June 18. 2012 by Al Watan Daily

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1465

12 PAGES

www.alwatandaily.com

150 Fils with IHT

Cabinet to decide on Al-Humoud’s grilling today

Mohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qatari and Ahmed Al-Shemmari Staff Writers

KUWAIT: Parliamentary circles will be awaiting the outcome of the Cabinet’s scheduled meeting today, which certain MPs have billed as crucial in defining the country’s current political direction. An official source has affirmed that the Cabinet will also discuss, during its meeting, issues pertaining to the National Assembly. In this regard, the ministers are expected to deliberate over the critical remarks made by some MPs against the judiciary authority, casting doubt over its integrity. The tirade was made against the judiciary even though the Constitution clearly stipulates that “The system of Government is based on the principle of separation of powers functioning in co-operation with each other in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. None of these powers may relinquish all or part of its competence specified in this Constitution.” In addition, the Cabinet is expected to discuss proposed amendments to some provisions of the Parliament’s Internal Charter, particularly in relation to a clause that

makes the presence of Cabinet members a prerequisite for the validity of sessions held by the Parliament. In the meantime, certain MPs within the Minority Bloc have warned the government against making any uncalculated moves, which may earn the Majority Bloc gains, as it seeks the inclusion of nine of its members in any future Cabinet. Further, MP Dr. Ali Al-Omair described Cabinet’s meeting today as important to clarify issues and determine the government’s approach towards them. Speaking to Al Watan, the MP said that the government’s position can be determined through the decision it will take with regard to the interpellation of the interior minister who is currently on vacation overseas, while his questioning is due after tomorrow. “Will the minister come back, particularly since the deferral of the interpellation necessitates the presence of the concerned minister who makes such a request? If he does not return, this might imply his reluctance to have the interpellation discussed, so today the picture will shape up through the Cabinet’s meeting,” the MP was quoted as saying. For his part, MP Dr. Mohammad Al-Kandari empha-

‘Fire safety important concern for construction sites’ Michael A. Koalrov Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Kuwait is dotted with many construction sites ranging from small houses to larger apartment buildings, and mega projects on more massive scales. Safety concerns for workers have been on the rise following a report published in 2009 by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in which 20,000 companies in Kuwait were warned that they were courting disaster by violating basic health and safety regulations. In the same year 3,313 workers were injured in work-related accidents, which included falls on construction sites, fires, misuse of construction equipment, and exposure to toxic chemicals. The report also revealed that the department had suspended the licenses of 7,089 companies for safety violations and failing to provide lists of their registered workers. The report also said that a large number of workers were being forced to work outdoors in Kuwait’s extreme summer heat in violation of the nation’s applicable labor laws. In April, Kuwait was beset by a fire in a massive tire dumping yard in which over five million tires were ignited, blanketing Kuwait in thick smoke and causing what MPs referred to as an environmental catastrophe. Fires have also erupted in a scrap yard, and most recently at a construction site More on 2 in Kuwait city.

Haas shocks Federer to win battle of over-30s

Rodney King, key figure in LA riots, dead at 47

sized the need for a Cabinet reshuffle, particularly since two ministers have recently quit. The lawmaker alluded to the possibility of Cabinet resignation or a Cabinet reshuffle, which may involve the appointment of two new ministers to fill the vacant posts. With regard to Al-Juwaihel’s pending interpellation against the interior minister, Al-Kandari played down the motion, saying that it does not contain anything new. Moreover, MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl asserted that Kuwait is passing through an unprecedented critical phase, hence undermining the pillars of the State and its institutions. “A demand by the Majority Bloc for the inclusion of nine of its members is deceitful,” the lawmaker remarked, and claimed that the bloc is eyeing the total control of Cabinet. Al-Fadhl added that nine ministers constitute a majority in the 16-member Cabinet, while quoting Article 128 of the Constitution, The said article stipulates that “Resolutions are passed only when the majority of its members are present and with the approval of the majority of those present. In case of an equal division of votes, that side prevails on which the Prime Minister has voted.”

Retinal prosthesis could help the blind see

Homs battered as weekend death toll nears 100

BEIRUT: Troops pounded besieged districts of the flashpoint city of Homs as 15 people were killed in violence across Syria on Sunday, taking the weekend death toll to 84, a watchdog said. A civilian was killed in the rebel stronghold of Khalidiyeh, which, like other parts of the central city, was “being shelled since this morning and shot at by regime forces who have been trying to take control of these districts,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.A rebel fighter was killed in a clash with regime troops in the Karm Shamsham

neighborhood of Homs, while another man was shot dead by a sniper in the Old City. Speaking to AFP via Skype from the Old City neighborhood, activist Abu Bilal said the regime siege of several parts of the city was “suffocating.”“They are shelling us all the time. There’s very little food and water, and we’re running out of medication.” Video posted on YouTube by activists showed clouds of black and grey smoke rising over buildings in the Old City, as the sound of shelling and shooting ripped through the silence of what appeared to be a ghost town. More on 3

21 dead, 100 injured in Nigeria church blasts, rioting

PARIS: Bomb attacks on five churches in Nigeria’s Kaduna State and subsequent rioting by Christian youths targeting Muslims killed at least 21 people and injured 101 others Sunday, an official told AFP. “The official figures from medical personnel on the total deaths from the bombings and protests are 21 deaths and 101 injured,” said an official from the National Emergency Management Agency who requested anonymity. The number of casualties in the blasts in the neighboring cities of Zaria and Kaduna was not immediately clear. Police and the military cordoned off the areas around the churches. The state-run National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the blasts happened in the Wusasa and Sabongari districts of Zaria, previously targeted by the Islamist group Boko Haram. Residents in the areas said many people were injured in the attacks on the Christ the King Catholic Cathedral and ECWA GoodNews Church. “Many people in the church were injured but I have not seen any dead bodies,” a woman who was in the church in Wusasa at the time of the explosion said by telephone from her hospital bed. Several residents in Sabongari said the See also 5 church was badly damaged.

Iran, world powers set for showdown in Moscow

FILE - This July 16, 1992 ﬁle photo shows Rodney King being escorted from jail in Santa Ana, Calif. after he was arrested for investigation of drunken driving. (AP)

LOS ANGELES: Rodney King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation’s history, died Sunday. He was 47. King’s fiancŽ called 911 at 5:25 a.m. to report she found him at the bottom of the swimming pool at their home in Rialto, Calif., police Lt. Dean Hardin. Officers arrived to find King unresponsive in the water, Hardin said. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m. There were no signs of foul play, Hardin said. The San Bernardino County coroner will perform an autopsy within 48 hours. The 1992 riots, which were set off by the acquittals of the officers who beat King, lasted three days and left 55 people dead, more than 2,000 injured and swaths of Los Angeles on fire. At the height of the violence, King pleaded on television: “Can we all get along?” In the two decades after he became the central figure in the riots, King was arrested several times, mostly for alcohol-related crimes. He later became a record company executive and a reality TV star, appearing on shows such as “Celebrity Rehab.” In an interview earlier this year with The Associated Press, King said he was a happy man. -AP

MOSCOW: World powers resume crisis talks with Iran today amid hope that a crippling oil embargo and pressure from host Russia will finally force the Islamic Republic to scale back its nuclear drive. The two-day meeting follows a bruising May session in Baghdad during which Iran nearly walked out of negotiations aimed ultimately at keeping it from joining the exclusive club of nations with an atomic bomb. Host Russia however is keen to flex its diplomatic muscle and make Iran an example of how Moscow’s influence over Soviet-era partners could be used to avoid foreign military intervention in the 16-month crisis in Syria. “There are reasons to believe that the next step will be taken in Moscow,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Sergei Ryabkov said. Failure in Moscow could leave the process in tatters and raise the threat of air raids from arch-foe Israel -- a fateful scenario in which broader conflict would lead to a spike in oil prices that could tip over the world’s teetering economy. But a July 1 deadline for a full EU oil embargo and the June 28 rollout of tough US sanctions against a host of Iranian oil clients is providing added pressure for Tehran to bargain more seriously. -AFP

His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (left) being received by His Highness the Governor Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin Abdulaziz (right) at the King Abdulaziz International Airport Sunday, June More on 2 17, 2012. (KUNA)

Denmark 1

Germany 2

Portugal 2

Netherlands 1

MORE ON 12

Today’s Matches:

Croatia vs Spain & Italy vs Ireland

Egypt votes on final day of presidential election

CAIRO: Egyptians voted for a second day Sunday in a presidential runoff pitting Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister against a conservative Islamist, with a sense of gloom hanging over many at the polls over the choice and the prospect that the ruling military will still hold most power even after their nominal handover of authority to civilians by July 1. In a sign of how much power they wield, the military generals were preparing to define the next president’s authorities in an interim constitutional declaration that state media said could come by Monday. Under the declaration, the council of generals would be the nation’s legislators and control the budget after the Islamist-dominated parliament was dissolved under a court order last week. The generals will also likely take on the parliament’s task of appointing a 100-member assembly to write the permanent constitution, giving them enormous influence over the document that will shape Egypt’s future and allowing the opportunity to enshrine for themselves a political say. As a result, for some voters even as they stood in sweltering heat at the polls, it seemed that the choice for Mubarak’s successor - between Ahmed Shafiq, a longtime friend and admirer of Mubarak, and Mohammed Morsi, the candidate of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood - would ultimately make little difference. After the first day of voting ended Saturday, the Brotherhood sought to rally the public behind it, saying that a Morsi win for the presidency was now the only hope for the revolution after the military’s consolidation of power. -AP

Lack of US aid to Syrian rebels ‘shameful’: McCain

WASHINGTON: Sen. John McCain says the lack of US aid to Syrian rebels is “shameful,” and that helping the opposition would be the biggest blow to Iran in 25 years. The United States has refused to arm Syrian rebels in part to avoid a proxy fight with Iran and Russia, which back the Syrian government. The crisis in Syria is likely to come up when President Barack

Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Mexico on Monday. McCain tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that members of the Syrian opposition are being “killed and massacred and tortured and raped” and “the fact that Americans aren’t helping them is shameful.” Syrian activists say the rebel-held areas in Homs have been under attack for a week. -AP

Egyptian men line up to vote at a polling station in the Shobra neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt on Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP) See also 3

ALWATAN DAILY

local

monday, JUNE 18, 2012

Amir arrives in Jeddah to attend Prince Nayef’s funeral KUWAIT: His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah arrived in Jeddah on Sunday to attend the funeral for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. Prince Nayef passed away Saturday at the age of 78 in a Geneva hospital, during treatment he was receiving there. Receiving His Highness at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport were Jeddah Governor Prince Mishal bin Majid bin Abdulaziz, Kuwait’s Consul General to Jeddah Saleh Al-Sagubi, the acting Charge d’Affaires in the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Thiyab Al-Rasheedi and embassy diplomats. Furthermore, the Amir was seen off at the airport by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Speaker of the National Assembly Ahmad Al-Saadoun, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlKhaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al-Fayez. Sheikh Sabah is accompanied by Sheikh Faisal Al-Saud Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, Deputy Chief of the National Guard Sheikh Meshaal

Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid AlHamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, Sheikh Dr. Ali Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, Chief of the National Security Appratus Sheikh Mohammad AlKhaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Advisor of the Amiri Diwan Mohammad Dhaifullah Sharar, Amiri Diwan Advisor Sheikh Fahad Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, Director of the Amir’s Bureau Ahmad Fahad Al-Fahad, Head of Amiri Protocol Sheikh Khaled Al-Abdullah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah and the Ambassador of the Foreign Ministry Sheikh Faisal Homoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Kuwait Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Ibrahim Al-Fayez mourned with deep distress demise of the Kingdom Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdulaziz. The Saudi embassy said in a statement released on Sunday that the diplomat would receive sympathizers for three days starting Monday, June 18, from 9 a.m. till noon time, at the embassy building in the district of Al-Daiyah. -KUNA

Boubyan bridges 95% completed: Minister Safar Mervat Abduldaim Staff Writer & Agencies

KUWAIT: Two bridge projects for automobiles and trains linking mainland Kuwait and the island of Boubyan are 95 percent completed, Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Planning and Development, Dr. Fadhel Safar revealed Sunday. Safar stressed that his ministry is keen on abiding by deadlines in completing the construction of major projects in Kuwait. The bridges will link the island to the northern desert area of Al-Sabbiyah and will transport passengers and goods as part of the country’s state development plan, he told reporters during an inspection tour of the project. The ministry also plans to implement a series of ambitious projects on the island, including residential facilities, an airport and a railway station. Moreover, Al-Sabbiyah will accommodate a “Silk City” as the country plans to expand economically as well as socially. Meanwhile, the ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Major Projects Adel Al-Turki revealed that a three-week deadline has been set for the auto highway bridge of the project. An extension of the bridges will also link the planned Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, while the railway

part of the bridge will link up to a track running through the northern region right down to the southernmost border regions of the country. Al-Turki said that there is an integrated plan to develop the island including a number of touristic projects, adding that the ministry is working on a restructure plan to be submitted to Kuwait Municipality for getting approval of the Municipal Council. Safer offered deepest condolences to the Islamic and Arab nations on the death of the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia His Highness Nayef Bin Abdulaziz, one of the supporters of Kuwait cause during the Iraqi invasion. He prayed to God Almighty to bless his soul and to inspire his family patience and solace. For his part, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works Engineer Abdulaziz Al-Kulaib said that the development of Bubyan Island is part of the major projects of the State implemented by the Ministry of Public Works including the Jaber Hospital, Mubarak Port and highways such as Jahra Road and Jamal Abdulnasser Street. Regarding the Iraqi objections to the Mubarak Port, Al-Kulaib said that this issue is being handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but the Ministry of Public Works is implementing the project on the development of the Island.

His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah flies to Saudi Arabia for solace over demise of Crown Prince on Sunday, June 17, 2012. (KUNA)

‘Fire safety important concern for construction sites’ Fire breakouts according to governorates

Governorate Number of fires

Farwaniya

Hawally

Capital

Ahmadi

Jahraa

Mubarak Al-Kabeer

1173

630

532

506

452

305

Fire breakouts according to causes Fire Causes

Number of fires

Children playing with flammable material or source

379

Electric faults

357

Arson

133

Improper cigarette disposable

115

Forgotten ovens & kitchen appliances

Electric overload

Michael A. Koalrov Staff Writer

Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Planning and Development, Dr. Fadhel Safar while inspecting the project Sunday, June 17, 2012. (KUNA)

Assistant Engineers, Technicians Labor Union rejects recent CSC raise decision

Mervat Abduldayem Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Board of Assistant Engineers and Technicians Labor Union have rejected the recent raise decision taken by Civil Service Commission (CSC). According to the union, the decision ignored the requests of the union for approving the assistant engineers and technician cadre. Meanwhile, the chairman of union Adel AlDokhi affirmed that the union will never keep silent about the injustice that assistant engineers and technicians face. However, the union endorsed such strict stand because the recent decisions of CSC created a big gap in the salaries that the different civil servants receive. The recent decisions enabled some servants to obtain significant salary raises while many other servants could not obtain similar raises such as assistant engineers and technicians who work hard in tough environments. He unveiled that the union is planning to launch a campaign for collecting signatures of a large number of assistant engineers and technicians, calling all to cooperate for achieving this task

successfully. However, collecting signatures can be considered as a step to announce rejection to the CSC’s decisions as well as calling for approving the cadre of assistant engineers and technicians, who are estimated to be more than 27,000, who work for the public sector. The chairman emphasized that assistant engineers and technicians exert as hard efforts as that of civil servants who got their cadre approved recently therefore they deserve to enjoy their cadre as soon as possible. He also asked all assistant engineers and technicians to be available at the headquarters of Engineers Society today (Monday) at 5 p.m. in order to sign the request that will be referred to CSC by the union soon, adding that the campaign will last three days, from Monday until Wednesday. Al-Dohki asserted that all options are on the table but he hopes CSC cooperates with the union particularly that the union is going to escalate the issue which might reach to hold a strike later on if the CSC doesn`t cooperate. “The union has also prepared some studies about the expected salary raise and it will be submitted to the CSC soon,” said the chairman.

station attendants, smoking inside their cars at gas stations, leaving their engines on while filling up and using their mobile phones. At construction sites, poorly trained and underpaid workers regularly interact with flammable substances without the proper safety precautions. The source requested to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak with the press. Fires can break out at construction sites for many reasons according to the United States Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), whose standards are applied in Kuwait. According to Engineer Basel Boredha, one of the project engineers on the Jaber Hospital project, who kindly agreed to our interview request, commented that fire safety is a very serious concern on any construction site. “We have many materials and liquids which are flammable.We always ensure there are plenty of fire extinguishers which are accessible, in working order, and that the people know how to use the fire extinguishers... If anyone is caught smoking on site, they can be fired on the spot, there is a zero tolerance policy for it,” he said. However, not every construction site enforces these rules as strictly as the Jaber Hospital project. A casual observation of several construction sites around Shaab Al-Bahri and Hawally revealed chemical leaks which extend even onto the roads in some cases, which could easily be ignited by accidental means. These sites also house cranes, which have been observed by witnesses lifting loads over busy streets, yet another example of safety violations. Construction site managers had no comments to offer regarding these violations.

Rio+20 summit to kick-off with participation of Kuwaiti high-level delegation RIO DE JANEIRO: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as the Rio Earth Summit or Rio+20, will kick-off here on June 20-22, marking the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Over 130 world leaders are expected to attend Rio+20, in addition to thousands of business executives, mayors, civil society groups, youth and indigenous peoples. Chairperson of Kuwait’s Volunteer Work Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will be representing the State of Kuwait and heading a delegation to the Summit. The summit represents “another milestone in ongoing international efforts to accelerate progress towards achieving sustainable development globally and aims to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and address new and emerging challenges.” The Earth Summit 2012 is taking place 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where countries adopted Agenda 21, which is a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity

and ensure environmental protection. One of the most important commitments to come out of the summit will be a political document to be agreed by the UN’s 193 member states that accelerates action on the sustainable development agenda. Rio+20 will also launch many initiatives and commitments by governments, businesses, civil society groups and others. These commitments will include action on food, energy, water, oceans and sustainable cities. The opening day of the conference will include remarks by the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, UN General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nassir and Rio+20 Secretary-General Sha Zukang, as well as special messages from astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station and by the winner of a special contest for young people. The objective of the conference is to “secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.” It will also focus on two themes, which are “a green economy in the context

of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development.” In addition to the discussions in the plenary and in any subsidiary bodies that may be established, the conference will feature four consecutive high-level roundtables, parallel meetings including a partnership forum and learning centers, as well as special events. The four high-level round tables will have a common theme, which is “Looking at the way forward in implementing the expected outcomes of the conference” and they will be held in parallel with the plenary meetings. In addition to the outcome of the formal negotiation process, governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations will launch initiatives and announce commitments to tackle global sustainability challenges through partnerships. Potential initiatives will tackle challenges that include food, energy, oceans, water and livable cities. Meanwhile, the US State Department announced, last week, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will head the US delegation to the Conference and that she also “plans to meet with key world leaders while at the conference.” -KUNA

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

mondAY, June 18, 2012

No to despair By Hossam Fathi

I can claim that the people who could live with the rule of Hosni Mubarak will tolerate today’s article. After a few hours, the name of the elected president of Egypt will be declared. I believe that those who supported Shafiq in the first round of elections will not let him fail; however, I hope I will be mistaken. On Thursday June 16, it seemed that everything was perfectly prepared in anticipation to the ruling of the Constitutional Court. Police and military forces received orders to surround the Parliament. At noon, the court issued its ruling to dissolve the Parliament. Nobody expected that the court would issue such a serious ruling in two weeks. A few hours before issuing the court ruling, the ruling was printed in the government press and published in the official gazette in order to be immediately executed. While police forces were preventing MPs from entering the parliament, the Minister of Justice issued a decision giving military police and intelligences the power to arrest civilians. I wonder what the difference is between such a decision and the emergency law. Some said that what happened was a conspiracy while others said that the revolution has been “assassinated”. On the other hand, some people said that what happened was merely coincidence. But the honest and faithful citizens will never give up their efforts to achieve the best interests of their country. hossam@alwatan.com.kw Twitter:@hossamfathy66

Homs battered as weekend death toll nears 100 BEIRUT: Troops pounded besieged districts of the flashpoint city of Homs as 15 people were killed in violence across Syria on Sunday, taking the weekend death toll to 84, a watchdog said. A civilian was killed in the rebel stronghold of Khalidiyeh, which, like other parts of the central city, was “being shelled since this morning and shot at by regime forces who have been trying to take control of these districts,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A rebel fighter was killed in a clash with regime troops in the Karm Shamsham neighborhood of Homs, while another man was shot dead by a sniper in the Old City. Speaking to AFP via Skype from the Old City neighborhood, activist Abu Bilal said the regime siege of several parts of the city was “suffocating.” “They are shelling us all the time. There’s very little food and water, and we’re running out of medication.” Video posted on YouTube by activists showed clouds of black and grey smoke rising over buildings in the Old City, as the sound of shelling and shooting ripped through the silence of what appeared to be a ghost town. Abu Bilal, reiterated warnings by the opposition and rights watchdogs, said people trapped in the city “will be massacred” if regime forces enter the encircled districts. Amateur video posted on YouTube by anti-regime activists in the surrounded Homs district of Jourat Al-Shiah showed widespread destruction, deserted streets and parts of a building shelled and on fire. “We don’t have any milk for the children, nor water, nor electricity,” a woman whose house was destroyed tells the unidentified cameraman. “We are not scared. We don’t want weapons or money. We just want a way to get our children out of here,” says the mother of two. The Observatory has said that more than 1,000 families were trapped in Homs, adding that there was a lack of medical staff and equipment. Home to several rebel hideouts, Homs has been under intermittent attack by regime forces ever since its Baba Amr neighborhood was relentlessly pounded for a month earlier this year and retaken by the regime. Elsewhere in the country, a civilian was shot dead by a sniper at Khan Sheikhun in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Observatory said. Regime forces, meanwhile, shelled the village of Abyan in the northern province of Aleppo, killing a man, while

A handout image released by the Syrian opposition’s Shaam News Network on June 16, 2012 allegedly shows hundreds of people protesting against the regime during a funeral procession on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. (AFP)

another man died in the town of Andan. Regime forces have been trying to take over Andan from rebel fighters, who are in turn “resisting fiercely,” the Observatory said. Violence also hit other areas of Syria, including the eastern province of Deir El-Zor, where clashes between regime troops and rebels killed two people, one of them a rebel fighter, the Observatory said. In the central province of Hama - one of the first to rise up against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad - at least three regime troops were killed in fighting on Sunday morn-

Egypt votes on final day of presidential election CAIRO: Egyptians were voting Sunday on the last day of a highly divisive presidential run-off between an Islamist and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, amid moves by the army to consolidate its power ahead of the final results. Former air force chief Ahmed Shafiq, who served as ex-president Mubarak’s prime minister in the last days of the uprising that toppled him, is vying for the top job against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi. “Shafiq is the right man for this phase of the country,” said Osman, 55, a government employee. But standing next to him in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Marwan Adel, a teacher, said the iconic square and cradle of last year’s uprising would always be there to keep up the pressure on the army. “We are ready to restart the revolt,” Adel said. Small queues formed outside polling stations, which had

opened at 0600 GMT, with police and army deployed nationwide, and voting was extended until 1900 GMT. “Zero hour approaches,” read the headline of the stateowned daily Al-Gomhouria, as the polarizing race prepared to wrap up. The election comes against a backdrop of legal and political chaos, with the Muslim Brotherhood set on a confrontation path with the ruling military after it ordered the Islamist-led parliament dissolved. The move throws Egypt’s already tumultuous transition after Mubarak’s ouster last year into further disarray with the new president expected to take office without a parliament and without a constitution. “The new president will head to the presidential palace amid a terrifying legal and constitutional vacuum,” wrote political analyst Hassan Nafea in the independent daily AlMasry Al-Youm. The ruling military council is to maintain

control over legislation and the budget in the absence of a parliament, even as the country prepares to announce a new president, military sources told AFP. Military sources said the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was set to issue an amended constitutional declaration. The sources say article 56 of the declaration will be amended to give legislative powers and state budget to the SCAF, following a ruling by Egypt’s top court that the Islamist-led parliament is invalid. The SCAF had in January handed legislative power to parliament. The SCAF will also issue new rules under article 60 for the formation of the constituent assembly that is to draft the country’s permanent constitution. Article 30 of the declaration will also be amended to say that the new president will be sworn in before the Supreme Constitutional Court instead of by the lower house of parliament. -AFP

Iran, world powers resume crisis talks in Moscow MOSCOW: World powers resume crisis talks with Iran today amid hope that a crippling oil embargo and pressure from hosts Russia will finally force the Islamic Republic to scale back its nuclear drive. The two-day meeting follows a bruising May session in Baghdad during which Iran nearly walked out of negotiations aimed ultimately at keeping it from joining the exclusive club of nations with an atomic bomb. Host Russia however is keen to flex its diplomatic muscle and make Iran an example of how Moscow’s influence over Soviet-era partners could be used to avoid foreign military intervention in the 16-month crisis in Syria. Failure in Moscow could leave the process in tatters and raise the threat of air raids from arch-foe Israel - a fateful scenario in which broader conflict would

lead to a spike in oil prices that could tip over the world’s teetering economy. But a July 1 deadline for a full EU oil embargo and the June 28 rollout of tough US sanctions against a host of Iranian oil clients is providing added pressure for Tehran to bargain more seriously. Two of the biggest bones of contention involve the speed with which world powers lift existing sanctions and the recognition of Iran’s “right to enrich”. The latter is emerging as a key demand that Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili is likely to present to the present to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton when she represents the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany in Moscow. “We expect that Iran’s right to nuclear technologies, including uranium enrichment, will be recognised

and respected,” Jalili told Russia’s RT state-run world news channel in comments translated from Farsi. Iran for its part “has the capacities to cooperate in disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, so these capacities should be used by the international community,” Jalili said in Friday’s broadcast. “I think that addressing these two issues will help to advance the negotiations.” Diplomats said Iran has agreed to discuss the idea of limits to its enrichment program under a proposal initially outlined in Baghdad. The terms outline by the powers last month would see Iran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent - seen as being just steps away from weapons-grade - and ship out its existing stock while shuttering its forbidden Fordo bunker. -AFP

Libya gives green light for political campaign TRIPOLI: Political campaigning for a national assembly begins on Monday, a milestone in Libya’s troubled path to democratic elections after four decades of dictatorship under late dictator Muammar Gadhafi. The electoral commission announced late on Saturday that candidates have 18 days to campaign, June 18 to July 5 inclusive. It said 2,501 independents and 1,206 political association candidates were eligible to stand after vetting. A total of 142 political associations are fielding candidates, it added. Nuri Al-Abbar, head of the electoral commission, urged candidates “to conduct an honorable competition and live up to their responsibilities.” Campaign guidelines published by the electoral commission called on candidates to avoid conducts that foster the

outbreak of conflicts between voters, hurt national unity and sow discrimination or hatred. Candidates are obliged to disclose how their campaign was financed. The July 7 vote is for the North African nation’s first General National Congress. Once the newly elected assembly holds its first session, the interim ruling National Transitional Council is due to step down. The vote, which was initially slated for June 19 in line with a pledge by the NTC, was postponed for technical and logistical reasons. Ian Martin, the United Nations envoy for Libya, told AFP that the new timetable was doable and called the delay a “wise” move as it would give voters more time to familiarize themselves with the candidates. More than 2.7 million Libyans, or

around 80 percent of the eligible electorate, have registered for the election. “Once there are competing candidates the mood can heat up a bit, but I believe that the capacity is there to address security problems if they arise,” Martin added. He said that the new authorities have shown considerable capacity in mediating clashes, even though the nascent army remains weak and dependent on brigades of former rebels to help settle conflicts. The most recent clashes this month centered on the southern city of Kufra and in the Nafusa mountain region west of the capital Tripoli. Libya has also witnessed a series of attacks on Western targets in recent weeks, mostly in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt in which Gadhafi was killed. -AFP

Sudan police attack student demo against food prices

KHARTOUM: Sudanese riot police on Sunday attacked a Khartoum student demonstration against high food prices, firing tear gas and beating some of the protesters with batons, an AFP correspondent reported. At around midday (0900 GMT), hundreds of students emerged from the University of Khartoum campus, located in the city centre, adjacent to the Blue Nile river, chanting slogans including: “We want lower food prices!” Riot police, who were waiting for the demonstrators outside in around 10 small pickup trucks, used tear gas and batons to disperse them. They then ordered all students to vacate the university campus. Several hours later, men in civilian clothes stopped cars in the street, ordered anyone they suspected of involvement in the protest out of the vehicles and beat them, the correspondent witnessed. On Saturday evening, police used tear gas to break up a similar protest on the same street, where a crowd of students, estimated to be in the hundreds, held a demonstration against high food prices, witnesses said.

Sudan is suffering from soaring prices and a rapidly depreciating currency, following the secession of the South last year and the loss of three-quarters of Khartoum’s vital oil revenues, its main hard currency earner. Inflation officially hit 30.4 percent in May, compared with 28.6 percent in April, the central statistics bureau said earlier this month, although some economists say the real figure could be more than 40 percent. Traders say the price of beef has more than doubled over the past 12 months, from around 15 Sudanese pounds (2.7 US dollars) to as much as 35 Sudanese pounds ($6.4). The already-high prices are set to jump even higher if, as is widely expected, the government follows through on a decision it has been mulling for weeks to lift fuel subsidies which it can no longer afford. Khartoum’s main university was closed for more than two months earlier this year after students clashed with riot police in late December. What began as a sit-in related to a dispute over university fees spilled into surrounding streets where police fired tear gas and students hurled stones. -AFP

ing, the watchdog said. In Damascus, a young man was shot dead while another was gunned down in the suburbs of the capital, it added. Regime forces also shelled the rebel bastion of Douma, on the outskirts of the capital, for the fourth day in a row, killing a man while another was shot dead by a sniper in the same area, it said. Sixty-nine people were killed across the country on Saturday - 51 civilians, 16 troops and two rebels -according to the Observatory which says more than 14,400 people have died in the 15-month uprising. -AFP

Abbas scolds Israel as Erakat to meet Clinton

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Sunday blasted the peace process with Israel as “clinically dead” just days before negotiator Saeb Erakat meets US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The peace process is clinically dead and the Israeli side is definitely the one responsible,” Abbas said at a conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah, reiterating a statement he has made on several occasions. “The ball is in their court.” Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been on ice since autumn 2010 in an intractable dispute over Jewish settlements, with the Palestinians refusing to return to negotiations without a settlement freeze and Israel’s agreement to accept pre-1967 lines as the basis for talks. Israel has said it wants an immediate return to the negotiating table - but without such preconditions. Despite the lack of movement, world diplomats have been seeking ways of bringing the sides back together, with Erakat set to hold talks with Clinton on the issue in Washington on Tuesday. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION / VIEWS

mondAY, June 18, 2012

The use and abuse of religious freedom

When people are prohibited from practicing their religion in certain ways; there can be no doubt that their freedom of religion is being violated.

Peter Singer

Project Syndicate

hat are the proper limits of religious freedom? Marianne Thieme, leader of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands, offers this answer: “Religious freedom stops where human or animal suffering begins.” The Party for the Animals, the only animal-rights party to be represented in a national parliament, has proposed a law requiring that all animals be stunned before slaughter. The proposal has united Islamic and Jewish leaders in defense of what they see as a threat to their religious freedom, because their religious doctrines prohibit eating meat from animals that are not conscious when killed. The Dutch parliament has given the leaders a year to prove that their religions’ prescribed methods of slaughter cause no more pain than slaughter with prior stunning. If they cannot do so, the requirement to stun before slaughtering will be implemented. Meanwhile, in the United States, Catholic bishops have claimed that President Barack Obama is violating their religious freedom by requiring all big employers, including Catholic hospitals and universities, to offer their employees health insurance that covers contraception. And, in Israel, the ultra-orthodox, who interpret Jewish law as prohibiting men from touching women to whom they are not related or married, want separate seating for men and women on buses, and to halt the government’s plan to end exemption from military service for fulltime religious students (63,000 in 2010). When people are prohibited from practicing their religion - for example, by laws that bar worshiping in certain ways - there can be no doubt that their freedom of religion has been violated. Religious persecution was common in previous centuries, and still occurs in some countries today. But prohibiting the ritual slaughter of animals does not stop Jews or Muslims from practicing their religion. During the debate on the Party for the Animals’ proposal, Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, told members of parliament: “If we no longer have people who can do ritual slaughter in the Netherlands, we will stop eating meat.” And that, of course, is what one should do, if one adheres to a religion that requires animals to be slaughtered in a manner less humane than can be achieved by modern techniques. Neither Islam nor Judaism upholds a requirement to eat meat. And I am not calling upon Jews and Muslims to do any more than I have chosen to do myself, for ethical reasons, for more than 40 years. Restricting the legitimate defense of religious freedom to rejecting proposals that stop people

from practicing their religion makes it possible to resolve many other disputes in which it is claimed that freedom of religion is at stake. For example, allowing men and women to sit in any part of a bus does not violate orthodox Jews’ religious freedom because Jewish law does not command that one use public transport. It’s just a convenience that one can do without - and orthodox Jews can hardly believe that the laws to which they adhere were intended to make life maximally convenient. Likewise, the Obama administration’s requirement to provide health insurance that covers contraception does not prevent Catholics from practicing their religion. Catholicism does not oblige its adherents to run hospitals and universities. (The government already exempts parishes and dioceses, thereby drawing a distinction between institutions that are central to the freedom to practice one’s religion and those that are peripheral to it.) Of course, the Catholic Church would be understandably reluctant to give up its extensive networks of hospitals and universities. My guess is that, before doing so, they would come to see the provision of health-insurance coverage for contraception as compatible with their religious teachings. But, if the Church made the opposite decision, and handed over its hospitals and universities to bodies that were willing to provide the coverage, Catholics would still be free to worship and follow their religion’s teachings. Religious exemption from military service can be more difficult to resolve, because some religions teach pacifism. That problem is usually resolved by providing alternative service that is no less arduous than military service (so that such religions do not attract adherents for that reason alone), but that does not involve fighting or killing. Judaism, however, is not pacifist, so, once again, there is no real issue of religious freedom at stake. The ultra-orthodox want exemption for those who spend their time studying the Torah on the grounds that Torah study is as important as military service to Israel’s well-being. Providing the option of non-combatant national service thus will not resolve this dispute, unless it consists of Torah study. But there is no reason why Israel’s secular majority should share the belief that having tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox scholars studying the Torah provides any benefit at all to the nation, and it is certainly not as arduous as military service. Not all conflicts between religion and the state are easy to resolve. But the fact that these three issues, all currently causing controversy in their respective countries, are not really about the freedom to practice one’s religion, suggests that the appeal to religious freedom is being misused.

When will these horrific massacres stop?

n the Holy Quran, Almighty Allah has said that He is always aware of all the disastrous atrocities and acts of violence that tyrants inflict on their own people and has given us His assurances that all those tyrants will surely meet with such a fate that will be far worse than those of their victims. I would surely like to reiterate those very words to all those helpless and desperate citizens of Syria who bearing the pain and suffering that is being inflicted on them on an almost daily basis by their own leader who is actually supposed to guard and protect them from other hostile nations. It is indeed pathetic that this leader stubbornly refuses to heed calls and pleas that are being sent out from nations across the world to cease all hostilities and restore normalcy at the earliest. We as Muslins too should raise our voices in earnest and condemn all those massacres on our Muslim brothers because that is precisely what Allah Almighty would deem us to do. We as Muslims; are all brothers in the eyes of Allah Almighty and hence; no one would like to see their brothers suffer in pain and agony at the hands of their own leaders. We must also remember the underlying fact that no matter how long acts of injustice and violence is meted out to innocent men, women and children hopes of a new sense of freedom will always dawn on all those that are victimized by dictatorial and murderous leaders. Every time all those brutal and gory massacres unfold live on television or I see pictures that are splashed across the front pages of local newspapers with regards to the situation in Syria, tears of sadness and sorrow trickle from my eyes and my heart

bleeds with emotion. Which humane heart in this whole wide world will not cry out while watching the pain and sorrow writ large on the faces of innocent men, women and children? Which humane heart will not want to reach out to all those who are being literally butchered by armed men out on the streets on an almost daily basis? Which humane heart will not want all this gory madness to come to an immediate end? There cannot be a shadow of doubt that Almighty Allah will surely bring all those who massacred those innocent souls to justice on the Day of Judgment and let their souls scorch in the raging fires of hell for all eternity. History has always borne witness to the fact that Allah Almighty has always dethroned and unseated tyrants from their mighty thrones and lofty positions irrespective whether they were czars, kings or presidents. This is truly evident through the humiliating deaths of various, kings, monarchs, pharaohs and other dictatorial leaders who suppressed the voices of their peoples and butchered them mercilessly. It was only recently the people across the world witnessed how former Tunisian president Ben Ali fled Tunisia without even having enough time to pack his own baggage. Can’t Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad foresee his own fate as being even worse than Ben Ali’s in the event his own generals turn against him and point the barrels of their guns on him instead? Peoples across the world have also witnessed how former Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gadhafi was lit-

GOVERNMENT

Government

Peter Singer is Professor of bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Achim Steiner Pavan Sukhdev

Project Syndicate

ith just weeks to go before the Rio+20 Earth Summit, many are speculating about how many world leaders will show up and what kind of agreements they might reach on the key agenda items: creating a “green economy” and establishing an “international framework for sustainable development.” It is no coincidence that these two items appear side by side. The term “green economy” was coined years ago - even prior to the first Earth Summit in 1992 - to provide a new lens through which to examine the links between economics and sustainability. But it has gained a new impetus in a world where climate change is already a reality, commodity prices are rising and basic resources such as clean air, arable land, and fresh water are increasingly scarce. A growing body of science, including the United Nations Environment Program’s upcoming Global Environment Outlook-5, is confirming what was glimpsed at Rio 20 years ago. Those who have invested in an economic model and production processes based on nineteenth- and twentieth-century models are perhaps understandably nervous about a paradigm shift. But so are some segments of civil society, which are concerned that a transition to a green economy might negatively affect the poor and expose them to greater risks and vulnerabilities. Others question the efficacy of market-based approaches to drive sustainability, because markets can never

erally flushed out of sewage pipes where he had been hiding like a rat and how he was dragged, humiliated and fatally shot at point blank range despite pleading for his life, not to mention the deaths of his sons that preceded his own. Why can’t Al-Assad also learn lessons from the gory fate of the other dictatorial leader Saddam Hussein, who was publicly hanged for committing horrendous crimes against his own people and others? We have also witnessed the trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who was seen lying helplessly on a gurney with pleading eyes. The former president; who used to sit on Egypt’s throne at a point of time is now behind bars and will be compelled to pay for the crimes that he and members of his regime committed against the Egyptians. Can’t Bashar Al-Assad link his own fate to that of the former Egyptian leader? I personally believe that Bashar Al-Assad’s fate will not be like Ben Ali or Hosni Mubarak; simply because the magnitude of his crimes are certainly on par with those committed by Gadhafi and Saddam. He will meet a horrific fate bearing in mind the underlying fact that he ruthlessly butchered innocent men, women and children for no fault of their own. All Syrian nationals must unanimously stand firm on that “one premise” that the blood of all those Syrians that were massacred by him will not go in vain and that can only be possible if he is compelled to pay for his crimes -- much sooner than later.

Ali Farzat

The high stakes of Rio+20

Which humane heart will not want to reach out to all those who are being literally butchered by armed men out on the streets on an almost daily basis?

Khaled Al-Sultan

deliver optimal social and environmental outcomes. Only strong institutions, including regulations and laws, can accomplish this. We couldn’t agree more. The systemic crises in food, fuel, and finance that came to a head in 2008 - and that are ongoing in many countries - have their roots in an economic paradigm that has not accounted for the value of nature and its array of life-supporting services. As the recently released report “Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication” shows, the market economy as currently constituted has resulted in the misallocation of capital on an unprecedented scale. Indeed, the deep and pervasive market failures - in carbon emissions, biodiversity, and ecosystem services - are accelerating environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and undermining human well-being and social equity. That is why the link to governance and institutions at Rio+20 is just as important as the transition to a green economy: markets are human constructs that require rules and institutions to guide not only their direction, but also their boundaries. One concern among critics is that a transition to a green economy will essentially monetize nature, exposing the world’s forests, fresh water, and fisheries to the profitseeking behavior of bankers and traders, whose shortcomings helped to trigger the financial and economic turmoil of the past four years. But is the question one of monetizing nature, or of valuing nature? The fact is that nature is already being bought and sold, mined and marketed at knock-down prices that fail to capture its real worth, especially to the liveli-

Rio+20 is a moment for sharing knowledge and experience concerning successful transitions to greener and more resource-efficient economies. hoods of the poor. In large part, this reflects unregulated or missing markets that fail to capture the values that nature provides to us every day - point emphasized in the G-8+5 project on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, hosted by the UNEP. In a very real sense, the future of the planet is at stake in Rio. Without a real and lasting solution that recalibrates our current economic thinking at a systemic level, the scale and pace of change could soon push the planet past critical thresholds and make sustainable development everywhere an impossible dream. Although multilateralism is a slow and often painful process of cultivating consensus, some issues are so large that they transcend any one country. Why, for example, does the world pursue a paradigm of economic growth that rests upon eroding the very basis of earth’s life-support systems? Can wealth be redefined and reframed to include access to basic goods and services, including those provided by nature free of cost, such as clean air, a stable climate, and fresh water? Is it not time to give human development, environmental sustainability, and social equity an equal footing with GDP growth? All around us, warning lights are flashing yellow, if not red. But we know that new technology and innovation are

driving changes in the way that energy is produced, how new markets for food and clean water are emerging, and how basic ecological services are now becoming scarce and valued. Rio+20 is a moment for sharing knowledge and experience concerning successful transitions to greener and more resource-efficient economies. It is an opportunity to begin developing the capacity at all levels to transform our economies into engines of growth and jobs that do not deplete our resources or create new liabilities that will be a drag on growth and human health for years to come. The challenge ahead will be to reconcile the emerging economic reality with the social values and ethics needed to produce a balanced and inclusive green economy. That, in the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is a “future that we all want.” It is a future that could unfold with defining and decisive leadership by world leaders at Rio+20. Achim Steiner is UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Program Executive Director. Pavan Sukhdev is a fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

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ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

mondAY, June 18, 2012

Nigerian state imposes 24-hour curfew after church attacks KADUNA/ZARIA: Authorities in restive northern Nigeria’s Kaduna State on Sunday imposed a 24-hour curfew following several bomb attacks on churches in the area, a government spokesman and police said. Bomb attacks on five churches in Nigeria’s Kaduna State and subsequent rioting by Christian youths targeting Muslims killed at least 21 people and injured 101 others Sunday, an official told AFP. “The official figures from medical personnel on the total deaths from the bombings and protests are 21 deaths and 101 injured,” said an official from the National Emergency Management Agency who requested anonymity. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist sect Boko Haram has often attacked church services in Nigeria, split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims. The explosions and retaliatory attacks stoked fears of wider sectarian conflict in Africa’s top oil producer and OPEC member, although flare-ups of this nature are usually brief. Two explosions rocked churches in the town of Zaria within minutes of each other. First, a suicide bomber drove a blue Honda civic into a church, burning the front entrance and damaging the building, the church’s pastor told a Reuters cameraman at the scene. “Three people are confirmed killed. Others have been taken to hospital for treatment,” Reverend Nathan Waziri said. Then, militants threw bombs at another church, killing four children who were playing on the streets outside, said resident Deborah Osagie, who lives opposite the church. She added that the militants were

later caught by a mob and killed. A blast hit a third church in the state’s main city of Kaduna, causing an unknown number of casualties, witnesses and the National Emergency Management Agency said. After the bombs, angry youths blocked the highway leading south out of Kaduna to the capital Abuja, dragging Muslims out of their cars and killing them, witnesses said. “We had to return home when we saw them (the Christian youths) attacking. I saw many bodies on the ground but I don’t know how many were dead or just injured,” said Kaduna resident Rafael Gwaza. Witness Haruna Isah said up to 20 people may have been killed in reprisals at the road block. “There were bodies everywhere on the ground,” he said. Regular attacks on Sunday church services are usually claimed by Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate that would adhere to strict sharia, or Islamic law. Boko Haram, which has become increasingly radicalized and meshed with other Islamist groups in the region, including Al-Qaeda’s north African wing, is the leading security threat to Nigeria. Islamist militants also attacked two churches in Nigeria last Sunday, spraying the congregation of one with bullets, killing at least one person, and blowing up a car in a suicide bombing at the other, wounding 41. The Islamists’ leader, Abubakar Shekau, has justified attacks on Christians as revenge for killings of Muslims in Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt”, where the largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet. Kaduna is close to the Middle Belt areas. -Reuters

People gather outside the ruins of a church targeted by a suicide bombing in a church in Jos, Nigeria, on June 10, 2012. (AFP)

their own axe.” There had been no assurance for the Americans, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters on Sunday. “It shows that India understands the facts,” he said. India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan, spending about 2 billion US dollars on projects ranging from the construction of highways to the building of the Afghan parliament. It has also won an iron ore concession in an $11 billion investment. But New Delhi has avoided involvement in bolstering Afghan security, except for running courses for small groups of Afghan army officers at military institutions in India. “No doubt that India is a significant country in the region, but is also worth mentioning that they have full information about Afghanistan because they know each other very well in the long history,” the Taliban said. “They are aware of the Afghan aspirations, creeds and love for freedom. It is totally illogical they should plunge their nation into a calamity just for the American pleasure.” Vikram Sood, a former chief of India’s intelligence agency, said the Taliban statement held an implicit warning for India. “It’s more a gentle reminder asking India not to mess around in Afghanistan after the Americans leave,” he told Reuters. -Reuters

Socialists on track for majority in French vote PARIS: France voted in a parliamentary run-off on Sunday expected to hand President Francois Hollande’s Socialist party a majority and strengthen his position in legislative battles over euro zone crisis policy. A clear majority reliant neither on opposition conservatives nor euro-skeptic hard leftists, as opinion polls suggest, would be a boon as Hollande prepares legislation to raise taxes, adjust budget spending and ratify an EU fiscal discipline pact. Yet with Sunday’s election in Greece threatening to tip Europe into chaos and French voters already weary of belt-tightening, Hollande will have no time to bask in glory. Opinion polls and projections from last Sunday’s first-round vote suggest the Socialist bloc could achieve the 289 seats needed for a majority in the 577-member National Assembly even without adding seats from its Green Party allies. Added to its control of the Senate and the presidency, that would give the Socialists more power than they have ever held and should leave Hollande’s largely social democratic and pro-Europe cabinet broadly intact. “I hope the Socialists get a majority. It’s got to be better than power-sharing: at least

Jean-Marc Ayrault, France’s Prime Minister and Socialist Party (PS) candidate in the 3rd constituency of the LoireAtlantique, casts his ballot for the second round of the French parliamentary elections on June 17, 2012. (AFP)

they will be able to get something done,” said Philippe Jauseau, 47, a computer engineer voting in Paris. Hollande, who won power last month, will fly to Mexico on Monday with voting slips barely counted for the first of a flurry of summits. His decision to side with southern nations weary of austerity has opened a rift with Europe’s paymaster Germany that the Socialist needs to fix fast. In recent days, he has toned down calls for joint euro zone bonds - bowing to Berlin’s insistence that this is a long-term prospect and is pushing instead for 120 billion euros in short-term stimulus measures. Hollande may struggle to keep euroskeptic Socialist lawmakers behind him if he agrees to Germany’s demand for deeper fiscal and political integration in Europe. He may also encounter left-wing resistance if a public finance audit due by end-June shows France must slow spending promises to meet its deficit goals, as it is expected to do. “Hollande’s biggest political test will be to keep his party united if he is forced to adopt economic policies that are unpopular with the electorate,” political analyst Antonio Barroso of Eurasia Group said in a note to clients. -Reuters

NEWS IN BRIEF Malawi’s Banda to shun AU summit after Bashir spat CAPITALS: Malawi President Joyce Banda will shun an African Union summit next month which was moved to Ethiopia from her country as she refused to host Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, state radio said Sunday. Banda said on state radio that Vice President Khumbo Kachali will now attend the July 9-16 summit in Addis Ababa. Sworn in on April 7 after the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika, Banda broke with the AU line last month asking the body not to invite AlBashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, to Lilongwe for the summit. The AU insisted that Al-Bashir must be invited, while Banda wanted the Sudanese leader to send a representative to maintain ties with donors, who contribute up to 40 percent of her country’s development budget. Under current ICC rules, signatories have a duty to arrest Al-Bashir. -AFP

North Korea accuses Clinton of ‘reckless’ criticism

Taliban praises India for resisting Afghan entanglement KABUL: India has done well to resist US calls for greater involvement in Afghanistan, the Taliban said in a rare direct comment about one of the strongest opponents of the hardline Islamist group that was ousted from power in 2001. The Taliban also said they won’t let Afghanistan be used as a base against another country, addressing fears in New Delhi that Pakistan-based anti-India militants may become more emboldened if the Taliban return to power. The Afghan Taliban have longstanding ties to Pakistan and striking a softer tone towards its arch rival India could be a sign of a more independent course. Direct talks with the United States - which have since been suspended - and an agreement to open a Taliban office in Qatar to conduct formal peace talks have been seen as signs of a more assertive stance. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta this month encouraged India to take a more active role in Afghanistan as most foreign combat troops leave in 2014. The Taliban said Panetta had failed. “He spent three days in India to transfer the heavy burden to their shoulders, to find an exit, and to flee from Afghanistan,” the group said on its English website. “Some reliable media sources said that the Indian authorities did not pay heed to (US) demands and showed their reservations, because the Indians know or they should know that the Americans are grinding

Human rights lawyer Moon sets South Korean presidential bid SEOUL: A man who was once imprisoned by South Korea’s former military dictator, Park Chung-hee, said on Sunday he would seek the centerleft’s nomination to run for president, likely setting up a contest with the daughter of the man who jailed him. Moon Jae-in, a former aide to ex-president Roh Moo-hyun, announced his bid for the presidency, seeking to unite the fractured left in a battle that is likely to pit the winner of the left’s internal contest against Park Geun-hye, the ruling conservative party’s candidate. Moon, 59, had earlier worked in a law partnership with Roh, taking on human and civil rights cases. Though a relative unknown on the national stage, he is the center-left’s front runner in opinion polls, with support ratings of around 12 percent. He hopes to capitalize on unease over growing income gaps between rich and poor in South Korea, the world’s 13th largest economy. Moon was jailed in 1975 for joining street protests against Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, whose 18 years in power were marked by both rapid economic growth and crackdowns on dissent. At that time, Park served as first lady after her mother was assassinated by a pro-North Korea militant. He lies some 30 percentage points behind Park, 60, the clear front-runner in the polls to be held in December. “Our society does not share the wealth of economic growth anymore,” Moon told 2,000 supporters in a park near the prison he was sent to in 1975. “A small number of rich people and large conglomerates have warehouses that are full of gold, but most ordinary people go to bed every day fretting over employment, housing, jobs, health and old age.” The center-left had looked set to oust the conservative Saenuri Party in parliamentary elections in April, but stumbled and the scandal-tainted ruling party held on to its parliamentary majority. Commentators gave Park, a quietly spoken and slight woman dubbed “The Queen of Elections”, credit for rescuing the conservatives. -Reuters

Fire rages for second day near Greek capital

A firefighter gestures instructions to his colleagues as a fire rages in Palea Fokaia, south of Athens, June 16, 2012. (AP)

ATHENS: A major fire south of the Greek capital raged for the second day Sunday, as galeforce winds were rekindling the flames and three new fronts broke out. Local officials said several homes had been burned, while three firefighters were injured in the blaze Saturday. More than 250 firefighters and soldiers using more than 60 vehicles were battling the flames in a sparsely populated area south of Athens, along with four water-dropping planes and a helicopter, the fire department said. Another 45 firefighters and 15 vehicles were being sent from other areas. Greece appealed to the European Union for help. Italy was sending another two water-dropping planes Sunday morning, Citizens’ Protection Minister Eleftherios Economou said. Athens was also awaiting a response from France and Croatia. Four people were to appear in court later Sunday after being arrested for allegedly accidentally causing the blaze while carrying out welding work at a construction site. By Saturday night, the fire was raging on a 12kilometer (7.5-mile) front to the west and south of the town of Keratea, 50 kilometers (30 miles)

south of Athens. Fire department chief Panagiotis Bonatsos told state NET TV that three new fronts had broken out within the space of half an hour Sunday morning, and appealed to the public to avoid carrying out any outdoor work that could spark fires. Power was cut to the area to facilitate waterdropping planes, authorities said. Strong north winds were fanning the flames and hampering efforts to control the blaze, which was burning near sparsely populated areas. Economou said more than 30 fires had broken out across the country on Saturday, but most were brought under control. The risk of new fires was considered high, after several days of hot temperatures followed by strong winds across most of Greece. The blazes were being fought as Greeks voted in a national election that could determine whether their indebted nation stays in the euro. Forest and brush fires are common in the hot, dry summer months in Greece. In the deadliest outbreak in decades, more than 60 people were killed when forest fires raged across southern Greece in 2007. -AP

SEOUL: North Korea hit out at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday, addressing her by her first name and accusing her of “reckless” criticism of its human rights record. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman as saying recent comments by Clinton were “imprudent” and “a hypocritical act of causing illness”. The North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said: “...how foolish and ridiculous the US was in its attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of the DPRK (North Korea) over its ‘human rights issue’ and ‘people’s living’ and hurt its single-minded unity. “Hillary would be well advised to pay more attention to the issues of economic crisis and huge hordes of jobless people, which have become so serious that they may dash the hope of the administration of the Democratic Party for stay in power.” -AFP

Indian teenagers arrested for skull scare stunt PANAJI: Police have arrested three teenagers in the Indian state of Goa for allegedly digging up a graveyard in an island village and lining up skulls along a main road to scare away “drunkards”. The incident was discovered when stunned residents came across the bizarre scene on Friday morning, and police then found that the graveyard of a local church had been vandalized. They have since arrested three local males aged 14, 18 and 19. “They have said that they did it to scare away the drunkards who are usually creating nuisance on the island every night,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Gajanan Prabhudesai told reporters on Saturday. -AFP

Mali PM visits Mauritania to discuss Sahel crises NOUAKCHOTT: Mali’s Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra paid a lightning visit to Mauritania for talks on the crisis in his country as well as terrorism and drug trafficking in the Sahel, media reports said Sunday. “I am paying successive visits to countries in the region, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger, for consultations on the options available to deal with common dangers such as terrorism and drug trafficking,” the Mauritanian News Agency quoted Diarra as saying. Speaking after talks with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz late Saturday, he said: “The conversation went well. I noticed that the views of the Mauritanian president and my own are well aligned.” Diarra visited former colonial power France just ahead of his trip to Mauritania. Northern Mali has been occupied by Tuareg and Islamist rebels backed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has been involved in drug trafficking as well as attacks on Westerners in the vast desert region since 2006. The Islamists have the upper hand in the north of Mali, a vast region larger than France, and have set about implementing Sharia, or strict Islamic law. Mauritania, which borders the northwestern Mali desert, has carried out several raids since 2010 against AQIM bases in the neighboring country with Bamako’s consent. More than 50,000 Malians are refugees in Nouakchott after fleeing their homes as rebels occupied northern towns in the days following a March 22 coup. Diarra is part of a transition government that took over from the junta and is charged with organizing fresh elections in 11 months. -AFP

BUSINESS

Arab Monetary Fund arranging $65 million loan to Egypt Egypt economy to grow under 2% in 2012: central bank

CAPITALS: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) said on Sunday it was arranging a $65 million credit facility for Egypt to help the country trade with other Arab states, as political instability threatens Cairo with a balance of payments crisis. The credit line will be extended through a trade financing program run by the AMF, central banks and other financial institutions in the region, said the AMF, a multilateral lending body with 22 member countries. Egypt’s balance of payments deficit ballooned to $11 billion in the first nine months of its 20112012 fiscal year, more than double year-ago levels, as inflows of capital largely dried up. Cairo is seeking aid from a wide range of international donors; Egyptian officials said in February they had asked for $500 million each from the AMF and the African Development Bank, $1 billion from the World Bank and $660 million from the European Union. But aid has generally been slow to arrive, partly because donors have been cautious about lending while Egypt’s political outlook remains unclear. Farouk El-Okdah, Egypt’s central bank governor, said at a meeting of AMF and regional central bank officials in Abu Dhabi on Sunday that the capital and revenues of Egyptian commercial banks were strong. “We are in a better position now,” he said without giving figures. In more news, Egypt’s economic growth will slow to under 2 percent this year from 2.5 percent last year because of political turmoil, the country’s central bank governor said on Sunday. “We have a revolution,” Farouk El-Okdah told Reuters when asked why growth would slow. He did not elaborate. Okdah was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of officials from the Arab Monetary Fund and central banks in the region. In April, the International Monetary Fund fore-

SEOUL: Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, has won three orders worth a total $600 million to build oil and gas rigs. Hyundai said in a statement it had won a $400 million order for a 35,000ton offshore oil platform scheduled to be delivered by August 2015. It did not identify the oil major which placed the order. The other two orders are each worth $100 million. One is to build a semi-submersible drilling rig for LLOG of the United States, which has an option exercisable to order an additional structure. The other is for six “land plant modules” capable of producing 200 million cubic feet of natural gas and 10,000 barrels of oil a day for an unnamed US oil major, with scheduled delivery in June 2015. -Reuters

DUBAI: Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) said on Sunday it would buy back its 5 billion Saudi riyal (1.3 billion US dollar) debut Sukuk issued in 2007, in accordance with the terms of that issue. The Sukuk is due to expire in 2027 but under the terms, SEC must offer to repurchase it every five years, at a price which decreases over time. The paper will no longer trade on the Saudi stock exchange from June 17, and payments will be made to bondholders by July 15, SEC said. -Reuters

Eurozone worries weigh on war-weary Afghans

A protester holds fake money next to a wall of sandbags built during a protest against financial speculations in front of Frankfurt’s stock exchange June 17, 2012. (Reuters)

cast Egypt’s gross domestic product growth would slow to 1.5 percent in 2012 from the 1.8 percent which it estimated for 2011. Political uncertainty

since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 has stifled investment and hurt trade. -Agencies

Although Nayef was known for his strong management of security issues in the country, analysts see no reason to think foreign or political policies, much less economic policies, will change under his successor. Gains in world markets on Friday helped support Saudi sentiment. Investors fear Sunday’s Greek elections could unleash fresh turmoil in the euro zone if the next government in Athens scraps Greece’s bailout deal, but this is offset by hopes that the world’s major central banks will make a coordinated response to ease any market dislocation. In Saudi Arabia, shares in telecoms operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) climbed 2 percent and Saudi Basic Industries Corp rose 0.8 percent. Saudi firms are expected to start announcing secondquarter earnings from early July. “Q2 results will help at least to stabilize the market, but these will be of secondary importance compared with what’s happening in Europe, which is flitting between risk-on and risk-off mode,” said the fund manager. “We should see some buying in select names ahead of results, particularly petrochemicals people are expecting bad results, but not as bad as recent price movements would justify.” The petrochemicals index climbed 0.4 percent,

trimming its year-to-date losses to 4.7 percent. The sector has loosely tracked declines in oil prices, with crude seen as a key indicator for both petrochemical product prices and likely demand. Qatar

In Doha, the main index slipped 0.01 percent to its lowest close since Oct. 6. This took its 2012 losses to more than 6 percent, making it the worst performing Gulf Arab benchmark. About 1.83 million shares traded, the lowest total since July 2011. “Volumes have been going down lately and I don’t think it will get better anytime soon,” said a Dohabased trader on condition of anonymity. “Foreign investors have been selling aggressively to invest in other markets and Qatar trading has slumped - things look anaemic, with a lack of catalysts and better opportunities for investors elsewhere.” Vodafone Qatar fell 0.3 percent. The lossmaking telecommunications operator is among the top-performing Doha-listed stocks this year, rising nearly 20 percent, but has fallen 2.5 percent since June 7, when it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $35 million, missing an analyst’s estimate. NBK Capital last week cut its rating on Vodafone Qatar to hold from accumulate. -Reuters

Mexico calls on G20 to commit to strong Europe, IMF LOS CABOS: The world’s biggest economies must commit to a strong Europe and could agree to further bolster the International Monetary Fund’s ability to contain fallout from Europe’s debt crisis, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday. Calderon will host the Group of 20 leaders at a summit starting on Monday in Mexico’s Pacific resort of Los Cabos, with the meeting overshadowed by crucial elections in Greece and mounting worries about Spain and Italy. “Even though we don’t expect to reach specific agreements on Europe ... I want to see language and promises which are much more oriented to a new, stronger Europe, a Europe of the 21st century,” Calderon told international news agencies. Greece’s elections on Sunday could help decide whether the country will remain in the euro zone, battling a debt crisis that has dragged on for 2 1/2 years. Calderon said it was important to be prepared for any scenario in terms of the result. Mexico’s first priority for the summit was to finalize G20 members’ pledges to give the IMF more crisis-fighting resources, Calderon said. In April, G20 countries pledged at least $430 billion in new loans to the IMF so it could help countries hit hardest by the debt crisis. But emerging market powers such as Brazil, China, Russia and Mexico itself have not yet said what specific amount they will contribute. “I estimate that it could be a bigger capitalization than the preliminary agreement reached in Washington, which will be finalized here, but I don’t want to speculate how much,” Calderon said, adding it was “a pity” that Canada and the United States were not chipping in. Calderon would not be drawn on the specifics

Hyundai Heavy wins $600 million orders for oil, gas rigs

Saudi Electric to buy back 5 billion riyal Sukuk

Saudi rebounds, no impact from Nayef death DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s main stock index rose on Sunday, recovering the previous day’s losses as the death of the kingdom’s crown prince ceased to have an impact. Qatar’s index was again weak and Bahrain steady, while markets in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman were closed for a religious holiday. Egypt was also shut for the country’s presidential election. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark rose 0.4 percent. It fell 0.3 percent on Saturday, having been down as much as 2.6 percent intra-day in a knee-jerk reaction to Crown Prince Nayef’s death eight months after he became heir to the throne. The index is now down 14.8 percent from early April’s 3-1/2 year peak, as declines in oil and world equity prices have spurred local selling. “Yesterday’s volatility was to be expected when we have this kind of news, but the market then recovered and I don’t think it will be major factor today - Prince Nayef was known to have had health problems so his death wasn’t a complete surprise,” said a Riyadh-based fund manager, asking not to be identified. “The authorities will probably give some clarity on the succession soon and today’s trading will be more linked to what’s happening outside the region.”

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

FILE - G20 Summit logos at the Main Press Room hotel in San Jose del Cabo, state of Baja California Sur, Mexico on June 15, 2012. (AFP)

of Mexico’s contribution, which should be at least $8 billion given the country’s share in the IMF’s capital. He said it would be more than $1 billion, but would not comment on whether it would exceed $10 billion, the amount Brazil has named as a yardstick for its contribution. No magic solution

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote in a column for Reuters that the G20 must produce a concerted global action plan, including a big European firewall to stop contagion and a comprehensive growth plan. Calderon said it would be impossible to solve

all of Europe’s problems at the G20, but added the region was on the right track. The most important thing is for Europe to use the opportunity to forge closer links on budgets and banking to make the region more resilient, he said. “In whatever case, I think that our contribution in the G20 ... is to create the right conditions so that the fate or the economic future of Europe does not depend on one case,” he said. “That implies first making progress in the construction of the European Union.” European Union leaders will meet on June 28-29 to consider laying out a roadmap for fiscal and possibly banking union in the region. -Reuters

KABUL: Kabul’s Shahzada money market and its crush of bearded traders thumbing crumpled piles of cash is a world away from Europe, but Eurozone worries and a meeting of rich nation leaders in Mexico cut through even Afghanistan’s decade-long insurgent war. As polls opened in Greece for an election that could decide whether the heavily indebted country remains in the euro zone, currency traders and bankers in the three-storey warren of shops were trying to divine the single currency’s future. “Most people are nervous. Right now, the people most afraid are the ones dealing in the euro currency,” said the market’s Afghan United Bank branch manager Muneer Zazai as beside him stacks of $100 bills blurred through a counting machine. As one of the world’s poorest nations, with a third of the 30 million population living under the poverty line, Afghanistan is relatively isolated from events shaking markets elsewhere. But as Western countries look to pull most combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and aid worth almost $16 billion a year winds back, Afghans are worried about an economic meltdown both at home and abroad. Afghans have for years locked their wealth in overseas banks and property, with Dubai and its man-made Palm Jumeirah island favored locations. Some $8 billion is thought to be stashed away in the Arab emirate, with Germany also a favorite haven. At the head office of the country’s most profitable private bank, Afghanistan International Bank (AIB), chief executive Khalil Sediq said his bank was watching the G20 and re-evaluating where to put its $700 million deposit base. “Our bank, we are worried because we are 85 percent liquid. It means that we have to place our liquidity overseas in foreign banks,” Sediq told Reuters. “In considering this crisis and that every month or every week, a major bank is downgraded, now we don’t know where is a safe place, how to place our liquidity somewhere so as to not be damaged.” Afghanistan’s own banking system

was shaken in 2010 when depositors pulled millions of dollars out of Kabul Bank, the country’s biggest private financial institution, after learning that senior executives had lost $300 million, mostly in failed real estate investments in Dubai. Confidence shaken

Sediq, a former governor of Afghanistan’s Central Bank, said the worsening economic outlook in Europe, including discussion on a bailout for Spain’s troubled banks, had shaken his confidence even in AAA-rated investments. “Very reputed banks, very credible banks, have been affected by that and are facing problems. We are not very much certain about the future of Europe, what will happen to Europe,” he said. “I believe there is no way but to bail out these banks.” And with his own bank sitting on assets worth more than $800 million, Sediq said he hoped Group of 20 wealthy nation leaders meeting in Mexico would agree on a solution which would help calm jittery investment markets. “As soon as they do it will be much better for the system, and it will bring more trust and assurances to the people. We are expecting that this G20 will come out with good policies and practical ways to solve the current crisis,” he said. Najeebullah Akhtary, the Shahzada Money Market’s president for money exchange union, said as an importing country, the crisis overseas would worry mainly Afghanistan’s small pool of very wealthy investors. “In general, our economy can be mostly affected by our neighboring countries Iran and Pakistan,” he said. But as traders crowded around lunchtime cooking pots in Shahzada’s central courtyard, Humayun - a chief cashier at Zazai’s Afghan United Bank - said business was definitely less chaotic than usual. “If there is a crisis in any country related to the euro or the US dollar, it affects our Afghani currency,” he said. “Right now, with preparations for elections in Greece, the Euro rate has decreased and it’s made businesses down in Afghanistan.” -Reuters

Looming WTO entry breeds controversy in Russia

CAPITALS: Russia’s upcoming entry into the WTO is hailed by its leadership and global trade chiefs as a long overdue integration into the world economy over 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But Oleg Podoyma, head of a poultry firm in the main Siberian city of Novossibirsk, is not so sure. “We are not expecting a bright future,” he sighed. With customs duties set to be slashed on imported goods after membership “there will be competition not just with national producers but with the importers.” “For the moment 90 percent of the poultry consumed in Russia is produced in Russia and just 10 percent imported,” he said. But Podoyma fears that afterWTO membership the market will be flooded by US, Brazilian and European produce. Russia is due to finally join the WTO later this summer, ending a sometimes torturous saga that required 18 years of negotiations and was marked by frequent snags and mutual recriminations. After the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 153 members gave their final approval to Russian membership in December, the Russian parliament now just needs to ratify the accession documents,

a move expected in late July. Even with the process apparently over,WTO membership is controversial in Russia with some companies fearing they risk being destroyed by sudden exposure to foreign competition and others seeing it as a crucial step in modernization. Podoyma has invested large sums in modernizing his firm’s machinery over the last years and fears he will not be able to repay loans if his market share drops after WTO membership. Meanwhile he fears that the many Russian firms who have failed to modernize will not manage to survive and there will be “bankruptcies and a consolidation in the industry.” Konstatin Babkin, president of the Rosagromash association which groups together producers of Russian agricultural machinery, fears that millions of jobs will be lost in the sector. “We have already 40 million hectares of abandoned agricultural land. After we enter the WTO, huge numbers of villages are just going to die.” Babkin, whose group has emerged as one the loudest voices opposing WTO membership, slammed the conditions negotiated by Moscow with other members of the global trade body. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

MONdAY, June 18, 2012

Greek, Spanish savings flee Eurozone crisis ATHENS: In Europe’s most economically stricken countries, people are taking their money out of banks as a way to protect their savings from the growing financial storm. People are worried that their savings could be devalued if their country stops using the euro, or that banks are on the verge of collapse and that governments cannot make good on deposit insurance. So in Greece, Spain and beyond they are withdrawing euros by the billions - behavior that is magnifying their countries’ financial stresses. The money is being hoarded at home or deposited in banks in more stable economies. It’s a steady bank “jog” at the moment, not a full-bore run. But it threatens to undermine the finances of those countries’ already-stressed lenders. And if it does turn into a full bank run after Greece’s crucial election on Sunday, it could hasten financial disaster in Europe and help spread turmoil around the world. Since the Greek debt crisis broke in late 2009, deposits have fallen by 30 percent. Savers have slowly pulled some 72 billion euro ($90.24 billion) from local lenders, with total household and corporate deposits standing at 165.9 billion euro ($207.94 billion) in April, according to the latest data from the Bank of Greece. Spanish deposits have fallen about six percent over the past year. They dipped suddenly in April by about 3.1 billion euro, or 1.8 percent, to 1.624 trillion euro as problems with the country’s troubled banks started to grow to alarming proportions. This is despite the fact that deposits are guaranteed by the government up to 100,000 euro across the eurozone. Spain’s financial turmoil quickly worsened in late May, when Bankia, the country’s secondlargest lender, announced it needed capital of 19 billion euro to stay afloat. Bankia denied reports of a rush by its customers to withdraw, but the bailout scared Spaniards who assumed their money was safe. Bankia client Rosa Monsivais panicked and decided she had to move her savings from Bankia to a bank she thought would be safer. She chose a foreign bank with Spanish operations, the Dutch owned ING bank. It took longer than she thought, leading to anxious days until she knew her money was in her new account. “It scared me a little. I took all my money out and put it in ING,” said Monsivais, a 41-year-old graphic artist who would not say how much money she moved. “But it took a full week to do this kind of transaction. I was reading the newspaper each day and it worried me.” The money across Europe is headed different places. Some has simply been withdrawn and spent out of urgent need as people lose their jobs due to recessions. Some is winding up in bank accounts or invested in countries that are

FILE - The European currency Euro logo stands in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, western Germany on Aug. 4, 2011. (AFP)

more stable such as Germany. The rest is being invested in property or bonds being issued by other countries that use the euro. The flight of money from other countries was seen as one factor pushing up central London house prices, according to Knight Frank, a real estate agency dealing in high-end property. “While it looks very much that the surge in Greek buyers has fallen off sharply since the beginning of the year - those who had the funds to buy have done so - we are now seeing a noticeable uptick in interest from France, Italy, Spain and even German-based purchasers looking at the prime London market,” the company said in its Prime Central London Index report. Meanwhile, some money appears to be simply hoarded at home, despite the risk of theft. Last month, police in Athens arrested a gang that specialized in breaking into basement storage spaces under apartment blocks, netting a rich haul in stashed cash and valuables. “What the average Greek has in mind is to secure the euros they currently hold,” said Theodore Krintas, managing director at Attica

Credit Suisse CEO: No plans for capital hike after SNB ZURICH: Credit Suisse has no plans to issue new shares after the Swiss central bank called on it to improve its capital base this year, Chief Executive Brady Dougan was quoted as saying on Sunday. “Of course I am disappointed. FINMA has given us directions as to how we should strengthen capital. We are fulfilling those,” Dougan told the SonntagsZeitung paper in an interview. “Even more surprising were the suggestions by the SNB to cut the dividend and to raise capital.” In its annual financial stability report published on Thursday, the SNB said Credit Suisse should urgently boost its loss-absorbing capital base by cutting risk, suspending dividends or issuing shares, sending the stock down 10 percent. While it is the SNB’s job is to guard the stability of the Swiss financial system, the FINMA regulator polices the banks and has not demanded any immediate action from Credit Suisse. Dougan rejected the idea of a capital hike: “That is not our plan”. He said the SNB’s calculations of Credit Suisse’s capital were incomplete and based on a very pessimistic scenario for the euro zone debt crisis, adding the report had shaken the confidence of clients and investors: “That is not just bad for us but for the whole financial center.” Dougan said SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan had not discussed the need for Credit Suisse to cut its dividend and raise capital when the two men met for lunch just 10 days ago. The SNB calculated that Credit Suisse had a Tier 1

FILE- A sign of Swiss banking Credit Suisse is seen on April 27, 2012 in Bern. (AFP)

Wealth Management. “That has been going on for a long time, and will continue as long as the uncertainty increases concerning Greece’s position in the near future in the eurozone and the European Union.” Sunday’s vote could determine whether Greece stays in the euro or leaves in chaos. Since 2010, Greece has been dependent on two bailouts totaling 240 billion euro in loans to pay its bills. In return, the government had to promise to make deep spending cuts to lower its deficit. That has helped put the country in a deep recession. Leading political figures have called for renegotiating or rejecting the bailout deal, which could lead to a payment cutoff from mistrustful eurozone governments and the IMF. If Greece reneges on the strict austerity measures that come with its rescue package, it could be forced to abandon the euro. Greece’s departure from the eurozone would likely cause financial chaos across Europe: Greek debts would go from being denominated in sturdy euros to being denominated in Greek drachmas of dubious value. A large-scale bank run in Greece could fur-

capital ratio of 5.9 percent at the end of March, compared with 7.5 percent for rival UBS , as calculated under global Basel III rules which demand banks reach 10.5 percent by 2019. The criticism from the SNB has also increased pressure on Dougan, who was lauded for navigating the bank through the subprime crisis relatively unscathed but has come under fire of late for squandering that advantage. Credit Suisse responded on Thursday by noting it exceeded current Swiss capital requirements and was working towards meeting stricter rules by 2019, already issuing loss-absorbing contingent convertible bonds and pursing a plan of building up common equity by retaining earnings and cutting assets. Oswald Gruebel, a former Credit Suisse CEO, said the bank’s shares had fallen so much on Thursday because shareholders were afraid that the bank would have to raise capital. “But CS also has the possibility to cut its balance sheet and thereby indirectly increase its capital, or do both,” Gruebel wrote in his weekly column for Der Sonntag newspaper. But Hans Geiger, a retired Zurich University banking professor and a former senior executive at Credit Suisse, said the bank was ill advised to try to fight the SNB. “The reaction of CS is fatal,” Geiger told the TagesAnzeiger newspaper on Saturday. “Whoever goes on a confrontation course with the national bank has lost their reason.” -Reuters

ther wreck government finances and push the country closer to leaving the euro. So far it’s been a trickle rather than a flood in Greece, underlining its slow-motion nature. Many have kept their deposits because they don’t believe Greece will leave the euro. Wealthy Germans also are concerned that inflation will surge if Europe’s central bank has to step in and spend huge amounts of money propping up the single currency. So they are putting more money into their own country’s high-end real-estate in hope it will keep its value. Well-heeled Spaniards have been moving money to Switzerland and the US for months amid mounting worries about Spain and the safety of the eurozone, said Bruce Goslin, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for K2 Intelligence consulting group. “As we are circulating and talking to people, some things are becoming clear. Everyone says ‘There is nothing going on in Spain, the economy is contracting so fast we’re going to have to go out of Spain,” said Goslin. Spain’s banking problems come from the collapse of a real estate boom. Banks that made

reckless loans are not being paid back and are seeing the value of the properties they invested in tumbling. This is making the country’s banking system increasingly financially insecure - heightening savers’ fears that their money is not safe. Fernando Encinar, head of research at real estate website Idealista.com, said some wealthy people who didn’t have money to buy during the boom are now taking advantage of prices that have fallen 26 percent in four years. Many Spaniards can’t move money abroad because times are so tough, said Vincent Forest at the Economist Intelligence Unit. With unemployment now at nearly 25 percent, Spaniards with jobs and savings are increasingly helping out less fortunate relatives. “Most Spaniards have huge savings, but they have someone in the family who needs money and isn’t earning anything,” Forest said. Many Italians - some of Europe’s most devoted savers - are also moving money. They are worried their government will be the next victim of the crisis through its heavy debt load, even though Italy’s banks, government finances and economy are in better shape than Spain’s. Some 60,000 to 70,000 small investors have bought property abroad, mostly in Germany but also on the Spanish islands, in the last three months, for a total investment of 400 million euro on an annual basis, said Paolo Righi, president of the Italian Federation of Real Estate Professionals. Ruth Stirati, who runs a business helping Italians buy property in Berlin, said she gets about 10 emails a day asking about properties. “Over the last two or three weeks, there has been a new panic,” she said. “They have a thousand fears: That the banks won’t have money, that the euro will fail. It is without substance, their doubts. But they worry there will be one strong euro in Germany, and one that is weak.’ Wealthy Germans aren’t worried about seeing their money disappear due to collapsing banks, but they are concerned that their savings will be eaten away through inflation. As a result, they are putting money into real estate - at home. Even though inflation currently is moderate at 2.2 percent in May, there is concern about the risk of rising prices in Germany’s media. There is speculation that inflation could jump if the European Central Bank has to take drastic measures to keep the eurozone from breaking up - such as printing large amounts of money to buy government bonds and cover bankrupt governments’ financing needs. The current EU treaty bars that. But that hasn’t stopped German newspaper headlines warning about possible inflation to come. According to the Europace real estate financing platform, German home prices rose 5.46 percent in the first quarter over a year ago. -AP

Accounting for natural wealth gains world traction NEW DELHI: What is a sip of clean water worth? Is there economic value in the shade of a tree? And how much would you pay for a breath of fresh air? Putting a price on a natural bounty long taken for granted as free may sound impossible, even ridiculous. But after three decades on the fringes of serious policymaking, the idea is gaining traction, from the vividly clear waters of the Maldives to the sober, suited reaches of the World Bank. As traditional measures of economic progress like GDP are criticized for ignoring downsides including pollution or diminishment of resources such as fresh water or fossil fuels, there has been an increased urgency to arguments for a more balanced and accurate reckoning of costs. That is particularly so as fast-developing nations such as India and China jostle with rich nations for access to those resources and insist on their own right to pollute on a path toward growth. Proponents of so-called “green accounting” - who will gather in Rio de Janeiro this week for the Rio Earth Summit - hope that putting dollar values on resources will slam the brakes on unfettered development.A mentality of growth at any cost is already blamed for disasters like the chronic floods that hit deforested Haiti or the raging sand storms that have swept regions of China, worsening desertification. Environmental economists argue that redefining nature in stark monetary terms would offer better information for making economic and development decisions. That, they say, would make governments and corporations less likely to jeopardize future stocks of natural assets or environmental systems that mostly unseen make the planet habitable, from forests filtering water to the frogs keeping swarming insects in check. If the value of an asset like a machine is reduced as it wears out, proponents say, the same accounting principle should apply to a dwindling natural resource. “Environmental arguments come from the heart. But in today’s world based on economics it’s hard for arguments of the heart to win,” said Pavan Sukhdev, a former banker now leading an ongoing project that was proposed by the Group of Eight industrialized nations to study monetary values for the environment. That study, started in 2007, has estimated the world economy suffers roughly $2.5 trillion to $4 trillion in losses every

year due to environmental degradation. That’s up to 7 percent of global GDP. “We need to understand what we’re losing in order to save it,” Sukhdev said. “You cannot manage what you do not measure.” Using the same accounting principles, some countries are already changing policy. The Maldives recently banned fishing gray reef sharks after working out that each was worth $3,300 a year in tourism revenue, versus $32 paid per catch. Ugandans spared a Kampala wetland from agricultural development after calculating it would cost $2 million a year to run a sewage treatment facility - the same job the swamp does for free. But environmental accounting still faces many detractors and obstacles. Among them is resistance from governments who might lack the resources and expertise to publish a “greened” set of national accounts alongside those measuring economic growth. Particularly in the developing world, many still struggle to produce even traditional statistics that are timely and credible. And even practitioners are riven by debates on how to put a price on a vast range of natural resources and systems that encapsulate everything from pollination by bees to the erosion prevented by mangroves in an estuary. The single largest difficulty is that markets, which are the easiest way to value goods and services, don’t exist for ecosystems. “Since many things don’t formally have a market price, how do you value them? Almost all the debate and discussion really hinges around valuation issues, and that is where it can get flakey,” said India’s former chief statistician Pronab Sen. At one extreme, said Sen, are people who say natural resources should get a zero value since we don’t know how to value them. Others argue that the values for such resources should be infinite, meaning they can’t be touched since no one has an infinite amount of money. Opposition is also expected from parts of the corporate world, since green accounting could make doing business or buying products more expensive. A forest once valued by what its trees fetch on the timber exchange might instead be valued according to the carbon dioxide it absorbs, the animals it supports, the water it filters and the firewood it provides. Or it could be revalued with

future generations in mind. That might lead to higher felling fees, pricey replanting requirements or more expensive wood. Some might rethink the economic benefit of cutting it down. Science would become a more important factor in economic decision-making. Some businesses, however, are embracing the idea to appeal to consumers demanding more accountability. Supermarkets like Britain’s Tesco now offer carbon footprints on packaging alongside calorie counts. At a national level, green accounting is already being embraced by some governments, even if still in piecemeal fashion. India in April announced plans for green national accounts by 2015 though it’s unclear if the country’s chaotic bureaucracy can reach that target. Australia will soon begin taxing carbon dioxide emissions, which Costa Rica has been doing for a decade to fund forest preservation. Late last century, a team of US, Dutch and Argentine researchers put a $33 trillion value a year on natural resources such as water, wood and fossil fuels and “services” such as a forest’s absorption of carbon dioxide. The estimate is more than double the value of the US economy, the world’s largest. While admitting difficulties and uncertainties in their methods and calculations, the team’s report said the $33 trillion figure was conservative. Carbon credits, perhaps the best known example of giving a value to an environmental good, also illustrate the difficulties. Experts thought the pricing of carbon credits might have been straightforward, since emissions are easily measured and every CO2 unit is the same. But the carbon market wobbled wildly for years over estimates ranging from $5 to $500 per unit. Other resources open worlds of debate. Water - frozen, liquid or gas, it’s found just about everywhere from vast oceans or tropical mist to mountain glaciers and underground aquifers. It’s used for drinking, bathing, growing plants, processing sewage, powering hydroelectric plants, driving weather systems and more. So not all water is created equal. But should one lake be worth more than another? Does it matter if people depend on it, or if it supports schools of tasty fish? Should it even matter what it’s used for now? Or is it more important to consider if it can be replenished? -AP

LIFE

mondAY, June 18, 2012

Neanderthals possibly Europe’s first cave artists NEW YORK: A series of cave paintings in Spain are thousands of years older than scientists realized, raising speculation - but no proof - that Neanderthals could have been the earliest wall artists in Europe according to LiveScience. The oldest image, a large red disk on the wall of El Castillo cave in northern Spain, is more than 40,800 years old, according to an advanced method that uses natural deposits on the surfaces of the paintings to date their creation. The new findings, detailed in the June 15 issue of the journal Science, make the paintings the oldest reliably dated wall paintings ever. They also push the art back into a time when early modern humans, who looked anatomically like us, co-existed with their Neanderthal cousins in Europe. Some researchers think the paintings may predate European Homo sapiens, suggesting that the art may not be the work of modern humans at all. “It would not be surprising if the Neanderthals were indeed Europe’s first cave artists,” said study researcher Joao Zilhao, a professor at the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) at the University of Barcelona. Our cultured ancestors

Neanderthals have been portrayed as brutish, animalistic cavemen, but the archaeological evidence suggests they weren’t dummies. They buried their dead, made complex tools, and used decorative pigments. In 2010, Zilhao and his colleagues excavated shells coated in red and yellow pigments from a Neanderthal site in southern Spain. They suspect the pigments were used as makeup or body paint. Neanderthals went extinct around 30,000 years ago. Before they did, they mixed and mingled with humans. Between 1 percent

and 4 percent of some modern humans’ DNA came from Neanderthals, indicating the two species got amorous. Modern humans arrived on the European scene between about 41,000 and 42,000 years ago. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of their existence shows them to be a sophisticated bunch, too. At one site in Germany with the particularly early date of between 42,000 to 43,000 years ago, archaeologists recently unearthed flutes made of bird bones and mammoth ivory, the oldest musical instruments in Europe. [10 Mysteries of the First Humans] But the age of cave paintings has been tougher for archaeologists to pin down. Their usual method of radiocarbon dating requires organic material, and most mineral pigments contain none. With very old samples, radiocarbon dating is also prone to contamination.

Human or Neanderthal?

But whose handprints are on the decorated cave walls? According to Zilhao, a minimum date of about 40,800 years ago for the calcite over the red disk suggests a painting that is even older. “It is enough that the motif is painted just a few hundred years, just a thousand years, before this minimum age to place it in a time period where there were no modern humans in Europe,” he said. Paul Bahn, a British archaeologist not involved in the study, agreed that the dates are convincing. “Certainly for the El Castillo dates, I think there is no question at all,” Bahn told LiveScience. “It has to be Neanderthals.” Other researchers aren’t as sure. The cave art falls into an era of overlap between humans and Neanderthals in Europe, said Chris Stringer, the research leader in human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. Early modern human fossils and artifacts have been found in Britain as early as 41,000 years ago, and at the German musical instrument site as much as 43,000 years ago, Stringer, who wasn’t involved in the current study, told LiveScience. That means the cave art isn’t necessarily from a pre-human era. “Modern humans are still the most likely candidates for this,” he said. The uranium-thorium dating method that sparked this debate is likely the method that will settle it. The team sampled only a tiny percentage of cave paintings, said study leader Alistair Pike, an archaeologist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. There are many more caves awaiting accurate dating. “I think it’s fairly a straightforward thing to prove if they were painted by Neanderthals,” Pike said. “All we have to do is go back and date more of these samples and find a date that predates the arrival of modern humans in Europe.”

A new look at old art

Zilhao and his colleagues turned to a different method: uranium-thorium dating. As anyone who has seen a stalactite knows, caves are always undergoing slow change. The same processes that create stalactites and stalagmites leave thin deposits of the mineral calcite over some cave paintings. This calcite contains miniscule amounts of radioactive uranium, which decays to thorium over time. The researches painstakingly scraped these natural calcite deposits off the top of the paintings, stopping just before they reached the pigment. Then, using a device called a mass spectrometer, they took rice-grain-size samples of this calcite and counted the uranium and thorium atoms. The ratio between the two determines the date of the calcite formation, since the decay happens at a known rate. Because the calcite came after the paint-

FILE - The Panel of Hands at El Castillo Cave in Spain. Researchers have now dated one of these hand stencils back to 37,300 years ago. (Reuters)

ings, this sets a minimum age for the art. What researchers don’t know is how long the initial calcite deposit took, so the paintings could be anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years older than the minimum dates. The researchers took samples from 11 Spanish caves, including famed spots like Altamira with its painted herds of bison. At Altamira, they found an image of a red horse that dates back at least 22,000 years and a clublike image that is at least 35,600 years old. The club symbol has been painted over with the famous colorful bison herd, which dates to around 18,000 years ago. In other words, Altamira was a popular spot for artists for a

very long time. At another cave, El Castillo in northern Spain, the researchers found primitive art of mind-boggling age. This cave contained the 40,800-year-old red disk. It also sported a hand stencil, created by an artist spitting red pigment over his or her hand to leave a handprint, that dates back more than 37,300 years. “We simply did not have any dates this old before,” Zilhao said. “Even if this is made by modern humans, we are pushing the age of this stuff by 5,000 years.” The previous oldestknown rock art in Europe was not a painting, but etchings of likely female genitalia symbols made about 37,000 years ago in France.

Mars surface scarred by 635,000 big impact craters Retinal prosthesis could help the blind see

NEW YORK: A retinal implant has given a brief glimpse of light to a small number of blind people, and could one day be a common treatment for vision loss due to injury or disease according to LiveScience. Shawn Kelly, a senior systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has developed a computer chip that translates camera images into electrical pulses that the nerves inside the brain can understand. The result is vision. The cameras are incredibly small and mounted to a pair of glasses. The digital information picked up from the camera is sent along a wire to a thin film surgically implanted in the back of the patient’s eye, between the sclera and the retina. The electrical signals stimulate the nerves in the retina, and that allows the patient to see. The system is powered via induction -- not much current is necessary since the electric field doesn’t have to penetrate far into the head. It’s a far cry from the bionic eyes of science fiction, though. The resolution is only 256 pixels total, because that’s how many electrodes can be made to fit on the back of the film. A typical digital camera has resolutions measured in millions of pixels and ordinary human vision involves approximately 1 million nerves, and more than 100 million rod and cone cells. But it is something. “At 256 we start to get some function back to people,” Kelly told Discovery News. He said people who tested the system reported the ability to see some shapes and light and dark regions. The tests were not “field tests” in real-world conditions, but situations where the implant was used for a few hours and then removed. There have been other proposals for retinal implants. Recent work in Britain used a self-powered retinal implant that is powered by light that enters the eye rather than the external glasses. At the University of Tubingen in Germany, another project involves an implant that has a 1,500 pixel resolution that is inserted on the front of the retina. That too, requires a pair of glasses. Kelly said the difference with his design is that the processor is sealed well enough that no water vapor gets inside. Ordinarily the liquids in the eye (and the body generally) are in chemical equilibrium, but any implanted device with wires has spaces in it that can allow small amounts of vapor to form, which can reduce the implant’s effectiveness.” We have more intelligence in the eye,” Kelly said. “Ours is designed to be stable long term.” One kind of blindness that will be targeted with this device is retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that destroys the cells in the eye that receive light. Military veterans could also be helped. (Kelly recently received a $1.1 million grant from the Department of Veterans’ affairs). Some veterans of World War II and Korea suffer from age-related macular degeneration. Others had their eyes damaged by laser rangefinders, Kelly said. The lasers (which are far more powerful than barcode scanners or CD players) can injure the eyes in a way that causes damage later in life.

NEW YORK: The surface of Mars is pocked by more than 635,000 impact craters at least 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide, a new study reports according to LiveScience. The new Martian crater atlas is the largest single database ever compiled of impacts on a planet or moon in our solar system, researchers said. It highlights the violent history of Mars and could also help scientists address a number of questions about the Red Planet. “This database is a giant tool that will be helpful in scores of future Mars studies ranging from age-dating and erosion to planetary habitability, and to other applications we have not even thought of yet,” study leader Stuart Robbins, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a statement.

ers better understand Martian history and the role played by volcanic activity and erosion, which have resurfaced large parts of the planet. “Our crater database contains both rim heights and crater depths, which can help us differentiate between craters that have been filled in versus those that have eroded by different processes over time, giving us a better idea about longterm changes on the planet’s surface,” Robbins said. A window on Earth’s past

Martian mysteries

Robbins and co-author Brian Hynek, also of CU Boulder, sifted through huge piles of data from a number of Mars orbiters and landers to compile the new database. “I basically analyzed maps and drew crater rim circles for four years,” Robbins said. The painstaking effort could help researchers learn more about Mars and its history, including its past potential to host life as we know it, researchers said. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

FILE - A new study records more than 635,000 impact craters at least 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide on Mars. In this image, each red dot represents one such crater. (Agencies)

“Many of the large impact craters generated hydrothermal systems that could have created unique, locally habitable environments that lasted for thousands or millions of years, assuming there was water in the planet’s crust at the time,” Hynek said. “But large impacts also have the ability to

wipe out life forms, as evident from Earth’s dinosaur-killing Chicxulub impact 65 million years ago.” Scientists also use craters to help date planetary surfaces, reasoning that the more craters pepper a region, the older it must be. So the new map should help research-

Rare white rhino born in zoo

PARIS: A rare white rhinoceros has been born in a zoo in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, a zoo official told AFP on Saturday. “This baby rhino, a male, was born early on Friday afternoon without any problems,” said Netta Guetta, who heads the African animals department, adding that the newcomer has yet to be named. “This is an extremely rare event in captivity, and it’s touching. Immediately after giving birth, the mother tenderly licked her calf and began to breast-feed,” she said.

The 20-year-old mother, named Tanda, weighs two tonnes and comes from South Africa. She had already given birth once at Ramat Gan Zoo, where she has been for around six years. The white rhino is an endangered species. There are fewer than around 10,000 white rhinos worldwide as the mammals are killed by poachers for their horns, which are then trafficked to Asia where they are falsely believed to have medicinal properties. -AFP

Scientists have catalogued just 200 or so impact craters on Earth, but that’s not to say our planet hasn’t been battered as badly as Mars over the ages. It’s just that Earth’s atmosphere, lifeforms and tectonic activity obliterate its craters or make them difficult to see. So the new Mars map - combined with data from the moon and Mercury, where craters are also relatively well-preserved - should provide a window into our own planet’s past, researchers said. Planetary scientists are particularly interested in a short span of time about 3.9 billion years ago, just 600 million years or so after the solar system formed. In this period, which is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, asteroids as large as the state of Kansas rained down on Earth and the other rocky planets, dramatically reshaping their surfaces.

Sudden aggression in dogs often a sign of pain

NEWYORK: Sudden changes in a dog’s temperament, for example episodes of aggression, could be related to some internal pain they are feeling, which sets them on edge if they are touched, new research indicates according to LiveScience. “If the pet is handled when in pain, it will quickly act aggressively to avoid more discomfort without the owner being able to prevent it,” study researcher Tomàs Camps, of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in Spain, said in a statement. “Dogs that had never been aggressive before the onset of pain began to behave in this way in situations where an attempt is made to control them.” Irritability from pain can make otherwise affectionate dogs violent and already aggressive dogs even more aggressive. As such, the researchers say, their findings support the importance of the diagnosis and treatment of pain in dogs. Aggressive animals

Several factors can explain a barking, aggressive dog: The conditions of the mother during gestation, the handling of the puppy in the neonatal phase, the age at weaning, the experiences of the animal during the socializing phase, diet, exercise, genetics and learning techniques based on active punishment during adulthood. Focusing only on sudden increases in aggression, the researchers studied 12 dogs (Giant schnauzer, Irish setter, Pit-bull, Dalmatian, two German shepherds, Neapolitan Mastiff, Shih-tzu, Bobtail, Catalan Sheepdog, Chow-chow and Doberman) that were brought to the university’s veterinary hospital by their owners in 2010 and 2011. Scientists asked dog owners the who, what, where and when of the attacks on their owners: They identified the most frequent circumstances in which dogs were aggressive, the most characteristic positions, the most frequent target of attacks (usually the owners) and if there were warning signals before an imminent attack. Pained pups

FILE - Tanda the rhinoceros and her four-hour-old baby are seen at the Ramat Gan Safari, an open-air zoo near Tel Aviv. A rare white rhinoceros has been born in a zoo in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. (AFP)

“All (eleven males and one female) were diagnosed as having aggression caused by pain. Out of the 12 studied, eight had suffered a hip dysplasia,” Camps said. Hip dysplasia is a painful condition common in larger dogs, in which abnormal formation of the hip socket can cause crippling lameness and painful arthritis of the joints. Canine hip dysplasia is hereditary and affects more than 40 percent of Golden retrievers, Labradors and Rottweilers. The problem begins slowly, so it’s important to catch it early. Random aggressive episodes brought on by pain could help vets diagnose the disease.

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

MONday, JUNE 18, 2012

Philippine Cultural Night marks celebration of 114th Philippine Independence Day

Performers of the 114th Independence Day of the Philippines cultural show performing the grand finale. (Al Watan Daily)

La Jota Moncadena, one of the Hispanic Filipino dances performed during the celebration. (Al Watan Daily)

Ricky Laxa Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Eighty three cultural performers took center stage at the Hashemi Grand Ballroom of the Radisson Blu Hotel Friday night leaving the audience captivated and mesmerized throughout the whole performance. Adviser of the event and Philippine Labor Attaché David Des Dicang extended his gratitude to those who made the evening a remarkable occasion. High-ranked Kuwaiti government officials, ambassadors and members of the diplomatic community, religious clergies, and recruitment agencies from the Philippines and representatives from the business sectors attended the celebration. The event commenced with a viewing of an art exhibition at the foyer displayed by Filipino artists Bruha Eve, Fred Ballerco, fruit carver artist Romano Roman and photos from organizations of Filipino photographers Pindot and Lightbenders. The cultural presentation was divided into four significant parts, namely; PreColonial Era that showcased a brief historical recount of the origin of the first settlers in the Philippine Islands followed by “Singkil and Sua Ko Sua” dance presentations from the tribes of Maranao and Tausug. The second part featured a short commentary with a video presentation of Pain colonizing the Philippines. Hispanic-Filipino dances followed namely; La Jota Moncadena, Habanera de Jovencita and Surtido Cebuano. A Soprano Victoria Nonog and Tenor Jummel Carvajal charmed the crowd with a traditional “Harana” or serenade. “The music was so romantic and charismatic, the serenade was an outstanding performance delivered by remarkable vocalists,” commented

Singkil, a Filipino dance from the Islamic region of the Philippines. (Al Watan Daily)

British national Marie Fessy. The third part of the event showcased a video with a narration taken from World War II American news that filmed the actual invasion of Japan of the Philippines. The video was supplemented by a Japanese dance “Sakura” performed fully geared with traditional “Kimono” by Filipina women. The fourth part showed on video the liberation of the Philippines and later supplemented by a “Rock and Roll” dance by fitness instructors of Pilates and More. The grand finale presented the cast dancing to “Pista sa Nayon” (Town Feast). The cast

Britain’s queen marks 86th birthday with husband at her side

FRANCE: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II officially celebrated her 86th birthday on Saturday, with her husband Prince Philip back at her side after he was hospitalized during her diamond jubilee festivities. Prince Philip wore the scarlet tunic and black bearskin hat befitting his honorary rank of colonel in the Grenadier Guards as they reviewed the soldiers at the Trooping the Color military parade in central London. The couple later watched a flypast by Royal Air Force planes and helicopters before the Red Arrows aerobatics team left trails of red, white and blue smoke in the sky. Trooping the Color was staged on the historic Horse Guards Parade ground, where the Olympic beach volleyball competition will be held during the 2012 Games that start next month. For the Trooping the Color, the sovereign and her husband arrived in a glass coach. They were due to travel in an open carriage but changed due to the “unpredictable nature of the weather”, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. As regimental colonels, their eldest children, heir to the throne Prince Charles and Princess Anne, rode on horseback alongside Charles’s eldest son, Prince William, all wearing ceremonial uniforms. Charles’s wife Camilla and William’s wife Catherine were both dressed in blue and rode in a carriage with Charles’s younger son Prince Harry. Some 1,600 officers and soldiers in the traditional uniforms of the Household Cavalry, Royal Horse Artillery and Foot Guards took part in the parade, along with more than 200 horses and around 290 musicians. The color paraded this year was the flag of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, which served in Afghanistan in 2009-2010. Prime Minister David Cameron and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who served in the British army in the early 1980s, were among those watching the parade. A 62-round gun salute was fired from the Tower of London to mark the sovereign’s official birthday. Only the queen, Charles, Camilla, William, Catherine and Harry had appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the diamond jubilee flypast earlier this month. But this time the wider royal family joined the monarch to see the aircraft overhead, as cheering crowds watched from outside the palace gates. Trooping the Color -- a hangover from preparations for battle when colors or flags were “trooped” down the rank so soldiers could recognize them -- marks the queen’s official birthday. Her actual birthday is on April 21 but traditionally the monarch has another in the summer months, because the weather is supposed to be better for open-air celebrations. -AFP

comprised of members of The Filipino Language Christian Congregation (FLCC), Pilates and More, Sakura Dancers, Flag bearers from Guardians, Vocalists; Christine De Los Santos, Jummel Carvajal, Victoria Nonog, Jobs Torres, Artists; Bruha Eve, Fred Ballerco and members of Pindot and Lightbenders. The event was organized under the auspices of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy supported by Fil-ASEAK, Filipino Badminton Committee, Philippine Society of Marketing Specialists, The Filipino Cultural Club and The

Filipina Artist Bruha Eve exhibits one of her artworks. (Al Watan Daily)

Morning Talk. Vice Consul Rea Oreta read the message of the Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Shula Primavera who could not attend the function due to unforeseen circumstances. The event culminated with a sumptuous buffet dinner that offered selected Filipino dishes. Among those who attended were The Papal Nuncio of Kuwait, Catholic Bishop, top government officials, foreign nationals, recruitment agencies from the Philippines and Filipino community leaders.

“I am overwhelmed with the response we received from those who attended the event and the endless congratulatory messages from different embassies and companies. We thank those who made the event possible and those who came all the way from the Philippines to support and watch the show. I am also grateful to the performers who sacrificed their own time and effort to make this event remarkable, exceptional and successful,” concluded Labor Attach David Des Dicang.

Haiti dance group battles for cultural survival

MIAMI: When an earthquake shook Haiti’s capital in January 2010, bringing death and destruction to the impoverished Caribbean nation, it all but crushed the dreams of modern dance choreographer Jeanguy Saintus. For years, he had been battling against all odds to win recognition for his talented but cash-starved company, Ayikodans. Now, earthquake damage to his dance studio had rendered it unusable, and most of his dancers were too busy repairing their own lives to make it to rehearsals. To top it off, many of the students at the ballet school he runs, and which partly finances the company, had fled the country with their parents for safe haven in the United States, Canada and France. “We thought it was the end for us artists,” said Saintus. “After the earthquake, everyone talked about rebuilding Haiti, but the arts were not on anyone’s list.” But 2 1/2 years later, Ayikodans has emerged from the rubble, performing to rapt audiences in Miami and earning the kind of rave reviews and cultural attention and support Saintus strived so long for. Last month, the company performed two sold-out shows at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami featuring the group’s latest work, Danse de L’Araignee (the Dance of the Spider), a stunning blend of Haitian spiritual traditions with modern dance accompanied by rhythmic drums and a soulful singer. The state-of-the-art $500 million Arsht Center, opened in 2006, is a far cry from the company’s ramshackle studio in the hills above the capital, Port-au-Prince. The group hopes its success in Miami will be a stepping stone to bigger venues, including a much sought-after invitation to perform this fall at New York City Center, one of the world’s most prestigious dance theaters. Beat of ancestors, rhythm of modern world

The story of how Ayikodans made the journey from cultural oblivion to standing ovations is a tale of Haitian courage and determination, plus a helping hand from friends in Miami who came to the rescue. Saintus, 44, founded Ayikodans in 1988 just as Haiti was emerging from the dark years of the Duvalier dictatorship. Raised by a single mother who died when he was 14, he was barely out of his teens and desperate to break Haiti’s cultural mold. “Ayikodans was a necessity at first. In Haiti, dance was for girls,” he said, noting that upper- and middle-class families would send their daughters for ballet lessons where they rehearsed for recitals of traditional works such as “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker.” Saintus sees it as part of his mission to show the world that Haiti is not a hopeless third-world basket case. “Haiti is not just about slums, coups and political corruption. It is also land of culture and artists.”

FILE-Members of the Haitian dance company Ayikodans performs at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, May 25, 2012. (Reuters)

But it has been an uphill struggle to convince Haiti’s elite in a country that has virtually no funding for the arts, and where there are no concert halls or theaters, and only one operating cinema. Saintus says he has never been approached by an official from the Haitian Ministry of Culture, even after he won the 2008 Prince Claus Award given by the Dutch government for cultural achievement. “As far as I know, they don’t exist, they are just names,” he said. Most of the company’s 25 dancers work full-time with Ayikodans and almost all came up through Saintus’ school, Danspyenu (Dance Barefoot), which offers classes to poor kids. “I trained these dancers. They are my babies,” he says. One of his graduates, Vitolio Jeune, is an orphan who went on to be a finalist on the television series “So You Think You Can Dance” and now performs with the renowned Garth Fagan Dance Company in New York. After the earthquake, Saintus was left with only three dancers, and almost for the sake of therapy they sat down

and crafted their experience into a harrowing dance, titled, “Amwe Ayiti Maman,” or “Cry Mother Haiti.” With nowhere to perform it, friends of Saintus reached out to John Richard, head of the Arsht Center. On a whim, Richard went to Haiti in July 2010 and saw Ayikodans perform a vignette on their studio stage. “I was really taken by the genuine, resonating quality of the music and dance and the rustic nature of the studio,” he said. “Jeanguy told me, ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it and survive.’” Richard decided he could not let that happen. “Someone had to step into this void.We need them to continue to tell the Haitian story through dance,” he said. A grass-roots movement took shape leading to a oneoff fundraising performance last year in Miami that raised $117,000, enough to keep the company alive. Tom Murphy, head of Miami construction firm Coastal, was moved to tears when he saw the group dance. “I don’t know how they survive, God bless them. They are so extraordinarily good it just struck a chord with me.”

ALWATAN DAILY

ENTERTAINMENT

Song Of The Day

MONday, JUNE 18, 2012

Radiohead Toronto show canceled after fatal stage collapse

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: As’ad Wahda Artist: Elissa Album: As’ad Wahda Genre: World In short: Lebanese singing sensation Elissa is back with one of the best songs of her career. The uplifting “As’ad Wahda” hits listeners with a jolt of happiness, love, and positivity, living up to its title - which means “The Happiest One”. If the music industry was a chess board, Elissa would be a oneof-a-kind piece that moves anywhere it desires and conquers everything it faces. To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Giuseppe Bertolucci, left-wing Italian filmmaker, dies at 65 Left-wing Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Bertolucci has died aged 65 after a long illness, his brother and longtime collaborator Bernardo Bertolucci said Saturday. Giuseppe Bertolucci’s film credits include the 1977 comedy “Berlinguer Ti Voglio Bene” (Berlinguer I Love You) starring Roberto Benigni, a homage to Italian communist reformer Enrico Berlinguer. He also co-wrote the screenplay of his brother’s 1976 epic film “Novecento” (Nineteenth Century), and directed “Panni Sporchi” (Dirty Linen), a documentary commissioned by the Italian Communist Party. Bertolucci, who was for many years the director of the Bologna Cineteca, died in the southern city of Lecce. -AFP

Nick Stahl leaves rehab: Report Nick Stahl has checked out of rehab, reports E! News, according to TVGuide. According to a source, Stahl left the center against doctors’ advice. “He just didn’t want to be there anymore...It is very sad. He is still struggling and has yet to hit rock bottom. Everyone is extremely worried about him,” the source told E! News. The “Terminator 3” star went missing in May before he checked into the facility almost a month ago.

CBS buys TV pilot based on Zynga’s Draw Something CBS television on Friday said it has acquired rights to produce a pilot TV program based on the Web-based game “Draw Something” from Zynga Inc, the San Francisco-based creator of popular “Farmville.” The pictionary-style game has two players taking turns drawing pictures of words that are then guessed-upon by a partner. On the TV show, which also is tentatively titled “Draw Something,” teams of celebrities and everyday players will compete for money, and viewers can play at home for prizes. Financial details of the pilot pickup were undisclosed, and no air date has been set. A star turn in a network TV show would cap a swift rise for a game launched just earlier this year by struggling New York game studio OMGPOP. Zynga paid $183 million to acquire OMGPOP in March after Draw Something became an overnight hit among smartphone and tablet users. Zynga declined to comment. The show will be produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, Embassy Row and Sony Pictures Television. TV personality Seacrest will be an executive producer, along with Michael Davis and Adam Sher. -Reuters

Paramount delays Ninja Turtles film reboot Paramount Pictures has delayed its planned “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot, Reuters has learned. The film was set to be released in December 2013, and pre-production was under way in Vancouver. Shooting would have started in the fall. An individual with knowledge of the project said the delay is due to issues with the script, and the studio did not want to further inflate the budget given its dissatisfaction. A spokeswoman for the studio said the film is now slated for a May 16, 2014, release and declined to comment further. The core team, including director Jonathan Liebesman (“Battle Los Angeles”) and the writers, are still slated to remain on the project. Platinum Dunes, the production company of frequent Paramount collaborator Michael Bay, is producing. With a budget well north of $100 million and an indefinite delay, Ninja Turtles is just the latest in a string of major projects Paramount has pushed. “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” initially was set to bow June 29, but will not hit screens until March 2013 because of a crowded summer schedule and the need for more Channing Tatum, among other reasons. The studio has also pushed “World War Z,” starring Brad Pitt, to next summer so it could rework the script and stage re-shoots. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news of Ninja Turtles as well, the budget for “Z” has spiraled to $170 million. -Reuters

Jonah Hill joins cast of Django Unchained Jonah Hill has joined the cast of “Django Unchained,” according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Though the film finishes shooting at the end of the month, director Quentin Tarantino found a way to squeeze Hill into a small part. Hill was going to do the project before, but was never able to shoot it due to his busy schedule. He appeared in “21 Jump Street” earlier this year and will hit screens in “The Watch” later this summer. He next has a starring role in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”. Still, Hill found time for a quick jaunt down to the New Orleans-based production. The exact role remains unclear, but we will update you if we hear more. -Reuters

FILE - Musical group Radiohead performs onstage during day 2 of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 14, 2012 in Indio, California. (AFP)

TORONTO: A concert by the British rock band Radiohead was canceled after the roof of an outdoor stage collapsed during sound checks and rehearsals before the show on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others, police and fire officials said. Radiohead was not on stage at the time, police said, and a spokeswoman for the band confirmed that no member of the group was hurt in the accident, which occurred at about 4 p.m. local time at Downsview Park, about 5 miles north of downtown Toronto. A Canadian musician named Dan Snaith, who performs under the name Caribou, had been set to open for Radiohead on Saturday, according to his website, but there was no immediate word on whether he was near the stage when the mishap occurred. Representatives for the sold-out concert’s promotion company, Live Nation, declined to comment. Downsview Park of-

The collapsed stage at Downsview Park in Toronto is shown June 16, 2012. (Reuters)

ficials had no comment on the incident except to confirm that the Radiohead concert had been canceled as a result. Toronto police spokesman Sergeant Tim Burrows told Reuters that about 20 people were in the direct vicinity of the stage, conducting rehearsals and sound checks, when it gave way. A police statement issued on Twitter said one man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene and a 45-year-old man was taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening head injury. It said two other males were treated on the scene for less serious injuries. Burrows said investigators were still unsure what caused the mishap, which was under investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Labor and the Toronto police. “The roof part of the stage collapsed,” Toronto Fire Services spokesman Captain Mike Strapko told Reuters. “It’s like an arch made out of round piping similar to what

they use for scaffolding,” he said, adding that the structure was rigged with lighting and other equipment. “So that’s what came down and did crush the one individual.” Laura Eldeiry, a band spokeswoman, said Toronto was Radiohead’s last stop on its North American tour. Pictures of the scene posted on social media sites showed a large section of twisted metal scaffolding over and around the stage that had collapsed in the middle of the concert platform. Radiohead, an alternative rock group led by singer Thom Yorke and famed for such hits as “Creep” and “Paranoid Android,” is scheduled to go on tour in Europe this summer. Their 1997 album “OK Computer” established the band as one of the top musical acts of the decade. The group made waves with its 2007 collection “In Rainbows,” which the band ambitiously released first as a digital download while allowing customers to set their own price for it. -Reuters

Seger, Lightfoot among Songwriter Hall inductees NEW YORK: Stevie Nicks prefers writing a song over meeting a handsome prince. Ne-Yo claimed songwriting saved his life. And Bob Seger said writing a song is the hardest, yet most rewarding thing that he does. Converging opinions thrived at the 43rd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in New York where Seger, along with Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, “Gambler” songwriter Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman of “Bat Out of Hell” fame became the latest members of the prestigious club. The writers of the long-running musical “The Fantasticks” were also inducted. Seger opened the show with a spirited version of his 1973 classic, “Turn the Page.” He was then inducted by Valerie Simpson who performed “We’ve Got Tonight” in his honor. On the red carpet before the performance, Simpson said that steamy track has a very special power. “It’s one of the sexiest songs I know, it put more people in bed than I can imagine,” Simpson said. Ne-Yo was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award. It’s given to young artists who are making a significant impact with their original music. “To have a person who has written a song that I look up to or that I grew up listening to tell me that I am good at it too. That means the world to me,” Ne-Yo said of Hal David, a frequent songwriting partner to Burt Bacharach. Then he explained how writing songs saved him. “I was a pretty riled up little kid, and if not for my mom giving me the pad and the pen and telling me to take my emotions and put them there, then there was no telling then I might I have been sticking you up or something,” NeYo joked. After being inducted by Swizz Beatz, Ne-Yo told the crowd of nearly 900 that he didn’t prepare a speech because he still

Inductee Bob Seger performs at the 2012 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and awards gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Thursday June 14, 2012 in New York. (AP)

didn’t believe he was standing there. While Nicks was not inducted, she did honor Bette Midler with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, and even performed “The Rose,’ the song made famous by Midler in the 1979 movie of the same name. “People ask what is your favorite thing to do in a night? Be in a fantastic studio with a great poem and a piano and a little tape recorder. That is my idea of a great time,” Nicks said. Lightfoot, known for such hits as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Sundown,” performed his haunting 1970 ode to his failed marriage, “If You Could Read My Mind.” On the red carpet he explained his motivation: “My life had been a bit of a roller coaster. I think at that time I was

going through the lower dip and sort of climbing up again.” Over the years, artists from Barbra Streisand to Johnny Cash covered the song. One of the evening’s funniest moments came from Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meat Loaf on his first two “Bat Out of Hell” albums. After Loaf and Constantine Maroulis performed an abridged version of the nearly 10-minute title track, Steinman noted: “They shortened the song so much I felt like I was watching an episode of ‘Glee.’” The Songwriters Hall of Fame was created in 1969 by a group of established songwriters, including the legendary Johnny Mercer. The organization’s mission is to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of songwriters. -AP

HBO re-edits Game of Thrones episode with Bush head

LOS ANGELES: HBO has pulled the episode of “Game of Thrones” featuring a prosthetic decapitated head that resembled former President George W. Bush. The show will also edit the head from future airings, the network said. “We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste. We made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this careless mistake,” HBO said in a statement. “We condemn it in the strongest possible terms and have halted all future shipments of the DVDs, removed it from our digital platforms and will edit the scene for all future airings on any distribution domestic or international.” That statement was an update

of one issued late Wednesday, in which HBO said the head would not appear in future DVDs. HBO issued the statement after several online outlets reported that on the season 1 DVD of the show, creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss identified one of the show’s many severed heads as belonging to Bush. They said it wasn’t a political statement, and that they simply had to use whatever prosthetic heads were available. Although they identified the head as Bush’s in the DVD, they said in a subsequent statement that someone only noticed the resemblance to Bush after the scene was shot. It appeared in the season finale. “We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc.” Benioff and Weiss said in the state-

ment Wednesday. “We can’t afford to have these all made from scratch, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush.” They went on: “In the DVD commentary, we mentioned this, though we should not have. We meant no disrespect to the former President and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise.” On the DVD commentary, Benioff says, “the last head on the left is George Bush.” “George Bush’s head appears in a couple beheading scenes,” adds Weiss. “It’s not a choice, it’s not a political statement,” explains Benioff. “It’s just, we had to use what heads we had around.” -Reuters

Film returns Travolta to spotlight, amid bad press LOS ANGELES: John Travolta will soon be back on the big screen, but weeks of negative headlines have focused on his personal life and not on the return of one of Hollywood’s top stars. Travolta plays a corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent in “Savages,” an Oliver Stone film about a war between marijuana growers and a Mexican drug cartel. It’s the charismatic bad guy role that has kept Travolta popular in his later career, although he is not considered one of the film’s lead actors. This weekend, the two-time Oscar nominee is expected to face the media for the first time since the headlines broke as he begins doing publicity for the movie with selected TV outlets. A source familiar with the production of “Savages” told The Associated Press that Travolta’s recent PRdifficulties have not altered his publicity schedule or marketing of the film. The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Travolta was doing the same amount of interviews as the film’s other stars, which include Benicio del Toro and Salma Hayek. Travolta’s first film since 2010 comes less than two months after the actor was accused in a lawsuit of groping two masseurs. The case quickly unraveled after Travolta’s attorney discredited one of the anonymous accusers by showing the actor was across the country on the day of one of the alleged incidents. Yet the suit was widely reported by both mainstream and tabloid media and subsequent stories have focused on Travolta’s sexuality. The actor hasn’t directly addressed the claims, but his representatives have steadfastly denied them. Whether any of this impacts “Savages” remains to be seen, but several experts said the allegations are unlikely to hurt the film or Travolta’s career. Robert Marich, author of “Marketing to Moviegoers,” said the murky nature of the allegations against Travolta means he’ll probably get the benefit of the doubt. “In those situations the public is very forgiving to stars,” Marich said. “I don’t see any negative reaction.”He said the film’s publicity may be fragmented as a result of the allegations, which doesn’t benefit the studio, but he noted publicity is a film’s most unpredictable element. News outlets “can go off the studio script,” he said, creating a difficult situation. “Savages” is being distributed by Universal Pictures, which, like most studios, seeks to closely manage media coverage of its debuting films. The Travolta-”Savages” situation isn’t unique in Hollywood. Mel Gibson’s last film, “The Beaver,” was released while he was battling domestic violence allegations and embroiled in a bitter custody battle. In 2010, Lindsay Lohan missed the publicity period - and red carpet - for her supporting role in the film “Machete” due to problems with her probation. Veteran Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman said studios can avoid PR-mishaps in two ways: They carefully select outlets they trust, and they prepare a star on how to handle a difficult question. As for Travolta’s strategy if he is asked about the scandalous headlines, “I would suspect what he doesn’t want to do is make any news about it.” Bragman predicted Travolta’s troubles wouldn’t hurt “Savages.” “I don’t think it’s going to affect anything,” he said. The nature of the allegations about Travolta puts him in a different - and better - position than Gibson, said Matthew Le Veque, an associate professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. -AP

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

MONDAY, june 18, 2012

Tennis

Haas shocks Federer to win battle of over-30s HALLE, Germany: Tommy Haas showed he was still capable of springing a surprise at the age of 34 by ending a three-year title drought and beating second seed Roger Federer 7-6 6-4 in the Halle Open final on Sunday. The German, who needed a wildcard to play in the event as he is now ranked 87th, had declared himself ‘mystified’ with his unexpected passage to the final. He was even more amazed on Sunday after beating a 30-year-old opponent who was the overwhelming favorite to win a sixth title at the Wimbledon warm-up event. Haas’s win also snapped a 10-year losing streak against Federer, with the Swiss having won their last nine meetings dating back to the 2002 Paris Masters. Haas last captured a title at the same grass-court venue in 2009. Just weeks later he enjoyed his most successful run at Wimbledon when he reached the semifinals and will be hoping Sunday’s result will also be a launch-pad for another run deep into the tournament. Federer has already enjoyed a memorable week at the German town in North Rhine-Westphalia after the main pathway up to the tennis stadium was named after him. The 16-times grand slam champion is unlikely to be too concerned about failing to clear the final hurdle here as he would have fine-tuned his game for Wimbledon during the four matches he has played here. -Reuters

Germany’s Tommy Haas raises the trophy after defeating Swiss Roger Federer in the final match of the Gerry Weber Open ATP tennis tournament in Halle, western Germany, Sunday June 17, 2012. (AP)

Paes ready to partner reluctant Bhupathi NEW DELHI: India’s Leander Paes is prepared to team up with friend-turned-foe Mahesh Bhupathi for the London Olympics despite his personal preference to partner someone else, the doubles specialist said. The All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) is grappling with a crisis of its own making after pairing Paes and Bhupathi together for London, uniting two men who are not even on speaking terms after a second acrimonious split last year. Bhupathi had threatened to skip London if separated from his regular partner Rohan Bopanna, who incidentally was Paes’ preferred choice for the Games. “I have always maintained that I will play with whoever the selection committee and AITA choose and this continues to be my stand,” Paes said in a statement late on Saturday. “It is a well known fact that when asked by the AITA, I have expressed my preference to play with Rohan Bopanna as my partner in the Olympics 2012, based on his physical fitness and big serve,” added Paes, whose top-10 ranking gives him direct entry. Bopanna is ranked 12th and Bhupathi 14th.

Paes, who claimed bronze in the singles event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Bhupathi formed a formidable partnership in the late 1990s, winning three grand slams. Soon their relationship soured and they parted ways, playing together only when representing the country. Even though Bhupathi is adamant that India should field two doubles teams in London - saying he and Bopanna have qualified as a partnership based on their rankings - AITA is unlikely to budge. “Mahesh should show some maturity,” AITA president Anil Khanna told reporters on Saturday. “They have to realize that nation comes much before (their) commitment to each other.” Meanwhile, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has asked the AITA to produce a report on their selection process. “As the contingent for the Olympics is going under IOA’s banner, I would appreciate it if you (AITA) could let me know the full details regarding this issue,” IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra wrote in his letter to Khanna. -Reuters

Cricket

Masakadza half-ton helps Zimbabwe tame Tigers HARARE: A fine 62 from opener Hamilton Masakadza set up hosts Zimbabwe for an 11-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of a Twenty20 tri-nations tournament that includes South Africa. Masakadza slammed four sixes and six fours in a 35-ball stand and captain Brendan Taylor (38) offered good support as the home team reached 154-6 off 20 overs in clear, warm conditions. Bangladesh could make only 143-5 in reply and new coach Richard Pybus started with a loss in a country which has not proved a happy hunting ground for the Tigers as they lost a Test and a one-day international series there last year. “I feared we were about 10 to 15 runs short of what we needed after our innings,” admitted Zimbabwe skipper Taylor, “but our bowlers did exceptionally well today. “There is a lot of hard work ahead in this tournament, though, as we conceded too many boundaries at the start of the Bangladesh innings and our middle-order batting needs sharpening,” he said. Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim said: “We were confident of reaching the target only to lose ground in the middle overs and what remains for us to do is learn from the mistakes of today.” Tamim Iqbal gave Bangladesh a good start with a 38 that featured three fours and Ziaur Rahman (23) and Mohammad Ashraful (22) contributed good knocks and the visitors required 56 to win with 30 balls left. However, tight bowling at the death by debutant Richard Muzhange and Malcolm Jarvis tamed the Tigers and even a penultimate-over boundary mix-up between Elton Chigumbura and Vusi Sibanda that cost four runs did not prove fatal. The non-cap tournament resumes at the same venue Tuesday when Bangladesh face hot favorites South Africa and Zimbabwe will confront their southern neighbors the following afternoon. -AFP

Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza plays a shot during the first match between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the first match of the triangular T-20 series at Harare Sports Club on June 17, 2012. (AFP)

Latham looks to cement New Zealand place on Windies tour

Olympics

Saina Nehwal wins Indonesia badminton tournament JAKARTA: Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal defeated China’s Li Xuerui to win the Indonesia Open Super Series in Jakarta on Sunday, sending out a strong message to rivals ahead of the London Olympics next month. The world number five took the women’s singles crown and $48,750 in prize money by beating world number four Li from a set down 13-21, 22-20, 21-19. Nehwal said winning her third Indonesia Open title was “special” and hoped for more success in the country. She won the tournament in 2009 and 2010 but lost the following year to China’s Wang Yihan. “I’m happy to win the tournament today. But there are lots to be done before the Olympics,” she said. “I think all the Chinese are really good. All of them are very strong, very hard working. They gave me lots of tough fights even in the quarter final,” she added. Nehwal thrashed Sung Ji-Hyun of Korea in the semi-final Saturday while Li beat top-seeded compa-

Saina Nehwal of India returns a shot to China’s Li Xuerui during their women’s single match at the final of Djarum Indonesia Open badminton tournament in Jakarta June 17, 2012. (Reuters)

triot Wang Yihan in the other semi-final game. Li took the first game easily in Sunday’s final at the Gelora Bung Karno indoor stadium, winning 21-13 with a series of ambitious cross-court smashes. Nehwal regained her composure and made a comeback in the second game, engaging Li in long rallies and then pinning her to the baseline. The final and deciding game was a closely-fought contest before Nehwal sealed her victory after Li’s weak backhand return hit the net. “The support is always with me, I’m really happy... but the whole stadium is cheering for me,” Nehwal said. Li said she had a shot at winning but caved under pressure. “I think I had the chance to win but I did not use it very well. My opponent played a tough match while I played under pressure,” she said after the match. In the men’s singles, Indonesia’s ace shuttler Simon Santoso defeated China’s Du Pengyu in three sets, 2118, 13-21, 21-11, to win the title. -AFP

FILE- Tom Latham of New Zealand bats during game two of the One Day International series between New Zealand and Zimbabwe at Cobham Oval on Feb. 6, 2012. (AFP)

CHRISTCHURCH: Tom Latham has had all of his injections. Three in one arm and two in another. And his arms felt numb for a couple of days afterwards. “It was also a bit tough to sleep too, because you’d roll over on your side and it’d be sore,” the 20-year-old told Reuters in a packed cafe on the outskirts of Christchurch’s central city. Latham needed the injections because he was making his final preparations for New Zealand’s tour of the West Indies, his first overseas trip with the senior side. Son of former opening batsman Rod who played in the 1992 World Cup, Latham made his international debut earlier this year in the one-day series against Zimbabwe, where he accumulated 79 runs in three innings with a high score of 48. “It was pretty exciting,” he said. “I know it was only Zimbabwe but it was still international cricket and being around the guys like Brendon McCullum, who I really looked up to growing up, was pretty cool.” He was not picked for the series against South Africa, with the selectors deciding they wanted the left hander to take his time to develop, but was named in both the Twenty20 and one-day squads for the West Indies tour, with the team leaving later this week. New Zealand have two Twenty20 internationals in Florida, part of their joint

venture with USA Cricket to promote the game in the country, five one-dayers and two tests on the tour. Latham, who has never been to the West Indies said he had watched documentaries about the devastating sides of the 1970s and 80s when the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Joel Garner terrorized opposition batsmen. While the West Indies may not have bowlers of that caliber in their current side, he felt recent performances against Australia at home and England away showed they were a team on the up. “They are playing some good cricket at the moment. In their home town they will be tough and be a challenge for us,” he said. Latham has spent of his playing career as an aggressive opening batsman-wicketkeeper, modeling his game on Australia’s Adam Gilchrist and McCullum, but has recently eschewed the gloves at first-class level to concentrate on his batting, where he has moved down to the middle order. While he concentrates on his batting, “it’s my strength”, he continues to practice his wicket-keeping skills, with the eye on making himself more of an option for international duty. McCullum, who only dons the gloves in limited overs matches, is 31 later this year, while test wicketkeeper Kruger Van Wyk is 32 and Latham knows he could

find himself in a battle with BJ Watling for the long-term role. “I’m definitely keen to keep the wicket-keeping going,” he said. “I don’t see myself as the number one keeper at the moment, but it’s always good to have to make tours when they look at the makeup of the side as a backup keeper. “It’s between me and BJ I think. The selectors have said I’m a keeping option and I will be doing as much as I can to keep that going, because as my dad said ‘it’s just another string to the bow’.” While Latham’s appearances and selections have been restricted to the limited overs teams, he is keen to eventually make the test side as well, as he felt it not only suited his style of play but was the goal all cricketers should aspire to. “I have been given an opportunity with the Twenty20 and one-dayers but test cricket is the pinnacle. That’s my ultimate goal, to play for the Blacks Caps in test cricket,” he said. “I want to cement myself in the New Zealand side and play as much cricket for them in all three forms. My main goal at the moment is working towards the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. “There are a few opportunities coming up but if I’m batting at one or 11 in the New Zealand team I’ll be happy.” -Reuters

SPORTS

Football Portugal 2

MONDAY, june 18, 2012

Denmark 1

Netherlands 1

Portugal beats Netherlands 2-1 at Euro 2012

Germany 2

Bender strikes late to seal German win LVIV Ukraine: German defender Lars Bender scored a clinical late goal to give his team a workmanlike 2-1 win over Denmark on Sunday and secure top spot in Euro 2012 Group B. Germany, who looked comfortable throughout and finished with the maximum nine points, will play Greece, runners-up in Group A, in the quarter-finals. Denmark failed to qualify, losing out to Portugal who beat the Netherlands 2-1 and will meet the Czech Republic in the last eight. Bender, replacing the suspended Jerome Boateng in the starting lineup, benefited from poor Danish defending to run on to a pass from Mesut Ozil and calmly slot home from close range in the 80th minute. “It is something special for me,” Bender said. “It’s a wonderful present to come in top in this group. “There were positive spirits out there tonight. We were focused on getting a goal. It was a bit of luck that the ball came to me but you don’t think a lot about it, you just shoot it in.” Lukas Podolski scored his 44th international goal in his 100th match in the 19th minute, smacking the ball into the net after a cross hit the boot of team mate Mario Gomez fell perfectly into his path some 10 meters out. Michael Krohn-Dehli leveled for Denmark in the 24th

minute with his second goal of the tournament, nodding in unmarked after German defender Mats Hummels failed to cut out a header into the danger zone from Nicklas Bendtner. The Danes, who needed to win to go through, could have taken the lead in the 51st minute but Jakob Poulsen shaved the post from 10 meters after great set-up play from Bendtner, who was one of Denmark’s best players in the tournament. Denmark did little else to threaten the German goal and could easily have lost had Podolski, Thomas Mueller and in particular Sami Khedira converted presentable first-half chances. Man-of-the-match Podolski, 27, became the youngest European player to win 100 caps for his country. Germany had the better of the first half and could have scored in the sixth minute when Mueller scuffed a shot from close range which keeper Stephan Andersen had to scramble to save. “The coach put his faith in me and I was relatively relaxed about it all,” Bender said. “I’m happy that I got to play tonight and crowned it was a goal is a great present for me. The important thing is that the team continues playing successfully and I’m happy to play.” - Reuters

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (center) scores past Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg in his second goal of the night during the Euro 2012 football championships match Portugal vs. Netherlands on June 17, 2012. (AFP)

KHARKIV, Ukraine: Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals. The Real Madrid forward failed to sparkle in Portugal’s two previous matches but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th. ‘’Once again we showed how united we are as a team,’’ Portugal midfielder Miguel Veloso said. ‘’It wasn’t easy to start with a defeat. The secret was our defending, our humility.’’ Needing a win to have a chance at staying in the tournament, the disappointing Dutch fielded an impressive attacking lineup featuring Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie up front, but it wasn’t enough to keep them at Euro 2012. The Dutch lost in the World Cup final to Spain two years ago and, with stars like Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, had anticipated a strong run at Euro 2012. Instead, it will be Portugal in the quarterfinals facing the Czech Republic on Thursday in Warsaw.

Rafael van der Vaart had given the Netherlands the lead in the 11th minute at the Metalist Stadium, but Portugal then took control of the match. And it was Ronaldo that stole the show. Portugal cranked up the pressure after falling behind, with Ronaldo probing the Dutch back line and equalizing after Joao Pereira’s pass. It was the kind of chance he took so often at Real Madrid last season, when he scored 60 goals for his club. In Portugal’s first two matches, he wasted those. Portugal opened Euro 2012 with a 1-0 loss to Germany but rebounded to beat Denmark 3-2. The Portuguese went into the match against the Netherlands with an unchanged team from those encounters. The Dutch, however, sharpened their attack. After losing their first two games to Denmark and Germany when they started with a lone striker, Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk added Huntelaar alongside Van Persie, the leading scorers in the Bundesliga and Premier League, respectively. Huntelaar was a spectator for most of the game, while Sneijder was stuck on the left wing in an unexpected tactical decision Van Marwijk. The Netherlands have beaten Portugal only once in their past 10 meetings, in 1991. – AP

Rooney downplays impact on England as return looms

Germany’s Lars Bender scores his side’s second goal during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group B match between Denmark and Germany in Lviv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP)

Ibrahimovic pledges future to Sweden KIEV: Swedish captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic boosted his side’s morale in timely fashion on Sunday by declaring he had no intention of retiring from international football despite their early exit from Euro 2012. The 30-year-old AC Milan star - who scored in the opening 2-1 loss to co-hosts Ukraine - was adamant when asked about his future that he saw

himself continuing after their final Group D game against France on Tuesday. “Absolutely. My future is with the national side,” said Ibrahimovic, who has scored in three successive Euros. “I will continue to play for them.” Ibrahimovic, who was at fault for Ukraine’s winner allowing Andrei Shevchenko to get ahead of him to head into the net, will be looked to lead

a younger generation of players as several other veterans are likely to retire. Central defender Olof Mellberg, 34 and scorer of their second goal in the 3-2 defeat by England in their second match, midfielder Anders Svensson, who turns 36 in July, and 32-year-old forward Christian Wilhelmsson are expected to have played in their last major finals. -AFP

Germany look to set up Euro meeting with Greece England’s Wayne Rooney smiles during the official training on the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match between Sweden and England in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, June 14, 2012. (AP)

KRAKOW, Poland: Built up as the player to strengthen England’s attack, Wayne Rooney is trying to downplay the impact he can make at the European Championship. The striker has been a frustrated fan for England’s first two matches, sitting out the draw against France and victory over Sweden because of suspension. Now he’s preparing to walk back into the starting lineup for the Group D finale against Ukraine on Tuesday, with coach Roy Hodgson playing up how he can make “life a little bit easier” for the team. A draw against the co-hosts would be enough to steer England into the quarterfinals and Rooney would prefer if the attention wasn’t on him. “I don’t put that pressure on myself,” Rooney said Sunday. “There are 23 players in the squad and there’s pressure on us all. I’m not going to win the Euros on my own. There are 23 players who are going to contribute to try to help us win the tournament or go as far as we can.” Rooney, who scored 35 goals for Manchester United last season, will be making sure he isn’t forced to sit in the stands again. “When you’re watching the game, it’s more difficult than playing,” he said. “When you’re playing, you can always do something to try to change the game, or you always feel that you can help the team win. Obviously, sitting in the stands, then there’s nothing you can do. You can only talk, so I think it’s a bit more difficult watching.” Rooney was banned by UEFA for kicking a Montenegro player in the final Euro 2012 qualifier in October, but now insists his aggression is under control, having received just one yellow card since then playing

for United. “What happened was a mistake, I understood that and apologized to the Miodrag Dzudovic,” Rooney said. “That’s fine. I’ve paid the price. I’ve had to take it. And I have no problems with my attitude or my temperament.” But his absence gave strikers Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll a platform to shine against Sweden on Friday, with both scoring in the 3-2 victory. Theo Walcott also scored. While Hodgson has said Welbeck or Carroll will lose their place against Ukraine, Rooney knows he can’t take his own spot in the team for granted. “The forwards have done well in the games, it’s great for me as well,” he said. “It’s great competition. You know you need to be at your best to get in the team there’s four good strikers there including Jermain Defoe and we’ll all fight for one or two places. You have to make sure when you do play that you do well.” But Rooney has failed to fulfill his potential at major championships since bursting onto the international scene with four goals at Euro 2004 as an 18-year-old, failing to score at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. But with the affable Hodgson replacing the disciplinarian Fabio Capello as coach, Rooney is finding life in the England camp more relaxed. “I think it helps everyone being English,” he said. “There are no words lost in translation and we understand what the manager wants from us.” Rooney said Hodgson trusts his players and has given them a lot of rest time. “We understand what we have to do,” Rooney said. “It’s good for the players to relax and obviously put football aside for even just one afternoon. It’s good to give your mind a rest as well.” -AP

LVIV, Ukraine: Germany were on Sunday hoping to finish top of Group B at Euro 2012 by beating Denmark to set up a symbolic quarter-final with surprise qualifiers Greece, as the Netherlands sought to avoid a humiliating exit. Joachim Loew’s side top the group with six points, after beating the Netherlands and Portugal, and go in to the match in Lviv, eastern Ukraine, knowing that at least a draw will see them qualify in top spot. But the Germans are still not assured of qualification, given the possible permutations of results from their match and the second between the Netherlands and Portugal in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The beaten Euro 2008 finalists could even go out if Denmark win by anything other than a one-goal margin in which Germany score at least two and Portugal win. For the other teams, Denmark -- on three points after beating the Dutch in their opening match -- will qualify if they win but they will only progress with a draw if Portugal lose. Portugal, also on three points following their win over Denmark, will be through with a win unless Denmark beat Germany by a one-goal margin other than 2-1 or 1-0. A draw will be good enough unless Denmark win. The Selecao could even go through if they lose by a one-goal margin and Denmark are beaten. The odds are stacked greatest against Bert van Marwijk’s misfiring Dutch, who are languishing bottom without a single point. They need to beat Portugal by at least two goals and hope that Germany beat Denmark. The winners of Group B will play Greece, who qualified second from Group A, in the northern Polish city of Gdansk next Friday, while the runners-up from Group B will play Group A winners the Czech Republic in Warsaw on Thursday. The prospect of a Germany-Greece quarter-final is an enticing prospect with the political and economic backdrop of the eurozone crisis, which has seen Berlin lead the calls on Athens to impose unpopular cuts to offset

crippling national debt. Greek sports dailies on Sunday appeared to relish the prospect, with Goal News headlining its article on the previous evening’s 1-0 triumph against Russia: “Bring us Merkel.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel is unpopular in Greece for pushing the government in Athens to introduce harsh austerity measures in return for International Monetary Fund and European Union rescue loans. “You will never get Greece out of the Euro, Europe once again delirious about bankrupted Greece,” the paper said. Loew, however, is refusing to look beyond the Denmark match, assessing that the game will be tight and warning that “they’re compact and very dangerous on the counter-attack”. His Danish counterpart Morten Olsen, meanwhile, insisted that his team, including Nicklas Bendtner who scored twice in the 3-2 defeat to Portugal, would be going all out to win.

“Nothing is impossible and we’ll be going for victory,” he said. Statistics make depressing reading for the Netherlands, with no team ever reaching the knock-out phase of a European championships after losing their first two matches. Infostrada Sports even estimates that the Oranje’s chances of going through are just 9.5 percent. Nevertheless, Van Marwijk said: “We have to go for it. In the hope that Germany win, we know from the start that after 90 minutes we will need to have won by a two-goal margin,” he said. Portugal meanwhile, are expecting the tactics and refused to write off the Dutch. “We have to try to control the game, not only in terms of our defending but also by having possession of the ball and looking for shots at goal,” said coach Paulo Bento. “We want to win the game and take the three points, and then we’ll see what happens. -AFP

Head coach Joachim Loew of Germany (left) and Jerome Boateng answer questions during a UEFA EURO 2012 press conference at the Arena Lviv on June 16, 2012. (AFP)