and Prime Minister Marouf AlBakhit. Kuwaiti-Jordanian relations have greatly developed in the past few years in all domains, said the KJA chief.

“Positive cooperation and communications on all levels among the two countries’ institutions are still ongoing,” the distinguished media figure indicated, noting that this constructive interaction is a reflection of the “positive” relations between Kuwait and Jordan.

During his meeting with the Kuwaiti delegation, PM Al-Bakhit lauded the bilateral ties between

Members of the KJA delegation pose for a group photograph with Jordanian officials yesterday. the two countries.

“Kuwait has never stopped supporting Jordan in the past 10 years,” he said the Jordanian premier, adding that “Kuwaiti investments come first among the total volume of Arab and foreign investments in Jordan.”

He also hailed Kuwait’s democracy and freedom of expression, saying that these reflect the high-

ly modern nature of Kuwaiti society. Al-Bakhit described KuwaitiJordanian relations as “brotherly and exceptional” due to the care and support of the leadership in both nations for reaching “political and economic accordance.”

During the meeting with the Kuwaiti delegation, Al-Bakhit reviewed a number of time-limited plans and measures put for-

ward by the country’s leadership to achieve comprehensive political, social and economic reform in all the national administrative bodies.

As well as Behbehani, the KJA delegation also includes the Editor-in-Chief of KUNA Rashid Al-Ruwaished, along with the Editors-in-Chief of several Kuwaiti newspapers. — KUNA

BlackBerry Bold 9900 introduced in Kuwait

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: The Defense Attache from the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait Senior Colonel Wang Rui Zheng hosted a reception on Wednesday at Al-Andalus ballroom in Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was held to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. Diplomats and other dignitaries attended the event. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Traditional Kuwaiti garb ‘vanishing’ KUWAIT: More and more young Kuwaiti men are abandoning traditional Kuwaiti dress in favor of more Western attire, such as t-shirts and jeans, with a number of those surveyed by local daily AlShahed suggesting that the trend is only likely to accelerate.

Whilst the national costume is still widely respected and seen as part of the country’s heritage, one interviewee, Saud Al-Shemmari, suggested that the traditional dishdasha and kuffiyeh are gradually “vanishing” as more and more young

men choose Western clothes which they feel represent a more ‘open’ and international image.

Another Kuwaiti man interviewed for the article, Mohammed Al-Zayed, said that while the national costume is popular for certain occasions, such as Eid, it is not suitable for everyday wear, such as work or school. He suggested that one’s choice of attire is an issue of personal freedom, with no law existing that commits people to wearing cer tain clothing. — Al-Shahed

Halt port construction, demand Iraqi protesters KUWAIT: Dozens of Iraqis attended a demonstration in Baghdad on Friday, to demand that their government “severs bilateral ties” with Kuwait if the latter refuses requests to halt construction work at the Mubarak Al-Kabeer mega-port.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and his Cabinet have come in for fierce criticism recently from Iraqi lawmakers and activists for what is seen as their excessively “mild approach” to the Kuwaiti project, which is being built on the east of Boubyan Island, just a few kilometers away from Iraq’s only outlet to the Arabian Gulf. The Iraqi MPs are concerned that a Kuwaiti mega-port overlooking the already narrow strip of water which separates it from Iraq, could hinder maritime activity in Iraqi waters. The Kuwaiti administration - which insists that the project was discussed with Baghdad

before construction got underway - is adamant, however, that the port will boost trade activity in the region, and thus significantly contribute to the Iraqi reconstruction process. The Iraqi demonstrators who thronged Baghdad’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square Friday certainly showed no sign of the calm attitude that both nations’ governments have urged, demanding that their government takes measures to settle the contentious issue of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port with Kuwait or sever relations if Kuwait insists on going ahead with the project. On the same day, a number of Iraqi lawmakers made conflicting statements on the issue, with some calling for the Arab League or the United Nations to mediate to resolve the problems, while others threatened to further intensify the rift by taking the subject to international courts. — Al-Rai

51% against co-education KUWAIT: More than half of the respondents who took part in an online poll that sought an opinion on the coeducation ban placed in the Kuwait University, believe that gender-based segregation should remain.

In the wake of the KU’s overcapacity problem, many voices emerged demanding an end to the decade-old co-education ban which compounded the problem, with the KU having to make arrangements to allocate separate classes for male and female students.

KUWAIT: BlackBerry Bold 9900, the latest model of the iconic high-end smart phone, was introduced to the local press in Kuwait on Thursday. The smartphone is powered by the BlackBerry 7 OS. Like the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, the BlackBerry 9900 has an integrated, brilliant, high resolution, capacitive touch screen, a track pad and full QWERTY keypad, and is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone to date.

The key features of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 are approximately 130 grams or 115 x 66 x 10.5mm, capacitive touch screen display, 287 PPI resolution, full/wide QWERTY keyboard, optical track pad, 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM, 8 GB on-board memory, plus microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards, NFC technology, 5.0 megapixel camera with flash, supports 720p HD video recording, orientation sensor, digital compass (magnetometer), Proximity Sensor, Built-in GPS/aGPS, dual-band, Bluetooth support, 1230 mAh removable and rechargeable battery.

Mohammed Al-Mefleh, Director Product Management Middle East, told local press that BlackBerr y Bold 9900 will be available in the market by the year end, “We are very excited about this smartphone.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 is a stunning device that puts up an outstanding performance, very high resolution; and the ver y first which we introduced with combined software and hardware. We designed this to meet the need of our customers,” he said.

The BlackBerry smart phone is superior, according to Al-Mefleh,

with all the smartphone technology with improved universal search/features, great customer satisfaction, all at their finger tips.

“The device is stunning, if you take for example, the browsing experience is the fastest-ever produced by BlackBerry,” he asserted.

“In terms of speed, it is 35 percent faster when compared to competitors. We are the fastest, focusing on performance with a total solution offering; our customers can enjoy anything from browsing, multi-media, music, email, great designs, sculptured with the right materials,” he added.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 is a very

product that is combined with the design, operating system, hardware integrated within the device and integrated ID. It is also a user-friendly smartphone,” AlMefleh added.

He went on to say that the trend is geared toward smartphones. Customers are smarter now, they buy mobile phones which served their specific purpose and requirements, “Customers now are smarter, they don’t want phones which can only be used to call and send messages. They want something that serves their specific needs/wants, has the best and right functionality. Our BlackBerry

KUWAIT: Mohammed Al-Mefleh, Director Product Management Middle East, (left) at the press intro of BlackBerry Bold 9900 in Kuwait.— Photo by Joseph Shagra powerful smartphone. Its hardware is integrated within the phone. “BlackBerry 9900 allows transmission of data in an easy way, with high definition video recording, true killer browser performance; it has an increase of 35 percent performance compared to its predecessor, a premium

has the functionality that we look for, with 1 GH and the storage is 8 GB expandable up to 32 GB,” he mentioned. When asked about Research In Motion’s (maker of BlackBerry) to cut about 11 percent of its workforce, thereby eliminating about 2,000 jobs worldwide, Al-Mefleh noted the

plan was connected to cost optimization and re-aligning so as to avoid overlapping of functions.

RIM is facing stiff competition in the smartphone market with the emergence of Apple’s iPhone and smartphones with Google’s Android operating system.

“I don’t think the lay-off is connected to the declining popularity of BlackBerry. It is not true. In fact, we are enjoying market growth globally,” he said. “In the Middle East alone, the UAE has registered growth of about 62 percent, Saudi Arabia was 112 percent. The numbers are significantly interesting and it shows that BlackBerry is growing and not declining,” he argued. “The number one phone in Kuwait is the BlackBerry 9780; in the UAE, the BlackBerry is the number one choice as well. We are growing and we continue to expand globally,” he added. In the next one year, according to Al-Mefleh, BlackBerry is bringing to Kuwait, about seven smart phone models. “We are committed to bringing more devices to accommodate the need of our different sets and types of customers,” he added.

Kuwait, Al-Mefleh believes, is a very important market for BlackBerry. “We have high expectations for the Kuwait market.

Customers know a lot about the device that can help them with the right solution for their needs.

We strongly believe that the BlackBerry offerings will not only boost its popularity but will also enjoy the support of many. This is regardless of the competition we’ve had. We are strong believers of total solutions provided to our dear customers,” Al-Mefleh concluded.

KUWAIT: A building in Ahmadi in which fire broke out yesterday. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Eight hurt in road accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 55-year-old Kuwaiti man suffered head injuries in a car crash near Qurain Market, complaining of chest pain following the incident. He was taken to Adan Hospital. A 22year-old woman also involved in the accident who escaped with bruising to one shoulder declined the offer of medical treatment. In a separate inci-

dent, a pregnant 21-year-old bedoon (stateless) woman was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital after complaining of abdominal pain following a car crash near the Nasr Sports Club in the area. A 50-year-old bedoon woman who was involved in the same accident, who complained of back pain was also taken to the same hospital.

In another incident, a collision on Gulf Road left a 20-year-old Kuwaiti

with a broken right leg, a 21-year-old compatriot with a broken ankle, and two Egyptians aged 22 and 53 with back pain. All were taken to Amiri Hospital.

Jleeb drug bust Drug squad officers yesterday arrested a Bangladeshi drug dealer at his home in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, confiscating 100 grams of marijuana

from his possession. Major General Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Khalifa, the Acting Ministry of Interior Assistant Undersecretary for Criminal Affairs, ordered an investigation into the man’s activities after receiving a tipoff from an informant, which confirmed that he was trading in narcotics. The man and the illicit substance were referred to the relevant authorities.

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SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

local

Ramadan in-home exhibitions ongoing despite warnings Advertisements on Internet forums

By Hussain Al-Qatari

Abdulmohsen Alrushaid

NBK devotes Iftar banquets to Somalia drought victims

KUWAIT: Boards on the streets warn people against purchasing goods from unauthorized illegal exhibitions. Yet, the exhibitions appear to be ongoing especially given the advent of the month of Ramadan. Speaking to three different exhibitors, it appears that the penalties do not scare these daring exhibitors. All of them hold their exhibitions in residential areas, at halls and in basements.

The Ministry of Commerce and the Municipality have been telling consumers not to buy from such exhibitions to protect them against merchants’ abuse. The goods offered in most of these exhibitions are available in stores.

What makes these exhibitions a favorite destination is the convenience.

Nourah, a 35-year old who frequents these exhibitions explained, “ The Ramadan theme is something that requires certain products, like bukhoor and oud, traditionally decorated fabrics, clothes for Ramadan occasions, as well as foods. To have them all in one place saves you the hassle of hopping from one place to the next in search of your favorite items.”

Nourah, a mother of three, says her favorite thing about the exhibitions is the fact that the organizers sell frozen sambosak, kibbeh, and other frozen foods that they prepared with their own recipes. “I work, and after work I often

take a nap. For Iftar, I prefer to have food that doesn’t require a lot of cooking. The sambosak and kibbeh are almost staple foods for Ramadan, so to have them home-made and frozen saves you a lot of hassle,” she added.

One exhibitor noted that banning such exhibitions is nearly impossible.

“We advertise by word of mouth, and hold these exhibitions in our homes. We don’t do anything illegal, and it is a social event. These officials who are worrying about what we sell should work harder on keeping the rotten meats and expired foods off the shelves from supermarkets,” said Umm Dawood, a 40-year-old citizen.

Another exhibitor who advertises on the internet forums and via Blackberry

messenger and SMS said she doesn’t fear that anyone will report her to the authorities. “The audience who receive these messages are most of the time people who are interested in what we offer in the exhibitions. They forward the messages to people with interest in this.

Besides, we’re not running an illegal business; we’re selling what we make,” she explained.

Ramadan exhibits include Ramadan desserts that are homemade by the participants in the exhibits, utensils and cutlery, food, perfumes, clothes and knickknacks. What makes these items special is that they all have the Ramadan theme, decorated traditionally for the month of Ramadan.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) will dedicate fast-breaking banquets which it hosts daily during the holy month of Ramadan, to victims of the crushing drought and famine affecting more than 3.7 million Somalis - most of them children - in East Africa.

NBK Public Relations Manager Abdulmohsen Alrushaid stated: “This initiative comes after HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait, donated $1 million, leading the way in a donations campaign to aid famine-stricken victims in Somalia”.

“It is part of NBK’s corporate social responsibility to help people in crisis and support the state of Kuwait on the official and public fronts to help our friends in such circumstances,” Alrushaid added.

Weapons missing from military airbase KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense has reportedly launched an investigation in the theft of weapons from one of its airbases.

According to a military insider, a recent inventory of weapons at the military airbase at Kuwait International Airport determined that sixteen M16 semi-automatic rifles, along with 1,500 bullets, were missing.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the military insider said that after being made aware of the thefts, Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah ordered an immediate investigation to apprehend the culprit or culprits responsible, with all those with access to the weapons to face questioning. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: Some of the officers who took part in the campaign yesterday.

MoI campaign against speeding KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Traffic Department has launched a campaign in coordination with the Security Media Department to spread awareness on the dangers of breaking speed limits.

The campaign began with a raid held on Thursday, during which several speeding tickets were issued. Special booklets depicting the hazards of speeding were distributed to motorists.

The booklet quotes a study which

reveals that breaking the speed limit would reduce driving time by an average of two minutes compared to driving within speed limits. However, this awareness campaign highlights the fact that an average of two minutes “isn’t

worth risking your life or other people’s lives.”

Moreover, the booklet mentions penalties levied for speed violations including up to three month’s jail sentence and a KD 100 fine.

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SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

LOCAL Local Spotlight

SATIRE WIRE

Govt hospitals: Die or take chances

If we are on the topic of fines

By Muna Al-Fuzai Sawsan Kazak

muna@kuwaittimes.net sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

s usual, publicly eating or drinking in Kuwait during the fasting hours in Ramadan is prohibited. Those who are caught eating openly during these hours could face fines of KD 100, jail time, or both explained in a press statement Brig Ahmad Bader Al-Mulla, Director of Public Relations and Moral Guidance Department at the Ministry of Interior.

Since, during the month of Ramadan, we will be actively penalizing people, we should take this opportunity to pay some fines for other violations that people living here commit.

We should begin by forming a department that monitors the fashion scene in Kuwait. Fashion penalties should be given out to many violators.

Women wearing seven inch heels, party dresses to the mall or clothes that are five sizes too small should all be given out KD100 fines for each violation. Also fined should be the girls that tease their hair up so high they are actually seven feet tall and those who apply more makeup then clowns.

Men who show up to public areas in their pajamas, flip flops and dirty T-shirts or who wear v-cut tops should be fined immediately. Also, the guys who have enough wax in their hair to cover a car and who are wearing women’s jeans should be severely fined.

The formation of a department that examines public rudeness would benefit society. Bad-mannered people should not only be fined, they should face some jail time. People who steal other driver’s parking spots or take up two spots when they park should pay up and have to spend a few days in prison. Those that cut you off and drive slower than you, and those who merge without warning should be shipped off. Those who speak really loud in restaurants or have annoying ringtones that ring on forever should be jailed for at least one month. And since we are on the topic, let us go ahead and jail people who breathe very loudly, shuffle their feet when they walk and clear their mucus in public. These violations are not illegal but really annoying. And when everyone will be fasting and on edge, the above mentioned might really get maddening.

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kuwait digest

Liberate Kuwait before it’s too late

By Dr. Mubarak Al-Therwa onstitutional expert Dr. Mohammad Al-Muqate’a has suggested that Kuwait should have its own version of an Arab Spring revolution, targeting MPs and Cabinet members for what he alleges is “their involvement in running corruption [in the country]”. AlMuqate’a goes on by demanding that corrupt lawmakers are punished with being banned from running to the parliament for life.

We’ve been hearing so many rumors about lawmakers taking bribes and other forms of unlawful benefits for long. But if there is no concrete evidence to support these claims, they remain just that - rumors. It seems that everyone, mainly legal experts, is talking about administrative and financial corruption, but none of them ever provide evidence to the Public Prosecution Service, based on which a lawmaker can be convicted.

The long experience and rich knowledge of veteran expert Dr. Al-Muqate’a are unquestionable. But instead of just warning against the spread of corruption, wouldn’t it be better if a team of constitutional experts joined efforts to study this subject and connect the dots? If there are truly parliamentarians who are stealing public funds or giving their political allegiance in exchange for money, then all the Kuwaiti public should launch a peaceful form of revolution against those corrupt lawmakers who benefit at Kuwait’s expense from the very posts that give them the duty to protect Kuwait’s interests.

The public needs to have their awareness of what democracy means increased. Let the government get its work done and let’s change our focus to the corrupt lawmakers.

The parliament comes from the people.

Unfortunately, our education is deteriorating. We love to talk about reform, but don’t seem to be really enthusiastic about achieving it. We want to take and never give. We are easily fooled by flattery and controlled by the media, to the point at which we accept everything broadcast or published without thinking.

Contemporary Kuwaitis need to break their silence and say ‘No’ to all thieves of public funds and resources.

The public need to change their ideology. We must find the reason as to why the people fail to elect qualified parliamentarians, and can so easily be fooled by conceited MP. The country needs for its people to be liberated from the concept of ignoring people’s mistakes due to their status. Kuwait needs liberation from ‘wasta’, favoritism and lawbreaking. We need to change the general aim of ‘making profit’ to ‘making profit for Kuwait.’ Let’s liberate Kuwait before it’s too late. — Al-Rai

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f you are a regular visitor to government hospitals and local clinics in Kuwait then this article will interest you. Otherwise, you might be one of cash-rich people who seek treatment abroad when unwell. Can’t blame people like you! Not everyone can afford to receive health care in the private sector, especially those that fall into the low-income group.

Let me focus on the health care provided by the government in this article.

Grouses against the level of health care provided in Kuwait are regularly reported in the local media, especially in newspapers. It does not matter if a doctor or a nurse was hit or if one doctor assaulted one patient. Such everyday fights must end. No one has any right to assault the other person simply because they are dissatisfied with the level of service rendered.

If that is the situation, then we should stop consulting doctors. Patients should resort to self-help and take responsibility for their health. When they are not satisfied with the results, they can blame or hit themselves!

However, leveling allegations against wellknown or expatriate doctors is unacceptable. We do not live by barbaric rules where uncouth behavior is the norm.

If a Kuwaiti thinks that he has the right to physically abuse his doctor, who is an expat, he is mistaken. He is not above the law. By enforcing the law, I do not mean that a penalty of KD 50 be levied.

There should be proper legislation in place; one that forbids a person, the attacker in case if he or she were a visitor, to receive treatment from the same medical facility where he or she carried out the act. Another form of punishment should also be created against the perpetrator.

He or she should serve extra hours at any health center for social care home in the form of community service. Such anti-social elements should also be incarcerated as they pose a threat to society.

Solutions should be devised starting with proper law enforcement. People will then behave and think before they act. I think that the future of health services in Kuwait is murky.

There are no indicators that health care in this country will improve or change for the best. The affluent will be able to afford expensive medical treatment. What about those who can’t? Die or take chances.

Four days in Palestine

By Nujoud Al-Qasem Kuwaiti media delegation began its recent eventful trip to Palestine - the third tour of its kind - in the city of Ramallah, where the delegates met with President Mahmoud Abbas hours after their arrival.

The meeting, which took place at the Presidential Palace, lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours, during which time the friendly discussions focused on politics, as well as the latest updates on the Palestinian reconciliation agreement and the Palestinian Authority’s current financial status.

On the second day, the team headed to the city of Hebron, witnessing at first hand as they toured its old streets the discrimination practiced by the Israeli authorities which was most evident on Shuhada’a (Martyrs’) Street, where only Jewish settlers are allowed to walk or drive. The team made sure to visit the Abu Jihad Museum for Prisoners’ Movement Affairs, which features handicrafts created by some of the 6,700 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails.

Also on the second day, the Kuwaiti team headed to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, and got to experience the city’s exceptional religious harmony where the voice of the Azan harmonizes with the sound of church bells. On the third day, the team headed to Birzeit near Ramallah, where they attended a cultural festival showcasing the town’s history.

The visit to Jerusalem, the most important point of the team’s trip to Palestine, took place during the fourth day as the media delegation members were able to bypass all military restrictions and reach the holy sites, praying inside the revered AlAqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques.

Following their holy trip to the Old City where they witnessed its firm stance against all attempts at Judaization, the Kuwaiti team embarked in a journey to the city of Nablus in the north of the West Bank, passing along the way by many Palestinian villages which stand out with their olive trees among the settlements foisted on them at their outskirts. In Nablus, the Najah University theater hosted a concert for Kuwaiti artist and goodwill ambassador Abdullah Al-Ruwaished, in front of a crowd estimated at 10,000 people.

Throughout the trip, coordinator Adnan Al-Rashid made sure to talk about Palestine and its villages, and explain the suffering of their people, while the leader of the Kuwaiti delegation, president of the

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Kuwait Journalists Associations Ahmad Behbehani took this opportunity to become more aware of the racist procedures committed by the occupation.

Kuwait Times General Manager Badrya Darwish offered many suggestions throughout the trip for means by which the media can expose the Israeli occupation and settlements’ expansionist policies, in hope of garnering more international support for the Palestinian cause. The feeling of sorrow and pain was evident in the expressions of Dhaliya Al-Shatter, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Yaqatha Magazine, as she witnessed the settlements spread throughout Palestinian land.

Photographer Mojid Al-Sabeg made sure to document with his camera all the happy and sad moments that the team encountered during their trip, while Al-Rai TV interviewer Abdullah Bufteen used every opportunity during the four-day trip to tell stories to his viewers about the individual humanitarian cases of many Palestinians, including a visit to the house of the oldest Palestinian prisoner, Fakhri AlBargouthi, on the outskirts of Ramallah.

Reem Al-Wuqaiyan, board member of the Kuwait Public Relations Association, said that the tour changed many of the misconceptions she had before about Palestine, leading her to realize that it is far more beautiful that she originally thought.

Seham Al-Washmi, a board member of the Kuwait Lawyers Society, described the trip as a “dream come true”, while expressing her admiration of Palestinian culture.

Although the recent trip wasn’t the first to Palestine for Al-Anba Editor-in-Chief Yousef AlMarzouq, he said that each journey reveals many new stories and subjects to him that he makes sure he documents in his paper. Kuwaiti businessman Badr Al-Mutawa expressed his immense awe at the commitment of Palestinians to their lands, “especially in Hebron were Palestinians snatch life from the jaws of misery”. The fifth day saw the Kuwaiti delegation pack their bags to begin their journey home, carrying a heavy load of commitment to the Palestinian cause, as well as a hope of returning again to defy the embargo enforced against Palestinians for decades, an embargo which still fails to destroy Palestinians’ aspiration to achieve freedom and independence.

kuwait digest

Separate education from political ambitions

By Waleed Al-Ghanim e need today, guided education and bold decisions to stop offering courses [in the Kuwait University] that fail to secure jobs. Some arts specialties are no longer relevant, and students who still want to study them can enroll into private universities while being made aware of the fact that pursuing them will not ensure a place in the labor market.”

“The ministry, the teachers society as well as educational experts should all contribute to solve the dire straits of education. Today’s graduates are new copies of old textbooks.”

These are quotes were made by Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi during his time as member of Parliament. They reflect his vision on how problems in the educational field can be remedied; focusing on making bold decisions.

Today, Al-Mulaifi is at the helm of the state’s educational sector, and we are still waiting for him to translate his words into actions.

The announcement of Al-Mulaifi as a new member in the Cabinet came as a shock to many, given his previous tenure as member of the opposition bloc in the Parliament, not to mention the fact that he presented

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the first ever grilling motion against His Highness Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad AlSabah. On the other hand, selecting Al-Mualifi to a governmental post after failing to reach the Parliament through elections, is not something new in his political career. Years ago, Al-Mulaifi was appointed to the board of the Central Tenders Committee after losing in the parliamentary elections, but emerged winner during the following elections.

During his first days as a minister, Al-Mulaifi talked about his goals and what he aspires to achieve in the educational sector. But his rushed enthusiasm backfired when he burdened himself with duties he might not have been be able to achieve; at least not within the timeframe he set. Furthermore, the prolonged procedure in all state departments make Al-Mulaifi’s promises about immediate achievements, seem more like media slogans than an actual plan.

I still believe that it is too early to judge Al-Mulaifi’s performance as a minister. However, let’s not forget the fact that he once tweeted about his plans to run for parliamentary elections in 2013. I hope that he keeps his political ambitions aside and focuses on decisions to be made as a minister. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Save Kuwait!

By Fahad Mohammad Al-Haqan embers of the ruling family, who are ministers, have become a weak link in the political and social strata. Some of MPs are hypocrites and bigoted, and will destroy this country. It appears as if they will succeed in it. I feel sorry for you - Pearl of the Gulf (Kuwait), and it pained to hear some MPs speak unfavorably of Kuwait’s honorable men.

Does the silent society know that it contributes willingly to this level of deterioration?

Some members of Parliament do not represent the people or their interests. They are manipulated by a remote control in the midst of influential personalities. This manipulates the Constitution. I feel sorry for those men who sold their ‘oath of office’ for dirhams and dinars. This way, they lost respect and the government authority is on a downward spiral.

It has been stooping down to gain supporters after a disappointing performance.

The state facilitated their greed by opening all doors to seek profits, and divided Kuwait among tribes and sects. All national elements were conveniently excluded by monopolizing the legislative authority with its political and corrupt mafias. This is monumental lie cannot last long in the educated and aware society. It is moved by its instinctive needs to become free citizens. We have not witnessed a struggle like this in quite some time. So, if this struggle continues, even the remaining bit of respect will be lost. Hesitancy on the part the ruling family will create destruction.

My country is a mixture of various tribes. Sadly, MPs have the audacity to criticize and insult men who shaped the future of this country. If the power struggle does not end sooner, we will reach a regretful end.

The blood of our fathers and martyrs who died defending Kuwait will be wasted in vain. Preserve Kuwait, before it becomes history! — Al-Qabas

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Ramadan may hold key to Arab Spring Holy month to spur new unrest?

KUWAIT: The Jareesh Day celebrations in progress.

Medical Contingency Dept celebrates ‘Graish’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Medical Contingency Department celebrated the Graish early last week. ‘Graish’ is a Kuwaiti custom where families gather immediately before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Munther AlJalahma, Acting Director Medial

Contingency Department attended the event. The attendees were quizzed on religious and heritage questions. Gifts were distributed to the winners of various competitions. Meanwhile, the first Ramadan football tournament will be held during the month in which teams from various ambulance centers will take part.

Senegal Red Cross praises KRCS humanitarian role KUWAIT: President of the Senegalese Red Cross, Abdoul Aziz Diallo yesterday praised Kuwait and the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) for their humanitarian aid to drought-hit Senegal.

Diallo said after his meeting with Chairman of KRCS Barjas Al-Barjas that he admired KRCS’ role in supporting and aiding Senegal. Diallo pointed out that he had briefed Al-Barjas on the effects of

the drought that had recently hit the country. The meeting dealt with ways to cooperate and coordinate between the two sides regarding relief and humanitarian aid, he said, adding that Al-Barjas was invited to visit Senegal.

For his part, Al-Barjas welcomed Diallo’s visit to Kuwait, saying he had discussed with Diallo possible cooperation between their societies. — KUNA

KUWAIT: With only one day to go till the start of Ramadan, both opposition leaders and governments in several Arab nations are asking themselves, will it bring a surge of popular protests spurred by religious fervor or pass quietly as hungry and thirsty people avoid the sweltering streets?

With the Arab Spring now in its seventh month and showing signs of stalling, the Muslim month of fasting, prayer and piety could give new life to the wave of unrest or bring it to a conclusion. Most observers of Arab politics are betting, however, that the special practices of Ramadan are likely to stir the pot - but only after dark.

“In Yemen, the demonstrations will increase, they’ll flare up,” predicted Ahmad Saif, executive director of the Sheba Center for Strategic Studies, a Sanaa-based think tank. “Instead of them ending at nine in the evening, they will continue until four in the morning.”

Fasting during daylight during Ramadan, the month when the first verses of the Quran are believed to have been delivered to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is one of the five tenets of Islamic belief. In the Muslim world, business grinds to a near halt, as believers spend their days resting and their nights praying, dining and watching popular television series produced especially for the holiday, which begins this year on Aug 1.

Over the past few weeks, the demonstrations in Yemen have lost their momentum, Saif said. Even though the agendas of protesters vary greatly from city to city, most agree that a gradual transition from the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, still hospitalized in Saudi Arabia, is better than radical regime change that could result in Islamists taking control of the country, he added.

Ramadan may rekindle the fighting spirit, however, because Yemenis — like their fellow Muslims across the world — tend to stay awake at night for prayer and social gatherings. Saif explained that during Ramadan “the demonstrations won’t occur because of religious sentiment, but simply because people will meet each other on the street.”

In Syria, mosques have become the hub of demonstrations, a phenomenon that will only increase during Ramadan, said Muhammad AlMasri, a researcher at the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies in Amman.

“The mosque has acquired a new function in Syria,” Al-Masri asserted. “It’s less a religious center and more a place of gathering, like a public park in the West. If Syrians don’t know if any demonstrations are scheduled, they say ‘let’s go to the mosque and see what’s going on.’”

Special night-time prayers during Ramadan, known as Tarawih, are a popular activity in the

KBC holds open day at Ice Skating Rink

Members of the KBC social committee.

A kids’ competition.

Al-Wuqaiyan (left) with the KBC treasurer.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Banks Club held an open day for local banks’ staff and their family members recently at the Ice Skating Rink. The event featured a special program of activities organized by the Fantasy Company, which included several competitions with the winners receiving great prizes donated by the KBC. Following the event, which was greatly enjoyed by all the participants, Reem AlWuqaiyan, the head of the KBC’s Social Committee, voiced gratitude to the staff at the Ice Skating Rink, a Touristic Enterprises Company facility, adding that the open day was one of a number of events organized by the club for bank staff during summer.

MPs argued in half of last term’s NA sessions KUWAIT: Half of the 42 sessions held during the last parliamentary term saw MPs arguing with one another or with lawmakers, according to a report from a local daily.

After studying the paper’s parliamentary correspondents’ notes on the previous term, the report-writer concluded that 21 of the sessions in the term which ended with the current summer recess featured altercations over various issues, included differences of opinion, a disparity in addressing priority issues, and exchanges of accusations.

Meanwhile, on another parliamentary issue, MP Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaie revealed on Friday that he has again been summoned by the Public Prosecution Service for questioning over a case filed against him last year concerning clashes that took place outside fellow parliamentarian Jamaan Al-Harbish’s diwaniya in December, 2010. Trouble flared in the area outside the MP’s diwaniya when police used violence to disperse those attending what they said was an illegal outdoor gathering. Al-Tabtabaie stands accused of taking part in an illegal gathering; assisting a participant to escape after attacking a police officer; not cooperating with orders to break up the gathering; assaulting police officers performing their duties, and harming public

security by refusing to comply with police officers’ orders to break up the gathering.

In a statement issued after he was again summoned for questioning, AlTabtabaie questioned the prosecution service’s reason for waiting until now to do so, especially since the case against him was lodged almost six months ago on January 7. “Maybe [the government] feared that issuing a request to lift [parliamentary] immunity at the time would attract public attention,” he suggested, whilst also querying why he had been singled out for the charges, despite the fact that other lawmakers were also present when the clashes outside Al-Harbish’s diwaniya took place.

On a separate issue, MP Musallam Al-Barrak has added his voice to those of other lawmakers who have condemned the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs MAIA) over its suspension of a number of imams for their criticism of what he called the “bloodthirsty Syrian regime.”

Al-Barrak was contemptuous of the ministry’s and government policy on the issue, asking, “How come the government stops imams from praying to God Almighty to help the Syrian people oppose injustice?” and adding pointedly, “Similar prayers helped liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion in

1991.” Fellow MP Adel Al-Sarawi has been focusing on another issue, meanwhile, submitting a number of parliamentary questions to oil minister Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi on the criteria used by the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) in selecting providers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.

On a different issue, MP Mikhled AlAzmi condemned the government’s “slow procedures in ending the Sawaber Complex dilemma.” In a statement issued following the recent fire at the dilapidated apartment complex, Al-Azmi pointed out that although a directive to clear the complex and transfer residents elsewhere had already been issued prior to the blaze breaking out, “it has yet to be implemented.”

On a separate matter, MPs Mubarak Al-Khurainej and Saifi Al-Saifi both issued statements calling on the government to request that parliament allocates one of the early sessions in the next term to discussion of the latest information on the implementation of the government’s massive national development plan, suggesting that those responsible for carrying out the work should list all the work already completed, as well as cataloguing the obstacles hinder projects still underway. — Al-Qabas, Al-Watan

Muslim world and will allow Syrians to congregate and organize on a nightly basis rather than once a week, Al-Masri said. “Every evening will become like Friday prayers,” he said. “By the end of Ramadan there will be huge demonstrations in Syria.”

The Jordanian demonstrations are fundamentally different than Syrian, Al-Masri explained, since they are organized by political parties rather than being the result of spontaneous grassroots initiatives. However, he added, the economic burden associated with Ramadan could have an effect on the Jordanian public, which has been struggling financially.

“Inflation grows during Ramadan because merchants raise their prices,” Al-Masri explained. “The economic burden may give people an excuse to demonstrate.” He added that demonstrations could spread next month if the government continues its “stupid” policy of cracking down on peaceful demonstrators at Jordan’s weekly protests, as it did last Friday.

Historically, Ramadan is a time of social fermentation in the Arab world; Algeria, Somalia and Iraq have all witnessed an increase in political violence during the month of Ramadan in recent years. To tamp down possible unrest, governments often issue mass pardons and commute prison sentences. “Authorities will find it increasingly difficult to deal with protests without having repression associated with anti-religious tendencies,” wrote Nour, author of the blog The Moor Next Door, which focuses on politics in North Africa. “There’s a high probability that Islamist groupings will

become bolder and more confident during Ramadan.” Not everyone is looking to Ramadan with hope or trepidation, however. The Islamic calendar is lunar, meaning that the months move across the seasons, so that summer Ramadans, when days are long and especially hot, are considered particularly difficult for devout Muslims.

People may choose to lay low and pass the time with their families. “Ramadan is a month of contemplation, social visits and an evaluation of everything that has happened,” said Mounira Fakhrou, a Shiite member of the Bahraini liberal opposition group, the National Democratic Action Society.

In Bahrain, where a government-imposed state of emergency was lifted on June 1, demonstrations are limited to local skirmishes between Shiite protesters and the police in remote towns. Fakhrou predicted that even those protests may evaporate during Ramadan. Even Shiite festivals like the death of the revered Imam Ali, celebrated on the 19th day of Ramadan, potentially serving as a lightning rod for conflict between Bahrain’s disaffected Shiite majority and the Sunni government, will likely be used as an opportunity to discuss issues rather than take to the streets, she said.

“Ramadan is a time of cooking and social gathering. That hasn’t changed in 1,400 years,” Fakhru noted, adding that the state-run national dialogue with the opposition is scheduled to end days before the month of fasting begins. “The protests may resume in September,” she said, adding, “Even if the problems are solved before then, our hearts will remain injured and will take years to heal.” — The Media Line

Iran conducting seismic scans in Kuwaiti waters KUWAIT: Iranian geologists have been trespassing into Kuwait’s territorial waters to conduct seismic scans in the Durra and Lulu offshore oil fields, according to a senior Kuwaiti oil sector official.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Kuwaiti authorities are aware of the Iranian scientists’ intrusion into Kuwaiti waters, “which happen at least once a month,” suggesting that the scans aim to assess the oilfields’ reserves.

The Iranians’ incursions into these areas “violate the privacy of work on the fields’

premises,” the official asserted, warning that the information gained during these trips “could be used to put pressure on Kuwait to share the fields with Iran.”

Kuwait’s state oil company, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), plans to utilize the offshore fields as part of its current fiveyear plan, which concludes at the end of 2013, the official explained, adding that Kuwait already spent more than $40 million on seismic scans and other procedures in the two fields prior to beginning the drilling process.

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KUWAIT: Diplomats and other dignitaries at the inauguration of Gulfmart in Jahra.

Gulfmart opens branch in Jahra KUWAIT: Gulfmart, the supermarket chain with the largest number of branches in Kuwait, opened their tenth branch in the country at Jahra, on Thursday. The branch was inaugurated by Sheikh Meshaal Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah, Chief of Kuwait Foreign Investment Bureau at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, along with the Dr. Vidhu P. Nair, First Secretary, Labor Wing at the Indian Embassy.

Other distinguished guests who graced the occasion with their presence included, Dasho Sherub Tenzin, Ambassador of Bhutan, Thongphachanh Sonnasinh, Ambassador of Laos, Kokolatt, Ambassador of Myanmar, Madhuban P. Paudan, Ambassador of Nepal, Ibrahim Bakarr Kamara, Ambassador of Sierra Leone, C.A.H.M. Wijeratne, Ambassador of Sri Lanka and Chet Dherapattana, Ambassador of Thailand. A large gathering of wellwishers and patrons of Gulfmart, along with media personnel also attended the inauguration.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Meshaal expressed his happiness to learn that Gulfmart now had ten branches in Kuwait and carried such a wide variety of products that catered to the diverse popula-

tion in the country. He lauded Gulfmart for their entrepreneurship and pledged full support and assistance from Ministry of Commerce and Industry for all their ventures. Dr. Nair added he was pleased that Gulfmart, one of the fastest growing supermarkets in Kuwait, had decided to open their latest branch in Jahra City.

He noted that the spacious supermarket with its wide selection of products from around the world, offers people in the area with greater choice in their shopping. The first Secretary expressed his appreciation to the management and employees of Gulfmart and wished them all success.

The new Gulfmart branch, located in the Al Khair and Al Akool Commercial Complex, owned by Unicaptia Real Estate Company, provides ample car parking facilities and a comfortable shopping ambience. Welcoming Gulfmart as their new tenant, the General Manager of Unicapita Real Estate Company, Talal Al-Shamali said that he was delighted that a supermarket of Gulfmart’s stature had decided to operate from their complex and wished them the best.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration, Arif Sheikh, Director of Gulfmart Group, said, “We are very

grateful to our customers in Kuwait for their patronage over the years. By opening our tenth branch in Jahra, we are meeting the demands of residents in this area who have long yearned for quality products at affordable prices. Together with our nine other branches, we are now able to provide valued offerings to customers from Fahaheel in the south to Jahra in the north.”

Elaborating on opening the new branch, T.A. Remesh, Gulfmart Country Manager in Kuwait, said, “The opening of our tenth branch in Jahra is a momentous occasion for Gulfmart; it marks the completion of the first phase of our development strategy. The new branch is also significant in that it heralds our entry into Jahra, which is one of the most exciting cities in Kuwait. To befit this place and occasion, we have opened one of our largest branches here, and stocked it with a complete range of products at very competitive prices. The new branch, which offers 2,500 square meters of comfortable shopping ambience, also provides convenient access and plenty of car parking facilities for our customers. We are grateful to Unicapita and especially to Shammali for supporting and assisting us in finding such an apt location.”

Gulfmart has always endeavored to achieve total customer satisfaction by offering customers the best services and convenient shopping locations that deliver quality products at affordable prices. Result of their commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in the consistent successes of increasing number of Gulfmart branches across the country. In addition to their existing two branches in Jleeb Al Shuyoukh and Hawally, they have one outlet each in Shuwaikh, Salmiya, Fahaheel, Farwaniya, Khaitan and now in Jahra.

The country manager concluded by adding, “Our earlier assessment of having only ten branches in Kuwait has been completely overturned by the remarkable response to our existing branches, as well as demand by customers for even closer access to their favorite supermarket. This has led us to reevaluate our strategies and we have now embarked upon an assertive new expansion plan that will see the addition of three more branches by the end of 2011 - one in Salwa and a second branch each in Fahaheel and Farwaniya. Also, we plan on adding 15 more outlets by early 2013, taking the total number of Gulfmart outlets in Kuwait to 25.”

Three-member gang abducts, rapes Filipino man in Jahra Woman held for insulting officers

Divers document coral health KUWAIT: The Kuwait Diving Team recently undertook the task of documenting the condition of coral reefs in Umm Adairah (13 kilometers, north of Qarouh Island). Two new buoys will also be installed as part of this expedition.

“Documenting the status of coral reefs in Kuwaiti waters is one of our most prominent projects throughout the year,” said Mahmoud Ashkenani, Environmental Projects Super visor at the Environmental Voluntary Foundation’s(EVF) team.

Ashkenani further explained that the documenting process is usually hindered by low visibility due to water turbidity, noting at the same time that good visibility levels during the recent mission enabled divers to take photographs and video footage of the area.

The documentation process revealed large areas that are covered with dead coral skeletons, in addition to coral bleaching in some areas that have been infected since last year and are to fully recover. Ashkenani also noted that the temperature of water recorded during the mission has touched 31.1 C degrees.

Kuwait tightly monitors imported foodstuffs KUWAIT: Imported foodstuffs are tightly monitored at all the country’s exit points; including laboratory testing, in order to ensure available safe food, Director General of Kuwait Municipality Ahmad Al-Subeeh asserted yesterday. Al-Subeeh said that the goal of these unexpected inspection campaigns is to “cleanse the country from any spoilt food items that might put the health and safety of consumers in danger.”

He lauded all exerted efforts done by municipality teams who are working “day and night” at all the country’s exit points.

On his part, the Municipality’s follow up and inspection department Director Saleh Al-Kanderi noted that health inspection teams that targeted food factories, restaurants and Co-Ops warehouses have written up 16 fines for health conditions violations and have destroyed 24kg of spoilt food.

“All food types in the market are being monitored,” Al-Kanderi noted, adding that “random food samples are being periodically taken from food stores and being tested at laboratories to ensure safe food,” he explained.

He also cautioned stores’ owners from keeping food items at unhealthy places which would cause them to go bad and become unfit for human consumption.

Meanwhile, Head of municipality in Mubarak AlKhabeer Marzooq Al-Azmi reiterated the importance of having on-going inspection campaigns to monitor all foodstuffs violations. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Police are hunting for three thugs who abducted, brutally assaulted and raped a male expatriate in Jahra. The victim, a 24-yearold Filipino man, was rushed to Jahra Hospital by a Kuwaiti Good Samaritan who found him lying semi-conscious in the street near a place known as the ‘pilgrims’ lounge.’ After receiving treatment, the victim told police that his attackers, three young men in traditional Kuwaiti dress, had forcibly abducted him and driven him to a deserted area before battering and raping him. An investigation is underway to find the rapists.

Also in Jahra, a young Filipina woman managed to evade abduction by a group of thugs who attempted to force her into their car. The woman told police that the men had followed her as she was walking to a shop there, repeatedly catcalling her and offering her money to sleep with them. When she continued to ignore them, they attempted to force her into their car, but her strong resistance and cries for help led to them fleeing as passersby noted what was taking place. A hunt is underway for the group.

Prison bully A female Central Prison inmate has been referred to the Public Prosecution Service on charges of verbally and physically assaulting prison staff and fellow prisoners. The prison director had summoned the woman for ques-

tioning after receiving a number of complaints about the Kuwaiti woman from other inmates who said that she bullied those around her constantly. When prison warders took her to the director for questioning over the accusations, she turned on the staff themselves, berating and physically assaulting them, as well as the director.

Meanwhile, an Iranian inmate in the men’s wing of the prison was taken to Farwaniya Hospital after suffering a broken right arm in a fight with his Egyptian cellmate. A prison insider confirmed that disciplinary measures will be taken against both inmates.

‘Birthday boy’ busted A Hawally resident may be regretting his decision to hold a party to celebrate his birthday after police arrested him for fighting with a guest, as well as serving alcohol at the soiree.

Police were called to the apartment after a number of neighbors phoned the emergency services hotline to complain about the noisy get-together. They discovered that the tenant was hosting a party to celebrate his birthday, during which alcohol was served, and had got into a fight with one of the male guests who he accused of harassing his girlfriend. The ‘birthday boy’ was taken into custody, whilst his girlfriend reportedly fled, along with her ‘harasser,’ before police arrived.

Abusive motorist A female driver was taken into custody after insulting police officers who pulled her over on a Hawally street to issue a citation for its illegally tinted windows. The woman reportedly refused to cooperate with the officers when they asked for her license and registration documents, whilst two of the three men who were in the car at the time got out and fled on foot as the woman was arguing with the officers.

The woman was eventually taken into custody after raining a shower of verbal abuse on the officers.

Jahra fraud A Kuwaiti man lodged a complaint at Jahra police station after finding that KD300 had been transferred from his bank account without his permission. The man explained to the station officers that he had learnt of the money transfer on receiving a text message from his bank informing him of it and referring him to the branch manager. When he visited the bank, he was informed that the money had been transferred via a phone transaction to another account belonging to an Asian expatriate. The recipient was subsequently discovered to have left the country. A police investigation is underway.

Bootlegger busted A Bangladeshi man was arrested in

Mahboula after being caught in possession of four bottles of liquor, as well as KD400 which turned out to be money he had made from gambling.

250 fils theft A 17-year-old Kuwaiti boy stopped a police patrol vehicle outside the Adan Co-op to demand that he be taken to the local police station to report the theft of 250 fils, which he said he had lost whilst shopping for groceries. After complying with the boy’s request, police called his family to report that he was at the station. His father arrived there shortly afterwards, explaining to officers that his son suffers from a mental illness.

Drug bust Two young men were taken into custody after being caught in possession of drugs by a police patrol. The officers were conducting a routine patrol on the coastal road in Ahmadi when they spotted the young men’s car being driven erratically. When they pulled the vehicle over, the two Kuwaiti men attempted to escape on foot, but were quickly apprehended. On searching the vehicle, the officers found heroin and narcotic tablets. Both men were referred to the General Department for Drug Control.

— Al-Rai, Al-Anba, Al-Watan

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Arab govts bracing for increased tensions

US Budget, debt worries plague American troops Page 9

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Turkey military in turmoil Turkish four most senior commanders quit

ANKARA: In this file photo, Turkey’s Chief of Staff Gen Isik Kosaner (front row-center) and other top commanders pose for cameras at the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey. Gen Kosaner and top army commanders have resigned Friday, July 29, 2011, in what is seen as tensions with the Islamic-rooted government. — AP

in the

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3 Saudis beheaded RIYADH: Three Saudis were beheaded yesterday in the western city of Taef after being convicted of killing fellow citizens in two separate incidents, state news agency SPA reported. Mahfoudh bin Ali Al-Kenani was beheaded by the sword for stabbing to death Ali Saeed al-Khazmari because of a feud between them, SPA said.

Meanwhile, two brothers, Mohammed and Saud alJaeed were also executed for shooting dead fellow citizen Hilal bin Sayel Al-Harthi, SPA said in another statement. Yesterday’s executions bring to 37 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports. On June 10, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions in the previous six weeks. It said 15 people were executed in May alone.

Copter crash kills 3 LAGOS: A helicopter crash in southwestern Nigeria has left three people, including the pilot, dead, an emergency official said yesterday after a six-hour search in a wooded area to locate the wreckage. The private helicopter crashed Friday outside Ife-Odan in Osun state in a mountainous area, said Yushau Shuaib, spokesman for the national emergency management agency (NEMA). He said that three people aboard the OAS helicopter-the pilot and two women-died. Full details of the crash remained unclear, including the cause, he said. “The crash happened in an extremely difficult mountainous area, difficult to access. No vehicle or motorcycle can access the area. It is just now that our officers are bringing down the three corpses,” he said.

The helicopter, travelling from Lagos to the north-central city of Ilorin, crashed on a hilltop more than 1,000 feet above sea level, he said. He said that NEMA suspects poor visibility as the cause of the accident.

17 die in Vietnam fire HANOI: Seventeen factory workers were killed and 21 seriously injured after they became trapped in a burning Vietnamese shoe workshop that did not have a fire escape, local police said yesterday. The fire is believed to have been started by welding equipment on Friday afternoon at the unlicensed business in the northern city of Haiphong, the head of the police in An Lao district, Phan Xuan Lai said. “We arrested six people for investigation straight away,” he said. The flames spread so quickly that those inside could not get out of the building fast enough. “It had only one very small exit and was located in a narrow road,” Lai explained, adding that it took an hour to extinguish the fire. Ten of the victims were women, including two younger sisters of the Vietnamese woman who owned the workshop with her Chinese husband. “Four of the workers have died this morning in hospital,” Lai said. The workshop had been operating for just four months and employed more than 40 workers, he added.

ISTANBUL: Turkey faced turmoil within its military yesterday after the country’s four most senior commanders quit, offering Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan an opportunity to extend his authority over the once dominant armed forces. Chief of General Staff General Isik Kosaner stepped down on Friday evening along with the army, navy and air force commanders in protest over the detention of 250 officers on charges of conspiring against Erdogan’s government.

In a farewell message to “brothers in arms”, Kosaner said it was impossible to continue in his job as he could not defend the rights of men who had been detained as a consequence of a flawed judicial process. Relations between the secularist military and Erdogan’s socially conservative Justice and Development Party (AK) have been fraught since it first won power in 2002, due to mistrust of the AK’s Islamist roots.

Though the departures are embarrassing, they could give Erdogan a decisive victory over a military that sees itself as guardian of the secularist state envisioned by the soldier statesman and founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Analysts see little political threat to Erdogan’s supremacy. AK won a third consecutive term, taking 50 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election in June.

Erdogan marked out Kosaner’s successor on Friday, as his office put out a statement naming paramilitary Gendarmerie commander General Necdet Ozel as new head of land forces, and acting deputy chief of general staff, effectively making him next in line when Kosaner handed over the baton.

In years gone by, Turkey’s generals were more likely to seize power than quit. They have staged three coups since

1960 and pushed an Islamist-led government from power in 1997. Some founders of AK, including Erdogan, were members of the Welfare Party, an Islamist party whose coalition was forced out 14 years ago. But as prime minister, Erdogan has ended the military’s dominance through a series of reforms aimed at advancing Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union.

“Four-star earthquake,” a headline in Sabah newspaper said of the generals’ decision, while papers also highlighted Kosaner’s criticism of media reporting on the military. “They tried to create the impression that the Turkish Armed Forces was a criminal organization and ... the biased media encouraged this with all kinds of false stories, smears and allegations,” Kosaner’s statement said. On Istanbul’s streets, views of the issue reflected Turkey’s polarization between government supporters and opponents.

“This is a move to place AK Party supporters in the army.

There was only the army to protect secularism but they took that as well,” said retired 54-year-old Perihan Guclu. “This has been a good development. We have got one of the biggest numbers of generals in the world but we are becoming a democracy slowly,” said a 52-year-old who gave his name only as Dursun.

The subordination of the generals was starkly demonstrated last year when police began detaining scores of officers over “Operation Sledgehammer”, an alleged plot against Erdogan’s government discussed at a military seminar in 2003. The officers say Sledgehammer was merely a war game exercise and the evidence against them has been fabricated. About 250 military personnel are in jail, including

173 serving and 77 retired staff. Most are charged in relation to Sledgehammer.

A court accepted on Friday an indictment on another alleged military plot, known as the “Internet Memorandum” case, and prosecutors sought the arrest of 22 people including the Aegean army commander and six other serving generals and admirals. Aksam newspaper described this as “the indictment which triggered a crisis” in a case where the military is accused of setting up anti-government websites.

Papers said disagreements over new senior appointments also prompted the generals to quit.

The detentions have sapped morale and spread mistrust and suspicion among the officer corps, and many had been looking for Kosaner to take a stand since his appointment last August. More than 40 serving generals, almost a tenth of Turkey’s commanders, are under arrest, accused of a various plots to bring down the AK party. “It is clear as day that this extraordinary development has opened the door to a serious state crisis,” said Devlet Bahceli, head of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party.

The government statement said the four commanders had retired and made no mention of the reasons why. It said a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, which meets twice-yearly to make top appointments, would go ahead as planned on Monday, showing Erdogan is in a hurry to restore the chain of command and present an image of business as usual. The announcement hit sentiment on Turkey’s financial markets on Friday, weakening the lira and pushing bond yields higher on concerns about increased political risk. — Reuters

Somali drought a conspiracy by infidels?

NAIROBI: For Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, the drought devastating parts of the country is being exploited by external enemies, claiming that local Muslims were adequately addressing the crisis. The Al-Shebab insurgents have expelled several foreign aid groups from regions under their control since 2009 and reiterated recently that the ban was still in force after the United Nations declared famine in two regions they rule.

Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage denied there was famine in the southern Somalia regions of Bakool and Lower Shabelle as declared by the UN, but admitted that there was drought. In a speech to the rebel radio, Rage said local traders and other residents have been the main providers of help to the drought-hit population and that “God did not make them need an outside enemy or non-Muslims, the people in the country fed them very well.” “We need Muslim people to be aware that the external enemy especially non-Muslims have been thinking of a new strategy.

“The new strategy is to transport them abroad, especially in Christian countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, so that their faith can be destroyed and that they could be staff and soldiers for the Christians,” Rage charged.

Thousands of Somalis have fled to neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya to seek relief from the harsh drought that has affected some 12

million people across the Horn of Africa region. Somalia is the worst hit country by the drought, with malnutrition rates in some regions reaching 50 percent, according to the UN, while nearly half of its 10 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.

The aid restriction by the hardline rebels, who control much of southern and central Somalia, has been singled out as having worsened the effects of the drought.

However, a handful of foreign aid groups were spared the ban and can operate in the militia-controlled regions but with limited scope. “For the Shebab it means that if the bulk of aid comes from Somali communities, foreign aid cannot be rejected,” according to Support Program (NSP), an organization which advises aid groups on the Somalia operation.

But the NSP warned that the authority granted by the Shebab to the few foreign aid groups can suddenly be reversed, so the UN and other relief organizations should be cautious about their public pronouncements.

Whether to accept or reject external help has also deepened traditional divisions between moderate and extremist Shebab elements, a Western observer said. Hardliners led by Shebab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane reject any kind of foreign aid, while the moderates who have strong clan links are more open to outside help. — AFP

MOGADISHU: A child from southern Somalia gestures as he wears a pot on his head next to a food distribution center in a camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu, Somalia.— AP

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Arab regimes’ fears focus on Ramadan Leaders bracing for increased tensions

DUBAI: Arab governments are bracing for increased tensions during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan which this year comes amid a wave of unprecedented uprisings sweeping the region. “Throughout history, Ramadan has been the month of revolutions and victory,” said Abdullah Al-Amadi, director of the Qatar-based Islamic website Islamonline. “I think it will inspire the youths of the Arab Spring to complete their struggles against injustice and tyranny,” he said.

BENGHAZI: Journalists seen inside the Voice of Free Libya radio station studio in the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya. Journalists use captured transmitters formerly run by the Libyan state broadcasting organization founded in 1964. —AP

‘Free but broke’ in Benghazi ahead of Ramadan BENGHAZI: With Ramadan around the corner, hundreds of Libyans have been turning up each day at Benghazi’s banks, hoping to get cash ahead of the holy Muslim month of fasting. But the banks of Benghazi, the stronghold of a fivemonth insurgenc y against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, are facing a liquidity crisis and are sending the majority of their customers home empty handed.

“I’ve come here for five days and got no money,” said a retired policeman who was seeking to withdraw 200 Libyan dinars ($165, 115 euros) although his monthly pension of 350 dinars has been unpaid since April.

Another pensioner, Messe Abdullah, said he was struggling to make ends meet with a big family to support and only two sons as income earners. “In four days it is R amadan and R amadan is expensive for someone like me who has a big family of 15,” said the 65-year-old. A crowd of around 100 people on Thursday sat on the stairs below the shuttered doorway of a branch of BNP Paribas bank, praying to be called in. “Ramadan is here, there are extra needs but there is no money,” said Yasmin Muhammad, 62.

She added large families spend up to 3,000 dinars-or 10 times the average public employee salary-during the Muslim month of fasting. Najit Ali, a 35-year-old teacher and mother of six jobless youths, said that after 10 days of queuing she still hopes to collect some funds to help. “ There has been no money or salaries since April,” she said. “We will endure

because God is generous, but I am worried. Life is hard. Nothing is cheap now.”

Some who have been queuing for weeks are growing angry, most having gone unpaid since April or even March, while others complain of only being able to get part of their wages as banks cap withdrawals at 100-200 dinars per person. “I earn 600 dinars per month but I can only withdraw 100 or 200 dinars,” said Naji Mohammed, 32. Ahmad Misrati, a driver, tried to make light of the situation, saying: “Thank God Gaddafi got us used to poverty.

“The people who depend on the state and don’t have a second job are the hardest hit-that’s about a third of society,” he said. Some customers at Al-Wahda bank complain they are being ping-ponged from branch to branch without results.

“I’ve come all the way from Jalo and still I cannot even get money at the headquarters,” fumed a mother.

A bank employee said on condition of anonymity: “People are coming from all over Free Libya for money but there is none. Nobody knows where our money is.

What can we do?” “We are free but broke”Bank of Commerce and Development manager Hamed Salhin Elraeid said the problem boils down to a cash shortage, as many banks had their headquarters and a sizeable portion of their funds in Tripoli. In addition, “banks cannot generate hard currency out of pay cheques of the private or public sector,” and while shoppers use cash, retailers are no longer putting it in banks to pay for goods bought abroad. —AFP

Amadi said an escalation in the Arab struggle for democracy could come in the final 10 days of Ramadan, believed to be the holiest of the month which this year begins at the star t of August. The authorities in Syria fear the daily “Taraweeh” nightly prayers during Ramadan threaten to transform every day into Fridays, when people leave mosques af ter the week ly prayers and protest in their thousands in the streets.

Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force of the protest movement wrote: “ The regime is afraid of R amadan and the Taraweeh prayers,” amid calls by Syrian cyber activists for protests every night until dawn. In Libya, rebels locked for months in deadly battles with strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s regime are determined to continue their struggle despite abstaining from food and drink during daylight in the scorching heat of August. “If it’s war and we’re tired, we’ll eat. But if we remain in a defensive position, we will fast. God is with us,” said Hatem Al-Jadi, a 24-year-old fighter in the western desert hamlet of Gualish, south of Tripoli.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, where anti-regime protests erupted in January, is in Saudi Arabia after being wounded in an explosion but his regime still grips the reins of power as rifts ripple through the ranks of his opponents. But protesters camped out at a square in the Yemeni capital Sanaa since Februar y say they are determined to revive their

‘Iraq less safe’

TUNIS: The nephew of Tunisia’s deposed president, Sofiene Ben Ali (left) arrived to appear in court to face drug charges in Tunis, Tunisia. —AP

What use are Tunisia trials?

TUNIS: With three trials in a month and prison terms of more than 66 years handed down, many Tunisians have started to wonder what use it is to try toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in his absence. More than 100 court cases remain open against the former dictator, who was ousted by a popular uprising and fled with family and close aides on January 14 to Saudi Arabia, which refuses to extradite him.

Ben Ali has already been convicted of embezzlement, illegal possession of weapons and narcotics, housing frauds and abuse of power. His close family, particularly his wife Leila Trabelsi and his son-in-law Sakhr Al Materi, have also been sentenced in absentia for some of these crimes. But the symbolic impact of the first trial, on June 30, which aroused widespread curiosity, rapidly gave way to diminishing interest and then to growing criticism of the day-long hearings which inevitably end up with convictions.

“This serves to calm the crowds and win time. But at the end of the day, we no longer even know what it’s about, when what is needed is a trial to set down in history,” commented former judge Mokhtar Yahyaoui. While acknowledging that trials in the absence of the accused were “pure formalities” and that cases would reopen were Ben Ali present, he deplored the quick nature of the hearings. “Those mainly responsible, the key people, have not been summoned to appear, when they should at least be heard as witnesses,” Yahyaoui said, adding that he suspected that there was “a deliberate desire to cover things up, to protect people.”

That view is shared by Omar Mestiri, a journalist and human rights activist who was persecuted under Ben Ali’s regime in the North African country. “These are trials to play to the gallery, when we need something more serious. It’s too easy and dangerous to blame everything on one man, who is moreover no longer there to answer for his actions,” Mestiri said. “What we want is a trial of the Ben Ali system. We need to build up cases, put the machinery in place. We must also allow for the right to a legal defence and enable cross-examination,” added Mestiri, who runs the Kalima radio station.

“Let’s take the system of electoral frauds. Ben Ali was the main beneficiary but there are hundreds of members of parliament who owe their places to this system. Let’s take the business tenders that enabled the (Ben Ali) clan to establish their hold over the economy. “Administrators were accomplices in this. Where are those responsible? Who launched the defamation campaigns, who bought off the media? Who tortured thousands of citizens? “All those questions, we avoid speaking about them and we avoid raising them,” Mestiri stated. —AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraq is a less safe place than it was one year ago as security continues to deteriorate, an American watchdog warned yesterday, just months ahead of a US withdrawal from the country. The assessment by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) contrasts markedly from the more optimistic view often voiced by senior US army officers who argue that Iraqi security forces are able to maintain internal security.

He also noted that efforts by the American embassy to train Iraq’s fledgling police force would be “challenging.” While the military has been in charge of developing Iraq’s policemen, that responsibility is being transferred to the US State Department. “Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work,” Stuart Bowen said in the report published yesterday. “It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago.” He added that the transition of responsibility for reconstruction from the US military to the embassy was occurring “against the backdrop of a security situation in Iraq that continues to deteriorate.”

Bowen noted June was the deadliest month for US military personnel since April 2009, and that the April to July period saw the highest number of assassinations of senior Iraqi officials since SIGIR began tracking such figures. He warned that while joint efforts by the US and Iraq had lowered the threat posed by insurgent groups, “foreign (backed) militias have become cause for concern,” and added that the past quarter “also saw an increase in the number of rockets hitting the International Zone and the US embassy compound as well.”

Despite those concerns, he said US forces in Iraq continue “to contrast the current security status in Iraq to that of mid-2007 - when the country was embroiled in a state of near-civil war.” Bowen’s report comes ahead of a year-end deadline for the approximately 47,000 American troops currently stationed in Iraq to withdraw from the country, under the terms of a bilateral security pact. But proposals for a US military training mission of limited size are gaining traction amongst Iraqi politicians, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said, although nothing has yet been agreed. As a result, Bowen said Iraq was in the midst of a “summer of uncertainty.”

Among his other concerns was the transition of responsibility for training Iraq’s police forces to the State Department from the military. He noted that the US embassy’s execution of the police training mission would “be challenging, involving fewer than 200 advisers based at three sites and supporting Iraqi police in 10 provinces.” Bowen’s report put the number of Iraqi police at 302,000 as of the end of June, with an additional 229,000 officers falling under the interior ministry, responsible for securing Iraq’s borders, oil installations and key facilities. Iraq’s armed forces number around 270,000, according to the report. The US military and the American embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. —AFP

movement during Ramadan. “ This will be the month of change, especially since Ali Abdullah Saleh is not in Yemen,” said Walid Al-Omari, an activist from Yemen’s “ Youth Revolution” group.

move that was not been wellreceived by other sections of the opposition.

Other Arab governments are adopting a “better safe than sorr y ” stance, making sure they closely monitor the prices of

In OPEC k ingpin Saudi Arabia, which has remained steadfast against the wave of pro-democracy protests rocking the region, the ministry of commerce has forced dairy producers to reconsider their decision

GAZA: A Palestinian boy walks past Ramadan lanterns for sale, ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at a market stall in Gaza City. —AP Saleh was wounded in the blast at his palace compound on June 3, and was flown the next day for treatment in Riyadh where he is still convalescing.

Highlighting divisions among opposition members, a group of protesters on July 16 announced the creation of a 17member “presidential council” to run Yemen if Saleh quits, a

goods in Ramadan, which usually soar during the month, in order to keep their people happy. In Egypt, where tensions are mounting between the military and ac tivists demanding reforms, the government has taken measures to maintain its costly subsidy system that keeps very low prices for basic foodstuffs such as bread.

to increase prices. The government has also decided to consider cutting the prices of imported barley to prevent an increase in meat prices. And in neighboring oil-rich United Arab Emirates the president, Sheik h Khalifa bin Zayed alNahayan, has ordered that rice be subsidized across the country during Ramadan.—AFP

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UK extends phone-hacking probe to computers A fresh threat to Murdoch’s empire LONDON: British police investigating phone hacking at the News of the World will extend their probe into claims that computers were hacked, in a fresh threat to Rupert Murdoch’s embattled empire. London’s Metropolitan police said late Friday it was establishing a new team of officers to examine claims which emerged during its current phone-hacking investigation that computers may have also been illegally accessed.

The move heaped fur ther pressure on Murdoch’s embattled News Corp conglomerate the same day an investigator at the heart of the controversy said he acted on orders from News of the World (NotW), axed this month as the scandal erupted. Private detective Glenn Mulcaire’s comments are a challenge to claims

by Murdoch’s empire that he was a rogue operator. Meanwhile, a British parliamentary committee said it had ordered Murdoch’s son and heir apparent James to give written clarification of answers he gave on the scandal last week.

Murdoch has been struggling for weeks to stem the spiraling scandal, which has dragged in police and politicians and spread to the United States and Australia. But there was little sign yesterday that the crisis was about to die down, with police laying the ground to start probing allegations of computer hacking. An inquiry, Operation Tuleta, was “currently considering a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy... including computer hacking” that were not covered by the current phone-hacking probe, Scotland Yard said in a statement.

A team was being established to look into the claims and “some aspects of this operation will move forward to a formal investigation,”

said the statement. The police have faced fierce criticism over their failure to properly investigate hacking allegations during an initial probe in 2006. That investigation led to the jailing of the NotW’s royal editor and Mulcaire in 2007 but despite mounting evidence that hacking was more widespread than the paper originally claimed, the police only revived the probe this year. Two top officers have been forced to resign over the scandal along with several top Murdoch aides.

Elsewhere, Mulcaire’s intervention focused attention back on the issue of how much key figures at News Corp. knew about hacking. In a statement issued by his lawyers, Mulcaire expressed “sincere regret” but he added that he was “effectively employed” by the paper from 2002. “Any suggestion that he acted in such matters unilaterally is untrue,” the statement said. He spoke a day after the mother of a murdered eight-year-old girl said police had confirmed her details were found among his papers. Claims that he hacked the phone of a murdered 13-year-old ignited the scandal earlier this month.

Rebekah Brooks, editor of the News of the World from 2000-2003, and her successor until 2007, Andy Coulson, have both denied authorizing any phone hacking or knowing that the practice was being used by their staff. Brooks and Coulson, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron’s media chief until January this year, have since been arrested.

James and Rupert Murdoch, along with Brooks, who quit as chief executive of News Corp’s British newspaper wing News International earlier this month, answered questions from parliament’s media committee on July 19.

Committee chairman John Whittingdale said

LONDON: Lord Justice Leveson (centre) and the assessors of his inquiry into ‘culture practices and ethics of the press’, attend the opening of the inquiry in London. — AP

Friday that he would be writing to James Murdoch about his testimony to the committee and that “the chances are” he would be recalled to clarify his evidence.

Ex-NotW editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone last week said James Murdoch gave misleading evidence about how much he knew about the extent of hacking at the paper when he authorized a payout to a victim in 2008. It was at that hearing that the 80-yearold Rupert Murdoch was hit in the face with a plateful of shaving foam by comedian Jonathan May-Bowles. May-Bowles, 26, whose stage name is Jonnie Marbles, pleaded guilty Friday at City of Westminster Magistrates Court to assault and to causing harassment, alarm or distress. A judge told him he faces jail when

sentenced on Tuesday.

James Murdoch has also faced calls to quit his chairmanship of pay-TV giant BSkyB. But his position was strengthened Friday when the company posted bumper operating profits of £1.073 billion ($1.74 billion, 1.22 billion euros) in the 12 months to June, up 23 percent on the previous year.

The Times newspaper meanwhile reported yesterday that Prince William expressed disappointment to James Murdoch and Brooks that no one from News International had apologized to him after his aides’ phones were hacked several years ago. During a lunch meeting in January at a north Wales hotel, Murdoch and Brooks reportedly offered their apologies to him. — AFP

Radicalized online, ‘lone wolves’ hard to combat Preventing Norway-type attacks needs new approach

LUGANSK: A rescuer drinks water as he rests at Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya coal mine in Lugansk region. — AFP

25 dead, 12 missing in Ukraine mine tragedies LUGANSK: The death toll rose to 25 yesterday from two separate coal mining accidents on the same day in Ukraine’s eastern industrial district, notorious for its poor safety standards. The Ukrainian emergency ministry raised the toll from 16 to 18 from an explosion early Friday at the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya coal mine in the eastern Lugansk region. Eight miners were still missing yesterday after that blast deep in the mine, likely caused by a buildup of deadly methane gas, while two remained hospitalized with serious burns.

The death toll from a separate accident hours later also rose to seven, and four miners remained missing yesterday after a mine headframe collapsed at the Bazhanova pit in the town of Makiyivka in the neighboring Donetsk region. The twin disasters were the country’s worst mining accidents since more than 100 miners died in a mine explosion in 2007. The blast at the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya mine rang out at around 2 am on Friday, in an air passage more than 900 meters deep in the mine, where 28 miners were working at the time, the local emergency ministry said.

Yesterday, “eight miners remained trapped in the disaster zone,” the ministry said, without indicating whether they were likely to be alive. Rescuers were removing gas from an emergency access tunnel into the mine, in order to go down in search of the missing miners, a spokeswoman for the Lugansk regional administration said. But she said there was little hope of finding

more miners alive. “I can’t say anything about this. It is unlikely,” said Albina Kosheleva, the Lugansk regional administration spokeswoman.

Two miners pulled from the debris and hospitalized in the city ’s burns unit remained in “an extremely serious condition, on the verge of life and death,” she added. A third survivor died in hospital on Friday. The first funerals of the dead miners were due to go ahead today, she said.

“Today are the first funerals of two miners.

Tomorrow will be a funeral service for 11 more miners.” Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was due to fly out to attend the service today, Kosheleva added.

President Viktor Yanukovych interrupted his holiday to travel to the scene of the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya accident late Friday and meet relatives of victims and survivors.

He called a government commission to investigate the disasters and to work on improved safety standards to protect miners. The mine is run by a private holding called Metinvest Group, which is controlled

by Rinat Akhmetov-Ukraine’s richest man who bankrolled Yanukovych’s presidential campaign in 2010. In the separate accident in a state-owned mine in the Donetsk region, a 65-metre-high tower for raising and lowering miners into the shaft collapsed Friday, trapping workers underneath. The accident forced the closure of the mine and the evacuation of more than 500 miners. —AFP

Africa ‘reemerging’ as heroin trafficking hub VIENNA: Drug traffickers faced with restrictions to transit routes through Asia and the Middle East are turning to eastern Africa, driving up instability and increasing substance abuse, a United Nations report said.

The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Africa’s emergence as an important heroin transport route in 2009 was of serious concern in a region illequipped to fight trafficking or care for people addicted to drugs.

“Drug seizures and the arrest of traffickers indicated that African drug traffickersparticularly West African networks-are increasingly transporting Afghan heroin from Pakistan into East Africa for onward shipment to Europe and elsewhere,” it said in a global report on the Afghan opium trade. Afghanistan is the world’s biggest producer of opium, the base ingredient of heroin, and over 40 percent of this flowed into Pakistan in 2009 before being transported worldwide as part of the $68 billion

global opiate market.

Released late on Friday, the report said there were two major heroin seizures during the first quarter of 2011, each of more than 100 kg, reported by Kenya and Tanzania.

“The emergence of Africa as a heroin trafficking hub is almost certainly due to ongoing corruption, widespread poverty and limited law enforcement capacity-as well as increased pressure on traditional drug trafficking routes,” it said. This provided an incentive to reopen the African route to Europe that had been very active in the 1980s and early 1990s. Traffickers are exploiting poorly-staffed seaports and airports and the lower cost and ease of transporting drugs through Africa makes the extra distance worthwhile.

In 2009, an estimated 150 tons of Afghan heroin reached Europe, 120 tons arrived in Asia and 45 tons came to Africa, the UNODC said. —Reuters

LONDON: Often radicalized unseen and online, “lone wolf” attackers — as authorities suspect the gunman who killed 76 people in Norway will turn out to be — are tough to detect and may pose a growing challenge to authorities. Anders Behring Breivik claims to be part of a wider network of so-called “Knights Templar” crusaders with additional cells across Europe.

Many security experts doubt such a network exists and if it does its members may be operating almost entirely independently - and therein lies the greatest threat. In the decade since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, authorities have concentrated on building up surveillance systems that have made it easier to shut down conventional “terrorist networks” by tracking interpersonal connections, methods largely useless against someone working alone.

The good news has been that “lone wolves” are often inept and lacking in the expertise to pull off big attacks, security experts said. Now Breivik appears to have raised the bar. “If he was genuinely operating solo, it’s disturbing to security officials,” said John Bassett, a former senior official at British signals intelligence agency GCHQ and now associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “There have been several examples of radical individuals acting on their own but this man would be distinguished by his imagination - from his point of view (and) effectiveness.”

More and more frequently these days, experts say, online extremist activity is less about militant groups deliberately recruiting people to their cause and more about vulnerable and isolated individuals looking to find a sense of community they lack elsewhere. “You can radicalize yourself online,” said Richard English, director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at Scotland’s University of St Andrews. “It’s much harder to the authorities to keep track of.”

NOT ENTIRELY UNDETECTABLE Hard, but not entirely impossible. Scott Stewart, a former US law enforcement official

with experience tracking right-wing militants and now working for private intelligence company Stratfor, says there are key times at which even the most secretive “lone wolf” is open to detection. “There are still points where they are vulnerable,” he said. “When they carry out close reconnaissance on their target, they tend to stand out and look like they are behaving strangely.

You should still be able to pick them up when they buy explosives for ammunition.” Breivik’s online journal makes it clear he realized the moments he was most exposed were when he was looking to buy fertilizer for explosives or weaponry. His purchase of an automatic rifle for “hunting” seems to have gone unnoticed, and although the fertilizer purges was flagged up by authorities as potentially suspicious the matter was apparently not pursued.

Officials say they are beginning to take a much broader approach by trying to detect those who might conduct attacks much earlierbut critics say the handful of initiatives so far are too narrow and fail to address the underlying issues. Speaking to Reuters earlier this year, Norman Bettison- the lead official at Britain’s Association of Chief Police Officers against violent extremism-said several school-aged children in Brtain had been referred for specialist anti-radicalisation education after developing what he called “unsavoury right-wing extremist views”.

DIFFICULT BALANCE In Holland, police have begun monitoring social networking and other websites to try to detect dangerous individuals and illegal hate speech in advance. But many question how successful — or even desirable-such approaches can be. “The challenge... is to produce good intelligence that gives advanced warning of attacks without either suffocating in huge masses of irrelevant material or intruding unduly into civil liberties,” said former GCHQ official Bassett.

“It looks a lot harder to spot a single renegade individual than a criminal gang with a reg-

Anders Behring Breivik ular pattern of working.” Once dangerous material has been published on the Internet, few believe there is any reliable way of censoring or restricting it to curb its spread. That is something Breivik would have been counting on when he dumped his 1500-page “manifesto”, which not only incites further attacks but gives details of how he acquired weaponry and built his bomb, online shortly before the massacre.

Give the growing threat, Sara Silvestri-an expert on radicalism at London’s City Universitysays authorities need to broaden their gaze further still when it comes to countering extremism, trying to overcome divisions and tackle the social isolation that helps create such potentially risky individuals. Such an approach should also include mainstream politicians, educators and mental health workers, she said. “Rather than deradicalisation programs, I’d prefer to see ‘living together programs’,” she said. “The problem is that people do not know how to live and respect each other as human beings.” — Reuters

No knowledge of Ivorian massacre?

Ouattara’s forces accused of brutal killings WASHINGTON: Ivory Coast’s president said he knows nothing about brutal killings committed by his forces the day after his inauguration and defended a senior officer accused of separate atrocities as one of the country’s best soldiers. President Alassane Ouattara, whose election victory in November was followed by a violent, four-month-long standoff with the country’s former ruler said in an interview that all those found to have committed atrocities would be punished, no matter their position. “I am against impunity,” he said.

But a report by Amnesty International released Wednesday accuses Ouattara’s Republican Forces of continuing to carry out violence and intimidation against ethnic groups perceived as having supported his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo. A different report by Human Rights Watch released in June alleges that forces loyal to Ouattara k illed up to 149 people believed to be Gbagbo supporters. The rights group cited a witness who said that a commander loyal to Ouattara, Cherif Ousmane, ordered the execution of 29 detainees. Two others said they saw Ousmane in a car that “disposed of the tortured and executed body of an infamous militia leader.” “This cannot be true,” Ouattara said Friday. “Cherif Ousmane is one of the best soldiers.” In fact, he added, soldiers who serve under Ousmane are known for being well-

trained, polite and helpful. “In any case, if we discover that anyone has committed atrocities, that person will be properly judged and sanctions will be taken,” the president said.

Ouattara added that he believed the report was based on interviews with mercenaries.

But recent violence, including the separate massacre of 47 people on the banks of the Cavally River at the very least raises the question of whether Ouattara has any control over the forces that helped put him in office.

“If President Ouattara is serious about impartial justice, he needs to better ensure that leaders of his security forces don’t have blood on their hands,” said Matthew Wells, who authored the report by Human Rights Watch. Ouattara’s victory in the West African countr y ’s first free and fair election in a decade was perceived as a turning point. But the outgoing president, Gbagbo, refused to leave. Ouattara was only able to take office after he enlisted the help of a rebel army that helped him seize control of the country.

Almost 700,000 people remain in camps for displaced people in the country’s remote far west and in refugee camps across the porous jungle border in Liberia and Guinea.

The brutal killings documented by AP took place deep into Gbagbo land on the river bank on the border with Liberia the day after Ouattara’s May 21 inauguration. Ouattara’s

forces opened fire with a machine gun, killing 47 refugees who had gathered in the clearing to eat as they made their way back from Liberia, lured by Ouattara’s message of reconciliation.

Ouattara’s regional commander for western Ivory Coast, Capt Eddie Mindi, said his soldiers opened fire after being attacked by Gbagbo’s mercenaries, and denied most of the dead were civilians. Ouattara said Friday he had never heard of Mindi. Ouattara, in Washington for a White House meeting with US President Barack Obama and the presidents of Benin, Guinea and Niger, said it would take time for his country to heal after years of violence.

He said a report on postelection violence by a national commission of inquiry would be sent to prosecutors by the end of the year. “I think reconciliation has started,” he said.

Ouattara said he has accomplished a lot in the short time he has been in office, including restructuring the security forces and restoring confidence in the economy.

He invited refugees in camps in neighboring Liberia and Guinea to return home, and said he recently urged members of the army in exile to return. “If there is nothing against them, obviously they will be free,” he said.

“Especially I told them that their security will be guaranteed.” — AP

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US Budget, debt worries plague American troops Anxiety in Afghanistan over troops pay if US defaults

CIEGO DE AVILA: Cuban President Raul Castro (right) greets Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon (left), as First Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (center) looks on, during the celebrations of the 58th anniversary of the Moncada barrack attack, at Revolution Square in Ciego de Avila. — AFP

Cuba approves flights from nine more American cities Obama loosening of travel restrictions under fire HAVANA: Air travel between the United States and Cuba will become easier with the opening of charter flights to the forbidden island from an additional nine US cities announced by Cuba authorities on Friday.

Cuban travel agency Havanatur Celimar said it added the cities of Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the list from where charter flights would be accepted.

Cuba is preparing for an increase in visitors from its long-time ideological foe under a recent loosening of travel restrictions by the Obama administration. The United States, which maintains comprehensive sanctions on the communist-run Island and bans tourism to Cuba, does not allow regular commercial flights between the two countries. But the Obama administration has lifted all restrictions on Cuban Americans visiting their homeland and allowed religious, academic and other professional travel by Americans to Cuba.

Havana Celimar has a monopoly on the Cuban end of US charter flights and already receives travelers on flights from Miami, New York and Los Angeles. The number of

US citizens visiting Cuba increased last year by 20 percent, to 63,000, according to Cuban statistics. Some 350,000 Cuban Americans visited Cuba in 2010 after the Obama administration lifted all restrictions on their travel. The travel opening annoyed Cuban American lawmakers who have introduced legislation in Congress that would reimpose a Bush-era restriction on Cuban American travel to the island of only one visit every three years and more strictly enforce the ban on US travel to Cuba.

The lawmakers argue that the Obama administration is helping prop up the Cuban government, while the White House counters more people-to-people contact is the best way to undermine the island’s communist system. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto any move to undercut his people-to-people policy toward Cuba. Cuba has said it had 2.53 million tourists in 2010, with Canada the largest provider at nearly 945,000, followed

by Britain at 174,000 and Italy at 112,000.

Tourism is one of Cuba’s most important earners of foreign exchange, with revenues of $2.2 billion last year, and an important provider of jobs. — Reuters

US soldier charged in Fort Hood plot Army private unruly at hearing WACO: Suspected of planning to kill fellow soldiers, a US army private after being charged shouted out references to a deadly sexual assault on an Iraqi girl and an alleged Al-Qaeda-linked officer accused in the 2009 Fort Hood killings. Army Private Naser Jason Abdo has been charged with possession of an illegal firearm after his Wednesday arrest at a Killeen, Texas motel where police found bombmaking materials and literature in his room, along with a copy of the AlQaeda English-language magazine Inspire.

“Abdeer Qassim Al-Janabi, Iraq 2006! Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood 2009!”

Abdo shouted as he was escorted out of the Texas courtroom on Friday following the charges. The 21-year-old Abdo was referring to an Iraqi girl who was raped and killed by US soldiers in Mahmudiyah in 2006, and Major Nidal Hasan who is facing a court martial for killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at a Fort Hood deployment facility in November 2009.

Friday’s hearing lasted just five minutes. Abdo, who was wearing a white prison jump suit, refused to stand up when the bailiff called “All rise,” as Judge Jeffrey Manske entered the courtroom. Eventually four US marshals took him by the arms and made him stand before the judge.

Manske questioned Abdo about his education, and the AWOL soldier said he graduated from high school and had one year of college. When the judge asked if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Abdo responded with a “no.”

During an interview with FBI officials, Abdo admitted he planned to build two bombs in his budget hotel room by packing gun powder and shrapnel into pressure cookers he would then detonate at a restaurant popular with soldiers from Fort Hood, a sprawling US Army base in Texas, according to the affidavit. A query with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Records

found that “there were no firearms, including destructive devices, registered to Naser Jason Abdo,” said a statement by a US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives listed in the affidavit.

Items found in his room included a .40 caliber handgun, ammunition, an Inspire article entitled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom” and bombmaking components-including six bottles of smokeless gunpowder, shotgun shells, shotgun pellets, two clocks, two spools of auto wire, an electric drill and two pressure cookers, court documents said. The criminal complaint filed against him was unsealed in Waco, Texas, by Judge Mankse. If convicted, Abdo faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

Attached to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Abdo had sought conscientious objector status to refuse deployment to Afghanistan, saying he could not fight other Muslims. But after his status was granted in May, Abdo was charged with possession of child pornography on a computer. He then left Fort Campbell without permission early this month. The Washington Post, citing congressional and federal officials, said Abdo had been inspired

by Hasan and his shooting spree at Fort Hood in 2009.

Hasan, who mowed down fellow soldiers before he was set to deploy to Afghanistan, goes on trial March 5 and faces the death penalty if convicted. Investigators allege that Hasan, like Abdo born in the United States of Palestinian descent, had been in contact with key Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, a US citizen at large in Yemen. Abdo was arrested following a tip from a clerk at Guns Galore, a store where Hasan had bought weapons used in the deadly attack. Abdo had purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition and a magazine for a semi-automatic handgun from the shop.— AFP

KANDAHAR: It is unclear if the United States will be able to pay troops on time in the event of a debt default, the top US military officer told troops in Afghanistan yesterday. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pentagon officials were working hard to plan for a potential default but cautioned that the circumstances were extraordinary.

“So I honestly can’t answer that question,” he told troops at Kandahar air base in southern Afghanistan, as several expressed anxiety over budget wrangling in Washington. Potentially suspending pay to US forces waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is an extremely sensitive subject in the United States and Mullen acknowledged that many troops lived paycheck to paycheck.”So if paychecks were to stop, it would have a devastating impact,” Mullen said, answering questions from troops. “I’d like to give you a better answer than that right now, I just honestly don’t know,” he said.

The United States has warned that it will run out of money to pay all of its bills after Aug 2 without a deal from Congress to raise a $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Where US troops fall in priority for payment in a default has not been made clear. With $172 billion of revenue between Aug. 3 and Aug. 31, the US Treasury could fully fund Social Security payments, Medicare and Medicaid, interest on the debt, defense vendor payments and unemployment insurance, found a study by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center.

But that would leave entire government departments-such as Labor, Commerce, Energy and Justice-unfunded, and many others unpaid, like active-duty troops and the federal workforce. Mullen said he believed that troops would

ARGHANDAB: US troops from the Combined Task Force 1-67 patrol in Arghandab district in southern Afghanistan, the former stronghold of Taleban insurgents. — AFP be paid eventually, regardless of what happens.

“I have confidence that at some point in time whatever compensation you were owed you will be given,” he said. “But I don’t know mechanically exactly how that would happen. And it is a huge concern.” He played down the possibility that a default would undercut military operations or force the US defense department into a partial shutdown, saying “we’re going to continue to come to work”.

“I don’t expect it will affect-certainly in the short term-operations here or operations around

the world,” Mullen later told another gathering of troops at Camp Leatherneck, in Helmand province. While a group of congressmen pushed forward a bill this week to ensure that the active military servicemen still get paid in the case of default, there’s no firm plan yet. The White House hasn’t made any assurances and neither has the Treasury Department. Some financial organizations that service military clients, like USAA and the Andrews Federal Credit Union, have stepped up to say that they will advance pay if there is a default. — Reuters

Chavez wants to be ‘president for life’ CARACAS: Venezuela’s former defense minister Isaias Baduel, who was jailed last year on corruption charges, has said his onetime ally Hugo Chavez wants to be “president for life” in a country “in shambles”. Baduel, a retired general, was convicted in 2010 to nearly eight years in prison for embezzlement and abuse of power for alleged crimes dating from his time as defense minister in 2006-2007.

But Baduel, in an exclusive interview from his prison cell in Ramo Verde outside the capital Caracas said he had been the victim of political persecution since he left Chavez’s government. “In 1982, I swore with Chavez to work tirelessly for a true democracy. But he decided to forget that pledge and instead pursue efforts to remain president for life in a Venezuela in shambles,” Baduel said.

The two men were once close. They met nearly 40 years ago at the country’s prestigious military academy, where they promised each other to “work together for the creation of a better democracy,” according to Baduel.

The former general joined Chavez in government when he took power in 1999. In April 2002, Baduel led the operation that allowed the leftist firebrand to remain in power following a coup attempt.

But their relationship later soured, and they severed all ties in 2007, when Baduel campaigned against Chavez’s proposals for a new Socialist constitution, which was eventually rejected in a referendum. “In April 2002, I fulfilled my duties and remained faithful to the constitution. In 2007, I once again felt the need to say I thought things had taken a turn for the worse,” Baduel said. After leaving government, the former minister was accused of corruption and then sentenced in May 2010 to seven years and 11 months in prison. He says proper legal procedures were ignored and the charges never explained.

“They could not even agree on the amount that I had supposedly embezzled,” said the 56-year-old Baduel, his cell decorated with religious images and photos of South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela. “I could have fled, but I decided to stay because I know I am innocent.

They accuse me of being a traitor. Traitor to what? To whom? To one man? I prefer that than to betray millions of people,” he added. “Today, I think the man I once knew lied to me. I think that Chavez has always had a hidden agenda,” Baduel said, calling his former friend’s government a “dictatorship in disguise” colored by a “cult of personality”.

He urged the people of Venezuela to rally, likening the atmosphere in the country to a “pressure-cooker without a steam release valve”. Baduel nevertheless acknowledged that the country’s problems would not disappear with the departure of Chavez, who is now battling cancer. One year ahead of expected presidential polls, the general said he had not ruled out the possibility of being granted amnesty, as Chavez-who will be seeking a third term-could possibly see it as politically advantageous. As for his onetime friend’s health problems, Baduel said: “He was forced to submit himself to God’s power, and God reminded him what life is worth.” — AFP

ACAPULCO: Police stand next to the body of a young man that was shot several times in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, Mexico. The city of Acapulco has been hit by violence as drug gangs continue to battle for control of the region. — AP

‘Tragic year’ for the Latino America press MIAMI: Journalists in Latin America are suffering through their “most tragic year in two decades,” with 19 reporters murdered in nine nations so far in 2011, the Inter-American Press Association said Friday. Restrictions on the media in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Guatemala have also contributed to the deterioration of freedom of the press in the region, the Miami-based group said.

“In seven months, journalists from nine countries have been killed. This is the most tragic year in the last two decades for the Latin American press,” the head of the association’s press freedom committee Robert Rivard told reporters.

The IAPA said it had recorded five journalist murders in Mexico, four in Brazil, four in Honduras and one each in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Another Mexican reporter has gone missing, Rivard said. Violence by organized crime and the legal harassment of independent

journalists and the news media have made the situation worse, the IAPA said.

The press association singled out Ecuador, calling on the government of President Rafael Correa to “cease persecution of the press” and withdraw a lawsuit against the daily El Universo.

Executives at the newspaper were sentenced last week to three years in prison on libel charges and ordered to pay $40 million in damages to Correa. “President Rafael Correa is trying to take away our editorial independence,” said El Universo publisher Carlos Perez, one of those found guilty. The IAPA also said “judicial harassment” was used in Brazil, El Salvador, Paraguay and Venezuela, where journalists and news media have been censored and fined. Cuba came in for special criticism, with the group saying it remains the “most restrictive” country in terms of press freedom in the hemisphere where “independent journalists are still hounded, arrested and temporarily jailed.”— AFP

Lankan journalist brutally attacked COLOMBO: An ethnic Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka’s formerly embattled north was brutally attacked with iron bars, police said yesterday, the latest in a string of assaults on the nation’s media.

Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan, news editor of the Tamil-language daily Uthayan, was attacked by a gang of men wielding iron bars on Friday near his home in the area formerly held by separatist Tamil rebels, police said. “The man is in intensive care in hospital” with serious head injuries, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said, adding no arrests had yet been made.

At least six workers at the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper, including four journalists, have been killed since 2006 over its alleged pro-nationalist Tamil stance. “This attack is aimed at scaring our employees so they will leave journalism,” Uthayan’s

publisher E Sarvanapavan said. The opposition Tamil National Alliance legislator said he believed the assault was in response to a recent sweeping win by his party in local council elections.

The council polls were the first held in the area since Sri Lanka inflicted a crushing military defeat on Tamil Tiger rebels, with whom the TNA was closely linked, in 2009. “Attacking Kuhanathan is not the democratic way to behave in defeat. The paper’s coverage gave equal coverage to the opposition and government,” said Sarvanapavan.

Some 17 journalists and media employees have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past decade, with none of the murders being solved, according to rights groups. “For too long Sri Lankan authorities have been indifferent about the targeted attacks, killings and disappearances,” said the New York-

based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement. “That must end,” said CPJ deputy director Robert Mahoney.

Attacks against journalists and news outlets have continued despite the end of the decadeslong war between the military and rebels, said Mahoney. The latest assault came a day after police found the body of Pattani Razeek, a human rights activist who disappeared in 2010. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday urged Sri Lanka to “expedite” investigations and prosecute those involved in the crime. UN records show 5,653 outstanding “enforced and involuntary disappearances” in Sri Lanka. Among those missing is freelance journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, who vanished on the eve of the 2010 presidential polls. — AFP

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Hamas lures youngsters to Gaza summer camps GAZA: The militant Islamist group Hamas is seeking to attract youngsters to its annual summer camps in the Gaza Strip, offering activities far beyond religious study. However, organizers say the activities do not include militia training. “These camps have no military or political dimension; they are held outdoors, with sports, cultural, educational, social and recreational activities,” said Saleh Hamdan, a member of the central committee for summer camps.

An example, he said, were camps on Islamic fashion, being attended by thousands of girls, which he said “do not focus on purely religious matters.” “ We play, we learn and we make friends,” said 11-year-old camper Samia Ashur, her hair covered with a

brown head scarf. As happens every summer, Gaza has also witnessed an undeclared competition between the camps run by Hamas and those of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, whose facilities have been targeted several times by unknown attackers in recent years.

In the latest incident, around midnight on Wednesday, 10 men vandalized a UN site being used to stage summer activities in northwest Gaza.

Fathi Hammad, interior minister in Gaza’s Hamas government, promised on Thursday “the immediate opening of an inquiry to find the perpetrators of the attack.” Organizers say that around 500 Hamas summer camps, held in schools and community centers, are expected to host 100,000

youngsters aged from nine years to 21.

Another 20,000 will attend courses for the study of the Quran. The Hamas camps are divided into three sections, depending on age, and are dedicated to areas such as IT, media or innovation. “There are camps that specialize in different areas of technology and innovation to meet the aspirations of young people,” said Mussa Al-Samak, head of the summer camps movement. Hamas gives the campers a uniform, one meal a day and a little pocket money. The slogan emblazoned on the youngsters’ caps this year reads, “I have triumphed with the youth.”

Majed Al-Sheikh is a former official of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which was forced out of Gaza during bloody

fighting with Hamas in 2007. Although he says he is not a member of Hamas he is sending his son to camp. “We must seize the opportunity to teach children self-confidence and make sure they do not turn away from the right path,” he said.

“What encouraged me to enroll my son in this camp is that it doesn’t have a political or military character; the main thing is that there are places available for the children to have fun, play and grow,” he added. Nidal Hamdan, a mother of four children aged nine to 13 years, opposes the idea. “These camps in fact are meant to improve the image of the Hamas movement and lead children to join it,” she said. “I do not want my children to be part of any movement whatsoever”,

said Hamdan, who works in a beauty salon, adding that there is a grave lack of facilities for children during the summer “with the exception of refugees”.

Hamas summer camps are heavily outnumbered by those of UNRWA, which for six weeks starting June 15 are hosting 250,000 refugee children in Gaza in 1,200 sites across the territory. During these “Summer Games”, the children have set world records in a range of activities such as the simultaneous flying of more than 13,000 kites, wind-surfing, dribbling soccer balls and the largest hand print painting.

The kite record was set on Thursday, despite the site for the attempt being vandalized the previous night by unknown persons.—AFP

Gunmen kill 11 in sectarian attack Pakistan puts travel curbs on US diplomats

SANAA: Supporters of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh stand on flag poles during a rally to show support for him in Sanaa on Friday July 29, 2011.— AP

11 soldiers, militants die in Yemen clashes ADEN: Eleven people including top officers have been killed in fierce clashes between Yemen’s army and suspected Al-Qaeda militants in the country ’s restive south, military and local officials said yesterday. “Al-Qaeda elements stationed in Dofas (Abyan province) attacked army units there using machine guns on Friday, killing two officers and four soldiers, and wounding nine others,” a military official in the village said. The official identified the dead officers as Colonel Mohammed Al-Salahi and Colonel Hilal Shamsan.

Medics at a military hospital in the strategic southern port city of Aden confirmed the toll. A local official in Dofas, 15 kilometers south of Abyan’s provincial capital of Zinjibar, said that five members of the extremist network were also killed during the attack and four more were wounded. On Friday also, 12 tribesmen were killed and 20 others were wounded in clashes with the militants east of Zinjibar, a top security official in the area said. “Around 200 tribesmen came from the (coastal) village of Shaqra heading towards Zinjibar when they clashed with Al-Qaeda elements” near the city, Abdullah Naser al-Jadani said.

Tribal sources said the militants forced

the tribesmen into a government building seized by the network, prompting the army to launch an air raid. Jadani said that three out of the 12 were “mistakenly” killed in the air strike while the rest were shot dead by Al-Qaeda militants. A medic at a hospital in the town of Jaar, which is controlled by the extremists, said that two Al-Qaeda militants were killed and 14 others were wounded.

Militants belonging to the “Partisans of Sharia” (Islamic law), which is suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, took over much of Zinjibar in May. Thousands of residents have since been displaced by fighting there. Deputy Information Minister Abdo al-Janadi said last week that the United States had provided logistical support to the Yemen military’s 25th Mechanized Brigade, which was until recently besieged by the militants in Zinjibar. US commanders have repeatedly expressed concern that the jihadists have been taking advantage of a protracted power vacuum in Sanaa to expand their operations. Since January, protesters have been demanding the ouster of veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since early June being treated for wounds sustained in a blast at his palace.— AFP

Japanese floods claim first victim TOKYO: Floods claimed their first victim in Japan and nearly 300,000 people were urged to flee their homes yesterday as a weather system that killed dozens on the Korean peninsula swept the country.

Local governments in the central province of Niigata and tsunami-hit Fukushima issued the guidance after the national weather agency urged citizens to be on maximum alert against more flooding and mudslides. Helicopter footage on NHK showed bridges over the Shinano River in Niigata partially submerged, while trees and telephone polls had been knocked down.

Kamo City in Niigata was extensively flooded, with water submerging roads.

Forecasters warned that the rains could continue to be torrential after reaching 1,000 millimeters to date in Sanjo City, Niigata, 250 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, since they started Wednesday. A total of 296,000 people had been asked to evacuate their homes, according to

public broadcaster NHK, but no compulsory orders were issued despite muddy swollen rivers, broken dykes and flooded houses. The same weather saw record rainfall kill at least 59 people in South Korea earlier this week, leaving thousands more homeless.

The first Japanese victim, Eiichi Murayama, 67, was confirmed dead in Tokamachi City, in Niigata, early yesterday. “ We found a car fallen in River Nakasawa last night... and found the driver’s body downstream this morning,” an official at Niigata police said of the drowned man. Four other people are missing in the area, including a 93-yearold woman who was swept away in a river and a 25-year-old man who was believed to have fallen into a flooding river while driving, police said. Officials had requested the Self-Defense Force dispatch troops to join the search for missing people and help those stranded by mudslides and floods.— AFP

QUETTA: Ten Shiite Muslims and another man were killed yesterday when gunmen opened fire in an apparent sectarian attack in southwestern Pakistan, police said.

The shooting took place on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas-rich Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. “Gunmen opened fire on a passenger van carr ying Shiite Muslims. Ten Shiites and a passer-by were killed and four injured in the attack,” senior police officer Jamil Ahmad Kakar said by telephone.

Kakar said the unidentified gunmen stood by the roadside spraying bullets at the van before they fled the scene in a waiting car. “One woman was among the dead while another was injured in the attack,” he added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Baluchistan is rife with sectarian violence between Pakistan’s majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims, as well as Islamist militancy and an insurgency waged by separatists.

On Friday, gunmen killed seven Shiite pilgrims at a bus stop also in Quetta. Police said the victims had been waiting for a coach to travel to neighboring Iran. Shiite Muslims account for about a fifth of Pakistan’s 167million-strong population, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims.

Local intelligence and administrative officials confirmed Saturday’s shootings and casualties.

The attack triggered an angry protest by about 700 Shiite

QUETTA: People mourn the death of a family member in Quetta, Pakistan. Unidentified gunmen have killed seven passengers at a bus terminal in southwest Pakistan.— AP Muslims, some of them armed torched a motorcycle and two countries since the May 2 with sticks and guns, in front of cars. “The situation is now under American raid that killed Osama the city’s main Bolan Medical our control, the dead bodies bin Laden. A letter from the Complex, where the dead and have been handed over and bur- Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to ial will continue,” Hamid Shakeel, the American Embassy states injured were taken.

The demonstrators blocked a senior city police officer said. that all diplomats must now get roads and a small group went on Thousands of people have died special permission to leave the the rampage, trying to set fire to in sectarian attacks in Pakistan capital. The restrictions would appear to be a violation of the a hotel and shops before being since the late 1980s.

Vienna Convention on dispersed by police wielding Diplomatic Relations that Curbs on US diplomats batons and firing tear gas. An The Pakistan government has requires host states to allow forAFP reporter in the city said protesters and relatives of the vic- placed travel curbs on American eign diplomats “freedom of tims fired bullets in the air, threw diplomats in another sign of the movement” in the country except stones at private vehicles and breakdown in ties between the for restricted areas.— Agencies

US, China hold talks as Taiwan jet deal looms

CHEOLWON: South Korean army soldiers search for North Korean land mines near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Cheolwon, South Korea. — AP

Floods push N Korean landmines into South SEOUL: North Korean landmine parts apparently churned up by torrential rains have washed up across the border in South Korea, prompting a search for more weapons, the defense ministry said yesterday. The wooden shells of two North Korean landmines were found Thursday in a cistern near the Hantan River in Cheolwon County, just south of the interKorean border, it said. “They were just empty wooden shells of landmines. They have no explosives and detonators inside. We assume they might have been washed away,” a spokesman for the defense ministry said.

Soldiers were searching areas near the Hantan and Namdaecheon rivers for other North Korean mines, the spokesman said.

Banners have been put up and leaflets handed out to warn holidaymakers in the area of the possibility of stray mines and ask them to report anything suspicious to authorities, he added. North Korean mines

have been carried across the border by floods and landslides in the past. Last year, dozens of wood-cased mines washed up in the South after heavy rains, killing one South Korean and injuring another.

A landslide triggered by this week’s torrential rains also dislodged mines planted decades ago on Mount Umyeon in southern Seoul to protect a military installation.

Soldiers said they were still looking for about 10 mines there. Most of the 1,000 mines laid at the site were removed between 1999 and 2006, but a few remain unaccounted for. Heavy rains have pounded the Korean peninsula over the past week, killing at least 59 people and leaving thousands homeless in the South alone.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified military source as saying floods had forced the North to downscale a rare intra-services military exercise involving its army, navy and air force in the tense Yellow Sea. — AFP

WASHINGTON: The United States and China on Friday held top-level talks on Taiwan, with Washington working preemptively to avoid a fallout as a decision nears on whether to sell fighter-jets to Taiwan. US officials have said that they will decide by October 1 on whether to sell F-16 jets to Taiwan, a longstanding request from the self-ruling island which fears that China’s rapidly growing military has gained a major edge.

Wang Yi, the top Chinese official in charge of Taiwan, met with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined part of the closed-door session, a State Department official said. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said Wang “stressed that the Chinese mainland has been steadfast in opposing the US arms sales to Taiwan, because it harms Sino-US ties and the peaceful development of the cross-strait relations.”

State Department spokesman Mark Toner did not give details of the talks but said it was “important that we have dialogue with China on a range of issues,” which “doesn’t, certainly, preclude our strong relations with Taiwan.” Burns took office as the State Department’s number two just Thursday after his nomination was held up by Senator John Cornyn, who said he relented only after Clinton agreed to release a long-delayed report on Taiwan’s arms needs. The jets would be assembled in Cornyn’s state of Texas.

Congress is a stronghold of support for Taiwan, with the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week voting without dissent to urge “immediate steps” for arms sales.

In Taiwan, the Apple Daily reported Saturday that Taipei’s defense minister Kao Hua-chu is planning to visit the US in September to push the F-16 request. China considers Taiwan-where the mainland’s defeated nationalists fled in 1949 — to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The United States switched its recognition to Beijing in 1979 but Congress at the same time approved the Taiwan Relations Act which requires the United States to provide the island enough weapons for self-defense. The law states that the US administration will make the decision without consulting China.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US military officer, said he spoke about arms sales to Taiwan during a visit earlier in July to Beijing and: “Clearly, the Chinese would strongly prefer us to stop doing this.” — AFP

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NEWS TIMEHRI, Guyana: The broken fuselage of a Caribbean Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 is seen after it crashed at the end of the runway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport yesterday. — AP

Cheers to screams as jet crashes in Guyana GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Flight 523 from New York had just touched down and passengers were applauding the pilot’s landing in the South American country yesterday when something suddenly went wrong. The Boeing 737-800 slid off the end of a rainy runway, crashed through a chain-link fence and broke in half just short of a deep ravine. Yet all 163 people on board survived. Officials were starting to probe the cause of the crash even as they marveled at the lack of fatalities.

“We must be the luckiest country and luckiest set of people in the world to escape so lightly,” said Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, who said more than 30 people were taken to the hospital. Only three of those had to be admitted for a broken leg, bumps, cuts and bruises.

The Caribbean Airlines plane had left John F Kennedy International Airport Friday evening and made a stop in Trinidad before landing in Guyana. The airline said it was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members. Geeta Ramsingh, 41, of Philadelphia, recalled how

applause at the arrival quickly “turned to screams”. “The plane sped up as if attempting to take off again. It is then that I smelled gas in the cabin and people started to shout and holler,” she said.

When the plane crumpled to a stop, Ramsingh said she hopped onto the wing and then onto the dirt road outside the runway fence. “A fellow who was trying to escape as well mistakenly jumped on my back and that is why my knees are bruised,” she said. “So I am in pain, but very thankful to be alive.” Nobody had yet showed up to rescue her, “but a taxi driver appeared from nowhere and charged me $20 to take me to the terminal. I had to pay, but in times of emergencies, you don’t charge people for a ride,” she said, sitting on a chair in the arrival area surrounded by relatives. She was returning to her native country for only the second time in 30 years.

Adis Cambridge, 42, of Guyana, said she felt the thump of a hard landing but did not think much of it until seconds later. “I realized that everything was on

Morocco king wants quick polls, improved Algeria ties RABAT: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI called yesterday for speedy elections and the reopening of his country’s border with Algeria in his first throne speech since a referendum voted to curb some of his prerogatives. In the July 1 referendum, more than 98 percent of Moroccans approved a set of political reforms backed by the king following a series of youth-led, pro-democracy demonstrations in several cities. In the annual speech on the anniversary of his 1999 coronation, the king said elections should be held soon, warning that any delay threatened the “dynamic of confidence” generated by the reforms.

The date of the upcoming elections is a subject of regular negotiations between the interior ministry and the country’s political parties but has remained undetermined so far.

“Political parties are asked to redouble their efforts in favour of the reconciliation of citizens, particularly the young, with political action,” he said, in a speech attended by civilian and military leaders, as well as foreign diplomats. He called for the election of a new house of representatives to begin, “so that a new head of government can be named from the party which comes first.”

In transferring some of the monarchy’s political powers to elected leaders, the king hoped to prevent contagion of the Arab Spring protests that have sent shockwaves across the region. But the political climate in Morocco remains tense and rather than satisfying the democratic aspirations of protesters the July 1 referendum fuelled popular demands for greater social justice. Thousands of people gathered in several cities on July 17 for rallies demanding more sweeping reforms of the Arab world’s oldest reigning monarchy.

Morocco’s youth-based February 20 movement, which has spearheaded the pro-democracy protests, has called for fresh rallies today to continue pressing for a parliamentary monarchy. Faced with persistent political tensions at home, the king also said it was time to improve relations with neighbouring Algeria. He advocated reopening a border that was closed in 1994 following a Islamist militant attack in Marrakesh that Morocco blamed on the Algerian secret services. “We are keen to launch a new open dynamic on resolving all remaining problems, as a prelude to total normalisation of bilateral relations... including the reopening of terrestrial borders,” the king said. Tensions in the border region occasionally flare and last week a clash between Moroccan border guards and armed men coming from Algeria left one soldier dead. Relations between Morocco and Algeria have also been strained by the long-running dispute over the Western Sahara. Morocco’s 1975 annexation of the territory, a former Spanish colony, sparked a war between its forces and Algerian-backed Polisario guerrillas. The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1991 but UN-sponsored talks on Western Sahara’s future have since made no headway. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika congratulated the king on his 12-year rule, which has seen improved ties between the countries, said a statement published by the APS news agency prior to the monarch’s address.

But a spokesman for Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN), one of the country’s main political parties, said following the speech that declarations on improving ties usually came with “nothing concrete” to back them up. Kassa Aissi told AFP the party was committed to “more fruitful” relations with the Moroccan people. — AFP

Syria army deploys in restive eastern city Continued from Page 1 Tibneh is about 40 km west of Deir Ezzor, where hundreds of thousands gathered Friday for the funeral of three people killed by security forces the previous day, according to activists. Deir Ezzor, the main oil- and gas-producing region in Syria, which produces 380,000 barrels of oil per day, has seen almost daily demonstrations against the regime. Protests have swelled on Fridays - the day of rest when devout Muslims gather in mosques for key noon prayers - across the city and the province also called Deir Ezzor.

On July 13 a rare explosion hit a gas pipeline near the provincial town of Mayadin - in the first such act of defiance against the regime since prodemocracy protests broke out in midMarch. Another blast on Friday rocked an area near Homs, a flashpoint protest city in central Syria, only hours before nationwide anti-regime protests. That blast left a crater 15 m in diameter and oil gushing from a broken pipeline, according to the state news agency SANA which blamed the attack on “a subversive group”.

Riad Al-Asaad, who identified him-

self as a colonel who defected from the Syrian army, warned authorities against carrying out any operation in Deir Ezzor. “I warn the Syrian authorities that I will send my troops to fight with the (regular) army if they do not stop the operations in Deir Ezzor,” Al-Asaad said.

“I am the commander of the Syrian Free Army,” he said, adding that he commanded “hundreds” of troops. The claim could not be independently verified. The caller said he was speaking from inside Syria “near the Turkish border”, but declined to elaborate.

Meanwhile, an opposition figure who declined to be named told AFP that 15 conscripts broke ranks from the troops who entered the city yesterday and fled. “They have sought protection with residents,” said the activist. On Friday at least three people were killed in Deir Ezzor when security forces opened fire on 300,000 of mourners who attended the funerals of three people killed there the previous day, activists have said.

A total of 20 people were killed and 35 wounded on Friday across Syria as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators turned out for anti-regime protests, according to tolls provided by the

National Organisation for Human Rights and the Syrian Observatory. The victims included a young man shot dead when Syrian forces raided at dawn the Qadam neighbourhood in Damascus, the Observatory’s Abdel Rahman said. “Soldiers and a large number of security agents entered Qadam at 3:00 am on Friday (0000 GMT) and cordoned off the area,” he said. “More than 500 people were arrested during the operation, and one young man was killed at a security roadblock,” he said.

Abdel Rahman said the authorities also banned public funerals in the district, and said the young man was quickly buried in the presence of security officials to forestall any demonstrations. Friday’s protests, called for by Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, were aimed at putting pressure on the rest of the world to act in the face of the deadly crackdown. “Where are you, defenders of freedom?” and “Enough of your silence...” the group said on its website. More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in the government’s crackdown of protests since mid-March while 12,000 people have been arrested, rights groups say. — AFP

top of me, people and bags. I was the second to last person to get off that plane in the dark,” she said, surrounded by her two young children who had come to the airport to meet her after a brief holiday in the US. “I hit my head on the roof. It was so scary,” she said, and described jumping from the wing to the dirt road below as crews with flashlights and beams from fire engines searched for passengers. “I thought I would have died. I just started to cry,” she said. “Everybody was screaming like crazy,” a passenger from New York told Capitol News. “A guy jumped out and broke his foot. A lot of kids got injured.” The passenger was sitting in the rear of the plane and escaped with only minor injuries.

The plane came to rest off the end of the 2,200-m runway at Cheddi Jagan International. Authorities struggled at first to remove passengers without adequate field lights and other emergency equipment. The plane stopped a little short of a 60-m ravine that could have resulted in dozens of fatalities, said President Bharrat Jagdeo. “We are very, very grateful that more people

were not injured,” said Jagdeo, who came to the crash site before dawn.

George Nicholas, Caribbean Airlines chairman, told reporters that officials with the US National Transportation Safety Board are scheduled to arrive today in Guyana to take over the investigation. He said investigators from Guyana and Trinidad, the airline’s base, will help. He said the airline is arranging for counselors to meet with passengers. Authorities temporarily closed the Guyana airport, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and delaying dozens of flights. The main terminal reopened late yesterday morning to only a couple of small planes, including a LIAT airline bound for Barbados, said Orin Walton, a local representative for the Antigua-based carrier.

The crash of Flight 523 is the worst in recent history in Guyana, and only one of the few serious incidents involving the Trinidad-based airline. It is the single largest carrier in the region, operating at least five daily flights. -— Agencies

Libya, Syria offering US no easy answers

WASHINGTON: Five months after President Barack Obama told him to leave Libya, Muammar Gaddafi is pressing on against NATO-backed rebel forces, flaunting his remaining power in the face of Western nations fearful of combating him with greater force. And four months after Obama offered Syria’s leader an ultimatum to lead reform or leave, Bashar Assad’s crackdown on dissent rages on. Through intervention or engagement, the US is stuck with inconclusive results in both countries. And while American officials are loath to compare the civil war in Libya to the civil unrest in Syria, they say neither conflict makes for easy solutions. The unclear endgame in each is constraining the actions of everyone involved - including the United States.

Coming out with guns blazing failed to deliver an early knockout punch to Gaddafi, who seems determined to prolong four decades of crafty and often cynical rule that has seen him crush all previous attempts at liberalization. Engagement has proved similarly ineffectual directed toward Assad, who has mixed promises of reform and symbolic steps toward greater democracy with fierce repression, leaving much of his country in a state of siege.

Libya’s war has become a quagmire. On Thursday, rebel commander Abdel-Fattah Younis was shot and killed under mysterious circumstances, just before arriving for questioning by opposition authorities over alleged family links to the Gaddafi regime. His death raised the specter of a troubling split within the rebel movement at a time when their forces have failed to make battlefield gains despite NATO’s pounding airstrikes on Gaddafi’s military. The killing also underlined the uncertainty of the war. The United States and several dozen other nations have recognized the rebel leadership as Libya’s legitimate rulers, but Gaddafi had held onto a large part of the country. The government’s grip on the capital, Tripoli, seems secure.

Younis’ death is unlikely to lead the US and its allies into any abrupt change in their decision to throw their weight behind the rebels in Libya’s civil war. It could, however, show signs that the movement is imploding or turning against its own, with much of the work of ousting Gaddafi still unachieved. And it casts doubt on the repeated claims in Western capitals that the rebels have proved themselves worthy national leaders and that Gaddafi’s regime is on the verge of collapse.

For the US, policy options are limited. It has already played its military card, leading the early stages of NATO’s intervention by bombing Gaddafi’s air defense capabilities. Since then it has played a more auxiliary role in the alliance, pitching in with plane refueling, reconnaissance and some drone strikes. And there is fierce resistance from Congress to ramping up US aerial attacks anew.

Politically, meanwhile, the oft-repeated US demand that Gaddafi must leave power and leave Libya has left the Obama administration with little wiggle room for a creative diplomatic solution. American officials

met with Gaddafi representatives earlier this month, but insisted that they didn’t hold a negotiating session. Instead, officials said they pressed the administration’s commitment to seeing Libya’s leader end his rule. The meeting apparently produced no concrete results and officials said they had no plans to meet with regime officials again.

In Syria, the president and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have hardened their rhetoric in recent months. It appears they’ve dismissed any lingering hopes that Assad’s government might be persuaded to start a serious democratic reform process and pull back his security forces from an aggressive nationwide campaign to snuff out dissent. Obama has promised to use “all the diplomatic, economic and strategic tools” available to support democratic transition. Yet it’s unclear what effect the pressure is having, or how big a toolbox is at the administration’s disposal. The president specifically left out any military options.

Activists say more than 1,600 civilians have died since protests erupted in mid-March and daily reports of deaths in demonstrations are adding to the Syrian toll. The government blames the unrest on terrorists and foreign extremists, and shows little signs of backing down. Testifying this week before a House foreign affairs subcommittee, the State Department’s top human rights official, Michael Posner, repeated the administration’s mantra that Assad has acted barbarically, lost legitimacy and placed himself on the wrong side of history. But pressed by lawmakers to explicitly call for regime change in Syria, he demurred.

Jeffrey Feltman, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, added that the US was limited in what economic force it could apply. “We start from the reality that Syria is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world when it comes to trade and relations with the United States,” he noted, saying officials were asking European nations to enact oil, gas and other sanctions against Assad’s regime.

And as for the limited engagement with Syria’s regime that remains, the administration has struggled to say how it has tempered the government crackdown or accelerated an end to the repression.

The US has little capacity to threaten further isolation or economic punishment of Assad’s often antiAmerican and pro-Iranian government - unlike in Egypt, where Obama was able to help usher longtime ally Hosni Mubarak out of power.

Posner said the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was “greeted as a hero” when he went to the restive cit y of Hama earlier this month, a trip designed to demonstrate US solidarity with demonstrators. That may have provided some moral fortitude to those braving the streets in protest, but the violence continues. What Ford or any other American official has been able to say - or do - to have a real effect in Syria is unknown. On several occasions, Ford’s requests to even speak with senior Syrian officials have been denied. — AP

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Issues

Debt, dogma, and dents in US image

By Bernd Debusmann o matter how the wrangling over America’s national debt is resolved, it will leave lasting dents in the international image of a country that prides itself on its can-do spirit and its competence. “The entire whole world is watching,” as President Barack Obama put it, and parts of it are dismayed by a monumental display of dysfunction. Not to speak of an equally impressive display of rigid dogmatic thinking by anti-tax zealots more befitting Afghanistan’s Taliban than legislators of the Republican Party, a mainstay of America’s democracy for more than 150 years. An outspoken British cabinet minister, Vince Cable, described Tea Partybacked Republicans as “right-wing nutters” posing a threat to the world financial system.

Elsewhere in Europe, less sharp-tongued commentators saw the deadlock in Washington over raising the debt ceiling and avoiding default as a sign of America’s decline. “The United States must fundamentally renew itself,” columnist Ansgar Graw wrote in the conservative German newspaper Die Welt. “This means that both parties must place the common good above gains in electoral campaigns.” Failing to do so, he said, could result in turning “the American 21st-century crisis into the demise of the dominant power of the 20th century”. One of the most striking depictions of the gap between long-held perceptions of the United States as a model of democratic competence and the new reality of politicians risking financial havoc for the sake of the purity of anti-tax dogma came not from abroad but in a political cartoon in the New Jersey Record newspaper. Cartoonist Jimmy Margulies portrayed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai standing together looking at a paper marked “US default”. The bubble coming out of Maliki’s mouth says: “Maybe they are not ready for self-government just yet...”

Both in Afghanistan and Iraq, after invading the countries and waging war, the United States has engaged in costly nation-building efforts designed to lead to the adoption of America’s system of democratic government. Belief in its superiority has been a constant in US foreign policy, illustrated by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with her famous observation that “we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future”.

The last few months of a Washington spectacle that resembled the game of chicken more than a joint problemsolving exercise by mature politicians have left parts of the world to wonder how correct Winston Churchill was when he said, in a 1947 speech, that “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried from time to time.”

The leaders of China, the world’s most populous country, never subscribed to that idea but less so now than ever. The Chinese prize stability and predictability above all else and over the years became America’s largest creditor, amassing more than $1.5 trillion in US Treasuries, long considered the world’s safest asset. There’s nothing safe and predictable in the Washington wrangling over the national debt.

Which is why US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to considerable lengths during a tour of Asia, including China, this month, to reassure worried Chinese officials that the debt debate was a perfectly normal part of the democratic process in the United States. “These kinds of debates have been a constant in our life throughout the history of our republic - and sometimes they are messy,” she said.

True enough. The American political system is messy and disputatious. But to describe what has been happening in the past few months as business as usual is a stretch. Both in the United States and abroad there is a growing perception that political leadership has sunk to its lowest point in decades. Four out of 10 Americans responding to a Gallup poll this month said they were seeing the worst leadership in Washington in their lifetimes.

Some seasoned Washington watchers agree. On a panel discussion on National Public Radio this week, the interviewer asked Norman Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute and Alice Rivlin of the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution how they viewed the present quality of leadership. The two are prominent members of the capital’s political establishment. Said Ornstein: “In my lifetime, I have not seen a level of dysfunction in congressional leadership that comes close to what we are seeing now. Leaders in the past always knew they had to deal with your wings (on the far side of the spectrum) and you had to deal with your idiots, but you would come together.” Ornstein is 63. Said Rivlin, whose government posts included vice chairman of the Federal Reserve: “I’m older than Norm and I would say it’s the worst in my lifetime, the most dysfunctional Congress.”

Rivlin is 80. — Reuters

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Turkish govt strengthens control on military

By Daren Butler he resignations of Turkey’s top four military commanders will enable the ruling AK Party to consolidate its power over the armed forces, reinforcing its gains in a decade-long struggle to exert control over the once-omnipotent military.

The cost of that victor y will be heightened polarisation in Turkey between the government, which has roots in political Islam, and its staunchly secularist opponents. Such a prospect may further unsettle already fragile financial markets. With 250 military personnel, including dozens of generals, in jail on charges of conspiring against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, the resignations will also fuel concerns about the operational efficiency of NATO’s second-biggest army.

Subordination of the military to greater civilian control will be welcomed by many as a sign of growing democratisation in the European Union-candidate country, but will stir fears that Erdogan is gaining excessive power over state institutions. “ We’ve got a situation in Turkey where we’ve had over the last few years almost a de-institutionalisation of the Turkish state, where everything has become more politicised and it is

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a danger for any state,” said security analyst Gareth Jenkins.

The armed forces, which have staged three coups and pushed Turkey’s first Islamist-led government from power in 1997, are no longer seen as able or willing to intervene in politics. New government plans to boost the role of the police in the fight against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas have also pointed to a scaling-back of the military’s power.

Fresh from a resounding election victory in which the AKP won a third term in office with 50 percent of the vote, Erdogan is well placed to push ahead with plans to overhaul a constitution written under military tutelage after a 1980 coup.

AK Party critics see moves to weaken secularist institutions such as the army as a factor behind investigations into the alleged “Ergenekon” and “Sledgehammer” plots to overthrow the government. The generals’ sudden departure, ahead of a next week’s key meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS) to decide on military promotions, will inflame public suspicions about the motives behind these long-running court cases. “The people will hold the political authorities responsible, because there is a widespread belief that an operation has been conducted to dis-

credit the Turkish Armed Forces in the course of the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer investigations,” said Gungor Mengi, the chief columnist in Vatan newspaper.

Outgoing armed forces commander General Isik Kosaner took a similar line in a farewell message to “my esteemed comrades in arms”.

“They tried to create the impression that the Turkish Armed Forces was a criminal organisation and ... the biased media encouraged this with all kinds of false stories, smears and allegations,” Kosaner wrote. Erdogan has moved quickly to pick Kosaner’s successor, naming paramilitar y Gendarmerie commander General Necdet Ozel as new head of land forces and acting deputy chief of general staff.

Disputes over army appointments are seen as a factor in the generals quitting and the government is likely to further assert its will in other promotions at Monday’s YAS meeting. In the past civilian leaders have just rubber-stamped army proposals.

“Just as commanders who fail to greet the prime minister are retired, generals who refuse to shake the hand of the president ’s (headscarved) wife miss out on promotion,” said Ergun Babahan from the pro-government Star newspaper.

“This is a turning point in the history of Turkish democracy and of unprecedented importance in terms of the civilian will standing up against military resistance,” he said.

The dwindling power of the generals and the prosecution of hundreds of officers has hit morale in the armed forces as they face an upsurge in clashes in the 27-year-old conflict with the PKK which has killed 40,000 people. “They have taken in so many (generals) that it has had a devastating impact on morale and a very bad impact on the operational efficiency of the Turkish military,” Jenkins said.

The PKK threat was underlined two weeks ago when the rebels killed 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

The generals’ decision is likely to be applauded by the officer corps who will see it as an honourable stand against the prosecution of their comrades. “For them I think it is these four commanders falling on their swords and it is seen from the Turkish military corps’ perspective as a ver y honourable thing to do,” Jenkins said. However, he said the court investigations have made military personnel reluctant to communicate with each other for fear of being monitored - an operational handicap. — Reuters

Egypt rally not harbinger of Islamic state

By Jailan Zayan

massive show of force by Islamist groups at a rally in the Egyptian capital yesterday may have showcased their organisational skills, but their actual political clout remains limited, analysts say.

Hundreds of thousands of Islamists from across the country packed Cairo’s Tahrir Square to defend what they called “Egypt’s Islamic identity” in the country’s largest protest since a revolt ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February. But while the protest may have been visually dramatic, divisions within the Islamist groups and their lack of nationwide support are bound to restrain their strength, analysts said.

Chants calling for Egypt to “implement the law of God” rang across Tahrir in an impressive display of religious banners and slogans, dotted with Saudi flags.

Hardline Salafis (fundamentalist Muslims) in coordination with the Muslim Brotherhood have been organising the rally for weeks, sparking fears of clashes with secular protesters who have been camped out in the square since July 8. The sheer size of the protest appeared to have angered, and in some cases intimidated, secular activists.

But analysts say that while Friday ’s rally showcased the Islamist groups’ organisational skills and their ability to mobilise members efficiently, its political impact remains limited. “Friday’s

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demonstration represents the full capacity of the Islamist forces, there are no more of them,” said Emad Gad, a political analyst with the Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies. The Islamists who

lion eligible voters, so the hundreds of thousands in Tahrir demanding an Islamist state, while significant, are not representative of the overall population, Mahdi said.

Divisions among the groups

Brotherhood and they all have different ideas on how to conduct politics and what they mean by an Islamic state,” she said. Ahead of the rally, there was a flurr y of meetings between Islamist and secular

Egyptian demonstrators rally in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir square on Friday, with Islamist groups dominating the protest. — AFP thronged the square “came from all over Egypt. The turnout was a reflection of their full political power,” said Rabab Al-Mahdi, a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.

Egypt has more than 40 mil-

also need to be considered, she said. “Dealing with the Islamists as one homogenous group is wrong,” said Mahdi. “There are different trends, the Salafis, former militant groups like the Gamaa Islamiya, the Muslim

leaders in a bid to put their differences aside and focus on the common goals of the revolution, in order to avoid confrontations in the square.

Activists told AFP that the groups had agreed to stick to

the key demands of the uprising, which include an end to military trials of civilians, the prosecution of former regime members found guilty of abuse, and the redistribution of wealth. But the rally that was initially entitled the “Friday of unity and closing ranks” quickly turned into an Islamist event that saw the secular groups withdraw in protest.

The rally “will have a negative impact (for Islamists) because it showed that they are not able to cooperate with other groups,” said Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

“They are powerful and organised, but they represent a... minority of the public opinion,” he said. Others see the Islamist turnout as proof that the revolution had succeeded in putting democracy into practice. “We have to appreciate that politics in Egypt are now real and we have to deal with the fact that people have different opinions,” said long-time secular activist Wael Khalil.

He says that under Mubarak when there was little tolerance for dissent - the banned Islamist groups “relied on people escaping politics through religion.

But now they have to compete with other political forces”.

Khalil said Friday’s rally did little to increase the Islamists’ influence in the country. “We always knew that there are Islamists...

They didn’t convince anyone new,” he said. — AFP

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SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

analysis

Like Qaeda, Norway killer aimed at publicity

By Peter Apps uch remains unknown about what sparked Anders Behring Breivik’s killing spree in Norway on July 22, whether he acted alone or was part of a wider organisation. But one thing his writings make clear is his overall aim: to use mass murder to draw attention to his extremist agenda and redraw the boundaries of political debate. In that, he was following a tried-and-true road already followed by many - including most spectacularly Al-Qaeda. Just as Osama bin Laden hoped that grabbing global headlines with high body counts would wake disaffected Muslims to his rhetoric, Breivik seems to have hoped to draw attention to his 1,518-page manifesto in what he himself called a “marketing operation”.

“At the end of the day, we are all reading what he wrote and that was his aim,” said Richard English, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrews University in Scotland. But as with Osama bin Laden, English said, there may be a drawback: “When people read it, they don’t really like what they see.” While some of Breivik’s ideas and concerns over what he saw as the “Islamification of Europe” might have some resonance with those on the continent’s extreme right, others - not to mention his methods - would alienate even many radicals.

The ideas in the manifesto, posted on the Internet a few hours before Breivik launched the attacks that killed 76 people, include the deportation of Muslims from Europe, plans for a Russian-backed coup in Norway, anti-Islam alliances with Hindu and Buddhist nationalists and investment suggestions for what he believed was a coming period of European crisis. “I ask only one favour of you: I ask that you distribute this book to everyone you know,” he wrote in the opening pages. “Because within these... books lies the tools required to win the ongoing Western European cultural war.”

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Several of the most recent Islamist attackers in Europe and the United States were, like Breivik, apparently lone operators radicalised and schooled in militant skills online, who hoped their actions

sations more approachable by expanded (sic) the radical political axis,” he wrote.

“This legitimised several Islamist groups and therefore changed the very definition of ‘extreme Islam’.” James Brandon, director

An undated video grabbed on July 23, 2011 from a manifesto and a video attributed to Anders Behring Breivik shows him aiming an assault rifle. – AFP would win them acclaim and inspire others. US army major Nidal Malik Hasan, the psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded 29 in a 2009 shooting at Texas army base Fort Hood, for example, is believed to have been influenced by Al-Qaeda-linked sites and online preachers without ever meeting them.

Breivik himself looks to have had at least some grudging respect for Al-Qaeda.

“Al-Qaeda’s relatively unknown but most important achievement is the fact that they have made moderate Islamist organi-

of research and indications for British think-tank the Quillam Foundation, said after a decade of focus on Al-Qaeda, Breivik was bound to have been influenced by the group. “If you look at his writings, he was in some ways admiring of Al Qaeda - and particularly of what he saw as their strong values, their sense of selfbelief and the dramatic effect they had,” Brandon said.

Security experts say he may have borrowed practical tactics too: the use of near-simultaneous attacks to overwhelm

the authorities, the highly effective use of car bombs and automatic weapons and the video and online claims of responsibility. Al-Qaeda too in part evolved from violent predecessors. Rightwing extremists of the 1990s and pamphleteers and radicals of the early 20th centur y often released written material in the aftermath of a violent act, hoping to win over converts to whatever their cause.

“Al-Qaeda themselves learned from many different actors including Irish, European and other terrorists,” said Sara Silvestri, an expert in radicalisation and extremism at London’s City University. “It’s about grabbing media attention and the violence is just a tool.” But what has expanded the reach of such activities and been effectively exploited by Al-Qaeda and its followers since Sept 11 is the Internet, which allows anyone to learn tactics, share views and feel a common purpose with others while sitting alone at a computer. “Because the Internet is so all pervasive, it is possible for people to feel part of a community with an agenda without necessarily interfacing directly with them,” she said.

But seeking attention through violence can also prove a flawed tactic, experts say, pointing to examples such as Timothy McVeigh, who was widely seen as having tarnished his own cause of fomenting a revolution against the American government when he bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people. While Breivik’s manifesto might be passed around the radical fringes in the same way that some right-wingers still read Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”, his violence will inevitably alarm many who might otherwise have found his views appealing.

Already his actions appear to have united much of Norwegian society around the very values he vowed to defeat. “Often when these people come to trial, they expect that they will be able to make their case,” said Quillam’s Brandon. “But they end up looking rather pathetic.” — Reuters

Insanity tough to prove, hard to fake

By Kate Kelland

ssessing whether Norway’s confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is insane, as his lawyer asserts, will take months of observation, interviews and analysis - and experts say it’s hard to fake mental illness. Forensic psychiatrists who analyse the minds of murderers point to clear patterns of behaviour that can date far back and may give vital clues to Breivik’s mental state when he killed at least 76 people in a shooting spree and bomb attack on July 22. Breivik’s lawyer Geir Lippestad has already said “this whole case indicated that he is insane” , but experts point to some key factors that might suggest a different view.

They say the most likely final outcome is that Breivik, 32, will be jailed or kept in a secure mental hospital until he is at least in his early fifties, and any release beyond that would be allowed only if a parole board thinks it is safe - unlikely given the scale and severity of his crimes.

“The insanity defence is about whether someone understands what they ’re doing, and if they do..whether they

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realise it is legally wrong,” said Seena Fazel, a clinical senior lecturer in forensic psychiatry at the University of Oxford. “If you think when you’re attacking somebody that you’re actually attacking a piece of bread...and if you had no idea what you did was legally wrong...then people would consider that as part of an insanity defence,” he told a briefing in London.

These elements also play into another key consideration for insanity - whether the killer had the capacity to form intent.

“A high degree of planning and premeditation, and an ability to see through to the consequences of your actions in a rational way, imply some capacity to form intent,” Fazel said Breivik’s copious writings - some of which appear in diaries and a 1,500-page “manifesto” in which he wrote of himself as a righteous crusader on a mission to save European “Christendom” from a tide of Islam - suggest he planned his attacks months in advance, gradually gathering the tools and the expertise he needed.

His diary entry on April 27 reads: “I made the order for the fertilizer which were to be delivered a week later. Prior to

making this order I had officially registered my company as an agricultural entity.” He adds: “The last week in the capital I spent a lot of time with friends, partying and attending various social events. I knew that it would be the last chance for a very long time.” On July 4 he wrote: “Began the preparations for a trip to extract the armour cache I had dug down a year ago...”

Fin Larkin, a consultant psychiatrist familiar with making assessments of offenders’ minds, said they “have to be pretty patently mentally unwell” to successfully claim insanity. “It’s not impossible...but it’s actually quite difficult to fake,” he said. Larkin, who works in the personality disorder section of Britain’s Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital, which has housed and treated some of its most notorious killers, said psychiatrists making such assessments take as their starting point that everything the defendant says is a lie. “They’ve often got strong motivation not to tell the truth, they may be very well researched, they may have planned things for quite a while, they may be good mimics who have spent time with

mentally ill people,” he said.

Experts say that while there are some common factors that often crop up in the backgrounds of mass killers - a difficult childhood, a lack of empathy, sadistic behaviour and difficulties forming and maintaining relationships - these on their own offer few clues for a mental illness diagnosis. For a proper assessment, offenders should ideally be admitted to a high-security hospital where psychiatrists and other specialists monitor them day and night to observe their reactions to people, situations and the stresses of daily life.

This could and should take several months, Fazel said, and should be combined with a detailed search of the offender’s life course - including interviews with family, old friends, online contacts, analyses of diaries, and going back to school reports and earlier notes from doctors or other professionals. “It’s too early at the moment to say much about this man in terms of diagnosis, but it’s very important to read his writings, interview informants, friends and family and get as much objective information as possible.” — Reuters

Killing takes shine off opposition gains

By Peter Apps he still-unexplained killing of Libya’s rebel military commander will further undermine outside confidence in an already fragmented opposition, with some suspecting an internal feud is to blame. While information remained sketchy and few entirely rule out the possibility that Gaddafi loyalists somehow killed Abdel Fattah Younes, observers say divisions within the rebel movement were already growing before his death. Having spent years in the Libyan leader’s coterie during many crackdowns on opposition, Younes was always viewed as suspect by some members of the opposition movement.

Rumours he might have been feeding information back to Tripoli came on top of widespread discontent with the slow progress of fighting on Libya’s eastern front, where opposition fighters have been bogged down around the oil port of Brega. “The incident has already distracted opposition figures from the front line and is likely to compound their inability to take Brega,” said Henry Smith, Libya analyst for London-based consultancy Control Risks. “Rivalries over the militia and military leadership have been apparent for months.

An event such as this is likely to exacerbate them amid clear uncertainty.” As Younes’ apparently burned and bullet-ridden body was marched through central Benghazi in a coffin on Friday, his family did not comment on who

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they believed the killers were but pledged allegiance to rebel political chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

“Recently it looked as if more unity of command had emerged (and) that may now be facilitated further by the removal of a potentially divisive military chief,” said Daniel Korski, a senior policy fellow at the

perpetually disorganised and incompetent.” Libyan rebels have made considerable advances in the western mountains and around the port of Misrata in recent months, but the eastern front has barely moved. Taking Brega and other key nearby port facilities is a key rebel aim as it might allow

ground and reopen closed facilities there is little prospect of more to come. If they are unable to break a battlefield stalemate even with the help of foreign air power, the opposition and their NATO allies are seen hoping for either a negotiated Gaddafi exit, internal coup or Tripoli-based uprising to oust him.

Libyan men carry the coffin, gesture and chant slogans during the funeral of Libyan rebels’ slain military chief Abdel Fattah Younes in the rebel-held town of Benghazi on Friday. – AP European Council on Foreign Relations and a long-term supporter of the war. “But it nonetheless represents a propaganda coup for Colonel Gaddafi and those who have long dismissed the rebels as

them to resume oil exports to gain much-needed cash. Earlier this week, oil industry sources said the rebels had sold the last of the crude held in storage tanks near Tobruk and unless they take new

All of those options are likely to become less likely if the rebel movement is perceived to be breaking into factions or disintegrating just as a string of Western nations including Britain recog-

nised them as the legitimate Libyan government. “Definitely there are growing signs of splits within the rebels,” said Alan Fraser, regional analyst for AKE, another London-based consultancy advising many companies in the oil sector. “Sources on the ground have long been reporting signs of frustration... directed against each other and particularly the eastern front rebels who they feel are not doing enough to push forward.”

But Fraser said there were also Gaddafi elements in the east carrying out clandestinely attacks who would have jumped at the chance to kill Younes, grabbing the chance to show how tenuous rebel control was even in their own heartland.

With French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama both facing elections next year and British Prime Minister David Cameron pressured by domestic scandal, the Western allies are likely to want the war to end fast. “The noose is tightening around Gaddafi,” said Anthony Skinner, regional analyst at consultancy Maplecroft, pointing to dwindling supplies in Tripoli and Gaddafi’s apparent willingness to engage in discussion with NATO members. “(But) the dynamic remains fluid... if a segment or fraction of the rebel movement was behind the assassination, then it underlines the fragility and complexity of relations and tribal divisions within the opposition... the toppling of Gaddafi requires union of purpose and endurance to stay the course.” — Reuters

Focus

Mess shows Washington’s awful side

By Ben Feller here is no changing how Washington works. It doesn’t. Even if a bitterly divided Congress and President Barack Obama avoid a US debt default by striking a last-second deal, as all sides expect, plenty of damage has been done. People are disgusted.

Confidence in the political system is tanking. Nothing else is getting done in Washington. The markets are spooked. The global reputation of the United States has slipped. And the real kicker? This whole wrenching effort to shrink the debt may actually increase the debt. Any emergency deal may not be broad enough to prevent the major credit rating agencies from downgrading the United States as a rock-solid investment. That, in turn, could increase the cost of borrowing for the government (hence more interest and debt), not to mention for everyone else. The spectacle has brought Washington to its knees. Obama went on TV before the nation and called it a circus. One lawmaker felt compelled to apologize to the American people.

“I can only imagine the anger and disgust they have,” said Democratic Sen Joe Manchin of West Virginia, “at witnessing a broken government and a president and members of Congress who can’t seem to even agree sometimes on what day it is, let alone to solve the nation’s debt crisis”. That about sums it up. Polls show people’s trust in government is at one of its worst levels in decades. An ABC/Washington Post survey this month found that a whopping 80 percent of people were angry or dissatisfied with the federal government. About a decade ago, it wasn’t half that high. Pleading for the parties to work together for the American people, Obama said, “That’s the least that they should expect of us, not the most that they should expect of us.” Achieving the least is proving nearly impossible. Leaders have talked to each other, then not talked to each other, then talked about each other. None of it has really worked.

This Washington moment began as something big - a bipartisan effort to put a real dent in the long-term debt by taking on political issues that are genuinely tough for both parties. It has now devolved into a panicky debate over whether the nation’s debt limit will be raised by Tuesday so the country can pay its bills. Voters, remember, want their leaders to be focused on jobs. The goal of preventing a self-inflicted economic catastrophe is hardly a standard of excellence.

When this is all over, politicians will claim credit wherever they can, and blame their opponents for the long, embarrassing spectacle. The results will be viewed through the prism of the 2012 election, in terms of who came out best overall, or with those ohso-coveted independent voters, or among their polarized bases as the party primaries approach. And the public will assign blame, deciding whether those pushing compromise will be rewarded as eminently sensible or punished for caving.

That misses the point. In the biggest sense, everyone has lost. “We have now taken a process that was not getting a lot of attention and convinced people that this is not the usual shenanigans. It is farcical and utterly dysfunctional,” said Norman Ornstein, a political science scholar at the American Enterprise who has long examined Washington’s ways. “Whatever they pull out here in the end, that image isn’t going to change.”

Consider some of the many ways Washington has not been able to escape itself: • Given the huge issues at stake, from the size of the debt to the role of government, voters might have hoped for a big, open debate of ideas. What they have had instead is a confusing process that’s playing out in secret or in strident statements to the press. Obama and House Speaker John Boehner had dueling news conferences to assign blame for their broken negotiations, then rivaling addresses to the nation to try to sway the American people. Obama at one point said he could not even get a phone call returned from Boehner.

• Congress, as usual, is exhausting all of its partisan options before truly considering a potential agreement in the final hours. That’s viewed as normal, or even helpful, in Washington. A weary country, meanwhile, is getting daily updates about what it would mean to live with the first default in the country’s history.

• Boehner suspended the voting on his own bill so that he could find a way to snag the final votes he needed. The House switched to naming post offices as time slipped away. A White House official said this is why people hate Washington. Boehner’s office said it showed reform for Washington: At least he didn’t try to ram the bill through in the dead of night.

• Obama is getting bashed for not putting his own plan on paper. The White House claims to do that would be to ensure its defeat, because Republicans cannot publicly support whatever Obama does.

“Maybe that’s a sad statement, perhaps, about how Washington works,” said presidential spokesman Jay Carney, “but it’s an incredibly realistic statement.”

• The president said the world is watching. Allies are actually cringing. The international community is seeing a superpower bicker and flail in its attempt to reduce its staggering debt.

• The embarrassing stalemate follows a breathless budget clash between the parties that came close to shutting down the government. And with the nation still stuck in a rut on job creation, there is little reason to be hopeful for a bipartisan economic agenda between now and the presidential and congressional elections in November 2012.

• The voices of moderation in both parties have been disappearing, in part because of election districts drawn to favor sharply one party of the other.

Ornstein predicts the next election will bring only more polarization, meaning there’s little chance for a climate of compromise anytime over the horizon.

“This is not exactly a shining moment for America,” he said. Obama likes to remind voters that they had better intentions than this when they put Democrats in control of the White House and Senate and Republicans in charge of the House. “The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government,” the president says. Too bad they got both. — AP

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sp orts Eagles land Asomugha PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Eagles plucked Nnamdi Asomugha from the free agent market on Friday, signing the Pro Bowl cornerback to a five-year contract, the National Football League (NFL) team said. Considered one of the top free agents available and coveted by several teams, Asomugha spent eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders where he earned the reputation as one of the league’s best shutdown cornerbacks.

While Asomugha has recorded just three interceptions in the last four seasons, opposition quarterbacks have rarely challenged the four-time Pro Bowler. Terms were not announced but, according to local media reports, his deal with Philadelphia is worth $60 million. “He’ll be a great addition to our cornerback corps,” Eagles coach Andy Reid told NFL.com. “Right now we have three great cornerbacks...we’ll see how things go there.”

Suddenly the Eagles own what appears to be one of the NFL’s top pass defences, Asomugha’s signing coming one day after Philadelphia acquired another Pro Bowl cornerback, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the Arizona Cardinals. With the free agent signing window officially open and camps set to begin on Saturday, the Carolina Panthers and quarterback Cam Newton, the number one overall pick in this year’s draft, have agreed to a four-year $22 million deal, according to reports on the NFL Network. —Reuters

Evans eyes Tour, Olympics

Wolfsburg crash to Leipzig BERLIN: VfL Wolfsburg made a miserable start to their season by losing 3-2 at fourth division RB Leipzig in the first round of the German Cup on Friday.

Borussia Moenchengladbach and VfB Stuttgar t, the other Bundesliga teams playing on Friday, beat third division opposition while former German champions Rot-Weiss Essen, now in the fourth tier, beat second division Union Berlin on penalties.

The first round is a potential minefield for Bundesliga and second division clubs as the seeding system forces them to play oneleg ties away to lower division opponents.

Playing before the league has started adds to the chances of top teams being caught unprepared.

Daniel Frahn scored a hat-trick for RB Leipzig, who were known as SSV Mak ranstaedt until 2009 when the Red Bull energy drinks manufacturer bought the playing licence and changed the name.

Frahn opened his account in the sixth minute when Wolfsburg failed to clear a corner and scored again from close range 11 minutes later before a crowd of more than 30,000.

Wolfsburg, who pulled off a dramatic rescue act under Felix Magath to escaple relegation last season, were level before the half hour when Srdjan Lak ic and Hasan Salihamidzic scored in a three-minute spell. But Frahn struck again on the stroke of halftime when he headed the third and decisive goal. —Reuters

SINT-NIKLAAS: Australian Tour de France champion Cadel Evans hopes to do well at next year’s London Olympics as well as successfully defend his title.

Evans, who took part in a 90.3 kms race through the historic city centre of Sint Niklaas on Friday, told Reuters television he thought he could manage both events, even though they fall within weeks of each other.

“At this point in time, we are working towards the Tour de France in 2012,” Evans, 34, said.

“Conveniently or inconveniently, depending which way you look at it and for me in the past it has been fine, we go to the Olympics just after the Tour de France in 2012.

“At this point we are planning to be competitive at both. Where it goes on with selections and so on, directions and team mates, it’s not up to me right now but we will be there.”

Evans, the first Australian to win the Tour de France which finished last Sunday, added: “It brings more, more attention than any other race or success I had before.

“Now that it has happened I don’t know if I can quite realise it yet. It’s certainly one thing, one box I had unticked.” —Reuters

Phillies get past Pirates

CHICAGO: Chicago White Sox’s Alejandro De Aza follows through on a swing for a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game. —AP

White Sox dominate Red CHICAGO: The Chicago White Sox extended their recent domination of Boston, beating the Red Sox 3-1 on Friday in the American League.

Chicago’s seventh straight victory over Boston and 14th in the past 16 games between the teams denied the 44-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield his 200th career win.

Boston starter Wakefield (6-4) allowed just three hits in seven innings but a wild pitch in the sixth helped set up the 1-1 tying run on Paul Konerko’s sacrifice fly. And he walked a batter to start the bottom of the seventh before AJ Pierzynski hit a two-run homer to complete the scoring. White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (9-9) won his third straight start, giving up one run in seven innings. His career record against the Red Sox is 6-0.

Tigers 12, Angels 2 In Detroit, Carlos Guillen hit a two-run triple in a four-run sixth inning which vaulted Detroit over Los Angeles. Guillen and Victor Martinez had four RBIs apiece, while Ramon Santiago added three hits for Detroit. Martinez hit a oneout RBI single to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead in the sixth, and Guillen followed with his first triple of the season. Detroit starter Rick Porcello (11-6) allowed two runs in eight innings, striking out six. Tyler Chatwood (6-7) gave up six runs in 5 1-3 innings for the Angels, who had won three straight.

Blue Jays 3, Rangers 2 In Toronto, JP Arencibia hit a three-run homer to give Toronto victory over Texas. Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (4-4) allowed only one run in seven innings. Jon Rauch pitched around a homer to close it out for his ninth save. Rangers starter Alexi Ogando (10-5) allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings.

Orioles 4, Yankees 2 In New York, Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie shut down New York for seven innings, perhaps driving up his price in a trade.

Mark Reynolds and Derrek Lee each drove in two runs for the Orioles, lending some rare offensive support to the major league leader in losses.

Guthrie (5-14) allowed just four hits in one of his best outings during a frustrating season. Kevin Gregg held on in a shaky ninth, getting the final strikeout with runners at the corners. Guthrie

outpitched AJ Burnett (8-9) for his first win in four career starts at Yankee Stadium. Last-place Baltimore won its first game over the Yankees this season, at the seventh attempt.

Rays 8, Mariners 0 In Seattle, Jeff Niemann struck out a careerhigh 11 in 6 2-3 scoreless innings to guide Tampa Bay past Seattle. Niemann (5-4) gave up a twoout single in the first, and two singles in the seventh but that was it, taking his fourth straight decision.

The Rays supported him with an eight-run second inning, highlighted by Ben Zobrist’s tworun homer. Casey Kotchman had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run.

Mariners starter Erik Bedard (4-7), just back from a month off with a knee injury and the subject of trade rumors, showed the effects of his layoff. He threw 57 pitches in just 1 1-3 innings and was tagged for five runs, walking four.

Royals 12, Indians 0 In Cleveland, Melky Cabrera hit a grand slam homer as Kansas City spanked Cleveland. Billy Butler hit a two-run shot in the first and a solo drive in the eighth, giving him five long balls in a four-game homer streak. Alex Gordon also went long for the Royals.

Butler came to the plate immediately after Cabrera’s grand slam in the fourth, and Cleveland pitcher Carlos Carrasco promptly threw the first pitch at his head. Players from both dugouts and bullpens came on the field, and Carrasco was ejected. Kansas City starter Jeff Francis (4-11) pitched eight scoreless innings to win for the first time in seven weeks.

He struck out six and walked one. Carrasco (8-9) lost his fifth straight start.

Twins 9, Athletics 5 In Oakland, Francisco Liriano rebounded from his worst start of the season to go seven innings and direct Minnesota’s win over Oakland.

Liriano (7-8) wasn’t sharp but did enough to improve on his previously poor record against the A’s. Michael Cuddyer hit his team-leading 16th homer of the season while Trevor Plouffe scored the go-ahead run on a double play in the third and added a pair of RBI singles. Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez (9-8) allowed five runs over 5 1-3 innings. —AP

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

Baltimore 4, NY Yankees 2; Kansas City 12, Cleveland 0; Detroit 12, LA Angels 2; NY Mets 8, Washington 5; Philadelphia 10, Pittsburgh 3; Toronto 3, Texas 2; Cincinnati 4, San Francisco 3 (13 innings); Atlanta 5, Florida 0; Milwaukee 4, Houston 0; Chicago White Sox 3, Boston 1; St. Louis 9, Chicago Cubs 2; Colorado 3, San Diego 2; Minnesota 9, Oakland 5; Tampa Bay 8, Seattle 0; LA Dodgers 9, Arizona 5.

National League American League Eastern Division Eastern Division Philadelphia 66 39 .629 W L PCT GB Atlanta 62 45 .579 5 Boston 64 40 .615 NY Mets 55 51 .519 11.5 NY Yankees 61 42 .592 2.5 Florida 52 54 .491 14.5 Tampa Bay 55 50 .524 9.5 Washington 49 56 .467 17 Toronto 54 52 .509 11 Baltimore 42 60 .412 21 Central Division Milwaukee 58 49 .542 Central Division St. Louis 56 50 .528 1.5 Detroit 56 50 .528 Pittsburgh 54 50 .519 2.5 Cleveland 52 51 .505 2.5 Cincinnati 51 55 .481 6.5 Chicago White Sox 52 52 .500 3 Chicago Cubs 42 64 .396 15.5 Minnesota 50 56 .472 6 Houston 35 71 .330 22.5 Kansas City 45 61 .425 11 Western Division San Francisco 61 45 .575 Western Division Arizona 57 49 .538 4 Texas 60 47 .561 Colorado 50 56 .472 11 LA Angels 58 49 .542 2 LA Dodgers 48 57 .457 12.5 Oakland 47 59 .443 12.5 San Diego 46 61 .430 15.5 Seattle 44 61 .419 15

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia’s Chase Utley fell a double shy of the cycle, powering the Phillies to a 10-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League on Friday.

The Phillies didn’t need another hitter against Charlie Morton (8-6) and the Pirates.

Utley had a run-scoring triple in his first at-bat, a three-run homer in the second inning to make it 7-0, and he singled in the third.

Jimmy Rollins added a tworun homer in the seventh for a 10-0 lead. Ryan Howard had an RBI double and Raul Ibanez a run-scoring single in the first.Philadelphia star ter Roy Halladay (13-4) tossed seven shutout innings, striking out five and walking none. The Phillies, who have the best record in baseball, later acquired All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence from Houston.

Braves 5, Marlins 0 In Atlanta, the hosts ended Florida’s five -game winning streak. Dan Uggla hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, extending his hitting streak to 20 games and leads the Braves with 19 homers.

He has improved his meager batting averaged from .176 to .206 this month.

Brandon Beachy (4-2) went 71/3 scoreless innings.Emilio Bonifacio’s 26-game hitting streak, the second-longest in Marlins history, came to an end.

He struck out twice and was thrown out trying to bunt his way on base before hitting a groundout in the eighth.

pitched a perfect 13th.

Dodgers 9, D’backs 5 In Los Angeles, Matt Kemp hit a three-run homer and a tworun single to power Los Angeles over Arizona. Kemp’s big night left him with an NL-best 80 RBIs, three more than Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard. The AllStar center fielder now has seven career games with five or more RBIs. Dodgers starter Ted Lilly (7-10) allowed three hits in

Cardinals 9, Cubs 2 In St. Louis, Albert Pujols got his 2,000th career hit as St. Louis beat Chicago. In his 10th season, Pujols is 263rd overall on the major league hit list. He’s the fifth Cardinal to get 2,000 hits in a career. He is the 12th quickest player to 2,000 hits in history, taking 1,650 games.

was charged with two runs in 6 1-3 innings. Huston Street finished for his 28th save in 30 chances.

Troy Tulowitzki had two hits for the Rock ies, who scored three times in the second. San Diego starter Tim Stauffer (6-8) gave up eight hits in seven innings. He hurt himself with a costly balk.

Brewers 4, Astros 0 In Milwaukee, Randy Wolf

PHILADELPHIA: Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins (11) celebrates with teammate Chase Utley after hitting a two-run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh inning. —AP five innings to take the win.

Reds 4, Giants 3 In Cincinnati, Edgar Renteria singled in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift Cincinnati over his former team San Francisco.

Jay Bruce walked on a 3-2 pitch from Brian Wilson (6-3) to lead off the 13th. After a fly out, pitcher Jose Arredondo - in his first career batting appearance chopped a single over the third baseman and down the left-field line. Renteria, the World Series MVP for the Giants last season, then lined a soft single down the right-field line to win the game and snap the Reds’ four-game losing streak. Arredondo (2-3)

the day after he had shoulder surgery, and gave up six runs in four innings.

Mets 8, Nationals 5 In Washington, Jose Reyes drove in two runs to help New York beat Washington. Ronny Paulino finished with three hits, and David Wright and Jason Bay each had two as the Mets scored four times in the first inning en route to their fifth straight win. It was New York’s major-league leading 33rd road win. Mets starter Dillon Gee (10-3) allowed four hits over 6 2-3 innings and hit an RBI single.

Nationals starter Chien-Ming Wang (0-1) made his first major league appearance two years to

De Jonge, Simpson share lead at The Greenbrier NEW YORK: Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge made the most of his growing comfort level on the Old White Course by charging into a tie for the lead in Friday’s second round of the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.

The burly 31-year-old, who finished third in the event’s inaugural edition here 12 months ago, fired a sparkling three-under-par 67 to vault to the top of the standings at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.

De Jonge rebounded from an early bogey with four birdies to post a seven-under total of 133, ending a sunsplashed day level with American Webb Simpson, who sank a six-foot birdie putt at the last for a 68.

Former Masters champion Trevor Immelman of South Africa, who set the first-round pace with a sizzling 64, was a further stroke back after carding a 70 while American world number six Phil Mickelson missed the cut after shooting a 73.

De Jonge, who had opened with a 66 in pursuit of a maiden victory on the PGA Tour, was delighted with his form at the picturesque resort venue situated in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.

“I started out a little bit shaky but I made some good pars at the beginning of the round and got some momentum going,” de Jonge told reporters. “It was nice. I felt like I had pretty good control of the ball.”

The Zimbabwean’s best PGA Tour finish was his third place in last year’s Greenbrier Classic and he said he had liked the par-70 layout when he first saw it.

“I felt comfortable here from the start and I love the changes (since last year),” added de Jonge, who went to university at nearby Virginia Tech. “It feels good out there. It’s a comfortable place for me.” De Jonge posted three top-three finishes on the 2010 PGA Tour and believes he simply needs to stay out of his own way if he is to pull off a long-awaited breakthrough victory on the U.S. circuit. —Reuters

He joined Stan Musial (3,630), Lou Brock (2,713), Rogers Hornsby (2,110) and Enos Slaughter (2,063) as the only Cardinals to get 2,000 with the franchise.

Edwin Jackson pitched seven innings in his debut with St. Louis, while David Freese hit a three -run homer and Ryan Theriot, who entered as a pinchhitter in the sixth, drove in three runs on two hits.

Rockies 3, Padres 2 In San Diego, Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh inning to steer Colorado to a tight win over San Diego. Hammel (6-10)

pitched seven scoreless innings to steer Milwaukee past a punchless Houston. Astros star ter Jordan Lyles (0-6) breezed through the first four innings, giving up only one hit and facing the minimum 12 batters.

However immediately after Hunter Pence - who was traded to Philadelphia mid-game - was replace in right-field, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder led off the bottom of the fifth with a double.

Casey McGehee and George Kottaras then got RBI singles, and Corey Hart added a two-run double in the seventh. Wolf (7-8) won his first decision in over a month.—AP

Siem’s lead under threat at Irish Open

IRELAND: Germany’s Marcel Siem reacts after saving par on the second hole during round 3 of the Irish Open Golf Championship. —AP

KILLARNEY: Germany’s Marcel Siem was clinging to a share of the lead in the third round of the Irish Open as England’s David Howell piled on the pressure at Killarney yesterday.

Siem, at 10 under par, led by one shot overnight from India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and Denmark’s Soren Hansen, who were tied in second place. But the world number 295 saw Howell card an impressive seven under par round of 64 to move into joint first place, while England’s Simon Dyson shared second place with Hanson at 10 under heading into the back nine. Howell, who last won a tournament at Wentworth in 2006, showed impressive composure as he ignored the heavy rain to make it five birdies in six holes on the back nine.

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, after 17 holes, and Australian Richard Green, after 12 holes, were also in contention at nine under.

Singh, who led after the first round, had fallen to three shots behind the leaders after going one over for the day in his first eight holes.

Meanwhile, US Open champion Rory McIlroy looks to have slipped out of contention after carding a 72, his worst round of the tournament, which left him only three under for the tournament.

McIlroy went into the weekend hoping to overhaul Siem but his challenge suffered a serious blow when he double-bogeyed the opening hole in windy conditions.

The 377-yard first hole runs alongside Lough Leane, and after his tee shot finished on the beach in amongst stones, McIlroy advanced his ball only about 20 yards. —AFP

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All Blacks crush Boks

LOS ANGELES: Juan Martin Del Portro, of Argentina, returns a shot to Ernests Gulbis, of Latvia, during a match at the Farmers Classic tennis tournament.—AP

Fish advances at Farmers Classic LOS ANGELES: Mardy Fish moved a step closer to his second straight title, beating No. 8 seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 62, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semifinals at the Farmers Classic as his two main rivals were eliminated.

The top seed’s next opponent will be 19-year-old Ryan Harrison, who outlasted Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours, 24 minutes.

Fish is the only remaining seeded player in the tournament, after No.2 Juan Martin del Potro — the 2008 champion - was ousted by Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-4.

Gulbis’ semifinal opponent will be American Alex Bogomolov Jr., who beat fourth-seeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Harrison became the first American teenager to reach back-to-back semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2002. Fish beat Harrison in the semifinals at Atlanta last week on the way to his first title of the season.

“Winning two tournaments in a row is not easy. Not everyone does that,” Fish said. “That would be special. But it’s a long ways away.”First, Fish must get past the up-and-coming Harrison, who has been anointed by some as the next

American star.

Harrison is building a reputation as a player known for his ability to battle back from early deficits. He managed to do that against Lu with a comeback that has him within a win of his first career singles final. “Mardy has been playing fantastic,” Harrison said. “I learned some things from that match and would love another shot to play him.”

A strong stretch of play has firmly entrenched Fish into the world’s No. 9 ranking. Prior to the win in Atlanta, the 29-year-old reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing to eventual runnerup Rafael Nadal. Fish and Kunitsyn got their match started in unorthodox fashion, opening with five straight services breaks. Fish was disappointed with his sloppy play but responded in a strong manner.

Although he has been successful at this event, Fish has fallen short in past bids to reach the finals. He is looking forward to his rematch with Harrison, whom he says has a bright future ahead of him.

“I feel like I’m at an advantage because I’m better than him right now,” Fish said. “He has a lot of years left to kick my butt.”—AP

Marion Bartoli of France

Little voice of doubt no longer troubling Bartoli STANFORD: Marion Bartoli is no longer needled by the “little voice” that told her she did not belong in the winner’s circle at grand slams and finally regards herself a true contender ahead of next month’s US Open.

Since announcing herself with a surprise final appearance at Wimbledon in 2007, the Frenchwoman struggled to reach those giddy heights in subsequent years.

She has re-emerged as a force this season, however, making her first French Open semi-final before following up with a last eight appearance at Wimbledon.

The 26-year-old said a day of rest after her upset of three -times champion Serena Williams and before her loss to German giantkiller Sabine Lisicki could have proved the difference between her quarter-final exit and a run to the title at Wimbledon.

“I could have won,” Bartoli, who lost in three sets in a ferocious match with Lisicki, told Reuters at the Stanford Classic, where she has reached the semifinals.

“I was so close. It’s not that before I didn’t believe I could win a grand slam, but in a way there was a little voice saying, ‘maybe you don’t belong there, maybe it’s not your spot’.

“Now I really know I can be a grand slam champion. I beat Petra Kvitova in the final of Eastbourne and she won Wimbledon.

“I’m sure if keep the same level and positive energy, I will be able to win a grand slam. But between thinking you can do it and actually doing it, there is also a gap.”

Bartoli, who has won six career titles and amassed more than $6 million in prize money, feels she is now playing a

better brand of tennis than in 2007 when she lost the Wimbledon title to Venus Williams. Part of that she attributed to her improved fitness, which enabled her to play 21 matches in seven weeks between Strasbourg and the end of Wimbledon and win 18 of them.

“It showed how much I improved physically,” she said. “To be able to break all those barriers and to improve so much is surprising and exciting and now I know I can finish this season strong.”

She also feels beloved in France for the first time. She left the country with her family when she was a teenager and moved to Switzerland, and had differences with the French Tennis Federation, rarely playing Fed Cup. This year, however, she decided to engage the public rather than put her head down and avoid them. “It’s really changed in France,” she said. “I received really good press and everyone in the street recognised me, from the supermarket to the gas station.

“People said they were crying at how good my matches were. The way I was acting on the court this time was totally different. I was showing more my emotions and sharing with the crowd.”

Bartoli said she would be happy to walk away from the game after her brilliant summer this year, but she has her eye on the the US Open where she has never really found her stride.

“The main goal for me is to break the barrier at the US Open because for many reasons I haven’t done great there,” said Bartoli, who won the 2001 US Open junior title but has not gone past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

“This year I’m playing a smarter schedule and I will arrive fresher and be ready to fight.”—Reuters

WELLINGTON: The All Blacks opened their Tri-Nations title defence with a 40-7 hammering of the injury-ravaged Springboks yesterday, falling just four points short of a record test victory over the South Africans.

After a stop-start performance in their season-opening 60-14 win over Fiji last week, the World Cup favorites moved up another notch and were rewarded with six tries, including two each for wingers Cor y Jane and Zac Guildford.

“It was a big improvement on last week,” said coach Graham Henry. “It’s important for us to keep improving ... I’m pleased with the performance, still things to work on ... but overall seven out of 10.”

Flyhalf Dan Carter added 10 points from two penalties and two conversions to edge back ahead of England’s Jonny Wilkinson in the battle for the test points world record on 1,204.

South Africa, who scored their one try through skipper John Smit, put in an improved performance after being embarrassed 39-20 by Australia last week but were simply no match for the power and pace of the home side.

With more than 20 frontline players recuperating back in South Africa, the world champions just managed to avoid the ignomy of a worse defeat than the 52-16 drubbing they suffered in 2003. “The All Blacks looked very good and deserve their tag as favourites for the World Cup,” said coach Peter de Villiers.

“At time our execution looked very, very good when we had the ball but you can’t give the All Blacks turnover ball and they punished us.” After the All Blacks had trotted out in their new World Cup strip with smart white collars, Carter wasted no time regaining the world record for most test points with a penalty in the third minute.

It was not until 10 minutes later that the home side managed to get across the Springboks try line, however, with prop Wyatt Crockett touching down in the corner for his first test try.

The 30,000 crowd did not have to wait long for the second, however, with the All Blacks taking

game,” said Smit. “It’s always terrible to lose a test match, even more so against the All Blacks and 40 points was not what we had in mind ... we’ll be gutted with the effort of the last two weeks.” The All Blacks stormed further ahead five minutes later when Jane scored the pick of his

extend the lead to 28-7 and the All Blacks started bringing on their replacements, including Sonny Bill Williams for his first home test.

It was his rival for the inside centre spot Nonu, however, whose hard running set up the field position for Guildford’s sec-

WELLINGTON: All Blacks first-five Dan Carter (center right) throws a pass to second-five Ma’a Nonu during their Tri-Nations rugby match against South Africa.—AP the game straight to the South Africans from the restart.

Carter’s neat grubber kick was hauled in by Ma’a Nonu and, when the centre was finally hauled down, the All Blacks recycled and Carter broke again before feeding winger Guildford to score. The Springboks struck back just before the half hour mark when they kicked a penalty for the corner, won the lineout and Smit barrelled through under the posts to celebrate his 104th test with a try. “It was about the only enjoyable moment of the

tries by sprinting 50 metres and rounding his marker to touch down in the corner, sending the home side into the break 18-7 up.

Jane, under pressure for his place in the side because of New Zealand’s surfeit of talent in the back three positions, scored his second four minutes after halftime, scooping up a bouncing ball to touch down after the Springbok defence had gambled on a blitz.

Carter finally kicked his first conversion of the night, adding a penalty five minutes later to

Serena williams sends Sharapova packing STANFORD: Serena Williams signalled her readiness for the upcoming US Open with an authoritative 6-1, 6-3 over No.2 seed Maria Sharapova at the Bank of the West Classic on Friday. In a clash of two former world No. 1ranked players, Williams put on a clinic with precision serving and a sharp ground game to get the better of the Russian.

Williams’ semifinal opponent will be German Sabine Lisicki, who beat fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2. Third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France advanced when Japan’s Ayumi Morita retired after dropping the first set 6-1. Bartoli will meet eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who beat qualifier Marina Erakovic 6-1, 6-1.

Williams, playing in just her third tournament since winning Wimbledon last year, and her first on American soil since the 2009 US Open, looked as good as she did when she topped the rankings.

The fifth-ranked Sharapova had eight unforced errors before she hit her first winner and the slow start proved costly.

“I had a good start,” Williams said. “You can’t go in against the fifth-ranked player with your mind everywhere. You have to be serious. It’s a great win for the hardcourt season.” “I’m a better player this month than I was last month. I’ve put in a lot of work and I hope it continues to pay off.”

Williams, currently ranked No. 169, beat Sharapova for the sixth straight time and

improved to 7-2 overall against her.

Sharapova last beat Williams at the 2004 WTA championships.

“It certainly wasn’t my night,” Sharapova said. “She was serving and hitting so well and I was extremely late in my reactions. I felt sluggish. It was a bad day but it’s also a reminder that I need to step up.”

“When I had chances to change things around I couldn’t do it. Her biggest strength is her power and you don’t see so much of that in the top 10. It really makes her dangerous.”

Lisicki was a semifinalist at Wimbledon and has improved her ranking to 26th after being No. 218 in March. “I’m looking forward to the match,” Lisicki said. “I love competing in the big matches. I have nothing to lose.”

Sharapova beat Lisicki in the semis at Wimbledon. “Coming from grass to hardcourt is always a challenge,” Lisicki said. “It comes down to who plays the best that given day.”

Last year, Lisicki missed five months with a left ankle injury. She says she has more endurance now than before her injury.

“I’m much better than I was before the injury,” she said. “I’ve had to focus on so many aspects of my game. Last year I couldn’t even walk. Now I feel I can rely on my serve when I need it at crucial moments.”

The 20th-ranked Cibulkova, looking for her first tour title, reached her second semifinal of the year. “I was pretty solid the whole match,” Cibulkova said. “I hope to keep playing at this level.”—AP

STANFORD: Serena Williams hits a backhand against Maria Sharapova of Russia during the Bank of the West tennis tournament. —AP

ond try after 64 minutes.

Guildford then turned provider to put Colin Slade over 10 minutes from time and from then on it was just a question of whether the Springboks could hold out and prevent further embarrasment. “I thought Zac Guildford and Cory Jane were both outstanding tonight,” Henry added.

“They played exceptionally well in all aspects of the game. We’ve got probably nine guys for five positions so we’re gonna have to make some important decisions.”—Reuters

Packers meeting festive after end to NFL lockout GREEN BAY: Green Bay Packers shareholder Jackie Krueger, tailgating in a hotel parking lot before the team’s shareholder meeting on Thursday, had one word about the end of this year’s player lockout: “YES!” “It would have been really bad,” said Krueger, 57, who along with her husband Bob owns the Pioneer Grill and Saloon in Menominee, Wisconsin. “Not having a game day would have affected us financially.”

The Packers shareholder meeting, held every year in July, is usually a festive occasion, but this year’s was more celebratory than most.

The Green Bay team was just coming off a Super Bowl win over the Pittsburgh Steelers when the contract dispute between National Football League owners and players resulted in a lockout, putting the start of the next season in question. The lockout ended on Monday, after players and owners agreed to a multi-billion dollar, 10-year deal. “It was more critical than the national debt situation,” Jackie Krueger’s brother-in-law, Bill Krueger, 62, of Alexandria, Virginia, said. “It’s hard on the fans.”

A continuation of the lockout would have had a serious impact on life in Green Bay, a town of 100,000 and the smallest city with an NFL team. The Packers bring business to hotels, bars and restaurants, and jobs for local residents. A delay to the season “would have been devastating”, said a stadium usher who asked not to be identified, adding she never doubted a deal would be reached. “There’s too much money at stake.”

The Green Bay team is unique among National Football League teams in that it is publicly owned by its supporters. The team’s more than 4.7 million shares are owned by more than 112,000 shareholders, none of whom receives a dividend.

While most ordinary business shareholder meetings are reserved affairs in hotel meeting rooms, Packers meetings are held outdoors in Lambeau Field with shareholders dressed in Packers gear, eating bratwurst and fanning themselves with their financial reports against the hot July sun.

No one shareholder can own more than 200,000 shares. About 11,700 shareholders showed up for Thursday’s meeting, Packers spokesman Aaron Popkey said.

At the meeting, the shareholders cheered speeches by general manager Ted Thompson and CEO and President Mark Murphy at nearly every full stopnothing like a Super Bowl victory to make management look good.

“It’s great to have labor peace,” said Murphy, adding that he was glad to get the deal signed before the shareholders’ meeting. “This might have had a little different flavor if it hadn’t been resolved.”

One shareholder, Daniel Loberger, 51, of Appleton, Wisconsin, was dressed as Elvis with black sideburns, sequined sun-glasses and a green-and-gold jumpsuit. “I was getting kind of nervous there,” he said of the prolonged lockout, fearing he would have to watch college football instead.

Allan Giese, 60, of Shawano, Wisconsin, agreed that it was nice to relax with a 10-year deal in place.

“I’m glad that now the politics are out of the way and the fans can go back to enjoying the game,” Giese said.—Reuters

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SPORTS

The human element in a champion team

By Ricardo Guerra

O

ne of the biggest challenges confronting head coaches in professional football today is managing different players’ personalities. In a society that worships individuals and deifies celebrities, there is perhaps no bigger task than convincing a superstar athlete with an oversized ego to favor the interests of the team above his own.

The most successful coaches are the ones who are able to get the best out of these complicated individuals or who are able to recognize when such “divas” are irretrievably toxic to the team and drop them.

They also choose players who believe that playing for your country is an honor, which is why, no matter how talented, a player whose first priority is his own celebrity should not be select-

ed for the national team. The most effective coaches also understand that qualities such as respect, empathy, pride, and selflessness must permeate the team and each of its players.

A player will only come into full maturity once those core elements are acquired. You cannot have the player without the human being.

What a shame, then, that some individual players on the international stage have recently shown themselves to be oblivious to this human element, displaying self-centered, diva-like behavior. It is not uncommon these days to see professional teams in many sports, not just football, with players in their midst whose primary concern is self-promotion at the expense of the group.

Such characters, in wanting to be the center of attention in a team sport, create havoc and, like cancerous cells,

eventually contaminate the whole organism. The culture of sport, in its fascination with celebrity, has lost its appreciation for the human element.

The Uruguayan team in this most recent Copa America stands in admirable contrast to such trends.

They were tactically disciplined, well organized, and lethal in the counterattack with the play of Forlan and Suarez up front. On the back they were led by the solid play of their captain, the caudillo and a veritable Wall of China, Lugano. How can a little country with fewer than 4 million people have so much glory, pride and honor in the way they play football? Players on the Uruguayan national team understand and honor the sacrifices of previous generations by sacrificing everything for the country, knowing their responsibility, and putting the interests of the team above their own at all times.

Their play is a display of guts, resilience, and the promise to each other in the field never to surrender.

They fight and fight until the very end.

They have a truly warrior-like, teamfirst mentality that is a pleasure to watch.

The head coach of the squad, “El Maestro”, ”scar Tab·rez, has always made mention of the need to form human beings and the man before the player. The camaraderie and cohesion of the Uruguayan team was clear in the way the players talked about each other in interviews, by the reactions of the substitute players on the bench when a goal was scored, and by the exhilarating way the players came together in the field.

They also paid tribute and graciously addressed every opponent following matches. Tab·rez made the reading of the biography of the iconic captain

of the 1950 World Cup team Obdulio Varela mandatory for all players. Varela was a fierce, relentless defender who had the respect of all his teammates, compatriots and opponents.

He epitomizes how a player should carry himself both on and off the field.

Following a historic win against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup final that traumatized the Brazilian nation, Varela declined to celebrate with Uruguayan officials, whom he did not hold in the highest regard.

After his victory, he chose instead to go out on the streets of Rio by himself to console the inconsolable-those who had just lost the Cup on their own soil. It is evident that Tab·rez was able to infuse the spirit of Varela, the spirit of both the human being and the player, into the heart of his team. Perhaps it is just that which leads to a remarkable championship team.

Shumenov stops Santiago LAS VEGAS: Kazakhstan’s Beibut Shumenov retained his WBA and IBA light heavyweight titles by stopping American Danny Santiago in the ninth round Friday.

Shumenov hurt Santiago with a quick combination that backed him into the ropes. Shumenov quickly took advantage landing a number of power shots that forced the referee to jump in and stop the fight 44 seconds into the round.

“This wasn’t like I expected, he specifically trained for my style.” Shumenov said. “Danny was very durable and he can take a punch. I knew he was tough, but not that tough.”

Shumenov dominated the entire bout, landing power shots to the head and body at will. Shumenov’s effective

jab and straight right lead were too much for the overmatched Santiago.

This was Shumenov’s third consecutive title defense since becoming the fastest boxer to win a major title (10 fights). He improved his record to 12-1 with eight knockouts.

Santiago fell to 31-5-1, including 0-3 in title fights. Former world champion Jean Pascal - who lost the WBC and IBO versions of the light heavyweight title to Bernard Hopkins in May - entered the ring after the bout to challenge Shumenov.

“I want to fight you in Canada,” Pascal said. “You fight in Canada, I am from Kazakhstan,” Shumenov said. “Let’s fight in Las Vegas where all the champions fight.”—AP BUDAPEST: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany drives his car during the qualifying session at the Hungaroring circuit.

—AP

Vettel takes pole for Hungarian GP PHILIPPINES: AJ Banal of the Philippines (right) connects against Tyson Cave of Canada during their WBO Asia-Pacific Bantamweight title bout at Hoops Dome Lapu-lapu city. Banal retained his title after the fight was stopped in the 8th round following an accidental head butt on him.—AP

Bolt blazes to victory in blustery Stockholm STOCKHOLM: Usain Bolt defied blustering winds on Friday to record his first victory in three attempts on Swedish soil with victory over the 200 metres in the Stockholm Diamond League meeting.

The Jamaican Olympic and world 100 and 200 champion cruised comfortably into the curve and powered home in 20.03 seconds.

“It’s awesome to get a first victory here,” Bolt told reporters, adding that he felt a little pain in one side of his back after the race. “Generally it was a good race despite the fact that I wanted a better time.” Despite the winds swirling around the 99-year-old stadium, there were some outstanding performances as the competitors fine-tuned their preparations before next month’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Kenya’s Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot ran the third-fastest women’s 5,000 ever, clocking 14:20.87. “If it wasn’t for the wind she could have taken the world record,” her manager Ricky Simms told Reuters. A week after 77 people were killed in a bombing and shooting massacre in Norway by anti-Islam attacker Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen was a popular winner in the men’s javelin, posting a win-

ning throw of 88.43 metres.

“It’s hard after last week, but on the runway you don’t think about what happened,” he said. Russia’s world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva returned from a hand injury to post a season’s best jump of 4.76 metres to win the women’s pole vault ahead of Germany’s Silke Spiegelburg.

Another athlete making a return, albeit for different reasons, was LaShawn Merritt. The American Olympic and world champion came second in the 400 metres in his first race after a 21-month ban for using a banned substance.

South African 800 metres world champion Caster Semenya had a disappointing evening, finishing eighth in a time of 2:01.28. “It’s a little bit worrying, these are times when I should be running at least below two minutes,” Semenya told Reuters, adding that she and her coach would have to do some “deep thinking”.

American sprinter Carmelita Jeter cruised to victory in the women’s 100 in a time of 11.15. The second-fastest woman ever told Reuters television that the strong headwind had affected her performance. “Today it was just a case of going out there and getting it done,” she said.—Reuters STOCKHOLM: Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the men’s 200 meters in a time of 20.03 seconds at the Samsung Diamond League in Stockholm.

—AP

BUDAPEST: Sebastian Vettel claimed his eighth pole position of the year yesterday when he topped the times for Red Bull during qualifying for today’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

On a warm, overcast day, the 24-year-old German clocked a best time of one minute 19.815 seconds, edging out Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by 0.1secs in the final seconds of the session. Jenson Button in the other McLaren was third quickest.

It is the German’s eighth pole position of the year and 23rd of his career. Vettel, who despite leading the title-race by 77 points, had looked off the pace during free practice on Friday, explained that his revived pace was down to his team breaking curfew and working through the night to improve his car.

“After yesterday, when these boys [Hamilton and Button] were a little bit quicker than us, it seems we have done the right thing and I am a lot more comfortable this morning,” he said.

“We changed a lot on the car overnight.

The boys were working pretty hard and the boys didn’t get much sleep but a result like this today is the best way to say thanks.

“I have the confidence back and I am feeling comfortable in the car. I am looking for-

ward to tomorrow.” Hamilton, champion in 2008, insisted he was happy with his performance despite losing out on pole.

“It’s a good achievement for us, We knew we had good pace,” he said. “Today they [Red Bull] seemed to pick up a little pace, but for me and Jenson to be in the first two rows is a good job and I think we can pick up some good points tomorrow.

Button, who has struggled during qualifying in recent races, said he was glad to be starting nearer the front. “I’m pretty happy with that,” he said, “It’s nice to be positioned well and hopefully we can challenge Red Bull tomorrow.”

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was fourth fastest, out-pacing his team-mate Fernando Alonso, fifth, for the first time this season.

“Usually our rivals find something extra for qualifying and we make a step forward in the race,” he said. “We will see tomorrow if this unwritten rule will also be confirmed at this track,” Massa said.

Australian Mark Webber wound up sixth in the second Red Bull and admitted he was nowhere near matching Vettel’s pace.

“Bizarre really,” he said. “There’s no way I could do that lap time.” Germans Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, Force India driver Adrian Sutil and Michael Schumacher in the

second Mercedes took positions 7 to 9 and Sauber driver Mexican Sergio Perez was tenth.

With temperatures reaching 23 degrees, the drivers were able to warm up their tyres more quickly than anticipated and were forced to post flying lap times with heavy fuel loads. After a tense opening mini-session in Q1, Hamilton topped the times but out went Swiss Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso in 18th along with the three newer teams.

However, Buemi will serve a five place grid penalty and start in 23rd position. That meant places 18 to 22 were filled by Lotus drivers Finn Heikki Kovalainen and Italian Jarno Trulli, Virgin driver German Timo Glock, Hispania drivers Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo.

Belgian Jerome D’Ambrosio of Virgin will start in 24th place. Alonso topped the times in Q2 which saw Force India driver Briton Paul Di Resta eliminated in 11th place ahead of Russian Vitaly Petrov of Renault.

Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber was 12th quickest followed by German Nick Heidfeld in the second Renault. Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello of Williams was 15th ahead of Spaniard Jaime Alguesuari in the other Toro Rosso and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in the second Williams. —AFP

Turkey set to be dropped from 2012 F1 calendar BUDAPEST: Turkey looks set to be dropped from next year’s Formula One calendar after teams said a sad farewell to the poorly-attended grand prix despite its fate not yet being officially sealed.

The Istanbul event was included on a record 21-race calendar for 2012 issued by the governing FIA in June but rumours in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock have been rife that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is planning big changes.

“I think it is always sad when you lose a grand prix from the calendar. We are sorry to see Turkey go,” McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale told reporters on Friday.

Empty stands have characterised the unloved race since it appeared in 2005 and next year will see the return of the United States Grand Prix at a new track in Austin, squeezing space on the calendar.

“The calendar already has 20 races, as a smaller team 21 is too many,” Virgin’s Graeme Lowdon added, seemingly confirming the news. Autosport has reported that next year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, cancelled this season because of political turmoil, could be moved to the end of 2012 from the start to give the country time to sort out its problems.—Reuters

BUDAPEST: The three fastest drivers, McLaren Mercedes’ Jenson Button of Britain (left), Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel of Germany (center) and McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton of Britain (right) react after the qualifying session. —AP

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On yer bike! London 2012 battles couch potatoes LONDON: Having sprinted, jumped and thrown, and then having collected their medals, the athletes who compete in the Olympic Stadium next summer would be wise to do a Forrest Gump and keep on running.

Because just a few hundred yards south of the arena, little more than a javelin throw away from the 80,000 spectators, is a historical and technological marvel of London that no Olympic visitor should miss: a merrily sludging river of raw sewage.

About 1 million tons per day of the stuff, from hundreds of thousands of toilets and storm drains across North London, flowing right there in huge tunnels under your feet. Sniff the air - aahhh! - and, with the right wind, the eggy odor will make your nose crinkle.

Granted, the Northern Outfall Sewer isn’t the most aesthetic of London’s sights. But it is among the most fascinating. It was hurriedly but thoughtfully built with 318 million bricks after the “Great Stink” of 1858, when the sewage-polluted River Thames grew so putrid in hot weather as to make London unbearable.

In Parliament, the curtains were soaked with chemicals to try to ward off the noxious stench and there was even talk of it decamping from the capital entirely. A measure of the severity of the stink was the rapidity with which lawmakers acted to solve it.

Engineer Joseph Bazalgette was quickly commissioned to build a sewage network that would help purify the Thames. He did such a good job that his

system still forms the basis for London’s sewers a century and a half later.

Thanks, in part, to the 2012 games, this stupendous feat of Victorian engineering and other landmarks that speak to London’s rich history but which are off the tourist trail are now easier to explore and to see - if, as Olympic organizers hope, you travel by bike or on foot.

Which you should. Having meat-packed myself into sweaty London Underground trains that risk being even more crowded next summer and, now, having lately explored some of the newly renovated sections of London’s ever-expanding network of cycle paths, I’d recommend two wheels everytime.

And not merely for that feeling of wind through your hair. A sorry truism of the Olympic Games and other sporting extravaganzas is that they are performances by extremely fit and healthy people for spectators who are often very unfit, unhealthy and overweight. Newham, home to the Olympic Park, and neighboring Barking have the lowest physical activity rates of any London boroughs, with only 1415 percent of adults doing sport or strenuous exercise three times a week for at least 30 minutes each time.

London is hoping its Olympics help to change some of this. Organizers are encouraging spectators to walk and cycle to events by making it easier for them to do so. The idea is that people get the walking-cycling bug and keep it long after the Olympics have moved on.

To be green, London wants all spectators to leave their cars at home. The vast majority will travel on London public transport, which carries 12 million travelers on a normal day but will be even busier at games-time. Olympic planners expect at least 4 percent will cycle and walk and are aiming for more, not least to ease strain on trains.

Walking and cycling paths leading to venues have been spruced up and connected up. There’s a lovely one, for example, that runs the length of the west side of the Olympic Park, beside a very pleasant canal with ducks and houseboats. The path has a fresh gravel top and, at one point, dips under four massive metal pipes that form part of Bazalgette’s sewer system. There’s a plaque there with his name and the construction date: 1862-63.

Olympic organizers say more than 25 million pounds (euro 28 million;$40 million) has been spent upgrading cycling and walking routes to all venues.

You see far more of a city by bike. London’s transport authority offers free cycle maps; I picked up a bunch at Euston station before I explored.

One canal path took me from the Olympic Park south to Limehouse Basin on the Thames in 30 minutes of easy riding. From there, it was another absorbing cycle along quaint and mostly empty backstreets to the Tower of London that was thick with tourists. The cycle maps show that, aside from occasional breaks here and there where cyclists would need to travel on roads, another path along Grand Union Canal, then Regent’s Canal and finally

Hertford Union Canal to the Olympic Park snakes right across North London. I rode the last few miles (kilometers) of this picturesque route, past brick houses with lush lawns abutting the canal.

The city’s cycle hire scheme is also being expanded from central London eastward closer to the Olympic Park. Anyone aged 14 and over and with the right brand of credit card (not all cards are accepted) can take one of the 6,000 bicycles from any of 400 hire points.

They could be a smart way to explore Hyde Park that will host triathlon and marathon swimming next summer. There also are hire points around Lord’s Cricket Ground that will host archery and Horse Guards Parade where there’ll be beach volleyball. The bikes could also suit Londoners or any visitor simply trying to move around the Olympic-congested city. “By 2012, we’ll be able to invite the entire world to join London’s cycling revolution,” Mayor Boris Johnson declared last November.

Organizers say cyclists won’t be allowed to take bikes into the Olympic Park but there will be free and secure parking at all venues. Lobbying groups welcome London’s cycling and walking improvements but would like even more and say the city still lags behind cycle -friendly Amsterdam or Copenhagen. But cyclists also say the city is much safer to ride around than it used to be and that the 2005 terror attacks on public transport and London’s tax on vehicles that drive in the city center have prompted more people to ride bikes. —AP

Phelps eases to victory as ‘Missile’ explodes in China

LONDON: England’s Stuart Broad (far left) celebrates taking the wicket of India’s Youvraj Singh (third left) caught by Matt Prior on the second day of their cricket Test match. — AP

Broad hat-trick stuns India in second Test NOTTINGHAM: England’s Stuart Broad became the first bowler to take a Test hattrick at Trent Bridge as India’s progress was checked spectacularly in the second Test yesterday.

Yet at the end of a dramatic second day, India were still 43 runs ahead as England closed on 24 for one in their second innings.

Fast medium-bowler Broad took five wickets for no runs in 16 balls on his way to Test-best figures of six for 46 in 24.1 overs.

His haul also saw him become the latest bowler to deprive Sachin Tendulkar of his 100th international hundred. India were indebted to Rahul Dravid’s elegantly constructed 117 — his 34th Test century, equalling the record of fellow India great Sunil Gavaskar and his second in as many matches after his 103 not out during England’s 196-run first Test win at Lord’s.

It looked as if India would build a commanding first innings lead until the advent of the new ball in the day’s final session with the tourists 258 for four off 80 overs.

Yuvraj Singh, playing his first Test in over a year, had played well for his 62, after being dropped by Kevin Pietersen on four, and helped Dravid add 128 for the fifth wicket.

But he fended at a good length delivery from Broad, backing up his 64 Friday with the ball, and was caught behind. Broad then transformed 267 for five into 273 for six to start his hat-trick when India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wafted outside off stump and was caught at second slip by James Anderson.

Next ball Harbhajan Singh was lbw, South African umpire Marais Erasmus raising his finger even though replays showed the batsman had got an inside-edge onto his pad.

But, because of Indian objections to ball-tracking technology, there are no lbw

reviews this series so Harbhajan had to go.

However, there was no doubt when Broad then clean bowled Praveen Kumar to become the first England bowler to take a Test hat-trick since Ryan Sidebottom achieved the feat against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2007/08.

It was also the first ever Test hat-trick against India. Broad ended the innings by having Ishant Sharma taken by Ian Bell at short leg as India were bowled out for 288 — a first innings lead of 67 runs. Broad’s fourth five wickets in a Test innings haul surpassed his previous best of six for 91 against Australia at Headingley two years ago.

Broad, the son of former Test opener Chris, was only the 12th England cricketer in 134 years of Test cricket to take a hattrick and the first bowler from any country to achieve the feat at Trent Bridge.

In the midst of this stunning collapse, Dravid, second only to Tendulkar in Test cricket’s list of all-time run scorers, was ninth man out when an uppercut off Tim Bresnan flew straight to Alastair Cook at third man.

Dravid, opening the innings after Gautam Gambhir was ruled out because of an elbow injury, batted for over six hours and faced 235 balls with 15 fours.

Previously, Tendulkar, who came in and walked out to a standing ovation, fell for 16 to his sixth ball after lunch when he edged a cut off Broad, to England captain Andrew Strauss at first slip.

The departure of Tendulkar, whose 51 Test hundreds and 48 in one-day internationals are both world records, left India 119 for three with Dravid then 44 not out.

There was still time before stumps for England to lose Cook before Strauss and Bell, batting at No 3 after Jonathan Trott suffered a shoulder injury, saw the hosts to the close. —AFP

SCOREBOARD NOTTINGHAM: Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second Test between England and India at Trent Bridge yesterday: England 1st Innings 221 (S Broad 64; P Kumar 3-45, I Sharma 3-66, S Sreesanth 3-77) India 1st Innings (overnight: 24-1) A. Mukund c Pietersen b Anderson R. Dravid c Cook b Bresnan V. Laxman c Prior b Bresnan S. Tendulkar c Strauss b Broad S. Raina c Morgan b Anderson Yuvraj Singh c Prior b Broad MS Dhoni c Anderson b Broad Harbhajan Singh lbw b Broad P. Kumar b Broad I. Sharma c Bell b Broad S. Sreesanth not out Extras (b4, lb3, w4, nb1) Total (all out, 91.1 overs, 384 mins)

0 117 54 16 12 62 5 0 0 3 7 12 288

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Mukund), 2-93 (Laxman), 3-119 ( Tendulkar), 4-139 (Raina), 5-267 (Yuvraj), 6-273 (Dhoni), 7273 (Harbhajan), 8-273 (Kumar), 9-273

(Dravid), 10-288 (Sharma) Bowling: Anderson 26-8-80-2 (1w); Broad 24.1-8-46-6 (1w); Bresnan 21-6-482 (1nb, 2w); Trott 4-1-18-0; Swann 12-076-0; Pietersen 4-0-13-0.

England 2nd Innings A. Strauss not out 6 A. Cook c Yuvraj b Sharma 5 I. Bell not out 9 Extras (b4) 4 Total (1 wkt, 11 overs, 48 mins) 24 To bat: J Trott, K Pietersen, E Morgan, M Prior, T Bresnan, S Broad, G Swann, J Anderson Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Cook) Bowling: Kumar 4-1-9-0; Sharma 5-3-9-1; Sreesanth 2-0-2-0 Match position: England are 43 runs behind with nine second innings wickets standing.

SHANGHAI: Michael Phelps eased his world championships heartache with a 100m butterfly win yesterday as 16-year-old Missy “Missile” Franklin exploded onto the scene with another two gold medals in Shanghai.

Drug-row Brazilian Cesar Cielo earned his second sprint title and Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington broke Britain’s gold medal duck in the women’s 800m, as Franklin helped the United States win their first 4x100m medley in more than a decade.

Phelps, the world and Olympic champion and world record-holder, was third halfway through the 100m butterfly but he swept through the field to win in 50.71sec, ahead of Poland’s Konrad Czerniak and America’s Tyler McGill.

With nemesis Ryan Lochte watching from the stands, Phelps extended his record number of world titles to 25, including three in Shanghai, alongside two silver medals and one bronze. “I’m not in the right shape physically. I want to be faster. It’s a tough race,” Phelps said.

“Sometimes I need to judge what I can do better. I need definitely to push in the first 50 metres. I’ll work on my next game. I’ll watch some races and think about how I can be faster.”

Phelps returned to China looking for a possible seven golds, to follow his eight from the 2008 Olympics, but he was beaten by Lochte in the 200m freestyle and again in the 200m individual medley, where his team-mate set a world record. Phelps now faces the challenge of returning to peak condition for his swansong at next year’s London Olympics, after acknowledging he has neglected training and spent too much time playing golf following the Beijing Games.

The United States also enjoyed yet more success through teenager Franklin, who claimed her second individual title and then anchored the medley victory to make it five medals overall.

Franklin, one of the leading stars of Shanghai, was never behind in the 200m backstroke and she won it convincingly in 2min 5.10sec ahead of Australia’s Belinda Hocking and Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands.

And the teenager was reliable again in the medley, as the United States held off hosts China and Australia to claim their first world title since 1998. “It’s been such an incredible meet,” said Franklin. “Everything was run perfectly-the pool was incredible. the crowd were so energetic and honestly, I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m so thrilled right now.” In other races, Dutch swimmer Inge Dekker upset a field including the world record-holder and defending champion to win the women’s 50m butterfly and claim her first individual world title. And in the women’s 800m, Britain’s Adlington timed her final burst to perfection as she overtook front-runner Lotte

SHANGHAI: Italy’s Pietro (blue 4) throws the ball past Serbia’s Andrija Prlainovic during the final of the men’s water polo match at the FINA Swimming World Championships. —AP Friis in the closing stages to win it in 8min 17.51sec, with America’s Kate Ziegler third.

Earlier, the controversial Cielo successfully defended his 50m freestyle world title as the sport’s chiefs criticised doping rules after a case involving the Brazilian.

The Olympic champion and world recordholder’s victory never looked in doubt as he surged down the Sea Crown stadium pool to touch in 21.52sec ahead of Italy’s Luca Dotto and French swimmer Alain Bernard.

“It’s been a crazy week, and crazy situation,” admitted Cielo, who welled up in tears on the victory podium. “For next year’s Olympics, I must be a little bit faster. There is a little room to improve. Today I just focused on the race, thought about the race. I am very, very happy.”

Cielo has been a contentious figure in Shanghai after escaping suspension on the eve of the championships despite testing positive for a banned diuretic earlier this year.

In an interview with AFP, FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu criticised World AntiDoping Authority (WADA) rules and said athletes’ anger over the case was understandable.

Some swimmers have expressed unhappiness at the ruling and Kenya’s Jason Dunford gave the “thumbs-down” gesture after Cielo’s earlier victory in the 50m butterfly.

The swimming body has now approved a pilot project to create “biological passports” by storing the results of blood tests to detect suspicious variations over time. — AFP

Medals Table SHANGHAI: Medals table for swimming events at the world championships after the seventh night of pool action yesterday: Gold Silver Bronze Total United States 12 4 7 23 China 4 2 7 13 Brazil 3 0 0 3 Australia 2 7 2 11 Italy 2 3 0 5 France 2 2 5 9 Denmark 2 1 0 3 Netherlands 2 0 2 4 Britain 1 2 0 3 Russia 1 2 0 3 Hungary 1 0 2 3 Belarus 1 0 0 1 Norway 1 0 0 1 South Korea 1 0 0 1 Japan 0 4 1 5 Canada 0 2 1 3 Poland 0 1 0 1 Sweden 0 1 0 1 Germany 0 0 4 4 South Africa 0 0 2 2 + France awarded two gold medals for dead heat in men’s 100m backstroke + Two golds (Denmark, Belarus) and no silver after dead heat in women’s 100m freestyle

Martino quits as Paraguay coach ASUNCION: Gerardo Martino, who steered Paraguay to the last eight at the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 Copa America final, resigned on Friday and will be replaced by former Paraguay defender Francisco Arce.

“I am no longer the coach of the Paraguayan national team as of today,” Argentine Martino, who took Paraguay further than they had ever reached at the World Cup finals in South Africa, told a news conference. Arce, who won more than 60 caps between 1995 and 2004, said he would attempt to improve Paraguay with a more attacking game which Martino had found hard to implement. “First (we must) improve our ball possession, look for more alternatives from the middle forward,” Arce, a man of slight build nicknamed “Chiqui”, told reporters.

“We have that profile and we won’t do anything different from what is known of our work at local level,” said Arce, who has had remarkable success with modest first division side Rubio Nu since 2007 in his only coaching job.

“I don’t know if it will work as quickly as it did at Rubio Nu but when you can choose among the best, among top players, that job will be more consistent.” Arce, 40, has less than three months to prepare for Paraguay’s opening of South America’s 2014 World Cup qualifiers in October. Martino had been in the Paraguay job for four years after winning league titles with top local clubs Libertad and Cerro Porteno.

“I consider I can no longer contribute to everything we imagined when we took the reins of the national team,” the 48-year-old former Newell’s Old Boys and Argentina midfielder said.

“After the World Cup we imagined a scenario

of more growth (but) I believe we have hit a plateau where results are in one place and the team’s performances have been in another place,” he added after his team were criticised for their poor play during the Copa America in Argentina.

Paraguay did not win a match in the Copa America, reaching the final with five draws including two penalty shootout victories before losing to Uruguay 3-0 in Sunday’s decider.

Martino said after the final that the shooting of Paraguay’s top player Salvador Cabanas in the

head a Mexico City bar in January of last year, six months before the World cup finals, had been a major blow to the team’s progress. Cabanas recovered but is unlikely to play professionally again. Although Paraguay had their best qualifying campaign for the 2010 finals, their 11 competitive matches since have yielded only one victory, over Slovakia in South Africa. They beat Japan on penalties in the round of 16 and lost to eventual champions Spain 1-0 in their quarterfinal. — Reuters

FINLAND: French Citroen pilot Sebastien Loeb speeds during the final day of the FIA World Rally Championship WRC Neste Oil Rally. — AP

Vettel takes pole for Hungarian GP

Serena sends Sharapova packing

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

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Broad hat-trick stuns India in second Test

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RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s soccer player Lucas of Brazil reaches for a ticket as FIFA general secretary and master of ceremonies Jerome Valcke looks on during the Preliminary Draw for the Asian zone for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. —AP

Path to World Cup takes shape Kuwait drawn in Group B alongside South Korea, UAE and Lebanon RIO DE JANEIRO: England were handed a straightforward-looking qualifying draw for the 2014 World Cup in Rio yesterday, with Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino their Group H opponents.

The group saw Ukraine drawn to face Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland in a group which England ought on paper at least to win to guarantee their passage.

If they slip up then the Three Lions will have to go through the playoffs for one of four remaining berths, assuming they at least finish as one of the best eight runners-up in the nine groups across the Old Continent.

But while the 1966 champions, who will have a new coach in charge after Fabio Capello steps down next year, had little cause to feel hard done by it was a different story for 1998 champions France, drawn in the same group as champions Spain.

Belarus, Georgia and Finland make up Group I. “It’s an extremely difficult group,” said Noel Le Graet, the head of the French Football Federation.

“We have time to progress but it’s absolutely essential to finish first. We will face Spain and be very competitive. We still have a year and a half to get ready.”

Brazil are pre-qualified as hosts, but for hundreds of millions

of fans from around the world watching the draw unfold there was tension as they waited on their teams’ fate.

Scotland were drawn with a Wales side whose recent slide down the rankings now has them lower in the standings than the Faroe Islands. The pair will face off with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium and Macedonia in Group A. Scotland and Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam wrote on Twitter: “Tough draw but have a good chance nothing is impossible.” Also in the European zone, 2010 finalists Holland will face Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia and Andorra in Group D. Four-time champions Italy are in Group B with difficult matches against Denmark and the Czech Republic standing in their way with Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta also in the section.

Three-time winners Germany lead Group C with tricky ties with Sweden and Ireland in prospect while Austria, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan are also in the pool.

Group E features Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus and Iceland while Group F sees Portugal, 2018 hosts Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.

Former European champions Greece are in Group G with Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia and Leichtenstein.

European Zone draw Group A Croatia Serbia Belgium Scotland Macedonia Wales Group B Italy Denmark Czech Republic Bulgaria Armenia Malta Group C Germany Sweden Ireland Austria Faroe Islands Kazakhstan Group D Netherlands Turkey

Hungary Romania Estonia Andorra Group E Norway Slovenia Switzerland Albania Cyprus Iceland Group F Portugal Russia Israel Northern Ireland Azerbaijan Luxembourg Group G Greece Slovakia Bosnia-Herzegovina Lithuania Latvia

Concacaf Zone draw Liechtenstein Group H England Montenegro Ukraine Poland Moldova San Marino Group I Spain France Belarus Georgia Finland Matches to be played between Sept. 7, 2012 and Oct. 15, 2013. Group winners qualify directly; eight best group runners-up take part in four two-leg playoffs with the winners advancing to World Cup finals.

Asian Zone draw Group A China Jordan Iraq Singapore Group B South Korea Kuwait United Arab Emirates Lebanon Group C Japan Uzbekistan Syria

North Korea Group D Australia Saudi Arabia Oman Thailand Group E Iran Qatar Bahrain Indonesia Matches to be played between Sept. 2, 2011-

Yesterday’s preliminary draw for the 20th World Cup was made 91 years to the day since the first final saw Uruguay emerge as champions.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter opened the occasion at Rio’s Marina, a stone’s throw from the Copacabana beach, by noting that “Brazil holds a special place in the world of football”.

“We are happy to be back in Brazil because it is now 61 years since the last World Cup was organised in Brazil. We look forward to an exciting World Cup.” Before the main draw, the fifth-placed team in South American qualifying was drawn to play the fifth-placed team in Asian qualifying for a finals place while the leading nation from Oceania was selected to meet the fourth-ranked country from the North, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) zone.

CONCACAF gets three guaranteed places plus one play-off berth, while Oceania’s 11 countries are fighting for just a single place via that same play-off. Africa will have five qualifiers and in the draw West African giants Ghana and Ivory Coast were handed tough tasks.

Ghana, quarter-final losers on penalties to Uruguay in 2010, will face formidable Zambia and Sudan plus minnows Lesotho or Burundi in one of 10 second-round groups.

Feb. 29, 2012.

Group winners and runners-up proceed to next stage. Those 10 teams will be drawn into two groups of five teams. Matches to be played from June 3, 2012 to June 8, 2013. The two group winners and two runners up qualify for the finals. The two thirdplaced teams play off against each other and the winner advances to the intercontinental playoff.

Round 2 Group A El Salvador Suriname Cayman Islands Dominican Republic

Top four teams progress to the third round to be held between. Sept 7, 2012 and March 26, 2013 on a round-robin Group F Haiti Antigua Curacao U.S. Virgin Islands Matches to be played between Sept 2 and Nov 15, 2011. Group winners proceed to third round.

Round 3 Group A United States Jamaica Winner second round Group E Winner second round Group F

Group B Trinidad & Tobago Guyana Barbados Bermuda Group C Panama Dominica Nicaragua Bahamas

Group B Mexico Costa Rica Winner second round Group A Winner second round Group B

Group D Canada St Kitts & Nevis Puerto Rico St Lucia

Group C Honduras Cuba Winner second round Group D Winner second round Group C Matches to be played between June 8Oct. 16, 2012. Top two into each group qualify for the fourth round where the six teams play in one group. The top three teams qualify for the finals and the fourth placed team advances to the Intercontinental playoff.

Group E Grenada Guatemala St Vincent & Grenadines Belize

Oceanian Zone draw Round 1. American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga to play in a single group at a tournament in Samoa from Nov. 21-26.

Winner advances to the second round Round 2 Group A Vanuatu First round winners New Caledonia Tahiti

Ivory Coast, seeking a third consecutive finals appearance, drew the second seed no one wanted-Morocco-in a mini-league completed by Gambia and Chad or Tanzania.

In Asia, reigning Asian champions Japan and North Korea came out together. Australia’s bid to qualify for a third successive finals begins in Group D, where they will take on Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand.

South Korea, who were semi-finalists on home soil in 2002, are in Group B alongside the Middle Eastern trio of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon. China are in Group A with Jordan, Iraq and Singapore.

In Group E, Iran, bidding to qualify for a fourth finals, may be favourites, but Bahrain, who lost out to New Zealand in a playoff for the 2010 competition, and 2022 hosts Qatar will be keen to make an impression.

The top two nations from each of the five groups go through before the 10 surviving teams of that stage split into two groups, with the leading two nations in each progressing to the finals. In all, some 200 countries will have ploughed through 824 qualifiers for the right to claim one of 32 berths - 31 plus the pre-qualified hosts. South America last hosted the World Cup at Argentina 1978. — AFP

Group B Fiji New Zealand Solomon Islands Papua New Guinea Second round matches to be played at a tournament which will double as the Oceania Football Confederation Cup between June1-12, 2012 with Fiji the proposed venue.

basis.

Winners advance to intercontinental playoff against the fifth-placed team

African Zone draw Round 1 (12 matches, home and away between Nov. 11-15; 12 winners proceed to Round 2)

Gabon Niger Sao Tome and Principe/Congo

Seychelles v Kenya Guinea Bissau v Togo Djibouti v Namibia Mauritius v Liberia Comoros Islands v Mozambique Equatorial Guinea v Madagascar Somalia v Ethiopia Lesotho v Burundi Eritrea v Rwanda Swaziland v Democratic Republic of Congo Sao Tome and Principe v Congo Chad v Tanzania

Group F Nigeria Malawi Seychelles/ Kenya Djibouti/Namibia

Round 2 Group A South Africa Botswana Central African Republic Somalia/Ethiopia Group B Tunisia Cape Verde Sierra Leone Equatorial Guinea/Madagascar Group C Ivory Coast Morocco Gambia Chad/Tanzania Group D Ghana Zambia Sudan Lesotho/Burundi Group E Burkina Faso

Group G Egypt Guinea Zimbabwe Comoros Islands/Mozambique Group H Algeria Mali Benin Eritrea/ Rwanda Group I Cameroon Libya Guinea Bissau/Togo Swaziland/Democratic Republic of Congo Group J Senegal Uganda Angola Mauritius/Liberia Matches to be played between June 1, 2012 and Sept. 10, 2013.

Group winners advance to third round, paired into five home and away series between Oct. 11-15 and Nov. 15-19, 2013.

Winners qualify for World Cup finals.

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Good sales performance in Kuwait real estate sector Page 25 SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

KSE lackluster amid investor caution

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New health insurance scheme for Kuwait NRIs Page 23

US lawmakers race against clock Obama urges parties to reach deal to avert default WASHINGTON: Tourists view the US Capitol Rotunda yesterday in Washington, DC. With time running out before the August 2 deadline to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling, Congress will not convene until 12:00PM EST (1600GMT) to seek a deal that would avoid a potential federal default next week.—AFP

WASHINGTON: Facing a deadline to avoid a ruinous US default, congressional leaders yesterday braced for a tense weekend of negotiations to try to reach a compromise on a measure to increase in the country’s $14.3 trillion debt limit.

Senate Democrats aimed to seize the initiative by pushing their deficitcutting plan, but entrenched differences remained less than 100 hours before the government says it will no longer be able to borrow to pay its bills. A sour mood prevailed on Capitol Hill as Senate Democratic leaders accused their Republican counterparts of refusing to talk to them after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he wanted to negotiate directly with the White House. Back-channel talks held out the best hope for a compromise.

President Barack Obama urged

lawmakers to strike a deal and avert what he has said would be an “inexcusable” default. “There are multiple ways to resolve this problem,” Obama, a Democrat, said in his weekly address. “Congress must find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House. And it’s got to be a plan that I can sign by Tuesday.” The debt saga shifted to the Senate late on Friday after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a deficit-cutting bill, breaking weeks of political inertia. The Democratic-controlled Senate quickly killed that bill, as expected, but its earlier approval by the House lifted hopes that it could form part of a final compromise.

With the hope of picking up Republican votes, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid modified his plan, taking elements of an earlier proposal

put forth by McConnell.

But he declined McConnell’s offer to vote on it immediately a sign that Reid does not yet have enough support. The Senate now is expected to hold that vote early today morning, setting up final passage tomorrow morning, shortly before US financial markets open.

Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the government would be barred from further borrowing after Tuesday, according to the US Treasury, and could quickly run out of money to pay all its bills. “The country’s in crisis.

This is not a time for politics as usual,” Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, told a news conference.

McConnell wants to make sure the White House is involved to assure that any final package will make it past Obama’s desk, Republican aides said.

Vice President Joe Biden, who has a

rapport with McConnell from his years in the Senate, could emerge as a key player in the weekend talks.

“We are headed for a debt ceiling extension,” said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors in Sarasota, Florida. “The risk is that some accident causes actual default. It’s not likely but possible.” Investors and foreign governments are likely to remain on edge, though, as procedural hurdles will make it hard for Congress to send a deal to Obama until tomorrow night.

Reid’s revised proposal, which would cut $2.2 trillion over 10 years, incorporates parts of a “backup plan” first proposed by McConnell. The new version would essentially give Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling in three stages to cover US borrowing needs through the 2012 elections when he is running for a second term.

Obama has rejected suggestions that he could invoke emergency measures to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling in the event the parties fail to bridge their sharp ideological differences over taxes and spending.

With a final deal still in doubt, the government has begun to prepare Wall Street banks for the possible consequences of a default. One of the first casualties could be a planned quarterly sale of $42 billion in new Treasury bonds that might have to be delayed or canceled.

Some US companies and private equity firms are also hitting the pause button on deals, fearing that a failure to reach a deal could raise financing costs. “It’s definitely having a chilling impact on people’s ability to get deals done right now,” said one top investment banker who declined to be identified.—Reuters

US credit union readies for possible budget crisis

Nervous investors pulling out money CHICAGO: Growing nervous as a possible US government default draws ever closer, more and more ordinary investors are calling their brokers and moving their money out of stocks and mutual funds for fear of a plunge in the market next week.

The stock market declined for a sixth straight day Friday as financial advisers fielded a new round of calls and emails from clients wondering whether to get out or sit tight. Investors pulled about $32 billion out of money-market mutual funds for the week that ended Wednesday, according to fund tracker Lipper Inc. That is just a tiny fraction of the $2.6 trillion invested in such funds. But the exodus appeared to be accelerating at week’s end as Tuesday’s deadline for reaching an agreement on Capitol Hill drew near. “I’m having to talk a lot of people off the rooftops,” said Austin Frye, a financial planner in Aventura, Florida. Until the last few days, he said, clients were “reacting very well” and not asking to take their money out of stocks. Now they are showing more concern by the day.

Sean Sproul, a utility analyst in Columbus, Ohio, shifted all of the money he had in stock mutual funds into the most conservative bond fund his company-sponsored retirement plan offers. Sproul said he feared that if he waited until Monday, it would be too late. “My fear is that the stock market is going to crash dramatically,” he said. “I want to be wrong, but I’d rather be safe and do something conservative. I can always move back to those other funds once I have confidence.”

That sentiment was shared by Paula Schmidt, an IT consultant in San Jose, California. She sold all her bonds this week and is holding the money in cash until the standoff in Washington is resolved.

“The only safe thing to do is park my money and wait and see,” Schmidt said. “It’s a free-for all right now in Congress, and the US and global markets will react negatively.”

Seeing one of her investments lose $30,000 in a single week during the market meltdown in 2008 still stings. Her retirement savings did not recover until the end of last year.

Officials in Washington, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have warned that a default could have catastrophic economic consequences. If a deal isn’t reached by Tuesday to raise the debt ceiling and propose measures to reduce the deficit, the uncertainty could trigger steep declines for stocks and bonds, even a return to recession. At a minimum, interest rates would almost certainly rise, raising the cost of mortgages, credit card accounts and other consumer loans. — AP

Obama and his Democrats had hoped to avoid multiple votes before the election. The world has watched in growing alarm as political gridlock in Washington has brought the world’s largest economy close to an unprecedented national default, threatening to plunge world markets and economies into turmoil. US stocks endured their worst week in a year as the uncertainty made investors shy away from riskier assets and the dollar slumped to a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc. Much worse could be in store if a US debt deal doesn’t appear to be on track by the time markets open tomorrow.

A late deal also raises the prospect of the United States losing its topnotch AAA credit rating, which could rattle markets and raise borrowing costs for Americans struggling with unemployment above 9 percent.

NEW YORK: The largest US credit union, which serves the military, is preparing for a possible US government budget crisis by offering to advance pay for members with direct deposit accounts, in the event that federal funds are cut off.

The move comes as US lawmakers yesterday engaged in a frantic effort to raise the US government debt ceiling and avert a debt default that could plunge the world economy back into recession before an August 2 deadline. The Navy Federal Credit Union, which serves the US armed forces and also civilians linked to the military, has some $44 billion in assets and 3.7 million members.

“As a part of our debt ceiling contingency plan, we will advance pay to cover DoD [Department of Defense] civilian direct deposits scheduled for 5 August and active duty direct deposits (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) scheduled for 12 August,” Navy Federal said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“As a credit union serving all branches of the military, we want to do our part in easing some of the uncertainty for our military families during this potentially challenging time,” Navy Federal President and CEO Cutler Dawson in a separate statement.

“Navy Federal’s strong financial position allows us to ensure, to the extent possible, that our military families do not suffer financially in the wake of a political impasse,” Dawson said.

The US economy hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16 and has used spending and accounting adjustments, as well as higherthan-expected tax receipts, to continue operating normally-but can only do so through Tuesday. If the debt ceiling is not raised the US government will have to cut its budget somewhere-stop paying the military, retirement health benefits, social security, and/or its debts. Some estimates say it will have to cut spending by up to 40 percent over the first few months. —AFP

Qatar invites firms to build Doha Metro

WASHINGTON: The Ohio Clock is seen yesterday inside the US Capitol in Washington, DC. House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and slash government spending narrowly passed his chamber on Friday and then was blocked

by Senate Democrats. — AFP

DOHA: Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, invited local and international companies yestrday to signal their interest in building the Doha Metro, to include 22 km (13.8 miles) of tunnels and 15 stations in its first phase.

A statement from Qatar Railways Company (QRail) gave no value for the project, but a company official said in June the total cost of the railway project, with 100 stations, would reach 130 billion Qatari riyals ($35.7 billion). “This invitation is a major opportunity for local contracting companies to join in consortia with large international contractors to design and build six urgent construction packages that include 22 km of

underground tunnels (and) 15 underground stations in the first stage,” QRail CEO Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi said in a statement.

The world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter, which has not seen popular unrest like that elsewhere in the Arab world this year, plans to spend over $125 billion in the next five years on construction and energy projects.

The OPEC member’s economy is forecast to grow strongly. “QRail is extending this invitation to all contractors with experience in the design and construction of railways, including both major underground and elevated civil works, to help build Qatar’s planned railways and create a metro system for Doha,” the statement said. —.Reuters

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BUSINESS

Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem

Burgan Bank in tie-up with Fayasel

BMW Group sales rise 13% in Kuwait during H1 2011

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday an exclusive tie-up for its debit and credit cardholders which offers a wide range of discounts on cosmetic, fragrances, k itchen and household wares from Fayasel. This new partnership is valid until the 6th September 2011.

Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem, Burgan Bank’s Chief Retail Banking Officer- General Manager, said: “At Burgan Bank we constantly offer wide range of discounts and exclusive promotions from leading retailers in the country. Our tie up with Fayasel comes in tandem with this belief of offering our customers the best in value for money deals. We are optimistic that our customers will avail benefit from this ongoing promotion.”

Burgan Bank’s debit and credit cardholders are entitled to a 15% discount on cosmetics and fragrances as well as a 20% discount when purchasing kitchen and household wares. Fayasel is Kuwait’s leading retailer that has on sale top cosmetic and perfume brands. Also available at the store are world famous Italian bedspreads, towels and much more.

The Fayasel stores are located in Jabriya behind Hadi Hospital Block 8 street 16 and in Qurtuba in Qurtuba Co-op Mezzanine Floor.

Burgan Bank is committed to providing more convenience to its customers by ensuring the continuous use of their cards, as well as taking advantage of great discounts and offers from various outlets.

To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest promotions, customers can visit w w w.burgan.com and/or call 1804080 for assistance and guidance regarding the bank’s latest offers.

5 Series and X1 best selling models l MINI sales achieve 74% growth KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive BMW Group importer in Kuwait, has reported a 13% growth for BMW and MINI sales for the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year, signalling the strength of the BMW Group brands in the Kuwaiti market.

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive demonstrated its intention of completing yet another successful year for BMW Group sales in Kuwait, as it announced that it is also among the top markets for sales of MINI vehicles, achieving 74% sales growth over 2010.

Not only was the BMW 5 Series the biggest selling model across the Middle East, but it also achieved the highest

sales growth in Kuwait with a 269% growth over the same period last year.

The BMW 5 Series is a core product for BMW and combines sporting and elegant design, excellent comfort, the highest standard in efficiency in its class and sets the benchmark in driving dynamics and safety having achieved 5 stars in both the Euro NCAP and US NCAP vehicle safety assessment programs.

Contributing to Ali Alghanim & Sons’ solid performance in 2011 was the BMW X1 that offers the perfect combination of supreme agility and versatile sportiness with the appearance of a Sports Activity Vehicle and the agility of a BMW 1 Series. The model witnessed a 220%

General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive.

Overall, BMW Group Middle East has reported a 13% growth in sales for the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year, the world’s most successful premium automotive manufacturer delivered a total of 9,134 BMW and MINI vehicles to customers across 14 Middle East markets.

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive is the exclusive importer for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce automobiles in Kuwait.

One of the oldest premium cars importers in the region, AA&SA began its relationship with the BMW Group in 1986 when it became their exclusive importer in Kuwait.

increase in sales, while the newlylaunched BMW 6 Series Convertible doubled its sales with a 100% increase over the same period last year.

“We have had a busy first half year that included the launch of three new models including the new BMW 6 Series Conver tible, BMW X3 and the MINI Countryman. Furthermore, the continuous demand for vehicles from our existing line-up including the flagship BMW 7 Series, BMW 5 Series and X model vehicles have all contributed to this positive sales growth. However, we will not allow success to make us complacent and will do our utmost to ensure we can build upon this success for the remainder of the year,” said Yousef Al-Qatami,

EXPIT is 2011 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year for Kuwait KUWAIT: Yesterday, EXPIT, a leading technology services company, proudly announced it has won the 2011 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for Kuwait. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

“We’re extremely proud to be Microsoft’s Partner of the Year for

Kuwait,” said K haled Bastak i, Director, EXPIT. “It’s a tremendous honor and is a tribute to our commitment to delivering world class technology solutions for our customers through the dedicated efforts of our entire team. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our staff for their contribution in getting this award.

We look forward to another year of continued growth in cooperation with Microsoft.”

“We are pleased to recognize EXPIT as M icrosof t ’s Countr y Par tner of the Year,” said Ehab M ostafa, Countr y M anager, Microsoft Kuwait. “EXPIT demonstrates a strong commitment to serving its customers and has set the benchmark for partner excellence and innovation in Kuwait, by combining local market expertise with superior solutions and services to fulfill our customers’ needs.”

Awards were presented in mul-

tiple categories, with winners chosen from a set of more than 3,000 entrants worldwide. EXPIT was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services, as well as demonstrating excellent subsidiary engagement in Kuwait.

The Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award honors partners at the countr y level who have demonstrated business excellence in delivering Microsoft solutions to mutual customers over the past

year. This award recognizes EXPIT as succeeding in effective engagement with their local Microsoft office while showcasing innovation, business impact, driving customer satisfaction, and winning new customers.

As the first Microsoft certified Gold Systems management partner in Kuwait, EXPIT has built a close relationship with Microsoft serving more than 20 customers across different verticals ranging

Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

0.033

from Banking, Financial Services, Logistics, Telecom, Government, and the Education sector. EXPIT is also the first Microsoft System Center alliance member in the M iddle East and Nor th Africa.

EXPIT is also part of the Bizpark program in Kuwait where they are utilizing this program through consultations with Microsoft to develop their technical infrastructure and enhance business growth.

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 .3920000 .3360000 .2860000 .2980000 .0040000 .0020000 .0737920 .7189340 .3810000 .0700000 .7047820 .0040000 .0430000

.2765000 .4570000 .4030000 .3460000 .2950000 .3050000 .0072500 .0035000 .0745340 .7261590 .4010000 .0770000 .7118650 .0072000 .0530000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2718000 .2739000 .4465950 .4500450 .3946540 .3977030 .3389240 .3415420 .2882600 .2904870 .0529460 .0533550 .0435520 .0438890 .3005160 .3028380 .0348940 .0351630 .2265190 .2282690 .0034920 .0035190 .0000000 .0062680 .0000000 .0025110 .0000000 .0031810 .0000000 .0036860 .0740300 .0746020 .7212420 .7268140 .0000000 .3874120 .0724990 .0730590 .7062490 .7117060 .0000000 .0065530

US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar

ASIAN COUNTRIES ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.538 6.198 3.162 2.495 3.906 227.890 35.133

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.655 6.473 9.209 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.016 75.234 711.190 727.250 74.557

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.300 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.914 Yemen Riyal 1.253 Tunisian Dinar 200.950 Jordanian Dinar 386.660 Lebanese Lira 182.500 Syrian Lier 5.911 Morocco Dirham 35.316 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 273.700 Euro 394.400 Sterling Pound 448.320 Canadian dollar 289.940 Turkish lire 162.140 Swiss Franc 343.840 Australian dollar 302.080 US Dollar Buying 272.500 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

SELL CASH 305.500 727.540 3.900 292.100 537.400 36.400 53.800 167.800 47.980 397.000 35.790 6.530

SELL DRAFT 304.000 727.540 3.659 290.600

229.400 45.941 395.500 35.640 6.205

386.640 0.184 93.920 3.890 241.000

343.300 5.600 9.390 74.490 273.500

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 449.500 273.500

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

Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 273.500 3.175 6.215 2.515 3.670 6.515 74.565 73.135 727.100 45.910 452.900 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 388.600 5.750 398.200 295.100

Al Mulla Exchange

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 710.370 3.175 6.480 75.250 73.040 229.380 43.370 2.494 449.500

GOLD 1,656.190

10 Tola

GOLD 296.000 149.000 77.000

0.033 0.241 0.238 3.610 388.660 0.185 93.920 47.200 4.290 242.500 1.855 51.900 710.550 3.290 6.650 75.680 73.040 229.380 43.370 2.631 451.500 44.500 344.800 5.600 9.530 198.263 74.590 273.900 1.200

Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 273.150 392.400 447.500 289.300 3.535 6.200 45.910 2.494 3.656 6.485 3.170 727.450 74.400 73.000

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New health insurance scheme for Kuwait NRIs Oriental Insurance, Al Mulla Group join hands

By Nawara Fattahova

IKEA Kuwait new timings during holy Ramadan KUWAIT: IKEA Kuwait announced yesterday its new timings during the holy month of Ramadan. IKEA Kuwait’s store, located in the Avenues mall, will commence work from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The store will resume work from 7:30 pm to 12:30 am. On this occasion, IKEA Kuwait extends its best wishes to everyone during the holy month of Ramadan.

KUWAIT: Having health insurance can be important in offering people extra security in health emergencies. Indian nationals living in Kuwait can now benefit from a newly launched healthcare insurance program.

As part of the celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of their successful partnership, OICL and the Al Mulla Group have launched the OIC Medical Insurance Policy for individuals and families under the slogan ‘Insuring a Better future.’

The Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL), one of the largest general insurance companies in India, and Al Mulla Group, one of the leading business conglomerates in Kuwait, have enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship since 1985.

Today, OICL, an Indian government initiative with an annual premium income exceeding KD 2 billion, offers an extensive range of insurance policies, covering a variety of areas, including health, marine, fire, engineering and miscellaneous others, as well as offering vehicle insurance in Kuwait.

At the launch of the new insurance initiative, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday, experts explained that eligibility for the insurance program is open to all legal residents in Kuwait and their dependants.

Parents are also covered, provided they are permanent residents in Kuwait. For adults the maximum age limit is 65 years, while for children, the age range goes from 14

KUWAIT: (From left) Amjad Rasam, Anil Parasher and Ankur Upadhyaya during the press conference. — Photo by Joseph Shagra days to 21 years old. “ The insurance program also offers transferability, which allows continued insurance cover on returning to India,” explained Anil Parasher, OICL’s Resident Manager in Kuwait. “ The policy is not renewed automatically; after one year the customer has to renew it. He is also able to change his premium on renewal. A medical checkup is compulsory if the person is

aged above 50 years, or if they have any adverse medical history.”

The new program offers three different healthcare coverage plans, Parasher revealed: “The sum insured depends on the scheme chosen by the customer, and ranges from KD 3,500 for the Silver, KD 5,000 for the Gold and KD 10,000 for the Platinum scheme. Furthermore, he added, the program offers cashless treatment, and

24/7 customer service.

The many medical benefits available under this program are categorized according to whether the medical treatment is given to those undergoing treatment as inpatients or outpatients. “Both, outpatient and inpatient treatments are offered as part of the program in Kuwait, while in India this service is limited to only inpatients,” Parasher explained. “It is noteworthy that there are over 4,000 healthcare providers selected to provide service under this program in India, and 40 more in Kuwait.”

While many medical insurance products are available on the Kuwait market, the benefits and value-added services provided by OIC Medical Insurance are specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Indian community in Kuwait, Parasher emphasized. Discounts on the premium are available for Family Packages to the tune of 50 percent for wife and 25 percent for each child, up to a maximum of two children, for a floating sum.

As well as offering affordable and competitive premiums and easy underwriting procedures, the continuation and transferability of the program’s cover even after the policy-owner returns home to India, as well as the ease of payment in installments through Bader Al Mulla & Brothers (OICL’s Agents in Kuwait) makes this a highly attractive insurance program, Parasher concluded.

SIA banks on premium service in budget-travel era

KUWAIT: Nick Nadal, Director of Hawkamah (left) and Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director of Cass Business School, City University MENA region.

Cass Business School, Hawkamah partner to raise corporate governance standards KUWAIT: Cass Business School Dubai, part of City University London, announced yesterday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance, which will advance the implementation of corporate governance best practice in the Middle East. The agreement was signed during a ceremony at the Dubai International Financial Centre by Hawkamah Executive Director, Dr. Nasser Saidi, and Regional Director of Cass Business School, City University MENA region, Ehsan Razavizadeh.

Under the terms of the MOU, Cass Business School and Hawkamah will collaborate to raise awareness of corporate governance through the joint hosting of workshops, seminars and networking events. The two organizations will also conduct research into corporate governance in the Middle East, with Hawkamah supporting the work of Cass Business School students with, for instance, their dissertations.

According to research by Hawkamah, 56% of the region’s listed companies and banks are in emerging or under developed corporate governance practice. However, most of the region’s capital market regulators and central banks have issued corporate governance codes, regulations and frameworks that need to be implemented by these companies.

Dr. Saidi said: “Clearly, there is a lot more work that needs to be done that focuses on corporate governance implementation. As a think-anddo-tank devoted to bridging the corporate governance gaps in the Middle East and North Africa region, we are delighted to formalise our partnership with Cass Business School through this MoU. In the past few years, we have been working with Cass professors and their students to bring more focus to corporate governance

research on the region, a much needed endeavour in order to further identify current practices and develop policy and practical solutions to push better corporate governance practices. We look forward to further collaborations and engagement with Cass Business School, and are excited about the prospects of our partnership.”

Cass Business School, which is home to the 10th best Executive MBA program in the world according to the Financial Times, has particular expertise in the area of corporate governance.

Through its Centre for Research in Corporate Governance, the school carries out multi-disciplinary research into corporate governance issues occurring at national, regional and global levels.

Razavizadeh said: “Thanks in great part to the work of Hawkamah, corporate governance in the Middle East has come into sharp focus over recent years. As such, it has become an imperative to ensure business leaders in the Middle East are equipped with the skills and knowledge to implement corporate governance best practice. Aligning our expertise with that of Hawkamah means we will be able to offer students the most comprehensive grounding in corporate governance available anywhere in the region.”

Cass Business School and Hawkamah have a longstanding working relationship. Three students from the first Cass Business School Executive MBA program in 2007 conducted their Business Mastery Project in collaboration with Hawkamah. The project focused on analyzing and corroborating the corporate governance practices of Islamic banks and financial institutions, with the research findings providing an important pillar of Hawkamah’s Policy Brief on Corporate Governance for Islamic Banks.

Oman’s private deposits up 7.4% MUSCAT: The value of private deposits at Oman’s commercial banks at the end of May 2011 stood at 7.47 billion Omani riyals compared to 6.95 billion Omani riyals in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 7.4 per cent, according to a monthly statistical bulletin.

The gross value of the deposits at the end of May 2011 includes time deposits (2.58 billion Omani riyals), saving deposits (2.37 billion Omani riyals) and demand deposits (2.42 billion Omani riyals), showed the monthly statistical bulletin published by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). Deposits in riyals stood at 6.89 billion Omani riyals, while deposits in foreign currencies stood at 578.8 million Omani riyals, according to the bulletin. The ratio

of broad money supply and clearance to the deposits in riyals was 12.8 per cent, while the ratio of combined money and clearance to gross deposits stood at 10.8 per cent. The total proportion of loans to liabilities was 101.9 per cent.

The rate of foreign currency deposits to the total deposits was 15.1 per cent, while the rate of foreign assets to the total assets was 10.6 per cent. The ratio of foreign liability to the total liabilities was 8.6 per cent, it indicated. The on-demand deposits ratio to the total private deposits was 32.3 per cent, while the ratio of capital and reserves to the total deposits was 18.5 per cent. The rate of allocations and retained interests to the total credit was 4 per cent. — KUNA

SINGAPORE: A well-groomed young woman gently pours steaming tea into a cup inside a mock-up plane cabin as an instructor urges her to smile and make eye contact. “Okay good job, keep it going, but remember not too much as they might want milk in the tea,” trainer Philip Cheong tells her.

Nearby, giggles fill a brightly lit room as a cluster of equally-young women carefully wash their faces and settle back in their seats. “Feel your skin, is it softer, smoother? Okay, we are now going to the next step and apply the toner,” makeup consultant Shera Begum says as male members of the team watch attentively from the sidelines. Welcome to the sprawling cabin crew training facility of Singapore Airlines (SIA), where the flight attendants that made the carrier famous for service are drilled in the finer arts of hospitality in the air. In an era of cheap, no-frills travel, SIA has overhauled its marketing strategy to put fresh emphasis on its famed cabin service with the iconic “Singapore Girl” in a figure-hugging batik uniform at the forefront.

For SIA, the stakes have never been higher now that the carrier finds itself under fierce assault in the premium-travel segment from the likes of Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

SIA announced a profit of Sg$1.09 billion ($819 million) in the year to March 2011 on revenues of Sg$14.5 billion, reinforcing its status as one of the world’s most profitable airlines.

It flew 16.65 million passengers during the period. Airline analysts estimate that 40 percent of SIA revenues come from first-and businessclass travellers who demand high levels of service, so nothing is left to chance during the 13week training course for new cabin crew.

‘Singapore Girl’ makes a comebackHarking back to an earlier marketing strategy, SIA launched a global advertising campaign in February with the “Singapore Girl” as the main theme instead of new aircraft or luxurious amenities like high-tech seats.

The airline brushed aside criticism from some quarters that the ‘Singapore Girl’ campaign is sexist and outmoded. “She represents not just the Singapore Airlines air stewardess, but qualities that all our cabin crew-male and femalepossess,” SIA commercial vice president Mak Swee Wah said. Adrian Pring, a London-based analyst with business consultancy Brand Union, said the return to the “Singapore Girl” campaign was a strategic move for SIA. “As more airline companies, particularly the up-and-coming Middle Eastern carriers, began taking delivery of

SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines cabin crew member attending to a grooming class as part of their training programs in Singapore. Sounds of giggles filled the room as a group of well-groomed women carefully washed their faces and quickly settled back in their respective seats. — AFP

the A380, or similar modern aircraft, SIA’s ability to differentiate through ‘hardware’ waned,” he added. “So, with costs fluctuating and everyone flying the same equipment, an important place to attempt to differentiate is through the customer experience, underpinned by the people that will facilitate and bring the experience to life,” Pring said. In 2007, SIA became the first airline to operate the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, but other carriers have since acquired the “superjumbo” and the global recession hit hard the following year.

Now that the high-spending passengers are coming back, SIA is going all out for their business by playing up its cabin service.

“It reinforces the view that when it comes to premium flying, it is the choice for many business passengers,” said Shukor Yusof, an analyst with Standard and Poor’s Asian Equity Research.

Weeding-out process About 60 percent of SIA’s more than 7,000 cabin crew are women, mostly from Singapore and Malaysia. Each recruitment exercise held in Singapore typically draws 1,000 applicants. The airline said it has no fixed quota for each intake and hires cabin crew on merit.

Recruits, whose average age is 24, are taught the basics of social etiquette, personal grooming, passenger handling and meal service,

including food preparation and wine appreciation. New flight attendants are only given fiveyear contracts to start with, enabling SIA to refresh the crew based on criteria such as “a customer-oriented service attitude,” said Nicholas Ionides, the airline’s spokesman.

Ionides said those who constantly make the grade can work a total of five five-year contracts during their career. The weeding-out process effectively gives SIA a younger cabin crew than rival carriers, industry watchers say.

According to Singapore’s Straits Times, most SIA female flight attendants are grounded between their late 30s and early 40s.

Their union is now bargaining for greater job security with a minimum flying career of 20 years, according to a recent report in the newspaper. While trying to hold on to its position in the premium segment, SIA is not taking its chances on the other end of the market after watching the spectacular growth of the budget airline sector. SIA announced in May that it will launch within a year a separately managed budget airline with different branding to tap into growing Asian demand for low-cost travel over longer distances, a market dominated by Malaysia’s AirAsia X. But premium travel is expected to remain SIA’s most profitable business for years to come, with the “Singapore Girl” leading the charge. —AFP

KSE index sheds gains MARKAZ Weekly update KUWAIT: Last week the KSE market price index lost 0.7% or 42 points and closed at 6036 level. While the KSE weight index declined 1.2% or 5 points to 418 level. Among the sectors this week the food sector was one of the best performing sectors which rose 0.7% and the worst sector was the real Estate, the Investment and the Non-Kuwaiti sector which declined 2.1% and 1.3% each respectively. The Banking sector lost 0.8% this week. The Industrial and the service sectors remained flat.

The market sentiment was negative as 74 stocks declined against 28 stocks gained and 26 stocks remained flat compared to the previous week. FOOD, Mabanee and BURGAN were the top gainers last week gaining 2.7%, 1.2% and 1% respectively. The losers were BPCC -4%, NIND -3.6%, KIB -3.3%, KFH -3.3%, PIPE -3.3%, AGLT -3.2%, ZAIN -2.9%, NINV -2.7%, GBK -2% , NMTC 1.9% and KPROJ -1.7% while NBK remained flat for the week. The KSE weighted index has downside support at 412 level and upside it faces resistance at 425 level.

While the KSE price index has upside resistance at 6,150 level and downside support remains at 6,000 level.

Open: 6,076, High: 6,096, Low: 6,023 Close: 6,036.

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KSE lackluster amid investor caution KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The price index ended the week with a decrease amounted to 0.69%, while the weighted index declined by 1.16% compared to the closings of the week before. Moreover, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 54.67%, compared to the preceding week, whereas trading volume average recorded a retreat of 41.71%.

Moreover, cautious state continued to prevail on the investors, as they are waiting for the listed companies’ semi-annual financial results, where only 9% of the listed companies announced its results; however one month of the announcement period is over. As a result, the trading activities were notably deceased, especially the turnover, as it reached its lowest level since 2003 in Tuesday.

The market performance was marked with speculations resulting from hesitation in KSE indices’ performance. In addition, KSE was under selling pressure included variety of stocks, especially the leading stocks in Banks and Services sectors.

BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,036.0 points, down by 0.69% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 1.16% weekly loss after closing at 418.28 points.

Sectors’ Indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other two recorded increases. The Real Estate sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 2.06% to end the week’s activity at 2,053.4 points. The Investment sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 1.31%, closing at 3,787.4 points, followed by the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, as its index closed at 5,806.0 points at a loss of 1.27%. The Services sector was the least declining as its index closed at 13,775.7 points with a 0.12% decrease. On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Food sector, achieving 0.70% growth rate as its index

closed at 4,224.9 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Insurance sector’s index closed at 2,595.8 points recording 0.01% increase.

Sectors’ Activity The Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 85.76 million shares changing hands, representing 24.83% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 23.81% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 82.22 million shares. On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 17.97 million or 33.61% of last week’s total market trading value. The Banks sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 13.63 million represented 25.50% of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization KSE total market capitalization declined by 1.18% during last week to reach KD 29.43 billion, as all of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization except for one sector. The Services sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD 7.42 billion, decreasing by 1.82%. The Investment sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 1.73% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 2.29 billion. The third place was for the Real Estate sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 1.66 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.46%. The Insurance sector was the least declining with 0.25% recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 302.45 million. On the other hand, the Food sector was last week’s only gainer as its total market capitalization increased by 2.09% to reach, by the end of the week, KD 730.67 million.

For further details, please visit our web site: www.bayaninvest.com

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NBK-Jordan offers housing loans Kuwaitis, Jordanians in Kuwait invited to apply KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait-Jordan invites Kuwaitis and Jordanians living in Kuwait to apply for loans to purchase property in Jordan from any NBK branch.

This remark able offer is accessible to all those who wish to avoid the prolonged procedures of loan applications separate from their

summer holidays in order to concentrate on searching for their dream home.

“We are offering two very attrac tive interest rate options on these loans with flexible repayment tenures, fast approvals and a simple process,” said NBK-Jordan General M anager, Jabra Ghandour. A client can

choose between a 6% rate for the first year which is annually reviewed from the second year onwards, and a 7% rate fixed for 3 years which is annually reviewed from the four th year onwards. Both interest rate options are linked to NBK Jordan’s prime rate.

Ghandour also mentioned

that “ We aim to make the process as simple as possible in order for our customers to benefit as much as possible through flexible terms and minimal effort”.

“Any of our 70 branches in Kuwait are equipped to offer assistance and shall be happy to advise our customers of the requirements for taking

out this loan,” Ghandour added.

The loan amount granted can reach 250,000 JD or up to 75% of the property value.

Repayment period is flexible up to 15 years. The attractive interest rate options are only available for a limited time period, as the offer will end on 31st December 2011.

Jet Airways announces daily flight from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram MUMBAI: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, yesterday announced that it will commence daily flights from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram from 30th October, 2011. The airline currently operates a daily flight from Sharjah to Kochi and the addition of another daily service will further enhance its growing International network. This will be the tenth daily service from the United Arab Emirates to India and the twenty-second Jet Airways flight from the Gulf to India.

The flight 9W 569 will depart Sharjah at 1340 hours (LT ), arriving in Thiruvananthapuram at 1900 hours (LT) and flight 9W 570 will depart Thiruvananthapuram at 1015 hours local time (LT) and arrive in Sharjah at 1240 hours (LT).

The airline will deploy its state-of-theart Boeing 737-800 aircraft on this new route, offering 16 Premiere and 138 Economy seats. Guests will be offered best-in-its-class product, which boasts of warm service, award winning in-flight entertainment, as well as delectable cuisine. Jet Airways currently operates to 24 International destinations.

With this additional flight between Sharjah and India, business customers of Jet Airways would be able to enjoy a wide choice of timings throughout the day between United Arab Emirates and India.

The flights are conveniently timed to connect with Jet Airways’ industry-leading domestic network and its fast-growing network to SAARC/ASEAN points.

The introduction of the new flight will

further strengthen Jet Airways’ presence in the United Arab Emirates. Jet Airways’ Gulf network now serves 10 destinations in the Middle Eastern region. The additional services to Thiruvananthapuram will now complement the airline’s existing daily Gulf operations from Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat and Sharjah, as well as Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Nikos Kardassis, CEO, Jet Airways said, “Jet Airways has established itself as a prominent brand in the intensely competitive Indo-Gulf sector for its service and quality of its in-flight product. We are confident that the new service from Thiruvananthapuram to Sharjah will prove immensely popular with our guests. We believe that this new route has the potential to serve the needs of our corporate and business travelers, especially from the South.”

Jet Airways, Jet Airways Konnect and JetLite have a combined fleet strength of 115 aircraft and operate over 580 flights daily. With an average fleet age of 5.45years, the airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world.

Flights to 75 destinations span the length and breadth of India and beyond, including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels, Colombo, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London(Heathrow), Milan, Muscat, New York(both JFK and Newark), Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore and Toronto.

KATMANDU: A sales clerk looks on as a Nepalese man puts the license plate on his brand new Indian-made Tata Nano, which was launched in 2009 as the world’s cheapest car, at a mass delivery of the vehicles to clients at a luxury hotel in Katmandu yesterday. Nepal applies a more than 200 percent tariff on imported cars, putting the Nano price above the $10,000 mark. —AP

Chavez wants higher OPEC quota for Venezuela CARACAS: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez urged the OPEC producer group on Friday to raise its quota for the South American nation given its vast reserves in the Orinoco heavy crude belt.

Venezuela’s quota is around 3 million barrels per day, but it aspires to produce far more than that in the coming years through ambitious joint venture projects in the Orinoco. OPEC recently said Venezuela leapfrogged Saudi Arabia to become the world’s No. 1 holder of crude reserves, with more than 296.5 billion barrels, albeit much of that tar-like extra heavy oil.

“It has to come in a progressive manner, of course, a reformatting of the quotas so that Venezuela receives bigger quotas,” Chavez said during a meeting with ministers shown live on state TV. “That of course will be part of discussions and decisions by OPEC, but that will be the case.” Venezuela’s output in 2010 was 2.97 million bpd. Chavez said that if OPEC lifts Venezuela’s quota, the country could produce between 8-9 million bpd by 2031. The projects in the Orinoco belt are slated eventually to add 2.1 million bpd of production and to bring in some $80 billion in investment. —Reuters

Italy’s Prodi accuses Germany of ‘egoism’ ROME: Italy’s former prime minister Romano Prodi yesterday accused Germany of “egoism” over a massive sale of Italian bonds by Deutsche Bank and said Italy was in a far stronger economic position than Spain.

The former European Commission president also said that the high rates at which Italy is being forced to issue bonds because of market jitters meant that sweeping budget cuts approved earlier this month would be “in vain”.

“We must respond to German ego-

ism,” Prodi wrote in an editorial for the Il Messaggero daily, pointing to figures showing Deutsche Bank had sold off almost its entire Italian bond holdings worth eight billion euros ($11.5 billion).

He said the move gave “an impressive signal of no confidence” for investors.

He urged Italy to remonstrate with the German government over the sale, saying: “The decisions of our governors no longer have the strength and credibility to have an impact. This strength and credibility must be revived.” —AFP

Good sales performance in Kuwait real estate sector NBK ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: Total real estate sales in June reached KD 263 million.

While this was a 12% drop from the previous month, sales in June were still almost 51% higher than in the same month last year.

The total number of real estate transactions in June was 645, a 29% drop from the previous month. The trend toward

sustained good sales volumes remains intac t, led by the “investment ” sec tor (apar tments/buildings).

Sales in the residential real estate sector reached KD 114 million, dropping 37% from the previous month. There was a 34% decrease in the number of transactions in June over the previous month which was

exceptionally strong.

KD 135 million in investment sales was logged in June. This is a 61% increase over May figures.

Sales in June were almost 94% higher than in the same month last year. This sector continues to lead with keen interest from investors.

There were 6 transactions in the commercial sector totaling

KD 14 million in June, down from KD 36 million the prior month.

Sales are volatile in this sector, though recent activity suggest the worst is behind us. 253 Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) loans with a combined value of KD 12.07 million were approved in June. This is a 57% increase in the number of loans over the previous month.

Indian supercars slice through traffic in convoy CHANDIGARH: Get out of the way: boy racers in India are using escort vehicles to ensure their souped-up sports cars have a clear run along India’s potholed and congested public roads. Weaving through trucks, horse carts and clapped-out hatchbacks on one recent rainy Sunday afternoon, members of the Cannonball Club sped down a state highway on a terrifying 30-minute dash.

The 25 luxury cars, including Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Jaguars were led by a large SUV (sports utility vehicle) which helped find a route through the busy traffic outside the northern city of Chandigarh.

For its rich, young members, the Delhi-based club is a chance to drive in a convoy with other top-brand models and to compare notes afterwards on the pleasures of owning cars worth up to seven million rupees ($160,000).

Drivers are told the club events are not races and that they must stay behind the lead escort vehicle, but members are united by a love of speed and talk often about how to evade the police and keep their licenses. “Our idea is to make driving stress-free for the members,” Paritosh Gupta, 26, the club’s founder, said.

“To cope with the numerous perils of owning a supercar in India, we arrange drives on national highways, where our cars are escorted by two SUVs, one in the front and the other at the rear.” Gupta, who drives a Porsche Panamera, said that despite punitive import tariffs of more than 100 percent, more Indians are buying sports cars-but then end up leaving them in the garage. “Owners restrict the usage. Either they drive it to their office or just take it out when they head to a luxury hotel,” explained Gupta. “I want club members to have more fun with their expensive cars.”

Dhruv Talwar, 24, a gem trader and jewelry exporter from a prosperous business family in Chandigarh, said he had encouraged his friends to buy a car and join the club for the “pure thrill of enjoying a mean machine.” “I love my car but I must say that driving a sports car can be a rat race in India,” said Talwar, who owns a Porsche 911 in Delhi-and a Mustang at his other home in Los Angeles. Posh cars not meant to be parked. He admits India’s roads are often unsuitable and that sports cars can look out of place among the other travellers.

“Chaotic traffic and potholes are not the only problems.

The very presence of a sports car excites people and generates mixed emotions on the road,” he said.

“Motorbikes accelerate when they see these cars to race us, often risking their lives. Some even take pictures as they ride. There are others who ogle and a few get annoyed with the noise and try to scratch the car’s paint.”“Owning an expensive car is matter of pride but driving is a matter of persistence,” he said. The club, founded last year, already has more than 100 members from three states and has plans to expand with an Internet site and to develop into a one-stop consultancy for supercar owners.

“Having a club exclusive to super cars indicates a healthy sign,” Ashish Chordia, a director of Porsche in India, told AFP. “It gives everyone a common platform to interact and experience different products.” Chordia, who also heads conglomerate luxury brand the Shreyans Group importing sport cars, designer clothes and jewellery, believes the potential for topend goods in India is huge.

“The premium car sector grew by 70 percent last year,” he pointed out. In May, Ferrari became the latest sports car firm to open a showroom in India, attracted by the country’s growing wealth. Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche already have dealerships despite the massive taxes.

With clubs like the Cannonball likely to become more popular, the police say its activities are not illegal, but that anyone caught speeding or dangerous driving faces large fines or a court hearing. Gupta is keen to stress that members are trying to strike a balance between rules of the road and getting the most out of their cars. —AFP

SALIMA: Samuel Mamba poses in his hardware shop in Salima. Mamba saved for three years as a subsistence farmer to open a small hardware stand in Salima before borrowing 20,000 kwacha in 2008 as part of a collective of 10 people. Malawi’s microfinance lenders are giving would-be business owners access to capital in a country where 81 percent of people do not have a bank account. —AFP

US billionaire Ross bets on v-shaped Irish recovery DUBLIN: Positive news from Ireland is prompting a growing number of investors to look at the troubled euro-zone economy, said US billionaire Wilbur Ross, who last week invested 300 million euros in its largest lender.

Ross surprised many by joining Canadian firm Fairfax Financial and California’s Capital Group in a 1.1 billion euro investment in Bank of Ireland, the first significant foreign investment in Ireland’s banking sector since it collapsed in 2008.

Ross said the deal was fuelled by positive news from Ireland that indicate it is breaking away from its troubled peers in southern Europe and embarking on a solid recovery.

These include the government’s announcement it was ahead of target to bring its budget deficit under control, lack of protest against a harsh austerity program, and the European Union’s decision this month to ease the terms of an 85-billion-euro international bailout.

“The macro picture of Ireland ... is clearly headed in the right direction and will very likely have a more v-shaped recovery than most other European countries,” Ross told Reuters in a telephone interview late on Friday. “We have gotten a lot of inquires from other investing institutions that know us, asking about Ireland and suggesting that they at least are now willing to take a much better look than they were prior to all of this.”

Irish sovereign debt prices staged an impressive rally this week in spite of growing bond market volatility elsewhere in the eurozone, in part due to the vote of confidence from the investment in Bank of Ireland.

Although Ireland is mid-way through an unprecedented eight-year cycle of austerity, social unrest is almost non-existent and unlike Greece and Portugal, Ireland is expected to

return to growth this year because of a vibrant export sector and the flexibility of its economy.

“I am genuinely impressed and have been for some time at the way Ireland bit the bullet and faced up to it,” Ross said. “Unlike the Club Med economies, the former government and the present one have dealt very surgically and very quickly with the problem.”

A key development was a euro zone deal that eases the terms of Ireland’s bailout and positive comments from the International Monetary Fund that Ireland’s program is on track, assuring investors that Ireland had virtually guaranteed funding through 2013. “Since they are fully funded at sovereign level to 2013, there can’t be a government bond auction that could be undersubscribed and precipitate a problem,” Ross said. “There is no other country in Europe that can say they have that.”

The guaranteed funding limits Ireland’s exposure to a possible Greek default, which Ross said he believed “would not have that much effect” on Ireland. Solid growth in the broader economy is likely in the second half of next year, Ross said, but he warned it would take longer for Bank of Ireland to turn a profit.

The lender’s consumer business may be dampened by high unemployment, an indicator that is likely to take longer to recover than headline GDP growth.

“We don’t see next the few quarters as being profit, it would be very hard for that to be the case as there are probably some meaningful loan losses yet to take,” he said.

Ross, who manages some $10 billion in investments, is known for consolidating outof-favor assets in areas such as autos, steel and coal and has recently invested in small, regional US banks. —Reuters

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Debt and data suggest more losses NEW YORK: US stocks are likely to face more selling pressure next week as the Tuesday deadline draws near for raising the US debt ceiling and Washington remains paralyzed by political brinkmanship. Anxiety over the debt crisis sent the S&P 500 lower for five straight days, resulting in the worst week and month for the benchmark index since August. The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street’s “fear index,” rose more than 40 percent for the week, its biggest jump since early May. With four days before the United States loses its ability to borrow, US President Barack Obama on Friday told Republicans and Democrats to stop bickering and find a way “out of this mess.”

“Right now, overall the market is being totally driven by the debt situation, whether it is in Europe or the US,” said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Dahlman Rose in New York.

The deadline for raising the US debt ceiling has investors on edge. Volatility,

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK currently at its highest since the earthquake in Japan, can be expected to increase as time runs out. “You’ve got individual stocks that can make significant moves but the market itself collectively is being pushed and pulled by every headline and how the wind is blowing out of Washington at any given moment.”

The recent slide has also put stocks in a precarious position from a technical perspective as the S&P 500 index moves closer to its 200-day moving average, a level which could bring about additional selling if the index breaks below it. The benchmark index successfully bounced off the level on Friday after the early morning decline.

“That is the line in the sand that really divides things going maybe bad-to things

really turning bad,” said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont. “If we take that out next week-man, I’m not neutral, I’m short.” Even if a deal is struck, the possibility remains the United States could lose its prized triple-A credit rating if the terms are not stringent enough to satisfy credit rating agencies.

“You are definitely going to get the downgrade by S&P,” said Ken Polcari, managing director at ICAP Equities in New York.

“You are still waiting on what the ultimate deal is going to be and it’s just not going to be what everybody expects, so you are going to see disappointment in the markets.”

Investors can still find some solace in corporate earnings. According to

Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of the 327 S&P 500 companies that have posted earnings, 73 percent have reported results higher than analysts’ expectations.

Companies expected to report earnings next week include Kraft Foods Inc, Clorox Co, Pfizer Inc and Prudential Financial Inc. “Individual stocks, especially after earnings are trading on their own accord and you are seeing moves of 5 to 10 percent sometimes after earnings come out,” said Bensignor.

But added pressure is coming from economic data, with the latest revision of gross domestic product showing the US economy stumbled badly in the first half of 2011 and came close to contracting in the January-March period.

The flagging data offers little hope next

week’s data- including July’s employment report-can turn the tide of the pressure. “I don’t think the market is pricing in very much for the possibility we don’t get a debt deal done, given how bad the economic data has been,” said Michael Marrale, managing director and head of sales trading at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

“Put it this way, putting all the debt deal concerns aside, the market would probably be here anyway.” As investors asses the debt ceiling debate, slowing economic data and corporate earnings, they must remain prepared for any developments from the simmering debt crisis in the euro zone, which could further heighten investor angst.

“There are two things I keep my eye onone on Washington and one on Brussels, because between the two of them you never know which headline risk is going to hit you over the head next,” said Mendelsohn. — Reuters

Debt crisis strains banks, threatens US consumers Crisis manufactured by politicians?

NEW YORK: The crisis over raising the US debt ceiling may have been manufactured by politicians, as many on Wall Street charge, but its effect on consumers and the broader US economy is likely to prove very real.

Fear that Congress may not raise the government’s $14.3 trillion legal borrowing limit by Aug 2, inviting a credit rating downgrade or default, has already made it more costly for banks and companies to borrow short-term money.

If that persists, consumers and small businesses may also find it harder to access credit.

Those who can get loans will likely pay more for them. Companies, meanwhile, are hardly likely to ramp up hiring if funding costs are on the rise.

That’s just about the last thing the US economy needs after it grew at a plodding 1.3 percent pace in the second quarter and produced nearly flat growth in the first quarter.

“What this debt ceiling debate has done has created an unintended tightening,” said Jim Caron, head of interest rate strategy at Morgan Stanley. “It’s given providers of capital another reason not to lend.” Congress has refused to raise the debt ceiling without a long-term deficit reduction plan. With the Aug 2 deadline

looming, Republicans and Democrats had yet to agree on spending cuts and tax increases.

“If it’s dragged out, that would be the point where it hurts the consumer. We could see companies hoarding cash out of uncertainty,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, fixed income analyst at 4Cast Ltd in New York.

Most on Wall Street think Treasury will avoid defaulting on its debt and will come up with a way to meet interest payments due in early August. But lenders are taking no chances.

Rates on $91 billion of Treasury bills due Aug. 4, the first to mature after the Aug. 2 deadline, spiked to 28 basis points on Friday, the highest rate the bills have paid since they were issued in February. Analysts say money market funds have been increasingly wary of holding such bills or lending against them in the repurchase, or repo market, where large Wall Street banks raise short-term funds.

The funds themselves, large providers of short-term loans, have lost $37.5 billion in withdrawals in the latest week as investors, worried about their exposure to Treasuries, have sought safety in traditional bank accounts. That means they need to keep more cash on hand to meet further redemptions. Unlike deposit accounts, money market funds are not insured. In 2008,

GAUHATI: Customers walk inside an apparel shop, as a sign of discount sale of American casual wear company is put up on the door, in Gauhati yesterday. America’s debt crisis and economic malaise are shaking confidence in its global leadership. International bankers are concerned that a US default would cause a crash of the dollar, the world’s reserve currency, battering economies from Asia to Africa and possibly sparking political unrest. —AP

Ford, UAW open contract talks amid uncertainty DEARBORN: Officials from Ford and the United Auto Workers opened a new round of contract negotiations on Friday, saying they are committed to resolving their differences without a strike.

“It’s like welcoming old friends back,” Ford chairman William Clay Ford said at the opening ceremony of the talks. “I’d like to thank you for what you’ve have done to help us weather an economic downturn that was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he added.

Detroit’s three big automakers, including General Motors and Chrysler, are all in contract talks with the United Auto Workers amid an uncertain economy and limited prospects for gains for the union’s 100,000 workers.

General Motors and Chrysler received federal help in 2009 that bailed the companies out of bankruptcy. The bailout terms include a provision banning workers at those companies from striking.

Ford, however, did not receive federal bailout funds so the unionized workers have the right to go on strike.

“We’re excited to be here,” said UAW president Bob King. “Ford turned around because of efforts of our members and we want to negotiate a contract that rewards them.”

King also dismissed talk of a possible strike at Ford. “I don’t think about a strike. It doesn’t enter my thought processes,” said King, wav-

ing aside speculation the negotiations would be difficult because of the company’s healthy profits and lush executive compensation packages.

“I know we have some differences. We always do,” added Jimmy Settles, the UAW vice president in charge of the negotiations.

But “we have learned the art of negotiation,” he said, adding the last strike at Ford was 35 years ago.

Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said the negotiations will set the stage for the next step in Ford’s growth, noting the company was prepared to add some 7,000 new employees over the next two years.

John Fleming, Ford’s executive vice president of global manufacturing, said the auto manufacturer has to reach a deal that helps Ford remain competitive. Ford on Tuesday reported a fall in profit in the second quarter, signaling higher commodity costs were weighing on earnings. Secondquarter profit fell 8.0 percent from a year ago, to $2.4 billion, Ford said in a statement.

“We simply cannot go back to the old way of doing business, which would threatened our momentum and hurt our ability to bring new investment and jobs into our US plants.

We can and will grow jobs if we can compete effectively,” Fleming said. — AFP

the Reserve Primary Fund imploded after plowing more than 1 percent of assets in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. When the bank collapsed, the fund suffered a flood of redemptions.

The worst case scenario for markets and consumers would be a rerun of 2008, when Lehman’s failure caused credit to seize up across the globe and brought world markets to the edge of collapse. The U.S. economy fell into its worst recession since World War Two. Most analysts think that’s not likely this time.

Yet even if the country avoids default, a downgrade from at least one of the big three credit ratings agencies is increasingly likely.

That could force banks to pay more to finance short-term loans with Treasuries and could ratchet up the borrowing costs for companies in the commercial paper market.

If it costs General Motors or General Electric more to borrow in short-term markets, “they will pass that on to the consumer” looking for a car or appliance loan, said Roseanne Briggen, analyst at IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters. Over time, it could also push up longer-term borrowing costs. Lawrence White, a professor at New York University, said Treasury yields could rise by a quarter percentage point over time, dragging up mortgages and student loan costs.

“It’s certainly not good news,” he told Reuters Insider. “Every quarter percentage point matters in a weak economy.”

One saving grace may be that firms have cut back reliance on commercial paper markets after getting burned when Lehman Brothers failed. At the close of the second quarter, GE Capital, a unit of General Electric had $40.7 billion in commercial paper outstanding, down from $105 billion in early 2008.

That move away from short-term borrowing is one reason the largest US conglomerate has made its peace with having lost its once-coveted “AAA” credit rating in 2009. It has also vastly boosted the amount of cash it holds on its books over that time. At the quarter’s end, the largest US conglomerate had about $91 billion in cash on hand, up from $16 billion at the start of the financial crisis.

“With $90 billion in cash, we’re prepared for a liquidity disruption if there were one,” Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said in a July 22 interview. “It’s just a dramatically different liquidity profile for the company.” Caterpillar Inc, which has a smaller finance arm that is focused on financing purchases of the company’s heavy equipment, had about $4 billion in commercial paper outstanding at the close of the first quarter, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. — Reuters

Dubai Islamic Bank Q2 net up 10%, tops forecasts DUBAI: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) reported yesterday a 10 percent increase in secondquarter net profit, beating analyst estimates, as a total revenue rise outweighed higher provisions.

The lender made a net profit of 331 million dirhams ($90.1) in the three months to end-June, up from 301 million dirhams a year earlier, it said in a statement. The earnings jumped nearly 50 percent from the previous quarter. Two analysts polled by Reuters had estimated a decline in second-quarter profit to between 193 million and 208 million dirhams.

Half-year earnings grew 10 percent to 552 million dirhams, the statement said. Total half-year revenue rose 20 percent to 1.8 billion dirhams, while it grew 13 percent in the second quarter. Provisions for impairment increased 43.8 percent to 210 million dirhams in the second quarter. Total assets rose 14 percent to 102.9 billion dirhams at end-June, and customer deposits grew 22 percent to 77.6 billion dirhams.

In June, Goldman Sachs downgraded DIB to “sell” from “neutral” as the lender continued to shore up liquidity amid limited access to attractively priced wholesale funds and uncertainty over credit quality linked to Dubai’s troubled real estate sector. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: Sen Jim DeMint, speaks to media on Capitol Hill in Washington. In these nervous days of debt limit warfare and pre-election posturing DeMint, who calls himself Sen Tea Party, is specific and focused on what change, exactly, he wants: passage — not just a vote — of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

Without it, he says, no consideration should be given to raising the nation’s borrowing limit. —AP

India offers farmers more cash for land sales NEW DELHI: Indian farmers could get six times more cash for their properties under a new land acquisition bill aimed at accelerating industrial development in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The draft bill is seen as key to defusing longstanding tensions over land purchases, a politically charged issue that has delayed mega-projects such as South Korea’s planned $12-billion steel plant to be built in eastern India.

Industrialization has been touted by economists as a way to create faster growth and pull hundreds of millions out of poverty.

But acquiring land for factories, roads, housing and other projects has created battlegrounds across traditionally agrarian India.

The legislation aims to “balance the need for facilitating land acquisition” for infrastructure, industrialization and other development while “addressing the concerns” of farmers, a government statement late Friday said.

The bill, intended to replace a more than century-old law framed by India’s former British colonial rulers, proposes giving owners as much as six times the market rate for their land when it is taken over for development purposes. Also the consent of 80 percent of projectaffected families would be required if the government acquires land for industrial or other public use under the legislation unveiled by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

The legislation is seen as vital to the ruling Congress party’s bid to win support from farmers in local elections next year in India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh and national polls in 2014.

Farmers say their land is being taken away too cheaply and that they are being left with no other means of livelihood.

“We will have a formal process of consultation” on the legislation, said Ramesh, who was due to discuss the bill with West Bengal’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the weekend.

Before being elected chief minister, Banerjee led a successful and sometimes violent drive in 2008 against plans by Indian industrial giant Tata Group to build the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, on farmland in West Bengal.

Ramesh said it was uncertain whether the bill would be introduced in the next session of parliament, which begins on August 1, due to the lengthy consultation process. The Confederation of Indian Industry called the bill a “positive” step but farmers voiced discontent.

“We want ownership of the entire land with industry getting the land on lease,” Rajesh Bhati, who has been spearheading a battle for improved land rights in the northern state of Haryana, told India’s Business Standard. “ This still amounts to a farmland grab,” Devinder Sharma, author of books on Indian agricultural issues, told AFP.— AFP

Iran plans to export 2m tons of wheat TEHRAN: Iran will be self sufficient in the production of wheat in the course of the current year and is looking forward to becoming an exporter of the commodity, the daily Jam-e Jam quoted a senior government official as saying yesterday.

Iran’s calendar year will end on March 19, 2012. “Not only will the country’s needs in wheat be met domestically in the current year, but also the capability for the export of two million tons of wheat has emerged,” said Agriculture Minister Sadeq Khalilian.

Previous forecasts by agricultural experts on the production of wheat in Iran this year had anticipated a 30 percent drop in harvest due to drought and the need for imports to make up for the shortage. Khalilian said the government had made preparations for a possible

shortage of wheat this year, but its production precluded any need to resort to an emergency stockpile.

The preparation to inject wheat into the market to correct a shortage came in view of a drop in rainfall last autumn, he said. “The remedy came in the form of recourse to irrigated farming leading to two million tons of excess production.”

Khalilian did not give an estimate for the harvest this year but a previous forecast put it at more than 15 million tons.

As a major food importer, Iran often resorts to imports to compensate for sporadic shortfalls.

In 2004, Iran celebrated self-sufficiency in wheat production but cold winter weather in 2007-08 followed by drought hit output and forced Iran to resume importing the grain. — Reuters

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Iconic computer game ‘Civilization’ joins Facebook NEW YORK: Long before “FarmVille” there was “Civilization,” the iconic computer game in which players build a civilized world over thousands of years. Now, the game’s designer, Sid Meier, is bringing his creation to Facebook.

Available Wednesday, “Civ World” is a lighter, social version of the classic PC strategy game, which launched in 1991 and migrated to video game consoles in 2008. In the Facebook adaptation, players cooperate to build cities and engage in diplomacy, scientific discovery and economics as they advance civilization throughout the ages. “It’s built along similar lines, with a beginning, middle and end,” Meier said. “But you create a story together with a

lot of other people. It’s more of a group experience.”

Like “FarmVille” and other Facebook games, “Civ World” is free to play. It makes money by selling virtual items, such as armies and weapons that can help players advance. But to make the game enjoyable for players who don’t spend anything, “Civ World” limits how much money players can spend each day.

“It’s not fun if ... someone else is winning because they are spending money,” Meier said. “Civ World” also avoids bombarding the Facebook pages of players’ friends with posts about their in-game accomplishments and requests. With that, “Civ World” is somewhat of an anti-”FarmVille.” It’s

brainier than your run-of-the-mill Facebook games.

There’s strategic thinking involved while you’re completing quests and building up civilizations.

“Civ World” took nearly a year and a half to develop, which is short for a traditional computer game but very long for a Facebook title. It’s a deeper experience than many popular Facebook games, many of which require little else from players than adding “friends” and clicking their mouse on various icons.

Up to 200 people can play each game, which starts in ancient times and ends beyond the space age. Each player has a city, and they can join a civilization to cooperate with other players on quests

and discoveries. They can also work together to create world wonders and vote to attack another civilization or defend their land. “Civ World” joins Facebook less than a week after “FarmVille” maker Zynga Inc. made a filing for its initial public offering of stock. The game was developed by Firaxis and published by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. “We are at the very early stages of the whole Facebook gaming phenomenon,” Meier said. “‘Civ World’ is taking a more game-oriented approach.

It’s a really new idea that we are trying, and we don’t know if this will appeal to ‘FarmVille’ players or ‘Civilization’ players.” If its creators succeeded, “Civ World” will do both. — AP

Tech leaders ponder future of mobile By 2014 one-third of Americans will own a tablet

SEOUL: An employee of Samsung Electronics works at its showroom in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. — AP

China’s Apple iPad frenzy triggers wave of smuggling HONG KONG: In a crowded multistoreyed marketplace in downtown Shenzhen, a store owner haggles with a cigarette-smoking customer over the price for a bulk sale. They are not bargaining over fake watches or counterfeit leather bags, but genuine Apple iPads and iPhones- freshly smuggled from Hong Kong, a free port with zero duties for many electronics imports.

“This is real stuff that just arrived.

We just got these off someone’s waist strap,” said the storeowner, whose surname is Xu, while the customer ran his fingers through a stash of cash upon closing the deal to buy a dozen iPhone 4s.

Xu’s store, with its glass display in a hall full of electronics sellers, is a far cry from Apple’s signature spacious, white outlets. But iPhones and iPads are flying off the shelf, thanks to discounts on the official price tag.

With Apple’s gadgets becoming a status symbol among rich Chinese, businessmen like Xu are meeting insatiable demand by smuggling from Hong Kong, where the currency is weaker than the yuan and tariffs are virtually zero.

Storeowners such as Xu take advantage of the price difference of Apple products in Hong Kong and China. For example, an iPad 2 costs HK$3,888 ($499), or the equivalent of 3,215 yuan, in an Apple retail store in Hong Kong, but its official price in China is 3,688 yuan ($572).

Most unauthorised resellers set a price somewhere in bet ween to attract buyers. “When customers ask us about maintenance, we just tell them, don’t worry, these are all real from Hong Kong and they won’t go faulty,” said Xu, with about 5 iPads stacked beside him on his glass display filled with rows of phones from Nokia , Samsung Electronics and HTC. Apple products are so popular in China that Morgan Stanley forecast its sales in the country, the world’s largest mobile phone market, could exceed $9 billion in the year ending September 2012.

That will be up sharply from just $2.9 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Apple only has four official retail outlets in Beijing and Shanghai, but fake stores that look like the real thing have also sprouted across Chinese cities, such as Kunming in southwestern China.

Chinese officials in Kunming

ordered two fake Apple shops to close, a local newspaper reported on Monday, an apparent reaction to a storm of media attention about an unauthorised and elaborate hoax store in the southwestern city. “The official supply in China is not sufficient yet,” said Dickie Chang, a senior market analyst of research firm IDC in Hong Kong. “ The brand image of Apple is very good, especially in the media tablet market.”

Media reports said in June customs authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen broke several smuggling rings that tried to illegally ship over 300 computers, including a large number of iPads, worth 1.5 billion yuan ($230 million).

Police arrested several ringleaders who had hoped to avoid paying 240 million yuan worth of taxes for the products, the reports said. Shenzhen authorities were unavailable for comment.

Some dealers engage so-called student “mules” to do the job. These are basically Chinese students living in Shenzhen who commute daily to schools in neighbouring Hong Kong to carry the Apple products across the border, while others smuggle in bigger quantities using logistics companies, industry sources said.

“I used to carry one brand new iPad or iPhone when I go back to China,” said Desmond, a university student from Shenzhen studying in Hong Kong, who declined to give his last name. “I’m not afraid of being caught. At most I’ll just pay the taxes, let them strip off the plastic cover to convince them that it’s for my own use.”

Desmond said he sold some of the iPhones and iPads on China’s largest online mall Taobao.com and earned as much as 300-400 yuan apiece.

Some students collect an iPad or iPhone a day from Hong Kong suppliers, put it in their schoolbags and pass through immigration to deliver it to stores like those in the multistoreyed complex where Xu has set up shop, industry sources said.

Students who are willing to take a bigger chance sometimes strap several iPhones around their waists and wear an oversized jacket to escape the eyes of custom officials, they said. A video clip clandestinely filmed by a Hong Kong newspaper tracking the entire iPad smuggling process by students is available on YouTube. — Reuters

ASPEN: The pace of innovation and change in mobile devices is so dizzying it is difficult to predict the winning platforms and products of the next few years.

With that caveat, a panel of technology executives and experts nevertheless took out their crystal balls on Wednesday at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in this Colorado resort to take a glimpse into the mobile future.

Before an audience of movers and shakers from Silicon Valley and elsewhere, they looked at trends among smartphones and the fastgrowing market for tablet computers pioneered by Apple’s iPad. “I’d say that whatever we can imagine in this room right now will be possible in five years,” said George Colony, founder and chief executive of technology and market research company Forrester.

“Everyone will have smartphones within four years, all over the world, it’ll be so cheap,” Colony said. “By 2014 we believe that one-third of Americans will own a tablet.”

Frank Meehan, founder of handset maker INQ Mobile, repeatedly brought up the futuristic Steven Spielberg film “Minority Report” to describe the possibilities on the horizon for mobile devices.

In the 2002 film, star Tom Cruise notably

moves pictures, documents and video around on an interactive screen at lightning speed using just hand motions.

Colony traced the evolution of the user interface for mobile devices to the current touchscreen technology popularized by the iPhone and iPad and pondered what might come next. “Microsoft could take the Kinect technology and that could be the next big change,” he said of the motion-sensing XBox 360 game controller from the US software giant.

“If you look back at over 30 years of tech, all of the big changes have come through changes in user interface,” Colony said. “Always look to user interface if you want to understand where the thunderstorm will be.”

Stephen Hoover, chief executive of PARC, Xerox’s legendary research and development unit, said next-generation mobile capability will involve the seamless “integration of the physical and digital worlds.”

Mobile devices will be able to provide “the information that’s most relevant to me now, physically where I am, and in the context of what I’m trying to do,” Hoover said.

“We’re at the cusp of really being able to integrate all of these different sources of data and understand people’s intention in context

and give them the information that’s useful at the time they need it,” he said.

Todd Bradley, executive vice president of US computer giant Hewlett-Packard, agreed and said mobile devices will possess an ability to deliver what he called a “ubiquitous experience.”

He spoke of “the ubiquity of a device that knows I’m at Starbucks and that I read The New York Times when I’m at Starbucks.” The US coffee chain is already allowing patrons in the United States to pay for their lattes with mobile phones, and the Fortune Brainstorm panelists said they expect huge growth over the coming years in mobile payments.

“I actually wonder if the lead in mobile isn’t going to come from Asia,” said Meehan. “In China, in India, in Indonesia the mobile operator is your source of cash.”

Hoover said the increasingly powerful cameras built into mobile phones and tablets will provide all sorts of other opportunities. “You look at the quality of the cameras today in the device and the power that they have and there’s a lot of things you can do with scene recognition,” he said. “I hold up a camera to the sign of the restaurant and get recommendations,” Hoover said. “We have that technology today, it’s about putting it together.” — AFP

News

in brief

Google buys 1,000 IBM patents NEW YORK: Google has bought about 1,000 issued and pending patents from IBM in its quest to shore up its defenses against suits by other technology companies, according to documents filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Google Inc. and IBM Corp. spokesmen wouldnít reveal how much Google paid or why IBM was selling the patents. The patents cover a range of technologies, many of which have little to do with Googleís Internet search and advertising business. One covers ways of automatically adjusting a clock, another deals with surface treatments for electrical contacts. Earlier this month, Google participated in an auction for a collection of 6,000 patents from Nortel, a bankrupt Canadian maker of telecommunications equipment. It was outbid by a consortium including Apple that paid $4.5 billion.

Stereo triangle BERLIN: Music and film enthusiasts take very seriously the sound they listen to and look for the optimal position for their listening pleasure. In technical terms, they are searching for the “sweet spot,” according to the hi-fi trade organization High End Society.

This “sweet spot” can be found with the help of a so-called stereo triangle.

This is an imaginary equilateral triangle, the lower corner being considered the optimal listening position with the speakers being placed in the other two corners. Those who own speakers for home cinema can also include these in the model and place them behind the determined seating location. Should the “sweet spot” not be found by experimenting, then the open source software Sweet Spotter could be of help. It determines the spot with use of a computer, web cam and speaker.

Buying Blu-ray drive BERLIN: Before buying a Blu-ray drive, users should test to make sure their computer is powerful enough to display the HD content. There is a free programme from BD & 3D Advisor that can be downloaded to determine if your system can handle 3D pictures.

The test concludes with a detailed listing of which components are suitable and which - if possible - must be replaced. The minimum standards for HD and 3D are available both for processor as well as the main memory (RAM) and graphic card or chip. The latter, for example, must support the so-called DHCP encryption and have a HDMI connection. The standards are valid both for drives built into PCs and external hard drives for laptops.

BANGALORE: Douglas Crockford, senior JavaScript architect at Yahoo!, speaks to a group of people during ‘Open Hack India’, a 24-hour non-stop hacking event organised by Yahoo! India R&D, in Bangalore yesterday. Open Hack provides a platform for the developer community to build applications and product ideas from scratch using market-leading technologies from Yahoo! as well as other technologies, to develop innovative new products. — AFP

Recycling computer hardware BERLIN: When your computer outlives its usefulness, do you sell it, donate it or take it to the dump? Those are the standard options. But a new do-it-yourself movement is offering something else, an afterlife.

Today’s hardware is often outdated after just a few years, meaning it’s time to get more modern equipment. But instead of just getting rid of your old machines, try to find another use for them. In some parts of the world, like Europe, there are programmes designed to encourage technical reincarnation. Recycling of electronics and electronic components is “essential” for the environment, according to EU waste guidelines.

And, when it comes to reusing electronics, the sky is the limit. Here are some suggestions: Put some housing on your hard drive: This one is very easy to implement. Even if it’s just a 20-gigabyte (GB) drive, an old hard drive is ideal as an external drive for data backups. All you need is a housing with a USB connection, available for just a few euros in most stores.

You’ll need a 3.5-inch version for PC hard drives or a 2.5-inch version for laptop hard drives. Be careful when setting up the connections. Older drives use the IDE plug while newer ones use a SATA plug.

Even if your notebook or PC lacks a USB 3.0 port, it’s still worthwhile to buy a housing that supports the newer, faster USB standard.

Turn a computer into a network drive: Old PCs or unused laptops or netbooks can be turned into a home network drive. First, take out everything that’s unnecessary and uses up power. That means graphics, sound and video cards. For software, Manuel Schreiber of the German computer magazine Chip recommends using an old Windows license with the freeware FileZilla server. When installing, pick the option “Install as a service started with Windows,” so that the programme starts with Windows. Users who want to access the miniserver need the free FTP client FileZilla.

Turn your PC into a media centre: If you don’t have a digital video recorder or a network-capable receiver, turn your PC into your living room’s home movie centre for accessing movies, pictures, music or internet radio. If your computer doesn’t have the

appropriate TV connections, like HDMI, Schreiber recommends buying a cheap graphics card with the proper ports.

The software you’ll need to set up the media centre is usually free, like the open source MediaPortal, which can work with a variety of remote controls. It also comes with a variety of skins and plug-ins. Some of those expansions include emulators, little programmes that simulate the consoles of old computers, like the Amiga, and then pull up the appropriate games. Thus, your media centre also becomes a gaming console.

Routers into repeaters: An old wi-fi router still has a long life ahead of it. For example, it can be repurposed as a repeater, or signal amplifier, to expand the reach of a house’s wi-fi network. That expanded signal can then, for example, reach into upper storeys or the garden.

This works best using the wireless distribution system (WDS) with a router made by the same manufacturer. Routers that don’t support WDS can often be turned into repeaters using the free Linux software DD-WRT. Laptop as second monitor: If you need a second monitor and have an old laptop handy, turn that mobile computer into a second screen for your PC. Since laptops have no video input, you’ll need special software like Maxivista. This installs a virtual graphics card onto your PC and tricks Windows into thinking that an additional monitor has been connected to the computer, says developer Gunnar Bartels.

This forces the operating system to expand the desktop over both graphics cards. The virtual graphics card then sends its part of the desktop to the notebook via LAN or wi-fi, where the second desktop half is then displayed.

Processors as fridge magnets: Computer power can be turned into holding power. Thus, a wellaffixed magnet can turn an old processor and other chips into refrigerator magnets. This simple and decorative idea was the result of a hardware hacking contest by German computer magazine c’t. Cooling elements of processors or graphics cards can also make great business card or letter holders. — dpa

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Canada not liable for tobacco health costs: High court OTTAWA: The Canadian government does not share liability with tobacco companies for smok ing-related health costs, the Supreme Cour t ruled unanimously yesterday. The ruling concerned two cases where the high court was asked to intervene in order to determine whether the government should be held liable at all for costs related to smokers’ health problems.

“The facts as pleaded do not bring Canada’s relationship with consumers and the tobacco companies within a settled category of negligent misrepresentation,” the court

decision read. In the first case, smokers in the western province of British Columbia launched a class-action lawsuit against Imperial Tobacco’s Canadian unit, saying the company’s description of cigarettes as “light” or “mild” was misleading.

They sought reimbursement from Imperial for the cigarettes they have smoked, and demanded damages.

Imperial responded by asking that the federal government be added as a defendant because of its support for light cigarettes. The second case concerned a lawsuit British Columbia had filed against 14 tobacco manu-

facturers, including Rothmans, R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris seeking refund of the money the province spent on health care for tobaccorelated diseases.

In both cases, tobacco companies said the Canadian government had played a role because of its regulation of its industry, taxation and support for warning labels to be placed on packets of tobacco products.

Imperial alleged that Canada “negligently represented the health attributes of low-tar cigarettes to consumers.”

And in both cases, the tobacco

companies said the government had made “negligent misrepresentations” to them. The nine justices of the Supreme Court rejected the companies’ demands, reversing 2009 rulings in their favor granted by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. “ The government of Canada is pleased with today’s Supreme Court of Canada decision,” said the countr y ’s minister of health, Leona Aglukkaq, in a statement yesterday. “ The cour t’s unanimous decision makes it clear that Canadian taxpayers will not be liable for the claims made against tobacco companies,”

she added.

The tobacco industry criticized the decision and accused Canadian authorities of being “complicit” in the actions of cigarette companies.

“It is astounding that the government of Canada can step away from its responsibilities and leave tobacco producers to bear the full brunt of these allegations, when it has been fully complicit in all aspects of the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products for decades,” s a i d D ona l d M c Ca r t y, I m p e r i a l Tobacco Canada’s Vice President of Law. —AFP

New antibody propels hunt for universal flu vaccine Once tested in human system, antibodies work even better WASHINGTON: The first human antibody that can knock out all influenza A viruses has been shown effective in lab mice, an exciting step forward in the hunt for a universal vaccine, researchers said yesterday. The broadly neutralizing antibody, called FI6, could help vaccinate people against the flu without scientists struggling to piece together a new cocktail each season to match the often-changing strains.

Antonio Lanzavecchia, lead author of the study published this week in the US journal Science, described the finding as “significant,” but noted it may be five years before it can be made into a widely available treatment.

“The antibody works not only by neutralizing the virus, which we knew, but also by recruiting killer cells to the virus-infected cells,” Lanzavecchia, director of Switzerland’s Institute for Research in Biomedicine, told AFP in a phone interview.

“This suggests that once tested in a human system, the antibodies should work even better.”

The antibody was found in plasma cells from a human donor.

When given to mice heavily dosed with flu viruses, it was able to knock out the illness, offering hope for use as a remedy in people who get infected with the flu.

The discovery was made by using newly patented technolo-

gy to screen hundreds of thousands of plasma cells in order to isolate the rare ones that produced the antibody. “We are convinced that this is a very rare specificity but it is a very potent antibody,” said Lanzavecchia, who is also chief scientific officer at patent-holder Humlabs.

“The method was really the key to get this very rare antibody.” The antibody was tested in all 16 subtypes of A flu viruses and consistently worked against the often-changing hemagglutinin (HA), the protein that is on the virus’s surface. Mice and ferrets recovered from what would have otherwise been a lethal dose of flu virus when they were given the antibody within two days of infection.

British virologist John Skehel, at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, said the finding may eliminate the need

to combine different antibodies into a single shot against the flu every season. “In terms of designing a vaccine, the main advantage of this completely crossreactive antibody is that you can focus on the region of HA recognized by one antibody, rather than having to piece together structures from different antibodies,” Skehel said in an email.

“In terms of therapeutic use, progress may be quicker, and will move toward clinical trials of the antibody very similar to those required before use of anti-viral drugs.” Flu pandemics are unpredictable, and millions of people around the world are infected annually with seasonal flu varieties that can be lethal for those with weak immune systems, including children, the elderly and pregnant women.

The spread of A(H1N1), or “swine flu,” killed at least 18,449 people and affected some 214

countries and territories after it was uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April 2009. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic on June 11, 2009. The event was formally over on August 10, 2010.

Lanzavecchia said “unpredictability of new pandemics highlights the need for better treatments that target all influenza viruses.” The next steps are to try to develop the antibodies into a treatment for flu-infected people, while scientists use the findings to work toward developing a vaccine that could coax the body into producing such antibodies.

“We have a low-hanging fruit, which is the antibody itself and the potential use of the antibody as a drug,” he said. “Then we have the long-term project, which is the use of the information obtained from the antibody to make a vaccine.” —AFP

Myriad can patent breast cancer genes WASHINGTON: A federal appeals court yesterday ruled in favor of Myriad Genetics after a legal battle over whether the US company could keep its patent on genes linked to an inherited form of breast cancer. The ruling overturns a lower court’s decision and allows the Utah-based company to maintain its patents on the isolated genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, despite complaints from rights groups who say it creates an unfair monopoly and limits women’s health choices.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided such patents on isolated DNA molecules could be held, in accordance with the “longstanding practice” of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), over the past 29 years. The 2-1 court ruling also said the company cannot patent five broadly framed processes of comparing or analyzing DNA sequences because they were “abstract mental processes.”

However, a Myriad spokeswoman said that aspect of the ruling did not hurt the company’s ability to test for the isolated genes. “Our intellectual property position today is no different than before the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) even brought this case,” Rebecca Chambers, head of investor relations, told AFP. She said the company still has 232 method claims, or steps that explain exactly how to test, “as part of 23 patents which describe how we go about doing the BRAC analysis test that were not even part of this lawsuit.” Backed by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, Myriad obtained a series of US patents in the mid-1990s on two genes-BRCA1 and BRCA2 — strongly associated with hereditary forms of breast and ovarian cancer in women. According to the National Cancer Institute, 12 percent of women in the general population will develop breast cancer in their lifetimes, compared to 60 percent of women who have inherited a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. With ovarian cancer, 1.4 percent of women may be diagnosed in their lifetimes but the number rises to 15-40 percent of women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

The patents held by Myriad mean the company owns the “exclusive right to perform diagnostic tests on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and to prevent any researcher from even looking at the genes without first getting permission from Myriad,” the ACLU said in a statement. A key complaint in the lawsuit, was filed in 2009 by a coalition of patient advocacy and medical groups represented by the ACLU, was that the company wielded too much control over the tests and costs.

“Myriad’s monopoly on the BRCA genes makes it impossible for women to access alternate tests or get a comprehensive second opinion about their results. It also allows Myriad to charge a high price for its tests,” ACLU lawyer Sandra Park told AFP. The ACLU was consulting with its clients and would make a decision soon about whether to appeal to the full 12member court of appeals for the federal circuit or to bring the matter before the Supreme Court, she said.

Analyst Robert Cook-Deegan of the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy at Duke University in North Carolina, said he expected the legal battle would continue over whether human DNA is something that can be patented and owned.

“This is probably not the last stage in this game,” he said. “The fact that all three judges have given very different lines of reasoning does suggest to me that there is going to be another round to go here.”

If the matter reaches the Supreme Court, he said the outcome would be “very unpredictable.” But the ruling was expected to make few waves in the biotech industry or on the US stock market. “The impact of the federal circuit decision in the Myriad case on the biotech industry should be minimal,” said biotech intellectual property lawyer Roberte Marie Makowski.

“At least for now, this decision provides a level of certainty for the industry’s existing patents and research endeavors.”

Biotech companies first began patenting genes and genetic material in the 1980s. More than 20 percent of the 24,000 human gene patents granted since then have been in the United States. —AFP

WHITEHOUSE STATION: In this photograph taken by AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation - Protesters from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation tell Merck to “Do the Right Thing!” on drug pricing outside Merck Headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. on Driday. —AP

Australia to probe asylum seeker suicides SYDNEY: Australia said it would probe the high number of suicides and self-harm incidents among asylum seekers in immigration detention centres, including at the strife-hit Christmas Island site. The country’s chief Ombudsman Allan Asher said he was alarmed about the impact of longterm detention on mental health after more than 1,100 cases of threatened or actual self-harm were reported in the 12 months to June.

“I was myself on Christmas Island at the end of June and there were 30 incidents in that week, and then across Australia in the first week of July, 50 incidents,” Asher told ABC television late Thursday. “We think there is something seriously wrong that needs to be looked at.”

Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers arriving by boat, but has softened its stance in recent years to allow more women and children into the community as their refugee claims are assessed. The move has left centres, including the remote Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, with a large population of males now separated from their families, said Louise Newman, chair of the Detention Health Advisory Group.

Newman said there have been five suicides in detention since September 2010, adding that almost every night one young man somewhere in the system attempts to hang himself. “We all know that things are probably much worse in there then they have been for some time,” Newman told AFP. “We’ve seen virtually every night at the

moment somewhere in the system is a near-miss suicide. “We’ve had outbreaks of group self-harming behaviour, people joining together to harm themselves.”

According to data obtained by the ABC, the situation has become so serious at Christmas Island that staff have been told to carry knives at all times so they can cut down detainees who have tried to hang themselves.

The immigration department said it would be inappropriate for operational reasons to comment on the kit carried by those working in immigration detention, but it noted that any reports of self-harm were of concern. It said it would cooperate fully with the probe which will look at the extent of the problem, gather demographic data about those involved as well as the length of time they spent in detention.

The inquiry will also examine whether attempted or successful suicides and incidents of self-harm could trigger other incidents among inmates. Newman said self-harming behaviour could be “very contagious”. “When you get a group of distressed people in a confined environment, things spread and escalate very rapidly,” she said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose government this week signed an agreement to send 800 boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for accepting 4,000 of that country’s refugees, refused to be drawn on the independent probe. But she said the government had stepped up measures to help those with mental health issues in detention. —AFP

MALUKU: Residents seen washing food and utensils in the waters of the Congo river near the village of Ngamanzo in the municipality of Maluku, Kinshasa province. The area is under surveillance by medical officials for signs of Cholera following an epidemic last March that started at Kisangani in the north-east before spreading west, along the Congo River infecting some 3,700 and killing more than 250. —AFP

Breast cancer death rates declining in many countries LONDON: Falling breast cancer death rates have little to do with breast screening but are down to better treatment and health systems, scientists said, in a study likely to fuel a long-running row over the merits of mammograms. Researchers analysed data from three pairs of countries in Europe and found that although breast cancer screening programmes had been introduced 10 to 15 years earlier in some areas than in others, declines in death rates were similar.

The findings suggest that “improvements in treatment and in the efficiency of healthcare systems may be more plausible explanations” for falling deaths rates from breast cancer, they wrote in a study in the British Medical Journal. World Health Organisation (WHO) data show that deaths from breast cancer are decreasing in the United States, Australia, and most Nordic and western European countries but breast screening is a hot topic among experts who disagree about whether nationwide mammogram programmes do more harm than good.

The fear among some is that over-diagnosis-when screening picks up tumours that would never have presented a problemmay mean many women are undergoing unnecessary radical treatment, suffering the physical and psychological impact of a breast cancer diagnosis that would otherwise not have come up. But sweeping changes in US guidelines two years ago that scaled back recommendations on breast screening caused an uproar among patient and doctors groups who said they put women at risk. That was swiftly followed by two conflicting European studies which further fuelled the row.

The first, by Danish scientists, found that breast cancer screening programmes of the type run by health services in Europe, the United States and other rich nations do nothing to reduce death rates from the disease, while the second, by a British team, found “substantial and significant reduction in breast cancer deaths” due to screening.

Then last month, researchers who conducted the longest ever breast cancer screening said it showed that regular mammograms prevent deaths from breast cancer, and that the number of lives saved increases over time.

Every year, breast cancer kills around 500,000 people globally and is diagnosed in close to 1.3 million people. For this study, researchers from Britain, France and Norway used WHO data to compare trends in breast cancer death rates within three pairs of countries - Northern Ireland versus Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands versus Belgium and Flanders, and Sweden versus Norway.

Each pair had similar healthcare services and similar levels of risk factors for breast cancer mortality, but were different in that mammography screening was implemented about 10 to 15 years later in the second country of each pair. The team, lead by Philippe Autier of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, said they expected that reductions in breast cancer death rates would show up earlier in countries where screening was introduced sooner, but their analysis in fact showed little difference. The findings showed that from 1989 to 2006, deaths from breast cancer fell by 29 percent in Northern Ireland and 26 Percent in the Republic of Ireland; by 25 percent in the Netherlands, 20 percent in Belgium and 25 percent in Flanders; and by 16 percent in Sweden and 24 percent in Norway. “ Tre n d s i n b re a s t c a n ce r m o r t a l i t y r a te s v a r i e d l i t t l e b e t we e n c o u n t r i e s w h e re wo m e n h a d b e e n s c re e n e d b y mammography for a considerable time compared with those where women were largely unscreened,” Autier’s team wrote.

“This is in sharp contrast with the temporal difference of 10 to 15 years in implementation of mammography screening a n d s u g g e s t s t h a t s c re e n i n g h a s n o t played a direct part in the reductions of breast cancer mortality.” —Reuters

SAVELUGU: In this March 9, 2007 photo, a guinea worm is extracted by a health worker from a child’s foot at a containment center in Savelugu, Ghana. Jimmy Carter watched in horror as the worm emerged from the breast of a woman in remote northern Ghana. That was in the 1980s. The former US president dedicated himself to eradicating the sickness and estimated it would take 10 years. On Thursday, after 23 years of hard work and a major setback, Ghana finally declared victory. —AP

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Nurse struggles to save starving Somali children DADAAB: Nurse Serat Amin works in the world’s largest refugee camp treating the stream of starving children coming into Kenya from famine-struck Somalia, and although he has painful memories of the children who have died, watching the weak get stronger gives him the courage to carry on. “You can see if a child is getting better just from the face of the parent,” he said. “Making a difference is what keeps me here.”

Amin works at a stabilization ward at the International Rescue Committee hospital in the Dadaab refugee camp, where dozens of tiny children with stickthin limbs and oversize heads loll on plastic mattresses.

Mothers use their fringed shawls to flap the humid aid around their babies’ faces while patient nurses poke intravenous needles into tiny hands. Amin, walking about the ward in his yellow T-shirt, knows them all.

“Most come in here very sick. Mihag was unconscious when he came,” said Amin, speaking of a tiny 7-monthold the same size as an infant. “But today he is picking up a bit.” The child, which weighed as much as a newborn when he arrived, has put on 3.5 ounces (100 grams) in the past few days. The wailing babies are weighed in a wicker basket suspended from the ceiling.

The U.N. says parts of Somalia held by Islamist rebels are suffering from famine, and a total of 11.3 million people in the Horn of Africa need aid. Amin said the situation is the worst he’s seen it - they’ve had up to 42 babies

in his ward for malnourished babies at a time, a sevenfold increase at the hospital since the beginning of the year. The hospital is just one of three treating Somalis refugees in Dadaab camp. Most of the children are also suffering from pneumonia and other diseases after hunger weakened their immune systems. That’s particularly painful for Amin: his own cousin lost his eyesight after suffering from malnutrition and measles. It’s what led him into nutritional medicine in the first place. Now the wards are full of hungry babies with medical complications. On Friday, there were eight more patients than beds, so women had to share overnight. “I’ve asked UNICEF to come with some tents so we can set them up outside and start treating more people,” said Amin. The children come in with two types of malnutrition: marasmus, or straightforward starvation where the child is so thin its skin stands up in folds when pinched, and kwashiorkor, where the child has had food but no protein or nutrients.

Habiba Dubow’s son Abdirahman is one year old and weighs nearly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms). He should weigh 22 pounds (10 kilograms). He is so thin his tiny ribs are clear through his skin and they barely lift with his breathing. When his mother takes his shirt off, his limbs flop back onto the bed and his eyes roll back in his head until only the whites are showing. He is too weak to cry.

“We walked here for 20 days after we lost all our cat-

tle,” she said. “He got sick on the way.” The kwashiorkor children often have peeling skin or sores, swelling of the limbs or stomach and reddish hair, like Hamud Mohamed Abdi. The 2-year-old also weighs only half what he should for his age, but doctors say he is improving and might go home next week if he can get extra food every day. His parents are rail-thin themselves.

The weakest children can’t even hold onto their mothers’ breasts to get milk and are fed through tubes in their noses. The U.N. says it is the worst emergency in Somalia since the famine in the early 90s that triggered an international intervention that ended after two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters were shot down.

“This influx of severe cases we have not seen before,” Abdi said. Most have recently arrived in Kenya from Somalia, a war-ravaged nation which has not had a stable central government for more than 20 years. The refugees arrive on foot, or packed into dented minivans, praying that gunmen won’t rob them or rape their daughters before they arrive at the overflowing camp, where nearly 400,000 people have sought refuge.

Among them was a couple who arrived at Amin’s ward with twins. One had taken sick on the journey and was barely clinging to life. He slipped away in just a few hours. Amin said it made him want to cry for all day.

From time to time he sees the parents, and he always makes a point of going to speak with them.

“The situation goes with you when you go home,” he said. “I think that for every life we save in this hospital, there are so many more behind them we can’t reach.”

The UN has warned that routes out of Somalia are turning into ‘roads of death’ after parents were forced to leave dead children along the roadside. The ones who make it to Kenya but are too hungry, too sick or too weak to survive are buried in a small sandy graveyards near the hospital compound.

Most graves have no markers apart from thorny branches piled on top of the mounds. Plastic trash bags catch in the thorns, fluttering in the wind. The earth on many of them is fresh but the small sandy hills soon drift back into the ground. nearby children play football or fly small kites made from twigs and discarded plastic bags.

But most children survive with treatment, even those whose own parents have already let go. “There was a child we treated last year - Aden - we had to treat him intensively for seven days. We didn’t know if he would make it. His father and grandmother said, why are you taking him? He is already almost dead. Now he’s walking around and his dad is talking about school,” said Amin. “Sometimes you are walking in the camp and someone calls you by your name and you don’t recognize them, but they come up and thank you for helping their child.” — AFP

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Wee Accept W Accept All All Major Ma ajjor IInsuramce nsuramce C Cards ards FARWANIYA FA ARWANIYYA - OPP OPP. P. POLICE POL LICE STATION ST TATION T Behind B ehind Magadheer Magadheer Commercial Comm mercial Complex Complex

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shifakuwait@gmail.com shifak uwait@g gmail.com w www.shifakuwait.com ww.shifakuwait.com Workiing Hours: 8.00 am m to to 12:00am Working

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W H AT ’ S O N Announcements Attention kids!

CEF VBS 11 starting from August 22nd 2011. Six exciting days of singing, games & bible stories for children of all ages. Hurry !!!. Limited Seats.

Register Online: www.cefkuwait.org

Soul & Spice Restaurant offers Ramadan packages

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Congratulations

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assam Barakat, father of the groom and Azam Saleh Hamdan, father of the bride celebrated the wedding of their son Ahmed and daughter Dua recently in Kuwait. Friends and well wishers attended the reception.

oul & Spice Restaurant at the Cour tyard by Marriott Kuwait Hotel, will be offering special Ramadan packages for families to celebrate the Holy month of Ramadan this year.

Soul & Spice Restaurant will offer diners and guests special Ramadan Family style Iftar menus featuring appetizers, main courses and desser ts. During Sohour, get a chance to enter weekly raffle draws to win a free trip to the majestic country of India and stays at Marriott Hotels and Resorts! Tickets are sponsored by Etihad Airways and Jet Airways. Also, get entertained with live traditional Indian music enjoy traditional of exotic patterns with the latest henna trends free of charge creatively applied to your hands!

Soul and Spice are offering dishes ranging from Chicken Kebab to Jhinga Biryani and much more. The evening can end with the traditional Indian desserts such as the Kaju kulfi with Gulab jamun.

Chef Raj, head chef at Soul and Spice restaurant said, “We invite all to join us at the Soul & Spice Restaurant to experience the delectable Indian dishes that

Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. So step forward to grab this opportunity to show your caliber and entertain. Dance, music, art or any special talent- now is your chance to showcase it and be part of this year’s Talent Hunt & Tulu Parba.

Talent Hunt event is open to all Tuluvas. For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva- 23726164, Suma Bhatt- 97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana66585077 Sanath Shetty- 67712409.

Pathanamthitta’s Onam The executive committee of Pathanamthitta District Association has decided to hold 2011 Onam Festival celebrations on Friday October 28, 2011 with a grand public function attended by Member of Parliament from Pathanamthitta Loksabha Constituency, Anto Antony and other prominent dignitaries from Kerala and Kuwait. All residents of Pathanamthitta District and persons of Pathanamthitta District origin are hereby invited to attend this function and friends and families.

have been prepared for Iftar and Sohour during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Exclusive for Iftar we have introduced family style tailored menus that include a wide array of delicious foods.”

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 4-A-Side “Rink Soccer Fiesta” in Kuwait! This event is for the soccer lovers in Kuwait and will be played on a League (round robin) cum knock out basis from August 2nd at the IEAS Quadrangle in Salmiya. 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.

Nandhanam School of Dance holds free summer camp

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ith the vision of promoting Indian culture and values among children, Nandhanam School of Dance & Music conducted its first free month-long Summer Camp 2011 in Abbassiya. Over 100 students participated

the month-long camp where they were trained on the basic and key aspects of various Indian classical dance forms and music forms including a session on yoga. The camp concluded on July 21, 2011, with well choreographed and dynamic performances

by the students in the presence of their parents. Nruthabhushanam Shyamala, Kalamandalam Krishnendhu and Gouri Sharada, the proficient and well experienced teachers of Nandhanam, distributed certificates to the participants. According

to the teachers, the children showed enthusiasm to learn with good team spirit among the students. It was a very enjoyable camp and a good gesture for our culture and values. Nayana Santhosh expressed thanks to parents for their continuous support.

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: 66069282, Liston: 9984-9649

Aware Arabic courses

Fr Kurian Karippal arrives in Kuwait

Malankara Orthodox Church welcomes Fr Joshua

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piritual leader and one of the foremost orators of Malankara Orthodox Church, Rev Dr. T. J. Joshua arrived in Kuwait on 29 July afternoon on a thirteen-day visit to the city. On his arrival at the airport, he was given a warm welcome by the members of the Mar Gregorios Movement; Vicar and Associate Vicar, Trustee and Secretary of St.Gregorios Indian Orthodox Maha Edavaka, Kuwait and Vicar, Trustee and Secretary of St Thomas Orthodox

Church, Ahmadi and lots of his well wishers.

During the 15-day lent (Shoonoyo Noyambu) from 31 July to 8 August 2011; in conjunction with SGIOME, Mar Gregorios Movement is organizing the Spiritual Convention and Rev. Dr. T. J. Joshua will be sharing his rich experience, spiritual thoughts and reflections on different subjects.

Theme of the Convention is God in Man’s Experience. MGM is pleased to invite you & your family.

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ev Fr Kurian Thomas Karippal, Director of OBVS - Outside Kerala Region (OKR), arrived in Kuwait. Fr Kurian Thomas, a talented and gifted musician from Sruti School of Liturgical Music, is here to lead OVBS-2011 organized by the St Gregarious Indian Orthodox Maha Edavaka. He is from a noble family of Karippal, Vakathanam, Kottayam.

OVBS will be conducted from 4th to 18th August at NECK premises based on the theme “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1. The OVBS choir under the leadership of Fr Kurian Thomas and Mrs Jessy Jaison will lead the song session.

Vicar Fr Jose Mathew and Associate vicar Fr George C. Varghese have urged all parents of the Maha Edavaka to

ensure that their children attend OBVS2011 which will be filled with lots of activities and songs in various languages to the tunes and rhythms of the OVBS band.

Fr Kurian Thomas was welcomed at the airport by Fr Jose Mathew, Vicar of the Maha Edavaka and Parish office bearers Jose Daniel (Trustee), John George (Secretary), Kurien Varghese (Sunday School Headmaster), Shaji Thankachan (OVBS Superintendent), Samuel Chacko (Deputy Superintendent), Cizil Chacko (Sunday School Secretary), Church Managing Committee members and OVBS organizing committee members.

The vicar and associate vicar along with the members of Maha Edavaka wish Fr Kurian Thomas a pleasant and blessed stay in Kuwait.

“The AWARE Management is glad to announce that Ramadan Arabic language courses will begin on August 7th till September 15th, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community.

We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight ● Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics ● Better prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic ● Combine language learning with cultural insights ● Taught in multi-nationality group settings ● Provide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, call 25335260 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

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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.

The outstanding students in a group photo with Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Abdelmohsin Al Mulaifi & NBK’s Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Bank & Community Committee, Nasser Musaed Al Sayer.

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EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will follow office hours during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Sunday to Thursday : 09:00 A.M 3:00 PM. Friday and Saturday : Weekly Holidays.

This is for information of all concerned.

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NBK’s Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Bank & Community Committee, Nasser Musaed Al Sayer in a speech to the outstanding students.

(Above and below ) Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Abdelmohsin Al Mulaifi and NBK’s Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Bank & Community Committee, Nasser Musaed Al Sayer honor outstanding students.

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 ■■■■■■■

NBK honors outstanding high school graduates

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nder the auspices of the Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Abdelmohsin Al Mulaifi, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) honored outstanding high school graduates in a ceremony held recently at Regency Palace, as part of NBK’s corporate social responsibility program.

Minister of Education and Higher

Education Ahmed Abdelmohsin Al Mulaifi praised NBK’s initiative in supporting Kuwait’s youth and sponsoring outstanding high school graduates for the academic year 2010/2011.

NBK’s Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Bank & Community Committee, Nasser Musaed Al Sayer stated: “NBK believes in recognizing and rewarding

merit and achievement. NBK regularly sponsors educational institutions and activities in Kuwait and feels that this strong commitment to the community and Kuwait’s youth is vital for the future development of the country.”

“NBK leads by example in the realm of Corporate Social Responsibility, regularly supporting students with training

programs, educational opportunities and awareness campaigns,” Al Sayer added.

NBK has honored Kuwait’s top 50 high school graduates for the academic year 2010-2011 in the Arts and Sciences, as well as honoring the top school graduate in Religious studies and private schools.

Experience Ramadan at the Radisson Blu Hotel

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his Ramadan, experience true Arabian hospitality on the world’s largest wooden dhow. Starting August 1st, the Al Hashemi II with its gold leaf interior will be the most stylish place to be. Come impress your clients and colleagues with this record breaking landmark and take advantage of our fantastic group offers.

What’s more, your family and friends will love our Indian restaurant, with its many colors and flavors... and is nestled around our wooden dhow! Iftar nights will be nights to remember thanks to the Rangoli restaurant. Arabic delicacies as well as international flavors will be awaiting you from sunset on.

Plus, we have perfect gifts for your clients and colleagues. Ramadan is the time of giving so do not forget to ask about our Company Gift Vouchers. We know how it’s done. After 27 years of professional service and of loyal support from both our local and expatriate friends, we sure know how to pamper during this Festive time of the year. We offer Outside Catering for events of all sizes, no matter how big or small and invite you to select your favorite courses amongst our rich and varied menu to put together a unique feast delectable to your taste.

Moreover, functions will never be easier to plan! But we will make sure that each requirement will be fulfilled with our fully catered Ramadan offers including welcome drinks, coffee break and Ramadan buffet.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

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EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF INDIA During the Holy month of Ramadan, the office timings of the Indian Passport and Visa Service Centres of BLS International Visa Services Co., Kuwait, situated at (a) Emad Commercial Centre, Basement Floor, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait, and (b) Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street, Fahaheel, Kuwait, will be from 8 am - 3 pm from Saturday to Thursday (i.e. six days a week). Embassy of India, Kuwait, will maintain its usual working hours.

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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.

Abdulla Al-Tuwaijri

NBK’s Ramadan working hours

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ational Bank of Kuwait (NBK), announced that NBK branches will open for customers in the morning shift only from 10:00 to 13:30 during the holy month of Ramadan.

NBK Deputy General Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Abdulla Al Najran Al Tuwaijri said that all NBK branches are ready to provide customers with all NBK services during the holy month.

Al- Tuwaijri stressed that NBK has taken all necessary measures to ensure providing customers with the best telephone, online and ATM services during the holy month of Ramadan.

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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 ■■■■■■■

YMCA free Malayalam class Nanma begins

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MCA free Malayalam Class “Nanma Malayalam - 2011” conducted in Salmiya Zone at the residence of Roy T. Sam was inaugurated by Vicar of CSI Church Rev. Binju Varghese Kuruvilla. Babu

Johnson (President), Parimanam Manoj (Gen. Secretary) also made a speech on this occasion. Mrs Linu Abraham conducted the class of Salmiya Zone.

Kuwait YMCA got a huge response for

conducting free Malayalam classes. Next week classes at Abassiya, Riggai, Fahaheel & Mangaf will begin. For registration and details contact 99498369, 97542985, 99607230, 99046731.

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA During the Holy month of Ramadan, the South African Embassy will be open to the public, Sunday through Thursday from 9 am to 14 pm. Please note that the Consular Section operation hours will be from 09:30 am to 12 noon, Sunday through Thursday.

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TV PROGRAMS With Andreas Viestad 21:30 The Naked Chef 22:55 Masterchef Australia 00:45 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Killer Crocs 03:30 Natural World 04:25 I’m Alive 05:20 Animal Cops Miami 06:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 07:00 Lemur Street 07:25 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Natural Born Hunters 09:10 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 09:35 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 10:05 My Cat from Hell 11:00 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 11:55 Crocodile Hunter 12:50 Great Ocean Adventures 13:45 Great Ocean Adventures 14:40 Cats 101 15:35 Austin Stevens Adventures 16:30 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 16:55 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 17:25 Escape to Chimp Eden 17:50 Escape to Chimp Eden 18:20 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 19:15 Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz 20:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 21:05 World Wild Vet 22:00 Planet Earth 22:55 Whale Wars 23:50 Mutant Planet

00:20 Robin Hood 01:05 The Weakest Link 01:50 The Weakest Link 02:35 How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin 03:25 Doctor Who 04:30 Tweenies 04:50 Balamory 05:10 Tikkabilla 05:40 Charlie And Lola 05:50 Tweenies 06:10 Balamory 06:30 Tikkabilla 07:00 Charlie And Lola 07:10 Tweenies 07:30 Balamory 07:50 Tikkabilla 08:20 Charlie And Lola 08:30 Tweenies 08:50 Balamory 09:10 Tikkabilla 09:40 Charlie And Lola 09:55 Doctor Who 10:55 Robin Hood 11:40 The Weakest Link 12:30 Casualty 13:20 Casualty 14:10 The Weakest Link 14:55 The Weakest Link 15:40 Doctors 17:40 Doctors 18:15 Robin Hood 19:00 Doctor Who 20:00 Ray Mears Goes Walkabout 20:50 Monarch Of The Glen 21:40 The Fixer 22:30 Spooks 23:20 Bleak House 23:50 Bleak House

00:45 Antiques Roadshow 03:10 Cash In The Attic USA 04:25 Come Dine With Me 06:50 Daily Cooks Challenge 07:20 Come Dine With Me 12:20 Come Dine With Me 13:10 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 15:15 New Scandinavian Cooking 16:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 17:20 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 17:45 New Scandinavian Cooking 19:00 Come Dine With Me 19:50 Come Dine With Me 20:40 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 21:05 New Scandinavian Cooking

00:00 00:10 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:10 02:30 03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:10 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10 13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News World Features Newsnight BBC World News World Features Talking Movies BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Click BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News World Features Talking Movies BBC World News World Features Dateline London BBC World News My Country BBC World News World Features BBC World News BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News World Features Women On War BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News Talking Movies BBC World News World Features BBC World News

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 01:20 Courage The Cowardly Dog 01:45 Eliot Kid 02:10 Ed, Edd n Eddy 02:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 03:00 The Powerpuff Girls 03:15 Chowder 03:40 The Secret Saturdays 04:05 Samurai Jack 04:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:55 Best Ed 05:20 Skunk Fu! 05:45 Cramp Twins 06:10 Eliot Kid 06:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 07:25 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:50 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 08:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 Best Ed 10:00 Samurai Jack 10:30 Samurai Jack 10:55 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 11:20 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 11:45 Robotboy 12:35 The Secret Saturdays 13:00 The Secret Saturdays

13:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 13:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 14:15 Bakugan: New Vestroia 14:40 Bakugan: New Vestroia 15:05 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 15:25 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 15:50 The Powerpuff Girls 16:10 The Powerpuff Girls 16:35 Adventure Time 17:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 17:40 Chowder 18:05 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 18:30 Eliot Kid 18:55 Chop Socky Chooks 19:20 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 19:45 Camp Lazlo 20:10 Squirrel Boy 20:35 Cow And Chicken 21:00 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:25 The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Adventure Time 22:25 Hero 108 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:00 The Best Of Backstory 00:30 World Sport 01:00 World Report 01:30 Icon 02:00 World Report 02:30 Inside Africa 03:00 Going Green 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 The Best Of The Situation Room 06:00 World Sport 06:30 Icon 07:00 World Report 07:30 The Best Of Backstory 08:00 World Report 08:15 CNN Marketplace Middle East 08:30 Earth’s Frontiers 09:00 World Report 09:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 09:30 The Boss 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Icon 11:00 African Voices 11:30 Talk Asia 12:00 Going Green 13:00 World Report 13:30 World Sport 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps 16:00 State Of The Union With Candy Crowley 17:00 International Desk 17:30 Inside Africa 18:00 The Boss 18:30 World Sport 19:00 Prism 19:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 20:00 International Desk 20:30 Earth’s Frontiers 21:00 World Report 21:30 Icon 22:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 23:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps

00:40 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 01:35 I Escaped Death 02:30 How Does It Work?

03:00 How It’s Made 03:25 How Does It Work?

03:55 How It’s Made 04:20 How Does It Work?

04:50 How It’s Made 05:15 How Does It Work?

05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 How Does It Work?

06:35 How It’s Made 07:00 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 07:50 Ultimate Car Build-Off 08:45 Sea City: Building The Impossible 09:40 River Monsters 10:30 River Monsters 11:25 Flying Wild Alaska 12:20 Pit Bulls And Parolees 13:15 LA Ink 14:10 Taking On Tyson

15:05 15:30 16:00 16:25 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 20:05 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Mythbusters Flying Wild Alaska Swamp Brothers Dirty Jobs Mythbusters I’m Alive I’m Alive I’m Alive

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 07:58 08:25 08:55 09:45 10:35 11:25 12:15 14:20 14:45 14:48 15:15 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:05 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Gadget Show Things That Move Things That Move Colony Building The Future Engineered Da Vinci’s Machines Catch It Keep It How Stuff’s Made Superships How The Universe Works Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Brainiac Prototype This Catch It Keep It Catch It Keep It The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Bang Goes The Theory The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Science Of The Movies Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Weird Connections Things That Move The Gadget Show Sci-Fi Science The Tech Show 2012 Apocalypse Perfect Disaster Bang Goes The Theory

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:30 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:00 14:25 14:50 15:15 15:25 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:50 18:20 18:45 20:55 21:25 21:50 22:15 22:40 23:05 23:30 23:55

Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Kim Possible Kim Possible Emperors New School Emperors New School Stitch Stitch Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Fish Hooks Sonny With A Chance Phineas And Ferb The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Hannah Montana Phineas & Ferb Good Luck Charlie Motocrossed Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Forever Hannah Montana Forever Fish Hooks Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Shake It Up Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Phineas & Ferb Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance Yr 2 Jonas La Hannah Montana Kim Possible

06:00 Kid Vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 07:05 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:30 Phineas & Ferb 07:55 Phineas & Ferb 08:20 Suite Life On Deck S3 08:45 Pair Of Kings 09:10 Kid Vs Kat 09:30 Rekkit Rabbit 09:50 Zeke And Luther S3 (Cema) 10:15 Zeke & Luther 10:40 I’m In The Band 11:05 The Super Hero Squad Show 11:30 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 11:55 Kick Buttowski 12:15 Kid Vs Kat 12:35 American Dragon 13:00 Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook Off 14:30 Kick Buttowski 14:55 Pair Of Kings 15:20 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 15:50 I’m In The Band 16:15 Rekkit Rabbit 16:40 Kick Buttowski 18:45 Kick Buttowski 19:10 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 19:35 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 20:00 X Men 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 I’m In The Band 21:15 Aaron Stone 21:36 American Dragon 22:00 Kick Buttowski 22:21 I’m In The Band

THE SUNSET LIMITED ON OSN CINEMA

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Then And Now 01:25 25 Most Memorable Swimsuit Moments 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest

23:55 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00

Ancient Discoveries America: The Story Of The Us Decoding The Past The Plague Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries America: The Story Of The Us Decoding The Past The Plague Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries America: The Story Of The Us Decoding The Past The Plague Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries America: The Story Of The Us Decoding The Past

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 02:20 04:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 2008 07:00 2008 07:30 2008 08:00 09:40 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:50

Wrestling With Reality Wrestling With Reality Wrestling With Reality M1 Selection 2010 Gumball 3000: 2008 Carpocalypse Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

FIA European Drag Racing

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40 Jones

FIA European Drag Racing FIA European Drag Racing Ticket To Ride 2009/2010 Summer Dew Tour 2010 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Fight Girls Mantracker Mantracker Untracked Untracked I’ll Do Anything Mantracker Mantracker Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Fight Girls Eds Up Eds Up Mantracker Mantracker I’ll Do Anything Wrestling With Reality

A Haunting Ghost Lab The Haunted A Haunting A Haunting Amsterdam Vice Murder Shift Mystery ER Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Royal Inquest Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Fugitive Strike Force Forensic Detectives Murder Shift FBI Files Mystery ER Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Unsolved Crimes: USA Jfk: The Ruby Connection True Crime With Aphrodite

01:20 Cold Heaven 03:05 After Dark, My Sweet 04:55 Finding The Way Home-PG 06:30 Police Story: The Freeway Killings-PG 09:00 Sibling Rivalry-PG 10:30 The Group-PG 13:00 Nashville Beat-PG 14:30 .Com For Murder 16:10 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 16:25 Awake To Danger-PG 17:55 Irma LA Douce-PG 20:15 Hannah And Her Sisters-PG 22:00 Supernova-PG 23:30 Eddie And The Cruisers II-PG

00:00 Monster Fish of The Congo 01:00 Fish Warrior 01:55 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 02:50 Ultimate Predator 03:45 Alaskan Killer Shark 04:40 Triumph of Life 05:35 Strike Force 06:30 Ultimate Predator 07:25 Snakezilla 08:20 Planet Carnivore 09:15 Restless Planet 10:10 Shane Untamed 11:05 Cameramen Who Dare 12:00 Killer Shots 13:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 14:00 Fish Warrior 15:00 I, Predator 16:00 Predator CSI 17:00 Restless Planet 18:00 Ultimate Shark 19:00 Fish Warrior 20:00 I, Predator 21:00 Predator CSI 22:00 Restless Planet 23:00 Ultimate Shark

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG15 14:00 15:45 PG15

Blindness-18 Midnight Meat Train-18 Tracker-PG15 The Bodyguard 2-PG15 Virtuality-PG15 Blue Crush-PG15 The Fast And The FuriousVirtuality-PG15 The Hunt For Red October-

TRIANGLE ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Khloe And Lamar 10:15 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 12:05 E! News 13:05 Extreme Close-Up 13:35 Extreme Close-Up 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 E!es 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Holly’s World 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Khloe And Lamar 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately

01:00 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-PG15 03:00 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG 05:00 MacHEADS-PG15 07:00 Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea-FAM 09:00 The Sunset Limited-PG15 11:00 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG 13:00 Citizen Jane-PG 15:00 The Lizzie McGuire Movie-PG 17:00 Beneath The Blue-PG15 19:00 While She Was Out-18 21:00 Ninja Assassin-18 23:00 Shrink-U

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:00 Saturday Night Live 03:00 10 Things I Hate About You 03:30 How I Met Your Mother 04:00 Yes Dear 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Coach 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Yes Dear 08:30 10 Things I Hate About You 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Hot In Cleveland 10:00 Hot In Cleveland 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 Coach 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Yes Dear 13:00 How I Met Your Mother 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 Seinfeld 14:30 Hot In Cleveland 15:00 Hot In Cleveland 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Coach 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Just Shoot Me 19:00 30 Rock 19:30 30 Rock 20:00 My Boys 20:30 Curb Your Enthusiasm 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Neighbors From Hell 22:30 Bored To Death 23:30 My Boys

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

C.S.I. New York Justified Private Practice C.S.I. Strong Medicine My Generation Good Morning America Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show My Generation The View C.S.I. New York C.S.I. My Generation Live Good Morning America Strong Medicine The Ellen DeGeneres Show

18:00 Emmerdale 18:30 Coronation Street 19:00 Law And Order: Los Angeles 20:00 Law And Order 21:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 22:00 Private Practice 23:00 Glee

00:00 Smallville 01:00 Lie To Me 02:00 Justified 03:00 C.S.I. New York 04:00 C.S.I. 05:00 Detroit 1-8-7 06:00 Smallville 07:00 8 Simple Rules ...

07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Persons Unknown 09:00 Detroit 1-8-7 10:00 C.S.I. New York 11:00 C.S.I. 12:00 8 Simple Rules ...

14:00 Persons Unknown 15:00 Smallville 16:00 8 Simple Rules ...

18:00 No Ordinary Family 19:00 Law And Order: Los Angeles 20:00 Law And Order 21:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 22:00 Lie To Me 23:00 Detroit 1-8-7

00:00 Ed-PG 02:00 Land Of The Lost-PG15 04:00 Black Sheep-PG15 06:00 Hope Springs-PG15 08:00 Harold-PG15 10:00 The Associate-PG15 12:00 The Prince And Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon-PG15 14:00 Mafia!-PG15 16:00 Ed-PG 18:00 A Low Down Dirty ShamePG15 20:00 Woke Up Dead-PG15 22:00 Two Can Play That GamePG15

01:30 03:30 05:45 07:30 09:30 12:00 13:45 15:30 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Guilty As Sin-PG15 A Knight’s Tale-PG15 The Informant!-PG15 End Of The Spear-PG15 Forrest Gump-PG15 Ice Castles-PG15 Never Cry Wolf-PG15 Operating Instructions-PG15 Witness To Waco-PG15 Paradise-PG15 Wolf-18 Che Part Two: Guerilla-PG15

01:00 Nine Months-PG15 03:00 Someone Like You-PG15 05:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM 07:00 Surrogates-PG15 09:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 11:00 Witness To Jonestown-PG15 13:00 The Country Bears-PG15 15:00 The Wronged Man-PG15 17:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 19:00 The Joneses-PG15 21:00 Up In The Air-PG15 23:00 Public Enemies-18

00:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 02:00 Aliens In The Attic-FAM 04:00 Treasure Island-PG 06:00 Toy Story 3-FAM 08:00 Homeward Bound II: Lost In San Francisco-FAM 10:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 12:00 Marmaduke-PG 14:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM 16:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 18:00 Marmaduke-PG 20:00 Astro Boy-FAM 22:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM

01:00 King Arthur-PG15 03:15 Timber Falls-18 05:00 Rage: Carrie 2-PG15 07:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 09:00 Deceit-PG15 11:00 Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 13:00 Dick Tracy-PG15 15:00 Deceit-PG15 16:45 Enemy Of The State-PG15 19:00 No Time To Fear-PG15 21:00 Triangle-18 23:00 The Bleeding-18

00:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

Tri Nations UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown Tri Nations WWE Vintage Collection Live NRL Premiership Powerboats Tri Nations Live Test Cricket Powerboats Tri Nations NRL Premiership

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 23:00

Tri Nations Currie Cup Currie Cup Trans World Sport Live NRL Premiership Super League Tri Nations Live Test Cricket Mobil 1 The Grid Futbol Mundial Tri Nations NRL Premiership

00:00 04:30 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 19:00 21:00

PGA European Tour Super League Futbol Mundial ICC Criket World NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership ICC Criket World Total Rugby Rugby Union Live PGA European Tour NRL Premiership PGA European Tour

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 12:30 13:30 14:00 16:00 18:00 19:00

WWE NXT Powerboats UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection Powerboats Powerboats V8 Supercars Extra WWE SmackDown Speedway V8 Supercars Extra Powerboats WWE SmackDown WWE Vintage Collection Powerboats

00:00 Australia’s Great Wildlife Islands 01:00 Indian Times 02:00 Trabant Trek 02:30 Word Travels 03:00 People Of The Sea 04:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Planet Sports 09:00 Glutton For Punishment 09:30 Essential 10:00 Rivers Of The World 11:00 Intrepid Journeys 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Rajasthan - A Colourful Legacy 14:00 Indian Times 15:00 Exotic Lives 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Intrepid Journeys 18:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Australia’s Great Wildlife Islands 21:00 Intrepid Journeys 22:00 Planet Sports 23:00 Globe Trekker

Classifieds SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

ACCOMMODATION One big room (bath attached) available in 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom CA/C flat in Fintas. For decent couple / executive bachelor, close to Fahaheel Highway, near London Hospital. From August 1.

Contact: 60020168.

(C 3550) 31-7-2011 Room available for an executive bachelor with Malayalee family in Farwaniya near Gazali Street. Contact: 66790833.

(C 3547) 27-8-2011

MATRIMONIAL

No: 15166 TUITION Tutoring available for all subjects including English and Math/ Science by certified experienced American teacher with many years of experience. Call: 66616900.

(C 3549) 31-7-2011

Proposal invited for a middleclass RC girl, fair, 26, 5.4”, GNM going to work with Ministry of Health soon, presently living in Kuwait, from professionally qualified RC boys from Kuwait, working with reputed company, with good family background. Contact: jinsjos@yahoo.co.in or jinsjos@kuwaittimes.net 30-7-2011

SITUATION WANTED I am looking for a part time job morning or evening.

Experienced in all office administrative work with computer knowledge.

Contact: 60988705.

(C 3545) 26-7-2011

SITUATION VACANT A Kuwaiti family is looking to hire a part-time driver.

Please Contact: 99774658.

(C 3548) 28-7-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines

Flt

RJA MLR JZR MEA MEA MEA THY ETH KAC KAC UAE DHX ETD MSR JZR JZR FDB GFA MEA QTR KAC FCX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA IRC FCX MEA JZR JZR JZR RBG KAC MSR UAL RJA

642 1405 267 406 410 408 772 620 1108 108 853 370 305 614 269 189 67 211 412 138 544 201 555 412 157 1541 206 382 615 284 302 332 53 678 352 855 132 125 603 301 213 6801 203 404 165 121 561 3553 672 610 982 640

Arrival Flights on Sunday 31/7/2011 Route AMMAN COLOMBO / DUBAI BEIRUT BEIRUT BEIRUT BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA LONDON GENEVA / LONDON DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BEIRUT DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON CAIRO ISLAMABAD DELHI SHAHRE KORD DHAKA MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI MUSCAT / DUBAI COCHIN DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH SHIRAZ ABU DHABI BAHRAIN AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG ALEXANDRIA / SOHAG DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN

Time 0:05 0:15 0:35 0:45 0:45 1:00 1:15 1:45 2:05 2:05 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 3:15 3:20 4:40 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:35 7:40 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:15 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:15 12:30 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35

KAC FDB QTR KAC SVA KAC KAC JZR QTR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR FDB ALK JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI SYR FDB OMA VOS MEA KAC KAC DHX UAE KAC GFA QTR AFG UAL AIC JZR JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR KLM JZR PIA

774 57 140 562 500 788 746 257 134 535 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 63 227 177 166 542 618 786 614 674 102 572 341 61 647 81 402 552 512 372 859 172 217 136 405 981 981 135 787 185 612 636 389 539 447 481 205

RIYADH DUBAI DOHA AMMAN JEDDAH JEDDAH ABU DHABI / DAMMAM BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON MUMBAI DAMASCUS / ALEPPO DUBAI MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT DAMASCUS TEHRAN BAHRAIN DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN DOHA KABUL / DUBAI BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN SABIHA LAHORE

13:40 13:50 14:15 14:20 14:30 15:00 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:50 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:15 21:00 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:50 23:55

Airlines AXB JZR DLH AIC MLR MEA MEA MEA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR MEA QTR JZR JZR RJA GFA VOS JZR BAW IRA FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD GFA KAC IRA JZR IRC FCX MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC

Flt 394 1540 637 976 1405 407 411 409 773 620 854 68 371 306 615 413 139 560 164 643 212 94 120 156 614 54 534 671 117 745 256 561 787 856 126 133 302 214 773 602 212 6802 204 405 541 776 238 103 785

Departure Flights on Sunday 31/7/2011 Route COCHIN / KOZHIKODE CAIRO FRANKFURT GOA / CHENNAI COLOMBO BEIRUT BEIRUT BEIRUT ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BEIRUT DOHA SOHAG DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI / KANDAHAR BAHRAIN LONDON SHAHRE KORD DUBAI CAIRO DUBAI NEW YORK DAMMAM / ABU DHABI BEIRUT AMMAN JEDDAH DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN RIYADH SHIRAZ DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH AMMAN LONDON JEDDAH

Time 0:15 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:15 1:45 1:45 2:00 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:05 4:15 5:00 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:50 9:00 9:05 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:40 9:50 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

RBG JZR MSR RJA FDB UAL KAC KAC KAC SVA JZR QTR KAC KAC JZR ETD QTR UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA FDB JZR JZR JZR ALK KAC KAC KAC JAI FDB SYR KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC DHX UAE GFA FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC UAL MSR KAC

3554 176 611 641 58 982 551 673 617 503 480 141 613 511 538 304 135 858 216 128 184 511 64 786 204 134 228 1501 283 361 571 62 342 343 351 648 403 543 373 860 218 102 137 301 205 502 554 530 411 981 613 415

ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DUBAI DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH SABIHA DOHA BAHRAIN TEHRAN CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH DUBAI RIYADH DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO BEIRUT DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI ALEPPO / DAMASCUS CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA ASSIUT BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA

13:35 13:40 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 14:55 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:00 16:15 16:20 16:30 16:40 17:35 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:55 19:10 19:10 19:30 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:50

34

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

s ta rs CROSSWORD 395

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) There may be several times today where you could be in a position to guide young people. Perhaps several young people are helping in the workplace for a few weeks. This could mean taking inventory or rearranging inventory . You have a natural sense for communicating with others, especially those younger than yourself. They just tend to follow you around like the “Pied Piper.”

Gathering and exchanging information becomes a more important part of your life these days. There is much interest in new equipment and a very educational experience. This evening, neighbors or siblings have a big impact on your goals. This is a mentally and socially active period. As a footnote, you will make progress with your expenses, if you plan ahead now.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may come face-to-face today with someone who has very different values than your own. You could find yourself cast in an opposing position. You will be able to compromise and find some sort of middle ground in which to deal with this situation. You are very tolerant and accepting of other people’s differences. You have good insights into all social values. Independent. You like to simplify, compromise and otherwise show your talents—like a coat of many colors. Your flair for the unusual and the unconventional may not receive as much support as you might wish and time alone with your thoughts may be enough for now.

Independence at the expense of your feelings is a struggle you know well—expressive action may result.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

4. Protective garment worn by surgeons during operations.

10. (Roman mythology) Goddess of abundance and fertility.

13. Any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism.

14. The 3 goddesses of fate or destiny.

15. A sheath worn to protect a finger.

16. Send a signal by waving a flag or a light according to a certain code.

18. Small Old and New World herons.

20. Depressing in character or appearance.

21. Flatter in an obsequious manner.

22. A metric unit of length equal to one hundredth of a meter.

24. Before noon.

25. A unit of pain intensity.

26. Head of soft crinkly leaves.

29. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

32. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

33. A light touch or stroke.

38. A woman of refinement.

41. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

42. West Indian evergreen with medium to long leaves.

43. A state in the Rocky Mountains.

45. Again but in a new or different way.

46. Of or relating to the stomach and intestines.

47. A metric unit of length equal to ten meters.

50. Jordan's port.

55. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

56. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

57. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

60. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

62. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

63. Genus of erect herbs of the Middle East having showy flowers.

64. The biblical name for ancient Syria.

65. The bill in a restaurant.

66. A rechargeable battery with a nickel cathode and a cadmium anode.

67. A small cake leavened with yeast.

DOWN 1. Suggestive of or tending to moral looseness.

2. An independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia).

3. Unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope.

4. Unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech.

5. Tooth on the rim of gear wheel.

6. A state in New England.

7. The chief solid component of mammalian urine.

8. Capital and largest city of Iraq.

9. Watery fluid of the blood that resembles plasma but contains fibrinogen.

10. The cardinal number that is the sum of seven and one.

11. Arboreal fruit-eating mammal of tropical America with a long prehensile tail.

12. French romantic writer (1766-1817).

17. A city in east central Texas.

19. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

23. An industrial city in southern Poland on the Vistula.

27. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

28. Any of the Hindu sacred writing.

30. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

31. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

34. An Australian boomerang.

35. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

36. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

37. A state in midwestern United States.

39. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

40. Of or relating to or characteristic of Monaco or its people.

41. Tooth on the rim of gear wheel.

44. The cardinal number that is the sum of seven and one.

48. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

49. Molten rock in the earth's crust.

51. God of love and erotic desire.

52. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

53. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

54. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

55. A public promotion of some product or service.

58. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

59. Being one hundred more than two hundred.

61. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You handle your responsibilities better than most and may take on obligations as though you just cannot get enough. A prodigious worker, you pour yourself into most any task with absolute determination. It is clear to you that your unconventionality costs you, however. Your drive to succeed is strong, but you often push yourself in a direction against your own best interest. Part of you is in competition with that part of you that wants to conform and go along with the group. Take big steps backwards occasionally and look for the amusing parts of your life. See the big picture and learn to lighten your load—often. This will help you recover, heal or gain insight. Find and teach others healthy outlets to help release any stresses at this time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You have a continued interest in adventure and may reveal a motto that says your attention is on yourself for now. This is your time to shine! A well-earned vacation could be in the forecast and you have an idea of where or how you would like to spend your vacation time. This may mean visiting a long-lost relative or scuba diving in the South Atlantic. There is open communication available and you can really get your thoughts and ideas across to others. You could find that you are appreciated for your courage and your ability to act on your dreams.

If you find the right opening in a conversation you will be successful in inviting some fun company for this trip. A sense of support and harmony makes this a happy time.

There is an adventure waiting to happen.

Leo (July 23-August 22) There is a lot of energy available for disciplined work. However, it is good to learn how to pace yourself. If you push yourself or someone else too hard, you may find both of you blocked and frustrated. Your career and life direction are putting some real pressure on your home and personal life.

Obviously you cannot live without both, so some kind of self-control on your part is indicated. Never fear, this is temporary. There are possibilities that if you pace yourself you will be able to work with a positive energy flow. Before you know it, you will find many rewards from your hard work. You may be able to enjoy and value your own life situation this afternoon. Someone visiting in your home this afternoon brings compliments and laughter.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may find yourself very appreciative of your career and practical skills. You may feel relieved that you took a particular course in school or heard a particular lecture as it helps you to feel knowledgeable and in touch with new techniques. You might enjoy solving puzzles and problems, finding solutions, etc. A renewed appreciation for your work may be apparent to your superiors— in fact, to everybody. Rewards are possible. This could be a period of great material gain; it is certainly a time when material things have a great deal of importance for you. Someone’s emotional state on the home front may block your own interests.

However, opposition can be replaced with flexibility. You will soon see that this is a short term situation; patience.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

A sense of security, belonging and nurturing are instinctively felt now. You can be very commanding. You have great confidence and a take-charge sort of manner. You are a great doer once you make up your mind what it is you are going to do—others accept your commanding nature. You can also be a good team player. You enjoy working hard at being organized and you exercise skill and discipline in anything that affects your career and reputation. This is a perfect combination for an excellent manager. You can find support from all sides when it comes to any sort of mental activity—writing, speaking and all forms of communication. There is a lot of mental activity today. You make positive changes happen in your home environment tonight.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A new or alternate life style and new ways in which to make a living are interesting to you today. You are economy personified—always able to salvage and redeem anything. You like to tend and care for people and things. You relax by working. A sense of belonging, security and nurturing are the issues felt instinctively at this time. You want roots; you crave a sense of intimate connection that will last. You have successfully applied practical competence, tremendous discipline and a love of routine work into your life.

You are able to simplify and code and reduce a subject to its essential elements.

You enjoy the social life and tonight is a good night to enjoy the crowds in a restaurant or movie theater. Romance is also very possible.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may find yourself dealing with matters of much concern and responsibility and a little puzzle solving. You may find yourself working extra hard to gain the respect and admiration of someone you hold in great esteem. You are very sensitive, even vulnerable when it comes to expressing yourself today. This is a time of intense creativity, enabling you to go through changes and inner growth. This creative intensity is good for any problem-solving opportunity; as well as music, poetry, art, etc. It should be a really good time for clear decision making and problem solving. Later today you decide that it is time to shop for a special gift. You have much enthusiasm about a new diet—raw food only. This is a good way to heal.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Your timing should be perfect today; the right words, good choices and spontaneity are easy. There is a lot of busy work— communication, investigation and research—perhaps through probing questions. You are not afraid of a good confrontation and you seldom pull any punches. You may find yourself involved in some sort of research or any work that requires digging, searching, investigating and getting beneath the surface of a situation. You totally enjoy social interchange. When those in command, higher-ups or customers ask for you to make changes in your work or business, you are ready, willing and able. You enjoy variety and change. Thinking, writing, researching and sciences are good interests for you.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Legal work, not necessarily problems, may come into play today. Perhaps there is someone near you who needs your guidance. Your very fine verbal skills and a natural sense of justice make future legal work a distinct possibility for you. You may already have a working knowledge or some experience with the law. You also have a great interest in ideas; the more that are true and lasting the better. You may be able to give someone some good ideas that will help him or her avoid legal problems. Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager and businessperson. You may find yourself entertaining others this evening. You are always at center-stage—entertaining or organizing a group is just another one of your many talents.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You will have several opportunities to work with young people today—perhaps involving your teaching of economics or budgeting. You have an inner urge to be all things to all people and would rather bend than argue. You are a natural diplomat, always courteous and concerned with the comfort and welfare of others. You stay in the background until you need to make the best of your talents. Work proceeds naturally today and you will successfully use some opportunity to manipulate and bring out cooperation in others. Yours is a reflective mind, a mirror for others. You are equality-minded and easy to talk with—a great mediator or negotiator. You are particularly good at relations, politics, diplomacy and sales. Do nice things for you tonight.

A

y

e niv rsar n

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Years

i n f o r m at i o n FIRE BRIGADE

112

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36 Brangelina’s e niv rsar n

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Years

li fe s ty le G O S S I P

kids want them to get married

Kris Humphries told Kim Kardashian he wants freedom

he American hunk revealed the couple -who are raising six kids, adopted children Maddox, nine, Pax, seven, and Zahara, six, as well as biological children Shiloh, five, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - would think about tying the knot if their youngsters want them to. He said: “The kids ask about marriage. It’s meaning more and more to them. So it’s something we’ve got to look at. If Angie and I feel it’s important for the kids, then we’ll get married.” The 47year-old actor - who starred alongside Angelina in ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ - also explained becoming a father has changed the way he makes choices in life. He added: “I think that after becoming a father, I am changing in my choices. Today, everything I do, I look at in the context of what my kids are going to see and feel. I think about everything I do now - what my kids are gonna see, how they ’re gonna feel. “But I think they know me as a dad; I hope they would just think I’m a pretty damn good actor.”

T

he 19-year-old singer-and-actress insists her relationship with the 17-year-old pop sensation is “all good” but has no plans to tie the knot yet as she feels too young. When asked whether she will marry Justin one day, she replied: “No, I’m only 19!” While Selena is comfortable dating one of the world’s biggest pop stars, she admits she was recently left “starstruck” when she met her idol, ‘Transformers’ actor Shia LaBeouf. She told Reveal magazine: “I was so happy when I saw Shia. I was so starstruck. He probably thinks I’m crazy and I probably made a fool out of myself, but I love him. I have literally been obsessed with him since I was 15. “Shia’s older than me, so I look up to him. I don’t want to marry him, though!” Selena - who is currently on tour in the US and has recently landed a part in new film ‘Monte Carlo’ - admitted she sometimes has to have the weekend off to rest from her busy work schedule to stop her from “breaking down”. She explained: “It is a lot sometimes.

But I surround myself with really good people and my mum travels everywhere with me. If I do have moments where I want to break down, I ask to stop or have the weekend off and go home.”

T

has no plans to marry

Justin Bieber

Lady Gaga is a cheap date David Beckham wants another kid he soccer star - who has sons Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, eight and Cruz, six as well as two-week old daughter Harper Seven with wife Victoria - reveals he would be keen to have one final child to complete their family, but has no concrete plans yet. He said: “Are we done now or will we see any more in the future? We’d like one more. “We’ve always said we’d love a big family and five was the number. If we’re lucky enough, then we hope to have one more. “Victoria’s doing amazingly well, so we’ll see.” The 36year-old star - who was born in England but now lives in Los Angeles -

T

also reveals his latest addition has her mother Victoria’s nose. He added: “She’s a mixture of all three of the boys actually. She’s got Victoria’s nose thankfully.” David recently revealed he finds it hard to be away from his family playing soccer matches for his team LA Galaxy. He said: “We have been so lucky with her, and it was hard leaving them all the other day. “It’s always hard leaving my family. Having a two-week-old daughter and leaving her, and leaving the boys and wife Victoria, it was difficult. I can’t wait to get back and to hold her and kiss her.”

has never been happier

T

and worse which is really great for whoever is taking me out because I’m a really cheap date.”

Gaga chooses not to rent bowling shoes when she hits the alleys because she doesn’t want any of her fans to see her without heels on.

When asked if she dons the sportswear when playing, she replied: “Absolutely not. What if one of my fans walked in to the bowling alley

Dianna Agron

he ‘Edge of Glory’ hitmaker - real name Stefani Germanotta - insists it doesn’t cost men a lot to take her out because her ideal night would be to go tenpin bowling and have a few drinks. Speaking on the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ chat show, she said: “I am a good bowler pre-Budweiser (I love it) and then when starts loading up I become worse and worse

and saw me in flats? I think they’d have a heart attack.” During her appearance, the five-time Grammy winner took part in a video segment where she launched a spoof baby clothing line, entitled ‘Gaga Goo Goo babywear’, but when asked if having kids is part of her future plans, the ‘Born This Way’ singer replied: “Some day. A long, long time from now.”

he basketball star - who is set to marry the American socialite on August 20 - revealed he wanted a bit of peace and quiet from her when she crashed his bachelor party in Las Vegas last week.

Kris - who proposed to the 30-year-old stunner in May - told E! Online: “I told Kim, I said, ‘Look, I’m turning my phone off, I’ll see you back in LA Monday afternoon.

“She was like, ‘No, you’re not turning off your phone, I love you, you’re not turning off your phone.’ Like, it’s our bachelor party, give me some freedom.” Kim couldn’t resist inviting herself over to his event as Kim held her own celebration for their forthcoming marriage at Tao nightclub next door. She celebrated with sisters Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, who recently revealed her and mum Kris Jenner had been doing a lot of the work for the wedding. Khloe explained: “I have no idea what’s going on. But I’ve seen how much my mom has been doing, and I don’t know how my mom does it! Kim should be kissing the ground that she walks on. It’s amazing.”

T

he 25-year-old actress - who is currently dating ‘Gossip Girl’ star Sebastian Stan after breaking up with British hunk Alex Pettyfer earlier this year - loves the direction her life is taking and is enjoying getting older. She said: “I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been. Ever. High school, middle school-I’ve loved every part of getting older and growing, but I definitely think that this is the most I’ve ever felt like myself and that I’m being treated like who I feel I am.” However, the blonde beauty, who is best known for her character Quinn Fabray in musical TV show ‘Glee’, also revealed she regularly thinks about the direction her life may have taken had she made different decisions earlier in her life. She added to Flaunt magazine: “If this was six years ago, what would I be doing in the exact same place or situation?

It’s something that, when I write, it could be a situation or a person that is similar to something that I know, but I go in a completely different direction with it, based off of one small change.” —Bang Showbiz

T

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e niv rsar n

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Years

lifestyle

Being a bridesmaid:

An honor, or a burden?

A member of the kitchen staff at elBulli, the worldrenowned Spanish restaurant near the resort of Roses, some two hours north of Barcelona, works to prepare the restaurant’s last dinner, yesterday. — AFP

‘World’s best restaurant’

elBulli serves last supper

W

orld-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria yesterday served his last meal at elBulli, the beachside restaurant repeatedly crowned the world’s best which is closing to make way for a culinary research centre.

The last supper at the remote eatery overlooking the Mediterranean in Cala Montjoi, near the resort of Roses about a two-hour drive north of Barcelona, will be served to staff members and early supporters of the venture. “This transformation is not easy, there is much to manage,” said Adria, the co-owner and head chef of the restaurant as he sat at a table outside the eatery surrounded by several other top chefs who at one point worked at elBulli.

“It would be logical for this to be a very sad day but it is the opposite, we are happy, very happy because the project will continue.” Adria made headlines around the world last year when he announced that he was dispensing with the Michelin three-star restaurant to spend more time being creative. The non-profit culinary think-tank, set to open in 2014 next to the current restaurant, will further develop his trailblazing approach to cooking, which uses hi-tech methods to take apart and rebuild foods in surprising ways.

Apple caviar, parmesan crystal and foie gras noodles frozen with liquid nitrogen are among the radical innovations which Adria has developed since he became head chef at elBulli in 1987. The elBullifoundation plans to grant between 20 and 25 scholarships annually for chefs to spend a year working with elBulli’s core staff on new creations. The results will be posted online. But the New York Times wrote last month that high-end Spanish cuisine without elBulli will be like “an armada without a flagship, a solar system without a sun”.

The restaurant, known as El Bulli until 2008, is credited with pushing the boundaries of cuisine and helping to transform Spain from a culinary backwater to a world leader. Britain’s Restaurant magazine ranked it to be number one on its list of the world’s top 50 restaurants for a record five times-in 2002 when the list was first published and for four years in a row through 2009. The restaurant, which is reached by driving along a steep mountain road surrounded by olive trees and pines, was open for only half the year and only for dinner. —AFP

Spanish chef Ferran Adria and his staff pose for a photograph yesterday. — AFP

Tonette Slaviero of San Jose, California, has 15 bridesmaid dresses from years of friends’ weddings from 1995 to 2001. — MCT

L

ate last summer, about a month before she was to be a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding in Hawaii, Deborah Lynn backed out. It wasn’t so much from coldness in her feet as from the heat building up under her ruffled, pink-taffeta collar. The pressure was piling on.

Lynn, 50, of Discovery Bay, California, had already helped select, been fitted for, purchased and picked up her bridesmaid dress, booked the $3,000 airfare for the trip for her family, arranged to pull her special-needs son out of school for the September wedding, been to the lavish engagement party bearing a gift, been to a shower bearing a gift, planned to attend the bachelorette party bearing a gift and yet another “girls day out” to be held in Hawaii before the nuptials. She had just managed to squeeze in some of her own life doing volunteer work in Walnut Creek, California, when the bride-to-be called with yet another list of demands.

“She said, ‘We need these necklaces and you have to get these earrings. You need to go here, and do this and you need to go here and do that.’ I told her, ‘You know what? I can’t do it,’” Lynn said. “Every day there was something more to do with the wedding. And most of them seemed to involve gifts.” It wasn’t the money, she said, but the quantity of things the bridesmaids were required to do. “Being a bridesmaid is supposed to be an honor and you’re supposed to do these things for your friend,” she said. “But at some point, they need to be a friend to you too.”

Yes, for better or worse, women everywhere - and sometimes the occasional man - will likely be asked to stand up for a girlfriend, sister or cousin on her special day. And now that we’re in July, the peak of the everunpredictable, emotion-charged wedding season, bridesmaid duties are on the minds of many, ushered in this year with several wedding-themed movies including the aptly named “Bridesmaids,” which provides a new and hilarious take on the task. While the comedy is a stretch from reality (women rarely collectively and comically vomit in an upscale bridal salon), it did hit on some hard truths, with the main character freaking out under expectations from the bride and competition with a Bridesmaid-zilla. Now this is not to bash brides.

Weddings can be wonderful, joyous affairs and, after all, it’s supposed to be the bride’s day. “I tell the wedding party up front, the bride is the star,” said Sanford Marshall, owner of the Wedding Coach, a wedding planning service in the East Bay and San Francisco. “Being a maid or maid of honor is definitely a commitment of time as well as money,” he said. “But you need to be rocking and rolling and supporting the bride all the way.”

These days many brides do try to be sensitive to their friends’ needs, said Karen Tierney, who makes custom gowns and restores vintage dresses at Studio Trousseau in Alameda, Calif. “I’ve noticed that much of tradition is being tossed out for a more practical, less-waste approach,” she said. “My own daughter, for instance, asked her four bridesmaids to buy black cocktail-party dresses in a style of their own choosing, instead of making them buy a hideous, identical thing they’ll never wear again.” For many, being in a friend’s wedding is indeed a happy experience. Tonette Slaviero of San Jose, California, thinks so, and she should know. She’s done it 15 times. “You can see why, for good reason, I relate more to the ‘27 Dresses’ movie that came out a couple of years ago,” joked Slaviero, a high school teacher and workexperience coordinator. “I still have all the dresses, and in some cases matching shoes, from weddings from 1981 to 1999. In fact, two of the weddings in October of 1985, the brides - friends of mine who didn’t know each other chose the exact same dress for the bridesmaids. So, I have one in lavender and one in red.”

Though her collection represents quite a financial investment, Slaviero said the job has always been a delight, never a burden. Not even the time she was asked to fill in at the last minute when a woman backed out of a friend’s bridal party. “I knew I was an afterthought, but it was still nice of her to think of me,” she said. Such happy endings are not always the case, and bridal conflict can often result in a friendship “divorce.”

Kathy Woofter, 48, of Livermore, California, a former firefighter who now works in fire prevention for Contra Costa County, was a bridesmaid in a country Westernthemed ceremony about 17 years ago. “My friend wanted us to get real cowboy boots, pants, a hat, a country

Western shirt, special earrings. In today’s money, the outfit would be about $400. And I was a working at a job then that paid $15 an hour. So it was tough.”

Not only was she annoyed with the expense, but she and the bride had a falling out not long after the wedding, broke up as friends and have not spoken since. Of course, when Woofter and her partner got married years later at a church in Livermore, both women had their own set of bridesmaids with a black-and-white polka-dot theme. “I can imagine one of those friends calling the newspaper now too and saying, ‘Can you believe what Kathy made us wear?’” she said. “Ah, circle of life.”

Karen Carlson, 54, of Union City, California, who teaches dental hygiene at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., will be a bridesmaid on June 18. She’s been in several previous ceremonies, but says this is the first time it feels like an honor. “I’m not even in touch with most of the women from those weddings anymore,” she said. “One I know is divorced. One still married. I don’t know about the others. This time it’s the most meaningful by far. She’s a really close friend.”

She notes that this is also the first time the dress she’s assigned to wear is one she actually likes. “It’s a pretty midnight-blue dress, strapless and pleated on top.

Before? Hideous, hideous, hideous. One had a cape.” The dress worst by far, she says, was the one for a countryFrench barbecue themed wedding. “Cornflower blue, mid-calf with a cream ruffle, and a hat that was just a brim with the head part exposed. All this was custom made. Super expensive. And hideous.”

Looking back, some women wish they’d turned down the request to be a bridesmaid. But it’s tough to say no.

Slaviero did once (otherwise she’d have 16 dresses in her closet) after she’d returned from a trip to Europe and couldn’t afford the expenses for a wedding in the Midwest. The bride understood, and they’re still friends.

Not so for Lynn. “I told my friend, ‘You’re not 25, you’re 50.

And when you get married when you’re older, your friends are older too. That means they have busy lives.

Daily responsibilities.’ “Oh boy, she didn’t understand that,” Lynn said. “She hates me now. You could say we’re divorced.” — MCT

Companies allow

pets to share office space E

ver-prepared, executive assistant Marian Smith stocks her desk with all the trappings of a modern office: Paper clips. Sticky notes.

Pup-Peroni. That last one? It’s the only thing Smith’s officemates at the Maryland Institute College of Art actually beg for. Coscimo, for instance, a white bichon, regularly wanders from one vice provost’s office to join Smith for snacks his little coffee break. And there’s the rescue dog that’s a regular in the alumni relations department. Or Budge, the aptly named pit bull that barely moves from under the desk of the guy who manages the school’s publications.

Though most companies still forbid dogs, officials say the workplace is warming toward pets.

According to a recent survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, about one in five companies allow pets. And 3 percent of dog owners have brought theirs to work up to a couple of dozen times. And it’s not just mom-andpop gift shops with cats in the window.

Dogs are now welcome at mega-corporations

including Amazon and Google. Lobbyists in California only wish they could hit as many highlevel shindigs as Gov Jerry Brown’s corgi. Even at North Carolina’s Replacements Ltd, the nation’s largest vendor of china and crystal, pets accompany the workers who tend to the fragile merchandise. The growing allure of the office dog can be attributed to money, suspects Jennifer Fearing, a former economist for The Humane Society of the United States and co-author of a book about creating a dog-friendly workplace. It’s an inexpensive perk that goes a long way with the workforce.

“Most dog owners feel guilty about leaving them alone all day and feel tension between trying to get what we want done at work and being the guardian to our dogs we think they deserve,” says Fearing, who’s now the Humane Society’s California director. “From an employer standpoint in this era of benefit cutting, this is something employees value, but costs us nothing to provide.”

In the Baltimore region, dogs are hardly an office staple, but companies that welcome them

At MICA, Jackson waits quietly in Charlotte Albertson’s office while his owner attended a meeting.

include IMRE Communications in Baltimore County, the Timonium home theater installer Gramophone and the Inner Harbor yachting firm Marinalife.

At MICA, one of the Baltimore-area’s larger petfriendly organizations, 150 dogs, cats and even a rabbit or two have permission to roam campus, allowed pretty much anywhere, except eating areas, residence halls, libraries and computer labs, where fur could do a number on expensive equipment. To be on campus, a pet must be registered and wear a school ID badge shaped like a bone on its collar.

MICA faculty and staff who take advantage of the privilege - and many of their co-workers that don’t - say having pets around makes the office a happier, more collegial place. Even the college’s president, Fred Lazarus, has been known to bring his two Jack Russell terriers to the office - where they ’re likely to run into Vice Provost Jan Stinchcomb’s bichon, whom most folks just call Cosmo or The Cos. “It keeps things human and provides a sense of the simple,” says Stinchcomb, who’s brought Cosmo to work so often, people wonder where he is when an executive meeting starts without him. “The informality of allowing it is something people really like. Well, I’m sure some don’t. But I do. It adds humor and fun.”

While Stinchcomb works, Cosmo will sit on the carpeted floor in front of a big, arched window, keeping an eye on Bolton Hill. He’s got a plush round bed there and treats waiting in her bottom drawer. They’ll break for short walks around the building and to attend meetings, during which Cos has been known to snore, often falling asleep flat on his back, feet in the air. Provost Ray Allen, one of Cosmo’s bigger fans, likes sneaking peeks at the dog during all those administrative confabs and watching him run to Marian Smith’s desk to beg for snacks. “It’s a reminder of what’s important in life,” Allen says. “Food and relaxation.”

Though proponents of dog-friendly offices offer enthusiastic endorsements, the idea of pets at work doesn’t charm everyone - not even some people with pets of their own. A cat owner, writer

Jan Stinchcomb and her Bijon “Cosmo” share office space at MICA in Baltimore, Maryland. — MCT photos Chris Landers has nothing against animals. But as someone who’s spent the past few years working from offices in Baltimore and Virginia, he’d rather not run into them at work. First, he has allergies.

But he also doesn’t trust owners to know their dogs’ temperaments as well as they think.

“Dog owners who can’t understand why I might not want their precious pet assaulting me are a constant source of low-grade annoyance and possible physical danger,” he says. “‘He’s just being friendly,’ they’ll say. What I am doing is wondering what would happen if I walked around town with a large bear on the end of a string and merrily chirped, ‘Oh, he’s just saying hello,’ as he decapitated my fellow pedestrians with a single swipe of his meaty paw.”

Take Your Dog to Work Day began in 1999 as a promotion. Its creators hoped when people saw co-workers with pets they loved enough to bring to the office, they might consider adopting a shelter animal. Just 300 companies participated that first year, but by 2003, 5,000 firms were on board.

Now, Pet Sitters International has lost count of participants - but points to hundreds of thousands of hits on the Takeyourdog.com site in the weeks leading up to the event, which was held last week. When Michael Walley-Rund, who manages MICA’s print publications, brings his dog to work, he can reach down and rub Budge’s head as he works at the computer. In fact, if he had to choose between this and a higher-paying gig where dogs weren’t allowed, he says he’d probably skip the extra money to be able to spend days with Budge. —MCT

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

lifestyle

Statue of legendary singer

Chuck Berry

dedicated

Mikhail Matveyev (top) and Vlad Zhitomirsky, from VMD Sculpting, polish a statue of rock music legend Chuck Berry in University City, Missouri, Friday, July 29, 2011. Berry attended the dedication later in the day. — MCT

Italian conductor and director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti (center) poses with singers and actors of the opera Macbeth by Guiseppe Verdi, on his 70th birthday at the Salzburg music festival in Salzburg, Austria. — AP

Eels star E gets by with help from heroes I

t’s been an exciting summer for the musician known simply as E. He may be 48 and a longestablished master of melodic, delightfully odd rock music, most famous for his hit song “Novocaine for the Soul.” But even after releasing nine albums with his band Eels and chronicling the loss of several loved ones on the acclaimed album “Electroshock Blues” - and then again in his memoir, “Things the Grandchildren Should Know” - there’s still plenty that can humble the man born as Mark Oliver Everett. Like meeting and performing with boyhood idol Ringo Starr. E told the tale of his first meeting with a former Beatle just after returning from Europe and his first trip to China for a brief North American tour.

“Ringo is such a sweetheart,” he said. “He saw me watching his show in Norway, and he came over and said ‘Would you like to sing with me, it’s this song called ‘With a Little Help From My Friends.’ And he started singing the song to me and I stopped him and said, ‘Yeah, I know it!’” E realized, to his chagrin, that he had interrupted a private performance by his own hero. Still, he was touched. “He inspired me to play the drums at 6, so it was a very moving experience for me,” he said. E also endured the humbling experience of playing guitar before Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in London.

“It’s a little intimidating,” he said. “I found out he uses the same pick as me, but I think he’s had better results.” These weren’t E’s first awkward encounters with his heroes. In his memoir, published in 2008, he recounts his collaboration with singer Tom Waits, who sent him a tape of himself crying like a baby that later appeared on the song “Going Fetal.” Waits thrilled E by offering to do yard work for him to make up for accidentally erasing E’s vocals on the tape.

Then there was the first time he met Neil Young. E was horrified to hear himself blurt out, “I like your beard.” Now, ironically, E probably hears that exact comment from his own fans, after famously growing a very long beard while on tour. He was forced to shave it after drawing scrutiny from airport security officials following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. And last year, his long beard drew the attention of London police while he was in Hyde Park. E normally gets a friendlier reception in Britain, where the Eels have scored several hits. Their first appearance at the famed Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts this summer earned high praise from critics. Europe can sometimes be more

In this photo, musician E from the band Eels, is shown. — AP receptive to a musician known for his sound-collage recording style, blunt lyrics and fascination with all manner of instruments. That idiosyncratic approach was apparent on his recent trilogy of concept albums - “Hombre Lobo,” “End Times” and “Tomorrow Morning” - which dealt with desire, breakups and renewal. “There’s more of an audience for music in Europe than America,” he said. “In Europe, music is still an important part of everyone’s day, unlike in America, where it’s slowly being replaced by video games or whatever.” E stressed that he appreciates the Eels’ cult following in the US, where the band just made its fifth appearance for an enthusiastic David Letterman on his “Late Show.” But it was a British network, the BBC, that decided to make a documentary about E after he published his memoir, which recounted how he channeled the loss of his family - his father to a heart attack, his sister to suicide and his mother to cancer - into his music.

The award-winning documentary, called

“Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives” and broadcast in the US on the Public Broadcasting Service program “NOVA,” focuses on E’s attempts to understand his emotionally distant father, the celebrated quantum physicist Hugh Everett, whose lifeless body was found by E when he was only 18. Everett, author of the “many worlds” theory of parallel universes, earned both scorn and a devoted following. The same could be said for E himself, who has been savaged by some critics who say his music is alternatively too frivolous or too dark. E dismisses the critics and says anyone who comes to an Eels show will find it “undeniably fun.”

“It’s all very misguided,” he said. “All I’m trying to do as an artist is reflect life in all its different shapes and colors, and anyone paying attention knows there are all sorts of ups and downs in a song. It might get pretty dark but it’s always in the name of getting somewhere positive, and our shows are all about positivity. “The whole goal is about feeling good about life and rejuvenated.” — AP

C

huck Berry, the man called the Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll, blew kisses at the crowd that joined him Friday morning for the dedication of a statue in his honor in the Delmar Loop section of suburban St Louis. “I don’t know how to speak ... I can sing a little a bit,” Berry shyly told his audience. “I’m going to say thank you again, thank you, and I love you all.” Berry, 84, has been celebrated at the Kennedy Center by President Bill Clinton. His music was shot into space as representative of the best of our culture. But his son Charles Edward Berry Jr said Friday’s honor was the best ever because it’s in St Louis, where Berry Sr grew up and still lives.

“He has gotten a lot of awards over the years but always the most special ones are in St Louis,” Berry Jr said. “Most of my dad’s sisters and brothers, and his children and grandchildren are here, and my Mom, that’s the best.” The 8-foot statue by sculptor Harry Weber is at 6555 Delmar Boulevard, across Delmar from Blueberry Hill, a club and restaurant where Berry still performs monthly to sold-out crowds. At the ceremony, Berry thanked the crowd, estimated at 600, for enduring the heat to be with him.

“Believe me, it’s an honor just to have you walk by in the hot sun ... more or less stand and honor (me),” he said. After he spoke, the crowd broke into singing “Johnny B. Goode,” a Berry signature song. Blueberry Hill owner Joe Edwards, who with KMOX Radio’s Charlie Brennan helped raise money for the statue, intro-

duced the man of the hour. Edwards said: “Welcome to The Loop in St Louis, Missouri, in the United States of America, in the Solar System in the Milky Way Galaxy.

“The reason I greet you that way is that the man I am about to introduce had his song, ‘Johnny B Goode’ chosen to be put on copper records aboard the Voyager space probes, launched into outer space in 1977 to reach out to the universe with the best of our culture.”

Weber, the sculptor, later said: “Chuck Berry is a legend that ...will last as long as human beings find music to be a necessary part of their existence ... I am truly grateful to have had this chance”¶I hope I have done it justice.”

Taped tributes of congratulations were played from Little Richard, Elvis Costello, Michael McDonald, Merle Haggard and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

After the ceremony more than 100 people went into Blueberry Hill for a reception. Berry signed autographs with customar y modesty and with his wife, Themetta Berry, at his side. The new Ackert Plaza where the statue is located features illuminated stainless-steel walls with laser-engraved musical notes. A blue-light LED system in the interior of the walls will illuminate the melody of “Johnny B Goode.” As part of the ceremony, Great Rivers Greenway and University City dedicated a new one-mile segment of the Centennial Greenway, a hiking and biking pathway. The statue and plaza are along the path. — MCT

‘Winehouse reached out for help’

“R

In this photo provided by Bard College, Megan Miller plays Danae during a dress rehearsal of Richard Strauss’s opera ‘Die Liebe der Danae,’ at Bard College in Annandale-onHudson, NY. — AP

ehab” singer Amy Winehouse, who died at the age of 27 in London last week, tried to enlist the help of celebrity recovery expert Dr Drew Pinsky in the days before her death, the “Celebrity Rehab” host told Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM on Friday. Speaking to morning-radio personalities Kevin and Bean, Pinsky revealed that the deceased “Back to Black” chanteuse attempted to reach him for help. Or, at least, that’s what infamously unstable “Celebrity Rehab” vet Janice Dickinson told him.

“Believe it or not she was trying to contact me which was weird. Janice Dickinson told me that,” Pinsky recalled. “I remember getting calls from Europe and thinking, ‘What the hell is this?”“ During his interview, Pinsky also disputed the account of Winehouse’s death that the singer’s parents offered to the media. “Just this morning, her parents put out some type of news release that suggests that what they believe she died of was alcohol withdrawal, which is a very interesting little theory,” Pinsky posited. “It’s wrong, it’s not what she died of, I can virtually guarantee you.”

In cases of fatal alcohol withdrawal, Pinsky said, “You get really really sick and you seize, and you become encephalopathic and confused, and your heart becomes erratic, and it’s not like you just drop dead like her parents are suggesting.” Winehouse was found unconscious on Saturday in her London apartment by an ambulance service, which was unable to revive her.

Authorities described her cause of death as “unexplained.” — Reuters

This undated photo was released by the family of Julian Pavone, 7, of Macomb Township, Mich. Guinness World records announced that it was recognizing Julian as the world’s youngest professional drummer, a mark that required he have at least one paid appearance on a commercially released record and have performed at least 20 concerts within the past five years. He was recognized as of March 21, 2010, when he was 5 years 10 months and 3 days old. — AP

Meat Loaf loses consciousness on stage

M

eat Loaf would do anything for love, but apparently he can’t stay upright on stage. At least not during his concert in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. The “Bat Out of Hell” belter caused a scare during his performance at the Trib Amphitheatre when, just four songs into his set, he tumbled to the stage and lost consciousness. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 63-year-old singer suffered an asthma attack and, after being assisted by medical personnel, managed to go on with the show 10 minutes later. The singer made a full recovery, even managing to reference the mishap during a later rendition of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” “I fainted. I have asthma ... I can’t breathe ,” the singer ad-libbed. “And then ... oh wait, I forgot ... I got poked by a pin and bled half to death ... and then I got slapped in the face and my tooth is loose.” Maybe he should consider working a cover of Culture Club’s “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” into his set. — Reuters

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

lifestyle

Artisan transforms vintage wood into

treasured guitars T

he philosophical riddle is posed so often it has grown mossy with cliche: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? It turns out the answer is yes, it makes an amazing sound, although the eruption of this joyful noise may not occur for centuries, when it is sliced into pear-shaped tones at the Santa Cruz Guitar Company.

Just as Michelangelo believed every block of stone had a statue hidden inside, craftsmen in Santa Cruz who make artisanal acoustic guitars crave fallen timber for its distinctive timbre.

“Flavors, colors on an artist’s palette, that’s what we’re creating,” says Richard Hoover, whose groundbreaking guitar company is preparing to observe its 35th anniversary. By harvesting rare rosewood from Brazilian forests cut down in the 1920s, and 100-year-old mahogany planted for Britain’s Royal Navy - a reverberating echo of empire - Hoover has indulged the “scientific romance” of a boutique guitarmaking movement that he himself carved out.For the company’s birthday celebration, Hoover is making plans for a series of guitars using locally grown wood that give new meaning to the term “vintage.” He has a piece of California sycamore - now a 6inch thickness of board, just 30 inches long and 10 inches wide - that fell into the San Lorenzo River and washed downstream to Santa Cruz. During a recent excavation for new townhomes, the log was unearthed from 30 feet of silt, where Hoover believes it was buried 5,000 years ago.

“We’ll probably make five guitars from that,” he says. The company produces fewer than 700 handcrafted acoustic guitars a year. The company’s 13 luthiers are all men, so at times the workshop resembles a religious order of extremely handy monks.

Handiest of all is Hoover, who set out to become a singing cowboy - a guitar slung over his shoulder like a bandoleer - and instead became high priest to the “unplugged” generation. He and his luthiers make “sustainable” instruments that are played by preeminent pickers such as Bill Frisell, Brad Paisley and Elvis Costello.

The company’s breakthrough came in the early ‘80s, when guitar god Eric Clapton saw a small ad for Santa Cruz Guitars in a Cupertino-based enthusiasts’ magazine called Frets, and ordered one. “You bypass years of trying to establish credibility when Clapton plays your guitar,” Hoover says. At 60, with ponytail, full beard and glasses, Hoover bears the unmistakable markings of a man who chose to come to Santa Cruz, which happened after he ran away from home once, then left for good at 17. He picked up the guitar himself when he was 13. “To impress a girl,” he says. “That’s why we all picked up guitars.”

The first time he took one apart, there was no written information on how to build one by hand, so Hoover consulted texts on violin-making, and became a self-

Sam Jarvis sands an instrument being made at the Santa Cruz Guitar Company. taught luthier at 16. That taught him how to use the wood to manipulate sound. “It’s almost like composing a chord on a piano,” he says, sniffing at bigger competitors such as Martin and Taylor Guitars that make as many guitars in a day as his shop turns out in a year. “Making pre-sized components is like throwing rocks at a piano. You don’t know what kind of sound you’ll get.”

About 65 percent of Santa Cruz guitars are custom-made, and despite an average price of $5,000 - some of the rare-wood instruments range as high as $10,000 - if you put your order in today, the wait will be a year. Hoover and his team took 2.5 years to get the company’s 30th anniversary showpiece just right, producing an instrument of such sculptural artistry that it is valued at $240,000. Santa Cruz doesn’t sell directly to the public, but Hoover welcomes pilgrims to his sawdust seraglio, where a 1-year-old coyote mix named Maria lopes warily past black guitar cases with people’s names taped to them, which are everywhere.

“Richard still keeps it very small and personal,” says Mike Sparber, manager of Sylvan Music, a local dealer whose shop carries about two dozen Santa Cruz Guitars. “I don’t think there’s many companies where the owner will show you around, and tell you about the process from log to guitar. It’s something amazing that he’s created.”

Rich and Robin Nourie came all the way from Philadelphia last week to see the fountainhead from which so much of their musical delight has flowed. Rich got his first Santa Cruz guitar nearly seven years ago, and says he never goes anywhere anywhere - without it. “In that respect, it’s spent more time with him than I have,” says Robin, who recently gave her husband a second Santa Cruz for the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary. —MCT

Guitars made by the Santa Cruz Guitar Company are displayed in Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz, California. — MCT

‘Beavis and Butt-head’ returns to MTV

M

TV turns the big 3-0 tomorrow and, like many who approach such a milestone, has nostalgia on the brain. This not-unwelcome development was obvious at MT V Networks’ two-hour session at the Television Critics Association on Friday afternoon, at which Mike Judge touted the return of “Beavis and Butt-head” and TeenNick praised the success of its new “The ‘90s Are All That” programming block, which includes former Nickelodeon staples “Rugrats” and “Clarissa Explains It All.” Adding to the nostalgia kick happening at MTV Networks is MTV2’s relaunch yesterday night of its sister channel’s long-running alternative music showcase “120 Minutes” and VH1’s upcoming “Pop-Up Video” revamp.

When Judge was asked if the juvenile violence that his ‘90s animated classic is known for might face increased scrutiny in the era of heli-

T

It was not the first time Taiwanese films had been wrongly attributed at international film festivals due to the ongoing political tug-of-war between Taiwan and China, it said.

The name issue has long been a sensitive topic for the island and its giant neighbor, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Last year, China pulled out of the Tokyo International Film Festival after organizers refused to change the name of Taiwan’s delegation to “China Taiwan” or “Chinese Taipei”. Taiwan reacted angrily and warned that the move could damage recently warming ties between the former bitter rivals. Beijing still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. — AFP

ing they didn’t want anything to do with it.

And I’m sure ‘The Jersey Shore’ cast will be calling Mike Judge in a few months.”

Toffler also hinted that he’s considered reviving “Daria,” another beloved 1990s animated series which has done well in reruns on MTV2. Of course, MTV also has plenty of new shows to pimp, including “Awkward,” its new John Hughes-style teen dramedy about a high-school girl having a very bad year.

And it also showcased “Good Vibes,” a new animated series that stars an all-star voice cast of “Book of Mormon’s” Josh Gad, “Arrested Development’s” Tony Hale, and Danny McBride. Nickelodeon also announced that reruns of “Friends” will begin airing on Nick at Nite on Sept 6 and MTV said that it had renewed “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew” for a seventh season. — Reuters

Oscar statue In this photograph, guests Denise Richards (left) and Ramona Singer appear on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” show. — AP

Taiwan indignant over Venice film fest error aiwan has protested to the Venice film festival for wrongly listing a film vying for the Golden Lion award as co-produced by China, local media said yesterday. “Seediq Bale,” an epic tale of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes fighting against Japanese colonial forces in the 1930s, is among 22 films in the running for the prestigious award this year. But Taipei was indignant after the film was attributed to “China-Taiwan” when the nomination was announced Friday even though it was solely funded and produced by Taiwan, said the Liberty Times. Taiwan’s Government Information Office and the film’s producer have protested to the festival’s organizers and demanded a correction, the report said.

copter parents, he jokingly referred to MTV’s more salacious programming and said, “I don’t think so. I mean, look what they’ve got on.”

The new episodes will be pretty much the same old “Beavis and Butt-head,” only now the boys will make fun of more than just music videos. A recent teaser found them ragging on MTV hits “Teen Mom” and “The Jersey Shore,” and Judge said that they’ll also provide their signature commentary on UFC fights and “Internet stuff” as well as review movies a la Siskel and Ebert.

MTV president Van Toffler, who sat next to Judge on the “Beavis and Butt-head” panel and was instrumental in its revival, said that no one from his other shows had called to complain about being lampooned-yet. “I think MTV has been self-deprecating since its inception in 1981,” he said. “We got a lot of calls from bands back when ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ started say-

Grammer ditches comedy for dark drama

“F

rasier ” star Kelsey Grammer makes an abrupt change of direction in his upcoming new TV series, playing a ruthless, power-hungry mayor in a drama series that he calls “the greatest time of my life creatively.” After years of playing comedy roles on television, Grammer, 56, said on Thursday he had decided to return to his roots for the October drama series “Boss” on cable channel Starz. “It has always been in my mind to

play a more serious role. I didn’t start out as a comic actor. I started out in classical theatre, playing tragedies. That was my first love...” “This particular role couldn’t have taken place directly after ‘Frasier’. It would have been too big of a jolt,” Grammer told television journalists gathered here for a biannual meeting of critics. Grammer stars in “Boss” as Tom Kane, the brooding, manipulative, fictional mayor of Chicago who will do anything to stay in power. —Reuters

(From left to right) actor Brett Davern, actress Desi Lydic, actress Nikki Deloach, actress Ashley Rickards, actress Jillian Rose Reed, actress Molly Tarlov, and actor Beau Mirchoff pose for a portrait during The Television Critics Association 2011 Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California on Friday, July 29, 2011. Davern, Lydic, Deloach, Rickards, Reed, Tarlov, and Mirchoff star in the television series “Awkward” on MTV. — AP

from 1940s fetches $89,625

I

f you can’t win an Oscar, why not buy one? That’s exactly what an avid movie buff did when a golden statue from the 1942 Academy Awards went up for auction on Friday. A coveted collectible since Oscars are rarely for sale, the statue fetched $89,625, making it the star of bidding at Heritage Auction’s movie and music auction in Dallas. Nearly 800 items were up for bid, including items owned or worn by celebrities such as Elton John, Michael Jackson and Paul Newman, and guitars owned by Elvis Presley.

Heritage declined to release the identities of buyers.

The company hosts auctions throughout the year, including a recent auction of dinosaur bones and an upcoming John Wayne auction in Los Angeles. The Oscar statue was a rare item to turn up for sale, said Margaret Barrett, director of music and entertainment for Heritage Auctions. A rule adopted in 1950 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prohibits Academy Award winners or their heirs from selling a statue without first offering it back to the academy for a price of $1.

This Oscar, presented before that rule was enacted, was won by Nathan Levinson for best sound recording for the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy. The film is a musical biography of entertainer George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney, who also took home an Oscar for best actor. The film earned eight nominations and won three Oscars, including Levinson’s and Cagney’s. The Academy, which has given out about 2,800 of the hand-crafted statues since the awards began 1929, gave permission for the Oscar to be put up for auction and was offered by a private collector.

Rare Marilyn Monroe memorabilia The auction also featured Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, including rarely seen photographs from the private collection of Hollywood photographer Richard C Miller, who died last year at the age of 98. “Some of these images were from 1946, when she first started modeling,” Barrett said. “Some of them appeared on the covers of old girlie magazines and haven’t been seen since.” Marilyn Monroe was still known as Norma Jeane Dougherty when Miller started photographing her as a fresh-faced young model for the Blue Book Model Agency. “He liked working with her because she was so photogenic,” said Margaret Miller, one of photographer’s two daughters. Several of the old images, including Marilyn in the surf wearing a red bathing suit and Marilyn wearing a wedding dress, sold for about $1,500. Miller again photographed her on the set of the film Some Like It Hot in 1959, and his photo of her in a sequined dress sold for $2,868. Fetching $19,120, the most of any item from the Miller collection, was a model release form she signed with Miller in 1946 as Norma Jeane Dougherty. The form was one of the more expensive items in the auction, along with a Pierrot costume worn by Elton John in two music videos in the 1980s. The costume sold for $14,340 and was presented to John by a German Pierrot in the 1970s. — Reuters

‘World’s best restaurant’ elBulli serves last supper

37

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

Fashion Week

Models, dressed as expectant mothers, present maternity wear creations by Sanjay and Shammy Choraria.

Models present creations by Abhi and Rahul during the Bangalore Fashion Week in Bangalore, India, Friday, July 29, 2011. AP

Fresh classic

W

W

Loreal Paris Voluminous Million Lash Mascara, $8.95, is available.

—MCT photos

Parker takes chances

Extreme eyelashes

cheek color and neutral lip will make the eyes hen it comes to eyelashes, the mantra stand out and the overall effect pretty and balhas always been “the bigger the better.” anced.

And now beauty brands aren’t stopping As far as mascaras promising a dramatic, at full and lush. They’re taking it to the extreme femme fatale result, there’s a variety of formuwith products that offer intense, almost spiderlas hitting shelves now and in the next month. webby lashes that fall somewhere between a Hourglass Cosmetics has a product designed 1960s Twiggy and a 1980s Tammy Faye to go over mascara like a top coat and add a Bakker. The look was all over the fall runways patent-leather-like shine and even more - seen at Lanvin, Miu Miu and Chloe - but intense shade of black to lashes. Lancome has beauty products offering heavy and dramatjust launched its Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara, ic lashes are hitting shelves now, meaning which is meant to deliver doll-like lashes and you can start sporting your spidery eyes right make the eyes appear bigger and more away. Or at least you can start practicing to defined. The cone-shaped brush is supposed to perfect the technique so that you don’t end get into the hard-to-reach areas around the up looking like a mascara wand attacked eyelid, while keeping lashes separated and ultra your face. dark.

Celebrity makeup artist Patrick Also offering some intense eye makeup DeFontbrune, who works on flawless-faced is L’Oreal Paris with its new Voluminous women such as Brooklyn Decker, Jenna Million Lash Mascara Ushkowitz and Heather Morris, gave us a in Carbon Black - a tutorial on how to do doll-like lashes so the hue touted as being effect is flattering rather than unfortunate. He twice as intense as offers that the key to getting long, thick and its regular black intense lashes is all in how you build up the mascara.

MAC product, taking several steps so that lashes Cosmetics, known end up long and thick but still separated. for its heavily pig“Start by curling the lashes; they will always look fuller and longer,” DeFontbrune Opulash Optimum mented products intense said. “Sweep on a lengthening mascara, black, $15, available and applying it from the bottom of lashes. Let at MAC Cosmetics effects, is offering a mascara called that dry and brush through the lashes with locations.

Opulash Optia clean eyelash brush. Then apply a volumum that has a mizing mascara. Feel free to use as many layers as you want, trying to keep lashes clean and sep- super-saturated black color arate. Use an eyelash comb (a metal one, not plastic) and gives lashes extra volume. It supposedly resists and brush through again.”

He recommends adding mascara until you hit the smudging, flaking and the level of intensity you desire. And should you sweep any effects of humidity and lasts across the bottom lashes to achieve this doll-like lash up to 15 hours without look, use a waterproof mascara and blot the under eye wimping out. And for the fall area with a loose powder so there’s less chance of the season, eyes will be anything but wimpy-looking. — MCT product transferring to the face.

“Using a loose powder on the eyelid and under-eye area is also a good thing for getting thicker lashes, Lancome Hypnose Doll because some residual powder will fall onto lashes, and Lashes mascara, $25 at it provides a nice base for building the mascara,” he said. www.dillards.com, is The building process, combined with several new masmeant to deliver dollcaras designed specifically for the spider-lash look, like lashes and make should produce heavily defined eyes that are best when the eyes appear bigger and more defined. worn with relatively little to no other makeup. A wash of

Hourglass Cosmetics Film Noir Lash Lacquer, $28 is designed to go over mascara like a top coat and add a patent-leather-like shine and even more intense shade of black to lashes.

ith “Sex and the City,” Sarah Jessica Parker and Carrie Bradshaw became fashion trendsetters. Viewers tuned in every week to watch what the frenetic, shoe-obsessed Bradshaw would wear next, while in the real world the paparazzi snapped pictures of everything Parker had on, be it a gown at the Met Ball or jeans at the grocery store. The infamous Carrie Bradshaw may have been just a character, but the HBO show gave the actress who portrayed her ubiquitous style power. Parker, 46, has been on the cover of Vogue six times, including this month’s issue in a Burberr y Prorsum cable -knit trench coat. With her lithe frame, she is the perfect model, and her affinity for classic designs with a twist makes her wardrobe a sort of style bible for fashionistas at any age.

Parker, who can next be seen in the film “I Don’t Know How She Does It,” slated for a Sept. 16 opening, recently made an appearance at the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2” premiere in New York City with husband Matthew Broderick and son James Wilkie.

One who never shies away from taking risks with her clothing, Parker ditched the expected fancy premiere gown in favor of a languid, flowing silhouette. She looked resplendent in a patterned maxi dress, navy boyfriend blazer and gathered handbag.

Be ready for your summer soiree in a long, colorful maxi such as the Fire chiffon overlay maxi dress for $52 from Nordstrom, Willow & Clay print maxi dress for $39.97 from Nordstrom Rack or the Aqua Racer back maxi dress from Bloomingdales.com for $88. Parker could have gone the traditional route and covered up with a small cardigan or shawl, but the boyfriend blazer makes a bold statement and is a nice contrast to the flowing dress. Get a similar look with the Asos boyfriend blazer for $94.81, a goldbuttoned blazer with turnback cuffs from Zara for $49.99 or a style with patch elbows from H&M for $39.95. Parker’s gathered bag is a refreshing change from the classic party clutch. It’s still small in size but a piece you can easily sling over your shoulder while dancing. Zara makes some similar looks with a gathered messenger bag for $49.99 or a smaller version with a chain strap for $29.99.

— MCT