7th May 2010

Kuwait Times

May 7, 2010

INSIDE

The Amir meets the Pope PAGE 9

NO: 14721

FREE

Exit poll makes Conservatives largest party

Tories on top, but parliament ‘hung’ Labour and Lib Dems combined won’t have majority

Jonathan sworn in president after YarʼAdua dies PAGE 11

Australian postage honor for Russell Crowe PAGE 54

Serena storms into Rome semis PAGE 64

LONDON: An exit poll published after voting ended in the British election yesterday suggested the opposition Conservatives would emerge as the largest party, but fall short of an outright majority in parliament. The exit poll, which surveyed around 20,000 people out of around 45 million Britons eligible to vote, suggested Britain was on course for its first inconclusive election or “hung parliament” since 1974.

The poll suggested the centreright Conservatives were likely to win 307 seats and Labour 255 seats in the lower House of Commons, both short of the 326 needed for a majority. It put the Liberal Democrats, who had been expected to perform strongly, on 59 seats - surprisingly down four on their current number in parliament. Outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown would get the first chance to try to form a government under rules governing a hung parliament, but analysts said the most likely scenario was a Conservative minority government led by David Cameron. “(It will lead to) almost certainly a minority government led by Cameron. Cameron is going to try and get policy programs into place, demonstrate his competence and then call a second election this autumn or next spring,” said Mark WickhamJones, professor of political science, at Bristol University. However, centreleft Labour, in power since 1997, made it clear it would not relinquish power easily. “The rules are that if it’s a hung parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go, it’s the sitting government,” Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said.

Leaving the door open to a possible Labour deal with the Lib Dems, Mandelson said he saw no absolute bar to such a power-sharing deal. “I have no problem in principle in trying to supply this country with a strong and stable government,” he told the BBC, adding: “It looks like it’s heading for something of a cliffhanger of a result.” But Michael Gove, the Conservative education spokesman and one of Cameron’s closest allies, told the BBC: “I certainly think that on the basis of what we have seen so far, there’s been a rejection of Gordon

HULL: Business carries on at a hairdressing salon as a man reflected in a mirror casts his vote at the salon which is doubling as a polling station yesterday. — AP

Brown.”

The next government will have to deal with a record budget deficit running in excess of 11 percent of national output, and demands for political reform following a parliamentary expenses scandal last year which left Britons disgusted with lawmakers. Markets were hoping for a clear-cut result and fear that a stalemate could lead to political paralysis, hampering efforts to tackle the nation’s spiralling debt and secure recovery from the worst recession since World War Two. A series of three US-style leaders’ television debates, a first for UK politics, had energised campaigning and boosted voter turnout. Conservative leader Cameron saw a commanding poll lead dwindle since the turn of the year, with voters seemingly hesitant about embracing the change his party said they offered after 13 years of Labour rule. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over mid-term from Tony Blair in 2007, enjoyed a brief honeymoon in the polls but the effects of a grinding recession and an increasingly bloody war in Afghanistan sapped support for him and his Labour party.

The election equation had been complicated by an apparent surge in support for the Lib Dems, helped by strong performances in the TV debates by leader Nick Clegg who shares Cameron’s relative youth they are both 43 - and easy manner.

The Conservatives have promised to cut deficit harder and faster than Labour and to squeeze out £6 billion ($9 billion) in efficiency savings in the current year. Labour has warned voters that this could cost jobs and jeopardise the recovery but independent commentators say the figures are tiny compared with a forecast deficit this year of £163 billion ($252 billion).

Independent think-tanks have accused all the parties of failing to be open with voters about the scale of cuts that will be needed to restore public finances. Exit polls from the last three elections correctly predicted the outcome, but they have not always been accurate. Exit polls in 1992 pointed to a hung parliament but the Conservatives in fact won a majority. — Agencies

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Page 2 FRIDAY SPOTLIGHT

Terrorism in disguise

From reel life to real life Media gets involved in charity work

By Muna Al-Fuzai

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hat reasons prompt a man or a woman to tur n against his own country or the country of which they hold citizenship? What kind of ‘brain washing’ operation does the person undergo in order to alter their mindset and transform them into cold-blooded murderers?

Bombings in the UK were carried out by Asians who carry British passports. They were not outsiders or aliens who landed from another planet. Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American was also charged a few days ago with trying to blow up a crude gasoline and propane device stored in a parked SUV at a busy street where tourists and Broadway theatergoers throng in New York City.

This man was described as being ‘co-operative’ during investigation. It does not mean that he is innocent. I am sure that he will be imprisoned for many long years for the harm he intended to cause many lives and the reasons involved. However, that is the end of the tragedy. There is a need to analyze how and why people like Faisal and maybe others are waiting for the opportune moment to act. So, what is their

So, what is their real motivation? Hatred towards former President Bush and his foreign policy?

By Ahmad Saeid

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he general idea about the media is that its role is limited to encouraging people to do charity work, or educating them about the benefits of doing charity for the wellbeing of society. One Kuwaiti TV channel, and one TV show in particular, have decided to take things one step further, however, and to get involved in doing charity itself.

Abdulfattah Al-Darby is the producer and presenter of ‘Mashaheer’ (in translation ‘Celebrity’), a TV show on Al-Ataa’ channel, which has adopted an innovative new approach to charity.

“We decided to host celebrities and talk about their lives and their achievements, and then present a humanitarian cause to them, and ask them to take part in doing charity work for it,” said Al-Darby.

Al-Darby explained that the reason for doing that is because Arab celebrities are rarely interested in doing charity work and their support is basically ceremonial: “In many cases it is only limited to giving statements, and media solidarity, but at the same time there are examples of people who are dedicated to helping people

KUWAIT: Abdulfattah Al-Darby, producer and presenter of “Mashaheer” (in translation ‘celebrity’) TV show on Al-Ataa’ channel. in need like Queen Rania of Jordan or Sheikha Moza of Qatar,” he noted.

Future celebrity Al-Darby said that the program decided to take a new approach and go to, as he calls them, the ‘future celebrities.’

“Now we will start visiting schools and talk to kids about the importance of doing charity work, and at the same time, present them with the opportunity to take part by donating to help people in need,” Al-Darby explained. “We decided to begin by helping people in

IN MY VIEW

real motivation? Hatred towards former president Bush and his foreign policy? That is the most ridiculous excuse. If such notions can persuade naive people elsewhere, even the educated, especially those like Faisal who have received good education and belong to a wealthy background are not immune from such influences!

I believe that countries like USA, UK, Canada and Germany have to re-evaluate their policies when it comes to granting citizenship to Asian immigrants. If we have to learn from history, this is the right time to scrutinize the lifestyles of such people, the reason they abandon their native citizenship and become Americans. Why would any man or woman want to renounce their citizenship unless they have a good reason? They enjoy all the privileges they can receive. If they are not ready to cut ties with their native countries, why do they accept citizenships of their adopted country? Adopting American, English nationalities do not grant them safety while trying to fly to another country or exempt them from being investigated.

I think there is an urgent need to gather all information and data about those who indulge in terrorism-related activities. Their adopted nation has granted them respect and humanity, and alternate identities.

I wish I could say that this attempt at terrorism would be the last of its kind. At least this time, the USA has been saved. Yet, Americans should be prepared for more such ploys. There is much violence in this world. We should become better equipped at countering terrorism. muna@kuwaittimes.net

Friday, May 7, 2010

prison, because we also wanted to deliver the message that even if society in general is afraid of the word ‘prisoner,’ that still does not mean that every prisoner is a criminal.” Based on this idea, the program contacted the Ministry of Interior and asked it to provide a list of individuals imprisoned for financial fraud.

“We specifically asked them to give us the names of prisoners who have families, because by helping them get out of prison, we are actually helping their families also, by reuniting them with their

parents,” he said.

The show presenter said that the program succeeded in assisting people in difficult circumstances, through acts like providing wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities, in addition to finding sponsors to pay for medical procedures.

Charity beyond borders Al-Darby was vocal about the way he thinks the program will evolve. “We will not be limited to celebrities from Kuwait only,” he said, adding, “We will also approach celebrities from all over the Arab world, and we will try to reach out to people in need all over the world, not only in Kuwait or the Arab world.”

Al-Darby urged international organizations interested in doing charity work to cooperate with the program.

“I want to deliver a message to them, to tell them that we are doing actual work on the ground to help people with severe life conditions,” he said. According to him international organizations should know that “we do not want anything for ourselves.” He concluded, “We only help ‘pairing’ those in need with those who can provide them with the help they need, we are simply a broker... sort of a middleman”.

Dumb animals?

The link between cruelty to animals and brutality to other humans is well established and hardly new.

By Ruth Riegler

A

mong the news stories that caught my eye recently was a moving report from the journal Current Biology proving once again that animals feel grief and mourn the death of a loved one just as humans do. The article revealed that scientists in Scotland had filmed a group of chimps tenderly grooming and stroking an elderly female family member who died, remaining subdued for several days afterwards.

Of course, anyone who loves animals is fully aware that they display the same broad variety of emotions and characteristics as humans - grief, joy, love, fear, affection, anger, curiosity, pain, distress and all the other sentiments, positive and negative, are not limited to our species.

Indeed, many animals could teach humans a few valuable lessons about the higher emotions. In Scotland, for example, the name and true story of Greyfriars Bobby are well known, with a statue erected in Edinburgh to the devoted Skye Terrier who loyally guarded his owner’s grave for 14 years until his own death after the owner, John Gray, passed away, with similar stories of animal loyalty and devotion that many humans can only aspire to cropping up around the world.

Given our awareness of this, whenever I read stories about human cruelty to animals, more especially in the form of the all-too regular reports from around the world of incidents of malicious individual cruelty ‘for kicks,’ like the recent poisoning of 30 cats in Kuwait, I wonder about the perpetrators.

What sort of wretched excuse for a human being can enjoy the pain and terror of another living creature, can hurt and kill a sentient animal for ‘fun’? Do these individuals feel that other creatures are somehow expendable, put there for their own deeply twisted and perverted ‘entertainment’?

These questions and the worrying answers should not only be of concern to animal-lovers, however. The link between cruelty to animals and brutality to other humans is well established and hardly new - indeed, great thinkers throughout history, including Aquinas, Locke and Kant, have written of the link between cruelty to animals and violence to other people. As 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.”

The extensive research on the sub-

ject proves this point repeatedly. Almost all serial killers, rapists and other violent offenders, for instance, begin by torturing and/or killing other creatures for gratification before moving on to humans. In the US, a New Jersey study found that in 88 percent of families where there had been physical abuse of children, there were also records of animal abuse. In Wisconsin, battered women revealed that in four out of five cases, abusive partners had also been violent toward pets or livestock. The proof of this link is, substantial, exhaustive and well known to law enforcement officials worldwide.

It still seems, however, that many continue to see the abuse of other creatures as unimportant, insignificant, unfortunate but ultimately trivial in comparison to ‘The Big Issues.’

When all the evidence indicates that cruelty to animals is inextricably linked with violence towards other humans, however, it’s harder to turn a blind eye, dismiss it as a trivial phenomenon or fool oneself, as some seem to, that those who inflict pain and suffering on our fellow creatures are just enjoying a bit of ‘innocent fun.’ Ignoring it certainly makes us humans, rather than any other creatures, look like the dumbest of dumb animals. ruth@kuwaittimes.net

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 3

HalluciNations

Freedom-free zone

By Ahmad Saeid

I

was in Egypt when the invasion of Iraq began in March 2003.

I remember that at that time, during a Friday prayer I was attending, the Imam was speaking angrily against the invasion. The speech was honest. It wasn’t just a ‘how to enhance your relationship with Allah’ stuff, it was real words, from a real person, about the real world.

The week after that, that Imam was replaced by a younger one.

Here in Kuwait, as I was listening to the Imam speaking in the Friday sermon last week, it occurred to me again how the topics of these sermons are always distant from the realities of life. Then, I remembered that Imams have to record these sermons and report them back to the Ministry of Awqaf for review every week.

For some reason, I thought that it is unfair for these people to remain outside the coverage range of freedom of expression

Freedom activists are mainly liberals, who are - for some reason - not interested in defending the freedom of expression for religious clerics. that we have in Kuwait.

I don’t know why freedom activists are mainly liberals, who are - for some reason not interested in defending the freedom of expression for religious clerics. You’ll rarely hear someone speaking about the right of people to wear what they want; usually it is about the right of people NOT to wear what they want.

On the other hand, religious people in general are also not into civil activism! This is probably why this area remains a ‘freedom-free zone.’ Don’t get me wrong, I am not an Islamist or a liberal; I simply believe that each of the two parties has equal right to express his beliefs, and in this case, I think that Islamists’ right is compromised.

Of course I understand that religion can be a very dangerous subject, and that it can be misused to fuel violence and terrorism.

It’s probably because of this risk that the governments in this region are always vigilant in monitoring Islamists’ speech. In some cases violence has been used to suppress the attempts of Islamists to gain more freedom. I think this is one of the reasons for the continuation of religious violence in this region.

We need to realize that fairness is required to maintain a durable state of stability. Compromising fairness out of fear will result in creating conditions that will produce extreme reactions. These reactions will trigger tougher responses from governments and so on.

The only way to escape from this deadly cycle is to be fair and balanced. Islamists need to feel safe to express their views, even if these views are misled; I would even say especially if they are misled, because in

that case we can help them correct their perception, before they are transformed into action.

We need to realize that there is no such thing as partial or selective freedom. If we truly believe in freedom, be it freedom of belief, expression, or practice, then we should know that it is really much more beneficial for the functioning of society to give freedom to people than to take it away.

It is essential for us to understand that freedom should be implemented as a whole concept, as a belief system, and as a strategic choice, for all members of society, because partial freedom is not a freedom to begin with, and if people don’t have freedom, then you can’t blame them for what they do. saeid@kuwaittimes.net

IN MY VIEW

Kuwaiti MIB Yeah, I am opposed to harassing women, just like any other decent person, but how is jailing someone for what is essentially verbal assault going to make anything better?

Abdulla Alnouri

W SATIRE WIRE

Kissing confusion

By Sawsan Kazak

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reeting people is sometimes a tricky matter. This is because different cultures and traditions use different greetings and it gets hard to coordinate. I am used to a ‘two kiss greeting,’ one planted on each cheek. This sounds simple enough but I have been encountering some confusion with this technique.

You have the people who greet with only one kiss; this results in an awkward situation as they have pulled back and I am usually left puckered up and kissing the air. Then there are those who do multiple cheek kisses (alternating over two times). This is also awkward as I pull away after my usual two and leave them puckered up and kissing the air.

There are those people who like to greet with multiple kisses on the same cheek. As you might have imagined, this is awkward as I usually pull away after the first kiss so I can alternate cheeks,

resulting in an embarrassing face to face encounter. There are those who alternate quickly and those who linger on the same cheek. Some people shake your hand as they kiss you and others give you a small hug.

And another thing, there are certain situations and people who do not necessitate ‘kiss greetings’ such as work situations or people you see all the time. When these people pull in for a formal greeting, it comes as a surprise and throws off my greeting technique. I become stiff and uneasy with the confusion clearly plastered all over my face.

Then there are those that I assume want an official greeting, move in for the kiss alone, resulting in yet another awkward situation.

I guess the solution to this kissing confusion would be to ban them all together. We should adapt the Japanese method of greeting where there is no touching and less confusion. A simple bow says a lot and would do the job. Having this technique implemented would rid us of a lot of uncomfortable situations. Until then, I guess I will simply have to live with the uneasiness. sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

hen I first discovered that Kuwait’s Parliament has a ‘committee to study alien practices’ I was pretty excited.

‘Finally,’ I thought to myself, ‘an official government, registered and recognized by the United Nations and wellrespected within the international community is taking the invasion of outer space extraterrestrials seriously.’

I was so proud to know that I was part of a country at the front line of defending the world from bloodthirsty aliens desperate to steal the earth’s resources. No sir, Kuwait does not need a Will Smith-type superhero to keep us safe; we have a crack team of politicians on the job, watching diligently for the slightest hint of extraterrestrial scum so they can respond, a la Kuwaiti Men in Black!

You can imagine my disappointment then when I discovered that the committee is little more than a group of elected officials who have designated themselves in charge of determining what kind of influence is brought to Kuwait by foreigners. The only thing this committee has in common with the Men in Black is that they probably wear sunglasses. No ray guns, no cool missions, no suspiciously-shaped memory sticks to make everyone forget what they saw. Instead, what Kuwait gets is a group whose latest commitment to improving the quality of life in Kuwait is to suggest that those who are found harassing women

should be sentenced to a year in prison or fined KD 1,000.

There are plenty of obvious problems with this proposal, the first of which is that it’s a huge waste of time.

Yeah, I am opposed to harassing women, just like any other decent person, but how is jailing someone for what is essentially verbal assault going to make anything better? Would this law be practiced equally? Would authorities go after the harasser of a Filipina, Sri Lankan, or Indian woman as seriously as they would that of a Kuwaiti woman?

Not only that, but how do you prove the assault? There was an incident in Kuwait recently where a young woman was detained by an officer for supposedly making a rude gesture toward him. While in custody, she denied the accusation, claiming that she had done no wrong and was instead a victim of the police officer’s harassment. The whole situation became so blown out of proportion that the young woman’s mother came down to the police station and became so upset that she had a heart attack, was hospitalized and later died.

Realistically, how would this law be anything other than another attempt by lawmakers to make it easier for authorities to harass expats? Without real guidelines and recommendations on how to address harassment seriously, like in the workplace or with those who abuse their authority, this legislation is hopeless and seriously misguided. abalnouri@kuwaittimes.net

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Friday, May 7, 2010

An off-the-cuff comment by a leader of Saudi Arabia’s religious police has led to dismissals, death threats and debates about menopause. he story of how a $10-billion scientific research center led Saudi Arabia to a series of royal dismissals, religious death threats and a senior Saudi sheikh making national news for screaming at a Kuwaiti woman “you are post menopausal whether you admit it or not”, is long and convoluted.

It all began with a $10 billion new research center.

In late September last year, Saudi King Abdullah opened the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), billing it as the Arab world’s most advanced university on the northern shores of Jeddah.

Hoping to attract high-level international talent, the king took a gamble, announcing the university would be the kingdom’s first coeducational institution, with male and female students from over 60 countries studying side by side, unveiled women driving around the 14-square-mile campus, and no religious police on site.

Against the backdrop of a region that makes up only 1.1 percent of global scientific publishing, KAUST was one of the Arab world’s most ambitious educational initiatives in over a decade and, one would think, a source of pride for many Saudis.

It didn’t work out that way.

The advent of mass gender mixing in an institution founded by the king caused a crises for Saudi Arabia’s conservative religious authorities, with support of KAUST becoming a cultural proxy war for whether or not women and men should be allowed to mix publicly.

A senior Saudi cleric, Sheikh Saad Bin Nasser A-Shithri, was the

T

first to criticize KAUST’s gender mixing. He was quickly fired by the king.

That was followed in December by a surprise announcement from Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, head of the Saudi religious police commission in Makkah, who published an article in Okaz, a Saudi daily, in favor of KAUST and against the khilwa sex segregation laws.

“The word [khilwa] in its contemporary meaning has entered customary jurisprudential terminology from outside,” the 47year-old sheikh said in an interview.

“Mixing was part of normal life for the Ummah [Islamic nation] and its societies.”

“Those who prohibit the mixing of the genders actually live it in their real lives, which is an objectionable contradiction,” he said. “In many Muslim houses even those of Muslims who say mixing is haram [forbidden]- you can find female servants working around unrelated males.”

To top it off, Al-Ghamdi then published another article in AlMadina against the closure of businesses during the five daily prayer times.

The enforcement of Saudi Arabia’s strict gender segregation laws, along with the ban on shops opening during prayer time, is the principal occupation of the kingdom’s religious police, and AlGhamdi’s comments led to a highprofile national dispute that has snowballed for over half a year.

In late April government news agencies announced that the sheikh had been demoted as part of a “routine shuffle.” Two hours later,

all Saudi media was ordered not to publish news of the announcement.

It is still unclear whether AlGhamdi still has his job. A number of sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have claimed that the firing of Al-Ghamdi has caused an internal spat within the Saudi royal family, with King Abdullah rebutting a number of princes calling for Al-Ghamdi to be fired.

The sheikh meanwhile received a flood of criticism from hard-line Saudi religious figures. There were two nationally televised debates, hundreds of newspaper articles and, presumably, thousands of sermons on the issue across the country.

Some said Al-Ghamdi was an embarrassment to the country, others accused him of being paid off to find religious justification for gender mixing, others accused him of defaming Islam. Most notably, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman Al-Barrak, a highly influential Saudi cleric, issued a fatwa (Muslim religious edict) calling for all “modernizers” advocating gender mixing in the kingdom to be put to death.

“Whoever allows this mixing allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel and this means defection from Islam,” the sheikh said. “Either he retracts or he must be killed.”

The snowball continued to roll this week with the revelation that Sheikh A-Najaimi, another senior Saudi cleric who had publicly supported the Al-Barrak fatwa calling for the death of those supporting gender mixing, attended an International Women’s Day conference in Kuwait last month.

A-Najaimi stands accused of eating, sitting and talking with the conference’s female attendees for hours.

The sheikh justified his attendance by claiming that the majority of the women at the conference were menopausal, therefore he is permitted by Islamic law to interact with them.

Islamic scholars disputed ANajaimi’s interpretation of the Sharia, Islamic law, arguing that a woman must be post-menopausal, uninterested in men, and decide on her own whether or not to announce her status. When some of the female attendees announced that they were not, in fact, menopausal, the sheikh allegedly told them “you are post menopausal whether you admit it or not!”

Meanwhile, the king himself appeared with Crown Prince Sultan in a photograph smiling with a large group of Saudi women, almost none of whom had their faces covered, as well as in a photograph with Princess Mozah, the ‘first lady’ of Qatar.

“This was not an accident. Any photo of the king or the major princes has to be approved ahead of time,” Eman Al-Nafjan, a Saudi critic and blogger who has followed the case, told The Media Line.

“The King was sending out a message that the king is on AlGhamdi’s side and trying to push us forward.”

“It’s become a huge issue,” she said of the various gender mixing scandals. “Lots of people are talking about it, but mostly it’s a personal scandal revolving around AlGhamdi.”

“What’s interesting is that there are not many women weighing in,” Al-Nafjan added. “I don’t know if anyone has noticed it but it’s all men talking about whether to allow women in as fully functional members of society or not. You would think that it would matter more to a woman and some senior women or princesses would speak about gender segregation.”

Dr Fawzia Al-Bakr, a professor of education at King Saud University, argued that the Saudi leadership seemed to be signalling the beginning of a major shift.

“King Abdullah is definitely making a move,” she told The Media Line. “First, I never dreamed of having a mixed institution, especially an educational institution.

He was very brave and he did it, and it has had a major effect. Now the religious police have been less strict, the media is writing more about gender desegregation, publishing pictures of women leaders in medicine, science, and business and even talking about allowing women to drive. It’s all over the Saudi news.”

“I think the king realized that this is a serious problem,” Dr AlBakr said. “You cannot segregate the two sexes and expect to have a normal functioning society. So he opened KAUST, supported AlGhamdi, and had this picture taken with women in the South, in a very conservative area, with the crown prince. There is a totally different ideology slowly taking over and I really hope, from the bottom of my heart, that they will succeed.”

— The Media Line

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Friday, May 7, 2010

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‘Many people would tell you today that news before the Internet era were much straightforward and clear, much better than they are today’.

Double click: Kuwaiti politics at your fingertips

By Hussain Al-Qatari

M

y Internet browser bookmarks tab include a smorgasbord of Kuwaiti websites that offer opinions, restaurant reviews, tech reviews and virtual malls that sell food, groceries, gadgets and even house pets. But the most thriving category is that of local politics blogs and online discussion boards. There is an update every single hour on at least one of the 30-something websites I follow and this is not a personal observation only.

According to a survey published in Foreign Policy last month, over 80 percent of people in Kuwait believe that the Web has an effect on shaping local politics. The survey also found that over 75 percent of people have Internet access on their mobile devices.

How can we doubt that when the 2006 Nabeeha Khamsa (dubbed the Orange Revolution) succeeded in shrinking the electoral districts from twenty five to five by using the Internet as its main platform for communication?

Here is the most recent case in point. A recent discussion about the issue of the Iranian spies raised debate garnering over 100 participants. They were divided among critics of what they called the government’s “leniency” towards the issue, while others expressed their satisfaction and trust towards whatever the

‘Thanks to the Internet, people are now exposed to different opinions and viewpoints that are more in number than those published in print media.’ government chooses to do with regards to the issue. The majority of participants in online discussions are anonymous, while others reveal their identity and contact details.

Renowned Kuwaiti blogger Mohammad Al-Yousifi, a participant in the Orange Revolution, believes that the Internet has a great impact on public opinion. “Thanks to the Internet, people are now exposed to different opinions and viewpoints that are more in number than those published in print media,” he said noting that the press law shackles the freedom of the press.

Al-Yousifi says that although the diversity of opinions and news sources is a good thing as it allows for more than one voice to speak, it also comes with its negativities.

The biggest - and perhaps only negative aspect is the confusion multiple accounts create for the public. “Many people would tell you today that news before the Internet era were much straightforward and clear, much better than they are today,” said Al-Yousifi.

However, he believes that this will come to an end soon as people adapt to this and have control over the news from the other end of the channel. “I think the whole freedom-of-speech fiasco will come to an end soon; readers will be able to hear what they choose to hear and to filter the news they want to receive,” he explained.

Dependency on Internet Meanwhile, Dr Saad Al-Ajmi, former minister of information and the publisher of the first online newspaper in Kuwait, Alaan, believes that whatever fruit is reaped from the Internet revolution in Kuwait is only the beginning; there is a lot more to come. The dependency on Internet as a medium of communication around the world is expected to witness a surge now that handheld devices have immediate access to the Internet. “Just this past week we witnessed the end of Awan, a newspaper that is known to be wellfinanced by the Prime Minister and his entourage. If this says anything,

it says that online journalism is definitely here to stay,” Al-Ajmi said.

On his own admission, Al-Ajmi says that Alaan attracts readers from all around the world; it ranked 32 among the websites visited by Internet users inside Kuwait, including search engines and mail client websites, so this is quite a good rank,” he said. He added that publishing on the Internet attracts a bigger audience due to the fact that it is easily accessible around the globe, and is more immediate and updated regularly.

The impact Speaking to a participant in the online domain, political activist and Kuwait University faculty member Ebtehal Al-Khateeb explained that Kuwaiti politics have already been changed particularly through blogging. “Movements like Nabeeha Khamsa started exclusively on the Internet, and have had a big impact on the political scene.

Many other demonstrations are organized on the Internet ever

since then,” she noted.

Even though the blogging scene is not as active as it used to be a few years ago, Al-Khateeb believes that other mediums are being more active. “With Twitter, Facebook, and the accessibility of Internet through mobile devices, the young generation is always connected to the Web and to each other,” said AlKhateeb.

Going back to the survey results, in respect to comments made by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton with regard to how the US hopes the Internet would open up closed societies in the Middle East, AlKhateeb believes that this prediction has already happened in reality in Kuwait when four women were elected in parliament. “The campaign that took place on the Internet delivered these candidates’ agendas and goals to a wider audience, and it played a major role in their success in the elections,” she explained.

Echoing the sentiments of AlKhateeb, Nada Faris, 23, believes that the Internet had a great impact on people here in Kuwait especially in the previous elections. “One example is Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi, who won the votes of many people thanks to the role of her Internet campaign,” noted Faris. “The Internet has gained great momentum in recent years, and has been utilized by many political campaigns to reach their goals, she explained.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Great expectations

By Rawan Khalid

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hen 22-year-old Abdallah Khalil, a high school student enters Math class, his hands tremble and his face turns pale. He feels as if his stomach is churning and his vision is blurring. The reason is his love for literature and repulsion for science. Although Khalil has found his lifetime interest in literary criticism, his family forced him to opt for a science course.

“I was in the 10th grade when problems cropped up between my family and me. I did not have an aptitude for Math and Physics, but my family would not understand that, and instead, forced me to choose a science stream,” Khalil laments. Today, he is still struggling in high school while his peers have already moved on to university or college.

The pressure to choose a career, extra-curricular school activities or even a spouse is not limited to Khalil’s family. In this part of the world, parents place curfews on daughters, withdraw mobile phones if they are overused and even place limits on the circle of friends their children should have. Parents apply a hands-on approach to anything that ranges from children’s clothes, choice of school subjects to homework and test questions.

C a re e r c h o i c e vs social nexus “My parents and I have been having arguments about my choice of career ever since I can remember. They just want me to take up science so that we become doctors or engineers.

This is so that they can tell the world that their son is a doctor or an engineer. They do not care about what I want to study or what my ambitions are,” said Khalil.

Family pressure has restricted Khalil to the confines of high school. “I am still in high school because of my parents’ choice. I failed three years, and I can’t pass the final year; the subjects are difficult to understand. I felt I was always good in literature; I have always wanted to be a critic. Now, I blame my family for the loss of three years because they pushed me into the science stream,” Khalil said.

Mohammad Al-Zainy, 21, has a slightly different take on the matter. He was forced to choose engineering. Three years into the program, he realized that this was the right choice.

Today he studies engineering or the subject that his family chose, and feels satisfied with his career choice. “My family chose the university because they felt that I was good at Math. I told them that I wanted to join the

Pros and cons of family pressure: Should parents dictate career choices, fashion and friends?

faculty of Science but they refused because they want me to be an engineer,” says Al-Zainy who is now in his third year of engineering.

In two years’ time, he will become an engineer. “I loved engineering and I want to thank my family for pushing me to pursue this degree. Maybe the pressure of the family would benefit me.”

Sandy A, 24, an employee in a

private company, was happy with her sales job. However, her family forced her to resign because of the late hours involved. “I used to be a sales woman with one of the very famous stores in Kuwait.

I was very happy with this position. I had my customers and I really loved the job. After one year, my family became angry at me and even beat me whenever I came back home at 11 pm. They knew what I was doing and what

my job field was about.”

Sandy diligently helped the family financially but they apparently remained unsatisfied with her career choice. Sandy later found out that her mother had made a career choice for her daughter and was trying to enforce it on her. “My mother has found me a job for a higher salary,” she said. To Sandy’s dismay the new job had even later work hours.

“I was going to be home at 1 am and my mother seemed to be okay with it,” she said.

So, being miserable and missing her old job, Sandy is forced to work at a place she hates but where she is paid more.

Fa s h i o n a n d f a m i l y For Nova Mohammad, 27, and a bachelorette, family pressure dictates her dress code. She admits to always having problems with her family because of the way she dresses and the time she returns home after hanging out with friends.

“Since I was a child, I’ve never had long hair. I’ve always had a short haircut and I wear a hijab,” she explains. She carefully chooses her work clothes but prefers casual outfits when she is hanging out with her friends.

Then, she says, “I wear sports clothes which make me feel very comfortable. Only then do I take off the hijab and put on a cap,” Nova said.

Fa s h i o n a n d c u r fe w i n s t y l e Nova’s parents place pressure on her as they want her to grow longer, ‘lady-like’ hair and keep to her curfew hours. “What really upsets me is the fact that my family knows that my hair has always been short, and now they want me to grow it. For her, returning home by 10 pm is a hassle.

“What is contradictory, though, is that when I have work until 3 am my family does not appear to mind it,” she said.

Nova feels that her personal life is being meddled with when her family places phone calls while she is out with friends.

“They start calling at 8:30 pm until I come back home,” she said.

For Maram Hassan, 23, a job seeker, her family disapproves of her fashion sense and choice of friends. “What really bothers me is the pressure I am under because of the clothes I wear, such as shorts, skirts, shirts, and tight-fitting clothes,” she says.

For Hassan, it is a question of her personal freedom in choosing what to wear. She is tired of being given examples of her cousins and their dressing styles.

Hassan is not happy with her mother who chooses her friends.

In her words, her mother has created a to-be friends list and has blacklisted others. “The reason she does that is because they have a boy cut hairstyle, act like boys, or because they wear sporty clothes,” she explains.

“When my mother orders me not to go out with them I answer by saying ‘Okay’ or ‘Yes, mother. ‘ What I actually do is lie to her,” Hassan admits. She says, “At the end of the day, I am doing what I want to do, wearing what I want to wear, and hanging out with whom I want to.”

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KUWAIT: Dr Mona Ghareeb (right) holds a hypnotic session with patients. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

By Nawara Fattahova

H

ypnosis might be the ultimate solution to cure a myriad of psychical problems and diseases that are omnipresent in Kuwait. For some people attending hypnosis sessions is more beneficial than going to the doctor.

Having recognized the need for such ‘universal cure,’ the Institute and Center of Hypnosis and Kinesics in Kuwait has organized a voluntary cure campaign for everyone who is interested. In the words of Dr Mona Ghareeb, co-host of the hypnosis sessions together with Ahmad Ghareeb, specialist in BiAura and Bowen Technique, the aim is to heal people from the pressures they experience.

“Kuwaitis suffer from stress and daily life pressures, which cause different diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, immunity-related diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid, migraine, sleeping difficulties, depression, lack of self-confidence and many other modern diseases,” says Mona Ghareeb.

She spotlights this health status quo as the reason to hold this campaign featuring free group hypnosis sessions.

Having heard and read a lot on the subject I decided to try the hypnosis sessions as part of the campaign. I had a chance to witness firsthand the curing nature of hypnosis and to quiz patients who attended the

Hypnosis aims to heal ‘lifestyle diseases’ through relaxation

One of the children falls in a hypnotic sleep during the session. sessions. Many of the attendees admitted to having healed their problems by hypnosis.

Some patients suffering from diabetes who had already attended some sessions at the Institute noticed the improvement of their health condition. “I was taking two injections for diabetes daily. The sugar level became lower from 17-9 mmol/l. I stopped taking the injections now and I feel better than before. I’m doing regular checking and the percentage of sugar is still low,” Um Yousif said.

In her words, hypnosis brought about more improvements to her general condition. “After attending these sessions I learned how to control the amount of food I was eating,” she said elaborating that the allergy she had because of the diabetes and the red scars on her

face have almost disappeared post-hypnosis. “These sessions completely changed my life,” she said.

Dr Mona Ghareeb recommends hypnosis for prevention purposes. “If we cleaned our bodies from the stress and other pressures, we will save ourselves of being affected by many diseases. Some 95 percent of the diseases are caused by stress as it blocks the energy paths in the human body (the meridians), so the energy can’t reach the organs. Then the psychical, physical and mental diseases appear,” she explained.

Value of hypnosis Exhaustion, faster heart beat and even family problems can be resolved with hypnosis. “I was suffering from strong beating of my heart and I was feeling tired and exhausted all the time. From

the very first session I found out that this was caused from the psychical pressure,” explains Um Abdulrahman. “Additionally, I was suffering from family problems with my husband. And after the first session I decided to get divorced. He was shocked by my decision and now he wants to attend the hypnosis sessions so that he can come back to me,” she said.

These session are not only limited to adults. Many kids also attended the hypnotizing sessions. Um Khalid brought her son who in her words was hyper active. After attending two sessions, she said, the result was visible. “Now my son is feeling better, and is also studying better. Even the teachers noticed the positive change in his behavior,” she stressed.

Mona Al-Qalaf and Um

Hamad’s two kids had very nervous personalities. After four or five sessions, their mothers claim, they both calmed down.

The speed of falling in a hypnotic dream differs from one person to another. “Some can fall asleep after half an hour, others after two hours,” Mona Ghareeb said.

However, hypnosis is not suitable for everybody as some people are resistant to fall in a hypnotic sleep. Mona explained the reasons for the inability to fall asleep in the following way: “The edicts, those suffering from schizophrenia, the mentallydisabled, those suffering from stress or fear are unable to fall in sleep.”

According to her, monitoring the blood pressure is simple and fits in the following formula: “Drink water, sleep early, and don’t consume junk food.”

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Kuwait reparations unsustainable, says Iraq Court lets Iraqi airline chief leave Britain BAGHDAD: The head of Iraqi Airways was yesterday given permission to leave Britain after being held there for more than a week over a two-decade-old dispute with Kuwait, said Iraq’s Transport Ministry. A British court announced yesterday that the airline chief, Kifah Jabar Hassan, had his passport returned to him and was now free to leave Britain, the ministry said.

When Iraq Airways’ first flight to London in 20 years landed there last month, lawyers representing Kuwait Airways served a court order requiring the Iraqis to pay $1.2 billion over a dispute dating back to the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

The order called for the freezing of Iraqi Airways’ assets, and required the airline’s head to remain in the country in order to provide a statement of those assets. According to the ministry, the lawyers also attempted to confiscate the airplane that made the maiden flight to London, but were unable to do so when it turned out to have been chartered from a Swedish company rather than owned by Iraqi Airways.

Kuwait is demanding $1.2 billion in reparations from Iraqi Airways for the alleged theft of 10 airplanes and millions of dollars worth of spare parts during the invasion and the sevenmonth occupation between 1990 and 1991. The Transportation Ministry says, meanwhile, that Iraq has repeatedly called for talks over the case so it could be solved in a “friendly way,” but the Kuwaitis have not responded.

The case is still being played out in Britain

and has been described as the longest-running commercial case in British courts’ history.

Kuwait has repeatedly attempted to seize airplanes purchased by Iraq as compensation, as it did in 2008, when it secured a court order to take 10 planes ordered by Iraqi Airways from Canada’s Bombardier. The case is under appeal.

Meanwhile, Iraqi oil minister Hussein AlShahristani asserted yesterday that Iraq cannot sustain its reparation payments to Kuwait for Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion, which it says are the highest paid by any country in history.

“Iraq has paid Kuwait enormous amounts of compensation for its losses and we do not know of any country in the world that has paid such high sums,” Shahristani told reporters in Baghdad, adding, “The sum of money that Germany paid to France and Britain is less than what Iraq has paid to Kuwait, even though that was a world war and the losses were considerable.”

On April 13, Adnan Abdulsamad, the head of the Kuwaiti parliamentary budgets committee, said that the emirate had so far received $17.5 billion out of the $41.8 billion approved by a United Nations special compensation fund.

“Iraq cannot continue to make these payments and has made this known to the UN Security Council,” Shahristani said yesterday.

“We call on our Kuwaiti brothers to work together with us to forget the past, which has cost our country more than our neighbors.”

Following World War I, the Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay reparations

of 132 billion gold marks (around $31 billion at the time) but Germany repeatedly argued for the amount to be reviewed and ceased payments after Hitler came to power in 1933.

After World War II, Germany was required to pay $315 million, equivalent to around $4.1 billion in modern terms after accounting for inflation. Iraq is required to put five percent of its oil revenues into a UN reparations fund, which has so far paid out $28.9 billion to claimants. Since Saddam’s overthrow in the US-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has repeatedly appealed to Kuwait and other countries to waive tens of billions of dollars in compensation and debt payments.

The bulk of the money is owed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Iraq also owes Kuwait around $16 billion for loans Saddam took out to fund his 1980-88 war with Iran, which was largely bankrolled by the oil-rich Gulf states. As it has struggled with insecurity and a raft of economic problems since 2003, Iraq has appealed for the percentage taken out of its oil revenues to be reduced.

In July, UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Iraq to consider investments and other alternatives to resolve its reparations dispute with Kuwait, and pressed the Security Council to help Baghdad meet its outstanding obligations. Last September, Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah said that his country is considering a proposal by Ban to recover the unpaid compensation by investing in joint ventures in Iraq. — Agencies

Iraqi soldiers’ mass Amiri pardon list to grave discovered be announced shortly KUWAIT: Based on the information received from the National Committee on Prisoners of War Affairs and the International Red Cross about the discovery of Iraqi soldiers’ mass grave, situated to the north of Kuwait, a squad was formed under the aegis of the Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Criminal Security Affairs Lt General Ghazi Al-Omar. The task force is in charge of exhuming the remains of the soldiers that were buried there. A statement issued by the Director of Security Information and Interior Ministry Spokesman Brig Mohammad Al-Saber said that the team from the Criminal Evidence Department has obtained the necessary permission from concerned authorities and the Public Prosecution Office to conduct a search in the area.

The team recovered the remains of 55 Iraqi soldiers which were revealed from their clothing, in addition to Iraqi military IDs, and death certificates that were issued by the Allied Forces that were also buried alongside the bodies. Representatives from the IRC and Allied Forces were present at the site, in addition to members from the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry and the Iraqi Coroners Department.

Brig Al-Saber said that arrangements will be made to hand over the remains to Iraq through the IRC and the NCPOWM in accordance with international procedures.

GCC interior ministers end 11th consultative session RIYADH: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Interior Ministers ended their 11th consultative session on Wednesday. The event, which was headed by Kuwaiti minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled AlSabah (Retd), was also attended

by GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah.

During the meeting the ministers discussed a proposal to form a team of experts assigned to develop the security agreement between the countries signed in 1994. Sheikh Al-Sabah said in his keynote speech that the agreement needs extensive amendments in line with current global changes. He hailed the efforts of the Saudi Interior Ministry and a comprehensive strategy put forward by Bahrain to develop the GCC, which is currently chaired

by Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti interior minister also expressed his appreciation and admiration for the efforts of Saudi Arabia’s Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz in

support of joint GCC security measures, as well as lauding the GCC Secretary General for expediting this task. The Kuwaiti official also extended his praise to the GCC nations’ Interior Ministry Undersecretaries who devised the recommendations included in the broader ministers’ session.

On his part, Prince Nayef in another speech expressed delight at the success achieved through joint security efforts in the sixstate GCC. He stressed the importance of security cooperation, which he said provides safety and stability to these nations, which can look forward to a bright future as a result.

Meanwhile, in a closing joint press statement, the ministers welcomed the return to normality in the border region between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, stressing their support of the steps taken

by Saudi authorities in defense of its lands and stability, and the security of its people, as well as those of Yemen. — KUNA

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Acting Ministry of Interior (MoI) Assistant Undersecretary for Rehabilitative Institutes Affairs Major General Khalid Al-Dayeen has revealed that “lists of [those to be excused by] the Amiri pardon have been sent to the Amiri Diwan to be checked, after which they will be announced.” Major General AlDayeen was speaking during the opening ceremony of the “We Made It” charity exhibitions of works by prison inmates at the Souq Sharq and Al-Fanar malls, which are taking place under the patronage of MoI Undersecretary Major General Anwar Al-Yaseen.

The senior MoI official revealed that part of the monies raised will go to the ministry’s financial department, while the rest will go to the inmates themselves. He explained that the MoI has submitted details of a planned program that deals among other things with the privatization of existing services, and the establishment of factories and workshops inside the prison’s sector.

On the subject of “legal inmates’ conjugal visits” with their spouses, Al-Dayeen said that the issue is still being studied, adding “We are supporting this proposal because it will positively reflect on the prisoners, but it needs legislation by the National Assembly.” Meanwhile, the Assistant Director General of the Prisons Department Colonel Adel Al-Ibrahim said the work of the institutions had proved successful through the articles on show at the exhibition. He said “we always stayed away from the public, but this year we decided to show the efforts of the sector and inmates to the public at malls to show our various products sold at competitive prices.

ATM card thief An Arab expatriate informed police that a thief had stolen his ATM card, using it several times in quick succession to fraudulently withdraw an estimated KD 290 from his account. An investigation is underway into the thefts.

KFSD, municipality discuss new fire stations Senior Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD) and Kuwait Municipality officials met recently to discuss the allocation of some new sites for KFSD facilities. The fire service was represented by major General Jassem Al-Mansouri, while Engineer Ahmad AlSubain represented the municipality. The officials discussed several issues related to continuing coordination between the two bodies, including the allocation of new sites for fire stations, as well as another for a KFSD officers’ club. Major General Al-Mansouri expressed his gratitude to the Kuwait Municipality for its rapid response to the fire service’s needs, voicing satisfaction with the progress to date on all the joint projects.

Spare part theft A worker at the police garage told authorities that he had discovered that an Asian colleague at the public transport garage, which repairs Ministry of Interior vehicles, was in possession of an electrical spare part of a vehicle. When police asked the accused man about the allegation, he admitted that he had stolen the item from one of the cars in the garage. The man has been referred for prosecution and faces charges of stealing public property.

Fundraising drive launched for ‘Bayt Abdullah’ hospice KUWAIT: A fundraising campaign was launched Wednesday evening to raise enough money to complete the construction and furnishing of the ‘Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice,’ which is designed to accommodate the needs of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Minister of Health Dr Hilal Al-Sayer explained that the hospice was named in memory of a four-year-old boy, Abdullah, who returned to Kuwait following treatment in London for neuroblastoma (brain tumor).

Abdullah’s mother promised her son, for whom there was no further hope of a cure, that he would never again have to stay in a hospital. In 1989, after attending a series of lectures organized by the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (KACCH) on children’s perceptions of death and dying, Abdullah’s mother approached KACCH, and it was agreed that they would help her take care of her little boy at home. Abdullah died in her arms at home just before his fifth birthday.

The minister explained that the hospice would provide comprehensive services, including daycare facilities, residential respite, emergency and terminal care.

It will also focus on the needs of children and their families, with the emphasis on offering an attractive, child-friendly, interactive environment and a comfortable, homely atmosphere, supported by trained, highly skilled pediatric nursing and

medical staff, he added.

Bayt Abdullah includes 10 pediatric wards to accommodate the children and their mothers, and welcomes children to spend a few days in ten chalets, to give the ill children and their families a chance to enjoy life’s experiences while under constant medical supervision, he said.

Dr Al-Sayer noted the efforts of Eng Alya AlGhunaim, who designed the hospice in a way that it offers extensive and welcoming play areas for the children to enjoy their time there, as well as large outdoor areas for recreational activities.

The hospice is built on an area of 22,000 square meters in Sulaibikhat, which was donated by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah. The hospice is the first of its kind in the Middle East, said Dr AlSayer.

The minister thanked the hundreds of people who donated their time and money to this project, saying that more than KD 7 million has been donated by Kuwaiti and expatriate resident donors of all ages. “We hope, today, to collect even more in order to finish constructing the hospice and to furnish it,” he said, adding that another aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the importance of this issue.

A star made up of smaller dots will be the emblem of this campaign, to symbolize the coming together of efforts to form the star that will shine once the project is successfully completed, Dr Al-Sayer explained. The media campaign will also be launched in the local press, as well as on television and radio. — KUNA

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Amir meets the Pope VATICAN CITY: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah yesterday departed the Vatican with the accompanying delegation, concluding a European tour that also took HH to Germany and Italy. At HH’s farewell at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino International Airport was Italian Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Giuseppe Vegas, Kuwait’s Ambassador to Italy Sheikh Jaber Al-Dueij Al-Ibrahim AlSabah and Kuwait’s Ambassador to the Swiss Federation and assigned to the Vatican Suheil Khalil Shuheiber.

Earlier yesterday the Amir received Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State and Camerlengo.

The reception was attended

by Deputy Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Mishaal AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the official delegation accompanying HH the Amir.

Cordial talks on enacting interfaith dialogue and coexistence among cultures and peoples took place during the

VATICAN CITY: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, presenting an old and rare copy of the Quran to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the Vatican yesterday. — AFP

MP Duwaisan proposes anti-trafficking agency Barrak says privatization breaches constitution

By B Izzak KUWAIT: MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan yesterday submitted a draft law calling for the establishment of a public authority for combating human trafficking in line with the Kuwaiti constitution, which emphasizes

Amir receives phone call from Yemeni President ROME: At his residency in Italy yesterday, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah received a phone call from Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The two leaders focused during their conversation on means to bolster bilateral relations between the two countries.

They also discussed issues of mutual interests as well as recent developments on the regional and international scenes. The Yemeni leader expressed his country’s support of Kuwait saying that Kuwait’s security is also part of Yemen’s security. HH the Amir thanked the Yemeni President for his statement, saying that such sentiments reflected the strong relations between Kuwait and Yemen. — KUNA

equality among people regardless of color or race.

Saying that civilized nations have been coordinating to fight the crime of trafficking in human beings, Duwaisan insisted that the presence of such an authority is essential to combat this highly dangerous crime.

The bill stipulates that the authority should be independent but be headed by the state minister for cabinet affairs with representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, health, justice, interior and commerce, in addition to representatives from non-governmental organizations, involved in the issue.

The authority would work to develop frameworks necessary to combat trafficking in people and to regularly evaluate the actions taken by the government in implementing the law regarding the issue.

The authority would also coordinate efforts among various government ministries and departments concerned with combating human trafficking, the draft law states.

The body would also work to modernize national legislation governing issues related to trafficking in people and to upgrade those laws to the level of international standards to strengthen the fight against this crime, it added.

The authority will also launch awareness campaign and prepare annual reports on measures taken by the government and submit them to the council of ministers and national

assembly.

Kuwait has been often criticized for its trafficking of people record and the US Department of State has placed Kuwait on the third and last tier of countries involved in trafficking in people. Kuwait has repeatedly denied the charges.

In another development, MP Mussallam Al-Barrak yesterday launched a scathing attack on the privatization law saying some of its articles breached the constitution.

Barrak, spokesperson of the Popular Action Bloc which submitted key amendments to the law, accused the law of selling the country and urged the people to defend their country.

The Popular Bloc has been pressing to introduce strict restrictions to the law to ban the privatization of the sectors of oil, health and education even with a new law. The law, which was passed in the first reading last month, states that the privatization of health and education sectors is not allowed with a new special law. The financial committee has added the production of oil and gas to the ban.

MP Dulaihi Al-Hajeri threatened to refer the law to the constitutional court even if it is passed by the national assembly in the second reading with a majority.

Regarding the Umm Al-Haiman pollution, MP Saadoun Hammad announced yesterday that the government has stopped five factories that have been accused of being the source of pollution in the area.

reception.

Meanwhile, official reception ceremonies were held yesterday here on the occasion of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s visit to the Vatican. The ceremonies began with HH the Amir observing the honor guards, followed by Pope Benedict XVI receiving HH the Amir, where cordial talks on enacting inter-faith dialogue and coexistence among cultures and peoples took place.

The talks also focused on the importance of not tarnishing religious symbols of different faiths. During the reception, HH the Amir voiced keenness to further fortify the already historic and devoted relations between the State of Kuwait and the Holy See. Afterwards, Deputy Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah and the official delegation accompanying HH the Amir joined the meeting, where HH Sheikh Sabah gifted the Pope with a rare edition of the Holy Quran. — KUNA

Kuwait’s weather to heat up today: Meteorologist KUWAIT: Temperatures will begin to rise today and afternoon clouds will appear with some rainfall especially in the northwestern areas of the country, a senior meteorologists said yesterday. Issa Ramadan said yesterday that these clouds will decrease on Saturday and the temperature will range between 32 and 38 degrees Celsius. “After the heavy rains that hit Kuwait in the last few days there, mild weather prevailed and temperatures will dip by three degrees on average during the month of May,” he added.

He explained that the large amounts of rainfall during the past few days has cleaned the atmosphere, and increased visibility to 43 kilometers.

Ramadan said that the third and final part of the spring season ends in May and temperatures might begin rising rapidly on May 9. — KUNA

in the news NUKS-Egypt to hold graduation ceremony CAIRO: The National Union of Kuwaiti Students (NUKSEgypt), Alexandria branch, will hold a graduation ceremony in honor of the Kuwaiti students at Alexandria University today under the auspices of Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Modhi Al-Homoud. The ceremony is coordinated with The Educational office in Alexandria and chaired by Dr. Khaleefa Behbehani, as well as supported by Kuwaiti Parliament members Naji Al-Abdulhadi and Saleh Ashour, said NUKS Vice President AbdulWahab Moqdes said yesterday.

College deans of the University of Alexandria, as well as embassy staff members and Kuwaiti senior officials are due to attend the ceremony, he added. Moqdes urged non-graduate students in Egypt to make more effort to win the honor of attending such a ceremony.

Kuwait to hold energy confab KUWAIT: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) will hold next October the 10th conference on bettering means of energy consumption in buildings with the event to be patronized by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. KISR Director Dr. Naji AlMutairi told the press that Kuwait would be the first state in the Mideast region to hold such an event which would focus on reinforcing notions of sustainable development, adding that the regional and international participation would benefit the event within the framework of exchanging experiences amongst attendees.

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Economic woes fuel Egypt anger CAIRO: For the past six weeks, Khulud Mustafa has walked past the butcher near her apartment in Cairo’s rundown Ain Shams district, casting wistful looks at the meat hanging outside his shop as the price has steadily risen.

From the equivalent of $8 per kilogram, to $9, then $13.

When it peaked at more than $14, she stopped looking.

“I asked him, ‘Are you crazy? What are you doing?

How can it go up that fast?’” said Mustafa, a 24-year-old housewife with 3 children.

“How are we supposed to eat?”

Mustafa’s voice is one in a growing chorus of despair and frustration over rising prices of everything from food to housing in a key US Mideast ally where more than 40 percent of the population of some 80 million lives under or near the poverty line.

What’s worrisome for the government is that this anger is showing signs of turning political. The surge in the price of meat - blamed by officials on a “mafia of traders” - has led to a movement to boycott meat.

Near daily protests have been held outside parliament on a variety of economic issues, including demands for an increase in the minimum wage, which since 1984 has been stuck at $6 per month. Across the country over the past year, there have been numerous strikes at factories demanding better working conditions and salaries.

The protests have mostly been small, but they cast a spotlight on an income

disparity that critics contend goes to the heart of Egypt’s social and economic woes: An ineffective and autocratic regime more intent on preserving its authority and catering to the elite than the needs of the overwhelming majority of its people. The buildup of frustration comes at a critical time for the country.

Parliamentary elections are slated for later this year and the presidential vote is due next year. President Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year tenure faces perhaps a prominent challenger - the former head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, who has emerged as an opposition figure calling for sweeping democratic reforms.

Against that backdrop, rallies over food prices, salaries, housing and a host of other issues present an ominous message to the government. “The Egyptian people have become the dry wood ready to catch fire,” said Mahmoud el-Askalany, who is with the consumer group Citizens Against the High Cost of Living and an organizer of the meat boycott. “Social peace in Egypt has come under threat,” El-Askalany said, citing an increase in theft, homicides and other crimes where money was the motive.

“These are statistics that point to the fact that there is a revolution of hunger in the making.”

So far, the economic protests have not merged with political ones that have also been held with increasing

CAIRO: Two Egyptian women enquire about meat prices from a butcher at his shop in the main butchers’ market Wednesday. — AP frequency demanding political reforms. On Monday, a demonstration organized by opposition lawmakers and two reformist groups who oppose the renewal of the country’s nearly 30-year old emergency laws ended violently, with riot police beating and arresting some protesters. In contrast, the government has taken a lighter touch with economic protesters and has made small concessions at times to meet demands. Mubarak has raised civil service salaries by 10 percent, though that increase only affects bureaucrat’s core salaries, not the bonuses and incentive pay that can turn a 300 pound ($55) per month wage into 1,000 pounds ($180), for example. The current minimum wage is largely academic, with even the civil service paying more.

The government has also been pushing ahead with an economic reform program

launched five years ago that helped boost economic growth rates to 7 percent before the onset of the global financial meltdown in 2008 - compared to a 3.9 percent rate in 20002001.

This year, GDP is projected to grow by about 5.4 percent, according to Mideast investment bank Beltone Financial. But the growth is widely seen as mainly benefiting the upper class, and the business elite that form a core support for the government. “The trickledown effect hasn’t materialized, and the majority of the population is still very poor,” said Hani Sabra, an Egypt expert with the New York-based Eurasia Group.

“Do I see a revolution in Egypt as imminent? No, I don’t. I see more violent opposition, but not an organized revolution that would dislodge the

government in the shortterm,” Sabra said of the rising economic discontent. In a televised speech commemorating Labor Day on Thursday, Mubarak said the government’s focus was clear: To “stand behind the poor ... by helping them emerge from the circle of poverty.” He warned an increase in wages that didn’t reflect the level of production would lead “to a regression in our ability to compete, a decline in job opportunities and an increase in prices.”

A day earlier, state newspapers published an interview with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who vowed that increasing economic growth will “ease Egypt’s problems”.

Nazif, however, downplayed the significance of the various economic protests, calling them “merely a new way of expressing opinions by anyone who thinks he has been wronged.” The food price issue is particularly sensitive for the government.

A shortage of subsidized bread in 2008 sparked riots, and some 10 people were reported killed after scuffles in bread lines. Egyptians have also had to turn to the black market for cooking gas after the key daily staple was in short supply in government shops this year. But the minimum wage protests also speak to the dire conditions most Egyptians face daily. A study released last year by the Swiss investment bank UBS showed that of all 73 cities surveyed worldwide, Cairo residents worked the most

hours - 2,373 per year compared to an average of 1,902 in the other cities - a reflection of how many Egyptians are forced to work multiple jobs because salaries are so low.

The minimum wage movement stems from a March 30 court victory by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights ordering the government to set a new minimum wage at the equivalent of around $220 a month for a family of five.

ECESR leaders have tried and failed to get a meeting with Nazif to discuss the court order and, as a result, the protests have mounted. At one recent demonstration outside parliament, protesters spoke of working several jobs to make ends meet. Hussein Suroor, married with four children, said he earns only 425 pounds ($76) a month from his primary job as a technician at a public contracting company.

“The government wants us to be concerned with how we’re going to put food on our tables, so they keep us busy while they rob the country,” Suroor said. Rida Noman traveled from the Gharbiya province 94 km north of Cairo to show his support.

He works as a property tax collector, making 350 pounds, or $63, but has to do carpentry in the evenings to feed his family of five. He broke into laughter when asked if he can buy meat. “Meat?! We only eat meat in our dreams and possibly on holidays,” he said.—AP

Gaza generators Mubarak challenges oppn Egyptian president warns of ‘chaos’ leave scores dead GAZA CITY: In war-scarred Gaza, generators are the latest killer, blamed for the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians.

Frequent and lengthy power cuts have fuelled a rush on the diesel-powered machines brought in from Egypt through the smuggling tunnels that are the lifeline of the besieged Palestinian territory. The Chinese-made generators have brought a little light to Gazans left in the dark by power cuts that can last as long as 16 consecutive hours.

But they have also left numerous families grieving. “People have blown themselves up switching them on while smoking next to a generator, or didn’t realise the risks of carbon monoxide emissions,” says Karl Shembri of the Oxfam aid group, which is trying to educate Gazans on how to use the machines safely.

Last year, 87 people were killed by fires or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators, according to Muawiya Hassanein, who heads the Gaza Strip’s emergency services. Another 23 were killed in the first four months of 2010.

Naseem Abu Jamaei, 48, lost three of his six children to a fire caused by the spilling of fuel stored in his kitchen to power a generator. The three other children were injured. Eenam Abu Nada and her 20-yearold daughter are among the lucky ones.

One night in February, during one of the numerous blackouts, the two were typing

in the basement of their apartment where a generator was running. They closed the door so as not to disturb the neighbours. A couple of hours later Abu Nada’s daughter fainted and she herself couldn’t get up for an agonising 20 minutes. Her husband eventually rushed the two to hospital where the doctor told them they could count themselves lucky.

“Now we are very well, hamdulillah praise be to God - and we teach a very important lesson to others: We tell everyone never to use a generator indoors or near a flame,” says Abu Nada, who is now the public figure of Oxfam’s campaign.

The aid group has handed out 20,000 brochures to clinics, schools and other public places giving step-by-step instructions on the safe use of generators, which most Gazans had never used before the outages became unbearable. Power cuts are nothing new in the besieged coastal enclave, but they have been particularly bad this year, leading to a rush on the comparatively cheap generators.

The Hamas rulers of Gaza blame the embargo enforced by Israel and Egypt, but experts say that is only part of the problem.

Since Hamas, which is committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, seized power in Gaza in 2007, Israel has limited the amount of industrial fuel allowed into the coastal strip, forcing the territory’s lone power station to slash output. —AFP

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak challenged the Egyptian opposition yesterday to spell out their political programmes, warning them against “chaos,” in his first speech since returning to Cairo. Mubarak, 82, arrived in the capital this week from the Red Sea resort of Sharm ElSheikh, where he convalesced after surgery in Germany in March to remove his gall bladder. In his first live speech to an audience since the operation, Mubarak told a Workers’ Day celebration that he remains committed to political reforms and supports an independent judiciary and free elections. “The upcoming elections will be free and have integrity,” he told the cheering audience.

A parliamentary election is to be held later this year, followed early next year by a presidential poll.

Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981, has yet to announce whether he will stand again. “In this delicate period, there can be no room for those who fuse change with chaos,” he said. He welcomed an increase in social activism but added: “I have apprehensions about those who slip ... into agitation that subjects Egypt and its sons to the dangers of regression. “I say to those who raise

Hosni Mubarak slogans and content themselves with posturing: This is not enough to gain the trust of the people. They must respond to the questions of the poor.

What can they offer them?” he said.

Mubarak, whose government has faced criticism at home over its economic reforms, challenged opposition parties to submit their programs on investment and job creation, and on foreign policy. Egypt has won the praise of foreign investors but the economic reforms are widely seen as favouring wealthy businessmen while further impoverishing the country’s poor. In his speech, Mubarak said that ordinary people should be the first to

feel the benefits of investment and promised to raise salaries and create more jobs.

Amid mounting labour activism, dozens of laid off workers have held regular sit-ins in front of parliament.

Three civilians were killed during a workers’ riot in the textile city of Mahalla in 2008 when police fired on the crowd. On the political front, Mubarak faces a restless opposition which fears he is grooming his son Gamal to succeed him. The country’s strongest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, controls a fifth of the seats in parliament through affiliated MPs although it is officially banned.

The Brotherhood is expected to scale back participation in the parliamentary election after a police crackdown which has targeted senior members. The secular opposition consists of small, disorganised parties and activists, who have been galvanised by the return of former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei to Egypt to press for reforms. ElBaradei, who calls for popular action to pressure the government, has said he will run for president only if the constitution, which restricts independent candidates, is amended. — AFP

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ABUJA: (Left) The body of Nigeria’s late President Umaru Yar’Adua (inset) is brought past an honor guard to be transported for burial in his home state of Katsina at the airport yesterday. (Right) Nigeria’s acting President Goodluck Jonathan (right) takes the oath of office in front of chief justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu to become the nation’s next leader at the presidential villa yesterday. – AP

Jonathan sworn in, pledges electoral reform

Nigerian prez Yar’Adua dies LAGOS: Nigeria’s acting leader Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in yesterday as president of Africa’s most populous country, as the body of his predecessor was flown north for a traditional Muslim burial hours after he died following a lengthy illness. Jonathan put on a sash bearing the green, yellow and white colors of Nigeria, signifying he had formally taken over for President Umaru Yar’Adua though Jonathan had served as acting president for months.

Late yesterday morning, soldiers escorted a stretcher bearing the body of Yar’Adua, wrapped in a Nigerian flag, onto a military cargo plane bound for his native Katsina state. Yar’Adua, who long had suffered from kidney ailments and was recently hospitalized in Saudi Arabia because of heart inflammation, died Wednesday night after apparently succumbing to his ill health.

Officials said he would be buried before sundown yesterday.

Jonathan now will serve as president through next year’s vote, likely to be held by April 2011. He also will be able to select a

vice president to serve underneath him, subject to Senate approval. In a brief address, Jonathan promised that his administration would focus on good governance during its short tenure, focusing especially on electoral reform and the fight against corruption. “One of the true tests will be that all votes count and are counted in our upcoming presidential election,” Jonathan said.

An unwritten power-sharing agreement within Nigeria’s ruling party calls for the presidency to alternate between Nigeria’s Christians and Muslims. Yar’Adua, a Muslim, was still in his first four-year term though meaning there could be a political fight brewing in the ruling People’s Democratic Party over allowing Jonathan to contest the presidency. “Jonathan must be interested in contesting for the presidency, but he still has not revealed his hand and he’s still pretty hesitant about signaling what his intentions are,” said Mark Schroeder, the director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis for Stratfor, a private security think tank based in Austin, Texas. “Jonathan will certainly keep his hat in

the ring and that will ensure he remains an influence within Nigeria’s political system.

Whether he has enough support (to run for president) ... that’s another big question.”

Yar’Adua’s death came almost three months after Jonathan had assumed control of Nigeria as acting president and less than a year away from the next presidential elections in a country once plagued by military coups. Some Nigerians who awoke to the news of Yar’Adua’s death were initially skeptical, as the masses remained uncertain about the ailing leader’s condition for months.

Yet the streets in Lagos, the country’s spiraling megacity in the south, remained quiet as Jonathan declared the day a public holiday and the start of a seven-day mourning period in the nation of 150 million people.

The oil-rich Niger Delta, which has seen militant attacks throughout the impoverished region since 2006, remained quiet as well, allowing foreign oil companies to pump out the crude in relative security.

Schroeder said Nigeria’s political leaders knew they needed to quickly swear Jonathan

in as president to show the world there was no power vacuum. When Yar’Adua went to a Saudi Arabian hospital on Nov 24 to receive treatment, he failed to formally transfer his powers to Jonathan, sparking a constitutional crisis. Jonathan assumed the presidency Feb 9 after a vote by the National Assembly while Yar’Adua was still in Saudi Arabia. “The US wants political stability in Nigeria so that’s there’s stability in the oil sector,” Schroeder said.

Nigeria was the No. 4 oil exporter to the US in February, sending about 896,000 million barrels of crude a day to the US, outstripping even Saudi Arabia. Jonathan said yesterday that peace in the Niger Delta, home to the country’s oil industry, remains a priority. Attacks by militants there last year crippled oil production. Yar’Adua had tried to peacefully end the insurgency but those efforts frayed due to his increasing illness.

Jonathan said Yar’Adua left a “profound legacy” for him to follow. “He was not just a boss, but a good friend and a brother,” Jonathan said. — AP

Searchers locate zone of Air France black boxes

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Brazilian Navy divers recover a huge part of the rudder of the Air France A330 aircraft lost in midflight over the Atlantic ocean in this June 8, 2009 photo. – AP

PARIS: Investigators using new computer calculations believe they have narrowed their search for the flight recorders of Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean nearly a year ago, officials said yesterday. Researchers have determined an area about the size of Paris, based on new analysis of data retrieved during the initial search efforts, when the black box recorders were still emitting “pinging” signals, French Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Christian Baptiste said. That is much smaller than the 2,000-sq-km zone targeted in a search effort last month.

“Does this mean we will find the black boxes? We are far from certainty,” Baptiste told a news conference.

He said investigators will still be facing the prospect of searching for recorders the size of a shoe box in a large area of Andes-like undersea terrain. All 228 people were killed when the plane crashed en route from Brazil to France in June 1 into a distant area of the midAtlantic. The voice and data recorders are believed to rest on a mountainous area of seabed, perhaps as much as 4,000 m deep.

Without the black boxes, investigators have been unable to determine the cause of the crash. A series of automatic messages

emitted by the plane indicated faults in the speed measuring equipment as the plane crossed a zone of heavy turbulence, but investigators have insisted they don’t have enough information to assess why the plane went down. International search teams scoured the area for weeks immediately after the crash, pulling up pieces of wreckage and dozens of bodies, but did not find the black boxes. A French submarine, the Emeraude, picked up signals at the time that have since been re-analyzed and that researchers determined were pings from the black boxes, the official said.

After the Emeraude returned to port last year, sonar specialists from French company Thales continued to study the data it brought back from the search zone. They then developed a new algorithm to study the signals picked up by the submarine July 1, and applied them last week for the first time with defense officials in a French laboratory.

Baptiste said they think the signals “probably” came from the black boxes.

Officials urged caution about the announcement. Government spokesman Luc Chatel said “we should remain extremely prudent for the moment.” Speaking on France-Info radio, he said, “We must see if

there is a possibility to recover the black boxes, what depth they are located in.” “It would obviously be very good news for everyone, first for the families of the victims of the flight, and then for all of us, because it has been one year that we have been waiting with impatience to find out what really happened on the Rio-Paris flight,” he said.

Defense Minister Herve Morin contacted Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau this week about the results of the new analysis, which were sent to the French accident investigation agency BEA, which is leading the probe into what happened. BEA spokeswoman Martine Del Bono said of yesterday’s announcement, “We are working on this information to check it and eventually validate it.” Air France said in a statement that it had been informed of the new calculation, and that although the information must still be verified, it is “excellent news” in the search to determine what happened.

The calculation will be used to “orient the new search effort that has just begun,” Air France said.

A third phase of search efforts, costing an unprecedented $10 million, was carried out in a 2,000-sq-km zone in March and April, but failed to find the black boxes. — AP

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Poland old steam trains still on track

WOLSZTYN, Poland: Girls pass by an old steam locomotive at the Wolsztyn railway station during the 17th Steam Locomotive Show on April 30, 2010. – AFP

WOLSZTYN, Poland: Hurtling down the rails, whistle blaring, huffing and puffing coal soot and steam, Beautiful Helena is a sight to behold as it proudly chugs along the passenger run it’s made for 73 years. At full blast, it hits 130 km an hour - only half the speed of some modern bullet trains - but the much-loved Helena stands out as one of the few European steam engines still used for daily passenger service.

These vintage commuters - 13 in all though only three run regularly all operate out of Wolsztyn, western Poland, which is also home to an annual steam engine parade that drew tens of thousands of railway enthusiasts, young and old, this month. “Wolsztyn is unique in Europe because steam trains have been running here non-stop from 1907, so for 103 years,” said Andrzej Jablonski, a senior railway man with Polish state rail firm PKP Cargo, organiser of the yearly event.

The old trains ply a regional track between Wolsztyn and Poznan, 80 km away. In all, 11 steam locomotives Helena and seven others from Wolsztyn, one from Germany, one from Hungary and a Czech Republic model named Matilda - showed off their vintage might at the weekend parade but the three foreign models are today museum or show pieces, Jablonski said. All are fully functional, however, and made the trip by rail at their own speed.

Kitted up in Poland’s traditional navy blue trainman’s uniform with a square-topped cap, Jablonski glows when he speaks of “Piekna Helena” or Beautiful Helena, Wolsztyn’s pride and joy. Designed by Polish engineers in 1936 and built a year later, Beautiful Helena - known to experts as a Pm 36-2 type engine - runs about 40 km faster than other steam engines, which average 90 km an hour.

It’s top speed, in fact, is similar to the modern-day diesel and electric

locomotives that replaced steampowered engines in Poland during the 1950s. But for Jablonski that’s not what counts. “Steam trains have soul, other locomotives, either diesel or electric, if they’re standing still they’re cold, but a steam train engine...if it’s moving or if its standing still, we feel it has a soul,” he said.

Engineer Czeslaw Janus, 56, concedes that “a steam engine is hard work,” as he shovels coal into the glowing orange-red furnace of one of the locomotive he’s driven for the last 37 years. “On an electric train you just sit there and turn the wheel, but on a steam engine you have to shovel a couple of tons of coal, its hard physical work, but it’s a real train,” he said.

These workhorses powered Europe’s 19th and 20th century Industrial Revolution - first in Britain then elsewhere in Europe - but started being replaced by their new electric and diesel cousins in the 1930s. —AFP

One pirate killed in raid

Russian marines free tanker, detain pirates

NOTTINGHAM: The light aircraft which crashed at Hinton-in-the-Hedges airfield that injured UKIP party member Nigel Farage (inset) and the plane’s pilot is seen yesterday. – AP

Farage injured in plane crash LONDON: Controversial politician Nigel Farage, who has upset colleagues across Europe with his anti-EU rants, was injured when his light aircraft crashed yesterday as he campaigned in Britain’s general election. Farage, a Member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), had been planning to fly across parts of central England towing a giant banner exhorting voters to back his party. Police said his plane had crashed shortly after taking off at 8 am local time at an airfield in Northamptonshire.

TV footage showed the plane upside down in a field and also broadcast a picture of a badly shaken Farage being helped out from the wreckage of the cockpit.

A UKIP spokesman said Farage, who is standing against Commons

speaker John Bercow in Buckingham in yesterday’s election, had not been seriously hurt. Officials said he had minor facial injuries and was undergoing checks in hospital.

The pilot was taken by air ambulance to hospital with more serious but not life-threatening injuries. “It’s one of those grace of God things that he is still alive,” Chris Adams, the UKIP candidate for Aylesbury told BBC TV. “He has been going in and out of consciousness but at this moment in time having X-rays.” Media reports suggested the plane had come down after the UKIP banner it was trailing became entangled in its engine. “He was flying over the area with the UKIP banner at the back of it,” said the party spokesman, adding he could not confirm the cause of the accident.

“He was going to be doing a couple of hours with the banner.”

Air accident investigators will carry out an inquiry into what led to the crash, police said.

UKIP, which wants Britain to pull out of the EU, stunned the political establishment last year by beating Labour into third place in European parliamentary elections, taking more than 16 percent of the vote in the process. Farage himself then shocked his European colleagues in February when he described Belgian Herman Van Rompuy, the new President of the European Council, as “a damp rag” with the appearance of a lowgrade bank clerk. “If the entire political class are united in their disgust of me, I must be getting something right,” the 45-year-old former commodities broker told Reuters in March. —Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian marines yesterday stormed a hijacked Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden in a daring early morning raid, killing one of the Somali pirates aboard and capturing another 10. The oil tanker’s crew of 23 escaped unharmed after the marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov sped in small boats to the Moscow University oil tanker and scaled its sides before exchanging fire with the pirates. “The tanker was freed last night as a result of a successful armed operation by marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov,” a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry told AFP. The operation, which lasted over three hours, was hailed by Russian officials as a decisive show of Russia’s naval capabilities. “It was sharp, professional and quick,” said President Dmitry Medvedev, ordering Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to give medals to all those involved in the rescue. Russian investigators said the 10 captured pirates would be brought to Moscow to face charges, adding that some had been wounded in the firefight and one killed. Russian television said more pirates had managed to escape. “The investigation is taking steps to transport the captured pirates to Moscow,” the Investigative Committee of Russia’s Prosecutor General Office said in a statement.

It said the investigation will be conducted in accordance with Russian and international law and they will face “criminal responsibility” for the hijacking. —AFP

ANKARA: Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers try to control an angry AKP member as the parliament debates a package of amendments to the 1982 constitution yesterday. —AP

Turkey house to pass constitutional reform ANKARA: Turkey’s parliament approved major judicial reforms yesterday, moving the country towards a referendum on a constitution militant secularists say would serve to cement the Islamist-rooted AK Party’s grip on power. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who denies Islamist ambitions, won support for a restructuring of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). He was expected to win an overall vote on the constitutional draft yesterday evening or today.

Erdogan said work had started on a referendum he has pledged to call if, as expected, he does not garner the required 367 votes to be approved outright. “We have started our campaign, our preparations. We will go to the people,” he told reporters after meeting AK Party deputies in parliament. Erdogan, in power since 2002 with a large majority and facing elections next year, says wide-ranging reforms of the judiciary and the role of the influential military are essential to meet the demands of the European

Union Turkey seeks to join.

Turkey’s lira currency weakened one percent and bond yields hit a high for the year on Thursday due to global market weakness, and prospects of a legal wrangle over the reforms were also seen as unsettling for investors. The reform of the HSYK, responsible for managing the judiciary, secured 334 votes overnight and exceeded the 330 threshold required for individual articles. Deputy HSYK Chairman Kadir Ozbek said he would fight the overhaul. “We are obliged to fulfil our duty of defence. We will continue our struggle until the end,” broadcasters quoted him as telling reporters.

Lacking the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill into law through parliament, but possessing enough seats to put the proposals to a referendum, Erdogan is banking on public support for changes to a charter that was written during a period of military rule that followed a coup in 1980. —Reuters

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For proud Pak-US community, an embarrassment SILVER SPRING, Maryland: Across from a counter serving up heaping plates of kabobs and curries, Zahid Hussain scrolled through his phone for messages from fellow Pakistani-Americans.

The topic was hardly a surprise.

“Pakistanis are afraid. When they see on television, ‘Pakistani terrorist in Times Square,’ they just want to hide their face,” Hussain said at a brightly lit Pakistani restaurant in suburban Washington.

Hussain, who publishes a local Urdu-language newspaper, said he spoke with his school-age children after hearing that a PakistaniAmerican, Faisal Shahzad, was arrested in Saturday’s plot to sow destruction in one of New York’s busiest intersections. Hussain immigrated to the United States in

2003 and said his children had once even asked if they could change their names due to the image of their homeland in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

But for many PakistaniAmericans, the bomb plot instilled not so much fear but embarrassment. The community has been proud of its prosperity in this nation of immigrants and has come under far less scrutiny than Pakistani British. “Back in the 1960s, Pakistanis were always held in great esteem. They were seen as making very valuable contributions to America. That deteriorated after September 11,” commented Arshad Qureshi, a 70year-old actuary after saying his evening prayers at a neatly manicured Maryland mosque.

Qureshi refused to criticize Americans who voice suspicions about Pakistan. “If you go to the root causes, I would blame ourselves,” he said.

Ashraf Qazi, chairman of the Council on Pakistan Relations, an advocacy group for PakistaniAmericans, believed that Americans understood that only a few terrorism suspects have emerged from a community estimated at more than half a million. “I don’t think the public in general believes in guilt by association,” Qazi said by telephone from Michigan, where he runs a healthcare company.

“You’re really at a loss for words when you look at this situation,” he said. “I think this also shows the need for us to be more vigilant.”

Shahzad, who became a US citizen a little over a year ago, had achieved undergraduate and business degrees in the United States and married a fellow Pakistani-American. But the 30year-old was also saddled with debt and his home reportedly went into foreclosure as the US economy entered a tailspin over the housing debt bubble. Shahzad was not the first PakistaniAmerican to come under the scanner of US authorities. But there has been significantly less attention to extremism among Pakistani-Americans than among the much larger community of Pakistani British.

In 2005, homegrown Islamist extremists bombed three Underground trains and a bus in London, killing 52 people. —AFP

SILVER SPRING, Maryland: Pakistani-America Zahid Hussain speaks at a local restaurant yesterday. —AFP

US eyes foreign links in plot

Times Sq bomb suspect did dry run days before GULF OF MEXICO: Gathered, concentrated oil burns during a controlled oil fire in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday. —AP

Gulf anxious as BP tries to cap oil spill PORT FOURCHON, Louisiana: Coastal residents yesterday anxiously awaited the outcome of efforts to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with a giant domelike structure and limit damage from what is becoming an environmental catastrophe. A crane lowered the 100-ton dome onto the “Joe Griffin” before the barge embarked on the 12-hour journey from Port Fourchon on the Louisiana coast to the epicenter of the disaster some 80 km offshore.

The structure - a white silo with a dome-shaped top that stands five storeys high - carries with it the hopes of coastal communities from Texas to Florida whose way of life is threatened by the slick. Energy giant BP said the device is aimed at containing the oil spill to allow the crude spewing on the seabed about 1,500 m below up to be pumped into a nearby tanker ship.

“We are all hoping this containment system will work,” said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry.

But she and BP officials cautioned that the operation had never been tried at such depths.

“What we’re undertaking is unprecedented,” BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. “We’re landing a very large, essentially, metal building.” BP used the occasion to publicize the lengths to which it is going to contain the spill, bringing the barge and dome back to its starting point at one point so that

media could get a second shot at its departure.

The laborious task of transporting the dome, lowering it precisely over the leak and attaching it to the ship is expected to take five days, meaning officials hope it will be operational by Monday. Meanwhile, response teams raced to stave off an environmental and economic disaster as a slick the size of a small country threatening to swamp fragile wetland nature reserves and vital fishing grounds.

BP managed to cap the smallest of three leaks hemorrhaging crude into the Gulf, and resumed burning operations later Wednesday of some of the heaviest parts of the slick. The successful operation to place a valve over a ruptured pipe and shut off the flow using one of 10 remotely-controlled submarines has no impact on the volume of oil gushing into the sea, but allows efforts to focus on the two remaining leaks.

But the huge oil slick threatened a wide area and some feared the mess may be caught up the Gulf’s loop current, pushing the oil slick as far as the Florida Keys. One concern would be the impact of the toxic crude on Florida’s beaches and nature preserves such as those in the keys and the Dry Tortugas islands marine sanctuary, which include some of the largest and best preserved coral beds in the world. —AFP

NEW YORK: Days before the failed car bomb in Times Square, a Pakistani-American scouted the bustling district in the same vehicle and then, on a second trip, left a getaway car blocks from his chosen target, a law enforcement official has told AP. Faisal Shahzad, now in custody on terrorism and weapons charges, drove a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder to Times Square from Connecticut on April 28, apparently to figure out where would be the best place to leave it later, the official said Wednesday. He then returned April 30 to drop off a black Isuzu, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.

The official said Shahzad went back Saturday and left the sport utility vehicle loaded with firecrackers, gasoline and propane, enough to likely create a fireball and kill nearby tourists and Broadway theatergoers had it gone off successfully. Shahzad, 30, of Connecticut, admitted to rigging the Pathfinder with a crude bomb based on explosives training he received in Pakistan, authorities say. He was pulled off a Dubaibound plane Monday and has been cooperating with investigators. No court appearance has yet been scheduled for Shahzad, a spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office in Manhattan said yesterday.

Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad’s father, has called the arrest “a conspiracy”. In a city still jittery from the failed car bomb driven into one of its most famous neighborhoods, a truck abandoned near a toll booth to the Robert F Kennedy Bridge caused alarm late Wednesday when a bridge authority officer believed he smelled gasoline coming from it and saw a man flee the truck. But the truck turned out to be empty and not a threat, the New York Police Department said. The bridge, formerly called the Triborough Bridge, is a major connector in the city, linking Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. Police were looking to speak to the person who abandoned it.

Shahzad is believed to have been working alone when he began preparing the Times Square attack, almost immediately after returning in February from his native land, authorities said. They said they have yet to find a wider link to extremist groups or to pin down a motive. “It appears from some of his other activities that

KARACHI: Supporters of the youth wing of Pakistani religious party Jamat-e-Islami rally to support the New York City’s Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad yesterday. —AP March is when he decided to put this plan in motion,” New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday. “He came back from Pakistan Feb 3, 2010. It may well have been an indicator of putting something catastrophic in motion.”

In leaving Times Square on Saturday, he discovered he left a chain of 20 keys including those to the getaway car and his home in Connecticut in the SUV, and had to take public transit, the official told the AP. Investigators had already started searching for suspects, when he returned to the scene on Sunday with a second set of keys to pick up the Isuzu, parked about eight blocks from the car bomb site, the official said. Kelly told a Senate panel that Shahzad bought

a gun in March that was found in his Isuzu at Kennedy Airport, suggesting that he was moving ahead on the bombing plot shortly after returning from Pakistan.

Pakistan Ambassador Husain Haqqani said Wednesday that an investigation into Shahzad’s links to Pakistan was ongoing. He said an unspecified number of people had been questioned but no one has been arrested or detained in Pakistan. Haqqani spoke to the AP before an appearance at Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Asked whether any connection had emerged between Shahzad and Qari Hussain Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban’s chief bomb maker who is also in charge of recruiting suicide bombers, Haqqani said “no such fact had

emerged” at this point in the investigation.

“I think it’s premature to start identifying groups and individuals with whom he might have trained,” he said. Haqqani added that it was unlikely that Shahzad or anyone could find a bomb-making facility in the south Waziristan region because that region is now controlled by the Pakistani Army.

Shahzad said he was trained in the region, authorities say.

US officials have also been unable to verify whether Shahzad trained to make bombs at a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

Shahzad had previously lived in Shelton, Connecticut, but got a low-rent apartment in nearby Bridgeport when he returned from Pakistan. —Agencies

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Indonesian reformers under fire as Indrawati quits JAKARTA: Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s decision to quit after months of attacks by her political opponents is a setback for those pushing reforms viewed as crucial to luring investment and spurring growth. Her replacement has not yet been announced, leaving investors uncertain over the future pace of reform in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. But some opposition politicians were quick to step up criticism of Indrawati, adding they

hoped her fellow reformer, Vice President Boediono, would be next to go.

“The immediate presumption is this is a happy day for someone who wants to wind back the changes,” said political analyst Kevin Evans from the election monitoring firm, Pemilu Asia. “So the question is, will it be a case of ‘Fine, you have got your scalp but the game doesn’t change’ or will it be ‘Let’s limp along for the next four years’?”

President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono won a second five-year term last year on promises to continue the fight against corruption and drive economic growth. With the presence of top reformers like Indrawati in the cabinet, investors have poured money into Indonesian assets on expectations of strong economic growth and improved prospects of an investment grade credit rating for this G-20 member.

Stocks tumbled nearly 4 percent on Wednesday and fell further yesterday, while the rupiah weakened to 9,225

per dollar yesterday from 9,030 on Wednesday following the news Indrawati would join the World Bank as a managing director. But economists said the sell-off mainly reflected investor jitters over euro zone woes, rather than a reaction to Indrawati’s departure from the financial driving seat, with several Asian markets down on the day.

Two people close to Indrawati often called Indonesia’s “icon of reform” and known for her integrity in a country where many government

Japan restarts nuclear reactor after 14 years TOKYO: Japan restarted its controversial “fast-breeder” nuclear reactor yesterday, 14 years after the plant was shut down following a fire and a subsequent cover-up that sparked public anger. The Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, located in a coastal town 350 km west of Tokyo, was reactivated for the first time since the Dec

1995 accident, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said.

Unlike regular light-water reactors that run on uranium, fast-breeders use a mix of plutonium and uranium, including waste from conventional reactors, and generate or “breed” more plutonium than they consume.

MANILA: In a file picture taken on April 5, 2010, former Manila mayor Lito Atienza shakes hands with residents in a motorcade beside a crowded slum area as he campaigns for re-election. – AFP

Votes bought in Manila slums MANILA: Colourful campaign banners hanging from decrepit cardboard walls lend a lively contrast to the filth of Manila’s North Triangle slum as a candidate presses dirty palms for crucial votes. As the politician’s yellow-clad volunteers spread leaflets around, community organiser Teodosia Gacer ambushes them with a list of what she claims are undelivered promises to the slum’s more than 30,000 residents.

“We have not seen you around here since the last election three years ago - when we helped you win!,” Gacer tells the sweating politician, who is obviously embarrassed as a small crowd gathers around. “You people only come here whenever you need our votes, but disappear on us once you win.” The politician stammers an apology, and whips out a two-page resolution he authored temporarily stopping an impending eviction as proof he had been working on their behalf after all.

Squatting under the shadow of a huge mall and the Philippine capital’s overhead railway, the 37-hectare North Triangle in suburban Quezon city is one among many sprawling shanty towns blighting the metropolis. About 35 percent of Manila’s 12-million population live in these colonies, according to the World Health Organization. Often cursed as a haven for petty criminals and outcasts, these slums are rich

in votes and turn into a political force during election season that could make or break a candidate’s career.

Politicians have been braving the slums weeks ahead of Monday’s national election, when 50 million voters are eligible to pick a new president, members of congress and thousands of other government posts.

In North Triangle, candidates kiss the cheeks of babies swathed in dirty clothes and mingle with men stroking the feathers of their fighting cocks. “We allow them to come here and hang their campaign materials, regardless of party affiliation. But of course, we vote for those who can protect us,” Gacer told AFP. “Others vote for those who bring blessings,” she said, using a euphemism for monetary bribes offered by candidates.

A 54-year-old mother of two adult children, Gacer heads a non-profit organisation that provides basic services and conducts voter education campaigns for North Triangle residents. She said it was no secret that many slum dwellers sold their votes because money remained their only tangible and immediate benefit. “The political strategy of (candidates’) coordinators is to go on last-minute house to house on the eve of elections,” Gacer said. “They will knock and go inside homes to make sure they get their votes. They place money inside sample ballots. The smallest amount is 500 pesos ($11).”—AFP

Major industrialised nations initially rushed to develop the “dream reactors”, but technical problems and fears over the proliferation of weapons-grade plutonium have led many to withdraw from the projects. The United States, Britain and Germany have suspended fastbreeder projects and France shut down its last such reactor last year. The United States and France continue research and development of the technology.

Besides Japan, Russia and India are now the only nations that operate fast-breeder reactors, with China also hoping to start this year. Japan, an energy resource-poor nation with plans to expand its nuclear power sector, gave the green light for the Monju relaunch earlier this year, with a target of commercialising fast-breeders by 2050.Yesterday morning, Monju director general Kazuo Mukai declared that the nuclear reactor was reactivated after one of its control rods, which had been inserted to prevent an atomic reaction, was lifted.

Dozens of workers in the control room clapped in celebration.

The reactor is expected to reach criticality - the point when a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining tomorrow but is not scheduled to generate power at full capacity until 2013. Monju’s relaunch was delayed for years in part because of outrage over the accident and the cover-up by the operator, which had initially released altered video footage of the fire in the facility.

In the 1995 accident, which came only months after the plant had started generating electricity, sodium coolant leaked from a pipe and, reacting with oxygen and moisture, sparked a fire. No one was injured and no radioactivity released. Safety inspections later found more problems in the shuttered plant, including a corrosion hole in a ventilation duct that would have leaked radioactive emissions outside the facility. —AFP

officials are widely believed to be on the take - said her decision followed intense pressure from political enemies within government and in opposition. “She actually wanted to stay but she can’t bear the pressure anymore,” one close source told Reuters. Indrawati hinted at the nature of that pressure in remarks to finance ministry officials at her office yesterday. “Integrity is a rare thing in the Republic of Indonesia. We need to add more people of integrity in Indonesia,” she said. —Reuters

38 dead as storms, tornado hit China BEIJING: At least 38 people were killed after a tornado, hail storms, gale-force winds and torrential rains hit southern China, damaging thousands of homes and destroying crops. The storms hit the giant southwestern municipality of Chongqing as well as neighbouring Guizhou and Hunan provinces overnight, leaving more than 190 people injured and at least six missing, state press and officials said yesterday.

State television showed collapsed homes, uprooted and downed trees, landslides and partially flooded roads in Chongqing, where 29 died and more than 70,000 people were displaced, according to the civil affairs ministry.

The death and injury tolls from the storms rose throughout yesterday, as officials worked to tally the total number of dead and injured, as well as the number of homes damaged.

“Tornados never happened here in the past - this is the

first time,” Liu Fang, a local township official in Liangping county, one of the hardest-hit areas in Chongqing, told AFP by phone. “So far, six have died and 38 are injured in our township. The electricity has been cut, and some houses were damaged due to the strong wind.”

The injured were being brought to local hospitals while tents were being set up for those whose homes were destroyed, Li said. Up to 157 mm of rain had fallen in parts of the region - stricken by a severe drought since last year - from late Wednesday to yesterday afternoon, the China News Service said.

The storms were caused by a heat wave from the south colliding with a northern cold front, the report said, citing meteorologists. An official in Xinmin township told AFP older houses suffered “very serious” damage including collapses, while newly built brick homes also were damaged. —AFP

Abhisit outlines poll plan, Red Shirts wary BANGKOK: Thailand’s premier yesterday outlined plans to dissolve parliament in September for polls aimed at ending a political crisis, but suspicious antigovernment protesters demanded a firmer timeline. The “Red Shirts”, who have mounted eight weeks of crippling street rallies in a bid to force snap polls, earlier this week signed up to Abhisit’s peace roadmap which envisages holding a national vote on Nov 14.

But after a long and bitter standoff, marred by outbreaks of violence that have left 27 dead, they remain wary and want a specific date for the dissolution of parliament before disbanding their vast Bangkok protest camp.

“If there is a positive response to the roadmap, the dissolution date will be in the second half of September,” Abhisit told parliament, but held back from setting an exact timeframe. “So far overall there has been a good response, including from Red Shirt protesters who have accepted it in principle,” he said, adding he would launch discussions with all the warring factions today.

But in an indication that an

agreement is not yet within reach, Reds leader Nattawut Saikuar said they were concerned Abhisit was deceiving the movement, which condemns his army-backed administration as illegitimate. “If Abhisit wants to play tricks about the house dissolution announcement date, we will continue fighting. We can stay two, three or four months longer,” he said. “And how can we be confident that people who are on Abhisit’s side will not oppose his plan later?”

The premier said he believed the Reds had “already accepted” the proposal but were resolving some final questions before leaving their encampment, which has paralysed Bangkok’s retail heart. “They cannot bargain for more conditions in the roadmap. If they don’t accept the roadmap, there will be no house dissolution and the country will not return to normalcy,” he said. In another setback for the premier, the proestablishment “Yellow Shirts” who had previously backed Abhisit called for his resignation yesterday, slamming the roadmap and accusing him of bowing to the Reds’ demands. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 15

Local Pakistan politicians shelter militants JHANG, Pakistan: It’s a troubling trend in Pakistan’s biggest and richest province of Punjab: Leaders there are tolerating and in some cases promoting some of the country’s most violent Islamist militant groups.

Provincial officials have ignored repeated calls to crack down on militant groups with a strong presence here, with one senior minister campaigning publicly with members of an extremist group that calls for Shiite Muslims to be killed.

Some of the militant groups are allied with the northwest-based Pakistani Taleban, which claimed responsibility for a failed car bombing in New York City last week. A group based in Punjab, Jaish-eMohammed, also has been implicated as having possible links to one of the people detained in Pakistan in connection with the bombing attempt. The head of the Punjab government, Shahbaz Sharif, even asked militants not to attack his province - because he was not following the dictates of the United States to fight them - much to the dismay of the central Pakistani

government.

“It makes the Punjab a de facto sanctuary for the militants and extremists that the Pakistan army is fighting in the frontier and in the tribal areas,” said Aida Hussain, a former ambassador to the United States and prominent Shiite leader. “In fact this is an undermining of the armed forces of Pakistan and it is an undermining of constitutional governance.” Critics believe the policy of tolerance is a shortsighted bid by Sharif and his brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for political support in the predominantly Sunni province, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of Pakistan’s 175 million people and much of the country’s wealth.

Punjabi militants have won over fellow followers of the Deobandi sect of Islam with their radical religious interpretations and outspoken assaults on minority Shiites. This translates into votes that leaders of radical groups can bring to local politicians on both the right and the left. “It’s all about political expediency

rather than outright support for these groups,” said Moeed Yusuf of the United States Institute of Peace.

He said the policy was risky because it sends the wrong signal to Pakistanis who have rallied behind the military in its assault on extremists in the Afghan border areas.

Signs of a militant Islamist presence are everywhere in this region. In the blisteringly hot central Punjab town of Jhang, the outlawed Sipah-eSahaba Pakistan, or Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet, has been emboldened by conciliatory signals from local authorities. After being courted for votes last March, the group ripped off yellow government seals and reopened its offices. Their distinctive green, black and white striped flags fly defiantly atop homes and mosques. The maze of narrow streets in Jhang is littered with graffiti in support of the SSP, even though then-President Pervez Musharraf banned the organization in 2002.

The group’s supporters rant against Shiites, whom

they revile as heretics, demand the release of some of the country’s most wanted terrorists and give sermons urging the faithful to attack their enemies.

Just a few kilometers from the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore is the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is banned in Pakistan, India, the United States and other countries but is now under provincial government protection. India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba for the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai and routinely harangues Pakistan for allowing its leader, Hafiz Saeed, to remain free. Pakistani authorities point to its courts, which have repeatedly said there is not enough evidence to hold him. And in the southern Punjab city of Bawahalpur is the headquarters of Jaish-eMohammed, the group possibly linked to a suspect in the Times Square bombing case. The group’s leader, Masood Azhar, was among three militants freed by India in 1999 in exchange for the release of passengers aboard a hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar, Afghanistan. — AP

Mumbai siege gunman handed death sentence

KATHMANDU: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supporters hit a local man sitting on a motorcycle with sticks during the fifth day of indefinite strike yesterday. – AFP

Clashes in Nepal as frustration grows KATHMANDU: Maoist protesters clashed with residents in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu yesterday as anger grew over a strike that has shut down much of the country for five days. The Maoist party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, is enforcing the general strike in an attempt to oust the ruling coalition government in a tactic that threatens to derail Nepal’s fragile peace process. “There have been some minor clashes between anti-Maoist demonstrators and Maoists,” police spokesman Bigyan Raj Sharma told AFP yesterday. “Police resorted to minimum use of force to bring the situation under control.”

Furious locals in Budanilkantha, in the north of the city, tried to defy the Maoists, who have ordered private and commercial vehicles off the streets and for all shops, offices and businesses to remain closed. Police said they used tear gas to break up the fighting as Maoist supporters beat up locals frustrated at the shutdown. The National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous official body, expressed concern over the increasing problems facing the public as talks between Maoists and the government failed to make progress.

“Medical care has been badly affected. We have had reports of patients being transported back to their homes in wheelchairs,” commission spokesman Gauri Pradhan told AFP. “Pregnant women have difficulty getting to hospital. Remote areas are facing acute shortage of essential drugs because transport is affected,” she said. Many hospitals have kept only their emergency wards open as doctors struggle to get to work. “Two doctors are working 24-hours and a few nurses are working double shifts,” Philip Shyam Ranjit, a doctor at B&B Hospital’s emergency department, told AFP. “A lot of people have no access to medical attention.”

The Maoists have launched their challenge to the government - a loose coalition of 20 parties - ahead of May 28 by when a new national constitution should have been drafted. But lawmakers are expected to miss the deadline, leading to a possible political crisis. “The prime minister needs to step down, and all parties must reach an agreement on how to move forward,” Lok Raj Baral, chairman of the Nepal Centre of Contemporary Studies, a pro-democracy think-tank, told AFP. — AFP

MUMBAI: An Indian judge yesterday condemned to death the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai siege after a year-long trial over the bloody attacks that traumatised the nation. Judge M L Tahaliyani imposed the death penalty against Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab on four counts of murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism offences. “He should be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” he said. “I don’t find any case for a lesser punishment than death in the case of waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.”

Kasab, 22, dressed in a traditional white tunic, sat with his head in his hands staring at the floor of the dock as the judge passed sentence, three days after his conviction on Monday. Tahaliyani said the evidence showed “previous, meticulous and systematic planning” of the atrocity, which left 166 people dead and hundreds injured and prompted India to halt peace talks with its arch-rival Pakistan. “Brutality was writ large,” he added, describing the offences as “of exceptional depravity”.

Branded a “killing machine” and “cruelty incarnate” by the prosecution, Kasab was the only gunman caught alive in the 60-hour assault by 10 Islamists on luxury hotels, a railway station, a restaurant and Jewish centre. A photograph of him carrying a powerful AK-47 assault rifle and backpack at Mumbai’s main railway station, where he and an accomplice killed 52 people, became a defining image of the atrocity.

Observers say a lengthy, possibly open-ended, appeal through the Indian courts is likely. India’s government officially supports capital punishment for what the

MUMBAI: Indian Muslims shout anti-Pakistani slogans during a rally celebrating the sentencing of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab yesterday. – AFP Supreme Court in New Delhi has called the “rarest of rare” cases but no execution has been carried out since 2004 and only two since 1998. Many pleas for clemency to the president are still pending, including ones from the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991, and a Kashmiri separatist who attacked India’s parliament in 2001.

The case will automatically pass to Mumbai’s high court, which will review the sentence. Kasab can then appeal to the Supreme Court and ultimately ask for clemency from the president.

“I have not yet spoken to Kasab to discuss a future course of action.” defence lawyer K P Pawar told reporters outside court. A nearby crowd chanted “Victory to India” while public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam flashed victory signs to the media and brandished a dossier showing Kasab behind an image of a giant noose. “In light of the offences Kasab has

committed, the sentence sends out a message to those who want to wage war against India,” Foreign Minister S M Krishna told reporters in reaction.

India wants Pakistan to convict the alleged masterminds of the assault from the banned Pakistanbased Islamist group Lashkare-Taiba (LeT). The group’s founder, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and key operative Zarar Shah are currently on trial in Pakistan. India also blames Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, which is seen as a front for the LeT. “We certainly will keep engaging Pakistan in light of the sentence,” Krishna added.

Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters in Islamabad that they were studying the judgment, adding: “Pakistan has strongly condemned the horrific Mumbai attack. It is important that culprits are brought to justice.”

Families of the victims have long called for Kasab’s

execution and the clamour for him to be sent to the gallows grew louder after the widelyexpected guilty verdict. “I am happy, a chapter has closed for me,” said a tearful Sevanti Parekh, who lost his son and daughter-in-law in the attacks.

“But I fear for our generation and the next generation.”

Since the trial started last April, new evidence has emerged about the planning of the atrocity, the psychological impact of which is often compared in India to the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. A 49-year-old Pakistani-American, David Headley, was arrested in Chicago last year and has since admitted spending two years casing out targets in India’s financial and entertainment capital.

Kasab first pleaded not guilty but then made a shock confession, urging the court to hang him. But he later reverted to his initial denial, saying he had been framed by police after coming to Mumbai “to see cinema”. — AFP

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BUSINESS

Friday, May 7, 2010

Kuwait offers full Q2 crude volumes Asia buyers offered full supplies; 5% cut repealed TOKYO: OPEC-member Kuwait offered several of its Asian customers the opportunity to receive fully contracted crude volumes for the second quarter after initially announcing supply curbs, sources at term buyers said. But the sources were unsure if full volumes would be extended when Kuwait releases its allocations for JulySeptember, due out later this month, as it is known for complying with OPEC curbs.

Kuwait Petroleum Co (KPC) contacted at least three Asian term buyers just over a month ago with an offer of full volumes after initially announcing in March it would curb supplies between April and June. “First we were notified of the 5 percent cut, then out of the blue they came back to us and said we could lift full volumes if we wanted,” said a source at one term buyer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The buyers were told the boost in supply was due to the shutdown of one of Kuwait’s refineries for scheduled maintenance. The sources and other crude traders said the move had not significantly impacted the spot market since the increase was within the operational tolerance limits and they were unsure how long it would last.

Trade of June cargoes in the Middle East spot market has come to an end and the market is

JAKARTA: Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati prays during a ceremony at the ministry in Jakarta yesterday. Indrawati resigned from her post Wednesday to take on a new position as managing director of the World Bank. — AP

Indonesian reforms in doubt as finance minister bows out JAKARTA: The surprise resignation of Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati throws a cloud of uncertainty over the fight against corruption in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, analysts said yesterday.

Indrawati, 47, quit Wednesday to take the number-two job at the World Bank after months of bruising exchanges with lawmakers intent on ousting her over a controversial bank bailout in 2008.

But in the absence of any clear explanation for the move from either Indrawati or President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, her biggest backer, the rumor mill is spinning about her motives and what her departure means. “Sri Mulyani’s departure is a loss to Indonesia,” Standard Chartered’s senior economist in Indonesia, Fauzi Ichsan, said of the independent policy expert who was named “finance minister of the year” in 2006 by Euromoney magazine.

“Sri Mulyani is a true icon for Indonesian reform. There are many people here who excel in macroeconomics but only a few who possess the ability and courage to reform the bureaucracy.” After tumbling 3.81 percent the day of her resignation the Indonesian share market shed another 2.1 percent by midday yesterday, weighed as much by Europe’s debt crisis as Indrawati’s announcement, dealers said. The rupiah had slumped around 3.35 percent against the dollar to 9,250 since Indrawati’s resignation became public on Wednesday morning.

Indonesia, a country of 234 million people, now has no full-time central bank governor and no new finance minister as it tries to attract billions of dollars in foreign investment deemed vital to maintaining high growth. Investment has surged this year amid hopes that the government is at last serious about slashing red tape and getting a grip on rampant corruption that has fouled Indonesia’s reputation for

decades.

Much of that confidence rested on Indrawati’s slight shoulders.

Her uncompromising attitude to graft-she punished almost 2,000 finance ministry personnel and dishonorably discharged at least 150 - was seen as a model for other ministers to follow. She also led the charge to enforce the country’s tax laws and plug gaping holes that cost the state many billions in unpaid dues - money badly needed for basic things like roads, ports, schools and hospitals. Some analysts traced Indrawati’s problems to 2008, when she upset the country’s most powerful tycoon, Golkar party chief Aburizal Bakrie, by refusing to shield his family’s Bumi Resources from a stock market sell-off.

Considered one of Asia’s most powerful women, she also clashed with Bakrie over unpaid mining royalties and taxes, and accused him of a campaign to discredit her. Golkar was one of two parties that sought her ouster over the bank bailout, although she has always denied any wrongdoing. A recent survey of 33 senior business managers in the oil and gas business by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that legal uncertainty and corruption remained two of the biggest obstacles to doing business in Indonesia.

Yudhoyono has repeatedly pledged to tackle corruption since his election in 2004 but respondents said they had seen little change over the past five years. The head of Transparency International Indonesia, Teten Masduki, worried that Indrawati’s successor would not take on the vested interests who stand to lose most from a genuine war on corruption. “Her departure will badly affect bureaucratic reform in Indonesia. The next finance minister could be easily pushed around,” he said. “The finance ministry is a huge source of money. It will be a target for corruption, especially for political funding.” — AFP

shifting to front-month July trading. Last month, Middle East light sour crude for June cargoes were traded stronger on firm gas oil crack spread.

CUTS RESTORED BEFORE Kuwait has been consistently cutting crude supplies since February last year as part of a record supply curb of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to combat the economic crisis, which battered demand and prices. But the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter has restored its supply cuts before. Kuwait initially cut supplies by 5 percent in November and December 2008, but three customers said they were later able to load their full volumes after other customers voluntarily deferred some cargoes due to weak demand. OPEC crude oil supply has risen steadily since the production curbs were first implemented in 2008, as oil prices have almost doubled since the start of 2009 to more than $86 a barrel earlier this month, encouraging members to pump more crude.

Kuwait was believed to have pumped 2.30 million bpd of crude in April, a Reuters survey showed last month, 80,000 bpd higher than its implied target. However, Kuwait, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has held the line and pumped close to the target. — Reuters

Dubai ranks among most expensive office markets Global office rent falls 4.6 percent DUBAI: Dubai is among the ten most expensive office markets in the world, a report on global office rents by commercial real estate services company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) showed. The report said office rents in Dubai have recorded $108.92 per square foot per annum, placing the emirate at number nine.

Occupancy costs in the global markets showed a drop of 4.6 percent over the 12-month period ended March 31, with larger markets experiencing a slightly greater decline of 6.4 percent, the report said. “While economic data reflects improvements year-over-year, the commercial real estate market lags the

economy, and our occupancy cost survey still shows falling costs,” Global Chief Economist at CBRE Raymond Torto said.

“The majority of markets (133) experienced a decline, with 33 of these markets registering double-digit percentage-point drops in office occupancy costs.” The Latin American market, led by Brazil, was the only region to show an increase year-over-year in occupancy costs, Torto said. London’s West End at $182.94 per square foot per annum remains on top in the list of ten most-expensive office markets, with Hong Kong’s Central Business District pushing Tokyo’s Inner Central to third place. —Reuters

Qatar economy grows 8.7%, below forecast Qatar GDP rise lifted by gas sector expansion DUBAI: Qatar’s real gross domestic product grew 8.7 percent last year, lower than expected but still benefitting from gas sector growth, according to revised data from the Gulf country’s statistics office yesterday. The world’s largest natural gas exporter is set to largely outperform fellow Gulf oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in coming years helped by expansion of its gas facilities and government infrastructure spending.

“These are preliminary results and are subject to revisions as more information is gathered but our estimates revisions, in future of the past data, will not be as big as we experienced,” Qatar Statistics Authority said in a statement. The 2009 growth figure is lower than the 11 percent cited by OPEC member’s deputy prime minister in January.

Polled by Reuters had expected the cash-rich economy to grow by 9.5 percent in 2009.

The GDP jumped by 25.4 percent in 2008, the data showed. The statisticians re-introduced reporting real GDP growth and revised growth rates both in constant 2004 prices and current prices for 2005-2009, saying they were trying to collect producer prices to measure real GDP more accurately. The QSA also said it was developing a system of short-term indicators, which will be compiled quarterly and released within a quarter after the reference quarter.

The office did not publish real GDP data by expenditure, only giving the breakdown by industrial sectors. Economic data are hard to find across the Gulf with some oil producers lagging by months, though the situation has been improving recently. The oil and gas sector grew by 7.7 percent in real terms last year, accounting for 49.6 percent of GDP. Government services with an 11.6 percent share saw a 43.2 percent jump. — Reuters

BUSINESS

Friday, May 7, 2010

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UN to Asia: Focus on Greek tourism fears public image disaster GDP, not inflation SINGAPORE: Asian governments should keep their feet on the stimulus pedal to help spur economic growth, even at the risk of higher inflation, the United Nations said yesterday.

“The overwhelming priority for policymakers should be to continue stimulating economies until the self-perpetuating motors of growth are firmly entrenched,” the UN said in an annual economic survey of the region.

“In the balance of risks, Asian and Pacific economies should aim to sustain growth rather than manage inflation.” It said premature withdrawal of stimulus spending could have severe consequences for the region’s growth and for the livelihoods of its poorest people. Gross domestic product in developing Asia - the region’s 37 countries excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand - will likely grow 7 percent this year, up from 4 percent last year, as export demand rebounds, the UN said.

Despite expected growth of 9.5 percent this year in China and 8.3 percent in India, the UN said the region’s recovery is still fragile and policymakers should maintain stimulus spending and low interest rates.

The UN also urged the region’s policymakers to coordinate monetary policies to avoid spikes in capital inflows to countries where interest rates are higher. “The recovery

cannot be said to have been reignited in full measure as yet,” the UN said.

“Growth still depends largely on government spending and investment from stimulus policies.” Asian governments, led by a massive stimulus package in China, boosted spending and loosened monetary policy last year as the global recession undermined demand for the region’s exports. So far this year, policymakers have begun to tighten credit conditions as inflation quickens and property and stock prices soar. The inflation rate for developing Asia will likely rise to 4.1 percent this year from 3.1 percent last year as prices for food and commodities such oil increase, the UN said.

The UN said Asia should seek to bolster domestic demand and intraregional trade since demand from developed countries may not soon return to pre-crisis levels. The UN expects the US economy to grow 2.5 percent this year, Europe 0.8 percent and Japan 1.3 percent. The UN also warned an increase of trade barriers by governments seeking to protect domestic industries would hurt Asia’s economic growth. “Pressure is growing for protectionist measures in developed countries but also potentially in developing countries, which is of great concern for recovery in Asia,” the UN said. — AP

China plans new restraints on property developers BEIJING: China is drawing up a new curb on property developers as part of a host of measures to cool the country’s red-hot property market, the state-controlled China Securities Journal reported yesterday. The plan would ban developers from investing revenue from pre-sales of uncompleted property developments in new projects, the journal said, citing an unnamed source close to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Developers will be required to deposit the income from such advance sales of uncompleted projects into a special account monitored by the government and will only be able to use the money to pay contractors. The measure is being drafted by the ministry, the central bank and other government agencies and is aimed at stopping developers using such money to buy and hoard land, the report said. Chinese authorities have issued a slew of measures in recent weeks as they seek to prevent the property market overheating and derailing the world’s third largest economy.

Prices in major cities rose 11.7 percent year-on-year last month, the fastest since a nationwide survey was widened to 70 cities in July 2005. The authorities have tightened restrictions nationwide on advance sales of new property developments, introduced new curbs on loans for third home purchases and raised minimum down-payments for second homes. Separately, the newspaper said that Shenzhen, the boom border city neighboring Hong Kong, would soon limit foreigners and Hong Kong and Macau residents to one apartment purchase until the end of the year.

The city government will also order banks to stop granting homes loans to non-residents who cannot prove they have paid taxes and social security contributions in the city for at least a year, the report said. Banks will be asked to reject mortgage applications for people buying their third property.

Last week, the Beijing municipal government announced similar rules, restricting families to one new apartment purchase.

State media have said China is likely to introduce a property tax on residential housing in the first half of the year on a trial basis in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the southwestern megamunicipality of Chongqing. — AFP

ATHENS: With televisions beaming images worldwide of riots in Greece and newspapers speculating on financial meltdown, Greeks are worried about one of their most precious assets: tourism. “I’m not even looking at booking figures at the moment,” said George Drakopoulos, general manager of the association of Greek tourist enterprises (SETE). “I’m too busy trying to prevent the name of the country being dragged through the mud.”

The high season for tourism is only just beginning, but the prospects are already looking shaky. For veteran tour operator Yiannis Evangelou it was “truly worrying” that bookings through the peak summer season were already down four to eight percentdepending on the country of origin-from last year. Greece has been caught in the global media spotlight for weeks, but so far as the tourist industry is concerned, for all the wrong

reasons. Hardly a day has gone by without reports of financial distress and protests.

“We’re practically gouging out our own eyes,” said Drakopoulos, evoking more than one Greek myth in his description of the media coverage. Televisions broadcast images around the world on Wednesday of violent scenes in Athens in which three people died in a firebombed bank on the margins of giant protests against an austerity drive the government says is needed to avoid financial collapse. “Certainly these events, particularly in the capital, create concern, so does the prospect of seeing the country go bankrupt,” said Evangelou.

“This is quite demeaning. Just as we were beginning to attract visitors who would appreciate our services instead of just low prices, we’re at the point of trying to fill beds again,” he lamented. He noted that bookings from Germany, Europe’s biggest tourism market, were up 12 percent for Greece’s

traditional rival. Prior to Greece’s latest woes, the tourism industry was looking forward for a better year in 2010 than in 2009 on the back of an improving international economic outlook, said economist Nikos Paratsiogas with the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research.

A weak year would be all the more painful because tourism is one of the economy’s main engines, generating 17 percent of gross domestic product. “Tourism is crucial for the Greek economy and the tourism sector is one of the main employers in the country,” Paratsiogas said.

“If we consider all the people related more or less with tourism, around 25 percent of Greek workers are concerned,” he added. “It is one of the two most competitive sectors of the Greek economy, along with shipping. Those two sectors represent the main source of revenue income from abroad.” — AFP

MADRID: This combo picture shows Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (left) and Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Spanish opposition party giving press conferences after their meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. Spain’s government and opposition agreed to reform a law on regional savings banks, which have rattled markets due to the slow pace of restructuring moves. — AFP

Spain successfully sells debt despite credit downgrade Five-year bond 2.3 times oversubscribed MADRID: Spain successfully raised 2.345 billion euros yesterday in the country’s first debt sale since its credit rating was cut last week, easing investors’ immediate fears of contagion from Greece’s fiscal woes. But the yield on the notes due April 2015 rose to an average of 3.532 percent compared to 2.81 percent the last time such bonds were issued in March, a spokesman for Spain’s secretary of state for the economy said.

The five-year bond was 2.3 times oversubscribed, the highest ratio so far this year for a government debt sale, with demand coming from both foreign and domestic investors, he said. “It is a sign that while we have to pay higher interest rates, interest in Spanish debt has not diminished,” the spokesman said. Spain had said it expected to raise between two and three billion euros.

“We did not expect that it would go this well,” a market source said.

It was the first time that Spain returned to the bond market since ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s long-term credit rating to “AA” from “AA+” on April 28 on fears the country’s poor growth prospects

could further weaken its public finances.

Spain’s economy, which is more than four times the size of Greece, has been contracting since the second quarter of 2008 following the collapse of a property bubble. The public deficit reached 11.2 percent of gross domestic product last year, almost four times the limit of 3.0 percent imposed on the 16 nations that use the euro single currency, compared with 13.6 percent for Greece.

The government announced a 50 billion euro (66.5 billion dollar) austerity package earlier this year as part of its drive to cut its deficit to within the 3.0 percent eurozone limit by 2013. The plan includes cuts in government spending, a virtual freeze in the hiring of civil servants and some tax rises. It has also proposed raising the legal retirement age from 65 to 67 and wants to cut the cost of firing workers as part of efforts to revive the economy and slash the unemployment rate, which is just over 20 percent.

Economy Minister Elena Salgado said Wednesday that Spain would not be announcing extra austerity measures in response to the loss of confidence among

investors but would instead concentrate on implementing the program it has already approved. “Rather than announcing new measures, what we have to do is enact what we have already announced,” she told news radio Cadena Ser, adding the most recent economic indicators show Spain was starting to emerge from recession. “We are having a complicated time on financial markets but, in terms of the economic data, we are recovering, we have positive data and we are far better off than a year ago,” she said.

Spanish industrial production rose in March on a 12-month basis for the first time since April 2008, the national statistics institute said Wednesday. Spain, which has the eurozone’s third-largest deficit after Ireland and Greece, was last cut by S&P in January 2009 when its credit rating was lowered one notch from AAA, the highest possible rating.

S&P’s move on Spain came one day after it cut Portugal’s long-term credit rating by two notches and reduced Greece’s rating the junk status, the first eurozone country rated less than investment grade since the launch of the euro. — AFP

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German outrage as ‘fat cat’ banker sues MUNICH: Investors in one of Germany’s biggest casualties of the banking crisis cried foul yesterday as the bank’s former head sued for millions of euros in lost salary and pension payments. Georg Funke, fired in December 2008 as chief executive of the now nationalized Hypo Real Estate (HRE), is claiming 3.5 million euros ($4.5 million) in lost salary and the right to a pension of 47,000 euros per month.

HRE collapsed in late 2008 as the global financial system lurched towards near collapse following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers after HRE’s Irish subsidiary Depfa lost heavily on risky investments in the United States. In a desperate attempt to prevent Funke’s HRE causing an implosion of the entire German banking sector, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government cobbled together a state-led rescue of the bank worth more than 100 billion euros.

The 55-year-old, whose contract had been due to run until 2013, brought his claims before a court packed with former HRE shareholders in Munich, southern Germany yesterday.

“Morally speaking this is a disgrace,” said HRE shareholder Bohdan Kalwarowskyj, who said he lost 20,000 euros that he had invested on behalf of his four children in 2007. Ulrike Struzek, who saw 160,000 euros invested in HRE shares for her disabled child go up in smoke, said in a letter to Funke: “It is time for you to accept your misconduct. Do something to repair some of the damage.”

Franz Josef Wagner, a commentator in the Bild mass-circulation daily, told Funke to go out and get a job as a cleaner or a nightwatchman: “Move out of your villa and make amends. You haven’t earned a pension.”

Funke’s claim has echoes of the case of former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) head Fred “the Shred” Goodwin in Britain whose 700,000pound (825,000-euro, 1.1million-dollar) pension sparked public anger.

Goodwin, who came to symbolize the “fat cat” greed of bankers blamed for the worst financial crisis in generations, and whose Edinburgh house and Mercedes car were vandalized, eventually agreed to a 40-percent pension cut. RBS posted in 2008 the biggest ever loss in British corporate history - 24 billion pounds-was partnationalized and is now 83percent owned by the British government. — AFP

Friday, May 7, 2010

Eurozone ‘could break up’ Moody’s warns of ‘contagion’ risk for Europe banks ROME: US economist Nouriel Roubini, best known as one of the voices predicting the 2008 global financial meltdown, warned yesterday that there is a risk of the eurozone breaking up.

“The break-up, the implosion of the euro (zone) cannot be ruled out at this point. The contagion is a real possibility and not only for countries most at risk,” Roubini told Italian daily La Repubblica.

The remarks come after investor fears that the Greek debt crisis might spread to other eurozone economies sent markets tumbling in the past week.

Roubini, an economics professor at New York University’s business school said that “after Greece, the country facing greatest danger is Portugal. Then Ireland and Spain, and then at a

reasonable distance, Italy,” Roubini said.

Roubini praised Italy’s healthy banks and past pension reforms, but warned of the country’s “very serious problems, from public debt to the lack of competitiveness.” Italy’s debt is among the highest in the world, at 115.8 percent of GDP in 2009 and the European Commission said Wednesday it would grow to 118.2 percent this year.

The centre-right government has managed to limit the growth of the public deficit, which stood at 5.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2009.

In another development, Moody’s ratings agency yesterday warned that the fallout from the Greek debt crisis presented a risk of “contagion” for the

credit rating of banks in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Moody’s said in a report that “the potential contagion of sovereign risks to banking systems could spread to other countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, as well as Ireland and the UK.” It said these banking systems therefore faced “very real, common threats.” The report was referring to the risk of weaker sovereign debt in Europe on national banking system, rather than the direct effect of exposure to Greek government debt, which is concentrated in French and German banks.

Moody’s on Wednesday warned it could downgrade Portugal’s sovereign debt within three months because of

the country’s worsening public finances and weak economic growth prospects.

Another ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, last week downgraded sovereign debt for Greece, Portugal and Spain. Referring to Portugal, Moody’s said: “A key factor determining whether contagion risk continues in this case will be the market’s view of the likely success or otherwise” of a recently agreed EU-IMF rescue package for Greece.

“Italy is another country where the banking system has been relatively robust so far, but where the major risk to its banking system could also be challenged by contagion risk should the market pressures on the sovereign increase,” it added. — Agencies

LISBON: The Bank of Greece representative George Tavlas (left) talks with the Governor of the Bank of Belgium Guy Quaden during a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank in Lisbon yesterday. Fears that the Greek debt crisis is spiraling out of control could push the European Central Bank to take an even bigger role in stabilizing the situation and rescuing the euro from the worst crisis since it was created 11 years ago.— AP

Germany reveals 40-bn-euro tax hole Sarkozy, Merkel call for stronger monitoring of eurozone BERLIN: The German government forecast a massive fiscal hole yesterday, giving Chancellor Angela Merkel precious little room to deliver on tax cuts promised in her 2009 re-election campaign. Figures from the finance ministry showed that tax receipts over the period 2011 to 2013 would be almost 39 billion euros ($50 billion) less than predicted last year.

Germany, quick to lecture Greece over its debt crisis, has considerable fiscal problems of its own that were exacerbated by its biggest recession since World War II last year when output shrank five percent. Europe’s biggest economy, now pressing for tougher European Union rules on deficits in light of the Greek turmoil, expects to borrow around 80 billion euros this year and to spend far more

than it earns. Its budget deficit is forecast by Brussels to reach some five percent of gross domestic output (GDP) this year, well above the three percent limit set out in the 27-nation bloc’s fiscal rule book.

Greece, by comparison, is forecast to record a deficit of 9.3 percent of GDP, according to forecasts this week from the European Commission. Portugal’s is seen at 8.5 percent and Spain’s at 10.2 percent. Merkel ditched her previous coalition partners in elections in September in favor of a tie-up with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), promising to alleviate taxpayers to the tune of 24 billion euros. Merkel and her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble have indicated in recent weeks however that there will be no tax cuts before 2012. On Sunday a key state

election could lose her coalition its majority in the upper house.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for stronger monitoring of budget rules governing the 16-nation eurozone, in a joint letter released yesterday. At a summit today, European leaders must agree on improved surveillance and on tighter sanctions for those countries that fail to keep their deficits under control, the leaders wrote.

The eurozone must also put in place a “robust framework” for dealing with crises to avoid a repeat of the 110-billioneuro ($143 billion) bailout for Greece from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, they added. “For economic and monetary union to remain a success story, dealing with this crisis alone will not suffice,” the leaders wrote

in a letter to EU’s President Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission executive.

“We need to go further in drawing all the lessons and in taking all necessary measures to avoid a repetition of a crisis of this kind,” they said, urging tighter controls, especially over speculation and derivatives trading.

Leaders of the euro countries gather for a summit in Brussels today amid fears that the common currency is under threat unless the debt-ridden region can enact profound reform. “We must first reinforce the economic governance of the euro area,” Sarkozy and Merkel wrote, citing an existing agreement by European countries to set up a “task force” for boosting legal controls.— Agencies

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Euro leaders gather at ‘crossroads’ summit BRUSSELS: The leaders of the euro countries gather today for a “crossroads” summit amid fears that the common currency itself could fall unless the debt-ridden region can enact profound reform. The deaths of three people in a firebombed Athens bank during violent protests at the conditions linked to a 110-billioneuro (155-billion-dollar) eurozone-led Greek bailout illustrate the depth of the danger.

But the immediate worry for the 16 leaders when they meet in Brussels will be whether economists are in fact right when they warn that the politicians are losing control of a spiraling European debt crisis. “The Greek financial crisis has put the very survival of the euro at stake,” Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote this week in a stark expression of the stakes for this summit. Analysts at French bank BNP Paribas have warned that “authorities do not look as though they know what they are doing. “Still less do they look in control of the situation.”

The leaders agreed to meet-in only a second such eurozone summit in the currency’s 11-

year history-to sign off on a multi-billion euro Greek bailout package agreed by finance ministers last weekend and to look at ways to try and prevent any repeat of the crisis.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of finance ministers, has dismissed the doomsday scenario of the single currency collapsing.

Instead he has focused on the need to toughen rules governing the way euro countries manage their public finances. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed that call on Thursday in a joint letter published in Le Monde, urging stronger monitoring of budget rules. But market worries about vulnerable eurozone economies remain.

Spain has already emerged as a litmus test for the eurozone after stocks slumped and authorities had to quash rumours that Madrid would call in its own bailout in the months to come.

Portugal and Ireland are also firmly on the speculators’ hitlist, and now analysts are also concerned about Italy. “As markets begin to

EU finance chief Barnier heads for Wall Street BRUSSELS: Europe’s financial services overlord Michel Barnier heads for New York and Washington this weekend seeking greater “convergence” for transatlantic market regulation. “My intention is to tell the American authorities and financial sector leaders of European determination” and to “check that we have the same determination” on either side of the pond, Barnier told reporters in Brussels ahead of the trip, from Sunday to Wednesday. Barnier, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market and financial services, is due to meet notably with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commission chief Mary Schapiro. He will also hold talks with bosses of major investment funds, like Carlyle or Blackstone, and the big US banks such as JP Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, currently under criminal investigation by US federal prosecutors trying to determine whether it committed securities fraud in connection with its mortgage trading.

Barnier this week denounced banks’ “outrageous creativity,” querying underlying morality and ethics when certain derivative products came crashing down like houses of cards as a domino effect rolled through global markets following the global financial crisis of late 2008. Barnier’s boss at the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso himself called on Wednesday for the European Union to somehow curb the “playground” mentality of traders he reckons are “detached from their economic and societal function.” Controversial plans to regulate highly speculative investment fund managers, which were pulled in March amid intense pre-election opposition from the City of London, where the lion’s share of EU financial services are housed, are high on Barnier’s agenda. — AFP

focus more on the longer-term sustainability of the region’s public finances, pressure on Italy could begin to grow,” said Ben May of Capital Economics yesterday.

“Italy may need to step up the speed of fiscal consolidation or risk moving up the markets’ ‘danger list.’” If Greece stands first in line on the “edge of the abyss,” in the words of its President Carolos Papoulias, the stakes for all could not be higher-with German Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that “the future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe” is the issue.

Indicating an economic and political “crossroads,” the turbulence could even cost Merkel’s coalition the upper house of parliament when voters in Germany’s most populous state go to the polls on Sunday. Many there are fuming over Berlin’s 22.4-billion-euro bill over three years-dubbed the “fattest cheque of all time” by the mass-circulation Bild daily.

“When it ends up costing you 110 billion euros, you do change your approach,” said French finance minister Christine Lagarde of Europe’s

Euro and world stocks hit

by Greece contagion fear Global stocks lower, emerging markets lead the way

IMF prolongs review of Romania’s aid package BUCHAREST: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday it will prolong by two days a mission in Romania to review a crucial aid package to the crisis-hit country. The mission “will continue working with the Romanian authorities during the weekend May 8-9,” Tonny Lybek, IMF regional representative in Romania and Bulgaria, said in a statement.

Initially, the mission was supposed to end today and to announce its decision on a possible fifth installment of a 20 billion euro aid package given by the IMF, the European Union and the World Bank. But discussions on ways to reduce the public deficit turned out to be more complicated than expected as the Fund revised down its forecast on Romania’s growth this year from 1.3 percent to 0.8 percent.

Romania pledged in 2009 to

bring the public deficit down from 7.2 percent to 5.9 percent in 2010, in exchange for the loan package. But the promised reforms, including a freeze on public wages and pensions, have so far failed to produce significant results, forcing the government to look elsewhere for more revenues. “The key issue coming from Greece is that it means Romania has to be vigilant to implement its policies thoroughly”, the head of the IMF mission in Romania, Jeffrey Franks, told reporters on Wednesday.

Romania’s public deficit could reach 8.0 percent of gross domestic product this year, according to the latest EU economic forecasts published on Wednesday. Tax hikes are one of the solutions being considered to keep the deficit under control, according to official sources quoted by local media. — AFP

response to the crisis.

She sees the solution as “more Europe,” not less, with a new dawn characterised by “greater solidarity (and) greater collective responsibility,” because “we simply don’t want to see this happen again.” The euro yesterday dived to the lowest level against the dollar for more than a year. The EU’s top trade representative Karel De Gucht believes the recent fall is “not a concern” as it makes exports from euro area countries more attractive when set against Asian or US competitors.

But economic affairs chief Olli Rehn admits that worsening contagion from the Greek debt crisis would create a full-blown “threat to financial stability for the European Union and its economy as a whole.” In amongst the angst over Friday’s dinner table, euro leaders may also want to ponder European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso’s call for the EU to somehow curb the “playground” mentality of traders he reckons are “detached from their economic and societal function.” — AFP

SEOUL: A currency trader reacts in front of screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and foreign currency rate at the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul yesterday. — AP

LONDON: World shares fell and the euro came under renewed pressure yesterday in what is shaping up to be a major flight to safety by investors fearful that the Greek debt crisis is gaining momentum. Wall Street looked set for a tentative start, despite some gains on European bourses. Emerging markets, many of which are in reasonable economic shape and relatively removed from euro zone stress, were particularly hard hit, with shares down 1.5 percent.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index was down three-quarters of a percent. Europe’s FTSEurofirst 300 index fell in early trading but then put in modest gains after strong results from BNP Paribas. It was up 0.3 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei tumbled more than 3 percent, catching up with other bourses after a three-day holiday. “There’s no let-up in concerns that the euro zone debt crisis could continue to worsen and as a result equity markets across the globe remain under pressure,” said Ben Potter, analyst at IG Markets.

“The bull market always had to end somewhere and it looks like this could be the trigger.” Focus was on the European Central Bank, which left interest rates unchanged but was expected later to address the crisis, which saw deadly riots in Athens on Wednesday and pressure building on Spain, Portugal and others.

“The ECB president will have to justify his recent decision to accept Greek bonds indefinitely as collateral regardless of their credit rating,” Brown Brothers Harriman said in a note.

EURO WOE The euro tumbled to a 14-month low against the dollar. European policymakers have warned the euro’s survival depends on a life-support package for Greece agreed last weekend. This has ratcheted up risk aversion and boosted safehaven demand for the dollar, pushing it to a oneyear high versus a currency basket. “The driver remains concerns about the European situation, coupled with poor risk sentiment,” said Kasper Kirkegaard, currency strategist at Danske in Copenhagen. The euro fell as low as $1.2717, its weakest since March 2009. The common currency plumbed a one-year low against the yen of 118.85 yen on EBS, but recovered a bit to 119.7 yen. Euro zone government bond yields were mixed with demand for short-term benchmark debt rising. — Reuters

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Australia PM presses on with mining ‘super tax’ SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday he would not be deterred from imposing a controversial 40 percent tax on mining profits, accusing resource giants of “scare tactics”. The proposed levy on the so-called “super profits” of resource producers from July 2012 has sparked a massive backlash from the sector-Australia’s most valuable industry thanks in large part to Chinese demand.

The plan has prompted warnings of closures and project halts. Yesterday Rio Tinto confirmed its iron ore expansion plans-halted during the global downturn-remained on hold while it digested the ramifications of Rudd’s tax push. BHP Billiton was reportedly reviewing some coal projects. A Rio spokesman played down reports that projects had been directly suspended due to the tax announcement, but said expansion plans would stay on hold while the company sought clarity on the issue.

“No decision’s been made yet.

It’s not like we’ve made a decision to put something on the shelf,” the spokesman said. The expansion plans “have been on hold for a year and a half. They are on hold, they remain on hold.” Cape Lambert Resources this week said it had halted all exploration in the resource-rich Pilbara region due to confusion over the new levy. But Rudd vowed to press ahead, dismissing miners’ furious protests. “Obviously there is going to be a scare campaign run by some.... We will not be deterred one bit. This is a decision in the long-term national interest,” Rudd told reporters.

There will be some people “crying wolf in all of this”, he predicted, and “some within the mining industry will dig deep within their very deep pockets and seek to run a political campaign.”

Australia’s booming resources sector is worth billions of dollars due to soaring demand from Asia, led by China, and was the key to the country avoiding a recession during the global downturn. The centre-left leader, who is due to go to the polls this year, is likely to face an uphill battle to get the tax through parliament, with the conservative opposition expressing profound hostility.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said the coalition had resolved to block the levy, which he described as a “great big new tax on everything” that would jeopardize the country’s reputation as a safe investment destination. “This is not just a tax on foreign shareholders, it’s a tax on the 500,000 Australians who work directly or indirectly in the resource sector,” Abbott said. “It’s a tax on the consumers of the energy which these resource companies produce, which is basically all Australians,” he added. Embattled resources stocks resumed their nosedive after a brief respite Wednesday, with analysts saying Rudd’s determination in the face of strong industry objection had spooked investors. — AFP

Mugabe joins rivals in investors appeal

KWARA: Zimbabwean woman Tamary Togarepi, 17, shows a cob of failed maize in Kwara village in Zaka southern Zimbabwe. One bag of maize, two big pumpkins, some watermelons and two small shopping bags of ground nuts are the only food the Togarepi family of seven is left with after the harvest. — AFP

Drought hits Zimbabwe rural population hard KWARA: One bag of maize, two big pumpkins, some watermelons and two small shopping bags of ground nuts is the only food the Togarepi family of seven is left with after the harvest. As she looks at the barren fields outside her thatched-roof mud hut in Kwara village in southern Zimbabwe, Tamary Togarepi, 17, worries about where her family will get food, especially for her ailing mother and three-year-old nephew.

“Our harvest is not even enough to last us two months. We now eat only once a day, in the evenings,” says Tamary as she shows AFP her spoilt green beans. “If we see the food is running out we will skip a day and eat the next day.” Humanitarian agencies say at least two million Zimbabweans currently need food aid, and the figures are set to rise as a result of drought and a decade of agricultural mismanagement.

In a country where at least 85 percent of the population is unemployed, Tamary, who finished high school last year, said her family depended solely on its crops since none of her family members had paying work.

Although her native Zaka district is known for its heat, the sun has been extra cruel to the villagers this year. Tamary spends her

days under a tree plaiting her hair or shelling ground nuts. Occasionally she waves to passing villagers as they return from fetching water at the dam a few kilometers away.

Fana Chenjerai, a 61-year-old villager, said this year’s drought was the worst he had seen in some years. “We have been confronted with this situation before but not to this scale. What makes it worse is that we don’t have help from government. We have to wait for food agencies, but they also prioritize the worst affected. But this time around I think it’s the same for every family,” he said.

Chenjerai, a subsistence farmer, said he was grateful for the food he sometimes received from aid agencies, but complained that villagers were not given enough seeds.

“We are asking for more seeds because we want to diversify our crops and use more land,” he said. Zimbabwe was a food exporter until President Robert Mugabe launched a controversial land reform program in 2000, a politically charged and violent campaign to forcibly resettle mainly white commercial farms with new black farmers. The ensuing chaos undermined the agriculture-backed economy, which shrank to half its 2000 size.

The country has relied on donor food ever

since. Deon Theron, president of the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe, blames the land reform program for the country’s food crisis.

“We used to be a country that could export to the region and now we can’t even feed ourselves,” he said. Last year, about six million people needed aid despite better rains and economic reforms introduced by the power-sharing government formed in February 2009 between Mugabe and longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai. This year, Zimbabwe is set to harvest 1.5 million tons of grain, leaving the country with a 185,000tonne shortfall, according to a crop assessment report by the Zimbabwean government and the United Nations.

Elizabeth Luanga, UN humanitarian coordinator in Zimbabwe, said a lack of funding from donors this year would put extra pressure on aid agencies to provide food relief to affected families, especially in rural areas. Luanga said the food aid program has only 26 percent of the money it needs.

“Unfortunately, in 2010 we have so far been confronted with serious cuts in funding,” she said. “It is clear that humanitarian assistance is still urgently required.”— AFP

DAR ES SALAAM: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe made a surprise showing at Africa’s biggest business meeting yesterday to appeal for investment alongside other members of the fractious coalition government.

Mugabe dismissed investor worries over new ownership laws which are designed to ensure that black Zimbabweans hold a stake of at least 51 percent in all companies and which have strained the unity government.

“People have said it will drive away investment. We say it won’t,” Mugabe said at the World Economic Forum for Africa. “Companies have been forthcoming ... I don’t think it’s a painful thing for them.

Forty-nine percent is a lot,” he told reporters. Mugabe took the stage at the World Economic Forum for Africa with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, an old rival who joined him in a unity government last year, and Arthur Mutambara, the third member of the coalition.

Zimbabwe’s economy grew last year for the first time in a decade after the scrapping of a near worthless local currency and the political agreement.

In Harare, Zimbabwe’s Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube told Reuters in an interview Mugabe had rejected bids by foreign steel firms wanting to take over the country’s grounded state-owned steelmaker because they “too big”. Ncube said Mugabe preferred to deal with medium-sized firms. Western countries are withholding aid to push for faster political reform and there has been no major inflow of foreign investment because of the continuing uncertainty over the government and its policies.

“Zimbabwe is ready to do business. If Africa’s time has come for investment, then Zimbabwe cannot miss the boat,” Tsvangirai said at the meeting, which has highlighted Africa’s relatively rapid emergence from the global downturn.

“The political crisis does no longer exist. The country is making progress and it’s time that investors started looking at Zimbabwe from a different perspective. So that is the message we have been communicating.”

Tsvangirai stressed that discussion was continuing on the empowerment law and its application. Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai reiterated appeals for an end to Western sanctions targeting the 86year-old leader and his closest aides. He has ruled since independence in 1980 and is accused by critics of ruining the country. “It doesn’t make sense that people from the same government are not able to travel because of the travel ban,” Tsvangirai said.

— Reuters

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Shawn Askinosie shows off cocoa beans that are used to make chocolate at Askinosie Chocolate in Springfield, Missouri, April 20, 2010. Askinosie travels around the world, meets farmers and gets the beans direct from the source. They are roasted in house and turned into chocolate. — MCT

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Each chocolate sold at Askinosie Chocolate comes with a “Choc-o-lot” that allows you to get online and read more about the source of the beans used to make that particular chocolate. – MCT

Where did your food come from?

T

he Askinosie Chocolate factory sits at the edge of a downtown street in southwest Missouri, but its flavor comes from thousands of miles away, and its customers can find out where - exactly. Each Askinosie chocolate bar bears a “choc-o-lot” code, a series of numbers that customers can plug into the company’s website revealing where the cocoa beans in that bar were grown and who grew them. The idea is to introduce customers to the farmer in Ecuador, Mexico or the Philippines who cultivated the bar’s essential ingredient.

“I wanted to profit-share with farmers,” said Shawn Askinosie, explaining the founding principle of his company. “You can’t profit-share with people if you don’t know who they are. If I was serious about it, I knew I would have to trace the chocolate from the bean to the bar.”

Traceability In the food industry, this ability to track an ingredient from origin to destination is known as traceability, and for Askinosie, it lies at the heart of his operating philosophy.

But with hundreds of people sickened by food-borne illness in a spate of recent outbreaks, traceability has also become a critical food industry goal. “They have to get better at it,” said Robert Buchanan, the director of the Center for Food Safety and Security Systems at the University of Maryland. “There were a whole series of major (outbreaks) that occurred from 2004 to 2008, and as long as they continue, there’s going to be this drive to be able to trace food back to its source.”

As the food industry works on implementing traceability, its efforts have also produced the latest food marketing tool. Last year, Frito-Lay Inc launched a “chip tracker” that allows anyone who buys a bag of Lay’s potato chips to

learn where the potato chips inside were made, and Driscoll’s, the California-based berry grower, started sticking labels on products that allowed customers to track fruit back to the farm. Last month, Chiquita-owned Fresh Express rolled out its “leaf locator” program that lets customers see how their bagged lettuce was “cared for from field to store”. “They’re being proactive. They’re out in front of the game,” Buchanan said. “They realize it’s something that’s important to consumers.”

One up, one back And increasingly important to government regulators. In 2002, Congress passed sweeping legislation informally dubbed the bioterrorism act, which requires food manufacturers or growers to employ a “one up and one back” traceability system.

That means any entity along the supply chain has to be able to document where any given item came from or went to, within one step. But since then some legislators and food safety advocates have called for full traceability to document a food ingredient all the way back to the source and through its final destination.

During a massive salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter and peanut paste last year, for example, investigators were able to trace the contaminated products to a facility in Georgia. But tracking where the peanut butter and paste went after that took months. In the meantime, nearly 700 people got sick and nine died. A food safety bill pending in Congress would require more complete traceability with electronic tracking systems and would give regulators greater authority to inspect records. “A single company would need to know the supply chain backwards and forwards,” said Jennifer McEntire, a

research scientist with the Institute of Food Technologists. “It’s a big leap from where we are now.”

Some manufacturers and producers say they have already taken steps toward that goal. “It’s a challenge, but companies have been at it for several years,” said John Hoffman, director of quality assurance for Solae, the St. Louisbased soy ingredient manufacturer.

“FDA is, to some extent, catching up with what companies have been doing. ... We’ve been driving in that direction because of retail pressure.”

Outbreak The produce industry - hurt by two of the biggest recent foodborne outbreaks, involving spinach and hot peppers - has been especially proactive. In 2008, it launched an industry effort called the Produce Traceability Initiative, or PTI, that would make all cases of produce traceable by 2012. Some say the industry could go further.

“It’s a voluntary initiative in a massive industry,” said Elliott Grant, co-founder of HarvestMark, a California company that started producing traceability systems for produce companies three years ago.

Grant says that technologies and tracking systems enable companies to trace individual items all the way back to the source. But even he acknowledged some limitations.

“There are practical considerations,” he said. “There’s a point at which it’s hard to label some fruit.” Certain products are also harder to track simply because of how they are grown and processed for larger companies.

Tomatoes, for example, are picked before they’re fully ripe then brought to packing centers from different farms. There, sorters pick the ones that ripen at the same time and package them together, mixing tomatoes from different farms before shipping them on to the next

point in the chain.

“If we had serious traceability requirements, you wouldn’t have tomato-packing sheds sorting everything by color and size,” said Jaydee Hanson, a policy analyst with the Washington-based Center for Food Safety, a separate organization from the University of Maryland’s Center for Food Safety and Security Systems. “You’d sort them by farm.”

Transparency The center, along with other food advocacy groups, is pushing for even more transparency, a system that would allow consumers to see how food processing plants and growers rate with inspectors. “I can go to lots of cities and get that from restaurants,” Hanson said. “But I can’t get it for what I eat at home.”

For the most part, traceability has remained an industry and regulatory subject - the province of food safety wonks and experts.

“Consumers are oblivious these things are happening,” Grant said.

“The industry has done a bad job of communicating to consumers.”

But with efforts such as Fresh Express’ Leaf Locator, that seems to be changing. In the four weeks since the Leaf Locator launched, the site has had 75,000 hits and 45 percent of those visitors used the Leaf Locator function.

“People care about where their food comes from,” said Mike Burness, the company’s vice president of global quality control, noting that the Leaf Locator is an effort to engender trust with consumers - a business strategy.

“It’s primarily marketing, creating that brand loyalty and creating that connection,” McEntire said. “That little sticker takes you back to the farm. For actual traceability, you need to know every step.”

Hanson said he sees these marketing efforts as more gimmick than substance, albeit ones that

might create greater awareness of food origins. “If every potato chip company in the country wants to put on a scanning device that shows Farmer John harvesting the potatoes, that’s great,” he said. “I’m going to want to know when it was harvested, how long it was stored, what chemicals were sprayed. But I’m not going to get that.”

Still, traceability systems are developing. Fresh Express, for one, says it can trace its lettuces back to the seed. “Pretty much any corporation can trace something all the way back, and I know they’re scrambling to do it,” said Buchanan of the Center for Food Safety and Security Systems. “They haven’t all been so vocal about it.”

But in coming years, that could change. As more companies comply with stricter traceability requirements, more of them might highlight specific information about ingredient sources to consumers.

At some point, some industry experts say, shoppers might be able to go through a grocery store with hand-held computers or cell phones, reading numeric codes that give them information about where individual ingredients are grown or produced.For Shawn Askinosie, though, the tracing is already done.

Almost. “We deal with 20 to 25 cocoa farmers, so we can track it back to each farmer,” he said. “But where it gets hard is the sugar. That comes from multiple points.”

Recently, Askinosie gave a tour of his factory - from the roaster to the temperamental cocoa butter press to the molds, where chocolate is poured by hand. Like his sourcing, the entire process of making chocolate is on display. “On Saturday, I’m going to Ecuador. On Sunday, I’m going to buy beans from there, and then I’m going to put them on a container and see them, hopefully, in 60 days,” he told the tour group. “I go so I can tell you what I’ve seen.” — MCT

CAREERS

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Friday, May 7, 2010

e l i h w r u o y h t r o w t i e k a m o t w o H S

tress mounts when work is no longer satisfying. Here’s a look at the underlying causes and ways you can boost your job satisfaction. You dreamed about an ideal job in which you’d be motivated, inspired, respected and well paid. And for a while, your job may have been all that. But now it seems the honeymoon is over.

You’ve lost your job satisfaction, and you find it harder and harder to get through the workday. And that means your stress is mounting.

Learn what you can do to reignite your job satisfaction and reduce your stress.

Why you can lose job satisfaction Lack of job satisfaction can be a significant source of daily stress.

To help get your stress back under control, figure out what exactly has caused you to sour on your job.

Reasons why you may have lost job satisfaction can include: Bickering co-workers Conflict with your supervisor Not being appropriately paid for what you do Not having the necessary equipment or resources to succeed Lack of opportunities for promotion Having little or no say in decisions that affect you Fear of losing your job Work that you find boring or overly routine Work that doesn’t tap into your education, skills or interests Take some time to think about what motivates and inspires you.

You may even want to work with a career counselor to complete a formal assessment of your

interests, skills and passions. Then explore some strategies to increase your job satisfaction. Work is often approached from three perspectives. Usually all three perspectives are important for job satisfaction, but one is often the priority: It’s a job: If you approach work as a job, you focus primarily on the financial rewards. In fact, the nature of the work may hold little interest for you. What’s important is the money. If a job with more pay comes your way, you’ll likely move on.

It’s a career: If you approach work as a career, you’re interested in advancement. You want to climb the career ladder as far as possible or be among the most highly

Set new challenges If you’re stuck in a job because of lack of education or a downturn in the economy, it doesn’t mean your work has to become drudgery. With a little imagination, you can create new challenges and make the best of the job you have.

Here are some ideas that may help.

Improve your job skills Imagining yourself in your dream job, you might envision yourself as an excellent project manager a confident communicator and a highly organized person. Why not work on these skills in your present job?

sometimes? Do you run out of things to do? If so, your abilities may not match your responsibilities. Here are some suggestions: Break up the monotony: Take advantage of your work breaks.

Read. Listen to music. Go for a walk.

Write a letter.

Cross-training: Does your work consist of repetitive tasks, such as entering data or working on an assembly line? Talk with your boss about training for a different task to combat boredom. Once you’ve completed the training, you can switch back and forth.

Volunteer for something different: If you hear that your company is launching a new project, volunteer for the work team. Keep in mind that boredom can literally be

Strategies to make work more gratifying regarded professionals in your field. You’re motivated by the status, prestige and power that come with the job.

It’s a calling: If you approach your job as a calling, you focus on the work itself. You work less for the financial gain or career advancement than for the fulfillment the work brings.

Do you recognize your approach to work? One approach isn’t necessarily better than the others.

But it’s helpful to reflect on why you work if you’re unsatisfied with your job and are ready to move on.

Think about what originally drew you to your current job, and whether it may be a factor in your lack of job satisfaction.

Develop your own project Take on a project that can motivate you and give you a sense of control.

Start small, such as organizing a work-related celebration, before moving on to larger goals. Working on something you care about can boost your confidence.

Mentor a co-worker Once you’ve mastered a job, you may find it becoming routine. Helping a new co-worker or an intern advance his or her skills can restore the challenge and the satisfaction you desire.

Beat the boredom Does your job seem boring

deadly if your job involves working with machinery or caring for people.

If your mind wanders to the point that you put your life or the lives of others in jeopardy, take action now.

Talk to your supervisor about new challenges you can take on or seek a new position.

Stay positive Use positive thinking to reframe your thoughts about your job.

Changing your attitude about work won’t necessarily happen overnight or increase your job satisfaction overnight. But if you’re alert to ways your view of work brings you down, you can improve your job satisfaction. Try these techniques: Stop negative thoughts: Pay

attention to the messages you give yourself. When you catch yourself thinking your job is terrible, stop the thought in its tracks.

Put things in perspective: Remember, everyone encounters good days and bad days on the job.

Look for the silver lining: “Reframing” can help you find the good in a bad situation. For example, you receive a less than perfect performance appraisal and your boss warns you to improve or move to another job. Instead of taking it personally or looking for another job right away, look for the silver lining.

Depending on where you work, the silver lining may be attending continuing education classes or working closely with a performance coach and having the satisfaction of showing your boss that you’re capable of change.

Learn from your mistakes: Failure is one of the greatest learning tools, but many people let failure defeat them. When you make a mistake at work, learn from it and try again. It doesn’t mean that you’re a failure.

Be grateful: Gratitude can help you focus on what’s positive about your job. Ask yourself, “What am I grateful for at work today?” If it’s only that you’re having lunch with a friendly co-worker, that’s okay. But find at least one thing you’re grateful for and savor it.

More job satisfaction can mean less stress. Whether your work is a job, a career or a calling, you can take steps to restore meaning to your job.

Make the best of difficult work situations by being positive. Doing so will help you manage your stress and experience the rewards of your profession. www.mayoclinic.com

TECHNOLOGY

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 23

Top 10 monster tech brands in the world T

he value of the world’s 100 top brands rose 4 percent last year to more than $2 trillion, according to the fifth annual report, known as the Millward Brown Optimor BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking. 2010’s rankings have a fair share of technology companies, with as many as four IT companies in the top 10. In fact the crown for the biggest brand globally too goes to a technology firm. However, though most technology companies saw a jump in their brand value, there are also some who saw it drop. The title for biggest fall in brand value too goes to a tech company. So, here’s over to the globe’s 10 strongest technology brands and what made them so.

1. Google is the world’s strongest brand. The company’s brand value witnessed a 14 percent jump in the past year. The brand’s dominance as a search engine combined with the popularity of products such as Gmail and the potential impact of its recently introduced Android mobile phone platform made Google a leader in brand momentum.

2. Apple’s 32 percent increase in brand value is due to its iconic products. According to the report, this increase is a tribute to the company’s ability to transform itself from an electronics manufacturer into a brand that is central to people’s lives. The company ended the calendar year 2009 with iPhone sales of 8.7 million for the quarter, a 100 percent year-onyear increase with over 100,000 apps available.

Apple also benefited from the anticipated launch of the iPad. 3. The brand value of HP increased by almost 50 percent last year, following the rebranding of EDS (Electronic Data Systems) and brand relaunch in 2009. As the company refreshed its logo, HP attempted to associate the HP brand with innovation by adopting a new global

Picture perfect!

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oint-and-shoot can only take you so far.

How about some tips for top-notch holiday pictures. Here’s over to five golden rules of photography.

Automatic is OK While you can get some great results by messing about with your camera’s settings, remember to set it back to automatic mode when you’re done. Taking a great photograph is often about capturing a moment, so don’t lose it.

Shutter speed and ISO on dull days If you’re shooting on an overcast day or in low light, try setting the ISO and shutter speed a little higher (400 ISO and 1/400 sec shutter to start with). Beware of a bit more noise though despite the lack of blur in the pictures.

Spot metering for vivid backgrounds If you’re shooting a person against a bright background (the sky, for instance), set your exposure meter mode to “spot” and focus on the person. This prevents the subject from being under exposed. If the background is of particular interest, try using a standard metering mode and turning on the flash to light up your subject.

Get closer In photos of people, the subjects can often be lost amidst too much background. Get close to your subject to make sure they are the focus of your shot, and position them to one side of the frame, not dead centre. This will give your frame a non-amateur look.

Use the rule of thirds For landscape shots, try to fill the frame with one third sky and two thirds land. Or if the sky is really interesting, do it the other way.

Half-and-half never looks quite right.

Step 1 Don’t shoot pictures with the sun directly behind you: first, you might cast a shadow

across the frame, and second, the person in the shot will probably be squinting. If you have to shoot into the sun, put the flash on so you don’t get a dark subject - this is called “fill flash.”

Step 2 It’s better to get a good shot of your subject than a bad shot of them with the scenery, so don’t worry about cropping or letting the background go out of focus. If you really want the scenery in all its glory, pick the smallest aperture you can to get everything in focus.

Step 3 If nothing else, the person’s eyes should be sharp, as they’re the first things we look at. If your subject is off-centre, choose the focus point nearest their eyes. Blurry eyes don’t make for great pics.

Here’s how to take a great action shot with a rugged camera Step 1 Don’t be afraid to get in close. Of course, you don’t want to put yourself in any danger, but use the zoom to crop in really close and fill the frame.

Step 2 Play around with shutter speeds. Anything slower than 1/60th of a second will give some blur (depending on the speed of the action) — and blur conveys a sense of movement. Try 1/30th to capture the movement of car wheels.

Step 3 Try the burst mode. Taking a sequence of action shots using this function can not only give a better chance of capturing the right moment, but you could end up with a cool sequence of shots that tells the story. Don’t rely on it, though. www.infotech.indiatimes.com

positioning that unified the brands in each product division under the tagline “Let’s Do Amazing.”

4. The iconic IBM brand grew another 30 percent in value, in part because it communicated trust at a time of economic turmoil. IBM’s strong financial results included a record $18.1 billion in pre-tax income. IBM’s 30 percent increase in brand value reflected its continuing strength in business-to-business brand marketing and the high level of trust engendered by the brand. Its 2009 global campaign “A Smarter Planet” emotionally argued that IBM provides solutions for many of the challenges faced by government and commerce.

5. The launch of Windows 7, accompanied by an extensive ad campaign late last year, helped Microsoft maintain its leadership position.

6. BlackBerry maker RIM ranks at No 14 with a brand value of $30.7 billion brand value.

The Canada-based company’s brand value went up by 12% during the past year.

7. Oracle’s brand value grew by 16 percent.

The enterprise software maker ranks at No 19 with a brand value of $24.8 billion.

8. Oracle is followed by one of its biggest rival SAP ranked at No 21. The German company’s brand value went up by 3 percent.

SAP’s brand value stands at $24.3 billion.

9. Network giant Cisco saw a 7 percent drop in its brand value. Ranked at No 35, the company’s brand value stands at $16.7 billion.

10. Nokia saw the biggest fall in brand value, which dropped 30 places to 43rd place after a 58 percent decline to $14.9 billion. This is not a trust issue - in fact it is the most trusted brand in about ten of the 22 countries covered in the BrandZ ranking, said Peter Walshe, MBO’s global BrandZ director. www.infotech.indiatimes.com

BEAUTY

Page 24

Friday, May 7, 2010

Facials

If you’re shopping around for an effective outcome, choosing a facial can get very confusing. There are so many facials on the market that it can be very hard to work out which one is which. Whether a facial is sold to you on the basis of the brand, the experience, the outcome or all of the above, the language can be very ambiguous.

hether you’re having a facial at the Sanctuary or Sal’s Salon, you choose a facial based on three things: the brand, the experience and the outcome; what products do you want on your skin, how do you want them applied; and how do you want your skin to look afterwards?

The brand: some people find that a certain brand really suits them and will stick with those products, and the variety of different treatments offered with it.

The experience: some of us go for a facial because it’s a lovely, relaxing and indulgent thing to do. We want something we can’t get at home - so dribble me in essential oils, smother my head in hot towels, hold hot stones to my temples and turn up the whale song!

The outcome: you want your skin to be clean, glowing, fresh and even.

If you’re shopping around for an effective outcome, choosing a facial can get very confusing. There are so many facials on the market that it can be very hard to work out which one is which. Whether a facial is sold to you on the basis of the brand, the experience, the outcome or all of the above, the language can be very ambiguous.

Different spas and brands give different names to the same or similar facials; often you’ll find that the title of facials is very long, but still somehow doesn’t seem to tell

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you anything!

Somewhere along the line they all seem to make promises beginning with “re”: rejuvenating, refreshing, rehydrating, revitalising, rebalancing, relaxing, renewing, relieving, regenerating, restoring. You’ll also find a lot of “detoxify” and “soothe” and “nourish”

and even “inspire”.

In addition to this, you’ll find words such as “advanced” and “specialist” and “luxury”. Does this refer to the length of the facial? Or the quality of the product? Or the qualifications of the therapist? Or is there something else thrown in free? Or does it just cost

more?

Relentless in our search for clarity, we at the Good Spa Guide have tried (in true facial-speak) to de-confuse it all for you!

Decoding facial-speak Before you start, you need to keep in mind that this is a facial. It is intended to improve the tone and health of your skin, make you feel better about how you look and leave you feeling pampered, relaxed and refreshed. Some facials (especially ones that feature head or acupressure massage, hot stones or towels) can leave you feeling very deeply relaxed. But unless you are really, really shallow, it is not going to satisfy your emotional needs as some of the blurb would have you believe.

Whichever facial you

choose, you can expect all facials to include the basics of cleansing, toning and moisturising, achieved via creams, masks, serums, spritzers, tonics and oils. The difference between facials is the how and the how much of each you get.

Keep it simple!

Most people go for a facial for one of these reasons: Your skin is dirty and clogged up and you want to cleanse it.

Look for facials that include the words: Exfoliating, heat, cleanser, deep cleansing mask. sometimes blackheadremoval (less relaxing!), oxygen jets Your skin is sore and sensitive, perhaps tired, sallow or blotchy, maybe you have acne. You want to soothe and balance it for an even skin tone. Look for facials that

include the words: Soothing, sensitive, brightening, relieving, revitalise, regenerative, enzyme peel, multi-vitamin Your skin is dry and you want to moisturise it.: Look for facials that use the words: Nourishing, hydrating, restoring, revitalise Your skin is a bit wrinkly and drained and you feel old!

You want to look younger, to firm, lift and plump. Look for facials that include the words: Collagen-based products, pressure point massage, Cathiodermie (electric currents) You “go for a service”, to make sure you maintain healthy, glowing skin. Look for facials that use the words: Mini facial, express facial, prescription facial.

—(www.goodspaguide.co.uk)

BEAUTY

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 25

Which mascara h, to have lived in the late ‘60s, when it was okay to have dolly lashes like Twiggy, all the way down to your knees and clumped so fiercely they fanned out like a full set of Ginsu knives. Those were the days! But if it’s natural you want, natural you shall get.

The first trick: Stick with mascaras labeled “lengthening” as opposed to “thickening.” For example, L’Oréal makes a serviceable plumping mascara called Voluminous that works great for evening, though a lash comb is definitely required to keep lashes from sticking together.

For a feathery, day-friendly look, consider Stila’s Major Lash, Focal Point by Smashbox (I layered three coats the other day with nary a clump) or a product that specifically mentions lengthening and defining, such as L’Oréal’s Telescopic. Top makeup artists also-still, after all these years-swear by Maybelline’s Great Lash, in that iconic pink and green tube.

If your lashes still clump no matter what the brand or formula, the blame may lie on you, dear girl.

“We teach our customers not to pump the mascara wand, as we’ve seen many people do,” says Fran O’Neill, manager and product specialist at the Douglas Cosmetics store in Westport, Connecticut. “This pumps air into the tube and causes even the best mascaras to clump.”

If all else fails, shell out a few more dollars for a lash brush. O’Neill recommends Tweezerman’s Folding Lashcomb, a fine metal model that separates in a second.

— (www.mystyle.com)

O

won’t clump my lashes?

Keep Your Hands Looking Young! ne of the biggest telltale signs of age is the skin on your hands. In the effort to fight the signs of aging, too often are the hands left out of the mix. What good is it to use the latest anti-aging serums on your crow’s feet and wrinkles, when your hands give away your true age? By practicing proper hand care, your entire body can age gracefully.

It is virtually impossible to go through the day without using your hands. From writing to driving and greeting others with a friendly handshake, the hands are one of the most used body parts.

Like anything that is used frequently, daily wear and tear give off very visible signs. You don’t have to technically be “old” to have old-looking hands.

Take a look at the skin on the back of your hands. Do they look dry, thin, wrinkled, veiny or dull?

These are the most common signs of hands that have been neglected. And, no, putting on regular lotion once in a while doesn’t qualify as proper hand care. If you really want to keep your hands looking youthful and fresh, there are some steps you’ll

cornmeal as a scrub to gently slough off dead skin cells.

Massaging your hands with a homemade blend of lemon juice, glycerin and rose water will also help keep the skin on your hands looking vibrant.

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need to take and isn’t difficult to do.

Moisturize Hands that are dry tend to look ashen and dull and can give off the appearance of looking older than they really are.

Keeping your hands constantly moisturized is the biggest step you can make to improve the condition of your hands. Use hand creams and lotions designed

for the skin on your hands as opposed to regular body lotion.

Hand care products that contain oatmeal, shea butter, cocoa butter and other natural ingredients are ideal for maintaining proper hydration.

Exfoliate Just like your face, your hands build up layers of dead, flaky skin.

Invest in a special hand exfoliating cream or use

Protect Sun damage can also happen to your hands so it’s important to include them in your sun care.

Apply sunscreen to your hands as well as the rest of your body when you plan to be outdoors for an extended period of time. If you are a commuter, carry sunscreen with you and apply them liberally to your hands. When driving, hands on the steering wheel are at the mercy of the sun’s rays through the windshield and side windows so protecting them on a daily basis will prevent premature aging. In addition to protecting your hands from the sun, keep them from other damaging environmental elements and pollution by wearing gloves while doing activities like gardening and washing dishes. When drying your hands pat them, don’t rub.

— (www.carefair.com )

Cucumber hair drench

f you swim in a chlorinated pool for exercise on a regular basis, the same damage you’ve noticed happening to your skin and bathing suit, is happening to your hair, as well. Try this treatment at home to keep chlorine damage to a minimum.

I

1 egg 1 eggshell’s worth of olive oil 1 quarter of a peeled cucumber Blend the egg, olive oil and peeled cucumber. Spread evenly through your hair, leave on for 10 minutes, then thoroughly rinse. For the best results yearround, continue this treatment monthly.

—(www.allnaturalbeauty.us)

HEALTH

Page 26

Friday, May 7, 2010

Cure your headache at home eadaches are common pains that anyone can suffer. They can be caused by many factors such as stress, working for extended hours in front of the computer to injury and migraines which may be triggered by allergies such as food. Whatever the cause may be, the fact remains that having a headache is very uncomfortable and may keep you from performing to your full potentials. One need not suffer so much because of it, especially if the problem is constant and may keep you from being productive. Headaches may come in different forms usually depending on the cause. So most definitely, before you could opt for any ways to get rid of your headache, you must know first what is causing it. The following are simple ways to get rid of headaches: 1. Maintain good posture and do some stretching. Poor posture while

H

working can cause what are known as tension headaches. Staying in such a position for a very long time may cause the muscles of the neck and shoulders to tighten up. One way to get rid of this headache is to maintain a good posture while working. Every now and then or if you feel tension pains setting in, do some stretching to get rid of the headache before it gets worse.

2. Application of moist heat through a hot compress is also a good way to get rid of headaches.

Get a towel and soak it in warm water and apply it on areas where you find pain and tension to rid your body of the discomfort.

3. In women, a common problem is headache that comes days before their period. This is usually felt as a pain directly behind the eyes. To get rid of this headache, women must eat foods that are rich in zinc, especially those that come from lean

proteins such as lean meats.

4. Relax. The most common cause of headache is stress. Develop a healthy lifestyle which allows you to get enough sleep and rest. If you feel a huge headache coming in because of stress, get rid of this headache by taking a break from work and catching on some sleep.

5. Get a massage. Tension headaches, especially ones that come with pain that radiates through the neck and shoulders are extremely uncomfortable. A way to get of this headache is by getting some massage, especially on the scalp, neck and shoulder areas to release all the tension that have build up there.

6. Eat regularly. Do not skip meals because hunger and mealskipping can also cause headaches.

If you feel a headache about to start and you haven’t had anything to eat, take a break and grab a bite to

prevent that headache from progressing further. 7. Drink lots of water. As much as possible, stick to the eight-glasses a day recommended amount of daily water intake. Water cools down the body and so when you feel a major headache, drink up to get rid of it.

8. Ice. Ice is known to be effective in relieving different types of pains, headaches included. So another option to get rid of your headache if to use ice. Lie down and have an ice pack placed on the areas where you feel pain and tension such as behind your neck, temples or forehead.

9. Kill the pain with pain killers.

There are many over-the counter analgesics that are known to work for many forms of headaches.

However, it is still best to consult a doctor first before choosing a pain reliever to get rid of your headache most especially if the problem

persists for a very long time. It is best to work out with your doctor first what is truly causing the pain.

10. Watch what you eat. Some headaches are triggered by food.

This is most especially true for migraine sufferers. So if you feel that your headache was prompted by something that you ate, stop eating that food and consult your doctor to determine whether this is truly the source of your headache.

Having a headache is an uncomfortable experience. It keeps you from performing your task and is counter-productive.

Headaches have many causes and so to successfully get rid of that headache, it is best to try to figure out first what is causing it in the first place. Lifestyle still plays a major role in determining whether you headache problem is just temporary or will pester you for a very long time. — google .com

HEALTH

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 27

7 foods that make you look younger s it only genes that make some people look younger than their real physical age? Studies have shown that the world’s longest-living communities are remarkably similar in two aspects: they eat mostly plant-based foods and they look younger than their real physical age.

If this is true, it makes sense to include these plantbased, anti-aging foods in our diet to make us look younger; delay the effects of aging; improve our skin elasticity; and stave off wrinkles.

What are these anti-aging foods? These are natural foods rich in selenium and powerful antioxidants such as Vitamins C and E.

Beat insomnia and get a good night’s rest

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Here is a list of seven anti-aging foods to help you look younger than your real physical age: 1) Avocados Avocados are nature’s best moisturizers.

Avocados are loaded with anti-aging nutrients such as Vitamin C and E, and Omega 3 fatty acids. Though a medium-size avocado has 30 grams of fat, all of it is healthy monosaturated fats that lower cholesterol and protect the heart.

Want to look younger?

Eat an avocado a day to stave off wrinkles and keep your skin looking soft and supple.

2) Cucumber Whether you eat it as a

o you feel as if you’re getting as much sleep as anybody else, but you’re still waking up tired? Do you struggle with insomnia or can’t stay asleep once you do fall asleep? You’re not alone. Many people in our modern society struggle with insomnia and sleep deprivation. We are continuously stressed and running short on time. To further complicate matters, we tend to depend upon caffeine, cigarettes and sugar as substitutes for what only a good night’s sleep can provide.

Sleep patterns and mood are intimately related.

Sleep deprivation makes us irritable and depressed. Many of us become so desperate to get a good night’s sleep that we

D

cucumber salad or make it into a cucumber cleanser, cucumbers are an excellent anti-aging food for improving tired, dehydrated skin. This reason is cucumbers are high in water content and contains high amounts of silica, a necessary mineral for smooth and glowing skin.

3) Lemons Lemons are a Vitamin C powerhouse, an antioxidant vital for healthy skin and gums. One medium size lemon contains more than 45% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin C. Lemons are the body’s natural internal cleanser which aids digestion and clears toxins; leaving our skin clear and radiant.

resort to medications. But is that really necessary? Perhaps the best medicine of all is to really start listening to your body instead of working against its needs.

- How to Establish Good Sleep Patterns: • Determine the number of hours you need to feel rested.

Don’t worry if you don’t fit into the “norm” of eight hours. A good guideline to start with is how many hours you sleep when you “sleep in” on the weekends.

• Calculate a bedtime that will allow you to get this many hours and wake up at a reasonable hour (for example, when you need to get ready for work).

• The first day, wake yourself at the time you would like to be

Wake up in the morning to a glass of lemon juice or lemon water will help cleanse your skin and make you look younger.

4) Almonds Almonds are an anti-aging food that is excellent for healthy skin, hair and nails because of their high content of Vitamin E. The body needs Vitamin E to protect the cells from the onslaught of free radicals generated by air pollution, peroxides and ultra violet rays.

Eat ten to a dozen almonds a day. A quarter cup of almonds a day provides about 45% of the dailyrecommended intake of Vitamin E.

your usual waking time — whether you are rested or not.

You may need help from a friend, relative or alarm clock the first few days.

• Throughout the day, resist the urge for a nap.

• Limit your intake of caffeine.

Do not consume any caffeine after mid-afternoon. Its effects can take hours to wear off. You will eventually find that you are getting enough rest and don’t need an extra boost in the morning to wake up.

• A couple of hours before bedtime, begin to allow yourself to wind down. A regular evening ritual, like taking a bath, can help you relax and will signal your body that it’s time to rest.

• If you feel tense, try chamomile tea, soft music,

5) Sunflower Seeds Sunflower seeds are a remarkable anti-aging food and a Vitamin E and selenium powerhouse with very effective youthenhancing qualities.

Eat a handful of sunflower seeds a day will help you look younger, stave off wrinkles and improve skin elasticity. In fact, a quarter cup of sunflower seeds will provide nearly 91% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin E! 6) Brazil Nuts Brazil nuts are a very rich source of selenium, a mineral that works very well with Vitamin E to stop oxidative stress and cell

scented candles, a hot bath or a massage. You can also try Kava , Valerian, or melatonin, but be sure to consult with your doctor before trying these, or any, supplements. (Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone associated with the sleep cycle.)

• Avoid over-the-counter and prescription sleep medications and alcohol. Although you may fall asleep, your rest will not be gentle and natural. You will feel groggy in the morning.

• If you are troubled by racing thoughts that just won’t stop, get up and do something to keep yourself occupied until the thoughts subside. They’ll pass much more quickly this way.

• Get up at your predetermined time, no matter how tired you may feel.

damage caused by free radicals; thus, slowing down the aging process.

Eat Brazil nuts are a powerful anti-aging food which must be eaten in moderation because of its high fat content. Eating just two Brazil nuts a day will provide you with enough selenium for younger skin and a younger you.

7) Blueberries Look younger by eating one to two cups of blueberries a day for your daily ‘dose’ of anthocyanin, an anti-aging antioxidant that increases the potency of Vitamin C, one of nature’s best moisturizers and a collagen-stimulating nutrient for the skin.

• Repeat the above steps until you are able to fall asleep on time and wake up rested.

This will generally take 2 to 3 days.

- Tips: 1. Don’t despair if you have to be sleepy for a couple of days to get back on track. For most people, these steps will work if followed faithfully.

2. Keep a regular schedule, even on weekends. If you do, every day will feel as glorious as “sleeping in” on the weekends.

3. If keeping a regular sleep schedule is not working for you, consult an expert for further assistance.

Certain sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, have been associated with depression.

PETS

Page 28

Plant patrol:

Friday, May 7, 2010

Sniffing packages in search of pests

(From left) Stephanie LeBarron holds Chelsea and Jo Harper holds Bella. These dogs are responsible for sniffing produce that is sent into Fresno County, California, that could contain harmful pests. — MCT photos

Apart from bugs, inspectors have also found a dead squirrel, dehydrated frogs and foot-long blood worms.

O

n the front lines of the battle against agricultural pests and diseases are two four-legged inspectors with a knack for finding bad bugs. With their own gold-plated badges, Chelsea and Bella are members of the increasingly important Fresno County Department of Agriculture’s canine team. One of the dogs, Chelsea, a 2year-old Labrador retriever, recently helped uncover about 10 Asian citrus psyllids on some curry leaves tucked inside a duffle bag at the FedEx facility in Fresno, California.

The psyllid is one of the most destructive pests in the citrus industry and has the potential to carry a fatal plant disease known as Huanglongbing, or citrus greening.

Chelsea’s discovery became even more significant after state scientists found that one of the bugs was infected with the disease. It was the first time a psyllid was found with citrus greening in California - a state whose citrus crop is valued at $1.3 billion annually.

To prevent the bug from becoming established, state agricultural crews have placed about 100 insect traps in a northwest Fresno neighborhood where the FedEx package was destined before being stopped

by Chelsea and her handler, Stephanie LeBarron, an agricultural standards specialist. Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Carol Hafner was proud of the work of her dog team.

“This really brought to the forefront the

work that these teams do in protecting agriculture,” Hafner said. The county has used dog teams for a decade, checking packages at about half a dozen facilities, including FedEx, UPS, Golden State Overnight, DHL and Greyhound. A federal team from US Customs and Border Protection checks Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The county’s dogs are trained to sniff out fruits and plant material that may be hosts for any of a number of insects that could damage the county’s $5.6 billion agriculture industry.

“You get pretty excited when your dog hits on something,” said LeBarron. “It also reinforces that you are doing your job and it’s an important one.” The other members of the dog squad are Jo Harper, also an agricultural standards specialist, and Bella, a 4-year-old beagle. Each weekday in the early morning hours, the dogs and their handlers check thousands of packages as they move through the routing centers of Fresno’s package delivery companies.

While the dogs sniff, the handlers also “profile” packages that might contain potential problems. The inspectors pull packages that are heavily taped, leaking or smell. LeBarron and Harper, who are also biologists and carry badges, have the authority to open and inspect any package they believe may contain a potential problem.

Chelsea will sometimes help. “She is pretty high energy, and when she really

Chelsea wears her law enforcement badge on her leash.

wants to get at something, she will put all of her 67 pounds into her front claws,” LeBarron said. State and local agriculture officials discourage domestic and foreign travelers from shipping any fruits, vegetables or plant material, especially from a backyard.

Beth Grafton-Cardwell, a University of California entomologist and director of the Lindcove Research & Extension Center near Exeter, said the dogs and their handlers are a key part of helping to root out any potential pest that may be hitchhiking on a piece of fruit or plant. The risk is that under the right conditions, a pest or disease can easily become established. “All it takes is someone bringing in a snippet of a diseased plant, say from Asia or India, graft it on to a tree, and boom, we are off and running with a disease,” Grafton-Cardwell said.

Along with the psyllid, the dog teams recently found plant material with red wax scale, a destructive citrus pest, and a whitefooted ant of a species that has caused problems for farmers in several regions of the world. Inspectors also have found less threatening items, including a dead squirrel, dehydrated frogs and foot-long blood worms.

Statewide there are four other dog teams, in Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Diego and San Bernardino counties. Four more teams will be trained in a 10-week course this fall and will be operating by early spring 2010 in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Diego counties. — MCT

Friday, May 7, 2010

RELATIONSHIPS

Page 29

To buy or not to buy Prom dress shopping can make or break the mother-daughter bond unday afternoon. Late April.

Like millions of mothers throughout the land, I did my workouts the previous week. I ate well. I said my prayers. I commiserated with friends, meditated and deep-breathed as I prepared to join my comrades standing at attention outside the dressing-room doors of the local Prom Dresses Department.

“Ew, Mom,” came a muffled whine from behind one of the doors.

The door opened - not enough for anybody to see inside, God forbid just enough for a lime green bundle to fly into the arms of the dutiful mother, who quickly passed another fabric mass through the opening before the door slammed shut again.

“When am I going to get to see one of the dresses?” said the mom. “I want to see something on you.”

“Ugh. When something looks good.”

Prom dress shopping, like weaning, toilet training and teaching about menstruation, is a necessity and a rite of passage. It is also a duty and a responsibility over which the mother has limited control, which at the same time can’t be accomplished without her car, her money and sometimes, if she’s lucky, her opinion. For the woman standing next to me, it was torture.

“My daughter and I hate doing this.

We just want to get in and get out.

But it never works that way,” said the mom, her arms piled high with rejects. The event is, from the getgo, complicated.

There are hundreds of stores, each stocked in early spring with hundreds of dresses. There is blue tulle over green satin with a bow at the waist and pink tulle over yellow satin with a bow at the back. There is slink; think Lady Gaga. There is sweet; think Mary Kate before the eating disorder.

There are sequins, rhinestones, dresses that look like what everybody else will be wearing and dresses that don’t look anything like what a 17-year-old girl should be wearing until her wedding night.

Gathering up the right armload of dresses from the sea of textiles, trying them on, and then choosing the dress that says “Dude!” becomes an hours-long endeavor for the consensus-oriented female. In this case, of course, we are talking about two females whose legendary clashes are the stuff of such selfhelp books as “How To Survive Your Daughter’s Teen Years” and “Don’t Blame Mother: Mending the Mother-Daughter Relationship.”

Trying on clothes is fragile enough territory for any female, without her mother’s “That’s too short. That’s too tight” and the most odious of all: “Do you think you might need to go

S

Prom dress shopping can make or break the mother-daughter bond. Here, a high school student gives mom a glimpse of one of her picks. — MCT

the next size up?”

As for me, this was my last opportunity to get it right. My daughter is a senior. And my only daughter. I brought my Kleenex, my Ben-Gay and my Nikon D-80 with a telephoto lens. If pictures say a thousand words, then digital pictures of prom dresses

This ballerina dress in turquoise and lime green doesn’t get much action from 17-year-old girls. —MCT instantaneously reveal every angle before you spend the $100. My daughter eventually narrowed 14 dresses down to four, then tried on each of the four dresses twice more, which narrowed the Final Four down to Championship Two. And then? And then, she called for my advice. This is why I meditate and go to therapy. “Well,” I said, showing her various poses on my camera screen, “this flowery one says ‘pretty’ to me. And the turquoise one says ‘zowee’. It all depends on the look and feel you’re going for.” Opinion statement.

Opinion statement. Then empower her. I’m such a good mom. “I think I’m going for ‘zowee,’” she says.

“Then how about we get the turquoise for prom and the flowery for Graduation Day?” Three hours and a pound of sweat later, we sauntered out of the dressing room BFFs, especially since she was leaving with twice as many dresses as she bargained for. We linked arms at the check-out counter, proud, strong and sure, our relationship bolstered by the mutuality of our decision, as we handed over our prizes to the clerk. “I like the turquoise OK,” the clerk said, stuffing our prom choice into the garment bag.

“But this flowery one, it’s my favorite dress of all time. It’s perfect for prom.” My daughter and I were still in perfect solidarity. We both wanted to clock the clerk. — MCT

FOOD

Page 30

Friday, May 7, 2010

Everyday cooking

Recipes to feed the masses

By Sawsan Kazak osting a party or a dinner is always a daunting task. You always worry that there might not be enough food, or that by the time the guests arrive, the food will be too cold to serve. The following recipes make large quantities, and feed at least 8 people. The next time you plan to host a dinner or a lunch, why don’t you give one of these a try?

Email your ideas to sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

H

Lamb skewers Ingredients: * 6 tbsp olive oil * 4 onions, thinly sliced * 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger * 2kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 5cm chunks

* 4 tsp ground cumin * 2 tsp each paprika and ground coriander * 2 cinnamon sticks * 850ml tomato puree * 700g sweet potatoes, cut into chunks * 350g pitted dates

Method: 1. Heat the oil in a large, deep pan. Add the onions, then gently fry until softened, about 5 mins. Stir in the ginger, add the meat in batches, then fry on all sides until lightly coloured.

Return all the meat to the pan, stir in the spices and cinnamon sticks, then cook for 1 min.

2. Add the tomato puree and 800ml water, then bring to the boil, stirring.

Season well, then cover and simmer for 11/2 hrs, until the lamb is tender.

3. Add the sweet potatoes, stir well, cover again, then cook for 20 mins or until the potatoes are just tender. Stir in the dates and heat through for 5 mins.

Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. To serve, spoon the tagine into a serving dish and scatter with the almonds and coriander.

Ingredients: Lamb leg or shoulder (fat trimmed), cut into chunks * 100ml olive oil * 100ml red grape juice * 2 tsp dried oregano * zest and juice 2 lemons * 2 garlic cloves, crushed Method: 1. Put the lamb into a large bowl or strong food bag.

Add the olive oil, oregano,

lemon zest and juice, garlic and black pepper - don’t add salt yet. Mix together so that all the lamb is completely coated, then chill and marinate for at least a few hrs or overnight.

2. Lift the chunks of lamb out of the marinade and thread onto 10 metal skewers, or wooden ones that have been soaked.

Freeze (see freezing tips, below), or heat a grill, barbecue or griddle pan if you want to eat them straight away.

3. Season the meat with salt, then cook the skewers for 10-12 mins, turning, until cooked to your liking.

Serve tucked into warm flatbreads with salad and drizzle with chilli sauce and yogurt.

FOOD

Friday, May 7, 2010

Courgette & goat cheese tart Ingredients: * plain flour, for dusting * 500g pack shortcrust pastry * 1 fat pinch saffron threads * 500g courgettes, all but one coarsely grated * knob of butter * 4 eggs * 284ml pot whipping cream * 140g soft goat’s cheese * 2 handfuls rocket leaves, to serve Method: 1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Lightly dust a surface with flour, then roll out the pastry into a large, 5mm thick circle. Use to line a deep, 23cm tart tin with removable base. Trim away excess pastry. Prick all over with a fork, then line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Cook for 10-15 mins until starting to turn golden. Remove paper and

beans, then cook for 5 mins more until crisp and cooked through. Leave to cool.

2. Meanwhile, put the saffron in a cup with 1 tbsp hot water, then leave to infuse.

Mix grated courgettes with 1 tsp salt, then place in a colander. Slice the last courgette very thinly

lengthways into long ribbons (use a vegetable peeler).

Sprinkle with salt, then put on top of the grated courgettes. Put the colander over a bowl to drain for at least 30 mins. Tip into the middle of a clean tea towel over the sink, twist and squeeze the tea towel getting

every drop of the green liquid out.

3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Put the courgette slices to one side and add the grated courgettes to the pan.

Cook, stirring, for 3 mins.

Tip the grated courgettes into a bowl. Lightly beat the eggs, then add all but 2 tbsp to the courgette bowl. Pour in the cream, the saffron and soaking water, then mix well.

Season generously with pepper, and salt if it needs it (it may be salty enough).

4. Reduce oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush the remaining beaten egg over the tart case. Bake for 5 mins, until the egg has set and sealed the case. Pour in the mix. Crumble on the goat’s cheese. Lay the courgette strips over the top like the spokes of a wheel.

Bake for 40 mins, until just set, but still a little wobbly.

Chicken & bean

enchilada

Method: 1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in your largest pan, then fry the onions, peppers, chopped chilli and coriander stalks with half the garlic for 10 mins until soft. Stir in 2 tsp ground coriander and 2 tsp cumin seeds, then fry for 1 min more.

Meanwhile, in another frying pan, fry the chicken in the remaining oil, in batches, until browned - add it to the pan of veg as it is done.

2. Stir the beans, sweetcorn, coriander leaves and 150ml of the tomato puree into the veg and chicken. In a bowl, mix the rest of the puree with the other crushed garlic clove, the remaining spices and the sugar, then set aside.

Ingredients: * 3 tbsp olive oil * 2 red onions, sliced * 2 red peppers, sliced * 3 red chillies, 2 deseeded and chopped, 1 sliced * small bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped * 2 garlic cloves, crushed * 1 tbsp ground coriander

* 1 tbsp cumin seeds * 6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks * 415g can refried beans * 198g can sweetcorn, drained * 700ml bottle tomato puree * 1 tsp golden caster sugar * 10 tortillas * 2 x 142ml pots soured cream * 200g cheddar, grated

3. To assemble, lay the tortillas onto a board and divide the chicken mixture between them, folding over the ends and rolling up to seal. Divide the puree sauce into the dishes you are using, then top with the enchiladas. Dot over the soured cream, sprinkle with grated cheese and scatter with the sliced chilli.

4. Cool and freeze (see freezing tips, below) or, if eating straight away, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then bake for 30 mins, scattering with more coriander leaves to serve, if you like.

Page 31

Braised beef & roasted garlic pie

* 1 garlic bulb * 2 tbsp olive oil * 11/4 kg trimmed braising beef, cut into bite-sized pieces * 2 large onions, finely chopped * 2 tsp chopped thyme * 4 tbsp Dijon mustard * 4 tbsp red grape juice * 2 large carrots, roughly chopped * 300ml beef or chicken stock * 1.3kg floury potatoes cut into chunks * 100g butter * 125ml milk * 4 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley Method: 1. Heat oven to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1. Cut the base of the garlic bulb so that the cloves are just showing, then wrap lightly in foil. Bake for 1 hr until completely tender, then leave until cool enough to handle and squeeze the flesh into a bowl - you should have about 2 tbsp. Cover and set aside.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a shallow casserole or heavybased pan with a lid. Cook the beef in batches over a medium heat for 3-4 mins until evenly browned, then tip on to a plate. Using the rest of the oil, repeat until all of the beef has browned. Add the onion and thyme to the pan then cook for about 5 mins until softened. Stir in the mustard and cook for 1 min. Pour the red wine into the pan and cook for a few mins until well reduced and syrupy.

3. Return the beef to the pan, add the carrot, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer gently with the lid on for 11/2 hrs or until the beef is tender and the sauce has slightly reduced and thickened. Spoon into a 2 litre/31/2 pint pie dish and leave to cool completely.

4. Increase oven temperature to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

Simmer the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water, for 15-20 mins or until tender. Drain, then mash with the reserved garlic, butter, milk and parsley. Season to taste, then carefully spread over the beef to cover completely and fl uff up with a fork. Bake for 25- 30 mins until heated through and lightly golden. Serve the pie straight away.

5. To prepare ahead, assemble the pie and freeze for up to a month, or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Golden veggie shepherd’s pie Ingredients: * 50g butter * 2 onions, chopped * 4 carrots, diced * 1 head of celery, chopped * 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped * 200g pack chestnut mushrooms, sliced * 2 bay leaves * 1 tbsp dried thyme * 500g pack dried green lentils * 1.7 liter vegetable stock * 3 tbsp tomato puree * 2kg floury potatoes, such as King Edwards

* 85g butter * 100ml milk * 50g cheddar, grated Method: 1. To make the sauce, heat the butter in a pan, then gently fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic for 15 mins until soft and golden. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms, then cook for 4 mins more. Stir in the herbs, then add the lentils. Pour over the wine and stock - it’s important that you do not season with salt at this stage. Simmer for 40-50 mins until the lentils are very

soft. Now season to taste, take off heat, then stir in the tomato puree.

2. While the lentils are cooking, tip the potatoes into a pan of water, then boil for about 15 mins until tender. Drain well, mash with the butter and milk, then season with salt and pepper.

3. To assemble the pies, divide the lentil mixture between all the dishes that you are using, then top with mash.

Scatter over the cheese and freeze for up to two months (see tips, below) or if eating that day, heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5, then bake for 30 mins until the topping is golden.

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE 99 Baghdad lies in ruins, destroyed by the marauding armies of Hulagu Khan. The brave librarians of the great Dar Al-Hikma rush to save the glory of the ancient world’s accumulated wisdom, little knowing that centuries later their efforts will bear strange fruit. While the Noor Stones were created to save the library, their power has transcended that task and in our own time has provided extraordinary abilities to an international group of young people, the world’s newest superheroes known as… The 99.

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2010, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

TRAVEL

Page 34

1-Small ‘n’ central: Teatropace 33 Navigate down a narrow street past rows of small furniture makers and duck into the Teatropace 33, where the first thing that hits you is the massive 17th-century spiral stone staircase in this former cardinal’s house. Wood and stone floors combine with enormously high, beamed ceilings to give a solid, comfortable feel in the double rooms, while the top floor suite has its own private roof terrace.

The winding neighbourhood streets open up into Piazza Navona yards away, but do not miss Lo Zozzone next door, the legendary sandwich bar where Romans fill up on mortadella slices in warm pizza bread.

2-Trainspotter’s dream: Radisson SAS es. Hotel Express service ... Radisson SAS has great views of the city and the 1930s station Squeezed between Termini station, rattling tram lines and a multi-ethnic food market, the Radisson is not ring-side to Rome’s ruins, but is the only designer hotel in town that is walkable from the station, allowing visitors who train in from the airport to avoid tangling with traffic jams and biblical taxi queues. Shower cubicles on raised platforms in the middle of rooms may be too adventurous for some, but the modern courtyard overlooked by floor to ceiling room windows works

Friday, May 7, 2010

After a day spent exploring Rome’s crowded, twisting streets, Tom Kington tips 10 hotels where you can escape the hubbub at the end of the day well and the rooftop pool has great views not only of the city, but also right across the nextdoor station platforms to some of the best 1930s railway architecture around. Stressed businessmen with no time to do the Coliseum can check out the excavated Roman road in the lobby to the left of reception.

3-Service second to nun: Casa Il Rosario or Casa di Sant’Anna Rome is full of secret gardens hidden by high walls, and they are usually owned by the church.

To stroll in one of them, check into Casa Il Rosario (+39 06 679 2346), managed by Dominican nuns and open to pilgrims as well as tourists. The 11pm curfew rules out late-nighters, but the basic, good value rooms make it ideal for a budget conscious family. If a midnight curfew in the summer sounds more reasonable, try the Casa di Sant’Anna (+39 06 485 778) round the corner on Piazza Madonna dei Monti in the shadow of the Coliseum, where kids kick footballs against the wall of the Ukrainian church and

lovers eat ice-creams by the fountain, evoking the kind of atmosphere cross-town Trastevere had before it was taken over by cocktail bars.

4-B&B: Casa Banzo The stained-glass window, the cool, high-ceilinged entrance hall and the tiled floor, frescoed breakfast room in this 16thcentury palazzo are Casa Banzo’s (+39 06 6833909) strengths, not to mention its proximity to Campo dei Fiori, the hotspot in the historic centre. While the tourists mingle in the streets outside, simple rooms give on to a quiet interior courtyard dripping with plants, giving an idea of how for centuries Roman aristocrats have carved themselves some peace and quiet inches from the mayhem of Rome’s alleyways. Watch out for the odd quirk, like no telephones and Ä15 (£10.80) extra for air conditioning.

5-Hostel: Colors Bright idea .. Colors is a friendly, family-run hostel A friendly, family-run and bright Colors hostel north of the Vatican mixing shared six-bed

dorms with private rooms for two, three or four people. Take your pick between rooms with comfortable shared or en suite bathrooms that would not look out of place in swankier hotels.

Colourful dÈcor adds to the relaxed, private house charm, while a small roof terrace gives guests the chance to cook in the communal kitchen then eat al fresco.

6-Best view: Hotel Eden Perched off Via Veneto, the Eden commands sweeping views, not only of distant domes but also down the hidden lanes and gardens of next door Villa Medici.

The best look-out is from the rooftop restaurant, but guests can even gaze over Rome from many of the bathrooms which have large windows - a rare break from the usual hotel bunker bathroom. Rooms have been freshened up by a recent refurbishment but retain their classic look, complete with painted wooden furniture.

7- Hip: Portrait Suites Just off Via Condotti, in the heart of Rome’s upmarket

shopping neighbourhood, lie the newly opened Portrait Suites, where the evening turn-down comes with cashmere blankets.

Every light switch has designer pedigree and the walk-in wardrobes are bigger than many Rome hotel rooms. Designed by Florence architect Michele Bonan and one of a number of upmarket ventures launched by the family of designer Salvatore Ferragamo, the walls of the suites are lined with photos of Ferragamo’s masterpieces as well as mementoes including the framed receipt for a $40 pair of Ferragamo shoes bought in 1961

by Marilyn Monroe.

8-Classic: The Hotel Hassler The Hassler has been a luxury landmark for so long, it was about time reviews started accusing the family-run, 19thcentury gem of being overpriced and dowdy. But reports of its demise were dismissed this spring by an anonymous inspector who gave the rooms complete with tapestries, chandeliers, velvet sofas and views across the Spanish steps

to St Peters - top marks.

Regulars include Woody Allen, while potentates head for the top floor suite with its gold plated taps and 160 sq metre terrace.

9-Luxury: Hotel de Russie Once a hang out for Russian royalty and artists like Picasso and Stravinsky, the De Russie was given a makeover by Rocco Forte in 2000, conferring on its 122 rooms a feel of uncluttered, modern luxury.

Mega-suites like the euro7,260 Nijinsky command views out across the city, but the hotel’s secret weapon is its enormous courtyard and garden.

In a cramped part of town where it is hard to walk on narrow pavements covered in parked mopeds, guests in selected double rooms can gaze over the De Russie’s hidden oasis of fountains, trees and winding paths.

10-Campsite: Flaminio Village Complete with manicured lawns, a pizzeria, decent pool and space for tents in a grove of acacia trees, this slick campsite sits neatly on the edge of protected parkland in the north of Rome, but is only a bus ride from the centre of town.

Bungalows and cabins are also on offer, as well as a mini-market, free buffet breakfast, internet point and clean tiled bathrooms with piped in muzak. (www.guardian.co.uk)

Friday, May 7, 2010

TRAVEL

Page 35

10 smart packing tips P

eople may be traveling less, but they are still traveling — some to visit family for the holidays or to a nearby town for a getaway weekend, while others are taking their dream trip abroad or visiting places coast to coast.

Meanwhile, business travelers are still going to wherever an important meeting or convention is taking place.

With shorter vacations and endless airline restrictions, smart packing is more important than ever. To the rescue comes a new, updated and expanded edition of SMART PACKING FOR TODAY’S TRAVELER by Susan Foster. As a packing expert, Foster makes it her business to be up-to-date on the latest changes. However, the basics of packing smart remain the same. Here are 10 smart packing tips to ensure that each and every trip will be hasslefree, at least regarding your luggage.

1-Plan ahead. Know what type of weather to expect and what your activities might be, then pack the right clothes for the climate and your events.

2-Pack less. Expect to wear each clothing item more than once. Choose versatile pieces that can be worn in different combinations so you don’t get bored.

3-Pack a “go-anywhere” wardrobe. This means taking clothes that blend in with the local population and provide safety from those who target tourists. For instance: modest necklines for women; long pants or skirts; shirts with a collar and sleeves; and comfortable shoes (see below).

4-Pack easy-care clothes that you love. To ensure that you will look and feel great on your trip, choose clothes from your closet that still appear fresh at the end of a long day. If things wrinkle at home, they will wrinkle while traveling.

5-Take comfortable shoes. You will not have a good time if your feet hurt. Three pairs of shoes are the maximum for most trips: one to wear and two to pack.

Include good-looking and comfortable walking shoes or sandals, more dressed up shoes for dinner and social events, and sport or athletic shoes.

6-Choose the right bag for the trip. Structured bags with wheels protect the contents and offer independence in airports, while bags without wheels and without structure are generally easier to squish into small places, such as in the trunk of a car.

7-Know the current airline luggage rules.

To avoid additional fees and confusion at the airport, understand how many pieces of luggage may be

checked, plus the maximum dimensions and allowable weight for each bag. Call your airline or check www.smartpacking.com for the latest information.

8-Pack smart. Use SMART PACKING tips and tricks to fit everything into your luggage in the most space efficient way, and to provide easy visibility during security checks. For example, group small items in see-through containers or self-sealing plastic bags. Take less or pack two bags to speed the security check process as an overpacked bag takes longer to check manually and is more difficult to repack.

9-Travel light. Two smaller bags are usually easier to manage than one larger bag.

Wheels are an asset on smooth terrain, but you must still be able to carry your bag on rough

With shorter vacations and endless airline restrictions, smart packing is more important than ever

streets and up steep flights of stairs.

10-Take a lock. Today’s airport security requires luggage to be unlocked, but pack a lock so you can secure your bag when you leave your room. However, leave valuables at home, as there is really no safe place for them when traveling.

The moral to the story is if you follow these simple guidelines, you will have the freedom to go everywhere — independently and comfortably. ( w w w. ro a d a n d t r a v e l . c o m )

BOOKS

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Mistress of the Art of Death Series

By Ariana Franklin

1. The Mistress of the Art of Death n medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered.

The crimes are immediately blamed on the town’s Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress.

King Henry I is no friend of the Jewsor anyone, really-but he is invested in their fate. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews,

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Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest “master of the art of death,” an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death.

Adelia and her companions-Simon, a Jew, and Mansur, a Moor-travel to England to unravel the mystery of the Cambridge murders, which turn out to be the work of a serial killer, most likely one who has been on Crusade

with the king. In a backward and superstitious country like England, Adelia must conceal her true identity as a doctor in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she is assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, one of the king’s tax collectors, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. Rowley may be a needed friend, or the fiend for whom they are searching. As Adelia’s investigation takes her into Cambridge’s shadowy river paths and behind the closed doors of its churches and nunneries, the hunt intensifies and the killer prepares to strike again...

4. A Murderous Procession

2. The Serpent’s Tale

n Franklin’s well-paced fourth Mistress of the Art of Death novel (after Grave Goods), Henry II of England assigns his trusted doctor friend, Adelia Aguilar, who studied at the School of Medicine in Salerno, Italy, to accompany his 10-year-old daughter, Joanna, on Joanna’s wedding procession to Sicily, where the girl is to marry Henry’s cousin, William II. Along the way, the clever and brave Adelia has to not only contend with the dangers facing the princess but thwart a diabolical and conniving assassin named Scarry, who bears Adelia a murderous grudge.

The suspense rises as members of the royal party start to die unnatural deaths as they journey across Europe. At times, Franklin, who’s obviously done a lot of research into the period, in particular into the House of Plantagenet, overexplains or lapses into pedantic description. Still, both fans of historical fiction and mystery readers will be rewarded

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he follow-up to Mistress of the Art of Deathin the national bestselling series hailed as “the medieval answer to Kay Scarpetta and the CSI detectives.”

When King Henry II’s mistress is found poisoned, suspicion falls on his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The king orders Adelia Aguilar, expert in the science of death, to investigate-and hopefully stave off civil war. A reluctant Adelia finds herself once again in the company of Rowley Picot, the new Bishop of St. Albans...and her baby’s father. Their discoveries into the crime are shocking- and omens of greater danger to come.

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3. Grave Goods hen a fire at Glastonbury Abbey reveals two skeletons, rumor has it they may belong to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. King Henry II hopes so, for it would help him put down a rebellion in Wales, where the legend of Celtic savior Arthur is strong. To make certain, he sends Adelia Aguilar, his Mistress of the Art of Death, to Glastonbury to examine the skeletons. At the same time, the investigation into the abbey fire will be overseen by the Bishop of St. Albans, father of Adelia’s daughter. Trouble is, someone at Glastonbury doesn’t want either mystery solved, and is prepared to kill to prevent it...

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BOOKS

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 37

Top best sellers My Mother’s Clothes

By Candace Bushnell efore Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?

The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie’s senior year of high school.

She and her best friends — Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse — are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend’s betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it’s finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.

Rabid fans of Sex and the City will love seeing Carrie Bradshaw evolve from a regular girl into a sharp, insightful writer. They’ll learn about her family background — how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. We’ll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where the next Carrie Diaries book will take place.

The Carrie Diaries

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By Jeanette Montgomery Barron his is a book about the depth of a daughter’s love, and the breadth of a mother’s life; it is about letting go, but never forgetting...A photographer’s love letter to her late mother, whose five year struggle with Alzheimer’s and devout passion for couture clothing inspired this poignant and moving photo essay which sparkles with the memories of her mother’s glamorous and fashionable life.

In My Mother’s Clothes, photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron creates a poignant and enduring portrait of her late mother through still life images of her cherished clothing, shoes, and personal

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possessions. As her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s progressed, robbing her of any remembered past, Montgomery Barron began this unique visual album as a way of both sparking her mother’s memories, and coping with her own sense of loss. Poetic, riveting, elegant, My Mother’s Clothes is part fashion diary, part personal memoir, part loving memorial, and part life celebration.

An inspiring and intimate true story told in picture and word that will be cherished by mothers and daughters, by fashion lovers and photography fans, by those grieving the loss of a loved one or anyone suffering from or affected by Alzheimer’s.

Tonight I Said Goodbye

By Michael Koryta nvestigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his upscale Cleveland suburban home. His wife and six-year-old daughter are now missing. The police think the former Marine murdered them. Hoping to exonerate his son, Weston’s father hires PIs Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard.

Perry and Pritchard soon discover there is much more lying beneath the surface,

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including rumors of gambling debts, extortion, and a Russian mob that likes to wield baseball bats. But just when Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress, a millionaire real estate tycoon and the FBI advise them to back off of the investigation.

Then without warning, another murder suddenly forces them to change direction in the case as they uncover a trail of deadly twists-but the most shocking secret of all has yet to be unraveled...

Jekel Loves Hyde Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

By Seth Grahame-Smith ndiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a oneroom cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.”

“My baby boy...” she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose...” Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled

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upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

By Beth Fantaskey ill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules - especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she’s tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To better her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything even Tristen’s love - just for the thrill of being... bad.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

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CHILDREN

Page 38

Sudoku for Kids

Friday, May 7, 2010

Solution

CHILDREN

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 39

A LOVELY SUNNY DAY I

t was a lovely sunny day in Oak Tree Farm.

An 8-year old boy called Tommy lay by the stream listening to the sounds of the countryside. The birds were singing, the cows were mooing, the lions were roaring, and the sheep were .....

Hang on, did I say lions? Yes I did, and they were heading straight for Tommy.

Tommy stood up and saw the three fierce lions coming across the field.

He heard a noise behind him, and, looking round, saw a grizzly bear stomping towards him.

On his right were a large number of tigers staring at him, and on his left, in the stream, was a crocodile.

There was no escape. Tommy didn’t know what to do. He thought for a moment and realised that the only way out was downwards, so he got a spade and started to dig. But he couldn’t dig fast enough - the lions were rapidly approaching, the grizzly bear was just a few feet away, the tigers were starting to move, and the crocodile was snapping at his heels.

Suddenly, a spaceship flew down from the sky and picked him up.

“Phew, that was a close shave” thought Tommy.

Now he was flying through space at a hundred miles an hour. The spaceship was driven by two aliens, both called Dave. They were green with large red eyes and yellow horns. One of them was wearing a T-shirt with the words “I’ve been to Buckingham Palace and seen the queen” across the front. The other one wore an identical T-shirt.

Tommy was pleased to have been rescued

from the animal attack, but was a bit unsure about where these two Daves were taking him.

It was quite warm in the spaceship, so Tommy asked if the heating could be turned down. Unfortunately, neither Dave was quite sure how the heating system worked so one of them opened a window instead. This was a big mistake because space is a vacuum and quite capable of sucking things out of spaceships.

This is exactly what happened to the two Daves - they were sucked out of the window, never to be seen again. Tommy shut the window and sat down at the controls. He’d never driven a spaceship before and was going to have to learn fast, otherwise he’d be in big trouble.

He saw a red button with the letter R on it, and pressed it. The radio came on playing Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Pressing a button marked W started the windscreen wipers, but it wasn’t raining so he turned them off.

Eventually he taught himself how to control the spaceship using the steering wheel and gear stick. He brought it down to Earth and landed in his back garden just in time for tea.

He told his mum about his little adventure, but she told him to stop telling lies and get on with his fish fingers.

Forty years later, Tommy was 48-years old and he went on holiday to Spain with his family.

While relaxing on a beach he saw two objects falling from the sky. They landed on his towel, and, on closer inspection, Tommy realised that it was the two Daves! After all this time they had finally fallen out of space and back to Earth.

The two Daves were delighted to see Tommy, and Tommy said he would look after

them. Now, although the two Daves looked the same, they were in fact completely different.

One was clever, and one wasn’t. Let’s call them Clever Dave and Not-so-Clever Dave.

Tommy said he would drive them to a shop to get some decent clothes. Tommy got in the driving seat, Clever Dave got in the passenger seat, and Not-so-Clever Dave got on the roof rack. When the car started to move, Not-soClever Dave fell off the back of the car. He had to chase after them, but as he wasn’t very good at running he decided to catch a bus. He climbed on board the number 46 bus and sat on the driver’s lap. The bus followed the car all the way to the clothes shop. In the shop Clever Dave put on a nice black suit and tie. Not-so-Clever Dave put a shirt on his legs, some socks over his ears, a hat on his feet and some shoes on his shoulders. He thought he looked smart, but he actually looked quite ridiculous.

Then they went to a posh restaurant to have a meal. Clever Dave picked up his knife and fork and ate his food. Not-so-Clever Dave picked up his food and ate his knife and fork! He even said it tasted delicious. For pudding, he had the tablecloth and a lady’s purse.

Not-so-Clever Dave had a lot of trouble adapting to life on Earth. He couldn’t understand why people had to pay for things in shops, so he kept getting arrested for helping himself. One day, the two Daves were making a cake for Tommy’s birthday. Clever Dave was mixing some flour and sugar, while Not-soClever Dave was mixing some eggs and dynamite. When Not-so-Clever Dave put the mixture in the oven, there was a huge explosion

and both Daves were blasted back to space, never to be seen again.

Tommy was sad to lose his friends, but tried to get on with life as best he could.

Another forty years went past and Tommy was now very old. One day, he was doing some gardening when he saw an aeroplane flying past.

There seemed to be something hanging from one of the wings, so he got his binoculars to have a better look. Suddenly, whatever it was came free from the plane and started to float down to the ground. It turned out to be two things, not one, and both of those things were Daves. Tommy was delighted to see his old friends again, although it was a shame that Notso-Clever Dave had landed on his flower bed.

They went into the house and got something to eat, because both Daves were hungry after floating around space for 40 years.

Tommy mentioned that he wished he were young again, because being old can be a bit of a problem. Then an amazing thing happened.

Clever Dave produced a pack of Magical Wishing Powder and sprinkled it over Tommy.

Suddenly, Tommy was 8 years old again! He was lying by a stream in Oak Tree Farm and it was a lovely sunny day. The birds were singing, the cows were mooing, the lions were roaring, and the sheep were ..... Yes, thanks to Clever Dave, Tommy was able to live his life all over again. This time though, he dug a bit faster and escaped from the animals through a tunnel. In his second life he never met the Daves, but he always had happy memories of them ... www. gordondioxide.com

OPINION

Page 40

Friday, May 7, 2010

Down for the count?

By Scott Stewart

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n April 25, The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) posted a statement on the Internet confirming that two of its top leaders, Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub Al-Masri, had been killed April 18 in a joint US-Iraqi operation in Salahuddin province. Al-Baghdadi (an Iraqi also known as Hamid Dawud Muhammad Khalil Al-Zawi), was the head of the ISI, an Al-Qaeda-led jihadist alliance in Iraq, and went by the title “Leader of the Faithful.” Al-Masri (an Egyptian national also known as Abu Hamzah Al-Muhajir), was the military leader of the ISI and head of the group’s military wing, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

Al-Masri replaced Abu Musab AlZarqawi, who was killed in a US airstrike in June 2006. Al-Zarqawi had alienated many Iraqi Sunnis with his ruthlessness, and Al-Baghdadi is thought to have been appointed the emir of the ISI in an effort to put an Iraqi face on jihadist efforts in Iraq and to help ease the alienation between the foreign jihadists and the local Sunni population. Al-Masri, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the military leader of the ISI, was considered the real operational leader of ISI/AQI efforts in Iraq.

Stratfor viewed the initial announcement by Iraqi authorities of the deaths of the two leaders with a healthy degree of skepticism. After all, they had been declared dead before, only to later release statements on the Internet mocking the Iraqi government for making false claims. But the details provided in the April 19 press conference by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki (complete with photos of the deceased) and the confirmation by the US military helped allay those initial doubts. The recent admission by the ISI, which made a similar statement following the death of Al-Zarqawi, has all but erased our doubts about the deaths.

But the ISI’s statement has raised some other questions. It claimed that the deaths of the two leaders would not affect the group’s operations in Iraq because new members had recently joined it. But when viewed in the context of other recent developments in Iraq, it appears that the operational capability of the ISI will indeed be affected - at least in the near future.

Recent Activity The operation that resulted in the deaths of Al-Baghdadi and Al-Masri did not occur in a vacuum. Rather, it was a part of a series of operations targeting the ISI in recent months.

The raids have come as a result of a renewed effort to counter the ISI following a resurgence in the group’s operations that included high-profile multiple-vehicle bombings directed against targets in central Baghdad on Aug 19, 2009, Oct 25, 2009, Dec 8, 2009, and Jan 25, 2010.

The raids that resulted in the deaths of the ISI leaders on April 18 were part of a chain of events that stretches back for months, and appear to be the result of the effective exploitation of intelligence gained in one raid used to conduct the next. For example, Iraqi Maj Gen Qasim Ata, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, told Al-Iraqiya

In this April 19, 2010 file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki holds a paper displaying photographs of a man the Iraqi government claims to be Al-Qaeda leader Abu Ayub Al-Masri at a news conference in Baghdad. – AP TV on April 20 that the intelligence that led to the location of Al-Baghdadi and Al-Masri was obtained during the March 11, 2010, arrest of Manaf Abdul Raheem Al-Rawi, the AQI commander in Baghdad. Iraqi government sources claim Al-Rawi is the man responsible for planning the multiple-vehicle bombings in Baghdad. If so, he is another effective operational leader who has been taken out of the ISI/AQI gene pool.

Then, following the April 18 raid, Ahmad Al-Ubaydi - aka Abu-Suhaib, whom Iraqi officials identify as the AQI military commander for the northern Iraqi provinces of Ninevah, Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces was killed April 20. The next day, Iraqi authorities located an improvised explosive device (IED) factory in western Anbar province and seized two vehicle bombs and some smaller IEDs. On April 22, the US Army announced the arrest of a bombmaker in Anbar province.

On April 23, Iraqi police arrested another AQI military leader in Anbar, Mahmoud Suleiman, who was reportedly found with several IEDs in his home. Also on April 23, an Iraqi police SWAT team reportedly killed two AQI leaders during a raid in eastern Mosul. They claimed that one of the AQI leaders, Yousef Mohammad Ali, was also a bombmaker. In recent days, dozens of other alleged AQI members have either surrendered or been arrested in Diyala, Mosul, Salahuddin and Basra.

There have even been unconfirmed reports that Izzat AlDouri was captured April 25. AlDouri, the “king of clubs” in the US military’s 2003 deck of most-wanted Iraqis and who has a $10 million bounty on his head, was a vice president of Iraq under Saddam Hussein and an important insurgent leader. In late March, progress was also made against AQI in Mosul.

Several suspects were arrested or killed, and among the latter were major AQI figures Khalid Muhammad Hasan Shallub Al-Juburi, Abu Ahmad Al-Afri and Bashar Khalaf Husayn Ali Al-Jaburi.

This type of rapid, sequential activity against jihadists by US and Iraqi forces is not a coincidence. It is the result of some significant operational changes that were made in 2007 in the wake of the American surge in Iraq. The then-commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Gen. Stanley McChrystal, was instrumental in flattening hierarchies and reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies in both intelligence and special operations forces activities inside Iraq in order to create a highly integrated and streamlined organization.

The result was the capability to rapidly plan and execute special operations forces raids based on actionable intelligence with a limited shelf life - and then to rapidly interrogate any captives, quickly analyze any material of intelligence value seized and rapidly re-task forces in a series of follow-on operations.

The resulting high tempo of operations was considered enormously successful and a key factor in the success of the surge, and recent developments in Iraq appear to be a continuation of this type of rapid and aggressive activity.

Such operations not only can produce rapid gains in terms of capturing and killing key targets, they also serve to disrupt and disorient the enemy. According to Iraqi Maj Gen Qasim Ata, AQI is currently in disarray and panic, and he believes that the organization is also facing money problems, since it reportedly has been in contact with Al-Qaeda prime in an attempt to secure financial assistance.

This stands in stark contrast to the 2005 letter in which Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman Al-Zawahiri asked AQI leader Al-Zarqawi for funding. At that time there was a large flow of men and money into Iraq, but it now appears that AQI is facing some financial difficulties. Following the recent raids in which senior operational commanders and bombmakers have been captured or killed, it also appears that the group may also be facing some leadership and operational-

expertise difficulties.

Leadership As Stratfor has previously noted, leadership is a critical factor in the operational success of a militant group. Without skilled leadership, militant groups lose their ability to conduct effective attacks, particularly ones of a sophisticated nature.

Leadership, skill and professionalism are the factors that make the difference between a militant group wanting to attack something - i.e., its intent - and the group’s ability to successfully carry out its intended attack - i.e., its capability. The bottom line is that new recruits simply cannot replace seasoned operational commanders, as the ISI suggested in its statement.

Although it might seem like a simple task to find a leader for a militant group, effective militant leaders are hard to come by. Unlike most modern militaries, militant groups rarely invest much time and energy in leadership development training. To compound the problem, the leader of a militant group needs to develop a skill set that is quite a bit broader than most military leaders.

In addition to personal attributes such as ruthlessness, aggressiveness and fearlessness, militant leaders also must be charismatic, intuitive, clever and inspiring. This last attribute is especially important in an organization that seeks to recruit operatives to conduct suicide attacks.

Additionally, an effective militant leader must be able to recruit and train operatives, enforce operational security, raise funds, plan operations and then methodically execute a plan while avoiding the security forces constantly hunting the militants down.

Of course, not every leadership change is disastrous to a militant group. Sometimes a new leader breathes new life and energy into an organization (like Nasir Al-Wahayshi in Yemen), or the group has competent lieutenants able to continue to operate effectively after the death of the leader (like AQI after the death of Al-Zarqawi). But the

current environment in Iraq, where numerous individuals have been rapidly and sequentially killed or captured, makes this sort of orderly leadership replacement more difficult.

Therefore, it will be important to watch the ISI carefully to see who is appointed as the group’s new emir and military commander. (In practical terms, the emir may be easier to replace than the military commander, especially if the former is just a figurehead and not a true operational commander.) The group may have had a clear chain of command and competent, designated successors who have survived the recent operations. But if not, the leadership vacuum at the top could result in infighting over control, or result in an ineffective leader assuming control.

The jury is still out, but with the recent successes against the ISI, there is a very good chance that it may take some time for the group to regain its footing. This, of course, is the objective of the up-tempo operations recently seen in Iraq. Effective counterterrorism programs seek to keep the militants (and especially their leaders) off balance by killing or capturing them while also rolling up the lower levels of the group.

Militants scrambling for their lives seldom have the opportunity to plan effective attacks, and sustained pressure makes it difficult for them to regain the offensive.

Like operational leaders, competent bombmakers are not easy to replace. They also need to possess a broad set of skills and require a great deal of training and practical experience to hone their skills. A master bombmaker is a rare and precious commodity in the militant world. Therefore, the bombmakers recently arrested in Iraq could prove to be almost as big a loss to AQI as the operational leaders.

When we discussed the resurgence of the ISI/AQI back in October, we noted that at that time they had retained a great deal of their capability and that they were able to gather intelligence, plan attacks, acquire ordnance, build reliable IEDs and execute spectacular attacks in the center of Baghdad against government ministry buildings. We also discussed how the polarization surrounding the election in Iraq was providing them an opportunity to exploit. That polarization has continued in the wake of the elections as the factions jockey for position in the new government, but the extent of the damage done to the jihadists through the loss of so many commanders and operatives may not allow the successors of Al-Masri and Al-Baghdadi to take advantage of the situation before their window of opportunity closes.

We will be watching the jihadists in Iraq carefully in the coming months to see if they can regroup and retain their operational capability. The big question is: Will the recent operations against the ISI/AQI merely serve as another temporary setback like the killing of Al-Zarqawi, or do they portend something more long-term for the future of the organization? The ISI/AQI has proved to be resilient and resourceful in the past, but we are not sure they have the ability to bounce back this time. — Stratfor

OPINION

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 41

The US, Pak and India

By Peter Zeihan

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n recent weeks, Stratfor has explored how the US government has been seeing its interests in the Middle East and South Asia shift.

When it comes down to it, the United States is interested in stability at the highest level - a sort of cold equilibrium among the region’s major players that prevents any one of them, or a coalition of them - from overpowering the others and projecting power outward.

One of Al-Qaeda’s goals when it attacked the United States in 2001 was bringing about exactly what the United States most wants to avoid. The group hoped to provoke Washington into blundering into the region, enraging populations living under what Al-Qaeda saw as Western puppet regimes to the extent that they would rise up and unite into a single, continent-spanning Islamic power. The United States so blundered, but the people did not so rise. A transcontinental Islamic caliphate simply was never realistic, no matter how bad the US provocation.

Subsequent military campaigns have since gutted Al-Qaeda’s ability to plot extraregional attacks. Al-Qaeda’s franchises remain dangerous, but the core group is not particularly threatening beyond its hideouts in the Afghan-Pakistani border region. As for the region, nine years of war have left it much disrupted. When the United States launched its military at the region, there were three balances of power that kept the place stable (or at least self-contained) from the American point of view. All these balances are now faltering.

We have already addressed the Iran-Iraq balance of power, which was completely destroyed following the American invasion in 2003. We will address the Israeli-Arab balance of power in the future. This week, we shall dive into the region’s third balance, one that closely borders what will soon be the single largest contingent of US military forces overseas: the Indo-Pakistani balance of power.

Pakistan and the Evolution of US Strategy in Afghanistan US strategy in Afghanistan has changed dramatically since 2001. The war began in the early morning hours Pakistan time - after the Sept 11 attacks. Then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell called up then-Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf to inform him that he would be assisting the United States against Al-Qaeda, and if necessary, the Taleban. The key word there is “inform”. The White House had already spoken with - and obtained buy-in from - the leaders of Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel and, most notably, India.

Musharraf was not given a choice in the matter. It was made clear that if he refused assistance, the Americans would consider Pakistan part of the problem rather than part of the solution - all with the blessings of the international community.

Islamabad was terrified - and with good reason; comply or refuse, the demise of Pakistan was an all-too-real potential outcome. The geography of Pakistan is extremely hostile. It is a desert country.

What rain the country benefits from falls in the northern Indo-Pakistani border region, where the Himalayas wring moisture out of the monsoons.

Those rains form the five rivers of the Greater Indus Valley, and irrigation works from those rivers turn dry areas green.

Accordingly, Pakistan is geographically and geopolitically doomed to perpetual struggle with poverty, instability and authoritarianism. This is because irrigated agriculture is far more expensive and labor-intensive than rain-fed agriculture. Irrigation drains the Indus’ tributaries such that the river is not navigable above Hyderabad, near the coast - drastically raising transport costs and inhibiting economic development. Reasonably well-watered mountains in the northwest guarantee an ethnically distinct population in those regions (the Pashtun), a resilient people prone to resisting the political power of the Punjabis in the Indus Basin. This, combined with the overpowering Indian military, results in a country with remarkably few options for generating capital even as it has remarkably high capital demands.

Islamabad’s one means of acquiring breathing room has involved coopting the Pashtun population living in the mountainous northwestern periphery of the country. Governments before Musharraf had used Islamism to forge a common identity for these people, which not only included them as part of the Pakistani state (and so reduced their likelihood of rebellion) but also employed many of them as tools of foreign and military policy.

Indeed, managing relationships with these disparate and peripheral ethnic populations allowed Pakistan to stabilize its own peripheral territory and to become the dominant outside power in Afghanistan as the Taleban (trained and equipped by Pakistan) took power after the Soviet withdrawal.

Thus, the Americans were ordering the Pakistanis on Sept 12, 2001, to throw out the one strategy that allowed Pakistan to function. Pakistan complied not just out of fears of the Americans, but also out of fears of a potentially devastating USIndian alignment against Pakistan over the issue of Islamist terrorism in the wake of the Kashmiri militant attacks on the Indian parliament that almost led India and Pakistan to war in mid-2002. The Musharraf

government hence complied, but only as much as it dared, given its own delicate position.

From the Pakistani point of view, things w e n t

downhill from there. Musharraf faced mounting opposition to his relationship with the Americans from the Pakistani public at large, from the army and intelligence staff who had forged relations with the militants and, of course, from the militants themselves.

Pakistan’s halfhearted assistance to the Americans meant militants of all stripes - Afghan, Pakistani, Arab and others - were able to seek succor on the Pakistani side of the border, and then launch attacks against US forces on the Afghan side of the border.

The result was even more intense American political pressure on Pakistan to police its own militants and foreign militants seeking shelter there. Meanwhile, what assistance Pakistan did provide to the Americans led to the rise of a new batch of homegrown militants - the Pakistani Taleban who sought to wreck the US-Pakistani relationship by bringing down the government in Islamabad.

The Indian Perspective The period between the Soviet collapse and the rise of the Taleban - the 1990s - saw India at a historical ebb in the power balance with Pa k i s t a n .

The American reaction to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks changed all that.

The US military had e l i m i n a t e d Pakistan’s proxy government in Afghanistan, and ongoing American pressure was buckling the support structures that allowed Pakistan to function. So long as matters continued on this trajectory, New Delhi saw itself on track for a historically unprecedented dominance of the subcontinent.

But the American commitment to Afghanistan is not without its limits, and American pressure was not sustainable. At its heart, Afghanistan is a landlocked knot of arid mountains without the sort of sheltered, arable geography that is likely to give rise to a stable much less economically viable state. Any military

reality that the Americans imposed would last only so long as US forces remained in the country.

The alternative now being pursued is the current effort at Vietnamization of the conflict as a means of facilitating a full US withdrawal. In order to keep the country from returning to the sort of anarchy that gave rise to Al-Qaeda, the United States needed a local power to oversee matters in Afghanistan. The only viable alternative - though the Americans had been berating it for years - was Pakistan.

If US and Pakistan interests could be aligned, matters could fall into place rather quickly - and so they did once Islamabad realized the breadth and dangerous implications of its domestic insurgency. The five-year, $7.5 billion US aid package to Pakistan approved in 2009 not only helped secure the arrangement, it likely reflects it. An unprecedented counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaign conducted by the Pakistani military continues in the country’s tribal belt.

While it has not focused on all the individuals and entities Washington might like, it has created real pressure on the Pakistani side of the border that has facilitated efforts on the Afghan side. For example, Islamabad has found a dramatic increase in American unmanned aerial vehicle strikes tolerable because at least some of those strikes are hitting Pakistani Taleban targets, as opposed to Afghan Taleban targets. The message is that certain rules cannot be broken without consequences.

Ultimately, with long experience bleeding the Soviets in Afghanistan, the United States was inherently wary of becoming involved in Afghanistan. In recent years, it has become all too clear how distant the prospect of a stable Afghanistan is. A tribal-ethnic balance of power overseen by Pakistan is another matter entirely, however. The great irony is that such a success could make the region look remarkably like it did on Sept 10, 2001.

This would represent a reversal of India’s recent fortunes. In 10 years, India has gone from a historic low in the power balance with Pakistan to a historic high, watching US support for Pakistan shift to pressure on Islamabad to do the kinds of things (if not the precise actions) India had long clamored for. But now, US and Pakistani interests not only appear aligned again, the two countries appear to be laying groundwork for the incorporation of elements of the Taleban into the Afghan state. The Indians are concerned that with American underwriting, the Pakistanis not only may be about to re-emerge as a major check on Indian ambitions, but in a form eerily familiar to the sort of state-militant partnership that so effectively limited Indian power in the past. They are right. The Indians also are concerned that Pakistani promises to the Americans about what sort of behavior militants in Afghanistan will be allowed to engage in will not sufficiently limit the militants’ activities - and in any event will do little to nothing to address the Kashmiri militant issue. Here, too, the Indians are probably right. The Americans want to leave - and if the price of departure is leaving behind an emboldened Pakistan supporting a militant structure that can target India, the Americans seem fine with making India pay that price.— Stratfor

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SPOTLIGHT

Friday, May 7, 2010

Sandra Bullock: ‘Why I hate romantic comedies’ andra Bullock has been doing interviews all day in a Beverly Hills hotel suite, but she’s still full of energy when we meet, and is as witty and self-mocking as a fan might expect from her film roles. Oddly, perhaps, she’s rather more slender and pretty in the flesh than on screen.

We’re here to talk about her performance in her new film The Blind Side, which is based on a true story - the film for which she has since won an Oscar. She plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a well-heeled, white Memphis woman who takes in a homeless black teenager, a giant, almost silent man-child called Michael Oher, then mentors him through high school to a football scholarship at her alma mater, the University of Mississippi.

The film could not have served her better, but then last year was a good year, professionally at least, for Bullock. Indeed if ever an actor had a full-spectrum, 360-degree banner year to celebrate, it was Sandra Bullock in 2009. (“Hey, every year’s a banner year!” she mock-protests.) First The Proposal, a romantic comedy of the type she has been honing to a fine, gleaming point for about a decade now, made an estimated $320m at the box-office on a mere $40m outlay. Meanwhile, The Blind Side, late in the year, crossed over in its second and third weekends to a more conservative audience that often dodges Hollywood product. Directed by John Lee Hancock, it has made more money than any previous movie featuring a single above-thetitle female star: $265m and counting.

As often happens in the Hollywood crapshoot, Bullock was initially underwhelmed by the part that was to win her an Oscar. “I mean, I loved the story but I didn’t know how to play her - and it was a while before I got there,” she says. “The director said, after

S

about eight months, ‘Why don’t you go and see Leigh Anne and see what I’m talking about?

It’ll explain her.’ I met her and was really blown away by the energy she had. I stopped thinking about it like an actor just seeing a part, and the story is what finally got me.”

Faith, family, and football The Blind Side comes adorned with aspects of casting and storyline - especially its emphasis on the three F-words of the South: Faith, Family, and Football - that seem

designed to court a more conservative audience. Country superstar Tim McGraw plays husband Sean Tuohy, a franchiserestaurant millionaire. The film’s biggest laugh comes when McGraw, discovering the tutor they have hired for their adopted black son is a liberal, says to his wife: “Who’d have thought we’d have a black son before we ever met a real live Democrat?”

But Bullock disavows any plan to aim for that slice of the market, even when I suggest that such a move is fully in the spirit of the age of Obama, reaching sincerely across the

She won an Oscar for a dramatic role in The Blind Side, so could this be the end of Sandra Bullock, ‘romcom chick’?

Plus, she explains why playing a Christian Republican was so difficult for her.

aisle to an audience that often feels scorned by liberal Hollywood. “Nope, not on my part, and I know it wasn’t on the director’s part,” she says, shaking her head adamantly. “[The Tuohys] are devout Christians and they’re Republicans and they sure love their football.

Me? I know nothing about Christianity, nothing about football, and I’m not a Republican. But John Lee Hancock had always told me this is a mother-son story that just happened to involve people that you might normally pass judgment on. I go, ‘Hmmm . . . white, Southern, Christian, Republican . . . not

Friday, May 7, 2010 the kind of people I feel comfortable around, because they’re usually not appreciative of me, or the lifestyle I supposedly lead. So I automatically assume that they’ll reject me because of all that. But this family was the exact opposite.”

In the movie Bullock has a well-crafted Memphis accent and frosted-blond Big Hair, and the transformation is fun to watch - “You know, I would not make a good blonde; it’s just too much work” - but the Alpha-Mom role never really strays far from the no-nonsense, stiff-necked workaholics Bullock plays in many of her comedies (“art imitating life!” she chortles).

I task Bullock with some of the things that have troubled people about The Blind Side.

Some have called it “Precious for white conservatives”, noting that Oher, the black teenager at its heart, is either a cipher for white-paternalist guilt or just the means by which a rich white lady finds another side of her soul. And we really don’t know much more about Michael Oher at the end than we did at the beginning. In response, Bullock seizes merely on the notion that it’s rightwing. “Well, of course it’s rightwing. They’re rightwing characters, but I want to know - what parts [of the actual movie] are rightwing? I mean the family are Republicans, so that’s certainly rightwing, but otherwise I don’t know what it means. Aren’t we supposed to show both sides? People go, what is the hardest thing about playing this? And I go, playing a Christian Republican - and making sure I believed what I said!”

So it’s not the movie’s fault that Sarah Palin likes it? “Oh Jesus! Please!” she guffaws, rolling her eyes, more at the mention of Palin than at the question (I think). “If it hadn’t been successful people never would have said it was rightwing, but it is successful so I think they’ve just gotta hack away at it somehow.”

Celebrity At 45, Bullock is a mega-star, but despite all the hit films she has starred in, she has never seemed at ease with the rigmarole that goes with being a celebrity. I ask her - and this is of course a while before she wins the Oscar - how the whole pre-Oscar whirl is treating her. “Leaving my house and getting on to a red carpet is always crazy for me, because you have to find a way to be comfortable in the most uncomfortable situation imaginable. How do you talk yourself down so it’s all water off a duck’s back? It’s a world that’s not mine - I just come in and do my job and then go back home.”

This is, of course, self-deprecatory rhetorical boilerplate in the time-honoured best actress nominee tradition. She knows it, I know it. In reality, Bullock has been working the talk-shows for weeks now, literally morning (Good Morning America, The Today Show), noon (Oprah, The View), and night (Letterman, Leno, et al), although she is laying off a bit now that the momentum seems to be going her way. In the room next door to where we’re talking is Bullock’s publicist Cheryl Maisel, a powerhouse PR consultant previously associated with Tom Cruise and the Beckhams, so obviously nothing is being left to chance here. There is a machine behind this Oscar bid, as there is with all the others, but its gears and cogs grind away offstage, only dimly audible to us civilians.

Just to balance her karma, Bullock also won the Golden Raspberry award for worst actress for her third movie of 2009, All About Steve.

The film was a thudding flop, reeking of the delayed-release shelf, about a slightly eccentric woman love-stalking a TV newsman.

“You’ve gotta take both sides,” she says, when I ask her how she feels about the nomination. “If you take either one too seriously, shame on you, and if you disregard the other because it’s not all you want it to be, then shame on you too. You should be a good sport about it - we’re not curing cancer here.”

Private life Part of the reason why Bullock has always seemed a bit different from your common-or-

SPOTLIGHT garden Hollywood A-lister is her slightly unusual choice of spouse, and - until last week anyway - how private she has managed to keep her private life. Her husband of five years is motorcycle builder and stuntman Jesse James, and when we meet, Bullock knocks back questions about their life together like deftly fielded shuttlecocks; they pile up at my feet unanswered, or barely answered. When I suggest there’s a similarity between Tuohy adopting Oher and Bullock (who has no children of her own) taking on James’s three children from previous relationships, she waves the suggestion away with a laugh. I ask about James and Bullock’s rough custody battle over the child he had with pornstar and jailbird Janine Lindemulder, and she merely deadpans, “Life sucks a lot of the time, everybody get used to it. That one had a happy ending.”

This may, with hindsight, have been a bit premature. Last week Bullock abruptly pulled

out of the London premiere of The Blind Side after James was accused, in a celebrity magazine, of having an affair with a “tattoo model”. He has since apologised publicly to Bullock for the grief his actions caused, although he denied the “majority” of the allegations.

Anyway, coincidentally or not, Bullock didn’t thank her husband when she got her Oscar. But she did thank her mother Helga profusely and tearfully. A German opera singer who married John Bullock, an American voice coach, and died in 2000, Helga raised Sandra and her sister Gesine partly in Germany and took them along on Bavarian singing tours in which they were encouraged to perform.

This experience obviously gave her a love of performance - voice lessons, ballet, practice every day. “I think on some level, yes, it was inborn. I thought it would be theatre in New York. That’s what you strive for, study for, dream of. We never had like, celebrity

Page 43 magazines in the house, just the Post and Newsweek, so that whole celeb path was not something we even thought of.”

As a teenager living in the same northern Virginia suburbs, I used to drive right past Bullock’s high school to my burger-slinging McJob, so I ask her which shopping mall she used to hang out at.

“Oh, Tyson’s Corner was the nearest, but I wasn’t allowed to go. I wasn’t allowed to get in a car with anyone except family until I was 18 years old. My mother was real smart, she pulled the reins very tight. I wasn’t allowed anywhere!”

The early years After studying drama at East Carolina University, she moved to New York, attended acting classes and appeared in the odd student movie and off-Broadway play before being spotted. “Getting into television was a total fluke. Random audition out of Backstage magazine. You get a part in a play, someone sees you, suddenly you’re zipped off to California and you’re like, ‘Oh this is odd, but hey, I’m working, paying the bills.’”

Her early roles weren’t auspicious; one job was second-string in Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Six Million Dollar Woman. “I wouldn’t trade those early parts for anything,” she says. “They’re all steps on the way to being right here.”

Thereafter she netted parts in movies large (Demolition Man) and smallish (Love Potion No.9) before her out-of-nowhere double-smash with Speed and While You Were Sleeping in 1994-5. The first briefly turned her into, as she says, “action-movie chick”, while the other signposted the “romcom chick” side that has since predominated, although she’s never been happy with the term.

“Usually comedy is only available to us ladies in the romantic comedy. That’s why I hate romantic comedies. I want to make comedic-comedies - let’s get back to being funny!”

The 90s saw Bullock co-starring with thenbankable male leads such as Matthew McConaughey (A Time To Kill), Harry Connick Jr (Hope Floats), and Ben Affleck (Forces of Nature), and since 1996, she has also produced many of her films. Although the last decade has seen the consolidation of an identifiable Sandra Bullock “brand”, or so it feels, she claims there’s “no brand”, that it’s all just a fluke.

Did she feel the world changing around her as she became better known? “Definitely. You realise after something like While You Were Sleeping that in the near future you’ll no longer encounter people who don’t have a preconceived idea of who you are. I saw that and it made me sad.”

Her remedy for this has been to keep her distance from Hollywood. She lives mainly an hour south of LA, and keeps houses in Texas and Georgia. Does she regard the movie business as meaningless and empty? Is she wary of celebrity culture?

“Oh yes. Because it is meaningless and empty!” she laughs. “I’m not wary of it, though - I’m just aware. It holds nothing for me, although it will hold a great table in a restaurant, when you’re at your peak. If you don’t have other real things in your life that you love just as much, then you will drown in it.”

Surprisingly for an Oscar-winner, but perhaps less surprising for a woman who knows that “the only power you have in Hollywood is the power to say no” and who has previously, and happily, taken extended hiatuses from film-making, Bullock has absolutely no idea what she’ll do next.

“There hasn’t been anything around lately that I want to produce - I mean literally stay there night and day and produce. Something might come up that I absolutely love, and I’ll do it, but really, there’s no plan, there’s no brand. It’s just timing that’s been very good this year and you know what? Next year it’s probably not going to be so good, and there’ll probably be the backlash, and the whole ‘What did we see in her in the first place?’ You know the way this happens - the tide will always go out, no matter what.”— Guardian

Page 44

Friday, May 7, 2010 CROSSWORD 981

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS 1. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

4. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

8. An accountant certified by the state.

11. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

12. South African term for `boss'.

13. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

14. A port in southern Sweden.

16. A native-born Israeli.

18. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

19. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

20. A state in northwestern North America.

21. A small cake leavened with yeast.

24. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

26. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

27. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

28. A federal agency that supervises carriers that transport goods and people between states.

34. A Loloish language.

37. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

38. 40th President of the United States (1911- ).

41. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

45. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

46. Consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity.

49. An associate degree in applied science.

50. (informal) Roused to anger.

51. In bed.

52. Government agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants.

53. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

54. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

55. A doctor's degree in preventive medicine.

DOWN 1. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

2. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

3. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

4. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

5. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

6. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

7. State in northeastern India.

8. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

9. (obstetrics) The number of live-born children a woman has delivered.

10. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

15. A master's degree in business.

17. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

22. The cry made by sheep.

23. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

25. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

29. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

30. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

31. A flexible container with a single opening.

32. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

33. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

35. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

36. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

39. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

40. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agriculture and patron of scribes and schools.

42. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on land.

43. The lean flesh of a fish that is often farmed.

44. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

47. (Irish) The sea personified.

48. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

Yesterday’s Solution

Page 45

Friday, May 7, 2010

COUNTRY CODES

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY A r i e s ( M a rc h 2 1 - A p r i l 1 9 ) Hip hop music definitely needs to include more tuba playing. I think that's what's missing from it. Likewise, the sport of skateboarding would benefit from having more dogs and monkeys that can master its complexities; the state of journalism could be improved by including more babies as reporters; and you Aries folks would significantly upgrade your life by learning how to play the game of cricket. (If you believe everything I just said, you'll be equally gullible when a little voice in your head tries to convince you to seek out things you don't really need or adopt behavior that doesn't suit you.)

Ta u r u s ( A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 2 0 ) Among the ancient Anglo-Saxons, the month of May was called "Thrimilce." The word referred to the fact that cows were so productive at this time of year that they could be milked three times a day. I thought of that as I studied your current astrological data, Taurus. During this year's Thrimilce, you are almost impossibly fertile and abundant and creative. My advice is to give generously, but not to the point of exhaustion: the equivalent of three times a day, but not four.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) In accordance with the astrological omens, I encourage you to seek out a concentrated period of sweet oblivion. Not a numb, narcotized limbo. Not a mournful unconsciousness that's motivated by a depressive urge to give up.

No, Gemini: The mental blankness that you cultivate should be generated by a quest to rejuvenate yourself, and it must have qualities of deliciousness and delight. You not only have a need to rest and recharge in a lush nowhere -- you also have the right to do so.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) A while back, I gave my readers this homework: "Tell a story about the time a divine intervention reached down and altered your course in one tricky, manic swoop." A woman named Kelly testified as follows: "At first I was disturbed to find I couldn't identify the last time Spirit descended into my midst with a forceful intervention. But finally I realized why: I have been working to make my whole life be guided by the Spirit of my Higher Power, as a deep undercurrent. That way I don't need bolts of lightening to fix my course." This is a useful lesson, Cancerian. It's an excellent time for you to follow Kelly's lead. Ask yourself how you could cultivate a deep, abiding undercurrent of the good influence you want to have guide you, thereby making lightning bolts of divine intervention unnecessary.

L e o ( J u l y 2 3 - Au g u s t 2 2 ) The exact height of Mt. Everest has proved challenging to determine. Even using modern scientific methods, different teams of surveyors have come up with varying measurements. The problem is not simply with the calculations themselves. The world's tallest peak is definitely evolving. Shifts in the earth's tectonic plates work to raise it up and move it northeastward. But there's also evidence that the melting of its glaciers due to climate change is causing it to shrink.

A member of one mountain climbing expedition said, "If Everest is bobbing up and down, we must hope to catch it on a low day." I bring this to your attention, Leo, in order to offer you a metaphor for the coming weeks. Your version of Mt. Everest is shriveling. Get ready to ascend.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Have you been lusting after spiritual traditions other than your own? Have you been fantasizing about cheating on the deity you've always been faithful to, and seeking a taboo liaison with a strange and exciting god from another part of reality? If so, Virgo, that's a good sign. I suspect you could use a few adjustments to your familiar relationship with the Divine Wow. After all, you have gone through a lot of changes since the last time you hammered out your definitive theories about the meaning of life. What made good sense for you back then can't be completely true for you any more. So feel free to let your mind wander in the direction of holy experiments.

Libra (September 23-October 22) When a girl is born, her ovaries already contain all the eggs she will ever have. What this means, of course, is that a part of you was in your grandmother's womb as well as in your mother's. Now would be an excellent time to celebrate that primal fact.

Your connection with your mother's mother is especially important these days. I suggest you meditate on what gifts and liabilities you received from her (genetic and otherwise), and how you might be able to make better use of the gifts even as you take steps to outwit the liabilities.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Who is the person most unlike you in the world? I suggest you study that person for tips on how to improve your life. What are the healthy experiences you are least attracted to?

You might want to meditate on exactly why they're so unappealing, and use that information to update your ideas about yourself. What are the places on the earth that you long ago decided you would never visit? I invite you to fantasize being in those places and enjoying yourself. Can you guess why I'm calling this Opposite Week, Scorpio?

Sagittarius (November 2 2 - D e c e m b e r 2 1 ) Are you in a trance or a rut or a jam? If so, excuse yourself. It's break time! You need spaciousness.

You need slack. You need to wander off and do something different from what you have been doing. If there's any behavior you indulge in with manic intensity, drop it for a while. If you've been caught up in a vortex of excruciating sincerity or torturous politeness, shake it off and be more authentic. Of all the good reasons you have for relaxing your death-grip, here's one of the best: Life can't bring you the sublime gift it has for you until you interrupt your pursuit of a mediocre gift.

Capricorn (December 22January 19) The state of Texas is a Capricorn, having become part of the United States on December 29, 1845. At that time, it was granted the right to divide itself into five separate states at some future date. So far it hasn't chosen to do so, and I would advise it to continue that policy. I extend the same counsel to all of my Capricorn readers. From an astrological perspective, this is not a favorable time for you to break yourself up into sub-sections. On the contrary: I suggest you sow unity and solidarity among your various parts.

Aquarius (January 20February 18) I'm all for recycling, composting, and carpooling.

Anything you and I can do to reduce our carbon footprint is brilliant. But I also agree with author Chris Hedges, who says, "The reason the ecosystem is dying is not because we still have a dryer in our basement. It is because corporations look at everything, from human beings to the natural environment, as exploitable commodities. It is because consumption is the engine of corporate profits." So beyond our efforts to save the earth by adjusting our own individual habits, we've got to revise the way corporations work. Now let's apply this way of thinking to the specific personal dilemma you're facing right now: It's important for you to change yourself, yes -- and I'm glad you're taking responsibility for your role in the complications -- but you will also have to transform the system you're part of.

Pisces (Febr uar y 19-March 20) Every year Americans fork over six times as much money on buying lottery tickets as they do on going to the movies, according to the documentary film *Lucky.* Yet many people who actually buck the improbable odds regard their "luck" as a curse. "Winning the lottery is like throwing Miracle-Gro on all your character defects," said one person. Let this serve as a cautionary tale for you in the coming months, Pisces. To get ready for the good things that are headed your way, you should work to purify any darkness that's lurking in your unconscious.

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Holland (Netherlands) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Ibiza (Spain) Iceland India Indian Ocean Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689 00241 00220 00995 0049 00233 00350 0030 00299 001473 00590 001671 00502 00224 00592 00509 0031 00504 00852 0036 0034 00354 0091 00873 0062 0098 00964 00353 0039 00225 001876 0081 00962 007 00254 00686 00965

Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Majorca Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nepal Netherlands (Holland) Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Nigar Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Ireland (UK) North Korea Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts Saint Lucia Saint Pierre Saint Vincent Samoa US Samoa West San Marino Sao Tone Saudi Arabia Scotland (UK) Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Toga Tonga Tokelau Trinidad Tunisia Turkey Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay

00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389 00261 0034 00265 0060 00960 00223 00356 00692 00596 00222 00230 00269 0052 00691 00373 00377 00976 001664 00212 00258 0095 00264 00977 0031 00599 00687 0064 00505 00227 00234 00683 00672 0044 00850 0047 00968 0092 00680 00507 00675 00595 0051 0063 0048 00351 001787 00974 0040 007 00250 00290 001869 001758 00508 001784 00684 00685 00378 00239 00966 0044 00221 00284 00232 0065 00421 00386 00677 00252 0027 0082 0034 0094 00249 00597 00268 0046 0041 00963 00886 00255 0066 00228 00676 00690 001868 00216 0090 00688 00256 00380 00976 0044 00598

WHAT'S ON

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Friday, May 7, 2010

AUK wins regional finals of Microsoft Gulf Imagine Cup

Farewell Abdulrahman E C of Kuwait Finance House receives a memento from Mather during a farewell party organised by his colleagues.

T

he Round Table Kuwait (RTK) recently held its annual General Meeting.

The meeting saw a change of guard at the Executive level. The new RTK Executive are Biji Tharakan -Chairman, Reghunath -Vice Chairman, K C Cherian MappilaiSecretary, Ben PaulTreasurer , Santhosh Abraham-Social Secretary, Eugene Koshy-Projects Secretary and Tony Verghese-Immediate Past Chairman.

Round Table Kuwait holds annual General Meeting

Birthday greetings Happy birthday to Preeti and Karthik Kumar. Best wishes from S Kumar, Sundari, Srinivas, Mohan, Jaiprakash, Poonam, Ekanki and Eshita

DUBAI: Microsoft Gulf announced the regional winners of the Gulf Imagine Cup 2010 after an intense competition amongst university student team finalists from the Gulf region.

The three member team from the American University of Kuwait celebrated their firstplace finish in the regional finals for their project ‘Multitouch tutoring system’. The second place went to the team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman for their project ‘Show me the traffic; the third runner-up was the team from University of Bahrain for their project ‘Cash Trash’ and the fourth place went to the team from University of Wollongong, Dubai for their project ‘EarIt’. In addition, another team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman was declared as the winner of the mobile application development category for their project ‘Find me a taxi’ supported by du. All four winning teams will represent the region and participate at the global finals of the Imagine Cup that is being held in Warsaw, Poland from July 3-8, 2010.

The American University of Kuwait team named ‘M A A’ developed a project titled ‘Multi-touch tutoring system for the physically challenged’.

The solution is educational software that uses markers and web-cams as methods for physically disable people to interact with computers. The initial prototype was tested in Kuwait schools and includes lessons for English, Math, Shapes and Science. Ten well known varsities from across the Gulf participated in the regional finals - five from

UAE; one from Bahrain; two from Oman and two from Kuwait.

Ehab Mostafa, Country Manager, Microsoft Kuwait said, “Microsoft is committed to supporting Kuwaiti youth and guiding the way towards the development of a digital knowledge economy in the country. We congratulate the team from American University of Kuwait and are very pleased with the high levels of technical innovation that these students have achieved through their project. Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world problems. This competition is about more than just creating software and gadgets; it’s about inspiring the next generation of technology and business leaders.”

Now in its eight year, the Imagine Cup encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that are focused on finding solutions to real world problems. Each team

had fifteen minutes to present their work to a panel of judges comprising of senior members from the enterprise and government sectors. This year’s event was supported by du telecom and Information Technology Authority (ITA) Oman.

“We are very proud of our students and excited to represent the university and the Gulf at the finals” said the team’s mentor, Dr. Amir Zeid from the American University of Kuwait. “We believe Imagine Cup is an excellent platform to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom. We commend Microsoft for giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and help them to realize their potential.” As the world’s premier student technology competition, the Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s initiative to encourage young people to apply their imagination and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference and address real-world issues.

The large turnout of families and children in the event created a festive mood and the entertained programs organized

by Mariyam Moidu, Sabitha Aneef, Shahina Zubair and presented by the children enthralled the packed audience.

Quiz program in cookery conducted by Dr Fazal Ghafoor was an additional attraction of the day.

The program chaired by Seleena Musthafa - President MES ladies wing said the prime aim of conducting these kinds of programs are to discover and promote the talents of women in

Kuwait and we are happy that our objective is met with remarkable response from the community. MES president Mohammed Rafi and FIMA president Siddeeque Valiyakath felicitated the function. The program started with recitation of versus from Holy Quran by Khadeeja Raeda and coordinated by Rabiya Saleh, Jaseena Nasarudeen, Shahana Ashraf and Shaheena Shihab.

Fibitha Khaleel - General Secretary MES ladies wing welcomed the audience and the event concluded with vote of thanks by Asma Abdulla.

MES celebrates fifth anniversary

T

he ladies wing of Muslim Educational Society (MES) Kuwait Unit recently held the fifth anniversary celebration with variety of programs at Kuwait Medical Association hall. Main attraction of the event was the cooking contest in which large number of participants enthusiastically took part. The competition was held in three categories namely Biriyani, desserts and snacks. The entries were judged by a panel of judges headed by Dr Lakshmi

Nair well known TV personality from Kerala for taste, artistic presentation and recipe.

Kalma Khader, won the first place in Biriyani category while Mubeena Nishad got the first prize for Dessert category and Subeena Shabeer bagged the first place in snacks. The remaining winners and their winning category are as follows: Biriyani: Nafeesath Abdul Muneer (2nd prize) , MShyne Faizal (3rd prize) . Consolation prizes: Rameeza B, Lisha Haroon, Aysha Majeed

Dessert: Shabna Mushtaq (2nd prize) Dr Razeena Shaji Hassan (3rd prize). Consolation prizes: Ahlam Sadath Ali, Dr Ruksana, Dr Radhika Guleri Snacks : Maryam Moidu (2nd prize) Musarrath Aydeed (3rd prize). Consolation prizes : Ramla Hamza, Fathima Gafoor, Sameera Sathar The public function was inaugurated by Ajai Malhotra, the Ambassador of India. He appreciated the commendable efforts of ladies wing for serving the community. Ambassador lauded the tremendous achievements made by MES ladies wing in a short span of time.

MES Kuwait Unit is a jewel in the crown of MES overseas units - said Dr Fazal Ghafoor, President MES Kerala State committee. Addressing the gathering as guest of honor Dr Fazal elaborated the role of women in the society is highly significant and important and it is heartening to note that girl students out number the boys and reaching great heights in the

educational field. MES is the largest Muslim educational organization in India runs hundreds of educational institutions including medical and engineering colleges. It also provides scholarships for the poor and needy students.

MES ladies wing recipe book titled ‘Art of Cooking’ released

by Ira Malhotra, wife of His Excellency the Ambassador of India and received by Ranta Sadiq and the Malayalam version of the book released by Dr Lakshmi Nair by giving Shameela Ghafoor. Jaseema Rafi briefed about the cook book.

WHAT'S ON

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 47

Embassy information EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India has further revamped and improved its Legal Advice Clinic at the Indian Workers Welfare Center, and made the free service available to Indian nationals on all five working days, i.e. from Sunday to Thursday every week. Kuwaiti lawyers would be available at the Legal Advice Clinic daily from Monday to Thursday, while Indian lawyers would be available on Sundays. Following are the free welfare services provided at the Indian Workers Welfare Center located at the Embassy of India: [i] 24x7 Helpline for Domestic Workers: Accessible by toll free telephone no. 25674163 from anywhere in Kuwait, it provides information and advice exclusively to Indian domestic sector workers (Visa No. 20) as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. [ii] Help Desk: It offers guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal, and other issues (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iii) Labour Complaints Desk: It registers labor complaints and provides grievance redressal service to Indian workers (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iv) Shelters: For female and male domestic workers in distress; (v) Legal Advice Clinic: Provides free legal advice to Indian nationals (Embassy premises; Kuwaiti lawyers 3 PM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday; Indian lawyers 2 PM to 4 PM on Sunday); and (vi) Attestation of Work Contracts: Private sector worker (Visa No. 18) contracts are accepted at the Embassy; 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday; Domestic sector worker (Visa No. 20) contracts are accepted at Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, Al-Abraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

BSK participates in Robotics event in Qatar

I

n April, a team of eight students from The British School of Kuwait departed for Doha, Qatar to take part in an exciting and challenging regional Robotics competition hosted by the University of Carnegie Mellon. The competition was part of the International Botball Educational Robotics Program which gives the students the opportunity to test their skills in the fields of designing, building and programming and create Autonomous Robots. At the

competition students from High schools all over the Gulf were given the chance to display the robots they had spent weeks building and most importantly, challenge other robots head on! The British School of Kuwait’s team, named BStroniKs, arrived at the competition as an amateur team, lacking any prior experience in robot building and with modest looking robots, compared to the other elaborate and sophisticated robots of the more experienced teams at the tournament.

Nevertheless, BStroniKs remained enthusiastic and managed to make it to the quarterfinals of the competition, despite being a first timer. The team also took the opportunity to mingle with the other teams present at the competition and learn from their experience and make new friends.

KES holds awards ceremony

H

onoured guest, Lulwa Al-Mulla, graced a glittering prize-giving Ceremony for Kuwait English School students, held at the Courtyard Marriott’s Arraya Ballroom on Wednesday evening. KES Vice Chairman, Madam Naela Al-Saddah, School High Management team, colleagues, parents, students and local media representatives attended the prestigious event.

“You have achieved real success and this has been gained by your hard work and your sincerity. You are also fortunate because you attend the best school in Kuwait - and you are making the most of your good fortune,” said Janet Carew in her address. Janet Carew, Senior High School Principal, was unable to attend her 22nd and final prize-giving due to the sudden illness of her husband John. Carew is currently in England where her husband is receiving treatment.

KES students achieved superb results again this year, with 98 percent of students obtaining passes ranging from A to E at IGCSE/GCSE level, with 89.4 percent obtaining grades from A to C, 98 percent of students taking GCE AS/A level exams obtained pass rates between A and E, and 87 percent from A to C.

“These are truly magnificent results which can hardly be surpassed and I congratulate the students unreservedly for such splendid achievements” Carew’s address read. “I hope they feel the same pride in themselves as I feel for them”.

“Besides all the activities and events, the academic side of the school is of course the most important aspect. All of the subject departments work tirelessly to ensure that all the students achieve their potential”. Carew said there is so much more to the students at KES than the academic or the extra-curricular activities. The students at KES are talented, diligent, respectful of each other and of others, polite and most of all an absolute delight to know.

Carew said students do not

just happen to be like this, but become like this because of the way their parents have raised them, and secondly because of their teachers. “The teachers genuinely care about the students and - looking at the whole person - academically and socially. The students become such well rounded individuals because of the dedication of the staff team who deal with them on a daily basis”, Carew added.

Carew thanked the yearheads for their care, guidance and leadership to both staff and students. Heads of Department were thanked for their care and leadership, as were all teachers and staff for ensuring KES students are the best and have the best opportunities. Carew attributed much of the success of the school to Chairman,

Mohammed Jassim Al-Saddah.

“Without his foresight, and his provision of the facilities and resources we have, there would be no Kuwait English School. I believe KES is the Number 1 foreign school in Kuwait and it is because of the chairman that we have been able to maintain this lofty position” she added.

Carew thanked Madam Naela for her support at school and personally. “I enjoy immensely our formal and informal discussions and I have come to really appreciate your sense of humor. Thank you so much for the trust you put in me, and for all that you do.” Carew thanked Madam Rula Al-Saddah, Financial Manager, for facilitating the running of the school. “I really appreciate all you do”.

Crew thanked Muhmood, School Manager, for his thought provoking banter and ever present smile. Sherwood and Price, Assistant Principals, and Lynskey, were thanked for friendship that Carew hopes will continue. “Our camaraderie and unity of purpose spurs me on in so many ways” Carew said to Gurnett, Primary Head Teacher, and Searle, KG and Prep Head Teacher. “Those who succeed are those who think they can” Carew said, wishing the students very successful futures.

Birthday party

IEI Kuwait Chapter celebrates Earth Day

E

arth Day was celebrated by the IEI Science Club members and their families by visiting Kuwait Museum (Kuwait House for National Works) on April 22, 2010. It was an interesting and educational experience for all as they were taken back to our planet in a realistic depiction of the Iraqi Invasion. In order to promote environmental awareness to the children, IEI has the ambitious program of providing a Green House to every school in Kuwait. The Science Club newsletter was released by Zaidi, Chairman, IEI Kuwait Chapter and the first copy was received by Ponnurangam. Akshatha Ilangovan, Joseph Panicker and Zaidi contributed articles to the newsletter. Astrid Jerald recited a self-composed poem and Ali Raza painted inspirational picture, both based on the pollution. It was a wonderful and unforgettable day for all.

Sara Yasser Al-Zayyat and her friend Fatma Mohamad celebrated their sixth birthday with their classmates and teacher Maha at the Fajr AlSabah School.

Page 48

Friday, May 7, 2010

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

IN CASE YOU ARE NOT TRAVELLING, YOUR PROPER CANCELLATION OF BOOKINGS WILL HELP OTHER PASSENGERS TO USE SEATS. Airlines Wataniya Airways Tunis Air Wataniya Airways Kuwait Gulf Air Wataniya Airways Pakistan Jazeera Turkish A/L Wataniya Airways Ethiopian Jazeera Jazeera DHL Kuwait Emirates Etihad Qatari Air France Jazeera Jazeera British Kuwait Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Fly Dubai Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Emirates Arabia Kuwait Qatari Etihad Iran Air Wataniya Airways Gulf Air Middle East Wataniya Airways Jazeera Yemenia Jazeera Egypt Air Jazeera Kuwait Wataniya Airways United A/L Royal Jordanian Jazeera Fly Dubai Wataniya Airways Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Qatari Kuwait Bahrain Air Mihin Lanka Jazeera Etihad Emirates Gulf Air Wataniya Airways Saudi Arabian A/L Arabia Jazeera Jazeera Srilankan

Arrival Flights on Friday 07/05/2010 Flt Route 188 Bahrain 327 Tunis/Dubai 306 Cairo 544 Cairo 211 Bahrain 408 Beirut 215 Karachi 241 Amman 772 Istanbul 322 Sharm El Sheikh 620 Addis Ababa 267 Beirut 513 Sharm El Sheikh 370 Bahrain 1782 Jeddan 853 Dubai 305 Abu Dhabi 138 Doha 6770 Paris 503 Luxor 527 Alexandria 157 London 416 Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur 481 Sabiha 206 Islamabad 302 Mumbai 053 Dubai 676 Dubai 352 Cochin 284 Dhaka 362 Colombo 855 Dubai 121 Sharjah 286 Chittagong 132 Doha 301 Abu Dhabi 619 Lar 182 Bahrain 213 Bahrain 404 Beirut 102 Dubai 165 Dubai 825 Sanaa 171 Dubai 610 Cairo 457 Damascus 672 Dubai 432 Damascus 982 Washington Dc Dulles 800 Amman 525 Alexandria 057 Dubai 422 Amman 257 Beirut 552 Damascus 744 Dammam 134 Doha 546 Alexandria 344 Bahrain 403 Colombo/Dubai 427 Bahrain 303 Abu Dhabi 857 Dubai 215 Bahrain 402 Beirut 510 Riyadh 125 Sharjah 367 Deirezzor 239 Amman 227 Colombo/Dubai

Time 00:30 00:35 00:50 00:50 01:05 01:05 01:15 01:15 01:15 01:20 01:45 01:55 02:00 02:15 02:15 02:25 02:55 03:25 03:25 05:30 06:10 06:30 06:35 06:40 07:15 07:50 07:55 08:00 08:05 08:10 08:20 08:25 08:40 08:45 09:00 09:25 10:40 10:45 10:45 10:50 11:05 11:15 12:00 12:50 12:55 13:10 13:15 13:35 13:35 13:35 13:50 13:50 14:10 14:10 14:35 14:40 15:05 15:30 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:40 17:45 18:00

Jazeera Wataniya Airways Kuwait Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Indian Kuwait Fly Dubai Oman Air Wataniya Airways Middle East Jet A/W Rovos Saudi Arabia Wataniya Airways Jazeera DHL Gulf Air Kuwait Qatari Jazeera United A/L Emirates Jazeera Lufthansa Jazeera Egypt Air Shaheen Air KLM Egypt Air Wataniya Airways

497 304 166 106 542 502 618 177 614 674 774 102 575 562 061 647 612 402 572 081 506 404 459 372 217 786 136 693 981 859 429 636 185 612 441 0447 606 108

Riyadh Cairo Paris/Rome Dubai Cairo Beirut Doha Dubai Bahrain Dubai Riyadh New York/London Chennai/Goa Amman Dubai Muscat Sabiha Beirut Mumbai Baghdad Jeddah Beirut Damascus Bahrain Bahrain Jeddah Doha Shiraz Bahrain Dubai Bahrain Frankfurt Dubai Cairo Lahore/Karachi Amsterdam/Bahrain Luxor Dubai

Departure Flights on Friday 07/05/2010 Airlines Flt Route Bangladesh 044 Dhaka India Express 390 Mangalore/Kozhikode Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt Indian 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai Pakistan 206 Lahore Tunis Air 328 Tunis Turkish A/L 773 Istanbul Ethiopian 620 Bahrain/Addis Ababa Pakistan 216 Karachi DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 306 Abu Dhabi Qatari 139 Doha Air France 6770 Dubai/Hong Kong Wataniya Airways 101 Dubai Jazeera 524 Alexandria Jazeera 164 Dubai Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 181 Bahrain Jazeera 456 Damascus Wataniya Airways 431 Damascus British 156 London Jazeera 256 Beirut Kuwait 545 Alexandria Fly Dubai 054 Dubai Jazeera 170 Dubai Kuwait 177 Frankfurt/Geneva Kuwait 671 Dubai Kuwait 551 Damascus Wataniya Airways 421 Amman Arabia 122 Sharjah

18:05 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:50 18:55 19:05 19:20 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:40 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:20 20:30 20:30 20:35 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:30 22:40 22:55 23:00 23:10 23:15 23:55 Time 00:15 00:25 00:50 01:05 01:10 01:25 02:15 02:30 02:30 03:15 03:45 04:00 05:00 05:15 06:50 07:00 07:00 07:45 07:50 08:05 08:10 08:25 08:25 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:55 09:00 09:10 09:10 09:20

Emirates Kuwait Qatari Etihad Gulf Air Wataniya Airways Iran Air Middle East Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Wataniya Airways Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait Yemenia Kuwait Egypt Air Jazeera Royal Jordanian Wataniya Airways Kuwait Fly Dubai United A/L Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Qatari Rovos Bahrain Air Etihad Mihin Lanka Emirates Wataniya Airways Gulf Air Jazeera Arabia Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Srilankan Jazeera Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Fly Dubai Kuwait Kuwait Oman Air Middle East Jet A/W Wataniya Airways Gulf Air Saudi Arabian A/L DHL Kuwait Qatari Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Emirates Jazeera Jazeera United A/L Kuwait Egypt Air

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

856 117 133 302 214 401 618 405 303 743 541 611 366 238 103 825 501 611 426 801 105 561 058 982 176 496 673 403 617 785 458 773 613 135 082 345 304 404 858 305 216 262 126 511 184 692 228 428 107 283 361 062 331 343 648 403 571 187 218 507 373 675 137 203 301 612 860 526 636 981 411 613

Dubai New York Doha Abu Dhabi Bahrain Beirut Lar Beirut Cairo Dammam Cairo Sabiha Deirezzor Amman London Doha/Sanaa Beirut Cairo Bahrain Amman Dubai Amman Dubai Bahrain Dubai Riyadh Dubai Beirut Doha Jeddah Damascus Riyadh Bahrain Doha Baghdad Bahrain Abu Dhabi Dubai/Colombo Dubai Cairo Bahrain Beirut Sharjah Riyadh Dubai Shiraz Dubai/Colombo Bahrain Dubai Dhaka Colombo Dubai Trivandrum Chennai Muscat Beirut Mumbai Bahrain Bahrain Jeddah Bahrain Dubai Doha Lahore Mumbai Lahore Dubai Alexandria Aleppo Washington Dc Dulles Bangkok/Manila Cairo

09:40 10:00 10:00 10:10 11:35 11:35 11:40 11:50 11:50 11:55 12:00 12:05 12:20 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:00 13:55 13:55 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:35 14:50 14:55 15:00 15:10 15:10 15:35 15:45 15:50 16:05 16:20 16:20 17:00 17:25 17:35 17:40 18:05 18:05 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:35 18:35 18:45 19:10 19:10 19:40 20:00 20:20 20:50 21:00 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:30 21:35 21:55 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:55 23:10 23:20 21:35 23:40 23:40 23:55

CLASSIFIEDS

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 49

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya behind Caesars bakery one room and separate bathroom only Keralite Christian bachelors. Call 66452684.

(C 2216) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya from May end onwards, for executive bachelors or a couple, in a CAC bldg with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, near Integrated School, Noor stores bldg, spacious rooms and big hall. Call 66752359, 97635928. (C 2218) 5-5-2010 Sharing available for a single decent Filipina lady to share with a single lady (Filipina) in Hawally, Fourth Ring Road, opposite Jabriya, rent KD 58. Tel: 66189873. (C 2202) 4-5-2010 Sharing accommodation available in Salmiya with a Keralite Christian family.

CAC building, one room and separate bathroom.

Rent KD 90. Contact: 99412052.

(C 2212) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for visiting family or two working ladies or couples in new CAC fully furnished two bedroom, two bathroom (attached) flat from 7th June 2010.

Contact: 99494359.

(C 2207)

Furnished sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya with Keralite family, for a decent bachelor or couple. Contact 66576595 or 24346903 after 6 pm. (C 2206) 3-5-2010

FOR SALE Hummer H2, 2003, bronze color, very good condition, Price KD 5,250. Call: 97487676. (C 2217) Honda Accord, 2004 model, 4 doors, full options, 12,000 km, golden color.

Call: 55522942. (C 2215) Pentium 4, Intel, 30 GB HDD, 256 MB RAM, CD ROM, 56K modem, sound card, speakers, 17” CRT monitor, ready for Inernet KD 25. P III, with 17” CRT monitor KD 15. Contact: 66244192. (C 2214) 5-5-2010 Toyota Corolla XLi, 1.8L, model 2007, golden beige color, excellent condition, done 61,000 kms only, cash price KD 2,850.

Contact: 97213518. (C 2202) 4-5-2010 Toyota Corolla for sale from middle of May, white, 1.8, 2002, 169,000 kms, excellent condition, price KD 1,600.

Contact: 99593162 after 5 pm. (C 2211) 3-5-2010

SITUATION WANTED I need job as accountant, I have 3 years experience in Kuwait. I can use difficult

packages, good MIS skills (Oracle reporting system). I also have driving license.

Call: 55355954. (C 2210)

MISCELLANEOUS NYF Kuwait offers a rare and golden opportunity of 3 days silence meditation course from 13th May to 15th May at Salmiya by well experienced visiting master from India. For details contact: 25635450/ 99838117/ 99315825.

(C 2213)

SITUATION VACANT Housemaid wanted for British family, must speak English and like dogs, own residency, full-time and live-in, Salwa.

Tel: 99301909.

(C 2208) 3-5-2010

CHANGE OF NAME I, Maru Thappan Murugan holder of Indian Passport No: B5516428, have embraced Islam and hereby change my name to Mubarak. (C 2209) 3-5-2010

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists: Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 5622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 5752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 5321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 5739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 5757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 5732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 5732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT): Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz

4555050 Ext 510 5644660 5646478 5311996 5731988 2620166 5651426

General Practitioners: Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi Dr. Yousef Al-Omar Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem Dr. Kathem Maarafi Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae

4555050 Ext 123 4719312 3926920 5730465 5655528 4577781 5333501

Urologists: Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 2641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 2639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 2616660

Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 5313120 Plastic Surgeons: Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari Dr. Abdel Quttainah

2547272 2617700 5625030/60

Family Doctor: Dr Divya Damodar

3729596/3729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

2635047 2613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe Dr. Verginia s.Marin Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly Dr. Salem soso

3729596/3729581 572-6666 ext 8321 2655539 5343406 5739272 2618787

General Surgeons: Dr. Abidallah Behbahani 5717111 Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 2610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 5327148

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra Dr. Mobarak Aldoub Dr Nasser Behbehani

5728004 5355515 4726446 5654300/3

Paediatricians: Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed Dr. Zahra Qabazard Dr. Sohail Qamar Dr. Snaa Maaroof Dr. Pradip Gujare Dr. Zacharias Mathew

5340300 5710444 2621099 5713514 3713100 4334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada) 5655535

2639939 2666300

Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 5339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 5658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 5329924 Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

5722291 2666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 5330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 5722290

Dentists: Dr Anil Thomas Dr. Shamah Al-Matar Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

3729596/3729581 2641071/2 2562226 2561444 2619557 2525888 5653755 5620111

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman 2636464 Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 5322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali 2633135

Neurologists: Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 5633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 5345875

Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 4555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 5339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555

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Friday, May 7, 2010

TV Listings Orbit /Showtime Channels

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Big Love Dawson’s Creek Life on Mars ER Dawson’s Creek Sons of Anarchy CSI New York Big Love Without a Trace Ghost Whisperer Life on Mars ER CSI New York Sons of Anarchy Life on Mars Dawson’s Creek Without a Trace Ghost Whisperer Big Love Beauty and the Geek The Pacific Survivor The Closer Rescue Me

00:15 Dark Days in Monkey City 00:45 Animal Cops Houston 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Uakari ‚ Secrets of the English Monkey 03:30 Animal Cops Houston 04:25 Animal Precinct 05:20 Animal Battlegrounds 05:45 Monkey Business 06:10 E-Vets: The Interns 06:35 SSPCA: On the Wildside 07:00 Wildlife SOS 07:25 Pet Rescue 07:50 Orangutan Island 08:15 Dark Days in Monkey City 08:45 Austin Stevens Adventures 09:40 Monkey Business 10:05 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 10:30 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 10:55 Monkey Life 11:20 SSPCA: On the Wildside 11:50 Animal Precinct 12:45 E-Vets: The Interns 13:10 Pet Rescue 13:40 Animal Cops Houston 14:35 Wildlife SOS 15:00 SSPCA: On the Wildside 15:30 Orangutan Island 15:55 Dark Days in Monkey City 16:25 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 16:50 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 17:20 Monkey Business

00:15 00:45 01:15 01:45 02:30 03:05 03:30 03:50 04:10 04:35 04:55 05:15 05:40 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:05 07:25 07:50 08:10 08:30 08:55 09:15 09:40 10:25 11:15 11:45 12:15 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:15 15:45 16:15

The Fast Show Hyperdrive Carrie And Barry The Weakest Link 2 Point 4 Children Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Teletubbies Me Too Fimbles Bargain Hunt The Life Of Mammals 2 Point 4 Children 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt 2 Point 4 Children 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link

17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00

Doctors Eastenders Blackadder II Blackadder II Coast The Weakest Link

00:20 00:45 01:10 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:40 04:10 04:40 05:05 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:25 08:10 09:00 09:50 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 12:15 12:40 13:05 13:55 14:40 15:30 16:00 16:30 16:55 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:40 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:50 22:40 23:30 23:55

Indian Food Made Easy Ching’s Kitchen The Home Show Little Angels Little Angels Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge Cash In The Attic USA Hidden Potential Little Angels Little Angels MasterChef Goes Large MasterChef Goes Large Cash In The Attic USA Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA Hidden Potential Indian Food Made Easy Ching’s Kitchen The Home Show Little Angels Little Angels Come Dine With Me Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA Hidden Potential Indian Food Made Easy Ching’s Kitchen The Home Show Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me MasterChef Goes Large The Naked Chef The Naked Chef Living In The Sun What Not To Wear Come Dine With Me MasterChef Goes Large MasterChef Goes Large

01:30 04:00 06:00 09:00 PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00

Gomorra-18 Ripley’s Game-PG15 Meet Joe Black-PG15 Travellers And Magicians-

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 02:55 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:55 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:30 12:55 13:20 14:15 15:10 16:05 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Stolen Summer-PG When We Were Kings-PG15 The Sting-PG15 Ensemble C’est Tout-PG15 Mamma Mia-PG15 Lars And The Real Girl-PG15 Cocaine Cowboys Ii-18

Border Security Destroyed in Seconds Miami Ink Overhaulin’ World’s Toughest Tools Extreme Engineering Mythbusters How Does it Work?

Dirty Jobs Extreme Engineering Wreck Rescue Overhaulin’ Mythbusters Ultimate Survival World’s Toughest Tools Border Security How It’s Made How Does it Work?

American Chopper Miami Ink Mythbusters Dirty Jobs World’s Toughest Jobs Border Security Overhaulin’ Destroyed in Seconds How It’s Made How Does it Work?

Industrial Junkie Industrial Junkie American Chopper Heartland Thunder

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:10 05:40 06:10 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:55 10:20 10:50 11:45 12:15 13:10 13:35 14:30 15:25 15:55 16:50 17:45 18:40 19:05 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 22:00 22:25

Perfect Disaster Science of the Movies Gamer Revolution Beyond Tomorrow Scrapheap Challenge How Does That Work?

Weird Connections Sci-Fi Science Perfect Disaster Scrapheap Challenge Sci-Fi Saved My Life Science of the Movies Stunt Junkies Weird Connections Perfect Disaster How Does That Work?

Monster Moves Sci-Fi Science Science of the Movies NYC: Inside Out How Does That Work?

Sci-Fi Saved My Life Brainiac Monster Moves The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Space Pioneer How It’s Made How It’s Made Mythbusters The Gadget Show The Gadget Show

00:00 Jungle Junction 00:20 Special Agent Oso 00:45 Handy Manny 01:10 Imagination Movers 01:35 Jungle Junction 02:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:50 Handy Manny 03:10 Jungle Junction 03:20 Special Agent Oso 03:35 Fairly Odd Parents 04:00 Phineas & Ferb 04:25 Suite Life On Deck 04:45 Wizards Of Waverly Place 05:10 Hannah Montana 05:35 Jonas 06:00 Handy Manny 06:10 Jungle Junction 06:35 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Handy Manny 07:20 Imagination Movers 07:45 Jungle Junction 08:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:00 Handy Manny 09:20 Jungle Junction 09:35 Special Agent Oso 09:45 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 10:10 Fairly Odd Parents 10:35 A Kind Of Magic 11:00 I Got A Rocket 11:25 Wizards Of Waverly Place 11:45 Phineas & Ferb 12:10 Suite Life On Deck 12:35 Replacements 12:55 Hannah Montana 13:20 Kim Possible 13:40 I Got A Rocket 14:05 Fairly Odd Parents 14:30 Phineas & Ferb 14:55 Replacements 15:15 A Kind Of Magic 15:40 Wizards Of Waverly Place 16:00 Hannah Montana 16:25 Sonny With A Chance 16:45 Fairly Odd Parents 17:10 Phineas & Ferb 17:35 Suite Life On Deck 18:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 18:25 Hannah Montana 18:45 The Replacements 19:00 Aladdin & The King Of Thieves 20:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 21:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody

00:15 Streets of Hollywood 00:40 E!ES 01:30 25 Most Stylish 02:20 Sexiest 03:15 THS 05:05 Dr 90210 06:00 25 Most Sensational Hollywood Meltdowns 07:45 25 Most Stylish 08:35 E! News 09:00 The Daily 10 09:25 Keeping Up with the

Kardashians 09:50 Keeping Up with the Kardashians 10:15 THS 12:00 E! News 12:25 The Daily 10 12:50 Bank of Hollywood 13:40 Dr 90210 14:30 THS 16:15 Behind the Scenes 16:40 Behind the Scenes 17:10 Pretty Wild 17:35 Pretty Wild 18:00 E! News 18:25 The Daily 10 18:50 Streets of Hollywood 19:15 Battle of the Hollywood Hotties 19:40 E! Investigates 20:30 E! Investigates 21:20 Kendra 21:45 Kendra 22:10 E! News 22:35 The Daily 10 23:00 Dr 90210 23:50 Wildest TV Show Moments

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:30 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

Chopped Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Iron Chef America Teleshopping Teleshopping Teleshopping Teleshopping Teleshopping Teleshopping Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Iron Chef America Iron Chef America Chopped Tyler’s Ultimate Great British Menu Daily Cooks Challenge 30 Minute Meals 30 Minute Meals Barefoot Contessa Barefoot Contessa Nigella Express Daily Cooks Challenge Barefoot Contessa Barefoot Contessa Grill It! with Bobby Flay Grill It! with Bobby Flay Tyler’s Ultimate Great British Menu Daily Cooks Challenge Barefoot Contessa Barefoot Contessa Nigella Express Food Network Challenge Iron Chef America Iron Chef America

02:00 Golf Central International LIVE From THE PLAYERS 04:00 The Golf Channel Programming TBA 05:00 MLB: Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers 08:00 PGA Tour: The Players Championship Rd. 1 Popnte Vedra Beach, FL 14:00 MLB: Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers 16:30 European Tour BMW Italian Open Rd. 2 Sevilla, 18:00 World Sport 2010 18:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 19:00 Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex 20:00 PGA Tour: The Players Championship Rd. 2 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:05 04:00 04:55 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30

A Haunting FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives Crime Scene Psychics Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghosthunters Forensic Detectives FBI Files CSU Diagnosis: Unknown

The Wrestler on Show Movies 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Forensic Detectives FBI Files Diagnosis: Unknown Solved Mystery ER Forensic Detectives FBI Files CSU Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives FBI Files Diagnosis: Unknown Solved Mystery ER Extreme Forensics Extreme Forensics Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:10 Cuba 03:10 Something Wild (Orion) 05:00 Soda Cracker 06:35 Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf 08:05 Great Balls Of Fire 09:50 Crusoe 11:25 Joey 13:00 Death Rides A Horse 14:55 Sticky Fingers 16:20 Lady In White 18:10 The Winter People 19:50 Nicholas Nickleby 22:00 Body Of Evidence 23:40 Moonlight & Valentino

00:00 Bondi Rescue 00:30 Lonely Planet 01:30 Bondi Rescue 02:00 Bondi Rescue 02:30 Wild Rides 03:00 First Ascent 03:30 Jailed Abroad 04:30 Chasing Che 05:00 Amazing Adv Of Nobody Europe 05:30 Word Travels:The Truth Behind 06:00 Bondi Rescue 06:30 Lonely Planet 07:30 Bondi Rescue 08:00 Bondi Rescue 08:30 Wild Rides 09:00 First Ascent 09:30 Jailed Abroad 10:30 Chasing Che 11:00 Amazing Adv Of Nobody Europe 11:30 Word Travels:The Truth Behind 12:00 Bondi Rescue 12:30 Lonely Planet

13:30 Don’t Tell My Mother...

14:30 4Real 15:00 First Ascent 15:30 Jailed Abroad 16:30 Chasing Che 17:00 Amazing Adv Of Nobody Europe 17:30 Word Travels:The Truth Behind 18:00 Bondi Rescue 18:30 Lonely Planet 19:30 Don’t Tell My Mother...

20:30 4Real 21:00 First Ascent 21:30 Jailed Abroad 22:30 Chasing Che 23:00 Amazing Adv Of Nobody Europe 23:30 Word Travels:The Truth Behind

00:00 Modern Family 00:30 New adventures of old Christine 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 Family Guy 03:30 Hung 04:00 Saturday Night Live 05:00 Modern Family 05:30 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 07:00 Just Shoot me!

07:30 Simpsons 08:00 Frasier 08:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 09:00 The Nanny 09:30 Drew Carey 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Just Shoot me!

11:00 Frasier 11:30 Hope & Faith 12:00 Saturday Night Live 13:00 New adventures of old Christine 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 14:00 The Nanny 14:30 Three sisters 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Family Biz 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 The Bernie Mac show 18:30 Dharma & Greg 19:00 Watching Ellie 19:30 Two and a half men 20:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

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Friday, May 7, 2010

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 Leno 05:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 Leno 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 Leno 23:00

What’s Good For You 10 Years Younger Look A Like The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Monique Show The Tonight show with Jay GMA (repeat) GMA Health What’s the Buzz What’s Good For You Look A Like 10 Years Younger Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The View The Ellen DeGeneres Show What’s Good For You GMA Live GMA Health What’s the Buzz The Tonight show with Jay Look A Like 10 Years Younger The View The Ellen DeGeneres Show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Tonight show with Jay The Monique Show

00:00 Prom Night-PG15 02:00 Joe’s Palace-18 04:00 Capturing Mary-PG15 06:00 The Pink Panther 2-PG15 08:00 College Road Trip-PG 09:30 Moondance Alexander-FAM 11:30 The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian-PG 14:00 And When Did You Last See Your Father-PG15 16:00 College Road Trip-PG 17:30 Speed Racer-PG 20:00 The Tale Of Despereaux-PG 22:00 The Wrestler-18

01:00 Palermo Hollywood-18 03:00 The Escapist-18 05:00 Devil’s Diary-PG15 07:00 House Of Fallen-PG15 09:00 The Collective-PG15 11:00 Circle-PG15 13:00 Spy Game-PG15 15:10 The Collective-PG15 17:00 The Underneath-PG15 19:00 Planet Of The Apes-PG15 21:00 New Town Killers-PG15 23:00 Return To House On Haunted Hill-PG15

00:00 Committed-PG15 02:00 The Birdcage-18 04:00 Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants 2-PG15 06:00 Crush-PG15 08:00 Paper Heart-PG15 10:00 Baby’s Day Out-PG 12:00 Superhero Movie-PG15 14:00 The War Of The Roses-PG15 16:00 Committed-PG15 18:00 Miss Conception-PG15 20:00 The Match-PG15 22:00 How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer-18

00:00 Mamma Moo And Crow-FAM 02:00 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-PG 04:30 The Wild Thornberrys Movie06:00 The Missing Lynx-PG 08:00 The Trumpet Of The SwanFAM 10:00 The Wild Thornberrys Movie12:00 Barbie In A Mermaid Tale14:00 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-PG 16:30 Cinderella-FAM 18:00 Max Keeble’s Big Move-PG 20:00 The Jungle Book III: Mowgli’s Adventure-FAM 22:00 Barbie In A Mermaid Tale-

00:00 Heroes 01:00 Hotel Babylon

02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Cold Case Lipstick Jungle Every Body Loves Raymond Home Improvement The Unusuals Emmerdale Huey’s Cooking Adventure Cold Case Every Body Loves Raymond Home Improvement Lipstick Jungle The Unusuals Cold Case Emmerdale Huey’s Cooking Adventure Every Body Loves Raymond Home Improvement Heroes Hotel Babylon The Unusuals Lipstick Jungle Better off Ted Billable Hours The Passion Flash Forwards The Unusuals Lipstick Jungle

20:00 20:04 20:45 23:00 23:45

00:00 Angry Planet 00:30 The Thirsty Traveler 01:00 How To Holiday Greener 01:30 Culture Shock 02:00 Distant Shores 02:30 Wild At Heart 03:00 Tokyo Revealed 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Planet Food 06:00 The Thirsty Traveler 06:30 Angry Planet 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Essential 08:30 Distant Shores 09:00 Top Travel 09:30 Culture Shock 10:00 Planet Food 11:00 The Thirsty Traveler 11:30 Angry Planet 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Chef Abroad 13:30 The Thirsty Traveler 14:00 Journey Into Wine-South Africa 14:30 Entrada 15:00 Top Travel 15:30 Culture Shock 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Essential 17:30 Chef Abroad 18:00 Planet Food 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Great Scenic RailwaysAustralia 22:00 Angry Planet 22:30 Culture Shock 23:00 Globe Trekker

01:30 Premier League World 02:00 Goals Goals Goals 02:30 Barclays Premier League Highlights 03:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 04:00 Premier League 06:00 Premier League Classics 06:30 Premier League Classics 07:00 Premier League World 07:30 Brazilian League Highlights 08:00 Premier League Darts 12:00 Premier League World 12:30 Premier League 14:30 Premier League 16:30 Barclays Premier League Highlights 17:30 Brazilian League Highlights 18:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 18:30 Premier League 20:30 Goals Goals Goals 21:00 Premier League World 21:30 Live Barclays Premier League Preview 22:30 Futbol Mundial 23:00 Premier League

01:00 European Tour Weekly 01:30 PGA European Tour 07:00 Live AFL Premiership 10:00 Total Rugby 10:30 Live Super 14 12:30 ICC Cricket World 13:00 Live International Rugby League 15:00 Total Rugby 15:30 AFL Premiership 18:00 ICC Cricket World 18:30 Total Rugby 19:00 International Rugby League 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 Premier League Preview Show 22:00 Premier League World 22:30 Super 14

00:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 01:00 Total Rugby 01:30 Premier League World 02:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 02:30 Premier League Darts 06:30 World Sport 07:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 10:30 Sea Master 11:00 World Sport 11:30 ICC Cricket World 12:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 12:30 Premier League Darts 16:30 Live PGA European Tour 19:30 V8 Supercars 20:00 Premier League World 20:30 NRL Premiership 22:30 AFL Premiership

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00

WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 113 Countdown WWE Vintage Collection NCAA Basketball UFC Unleashed WWE NXT V8 Supercars Highlights Australian Ironman

Code New Playlist Club 10 Playlist

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:00 Stars 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00

Hoot on SuperMovies 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

UAE National Race Day FIM World Cup Bushido WWE NXT NCAA Basketball UAE National Race Day V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Extra UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 113 Countdown WWE NXT WWE SmackDown WWE Bottomline UFC The Ultimate Fighter

01:30 Ten Inch Hero-18 03:15 The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas-PG15 05:00 10,000 B.C.-PG 07:00 Hoot-PG 09:00 Taking A Chance On LovePG15 11:00 Martian Child-PG 13:00 The Longshots-PG15 15:00 Madagascar 2-PG 17:00 The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas-PG15 19:00 The 11th Hour-U 21:00 Gran Torino-PG15 23:00 Saw V-R

00:20 02:15 04:00 07:00 08:40 10:30 12:20 13:50 15:40 17:40

The Hunger Two Weeks In Another Town The Alamo Key Largo Eight On The Lam The File Of The Golden Goose Living Free Kidnapped Never So Few The Screening Room

18:05 Lust For Life 20:05 Clash Of The Titans 22:00 Some Came Running

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:55 04:50 05:40 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:55 10:50 11:40 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 15:55 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:40

The Universe 3 Human Weapon Ice Road Truckers, 3 Life After People Evolve Dinosaur Secrets Prehistoric Mega Storms The Universe 3 Human Weapon Ice Road Truckers, 3 Life After People Evolve Dinosaur Secrets Prehistoric Mega Storms The Universe 3 Human Weapon Ice Road Truckers, 3 Life After People Evolve Dinosaur Secrets Prehistoric Mega Storms The Universe 3 Human Weapon Ice Road Truckers, 3 Ax Men 2 Gestapo The Universe Extreme Trains

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00

Dr 90210 Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane Dallas Divas & Daughters Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?

How Do I Look?

Dr 90210

05:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane Area How Do I Look?

Style Star Style Her Famous My Celebrity Home Style Star Dress My Nest Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?

How Do I Look?

Ruby Giuliana & Bill Clean House Clean House Comes Clean Dress My Nest What I Hate About Me Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?

How Do I Look?

Dallas Divas & Daughters Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane Jerseylicious Clean House Clean House Comes Clean Dress My Nest Peter Perfect How Do I Look?

01:00 01:04 02:00 02:45 05:00 05:04 08:00 08:04 08:45 13:00 13:04 13:50 16:00 16:04 16:45 18:00 18:45 19:00

Code Hit Us Urban Hit Playlist Code Playlist Code French Only Playlist Code Urban Hit Playlist Code Africa 10 Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Trace Video Mix

VH1 Rocks So 80’s Greatest Hits Vh1 Music Chill Out Vh1 Hits Vh1 Music Aerobic Top 10 We Are All Made Of Music For The Masses Vh1 Pop Chart Vh1 Music Music For The Masses Vh1 Music VH1 Viewer’s Jukebox Rock VH1 Viewer’s Jukebox Rock

00:00 Camp Lazlo 00:25 Samurai Jack 00:50 Megas Xlr 01:15 Out Of Jimmy’s Head 01:40 Chowder 02:05 Cow & Chicken 02:30 Cramp Twins 02:55 George Of The Jungle 03:20 Adrenalini Brothers 03:45 Eliot Kid 04:10 Ed, Edd N Eddy 04:35 Class Of 3000 05:00 The Powerpuff Girls 05:15 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 05:40 The Secret Saturdays 06:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 06:30 Ben 10 06:55 Best Ed 07:20 Samurai Jack 07:45 Cramp Twins 08:10 Eliot Kid 08:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 09:25 Chowder 09:50 Best Ed 10:15 Chop Socky Chooks 10:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 11:05 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 11:30 Foster’s 60 12:30 Squirrel Boy 12:55 Robotboy 13:20 Camp Lazlo 13:45 The Powerpuff Girls 14:10 Class Of 3000 14:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 15:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 15:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 15:50 Ben 10 16:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 16:40 Squirrel Boy 17:05 Eliot Kid 17:35 Casper’s Scare School

SPECTRUM

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he 26-year-old singer has no problem with getting older and can’t understand why women her age or younger have the painful anti-wrinkle treatment to keep them looking flawless. She said: “I try not to worry. I’ve got a few older friends and I always hear them going, ‘How old? 26? Ah, you’re a baby’, and I’m kind of like, ‘Maybe I should embrace it and not worry about looking old’. It scares me when I think that someone women have Botox at 25.” As well as avoiding cosmetic treatments, the pop star who recently separated from her soccer star husband Ashley Cole - has also admitted she will not be undergoing any new fitness or beauty regimes in readiness for the summer.

Discussing how she gets herself ready for beach holidays, she told more! magazine: “I just put on a bikini! I wouldn’t put that pressure on myself - you go on holiday to relax. It freaks me out when people ask me that. I’m like, ‘Prepare for the beach? That’s the one time I can scrape back my hair and slob. Don’t ask how I’m prepared! Now I’m worried!”

Friday, May 7, 2010

Cheryl Cole is ‘scared’ of Botox

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Katie Holmes seduces husband on stage atie Holmes serenaded her husband Tom Cruise in a sexy stage performance on Saturday. The ‘Thank You For Smoking’ actress - who has a daughter, four-year-old Suri, with her husband of three years - dressed in a floaty black halter-neck dress as she belted out ‘Whatever Lola Wants’ at The Motion Picture and Television Fund’s A Fine Romance Benefit at 20th Century Fox in Century City, California. An onlooker said: “It was quite a raunchy routine. Katie ruffled Tom’s hair, hitched up her skirt and at one stage even pushed him to the floor!” The 31-year-old actress strutted around to the musical number - which was from the musical ‘Damn Yankees’ - while a pianist accompanied her vocals and Tom portrayed her feuding love interest. Sitting centre stage whilst wearing a white shirt, the ‘Valkyrie’ star sat on a bench while the brunette beauty ran her fingers through her spouse’s hair, swished her ruffled skirt and gazed at him passionately. The performance ended on a romantic note when the 47-year-old actor took Katie in his arms, kissed her and leant her back in a seductive embrace. While the crowd burst into applause, the pair grinned to one another, curtseyed and left the stage hand-in-hand.

K

Selena Gomez is dating herself T

he actress-and-singer is glad her relationship with Jonas Brothers star Nick Jonas ended because being single means she can focus on what’s most important to her. Speaking about her relationship with the teen star, she said: “I’m happy that is all in the past now. I’m very much single, I’m dating myself now - I think if you don’t love yourself

first, no one else will love you.”

Selena and Nick - who previously romanced Miley Cyrus - dated on and off between 2008 and April this year. Although she has had hits with songs from her debut album ‘Kiss and Tell’ including ‘Falling Down’, Selena, 17, is looking forward to returning to the set of hit US TV show ‘Wizards of Waverley Place’. She explained: “I

love music, but acting is where I started and what I enjoy the most.”

The teen star is also set to appear in a new movie alongside Nicole Kidman, and admits she was terrified ahead of their first meeting. She said: “You always get nervous when you meet an actor you really respect. But Nicole is amazing. She’s so funny. I can’t wait to start shooting.”

Schreiber thrilled by Watts’ sex scene iev Schreiber loved Naomi Watts’ sex scene in her latest movie. The actor - who has two children, Alexander, two, and 16-month-old Samuel, with the actress described the intimate encounter between his long-term partner and Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Mother and Child’ as “smoking hot”.

Speaking about visiting Liev at the New York theatre where he is starring in a production of ‘A View from the Bridge’, Samuel said: “When I walked into the dressing room that was the first thing Liev talked about. “He was saying, ‘That was so great they way you set it up, your clothes were on, but it was smoking hot.’ “As long as the partner likes it...” The 61-yearold actor also admitted he was delighted that Naomi’s “aggressive” character took charge during their sex

L

scene. He said: “Fortunately, she was the one in charge. So it worked out great. I didn’t have to go through the normal things you go through when you have a lovemaking scene - where can I touch you? Where can I not touch you?” The ‘Snakes on a Plane’ star has been encouraged for some time to play a desirable male character and admits he enjoyed the experience - although he is determined not to strip on screen. He explained: “My manager and publicist have always told me, ‘You have to find a film where you get the girl. We want women that look at you and go, ‘Oooh.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, right, never gonna happen.’ “Then there I was in bed with Naomi Watts.

Maybe this will spark some whole new career arc for me. But I’m not ready for nudity.

SPECTRUM

Friday, May 7, 2010 he 62-year-old actor has a love scene in his new movie ‘Mother and Child’ with Australian actress Naomi Watts, but he kept his clothes on during filming. He said: “My manager and publicist have always told me, ‘You have to find a film where you get the girl. We want women that look at you and go, ‘Oooh.” I was like, ‘Yeah, right, never gonna happen.’” “There I was in bed with Naomi Watts. Maybe this will spark some whole new career arc for me. But I’m not ready for nudity.

Believe me, you don’t want to see all of me on a big screen. Naomi and I were going for it, but we kept most of our clothes on.” Despite not being comfortable in the nude, Sam does joke about his performance in action movie ‘Snakes on a Plane’ - as do other people. He told Parade.com: “Since ‘Snakes on a Plane’, every time I’m in an airport, the guys scanning my bags always ask me, ‘You don’t have any snakes in there, do you?’ “On one flight, the pilot announced to people, ‘Be aware that Sam Jackson is on board and there may be things crawling around on the floor.’ I couldn’t believe he actually said that over the PA. I thought, ‘I hope people don’t panic.’ Fortunately, they laughed.”

Samuel L Jackson is ʻnot readyʼ for a naked role

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Sandra Bullock shares her bed with nine dogs ichelle ‘Bombshell’ McGee regrets having an affair with Jesse James who the actress is divorcing over his relationship with the tattoo model and other alleged infidelities - but thinks the ‘Blind Side’ star’s unusual sleeping habit contributed to the motorcycle entrepreneur looking for comfort elsewhere.

Michelle said: “I feel bad for her, I do. But they slept with nine dogs in the bed... she liked to sleep with all the dogs in the bed.” Explaining why she embarked on an 11-month romance with the ‘Monster Garage’ host, Michelle claimed it was out of “boredom”. She told US radio host Howard Stern: “It was boredom.

Had nothing better to do. It was a

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sexual thing. I also wished it was a relationship - but I wasn’t in love with him.” According to the stripper, she and Jesse had sex on the coffin-shaped couch in his office “two to three, four times a night, two times a week” but he would never be seen in public with her.

She added: “I was like, ‘Let’s go do something! Let’s go get food!’ He was always like ‘Shh! I can’t go out in public, just be patient, just give it time, stuff like that.’ “ Despite their affair continuing for almost a year, Michelle never expected Jesse to leave Sandra for her. She said: “I couldn’t even get him to take me out for pizza! Of course he wasn’t gonna marry me. He gave me a Tshirt once... it had wolves on it.”

Noel Gallagher plans to call his baby Carlos he former Oasis guitarist - who already has a daughter, Anais, nine, from his previous marriage to Meg Matthews, and two-year-old son Donovan with his current partner Sara MacDonald plans to pay tribute to his sporting hero, Manchester City soccer player Carlos Tevez, when he becomes a father for the third time in September. He said: “The new baby, if it’s a boy - Sara doesn’t know this yet - is definitely going to be called Carlos. Yeah, without a doubt. Or just Tevez. Tevez Gallagher. Carlito Gallagher. She doesn’t know this, but I’ll nip out to the Marylebone Registry Office while she’s having a nap.”

The musician also admitted Sara’s pregnancy

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has scuppered his plans to spend this summer in South Africa for the soccer World Cup. He added in a video interview for The Football Association website: “I was planning on going but I went and got my missus pregnant didn’t I. I should have knocked her up when I got back or something instead.”

Noel, 42, will now have to watch the tournament on television, but admits he still gets so involved in the action, he often frightens his children. He explained: “Anais isn’t into football, she thinks it’s boring. She can’t grasp the concept of dads standing up watching the TV, because I do that and shout and she’s just going, ‘Daddy, sit down, you’re scaring me.’

Jessica Alba wants to be a mother again essica Alba wants to be a mother again and thinks she “should do it soon”. The ‘Killer Inside Me’ actress has one child, 23-month old daughter Honor Marie, with her husband Cash Warren, but is broody and wants them to expand their family - either by getting pregnant or adopting. When asked if she was thinking of having more children, Jessica told Tatler magazine: “Of course! And I feel like I should do it soon. You bring these kids into the world, so you might as well participate.” Jessica - who rose to fame with roles in ‘Sin City’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ - always planned to be a

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youthful mother, and was surprised her younger brother had children before her. Talking about Honor’s birth, she added: “I felt old! My younger brother already had two kids and I’m the oldest.” Jessica, 29, has previously revealed she and Cash want “three or four” children, and that they are both keen to adopt. She said: “My mom grew up around a huge family, and they always wanted more kids, and I was like, ‘Why don’t you just adopt?’

“I’m totally inspired. If you have the love, and the capacity to love children, you should just adopt. And I plan on doing it.” —Bang showbiz

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Lifestyle

Usher hits No 1 on US singles chart for 9th time sher has upped his count of No 1 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 to nine, with “OMG” moving to the top of the chart released yesterday morning. The track, which features vocals by will.i.am, lifts from No 6 to No 1 in its fifth week on the chart.

Since Usher first led the Hot 100 during Valentine’s Day week 1998 with “Nice & Slow,” no other artist has outpaced his production of No 1s. Mariah Carey and Rihanna have the second-most chart-toppers in that span with six each.

Usher last held the No 1 spot for three weeks in March 2008 with “Love in This Club,” featuring Young Jeezy. On the Billboard 200, Usher’s sixth studio set, “Raymond v Raymond,” slipped one rung to No. 6 with sales of 48,0000.

The album became his third consecutive No 1 debut when it entered the list four weeks ago. —Reuters

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US singer Fergie, center, and Will.i.am, left, of the Black Eyed Peas perform at the O2 arena in east London, Wednesday.

—AP

Australian postage honor for Russell Crowe scar-winning actor Russell Crowe is to feature on Australia’s latest postage stamp, mail officials said yesterday, in a series celebrating his portrayal of folk hero Robin Hood. New Zealand-born Crowe, 46, who has taken Australian citizenship, produced and stars in Ridley Scott’s re-imagining of the Sherwood Forest legend, due to

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open at France’s Cannes Film Festival next week.

Australia Post said the stamps were a celebration of Crowe’s achievements ahead of the muchanticipated “Robin Hood” premiere. “The release of the film Robin Hood this month is of global interest, and we thought it would be very fitting to pay tribute to this great actor by producing the Robin

Hood stamp pack in recognition of his talent and contribution to the film industry,” said Australia Post’s Noel Leahy. Crowe, best known for his Academy award-winning role in “Gladiator”, last month received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has been featured on a postage stamp once previously as part of Australia’s “Legends of the Screen” series. —AFP

Russell Crowe

Sinatra week ends Aaron Kelly’s run on ‘Idol’ Actor Antonio Banderas is seen before being awarded a doctor honoris causa degree by the University of Malaga in Malaga, Spain, on Wednesday. —AP

eenager Aaron Kelly was voted off “American Idol” on Wednesday as the audience ended its love affair with the shy 17-year-old with the big voice. Kelly’s rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon” polled the least number of viewer votes after a tough Frank Sinatra-themed week for the five remaining Idols. “I’ve had a great time.

I’ve had a blast,” said a clearly shocked Kelly.

He was joined in the bottom two by Michael Lynche in a shock result given the praise Lynche received from the judges for his performance of “The Way You Look Tonight.” Glam pop singer Lady Gaga, dubbed by “Idol” judge Simon Cowell the most relevant pop artist in the world, gave an eye-popping

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Aaron Kelly but vocally wobbly performance of her new single, “Alejandro,” dressed in a black lace-and-net costume and a sheer widow’s shroud.

Wednesday’s results show leaves Lynche, Crystal

Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Casey James in the running for a shot at winning the “American Idol” title and a recording contract in the finale at the end of May. James, more at home with rock and country music, had been widely seen as the most likely candidate to be eliminated this week after a weak performance. Judge Kara DioGuardi on Tuesday described his voice as “sounding like a lamb” in his rendition of “Blue Skies.”

“American Idol”, now in its ninth season, is still America’s most-watched TV show overall, but its audience has slipped below 20 million for the past three weeks. Next week the top four will sing songs from movies with actor and singer Jamie Foxx as their mentor. —Reuters

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Lifestyle

Pearl Jam launches online radio station $14.98, and the MP3 edition will be $9.98. Pearl Jam first began offering official recordings of its tours with the 72-show release chronicling every note of its 2000 world trek.

Meanwhile, fans can pre-order recordings of a quartet of Pearl Jam shows that were the last four concerts played at Philadelphia’s hallowed Spectrum arena in October. The shows will be available as downloads, on CD and as a limited-edition set that collects the whole run.

And in the spirit of instant gratification, the busy Seattle band has launched Pearl Jam Radio. The player, which lives on PearlJam.com, offers a constant stream of live, rare and studio tunes from throughout the group’s two-decade career. Pearl Jam’s most recent album, “Backspacer,” debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 last fall. Its latest single, “Just Breathe,” is No 5 on the Rock Songs chart. —Reuters

earl Jam is taking the more-ismore approach to sharing its music this spring: the band has just announced that the shows on its current 2010 world tour will be released as official bootlegs, started a preorder audio release of a quartet of Philadelphia shows from October, and launched Pearl Jam Radio. All three of the new offerings are available via PearlJam.com.

The latest installment of the band’s decade-long official bootleg series, the 2010 Bootleg Program offers full-concert soundboard recordings in a choice of three formats beginning in mid-May. The series features shows from Pearl Jam’s current tour, which kicked off May 1 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and makes a run through the US before heading to Europe on June 22.

The CD version will cost $16.98 per show, a FLAC download will be

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Hollywood eyes another $4 billion summer movie season our billion dollars over four months, four years in a row.

Those are figures that might make the ego of “Iron Man” Tony Stark swell even bigger. But the $4 billion is what Hollywood’s studios will be aiming to collect at box offices during their lucrative summer film season that kicks off today, starting four straight months of some of the year’s biggest movies and biggest stars. The show begins with “Iron Man 2,” about defense industry billionaire Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) who builds an ultra high-tech suit that serves as a weapon. It will be followed by nearly 100 more films including a pair of remakes of 1980s titles “The Karate Kid” and “The A-Team.”

Before the season ends in September, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz will battle evil in “Knight and Day,” Russell Crowe rob from the rich to give to the poor in “Robin Hood,” the ladies of “Sex and the City 2” will go shopping in Abu Dhabi, and Jake Gyllenhaal will wield a mighty sword in action-packed Jerry Bruckheimer flick “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”

“When you really sit down and think of how Bruckheimer works, he knows a really successful movie like this has to focus on a really successful story,” Gyllenhaal told Reuters, talking about the producer of the “Pirates of

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the Caribbean” movies.

Yet in the past it has been action and adventure that have boosted summer ticket sales. Last year’s No 1 summer flick, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” helped push the 2009 season’s ticket sales to just under $4.2 billion. Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com believes this year’s box office takings will top that figure, nudged along by nine sequels and seven 3D films, including “Shrek Forever After” and “Toy Story 3.”

“With the 3D component, we could have another record-breaking summer in revenue,” he said.

Bring on the popcorn But for fans, the season is less about the moneyunless they’re talking popcorn and sodas-and more about movies.

Through the first half of the summer, Hollywood’s studios usher at least one major release into theaters each week, culminating on June 30 with “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” starring heartthrob Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as the love of his immortal life, Bella Swan.

The first two movies in the “Twilight” series took in a combined $1.1 billion but the second, last November’s “New Moon,” took its knocks from fans for being a bit too slow and moody. “Eclipse,” directed by horror moviemaker David Slade, promises to be dark and action-packed. —Reuters

Picasso art inspired by wife sells in NY for $9.3m

‘Vampire’ attackers drink New Zealand man’s blood he authorities in New Zealand have charged three people for allegedly biting a man and drinking his blood in a “vampire” attack, a report said yesterday. James Brooks, 22, and Xenia Borichevsky, 19, appeared in court Wednesday and a warrant was issued for the arrest of the third accused, James Orr, 19, following the incident in Wellington in February, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.

Brooks told the newspaper that all three bit the victim, but he did not personally drink any blood, although he added he understood some blood had been drunk. “That wasn’t me. Do I look like a vampire? I’m out during

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the day time,” the newspaper quoted him as saying outside the court.

Brooks said he, his girlfriend, a friend and the unnamed victim had left a party when the attack happened. Brooks said he had bitten the victim, who had tried to pick up his girlfriend.

“Yeah, I bit a guy... he hit on my missus. My girlfriend and my mate were biting him. I was angry with him, so I used it as an excuse,” he told the Dominion Post. The victim apparently passed out after the attack. The three accused are due to reappear in court next month charged with wounding with intent to render a man unconscious. —AFP

Dance music finds growing audience in India n a typical midweek evening in Bangalore, club Pebble, stylish young Indian professionals relax quietly over post-work drinks.

But every weekend, they’re replaced by a flood of fans hungry to hear some of the world’s leading DJs deliver the hottest dance hits. In India’s major cities, a new circuit of clubs in upscale hotels and shopping malls-ranging from the 1,000-capacity Pebble to 4,000capacity Elevate in Delhi-is pulling in top international and domestic dance talent.

Just five years ago, India’s dance music scene was a niche market centered on backpackers’ haven Goa. Now, “there are club nights in every big city in India,” says Toni

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In this undated photo provided by Sotheby’s, ‘Femme au Grand Chapeau, Buste,’ by Pablo Picasso is shown. —AP 1965 Pablo Picasso painting inspired by his wife has sold for $9.3 million at a New York City auction. Wednesday’s price for “Woman with the Large Hat, Bust” at the Sotheby’s auction house was in line with its pre-sale estimate. The painting depicts Jacqueline Roque, who married Picasso in 1961. It hung for 50 years in the Manhattan apartment of

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Patricia Kennedy Lawford, a sister of former US President John F Kennedy.

It was sold by Lawford’s estate. The sale came a day after a record sale for a 1932 Picasso painting of his mistress. “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold at a Christie’s auction for $106.5 million, a world record price for any work of art at auction. —AP

Tambourine, press and public relations manager for dance label Defected in London.

Defected regularly hosts club nights throughout India and last year released mix album “Defected in the House-Goa ‘09” through Sony Music India.

The scene’s expansion is mirrored by Goa’s three-day Sunburn dance festival, which has grown from 6,000 attendees at its inaugural event in 2007 to more than 20,000 last year, according to organizer PDM Entertainment. Sunburn 2009 (Dec. 27-29) featured international DJs like Roger Sanchez and Armin Van Buuren, with an audience that PDM says consisted of 90 percent Indian fans and 10 percent overseas tourists. —Reuters

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Australian

Fashion Week

Fashion

(Above) Models strikes poses during Romance Was Born’s ‘Renaissance Dinosaur show at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney yesterday.

Australian fashion designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales fused Galileo’s Tuscany with Jurassic period features to create their unique and quirky style. —AFP

Friday, May 7, 2010

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Fashion

Romanian designer

creates skyscraper sandals A combination of photos shows shoes created by Romanian designer Mihai Albu, in Bucharest, Romania, yesterday.

—AP photos

designer known as Romania’s “shoe architect” has come out with a new pair of sandals that increase a woman’s height by 12 inches (31 centimeters). The new shoes are being compared to skyscrapers because of their towering heels. But the price also may have something to

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sculpture than regular footwear. He uses French leather and encrusts it with jewels, feathers, mirrors, and taps into Romanian women’s perennial love affair with high heels.

Despite the price, Albu says he has received dozens of orders for his new sandals from Romania’s well-heeled.

“I am creating a constructed chaos,” he said, describing his extravagant sandals in architectural terms. In addition to their breathtaking height, his footwear features special effects and its appearance varies, depending on the angle.

There is the sandal with an emerald heel topped by a skull mask out of which bursts a shock of peacock feathers. Another shoe features three heels, two of which are decorative.

There are boots that

do with it. In a nation, where the average salary is $575 a month, the hand-crafted sandals are selling for up to $1,525.

“Heels have an advantage because (many women) don’t have long legs,” said Mihai Albu, who’s had a 20-year love affair making stilettos.

“They reposition the waist,”

Romanian designer Mihai Albu displays some of his creations.

A 12 inch heels shoe created by Romanian designer Mihai Albu.

he said in an interview on Wednesday in his Bucharest atelier. High heels have become fashionable, but Albu’s are at least twice the height of ones that international designers have been flirting with for several years.

For instance, in Washington last month independent boutiques were

strutting footwear that seemed revolutionary, such as apple red patent and black stiletto heels. But the platforms were only 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) and the red heels 4 1/2 inches (11.4 centimeters).

Albu, a former architect, blends math, architecture and art in his creations, which are more foot

resemble a glass vase-the model tucked in flowers to the transparent boots on the catwalk-and unicorn-like boots with a heel in front.

His latest creation, the 31centimeter (12.2 inch) heel sandal, is a construction of three black wedge sandals. It blends high-tech architecture with design and only comes in small sizes.

“If a woman is 5 foot 9 (175 centimeters), she’d be towering above everyone if she wore these,” he said.

Albu draws inspiration from Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi and Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi, and he never shops at the mall. “I keep an eye on major shoe designers, so I know what not to make,” he joked, although his latest creations follow the latest trend for higher and higher heels. —AP

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Phillies sink Cards, Rockies edge Padres PHILADELPHIA: Kyle Kendrick threw seven scoreless innings to steer the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday as the National League’s East division leaders overcame the Central pacesetters. Kendrick (1-1) and Cardinals starter Brad Penny (32) provided an impressive pitchers’ duel. The Phillies runs came from twin two-run homers, from Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino.

Rockies 6, Padres 5 In San Diego, Ian Stewart’s home run leading off the 12th inning gave Colorado a tight win over San Diego. Stewart, who entered the game in the 10th, drove a pitch from Tim Stauffer (2-1) into the seats in left-center, his fifth of the season.The home run ended Stauffer’s streak of 17 1-3 scoreless innings to open the season. The loss dropped the Padres percentage points behind San Francisco in the fight for the lead of the NL West.

Reds 5, Mets 4 In Cincinnati, Orlando Cabrera led off the 10th inning with a home run just inside the foul pole, lifting Cincinnati over New York.

Cabrera’s fifth game-ending homer, a drive off Pedro Feliciano (1-1), gave the Reds their second last-swing victory in the series.

Cincinnati’s Micah Owings (30) pitched one perfect inning to take the win after Francisco Cordero blew a one-run lead in the ninth. Brandon Phillips and Jonny Gomes also homered for the Reds. David Wright had a solo shot for the Mets, giving him a nine-game hitting streak that includes four homers.

Giants 3, Marlins 2 In Miami, Barry Zito pitched into the eighth inning to help San Francisco edge Florida. Zito (5-0), off to the best start of his career, allowed only one run to lower his ERA to 1.49. He also improved to 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA in four career starts in Miami.

His reliever Sergio Romo required only six pitches to escape a bases-loaded, none-out

jam. Brian Wilson gave up a run in the ninth but left runners stranded at the corners for his fifth save.

San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand hit his second homer in two nights. Giants starter Nate Robertson (2-3) lost his third decision in a row.

Braves 7, Nationals 6 In Washington, Matt Diaz hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, helping Atlanta snap an eight-game road losing skid with a victory over Washington.

Troy Glaus started the rally in the 10th with a leadoff single against Matt Capps (0-1). Melky Cabrera’s sacrifice sent pinchrunner Brandon Hicks to second before Diaz, who had been hitting .185, looped a single to short right for the winner. Atlanta’s Kris Medlen (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning to take the win and Billy Wagner got three outs for his third save.

Pirates 4, Cubs 2 In Pittsburgh, Charlie Morton pitched effectively for the first time this season, guiding Pittsburgh past Chicago. Morton (1-5), who entered with a 12.57 ERA, allowed two runs in six-plus innings and didn’t walk a batter.

His previous win, last season, was also against the Cubs. Ryan Church homered for the second consecutive game and Garrett Jones had two hits and two RBIs as the Pirates improved to 9-1 in games decided by two runs or less. Chicago starter Ted Lilly (12) was charged with nine hits in six innings.

Brewers 11, Dodgers 3 In Los Angeles, Prince Fielder keyed a four-run first inning with a two-run single as Milwaukee thumped Los Angeles.

The Brewers won for only the second time this season without hitting a home run. Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks had three hits with a walk and three RBIs. Brewers starter Doug Davis (1-3) overcame a shaky start to win his first game of the season. He gave up three runs in 5 1-3 innings.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley

PHILADELPHIA: St. Louis Cardinals’ Colby Rasmus (right) is tagged out by Philadelphia Phillies’ Placido Polanco on an attempted steal of third in the second inning of a baseball game. —AP (2-2) ceded four runs in six innings.

Astros 4, D’backs 2 In Houston, the hosts snapped an eight-game losing skid by downing Arizona. Carlos Lee’s first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the ninth inning, ended the contest. Kaz Matsui drew a leadoff walk before Lee sent a long drive to left field off Juan Gutierrez (0-4).

Lee had averaged nearly 30 homers and over 100 RBIs in his first three years with Houston.

This home run came in his 100th at-bat of the season — the threetime All-Star slugger began the day hitting just .198. Astros closer Matt Lindstrom (1-0) gave up back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth, but got out of the jam when Kelly Johnson grounded into a double play.—AP

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Wednesday: Toronto 5, Cleveland 4; Cincinnati 5, NY Mets 4 (10 innings); NY Yankees 7, Baltimore 5; Minnesota 5, Detroit 4; Oakland 4, Texas 1; Pittsburgh 4, Chicago Cubs 2; Atlanta 7, Washington 6 (10 innings); Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 0; Boston 3, LA Angels 1; San Francisco 3, Florida 2; Houston 4, Arizona 2; Chicago White Sox 9, Kansas City 2; Colorado 6, San Diego 5 (12 innings); Tampa Bay 8, Seattle 3; Milwaukee 11, La Dodgers 3.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 20 7 .741 NY Yankees 19 8 .704 Toronto 16 13 .552 Boston 14 14 .500 Baltimore 7 21 .250 Central Division Minnesota 19 9 .679 Detroit 16 13 .552 Chicago White Sox 12 16 .429 Kansas City 11 17 .393 Cleveland 10 17 .370 Western Division Oakland 15 14 .517 Texas 14 14 .500 LA Angels 12 17 .414 Seattle 11 16 .407

GB 1 5 6.5 13.5 3.5 7 8 8.5 .5 3 3

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 16 11 .593 NY Mets 15 13 .536 Washington 14 13 .519 Florida 13 14 .481 Atlanta 12 15 .444 Central Division St Louis 18 10 .643 Cincinnati 14 14 .500 Chicago Cubs 13 15 .464 Milwaukee 12 15 .444 Pittsburgh 12 15 .444 Houston 9 18 .333 Western Division San Francisco 16 10 .615 San Diego 17 11 .607 Colorado 14 14 .500 Arizona 13 15 .464 LA Dodgers 11 16 .407

1.5 2 3 4 4 5 5.5 5.5 8.5 3 4 5.5

Twins sweep Tigers MINNEAPOLIS: The Minnesota Twins completed their first series sweep of the season at the ninth attempt, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in the American League on Wednesday.

Denard Span had three singles and a walk for Minnesota, which moved 3 1-2 games above Detroit atop the AL Central.

Twins starter Kevin Slowey (4-2) allowed three home runs in 5 2-3 innings, but they were all solo shots — two by Miguel Cabrera. Closer Jon Rauch earned his eighth save in nine tries.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello (2-3) tied his career worst with four walks, allowing five runs in 5 1-3 innings.

Rays 8, Mariners 3 In Seattle, Tampa Bay boosted its extraordinary road record to 11-1 by beating Seattle. At 20-7, Tampa Bay extended the best AL start since the 2005 Chicago White Sox. Matt Garza (5-1) became the AL’s first fivegame winner, allowing five hits in eight innings.

Evan Longoria had the go-ahead hit in the eighth inning off Mariners starter Cliff Lee (01) who allowed 10 hits. Seattle cleanup hitter Milton Bradley is out indefinitely, asking the Mariners for help with an emotional issue.

Athletics 4, Rangers 1 In Oakland, California, Eric Patterson homered as Oakland downed Texas. Trevor Cahill (1-1), a 10-game winner last year as a rookie, won his first for this season after being called up from the minors. He allowed only two runners past first in five innings.

Ryan Sweeney and Kevin Kouzmanoff produced consecutive RBI groundouts in the first as the A’s took an early lead. Patterson connected in the fifth against Colby Lewis (3-1).

Blue Jays 5, Indians 4 In Cleveland, Adam Lind hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to dramatically clinch a series sweep for Toronto over Cleveland.

With two outs in the ninth, Toronto’s Fred Lewis doubled for his third hit of the game.

Aaron Hill followed with a slow roller that

Indians’ stand-in shortstop Luis Valbuena botched, ruining a chance at the game-ending out.

Lind followed with a shot to left field off Chris Perez (0-2), sending Cleveland to its fourth straight loss. The late rally made a winner of Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor (1-1).

Toronto, which has won four straight, swept its first three-game series in Cleveland since 2002.

Yankees 7, Orioles 5 In New York, Nick Johnson and Nick Swisher homered while Mark Teixeira hit a two-run double to help New York defeat Baltimore. The Yankees led 6-1 after seven innings, but the Orioles scored four times against five relievers, including a pair of solo homers by Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold in the ninth.

New York starter Andy Pettitte (4-0) was pulled after five innings because of a sore elbow but improved to 7-0 in his past nine starts against Baltimore. Orioles starter David Hernandez (0-4) lasted 3 2-3 innings, allowing six runs and four walks.

Red Sox 3, Angels 1 In Boston, the hosts sent Los Angeles to its sixth straight loss. Red Sox starter John Lackey (3-1) pitched two-hit ball over seven innings against the team he left in the offseason.

David Ortiz hit a solo homer off Joel Pineiro (2-4), while Adrian Beltre homered and drove in two runs for Boston. It was Boston’s third straight win over the Angels, who have lost the first six games on a 10-game road trip. It’s the first time the Angels have opened 0-5 in May. White Sox 9, Royals 2 In Chicago, Freddy Garcia pitched out of several jams for Chicago as he beat Kansas City for the first time in nearly five years.

Since last beating the Royals in 2005, Garcia (1-2) had gone 0-7 with a 7.40 ERA in eight starts against them. He allowed two runs in six innings this time. Andruw Jones and Alex Rios homered for the White Sox, who roughed up Kansas City starter Brian Bannister (1-2) for seven runs in three-plus innings. —AP

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Ovechkin leads Russia at ice hockey worlds GERMANY: With his team eliminated from the NHL playoffs, Alex Ovechkin hopes to lead Russia past Canada again for a third straight world championship title.

Ovechkin, who helped Russia to the 2008 worlds crown but missed the 2009 tournament, became available for the worlds when his Washington Capitals lost surprisingly early in the NHL playoffs.

He has a chance to take out some frustration on national teams without stars who are still involved in the NHL and will dribble into Germany as their teams are eliminated from the playoffs. Germany hopes to mark the start of the tournament on Friday with a world record crowd.

The opening game between Germany and the United States will be at Schalke’s football arena, and organizers expect more than 76,000 fans, which would surpass the 74,554

who saw a US college game in 2001 at East Lansing, Michigan.

The worlds mark Ovechkin’s last chance this season to win a title. Last week, he and his top-seeded Capitals were bounced from the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens. And in February, Ovechkin and Russia were beaten by Canada in the Olympic quarterfinals — Ovechkin’s second failed bid for an Olympic medal after fourth place in 2006.

“The world championship is a tournament on another level,” Ovechkin told Sovietsky Sport newspaper. “We’re going to Germany to defend the title. We want to prove that the defeat in Vancouver to the Canadians was an accident. Well, not that accidental. But it does not mean that Canada will always be stronger than the Russians.”

Ovechkin said Russia’s revenge for

losing to Canada at the Vancouver Olympics will come at the 2014 Sochi Games, not at the upcoming tournament.

With Ovechkin and his Washington teammates Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov and New Jersey Devils left wing Ilya Kovalchuk, Russia must be considered the favorite for its 26th world title.

The other top challenger will be Olympic gold medalist Canada, which will be looking for its 25th world title and revenge after losing in the world finals in 2008 and 2009. Canada general manager Mark Messier has just one player from the Vancouver squad in Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry. Forward Ryan Smith will represent Canada for the first time since the 2006 Olympics.

Canada coach Craig MacTavish said Russia was the team to beat with stars like Ovechkin and Kovalchuk.

“There are lots of reasons to be leery.

But at the same time we’ve got lots of work to do before we get to the Russians — as they do,” MacTavish said. “And, hopefully, we’ll continue to grow and develop as a team to the point where we’ll beat them.”

The United States has not won the title since 1960, and has collected just three bronze medals (1962, 1996, 2004) since then.

Scott Gordon, coach of the US and New York Islanders, has only one player from the team which lost in the Vancouver final, Jack Johnson, who will captain the side at his third worlds.

Other contenders will be Olympic bronze medalist Finland, 2002 world champion and Vancouver fourthplaced finisher Slovakia, Sweden and Germany.

Finland will be missing stars such as Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen,

who have retired from national team duty, while Saku Koivu, Jere Lehtinen, Toni Lydman and Jarkko Ruutu all declined the invitation for Germany.

Mikko Koivu and Tuomo Ruutu are out injured.

Slovakia surprised some by finishing fourth in Vancouver. But it too was missing most of its top players, though NHL goalie Peter Budaj was on the roster as was defenseman Andrej Sekera of the Buffalo Sabres.

The 16-team annual tournament, spread through Cologne, Mannheim and Gelsenkirchen, runs to May 23 with four four-team groups in the first round. The top three from each group advance for another batch of roundrobin play in two six-team groups.

The top four in each group advance to the quarterfinals to start the knockout stages which climax with the final on May 23 in Cologne.—AP

Giro will ride out doping storm: Cunego MILAN: The Giro d’Italia will survive its latest doping controversy because of the fervent passion of cycling fans and the growing interest in the race from abroad, 2004 winner Damiano Cunego told Reuters.

The world’s second biggest stage race after the Tour de France starts with a time trial in Amsterdam tomorrow and while organisers are keeping a worried eye on the Icelandic volcanic ash, the dark cloud of doping has certainly returned.

Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti, one of the favourites for the race which finishes in Verona on May 30, has been withdrawn after the International Cycling Union (UCI) said there was suspicious blood data in his biological passport.

Italian Pellizotti was previously lifted up to second spot in the 2009 Giro rankings after original runner-up Danilo Di Luca was banned for two years for doping.

“When you talk about cycling, unfortunately all the various problems get highlighted,” said Italy’s Cunego, whose own Lampre team has been the target of an unproven doping probe.

“In reality, cycling is a sport still much-loved by fans, it’s enough to see all the people filling the streets of Europe and lately even in other countries like Australia.

“TV viewership for big races like the Giro is also good. All this shows that people still love cycling and this is a fundamental factor for our sport.”

The fact Italy’s top cycling race is beginning in the Netherlands, where bikes are part of everyday life, underlines the pulling power of the Giro in its 101st year.

Organisers are also looking at plans to start the 2012 event in Washington, with officials in the United States capital keen despite the steady stream of doping scandals and last year’s farce when riders refused to race the tight streets of Milan.

“The idea of starting the Giro in Washington is ambitious. Ignoring the feasibility of the project, it’s important to note that it’s a positive sign of great interest towards the Giro and therefore towards the whole cycling world,” Cunego added.

Travelling to and from the Netherlands, where the second and third stages also take place, should not tire out the riders unless a fresh Icelandic ash cloud continues to move south having shut some Irish and UK airports on Wednesday.

“We’ll all have got to Holland on planes, unless the volcano has reawoken,” said Cunego, nicknamed “the Little Prince” for his boyband looks and success in races such as the Tour of Lombardy.—Reuters

PHILADELPHIA:Mike Richards No. 18 of the Philadelphia Flyers battles for the puck against Marc Savard No. 91 and Michael Ryder No. 73 of the Boston Bruins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.—AFP

Bruins swat Flyers as Blackhawks win PHILADELPHIA: Boston’s Blake Wheeler, Miroslav Satan and Mark Recchi scored in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday that lifted the Bruins to a commanding 3-0 lead in the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinal series. Patrice Bergeron scored an empty-net goal for the Bruins with 1:52 left.

Boston goalie Tuukka Rask allowed a quick goal at the start, but finished with 34 saves. The Bruins can complete the sweep in Game 4 in Philadelphia on Friday.

Arron Ashram scored after 2:32 to put Philadelphia up 1-0, but Wheeler and Satan scored 94 seconds apart in the first period to wipe out the Flyers’ lead, and the Boston never looked back.

The Bruins took over, even as injuries forced center David Krejci and Adam McQuaid out of the game. Krejci was leveled on a crushing hit from Philadelphia captain Mike Richards that actually led to Boston’s go-ahead goal.

The loose puck was corralled by Milan Lucic, who got it to Satan for his fifth goal of the postseason and a 2-1 Boston lead.

The Bruins were outshot by a 2-to-1 margin most of the game. The Flyers had plenty of open looks, but they couldn’t convert any rebounds against Rask. The Bruins goalie stopped all 15 shots

in the second period, including two Philadelphia chances on the power play.

Unlike the Flyers, Boston was able to convert at least one power-play chance. Recchi, a former Flyers star, scored his 54th career playoff goal to make it 3-1. Philadelphia has never won a series when trailing 3-0 (0-6). Only two NHL teams have recovered from such a deficit and advanced. The Bruins are 16-0 when they lead a best-of-seven series 3-0.

In Vancouver, big forward Dustin Byfuglien scored a hat trick to lift Chicago over Vancouver and to a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also scored, and Antti Niemi made 16 of his 31 saves in the first period as the Blackhawks picked up where they left off in Game 2 when they scored three goals in a third-period comeback win.

For Vancouver, Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows scored and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves. The Canucks will try to even the series when they host Game 4 on Friday. Vancouver was 0 for 4 on the power play and allowed two goals to Chicago in six times short-handed. Byfuglien played a big role after being moved up from defense to play on the top line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who had

three assists. Versteeg, who scored the winning goal with 90 seconds left in Game 2, opened the scoring 5:19 in by banging in a loose puck that trickled behind Luongo.

Pointless in his first eight playoff games, Byfuglien made it 2-0 as he lifted in a power-play rebound late in the first period. Toews won a faceoff cleanly, and Luongo bobbled Duncan Keith’s unscreened shot from the point.

Hansen pulled the Canucks within a goal midway through the second, but Burrows took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 2 minutes later.

Byfuglien then lifted in another rebound after Toews drove to the net along the goal line, making it 3-1.

Vancouver’s Burrows made up for the undisciplined penalty by snapping a wrist shot from the slot with 54 seconds left in the period to cut it to 3-2.

Luongo kept the Canucks in it with a sensational stick save off Brian Campbell, but any hope of Vancouver adding to an NHL-leading 13 third-period comebacks ended when Hossa beat Shane O’Brien to a rebound for an easy goal at 7:45.

Byfuglien was credited with the final goal with 6:02 left. Luongo was in position to make the save before Byfuglien pushed him into the net, but the goal was upheld after a video review. —AP

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Button bids to equal Hunt in F1 record books BARCELONA: Jenson Button will bid to emulate the feats of one of his father John’s great heroes this weekend by claiming a 10th Formula One victory to draw level with fellow-Briton and former champion James Hunt in the record books.

The flaxen-haired one-time playboy Hunt won the drivers’ title in 1976 for McLaren and collected 14 pole positions and 10 wins in his relatively brief 92races career before retiring.

Button, winner of two out of the four early-season ‘flyaway’ races and setting the pace for McLaren in the drivers’ championship, arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya yesterday confident he could bid to repeat his dominant 2009 triumph in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

“I think my win here last year was one of my best victories of the season,” said Button. “It is one of my favourite tracks and I love the challenge here. It is my kind of track, I guess!

“It’s a circuit that rewards punishes and precision, aggression, and if you’ve a car that wants to under-steer, then you’re going to have a difficult race.

“But, fortunately for us, our car does seem to have a very good neutral balance in the highspeed corners, which is probably the most impressive aspect of the car.

“We also went well here during pre-season testing, so I think we go into this weekend feeling pretty well prepared.”

Button, who switched from Brawn GP (now Mercedes) to McLaren at the end of last season, will be inducted to the Circuit de Catalunya’s Avenue of Champions this weekend - a demonstration that will see his likeness joining those of great names including Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio, Frenchman Alain Prost and Brazilian Ayrton Senna. But the 30-year-old Englishman made clear he is more focused on his immediate prospects than any past achievements as he looked ahead to this weekend’s first European race of the season.

He holds a 10-points lead over nearest rival German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes - and is hoping to keep himself well in front after two well-judged victories thanks to cool decision-making.

“For me, this is a relatively high-speed circuit, one that’s quite enjoyable to drive, provided your car is working properly!” he said. “The team has done a lot of work and we have a good set of developments for this race so we are feeling pretty optimistic.”

Button’s McLaren teammate and fellow Briton 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton is without a win so far this season and hopes he can soon be back on top of the victors’ podium. “I am sure we are going to be pretty competitive, but we have to see how fast all the other teams are too,” he said. “For sure it is going to be a very and intense interesting, for weekend competitive everybody.”—AFP

Jenson Button seen in action in this file photo.

Crusaders hope to stop Bulls WELLINGTON: Seven-time champions the Canterbury Crusaders will have to overcome the most formidable home advantage in Super 14 rugby when they meet the Bulls today to keep alive their chances of a semifinals place.

The defending champion Bulls are unbeaten in 17 matches at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld stadium and, unless the third-place Crusaders can end that winning run in the tournament’s 13th round, they are unlikely to add to their 10 previous appearances in Super rugby playoffs.

The five teams from third to seventh are only separated by two competition points with two matches to play. The Crusaders have struggled this season with less star power than has driven them to seven championships and must also turnaround the general dominance of South African teams over New Zealand sides in 2010.

If the Bulls beat the Crusaders and the Johannesburg-based Lions beat the Auckland Blues on Saturday, South African teams will have achieved a record 14 wins over New Zealand rivals during the current season.

The Bulls, Stormers, Cheetahs, Lions and Sharks already share 13 wins over New Zealand clubs during 2010, matching the record set in 2007 when the Bulls beat the Sharks to win their first Super 14 title.

The Cape Town-based Stormers, second in the

Dan Carter of Crusaders in action. standings on 38 points — five points behind the Bulls and four clear of Canterbury and Queensland — have already completed a cleansweep of the five New Zealand teams and the Bulls have won their first four meetings this season against New Zealand opposition.

The Stormers play the Sharks yesterday, attempting to end a four-match losing streak against the Durbanbased team and the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs

host the Western Force, a week after posting their first ever win over the Blues.

Queensland and Wellington will attempt to keep alive their semifinals chances when they meet in the opening match of the round. The Reds, coming off a loss to the ACT Brumbies, are currently fourth with 34 points and the Hurricanes seventh with 32 points.

The fifth-placed New South Wales Waratahs, who play the Waikato Chiefs in

Hamilton, and the sixthplaced ACT Brumbies, who play the Highlanders in Canberra, are also hanging on to top four chances. Losses in this round would likely also end their playoffs bids.

The Crusaders will look to All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter to lift them out of their current form slump and to enable them to end the Bulls’ long unbeaten run at home.

Carter has been out of form this season but the Crusaders hope his big match temperament will return today “(Carter) is probably struggling for a bit of form, but believe it or not I believe it is a really good thing for him,” Crusaders assistant coach Mark Hammett said.

“In years gone by he’s probably had the likes of Aaron Mauger (standing outside him) and when he’s been playing for the All Blacks he’s got an experienced group. He’s got a very young group outside him and while sometimes that’s frustrating ... he’s actually growing his game without realizing it.”

The Crusaders other stars, including All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, have also lacked form this season; their set pieces have been poor and they have been heavily penalized at breakdowns.

Without a thorough form reversal their semifinals hopes will likely end in Pretoria, leaving New Zealand without a team in the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

The Bulls can seal first place and a home semifinal

with a win Friday, though they face a tough final-round match against the Stormers. Coach Frans Ludeke expects an equally-tough test from the Crusaders.

“They’ve got the players that allow them to vary their approach between playing a tight, expansive or kicking game, or indeed a blend of all three,” he said. “I can’t say for certain how they will approach this game, but we are prepared for every eventuality.

“There’s a belief in this side, and it’s not an arrogant one, that if we play to our potential we will win.” The Stormers will also go close to confirming a home semifinal if they can beat the Sharks, though they will be without Springboks winger Bryan Habana, who has bruised ribs.

Queensland had an injury setback this week when it lost former All Blacks flanker Daniel Braid to a knee injury — compounding a casualty list in the second row which has resulted in a recall for 33year-old Fijian lock Radike Samo from club rugby in Japan — but still enters the match in Wellington as a significant and unexpected favorite.

“There isn’t one person outside of our team who would have thought we’d be anywhere near fourth this year,” Reds coach Ewen McKenzie said. “All the teams above us on the ladder we’ve beaten so we’ve got plenty of reason to be confident about playing this game.”—AP

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Semenya trains in the dusk... and waits PRETORIA: Caster Semenya, picked out by a bright moon as yet another long training session comes to an end, does not look like an athlete with the cares of the world on her shoulders.

Despite a sharp chill in the air and the late afternoon sun fast disappearing, she works through her routines with intensity before finally easing up for some warm-down laps and banter with a handful of other athletes putting in some overtime.

She even offers a cheery wave to me as I look on from a short distance but firmly in my place behind a metal fence.

In the next few weeks, if the sport’s governing body keeps its earlier promises, she will learn the result of an inquiry into her gender which has sidelined her from competition since she skipped to an easy world championship 800m victory in Berlin last August.

Apart from briefly breaking her silence to protest that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was taking too long to reach its conclusion on such a sensitive matter,

the 19-year-old from a tiny village in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province has kept her own counsel.

An interview request from Reuters this week was politely turned down although we were invited to watch her at work- without bringing television or photographic colleagues-and talk about her progress with her coach Michael Seme.

Seme tells me not to expect Semenya’s comeback to be a roaring success because the controversial decision to prevent her from running in IAAF or Athletics South Africa events has played havoc with her training form.

“At the moment she is at about 1:59 to two minutes (for the 800), which we hope to get down to 1:57. But the speed won’t be there yet,” he said. She won the 800m in Berlin in 1:55.45, obliterating a world-class field.

“She missed the entire Yellow Pages Series (South African domestic season) and now she is training in winter, when she has to be careful because there is always the danger of muscle pulls. “At

the moment we are working on her conditioning, getting the muscles strong.”

Her muscles have been at the centre of Semenya’s problems and the IAAF feared she was taking drugs given her dramatic eight-second improvement over 800m before concentrating on her gender after it became clear that proper diet and training had transformed her performance.

These remain frustrating times for Semenya because there is still no clarity as to when she will receive the results of the gender verification tests ordered by the IAAF. Some sources suggest news will come later this month, while others believe her case will still be discussed at the next IAAF council meeting in Kiev on Aug. 7 to 9.

Semenya’s camp announced a month ago that she would make her comeback at a European Athletic Association meeting on June 24 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Until then, only a few lucky observers can see the runner who took

the sporting world by storm in August in action.

That the nippy conditions are bad for training is borne out when one of her fellow athletes goes to ground, clutching her calf, and perhaps explains Semenya’s stiff-legged departure a little later.

However Semenya, who comes from a poor rural background, seems happy, the cows grazing at the university agricultural farm next to the training field perhaps a comforting reminder of home.

Seme, intense under a baseball cap, does not say much during training, using different whistle-blows to direct his charges and just calling out their times as they run over and over again.

He even interrupts Semenya’s warm-down to send her to run in the final “race” with the men, in which she finishes third, little more than a second behind national middle distance champion Stephen Mokoka. Seme, several centimetres shorter than his star charge, looks briefly satisfied.

Semenya’s troubles have obviously upset the IAAF-qualified coach popularly known as “Sponge” but his smile returns as he recounts how four of his athletes won races around the country last weekend.

Seme and Semenya are in the process of setting up a coaching academy that, according to their newlylaunched website astersemenyasportsacademy.co.za), will “turn dreams into success stories” and “grow to be Africa’s best sports developers”.

It is a sure bet that both would prefer her future athletic success to be determined here by the training she does between the football and rugby fields, while countless other sports students go about their business.

Instead, Semenya’s future will be decided in medical laboratories and council chambers and it is anyone’s guess when she will be able to resume her career at the pinnacle of women’s athletics. If ever.—Reuters

In Armenia chess is king and grandmasters stars YEREVAN: With matches dissected on the nightly news, its masters treated as sports stars and victories celebrated like national holidays, chess is the king of games in Armenia.

Tiny, isolated and impoverished, exSoviet Armenia has nonetheless emerged as a superpower in the chess world, storming international tournaments and rankings. And as its national team prepares for the international Chess Olympiad this September in the Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, the chess-mad country is in the kind of frenzy of anticipation that most countries reserve for the football World Cup. “Armenians are absolutely crazy for chess,” said Ludvig Sharoian, one of dozens of men playing blitz matches on a spring day in Armenia’s House of Chess in central Yerevan.

“When your country is good at something, of course people are going to be very supportive. And Armenians are very good at chess,” he said.

Despite its population of only 3.2 million, in recent years Armenia has managed to outdo traditional chess powerhouses such as Russia and the United States and emerging giants China and India.

Its national team has won gold at the last two international Chess Olympiads, in 2006 and 2008, after taking bronze at the previous two. Armenia has 30 grandmasters, the rank awarded to more than 1,000 top global players, and three players in the top 100, only one less than the United States.

Armenians have been playing chess for centuries, since its earlier form chatrang was introduced when the region was part of Sassanid Persia, and the game was heavily promoted when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. But players and fans here said that this alone did not explain the country’s passion for the game.

The key to understanding why Armenians both love and excel at chess, they said, is a 1963 world championship match featuring the country’s most prominent player, the legendary Tigran Petrosian.

Petrosian faced Russian Mikhail Botvinnik in the match and as each move was made it was relayed by telex from Moscow and displayed on a giant board in Yerevan’s central Opera Square, where thousands gathered day after day to analyse the moves. —AFP

PHOENIX: Antonio McDyess No. 34 of the San Antonio Spurs looks to pass the ball under pressure from Amar’e Stoudemire No. 1 of the Phoenix Suns during Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2010 NBA Playoffs.—AFP

Phoenix Suns scorch Spurs

PHOENIX: Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Channing Frye made 5 of 6 3-pointers as the Phoenix Suns pulled to a 110-102 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Steve Nash and Jason Richardson scored 19 points each and Grant Hill added 18 in a grind-it-out game played at the Spurs’ pace until the Suns started hitting 3-pointers. After starting 1 of 7 from long range Phoenix made eight of its next 12.

Tim Duncan had 29 points and 10 rebounds and Tony Parker added 20 points for the Spurs. The best-ofseven series shifts to San Antonio for Game 3 tonight.

Manu Ginobili, guarded mainly by Hill, was 2 of 8 from the field, including just 1 of 2 in the second half, but had 11 assists for San Antonio.

The Spurs outshot Phoenix 51 percent to 42 percent but the Suns outrebounded taller San Antonio 4937, 18-7 on the offensive boards.

Stoudemire made just 5 of 16 shots but was 11 of 13 at the free throw line.

The Suns outscored the Spurs by 14 at the line, going 29 of 37 to San Antonio’s 15 of 22.

Referee Ron Garretson left the game after the third quarter with a leg injury. Fellow ref Joey Crawford said Garretson injured his Achilles’ tendon.

Substitute referee David Jones worked the final quarter.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson says he knows what he’ll be doing next season. He’s just not ready to tell everybody else about it. Jackson remained coy about his future before Los Angeles beat the Utah Jazz 111-103 to lead their second-round playoff series 2-0.

Yet the 10-time NBA champion coach downplayed growing speculation he could leave the Lakers for a lucrative job elsewhere. When pressed, Jackson said he can’t see himself coaching any team but the Lakers next season — if he coaches.

Jackson later gave himself a bit of

wiggle room. “I’d say it’s a 90 percent chance if I’m coaching, it would be here,” Jackson said.

Any Chicago Bulls fans hoping for Jackson’s return shouldn’t hold their breath: He acknowledged no interest in the vacancy in Chicago, where Jackson won six championships in the 1990s with Michael Jordan.

“No, I’m not (interested), and I think it’s a wonderful job for whoever takes it,” Jackson said. “It’s a team on the rise, and they showed an ability to come back after a devastating first few months.” Jackson is in a relationship with Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, who said last week that Jackson definitely will coach somewhere next year. But Buss also said her father, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, wasn’t keen on paying the record $12 million salary Jackson was making this season.

Six weeks ago in Oklahoma City, Jackson said an 11th championship would make it “almost imperative” for him to return for another season.

Jackson has suggested he wouldn’t

mind taking a smaller salary in return for other benefits.

The Lakers ballooned their payroll to an NBA-high $91.3 million this season in their quest to defend the franchise’s 15th title, giving lucrative long-term contracts to Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. Los Angeles has six players under contract through 201112 or beyond, including Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Jackson, who will turn 65 in September, has battled health problems in recent years, with two hip replacements in the past four years and a bout of plantar fasciitis causing pain and swelling in his lower legs.

Jackson has appeared to be much healthier this season while leading Los Angeles to its third straight No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Jackson has won 104 playoff game with the Lakers, passing Pat Riley atop the Lakers’ career list. His 215 career playoff victories and 10 titles are the most in NBA history.—AP

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Proud Afghans ask for chance to shine again BRIDGETOWN: Afghanistan bowed out of their first major cricket tournament on Wednesday, then urged the game’s top nations to give them a chance to gain greater experience and exposure.

The team from the war-torn nation, which includes players who learned the game in dusty refugee camps near the Pakistan border, lost their second Twenty20 World Cup game against South Africa on Wednesday, ending their involvement in the Caribbean.

The results, following an earlier loss to India, were no surprise but their Pakistani coach Kabir Khan was bubbling with pride about the way his

team had competed.

On Wednesday, Afghanistan’s bowlers, including the impressive Hamid Hassan restricted South Africa to 139-7 but then, against the pace of Dale Steyn, slumped to 32 for eight in reply, before eventually recovering to be bowled out in the 16th over for 80.

“Against India there was all sorts of pressure on them, there was television, there were the big stars, there was the crowd and they coped with it very well,” he told reporters.

“To restrict a batting line-up like South Africa to 139 is a big achievement so there are all sorts of pluses for them.” A particular plus was Hassan, who took three wickets

and then hit two big sixes in a promising innings of 22.

Hassan, along with team-mate Mohammed Nabi received training in England as part of the MCC’s Young Cricketers scheme and his coach believed there needs to be more foreign experience for his players, who do not have a domestic league or serious facilities.

“The key is they need to be exposed to that pressure again and again and then they’ll get used to it.

“We were talking about practicing for the pace bowlers and on a bowling machine you can put it to 90mph (145kph) but you can’t have Dale Steyn bowling at you and swinging the

ball,” said Khan.

“So you have to face those bowlers to get the experience. Because my team are quick learners when they play against South Africa or India again they will do much better.”

Although the team failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup, they do have full one day international status and Khan said he wanted to see his players get chances in foreign leagues and more games on the international stage.

“We have not got a domestic structure in Afghanistan and preparing for a World Cup for three or four weeks isn’t enough.

“We want all the big cricket

countries to help us in that.

“We’ve got talent, the boys are quite ready and they are quick learners and we expect that all the cricket nations watching us will help in that regard.

“They could invite players for training camps, they could invite them into the domestic games as professional or semi-professional we don’t mind, but they should play cricket.

“They have to play a lot more than a game or two. We’ve got ODI status, we can play Twenty20 internationals against any country in the world and the teams need to invite us.”—Reuters

SCOREBOARD Scoreboard from the Twenty20 World Cup group C game between South Africa and Afghanistan played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Wednesday: South Africa G.Smith c Mangal b Nabi 27 L.Bosman run out 0 J.Kallis c Shahzad b Hassan 34 AB de Villiers st Shaahzad b Mangal 17 J.Duminy c Mangal b Hassan 25 M.Boucher lbw b Hassan 4 JA.Morkel c Mangal b Zadran 23 R.van der Mervwe not out 2 D.Steyn not out 1 Extras (lb-4, w-2) 6 Total (for seven wickets, 20 overs) 139 Did not bat: M.Morkel, C.Langeveldt Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-45, 3-77, 4-84, 5-90, 6-133, 7137.

Bowling: Zadran 3-0-29-1, Ashraf 2-0-18-0, Nabi 4-033-1, Shenwari 4-0-14-0, Mangal 3-0-20-1, Hassan 40-21-3.

Afghanistan N.Ali c Boucher b Steyn 0 K.Sadiq c de Villiers b M Morkel 2 M.Shahzad c Boucher b Steyn 2 N.Mangal c Kallis b M.Morkel 1 A.Stanikzai c Steyn b Langeveldt 3 R.Ahmadzai c Boucher b M.Morkel 4 M.Nabi c Duminy b M.Morkel 0 S.Shenwari run out 11 M.Ashraf b Langeveldt 23 H.Hassan c Kallis b Langeveldt 22 S.Zadran not out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-8, nb-2) 11 Total (all out, 16 overs) 80 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-5, 3-7, 4-8, 5-12, 6-14, 7-25, 832, 9-65, 10-80 Bowling: Steyn 3-0-6-2 (w-3), Langeveldt 4-0-12-3 (w-3), M.Morkel 3-0-20-4 (nb-2, w-1), van der Merwe 4-0-21-0 (w-1), J.Morkel 2-0-20-0.

Hard hitting elite eight go head to head BRIDGETOWN: Fast, true pitches and some big hitting are expected over the next few days as the Twenty20 World Cup enters the Super Eight phase.

While the un-favored teams ended their participation at the tournament with Afghanistan’s loss to South Africa on Wednesday, the next phase is considered too tight to predict.

The crowds, thankfully much larger and livelier than for the World Cup in the region three years ago, can expect to see plenty of big hitting over the next four days when eight games will take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

The ground is the spiritual home of West Indian cricket, and after slow and low surfaces in Guyana, many of the players will be relishing the pace and bounce offered by the wicket.

“I think the wicket is really nice, it’s a wonderful ground to play on here in Barbados,” said Australia captain Michael Clarke. “It’s a really good pitch.

There’s a little bit in it for everyone. —Reuters

BARBADOS: Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shinwari (second left) celebrates with a teammate after the dismissal of South Africa’s Loots Bosman (left in green) during their Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match.—AP

Afghanistan wilt under South African pace BRIDGETOWN: South Africa won through to the second round of the World Twenty20 with a 59-run win as newcomers Afghanistan were bowled out for just 80 at the Kensington Oval here on Wednesday.

The Afghanistan top order had no answer to fast bowlers Morne Morkel, the man of the match, with four wickets for 20 runs, Dale Steyn (two for six) and Charl Langeveldt (three for 12).

But the lowest record score in a Twenty20 international remains the 67 made by Kenya against Ireland in Belfast in 2008.

Kenya also hold the corresponding World Twenty20 record of 73, set against New Zealand in Durban in 2007. Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan, who earlier took an impressive three wickets, took his team’s score off 67 by swinging left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe for six.

Hassan (22) and fellow tailender Mirwais Ashraf (23) prevented what had looked like a record-breaking rout although South Africa still won with four overs to spare.

Afghanistan, who only a few years ago were playing the likes of Jersey and Denmark, had no answer to the pace of South Africa’s quicks and collapsed to 12 for five in pursuit of a victory target of 140.

But Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan, the former Pakistan pace bowler, was proud of how

his side had performed in their first major international tournament.

“With each stage they are going a step higher,” Khan said. “Today, to restrict a batting line-up like South Africa to 139 is a big achievement so there are all sorts of pluses for them.

“They key is they need to be exposed to that pressure again and again and then they’ll get used to it. “We were talking about practising for the pace bowlers and on a bowling machine you can put it to 90mph but you can’t have Dale Steyn bowling at you and swinging the ball.”

Meanwhile Morkel was looking forward to bowling again on the Kensington pitch when South Africa begin their Super Eights campaign here on Thursday against New Zealand.

“Hitting the deck hard is my strength and I’m preparing for the games ahead as well so it was about doing the basics right.

“With the new ball, it’s going through quite nicely and it was much quicker than the pitch at St Lucia.” South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl added: “The New Zealand team is always a dangerous team in this format and we haven’t got a lot of time to prepare.

“We have to rest well then hit our straps from the start.” Steyn did the initial damage having Noor Ali, who made 50 in Afghanistan’s tournament opener against Group C winners

India, caught behind for nought with an 88 miles per hour delivery.

Mohamammad Shahzad struggled to get bat on ball and, when he did, he too was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher off Steyn.

Morne Morkel then accounted for Afghanistan captain Nowroz Manga with his first ball and removed Karim Sadiq with his fourth as the collapse continued under the floodlights.

No 8 Samiullah Shenwari became the first Afghan batsman in the innings to make 11 but was then run out after by AB de Villiers’s direct hit.

Hassan showed defiance by lofting Albie Morkel’s first ball for six over long-off and Ashraf struck the seamer for an even bigger six over long-on. Ashraf gave van der Merwe the six treatment before he was bowled by Langeveldt.

Earlier, Hassan, red headband and all, was every inch the image of a fiery fast bowler as he took three for 21 in South Africa’s total of 139 for seven. Hassan’s scalps were all ‘proper’ batsmen in Jacques Kallis, Boucher and JP Duminy.

No batsman made more than Kallis’s 34 but if the conditions were helpful to Hassan, they were always likely to be even more favourable to South Africa’s pace attack.—AFP

SPORTS

Friday, May 7, 2010

Page 63

United hope for one final twist in title race LONDON: Final day twists in the race for the Premier League title are extremely rare but Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson knows from his experience that strange things can sometimes happen under pressure.

His side must beat Stoke City at home on Sunday and hope that Wigan Athletic, among the worst travellers in the top flight, can prevent Chelsea winning at Stamford Bridge.

If not, blue ribbons will replace red on the trophy and leave United with just a League Cup success and a starring role in the most absorbing title race for many years as scant consolation for a long, hard season.

Chelsea are favourite to prevent United winning a record 19th English title on Sunday but their manager Carlo Ancelotti, like Ferguson, has been around the game long enough not to be counting his chickens just yet.

Ferguson, always keen to play a few mind games, said United are now clutching at straws after a 1-0 win at Sunderland last week at least extended the battle to Sunday’s finale.

One thing is guaranteed, however, and that is that his side finish with all guns blazing against Stoke. “We have a chance to win the league and we will fight until the end,” United’s Nani said this week. “You never know what’s going to happen in football. We just have to wait and see and win our game against Stoke at Old Trafford.”

Ancelotti, whose side lead the table by a point, will be well aware that only a win against Wigan is likely to be enough but keeper Petr Cech said that scenario will do nicely.

“If at the beginning of the season someone had said we were going to play the last game at home and a win would win the league, I think everybody would have signed for it,” he said.

“So we know what we have to do. We play at home and it is always good if you can win a title at home.” Things are not always as straightforward as they seem though. United have been involved in four last-day deciders, the first of which, in 1995, left a bitter taste for the Reds but could now offer some encouragement.

Blackburn Rovers went into their final fixture at Liverpool two points above United that year and needing a win to make certain of the title but were beaten 2-1 at Anfield.

United were left kicking themselves, however, as they could only draw 1-1 away at West Ham United who defended as though their lives depended on it.

“Yes, we’ve had a few of these last day encounters over the years and we’ve been fortunate to win three of them. But we did lose one at West Ham,” Fergsuon said on United’s website.

“But it’s important to understand we have the experience of these things, winning and losing. So we’ve got to handle ourselves in the right way.”

All eyes will be on Wigan’s performance.

Roberto Martinez’s side beat Chelsea at home this season, Ancelotti’s first taste of defeat in the Premier League and they have proved themselves capable of worrying the top sides, most recently Arsenal who they beat 3-2 after trailing 2-0 with 10 minutes remaining.

Away from home they have struggled though and have conceded 47 goals, nine of them coming in a thrashing at Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas.

Ferguson was quick to talk up Wigan immediately after beating Sunderland and he will take encouragement from Martinez’s rallying call to his players.

“It is not that Wigan Athletic is going to play for Manchester United. We will play for the good of football and for ourselves,” Spaniard Martinez said.

“It is a unique experience to go to Stamford Bridge having the world of football watching.

We have got nothing to lose, but I can guarantee you that there is a belief in the squad that on the day we can compete with anyone. We are going to go to Stamford Bridge to try to win the game.” The only other remaining issue to be decided on Sunday is who will finish third and avoid a Champions League qualifying tie. —Reuters

SAO PAULO: Brazil’s Flamengo’s Vagner Love (center) scores during a Copa Libertadores soccer match against Brazil’s Corinthians. —AP

Flamengo shatter Corinthians’ dream RIO DE JANEIRO: Flamengo dashed the Libertadores Cup hopes of fellow Brazilians Corinthians with an away goals victory on Wednesday after their last-16 tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.

Holders Estudiantes beat San Luis of Mexico 3-1 to qualify 4-1 on aggregate and Cruzeiro, last year’s runners-up, eased through with a 3-0 away win over nine-man Nacional in Montevideo for a 6-1 aggregate victory.

Nacional, overwhelmed by Cruzeiro, had 19-year-old central defender Sebastian Coates sent off in

the 53rd minute and striker Gustavo Varela in the 69th.

Corinthians took a two-goal first half lead with a David own goal and a Ronaldo header but failed to protect the advantage and ultimately a 2-1 victory fell short for the club looking to win the trophy for the first time in their centenary year.

Striker Vagner Love scored early in the second half for the visitors to dash Corinthians’ hopes and 1981 winners Flamengo qualified on the basis of their 1-0 win in the first leg at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro last week.

“We had the benefit of the rules and got result we needed. This is the tastiest defeat of my career,” an elated Vagner Love told reporters.

“We weren’t paying attention at the start of the second half. We fought, gave of our best and I think we deserved better luck. As I see it Corinthians were better (than Flamengo),” former Brazil striker Ronaldo said.

In Montevideo, Thiago Ribeiro, a hat-trick scorer for Cruzeiro in the first leg against Nacional in Belo Horizonte last week, set them on their way to victory again with a 29th-

minute strike. Diego Renan and Gilberto added second-half goals.

Cruzeiro will meet fellow Brazilians Sao Paulo in the quarterfinals, while Flamengo are up against Universidad de Chile or Alianza, whose second leg is late yesterday in Santiago with the Chileans 1-0 ahead.

Estudiantes, for whom midfielder Leandro Benitez scored twice, could meet fellow Argentines Banfield in the quarterfinals unless Brazil’s Internacional recover from a 3-1 deficit when the teams clash in Porto Alegre late yesterday.—Reuters

Chile blank Trinidad in friendly

Argentina defeat Haiti in friendly BUENOS AIRES: Argentina easily defeated Haiti 4-0 in an international friendly Wednesday, one of the last warm-ups for the South Americans before they head to the World Cup in South Africa.

Argentina played without its Europebased stars, with coach Diego Maradona taking a look at local players who may make his 23-man squad.

Boca Juniors’ Martin Palermo, the club’s all-time leading scorer, helped his chances with a goal. Facundo Bertoglio scored two and Sebastian Blanco added the other.

Many of the Haitian players lost loved ones in the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. The highlight for many of the team appeared to have been lining up at halftime to snap a photo with Maradona.

Palermo is looking to force a place in the World Cup squad, which includes top Europe-based strikers Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) and Diego Milito (Inter Milan).

Two-time champion Argentina opens its World Cup campaign on June 12 against Nigeria in Group B, which also includes South Korea and Greece. The top two teams in each group advance to the final 16 knockout stage. —AP

ARGENTINA: Argentina’s Martin Palermo (right) celebrates with teammate Ariel Garce after scoring during a friendly soccer game against Haiti. —AP

IQUIQUE: Pedro Morales and Sebastian Toro scored to give Chile a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly Wednesday.

Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa fielded a team made up only of domestic players, with its Europe-based stars all missing from the match. The match was played in Iquique, located about 1,800 kilometers (1,150 miles) north of the Chilean capital Santiago.

Chile’s next friendly match is May 16 against Mexico with an unusual doubleheader set for May 30 with Chile facing Israel and Northern Ireland.

Argentina-born Bielsa will divide his team into two parts and is using the doubleheader to see as many players as possible. Chile will play in Group H with European champion Spain, Honduras and Switzerland. —AP

www.kuwaittimes.net

ITALY: US Serena Williams returns a backhand to Russia’s Maria Kirilenko during their quarter-final match of the WTA Rome Open at the Foro Italico in Rome. —AFP

Serena storms into Rome semis ROME: World number one Serena Williams had few problems in dismissing Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 yesterday to reach the semifinals of the Rome Open.

There she could face world number four and sister Venus, who plays seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the last of the day’s quarter-finals.

Serena looked set for a particularly short afternoon as she took 10 of the first 11 games against her 37th ranked opponent, who had taken her to three sets as a teenager at Roland Garros six years ago.

But Kirilenko rallied to win three games in a row as Serena’s forehand went to pot. She steadied herself to hold at 4-3 and then served out the match despite her unforced error count creeping up at the end.

But having smashed down eight aces and 19 outright winners, her 18 unforced errors did not stop her advancing. Playing in her first tournament since winning the Australian Open in January, Serena admitted her clay form has surprised

her.

“I can’t believe I’m still in the competition,” she said. Last year she was knocked out here in her first match, one of three opening match defeats in a row ahead of the French Open, where she reached the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Spain’s Maria MartinezSanchez continued her fine run here as she beat the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

The 27-year-old reached her second semi-final of the season as she looks to add to her only two career titles from last year in Bogota and Bastad.

Martin-Sanchez, ranked 26 in the world, had already shocked world number two Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the previous round.

Last year she caused a stir here when she almost beat then world number one Dinara Safina before falling away in the third set.

Martinez-Sanchez edged the first set 8-6 in the tie-break and initially looked to be cruising in the second went she went up two breaks but

35th-ranked Safarova hit straight back to level at 4-4.

The Spaniard broke again though and then served out the match to love. She will face either former world number one and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic or 14th seed Nadia Petrova in the last four.

Meanwhile, Dinara Safina might excel at taking breaks from opponents on court, but she is not so good at cutting herself some slack off it.

The 24-year-old Russian has slipped from number one to third in the world rankings, largely because of a serious back injury that has caused her to miss most of the season so far.

She returned to action at the end of April, although she has not yet been able to go back to her normal training regime and results have been poor so far with the French Open fast approaching.

But anyone who thought this might give Safina reason to relieve the pressure she puts herself under, which she admits contributed to her

choking in last year’s Roland Garros final defeat by Svetlana Kuznetsova, would be mistaken.

“I still want to win a grand slam, so I have exactly the same feelings,” Safina told Reuters. “Yes, I’m still putting myself under the same pressure.”

The younger sister of former men’s world number one Marat Safin comes across as warm, charming and spontaneous in news conferences.

But she rejects suggestions that being so nice-too nice could be the reason she came away empty handed from the three grand slam finals she has disputed; Roland Garros in 2008 and 2009 and the Australian Open in 2009.

“Everybody’s different,” she said. “My brother won a grand slam and he’s hugging everybody. It’s the way you are inside.” But despite her retired brother being a twice major winner, she does not seek his advice or try to follow his example.

“We are two completely different personalities,” she said. “We have

different games. So it’s not really that you can learn something from him.”

Safina, who lost in the second round at the Italian Open this week, bulldozed her way to the top of the rankings in April last year with a game based on her immense physical strength and fitness.

It is high-risk tennis, as the amount of power she puts into her shots lead to a high proportion of double faults and unforced errors.

But she has no intention of changing strategy. “If it’s my winning force, if I’m winning with my game, why change anything?” she said, adding she is still not sure about how she feels about losing the number one slot. “If I’d been 100 percent fit and able to play and I’d lost it, it would have been disappointing,” she said.

“But to lose it like this is a strange feeling because I wasn’t even fighting for it. I just had to stop. I felt I was not in competition because I was not playing, so it was a strange feeling. It’s like I was not a part of it.” —Agencies