9 June

RI PT IO N BS C SU THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

40 PAGES

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010

JAMADA ALTHANI 26, 1431 AH

Samsung unveils smartphone to take on iPhone

Aquino declared winner of presidential election PAGE 13

NO: 14754

Portugal’s Nani joins World Cup casualty list

Emirates in record $11bn order for A380s PAGE 21

PAGE 27

150 FILS

PAGE 20

MPs stage walkout over secret grilling Barrak vows new quiz • Tahous details Umm Al-Haiman woes

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Zain CEO Nabil bin Salamah announces the completion of the sale of Zain’s operations in 15 African countries to India’s Bharti Airtel for $10.7 billion during a press conference yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Zain, Bharti close Africa assets deal

By B Izzak and agencies

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal holds a globe at a press conference yesterday. — AP

KUWAIT/NEW DELHI: Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain) announced yesterday that it has completed the sale of 100 percent of its operations in 15 African nations to India’s Bharti Airtel for $10.7 billion, including $1.7 billion in debt which will be assumed by the buyer. The transaction resulted in aggregate net cash proceeds of $8.968 billion of which Zain received $7.868 billion from Bharti yesterday, Zain said in a statement. Over the next six months, Zain expects to receive an additional $400 million upon certain milestones being achieved. The balance of $700 million is due one year from completion of the deal, the statement added. The two companies signed the sale agreement on March 30 this year.

Zain CEO Nabil bin Salamah told a press conference that the deal was completed but “certain official requirements which are very small still need to be finalized”. “Today, we have completed the transfer of Zain Continued on Page 13

Mumbai plans world’s tallest apartment block MUMBAI: An Indian property group yesterday unveiled plans to build the world’s tallest purely residential tower in Mumbai, the country’s booming financial capital.

Lodha Developers said the tower would be 117 storeys high and would be designed

by New York-based Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, the architects of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris and the Bank of China building in Hong Kong. “At 1,450 feet (442 m), the tower will be the tallest of its kind,” Abhisheck Lodha, managing director of Lodha Developers, told reporters as he presented a scale model of the complex.

Called “World One”, it will be located in central Mumbai on the plot of a defunct textile mill and should be completed by 2014. The development will contain more than 300 apartments and include large green spaces, cafes and an open-air observatory.

Mumbai’s sky-high property prices continued to rise during the global economic downturn, even though the city is plagued by water Continued on Page 13

MUMBAI: A depiction of a proposed residential tower, which would be the world’s tallest, is displayed at a press conference yesterday. — AFP

KUWAIT: The four members of the Popular Action Bloc yesterday walked out of a National Assembly session after MPs approved a government request to hold the grilling of the prime minister behind closed doors over alleged inaction on pollution.

The move led Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi to cancel the grilling debate after the griller MP Khaled Al-Tahous failed to appear in the session. Tahous was among the four MPs who walked out.

At the start of the session, Khorafi asked Prime Minister HH Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad AlSabah if he was ready for the grilling, and he said yes. At this point, Communications Minister and government spokesman Mohammad AlBaseeri requested the debate to be held behind closed doors. The chamber was then evacuated except for MPs who debated the government’s request. Khorafi said that 39 members, including Cabinet ministers, voted in favour of the government request and 19 against, while four MPs - members of the Popualr Bloc - abstained.

Three members were absent.

Khorafi then adjourned the Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah smiles during a session at the National Assembly yesterday. (Inset) MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun (right), Musallam Al-Barrak (center) and Khaled Al-Tahous walk out of the session. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Regional countries slam Israel on raid Israel to hold own ‘probe’ of attack ISTANBUL: Twenty-one regional countries, led by Turkey, condemned Israel yesterday over its deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships at the end of an Asia security summit in Istanbul. All member states, except Israel, “expressed their grave concern and condemnation for the actions undertaken by the Israeli Defence Forces” against the flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean, a statement issued at the end of the gathering said.

They denounced the May 31 raid as a “blatant violation” of international law, “deeply deplored” the killing of nine Turkish activists and lent support for the United Nations to set up an international commission to investigate the raid. “This is a clear manifestation of how Israel has isolated itself,” Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who chaired the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), told reporters.

The raid on the flotilla, which had aimed to break Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, sparked global outrage and plunged Israel’s already strained ties with NATO member Turkey, once a close ally, into deep crisis. “It is impossible for us to forgive” the bloodshed, Gul said. “This can be repaired a bit only if Continued on Page 13

in the news Stop prosecuting Jassem: HRW DUBAI: Human Rights Watch yesterday urged Kuwait to stop prosecuting a prominent writer for criticising officials and to lift a ban on media coverage. “Kuwait should stop prosecuting Mohammad Abdulqader AlJassem, a journalist and blogger, for criticising public officials,” the New York-based rights watchdog said in a statement.

“Kuwait’s prosecution office should also lift its ban on media coverage of his case.”

Kuwait’s criminal court on Monday extended the detention of Jassem until June 21, the date of the next hearing. He has been behind bars since May 11. “Kuwait, once relatively tolerant of free speech, is increasingly punishing individuals for their political views,” said Joe Stork, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch. HRW said it had reviewed some of the articles for which Jassem is being tried and found that “none incite violence” but are criticisms of public officials.

Laser damaged eyesight

ISTANBUL: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad salutes the media with a clenched fist yesterday. — AFP

Iran says no nuke talks if sanctioned Ahmadinejad again warns Russia ISTANBUL: Iran said yesterday it would reject talks on its nuclear program if it was slapped with new UN sanctions as a senior US official said he expected the measures to be adopted “very soon”. A senior Russian official said there was full agreement on a

fourth sanctions resolution, hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Western powers to drop the sanctions in favour of a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey last month.

Continued on Page 13

PARIS: A teenage boy damaged his eyes while playing with a handheld laser pointer that he had bought over the Internet, according to a case reported yesterday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The lad suffered dark spots, known as central scotomas, and loss of image sharpness after shining the green diode laser beam into his eyes, a trio of specialists from the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital concluded. Tests revealed he had burned the surface of the eye and disturbed the retina, the light-catching tissue at the back of the eyeball. Two months later, the boy’s visual acuity returned to normal but he still had retinal damage.

Five Asians handed death DUBAI: An Abu Dhabi court sentenced five Asians to death in two separate cases after they were convicted of trafficking heroin, The National newspaper reported yesterday.

Three Afghans and a Pakistani were charged with trafficking 16 kg of heroin which they were caught trying to sell to undercover agents earlier this month, the English-language daily said. In a separate case, another man was sentenced to death by the same court in Abu Dhabi for offering to sell heroin to undercover police in Sharjah.

2 Govt to go ahead with pollution treatment at Um Al-Hayman KUWAIT: The government is going ahead with its procedures on the treatment of environmental conditions in the southern area of Um Al-Hayman and that it will not lose steam as "this is its duty," Minister of Communication and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr Mohammed AlBusairi asserted here yesterday.

Al-Busairi made this remark when answering the press on the concerns by some members of parliament that government might neglect treatment of the pollution issue at Um Al-Hayman "as a sort of state stubbornness" against those members who withdrew of the closed-door National Assembly session aimed at discussing the interpellation made by member Khaled Al-Tahous against HH the Prime Minister in his official capacity.

Al-Busairi added that "government cannot at all act like this," pointing out that the governmental procedures on addressing any issue is not determined by whether there is an interpellation or not, but it is defined by "the government's duty" on such issues.

He went on to say that at the forefront of these issues tackled by the government is the pollution

in the southern area of Um Al-Hayman, making clear that government is rest assured to its procedures in this respect and that "it is on track and achieves successes through the compliance of many factories owners in this area."

Al-Busairi concluded by on this issue saying that, "there is a big environmental improvement not only in the southern area of the country, but also in all areas of Kuwait as a whole."

In the same vein, Al-Busairi said that government's request on discussing the interpellation in a closed-door session, "is not something new, especially as there are precedents for such thing," pointing to what the government prepared of scientific answers, documents and statistics to be presented during the discussion.

He also said that government "had hopes that the member of parliament who filed the interpellation would listen along with other MPs who supported him to the replies of HH the Prime Minister if they really were seeking truth and reform," making clear that the withdrawal of member Tahous from the session squandered the opportunity of putting the truth out for all to see on Um Al-Hayman pollution issue."— KUNA

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Lawyers Society meeting in progress.

Kuwait Lawyers Society hosts defense committee seminar KUWAIT: The Kuwait Lawyers Society held the second meeting for the legal committee to represent the Kuwaiti citizens on board the Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli army. The meeting featured participation from the fleet's Kuwaiti volunteers.

The meeting included a seminar that was inaugurated by a speech from the committee's Deputy, attorney Yousuf Al-Yaseen. He explained the events that led up to the formation of the committee, which he said spawned from the humanitarian and national responsibility conveyed by society members and its director, Omar Al-Essa.

Al-Yaseen asserted that the committee will take all necessary legal measures to ensure that

all volunteers receive their legal rights. He added that they will also guarantee that the whole world understand Kuwait's legal and humanitarian message. There were discussions during the seminar, including a demonstration by attorney Mubarak Al-Mutawa on the legal perspective of the incident. Dr Essa Al-Enizy, an international law professor at Kuwait University, gave a presentation on the kidnapping of activists and humanitarian aid convoys from a legal standpoint.

Meanwhile MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei presented an analysis of the incident for Parliament and Cabinet officials and responded to media skeptics. Haya Al-Shatti and Muna Sheshtar shared an account of their experiences on the flotilla.

NATIONAL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

CP addresses Istanbul conference

Kuwait reiterates condemnation of attack on Freedom Flotilla ISTANBUL: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlSabah has reiterated Kuwait's condemnation of the lethal Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla. Speaking as an envoy of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah at the first day of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) currently takOn the subject of the CICA event itself, HH the Crown Prince stressed that Kuwait strongly believes in the importance of an Asian bloc to cater specifically to Asian issues and had joined in the hope that this body would help to strengthen cooperation among Asian leaders and peoples to promote stability and peace across the continent.

HH Sheikh Nawaf also said that the state gives its full backing all initiatives for regional peace and development, and supports numerous infrastructure and development projects.

Asia suffers from being burdened by many problems which compromise global peace and stability, headed by the Palestinian issue, he continued, adding that the international community has a duty to address this matter and to ensure the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with AlQuds (Jerusalem) as its capital, and with full integrity and sovereignty.

All nations demonstrating their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, the Road Map and other international enterprises and resolutions concerning this issue would help to bring about a satisfactory solution, he asserted.

HH the Crown Prince said that international cooperation is also needed in addressing poverty across Asia, warning that poverty is often connected to other negative phenomena and social evils, including instability, extremism, organized crime and terrorism.

He also urged more effort in ensuring that the Middle East can be a region fully free of nuclear weapons, pointing out that this would help in leading to a world free of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

In conclusion, HH Sheikh Nawaf focused on the 'confidence-building' aspect of CICA's title, saying that the best way to realize trust and build confidence is for all parties involved to opt for dialogue and transparency while searching for common ground. Any Asian bloc needs to adopt this approach and to implement mechanisms to realize this philosophy if it is to serve the continent's peoples, he emphasized. Meanwhile in Kuwait,

ing place in Istanbul, HH Sheikh Nawaf said that the attack, which left nine people dead and several dozen others wounded, was a stark violation of international law, recollecting Turkey's honorable stance in support of the Palestinian cause and the fact that eight of those killed were Turkish nationals.

ISTANBUL: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attending the first day of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia. government spokesman Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi on Monday reaffirmed the government's commitment to maintaining an Arab consensus on the Middle East peace initiative, which has been reiterated at several Arab summits.

"The Kuwaiti government will not adopt a unilateral approach to dealing with the initiative launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Saudi King Abdullah Bin-Abdulaziz at the Beirut summit of 2002," said Al-Busairi who is also Minister of Communications and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs.

Al-Busairi was speaking in

response to recent press reports that the government is considering withdrawing its support for the initiative after the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla last Monday.

"The Arab peace initiative is a matter for summits to decide on, not for a certain government," the minister stressed.

"The government of Kuwait is keen on working in the framework of consensus among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members and the Arab countries in general," he pointed out.

The government and the National Assembly of Kuwaiti

have adopted a common stance in backing the flotilla, with several Kuwaiti activists participating in the ill-fated voyage.

Al-Busairi hailed "the clear cooperation" between the executive and legislative authorities shown at the emergency parliamentary session held after the Freedom Flotilla crisis first took place.

"The session reached three recommendations, one of which provided clearly for Kuwait's backing away from the peace initiative," he recounted. "When put forward for parliamentary vote, the move was backed by 32 MPs against six, namely the cabinet

members present at the session on top of who was His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed AlAhmad Al-Sabah."

Al-Busairi also recalled National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi's remarks after the session that the government had used its legal mandate to abstain from backing the move or any parliamentary move under Article 118 of the Statures of the Assembly.

"This does not mean, however, that the government does not cooperate with the legislature as it has adopted many other recommendations," he concluded. — KUNA

Rights panel tours deportation prison KUWAIT: The parliamentary human rights committee recently toured the Talha prison facility for individuals awaiting deportation, meeting with a number of inmates to discuss their cases.

The team, consisting of committee head MP Dr. Walid AlTabtabae, rapporteur MP Mohammed Hayef and member MP Khalid Al-Adwa, was welcomed by the head of the deportation department Colonel Jamal AlBannai, who revealed that the facility currently holds 689 inmates distributed across seven parts of the facility.

Speaking to the press after the tour, Al-Tabtabae said that several issues need to be addressed, including the fact that a number of

the inmates have been held in the facility for up to six years while awaiting trial or, in some cases, due to their refusal to leave since they have business interests in Kuwait. He said that the committee would be working to formulate the best solutions for these problems, reported Al-Rai. Al-Tabtabae also criticized the state of the facility's "deteriorating" buildings, urging the Ministry of Interior to carry out maintenance work there, as well as providing an air-conditioned prayer room.

The committee chairman also toured Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police station, where he met with some of the expatriate inmates to hear their complaints.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

NATIONAL

3 'Long-delayed rights'

Special court can help resolve bedoon issues

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A special court for bedoon (stateless) people is a viable solution to resolve the existing problems they face in Kuwait. In his reaction to a recent news story about the delay in naturalization for some bedoons in Kuwait, Abdullah Ferous, Head of the Kuwaiti Stateless Committee and concurrent Chairman of the Legal Committee, pointed out that the problem was not about delay, but other issues which he felt was already left behind at the ministries' backburner for years. "The process we are witnessing right now is a natural one and the legal process is rolling out in accordance with the Kuwaiti law and not specifically address the issues of bedoons in Kuwait. But I am grateful that it (issue) was brought out again. In my opinion, I think we need a special court to deal with bedoon issues," he said.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Seif Palace here yesterday Moroccan Ambassador in Kuwait Mohamed Belaish, who handed him a letter from Moroccan King VI on how to further reinforce and cement bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. In his letter, the Moroccan king also invited the Amir to visit Morocco. The meeting was also attended by Kuwaiti Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.

connect the dots

Time for forgiveness, mercy and kindness

By Meshary Alruwaih

F

orgiveness is one of the highest values in Islam because it does involve a number of other values like mercy, generosity and kindness. Its good impact is not only directed to the ones you forgive but also towards yourself since it cleanses your heart and soul from unwanted feelings that no one, I assume, would want to live with. On an individual level, this should not be problematic. Yet, once we start talking about such values on a collective level among large groups of people represented by institutions and organizations like governments and states, such talk starts sounding immature and naive. At the level of countries, we are supposed to think strategically not morally. Now, those who simply want to enjoy their 'little Kuwaiti lifestyle' aside, the debate on the Kuwaiti involvement in the Freedom Flotilla has been centered around whether Kuwait as a society and a state should forgive the people of Gaza for supporting Saddam Hussein during his invasion of Kuwait.

I cannot ask each and every Kuwaiti to

forgive, that is a personal choice at the end of the day. At the same time, the thought that higher Islamic values like forgiveness should be thought of as inapplicable to the foreign policy of a Muslim state like Kuwait, is ethically more than I'm prepared to accept. What this instrumental orientation of Kuwait's foreign policy could lead to is to denude solutions to large-scale social problems from their Islamic dimension, and instead, direct our interactions with both Muslim and non-Muslims in the direction of mechanical calculation of costs and benefits.

The bitter truth that many avoid to reflect is the fact that we did not create the contemporary state of Kuwait, nor Qatar, Jordan, or even the seven thousand year old Egypt. These were handed to us as institutional solutions by the West as part of the larger institutional solutions of the contemporary international system. These institutional links mean that the behavior, interest, and identities of our states are constituted by the social and material structures of the international system, not by the identity and values of our societies.

This means that our religion, culture, and values never crossed this institutional wall to the world of international politics. The culture of the international system does not feature forgiveness, mercy, generosity,

or kindness as governing values of interactions between states. Instead, in there, one should talk about sovereignty, national interest, and balance of power.

The current Egyptian participation in starving the people of Gaza is a perfect example, the behavior of the Egyptian state in dealing with this issue shows that it is an institutional species of the international system whose interests and identity are constituted by the culture of the international system. It is not by itself a construction of the Egyptian society that involves values, religion(s), and culture of the Egyptian people. If this were the case, you would find a whole different set of governing values that prohibits the participation in such inhumane siege.

Thankfully, however, today, states seem to be up for grab with an increasing awareness of the need to bring in human values to govern relations among societies. Countries are institutional platforms. They do not tell us how to act, or what values to adopt toward our fellow Muslims. We should fill this institutional platform with our own values. In today's world, Kuwait is a country that projects forgiveness, mercy, and kindness towards its Islamic context and beyond. meshary@kuwaittimes.net

The bedoon naturalization issue was again raised at the committee headed by Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah after it was halted due to some objections raised by some concerned MPs and citizens. In a news report, a total of 138 applicants for citizenship, all of whom are children of divorced or widowed Kuwaiti women still await decisions to be made over their naturalization. Children of recently naturalized Kuwaiti fathers are entitled to receive Kuwaiti citizenship naturally. However, political objections have delayed their naturalization process since parents' citizenships were withheld.

The delay was related to complaints and protests made by some MPs and citizens on Kuwait's naturalization law. The Kuwaiti nationality law grants citizenship to people who have made great contributions toward the development and welfare of Kuwait. It is not exclusively confined to the stateless, but other residents of this country, after achieving cer-

tain requirements, regardless of their nationalities. In the past, there were stateless people who received naturalization based on some recommendations (wastas) of some high-ranking government and Cabinet officials but not necessarily people who have contributed greatly toward the country's development. Petitioners demanded a thorough evaluation and investigation into the proper procedure involved in naturalization.

Feroz, however, suggested that a court be set up to allow the court here in Kuwait to settle issues of who the real stateless people are, "The issue they are trying to hurl at us is about bogus, stateless people. For us, to solve this issue, we recommend setting up a court to settle our issues once and for all. Finally, this would give our rights that were denied for a long time. I hope they would listen to us," he said. Some bedoons will enjoy limited access to legal documents such as special passport and driving licenses. Bedoons were also required to

pay fees while using health care facilities. Most of them complain about the tedious process involved in dealing with Kuwaiti agencies from registering births, marriages, divorces or even deaths. Some time ago, bedoons were allowed to work in some sectors in the government, specifically in police and military fields, but were stopped in the late 1980's.

"There are laws governing our issues and other issues in Kuwait in general, but no court will settle bedoon issues. Unless a special court is set up to deal with our issues, we cannot just leave everything to the committee (headed by Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah). Of course, we are grateful to him. On the other hand, we also need a court to handle our issues properly and fairly," he concluded.

There are an estimated 120,000 bedoons residing in Kuwait based on a 2010 report posted by the Human Rights Watch. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior records place bedoon population at 93,000.

in the news Sandstorms stop ships KUWAIT: The Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) suspended maritime traffic at three of Kuwait's ports - Shuwaikh, Shuaiba and Doha - yesterday due to the heavy sandstorms which caused extremely poor visibility, falling to 500 meters at one point. "The Kuwait Ports Authority suspended traffic at the country's ports starting from 6:00 AM due to poor weather conditions," Shuwaikh Port dock supervisor Musa Behbehani told reporters.

Behbehani indicated that the measure meant that four vessels were stranded outside the port until the weather improved, while another in the harbor was unable to depart on a scheduled trip, reported Al-Qabas. The strong northwesterly winds of up to 30 knots, which have led to major sandstorms across Kuwait recently, are set to continue for a few days, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) meteorological

department.

Graduation ceremony KUWAIT: The Kuwait Teachers' Society's Leaders Academy will hold a graduation ceremony today for their 35 graduates at the Holiday Inn downtown in Dasman at 7:30 pm. The event will take place under the patronage of the Minister of Education, Dr Moudhi Al-Hmoud while head of the society, Ayedh Al-Sehali, Deputy Assistant of Academic Services at Kuwait University, Dr Ahmad Al-Munais and the head of the academy, Abdurrahman Al-Jasser attend the event. This year's graduation is the second of its kind to be celebrated by the academy, Al-Jasser said. The academy was established in cooperation with Kuwait University's Social Service and Progressive Education Department, he added. The academy places teachers amongst an elite team of academics who help them obtain leadership and administration skills through a training schedule that includes cours-

es, workshops and seminars.

Road death compensation KUWAIT: The Appeals Court has ordered an insurance firm to pay KD 24,000 in compensation to the family of an Arab expatriate who was killed in a road accident. The victim's family's lawyer Nawar Muharib originally demanded KD 55,000 in compensation from the insurance company after the Public Prosecution Service charged a Kuwaiti citizen with driving a car owned and insured by the insurance firm, with the driver being sentenced to one month's imprisonment.

Muharib indicated that according to the relevant legal statutes the insurance company could be held responsible for paying compensation to the family of the victim, who was the sole breadwinner, reported Al-Qabas. The lawyer previously appealed against a Supreme Court decision which ordered that KD 20,000 be paid in compensation.

4

NATIONAL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Final exams around the corner

Students, parents in Kuwait under extreme pressure

By Rawan Khalid KUWAIT: As school students prepare themselves for final exams, parents are worrying about their children’s eating habits, sleep schedule and whether or not they are studying. Kuwait Times interviewed some parents and students to talk about the period just before exams start. Abu “I feel as though I am the one who is going to answer the exams. I care more than he does. Whenever I ask him, he says he finished his studies while I was at work,” Abu Abd Al-Rahman added.

Mona Barak, a mother of three children in school, said, “I really suffer with my children.

They are in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The problem with my children is that all of them want to study in a specific room.

Every day I try to offer them the things they want, whether its silence, food, or a clean place.”

Students often have problems with their parents or older

Abd Al-Rahman, an engineer and father of two children said, “My son is starting his 12th grade year and his exams will be starting in a couple of days. My son is not taking advantage of the one week off the school gave him to study and prepare for the exams. Instead, what he does is play Playstation all day, sleep, eat and watch movies all the time, as if he doesn’t even have exams.”

siblings, during their examination periods. Amer Adel, an 18year-old, said, “what they don’t know is that I really am studying while they are out of the house. When they come home, I sit with them, have my dinner and watch movies with them.”

“Here is the problem,” Amer continued, “my parents

tell me to go study, then they ask me if I finished and then they ask me how many pages are left. The questions don’t stop at all! They are forcing me to study and they don’t understand that I need to rest.”

Amer added that the arguments usually end with shouting, switching off the TV and

being forced to study some more. Amer explained that it’s hard to study when being forced because he needs time to relax before he can concentrate.

“What makes me really sad,” he added, “is that they do this every year, despite the fact that I keep passing. What are they worried about?”

MPs, doctors demand health service improvement

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah received at Seif Palace yesterday Kuwaiti activists who were onboard Gaza-bound aid ships, which were attacked by Israeli forces. During the meeting, the Amir hailed their humanitarian mission to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.

KUWAIT: A number of MPs and physicians recently called on the government to put more of an effort toward developing medical treatment inside the country, reported Al-Rai. They issued their demands in an attempt to reduce the dependency on treatment abroad, which often contains several violations and a high financial cost.

At a seminar held recently under the patronage of the Assistant Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the State Minister for Development and Housing Affairs, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan said that efforts should be taken to improve the quality of treatment provided in the country. He stressed that this is especially necessary considering that there has been an increase in the amount of violations for citizens receiving treatment abroad.

Meanwhile, MP Adnan AlMutawa said that improving the medical sector is a major part of making Kuwait a regional, financial and economic center.

KUWAIT: Young Kuwaiti candidates applying for a job during the open recruitment day. —Photo by Joseph Shagra

Sultan Center to hire 400 Kuwaitis

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: As part of the Kuwaitization of the private sector, the Sultan Center is holding a recruitment event for Kuwaiti nationals. The event is being held at the Palms Beach Hotel and Spa from June 8 to 10. The event is open to the public from 9 am to 9 pm at the Palms Meeting Center.

There is no special criteria for applicants. “The applicants must be Kuwaitis above 18 years of age to apply for a job with the Sultan Center group. We are hiring candidates in all positions. We are targeting 400 Kuwaitis with all levels of educa-

tion,” Hani Ismael, Corporate Human Resources Manager, told the Kuwait Times. The Sultan Center operates in four countries and has almost 60 retail supermarkets. In addition to supermarkets, they operate restaurants, fashion stores, real estate businesses, investment companies, as well as offer telecommunications and security services.

According to Ismael, the response so far has been excellent. “More than 100 candidates applied in two hours. This means that we will receive a huge number in three days. We conducted a big marketing campaign before the event, including putting

ads in the media and sending out email shorts,” he concluded.

Work at the Sultan Center is not limited to just dealing directly with customers in the sales department. “Job opportunities includes sales, marketing, finance, human resources, logistics services, purchases and work development. We hope to qualify specialized national manpower to increase the percentage of Kuwaitis in the Company.

We will also provide training courses for the different work sectors in the Company,” said Ayman Al-Sultan, Chairman and Managing Director.

in the news Violations continue at ministry KUWAIT: The Transparency Society said that administrative violations of state services and the impact they have on the country’s budget is the fiveyear plan’s major challenge, reported Al-Rai. They said that addressing this problem should be given a top priority.

Furthermore, the society noted in their monthly report that the Parliament has failed to pass a draft law to establish a public authority for transparency. The report indicated that the interpellation filed against the Information Minister failed to achieve its goals. It indicated that several violations were detected at the ministry, including the appointment of unqualified personnel as administrators for the radio broadcast department. The society called

for serious reform measures to be taken to fix the customs and ports sector. They also indicated that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is still struggling with illegal residency traders in regards to the implementation of the automation system.

Embezzlement verdict overruled KUWAIT: The Appeals Court has cleared a Kuwaiti employee with a local shareholding firm who was previously sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Criminal Court over charges of dishonesty and theft of company funds. The staff member was arrested along with another company employee after they were accused of embezzling funds entrusted to their safekeeping and using the money for their own advantage,

reported Al-Qabas. During the appeal trial, the suspect’s defense lawyer Najib AlWuqayan argued that the Criminal Court’s verdict was based on information that contradicted the documents provided as evidence, as well as the witnesses’ testimonies. AlWuqayan insisted that all the charges against his client had been proven false.

Permission to sell vacation time KUWAIT: A project to pay ministry staff employees allowances in exchange for their annual vacations is being prepared by the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, Lieutenant General Ahmad Al-Rujaib, reported AlRai. The procedure, commonly referred to as holiday purchasing, is being offered in an

attempt to promote equality amongst staff members in different sectors, prevent attempts to manipulate vacation time and increase the authority of assistant undersecretaries.

The new project will give undersecretaries about KD 50 thousand each year to distribute amongst staff members and their departments. This money will be given to employees should they choose to waive off some of their vacation time.

Staff members with 25 years or more worth of experience would be entitled to a two months’ salary allowance while those with less than 25 years of experience would be entitled to a one month’s salary allowance.

The system by which this process will be organized is expected to help prevent cases in which privileges are given to some employees unfairly.

Safar mulls fostering cooperation with UN body KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar discussed here yesterday with UN Assistant Secretary General for UN Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT) Dr. Anaka Gomo the ways of promoting mutual cooperation.

This took place during Safar’s meeting with Dr. Gomo who was accompanied by Director of the UN HABITAT Dr. Tareq AlSheikh and in the presence of the municipality’s assistant director general for development and information affairs Ahmad AlManfouhi.

A statement made by the municipality quoted Safar as saying that municipality always seeks to benefit from the international expertise in order to develop its activities, adding that the most important aspects of cooperation are establishment of the urban observatory, procedures streamlining project and studies on the construction of workers cities and the studies related to them which will be carried out according to BOT system.

Dr. Gomo honored during the meeting Safar and Al-Manfouhi for their efforts and cooperation with the UN represented in the HABITAT Office and awarded them a certificate of appreciation, expressing his hope for a sustainable cooperation in all fields between the State of Kuwait and the UN agency, it added.

Further, it quoted Al-Manfouhi as saying that Kuwait is one the world states supporting this UN agency, pointing out the annual subsidy provided by Kuwait to the HABITAT programme which was used in various projects including the urban observatory and procedures streamlining.

Finally, Al-Manfouhi said that the municipality had signed last April a letter of intentions with the UN HABITAT, noting a request made to the Kuwaiti Cabinet to increase budget allocated to the HABITAT that is supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to help it go ahead with its annual programme activities in Kuwait. Meanwhile, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of

Electricity and Water (MEW) for Supervision and Control Centers announced that if everything goes according to plan, Kuwait’s power levels should be ok through the summer, reported Al-Watan.

“We are safe as long as the units we have distributed all over Kuwait work properly, but we’ll be in trouble if one of them breaks down,” said Ali Al-Wazzan.

Al-Wazzan added that daily overloads were being recorded and that relevant reports were being extended to MEW Minister Al-Shuraian. He said that daily consumption rates reached a new recorded maximum at 10,280 megawatts. He noted that areas such as Hawally, Salmiya, Rumaithiya, Jahra, Farwaniya, Fahaheel and Maidan Hawally suffered blackouts.

Commenting on the whole situation, official sources said that not resorting to programmed power outages did not necessarily mean that the situation was safe.

“Many Diesel-operated generators were used in the past two days in places where power units broke down,” he pointed out.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

5

NATIONAL Growth in passenger traffic, cargo movement

Projects to upgrade airport facilities KUWAIT: With high levels of growth in passenger traffic and cargo movement, Kuwait is undertaking a number of projects to upgrade and expand its airport facilities. Kuwaitis enjoy high disposable incomes and have developed a culture of frequent travel. Today, over 50 international airlines operate scheduled flights in and out of Kuwait International Airport (KIA), a figure that is set to increase through the continued adoption of open-skies agreements, which the Kuwaiti government began undertaking in 2003. Growth in flight traffic is also being driven domestically, with the relatively recent launch of two new national carriers set to compete with the incumbent, state-run Kuwait Airways, following liberalization of the sector in 2005.

kuwait digest

Freedom Flotilla...Debate for the elite

By Ahmed Mohammed Al-Fahad here are more than a few major points to discuss with the ‘elite’ who supported the freedom flotilla, regardless of all its supporters and backers.

What if the Israeli troops had continued detaining the flotilla heroes in their dungeons and refused to release them or tortured them to obtain information and, in the process, crippled one of them? What could be done to stop their concerned spouses and parents from crying?

Do the supporters believe that Kuwait has a fully-armed naval fleet that would set sail from any of our ports heading for Ashdod Harbor, leaving Netanyahu trembling in fear and immediately calling for a cabinet meeting, agreeing to release our heroes and apologizing to the Kuwaiti people?

T

What if the choice of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed and National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi to receive the returning heroes were interpreted as governmental approval of the ships being sent to Gaza to break the blockade and confront the Israeli enemy?

Yes, the reception was motivated by an entirely laudable and fatherly wish on HH the PM’s part to ensure that his ‘sons and daughters’ were safe and well, but this was not a green light to prepare and load more ships.

Even if the premier did approve the original idea, what sort of aid was the flotilla carrying? Did all of it reach Gaza’s widows and orphans or did the Israeli troops confiscate, sell or even re-export some or all of it?

And what of the cash being carried by some of those on board the flotilla to give to the Gazan people? Did it

reach Gaza or has it instead gone to the Jewish State’s treasury or military forces?

Finally, let us ask, what were the real motives behind Turkey’s sending these ships? Were they sent to support the people of Gaza while at home Turkey’s millions of Kurds remain in desperate need of their own freedom flotillas, food and clothes?

Don’t the organizers realize that the flotilla was meant to be used as a way of pressuring Israel to obtain some technological secrets or to play the role of mediator between Israel and Hamas in order to alienate Iran from the negotiations and thus from regional control?

I urge the Kuwaiti activists who took part in the flotilla to settle for the ‘success’ they’ve achieved so far and to let others prepare those in the future. — Al-Watan

Jazeera Airways, which bills itself as a “regional low-cost carrier”, today serves 23 destinations across the Middle East, while Wataniya Airways, a “premium economy” carrier that began operations in January 2009, is set to serve 13 destinations by year-end. Both airlines have aggressive expansion plans, and both have indicated that they intend to open new routes and acquire new planes on a continual basis.

According to Stefan Pichler, the CEO of Jazeera Airways, “The Middle East has 650 million people and is growing in both absolute and structural terms, with more people travelling more often. In the next five years, there will be a five percent growth in regional airline traffic. The market potential in this part of the world remains untapped.”

In 2009 KIA handled eight million passengers and 87,000 flights, despite the fact that the airport, originally constructed in 1961, has a current capacity of around seven million. This has resulted in congestion issues at the airport, especially during peak flight times.

Fawas Al-Farah, the president of Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said, “We are trying to be creative in the short term by reallocating flight slots and coordinating with Customs, the Ministry of Interior and other agencies to increase processing efficiency and ease congestion.

But with a projected compound annual growth rate in passenger handling volume of 10 percent over the next 10 years, we have to expand in order to be able to cater to this forecast growth.”

Indeed, construction of a second terminal with a capacity of 13 million passengers is on the cards. A KD 66.7 million contract for the design stage, predicted to take two years, has already been awarded to UKbased Foster & Partners. The construction phase is expected to take place for a further five years after that.

Separate from the design and construction of the terminal itself, which is being overseen by the Ministry of Public Works, the DGCA is set to directly oversee the construction of new facilities and the issuance of new service contracts.

According to Al-Farah, “There are a number of opportunities for the private sector and foreign investors to contribute and participate.”

Included in the list of scheduled projects are a new “cargo city” and a heavy maintenance centre; the construction of a new third runway and a contract to lengthen and widen the existing two runways; a new five-star passenger transit hotel; a contract for the upgrade of navigational equipment and a new control centre; and, eventually, a dedicated terminal to handle the country’s royal fleet.

According to Mahdy Aldakheel, director of the Projects Departments at the DGCA, while the new terminal is essential, equally vital are Kuwait’s cargo aspirations and the state’s ability “in attracting international and regional cargo companies to use Kuwait as a base for their regional operations”.

The 3m-sq-metre terminal, once completed, is expected to handle 61 wide body aircraft simultaneously. According to Aldakheel, the DGCA is ramping up efforts to coordinate with

the Ministry of Public Works to upgrade road connectivity between the airport, seaport and the northern and southern borders.

With strong and modern air connectivity considered a key component for any country looking to achieve growth through the efficient transport of people and goods, Kuwait’s upgrade of its aviation infrastructure is considered critical to the nation’s economic expansion.

As George Cooper, the CEO of Wataniya Airways, said, “Establishing Kuwait as a regional economic and financial centre requires solid, high-frequency aviation services.”

Pichler echoed this sentiment: “In many ways airports are the heart of an economy and airlines are the veins. In the case of Kuwait, the government is acutely aware that current flight traffic has outgrown infrastructure and that the current airport is beyond its capacity limits. As a result, the government is investing heavily to upgrade and expand airport facilities,” he said.

— Oxford Business Group

Steps to extend fiber optic network KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) reportedly intends to use the fiber optic system introduced as part of the joint GCC power network to strengthen the communications between these nations and enhance the quality of services offered to customers while reducing their costs.

During the first day of the Arab Advisors Group’s Seventh Media and

Telecommunications Conference which took place in Amman on Monday and Tuesday, senior representatives of GCC telecommunications bodies agreed on the need to invest in additional capacity for the fiber optic network between Kuwait’s Zoor power plant and Qatar’s South Doha facility, and between Saudi Arabia’s Salwa plant to the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Al-Sala’a facility. The work

is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

On the second and last day of the conference yesterday, Al-Qabas reported that the delegates were set to discuss how best to improve domestic cell phone networks’ operations in the region’s countries in order to avoid potential overlap problems in coverage between each nation’s 3G network.

6

NATIONAL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Drug addicts attack citizen

Two in police custody for possession of narcotics KUWAIT: An Egyptian truck driver was arrested at the Abdaly border checkpoint for attempting to smuggle 7,650 Captagon drug pills into the country, reported Al-Watan. When questioned, the smuggler confessed that he obtained the drugs from a dealer in Iraq and that he intended to sell them to students taking exams in Kuwait. Meanwhile, an Asian man Fugitive nabbed Hawally police arrested a Filipina woman wanted for a criminal case, reported Al-Watan. The fugitive was stopped by police for acting suspiciously.

A search of her identification revealed her criminal history. She was taken to the proper authorities.

Citizen assaulted A group of drug addicts kidnapped a citizen and assaulted him after he denied knowing the whereabouts of his brother, reported Al-Watan. The man was found in critical condition and brought to a local hospital by paramedics. A search for the assailants is ongoing.

Officers fight A policeman working at the Taima

KUWAIT: The municipal committee for removing structures built illegally on state land is to distribute leaflets warning citizens that any illegal properties not removed by the owners before October 1, 2010 will be demolished.

A committee member revealed that numerous building violations had been spotted by team members across Kuwait, with a common violation being the unlicensed construction of external concrete steps of various sizes and shapes. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

KSE administration called to hold unlisted firms to account KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) market committee has called on the KSE's administration to provide a list of the shareholding companies formed through initial public offerings (IPO) which have failed to file official requests to be listed on the market despite being formed over a year ago.

The administration has detected three such firms to date, and is currently coordinating with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) to compel these companies to file listing requests since the KSE itself lacks the authority to enforce compliance with these measures. The KSE's administration has asked the MCI to suspend the companies' activities until they file official listing requests in order to protect shareholders' interests.

The KSE took these steps after it was discovered that the management boards of several shareholding firms had chosen not to file for KSE listing, a violation of the regulations governing this area, which state that all shareholding firms should do so following the issue of their first budget report. The violation of this regulation means that shareholders in these firms are unable to trade in their shares on the KSE, reported AlQabas. Furthermore, reports suggest that certain major shareholders are working to buy up stocks from smaller investors in order to create blocks of shares at reduced prices and increase their own benefits after the shares are listed on the stock exchange. The reports indicate that these actions could be the reason behind the firms' delays in filing for official listing requests.

kuwait digest

Thank You, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad

By Saud Al-Samaka

"I

believe that an unconstitutional dissolution of the Parliament would create a whole new crisis other than solve persistent issues." This statement was made by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad in an interview published recently in Al-Qabas. The significance of this statement is that it was made by a young member of the ruling family who has long been accused of being the 'creator of crises' and the main supporter of demands made to unconstitutionally dissolve the Parliament.

In my opinion, Al-Fahad has proved through his statements, that he is committed to the importance of working in accordance with the constitutional system. This is the significance of participation from people's representatives in the decision making process.

By making the aforementioned statement, Al-Fahad fended off all accusations that were leveled against him to support attempts of work made against regulations of the Constitution by marginalizing popular participation. He not only announced his support to the democratic system, but also warned against the repercussions of an unconstitutional dissolution. Al-Fahad

proved his self-confidence and sense of responsibility towards his nation with his statement of commitment to the Constitution.

It has been long perceived that the reason behind the political struggle is not the constitutional or democratic systems themselves.

Breaching these systems create a lack of integrity during the election process, as well as an improper commitment to parliamentary duties.

This, when combined with a lack of commitment from the government are detrimental to the process of reform.

Had election regulations been strictly followed and the electoral process be based on patriotism, voting based on tribal, sectarian or religious differences would have disappeared.

This would enable the country to overcome the crises on a political scene. Likewise, had Cabinet members been chosen on the basis of professional efficiency, we would have had a Cabinet that is able to cooperate with the Parliament. I would like to express gratitude to Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad for removing the blame from deteriorating situations. I hope that other ruling family members and Cabinet members express a similar mentality in protecting this system.—Al-Qabas

Al-Masoud handing over the key of the car to winner Bader Al-Arada.

police station attacked a fellow police officer at the Rabiya police station when the latter issued a traffic ticket against his brother, reported Al-Watan. The attacked officer had placed the driver under arrest for driving recklessly and leading police on a brief pursuit. After the man was arrested a group of men entered the police station, including the outlaw's brother, who directly attacked the officer before being subdued. He was held for questioning.

DUI Police arrested a citizen in her fifties after she was found driving under the influence of alcohol on Second Ring Road, reported Al-Watan.

Two bottles of liquor were found in her possession and she was referred to the

was arrested at the Kuwait International Airport after he was found with marijuana in his shoes, reported Al-Rai. The man was searched soon after reaching the country for acting suspiciously. When questioned, he explained that the drugs were for personal use only. He was referred to the proper authorities. proper authorities.

Maid held An Asian maid was arrested for beating her sponsor's children and threatening to cause them further harm should they complain about her actions, reported Al-Watan. The children's mother reported the incident to police at the Sabah Al-Salem police station when she discovered her maid's actions.

Car thieves arrested Capital Governorate investigators arrested three youngsters for stealing the contents of parked cars throughout the governorate, reported Al-Rai. Police set traps for the thieves after they received several reports regarding people having their cars broken into. One of

the criminals was caught trying to steal a laptop from a car that police were monitoring. When questioned, the criminal confessed to carrying out 22 similar acts.

He informed police about his two accomplices who were then arrested at their residences.

Suicide attempt Firefighters saved a Filipina maid from committing suicide after they talked her out of jumping out of a third story window in her sponsors' home in Ardiya, reported Seyassah. Firefighters, accompanied by police and paramedics, responded to the emergency and took the maid in for questioning. When asked about her motives, she explained that she decided to end her life after arguing with her female sponsor.

Using modern techniques crucial, says Al-Sayer KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Helal Al-Sayer on Monday stressed the importance of utilizing innovative techniques in the provision of emergency services, particularly in the field of emergency ambulance services.

Speaking to reporters at the opening of three health and emergency services ambulance centers located in Jleeb AlShuyoukh, Rumaithiya and Fahaheel, which were all partly funded by the Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the minister stressed the importance of developing Kuwait's emergency services provision through supplying trained and qualified medical, nursing and other personnel, including qualified and experienced technical staff, emphasizing the ministry's enthusiasm for providing such services.

The health ministry is keen on providing efficient services to minimize the harm resulting from accidents and diseases, including emergency and disaster incidents, through deployment based upon highly trained paramedics, a modern ambulance fleet, and a sophisticated communications network, the minister noted.

Dr. Al-Sayer also praised KFH's role and its ongoing support, including its generous contribution towards establishing the ambulance centers.

For his part, KFH Chairman Bader Al-Mukhazeem said that KFH is planning to donate and establish 15 similar centers in the future, noting that the first phase of this program will consist of six centers.— KUNA

TEC holds draw for coupons KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) recently held a draw for coupons given to customers at the 2010 World Travel exhibition held last month. It was attended by Marketing Manager Fahad Al-Masoud, as well as Jassem Al-Hajri, a representative from the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).

The TEC had allocated a 2009 Dodge Charger car as the first prize, which was won by Bader Al-Arada. Ahmad Nawar and Islam Fuad won the second and third prize which are two nights at a villa located at the Khairan resort. The fourth prize, which contained two tickets to Sharm Al-Sheikh, was won by Dana Imaduldeen. The prizes from five to seven were family subscriptions held at the TEC's sea clubs. The eighth prize was a two-way ticket to Dubai, whereas the prizes from nine to twelve are LG Plasma TV sets. Other prizes included BlackBerry phones (13 - 14), PlayStation 3 sets (15 - 16), and Acer Laptops (17 - 21).

After handing over the first prize winner with the keys to his new car, Al-Masoud indicated that this year's competition featured wide participation due to the great offers provided by the TEC, including a 50 percent discount on subscriptions and entrance tickets.

KUWAIT: Car accident on the Sixth Ring Road yesterday. —Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Kuwaiti man found dead in car

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A murder investigation is underway after a Kuwaiti man in his mid-forties was found dead in his car in suspicious circumstances.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives were quickly at the scene and the body of the man, who was reportedly born in 1965, was removed for autopsy.

Road accidents A 26-year-old Egyptian man suffered injuries to his back and left eye, while a 32year-old Bangladeshi man sustained an injury to his left foot in a car crash near the Jowhariya Farms in Abdalli. Both were

taken to Jahra Hospital. In a separate incident, two Egyptian men suffered leg injuries in a car crash on the Sixth Ring Road just in front of the 360 Degree Mall. Both men were taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

Meanwhile, a 32-year-old Egyptian man was taken to Mubarak Hospital with broken bones in one hand following a car accident in Hawally.

Expats fired Official sources revealed that Farwaniya Hospital placed three expat nurses, two Philippine nurses and one Yemeni under investigation, reported Al-Shahed. It was discovered that they were smuggling drugs out of the hospital and reselling them at a

very high price. The hospital's director terminated their employment without filing a case with the Public Prosecutor.

Residency violator After living in Kuwait for 20 years without a proper residency permit, a Jordanian woman was arrested by Mubarak AlKabeer Governorate police. Authorities, who were suspicious of the car she was driving, ordered her to pull over. When they asked her for identification she provided them with an expired passport. When the officers realized that the passport expired in 1990, before the Iraqi invasion, she was arrested and referred to immigration services.

kuwait digest

Freedom Flotilla and peace process

By Dr. Nada Al-Mutawa

W

hile organizations of all types agree on the need to establish their priorities and interact with political, economic and social events under the umbrella of common interests, they differ on the strategy for documenting their stance on issues.

I say this after following the "media marathon" seen in the Arab and foreign media about the activists who chose to sail with the flotilla of Turkish vessels into the waters adjacent to blockaded Gaza to draw the world's attention to the need to liberate Gaza, as the foreign media's attention was directed at Greek activist Dimitri Gillias and Arab activist and Knesset member Haneen Al-Zubi, as well as former foreign ambassadors who spent time in Arabia and dedicated their retirement to humanitarian action for Gaza.

As for the Gulf papers, they briefly mentioned activists from Bahrain in addition to the Kuwaiti group that is enthusiastic about humanitarian work.

Columnists in the Kuwaiti papers were divided between supporting the activists' voyage and considering it an initiative to

make a point of solidarity for the liberation of Gaza from the siege, and another group who expressed concern the humanitarian action might become a way of encouraging activists to participate in operations the columnists described as risking lives.

Political analysts were also divided in their readings of the Turkish stance, with some being supportive of it, while others accused Turkey of snatching the beacon of the Palestinian cause from Arabs.

If we shed light on the Palestinian cause through the 'Arab peace initiative,' created during the 2002 Beirut summit, we can see that the summit was a launch pad for the peace initiative created by the current Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.

This was followed by more Arab states joining the committee, including a number in the Gulf represented by Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen and Qatar, in addition to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, the neighboring nations of the occupied lands, with Algeria, Sudan and Morocco representing Africa.

It's notable that Kuwait did not join any of the committees and did not attend the Annapolis peace conference, so it is strange for National Assembly members to

ask Kuwait to withdraw from the Arab peace initiative.

Now, the peace process has been subjected to "amendments" and changes of diplomatic tactics, such as the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993, which supposedly put an end to the fighting between the PLO and Israel, not to mention the Jordan-Israel peace treaty, the Wye River conference in 1998 and Camp David in 2000.

Through accords and treaties, the Arab League very cautiously took upon itself the revival of the Arab initiative and, ignoring Goldstone report issued by one of the UN committee entrusted with finding the facts about the Gaza war, voted by a majority of 114 votes for (to 44 against).

This was void of any Arab effort, despite the Arab League's mobilization towards the Gaza events last year.

Still, we do not know the main reason behind how these issues are dealt with and why such proposals fail. Is it an atmosphere that does not encourage renewal of initiatives? Or the abuse of humanitarian actions for political and electoral gains? Or is it all down to the Arab League being too weak and ineffectual to manage crises?! —Al-Jarida

7

INTERNATIONAL Prosecutor dismisses ‘Arabian Nights’ ban Wednesday, June 9, 2010

CAIRO: Egypt’s public prosecutor yesterday dismissed a complaint brought by Islamists seeking to ban “Arabian Nights” which they judged to be immoral, the official MENA news agency reported.

Prosecutor Abdel Megid Mahmud threw out the case, saying the epic tales had been published for centuries without problems, and had been an inspiration to countless artists, MENA said. The case was brought forward by a group of Islamist lawyers after a new edition was published by the govern-

ment-run General Agency for Cultural Palaces. They had filed a complaint to the public prosecutor against the publication of the classic “One Thousand and One Nights,” known in English as “Arabian Nights,” because they said it was lewd.

Mahmud also made reference to a 1985 ruling which allowed the book to be published, saying the latest case brought no new elements. First published in mediaeval times, the collection of tales including “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” is told by

Sheherazade to put off her execution by a king who wants to bed his country’s virgins before executing them.

In 2003, the head of General Agency for Cultural Palaces was sacked by Culture Minister Faruq Hosni after it published three novels Islamists described as obscene.

In their complaint against “Arabian Nights,” an Islamist group of lawyers, calling themselves Lawyers Without Borders, catalogued references to sex which they said “called to vice and sin.” — AFP

Obama to meet Abbas as Gaza fallout mounts WASHINGTON: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will ask President Barack Obama today for “bold decisions” on the Middle East but US-led peace moves face a torrid climate after Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid. Obama will welcome Abbas to the White House seeking to ensure regional fury over the May 31 Israeli commando strike does not doom indirect IsraelPalestinian talks that took months for Washington to organize.

He will also discuss American efforts to break through a “status-quo” on the blockaded Gaza Strip, which his administration describes as “untenable” following the deadly Israeli maritime raid, which killed nine Turks. “The president looks forward to receiving president Abbas to review progress in the proximity talks and discuss our common efforts to achieve Middle East peace,” said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.

Obama also wants to “reinforce our strong suppor t for the Palestinian Authority and its state-building effort, and review ideas for a long-term strategy towards Gaza.” Officials would not discuss possible areas of progress during the visit, which comes a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his own White House trip to deal with the fallout from the Gaza crisis.

But Obama, still working through the recriminations over the raid, fierce international condemnation of Israel and his own previously tense relations

with Netanyahu’s government, has little obvious room for maneuver. Abbas will arrive in the United States from Turkey, a US ally increasingly at odds with Washington over Middle East politics and Iran’s nuclear program.

Ankara has also furiously condemned the Gaza flotilla raid. The Palestinian leader last week set a clear rhetorical framework for his longawaited summit with the US president.

“My message to Obama during our meeting in Washington next week will be that we need bold decisions to change the face of the region,” Abbas said at an investment conference in the West Bank.

It remains unclear exactly what Obama can offer Abbas, other than a public embrace, a vow not to give up navigating the treacherous diplomatic thicket of the Middle East and some hope of future humanitarian gestures to Gaza. “What Obama says in private to Abbas may be as important as what he says in public,” said Michele Dunne, a former State Department official now at the Car negie Endowment for International Peace.

That private message may include Obama’s assurances to stay the course, continue pressing Netanyahu and seek a commitment from the Israelis to enter direct talks after indirect, proximity consultations. In public at least, Washington and the Abbas government are offering different interpretations on the current state of proximity talks with Israel brokered by US Middle East

envoy George Mitchell.

Abbas has already suggested the talks are encountering “difficulties” and “lots of obstacles.” Washington has said the dialogue is “constructive” and “substantive,” as it insists the talks must not be derailed by fallout from the Gaza crisis. Vice President Joe Biden said in Egypt on Monday that Washington was looking for new ways to work on the “humanitarian, economic, security and political aspects of the situation in Gaza.”

But the global controversy over what kind of inquiry should examine the showdown-be it Israeli, international or a mixture of both-is providing another headache for Obama’s Middle East team. Uncertainty also clouds the state of the Obama administration’s relationship with the Israeli government.

Netanyahu’s visit last week was intended as an attempt to move on from the highly unusual public disagreements, when the Israeli leader last called at the White House visit in late March.

He was denied a photo-op and the normal trappings of a foreign leader’s visit during that appearance, amid a public spat over Israeli settlement building.

Despite public attempts to smooth over the row, and a US refusal to so far explicitly condemn Israel’s actions on the flotilla, the state of relations between the two governments remains unclear. “I think there are a lot of questions. I don’t think the dispute that was opened by the previous visit has completely healed,” Dunne said. — AFP

Iraqi parliament to hold first session on June 14 Sunnis, Shiites vie to take charge

BAGHDAD: President Jalal Talabani yesterday called the first session of Iraq’s new parliament for June 14, more than three months after an inconclusive election that has yet to yield a government. Political uncertainty since the March 7 vote has led to a rise in violence and threatens to overshadow the latest phase of US military withdrawal. The election was won by the cross-sectarian Iraqiya alliance of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, with the heavy backing of Iraq’s once-dominant Sunni minority.

But Iraqiya fell short of a majority, forcing tense negotiations between fractious Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish blocs. Allawi is being challenged for the right to form the government by the two main Shiite groups of incumbent Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and firebrand cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, who say they will join forces to become the largest bloc in parliament.

A spokesman for Maliki’s Dawa Party, the lead party in the State of Law alliance that polled second in the election, said party committees from the two blocs were working together to secure a majority. Together, State of Law and the third-placed Iraqi National Alliance grouped around Iranian-backed Sadr, would still fall four seats short of a majority in the 325-seat parliament. The two are squabbling over who should be prime minister, with Maliki resisting pressure from the INA to step aside.

“We will be presented in the first session of the parliament as a single bloc,” Dawa Party spokesman Haider al-Abadi told Reuters.

Allawi has warned that Iraq risks sliding back into sectarian violence if his Sunni-backed bloc is left out of power.

It could yet take months to form a government. The United States says it will stick to a plan regardless to cut troop numbers from just under 90,000 to 50,000 by Sept 1. “There is a risk of a prolonged political crisis which could have serious effects on political stability and on the security environment,” Gala Riani of IHS Global Insight said, but added: “In spite of all the horse-trading that is going on, there appears also to be an agreement that it is to no group’s benefit at this point-aside from the existing Sunni insurgency-to let matters get out of hand.”

The Supreme Court certified the results of the election on June 1 after a recount and appeals process that changed nothing.

Insurgents appear to be exploiting the power vacuum. Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the worst days of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, but April and May saw a

BAGHDAD: Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday. — AP spike in civilian casualties compared with the first three months of the year. There are daily incidents of shootings and bombings, often targeting Iraqi security forces and Sunni ex-insurgents known as Sahwa or ‘Sons of Iraq’, who switched sides to fight al Qaeda and helped turn the tide of the war. Iraqi political analyst

Ibrahim Al-Sumaidaie said coalition talks depended on pressure from regional powersIran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria-the conflict between the main political blocs and the backing of the United States. “The constitutional time limit is two to three months, so they have time,” he said. — Reuters

8

INTERNATIONAL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Voters seek tighter immigration laws

Anti-Islam parties expected double support in Dutch vote AMSTERDAM: Dutch voters seeking fiscal discipline and tighter immigration laws appear ready to back a new right-wing government in a national election today, and may even double their support for strident anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders. An immigrant-wary, free-market party that hasn't

led a government in nearly 100 years, the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, known as the VVD, has taken a commanding lead in the polls.

That positions Mark Rutte, its 43-year-old leader, to be a potential prime minister and form the country's next cabinet.

AMSTERDAM: Two cyclists pass a windmill and election posters in Amsterdam, Netherlands yesterday, one day ahead of general elections. —AP

Flemish separatists prepare to shake Belgium up at polls GHENT: First confederalism, then independence, that's the main manifesto plank of the Flemish nationalists who look set to become the biggest party in Flanders at the general election on Sunday. Last Sunday some 1,500 militants from the "nationalist and democratic" New Flemish Alliance (NVA) held their last pre-election meeting in the velour seats of a theatre in central Ghent, the capital of East Flanders in Belgium's Dutch-speaking northern region.

Just days ahead of the elections they were in buoyant mood. The latest polls see their group coming out on top in Flanders with 26 percent of the popular vote. Such a level of support for a party which openly advocates splitting from the poorer, French-speaking region of Wallonia to the south would be unprecedented. In the theatre, yellow flags sporting a rampant black lion-the flag of Flanders-were hoisted next to the EU flag.

The black, yellow and red stripes of the Belgian flag were notable by their absence.

"We haven't won yet, the Belgian establishment won't give us any presents," said Siegfried Bracke, a leading Flemish journalist who recently joined the N-VA ranks.

"We will hold a hand out to the francophones for a confederation project, but it is

written in the stars that Flanders will be an independent state in Europe," he added.

"I hope it's the end of Belgium, because I'm fed up at just being a Flemish person in Belgium," said retired Auguste Smeyers who had come to cheer on N-VA president Bart De Wever and his cohorts. There are no political parties operating nationally in Belgium, guaranteeing that a coalition government will replace the outgoing coalition following the general election. The country is split along its linguistic faultline, with only the Brussels capital region officially bi-lingual.

The francophone parties were incensed

by De Wever's splittist rhetoric. Head of the francophone centrists, Joelle Milquet, said the N-VA must be opposed to avoid the split up of Belgium and the "annexation of Brussels to Flanders". Francophone liberal chief Didier Reynders charged that De Wever was "mistaking his dreams for reality." At the last election in 2007 the N-VA, which was then in alliance with the Flemish Christian-Democrats, secured four percent of the vote in Flanders.

This time round its name is on all lips, as voters prepare to return to the urns following the implosion of the coalition of Yves Leterme's government in April. The outgoing administration was, inevitably,

toppled by incessant quarrelling between its Flemish and Walloon parties. De Wever, 39, has managed to impose the "confederation" theme on the election campaign.

The idea is to transfer more and more federal powers to Flanders and Wallonia, a goal shared by almost all parties in Flanders but not in the french-speaking south. In that scenario, the central government would be in charge only of defence and foreign affairs. De Wever believes that the current federal system "has failed".

"The country is blocked. On the important issues, likeimmigration, the budget or judicial reform the Flemish and the francophones are no longer in synch," he old AFP. De Wever said he doesn't want to become federal prime minister.His party will only join a new coalition government if the francophone partners also commit to the confederal path.

"What Bart De Wever wants so profoundly I want nothing to do with," francophone liberal leader Reynders has already warned. "If he's a separatist that's his problem, but it will be without me," he added, paving the way for long months of fraught negotiations on the formation of the next Belgian government. After the last election it took almost a year to put a coalition together.—AFP

Rutte has not ruled out bringing Wilders into a governing coalition. The country's fourth election since 2002 comes after the Labor Party brought down Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's centrist government in March over its refusal to extend the Dutch military contribution to fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But Afghanistan has barely been mentioned in the threemonth campaign, as budget cuts rose swiftly up the agenda and immigration remained a key issue. Wilders, the maverick politician who denounces Islam as a fascist religion, seized the spotlight early with a program that included a tax on headscarves worn by Muslim women. At one time, his 4-year-old Freedom Party led the opinion polls, but fell back dramatically to fourth place after attention shifted to the European financial crisis and demands to cut the country's deficit, now predicted to run at 6.3 percent of GDP this year.

The focus on economic issues helped Rutte's party gain prominence. Although it has joined several center-right and center-left coalitions before, it has not led a government since before World War I. Although less outspoken than Wilders, Rutte has warned that "welfare tourism" with open doors to migrants from Muslim countries and eastern Europe who would be a drain on the economy. Polls suggest that Job Cohen, 62, the former mayor of Amsterdam who took over the Labor party leadership after the collapse of the government, is the most popular single candidate.

But his party lags in second place well behind the VVD. Cohen has warned Rutte that his plan to cut 20 billion ($24 billion) in government spending over five years will hurt the poor.

"We're not going to budget-cut the economy to death," Cohen said.

"We will make sure people keep their jobs. For that you need politicians that work together on solutions, a Netherlands where everybody counts." Polls say Wilders may win at least twice the nine seats he currently holds in the 150-member parliament.

But it was unclear whether Wilders, whose unfettered rhetoric has made him the target of death threats, would be an acceptable partner in a coalition.

Wilders faces a criminal trial later this year on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination with his 17-minute film "Fitna," which portrayed Islam as encouraging terrorism and rejecting Western values. "Why is that I have to debate with a bulletproof vest on and not you?" Wilders asked Cohen at a televised debate Monday. "(Islam is) a totalitarian, violent, intolerant religion. Open your eyes."— AP

Uganda backtracks on Bashir, says invited to AU summit KAMPALA: Uganda has backtracked on a decision to bar Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir from the African Union summit in Kampala next month, saying the leader, who is wanted for war crimes, has actually been invited. Sudan reacted angrily to an announcement by Uganda over the weekend that Bashir had not been invited to the July meeting. Khartoum demanded an apology from Uganda and called on the AU to switch the summit to another venue.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering mass murder, rape and torture in western Darfur. He denies the charges but has seen his travel restricted since an arrest war-

rant was issued for him last year.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify ... President Bashir of Sudan was actually invited for the AU Summit," Uganda said statement issued late on Monday. "The Sudanese embassy in Kampala has confirmed that they received and sent the invitation letter to Khartoum," the statement read, adding that all African heads of state have been invited for the Summit except "those who were suspended from the AU for specific reasons."

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's office previously said Sudan would be represented by other government officials.

Bashir was sworn in for another term as

leader last month after winning an election marred by boycotts. African leaders have asked the Hague-based court to postpone any action against Bashir but the warrant has not been lifted. Uganda has signed up to the court, which has also issued arrest warrants for Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels. But Kampala has said it respects the African Union position with regard to not cooperating on the Bashir case. Bashir, the only sitting head of state wanted by the ICC, has had to choose his trips carefully but he has made a point of travelling to friendly nations in the Middle East and Africa, including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Eritrea. South Africa said last

month that Bashir had been invited to the continent's first World Cup along with the rest of Africa's leadership, but the president said his country would be obliged to arrest him if he took up the invitation.

Sudanese state media and Ugandan newspapers reported in July last year that Museveni had called Bashir to apologise for comments from a junior minister that Kampala might arrest him if he attended a previous meeting in Uganda. Bashir did not attend that meeting and in November pulled out of an Islamic summit in Istanbul, after reports Turkey was under pressure from the European Union to drop him from the guest list.— Reuters

Prison may turn Muslims to militancy LONDON: The treatment of Muslim inmates by prison staff as potentially dangerous militants risks driving them into the hands of radical groups, the chief inspector of prisons warned in a report yesterday.

Dame Anne Owers said the approach is prevalent throughout the prison system, even though less than 1 percent of the 10,300 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales have been

convicted of terrorism-related offences.

"It would be naive to deny that there are, within the prison population, Muslims who hold radical extremist views, or who may be attracted to them for a variety of reasons," she said.

"But that does not argue for a blanket, security-led approach to Muslim prisoners in general."

Her report is based on interviews with 164 Muslim prison-

ers in eight prisons and young offenders institutions as well as inspection surveys undertaken over the past three years.

Owers called on the National Offender Management Service to develop a strategy to encourage staff to properly engage with Muslim prisoners on an individual basis.She said resources were poured into security at the expense of understanding the religious

needs of Muslim prisoners.

"Without that, there is a real risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy: that the prison experience will create or entrench alienation and disaffection, so that prisons release into the community young men who are more likely to offend, or even embrace extremism."

Muslim prisoners were found to have a more negative experience of prison, often

because of fears for their own safety. The problem was most acute in high security prisons where three-quarters of Muslims interviewed said they felt unsafe, with the perception linked to a mistrust of staff.

Owers' report also said that Islam played a positive and rehabilitative role in the lives of many prisoners, despite staff being suspicious of religious acts.—Reuters

NAIROBI: US Vice President Joe Biden, center, walks with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right, and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, left, at State House Nairobi, Kenya yesterday. —AP

Kenya asks US to lead int'l effort in Somalia NAIROBI: Kenya's president asked the United States yesterday to lead a greater international effort to stabilize neighboring Somalia, while visiting US Vice President Joe Biden said the US is committed to helping Kenya see regional stability.

The request that the US do more to combat rising militancy in Somalia comes three days after the arrests of two New Jersey men attempting to fly there. The two are charged with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the US by joining al-Shabab, a Somali militant group designated by the US in 2008 as a terrorist organization.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said Somalia is a high priority for both the US and Kenya. The country hasn't had an effective central government in 19 years, a situation that has allowed militancy and piracy to flourish. "This matter must be addressed with greater urgency. We have asked the US government to provide leadership to forge a concerted international effort to stabilize Somalia," Kibaki said.

Biden said the US recognizes that Kenya's long-term stability and development is tied to regional stability. "I assured the president and the prime minister the United States supports Kenya's efforts to secure the border in the face of very real threats from those who wish to spread chaos through despair and violence," Biden said during a joint news conference at Kibaki's Nairobi residence.

Biden is in the East African nation, the birthplace of President Barack Obama's father, to press for political reforms in the country and discuss the situation in Somalia and Sudan.

If Kenya strengthens its rule of law, the country will open the door to greater US aid and

investment, Biden said, encouraging Kenya to continue with reforms initiated after the country's postelection violence. More than 1,000 people were killed after the December 2007 poll.

"Americans want to do business here, they want to travel here, and with the right climate, they will come," Biden said.

While her husband was at Nairobi's State House, Jill Biden, their daughter Ashley, 29, and granddaughter Maisy, 9, visited Kibera, the largest slum in the country. There they heard testimonials from two women living with HIV and visited a girl who is part of a group of adolescents who have been trained with skills to enable them earn an income and cope with life in the rough slum. The HIV-positive women and girls are beneficiaries of US-funded organizations. Moving from one venue to another, Jill Biden trudged in ankle-high mud through a maze of alleyways. Her 20-minute walk brought business to a standstill.

The vice president and his wife later laid a wreath at a memorial for the 1998 bombing against the US Embassy in Nairobi. That bombing and a simultaneous one against the US Embassy in neighboring Tanzania killed 224 people. On Wednesday, the vice president is scheduled to give what he said would be a major speech on Kenya. The Bidens are also scheduled to visit Nairobi National Park to view wildlife before traveling to South Africa for the opening of football's World Cup later in the week. Biden began his three-African nation tour on Monday in Egypt where he met with that country's leader, Hosni Mubarak, and discussed how their two countries and other allies can find ways to address the humanitarian, economic, security and political situation in Gaza.— AP

WILKOW: A diver from a special fire brigade unit talks to his colleagues as he builds a sandbag dike to prevent further flooding on June 7, 2010, in the village of Wilkow. —AFP

Election on track despite floods, says Polish govt WARSAW: Poland's government said yesterday it would press ahead with a planned presidential election on June 20 despite devastating floods that have led some Poles to call for the ballot to be delayed.Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ruling centrists have been resisting pressure to declare a state of natural disaster, even in areas of southern Poland worst affected by flooding, because this would by law trigger a postponement of the election.

"The prime minister is awaiting information from the state election committee, but as of now we have no signals that the election will be impossible to conduct," government spokesman Pawel Gras told TOK FM radio. "We can state that the government will be able to find extra money to help conduct the election in flooded areas. (This could be done) by setting up alternative polling stations or by organising means of transport for those who would like to vote (but cannot)."

An official in the worst affected district of southern Poland, Marcin Markowski, told the Polska daily that his municipality was ready to erect tents to serve as polling stations "in the worst case scenario". Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Tusk's Civic Platform (PO), is tipped to win the election, which was brought forward from the autumn after the death of incumbent Lech Kaczynski, along with 95 others, in a plane crash in April.

But Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw, candidate of the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) that he leads, has narrowed the gap with

Komorowski thanks to a quietly effective campaign based on appeals for national unity amid the floods.

A majority of Poles believe the government is wrong not to have declared a state of natural disaster during the floods, according to an opinion poll conducted by the SMG/KRC agency. Such a declaration would help the authorities combat the floods by curtailing certain individual freedoms and rights. For example, it would make it compulsory for people to leave their homes if asked.

Both main presidential candidates have spent much of the campaign visiting the worst affected towns and villages. Up to 20 people have died and more than 10,000 have had to evacuate their homes since Polish rivers began bursting their banks in early May following heavy rainfall. The government has earmarked 2 billion zlotys ($695 million) from budget reserves to help the flood victims. The floods were again set to dominate the agenda at yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting.

After a brief respite in late May, fresh rainfall last week again swelled Poland's rivers, including its longest, the Vistula, which bisects the country and the capital Warsaw, flowing north into the Baltic Sea. Thousands of emergency workers have been toiling for days to fortify flood defences along the Vistula ahead of another 'wave' that is expected to hit Warsaw early on Wednesday. Many Warsaw schools were shut yesterday as a precaution.The Vistula burst its banks in two areas further downstream earlier in the day.—Reuters

9

INTERNATIONAL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Dutchman confesses to killing Lima woman Flores killed in fit of rage

LIMA: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waves to photographers among other foreign ministers from the Americas during the official photo of the 40th General Assembly of the Organization of American States, OAS, in Lima, Monday. — AP

Clinton urges OAS to drop objections, readmit Honduras LIMA: The top US diplomat has brushed aside objections of regional powerhouse Brazil and neighbors to urge the Organization of American States to readmit Honduras following its post-coup expulsion.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s appeal on Monday exposed the differences President Barack Obama’s administration still has with its southern neighbors and the difficulties it faces in building cooperative ties with a region long suspicious of Washington.

Nonetheless, the 33 OAS member countries agreed on creating a group of experts to study the conditions needed to return Honduras to the pan-American body, said Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde. He said the group will have until July 31 to present its conclusions. “It is time for the hemisphere as a whole to move forward and welcome Honduras back into the inter-American community,” Clinton told OAS foreign ministers and other delegates at their annual general assembly in Lima.

South American nations, apart from Peru and Colombia, disputed November’s election of Porfirio Lobo as the new Honduran president because the vote was organized by backers of the June 28 coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya. But Clinton said

the region saw Honduras elect Lobo in “free and fair elections” and watched the new president “fulfill his obligations under the Tegucigalpa-San Jose accords.”

These included forming a national reconciliation government and a “truth commission” to look into events behind the coup, she said. Brazil, which sheltered Zelaya at its embassy in Tegucigalpa in a long showdown following the coup, has urged countries in the region to avoid rushing to readmit Honduras. “Honduras’s return to the OAS has to be linked to specific means for re-democratization and the establishment of fundamental rights and guarantees, said Brazil’s Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguilar Patriota.

“It is essential to create conditions for former president Manuel Zelaya to fully participate in the political life of Honduras,” added Patriota, who replaced the absent Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino also took a stand against Lobo. “My government cannot recognize the new government in Honduras while there are violations committed against human rights,” Patino told the body. “Zelaya has to be recognized in his true capacity, with his guarantees in his country, and those who are responsible for the coup, those who broke

human rights and democratic guarantees have to be punished for this.”

Venezuela, a Zelaya ally ruled by virulent Washington foe President Hugo Chavez, has opposed readmitting Honduras. And US partner Mexico, has yet to throw its support behind the move.

Apart from US-Brazilian differences over Honduras, those over Iran and Cuba can also bubble to the surface, even though they are not on the agenda, said InterAmerican Dialogue president Michael Shifter.

Clinton’s Brazilian counterpart, Amorim, “never expected to come to Lima,” said Ruy Casaes, Brazil’s ambassador to the OAS. Instead, the US diplomatic chief will meet with his deputy, Patriota.

The lower level talks were a possible sign of the US-Brazilian rift as Washington pushes this week for a UN Security Council vote on a fresh round of sanctions against Iran. Brazil, a non-permanent council member, has resisted sanctions while pushing a deal opposed by Washington to ship lowgrade nuclear fuel to Turkey so that it can be further enriched and returned to Iran for medical purposes. Clinton will also visit Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados on her seventh Latin America tour ending Thursday. — AFP

Canada’s immigration open, but not for one French family MONTREAL: Looking to swell its population with an influx of up to 250,000 immigrants annually, Canada is arguably among the world’s most welcoming nations, but its doors are not open to all. A French couple, Sophie and David Barlagne, recently experienced bitter rejection by a still selective immigration policy. They arrived in Canada five years ago on temporary work permits, full of hope, and started a small software firm in Montreal.

But their request for permanent residency was denied because their seven-year-old daughter Rachel, who suffers from a mild form of cerebral palsy, poses an “excessive burden”

on the nation. “I don’t accept the term ‘burden,’ it’s callous. My daughter, because she has a handicap, is treated like a criminal,” Sophie Barlagne told AFP. According to the government’s definition, Rachel is considered to be an extreme burden because her treatments cost 5,000 dollars more per year than the average healthcare expenditures of Canadians.

The family’s personal wealth was deemed by authorities to be insufficient to pay for her care, and so it would likely fall on the public healthcare system to foot the bill. Her parents qualified to come to Canada as economic immigrants (investors and skilled workers), the only immi-

gration category in which strict criteria apply. Like most Western nations, Canada’s birthrate has slowed in recent decades and massive immigration is needed to keep its numbers up, in order to keep the economy roaring.

Canada’s immigration policy has been tremendously successful-the population has grown to 33.9 million, up 0.17 percent in the last three months of 2009 with net immigration of 27,863 almost equal to net births (93,731 births minus 64,121 deaths). The last census in 2006 found that one in five Canadians (19.8 percent) was foreign-born, the highest proportion of foreign-born Canadians in 75 years,

and second only to Australia (22.2 percent). Most, some 58.3 percent, of recent immigrants now herald from Asia and the Middle East.

European migrants, who once accounted for the bulk of newcomers, are now the second-largest group, at 16.1 percent.

China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, the United States, South Korea, Romania, Iran, Britain and Colombia, in this order, topped the countries of birth for immigrants from 1981 to 2006. Last year, a total of 252,124 immigrants came to Canada. More than half were economic immigrants, more than one-quarter were family members joining a spouse, parent or child living in Canada, and about 10 percent were refugees. Economic migrants are the only group scrutinized to determine if their entry to Canada would benefit the nation: candidates must be educated, have no criminal record and be in good health.

“For certain categories of immigrants, Canada does not even ask these questions,” Selin Deravedisyan-Adam, president of the Quebec wing of the Canadian Migration Institute, told AFP. “For example, if a resident wants to sponsor a spouse, a sick child, there’s no problem, it is approved. “However, if someone wants to settle in Canada as a skilled worker, or as an entrepreneur then these questions are asked because immigration is not a right, it’s a privilege.” After exhausting all legal challenges, the Barlagne family expects to be forced to leave Canada after their work permits expire next year, leaving behind a life they built in Montreal.

Their only hope now is for a ministerial reprieve. The couple last week asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, herself an immigrant, to intervene on their behalf and press Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to allow the family to remain in Canada on compassionate grounds.— AFP

LIMA: Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, long the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of a US teen in Aruba, has confessed to killing a young Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room, a police spokesman said. Peru’s chief police spokesman, Col Abel Gamarra, told The Associated Press that Van der Sloot admitted under questioning Monday that he killed 21year-old Stephany Flores on May 30.

Several Peruvian media reported that Van der Sloot killed Flores in a rage after learning she had looked up information about his past on his laptop without his permission. They did not name their sources for the information.

The newspaper La Republica said that he tearfully confessed, in the presence of a prosecutor and a stateappointed attorney, to grabbing Flores by the neck and hitting her because she had viewed photos and videos about the Aruba case on his computer while he was out buying coffee.

Gamarra would not provide details of the confession. Nor would the chief of Peru’s criminal police, Gen Cesar Guardia, when the AP reached him by telephone. Guardia said only police director Gen. Miguel Hidalgo could authorize the information to be divulged. Hidalgo’s cell phone rang unanswered. Asked about the Van der Sloot confession, a brother of the victim, Enrique Flores, told the AP “we are not going to make any comment. This is in the hands of the police, of the justice system.” Van der Sloot’s confession came on his third full day in Peruvian police custody, on the eve of a planned trip to the hotel in which he

was to participate in a reconstruction of the events leading to Flores’ slaying, Gamarra said.

Flores, a business student, was found beaten to death, her neck broken, in the 22year-old Dutchman’s hotel room. Police said the two met playing poker at a casino.

Video from hotel security cameras shows the two entering Van der Sloot’s hotel room together at 5 a.m. Saturday and Van der Sloot leaving alone four hours later with his bags. Police say Van der Sloot also left the hotel briefly at 8:10 a.m. and returned with two cups of coffee and bread purchased across the street at a supermarket. Gamarra said the case would now be turned over to prosecutors to present formal charges and Van der Sloot will be assigned to a prison while he awaits trial.

Murder convictions carry a maximum of 35 years in prison in Peru and it was not immediately clear if a confession could lead to a reduced sentence.

Van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, then 18, on the Caribbean resort island of Aruba while she was celebrating her high school graduation. He was arrested twice in the case , and gave a number of conflicting confessions, some in TV interviews , but was freed for lack of evidence.

Holloway’s father told ABC’s “Good Morning America” yesterday that Van der Sloot should tell all he knows about the disappearance of his daughter. “He confessed to this one ... I would like for him to tell everyone what happened” in the earlier case, Dave Holloway said.

“Hopefully this is his last vic-

tim.” A fixture on true crime shows and in tabloids after Holloway’s disappearance, he gained a reputation for lying , even admitting a penchant for it , and also exhibited a volatile temper. In one Dutch television interview he threw a glass of wine in a reporter’s eyes. In another, he smashed a glass of water against a wall in a fury. The 6-foot-3 (191centimeter) -tall Van der Sloot had been held at Peruvian criminal police headquarters since arriving Saturday in a police convoy from Chile, where he was captured on Thursday. He had crossed into Chile on Monday, nearly a day after leaving the Lima hotel , five years to the day after Holloway’s disappearance.

Lima’s deputy medical investigator, Victor Tejada, told the AP that Flores was killed by blows with a blunt object, probably the tennis racket found in the hotel room. Guardia told the AP her body was found face down and clothed with no indication of sexual assault. In video taken of the Dutchman that was broadcast by a TV channel, Peruvian police were seen searching Van der Sloot’s belongings in his presence, pulling a laptop, a businesscard holder and 15 bills in foreign currency from his backpack.

Chilean police who questioned Van der Sloot earlier said he declared himself innocent of the Lima slaying but acknowledged knowing Flores. Van der Sloot was represented by a state-appointed lawyer during Saturday’s questioning and both a Dutch Embassy official and his USbased attorney told the AP on Sunday that he was seeking to hire his own counsel. The suspect’s father, a former

judge and attorney on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, died in February. Van der Sloot has two brothers.

There were indications Van der Sloot may have been traveling on money gained through extortion. The day of his arrest in Chile, Van der Sloot was charged in the United States with trying to extort $250,000 from Holloway’s family in exchange for disclosing the location of her body and describing how she died. US prosecutors say $15,000 was transferred to a Dutch bank account in his name on May 10. He arrived in Peru four days later, his visit coinciding with the runup to a June 2-5 L atin America Poker Tour tournament with a $930,000 prize pool.

Tournament organizers said Van der Sloot did not sign up to participate in the event.

Van der Sloot is an avid gambler and was known to frequent Aruba’s casino hotels, one of which was lodging Natalee Holloway.

In a lengthy 2006 interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, Van der Sloot described drinking shots of rum with Holloway, whom he said he met while playing poker at an Aruba casino, then taking her to a beach and leaving her there around 3:30 a.m.

Two years later, a Dutch television crime reporter captured hidden-camera footage of Van der Sloot saying that after Holloway, drunk, collapsed on the beach while the two were kissing he asked a friend to dump her body in the sea. “I would never murder a girl,” he said. That interview prompted authorities in Aruba to reopen the case, but Van der Sloot later said he made up the whole story and he was not charged.-AP

INTERNATIONAL

10

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

China defends Internet ‘Great Firewall’ BEIJING: China yesterday defended its right to censor the Internet, saying it needed to do so to ensure state security, and cautioned other nations to respect how it polices the world’s largest online population. The government’s white paper on the Internet in China-where more than 400 million people are now online-comes after a very public row with Google over web freedoms which prompted the US firm to shut down its Chinese search engine. The Google spat over censorship and cyberattacks touched off a war of words with the United States over Internet freedom, at a

time when ties were already suffering over US arms sales to Taiwan and a host of trade and currency issues.

China “advocates the exertion of technical means” in line with existing laws and international norms “to prevent and curb the harmful effects of illegal information on state security, the public interest and minors”, it said. Such laws and regulations allow the curbing of content on everything from “instigating racial hatred or discrimination and jeopardizing ethnic unity” to gambling, violence and obscenity, the government noted. “Effectively protecting

Internet security is an important part of China’s Internet administration, and an indispensable requirement for protecting state security and the public interest,” it said.

Beijing operates a vast system of web censorship, sometimes referred to as the “Great Firewall of China”. It blocks access to any content the government deems unacceptable, ranging from pornography to political dissent. Critics at home and abroad complain that the Internet rules stifle criticism of the ruling Communist Party and restrict discussion on sensitive topics such as Tibet

and the brutal crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests.

But China yesterday insisted it “guarantees the citizen’s freedom of speech on the Internet as well as the public’s right to know, to participate, to be heard and to oversee”-and warned foreign nations to keep quiet on the issue. “Within Chinese territory, the Internet is under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The Internet sovereignty of China should be respected and protected,” the government said. During a visit to China last month, European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes said that

Beijing’s web censorship constituted a trade barrier that should be looked at by the World Trade Organization.

Kroes, who is in charge of charting the European Union’s digital agenda, said China’s “Great Firewall” was a trade issue “as long as that is a real barrier for communication”. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, China is among the worst nations in the world oppressing Internet bloggers, and had jailed 24 journalists as of December 2009, many of them Internet bloggers. The government said in its white paper that it aims to make

the Internet available to 45 percent of its 1.3-billion-strong population in the next five years.

It praised the Internet as an “engine promoting the economic development of China” and said the country’s leaders “frequently log onto the Internet to get to know the people’s wishes” and participate in online chats with users. Premier Wen Jiabao-who has tried to forge a reputation as a man of the people, contrasting with his colleagues in the Communist Party hierarchy who come across as much more staid-has done a few web chats since last year. — AFP

Scandal-tainted power broker Ozawa sidelined -for how long?

New Japanese PM launches cabinet, vows to tackle debt TOKYO: New Japanese leader Naoto Kan vowed to tackle Japan’s huge public debt and keep ties with ally Washington on track as he launched a cabinet that also aims to sideline a scandal-tainted party power broker before an election.

The choice of Kan, 63, as Japan’s fifth premier in three years, has bolstered his Democratic Party’s chances in an upper house election it needs to win to break free of a tiny partner and avoid having to find more allies to pass bills easily.

TOKYO: New Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan arrives at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Volcano near Manila rumbling back to life MANILA: A volcano close to the Philippine capital is becoming active and may eventually erupt, scientists said yesterday as they warned tourists to avoid its famous crater. Taal, located 65 kilometers south of Manila, is one of the most unstable of the country’s 22 known active volcanoes with 33 recorded eruptions, the last one in 1977.

Experts raised the second of

a five-level alert on Taal yesterday. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said volcanic quakes in the area have been occurring since April and the crater lake was heating up.

“The recorded high frequency volcanic earthquakes could be the result of active rock fracturing associated with magma intrusion beneath the volcano,”

it said in a statement. “Taal volcano’s status is now raised to alert level 2, meaning that the volcano is undergoing magmatic intrusion which could eventually lead to an eruption.”

Taal’s crater is surrounded by a lake about 15 kilometers off the hill resort of Tagaytay, a major tourist destination.

“Phivolcs reminds the general public that the main crater

remains off-limits because hazardous steam-driven explosions may occur, along with the possible build-up of toxic gases,” the institute said. It said a trail leading to the crater was “hazardous”. However the lake surrounding the crater has prevented deaths in the 1977 and other eruptions, as the body of water has protected outlying areas from the lava. — AFP

TAAL: A farmer harvests seaweed along the Taal lake while the Taal volcano is seen in the background.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said volcanic quakes in the area have been occurring since April and the crater lake was heating up. — AFP

The Democrats will stay in power regardless of the outcome of the upper house poll, expected in July, but a revamped coalition could complicate policymaking, depending on its composition. Coming off a six-month stint as finance minister, Kan appears committed to reining in a public debt that is already twice the size of the economy. His cabinet also seems united on the topic, except for banking minister Shizuka Kamei, who heads a tiny coalition party and likes big spending.

“Restoring our fiscal health is indispensable for economic growth,” Kan told a news conference, adding that just raising taxes would spur deflation and that it was necessary to prioritize spending on growth areas.

He also urged a non-partisan debate on fiscal and tax reform.

Kan, who takes over after indecisive predecessor Yukio Hatoyama squandered sky-high support during just eight months in office, gave the finance portfolio to fellow fiscal conservative Yoshihiko Noda.

He also appointed like-minded former national strategy minister Yoshito Sengoku as chief cabinet secretary-the top government spokesman and an important policy coordinator.

“Kan has called for the need for fiscal reform, so that’s the direction the new government will head in. But the question is how much they can actually deliver,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. The next general election must be held by late 2013, and while the Democrats have pledged not to raise the 5 percent sales tax before then, party fiscal reformers want to state clearly their intention to do so before that vote takes place.

WEAK YEN, OZAWA FACTOR Kan’s commitment to fiscal reform, though, could well be tested by an economic slowdown. “As long as the economy sustains its recovery, Kan will start working on fixing Japan’s finances,” Minami said. “If problems in Europe begin to hurt and undermine the recovery, there’s a risk Japan will turn back to big spending again.

In a sign the recovery remains fragile, bank lending marked its biggest annual fall in nearly five years in May, as companies remained reluctant to boost capital spending. Relatively low government bond yields suggest the market is not expecting an immediate crisis, but credit ratings agencies have threatened downgrades if the government fails to craft credible plans to rein in debt and spur growth.

Kan also said he was aware of the view that a weak yen was good for Japan’s export-driven economy, but perhaps having learned caution as finance minister, steered clear of more specific comments. Kan reappointed 11 ministers from Hatoyama’s cabinet, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who must help manage ties with ally Washington, since an agreement to keep a US airbase on Okinawa island-forged amid controversy in Hatoyama’s final days-faces stiff opposition from residents.

Kan told the news conference that US-Japan ties would remain the core of Japan’s diplomacy and that he would honor the bilateral deal while trying hard to reduce the burden on Okinawa, reluctant host to about half the US forces in the country. —Reuters

WUHAN, HUBEI: Chinese farmer Yang Youde fires his homemade cannon near his farmland on the outskirts of Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province. — AFP

Farmer fires home-made cannon to defend land BEIJING: A Chinese farmer has declared war on property developers who want his land, building a cannon out of a wheelbarrow and pipes and firing rockets at would-be eviction teams, state media said yesterday. Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of bustling Wuhan city, in central Hubei province, says he has fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks. “I shot only over their heads to frighten them,” the China Daily quoted him saying of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land.

“I didn’t want to cause any injuries.” The rockets can travel over 100 meters, and exploded with a deafening bang, the official paper added. It did not say if anyone had been injured.

His approach is more aggressive than most, but Yang’s problem is a common one. Anger over

property confiscation is one of the leading causes of unrest in China, with many people forced to give up homes and land to make way for anything from roads to luxury villas. Yang says the local government has offered him 130,000 yuan ($19,030) for his fields, on which they want to erect “department buildings”. He is asking for five times that amount.

Construction ditches have already been dug across the land of less obstinate neighbors. A first eviction team attacked him in February after his rockets ran out, but local police came to his rescue. In May he held off 100 people by firing from a makeshift watchtower. The government is planning to reform property confiscation rules, but rights groups say the changes do not go far enough to address the potentially destabilizing issue. — Reuters

Not forgotten: Remains of US soldier sought on Vietnam hill HILL 881 SOUTH: Al Maumausolo surveys what is left of the windswept, hilltop battlefield he has not seen in 42 years and says: “The body’s somewhere around here.” The US Marine Corps veteran has returned to this mountain near the key Vietnam War battle site of Khe Sanh to help a group of United States military investigators pinpoint the site where remains of a Marine could be found.

Since the end of US combat involvement in 1973, 655 Americans listed as missing during the war have been repatriated from Vietnam and identified but 1,313 remain unaccounted for, the US said. It is the job of the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) to investigate those missing-inaction cases, and to recover the remains of those they find. One of those cases has brought an investigation team to this mountain they call Hill 881 South, in central Vietnam’s Quang Tri province.

With a clear view for kilometers around, Hill 881 South offered the perfect spot for Maumausolo’s six-man reconnaissance team to conduct observations and set up a radio relay point. They dropped in by helicopter one day in August 1968.

Maumausolo rappelled down, and landed right on the smelly corpse of an American soldier. “I fell on my butt... I got up and I’m looking right at it,” recalls Maumausolo, 63. After recovering from his initial shock, Maumausolo pushed the body into a foxhole and buried it as well as he could.

The abandoned foxholes are shallow depressions in the ground, now overgrown with tall grass. Vietnamese workers chop away the vegetation to let an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician sweep the holes with a metal detector. It whines like a baby, signaling dirtencrusted pieces of barbed wire and other war debris but nothing that confirms precisely where the missing marine’s remains lie.

“You don’t think you were down

any more this way?” asks David White, the US Army sergeant leading this investigation. No, replies Maumausolo. “This is the right area.”

He moves to another foxhole and says, “Try this one.” White helps to hack away the grass. At 48, White is a six-year member of the investigation team. He speaks Vietnamese and has a gentle manner that belies the battle-hardened look of his face.

The job, he says, is “a great honor.” Like other members of the team, White dresses in casual clothes and carries no weapon.

He says his work could be compared with that of a police detective, looking for evidence and witnesses. Among the documents White brings to the site is a black-and-white picture of the missing marine.

Explosions once shook this now-quiet hill which is still littered with discarded ammunition, the remains of missiles, and other ordnance. ‘Sometimes I get nightmares’-Along with the EOD technician, White’s team includes a photographer, an Army Special Forces medic, and Chuong Vu, 33, a US Air Force member who has spent almost six years with the unit. “I really love what I’m doing,” says Vu, who was born in Vietnam but immigrated to the US in 1991. He serves as a linguist and analyst.

“Everything I’m doing is for the country, for America,” Vu says.

The Americans work alongside Vietnam’s Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP), a liaison team. Days before White’s group arrives, VNOSMP officers have checked how to reach the site, and have lined up a local witness, Le Huu Hanh, 64. He served with a North Vietnamese regiment at Hill 881 South in July 1968. White politely interviews him in a hotel lobby the night before they visit the hill. Hanh recounts how his unit shot an American and then tried to use his body as “bait” to lure other US soldiers. After three days the smell forced them to bury the body in an unmarked site next to a crater. “Can you describe the

body?” White asks. “Full uniform on with boots and everything... about 18 years old,” says Hanh.

White asks for more details on the burial location, which Hanh says was on flat ground just a few meters from a stream.

Hanoi says about 300,000 North Vietnamese soldiers are also still listed as missing from the war.

But Hanh, a farmer said that times have changed and as a fellow soldier he wants to help the Americans find their comrade.

“Now the Americans and Vietnamese work together,” he says. White told AFP that Hanh’s information matches what investigators know of the incident. It also seems to fit with what Maumausolo found on the hill about five weeks after Hanh was there.

But when Hanh, Maumausolo and the investigators reach the mountain next morning after a bumpy drive and a short hike, they discover the two sites do not match. Hanh’s site, dotted with short pine trees near a bomb crater, is about 60 meters downhill from the foxholes that Maumausolo found. Even with the “puzzling” apparent movement of the body, White believes there is enough evidence to recommend an excavation. “Our job’s not to try to dig up remains.

We just find it, get enough evidence to say we believe he was here,” White says.

His report to officials in Hawaii will recommend that a separate group of JPAC specialists, known as the recovery team, dig up the area indicated by Maumausolo, with Hanh’s site as a secondary excavation if needed.

He and other JPAC members say they are fulfilling a pledge made to all US military personnel: that they will not be forgotten.

Maumausolo said he hopes the effort will help bring peace of mind not only to the missing soldier’s family, but to his friendsand to himself. “Sometimes I get nightmares bad, about this case,” he said.

“A lot of his friends gave me their numbers. ‘If you find anything, call us’, they said.” — AFP

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

11

Nepal plots to reclaim Everest record from US teen KATHMANDU: A Nepalese Sherpa who holds the record for the fastest ascent of Everest is hoping to take a local child to the summit after a US teenager became the youngest person to climb the mountain. Thirteen-year-old Jordan Romero from California reached the top of Everest last month, becoming the youngest person ever to conquer the world's highest peak after a climb some medical experts criticized as irresponsible. Now Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who climbed Everest in eight hours and 10 minutes in 2004, is hoping to find a younger Nepalese climber to beat that

record next year-and is even considering taking his nine-year-old son.

"The last record-holder (said to be 16-year-old Temba Tsheri of Nepal) was a relative of mine. He held the record for more than 10 years, which made us very proud," Sherpa said yesterday. "Nepal is a small country and we do not get much good publicity.

I want to take an 11- or 12-year-old to the summit because I think all the Everest records should be held by Nepalese people." Sherpa, who lives in Kathmandu but was born in a small village high in the Himalayas, travelled to

his home district this week to try to find a child to take to the summit during the 2011 climbing season.

But he said he had struggled to find anyone with a birth certificate in the remote district, where most women deliver their children at home and few births are formally registered. He fears that would make it difficult to prove the record, and is now considering taking his own son, Tseten Sherpa, who turns 10 later this year. Around 3,000 people have climbed Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to conquer the 8,848-metre

peak in 1953.

Several hundred have died, many of them falling to their deaths or succumbing to altitude sickness during the grueling climb, and any attempt to take a young child to the summit is certain to attract controversy. Nepal does not usually grant Everest permits to anyone under 16 and Romero, accompanied by his father Paul, climbed the mountain from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet. But Sherpa said the tourism ministry had agreed to make an exception for a Nepalese child seeking to break the American's record. — AFP

NATO suffers its deadliest day this year in 10 foreign troops die in 'hard day'

KATHMANDU: Thirty-one year old Nepalese climber Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest, poses with his nine-year old son Tseten Sherpa in Kathmandu yesterday. — AFP

Major militant groups in Pakistan's Punjab PUNJAB: Militants from outlawed groups in Pakistan's Punjab province are developing closer ties with the Taleban in the northwest, representing a growing threat for a country already hit hard by militancy.) Here are facts about some of the major militant groups in Punjab.

LASHKAR-E-JHANGVI Sunni Muslim Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is one of the most notorious Al-Qaeda-linked groups with roots in Punjab. It also has forged strong ties with the Pakistani Taleban groups operating in the tribal areas on the Afghan border. LeJ emerged as a sectarian group in the 1990s targeting minority Shiite Muslims but later graduated to more audacious attacks, such as the truck bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel in 2008 which killed 55 people. It is also blamed for an assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in which seven Pakistanis were killed. Six members of the team and a British coach were wounded. LeJ was outlawed in Pakistan in August 2001. Members are also involved in violence in Afghanistan.

Military analysts estimate it has just under 1,000 members, who are almost entirely militants, and say the group was behind last year's brazen attack on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, in which more than 20 people were killed.

SIPAH-E-SAHABA PAKISTAN (SSP) SSP is a pro-Taleban, anti-Shiite militant group based in central Punjab. The group was banned in 2002 but officials say its members were suspected of involvement in attacks in the province, including the burning to death of eight Christians on suspicions of blasphemy last year.

Military analysts estimate its political arm has about 100,000 active members, with about 2,0003,000 active fighters.

JAISH-E-MOHAMMAD Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), or Army of the Prophet Mohammad, is a major militant group

with links to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda and based in Punjab. It was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after it was blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. The group initially focused its fighting on the Indian part of divided Kashmir but later forged links with Al-Qaeda and the Taleban and is suspected of involvement in several high-profile attacks, including the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Faisal Shahzad, the main suspect behind the failed New York bombing this month, reportedly had links with the JeM. Shahzad also visited South Waziristan, highlighting the JeM's links with the Taleban in the northwest as well as its capacity to carry out attacks on foreign soil. JeM fighters are also involved in violence in northwest Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. Analysts put its membership at about 5,000 active members, of whom 1,5002,000 are active fighters.

LASHKAR-E-TAIBA Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or the Army of Taiba.

Taiba is the old name for the Muslim holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia, the second holiest city for Muslims. The group was founded in 1990 to fight Indian rule in Kashmir and is based in Punjab. It was blamed for the coordinated attacks on the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, in November 2008 that killed 166 people. LeT was also blamed for the late 2001 Indian parliament attack and was banned in Pakistan in 2002.

In May, Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to release LeT leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who India accuses of masterminding the 2008 assault in Mumbai, dismissing a government appeal. A UN Security Council committee last year added Jamaat-udDawa, a charity headed by Saeed, to a list of people and organisations linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taleban. — Reuters

12 dead, scores missing in Bangladesh ferry accident DHAKA: At least 12 people, including 10 children, drowned and scores more were missing after a packed ferry capsized in northeastern Bangladesh yesterday, officials said. The accident happened in Sunamganj district, about 140 kilometers north of the capital Dhaka, district administrator Kamrul Alam said.

"The bodies of six schoolgirls, four small children and two women have been recovered so far," Alam said, adding that the ferry was overloaded. He said a search-and-rescue operation was under way, with many of the ferry's estimated 60 to 70 passengers still missing. About 40 children on board the small passenger ferry were on their way to school, said district police chief Golam Kibria. "Their relatives are gathering on the banks of the river now, they are very concerned," he said.

Some men on the small, single-deck vessel managed to swim to shore, he said. Five people rescued from the boat had been sent to

the local hospital after nearly drowning during the accident, he added. The ferry, which was travelling from Balijuri village to Badshaganj village, was used by hundreds of children in the remote area to get to school every day. "We are trying to raise the boat from the river bed," local police officer Shahid Mia Chowdhury said. "We believe the boat sank because it was carrying too many passengers."

Boat and ferry accidents due to lax safety standards and overloading are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed by 230 rivers. At least 16 people died last month in a boat accident after an overloaded ferry sank in Kishorganj district. At least 85 people drowned in November last year when the overloaded triple-decker ferry MV Coco-4 capsized off Bhola Island in the country's south. A week later another boat sunk in the northeast, leaving 46 people dead. — AFP

KABUL: Seven American troops, two Australians and a French Legionnaire were killed in the bloodiest day this year for international forces in Afghanistan. A US contractor training Afghan police also died in a brazen suicide attack. The bloodshed came as insurgents step up bombings and other attacks ahead of a major NATO operation in the Taleban stronghold of Kandahar that Washington hopes will turn the tide of the nearly nine-year-old war.

Half the NATO deaths - five Americans - occurred in a single blast in eastern Afghanistan, US spokesman Col Wayne Shanks said without giving further details. It was a grim reminder the insurgents can strike throughout the country - not simply in the south, which has become the main focus of the US campaign. Two other US troops were killed in separate attacks in the south one in a bombing and the other by small arms fire.

NATO said three other service members were killed in attacks in the east and south but gave no further details. The French government announced one of the victims was a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion killed by a rocket in Kapisa province northeast of Kabul.

Three other Legionnaires were wounded. "I think we're just seeing a hard day in theater," Lt Gen David Hurley, the acting commander of Australia's defense forces, said in Canberra, announcing his nation's 12th and 13th deaths in Afghanistan among some 1,500 troops.

The American police trainer and a Nepalese security guard were killed when a team of three suicide bombers attacked the main gates of the police training center in the southern city of Kandahar, US officials said. Afghan officials said one bomber blew a hole in the outer wall, enabling the two others to rush inside, where they were killed in a gunbattle. Afghan officials said three police were wounded. It was the dead-

SYDNEY: This undated photo released by the Australian Department of Defense yesterday shows Australian Sapper Jacob Moerland with his fiancee Kezia Muccahy. Moerland was one of two Australian soldiers serving with the 1st Mentoring Task Force in Afghanistan killed in action on June 7. — AFP

liest day for NATO since Oct 26, when 11 American troops were killed, including seven who died in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan. The crash was not believed a result of hostile fire.

US commanders have warned of more casualties as the alliance gears up for a major operation to secure Kandahar, the former headquarters of the Taleban and the biggest city in the south with a half million people. Last December, President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan to try to stem the rise of the Taleban, who have bounced back since they were ousted from power in the 2001 US-led invasion.

Obama has shifted the focus of the US campaign against Islamist terror to Afghanistan from Iraq, where the US is expected to draw down to 50,000 troops by the fall.

"There are a lot of troops in action, a lot going on at this present time, and this has just been a difficult day for us," Hurley said. Afghans were also caught up in Monday's wave of violence. Five Afghan private security guards were killed and four others wounded in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Ghazni province, the Interior Ministry said. Two Afghan security guards were killed and two wounded a gunbattle with insurgents in another part of the province, it said in statement. As fighting escalates, the Afghan government is reaching out to the insurgents in hopes of ending the war.

Last week, President Hamid Karzai won endorsement from a national conference, or peace jirga, for his plan to offer economic and other incentives to the militants to lay down their arms, and to seek talks with the Taleban leadership. The leadership has so far publicly shunned the offer, and the US is skeptical whether peace can succeed until the Taleban are weakened on the battlefield.

The Taleban have branded Karzai a US puppet and say there will be no talks while foreign troops are in Afghanistan. — AP

American trainers shape new Bhopal disaster verdicts spark outrage in India 'face' for the Kandahar police KANDAHAR: Sandwiched between an orchard and a collection of decrepit homes, Afghan police post number six is a familiar haunt of US trainers trying to gain the upper hand in the battle for Kandahar. Driving up in heavily armored MRAP trucks built to withstand the lethal bombs planted by the Taleban across this provincial capital, American military police head inside the modest one-storey building. "We are here to make sure that they are engaging the people, that they are proactive," said US Sergeant Gary Woodruff, whose tour of Afghanistan is his fourth overseas deployment, after Kosovo and two missions in Iraq.

"We want to put a nice face on them, make them stop acting tough, like a lawless organization," he said. The US-led NATO force in Afghanistan is undertaking one of its most ambitious counterinsurgency operations in the nine-year Afghan war.

Many of the 30,000 troops President Barack Obama ordered to Afghanistan late last year are heading to Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taleban movement and a hotbed of bombings, assassinations and lawlessness.

The objective is to help Afghan forces restore government authority in Kandahar, a province of more than a million inhabitants according to the Central Statistics Organization of Afghanistan.

This is terrain where insurgents and criminals have gained ground since a US-led invasion in 2001 brought down the Taleban regime. Any stain on the reputation of the police plays right into the insurgents' hands. "Initially when we first got there for

the mentoring mission, a lot of locals didn't like the ANP," said one US intelligence officer who has spent the last year in Kandahar, referring to the Afghan National Police.

"They thought they were corrupt, that the ANP robbed them etc. So they had a really bad name for themselves... But over a year of mentoring they have improved and the perception of locals has improved." NATO operations are focused on districts surrounding Kandahar that are used as a base for the insurgency, particularly Zhari in the west and Arghandab in the north. They are also aimed at cutting insurgents' access to the city.

In the city itself the focus is on redoubling efforts to reinforce the under-strength and poorly trained police. Long underpaid in comparison with the army, Afghan police nonetheless got significant pay rises in 2009, aimed at discouraging them from succumbing to bribery and corruption. On patrol, Woodruff's men let the Afghan police sweep ahead into the narrow lanes between high, sand-colored walls. Lagging behind and surrounded by curious children, the Americans watch attentively from the sidelines. Next to a dusty track, Woodruff points out a gaping hole half full of rubbish that had been the site of an improvised explosive device (IED), the weapon of choice for insurgents, which the police had got to before it could add to the death toll. "Somebody tipped off the ANP. If the people are unhappy, they won't do it. It's all about keeping these people happy. You've got to keep everybody on your side. That's the whole hearts and minds game," said Woodruff. — AFP

KANDAHAR: Canadian Task Force Kandahar soldiers take part in a shooting exercise at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar city. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian politicians, campaigners and newspapers vented outrage yesterday at two-year prison terms handed to those found guilty over the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster that left thousands dead.

Anger focused on the 25-year delay in the convictions, the perceived leniency of the sentences and the feeling that the "big fish"-the chief executive of the US parent group Union Carbide-had got away. Seven Indian managers from the pesticide factory that caused the world's worst industrial accident were found guilty in a court in Bhopal on Monday and each sentenced to two years in jail.

They were all granted bail and will now begin what promises to be a lengthy appeal process. The two-year sentences were the maximum that could be imposed after the Supreme Court in 1996 reduced the charges from culpable homicide to negligence, but many survivors said the guilty should be hanged. "It is sad but true that we live in a country that does not understand the value of life," Bhopal activist Hemlata Sahay said. "The guilty can easily get away and the victims are destined to suffer."

One survivor, Champa Devi Shukla, said she "felt like an idiot holding a placard outside the court while the accused left in big cars". "Shame On India" headlined the Mail Today, while the front page of The Times of India read: "Justice Delayed, Denied." The Express, The Times and NDTV news channel focused on the "man who got away"-Union Carbide's thenchief executive Warren Anderson, who fled India after the disaster and was named as an absconder by the court.

The ageing former executive lives in suburban New York, and

the Hindustan Times blamed the Indian government for allowing him "to live a life of ease far away in the US while the victims struggle from day to day". Anderson is unlikely to ever return to India, but Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told NDTV that the case against him was still open and that he "can be still be tried". Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh state, of which Bhopal is the capital, demanded radical legal reform and more help for survivors. "The present laws are inadequate in dealing with the tragedy," he said. "The punishment in this case is too little and laws should be amended to ensure maximum punishment."

The prosecution argued in the Bhopal court that there were design defects in the factory as well as other criminally negligent operational practices that were known to management but ignored for commercial reasons. Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide in 1999 and says all liabilities related to the accident were cleared in a 470-million-dollar settlement reached out of court with India's government in 1989. In a statement Monday, the company said the appropriate people had faced trial, arguing that US executives were not involved in the day-today running of the majorityowned Union Carbide India Ltd. Robert Blake, the US assistant secretary of state for South Asia, told reporters in Washington that he hoped the guilty verdicts would "bring some closure to the victims and their families". The disaster was unleashed on December 3, 1984 when a lethal plume of gas escaped from a storage tank at the Union Carbide pesticide factory, killing thousands in the surrounding slums and residential area.— AFP

OPINION

12

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

issues

Audience of one

By Dr James J Zogby

A

s expected, Israel matched its use of overwhelming force against the passengers on the Mavi Marmara with an equally vigorous attempt to shape both how the story played out in US media and the official response from the US government. To that end they prepared talking points, enlisted the efforts of their lobby, and mobilized a virtual army of activists to monitor, respond to and pressure press, politicians and electronic web-postings.

Israel's talking points suggested an alternate reality, asserting that: the ships posed a mortal danger to Israel since they were populated by "dangerous extremists" (which, if true, raises the question, why did Israel free them, sending them on their way); the Israeli military was ambushed and, therefore, acted in selfdefense (as if hooded heavily armed paratroopers who landed in the dead of night were but innocent bystanders); the cargo could have been delivered peacefully to Gaza if only the ships had off-loaded in Israel (ignoring the fact that the materials being delivered included items like pre-fabricated housing that Israel had banned from reaching Gaza); and there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza (clearly refuted by respected independent NGO statistics on poverty and malnutrition rates among Palestinian children in Gaza).

World-wide reactions to the violent assault and the resultant deaths were swift in condemning Israeli behavior.

But none of this mattered since Israel, in crises of this sort, plays to an audience of one. It is acceptable for Israel to endure international outrage and votes of 14 to 1 in the United Nation's Security Council, as long as that "1", the United States, stands at its side.Seen in this context, initial reactions here may have given Israel some comfort, although to quote the jumbled words of legendary baseball great Yogi Berra, "it ain't over 'til it's over".

US television networks for the most part gave scant coverage to the unfolding tragedy - leaving viewers interested in the story no recourse but to hunt down Al Jazeera English or the BBC to follow the tragic events at sea. Print media was a bit better, but as FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting - a media watchdog group) noted, too often the major dailies reported the story "through Israel's eyes" giving the benefit of the doubt to Israeli claims and focusing on the impact the event would have on US- Israeli relations rather than on the plight of Palestinians or the legality of Israel's attack in international waters.

On June 1, for example, the Washington Post did write an editorial calling on the Israelis to "ease restrictions on both Gaza and the West Bank" and make a credible move toward peace with the Palestinians, but not before they asserted that the passengers of the Mavi Marmara were "militants who swarmed [the Israeli mil-

itary] with knives and iron bars", accusing them of having ties to al Qaeda and "deliberately provoking a confrontation".

A predictable collection of members of Congress were fast out of the gate with statements of support, most of which echoed Israeli-supplied talking points. Some went overboard making bizarre observations, like Senator John McCain who claimed that this incident was but "another step in a chain of unfortunate events beginning with President Obama's insistence that there be a freeze, as a precondition for peace talks, a freeze on settlements in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not a settlement". In this, demonstrating that McCain had not only read the recent talking points, but recalled an earlier set supplied by the Israeli Prime Minister after the last crisis.

But before one concludes that the story is over and that reality, like the Mavi Marmara, had been subdued, more thoughtful voices have joined the fray, and these are worthy of note.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a "credible and transparent investigation" as did chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry.

Members of Congress Dennis Kucinich, Keith Ellison, Andre Carson and Betty McCollum made strong statements of concern while Congressman William Delahunt focused on the importance of US-Turkish relations demanding a "thorough, independent and impartial investigation" while praising "Turkey's responsible leadership in the region".

For its part, the Obama Administration's response though muted, at first, developed clarity by week's end.

Pushed by world reaction, concern with outraged Arab opinion, and pressure from NATO ally Turkey's demand for justice, Washington finally staked out for itself a more nuanced and balanced position. Israel may accept its isolation from the world community but the US has found its ally's position in maintaining a blockade of Gaza "untenable" and has agreed that an "impartial inquiry" into the deadly raid is needed.

Speaking on "Larry King Live" President Obama condemned "all the acts that led up to this violence". He went on to describe the loss of life as "unnecessary", noting that his administration was calling for "an effective investigation of everything that happened".

He concluded, looking forward, noting that it was now important that "we break out of the current impasse, use this tragedy as an opportunity so that we can figure out how we can meet Israel's security concerns but at the same time start opening up opportunity for Palestinians". What is clear is that the "audience of one" has not fully bought into the alternate reality of supplied talking points. This story is not over.

NOTE: Dr James J Zogby is the President of the Arab American Institute.

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

Pak Punjab 'in denial' over local militants

By Chris Allbritton

T

he government of Pakistan's heartland Punjab province is using militant groups to drum up electoral support, analysts and officials say, preventing it from admitting it has a problem with homegrown militants and from dealing with them. High-profile attacks in Punjab, such as last month's suicide assaults on two Ahmadi mosques in the eastern city of Lahore that killed scores, have outraged and horrified Pakistanis. They have also sparked talk of an operation against Punjabi groups along the lines of the Pakistani army's push against Taleban militants on the western border with Afghanistan.

The United States and India are becoming increasingly concerned about Punjab because it is Pakistan's richest and most populous province. Any largescale insurgency there would almost certainly destabilise Pakistan even more. But the Punjab government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that is in opposition nationally, denies Punjab is hosting militants or that a major operation is needed. "Let's not open a Pandora's box," a senior provincial official said, commenting on the possibility of a strong push against Punjab-based militants. "We don't want widespread violence along sectarian lines." However, the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), experts on militancy and much of the country's media say the PML-N is playing politics with terrorists in a bid to retain its edge in Punjab's local elections. The so-called Punjabi Taleban are a loose collection of militant groups that often started out as state-sponsored groups for Pakistan to use as foreign policy tools, but have since slipped the state's leash and become entangled with the Tehrik-iTaleban Pakistan (TTP) - the Pakistani Taleban - al Qaeda and with each other in a war against the state.

All are banned by the Pakistani state

yet all operate with a degree of openness in Punjab, said Rehman Malik, Pakistan's interior minister and a senior member of the PPP. Malik surprised many last week when he acknowledged that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba-Pakistan (SSP) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) - along with 29 other banned groups - were operating in Punjab and allied with the TTP and Al-Qaeda.

He also that 726 out of more than 1,700 members of banned groups were from Punjab. It was the first public statement from a senior official at federal level that such a problem exists.

The PML-N and the Punjab provincial government have been more reticent.

"They (the PML-N) don't use the word 'Taleban'," Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, a member of the PPP, told Reuters. "Call them what they are, Punjabi Taleban or Taleban from Punjab. Don't try to cover them up and say this doesn't exist."

While the Punjab government, led

by Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif of PML-N, has often denounced the TTP and attacks originating in the tribal areas, he and his party have yet to denounce similar attacks by banned Punjabi groups.

They have also failed to crack down on public rallies by the groups or move against militant madrasas. Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab and a senior PML-N figure, in February campaigned with the head of the SSP, a group that has said all Shi'ite Muslims should be kllled.

Shabaz Sharif was widely interpreted to have appealed publicly to the Pakistani Taleban in March not to attack Punjab because the PML-N also opposed American policy in the region.

He and the PML-N later said his words were taken out of context, but he was widely scorned in the media.

"I think there's definitely a very mundane desire by the Sharifs to keep these groups on board so they can use

their vote banks in elections," said journalist and analyst Ahmed Rashid, an expert on militancy. "And obviously these groups are very anti-PPP." A PML-N spokesman, Ahsan Iqbal, denied there was anything improper about Sanaullah campaigning for the PML-N with Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi, the head of the banned SSP. "Those 48,000 votes he got, they were not extremists' votes," Iqbal told Reuters. "Politics in the rural areas are very tribal and clan based. When the

candidates campaign, they try to maximise support. They are just playing politics with Punjab because there is a PML-N government in Punjab," he said. "It is very bad politics to play politics on the issue of terrorism."

The United States and India have long demanded a crackdown on militant religious schools, or madrasas, key recruitment centres for banned groups.

However, there has been little such action, as both parties fear a backlash from militant Islamists. "There are

many centres, madrasas, in southern Punjab, which are run by these hate organisations like Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and so many of these," Taseer told Reuters.

"I think you should recognise the fact that there are terrorists in Punjab and deal with them." PML-N's Iqbal said that, unlike in Pakistan's northwest where militants had taken control of territories, "not a single inch of Punjab is under the control of terrorist organisations". —Reuters

Kim son set to inherit power

By Lim Chang-Won

T

he youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il seems certain to inherit power in the communist state's second dynastic succession after his mentor was promoted to a top post, analysts said yesterday. A reshuffle Monday saw Kim's brother-in-law Jang SongThaek, who is close to youngest son Kim Jong-Un, appointed as a vice-chairman of the top decision-making body the National Defence Commission. Analysts say the move makes Jang, 64, the second most powerful man in the secretive state as it prepares for life after the ailing 68-year-old leader. "Jang's promotion is seen as a move to speed up the country's dynastic succession," said Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-Hyun.

Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, has never formally announced a successor to run the impoverished but nucleararmed nation. Jang will serve as a crucial middleman between the leader and other power centres to strengthen unity and transfer power in a stable manner, said Paik Haksoon of Seoul's Sejong Institute think-tank. "Jang's dramatic rise to power, backed by Kim Jong-Il, shows that North Korea is formalising and finalising its planned fatherto-son power transfer," he said.

Jong-Un is expected to be declared the eventual successor in 2012, the year the country has set for becoming a "great, powerful and prosperous" nation, Paik said. Little is known about the youngest son, believed to be 27, and no photo of him as an adult has been obtained outside the country. Yonhap news agency Tuesday published what it said were photographs from his time at school in Switzerland where he reportedly studied English, French and German

and avidly followed US basketball games.

Jang was already seen as the North's second most powerful man before he fell out of favour in early 2004 - reportedly because of his luxurious lifestyle. He made a comeback in late 2005 and in Oct 2007 was appointed to head a party department that supervises police, judges and prosecutors.

Analysts say Jang has maintained a solid power base through building networks in the party, government and military.

Some saw him as effectively running the country when Kim fell ill in 2008. "Kim may allow Jang to take on more day-today affairs without weakening his own absolute power," said Dongguk's Kim. Korea University professor Yoo Ho-Yeol told a seminar the son would need a guardian like Jang when the North formally announces the succession in 2012. "Jong-Un has many hurdles to overcome in order to rule as successor because of his youth and lack of experience, and therefore will need mentoring by seniors and working groups for quite a long time," he said. Yoo also warned of a possible power struggle if Kim Jong-Il dies before his son is in place, since some elites may question the legitimacy of another hereditary succession.

Leader Kim took over from his own father, founding president Kim Il-Sung. But Dongguk's Kim believes Jang could not take power for himself. "Jang is a bureaucrat who has long served to protect Kim's family. Despite his rise in the hierarchy, there is no chance for him to become leader," the professor said. In the meantime, the regime is seen as trying to calm unrest sparked by bungled economic policies.

The nation suffers persistent severe food shortages, worsened by a botched currency change ordered last November to try to clamp down on a burgeoning free economy.— AFP

Erdogan a rising star for Arabs

By Cynthia Johnston

T

urkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's star is rising in the Arab world over his willingness to confront Israel, outshining even regional leaders whose tough rhetoric has proved popular but won little for the Palestinians.

Turkey's support for a Gaza aid flotilla that Israel stormed, recalling Turkey's ambassador and cancelling joint military exercises with the Jewish state, has turned Erdogan into a folk hero - with his name invoked at rallies and babies named in his honour.

"This was a non-governmental civil society action that was embraced and endorsed by a political leader. That is so rare in the Arab world," said Hady Amr, director of the Brookings Institute's centre in Doha. "It just is a whole different approach ... It has clearly brought Erdogan prominence in the Arab world. It has raised his profile on the global stage, even though I am sure it has frustrated Washington."

Israel's storming of the Turkish ship and killing of nine Turks plunged Israel's ties with Ankara to the lowest level since the two states forged a strategic relationship in the 1990s, and invoked harsh criticism from the Turkish leader. But more importantly for many Arabs, the flotilla raid appears to have galvanised global attention to the Palestinian plight in Gaza

that Arab activism has sometimes had difficulty attracting - either through militancy or staid Arab diplomacy.

The crisis also prompted Egypt to ease its closure of the Gaza border with a partial, possibly indefinite, opening to provide relief. Cairo has resisted a full opening partly because it does not want the burden of securing Gaza on its shoulders.

At a rally in Beirut, thousands of Lebanese waved Turkish flags and nine

coffins draped in the red banner were displayed to honour the Turkish flotilla dead.

"Oh Allah, the merciful, preserve Erdogan for us," protesters chanted, using language often reserved for Hezbollah's popular leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has praised Erdogan's stance.

In Egypt, one reader of independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm dubbed Erdogan as the "Caliph of the Muslims" in comments posted on its website.

A banner featuring a picture of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a Turkish and a Palestinian flag is displayed outside a souvenir shop in Gaza City June 6, 2010. – AP

Erdogan's popularity is now such that in Gaza, at least one newborn baby has been named after him. In non-Arab Iran, whose leader has said Israel should be wiped off the map, some Iranians yearned for a leader like Erdogan. "(President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad has isolated Iran by his harsh anti-Western rhetoric. But look at Erdogan, he uses civilised methods to do whatever is the best for his nation without compromising Islamic values," said Ali Sadri, a 35-year-old Iranian architect.

Ahmadinejad has rarely missed a chance to berate the West for trying to halt Iran's nuclear progress but critics say his anti-Western rhetoric and uncompromising nuclear line have isolated Iran.

Erdogan, offering less threatening opposition to Israel than leaders such as Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah, was providing a fresh path for Arabs frustrated by inaction of pro-Western Arab states, but who also did not back more extreme stances. "I tend to think it's very early for him to establish himself as a replacement for leaders, nor do I think leaders like Nasrallah are bankrupt. They don't need replacement," said Oussama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies.

"But what he is probably replacing is the absent role of Arab state leaders, especially the moderate ones."

Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member and a candidate to join the European

Union, has sought to raise its international profile, mediating in issues ranging from Afghanistan/Pakistan ties to Iran's nuclear program. Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks with Turkish mediation in 2008 before they were suspended after an Israeli offensive in Gaza. Israeli-Turkish ties have since deteriorated as Erdogan began championing the Palestinian cause. Turkey, which lost its Ottoman imperial grip on the region a century ago, has been keen to regain influence among Muslim neighbours. It presents itself to the European Union it seeks to join as an important bridge between Europe and the Middle East.

The cost of Erdogan's support for Gaza, however, is Turkey's probable elimination as a potential mediator with Israel, at least so long as the current Israeli government is in office. It was a role many in Washington treasured. "The niche that Turkey occupied - the edge, the advantage that Turkey had - was its ability to bring together people like Hamas and Israel. This is gone," said Ezzedine Choukri Fishere of the American University in Cairo. "The region loses a mediator, because Turkey in its past capacity could and did play a mediator between the Arabs and the Israelis. At the same time, the Arab camp wins another player, with all the complications that this brings," he said. — Reuters

NEWS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

13

Aquino declared winner MANILA: Benigno Aquino was declared the winner of the Philippine presidential election yesterday, nearly a month after voters went to the polls embracing his pledge to fight corruption and ease deep poverty. Following a drawn-out vote tallying process, parliament finally released the complete count showing the 50-year-old son of democracy heroes had won the May 10 election in a landslide.

Aquino secured just over 15.2 million votes, or nearly 42 percent of the total number cast for the most emphatic victory in modern Philippine political history, according to the results released by legislators.

Former president Joseph Estrada finished well back in second place, although he still won nearly 9.5 million votes to achieve some personal redemption after being ousted half way through his term in office in 2001 for being corrupt. Parliament is set to officially proclaim Aquino the winner today. “We will all be here in full force. This is a historic event,” Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said after the count concluded.

Aquino will on June 30 take over from outgoing President Gloria Arroyo, who will step down as one of the nation’s most unpopular leaders after nearly a decade in power.

Aquino achieved his victory on a promise to tackle the corruption and poverty that has plagued the Southeast Asian nation for decades, and he said thrived under Arroyo’s

rule. “I want to lead by example. We talk about corruption. I did make a public vow, I will never steal,” Aquino told AFP in an interview a day after the elections.

Just as importantly, Aquino cleverly tapped into the enormous public support for his parents, who remain revered for their efforts in ending the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. His father, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, was shot dead in 1983 at Manila airport as he returned from US exile to lead the democracy movement against Marcos. His mother, Corazon Aquino, took over from her martyred husband and led the “People Power” revolution that eventually toppled Marcos in 1986. She then served as president for six years.

Aquino, an economics graduate and bachelor, had served for the past 12 years as a low-key member of parliament. His critics sought to portray him as an uncharismatic leader who had accomplished little in his political career, and he admitted to not having presidential ambitions until his mother died of cancer in August last year. But her death unleashed a massive outpouring of support for the family, a defining moment that he said convinced him to run for the presidency.

Aquino represents the Liberal Party, one of the nation’s oldest that was once led by his parents. The party, however, suffered a major setback in the elections - with its pick for the

vice presidency, Mar Roxas, losing. Estrada’s running mate, Jejomar Binay, won the vice presidential contest and could now potentially be a destabilising force for Aquino. The Liberal Party will also not have a majority in either house of parliament. Arroyo’s Lakas Kampi CMD coalition will remain powerful in parliament, and the outgoing president won a seat in the lower house where she could lead opposition to Aquino.

Aside from fighting corruption, Aquino has said improving the economy and bridging the enormous wealth divide will be among his top priorities in government. A third of the more than 90 million Filipinos live on less than a dollar a day, and job opportunities are so bad that nine million people work abroad. Aquino has vowed to boost foreign investment, rein in wasteful government spending, improve the civil service and invest in education. He conceded it will take more than the six years that the constitution sets for presidential terms to carry out his social transformation of the Philippines. “But we are hoping to provide that impetus and momentum to carry over into the next administration,” he told AFP in last month’s interview. Two groups of peasants and slum dwellers rallied in front of Aquino’s suburban home yesterday, demanding he carry out land reform, including redistribution of his family owned sugar estate, one of the country’s largest. — Agencies

Mumbai plans world’s tallest apartment block Continued from Page 1 shortages and poor infrastructure.

The city’s central district was a textile mill hub until a few decades ago, but a large labour strike in the 1980s and the entry of new power loom complexes led to the old mills’ demise. In their place have risen shopping malls, luxury apartments, hotels and high-tech corporate offices.

“This is to meet the aspirations of the global Indian and to establish a landmark for the city,” Lodha said. “We are trying to create the Rockefeller Centretype experience.” The developer expects the base price of an apartment

to be upwards of 75 million r upees ($1.63 million), while luxury multistorey properties could cost up to $10.5 million. The tower will cost about $440 million to build, the Lodha group said, and apar tment sales will star t this month.

At present, the world’s tallest residential tower is the 323-metre Q1 on Australia’s Gold Coast, while Mumbai’s 60-storey Imperial twin-towers are India’s tallest, at 249 m. There are taller buildings around the world, including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at 828 m, and the Canton TV Tower in Guangzhou, China, at 610 m, but these are not purely residential. City residential rates have risen

about 30 percent in the past six months, analysts say, due to higher input costs.

“The market for luxury homes in Mumbai is growing,” said Param Desai, real-estate analyst with Mumbai’s Angel Broking said. “Liquidity is improving and salaries, disposable income is on the rise,” Param told AFP. India’s economy recorded 7.4 percent growth for the year to March, official data released last month showed. India’s top property firm, DLF, has plans to launch Mumbai’s largest luxury residential project, a few blocks from the proposed World One tower. This project would have 1,000 apartments in three buildings, of 80-90 floors each, industry sources said. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger sees that the ballot machine has rejected his ballot because he had voted for two Senate candidates at a polling place at Kenter Canyon Elementary School in the Brentwood district yesterday. He was given the option to override the rejection, but that the Senate votes would not count, or to destroy his first ballot and vote on a new ballot. He chose to vote on a new ballot. — AP

Iran says no nuke talks if sanctioned Continued from Page 1 “I have said that the US government and its allies are mistaken if they think they can brandish the stick of resolution and then sit down to talk with us, such a thing will not happen,” Ahmadinejad told a news conference here. “We will talk to everyone if there is respect and fairness but if someone wants to talk to us rudely and in a domineering manner the response is known already,” added the Iranian leader, who is in Turkey for the summit of an Asian security grouping. A Turkish diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that Ankara was trying to persuade Iran not to abandon talks if sanctions were imposed.

In Moscow, a high-ranking Russian official said the latest sanctions had been fully agreed and no problem remained for their adoption, which US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said would happen “very soon”. “I’m optimistic a resolution will be passed very soon,” Gates told a press conference in London. The UN Security Council was to hold new closeddoor consultations yesterday on the new sanctions after its 15 members failed to reach a consensus on a meeting on Monday.

The council’s five permanent members - Britain, France, China, Russia and

the United States - are co-sponsoring the sanctions draft and believe they have the votes to secure its passage. Speaking in Istanbul, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the new sanctions should not be extreme. “Our point of view is that these decisions should not be excessive and should not put the Iranian people in a complicated position which would put up barriers on the path to peaceful nuclear energy,” Putin was quoted by Russia’s ITAR-TASS as saying. He also added that there was “a need to settle a dangerous situation like Iran’s nuclear program by way of constructive talks with the involvement of all interested parties.”

Russia, which along with China has traditionally acted to sof ten tough Western sanctions against Iran, has in the last months spoken of its increasing frustration with the Islamic Republic.

Ahmadinejad cautioned Russia anew yesterday not to “side with our enemies.”

“We are neighbours with Russia. We should be friends and partners,” the Iranian leader said. “There is no big problem, only a warning: do not side with our enemies.”

He also urged the West not to dismiss the Turkish-Brazilian nuclear fuel swap which he described as an opportunity that should be “put to good use”.

“Opportunities will not be repeated,” he warned. Under the deal, Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for high-enriched uranium fuel for a Tehran reactor. The United States and other world powers have given a cool reaction to the deal, saying it did not go far enough to allay fears that Tehran is using its nuclear drive as a cover for a nuclear weapons program.

Brazil and Turkey, non-permanent Security Council members, have said they will not support the new sanctions resolution, standing behind the swap deal they forged. Lebanon has also denied backing for domestic political reasons.

The US draft sanctions resolution would expand an arms embargo and measures against Iran’s banking sector and ban it from sensitive overseas activities like uranium mining and developing ballistic missiles. It also bars the sale of battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems to Iran. It urges all states to inspect all cargo to and from Iran in their territory, including seaports and airports and authorizes states to conduct high-sea inspections of vessels believed to be ferrying banned items from or to Iran. — AFP

MPs stage walkout over secret grilling Continued from Page 1 session for 30 minutes but when he returned, there was no quorum and he was forced to suspend the session for the day.

Head of the Popular Bloc, veteran MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun, told reporters immediately after the walkout that they did so in order to preserve the integrity of the constitution. The bloc’s spokesman MP Musallam Al-Barrak said the walkout came to protest against the attempt by the government and MPs supporting it “to hide important information from Kuwaiti people”. “All Um Al-Haiman residents want is to breathe clean air and all we want is to debate the grilling openly under the Assembly chamber’s roof,” Barrak said.

The grilling was filed last week by Tahous over allegations that the prime minister is responsible for the government’s failure to act and apply the law against violations near Umm Al-Haiman that have raised pollution levels in that area. He claimed in his grilling that many factories in the area have been operating in violation of the law and not complying with environment standards. The government has insisted that it has been doing all the necessary actions in accordance with the law to curb the violating factories but residents and MPs insist that the government measures have failed to lower pollution levels.

Busairi said the government request for a secret session was in line with the constitution and by walking out, Tahous deprived the Assembly of important information. The minister said that the government will publish all the information it has and measures it has taken over the Umm Al-Haiman pollution today.

Khorafi said the government request is within the constitution and if it was left to him, “I would prefer to hold all grillings in

secret sessions because were are not in a football stadium”. MP Youssef Al-Zalzalah said that the minority must respect the decision of the majority and that is the essence of democracy.

But after the walkout, Tahous held a press conference where he revealed the information he was going to disclose at the grilling had the session been open to the public. The lawmaker said that the issue of Umm Al-Haiman started in 1994 when a health ministry team studied the area and called on the government not to construct a residential there because of high pollution levels. The government ignored the recommendation and began construction work in 1998 and people started living there in 2001. At present, the population of the area is 45,000, he said.

Tahous pointed out that despite the repeated warnings against pollution in the area, the number of factories has been on the rise. In 2006, there were only 56 factories of different kinds near Umm Al-Haiman. At present, the number has increased to 156 factories, 17 of them operating without a licence, Tahous affirmed. The trebling of the number of factories came despite a large number of official reports that warned of high pollution levels in the area, he said.

Tahous also said that the government has been providing misleading information and statistics about diseases in the area, citing two government reports giving contradictory information and statistics. The lawmaker even cited reports from the US army in the nearby base of Arifjan of confirming the high pollution levels in the region.

Umm Al-Haiman, 55 km south of Kuwait City, is located to the south of three oil refineries and huge petrochemical plants in addition to 156 chemical, metal and industrial plants, most of which emit highly toxic gases that are blown

southward by northwesterly winds which blow for most of the year in Kuwait.

Residential areas located north of the plants and refineries suffer to a much lower degree from diseases. Tahous alleged that the government is hiding the actual figures about diseases in the area.

The lawmaker said that the government has not taken the necessary actions in order to protect highly influential people who own the factories in the area as the “government stands incapable of protecting the lives of the people”.

Addressing the same press conference, Barrak strongly lashed out at MPs who backed the government, saying that their aim is to protect the prime minister, charging that they have become spokespersons of the government. He vowed that the Popular Bloc will continue to follow the Umm Al-Haiman issue, adding that there will be another grilling without setting a date.

Meanwhile, MP Saadoun Hammad renewed his attacks on the Popular Bloc and Tahous, saying that they are only trading in Umm Al-Haiman misery and have failed to do nothing for it. Hammad had alleged that Tahous decided to grill the prime minister to take revenge against an owner of a major factory in the area which dismissed his brother, who was a manager there. But owner of the factory, Hussein Al-Khorafi, yesterday clarified that Tahous’ brother had actually resigned three years ago and his resignation had nothing to do with the Umm AlHaiman pollution issue.

Sheikh Nasser became the first Kuwaiti premier to be grilled in parliament last November, which led to a failed attempt to have him unseated over alleged corruption. Since his appointment to the post in Feb 2006, Kuwait has witnessed a series of political crises that led to the resignation of five cabinets and dissolution of three parliaments.

Regional countries slam Israel on raid Continued from Page 1 they (the Israelis) make up for that in an acceptable way. Otherwise, it is impossible for Turkey to forget that,” he added.

The presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Bashar Al-Assad of Syria, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan as well as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas were among the leaders who attended the security summit. Putin said Russia would raise at the UN the controversial issue of who should investigate the Israeli raid, which he denounced as “a crude violation” of international law. “We can’t allow a new flame to flare up in the Middle East...We will raise the issue at the United Nations, we’re working at it,” he told reporters.

Ankara, furious over the deaths of the Turks - one of whom also held US citizenship -vowed that normalisation of ties would be out of the question unless Israel accepts an international inquiry, a move the Jewish state has so far rejected.

Ankara has recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and said that economic and defence ties with Israel would be reduced to a “minimum level”. Israel insists it must halt Gaza-bound vessels because they could be carrying weapons for Hamas - the territory’s Islamist rulers who are committed to the destruction of Israel.

Yesterday’s condemnation came as part of “the chairman’s conclusions” of the summit since a formal joint declaration required a consensus, which Israel’s participation made impossible, Gul said.

Israeli leaders shunned the event, but Israeli ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy took part in the talks. “An overwhelming majority” of the participants also called for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons - an appeal that appeared to target Iran, which the West suspects of secretly developing an atomic bomb, and Israel, widely believed to be the region’s sole if

undeclared nuclear power. The majority also backed calls for Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty and put its nuclear facilities under UN safeguards, the statement said.

The CICA group was set up in 2002 on a proposal by Kazakhstan to promote peace, security and stability in Asia. With the admission of Iraq and Vietnam yesterday , the number of its members reached 22, some with a history of hostility such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. Turkey, a NATO member vying for European Union membership, has in recent years pushed for a greater say in the Middle East.

Together with Brazil, it brokered a nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran last month, but the proposed accord has been dismissed by the United States, which continues to push for fresh sanctions against Tehran. Turkey’s improving ties with Iran and Syria, against the backdrop of simmering tensions with Israel, have led to concerns that its governing party, the moderate offshoot of a banned Islamist movement, is shifting the country away from the West.

Meanwhile, Israel outlined plans to hold its own limited probes into the deadly raid, defying world pressure for an international inquiry into the widely condemned operation. The probes will look exclusively into the legality of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and the May 31 raid on an aid flotilla that sought to break it, minister without portfolio Benny Begin told public radio yesterday. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the international community must be given a “credible” role in the probe. Ban’s view is that “credible international involvement is crucial to a prompt, credible, impartial and transparent investigation” said UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

In Israel, media criticised hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for restricting the probe’s mandate to theo-

retical legal questions, saying it would be little more than a “committee-lite” or an “investigative committee without investigators”. “It is not supposed to investigate whether the blockade policy as a whole is either effective or justified... And that is the recipe by means of which the government is trying to ensure the failure of the investigation into the flotilla events,” the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said.

Netanyahu has insisted the mission was a success as it prevented the flotilla from reaching Gaza and dismissed international criticism as hypocrisy. “Today, Israel’s very right to defend itself is under attack,” he told soldiers of Duvdevan, a special operations unit known for its undercover missions against Palestinian militants. Defence Minister Ehud Barak has made it clear that the commandos who carried out the deadly raid should not be put on the stand. Israel is reportedly considering setting up an investigative team made up of Israeli jurists and former diplomats as well as two foreign observers.

This would fall far short of the independent, international investigation several world leaders have called for in the wake of the commando raid in which nine Turkish activists were killed. The decision taken by senior ministers still has to be ratified by the full cabinet, and media said Israel is coordinating with Washington in the hopes of winning US backing. US support is seen as crucial in helping prevent further diplomatic backlash from the raid that caused worldwide outrage.

Amid mounting international criticism of the blockade, France has suggested the European Union inspect the cargoes of ships heading to Gaza as well as maintain a presence at the territory’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, its only one that bypasses Israel. Hamas said yesterday that it was not opposed to the idea provided there was no interference by Israel. — Agencies

Zain, Bharti close Africa assets deal Continued from Page 1 Africa stocks to Bharti Airtel and the transfer of licences has been smooth,” Salamah said. He also said Zain repaid a $4 billion revolving credit facility which the company entered into in July 2006. Going forward, Zain intends to utilise the remaining proceeds to pay dividends and to attend to other corporate matters.

Zain chairman Asaad Al-Banwan praised the deal as historical. “This sale crystallizes the significant value we have created for our shareholders over the last five years. The Board of Directors will consider the best use of the remaining proceeds to further enhance value for all stakeholders,” he said in a statement.

Salamah said that “Zain stands at the threshold of a new era, one that will allow the company to focus on its highly cash generative Middle Eastern operations and investing in new growth opportunities in our existing markets”.

UBS Investment Bank acted as lead financial advisor while BNP Paribas acted as co-advisor to Zain in this transaction.

Linklaters acted as legal adviser for Zain.

Salamah said that after the deal, Zain will undergo a major transformation that will involve reducing its manpower in line with the reduction in its size. He said that profits from the sale will be included in the second quarter results but will only be distributed along with the 2010 dividends which will be greater than dividends that will be distributed for last year. Zain has decided to distribute dividends of 170 fils per share, and Salamah said the board of directors will recommend distributing between 200 and 240 fils per share at the end of this year.

Zain, which still operates in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Sudan and Morocco, will see its client base shrink from 72 million to around 30 million subscribers. Salamah said Zain, whose capitalisation is around $20 billion, has no plans to sell its units in Sudan or Morocco and that “there are no negotiations to sell any other assets”.

In New Delhi, Bharti, India’s top telecoms company, said the deal brings its number of customers to over 180 million people and will result in combined rev-

enues of over $12.4 billion, vaulting it to the ranks of the world’s top five telecoms.

“We are delighted at the closure of this transformation deal for India and Bharti,” Bharti chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in a statement. Bharti has acquired Zain’s operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Faced with declining market share and slipping revenues at home, Bharti has been trying to replicate its low-cost business model abroad.

Bharti aims to have 100 million subscribers and $5 billion a year in revenue in Africa by 2012/13, Manoj Kohli, chief executive of its international unit, said yesterday. A big challenge will be to streamline operations across the 15 different countries in Africa, raise the revenue and turn around the loss-making assets. Reviving growth in Africa is a “big agenda,” Kohli said. Bharti was advised by Standard Chartered, Barclays, SBI Group and Global Investment House.

SPORTS

14

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

MLB results/standings Baseball results and standings on Monday: Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 1; Boston 4, Cleveland 1; San Diego 3, Philadelphia 1; San Francisco 6, Cincinnati 5; Seattle 4, Texas 2; Colorado 5, Houston 1; Arizona 7, Atlanta 4; LA Angels 4, Oakland 2; LA Dodgers 12, St. Louis 4.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 37 20 .649 NY Yankees 35 22 .614 Boston 34 25 .576 Toronto 33 25 .569 Baltimore 16 41 .281

GB 2 4 4.4 21

Central Division Minnesota 33 24 Detroit 29 27 Chicago White Sox 24 32 Kansas City 24 34 Cleveland 21 35

3.4 8.4 9.4 11.5

LA Angels Texas Oakland Seattle

.579 .518 .429 .414 .375

Western Division 32 28 .533 30 27 .526 30 29 .508 23 34 .404

.5 1.5 7.5

Atlanta Philadelphia NY Mets Florida Washington

National league eastern division 33 25 30 26 30 27 28 30 27 31

.569 .536 .526 .483 .466

2 2.5 5 6

St. Louis Cincinnati Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Pittsburgh Houston

Central Division 33 25 33 25 26 31 23 34 23 34 22 36

.569 .569 .456 .404 .404 .379

6.5 9.5 9.5 11

San Diego LA Dodgers San Francisco Colorado Arizona

Western division 34 23 .596 34 24 .586 31 25 .554 30 27 .526 23 35 .397

.5 2.5 4 11.5

OAKLAND: Los Angeles Angels’ Erick Aybar (right) steals second base past Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis in the seventh inning of a baseball game. —AP

Padres defeat Phillies, Giants edge Reds PHILADELPHIA: Adrian Gonzalez’s first of two solo homers broke up Cole Hamels’ bid for a no-hitter and Wade LeBlanc pitched seven impressive innings as the San Diego Padres beat the struggling Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 in the National League on Monday.

Hamels (5-5) gave up three hits and two runs in eight innings, losing his third straight start. LeBlanc (3-4) allowed four hits and walked one. Gonzalez lined an opposite-field shot into the flower bed just over the left-field wall to snap a scoreless tie. Scott Hairston connected three pitches later for a 2-0 lead.

Giants 6, Reds 5 At Cincinnati, Juan Uribe drove in four runs with two singles to provide San Francisco’s lead in a back-and-forth game against Cincinnati.

Uribe had a two-run single in the third and another in the seventh, when the Giants rallied against reliever Daniel Ray Herrera

(0-3) for their ninth win in their last 13 games. Jay Bruce had three hits off left-hander Barry Zito, including a solo homer.

Sergio Romo (2-3) got the victory in relief.

Brian Wilson recovered from a blown save in his last outing, pitching a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.

Cubs 6, Pirates 1 At Pittsburgh, Carlos Silva extended the best start by a Cubs pitcher in 43 years, allowing one run over seven innings, and Ryan Theriot scored four times as Chicago downed Pittsburgh.

Silva gave up four hits, struck out five and walked one in his first start against Pittsburgh since 2003. He became the first Cubs starter to go 8-0 since Ken Holtzman was 9-0 in 1967.

Rockies 5, Astros 1 At Denver, Jason Hammel pitched 7-plus crisp innings to move to tree wins and a loss since coming off the disabled list on May 15,

and Clint Barmes had a two-run double as Colorado downed Houston. Hammel (3-3) scattered six hits and struck out three in his longest outing of the season. He was lifted in the eighth after issuing a one-out walk to Michael Bourn and giving up a single to Jeff Keppinger.

Joe Beimel came in to face Lance Berkman, who hit into an inning-ending double play. Miguel Olivo had an RBI triple for the Rockies and Todd Helton added a sacrifice fly.

Dodgers 12, Cardinals 4 At Los Angeles, Blake DeWitt hit his first home run of the year and drove in a career-high five runs to lead Los Angeles to its seventh win in nine games. Carlos Monasterios (3-0) allowed three runs and four hits in six-plus innings.

St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols was hitless in four at-bats, while Matt Holliday was hitless in three. Blake Hawksworth (0-3) gave up six runs and seven hits in four

innings, struck out five and walked three in his first major league start after 48 career relief appearances.

D’backs 7, Braves 4 At Phoenix, Stephen Drew drove in four runs, Mark Reynolds hit his 13th home run of the season and Arizona handed the NL East leaders their third loss in four games.

Drew had an RBI single in the first inning and a three-run triple in Arizona’s five-run fourth. Derek Lowe (8-5), winner of his previous three starts, gave up seven runs and eight hits in four innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Dan Haren (6-4) got his first win in four starts, although he allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings. The Braves stranded 12 runners. In Arlington, Cliff Lee allowed just seven hits in a complete game to help the Seattle Mariners end a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers in the American League on Monday. Lee (4-2), who struck out seven

and walked none, didn’t allow a run until Josh Hamilton’s one-out RBI single in the ninth, when Michael Young and Ian Kinsler had consecutive singles to start the inning.

Another run came home on a fielder’s choice.

It was the 15th career complete game for Lee and second in his eight starts since the Mariners acquired him from Philadelphia last winter. Michael Saunders hit a threerun homer for Seattle, and Rob Johnson had an RBI single off Scott Feldman (3-6).

Red Sox 4, Indians 1 At Cleveland, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched eight shutout innings to lead Boston past Cleveland. Matsuzaka (5-2) gave up four hits-all singles-and was never threatened by Cleveland’s punchless lineup. The right-hander continued a remarkable run by Boston’s starters on the road.

In the club’s last nine games outside Fenway Park, the Red Sox rotation is 8-0 with a 0.70 ERA. Marcus Scutaro hit three

doubles and scored twice as the Red Sox improved to 9-2 on the road since May 18.

Boston made the most of its five hits off Fausto Carmona (4-5) in six innings.

Angels 4, Athletics 2 At Oakland, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and Scott Kazmir won for the third time in four starts as Los Angeles beat Oakland for its season-best sixth straight victory. Erick Aybar added an RBI triple as the Angels improved to 8-1 since Kendry Morales broke his leg jumping on home plate in a celebration following his game-ending grand slam against Seattle on May 29.

Abreu’s first-inning drive gave Los Angeles a quick lead and the Angels built on it from there. Manager Mike Scioscia returned following a one-game absence for his daughter’s high school graduation.

Howie Kendrick singled in a run as the Angels won their sixth straight in Oakland.

They have outscored the A’s 30-14 in those games. —AP

Rose, Fowler come up short at US Open qualifier

DUBLIN: Justin Rose, of England, tees off on the 18th hole during the final round of the Memorial golf tournament in this file photo. —AP

COLUMBUS: Major champions Tom Lehman, Davis Love III and Ben Curtis all made the field on Monday for the US Open at Pebble Beach, while England’s Justin Rose missed out a day after his win at the Memorial.

Rickie Fowler, who was atop the leaderboard at the Memorial for 48 consecutive holes, had a 73 in the afternoon to miss by six shots.

“Being in contention definitely wears you out quite a bit, and this is my third week in a row playing,” Fowler said. “So I’m looking forward to some time off. It would have been nice to be playing in the Open, but it happens.” Fowler moved up to No. 32 in the world on Monday, while Rose went to No. 33 with his first PGA Tour victory.

The cutoff for getting into the US Open through the world ranking was two weeks ago because the US Golfer’s Association had to determine how many spots would be available through the qualifiers. Rose shot a 140 to miss by three shots.

The 36-hole day of survival at The Lakes and Brookside courses was among 13 qualifiers across the country to fill out the 156-man field at Pebble Beach on June 17. Most of the spots came from Columbus and Memphis, Tennessee because of so many PGA Tour players.

Former PGA champion Shaun Micheel was among 12 players who qualified in Memphis. The list includes Paul Goydos, who played a practice round with Tiger Woods on the eve of the last US Open at Pebble Beach and predicted he would win by 10 shots.

Woods ended up winning by 15. Scott McCarron and Jarrod Lyle face a playoff Tuesday morning in Memphis for the final spot. The medalist in Memphis was University of Georgia senior Hudson Swafford with rounds of 67-65. He missed this season with shoulder surgery and was playing his first competitive rounds.

“I was just happy to be playing again,” Swafford said. Equally remarkable was Erik Compton, a former Walker Cup player who has had two hearts transplant. In the other Ohio qualifier with only three spots available, he earned one through a playoff.

The US Open will be his first major. Brian Davis, who famously called a penalty on himself at Hilton Head in a playoff this year, and Asian teenager Seong Nul-yoh earned the other two spots at Springfield Country Club in Columbus.

Only three spots were available in Houston,

Jon Curran earned the final spot in Summit, New Jersey, winning a playoff over PGA Tour winner Parker McLachlin. He was among four qualifiers at Canoe Brook Country Club. Gary Woodland was among three qualifiers in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Russell Henley, the nation’s top-ranked amateur, earned one of two spots in Roswell, Georgia. The lone spot in St. Louis went to a local amateur, Scott Langley. Jason Allred earned one of the three spots from Portland, Oregon.

Lehman, the only player in modern times to play in the final pairing of four consecutive U.S. Opens, was thrilled to return to Pebble Beach.

He felt badly for Rose and Fowler, and questioned by such a strong field received only four more spots than the recent qualifier in England for European Tour players.

“You have the Memorial, so you have all the top players are here, from both Europe and the US,” Lehman said. “Justin Rose was here qualifying, Rickie Fowler is qualifying. I just feel to have 15 spots here is a slap in the face. It really is. It’s a real quality field. “I just feel, if you’re going to err on one side or the other, err on the American soil,” he said. —AFP

DUBLIN: Rickie Fowler hits out of the trap on the 16th hole in the fourth round of the Memorial golf tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in this file photo. —AP and one of them won’t be going to NFL quarterback Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys who withdrew early in the second round after opening with a quadruple bogey, when rain delays pushed the conclusion to Tuesday.

Australians Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley also qualified in Columbus, along with Bo Van Pelt, Puerto Rico winner Derek Lamely and Eric Axley, the medalist with rounds of 64 and 63.

Love, whose streak of 18 consecutive US Open starts ended last year, birdied the final hole with a wedge to 5 feet, then earned his spot in a six-man playoff for the final five spots. The odd man out was Rocco Mediate, famous for losing a 19-hole playoff to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines two years ago. Mediate was eliminated with a bogey on the third extra hole.

“I’m excited to get in,” said Love, a two-time winner at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“I’ve really been hitting the ball well and, like today, I made four bogeys and missed a bunch of easy birdie putts. It would have been a shame, the way I’m hitting it, not to get in.”

In other qualifiers: Ty Tryon was among seven qualifiers from Rockville, Maryland. Tryon made it through Q-school as a 17-year-old and has rarely been heard from since. He is 26 and will be playing in his first major. Others who qualified were Jason Gore and Arjun Atwal of India. Gore, who played in the final group at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005, was married on the 18th green at Pebble Beach.

Tom Kite, who won the 1992 US Open at Pebble Beach, missed by one shot in the Littleton, Colo., qualifier. The two spots went to Stephen Allan of Australia and Jason Preeo.

US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin missed qualifying in Chicago by two shots. The spots went to Jerry Smith and Bennett Blakeman.

Russian Open scrapped MOSCOW: The Russian Open faces an uncertain future after being scrapped for the second year in a row. “Unfortunately we had to cancel it again,” tournament director Hans Koeleman told Reuters on Monday, blaming the tough economic climate.

“We tried to raise two million euros ($2.39 million) in prize money but just couldn’t find a major sponsor for it.” The event, held at a picturesque course at the Moscow Country Club north of the capital, joined the European Tour schedule in 2003.

“We had been talking to several prospective sponsors, big companies, banks, etc but the current economic situation here is still tough,” said Dutchman Koeleman.

Russian real estate company Inteco, which guaranteed the prize money in 2008, was forced to pull out. “We ran out of time this year but we’ll keep trying. Maybe we’ll have better luck next year,” said Koeleman. —Reuters

15

SPORTS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Fever pitch: Football’s just a game... isn’t it?

PARIS: The World Cup’s official message is this: football is a vehicle of harmony, uniting all nations in peace under the banner of sport.

What if the truth were not so pretty?

What if, instead of healing national wounds and bringing people together, the World Cup did the reverse?

In a 1945 essay, written after a bruising tour of Britain by Moscow Dynamo, George Orwell argued that a dangerous orgy of patriotism develops when flags are waved, anthems sung and a country elevates its team to the status of national champion. “At the international level sport is frankly mimic warfare,” he said.

Many may contest this as distorted and offer plenty of examples where friendship and camaraderie flourished among strangers thanks to a big footy event.

Yet Pele’s “beautiful game” also has an undeniable ugly side, studded by episodes of violence among crowds and sporadic tensions among countries.

“There’s a dual message sent out,” said Richard Giulianotti, a professor of applied social sciences at Britain’s Durham University.

“One is the message of ‘back the nation fully’ and the other is the universal message of sport, the value of fair play, respect for the opponent and so on. They obviously sit in opposition to each other.”

In late 19th-century Britain, the rise of football clubs was followed by the first hooliganism in the modern game. It became a cancer in English football in the 1970s and early 80s and is a problem in many countries today.

Egypt and Algeria last year swapped

diplomatic and political blows over frenzied qualifying matches to the World Cup that saw several Algerian players injured by stone-throwing fans and retaliation against Egyptians in Algeria.

A widely-forgotten footnote in history is the “Football War,” a real-life, four-day conflict in 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras whose relationship had already been soured by illegal immigration and other problems.

After El Salvador lost the first round of the World Cup qualifer 1-0, an 18-year-old girl, Amelia Bolanos, shot herself through the heart out of grief.

In an instant, Bolanos became a national martyr, her funeral attended by the head of state and football team.

When the Honduras squad arrived for the return match in San Salvador, they had

to be escorted by armoured vehicles and protected by soldiers wielding sub-machine guns.

As the local crowd jeered, the organisers burned the Honduran flag and hoisted a “dirty dishrag” in its place, according to contemporary accounts.

After Honduras’ 3-0 humiliation, the stage was set for a vicious war that left between 2,000 and 6,000 people dead.

So is top-flight football a sublimated form of conflict? Is it, to use the words of the great Dutch coach Rinus Michels, “something like war”?

After all, very nature of soccer is adversarial. Militaristic words such as captain, lieutenant, victory, defeat, striker, attack, marksman, strategy and shield-all illustrate the nature of a sport that is fluid and fastmoving, yet combative and strategic at the

same time.

Sociologists caution that a special set of ingredients is required to propel a match from a simple game to a question of national honour that can unleash violence, suicide and diplomatic fisticuffs or worse.

The big factor is the creation of the “ingroup”-in essence, a form of tribalism in which people have a common identity or loyalty, which causes them to raise emotional investment in a match.

To be in a soccer “in-group” does not mean you have to automatically create an “out-group” to which you are hostile, explained Clifford Stott, a social psychologist at Britain’s University of Liverpool.

That depends on the nature of the match, he said. For example, England has no history of antagonism, on the pitch or off it, with Sweden or the United States.

But it has had plenty of difficult encounters (two world wars, 1966 World Cup and so on) with Germany, which is why EnglandGermany matches are grudge affairs.

The World Cup also develops an “ingroup” phenomenon as competing nations send out their champions to foreign soil.

For a month-helped of course by the media-the tournament will be on everyone’s lips, a unifying moment regardless of class, age and ethnicity.

As national teams do battle, footballcrazy kids will talk with old ladies who otherwise would be indifferent to the game. Yet once the tournament is over, the World Cup will, for many, fade off the radar screen. The patriotic fervour, the kick-’imin-the-shins catcalls that may have strangely gripped during the peak of the tournament them will have faded. — AFP

Police deport hooligans, vow to beef up security

BERLIN: This July 9, 2006 file photo shows Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro (left) beats France’s Zidane Zidane to the ball during the final of the soccer World Cup between Italy and France in the Olympic Stadium. Four years after reaching the World Cup final, Italy’s Azzurri and France’s Les Bleus appear to have a bad case of the blues just days ahead of their opening matches. —AP

Italy, France have the blues ahead of WCup

CAPE TOWN: Four years after reaching the World Cup final, Italy’s Azzurri and France’s Les Bleus appear to have a bad case of the blues just days ahead of their opening matches.

Critics say there will be no way either will play in the final on July 11 at Soccer City. Both world champion Italy and runner-up France only need to look at history and realize — been there, done that. For France, the crisis is most acute if only because its opener is on Friday and its opponent is a confident Uruguay. Italy has respite until Monday, when it opens against another South American challenger — Paraguay.

If other nations surge on national enthusiasm, France has to do with much less. Even Marcel Desailly, the defensive stalwart of the 1998 World Cup-winning team, has lost all belief that France will advance from Group A, which also includes Mexico and host South Africa.

“While I hope for South Africa and France to get into the second round, I think South Africa and Uruguay will make it,” Desailly wrote in South Africa’s Sunday Times. And a poll in Le Parisien newspaper showed half of the French believed Les Bleus would not go beyond the quarterfinals.

A shocking 1-0 loss to China in its last World Cup preparation game rubbed in the negative vibes even further, especially since it came on the heels of a lucky 1-1 draw with Tunisia and a comefrom-behind 2-1 win over Costa Rica.

Even the highlight reels from qualifying can’t boost morale, since the only one people around the world keep seeing is the handball of Thierry Henry which helped France bamboozle its way past Ireland in a playoff and into South Africa. The only voice of optimism comes from coach Raymond Domenech himself.

“We just lacked the finishing touch,” he said of the loss to China, a typical last preparation match set up especially against a minor team to give the strikers scoring practice.

The coach has often been met with derision and developed an elephant skin in Germany four years ago before leading the country into the final, where it lost only on penalties to Italy. Then, as now, it was not expected to do well.

Four years ago, however, France still had the magical touch of Zinedine Zidane. Now, Franck Ribery should have matured to take over his leadership and provide an unmatched sparkle, but he has fallen short on both counts so far. And much of his supporting cast would not have made it in some of the classic French teams over the past three decades.

Italy, too, has the same coach as four years ago, but coach Marcello Lippi has the same problems _ too little sparkle and leadership amid his players.

He still relies on central defender Fabio Cannavaro, who was smooth and efficient at the World Cup and became FIFA’s player of the year

that season because of it.

Pushing 37 now, he could not plug the holes in a 2-1 loss against Mexico in Brussels last week and the usually vaunted Italian defense looked sluggish and slow. “We were second to every ball,” Lippi complained.

And even when the Italians finally had the ball, it turned as lethargic as the Italian players themselves. A 1-1 draw on Saturday in its last warmup match against Switzerland, considered a rank outsider, brought no respite to the Italians.

“Italy gave us more space than Costa Rica,” Switzerland defender Stephan Lichtsteiner said.

What’s more, over its two preparation games, the Italian team was devoid of personality and creativity. It is still chockfull of players that gave Lippi the title four years ago and his enduring trust could cost him.

Then again, Italy has a tradition of looking bad early on before surprising everyone and notching another title. Four years ago, a corruption scandal had the team reeling before it won its fourth title.

In 1982, it didn’t win a single of its first three games before awaking from its slumber and lifting another Cup. — AP

JOHANNESBURG: A statue is dressed in the south African national soccer team colors in Johannesburg yesterday. The soccer World Cup starts on June 11, 2010. — AP

JOHANNESBURG: The spectre of hooliganism and crowd trouble stalked the World Cup countdown Monday as a group of hardcore Argentine fans were deported and organisers distanced themselves from a stadium stampede.

The arrests of the 10 fans at Johannesburg’s international airport came after a tip-off that the so-called ‘ultras’ would try to wreak havoc during the tournament in South Africa and as police vowed to bolster security.

“Intelligence indicated that these persons would commit acts of public disorder, engage in acts of violence and provoke conflict with certain fans of opponent teams and other groups from Argentina,” a police statement said.

Authorities in Buenos Aires handed their South African counterparts a list of 800 known football hooligans last week.

The group were detained on Sunday after arriving on a flight from Luanda, and were deported Monday on a flight back to the Angolan capital, police said.

The presence of large numbers of hooligans would further fuel fears of safety at a tournament which is happening in a place with one of the world’s highest crime rates, where beleaguered police struggle to keep order.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has had to deflect claims that South Africa is unable to host a tournament of such magnitude ever since it won the staging rights, insisted the tournament would be “fantastic”. However, the Swiss admitted that not everything would run like clockwork.

“Be conscious of the fact that we are in Africa, even if South Africa is the best organised country on the continent. You can be critical-that is your right-but admit that you really feel something here,” he told a press conference.

Speaking later, Blatter said the tournament would be the best ever World Cup. “After the 12th of June everyone will have an interest in Africa, because this is going to be the best World Cup ever,” he told a ceremony where he was bestowed with South Africa’s highest national order for foreigners.

A stadium stampede on Sunday, which left 16 people injured, underlined the challenges facing the authorities. While FIFA insisted the trouble at a township stadium in Tembisa near Johannesburg was not their responsibility, headlines made uncomfortable reading.

“Soccer Stampede Mayhem”, read the headline in The Star which quoted one of those injured as having feared for her life.

Officials said one police officer was seriously injured and 15 people sustained minor injuries as a mass of supporters without tickets tried to force their way into the ground.

“This friendly match has no relation whatsoever with the operational organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for which we remain fully confident,” FIFA said in a statement.

“Contrary to some media reports, FIFA had nothing to do with the ticketing of this game.” The stadium is not a World Cup venue and police said such problems would not arise during the tournament.

“At these stadiums that are not World Cup stadiums, there are no turnstiles.

The access control is a little bit different,” police spokeswoman Sally de Beer told South African television.

Police have drawn up a major security programme to cover matches which will include a closure of roads within a halfmile (800 meter) radius and a major deployment of officers. “We will beef up security and look at the stadiums,” de Beer added.

The episode evoked ugly memories of a tragedy in 2001 when 43 people were killed as ticketless fans tried to barge their way into Ellis Park, a Johannesburg stadium which is one of the 10 venues.

South African fans have traditionally arrived late for matches, with kick-offs often held back to accommodate everyone. But with World Cup delays ruled out, FIFA has been urging fans to get there on time.

The episode also triggered alarm in other countries whose teams are in South Africa, with The Times of London saying it was “an accident waiting to happen” as the lure of free tickets was always going to lead to problems. — AFP

PRETORIA: Police inspector Fisher Makhubela (center) speaks to fans who travelled from Argentina to follow their national soccer team as they have breakfast at the school where they are lodging in Pretoria downtown. Ten Argentine soccer hooligans were detained on Sunday. — AP

Penalties: Duel between shooter and goalkeeper PARIS: Few moments in football are as extraordinary as the penalty, the moment when a dream can crumble or glory is made — and a player is either cursed as a choker or enters the pantheon of legends.

In the nearly 119 years since the very first penalty kick, in a match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Accrington Stanley, the 11-metre (12-yard) spot has determined more and more tournaments, including the 2006 World Cup final.

As the importance of the penalty has grown, so has research. Scientists see it as a duel between shooter and goalkeeper where biomechanics and psychology can give either side a critical edge.

A mathematical study of penalties at Liverpool’s John Moores University puts the death nail into the “blast-it-and-hope” approach.

The perfect penalty, it found, is a ball that is struck high, targeted precisely to the right or left of the goalie, and fast, travelling at 25-29 metres per second (90-104 kilometers or 56-65 miles per hour).

Anything faster than this boosts the chance of a miss because of inaccuracy, while anything slower helps the goalie to intercept it.

Moving swiftly to take the penalty (less than three seconds after the whistle is blown) gives the striker the element of surprise, while delaying the strike by more than 13 seconds makes the keeper unsettled, according to the researchers, who looked at decades of international matches involving England.

Waiting for the goalkeeper to move also boosted chances. However, waiting longer than 0.41 milliseconds caused a scoring chance to be halved. A runup of four to six steps was the most successful approach, while a long runup of 10 metres (yards) was the least.

Seen only through the prism of statistics, the balance in penalties is tilted massively in favour of the taker: between twothirds and three-quarters of strikes result in a goal, according to various analyses in top-flight European club soccer.

But in a counter-intuitive way, these figures also give the psychological advantage to the keeper. If the penalty succeeds, people will pat him on the shoulder and say hard luck, because few expected him to save it. If he does save it, he will be praised to the rafters. In other words, all the onus lies with the penalty-taker.

This problem was explored last year by a team at the University of Exeter in southwest England, which asked members of the university football squad to wear special glasses, recording eye movements, while they took two series of penalties.

In the first series, the players were simply asked to do their best to score. In the second, they were told the results would be recorded and shared with the

other players, with a bounty of 50 pounds (72 dollars, 57 euros) for the best penaltytaker.

The more anxious the penalty-taker was, the likelier he was to look at, and focus on, the centrally-positioned goalkeeper. And because gaze control and motor control are tightly coordinated, the player’s shot also centralised, making it far easier for the shot to be saved.

“The optimum strategy for penalty takers to use is to pick a spot and shoot to it, ignoring the goalkeeper in the process,” said lead researcher Greg Wood.

Practice is essential, he said. The Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas would train again and again, shooting at a 25-centimetre (one-foot) disc hung 80 centimetres (a yard) from the bar.

“The idea that you cannot recreate the anxiety a penalty-taker feels during a shootout is no excuse for not practising,” said Wood. “Do you think other elite performers don’t practice basic aiming shots in darts, snooker or golf for the same reasons? The skills need to be ingrained so they are robust under pressure.”

As for helping the goalie, experiments suggest looking at a players’ hips during

the end of the runup gives a tip as to where the ball will be struck. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong also suggest that if a keeper moves just six to 10 centimetres (three to five inches) off centre, that is enough to tempt the taker into directing the kick to the side of the goal where there is more space.

There are also mind games, such as shuffling or taking time to prepare for the shot, to distract the penalty-taker.

Even clothing color is thought to be a help: Petr Cech of Chelsea prefers a bright orange strip in the belief that it attracts opponents and make them likelier to shoot straight at him.

That belief is bolstered by sports psychologists at the University of Chichester, southern England, who asked 40 footballers to take dozens of penalties over a week against a single keeper who changed strip. When the keeper wore red, only 54 percent of the penalties scored; for yellow, it was 69 percent, for blue 72 percent and green 75 percent.

Why? Red is associated with danger, dominance or anger, and at times of stress we pay more attention to it in our environment, goes the theory. — AFP

Ball to baffle keepers SYDNEY: The new ball created for the 2010 World Cup will be faster and more erratic than its predecessors, according to an Australian scientist who believes it could leave goalies grasping at air.

Nonetheless, the British university team involved in the ball’s development has stressed its merits. The boffins at Loughborough University, in the English East Midlands, say they have designed a ball featuring “a completely new, ground-breaking technology, which “has perfect roundness”.

The ball has been named Jabulani (“to celebrate” in Zulu), but players are lining up to complain it behaves erratically and they are having difficulty judging its trajectory - especially at relatively high altitude. England goalkeeper David James has described new Adidas ball as “horrible”, Spain’s Iker Casillas says it is “rotten” and Gianluigi Buffon of Italy fears its “unpredictability” could ruin the World Cup. Research by Adelaide University’s Derek Leinweber would appear to back up complaints. Professor Leinweber said the players had a point, with his computer simulations showing it was faster than previous balls, while its rough surface made it more erratic.

“And ... they bend better,” he told AFP yesterday.”What it means is that the goalkeeper’s intuition is just a little

bit off. “You see the ball coming towards you, you might quickly work out where the ball is going to be, and something different happens.”

Leinweber, who heads the university’s chemistry and physics school, simulated trajectories for the almost perfectly spherical Jabulani which took into account the aerodynamic impact of the ball’s unique tiny ridges.

“Any sort of texture on the ball, or grooves that are on the surface of the soccer ball, that has a big impact on the nature of the air flow,” he said.

Nonetheless, Dr Andy Harland, from Loughborough University’s Sports Technology Institute, and his team remain impervious to the criticism.

“I am delighted that Loughborough University have again been asked by adidas to assist them in the development of such a high profile product,” Dr Harland said.

“It reflects the high esteem that Sports Technology at Loughborough is held in and allows our research to have real impact on the World Cup.” And as Leinweber noted, much of the criticism has come from the goalkeepers rather than outfield players.

“If you want the goalkeeper to design the ball, they will give you an iron ball that sits at the centre of the field,” he said. — AFP

SPORTS

16

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Science lifts lid on some of football’s myths PARIS: Football has a pedigree dating back to mediaeval England, when villagers hoofed an inflated pig’s bladder around a muddy paddock.

Today, though, the 22 players on the pitch are supported by a ghost squad of scientists drawing on biomechanics, physics, nutrition, psychology and other performance-enhancing disciplines. Here are some examples of how science has helped to change football, answer riddles and end hearsay.

FAKING A FALL: How can you tell when a player is diving? One telltale is the “archer’s bow,” says British psychologist Paul Morris. This is when a player falls with both arms in the air, with open palms, chest thrust out and legs bent at the knee, like a sprung archery bow. “This occurs in many dives but biomechanically it does not occur in a natural fall,” says Morris. “Instead, instinctively the arms go down in an attempt to cushion the fall or out to the side for balance.”

NOW IT’S OFFICIAL: Those who say football is the world’s most exciting game can take comfort in statistics. Footy beat four other major sports (American football, ice hockey, baseball and basketball) for “upset frequency” when the underdog won, according to data crunchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Mexico, whose 2006 study pored over top club results dating back to 1888. American football was the most predictable. Its “upset frequency” was a whopping 25 percent less than soccer.

STOPPAGE TIME: Unhealthy men should beware when watching a penalty shoot-out.

Hospital admissions for cardiac arrests in England and Wales rose by 25 percent when England lost to Argentina on penalties on June 30 1998 and on the following two days after their World Cup tie. In the 1996 European Championships, the death rate in the Netherlands from heart attack or stroke went up by around 50 percent on the day when Holland were knocked out by France on penalties. In both cases, the sharp increases were only seen among men, not women.

HIGHS AND LOWS: High-altitude countries are known for the advantage they have when playing at home, when lowaltitude opponents struggle in the thin air. Less well known: they retain an edge when playing away. A 2007 paper in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) looked at a century of results among international matches in 10 South American countries. In the case of two teams from the same altitude, the probability of the home side winning was 53 percent. This rose to 82 percent for an altitude difference of +3,695 metres (12,008 feet), as when high-altitude Bolivia were at home to sea-level Brazil. But it fell to 21 percent when the altitude difference was -3,696 metres (12,008 feet), such as when Brazil were at home to Bolivia.

NO NET GAINS: Three common beliefs about patterns in goal scoring are false, according to football statisticians gathered at a workshop at Germany’s University of Mannheim in 2006. 1) There is no evidence that players who scored in a previous match are any likelier to score in their next game; 2) a goal scored just before half time has no greater impact on the outcome of the game than a goal scored earlier in the first half; and 3) teams that have just scored are not especially more vulnerable to conceding a goal than at other times.

HOME AND HORMONES: Could biology explain home advantage? British researchers Sandy Wolfson and Nick Neave took levels of testerone from players before a home game, an away game and at a training session.

Levels were much higher before a home game. The male hormone is linked with dominance, confidence and aggression, which implies the lads psyched up to defend their territory.

SEEING RED: Football clubs with red team strips are more successful than rivals with other colours, according to a 2008 analysis of post-World War II English league data by experts from the universities of Durham and Plymouth.

Red-wearing teams (such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal) won more often, while teams wearing yellow or orange fared worst. The theory: there’s a psychological boost from wearing red, a colour which is often associated in nature with male aggression and display.

HOW IT’S SPUN: Remember Roberto Carlos (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=W5XpXU8TBoo) scoring “the Impossible Goal,” a swerving spot kick against France in 1997? How did he do it? Some say it’s because Carlos is Brazilian. Physicists, though, point to a combination of the Magnus force and Bernoulli’s principle. Just after a kick, a spinning ball moves forward at relatively high velocity, and the air flows irregularly over it. When the ball slowsspecifically, when it is between 29-37 kilometres (18-23 miles) per hour-the airflow becomes smooth, or “laminar,” which instantly boosts the air’s braking effect, sometimes by as much as 150 percent. This drastically brakes the forward movement of the ball and enhances a curving movement derived from the ball’s spin. So Carlos’ goal initially dipped to the right of the defensive wall and then suddenly swerved into the net, leaving the French dumbfounded.

DIGITAL FUTURE: Punters looking for a tip on this year’s World Cup winners might be advised to take a close look at players’ hands. John Manning from Britain’s University of Liverpool suggests there is a link between the lengths of a footballer’s fingers and his ability as a player. Looking at British players, Manning found that the footballing elite had longer ring fingers compared to their index fingers. Manning’s theory is early exposure to testosterone in the womb is a key to heart formation and spatial judgement and finger length, which is why digits can be a telltale, but not a prediction, of prowess.

ALE’S OUT: Those who contend that drinking beer or other alcoholic beverages helps post-match recovery are addled, say medical researchers. In a New Zealand study published in January in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports, volunteers carried out strenuous exercise, which was followed by a meal. Some drank orange juice, while the other drank OJ and vodka, the equivalent to around eight standard alcoholic drinks. The guinea pigs were measured a day and a half, and then two days and a half, after exercise. The alcohol group had 15-20 percent less muscular force than the non-alcohol group, and also reported more soreness. “Even moderate amounts of alcohol” are out. —AFP

Honduras have a dream to play for TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras have already exceeded expectations by just getting to the World Cup finals. Anything else would be a bonus.

Scraping in from the CONCACAF qualifiers thanks to a last-gasp equaliser in a match far away in the United States, Honduras have ended a 28year wait to get to their second finals.

“The biggest challenge will be to get past the (group) round. If one is realistic about the capacity of the teams we face one realises that it’s possible we’ll be out,” Rueda told Reuters in a recent interview.

“But there is the dream of having to play for it all on the pitch, that everything’s possible in football.”

Argentine Mario Zanabria, coach of local first division club Real Espana, was more down to earth.

“Chile is the revelation of the Americas, Spain is the best national team in the world and Switzerland have a German coach,” he said of the Hondurans’ Group H opponents.

“The Swiss are (like) a clock, you can’t find space, they don’t give away anything, they’re soldiers,” he told Reuters. “If Honduras have a decorous World Cup, that’s good enough. To think of passing the (first) round, it gets complicated.”

Honduras, who were at the 1982 finals in Spain, did their bit in the qualifiers by beating El Salvador 1-0 away on the final day.

However, to finish third rather than fourth and go into a playoff with the fifth-placed South American team, they were dependent on Costa Rica not beating the US. The Costa Ricans went two goals up but the North Americans fought back for a 2-2 draw with a late equaliser to send Honduras through.

Honduras have strong athletic players with considerable ball skills but they are easily thrown off their game by a team with a stronger tactical discipline.

They will have their work cut out to win a point in a tough group but a surprise is not out of the question and they have had a good build-up to the tournament under coach Reinaldo Rueda.

They have a prolific scorer in Carlos Pavon, while Wilson Palacios can create attacking chances. The side have largely managed to escape injury apart from the unfortunate Carlo Costly, son of 1982 veteran Anthony Costly, who fractured a bone in his foot Honduras' Julio close to the Cesar De Leon celefinals.

brates after scoring against U.S. during a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Saturday Oct. 10, 2009. —AP

Meanwhile, striker Carlos Pavon, Honduras’s all-time leading international goalscorer and a national icon, carries the hopes of his compatriots at the World Cup. Described by his club coach as an “area animal”, Pavon’s task will be to score the goals that help to ensure at least a decorous performance for one of the weaker teams at the South Africa finals.

The 36-year-old, who has scored 57 goals in his 95 international appearances, may carry the burden alone since his strike partner David Suazo is doubtful as he fights to recover from a leg injury.

“Pavon is an area animal, he’s very fast in there,” said Argentine Mario Zanabria, coach of Pavon’s club side Real Espana, based in the industrial city of San Pedro Sula.

“He’s a good professional, very special physically. He doesn’t need to train much, like all the mixed-race (players) here,” Zanabria told Reuters in a recent interview.

“He has a lot of skill, he can shoot with both feet, he’s a good header,” added Zanabria, whose club was Pavon’s first and now last in a long line of teams in half a dozen countries of Europe and the Americas.

Pavon, who made his Honduras debut as a teenager in 1993, was recalled after a long absence by the national team’s Colombian coach Reinaldo Rueda before the final CONCACAF qualifying group last year.

In his comeback game Honduras beat Chile-their opponents in the opening Group H game in Nelspruit on June 16 — 2-0 in a friendly in Miami in January 2009.

“Rueda called him up for a friendly against Chile, he came on as a substitute and scored. They (Honduras) won and he was never again left out of the team. He scored in almost all their (remaining) qualifying games,” said Zanabria.

Pavon scored seven goals in the remaining nine qualifiers, including the winner in the last, a 1-0 victory over El Salvador on Oct. 15 that ensured they reached the South Africa finals.

Pavon, married with two children, has led an exemplary family life in a country plagued by violence on the street and in the home. He recently became the figurehead for a United Nations campaign to prevent violence against women. —Reuters

Factbox Colors: Blue and white striped shirt, blue shorts, blue socks.

Nickname: Los catrachos (a local name for Hondurans) Previous World Cup appearances - 1: 1982 Best World Cup performance: Group stage Coach: Reinaldo Rueda (Colombian) Most capped player: Amado Guevara 133 Top goalscorer: Carlos Pavon 57 Talking points: They are strong on athleticism and speed but short on the Latin skills they will need against Chile and Spain. They also struggle to remain concentrated tactically for a full 90 minutes.

Players to watch: Maynor Figueroa for his left foot, Danilo Turcios for ghosting into scoring positions, Wilson Palacios for allround midfield work rate, Carlos Pavon for chasing everything down in the box. —Reuters

Guevara’s perseverance pays off HONDURAS: When you come from a small footballing country, trying to reach the World Cup is a difficult and usually not very rewarding exercise.

Getting there depends on a good quota of luck and much patience, particularly if you have spent your career trying, as Amado Guevara has done.

The Honduras captain is 34, has travelled the world plying his trade and came home from Toronto this year to play for former club Motagua to be sure of regular first-team football, as required by national coach Reinaldo Rueda.

This was after Honduras had qualified by the skin of their teeth and now that Guevara has reached every footballer’s biggest goal he intends to lead Honduras further than the team of 1982 went in Spain, the Central American nation’s only previous finals.

It is a big ask. They start against Chile, then meet favorites Spain and

Rueda is a force for change TEGUCIGALPA: The name Reinaldo Rueda rings fewer bells than Marcelo Bielsa’s though his work with Honduras bears some of the hallmarks of the Argentine coach with Chile.

Colombian Rueda was granted Honduran citizenship by the country’s congress in an unanimous vote in the capital Tegucigalpa in April, having steered the Central American country to their second World Cup. Like Bielsa, whom Chileans would like to see naturalised, Rueda has made an impression on Honduran society beyond the confines of his sport, giving them a focus with his team amid last year’s presidential crisis.

Honduras, who played at the 1982 finals in Spain for the first time, had a fine campaign in the difficult three-stage Concacaf qualifiers in which big teams Mexico and United States generally dictate the terms.

They were indebted to the US, whose draw at home in their final qualifier against Costa Rica put Honduras through at the expense of their neighbors. Rueda came to Honduras via the national team of his native Colombia.

Having worked with several club sides he joined the Colombian federation as coach of the country’s junior teams and was promoted to the seniors during the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup. Colombia had begun the campaign badly, taking one point from their first four matches, and sacked coach “Pacho” Maturana.

may already be without points when they face Switzerland.

“Lobo” (Wolf) Guevara, though, is optimistic.

“On the pitch we’ll be 11 against 11 and the team that does things better will be the one that settles the match...I have a lot of faith in the squad,” he told reporters recently.

Guevara was an attacking midfielder in his younger days but has withdrawn into a deeper position, as more of a distributor, though he still likes getting

Reinaldo Rueda

into scoring positions. He has 29 goals to go with his Honduran record 133 caps.

He will have to control his fiery temperament in South Africa. He was suspended for six months in Honduras for pushing a referee and while playing in the North American MLS he received a two-match suspension after being sent off for elbowing an opponent and drawing blood.

Asked last month about his reputation for retaliation, Guevara replied: “That’s in the past. I had a good qualifying campaign. If I got carded it was for fouls that were circumstantial.”

However, in early May, the Wolf was suspended for the second leg of the Honduran Clausura championship after slapping an opponent during the first leg. —Reuters

They improved under Rueda to the point that they only just missed out on snatching fifth place which would have put them in a playoff with Australia.

The federation opted for new blood, however, and Rueda was not retained, freeing him to accept the Honduran position.

“I was cap-

Carlos Pavon

tivated by the characteristics of the Honduran player but when you’re here you realise there are other realities,” Rueda told Reuters.

He pointed to tactical naivety and poor training methods among other issues, saying: “We’re in the process, we’ve come a long way and we’ve achieved important things but there is still a lot to do.”

The players believe they have benefited. “He’s like a father figure for us, he gives us a lot of advice, he tells us which is the right path. For us, his arrival in our country was fundamental,” striker Carlos Pavon told Reuters.

“What stands out about him is that he is a direct and honest person and we’ve seen the results of his work on the pitch.” —Reuters

World Cup redefines rugby-loving Pretoria PRETORIA: For the capital of a country that has worked itself into a frenzy over the World Cup, Pretoria has never been much of a football town.

The staid seat of executive power has traditionally been a bastion of rugby union, long considered the game of white Afrikaners in the color-coded world of South African sport.

Pretoria, a city founded in 1855 by Dutch-speaking pioneers seeking freedom from British rule, has retained its strong Afrikaner identity through the years.

The city’s white community, 28 percent of the population, loves the reigning Super 14 rugby champions, the locally-based Blue Bulls, but has historically been indifferent to the “black” game of football.

The arrival of the World Cup, however, is helping redefine the city’s traditional boundaries in race and sport.

“I’m a rugby fan, but I’m not anti-soccer, don’t get me wrong,” said 39-year-old Pretorian and Afrikaansspeaker Bruce Esterhuizen.

“It’s all about choice now, it’s not about racial divide,” he told AFP. “The only thing is, my heritage is rugby and not soccer. I’ve got nothing against soccer. I will obviously support my country and my team.” —AFP

17

SPORTS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Chile look good for round one Bielsa is Chile’s unlikely hero

SANTIAGO: Marcelo Bielsa’s rejuvenated Chile are fairly confident of getting through the first round of the World Cup. It is the second round they are worried about.

The Chileans face Honduras and Switzerland in their opening Group H matches and hope they will have done enough to secure a place in the knock-out phase before they face Spain.

They could then face one of the qualifiers from Group G, likely to be the Ivory Coast, Portugal or, worse still, Brazil. Beating any of these teams would be asking a lot of Bielsa’s young, inexperienced side, despite the fabulous form they showed in reaching the finals.

Bielsa’s last World Cup adventure ended in Argentina’s ignominious firstround exit from the 2002 finals, but he has sparked a renaissance in Chilean football. In less than three years, he has taken them from 47th in FIFA’s rankings to 15th.

They finished second in the South American qualifying group, a point behind Brazil and five points ahead of Argentina.

Chile have played with a refreshing emphasis on attack.

They scored 32 times in their 18 qualifying matches, only one goal fewer than Brazil. But that abandon came at a cost-they conceded 22 goals, more than any of the other four South American teams to make the finals.

Chile’s preparations for the World Cup have been hampered by forces beyond their control. In November their friendly against Germany was scrapped due to the suicide of German goalkeeper Robert Enke, and in March they had to abandon two more friendlies after southern Chile was hit by a huge earthquake.

The Chileans have managed to organise replacement matches but those games have not been on officially-sanctioned FIFA match days, which meant that club sides in Europe were not obliged to release their players. That has given Bielsa’s sides a very experimental look in recent outings.

It has been 12 years since Chile appeared at a World Cup and while they do not have Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano any more, they have a better all-round squad.

Meanwhile, if Chile’s World Cup opponents are to come close to scoring against the South Americans, they will first have to deal with Gary “Pitbull” Medel.

Medel earned his nickname with uncompromising performances at the heart of defence during the qualifying campaign, and he has emerged as a key motivator in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad.

“I’m a player who gives and gives,” Medel said when asked about his ferocious reputation. “I talk a lot on the pitch and I stand up to my rivals. Nobody frightens me.”

There is more to Medel’s game than crunching tackles and defensive spade-work. He is one of the most versatile players in Chile’s line-up and gets forward whenever he can.

In his first appearance in the qualifiers, he scored both goals in a 2-0 victory in Bolivia and it was Medel, surging down the right wing, who set up striker Fabian Orellana to score the only goal in Chile’s 1-0 defeat of Argentina in 2008.

Only 22, he is one of the few Chileans to have made the grade in Argentine football and, there too, he has proved his versatility. In March, he wrote his own chapter in the history of Boca Juniors by scoring both goals in a 2-0 defeat of archrivals River Plate.

Boca have Medel on loan from Chilean side Universidad Catolica until the end of June and have said they will do all they can to sign him on a permanent basis after the World Cup. Medel has bounced back from a nightmare start to 2009.

First he was involved in a serious car crash. Talking about the incident recently, he said that as he sat slumped in the wreckage of his vehicle, he could not feel his legs and feared he was paralysed from the waist down.

Then, a month later, a teenage girl fell to her death from the ninth-floor balcony of his apartment in Santiago. An investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing but the incident cast a shadow over him.

Medel, who grew up in one of Santiago’s toughest neighbourhoods, says football has been his saviour. “For my own sake, it’s a good job that I chose football,” he said. “If not, perhaps I’d be stealing or drug trafficking.” —Reuters

SANTIAGO: Marcelo Bielsa has performed something close to a miracle by guiding Chile to the World Cup finals and Chilean fans have responded by holding candle-lit vigils in his honor.

Bielsa was just about the most despised man in Buenos Aires in 2002 when his Argentina side were dumped out of the World Cup in the first round. He quit two years later and disappeared from view, reportedly retiring to his farm to read books and watch his vast collection

of soccer videos.

The 54year-old, one of football’s great eccentrics, re-emerged in 2007 to take the reins of a Chile team badly in need of renewal.

Chile had not qualified for a World Cup since 1998 and had performed poorly at the Copa America where they were hammered 6-1 by Brazil in their final match.

Bielsa has turned this young, unruly bunch of players into one of the most refreshing sides on the continent.

Chile finished second in the South American qualifying campaign, a point behind Brazil andto the delight of an entire nation-five points ahead of Argentina.

All of which has turned Bielsa, known as “El Loco” (The Madman), into an unlikely Chilean hero. As well as the vigils, politicians have urged the government to grant him citizenship.

“We Argentines don’t know anything about tolerance and that’s why we don’t grow up,” he once said. “In Chile I’ve learned about tolerance and coherence.”

Bielsa was an unremarkable defender for local club Newell’s Old Boys from 1967 to 1978 until injury cut short his career.

As a coach, he guided Newell’s to two league titles and to the final of the region’s flagship club competition, the Copa

‘Lollipop’ Suazo ready to lick the opposition Chile's Alexis Sanchez is seen during a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match in Santiago, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. —AP

SANTIAGO: Chile’s Humberto Suazo goes to South Africa having beaten players such as Brazil’s Luis Fabiano and Uruguay’s Diego Forlan to finish as the top scorer in the South American World Cup qualifying campaign.

With 10 goals to his name, Suazo was the main reason that Chile qualified for the finals. He was the only Chilean outfield player to play in all 18 qualifying matches, and Chile’s progress in South Africa is likely to depend largely on how he performs.

Suazo is universally known in Chile as “Chupete” (Lollipop) because of his smooth, shaven head. If he hits form in South Africa, opposition defenders might not find him to their taste.

His importance to the team was evident in late April when he injured his left shoulder playing for Spanish league side Real Zaragoza. It made headline news in Chile, as the country anxiously waited for the medical reports to filter back from Spain.

In the end, all was well. El Chupete missed the rest of the Spanish league season but will be fit for the World Cup. Suazo started the qualifying campaign playing wide on the right, alongside Chilean idol Marcelo Salas. When Salas retired from international football in 2008, Suazo moved into the classic centre-forward position and has made it his own.

Rather like Brazil’s Ronaldo, the 29-year-old is often accused of being overweight, but his heavy build belies his

agility.

“Wherever I go they always crucify me and call me fat, but I’m used to it,” he said after Spanish media questioned his fitness. Since then, he has scored some crucial goals for Zaragoza, helping them to avoid relegation.

For a player of his undeniable talent, Suazo took a long time to establish himself in top-flight football, playing several seasons for his local side Torino de San Antonio.

When his father died and San Antonio were relegated to the Chilean third division, he even considered quitting the game.

“The most difficult thing for me as a footballer was to get over the death of my father, who’d started me out in the sport,” he said. “When he died, I didn’t want to play any more.”

But play he did, and he soon established himself with first division side Audax Italiano, where he scored 40 goals in two seasons before moving to Chile’s biggest club, Colo Colo, in 2006.

He helped them to reach the final of the 2006 Copa Sudamericana, the regional equivalent of the Europa League, before heading to Mexico to play for Monterrey where, after a difficult start, he once again proved his worth.

Only two players have scored four goals for Chile at the World Cup-Salas in 1998 and Leonel Sanchez in 1962. Having topped the Chile's scoring tables in the qualiHumberto fiers, Suazo will be looking to improve on that Suazo record. —Reuters

Libertadores in 1992. He then coached in Mexico and at Spain’s Espanyol before his bitter-sweet spell with Argentina.

Once described by a local newspaper as “a man inside his own labyrinth”, Bielsa is known for his long-winded news conferences and tortured syntax.

“Human beings need to know that there’s someone, the more the better, that loves them unconditionally, whatever happens,” he said in one of his more philosophical moments.

“That’s why footballers are so distrustful, because people love them one week and then stop loving them the next.”

—Reuters

Marcelo Bielsa

Factbox Colors: Red shirts, dark blue shorts and white socks.

Nickname: “La Roja” (the Reds) Previous World Cup appearances: 7: 1930, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1998 Best World Cup performance: Third place, 1962 Coach: Marcelo Bielsa Most capped player: Leonel Sanchez 84 T o p g o a l s c o r e r : Marcelo Salas 37 Talking points: Who is going to par tner Humber to Suazo up front? Recent form would suggest Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez should get the nod but Fabian Orellana and Juan Beausejour have both staked their claims for a place in Bielsa’s starting line-up. Jorge Valdivia is the best bet to play the creative role behind the strikers but that might mean relegating the mercurial Matias Fernandez to the bench.

Gary Medel is certain to start in the heart of the defence but all the other places are up for grabs. Waldo Ponce may partner Medel but PAOK’s Pablo Contreras and West Bromwich Albion’s Gonzalo Jara are in with good chances.

Player to watch: Valdivia, known as “El Mago” (The Magician), has the talent and inventiveness to turn any game on its head, as long as he can keep his discipline. At the other end of the pitch, the combative Medel, nicknamed “Pitbull”, is emerging as the best Chilean defender of his generation. —Reuters

Age no barrier for oldest volunteer PORT ELIZABETH: After two heart bypasses and an adulthood when he was deemed a second class citizen, 79-yearold Amrit Daya never imagined he would be welcoming the world on behalf of his country.

The most senior of the World Cup’s 18,000 official volunteer ambassadors will take up duty in host city Port Elizabeth, decades after South Africa’s apartheid authorities forced his family out of a racially-mixed suburb that was classified for whites only.

“We couldn’t go to restaurants. We

couldn’t go to the beach. When we tell our children these stories, they just can’t believe that this has happened during our lifetime,” Daya, who is ethnic Indian, told AFP. “As an activist, I partook in the struggle, not realising that I would be alive to see democracy in my lifetime. It’s such a great, wonderful feeling that South Africa is a free country.”

Daya marks his 80th birthday on July 18, a week after the final match, on a birthdate shared with South Africa’s first black leader Nelson Mandela. But he has

no qualms about keeping up with the youngsters.

“I am 79. I don’t feel my age. I’m young at heart,” he said in his Port Elizabeth home shared with his wife, whom he celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary with earlier this year.

“In spite of me having two bypass operations, I still feel that I can serve the community. I’ve been so blessed with my health that sometimes people and my family are wondering how I’m coping. I’m active at every moment of my life.”

World Cup organisors received nearly 70,000 applications from 170 countries, seeking to volunteer at the football showcase. The ones chosen will work as ushers in stadiums, guide visitors through airports, help with media accreditations and all manner of administrivia.

Daya realised his unique seniority at an early meeting where age groups were being called out. “When I stood up, I was the only person there. Everyone clapped,” he said.

The former clothing firm manager

will be based at the airport in Port Elizabeth, which hosts eight matches, and says he was motivated to sign up by his love for football and sense of community spirit.

There are a few VIPs that he would like to see apart from Portugal skipper and Real Madrid star Christiano Ronaldo and injured England midfielder David Beckham. “I would like to meet Prince William. If he does come, it would be very nice to meet him. And of course meet the king of FIFA, Mr Sepp Blatter,” he said. —AFP

SPORTS

18

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Spanish ‘dark horses’ are now thoroughbreds Del Bosque leads Spain to new heights

MADRID: Spain shook off their tag as perennial also-rans to win Euro 2008 and they are among the favorites to lift the World Cup for the first time in South Africa.

A runners-up finish to France at Euro 1984 and a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 had done little to banish what was known as Spain’s “curse of the quarters”-at Euro 1996 and 2000 and in the World Cups of 1994 and 2002 the last eight had proved a stumbling block.

Spanish fans feared the worst at Euro 2008 when world champions Italy battled to a 0-0 draw to force a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, but that was when their luck changed and Iker Casillas’s saves sent them through.

Released from their jinx, selfbelief swept Spain past Russia and Germany to the title and they won plaudits for their slick possession football and attacking flair.

The European championship was only their second major international title, coming 44 years after they beat the Soviet Union 2-1 in the final of the same competition in 1964.

Coach Luis Aragones stepped down after Euro 2008 but his replacement Vicente del Bosque has kept the core of the team intact, making only minor adjustments to a wellorganised and confident side who won all 10 matches in qualifying.

The only blip in their otherwise perfect run to the finals was a surprise 2-0 defeat to the United States in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup in June 2009.

That upset ended a 35-match unbeaten run and Del Bosque used it as a reminder to his players of the dangers of over-confidence. Now anything less than a semi-final place in South Africa would be considered a failure.

Meanwhile, Diego Maradona was asked in November which Spain player he would like to have in his Argentina side. “Xavi,” the 1986 World Cup winner shot back. “Every time I see him play I am fulfilled.”

The 30-year-old Xavi is known as “the master architect” in his native country and was setting the standard for creative midfielders even before he led Spain to glory at Euro 2008.

Not many current players can match his composure on the ball or his slide-rule distribution and Barcelona’s unprecedented haul of six trophies in 2009 would have been unthinkable without Xavi pulling the strings.

It was his weighted pass that sent Fernando Torres clear to score Spain’s winning goal against Germany in the Euro 2008 final and his floated cross that set up Lionel Messi to nod in Barca’s second in the 2009 Champions League final.

“The successful playing style of Spain and Barcelona have a lot in common but the most important is the excellence both sides show in the construction of attacks,” Spanish soccer magazine Don Balon wrote in January.

“And that is where Xavi shines. Football is a team game but the orchestra sounds a great deal better when a talented conductor is holding the baton.”

Born in the town of Terrassa near the Catalan capital, Xavi joined Barca’s youth ranks at the age of 11 and broke into the first team in the 1999-2000 season after an injury to Pep Guardiola.

He already had one Spanish title winners’ medal and has gone on to win another four, and feature in two Champions League finals.

He was voted best player at Euro 2008 and came third in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year awards.“Quick touches, slipping your marker, triangular interplays, one-twos, depth, pauses, rhythm, touch and go, I help you, I look for you, I stop, I look up, and above all I open up the pitch,” is how he describes his trade. — Reuters

MACEDONIA: Spain's goalkeeper and captain of the national soccer team Iker Casillas dives for a ball during a training session in Skopje, Macedonia. —AP

Villa’s ‘soul patch’ gives Spain heart MADRID: David Villa’s “soul patch”, a small tuft of hair just below his bottom lip, is as familiar to football fans as his unerring eye for goal.

The shy 28-year-old has rattled in 36 goals in 55 games for Spain since making his debut in 2005 and is his country’s second highest goalscorer. His scoring prowess in La Liga earned him a 40-million-euro move to Barcelona this week after five seasons with Valencia.

He is now eight international goals short of Raul’s record of 44, netted in 102 appearances, and after taking the Real Madrid striker’s number seven shirt, Villa could replace him as top marksman as early as the World Cup finals in South Africa.

The son of a miner from the northern Spanish region of Asturias, Villa had spells with local club Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza before going to financially troubled Valencia. He is quick, makes intelligent runs across the frontline and is dangerous from deadball situations.

Comfortable on either foot, he can drop deep or pull into wide positions when playing with international partner Fernando Torres while the stronger Liverpool forward takes on the centre backs.

Coach Vicente del Bosque has often used him in the lone striker role and Torres’s knee surgery means more of the goalscoring onus may fall on Villa at the finals. But he has also struggled with a string of minor knocks and injuries during the campaign. He was top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals, despite missing most of the semi-final and the final through injury. — Reuters

SPAIN: Spain's Fernando Torres controls the ball during his World Cup qualifying soccer match against Belgium in La Coruna, Spain — AP

MADRID: Vicente del Bosque promised continuity when he succeeded Luis Aragones as Spain coach after the triumph of Euro 2008 and the mild-mannered 59-year-old has more than delivered on that pledge in terms of results.

Under Del Bosque, the European champions have swept to 22 wins in 23 matches, including a perfect 10 victories in World Cup qualifiers.

While Aragones favoured a brash management style and tried to provoke his players to inspire them, Del Bosque is more of a father figure, coaxing the best out of his talented squad.

The only blot on the 59-year-old’s record is a 20 defeat by the United States at last year’s Confederations Cup but few would bet against the

European champions making a run to the last four, or further, in South Africa.

“He has known how to prudently manage the legacy of his predecessor,” Spanish soccer magazine Don Balon wrote of the former Real Madrid player and coach in September.

“Honesty, discipline, a strong work ethic and serenity” are rated his strengths by Marca. Del Bosque learned an important lesson from his railway worker father, the sports daily said: “Modesty in both victory and defeat”.

A Real Madrid man through and through, Del Bosque has not let allegiance to his former club, whom he coached to two Champions League and two league titles, colour his attitude to the national side.

He has proved equally capable of getting the best from Real players such as captain Iker Casillas and right back Sergio Ramos as from key squad members like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol, who play for Real’s arch rivals Barcelona.

— Reuters

Spain's coach Vicente del Bosque

Factbox Colors: Red shirts, blue shorts and red socks Nickname: La Furia Roja (the Red Fury) Previous World Cup appearances: 12: 1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 Best World Cup performance: Fourth place, 1950

Talking points Outsiders cannot fathom how Cesc Fabregas is not an automatic starter even though the Arsenal captain is one of the most influential players in the English Premier League. His omission illustrates the intensity of competition for midfield places.

Barcelona fans wonder why goalkeeper Victor Valdes has been overlooked for so long despite his superb form for the Catalan side, but there is little doubt that captain Iker Casillas deserves his place as number one between the posts.

Coach: Vicente del Bosque.

Most capped player: Andoni Zubizarreta 126.

Top goalscorer: Raul 44.

Players to watch Fernando Torres scored the winning goal at Euro 2008 and he has improved since, while David Villa keeps banging in goals for club and country. The form of midfield orchestrator Xavi will be key to Spain’s chances of success. — Reuters

Goal scorers gunning for the Golden Boot PARIS: The world’s deadliest finishers will be out prospecting over the coming month in South Africa as they look to land the World Cup golden boot award.

Ronaldo, Gerd Muller, Gary Lineker, Paolo Rossi — the roll call of previous winners trips off the tongue and at least a dozen of today’s top strikers will be vying for the honors at this year’s finals in South Africa.

Brazilian legend Ronaldo wrote his name into the history books four years ago in Germany when he bagged his 15th World Cup goal, beating the record of Germany’s Muller set in 1970.

Ronaldo top-scored in 2002 on the way to lifting the trophy as he brilliantly left behind memories of the 1998 final loss to France, in which he was largely anonymous after suffering an apparent seizure before kickoff.

The former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid star was the fifth Brazilian to top the goal charts at a finals - Vava and Garrincha shared the award in 1962 with four other players.

Four years ago, it was German sharpshooter Miroslav Klose, who bagged seven goals in qualif ying for this year’s event, who won the accolade on home soil even though his country only reached the semi-finals.

Klose will be looking to become the only man to win the golden boot for a second time as the Germans - always there or thereabouts - hunt down a fourth World Cup win.

But he has competition aplenty, not

least in the shape of England’s Wayne Rooney, who has averaged just under a goal every other game in winning 60 caps to date.

Injury cut short his breakthrough international tournament at Euro 2004 and he was not fully fit going into the 2006 World Cup but if any of Fabio Capello’s men can emulate 1986 golden boot winner Gar y Lineker it’s the Manchester United forward.

In normal circumstances, the odds would be fairly shor t on his for mer United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted 42 goals in all competitions while still at Old Trafford in 2008 and topscored (in all competitions) for Real Madrid in his maiden season in Spain.

Nonetheless, a quirk of Portugal’s laborious path to the finals was the 25year-old’s failure to the hit the target at all.

Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano will likely be the auriverde’s main candidate to finish top of the goalscoring charts having hit five goals in five games in Brazil’s Confederation’s Cup victory last year.

For rivals Argentina, take your pick from Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain - who outscored Ronaldo in the league - and Sergei Aguero - son-in-law of coach Diego Maradona.

Fabiano doesn’t think Messi will be the man taking home precious metal footwear, however, despite his 34 goals for Barcelona.

“He is ruthless with Barcelona, but he becomes more timid with Argentina,” the Brazilian said in a recent interview with Italian media.

Mario Kempes - six goals for 1978’s champions and Guillermo Stabile — eight in the inaugural event in 1930 — are Argentina’s previous golden boot winners.

Anyone looking for a two-way bet on the top scorer might like to try Spain, with both Fernando Torres and sidekick David Villa as cute as they come when it comes to finding the net.

Torres needs no introduction as the man whose goal won Euro 2008 for the Spaniards while Villa is now Spain’s second all-time top-scorer and his 21 La Liga goals for Valencia earned him a move to Barcelona.

In scoring the goals which won Atletico Madrid the Europa League title former Manchester United misfit Diego Forlan will be out to spearhead Uruguay’s assault on a first World Cup win in 60 years while Roque Santa Cruz will assume the gunslinger’s role for Paraguay.

Then there’s France, whose Just Fontaine scored a record haul of 13 in 1958 but who this time qualified rather ignominiously following Thierry Henry’s handball against the Republic of Ireland in their playoff.

Nicolas Anelka is coming off a strong season with Chelsea but has never been prolific in the national shirt.

However, the French do things a little differently. On the way to glory in 1998 their centre forward Stephane Guivarc’h did not score a single goal.

That mattered little, as the likes of midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Emmanuel Petit assumed the responsibility of putting the ball in the net.—AFP

SPORTS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Factbox Colors: Red shirts, white shorts and red socks.

Nickname: Nati (short for National team).

Previous World Cup appearances: 8. 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006 Best World Cup performance: Quarter-finalists in 1934, 1938,1954.

19

Swiss in the same boat as Chile and Honduras

Coach: Ottmar Hitzfeld

Meanwhile, Switzerland striker Alexander Frei, who once adopted a llama at Basel zoo, will be carrying a heavy burden at the World Cup. Top goalscorer: Alexander Frei 40 goals Frei is his country’s record scorer with 40 goals in 73 games and, with only two of the othTalking points Switzerland qualified from arguably the weakest er probable squad members having reached douEuropean group and lost 2-1 at home to ble figures, his country’s hopes of goals will be Luxembourg along the way. Philippe Senderos has placed largely on his back. been a key central defender recently but a lack of A regular international since 2001, Frei will match practice at club level is a concern. Leading be making his fourth appearance at a major scorer Alexander Frei broke his arm in February international tournament having previously and will also lack match practice. Both he and strikBERNE: Switzerland is one of the world’s most BERNE: Philippe Senderos represents ing partner Blaise Nkufo are over 30. Hakan Yakin enjoyed mixed fortunes. a typical dilemma for many of the midprosperous and stable nations but on the football is the only player with real flair but Hitzfeld has Swiss national team soccer Four years ago in Germany, he scored two of used him only as a substitute. dle- and lower-ranked countries at the field its team share many of the same problems Switzerland’s four goals as they creditably head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld World Cup in that he is a key player for as World Cup opponents Chile and Honduras. reached the last 16 before losing on penalties to Players to watch his country but has seen precious little Like the two Latin American countries, Ukraine.

Diego Benaglio helped VfL action at club level.

Switzerland is good at producing talented playHowever, at the 2004 European champiWolfsburg to win the Unable to get regular first-team ers but has a weak domestic league which Bundesliga title last seaonship, the only time he hit the target was when action at English Premier League son, Yakin can liven up a forces many of them to go abroad to further he spat at England’s Steven Gerrard-a incident Arsenal this season, the imposing cengenerally lacklustre midtheir careers. tral defender joined Everton on loan which earned him a three-match ban based on BERNE: Ottmar Hitzfeld, he can also think on his feet field and Frei is still a This leads to frustration for the national team video evidence. in January but promptly sufdangerman.

Tranquillo one of Europe’s most sucand find a quick solution coach when players get injured or fall out of fered a hip injury. It was not In remorse, he adopted a llama at Basel Barnetta has his cessful coaches at club level, when things do not go serious but it meant yet favour and end up in the reserves at their clubs, moments in midfield. zoo-the pack animals spit a foul-smelling may have to set his sights a according to his plans. more time in the reserves. often returning home in a bid to rescue their — Reuters substance at aggressors when provoked-a little lower when he makes He does not tolerate Despite everything, careers. surprisingly light-hearted act from a usually his debut on the World Cup indiscipline and during his Switzerland coach Ottmar Internationals who have struggled to fulfil dour figure. stage. early days at Bayern Hitzfeld appears preearly potential include defender Reto Four years later, Frei’s dreams of The 61-year-old German showed Mario pared to gamble on Ziegler, who joined England’s Tottenham leading Switzerland to success as won seven Bundesliga titles Basler the a player who has Hotspur as a teenager but has had to wait they co-hosted Euro 2008 were shatbeen a fixwith Borussia Dortmund and door foluntil this season with Italy’s Sampdoria to ture in the tered when a knee injury forced Bayern Munich and the lowget out on the pitch regularly. heart of Champions League once him to limp out of their opening When defender Philippe his with each, becoming only ing a match with the Czech Republic Senderos fell out of favour at one of two coaches to win nocturnal before halftime.

Premier League Arsenal, he Europe’s top club troescapade and The sight of Frei wipjoined Everton hoping to phy with two teams. also fined a numing tears away with his get some first-team football Switzerland, on the ber of top players for captain’s armband but instead suffered a niggling other hand, have never various misdemeanors. was the most hip injury. been beyond the quarHowever, he is not poignant For all the problems, Switzerland, ter-finals at the World just a disciplinarian. His moment of the Cup, and that was back in management of the players with a population of just over seven million tournament, 1954 when they hosted the is generally considered where football has to compete with ice hockey although he tournament. excellent, so much so that and Alpine skiing for attention, has a team who remained with Yet the former maths former Daimler-Chrysler have recently punched above their weight on the squad in a teacher vehemently refutes chief Juergen Schrempp the international stage. show of solidarity. the suggestion that his team once described him as a They have been present at the last three At 31, he remains a key player, are underdogs and hopes his role model for German major tournaments Euro 2004 and 2008 and the scoring five goals in the World personal success can rub off business leaders.

2006 World Cup-although they progressed Cup qualifiers including a penalty on them.

For all his success, beyond the second round only at the latter. in the decisive 2-1 away win in “I am still hungry, I still Hitzfeld’s career has been Drawn with Spain, Chile and Honduras in Greece. hate defeats, I still long for marked by two spectacular Group H after qualifying for their eighth Having spent three seawins, there is no substitute defeats-the 2-1 loss to World Cup, much will depend on how sons each with French club for victories,” he told Manchester United in the the Swiss adapt to facing Latin Stade Rennes and Bundesliga Reuters in a recent inter1999 Champions League country’s defence American opposition. A 3-1 friendly outfit Borussia Dortmund, view. “The expectations in final, when his team domifor the last five defeat at home to Uruguay in March, he returned home this year Switzerland for the 2010 nated the game but lost to years. when they were hopelessly outclassed, to join FC Basel after falling World Cup are very, very two goals in the closing min“Thanks to did not auger well. out of favour with the high.” utes, and a 2-1 World Cup his talent he is Switzerland will be led by wily old cam- German club. still able to play SWITZERLAND: Hitzfeld has long had con- qualifying defeat at home to paigner Ottmar Hitzfeld who won the Frei broke his arm in international nections with Switzerland.

Luxembourg.

Swiss player Bundesliga twice and Champions League games for February and was He was born near Basel, on Yet his team bounced Blaise NKufo twice during spells with Borussia Dortmund Switzerland,” expected to be out of the German side of the borback from the latter and controls the ball and Bayern Munich.

Hitzfeld told action for 10 der, and speaks the local won their next five qualduring an interReuters Hitzfeld said he had not lost his hunger for weeks, leaving Swiss dialect. He spent a ifiers, scoring recently. national friendly victories, although equalling Switzerland’s best considerable part of his playtwo goals in him with a strug“We GENEVA: Swiss forward test game for the performance of a quarter-final place is probably ing career in the country and each. gle to be fit in don’t have a Alexander, during the the best he can hope for.

Euro 2008 also began his coaching Hitzfeld time for June. Frei, howchoice like World Cup South Africa Perhaps his biggest headache will be whether ever, was looking on the bright side. between career there, back in 1983. could not Germany or to persist with the ageing strike force of 2010 Group 2 qualifying Perhaps not surprisingly have planned Switzerland and England. But, of course, I’d “Before the World Cup in 2006 I Alexander Frei and Blaise Nkufo, both into for a maths teacher, Hitzfeld it more meticusoccer match between also had only one competitive match Germany at the love very much to see him their 30s, or throw Eren Derdiyok into the prepares for matches with lously. — play every game for Switzerland and Moldova as preparation,” he said. “Despite St. Jakob-Park fray after his impressive performances for geometric precision although Reuters Everton now. Nothing is that, I then had a good World Cup.” at the Stade de Geneve stastadium in more important than playBayer Leverkusen this season.

—Reuters dium in Geneva. —AP Basel.—AP ing in competitions.”

The 25-year-old Senderos, who speaks five languages and is the son of a Spanish father and Serbian mother, was dropped for two matches during the World Cup qualifiers as Hitzfeld fretted over his lack of match practice.

After the Swiss just survived some “When we lost to Germany, I felt empty. But right of construction workers to down tools dur- in 1990, the year Nelson Mandela was freed from JOHANNESBURG: As the World Cup kicks off shaky defending in a 2-2 draw in Friday in Johannesburg, Danny Jordaan will be when we came back home, the unwavering spirit ing the building or renovation of the 10 host sta- prison and began the talks which led to the first Latvia, he was brought back for the multi-racial elections four years later. Jordaan forgiven a smile to himself from his front row of the people who came to welcome us at the air- diums. next game and responded by scoring But he also defended FIFA’s insistance on the was one of the ANC influx which entered parliaseat a decade on from his darkest hour as South port gave us hope and encouraged us to try twice in a 3-0 win in Luxembourg in again,” said Jordaan. “It’s been an incredible building of world class facilities where millions ment in 1994 and remained as a lawmaker until African football supremo.

November.

First as head of the bidding team and then as journey-a journey of hope, despair and then tri- still live without running water and electricity. 1997.

Raised at Servette Geneva, While failing to leave much of a mark in parThe majority of the stadiums have no permanent chief executive of the L ocal Organising umph.”

Senderos helped Switzerland to win liament, he proved his mettle as a political operMuch of his time since South Africa were landlord for after the tournament.

Committee (LOC), no one has a better claim to the under-17 European championship Jordaan himself knows all too well what it is ator by rising through the ranks of the South be father of the 2010 tournament than the one- finally awarded the hosting rights six years ago in 2002 and joined Arsenal the same has been spent fighting claims that the prize was like to live without. As a 16-year-old, his family African Football Association (SAFA) as it was time footballer and lawmaker. year. was forcibly removed from their home in Port welcomed back into the international fold. He But the sense of achievement will be even premature.

In his early days, he was compared He has had to battle complaints over the Elizabeth, the building bulldozed by the was appointed SAFA chief executive in 1997 and stronger for Jordaan after South Africa controto their former captain Tony Adams versially lost the right to stage the 2006 tourna- speed of stadium construction, shortages of apartheid authorities after their neighbourhood then chosen to head up the first World Cup bid. but he later fell out of favour and spent Now 59, his future after the tournament is transport and accommodation as well as assuage had been declared an area for whites. ment by one vote. the 2008-09 season on loan at AC His school was also demolished but his perse- still up in the air. But highly respected by FIFA, The decision by New Zealand official Charlie constant fears over levels of crime.

Milan where an early injury wrecked “They said we are going to run out of money, verance took him to university where he joined for whom he has worked as a marketing execuDempsey to defy instructions and abstain from his chances of establishing himself. voting in July 2000, which handed the 2006 tour- they were wrong,” he said at a banquet last the black consciousness movement led by Steve tive, it is hard to imagine him turning his back Senderos was ever-present for on the game he loves or indeed Africa. nament to Germany, prompted Jordaan to consid- Friday. “They said no one would buy tickets for Biko, who was later to die in police custody.

Switzerland at the 2006 World Cup and As he told AFP once in an interview: “Clearly He was a useful footballer but his first real job this World Cup, they were wrong... They said er his future.

Euro 2008. His strength in the air But after licking his wounds, the veteran of people would be too afraid. They were wrong. came as a teacher and lecturer before turning his football represents hope, football represents joy, means the side also need him in football represents achievement, football reprethe anti-apartheid struggle re-entered the fray to The teams are arriving and the fans are arriv- focus to politics. attack-his total of six goals is the sixth Jordaan was appointed chairman of the Port sents progress for many people on this contibring the world’s biggest sporting event to its ing.” highest amongst the regular squad A former trade unionist, he has defended the Elizabeth wing of the African National Congress nent. — AFP poorest continent for the first time. members. — Reuters Most capped player: Heinz Hermann 117 caps

Hitzfeld hopes own success will rub off on Switzerland

Mr. Football savors reality of World Cup dream

Switzerland return to Senderos

www.kuwaittimes.net

The ref’s only human - and that’s the problem PARIS: “The ref was biased!” How often have you heard that accusation, from a manager, player or fan, incensed by a penalty, red card or extra minute of injury time that helped the other side to score? Professional referees are quick to throw back the charge as wrong, a slur or sour grapes.

But over the past decade, scientific studies have highlighted how the man in the middle can be swayed, albeit unconsciously, by crowd pressure.

In a landmark study, British researchers examined the effect of crowd noise on referee decisions.

They asked 40 county-level refs, their experience ranging from newly qualified to

over 40 years, to assess a video of 47 challenges or incidents in a 1999 LiverpoolLeicester match.

Twenty-two of the volunteers watched the video with crowd noise with the Kop in full voice-but without commentary, while 18 viewed it in silence.

Those who watched in silence were more certain about their decision, awarded more fouls against the home team and were likelier to determine that no foul had taken place.

Those who listened with the volume on were not likelier to award fouls against Leicester.

But, compared with the “silent” group, they did award 15.5 percent fewer fouls against Liverpool. And their decisions, it

turned out, closely mirrored those of the match referee.

“The presence or absence of the crowd noise did have a dramatic effect,” said University of Wolverhampton professor Alan Nevill, who led the research.

German statisticians analysed 3,519 German first division matches played between 1992 and 2003, accessing a data bank compiled by the company Innovative Media Technology and Planning (IMP). IMP compiles reams of match facts and also gives its opinion as to whether the ref’s decisions were correct. It disputed five percent of decisions on goals that were awarded to the home team, but only four percent of goals

awarded to the away side. If so, the home side had a 25-percent greater chance of getting a borderline goal decision in its favour.

As for penalties, only 65 percent of home team penalties were considered justified by IMP, compared to 72 percent for penalties awarded to the visitors.

Just as intriguing was this: refs were likelier to make a disputed ruling and award more stoppage and injury time to home teams trailing their opponents when the game was played in a stadium that had no athletics track.

“Probably the referee is subjected to greater social pressure if the spectators are right next to the pitch,” remarked University

of Bonn investigator Thomas Dohmen. FIFA says World Cup refs are the cream, undergoing arduous training to ensure decisions are fair. “Referees are accustomed to being in front of large crowds, and the training process for elite referees is a long one,” it said an emailed reply to AFP. “A referee will not be exposed to a match in front of 50,000 spectators or more immediately.

“Furthermore, and in particular for the FIFA World Cup, the referees benefit from the support of a wide variety of experts. One such focal area is that of mental preparation, where referees prepare for the different scenarios they will encounter during a match at this level.”

But here’s the question: Can referees avoid human instinct? Dutch researchers at Erasmus University this year analysed data from all fouls in seven seasons of the UEFA Champions League, the Bundesliga and the last three World Cups-a total of 123,844 incidents of whistle-blowing.

When it came to ambiguous fouls, players who were taller were considered likelier to have caused the offence and shorter players were likelier to be considered a victim. This was also the case even when no fouls had been committed.

The findings tally with evolutionary research: we associate taller people with aggression or domination. —AFP

Mandela to attend World Cup opener

JOHANNESBURG: Portugal’s Fabio Coentrao fights for the ball against Mozambique players during a warm-up match at the Wanders stadium. —AP

Portugal blank Mozambique JOHANNESBURG: Hugo Almeida scored twice yesterday to lead Portugal to a 3-0 win over Mozambique in a World Cup warmup match.

After failing to convert their dominance into goals in the first half against a team ranked 85th in the world, the Portuguese scored three in 30 minutes after the break.

Danny received a pass from Deco, sidestepped the goalkpeeper and tapped in the ball in the 51st minute. He then crossed from the left to set up Almeida’s short-range strike.

Goalkeeper L ama couldn’t hold a fierce shot from substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in the 82nd and Almeida tapped in the rebound. Mozambique was the last of three African teams the Portuguese played in recent weeks before opening Group G play against Ivory Coast on June 15. Portugal also meets Brazil and North Korea at the World Cup. Portugal beat 10-man Cameroon 3-1 but then drew 0-0 with Cape Verde, raising questions about its prowess in front of goal.

Ronaldo was left out of the starting lineup. And without his aggressive running and dribbling and with playmaker Deco short of ideas, Portugal couldn’t get traction going forward in the first half.

Portugal’s best early spell came midway through the first half when the world’s third-ranked team began to find its rhythm, though it still couldn’t find

the net. Simao Sabrosa pounced on a defensive blunder and shot toward goal, but Lama stretched to tip the ball wide.

Danny then miscued a header at the back post, and soon after Simao sliced a shot from a well-timed cross by Deco.

Liedson also missed a good chance, heading weakly when he was unmarked inside the area.

Portugal’s defense occasionally looked

fragile on its right flank, where Miguel was playing in place of Paulo Ferreira.

Mozambique grew in stature and five minutes before the interval Fumo struck a thundering shot against the post.

Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony and Portugal’s greatest ever player is the Mozambique-born Eusebio, who starred at the 1966 World Cup in England. —AP

Nani ruled out of World Cup JOHANNESBURG: Portugal suffered a major World Cup setback yesterday when Manchester United star Nani was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his collarbone, the Portuguese Football Federation said on its website (www.fpf.pt).

“After bruising his collarbone and after medical tests, we have concluded the player is unfit to play in the World Cup,” an FPF statement read.

“The medical dossier will be presented to Manchester United’s medical department,” the FPF added. “He is in pain. We carried out tests and the upshot is that he is not fit to compete,” coach Carlos Queiroz told TVI television. “Today, we did some extensive tests but unfortunately they showed he is not going to be able to recuperate in time for the finals,” Queiroz added.

Nani, four goals in 34 games for his

country to date - including three during qualifying - suffered the injury in training on Friday and the 23-year-old will now be replaced by Ruben Amorim of Benfica. Under FIFA rules, a player can be replaced until the day before their first match.

Nani is the second Manchester United player to have to withdraw from the World Cup after England skipper Rio Ferdinand pulled out with a knee injury.

Striker Danny, on target in Tuesday’s 3-0 friendly win over Mozambique in Johannesburg, said he was sad to hear Nani would miss out.

“We’ll miss him a lot. It’s sad as he’s a great player - he was coming off some fine form,” Danny told TVI. Portugal go up against Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea in the World Cup finals which get underway on Friday. —AFP

Friedrich takes blast at ‘bloody loud’ vuvuzelas ERASMIA: They are made of plastic, are a metre long, as loud as a chain-saw and promise to be a noisy feature of the World Cup, but for Germany defender Arne Friedrich they are just ‘bloody loud’.

The vuvuzela - the traditional instrument for South African football fans - takes considerable effort to blow, sounds something like a foghorn and when used by large crowds at a football stadium creates an incredibly loud noise. The World Cup starts on Friday when hosts South Africa take on Mexico at Johannesburg’s Soccer City and many of the 90,000-strong crowd are expected to come with a vuvuzela in their team’s colours.

Some players have lobbied for the vuvuzela to be outlawed and critics have called on the sport’s governing body FIFA to ban them during matches, saying the sound drowns out voices rendering communication impossible for the teams. FIFA president

Sepp Blatter has defended the vuvuzela as part of “African football culture”, but a University of Pretoria study has backed up the critics, warning repeated exposure to the vuvuzela’s blare risks hearing loss.

And Switzerland’s Hear the World Foundation - an initiative to raise awareness about hearing loss - said tests showed that, at full volume, a vuvuzela (127 decibels) is even louder than a chainsaw (100 decibels).

For the players, communication will be virtually impossible, but Hertha Berlin captain Friedrich said they are a factor of the tournament to which players players must quickly adapt to.

“Every nation has its own way to celebrate the game, while I am not a fan - I must admit they are bloody loud you have to respect them and the longer we are here, the more we will get used to them,” said the centre-back here at Germany’s World Cup camp. —AFP

NELSPRUIT: Chile’s soccer players Alexis Sanchez (front) and Rodrigo Millar stretch during a team training session at the Ingwenyama Conference and Sports Resort. —AP

JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela gave the World Cup the ultimate pre-tournament boost yesterday as his family declared the 91-yearold anti-apartheid icon would be among the crowds when the event kicks off.

As the country put the finishing touches to preparations, rolling out the continent’s first high-speed rail link and unveiling plans to bus fans from stadium to stadium, the announcement about Mandela removed one of the biggest worries for organisers who are desperate for him to attend.

Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, who acts as the family’s spokesman, had previously said that his grandfather was too frail to make such an appearance.

But he told AFP that he would in fact attend the opener on Friday at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium, albeit only briefly. “He will come and greet the fans... before he retires to his home,” said Zwelivelile Mandela.

“We’re trying to see how long he will stay at the stadium. At least 10 to 15 minutes.” Sello Hating, a spokesman of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, confirmed that “Mr Mandela, he has expressed an interest to attend the game” although he said that he would only make a final decision on the day.

Speaking on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said he hoped Mandela would be present when South Africa take on Mexico but said there were no guarantees.

“If he did not appear, we would understand.

If he is there, it will be a bonus for this tournament. We wish he would be there,” said Zuma.

Mandela’s lobbying was seen as the deciding factor six years ago when FIFA handed South Africa the right to stage the tournament for the first time on African soil.

Since then, it has faced almost endless accusations that it is no place to host the world’s biggest sporting event because it is either too crime-ridden or lacking in infrastructure.

It went at least some way towards silencing that criticism on Tuesday by opening the Gautrain, a three-billion-dollar rail link which can whisk passengers from Johannesburg’s main airport into the uptown Sandton district.

The 160-kilometre-an-hour (100 mph) link will be one of the key legacies of the tournament and is intended to show that Africa can build transport facilities to rival those of anywhere in the world.“I have been in Johannesburg just for one hour-the airport and here-but I really thought this was a first world service,” Costa Rican football journalist Gustavo Jimenez told AFP as he stepped off the train at Sandton.

Security guards outnumbered passengers on the first day, reflecting the desire by authorities to deflect fears that a country with one of the world’s highest crime rates is no place to stage the world’s biggest sporting event.

Tickets from the airport to Sandton cost around 13 dollars, a small fortune for most South Africans but much cheaper than the cost of a taxi ride.

And while traffic snarl-ups mean the journey usually takes around an hour, the Gautrain will cover the distance in around a quarter of that time.

Strikes and subsidence problems have ensured that only the link to Sandton, a swanky suburb home to the Johannesburg stock exchange and a massive shopping mall, has opened in time for the World Cup. Janet Gallagher, who lives near the airport but often travels to Sandton, was one of the first passengers. “In the morning at rush hour, it can take up to two hours. You can’t compare ... It was so fast,” she told AFP. As well as the Gautrain opening, a new train station opened in Cape Town and the government announced plans for a special bus service to ferry spectators between host cities, dropping them off close to the stadium before every match.

“This service will be provided by a fleet of 110 newly acquired 79-seater buses, operating alongside approximately 300 mini-buses from the taxi industry,” Transport Minister Sibusiso Nbebele told reporters.

Authorities in Johannesburg were also sealing off roads in the downtown area where a giant fan park will play host to thousands of supporters unable to hunt down a ticket for Friday’s opening.

But the preparations were not entirely problem-free, with cell phone users finding it next to impossible to get a connection. —AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Former South African president and Nobel peace prize winner Nelson Mandela (center) poses with the South African National Football team “bafana bafana” on June 3, 2010 at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. —AFP

Rooney warned to keep the lid on his emotions RUSTENBURG: Wayne Rooney has been warned he must keep the lid on his emotions or risk a re-run of the red card misery he endured at the last World Cup. Rooney’s volatility was on display again in England’s final warmup match on Monday, a 3-0 win over local club Platinum Stars in which he was booked for dissent and was guilty of several challenges that could kindly be described as over enthusiastic.

Jeff Selogilwe, the match referee, received an apology and Rooney’s shirt after the match. But that did not prevent him from issuing a warning to the Manchester United striker, who was sent off in England’s 2006 quarter-final defeat

by Portugal.

“I was ver y disappointed in Rooney because he is my favourite player,” Selogilwe said. “He is a good player when you see him on the TV, but when you see him on the pitch, he just keeps on insulting the referees.“To me it looks like Rooney insults people and fouls other players. If he insults a referee like me then he will use that vulgar language to other referees as well.

“He must learn to control his temper. He could get sent off in the World Cup, especially if he uses this kind of language.”

Rooney’s importance to England was underlined again on Monday when his entrance as a second-half substitute-combined with a halftime rollicking from coach Fabio Capello-sparked a significant improvement in their performance after the interval.

The striker set up Joe Cole for the second goal before scoring the third himself with a fine volley from James Milner’s cross.

Afterwards, Rooney shrugged off concerns over his on the field discipline, insisting he was just raring to get started with the real action, which for England means Saturday’s Group C against the United States.

“We are ready - these are preparation games for us for the big one now coming up on Saturday,” Rooney said. “I just can’t wait now.

The sooner it comes, the better.”

Team-mate Jer main Defoe stressed that Rooney would be a lesser player if he was to shed his intensely competitive edge.

“When you’ve got that fire in

your belly as a player can be good,” Defoe said. “If you take that away from Wayne, then he won’t be the same player.”

Defoe backed Rooney’s view that England are ready to challenge at this World Cup, although he acknowledged they were still adjusting to the 1500m-plus altitude of South Africa’s high veldt.

“It was a really good work out.

With the conditions, the altitude and the heat, it made it difficult, but it helped with the fitness for what is ahead.

“You do notice the altitude here when you’re running around. It’s dif-

England’s Wayne Rooney ferent, and we’re a lot higher here than we were in Austria but I’m sure we’ll get used to it in training.

“I don’t think we could be better prepared for a World Cup. I think everything we’ve done - the training, the fitness work - has been spot on.

“The hotel is brilliant. We’ve got everything we need, so the preparation has been good and, if you prepare right, you get results.”

Defoe added: “Everyone’s hungry.

We want to win it. We’ll take each game as it comes, but I think we’ve got that winning mentality. “We’re winning games and we want to take that into a tournament now.”

Joe Cole, the only player to play 90 minutes against the Platinum Stars, Ashley Cole, Ledley King and Shaun Wright-Phillips were all missing as England trained at their Rustenburg base yesterday. But team officials said they were doing gym work and were on track to be available for Saturday’s match. —AFP

Foxconn seeks price hikes to offset wages

23

Euro zone sets up $1 trillion bailout fund

26

US stocks up on Fed talk, euro rises

26

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

www.kuwaittimes.net

Emirates in record $11bn order for A380s BERLIN: Dubai's Emirates, the Arab world's largest airline, has placed an $11 billion order for 32 A380 superjumbo jets from EADS's Airbus unit in a surprise opening to the Berlin Air Show. Airbus called the unexpected vote of confidence the largest commercial aircraft order by dollar value ever. It came as EADS showed off the capabilities of its embattled A400M military transporter plane and as it faces a dispute with German military bosses over problems with two of its new helicopters.

Emirates' order would be worth just over $11 billion at a list price of $346.5 million per plane, though airlines typically receive discounts for large orders. It brings the airline's total A380 order to 90 planes.

Emirates Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said he expected all 90 planes to have been delivered by 2017.

"Our latest commitment signals Emirates' confidence in growth to come," Al Maktoum said at a press conference. The sheer size and scope of the order stunned Emirates' global competitors. "It is already to many of us a miracle that Emirates now already has more seats on intercontinental routes than Air France and BA together with a relatively small home market," Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said in a briefing at the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting.

"One must assume that this is not an investment for the UAE, but it is an investment for the world." Emirates became Dubai's flagship company and one of the biggest contributors to the local economy after the property crisis devastated real estate firms. The government-owned group expects to earn $1.16 billion in 2010. The carrier, which started in 1985 with two planes, has grown to rival the likes of Qantas and Singapore Airlines for traffic between Europe and east Asia.

SIZEABLE ORDER The order made for a splash start to the Berlin show, a biennial event that tends to be overshadowed by larger events and larger orders elsewhere. It was big enough to attract the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even as she came under fire from the rest of the global aviation industry for proposing a new passenger tax. The deal brings total A380 orders to 234, but the aircraft is far from delivering a profit to Airbus after delays and heavy costs caused by problems in fitting each plane's 500 kilometers of wiring. Airbus sales chief John Leahy, who had previously forecast 20 A380 orders this year, said more were possible.

A400M FLYOVER Just as Emirates announced the order, a giant A400M buzzed the show, demonstrating its aerobatic abilities. The A400M European troop transporter was built to provide much-needed airlift to seven European NATO nations but is four years late and almost 8 billion euros over budget. The buyers-Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey-set a provisional 3.5 billion euro bailout in March but the deal has yet to be formalized as budget problems spread in Europe.

Watched by Merkel, whose government has severely criticized Airbus over the delays, the aircraft performed a series of stunts and steep banking turns on its maiden public display. It is expected to enter service in 2013. EADS said last week the two planes in testing were working well and two more test planes should go into service this year. Airbus chief Tom Enders told an industry dinner packed with airline CEOs on Monday night he would gladly sell any of them an A400M-drawing laughs but no obvious takers. —Reuters

Berlin Air Show opens with spotlight on Airbus; Controversial A400M on display

BERLIN: Stewardesses pose in front of an Emirates Airlines A380 aircraft at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) yesterday at the Schoenefeld airport in Berlin. Dubai airline Emirates said it had placed an order worth 11.5 billion dollars with Airbus for 32 more A380 "superjumbo" passenger aircraft. — AFP

in the news ‘No need for emergency OPEC meeting’ KUWAIT: Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah AlSabah said yesterday that current oil prices were acceptable and there was no need for OPEC to call an extraordinary meeting.

"Acceptable... $72 (is) acceptable," he told reporters at parliament when asked what he thought of current prices. Oil prices were trading just around $72 a barrel yesterday at 0809 GMT, but Sheikh Ahmad said the favored price for the group was between $75 to $85 a barrel. Oil prices were expected to remain at current levels throughout the year, he said. "It will come down, come a little bit up, but on average, it will be the same," he said. Sabah said speculation was driving the market and he was not aware of any other OPEC members concerned that prices were around $70 a barrel. He said Kuwait's highest oil policy body, the Supreme Petroleum Council, was expected to approve a previously stalled $15 billion project to build a 615,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery before the end of the year.

Vodafone, 3 others lose roaming fees challenge LUXEMBOURG: Europe's top court dismissed yesterday a challenge by Vodafone, Telefonica's O2, and two other companies against an EU law aimed at slashing up to 70 percent of mobile roaming prices for travelers. The roaming regulation, enacted in 2007, was considered a significant victory for EU lawmakers. The European Commission had said it wanted to end "bill shock" for holidaymakers coming home to huge mobile phone charges for calls made abroad. Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile operator by sales, O2, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile, and France Telecom's Orange, launched their challenge against the regulation in the British High Court in 2007. The British court subsequently asked the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) whether the roaming caps had a proper legal basis. "The Community had the right to impose caps on the prices charged by mobile telephone operators for roaming calls in the interest of the internal market," the ECJ

ruled, upholding an opinion by a court adviser last October.

UAE's Borouge starts operations at key units YAS ISLAND: United Arab Emirates (UAE) petrochemical firm Borouge has started operations at key units of the $5 billion, phase two expansion of its facility at Ruwais, a senior company executive said yesterday. "We are actually, as I speak, in the middle of start-up. We basically are starting up the ethane cracker and the polyethylene plant," Roy Vardheim, the firm's chief operating officer, told a MEED conference. "It's the world's biggest ethane cracker with 1.5 million tons (annually)." It will take between 12 to 18 months to ramp up production to full capacity, Vardheim told reporters later on the sidelines of the conference.

"It takes time. It's a very complex operation, (and) you need to ramp up slowly ... so you start with easier grades and then you gradually transfer to the difficult grades," he said. "We are also starting the biggest olefins conversion unit (of) 750,000 tons, converting ethylene to propylene," he added.

Women-only bank?

TEHRAN: Iran has opened a women-only branch of a bank in the religious northeastern city of Mashhad in a bid to promote Islamic culture, newspapers reported yesterday. A branch of the stateowned Bank Melli started operating on Monday in Mashhad with an all-female staff including security guards, Tehran Emrouz daily said. "It is aimed at promoting a culture of chastity and increasing security for the participation of Muslim Iranian women in society," Bank Melli chief Mahmoud Reza Khavari was quoted as saying. Many among Iran's hardline authorities and clerics favor segregation of the sexes and find mingling of unrelated men and women to be corrupting, despite women being required to observe the Islamic dress code in public. Some university classes are segregated in Iran and women travel in the back of public buses though they are squeezed in with men in shared taxis.

Saudi developers eye mid-income housing Developers switch from cheaper housing as land costs rise JEDDAH: Rising land costs are driving some developers in Saudi Arabia to focus on mid and high income housing as they try to cover their costs, despite strong demand for cheaper accommodation, industry experts say. With a growing population of over 25 million, 70 percent of which is under the age of 30, the world's largest oil exporter will need to build one million new homes by 2014, HSBC said in a report last year.

Assaudia Real Estate Development is one such developer that has revised its plan to focus on mid income property.

"The market conditions have forced us to shift to mid income housing," said Mohammad AlMasaabi, the firm's sales supervisor told Reuters on the sidelines of a property exhibition in Jeddah. "Now we will not sell for less than 1.8 million riyals ($480,000) because costs have risen," Al-Masaabi said, adding that land prices were 1,500 riyals a square meter when the firm planning the project but have since risen to 2,500 riyals a square meter.

The developer originally planned to build 1,000 homes in Jeddah that will cater to individuals with limited income. They planned to sell villas ranging from 800,000 riyals to 1.2 million riyals but revised their plan as land costs rose.

Kinan International Real Estate Development

company, the real estate wing of Savola Group, will also cater to mid income customers and plans to develop a two million square meter development project for up to 11,000 homes in Jeddah over the next six years.

While most demand for housing in the kingdom comes from low income individuals, the absence of a mortgage law is preventing them from buying homes as costs continue to rise.

"There is a great demand for affordable housing but [developers] can't take the risk of developing... to provide affordable housing units when they know the targeted segment can not afford it without the mortgage," said Sari Anbatawi, Associate Director at Colliers International.

"There is a section of housholds in Saudi Arabia where the income is less than 6,000 riyals a month, I don't think the commercial developers are focusing on this market," said John Harris, head of Saudi operations at Jones Lang LaSalle.

"This could be probably 40 percent of households... It is a very big market but we don't see a lot happening for that sector at the moment," he added. Saudi Arabia's long-awaited mortgage law has been in the planning stages for almost a decade. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said last year it would be implemented before end2009. —Reuters

Tight lending 'pushing' Gulf family firms to IPO

MUMBAI: Indian Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor is announced as Nissan brand ambassador as he poses with the yet-to-be-launched Micra in Mumbai yesterday. Nissan and French partner Renault have begun production of the small hatchback in Chennai, with sales to begin in July in a bid to compete in the country's fast-growing passenger car market and rival Tata's Nano, dubbed the "world's cheapest car" at 100,000 rupees. — AFP

DUBAI: Dubai-based Alpen Capital is lead manager for four companies planning initial public offerings in the Middle East, as fractured debt markets and tighter lending restrictions push firms to go public to fund expansion. The quartet of offerings will come from the Gulf Arab region and India, Managing Director Sanjay Vig said, with some likely to be launched in the fourth quarter provided regional markets recover following recent sharp declines.

"IPOs normally follow growing equity markets, so once markets start to show positive signs a lot of issuers will come," said Vig. He would not reveal the names of the companies Alpen is advising, having received regulatory approval to be a listing sponsor on Nasdaq Dubai, but said they came from the healthcare, retail, manufacturing and oil services sectors. The IPOs could be primary, dual or secondary listings and could list on any regional bourse, Vig said.

"Family business had been using debt to finance their expansion, but post-financial crisis they realize relying on debt could jeopardize the business and so are looking to deleverage their balance sheets," said Vig. "IPOs are one of the equity options to raise money." Gulf banks have tightened lending after being exposed to the property crash in Dubai and to multibillion dollar debt troubles at two Saudi family firms, while the Middle East IPO market froze in the wake of the credit crunch.

KEY ATTRACTION But there are signs of a thaw. In May, Shuaa

Capital said it was lead manager on an IPO that could raise more than 1 billion dirhams ($272.3 million), while India's Hinduja Group said this month it was planning an IPO worth up to $1 billion for a Saudi venture. Nasdaq Dubai's listing rules, which for example allow companies to float a minimum 25 percent of their capital compared with 55 percent on the Dubai Financial Market, are a key attraction, according to the executive.

"Family companies normally don't like to lose management control," said Vig. The DFM index is down 16 percent this year and some 76 percent off a January 2008 peak as the emirate's fragile finances weigh on equities, but Vig said these problems would not put off companies from listing on the Nasdaq Dubai. "The Gulf as a whole is progressing pretty well," he said. "Most Gulf economies are forecast to grow more than 3 percent this year and this positive outlook has yet to be reflected on the stock markets. If oil is strong, we should expect an infusion of funds into the Gulf." Only one stock, DP World, trades daily on the Nasdaq Dubai, which has struggled for liquidity and listings since it opened in 2005, but Vig said the exchange's move to outsource its trading platform to the Dubai Financial Market was likely to boost activity. If markets recover, investors will also look more favorably on IPOs, Vig said. "Last year, bank deposits were generating pretty good returns, but these have come down significantly this year so investors will be looking at alternatives," he said. — Reuters

22

BUSINESS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Blending greenery and luxury, Skyline launches Ranch Kerala's largest home builder, Skyline Builders is set to launch its landmark project, "Ranch" in Tripunithura, Cochin.

Inspired by an American way of life, the Ranch comprises of 78 exquisitely planned villas spread over 11 acres of lush greenery without any barriers or boundaries within the community.

Designed to meet the requirements of elite high-end clients, the Ranch villas located in tranquil downtown Tripunithura, guarantees a peaceful atmosphere with world-class amenities.

The luxury housing project at Skyline Ranch has six types of villas: Aster, Begonia, Carnation, Daffodil, Estoria and Ficus. With their wide windows and intricate linings that offer an attractive and contemporary design, the 3 and 4 bedroom Ranch villas, which range from 2000 to 4200sq.ft, starts at Rs. 120 lacs.

The uniqueness of Ranch that makes it an exquisite spot to reside is its pleasing green surroundings with exotically landscaped gardens filled with palms, lawns and flowerbeds that provide fresh air and clean surroundings. A sprawling central park and children's play area add charm to this project.

Other world-class amenities at the Ranch include a cascading water body, open air theatre, barbeque, basket ball half court, video phone security system, CCTV surveillance system and security guard monitoring system. An exclusive club house, 'The County' is another attraction of Skyline Ranch. Aimed at providing complete recreation and rejuvenation 'The County' includes swimming pool with wading pool for kids, recreation hall, sauna/health spa, games room, table tennis, billiards, fitness cen-

tre and a well-fitted home theatre. The entire community is also provided with full generator back-up for uninterrupted power supply.

Attesting to the quality and reliability of Skyline are 4300 satisfied customers of whom more than 2000 are high-networth NRI clients from 46 countries across the globe. After a very successful tour of Qatar and Bahrain the Skyline team is in Kuwait to promote their latest luxury villa project The Ranch. Speaking during an exclusive interview, P A Varghese, vice-president of Marketing at Skyline said, "As the name implies this project consists of American style villas built on a unique open plan that blends the surrounding greenery with the elegance of luxury villas.

The project, with its opulent amenities and sophisticated facilities is designed for discerning high-value clients and is expected to be completed

in 30 months beginning from 1st August, 2010."

Faced with a downward trend in sales from the highs of 2007, one-time builders are finding it difficult to make ends meet; evidence of this comes from the number of constructions that are at a stand-still all over the State. Speaking about the need for buyers to be aware of pitfalls in the country's realty sector, Mr. Varghese said, "My advice to people looking to buy property back home is to be aware of the track record of the builder with regard to three things: on-time delivery, quality of construction and after-sales service.

These three areas are critical to protecting your investments and ensuring peace of mind. With the vast majority of people buying homes through bank financing, any delay in the delivery date impacts their re-payment schedules and interests paid on financing."

"The recession of the last few years has also left some one-time builders with a cash crunch that forces them to compromise on quality. From the size of the flooring tiles to the number of paint coatings and the fixtures in bathroom, there are plenty of opportunities for an unscrupulous builder to cut corners."

Varghese continued, "However, the most important area that a buyer should be aware of is after-sales service. To many property buyers their home is a lifetime investment, but what happens if the builder closes shop immediately after handing over the keys. Who would fix the broken French-window on your 16th floor apartment that requires specialized hoist equipment? " "The success of Skyline is attributed to our high quality standards, diligently

maintained with latest TQAM practices, an unblemished on-time delivery, and comprehensive after-sales service. Our dedicated Home Care division for property management and Interiors division for customization of home units, lead in after-sales service," said Varghese. From Trivandrum to Kannur, urban Kerala's lovely skyline is dotted with aesthetically designed and elegantly built Skyline apartments. In the industry, Skyline is the name that spells value, trust, quality and timely delivery.

So how can buyers check up on builders? "I would suggest looking at their credentials; avowals from independent rating agencies like CRISIL and ISO are an assurance to buyers of the competency and reliability of builders. At Skyline we have been awarded a CRISIL rating of DA3+, the highest for any builder in Kerala. CRISIL rating is recognition of the developer's track record in executing real estate projects as per specified quality levels and transferring clear titles within the specified time schedule. Skyline has also been awarded by the ISO 9001-2000 certificate for maintaining quality in construction and credibility in service.

The Skyline journey started 2 decades back. Since its inception in 1989 as a nascent group in housing market, Skyline has steadily maintained growth and emerged as the leader. With 85 completed projects, and 22 ongoing constructions in major cities all over Kerala, Skyline is the largest builder in the State.

The sheer variety of projects and the functional aspects of the design endear Skyline equally to homebuyers and real estate investors.

that are as sharp as they are seductively rich.

Setting LG's new Blu-ray player further apart, the BX580 opens the doors to the limitless world of online content with built-in Wi-fi and NetCast(tm) functions. On top of providing direct access to popular internet applications such as web albums and user generated content, the BX580 ensures viewers will have the very latest in entertainment options, with movies, TV shows and music streamed

direct from cyberspace onto their televisions.

Thanks to LG's unbeatable technology, the viewing options at this home theater get bigger still. Offering the Common Internet File System (CIFS) alongside wireless access to all DLNA-compatible home media devices, the BX580 lets viewers tap into their own digital media libraries on PCs and other devices, for a fully integrated home entertainment experience.

"With the release of the BX580, LG is set to further solidify its lead in the 3D market," said H.S Paik, President of LG Gulf FZE. "By combining 3D technology with the very best in picture quality, connectivity and limitless content, the BX580 really does let viewers have it all." To ensure viewers' 3D home entertainment gets off to an unforgettable start, the BX580 also ships with a free Blu-ray disc of the Warner Brothers movie Space Station.

KUWAIT: As part of an ongoing training program for employees, VIVA Kuwait held a leadership training event, which ran from the 25th until the 27th of May 2010. The program was sponsored by Global Center and led by program director Kate Sweetman, a professional facilitator, consultant, author and leading authority on Leadership and Human Resources. The three-day leadership seminar focused on leadership and management in a productive workplace, and engaged senior management using pragmatic, reflective and theoretical learning methods. This was achieved through a combination of lectures; large and small group discussions, case studies, experiential exercises, and video.

"I truly enjoyed developing and implementing this leadership program and tailoring it to fit VIVA Kuwait's specific needs," said Kate Sweetman, program director. "I saw a dramatic change in the understanding and behaviors of the participants, and I hope

to see more of these programs designed to help mold better companies and train managers of the future.

With almost 20 years experience in developing strategic Sweetman collaborates with gifted young entrepreneurs from emerging and developing countries from around the world. Sweetman serves as member of the Association of Yale Alumni Board of Governors, and prior to her current role, she taught management communications at Harvard Business School.

"We remain committed to providing employees with advanced training in thought leadership to enhance their skills and work performance. This is a part of our strategy to be an employer of choice, said VIVA CEO Najeeb Al - Awadhi. Individuals who participated in VIVA Kuwait's leadership workshop left with improved management skills, better knowledge of leadership roles, and an enhanced attitude towards managing others well.

Zain concludes the sale of its African operations to Bharti

LG reaches the pinnacle of 3D home entertainment with BX580 KUWAIT: LG Electronics (LG), a global leader and technology innovator in the flat panel display and audio-video devices market, is proud to announce the release of the BX580, a format-busting 3D Network Bluray DiscTM and DVD player with a range of content and options that takes home entertainment to new heights.

The ultimate in Blu-ray players, LG's BX580 boasts 3D Bluray disc playback for a spectacular 3D home viewing experience. Used in conjunction with the LX9500, LG's flagship new 3D TV, the BX580 offers the perfect channel for the everincreasing array of 3D content in the Blu-ray format. Equally effective in 2D and with DVDs, the BX580's full HD 1080p resolution also delivers pictures

VIVA holds employee leadership workshop

The BX580 will be available by the end of June priced at AED 1499.

Specifications include; Bluray 3D playback; Built-in Wi-Fi; DLNA / CIFS; NetCastTM Entertainment Access; BD Live Bonus & View; Full HD 1080p resolution; External HDD Playback & Archiving; MKV & DivX HD Playback; Music ID

by Gracenote; USB Direct Recording; SIMPLINK (HDMICEC) and Network Firmware Update.

KUWAIT: Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC ("Zain") is pleased to announce that it has now satisfied all required conditions precedent to closing of the sale of 100% of Zain Africa BV ("Zain Africa") to Bharti Airtel Limited ("Bharti"). This transaction values Zain's African portfolio (excluding Sudan and Morocco) at US$10.7 billion on an enterprise basis. This transaction has resulted in aggregate net cash proceeds of $8.968 billion.

Yesterday, Zain confirmed that it has received $7.868 billion of cash proceeds from Bharti. Over the next 6 months, Zain expects to receive up to an additional $400 million upon certain milestones being achieved. The balance of US$700 million is due one year from completion as per the original agreements signed on 30th March 2010. In fulfillment of its debt obligations, Zain has repaid the US$4 billion Revolving Credit Facility which the company entered into in July 2006.

Going forward, Zain intends to utilise the remaining proceeds to pay dividends and to attend to other corporate matters.

Under the terms of the original agreements, Zain has licensed the use of the "Zain" brand and related trademarks to Bharti in all 15 African operations for an interim period. Commenting on the sale, Asaad Al Banwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain, said: "This sale crystallizes the significant value we have created for our shareholders over the last five years. The Board of Directors will consider the best use of the remaining proceeds to further enhance value for all stakeholders."

Al Banwan added: "We express our sincere appreciation to the Governments, regulators, customers and employees in the respective African jurisdictions for allowing us to play a vital role in the development of telecommunications infrastructure. Our experience in

Sub Saharan Africa has been a rewarding one for us and, we believe, for the populace of the countries that supported our journey. The driving principle of our interactions in all countries in which we operate in is to always be the exemplary corporate citizen.

This is what drove us to help develop the economies of the markets we operate in and, in the process, reap the benefits for all stakeholders. We will always have fond memories of this experience and particularly of our Zain family in Africa. They have made this success possible. We are certain that Bharti will rely on their capabilities and dedication and will lead them to further success. We wholeheartedly wish Bharti great success in continuing the development of telecommunications across the African continent."

Nabeel Bin Salamah, CEO, Zain Group, said: "Zain stands at the threshold of a new era, one that will allow the company to focus on its highly cash generative Middle Eastern operations, investing in new growth opportunities in our existing markets. Nabeel Bin Salamah, added: "Zain commends its management team for executing this record transaction of this scale, magnitude and complexity to a very demanding timeline in an expeditious fashion." Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti said, "We are delighted at the closure of this transformational deal. We would like to express our deep gratitude and thank the governments of all the fifteen African countries and the Zain management team for their overwhelming support to this landmark event which enabled us to close this transaction in a record time." UBS Investment Bank acted as lead financial advisor while BNP Paribas acted as coadvisor to Zain on this transaction. Linklaters acted as Legal Adviser for Zain in this transaction.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2870000 .4210000 .3470000 .2490000 .2740000 .2370000 .0045000 .0020000 .0793590 .7731700 .4020000 .0750000 .7579610 .0045000 .0500000

US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2923500 .4236720 .3496010 .2517300 .2765850 .0470050 .0361890 .2391960 .0374580 .2064400 .0031890 .0062530 .0025810 .0034290 .0042610 .0796330 .7758330 .4134500 .0779970 .7597070 .0062860

US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2947500 .4266610 .2535120 .0784940

.2975000 .4320000 .3550000 .2580000 .2830000 .24700000 .0075000 .0035000 .0801560 .7809410 .4190000 .0790000 .7655790 .0072000 .0580000

279.400 183.000 254.900 240.200 291.250 ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.227 6.253 3.437 2.579 3.820 208.410 37.640 4.237 6.288 9.015 0.301 0.292 GCC COUNTRIES

.2944500 .4266610 .3520670 .2535120 .2785430 .0473380 .0364450 .2408840 .0377230 .2079010 .0032120 .0062970 .0025990 .0034530 .0042910 .0801400 .7807750 .4163760 .0784940 .7645470 .0063310

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

78.330 80.713 763.220 780.300 80.003 ARAB COUNTRIES

Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

54.500 51.780 1.302 193.100 414.500 197.100 6.285 32.630 GOLD

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

235.000 117.000 60.000

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer Euro Sterling Pound

Canadian dollar Turkish lire Swiss Franc Australian dollar US Dollar Buying

293.650 351.940 424.800

COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash

SELL CASH 244.100 780.720 4.410 281.500 576.000 15.800 49.000 167.800 54.230 355.500

SELL DRAFT 242.600 780.720 4.237 280.000

208.600 51.796 354.000

Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

38.370 6.560 0.035 0.285 0.259 3.300 416.430 0.199 91.890 45.200 4.310 199.300 2.000 46.600 762.650 3.540 6.590 81.190 78.390 208.600 40.070 2.781 430.000 38.500 256.700 255.200 6.400 9.390 217.900 80.110 294.000 1.350

38.220 6.255

415.000 0.198 91.890 3.890 197.800

9.190 80.010 293.600

1,365.830

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Candaian Dollars

TRAVELLER'S CHEQUE 428.000 293.600

293.650 3.450 6.260 2.590 4.235 6.340 49.995 78.480 780.200 51.770 431.100 0.0000328000 3.990 1.550 416.800 5.750 356.000 285.000

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Cyprus Pound Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees

2.563 4.222 6.253 3.190 8.942 6.369 3.858

Currency 762.470 3.450 6.295 80.760 78.390 208.600 40.070 2.578 428.000

GOLD 10 Tola

Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

291.950 277.520 430.748 358.831 251.784 715.600 772.771 79.467 80.171 77.822 411.987 51.627 6.208 3.425

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal

*Rates are subject to change

Transfer rate 293.200 353.500 427.400 280.000 3.215 6.252 51.760 2.580 4.233 6.285 3.440 779.800 79.900 78.300

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

BUSINESS

23

Foxconn seeks price Foxconn parent suffers share slump, protests

KUWAIT: Markaz team pictured during the workshop.

Markaz organizes training on the Capital Market Law KUWAIT: Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz", one of the Middle East's leading investment banking and asset management companies, organized an in-house workshop on Capital Market Law featuring senior partners from Al-Ruwayeh & Partners ("ASAR"), a leading Kuwaiti legal services firm at the Holiday Inn - Downtown. Speakers from ASAR included Hossam Abdullah - Corporate, Banking & Finance Partner, who presented different angles such as the pressing need for establishing a Capital Market Authority, laws to regulate the Kuwait Stock Exchange and protect shareholders' rights and increase transparency and credibility, to attract foreign investors.

The workshop also covered the principles behind the CMA Law, and identified underlying parties. Whereas Robert Little - Corporate, Banking & Finance Partner discussed select transitional issues related to the Law and answered

some questions. Rasha A Al-Hamad, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Administration at Markaz said, "Markaz always advocated for implementing a Capital Market Authority Law in Kuwait.

As one of the oldest investment companies and a major local asset manager, Markaz plays an important role managing mutual funds and portfolios that invest in listed stocks in the KSE. Markaz clients range from sovereign funds to governmental and private institutions, in addition to high-net-worth individuals and small investors."

Al Hamad added "as a result of the workshop, Markaz employees including our executive, investment, and legal teams now have heightened awareness of the Law's intricacies, which will no doubt be reflected on their performance towards ensuring that our stakeholder's rights are fully protected."

TAIPEI: iPhone maker Foxconn International Holdings said it will seek higher prices from its clients to help offset wage hikes at a plant in southern China that has been hit by a series of suicides. Meeting shareholders in Hong Kong for the first time since the deaths, executives at Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, said the company hoped to reach a consensus with customers this month. Hon Hai, the world's biggest contract electronics maker with a client list that includes Apple Inc, Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co, has been wrestling with the fallout from 10 suicides in the last five months at Foxconn.

The suicides and controversy come amid growing labor unrest southern China, in the world's top manufacturing region, where millions of migrant workers from the country's poor hinterlands churn out goods for top global companies. At a separate shareholder meeting in Taipei, Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou defended the company he founded in 1974 to make plastic switches for televisions, saying a report he had commis-

sioned showed no clear link between the suicides and work issues. "We have to carry the 12 crosses, we have no options," Gou told shareholders, referring to the 10 suicides and two other attempted suicides.

But in a sign of changes ahead, Taiwan's richest man said the company was looking for locations in Taiwan to shift some unspecified production from China to automated plants in Taiwan and wanted local authorities in China to manage its worker dormitories.

Analysts said already razor thin margins at Foxconn and Hon Hai would likely suffer as they wait to pass on the cost increases, and shares in both companies continued to slide, taking losses over the past two days to more than 10 percent each.

"In the near term it's quite unlikely they can pass the cost increase to customers, but in longer term it is reasonable ... customers may need to share part of the cost," said Chialin Lu, analyst at Macquarie Equities Research in Taipei. "It will have bigger (earnings) impact especially in the second half of

this year as most of the salary rise will come into effect in July." Hon Hai said the wage rises would hit profits in the fourth quarter and into next year's first quarter.

GROWING LABOUR UNREST Other international companies have also been hit by industrial action in China, which usually acts quickly to quash any threats to social order.

Japanese car maker Honda Motor faced a new strike at a parts supplier just days after settling a dispute at a separate supplier, while Taiwan components maker Merry Electronics said workers at its Shenzhen plant had briefly stopped work on Sunday in a dispute over shift work. Hon Hai has announced two wage rises in the past two weeks for workers at the sprawling plant in Shenzhen, where some 400,000 staff assemble iPhones and other gadgets. Gou also told shareholders yesterday he would limit overtime at China plants to no more than three hours a day.

A group of about 30 protesters gathered outside Hon Hai's meeting, including labor activists, green and gay groups

and even some representing prostitutes, drawn mostly from Taiwan's league of "professional protesters" seeking the attention they would get from a top media story. "I think Gou is trying to use salary hikes to cover up how his production line is killing people. It's a crime in management and we really despise it," said Huang Hsiao-ling, secretary general of the Worker Injury Association, a labor group.

About a dozen protesters stood outside the Hong Kong shareholders' meeting calling on Apple to act over Foxconn.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs last week expressed concern over the deaths but said the plants were not sweatshops.

Holding placards reading "Workers are not machines. They have self-esteem" and a picture of a rotten apple, protesters handed a petition to a company representative. Gou, 59, also announced plans to more than double the size of a share issue to fund future expansion for Hon Hai, including into cloud computing and LEDs, among other uses. Guo said the company will issue up to 880 million shares in depositary receipts. — Reuters

Deutsche Bank Anyone can win KD500,000 adds Saudi to its with Gulf Bank's Al Danah custody network 30 June is the last date to enter or deposit RIYADH: Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia has announced that it has commenced offering custody services on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, Tadawul, thus helping the market provide an enhanced level of investor service and transparency. In its capacity as a custodian, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia will offer account management, protection of client assets, settlement of securities activity, handling of post trade issues, the collection and payment of dividends and interest, and the processing of corporate action activities in the market.

Jamal Alkishi, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia said "We are extremely pleased to be able to extend our custody services into Tadawul and are looking forward to meeting the needs of both domestic and international clients."

Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia is one of a small number of international financial institutions offering such services on the Kingdom's equity markets. Recently, Tadawul has benefited from an increased degree of openness and access to international investors via the introduction of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and swap agreements. Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank also offers custody services across all exchanges in the United Arab Emirates.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank encourages customers to open Al Danah account and to deposit more now to be eligible to enter the Al Danah Third Quarterly Draw, in which one lucky Al Danah customer will win the prize of KD 500,000.

Conditions of opening Al Danah account are feasible with no salary transfer required. Minors require their parents or their legal guardian to open the account on their behalf. There are no limitations in opening an Al Danah account, but a minimum balance of KD 200 is required for actively participating in the Al Danah draw.

Maintaining this minimum balance will automatically allow Al Danah account holders to enter the weekly and quarterly draws as well as the annual draw. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al Danah is the only account to offer daily winning chances and customers are advised to take advantage of that to increase their chances. The last date to deposit or open an account for the Al Danah third quarterly draw is 30th June.

Gulf Bank's Al Danah also offers weekly draws

of KD 1,000 each to ten winners. Quarterly draw winner wins KD 250,000 in the second quarter draw, KD 500, 000 during the third quarter draw, and finally the grand prize of KD 1 million during the fourth quarter. Opening an Al Danah account is simple and easy. Customers have a choice of several channels to open and/or deposit money into the Al Danah account, either through branches, online, through Telebanking's 24/7 service by simply calling 1805805 or using the Al Danah ATM deposit card to deposit money directly into their Al Danah account at any of Gulf Bank's deposit ATM machines.

Gulf Bank would like to remind its customers that opening an Al Danah Account is quick and simple. Gulf Bank has 51 branches strategically located all over Kuwait Just visit the nearest Gulf Bank branch or call 1805 805 and our Customer Service representatives will be delighted to assist you with any further information or questions that you may have on Al Danah or on any of the Bank's products and services. Customers can also log on to Gulf Bank's bilingual website www.egulfbank.com for further information.

Samsung's latest cutting-edge B2C, B2B printers showcased in Kuwait Tamamah Abdullah wins a trip to World Cup Finals from NBK KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait and the highest rated bank in the Middle East brought the passion and excitement of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to its Visa credit cardholders through a Visa credit card promotion. NBK Visa credit cardholders had chances to win a package for 2 persons to witness one of the 7 finals matches of this spectacular event in South Africa. "FIFA World Cup is the world's most popular sporting event, and NBK is the only Bank in Kuwait that offered its Visa credit cardholders a chance to win fully paid packages to see all the final matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Our Visa credit card holders will have the opportunity to see the best players in person and feel the World Cup fever live in South Africa at the most important games", said NBK Deputy General Manager- Consumer Banking Group Abdullah Al Najran Tuwaijri. Tamamah Hussain Abdullah, the winner of a trip for 2 persons to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, said that the FIFA World Cup campaign launched by NBK is one of the most exciting promotions offered by the bank adding that she had never imagined that

she will be a winner of such a fabulous prize.

When she received a call from NBK congratulating her for being a winner, she asked several times "Are you sure I am the winner?"

Tamamah added that this is the first time in her life that she has won such a big prize. "Actually, I am not really interested in the match itself but I have always wished to attend one of the carnival-like and fun-filled inauguration and closing ceremonies of the World Cup. I am immensely pleased to have the chance to visit South Africa with my husband who is fond of watching soccer matches in general and the World Cup matches in particular" she said.

Tamamah indicated that it is not unusual for NBK, with its unyielding and multi-faceted social responsibility approach, to support, foster and promote sporting spirit amongst ordinary citizens". I feel that I am really lucky to win this big prize but moreover I am luckier to be an NBK customer". Each of the 7 packages is for two persons and consists of round trip airline tickets, hotel accommodation for 3 nights, match tickets and transportation to the venue, exclusive Visa FIFA merchandise and more.

KUWAIT: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, a market leader in printing solutions, was the host of a printer seminar at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on June 7 in partnership with Naser International General Contracting Co. WLL and at the Marina Hotel on June 8th in partnership with Square Distribution Co., Samsung's official distributors for printers in Kuwait. In the Samsung and Naser International General Contracting Co seminar held on the June 7, attendees were given the opportunity to learn more about Samsung's line-up of corporate printers, including Samsung's SCX-6555N, SCX6545N and CLX-8385ND, a few highlights amongst showcased products at the seminar.

On the second day during the Samsung and Square Distribution Co Seminar, the ML-1660, the most compact monochrome laser printer in the market, the SCX4600 Series of multifunction printers were showcased to channel partners in addition to several other key printers on display "Businesses, in addition to personal users, have come to expect their printers to offer quality, high-speed, high-performance and reliable printing," said Mehdi Heidari, Business Head of Printers, Digital Printing Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics. "Samsung has therefore developed a range of intelligent printing solutions and managed print services to help businesses gain even more value from their printing investment."

"Samsung's printing solutions are also cost-effective, allowing for more efficient and streamlined printing for business and home use alike." Making life easier with intuitive features and compact design to fit in with your lifestyle. As technology evolves to become increasingly complex and deliver more and more features, consumers are looking for an intuitive experience. In recog-

Samsung hosts printer seminar

nition of this Samsung has introduced a number of easy to use 'one-touch' features to the new ML-1660 printer. The Samsung Print Screen button provides consumers with a quick and easy way to print exactly what they see on their PC screen at the touch of a button.

Rather than hiding the on/off switch at the back of the printer, Samsung's new Soft Power button is located on the front panel of the devices making it simpler to turn them on and off, and more user-friendly for hospitality services. The ML-1660's advanced intuitive features are seamlessly integrated into the devices'

design. Ideal for the smallest of working environments, the new printers are even more compact than previous Samsung models, making them the smallest on the market.

High speed performance As well as delivering full multipurpose print functionality print, copy and color scan - the SCX-4600 / 4623F / 4623FN series offers a range of features to make users even more productive. Key among these is the Print Screen function on the SCX-4600 and SCX-4623F, which allows users to print what you see on your screen at the touch of a button. The Print Screen func-

tion, available on the SCX-4600 and SCX-4623F, is a quick and easy way to print the contents of your screen, and it's especially useful if you handle a high volume of web-based information.

You can pull together web pages, pictures or other documents in separate windows on your screen, and print them all together in a single operation - instead of having to process them individually. All you do is press the Print Screen button on the printer control panel.

When businesses are adapting to ever-changing technologies the Samsung SCX-4623FW ensures that one touch Wi-Fi setting is as quick and simple as using the printer itself. Samsung SCX-4623FW printers offer a range of advanced copy features to make users' lives easier and businesses more efficient. The ID card copy function is a unique feature which allowed copies of both sides of an ID card on to one sheet. The topside is scanned into memory, and automatically printed when the reverse is scanned, without multiple sheet feeding. Similarly, clone copying allows you to print multiple versions of an image or design of any size, on to a single A4 page.

Cost-effective and Multi-functional The Samsung MultiXpress SCX-6545N is a Network-Ready Monochrome Multifunction Laser Copier with the capability of printing up to 45 pages per minute. The SCX-6545N is one of the most cost-effective MFP's on the market-to-date, offering medium-to-large size businesses an alternative to current A3 copier options. The SCX-6545N offers all the functionality that businesses expect from a DMFP. The SCX-6545N can help increase business productivity with reliable performance, quality

output, and simple maintenance.

Adding in Samsung document management software makes it a full end-to-end solution.

"Companies are buying capabilities they don't use, which costs them money, so they need to rethink their overall purchasing strategy" said Heidari. "The MultiXpress series has great performance and features and a better value. For customers, especially in the corporate and government arena, concerned with maximizing their investment, the SCX-6545N copier is reliable, flexible and cost-effective." The MultiXpress 8385ND from Samsung provides businesses users with cost effective, easy to manage and productive colour printing thanks to features including Samsung's job accounting solution, remote management and the device's 38 page per minute print speed.

The MultiXpress 8385ND offers Samsung's job accounting solution as standard, enabling printing costs to be correctly attributed to departments. This gives IT managers complete control over how users print, copy, scan and fax, enabling them to track and manage costs effectively. In addition, the MultiXpress 8385ND is also highly cost effective thanks to its low power consumption; with an average power consumption of just 650 watts, businesses can reduce their energy costs as well as their carbon footprint.

The MultiXpress 8385ND is easy to integrate into a companies' IT infrastructure.

Samsung's SyncThru Web Admin Service 5 enables enterprises to easily put a remote management solution in place. This means support teams will not have to tour the office or visit remote sites to solve problems, upload new devices or monitor supplies, leading to a more cost-effective support function.

24

BUSINESS

KSE ends on a positive note after Bharti deal

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI) fell 1.64 points (-0.84 percent) during yesterday's session to reach 192.90 points. Furthermore, the KSE Price Index decreased by 43.90 points (- 0.65 percent) yesterday and closed at 6,664.70 points. Market capitalization was down KD271.49mn yesterday to reach KD31.87bn. During yesterday's session, 109 companies were traded.

Market breadth was skewed towards decliners, as 13 equities advanced versus 73 that retreated. A total of 126 stocks remained unchanged during yesterday's trading session.

Daily Trading Activity Trading activities ended on a mixed note yesterday as volume of shares traded on the exchange increased by 195.25percent to reach 292.29mn shares, and value of shares traded increased by 157.32 percent to stand at KD40.21mn. The Banking Sector was the value leader accounting for 26.07 percent of total market value, and the Services sector was the volume leader yesterday accounting for 27.78 percent of total market volume. International Resorts Co. was the volume leader yesterday, with a total traded volume of 42.72mn shares. National Bank of Kuwait was the value leader, with a total traded value of KD3.55mn.

Sectors Wise Regarding Global's sectoral indices, they all ended the day on a mixed note, during yesterday's session.

Global Investment Index was the biggest advancer, up 3.05 percent (recouping the losses it made yesterday, when it ended the day down 2.29 percent).

The index yesterday was backed by Kuwait Investment Company, ending the day up 7.46 percent and closed at KD0.110, again partially recouping the 8.46 percent loss it witnessed yesterday.

Global Food Index was the top decliner, down 1.78 percent backed by heavy weight Kuwait FoodStuff Company (Americana), which was the only decliner, down 2.78 percent, and closed at KD1.40. Global's special indices all ended on a positive note yesterday.

Global Small Cap was the top advancer, up 1.10 per-

Guests name Jazeera Airways as the region's 'Airline of Choice' KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways, the Middle East's leading regional carrier, is proving its position as the region's Airline of Choice through an array of best-in-class services and benefits. The airline's consistent and professional - as well as personal and caring - services are designed to make a difference to each guest's travelling experience, as well as to offer best value for money. "We are not only committed to offering a reliable air travel experience at the best available and all inclusive fares, but we also strive to provide and ensure the most convenient booking and travel conditions," commented Stefan Pichler, CEO of Jazeera Airways.

Among the benefits Jazeera Airways offers are the best all inclusive value fares in the region, up to 20 per cent below

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) equities ended the day on a positive note after Bharti Airtel Ltd said yesterday it has completed its $9 billion acquisition of most of the African assets of Zain Co. The company will receive $7.9 billion from Bharti yesterday, sources close to the deal said.

Top Gainers, Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, National Rangers Company took the top spot yesterday, adding 8.51 percent and closed at KD0.026. On the other hand, Al Nawadi Holding Co shed 31.08 percent and closed at KD0.102, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

other airlines in Economy Class and 30 per cent below the nearest competitor in Business Class. Furthermore, Jazeera's quoted fares are all inclusive of taxes and surcharges, offering simple and transparent prices with no hidden costs.

In addition, the airline provides outstanding services, boasting an impressive 95 per cent on-time performance - the

best in the region.

Jazeera is also currently offering all Economy Guests 40kgs of baggage allowance and, in Kuwait, a convenient Express Check-in is available for anyone travelling with hand luggage only. Airport lounges are available at the major ports for all Business Class passengers as well as a dedicated check-in.

In order to maximize customer benefits, Jazeera has this year also made major amendments to its fare rules, allowing name changes to tickets for a small fee.

Furthermore, guests are now permitted to make changes to their flight up to eight hours prior to the scheduled departure for a small fee - instead of 24 hours - making travelling more flexible and convenient than ever before.

Dow provides technical training programs for EQUATE employees cent, backed by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) ending with a gain of 6.06 percent and closed at KD0.350, regaining the 5.07 percent it lost yesterday. Followed by Global High Yield Index, which was up 0.89 percent, backed by Americana, down 2.78 percent.

Market News Kuwait Finance and Investment Co signed an agreement on Monday to restructure 145 million dinars ($494.5 million) in debts to local and international lenders. KFIC said in a statement the debt owed to 22 financial institutions would be paid in four tranches with the first to be settled on the day of the signing of the agreement, and the last on December 2014. Updating its previous announcement dated May 09, 2010, Kuwait Stock Exchange declares that KSA-based Alargan Projects Co (formerly: Alargan Homes Co) has signed an agreement to sell part of land division project to investors for SAR

329.093.616. The company is 48.34 percent owned

by Alargan International Real Estate Co. The Saudi associate firm generated earnings of SAR 100,000,000, of which Kuwaiti Alargan has approx.

SAR 48,340,000 Alargan International reported that its Saudi unit had fulfilled the contract terms. Profit from this deal will be recorded in the interim consolidated financial statements for the period ending on June 30, 2010.

Oil News Kuwait Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah al Sabah said yesterday that current oil prices were acceptable and there was no need for OPEC to call an extraordinary meeting. Oil prices were trading just around $72 a barrel yesterday at 0809 GMT, but Sabah said the favored price for the group was between $75 and $85 a barrel. Oil prices were expected to remain at current levels throughout the year, he said.

KUWAIT: The Dow Chemical Company - a leader in science and technology - is providing advanced technical training to EQUATE's engineers under the company's International Assignment Program (IAP), a training program designed to improve overall operational efficiency by enhancing the skill set, knowledge and productivity of its employees. The ninemonth IAP program is based on world class standards of excellence and includes training modules in advanced technology, Six Sigma and Production Engineering.

As part of its ongoing efforts to promote knowledge transfer and the development of human capital in Kuwait, Dow has been supporting EQUATE and its employee development objectives for 15 years.

Kuwaiti Engineers have been gaining hands-on experience through working at Dow's plants around the world and participating in best-in-class training programs. In the past five years, Dow has delivered over 5,000 days of training to over 200 EQUATE employees; which translates to nearly 14 consecutive years of training, 365 days a year.

Currently, seven Kuwaiti Engineers are working on advanced training and development programs at Dow's plants in different locations worldwide. "We are proud to be playing an active and critical role in the development of Kuwaiti nationals through train-

ing and knowledge transfer that will ultimately increase their value in the market place, and enhance their efficiency as world-class petrochemicals professionals," said Markus Wildi, President of Dow Middle East and Vice President of Corporate Development in Kuwait. "Dow has helped train hundreds of employees at EQUATE across various disciplines as diverse as Treasury, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources and Six Sigma making a significant impact in boosting the expertise, knowledge and experience of its workforce." Talent development and training of Kuwaiti nationals are key elements which contribute to the growth and development of the petrochemicals sector. Kuwait has some of the most qualified professionals across the Middle East. In addition, the Kuwait industrial sector is known to be one of the most active sectors across the GCC and accounts for an estimate of 48% of the country's GDP1.

As one of Kuwait's largest foreign investors, and one of the largest employers of Kuwaiti nationals through its JVs, Dow has worked with its Kuwaiti partners for 15 years to introduce state-of-the-art training opportunities for Kuwaiti talents. Dow's training played a pivotal role in providing access to technology and building global business management expertise, while strengthening the skills and expertise of the workforce of its joint-venture partners.

BUSINESS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

25

Oil hovers around $71, euro zone concerns weigh LONDON: Oil hovered around $71 a barrel day as concerns about the euro zone crisis subdued optimism over US demand, ahead of data expected to show a fall in crude stocks in the world’s largest fuel user. European stock markets fell yesterday as worries about debt problems in Hungary added to jitters about fiscal health in European economies, which could curb future fuel demand. Front-month US crude, down 17 percent from a 19month high above $87 in early May, dipped 44 cents to $71.02 by 0927 GMT. ICE Brent fell 46 cents to $71.08.

US crude inventories were expected to have fallen for the second straight week as import volumes declined, a Reuters poll of analysts said ahead of weekly oil stocks reports this week.

VENICE: Marine reef ecologist Scott Porter works to remove oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill off his hands in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, La. — AP

New strike breaks out at Honda supplier in China HONG KONG: A new strike has broken out at a factory producing exhaust systems for Honda Motor’s Chinese car factories, just days after a strike at another Honda supplier in the same city was settled. The actions at Honda’s China suppliers come against a broader backdrop of rising labor costs and growing worker agitation at other employers around the Pearl River Delta, one of China’s main manufacturing hubs.

One of the region’s top employers, Foxconn International Holdings, a unit of Taiwan contract electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry, has offered workers at its Shenzhen manufacturing hub big pay rises as it tries to deal with fallout from a spate of suicides there. Workers at the exhaust factory had been on strike since the first shift on Monday, a Honda spokesman in Tokyo said.

The factory, a joint venture between Yutaka Giken, which is 70 percent owned by Honda, and Taiwan’s Taoyuan Fuwei, employs about 500 workers, a spokesman at Yutaka Giken said.

Local government officials were onsite to negotiate with workers, said the secretary of the Taiwan Business Association in in the southern city of Foshan, where the factory is based. The plant makes mufflers and other exhaust parts for Honda’s four Chinese car factories, belonging to Guangqi Honda, a 50-50 joint venture between Honda and Guangzhou Automobile, Dongfeng Honda and an export-only factory that builds the Jazz subcompact.

STRIKE TWO Honda was assessing how production could be affected by the action, the Honda spokesman

said, adding that there were sufficient parts for now to build cars. The labor action at the plant, Foshan Fengfu Autoparts, began early on Monday when about 20 workers began rallying their colleagues to go on strike, the South China Morning Post reported. The entire workforce had downed tools as of Tuesday afternoon, and management was negotiating with workers with the aim of restarting production as soon as possible, Yutaka spokesman Kazuhito Anma said.

Their action comes after workers at another plant supplying transmissions to Honda’s China joint ventures received a pay raise last week after striking over wages, bringing Honda’s car production in China to a halt. “If their strike hadn’t been successful, our workers here probably wouldn’t be as united as we are now,” the newspaper quoted a 22-year-old worker from Hunan province as saying. Foshan Fengfu is the main suppliers of exhaust systems and other parts used in China for Honda’s Accord, Odyssey and Fit, which are made by Guangqi Honda.

Asian employers in general have become less attractive among foreign employers for Chinese workers, said Lin Huaibin, an industry analyst with IHS Global Insight. “If you ask college graduates to pick their employers, most would pick US or European companies.

Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese companies have never been at the top of the list, not just because of lower salaries but also because of rigid management styles,” Lin said. “If they don’t want to see more strikes and walkouts, they’d better raise salaries and change the way they run their businesses.” — Reuters

Potential investors in India Reliance Comm NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications, India’s No2 mobile operator, is looking to sell up to 26 percent of the company to strategic or private equity investors, a stake worth about $2 billion current market levels.

Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat has said it was looking at options in India, including Reliance Comm, but is the only operator thus far to acknowledge publicly any recent interest in the Indian firm controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani.

Reliance Comm is burdened by debt and in need of cash to compete in a ferociously competitive 15-player market. It hopes that the opportunity to buy into the second-largest operator in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market proves enticing enough to attract bidders at a premium. Regulations in India do not allow one company to hold more than a 10 percent stake in two competing telecom operators, ruling out existing players or their foreign partners from buying a Reliance Comm stake unless they sell their current holdings. Below is a list of companies that might find Reliance Comm an attractive strategic investment.

ETISALAT Etisalat’s chairman said on Monday his firm was studying options in India, including a possible deal with Reliance Comm, and said cash was not a problem.

Etisalat owns a stake in a start up telecoms firm in India, Etisalat DB Telecom. Under Indian rules it cannot buy more than 10 percent of Reliance Comm unless it decides to sell its stake in the current venture or merge it with Reliance Comm.

MTN Reliance Comm and MTN

were in negotiations in 2008 for a possible business combination through a share swap, but talks were ultimately called off after Anil’s long-estranged brother Mukesh asserted a right of first refusal. The Ambani brothers recently called off a pact that prevented them from competing on each others’ turf, which also frees up Anil Ambani to bring an investor into Reliance Comm.

MTN’s merger talks with Reliance Comm’s bigger rival Bharti Airtel failed twice in 2008 and 2009 and Bharti later agreed to buy Kuwaiti telecom Zain’s Africa operations. Speculation is rife that MTN might revive talks with Reliance Comm, though the South African firm has said it was not in talks with Reliance Comm.

AT&T AT&T late on Monday said it was not in talks with Reliance Comm after media reports said they had held discussions. AT&T sold its stake in India’s Idea

Cellular in 2005 and has sought a new foothold in India, where it provides other business and IT services such as enterprise hosting services. It applied for a telecom licence in 2007 but has not yet received it.

MUKESH AMBANI’S RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Anil Ambani’s older brother is the world’s fourth-richest man, according to Forbes. Mukesh Ambani was a driving force in Reliance Comm before the family business empire was split between the brothers in 2005 over ownership disagreements, and is believed to covet an eventual return to telecoms.

While the Ambanis last month did away with an agreement that had been a frequent source of friction between them, some observers have said the bad blood between the two longfeuding brothers runs too deep for them to invest together anytime soon. —Reuters

WASHINGTON: The AT&T logo is seen in Washington DC. US telecom giant AT&T is in informal discussions with Reliance Communications Ltd about taking a significant minority stake in the Indian cellphone company. — AFP

Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will publish inventory figures yesterday at 2030 GMT, while the more closely watched government statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to follow on Wednesday at 1430 GMT. “The stock data will have a significant impact as it will be the first giving indications of the driving season. The shape of the US gasoline demand will be really important,” said Christophe Barret, oil analyst at Credit Agricole.

Oil fell below $65 last month when the June contract expired but futures have since recovered with investors seeming happy to buy into any dip, keeping prices in a $70-$75 range. $70-$75 RANGE “Prices looks fairly stable around

$72. We’ve moved to a price level between $70-$75 that seems to be acceptable by everyone and by OPEC,” Barret said. Saudi Arabia’s influential oil minister said in remarks published on Monday that oil prices would stay in the “ideal realm” of $70 to $80 a barrel.

The European debt crisis and the weak US jobs picture could mean a cut in oil demand projections from leading forecasters this week, which would pressure oil prices.

The US Energy Information Administration, the first of three widely watched oil reports that will be released this week, is expected to claw back yesterday some of the oil demand growth it had been looking for. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) releases its oil outlook today followed by the

International Energy Agency’s (IEA) forecast tomorrow. The IEA, adviser to industrialized nations, is also likely to cut its estimates of Gulf of Mexico oil production for 2015 by 100,000300,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to potentially tighter US legislation on deepwater drilling following BP’s spill.

Britain said it would increase its inspection of North Sea drilling rigs and monitoring of offshore practices in the light of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in a move likely to be part of many regulatory changes on deepwater projects around the world.

BP said on Monday its cap system captured 7,541 barrels of oil in the 12 hours through to noon, which could bring the daylong total to more than 15,000 - the company’s highest capture rate yet. — Reuters

Parker: No GCC unified currency S Europe faces recession; E Europe a ‘promising investment market’

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: Several important issues were discussed at a seminar held by the Union of Investment Companies, which hosted the Vice Chairman of Asset Management with the Credit Suisse Bank, Bob Parker. The primary concerns Other points covered included the effects of inflation on the banks, the shocks to the equity stock market and the huge falls in stock markets over the last two months. The seminar also featured discussion of the Greek economic crisis and its effects on other European Union (EU) member nations.

Parker began by talking about the continuing steady fall in the value of the euro, especially against the US dollar, and how this affects other European nations.

He said, however, that despite the sluggish growth in the global economy optimistic indicators remain, including the recovery of the world’s top three economies and an upturn in international trade since the beginning of this year. The senior Credit Suisse official predicted that the US economy would see a four percent growth rate this year, as well as forecasting growth for the Japanese economy. He was less optimistic about the growth rate in the emerging economies such as India, where he forecast a drop in the average annual growth rate from 12 to nine percent. His prediction for Russia was more upbeat, however, envisaging a , however, will notch five percent growth.

No unified currency for GCC Parker did not foresee any realistic chance for the introduction of a unified currency in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, especially after Oman and UAE announced that they would not be participating in the project. Another major problem for the introduction of any unified currency project is that the Kuwaiti Dinar is currently pegged to a basket of currencies while the Saudi Riyal is pegged to the US dollar.

Parker predicted that the current crisis in Europe would have limited effects on Kuwait and the GCC region generally, due to the fact that the GCC nations are dependent on oil revenue.

Greece and the Euro zone crisis The Credit Suisse expert also talked about the Greek economic crisis, saying that the government there should take advantage of European financing to repair its economy, especially as coverage of its crisis has begun to recede due to the concerns over Spain’s financial woes. These problems will affect the Spanish markets and will be a burden, Parker said, with Greece likely to take ten years to reschedule its depts.

He said that he was unworried about the Italian economy, however, since Italy has the highest savings rate in Europe, which will allow it to finance its bonds and decrease its budget deficit.

Parker did not see any chance of Greece leaving the EU in the short term, especially since it would then need to create a new currency which takes time and would lead to further economic instability for the country, similar to the crisis which Argentina faced in 2001.

raised concerned issues surrounding the possibility of a possible recurrence of the recent global recession, although the seminar also dealt with the new emerging markets which are good for investors and help the economic recovery of the developed nations, enabling them to better face the global crisis than their developing counterparts.

CHENNAI: A security person walks near Hyundai i20 model cars parked at Chennai Port in Chennai.

Striking workers have forced Hyundai Motors to stop all production in India, the latest in a series of union battles that have pushed the nation’s number two carmaker to move some production to a factory in Turkey. — AP

Strike halts Hyundai production in India MUMBAI: Police cleared dozens of workers occupying a Hyundai Motor plant as a strike stopped the automaker’s Indian production for a second day, the latest in a series of union battles that have pushed the nation’s No 2 carmaker to move some production to Turkey. Hyundai spokesman Rajiv Mitra said police removed the workers from the factory shortly after midday yesterday.

The company is awaiting the outcome of talks between management and union leaders, which are being brokered by state labor officials, before deciding when to resume production. Mitra said he hoped that would happen by day’s end. “No one wants to lose this kind of money,” he said. Hyundai said 150 striking workers on Monday blocked production of 2,200 cars worth 650 million rupees ($13.8 million).

It is the fourth strike since 2008 at Hyundai’s two adjacent plants in Sriperumbedur, outside the growing auto hub of Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the company said. Hyundai is India’s leading car exporter, having pioneered the model of making India a small

car export hub which global auto majors like Ford, General Motors and Nissan are now trying to emulate.

Mitra said Monday that Hyundai plans to move European export production of its popular i20 compact from India to an existing factory in Izmit, Turkey by August.

“What triggered it is the labor problem,” he said. Turkey has other advantages, like reduced delivery time and lower taxes for its main export market, the European Union, he said. Last year, Hyundai exported about 50,000 i20 compacts from India to Europe, more than half its total production of the car, he said.

Mitra said Hyundai has no current plans to relocate additional production, despite continuing unrest. The honorary president of the Hyundai Motor India Employees Union, A. Soundararajan, told the Times of India that 400 workers occupied the factory Sunday midnight, and another 800 gathered outside after four more workers were dismissed Sunday. All shifts have been halted since then. The union is also pushing Hyundai to officially recognize it over an existing worker’s committee, which it

maintains is controlled by management.

Under an agreement brokered by the government in July 2009, Hyundai agreed to reinstate 20 of 87 employees dismissed in the wake of violent protests. Mitra said the remaining 67 workers had damaged company property and beaten up guards and would not be rehired. “If you take them back, it sets a strong precedent: Anyone can do anything and not get punished,” he said. Hyundai employs about 10,000 in Sriperumbedur directly and its suppliers employ an additional 40,000 people. Last year the company produced 560,000 cars in India. India’s fast-growing auto sector has been roiled by other protests.

Last fall, thousands of auto-parts workers, some armed with rocks and makeshift clubs, went on strike in Haryana state’s Gurgaon, just outside the capital New Delhi. The protests, which initially targeted better wages, spread after a worker at Rico Auto Industries, which makes gear and brake parts, was killed in the agitation.

The 45-day strike reportedly forced GM and Ford to temporarily halt production at factories in the US and Canada. — AP

ABB to buy Chloride Group for $1.25 bn ABB offers 325 pence per share in agreed all-cash deal ZURICH: Swiss engineering group ABB is buying UKbased Chloride Group for an agreed 860 million pounds ($1.25 billion), as it seeks to improve its automation offering. Shares in Chloride surged 18 percent above the 325 pence per share offer price suggesting investors were expecting a counter bid from Emerson. In April, Chloride, whose products protect against power shortages, had rejected an offer for 723 million pounds from Emerson Electronic.

Emerson said yesterday it would make a statement on

the ABB-Chloride deal later.

Shares in ABB were up 0.88 percent at 19.39 francs per share at 0822 GMT, compared to a 0.59 percent rise in the STOXX 600 industrial goods sector index.

“Strategically it’s certainly sensible,” ZKB analyst Richard Frei said of the deal.

“On the one hand it fits well into the product portfolio, on the other it fits well with the client base they have and opens new possibilities for gaining new clients.” “(But) the price is very expensive-which probably has to do with the rejected bid by

Emerson,” he said, adding that there seemed to be a bidding war behind the scenes and that others like Schneider or Emerson could make further offers. Frei said Emerson might make another offer, though the deal had reached a size that was probably beyond what the US group could afford. ABB, which competes with French group Schneider, sells power equipment to utilities as well as to oil and gas companies, had $7.1 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter, and had been expected to go on a buying spree.

Chloride will be part of

ABB’s discreet automation division. Last November, ABB revamped its automation divisions and triggered talk it was about to go for a buy.

Chloride employs about 2,500 people and reported revenue of 336 million pounds in its fiscal year ended March 31. The acquisition is subject to approval by Chloride shareholders, the UK High Court and certain regulatory authorities. In early May, ABB announced the purchase of US software group Ventyx, and then a fortnight later said it was raising its stake in its Indian subsidiary. — Reuters

26

BUSINESS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

LSE to challenge Eurex, Liffe in derivatives LONDON: The London Stock Exchange (LSE) said it was to take on Europe's two dominant derivatives exchanges within a year, to broaden its footprint beyond its traditional share trading base. Eurex, controlled by Deutsche Boerse and Liffe, part of transatlantic exchange NYSE Euronext, have long dominated exchange traded derivatives in Europe.

"We are on track, within the next nine months to offer a credible alternative to our

two established European competitors," LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet told the annual derivatives week gathering yesterday. Rolet seeks to exploit regulatory momentum blowing in his direction as the European Union sets to approve sweeping new rules over the coming months in a bid to learn from the financial crisis.

Policymakers are planning to push more trading in the vast $615 trillion over-thecounter (OTC) derivatives sector onto

exchanges to increase transparency and cut risk after the sector played a key role in the demise of two banks, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.

Such changes raise the prospect of huge new revenue streams for exchanges at a time when margins in equities trading are being squeezed by fierce competition from upstarts. "Derivatives are in the early stage of a major restructuring, which will be driven by regulation," Rolet said. "We will be

able to offer the most latency effective platform in Europe in derivatives," Rolet said, referring to the increased demand for ever faster trading to exploit tiny price differences between instruments.

OPTIMISTIC Rolet said the LSE's derivatives service would start by offering cross-margining in risk correlated assets. This allows banks to cut the amount of capital they need to back trades. "We would also like to help to

address the lack of retail derivatives in Europe. This is clearly an underdeveloped service area and product area in the European context," Rolet said. Liffe and Eurex were unruffled by Rolet's threat.

Garry Jones, head of global derivatives at NYSE Euronext, said that Rolet "has a lot to be modest about" in derivatives.

"I think it's more of a wish than a business plan. To say we are not focused on the retail side and we don't know where we are

going forward, I find that quite astonishing," Jones told the derivatives week conference.

"You need products, you need distribution, you need technology, you need a clearing house. To say in nine months they are going to be a major player in this market is just optimistic," Jones said. Eurex Chief Executive, Andreas Preuss, said he would be watching Rolet very closely but noted the LSE chief has "more than his two hands full at the moment". — Reuters

EU thrashes out ways to tighten spending oversight Eurozone sets up $1 trillion bailout fund

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

World shares and euro gain after recent losses LONDON: Financial markets stuck to their recent script yesterday, following a day of volatility with modest equities gains and a small lift for the euro.

Comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the US economy should avoid a double dip recession and that he believed European leaders were committed to the euro's survival also lifted sentiment.

MSCI's all-country world stock index was up 0.2 percent and its emerging market counterpart index of top European

Bernanke soothes concerns shares was up 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei average closed up 0.2 percent in choppy trade. Investors are currently balancing negative sentiment engendered by the likes of the Greek debt crisis and positive sentiment from relatively good economic outlooks. "There are concerns that the global economy might lose its footing going forward, but recent data, including upbeat corporate earnings, runs counter

to that," said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Cosmo Securities in Japan.

STEADIER EURO The euro paused from its recent selloff as the slight gains in global stock markets prompted investors to cover short positions created in the single currency.

It was up 0.4 percent at $1.1963, still

around four-year lows. "Some people are trying to bottom fish at these levels," said John Hydeskov, senior currency analyst at Danske in Copenhagen, adding that some European banks and corporate had been picking up the single currency. He added that short covering may push the euro up above $1.2010 again in the near term. The dollar was generally lower, falling 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies. On fixed income markets, euro zone government bond yields were little changed. — Reuters

LUXEMBOURG: The European Union yesterday thrashed out ways to toughen oversight of how governments run their economies in a bid to regain credibility with markets and prevent a repeat of the debt crisis afflicting the region. EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn said he expects finance ministers from the 27-nation block would move quickly to reinforce economic governance at a meeting in Luxembourg, a day after most agreed on more sanctions for countries with risky finances.

The euro has been roiled by the fallout from a debt crisis that started in Greece, one of the 16nation currency's smallest economies, after it revealed that it had been lying over the state of its public finances. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the monetary union and led to massive market pressure on governments to show they can reduce spending, even as the economic recovery remains fragile. The austerity measures are provoking unrest and labor protests across the continent, with Spanish civil servants striking yesterday over wage cuts.

Meanwhile, Eurozone nations have begun setting up a massive bailout fund that could rescue any member of Europe's currency union from default, aiming to soothe market jitters that have sent the euro to a new four-month low against the dollar.

The "shock and awe" financial rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will total $1 trillion - money that can be lent to any indebted eurozone nation risking default, and intended to counter investor fears that Spain, Portugal or others could follow Greece in requiring a bailout to meet debt repayments.

The special purpose vehicle to borrow up to $526 billion will be ready this month, when countries formalize debt guarantees for some 90 percent of the package, said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who led Monday's talks between eurozone finance ministers. Another 60 billion euros managed by the EU's executive commission "is available to cover urgent financial needs were it to arise" in the meantime, he said, while the International Monetary Fund will provide another 250 billion euros.

The euro has lost nearly 22 percent of its value against the dollar in the last six months. Yet even

as the EU agreed the details of a massive $897 billion financial rescue package to stave off bankruptcies, a new potential euro member stepped forward. Estonia is set to become the currency union's 17th member in 2011, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs eurozone finance minister meetings, said late Monday. Estonia will get the final word when EU finance ministers meet again on July 13.

They will join a currency facing an overhaul of fundamental rules that aim to coordinate their economies far more than they do now. Finance ministers yesterday agreed to give the EU's statistics agency Eurostat the power to audit national public finances in heavily indebted countries - that aims at preventing countries from misreporting or falsifying statistics, as Greece did in recent years.

EU leaders will next week lay out broad goals to make their economies function better. They are also likely to accept more warnings and greater oversight of their economies.

EU nations agreed late Monday on more sanctions for countries that risk breaking EU budget limits that are supposed to keep deficits under 3 percent of gross domestic product and debt under 60 percent. Governments have consistently flouted these rules, a major problem for the 16 nations that use the euro because the rules are one of the few ways of coordinating their economies and ignoring them endangers the currency's stability.

EU finance ministers are also expected to agree to take advice from each other and the European Commission on their budget guidelines before putting these to their national parliaments. The aim is to identify overly optimistic growth or tax income assumptions and allow time for changes to government spending.

However, British officials said they would not send their budget plans to the European Commission before they publish their annual prebudget report in November. Governments are already making moves to reduce spending.

Germany has announced some 80 billion in cuts through 2014 and Britain has warned that because its debt problems are worse than expected it will need major reductions in government spending. It did not give details, however. — Agencies

US: Dueling over debit card fees

BARCELONA: Civil servants protest the government austerity cuts in Barcelona yesterday. Spanish civil servants are taking part in a one-day strike to protest wage cuts aimed at reducing the country's huge deficit. — AP

Spanish public workers strike against govt cuts MADRID: Garbage went uncollected and hospital care was reduced in Spain yesterday as tens of thousands of public workers went on strike to protest austerity cuts intended to rein in a public deficit that has rattled global financial markets. Unions representing the country's roughly 2.6 million public workers, ranging from doctors to street cleaners, called the strike last month after the government unveiled another 15 billion euros (18 billion dollars) in spending cuts over two years.

The austerity measures-intended to ease worries the country will need an international rescue package like the one provided to Greece earlier this year-include average cuts this year to public workers' salaries of five percent. They also include a freeze on their salaries next year, a suspension in automatic inflation-adjustments for old age pensions and the elimination of 2,500-euro tax break for couples that have a new baby. The cuts were welcomed by the International Monetary Fund but they are an about-face for socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who had vowed to protect social policies despite a severe economic downturn.

They are on top of a 50-billion-euro package of spending cuts announced in January designed to slash the public deficit to the eurozone limit of three percent of gross domestic product by 2013 from 11.2 percent last year, the third largest in the eurozone behind Greece and Ireland. Roughly 75 percent of overnight workers at places like health centers and retirement homes took part in the work

stoppage, according to the General Union of Workers (UGT) but the government put participation at around 15 percent. Minimum services were guaranteed by hospitals, fire stations and other emergency services.

The public sector strike is seen as a test of the government's resolve to push ahead with the austerity measures as well as a way for unions to gauge the level of support for a possible general strike for all workers. Spain two largest unions, the CCOO and the UGT, have threatened to call a general strike if the government unilaterally imposes labor reforms. Unions, employers and the government have been trying to agree on the terms of the labor market reform but the talks have stalled in large part over union resistance to proposals to make it easier and cheaper to fire workers.

Last week Zapatero said his government will approve its own version of a reform to the labor market unilaterally on June 16 even if no agreement is reached with unions on the plan. "If there is no agreement the government will put in place a reform before the end of June. The labor reform has the potential to boost our growth," Finance Minister Elena Salgado told news radio Cadena Ser yesterday. Market fears that sluggish growth and a lack of zeal on the part of the government to cut spending could cause Spain, Europe's fifth-largest economy, to follow Greece into a debt crisis has added to stock market volatility and downward pressure on the euro single currency in recent weeks. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Swipe your debit card at the supermarket and you've placed yourself at the heart of a contentious political and economic debate. On one side are banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America and credit card networks like Visa and MasterCard. On the other are retailers, including giants like WalMart and Target.

The "swipe" fees banks charge merchants for one of today's most commonplace conveniences. At stake in America: up to $20 billion in potential bank losses and merchant gains. For consumers, it could mean lower prices at the local store or restaurant, or it could result in higher bank charges, fewer "rewards" for credit card users or even the imposition of an annual debit card fee.

The fight over plastic has been raging for years - a federal appeals court once called it "a clash of commercial titans." Now it's landed in the middle of a massive financial regulatory bill primarily aimed at restraining Wall Street. Both sides claim that placing limits on the fees will have direct consequences for consumers banks, Visa and MasterCard say it will be for the worse; merchants say it will be for the better. Australia cut credit and debit card fees on merchants by half and debit card holders particularly benefited from the change, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

But credit card holders saw an increase in their bank fees and a reduction in cardholder rewards, such as fewer points or airline miles. Merchants also started imposing surcharges on some credit card transactions. Banks and credit card networks warn of similar ill effects in the United States, ranging from higher fees on credit cards to service fees on charge accounts. "We are convinced that fees to consumers would go up and services would be reduced," William Sheedy, group president of the Americas for Visa Inc., said in an interview.

Both sides have unleashed potent, well-heeled lobbying operations. Their efforts will converge on two weeks or more of negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers who are working to blend two separate financial overhaul bills into one. The Senate bill contains a measure that would require the Federal Reserve to set limits on what fees banks and credit card networks can charge merchants for a debit card payment. The House bill has no such provision. First, a quick lesson in shopping. A debit card payment taps directly into a customer's bank account and, as such, is akin to writing a check.

A credit card payment, on the other hand, is in effect a loan from the bank. One carries more risk than the other. As a result, banks and credit card networks generally charge merchants up to 3 percent for credit card use. For debit card use, the charge to merchants is one-fourth to one-half as much. Merchants maintain that the fee charged for debit cards, also called an "interchange" fee, is too high. Banks and Visa and MasterCard say the fee takes into account the cost of setting up and maintaining a secure and sophisticated debit payment system.

Last year, $1.21 trillion in purchases were paid with debit cards processed through the Visa and MasterCard networks, generating $19.7 billion in fees paid by merchants, according to data from The Nilson Report, a trade publication. Most of the fees went to banks that issue debit cards. While the largest banks and the largest retailers have the most dollars riding on the congressional outcome, the two combatants have cast the debate in terms of hurting small community banks and credit unions on one side or small businesses on the other. The Senate proposal, written by Democratic Sen Dick Durbin, would require the Federal Reserve to set "swipe" fees for debit cards that are "reasonable and proportional" to the cost of processing the transaction. — AP

LUXEMBOURG: France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (right) shares a word with Spain's Finance Minister Elena Salgado during an EU Finance Ministers meeting yesterday. — AP

Swiss parliament rejects US deal on UBS tax data transfer ZURICH: Switzerland's parliament put a landmark tax evasion settlement for banking giant UBS in limbo yesterday by rejecting the deal to hand over details of the bank's clients to US tax authorities. Lawmakers of the lower house of parliament voted against the accord, with 104 votes against and 76 in favor, following a debate broadcast live on Swiss television. Switzerland, the US and UBS had agreed in August 2009 that the bank would reveal the identities of about 4,450 American clients in an out-of-court settlement for a US tax-evasion case which challenged Switzerland's sacrosanct banking secrecy. But the deal had to be put to parliament for endorsement after a court ruling earlier this year called its legal basis in Switzerland into question.

Ahead of the vote, Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf called on lawmakers to "close this difficult chapter and fix the problems" of the Swiss financial centre. Several parliamentarians also spoke in favor of the deal. Any further delays would "put us in a risky situation and put in danger the cooperation with one of the most important economic partners" of Switzerlandthe United States, warned Hans Grunder, a centre-right politician. However, the accord failed to gain sufficient support as two major parties had set conditions for their backing.

The far right Swiss People's Party-the country's biggest party-said its vote would be secured if taxes on bonuses in the banking industry were rejected, and if the government's authority on signing future accords with states

were limited. The Socialist Party meanwhile is seeking the opposite-a tax on wages and bonuses above one million Swiss francs (720 million euros), as well as regulations on banks' capital.

After yesterday's negative vote, the deal would return to the senate, which last week approved the deal. Depending on the upper house's decision, the accord could then be put forward again to the lower chamber.

As the summer parliamentary session ends on June 18, lawmakers would have to find a compromise by then. The Swiss government has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the deal, warning that a failure to approve it would hurt the Swiss financial industry. But following its financial troubles in the US subprime debacle, public hostility towards UBS is rife. In addition, resistance here on a breach of banking secrecy is strong. The Swiss Bankers Association expressed disappointment on parliament's failure to reach a deal.

The association's chief Urs Roth reiterated that it was in the interest of Switzerland to agree on the deal with the United States, Swiss news agency ATS reported. At mid-day, UBS stocks traded 3.26 percent down at 14.24 francs, underperforming the overall Swiss Market Index, which was down 0.67 percent. The Swiss government granted UBS an emergency 60-billiondollar (47.4-billion-euro) aid package in October 2008 when it suffered huge losses from the US subprime crisis, weeks before the bank was hit

by US litigation. — AFP

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

TECHNOLOGY

27

Bar codes get around town and get more useful SAN FRANCISCO: It used to be that the only time you’d notice a bar code was at a store, maybe when a cashier scanned your groceries. But lately bar codes are showing up in more places around town-and getting more sophisticated. You might have seen one cousin of the traditional bar code: Known as a QR code, this jumble of little squares randomly arranged within a larger square is popping up on everything from bus stop billboards to restaurant windows. If you spot one and snap it with your cell phone camera, the device can show you a website, photo or video related to the advertiser.

For example, Google Inc is giving businesses stickers with QR codes that passers-by can scan. That brings up a link to a mobile version of a Google page where the business can post coupons and information about themselves. Soon the codes could lead to other avenues for connecting with customers in ways businesses can measure and control.

That could help them target advertisements to the people who are most likely to respond to their entreaties. Earlier attempts to get consumers to scan bar codes that link with the Web didn’t get much traction. The 1990s brought the CueCat, which let publishers append their printed material with bar codes that people could scan with a handheld reader if they wanted to be taken directly to related information on their computers. The QR code (short for “quick response”) also was released back in the ‘90s by Japanese scanning equipment maker Denso

Google uses QR codes to promote hundreds of thousands of businesses Wave Inc. What has changed now, though, is that consumers are increasingly engaging with their mobile devices for more than making phone calls, texts and checking emails.

And smart phones can easily download scanning applications that make it possible for product codes to leap from store shelves to the wider world. The bar code on your box of cookies encodes a string of numbers horizontally that a bar code reader matches with information from a central database. That’s how the supermarket scanner identifies the product you’re buying. These other codes, such as QR codes, can represent data horizontally and vertically. That means they can include much more information in a smaller space, and some of them can tell the scanning app on your phone all it needs to

SAN FRANCISCO: A mobile phone reads the results from a bar code placed on the sign on the window from outside of Phil’z Coffee in San Francisco. —AP know about which website or video to pull up, without needing to consult a database. It’s unclear how many of these codes are out there, but potentially billions could be created.

Google has been using QR codes since late last year to help promote hundreds of thousands of businesses in its local listings service, known as Google Places. The company has sent the businesses decals for their windows that say, “We’re a Favorite place on Google” and include a QR code at the bottom.

on: Since March, movie ticket site Fandango has allowed some filmgoers to get tickets on their phones in the form of similar-looking “Datamatrix” codes. The on-screen code is then scanned at the theater.

Users don’t need to have smart phones for this to work.

Ted Hong, Fandango’s chief marketing officer, says the company wanted to try the service because more and more people are accessing Fandango on their phones. And similar mobile ticketing efforts have

The idea stemmed from Google’s desire to have more of a physical presence with businesses and consumers, says Ryan Hayward, a product marketing manager for Google Maps who is heading the rollout of QR code stickers. For now, the codes lead to the mobile version of a business’ page on Google Places.

Eventually, Google might use the technology to pull up videos and lead to application downloads, Hayward says. QRs aren’t the only twodimensional codes that could catch

worked outside the US. For now, the new ticketing option is available at only a handful of theaters, all run by Reading Cinemas, in states including California, New York, Texas and Hawaii. For a wider rollout, more theaters would have to invest in handheld scanners that are different from the ones they already use to scan traditional bar codes on tickets that consumers buy from Fandango and print at home. Those bar codes won’t fit on some phone screens, which is why Fandango is using the Datamatrix codes, Hong says.

Michael Surtees, 32, a Web designer who recently tried Fandango’s new ticketing method in New York, says it was more convenient than printing a ticket at home because he always has his iPhone on him.

He also has found himself scanning QR codes he sees around the city. In some cases it’s just easier for him to scan a code and get to a Web site than it would be to manually enter the address in the iPhone’s browser. Beyond that, he likes that each new code offers a bit of mystery. “At this point, there is certainly the unknown of what you’re going to get by scanning it,” he says. Even traditional bar codes are becoming more useful through mobile apps.

A new company called stickybits encourages consumers to download a cell phone application that lets them link videos, music and pictures to everyday bar codes like the one on a can of soda. For example, using a phone running Google Inc ‘s Android operating software, I scanned the bar code on a bottle of

moisturizer on my desk and used my phone keypad to add a silly message: “Yay, moisturizer!” Later, when I scanned the code on the same bottle, the phone showed that someone in Atlanta had scanned another bottle of the same product (which would have the same bar code), and augmented my message with a picture of her presumably well-moisturized left hand.

Sure, there’s no huge point to this, beyond whimsy and the chance to trumpet your opinion about a product. However, Stickybits envisions that businesses would pay the company to use its service to create large numbers of codes with specialized content. Billy Chasen, stickybits’ founder, says the idea arose because he wanted to use phones to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds and let people see what others are thinking about objects.

Chasen says stickybits decided to make use of the traditional bar codes because people are familiar with them. Even so, Stickybits’ app will work with QR codes as well. That means you can attach your latest YouTube masterpiece to any QR code and others who are also using stickybits’ app would be able to find it in the wild.

Chasen also imagines people putting stickybits bar codes on business cards and resumes to link to videos of themselves. “I couldn’t see why there should be any reason for this gap between the digital and the physical world,” he says. “The digital world is so useful to us.” —AP

Internet addicts stage uprising at China boot camp

SEOUL: Models display the new Samsung Galaxy phones running Google’s new operating system Android at the Samsung headquarters during a media launch yesterday. —AP

S Korea’s Samsung unveils smartphone to take on iPhone SEOUL: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s second largest handset maker, yesterday unveiled a new smartphone in its home market in hopes of rivaling Apple’s iPhone. Samsung said its Galaxy S model, announced as the new iPhone 4 was unveiled in the United States, would better serve South Koreans through localized applications. It said the new model would be available to South Korean customers later this month, one month ahead of the local release of the latest iPhone, after making a successful debut in global markets.

Samsung said the Galaxy S, which runs on Google’s opensource Android software, went on sale in Europe last week and received one million preorders. It said it had deals to supply the handset to over 100 global mobile operators. The model was first showcased at a US trade fair in March.

Samsung has said it will base more than 50 percent of its smartphones on Android, which advocates say is a more attractive long-term proposition for developers than Apple’s closed operating system.

Samsung has more than 20 percent of the global market for mobile phones, second only to Finland’s Nokia, but lags behind in the fast-growing smartphone segment even on its home turf.

Apple has sold more than 700,000 iPhones six months after it belatedly went on sale in South Korea, after a delay caused by government concerns that its automatic locating services would breach privacy legislation. Apple launched the iPhone in 2007 and has sold more than 50 million worldwide. —AFP

BEIJING: A group of young Chinese web addicts staged a mutiny at an Internet “boot camp”, tying up their instructor and fleeing the facility over its tough military-like techniques, state media said yesterday. The 14 mutineers, aged 15 to 22, were all caught by police when they failed to pay a taxi fare following their escape from the rehabilitation centre in east China’s Jiangsu province last week, the Global Times said.

They had tied up their supervisor in his bed to allow them to escape the “monotonous work and intensive training” at the camp, it said.

Parents of 13 of the Internet addicts have already sent them back to the Huai’an Internet Addiction Treatment Centre after picking them up at a local police station, the paper said.

“We need to teach them some discipline and help them to establish a regular lifestyle,” the paper quoted an employee at the camp as saying. “We have to use military-style methods such as total immersion and physical training on these young people.”

Last month, a court in the southern region of Guangxi sentenced two Internet boot camp instructors to up to 10 years in prison after a 15-yearold addict was beaten to death at the facility. The August 2009 death followed a string of abuse reported by state media at numerous unregistered Internet treatment centers around China. —AFP

MUMBAI: (From left) Sony India Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa and Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor pose for media during the launch of Sony Vaio E series laptops in Mumbai, India, yesterday. —AP

HP injecting Internet technology into new printers SAN FRANCISCO: The rise of smartphones has presented Hewlett-Packard Co with a problem.

For years, HP has relied on the sale of its printer ink to supply a big piece of the company’s profits.

Smartphones are a challenge because they’re by design not connected to printers, and with people reading more of their Internet content on their phones, they’re printing fewer pages. HP, the world’s No. printer maker, hopes changes it announced Monday will help reverse that trend.

The company is rolling out technology that will give all of its new $99-and-up printers Internet capabilities. They will each have their own e-mail address, to which smartphone users can send photos and any other files they want to print. The printers will also be able to connect to an HP website, from which users can tell their printers to do specific things at certain times, such as printing out copies of the day’s top news stories every morning.

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP’s imaging and print-

ing group, said the changes answer demands from customers to make it easier to print from any Internetconnected device, including smartphones and “netbooks” (small laptops) and tablet computers such as Apple Inc.’s iPad. Analysts from the market research firm IDC called the changes “innovative” but cautioned they’re “not without execution challenges,” such as the need to attract enough software developers to build creative applications that use the new functions. —AP

China vows no let-up to state control of Internet BEIJING: China will not ease state control over what can be said online and will brook no foreign criticism of its rules, according to a government white paper released yesterday after months of wrangling about freedoms for Web users. A very public spat with Internet giant Google Inc earlier this year led to the company shutting down its main Chinese search engine and added to tensions with Washington, already strained over US arms sales to Taiwan and other issues.

China has the world’s largest number of Internet users and while the market has boomed as Chinese take to the Web to blog, read news or trade goods, Beijing has kept a tight grip over sensitive content on subjects like politics and ethnic unrest. The 31-page white paper, which called the Internet “a crystallization of human wisdom”, said its usage in the most populous nation on earth was “transforming the pattern of economic development”.

Over the next five years, the government aims to give 45 percent of its 1.3 billion people access to the Internet, up from about 30 percent now, pushing everyone from officials to farmers to get online, the policy document said. “The Chinese government encourages the use of the Internet in ways which aim to promote economic and social progress, to improve public services and facilitate people’s work and life,” it said.

SEOUL: A model holds the new Samsung Galaxy phone. —AP

No easing of controls Yet it promised no relaxation of

stringent controls, which have seen not only pornographic and violent content blocked but also has largely blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, hugely popular sites in large parts of the rest of the world.

“Effectively protecting Internet security is an important part of China’s Internet administration, and an indispensable requirement for protecting state security and the public interest,” the paper said.

“Internet administration is a process of continuous practice, and the Chinese government is deter-

mined to improve its Internet administration work.” Laws and regulations on what can and cannot be disseminated online, such as on “inciting ethnic hatred and secession, advocating heresy, pornography, violence (and) terror”, were “suitable for China’s conditions and consistent with international practices”, it said. Critics, including not only politicians in the United States and Europe but also dissidents and activists at home, say China is stifling any online criticism of the government or discussion of taboo topics,

including policies concerning Taiwan and Tibet. They say the definitions of what can and cannot be discussed are so vague and open to interpretation that the government can use its Internet security laws and target anyone it does not like. The white paper said China would accept no outside criticism of its controls. “Within Chinese territory the Internet is under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty.

The Internet sovereignty of China should be respected and protected,” it said. —Reuters

BEIJING: Chinese children attend a computer class to learn how to properly use the Internet, in Beijing on June 7, 2010. —AFP

HEALTH & SCIENCE

28

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

World to miss out on UN goals on women’s health WASHINGTON: UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon is calling on global governments to kick-start efforts to improve women’s health or risk missing a UN-set deadline to cut maternal deaths. Speaking at Women Deliver, the largest international women’s health conference in a decade, Ban said Monday that women’s and children’s health issues have been the slowest of the UN Millennium Development Goals to make progress. He unveiled an action plan that would see the UN work with global governments to speed up work on women’s health targets and get them back on track. “Our joint action plan demands that all women and children should benefit from the relatively simple, proven health practices and known tech-

nologies that save lives,” Ban said.

Among the UN targets - set in 2000 by 189 countries - is a commitment to efforts to reduce by 75 percent the number of women who die in childbirth.

There are only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the goals. Reports published last month by The Lancet, a British medical journal, say that with just five years to go to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, only around two dozen countries are on track to cut maternal deaths by 75 percent. “Women are dying because their lives are not important enough to policymakers around the world,” said Guttmacher Institute president and CEO Sharon Camp.

She noted that while less than $12 billion were spent last year to promote maternal health - a sum she said should be at least doubled - “Wall Street bosses paid themselves twice that in bonuses last year.” At the conference, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.5 billion in support of family planning and programs that support nutrition and fight the deaths of newborns and of women in childbirth.

The philanthropic group hoped to set an example for world governments to follow. “It’s not that the world doesn’t know how to save the 350,000 mothers and three million newborns who die every year,” Melinda Gates said as she announced the grant. “It’s

that we haven’t tried hard enough.” An initial grant of $94 million has already been made for projects in India, and $60 million have gone to Ethiopia, with the rest due to be disbursed over the next five years.

Studies say that although few countries are on track to meet the Millennium goals for women and children, progress has been made on both fronts.

Global maternal deaths have dropped from around 526,000 in 1980 to nearly 343,000 in 2008, according to a report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. “The state of mothers and children worldwide is brighter than it was during the period that gave rise to the Millennium Development goals,” it said.

Melinda Gates said simple projects can help to bring improvements to women’s and children’s health, including teaching women in Mali about the dangers of using a nut-based emollient on their babies, or promoting breastfeeding. “Most maternal and newborn deaths can be prevented with existing, low-cost solutions, such as basic prenatal care or educating mothers about things like the importance of keeping babies warm,” said Gates. And Camp cited Rwanda’s success story, saying that if the central African country was able to substantially reduce maternal mortality in the 16 years since the genocide, “it’s not unreasonable for the rest of the world to do the same.” — AFP

Experts demonstrate growing role of therapies

Researchers fighting cancer optimistic as disease spreads CHICAGO: Medical researchers are posting optimism in the long fight against cancer as advances were unveiled to combat the disease that continues to rise and remains the second biggest killer in the world. “Our growing understand-

DARWIN, Australia: A file photo taken Sept 2, 2008 shows an estuarine crocodile, better known as the saltwater or saltie, basking in the sun on the banks of the Adelaide river in Australia’s Northern Territory. – AFP

‘Salty’ Aussie crocs go long-distance surfing LONDON: The world’s biggest type of crocodile rides ocean currents for hundreds of kilometres, effectively surfing to places way beyond its reach merely by swimming, a new study says.

Scientists were at a loss to explain how the estuarine or saltwater crocodile-known as “salties” in Australia - can be found across numerous South Pacific islands separated by huge expanses of water.

So the experts, including the late Australian television nature show presenter Steve Irwin, attached sonar transmitters to 27 adult specimens of the croc - Latin name Crocodylus porosus - to see exactly how they did it. “The study demonstrates that C porosus dramatically increase their travel potential by riding surface currents, providing an effective dispersal strategy for this species,” added the researchers.

Specifically, the crocs - the world’s largest living reptile - stayed near the surface when currents there were in the right direction, but dived deeper if flow direction became unfavourable.”

The crocodile species can grow up to 6 m in length. One 12.5 foot male travelled some 590 km in 25 days, timing its journey to coincide with seasonal currents. Another 16-footer covered more than 411 km in just 20 days. Again, the crocodile utilised fast-moving ocean currents to reach its destination.

Hamish Campbell of the University of Queensland, said the C. posorus live in islands throughout the Indian and Pacific ocean.

“Because these crocodiles are poor swimmers, it is unlikely that they swim across vast tracts of ocean,” he said of the study, published in Britain’s Journal of Animal Ecology. “But they can survive for long periods in salt-water without eating or drinking, so by only travelling when surface currents are favourable, they would be able to move long distances by sea. “This not only helps to explains how estuarine crocodiles move between oceanic islands, but also contributes to the theory that crocodilians have crossed major marine barriers during their evolutionary past.” — AFP

Chain-smoking toddler cuts back to 15-a-day JAKARTA: A chain-smoking Indonesian toddler has cut back to 15 cigarettes a day thanks to “therapy focused on playing”, a child welfare official said yesterday. Two-year-old Ardi Rizal shocked the world when a video of him smoking a cigarette appeared on the Internet last month and drew attention to Indonesia’s failure to regulate the tobacco industry. Six months after his father gave him his first cigarette, the overweight boy from Sumatra island was smoking 40 a day and threw violent tantrums if his addiction was not satisfied.

Child welfare officials called in to try to wean the toddler off cigarettes said that when they played with him he did not smoke as much. “The boy has been able to reduce his cigarette intake significantly, very quickly, after the treatment,” National Commission for Child Protection chairman Seto Mulyadi told AFP. “The therapy focused on playingwe occupied him with toys so that he forgets cigarettes,” he said.

Ardi developed his nicotine addiction while spending his days at a traditional market where both of his parents worked, Mulyadi said. Simple toys and someone to play with were enough to take his mind off cigarettes, at least for a while. The therapists also encouraged Ardi to associate cigarettes with bad things. “The boy likes singing songs so we tell him that if he continues smoking, he won’t be able to be a singer one day, and it works,” Mulyadi said. “It’s much easier to help kids like him than teenage tobacco addicts.”

Ardi’s case has highlighted the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing to women and children in developing countries like Indonesia, where regula-

SUMATRA: In this file photograph taken on May 16, 2010, two-year-old Indonesian boy Ardi Rizal puffs on a cigarette while playing on a plastic toy jeep in the yard of his family home in a village on Sumatra island. – AFP tions are weak and many people do not know that smoking is dangerous. Cigarette consumption in the Southeast Asian archipelago of some 240 million people soared 47 percent in the 1990s,

according to the World Health Organization.

Indonesia’s biggest cigarette manufacturer, PT HM Sampoerna, is an affiliate of Philip Morris International. — AFP

The most encouraging results unveiled in Chicago last week during the world’s biggest gathering of cancer experts demonstrated the growing role of therapies targeting key tumor functions or helping the immune system destroy cancer cells instead of standard chemotherapy.

These advances showed increased rates of survival, particularly among patients with advanced or metastasized cancers, such as melanoma.

There are few, if any, treatments against these types of cancers.

An experimental antibody known as ipilimumab activates the immune system’s T cells, which then seek and destroy melanoma cells, instead of targeting the cancer cell itself like previous treatments.

Researchers found the drug was the first to extend the lives of patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Melanoma cases have climbed faster than any other cancer type over the past 30 years. Another new experimental drug, crizotinib was shown to shrink tumors in advanced lung cancer patients with a specific type of genetic alteration by neutralizing an enzyme implicated in cancer cell growth, known as anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK. Lung cancer is the most frequent and deadliest of all cancers worldwide.

Another clinical trial found that long-term treatment with the drug Avastin, which cuts off supply of nutrient-rich blood to tumors, may help control progress of advanced ovarian cancer. Adding radiation therapy to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was also found to cut by 43 percent the risk of death in men suffering from locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer. “We really want to improve the quality of life of the patients with fewer side effects and some of these new approaches really accomplished that,” University of Pennsylvania professor of medicine Lynn Schuchter told AFP. Driving home that point, the ASCO meeting devoted its theme this year to “advancing quality through innovation.”

Despite the progress and improvement of care since president Richard Nixon declared war against cancer in 1971, the disease remains far too frequent in the United States. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that nearly 1.5 million new cases were recorded in 2009, killing over 560,000 people.

A recent report by the World Health Organization warned the number of cancer deaths could double worldwide by 2030, to reach 13 million.

As industrialized countries struggle to care for an aging population, nearly half of all men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lives, according to the ACS. Several types of cancers - liver, pancreas, ovarian, lung and brain - are particularly lethal and do not respond well to existing therapies. But the incidence of cancer is tied to lifestyles, placing the onus on prevention efforts. Nearly 40 percent of the drop in male cancer deaths from 1990 to 2006 owed to a reduction in lung cancer, whose main culprit is smoking. — AFP

ing of cancer’s complex behavior is being translated into better, more targeted drugs against a variety of tumors,” Douglas Blayney, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), said at the group’s annual meeting.

BARATARIA PRESERVE, Louisiana: A pelican sits covered with oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead just off the Gulf of Mexico on June 6, 2010. — AFP

Rescuers wrestle pelicans to health ahead of hurricanes BURAS, Louisiana: “Number 75” is feeling really bad. Up and down, up and down, the female pelican paces off her close quarters with a waddle, ruffling her feathers in annoyance under the warming rays of the red lamp.

It’s hard for such a master fisher to realize that the wood-plank jail is the best thing that could have happened to her: her feathers are deep brown and black, sticking like glue to one another, wrenching testimony to the biggest marine oil spill in US history.

Number 75 is the newest arrival at the rescue station run by the International Bird Rescue Research Centre (IBRRC) on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Oil from the ruptured BP well in the Gulf of Mexico has penetrated deep into the marshes and coated pelicans, laughing gulls and other sea birds as they dive for fish.

Inside the rented warehouse, volunteers wash sticky toxins out of plumage, trying to give birds a second chance. As the unfolding ecological disaster neared the end of its seventh week, winds and currents continued to whip the gushing oil along the broad stretch of coastline from Louisiana to Florida, sending more and more birds to the centre.

With hurricane season just begun, animal rescuers fear things could get even worse, perhaps more than they could handle, when the first storm arrives. The earliest the oil gusher can be shut down permanently is August, at the apex of the Atlantic storm season. Baffled by the initial slow arrival of oiled birds, Jay Holcomb, director of the IBRRC, noted: “There’s not much going on right now. They are getting in slowly, but, unfortunately, surely.”

At the time, last week, the bird centre had more than two dozen animals in its charge.

The most common oil slick victim and unwilling guest in Buras is the brown pelican Louisiana’s state bird and agile diver, which only recently came back from the edge of extinction. The Buras center is one of four rescue centers set up by IBRRC in the Gulf region. Under US law, BP must pay for wildlife rescue and recovery after any spill.

The centres are bracing for the worst. “All it takes is one storm that moves oil to land.

Then the pelican really is in trouble,” says Holcomb, who has been involved in such operations for 25 years. The number of oiled birds could climb into the hundreds or even thousands, he fears. Each rescue centre on the Gulf is equipped to handle up to 500 animals.

Experts at the US weather agency NOAA have projected an “active” hurricane season with up to 14 large storms in the western Atlantic.

On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon drill rig explosion killed 11 workers and ripped open the freshly drilled oil well. Since then, oil has gushed into the Gulf, and wildlife has been turning up dead at a much higher rate than usual: at least 500 birds, 220 sea turtles and 30 dolphins. Federal wildlife officials have not blamed all the deaths on the oil spill, only making such assertions after autopsies. But wildlife

experts agree that the toll on wildlife will be great.

Just in Nov 2009, the US government removed the brown pelican from its list of endangered species. An estimated 40,000 brown pelicans live in the northern reaches of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil disaster struck in the middle of breeding season, and hatchlings are now sitting in marshland nests waiting to be fed, Holcomb said. “We know that the potential could be really great and catastrophic if it impacts the nesting islands where all the pelicans have babies right now,” Holcomb said.

In 1995, in the same region, he watched how a tropical storm - not even at hurricane strength - whipped up a small oil slick offshore from Louisiana and carried the sticky mess onto the nesting islands. The parents disappeared, and the young were left to fend for themselves. “We had to clean 600 babies. It happened already, it can happen again,” he worries.

What awaits contaminated birds once they arrive at an IBRRC centre is usually the same.

The added stress of immediate washing could

prove fatal. Instead, the birds are stabilized for at least 48 hours while they recover from the stress of being oiled, captured and transported.

This requires feeding and possible medical treatment. Many are chilled to the bone and must be warmed up. “It’s frightening for them,” Holcombe says.The birds’ natural instincts are to fight the rescuers, and it can take up to three volunteers to wash one pelican, which can weigh up to 6 kg and have a wing span of 2.5 metres. Shampooing requires up to 15 tubs of sudsy water, one after another, washing with the same liquid soap used by families to wash dishes in the kitchen sink.

Cotton swabs and toothbrushes are used to clean around the eyes and head. A thorough rinse is followed by drying in a cage in which warm air blows up from beneath.

Number 75 still had all of that ahead of her. In a few days, it would be her turn to be freed from the deadly coat of oil, Holcomb said.

After the cleaning, she would join other pelicans waiting outside in a cage for the next step: restored freedom and, eventually, a new chance at life without oil. — dpa

Gout drug found useful for chronic heart pain LONDON: A drug used for more than 40 years to treat gout could also offer a cheap alternative to more modern heart drugs from Roche and Servier for patients with chronic chest pain, scientists said yesterday. Researchers from the University of Dundee said that studies on allopurinol, a generic gout drug, showed it helped people suffering from angina to exercise more and delayed the time until their chest pain started. “What is exciting is that it looks as if allopurinol may work by protecting the heart from oxygen starvation,” said Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation charity which funded the study. “If that is the case, then it raises the possibility that it could help the heart in other situations as well, such as after a heart attack.”

Angina is the most common symptom of heart disease, affecting around 2 million people in Britain and many millions more around the world. It causes people to get a pain in their chest when they exercise. Allan Struthers of the University of Dundee and a team of fellow scientists asked 65 patients with chronic angina to exercise on a treadmill after treating some of them with allopurinol and others with a dummy pill, or placebo. The results of the study were published in The Lancet medical journal yesterday.

Those who had the real drug were able to walk for 25 percent longer than those on placebo before they complained of chest pain. And electrical recordings of the patients’ hearts showed that allopurinol enabled the heart to

work for longer before showing signs of oxygen deprivation. “Allopurinol is inexpensive compared with some other antianginal drugs,” Struthers wrote in the study, and also has “a favourable long-term safety record”.

He compared it with Ranexa, or ranolazine, from Roche and Gilead Sciences’, and with ivabradine, which is sold under the brand names Corlentor and Coraxan by Servier, France’s largest privately owned pharmaceuticals company. Struthers added that compared with some older antianginal drugs such as nitrates and beta-blockers, patients were able to tolerate allopurinol better because it does not reduce blood pressure or heart rate. It also has fewer side-effects like headaches and tiredness that often occur with other medicines.

Dr. Kirk Garratt, clinical director of interventional cardiovascular research at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the research, described the findings as “impresssive”, even though they were from only a small study. “If allopurinol still had patent protection, we’d likely see a large-scale trial. But that won’t happen now that it’s a generic drug, so clinicians must decide if this small trial is convincing enough,” he said in an emailed comment. The BHF’s Weissberg said that while there were already several effective medicines out there for controlling angina, it was “helpful for doctors to have another option to turn to for patients who don’t respond well to existing drugs.” — Reuters

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

HEALTH

29

Doctors work on radiation problem to ease fears CHICAGO: On a recent flight, Dr Aaron Sodickson learned firsthand about the fallout from studies and media stories about radiation exposure from CT scans.

Sodickson, a radiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, was going to Washington, DC, to meet with the US Food and Drug Administration to find ways to protect patients from getting too much radiation from CT scans. “The woman sitting next to me on the plane had a lump in her neck. It was thought to be cancer,” Sodickson said in an interview. The woman’s doctor had ordered a CT scan to help determine if the lump was cancerous. “She refused because she thought she would die of the CT scan,” Sodickson said.

A CT scan assembles cross-section images of the body into a vivid picture that gives doctors a much better look at a patient that conventional X-rays, often eliminating the need for exploratory surgery. But too much radiation exposure is believed to raise the risk of cancer and scientists are working to cut down the risk from a CT scan. A CT scan of the chest exposes a patient to more than 100 times the radiation of an Xray and an abdominal CT scan is roughly equivalent to 400 chest X-rays.

A report last year by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement found that Americans receive seven times more radiation from diagnostic scans than in 1980. About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007, up from 3 million in 1980. A three-year study of Americans aged 18 to 64 last August from a team at Emory University in Atlanta suggests as many as 4 million Americans a year are exposed to what they viewed as high doses of radiation.

Accidental radiation exposure became a major worry in October after the FDA said it was investigating more than 200 cases of patients being exposed to toxic doses of radiation from CT scans at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “Patients are really scared,” Sodickson said. Regulators and lawmakers have responded with hearings and meetings with scanner makers, urging them to add safety mechanisms to their products to guard against errors.

To reduce radiation from routine scans, companies such as General Electric Co’s GE Healthcare are developing computer programs that let radiologists and technicians take sharp pictures while vastly reducing the radiation dose. Doctors say placing all of the blame on equipment makers will not keep doctors from ordering too many scans. They say they need better tools to determine when scans are warranted. “What our group is trying to do is to get a better understanding out there of what is the actual magnitude of risk from these scans,” Sodickson said.

Sodickson is one of a handful of US physicians developing computerized programs to assess a patient’s risk from CT exposure and alert them when a scan may be a potentially risky choice. He wants to have the program available to patients by the end of August. At Massachusetts General Hospital, radiologists have developed a similar program. “We have taken the American College of Radiology’s appropriateness criteria and basically filled in the dots,” Dr James Thrall, chief of radiology at Mass General and president of the American College of Radiology, said in an interview.

For example, Thrall said a CT scan is often ordered when a patient has a headache but it is generally not needed. Thrall’s team worked with the neurology

department to put together a program asking a series of questions about the patient’s symptoms and giving a score to recommend a CT. A group at Weill Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center in New York has developed a computer-based system that extracts radiation dose information from CT scanners. The information works even on older CT equipment and is calculated using a patient’s size and weight. The system is still in development but the hope is to allow patients to keep a digital record of their radiation exposure.

Equipment manufacturers also are addressing the radiation problem. To reduce the risk of accidental overexposure, the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, an industry group, has started adding alerts to CT scanners to warn technicians when patients are getting too much radiation. GE and others have started to offer free training seminars for technicians. GE and rivals Siemens AG, Toshiba Corp and Philips are working on ways to reduce the amount of radiation required to produce an image.

In 2008, GE launched Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction or ASIR, a software program that enhances the quality of CT images, allowing radiologists to use up to 50 percent less radiation to produce a highquality scan. Late last month, researchers at the International Society for Computed Tomography conference in San Francisco presented the first results of studies using GE’s next-generation software program, which may allow doctors to cut the radiation dose by 80 percent.

“We’re trying as an industry to stay in front of this but we can’t predict what the FDA will do,” Ken Denison, CT dose leader for General Electric Co’s GE Healthcare unit, said in a telephone interview. — Reuters

What is the radiation threat from CT scans?

CHICAGO: A number of studies in the past year have raised concerns that Americans are exposed to too much radiation from CT scans, increasing their risk of cancer. Here are some questions and answers about CT scans: Q: WHAT IS A CT SCAN? A: CT, short for computed tomography, is an advanced type of X-ray that gives doctors the ability to see inside the body, in some cases eliminating the need for exploratory surgery. CT scanners take cross-sectional pictures of the body and a computer program assembles these into an image. CT scans deliver more radiation than conventional X-rays. A chest CT gives patient more than 100 times the radiation dose of a typical chest X-ray. A CT scan of the abdomen is roughly equivalent to 400 chest X-rays. Too much radiation can cause skin burns, cataracts and other injuries, and in extreme cases, cancer and death. CT scan use in the United States has grown sharply. About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007, up from 3 million in 1980.

Q: HOW MUCH RADIATION DO THEY GIVE? A: Radiation, which is measured in millisieverts, from CT scans varies widely. A study in December by Dr. Rebecca SmithBindman of the University of California, San Francisco, looked at the 11 most common types of diagnostic CT scans at four institutions in 2008. They found radiation dosage varied from a median or midpoint of 2 millisieverts for a routine head CT scan to 31 millisieverts for a scan of the abdomen and pelvis, which often involves taking multiple images of the same organ.

Q: HOW MUCH RADIATION IS TOO MUCH? A: The average American receives about 3 millisieverts a year from ground radon or flying in an airplane. This level is not considered a risk to health. Researchers say a radiation dose of 50 millisieverts starts to raise concerns about human health and a dose of 100 millisieverts is thought to raise the risk of cancer. All of the studies estimating the risk from CT radiation exposure are based on the rates of cancer that occurred in people exposed to radiation from the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two. But many experts disagree over whether that model offers a fair comparison.

Meanwhile, imaging equipment makers such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips and Toshiba Medical Systems are working to develop low-dose CT scanners.

Q: HOW DO PATIENTS BECOME OVEREXPOSED TO RADIATION FROM A CT SCAN? A: This can happen in two ways. Accidental overdoses can occur when CT equipment settings are improperly programmed or technicians running the machines make an error.

These kinds of accidents are rare. To prevent them, the US Food and Drug Administration has asked the top makers of CT scanners to add safeguards to their machines. The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance says manufacturers will add a color-coded warning system to give healthcare providers clear warning when scans could harm patients.

These changes are being phased in later this year. — Reuters

30

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Embassy information

Grand inaugural program

W

e are delighted to inform members that the new Committee to whom you have entrusted the responsibility of running the Sangam’s activities for 2010-2011, started its innings with a grand inaugural programme held at Carmel School, Khaitan on Friday, the 4th of June 2010.

A large attendance of more than 300 persons consisting of members and their families underscored the success of the function. The overall mood was like a grand family function with its accompanying fun, frolic and fervour.

The evening’s programme started with lighting of the lamp by Mr. Subbaraman, one of the senior most members of the Sangam and recitation of “Thamizhth Thai Vazhththu.”

Well choreographed and well presented dance items by children of members, which followed, was the highlight of the evening’s program. The first item

of Ganesha Vandana gave a befitting start to the program. The dance item on Krishna which followed set to the most popular song “Mukunda Mukunda” showcased high quality performance by all artistes. The ‘Mix song” and “Pokkiri Pongal” were well presented.

The medley of old songs, very effectively choreographed and presented, was also highly appreciated by all. The audience gave a standing ovation for the excellent presentation of all dance numbers.

TV fame artistes Devanand and Sai Prashath, who had flown down from Chennai enthralled the audience with their songs, dance and mimicry. The highlight of their item was involving the audience in the mimicry. Sai Prashath’s mimicry of leading Tamil film artistes and also some animal sounds was very entertaining.

In his address the Hony. President R

Ganapathy thanked all the members and especially the children and their respective co-ordinators for the excellent

entertainment provided. He also thanked Devanand and Sai for agreeing to set aside their shooting commitments

and visit Kuwait at a very short notice.

Chella Durai, Hony. Secretary announced the intention of the Committee to embark upon philanthropic activities by collecting funds from members and donating for a noble cause to charitable organizations in India. He informed the audience that the details of this initiative would be circulated to the members shortly. This initiative received lot of appreciation and support from the members present. Thereafter all the members of the Committee for 2010-2011 were introduced to the audience. It was very pleasing to see all the male members attired in the traditional ‘veshti’ and the lady members in ‘saris’ a small symbolism to remind ourselves of our cultural heritage.

The program concluded with a vote of thanks by Jaya Prakash, Joint Treasurer and the singing of “Naattup Pan”, followed by dinner.

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria wishes to invite all Nigerians residing in Kuwait to come and register with the Embassy. The registration is compulsory for all Nigerians residing /visiting Kuwait. Kindly bring the following documents along with you: • A photocopy of the Nigerian passport • One passport photograph • Copy of the civil identification card or visa For additional information please call: 25620278 or visit the Embassy at Block, 4, Malik Bin Anas Street, Avenue 44, House 31, Along Al-Aqsa Road, Rumaithiya. The Consular Section opens Sunday - Thursday from 9 am - 3 pm Your prompt response is highly solicited.

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait informs that it has started updating the information about Ukrainian citizens, who live and work in Kuwait. In this connection, we are asking you to refer to the Embassy and update your file in consular register in order not to be excluded from it. For additional information please call: 25318507 ext.106 or visit the embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait (address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str.6, house 5). The consular section of the Embassy open every day from 09:30 till 14:30 except Friday and Saturday.

EMBASSY OF INDIA

Indian Cultural Society to host Kumar Sanu

I

ndian Cultural Society (ICS) presents “Nazar Ke Samne” with KUMAR SANU on 11th June Friday at 7.30 pm sharp. Event Chief Guest will be Ajai Malhotra Ambassador of India and Guest of honor will be renowned personalities from Kuwait.

Indian Cultural Society is registered organization with the Indian Embassy has many feathers in its cap. ICS has organized health camp & medical assistance, provided educational opportunities, created a help desk for jobs, regularly sends timely tips for health to its members, organizes programs in Urdu and Hindi, and supports other association for noble cause. Also campaigns for frequent airline services to India and many more activities.

After hosting memorable events such as Taal se Taal with Alka Yagnik, Shaam e Ghalib with Kader Khan, Shaam e Sangeet, Shaam e Shibani, SuroonKi-Shaam, ShaameGhazal, Geet & Ghazal Nite, Shab- e-Meraj, and many more.

Padma Shri award winner Kumar Sanu is a versatile Playback Singer from Indian Cinema. Kolkata born Kumar Sanu is a leading Indian Playback Singer of Bollywood. Sanu’s breakthrough came in 1990, with film Aashiqui. The music directors Nadeem-Shravan got Sanu to sing all but one of the songs. Sanu gained overnight success.

Kumar Sanu will be accompanied by male singer Bali Braham Bhatt (UK National Playback singer & Patel Rap fame).

His song became popular from the day first “Amma dekh..tera..munda.. bigda jaye & Kem Chhe Kem Chhe. Bali performed through out the world with Kummar Sanu & other groups. Also Ms Rachna Chopra (Playback Singer & Stage performer) will bring old & new hits numbers.

Young talents from Kuwait & live orchestra will be another attraction of the evening. So, join us for entertainment on 11 June, 2010 Friday, at American International School (Kamil Al-Rayes auditorium) Maidan Hawally.

IIS organizes Lemonade day & Kite Flying day

T

he kindergarten tots of india International School, Mangaf enjoyed a day out with the sun was shining high in the sky so were the spirit of the children and teachers as we celebrated yellow day to have fun under the sun like flying a kite, collage and coloring competition. To beat the heat and chill out in summer, lemonade stalls were put up by the teachers. Director, Principal, Vice Principal and the Headmaster declared the event open by bursting the balloons. They got back to their child-

hood days and enjoyed flying kites with the children.

The children were filled with the excitement to see their kites flying higher than their friends. The play ground was echoing with joy, fun and laughter when they saw the yellow chicken clucking around in the open ground. The children went back with a smile after enjoying a day out with Mr. Golden Sun. Even the hot sun failed to bring down the level of excitement among the teachers and students of Kindergarten of I.I.S

Banga Bandhu Shanskritik Jote holds prayer session

B

angabandhu Shanskritid Jote (BSJK) Kuwait chapter a well known and established cultural organization organized a special prayer session on 5th June’10 in remembrance of those who were burn to death in a vigorous fire brokedown which took more then 150 lives including children falling the nation in shocked. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed declared the day as national mourning day with half mast of the national flag, every program and activities were postponed as it was a rare disaster of its

kind through out the history of the nation.

Abdur Rashid Bulu the president of the organization (BSJK) presided over the function while Asrak Ali Ferdous the general secretary of the same conducted the prayer session. The event was graced by his Excellency the Ambassador of peoples republic of Bangladesh Sayed Shahed Reza along with his companion the consular Nurul Islam and labour secretary K M Ali Reza. Mawlana Siddique who run the session asking the forgiveness of Allah the almighty and offer dua

for each who passed away and those who are fighting for their life with severe burning causalities in the hospital. A number of leading personnel from society such as political, sister concern of different political organization, social and cultural, Business community, dignitaries and Intellectuals, journalist and writers association and a huge number of peoples from community participated the program. Meanwhile the audience also express their deep condolences and pay the gratitude to late Burhan Uddin Faruk one of the promi-

nent Awami activities in Kuwait who died just day before in a heart attack seeking for their departed fellow’s souls may remain rest in peace. The Ambassador praised for the good deeds and contribution to the community by Burhan Uddin Faruk and pray for his reward from Allah the Almighty. In a short speech Abdur Rashid Bulu highlighted the panic of the scenario where fire broke down and express his sympathy to those who escaped from accident. The prayer session ended with offering Tabarak to the audience.

Kala holds ghazal night

M

aestro Gazal Singer Umbayee and his troop led the audience to colourful world of music though the 3 hours long Gazal live concert. The Ghazal Night was organized by ‘KALA’ as the part of the mega event for this year “Jyothis-2010”, Kala’s Malayalam language learning program. Umbayee sung many of the famous compositions from his on albums blended with the famous numbers of Gulam Ali, Jagjith Sing, Pankaj Uddas, Hariharan, Mehadi Hassan etc as requested by the audience.

Maestro Umbayee was accompanied by renowned Music director of kerala Mr.

Beni in Harmonium & Mandolin, Mr. Herald (Violin), Mr. Roshan (labIa) and Mr. Shameer (Guitar).

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.

EMBASSY OF AMERICA The United States Department of State announces the increase in various visa fees to ensure sufficient resources to cover the increasing cost of processing nonimmigrant visas (NIVs). US law requires the Department to recover the cost of processing non-immigrant visas through the collection of the application fees. The increased fees are to take effect June 4, 2010. Under the new rule, applicants for all visas that are not petitionbased, including B1/B2 tourist and business visitor visas and all student and exchangevisitor visas, will pay a fee of $140.

Applicants for petition-based visas will pay an application fee of $150, as each of the below categories requires a review of extensive documentation and a more indepth interview of the applicant than other categories, such as tourists.

These categories include: H visa for temporary workers and trainees L visa for intra-company transferees O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors R visa for religious occupations The application fee for K visas for fiance(e)s of US citizens will be $350. The fee for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors will be $390.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA On the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday, the Australian Embassy wishes to advise that it will be closed on Sunday 13 June 2010. The Embassy will reopen on Monday 14 June 2010.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

31

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Autism center visits Kuwait Times Students from the Autism center visited Kuwait Times. They took a tour of the facilities and learned all the steps it takes to print a newspaper. The IT manager, Islam Al-Sharaa, gave them the guided tour and explained to them the process Kuwait Times goes through to produce a daily newspaper.

CETAA Kuwait organises visits to Kuwait Times ollege of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram Alumni Association (CETAA) Kuwait organized a visit to Kuwait Times on June 5, 2010 for the children of CETAA memebers. CETAA children have recently formed a Gavel Club TEAMC (Talent Exploration and Motivation Club) for improving their communication and leadership skills. The visit was led by CETAA Kuwait President Mr. George K John, General Secretary Sunil Moorkoth, Arts Secretary Sebastian Cyriac, Treasurer Joseph Archibald, TEAMC Coordinators Manoj Balakrishnan & Muraleedas N., Ex-officio Sunil Moorkanath and Radhakrishnan. Nineteen children including the office bearers of TEAMC Diksha Radhakrishnan (Vice President Membership), Nikhitha Venugopal (Vice President Public Relations), Leni Susan George (Secretary), Merin Jose (Treasurer), Reshma Elizabeth Mathew (Sergeant at Arms) and members Shreya Satheesh, Geethu Treesa Mattam, Minithra Manohar, Saurav Satheesh, Steve Terry Mathew, Malvika Muraleedas, Mathew Gigi George, Neethu Sarah George, Jose Sebastian Mattam, Niharika Sunil, Mukul Desh, Rohit Joseph, Danush Jeya Shankar and Vishnu Manoj. Mr. Islam explained to the group and took them through the various stages that a news goes through to printing and ultimately reaching the subscriber. He took the group around the facilities. CETAA Kuwait and the visitors express their thanks to Mr. Islam and the other staff of Kuwait Times for their cooperation.

C

Announcement

T

he Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs Women’s Activities Department The Grand Mosque of Kuwait, Ladies Tour Guides’ Team All Ladies are welcome to join a Free Arabic Language Course (Level 1) at The Grand Mosque of Kuwait.

Classes will be held on the following dates at 10:00 a.m.: Tuesday 5.10.2010, Thursday 7.10.2010, Tuesday 12.10.2010, Thursday 14.10.2010, Tuesday 19.10.2010, Thursday 21.10.2010, Tuesday 26.10.2010, Thursday 28.10.2010.

Please e-mail to register the names of each attendee, friends, relatives or colleagues, with contact telephone numbers, as all females are welcome.

Email: tourguides79_kcc@hotmail.com, Tel: (+965) 22980800 Ext: (242) or (240) or (203). The classes are going to be held in Kuwait City - Arabian Gulf Street at The Grand Mosque of Kuwait in Abdullah Al-Nouri Hall (previously named The Eastern Hall). * Please come from the main gate opposite to Burgan bank. * Please attend in time.

Triumph returns to FAIPS-DPS chopping the balls to glory

I

t was a moment of pride for the DPS girls, scaling the pedestal of glory clenching winning titles for themselves and their Alma mater .The vying competition was worth admirable and classy, our girls rocking, with their head and torsos all set for the game, surprising everyone with their forehand loops and chops, backed up by cheers all round. The Carmel school indoor court reverberated with the triumph of DPS in the 12th CBSE Kuwait Cluster TABLE TENNIS tournament

baffling the onlookers. In the under 16 girls category our girls defeated Indian Public School and Don Bosco in the league matches, Indian Central School in the semifinals and Indian Community School in the finals. In the under 19 category they defeated last year champions Indian community school and in the decisive match they defeated Bhavan school in direct set.

The victory was outcome of the collaborative effort of the PE Department of FAIPS.

TV PROGRAMS

32

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Orbit / Showtime Listings 12:00 E! News 12:25 The Daily 10 12:50 Battle of the Hollywood Hotties 13:15 Pretty Wild 13:40 Keeping Up with the Kardashians 14:05 Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami 14:30 Dr 90210 15:25 E!ES 16:15 Behind the Scenes 16:40 Behind the Scenes 17:10 Giuliana & Bill 18:00 E! News 18:25 The Daily 10 18:50 Wildest TV Show Moments 19:15 Pretty Wild 19:40 E! Investigates 20:30 Style Specials 21:20 Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane 22:10 E! News 22:35 The Daily 10 23:00 Keeping Up with the Kardashians 23:25 Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami 23:50 Pretty Wild

00:00 Burn Notice 01:00 Life 02:00 One Tree Hill 03:00 CSI Miami 04:00 Life 05:00 Dawson’s Creek 06:00 Doctor Who 07:00 Burn Notice 08:00 House 09:00 FlashForward 10:00 One Tree Hill 11:00 Dawson’s Creek 12:00 Doctor Who 13:00 CSI Miami 14:00 One Tree Hill 15:00 Life 16:00 House 17:00 FlashForward 18:00 Burn Notice 19:00 The Ex-List 20:00 Lie to Me 21:00 Law & Order 22:00 CSI Miami 23:00 Supernatural

00:15 Dark Days in Monkey City 00:45 Animal Cops South Africa 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Pit Bulls and Parolees 03:30 Animal Cops Philadelphia 04:25 Animal Precinct 05:20 Animal Battlegrounds 05:45 Monkey Business 06:10 E-Vets: The Interns 06:35 Vet on the Loose 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 RSPCA: On the Frontline 11:50 Animal Precinct 12:45 E-Vets: The Interns 13:10 Pet Rescue 13:40 Animal Cops Philadelphia 14:35 Wildlife SOS 15:00 RSPCA: On the Frontline 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 17:45 Monkey Life 18:15 The Animals’ Guide to Survival 19:10 Orangutan Island 19:40 Dark Days in Monkey City 20:10 Animal Cops South Africa

00:05 Love Soup 00:35 North And South (2004) 01:40 The Weakest Link Classic Sitcom Stars 02:30 Last Of The Summer Wine 03:00 Teletubbies 03:25 Me Too 03:45 Tikkabilla 04:15 Teletubbies 04:40 Me Too 05:00 Tikkabilla 05:30 Teletubbies 05:55 Me Too 06:15 Teletubbies 06:40 Me Too 07:00 Tikkabilla 07:30 Teletubbies 07:55 Me Too 08:15 Tikkabilla 08:45 Teletubbies 09:20 Mastermind 2006 09:50 Coast 10:50 Last Of The Summer Wine 11:20 Last Of The Summer Wine 11:50 The Weakest Link 12:45 Eastenders 13:15 Doctors 13:45 Mastermind 2006 14:15 Coast 15:15 Last Of The Summer Wine 15:45 Last Of The Summer Wine 16:15 The Weakest Link 17:05 Doctors 17:35 Eastenders 18:05 North And South (2004) 19:00 Red Cap 19:55 The Weakest Link 20:45 Doctors 21:15 Eastenders 21:45 A Thing Called Love 22:45 Casualty 23:35 Casualty

00:00 Masterchef Goes Large 00:20 James Martin’s Brittany 00:45 What To Eat Now - Summer 01:10 Superhomes 02:00 10 Years Younger 02:50 The Restaurant Uk 03:40 Hidden Potential 04:05 Diy Sos 04:35 Bargain Hunt 05:20 10 Years Younger 06:10 Masterchef Goes Large 06:40 Masterchef Goes Large 07:05 Antiques Roadshow 07:55 Bargain Hunt 08:40 Bargain Hunt 09:25 Hidden Potential 09:50 Diy Sos 10:20 James Martin’s Brittany 10:45 What To Eat Now - Summer 11:15 Superhomes

Killshot on Show Movies 12:05 10 Years Younger 12:55 The Restaurant Uk 13:45 Hidden Potential 14:10 Diy Sos 14:40 Bargain Hunt 15:25 Bargain Hunt 16:10 James Martin’s Brittany 16:35 What To Eat Now - Summer 17:05 Superhomes 17:50 Hidden Potential 18:15 Diy Sos 18:45 The Restaurant Uk 19:35 Masterchef Goes Large 20:05 The Hairy Bakers 20:35 Trish’s French Country Kitchen 21:00 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 21:50 Here’s Looking At You 22:15 Here’s Looking At You 22:40 The Restaurant Uk 23:30 Masterchef Goes Large

01:00 The Basketball Diaries-18 03:00 The Wackness-18 05:00 The Hi-lo Country-18 07:00 Chasing The Horizon-PG15 09:00 I Love You, I Love You Not-PG15 11:00 Looking For Richard-PG15 13:00 Dragon Hunters-PG 14:30 Losing Isaiah-PG15 16:30 Brideshead Revisited-PG15 19:00 Mes Stars Et Moi-PG15 21:00 Liberty Heights-18 23:15 High Roller-18

00:00 Moments of Terror 01:00 Street Customs 02:00 Dirty Jobs 02:55 Mighty Ships 03:50 Extreme Engineering 04:45 Mythbusters 05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 Dirty Jobs 07:00 Extreme Engineering 07:55 Massive Engines 08:20 Street Customs 2008 09:15 Mythbusters 10:10 Ultimate Survival 11:05 Overhaulin’ 12:00 Border Security 12:30 How It’s Made 12:55 How It’s Made 13:20 Mythbusters 14:15 Miami Ink 15:10 Ultimate Survival 16:05 Dirty Jobs 17:00 Deadliest Catch 18:00 Destroyed in Seconds 18:30 Border Security 19:00 How It’s Made 19:30 How It’s Made 20:00 Mythbusters 21:00 Breaking Point 22:00 Prototype This 23:00 Mythbusters

00:30 Mighty Ships 01:20 Eco-Tech 02:10 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 03:00 Beyond Tomorrow 03:50 Thunder Races 04:45 How Does That Work?

05:10 Weird Connections 05:40 One Step Beyond 06:10 Mighty Ships 07:00 Thunder Races 08:00 NASA’s Greatest Missions 09:00 Space Pioneer 09:55 Stunt Junkies 10:20 Weird Connections 10:50 Mighty Ships 11:45 How Does That Work?

12:15 Kings of Construction 13:10 One Step Beyond 13:35 Space Pioneer 14:30 Engineered 15:25 How Does That Work?

15:55 NASA’s Greatest Missions

16:50 Brainiac 17:45 Kings of Construction 18:40 How It’s Made 19:05 How It’s Made 19:30 What’s That About?

20:20 How It’s Made 20:45 How It’s Made 21:10 Mythbusters 22:00 How It’s Made 22:50 What’s That About?

00:00 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody 00:25 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 00:50 Fairly Odd Parents 01:15 A Kind of Magic 01:35 I Got A Rocket 02:00 Wizards of Waverly Place 02:25 Phineas and Ferb 02:50 Suite Life On Deck 03:15 Replacements 03:35 Hannah Montana 04:00 Kim Possible 04:25 Famous Five 04:50 Fairly Odd Parents 05:15 Phineas and Ferb 05:35 Replacements 06:00 Special Agent OSO 06:10 Timmy Time 06:25 Jungle Junction 06:35 Special Agent OSO 07:00 Handy Manny 07:20 Imagination Movers 07:45 Jungle Junction 08:00 Timmy Time 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 and Ferb 12:10 Suite Life On Deck 12:35 Replacements 12:55 Hannah Montana 13:20 Kim Possible 13:40 Famous Five 14:05 Fairly Odd Parents 14:30 Phineas and 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 and Ferb 17:35 Suite Life On Deck 18:00 Wizards of Waverly Place 18:25 Hannah Montana 18:45 JONAS 19:10 Suite Life On Deck 19:30 Sonny With A Chance 19:55 Hannah Montana 20:20 Wizards of Waverly Place 20:45 Wizards of Waverly Place 21:10 Suite Life On Deck 21:35 Suite Life On Deck 22:00 Hannah Montana 22:50 Sonny With A Chance

00:15 Leave It To Lamas 00:40 Dr 90210 01:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 01:55 Reality Hell 02:20 E!ES 03:15 Extreme Hollywood 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Battle of the Hollywood Hotties 05:30 Streets of Hollywood 06:00 E!ES 06:55 E!ES 07:45 Style Star 08:10 Style Star 08:35 E! News 09:00 The Daily 10 09:25 Denise Richards: It’s Complicated 09:50 Leave It To Lamas 10:15 20 Best & Worst Celebrity Plastic...

00:00 Food Network Challenge 01:00 30 Minute Meals 01:30 Tyler’s Ultimate 02:00 Guys Big Bite 03:00 Barefoot Contessa 03:30 Everyday Italian 04:00 30 Minute Meals 05:00 Tyler’s Ultimate 05:30 Guys Big Bite 06:00 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Everyday Italian 07:25 Food Network Challenge 07:50 30 Minute Meals 08:15 Tyler’s Ultimate 08:40 Guys Big Bite 09:05 Barefoot Contessa 09:30 Everyday Italian 10:00 30 Minute Meals 10:30 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 11:00 Iron Chef America 11:30 Barefoot Contessa 12:30 Everyday Italian 13:00 30 Minute Meals 13:30 Guys Big Bite 14:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 14:30 Tyler’s Ultimate 15:00 Chopped 15:30 Barefoot Contessa 16:00 Everyday Italian 17:00 Food Network Challenge 17:30 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 18:00 Guys Big Bite 18:30 Iron Chef America 19:00 30 Minute Meals 19:30 Tyler’s Ultimate 20:00 Chopped 21:00 Barefoot Contessa 21:30 Everyday Italian 22:00 Food Network Challenge 23:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 23:30 Guys Big Bite

00:00 Champions Tour Highlights Principal Charity Classic 01:00 Nationwide Tour Highlights: Melwood Prince George’s County Open 02:00 NHL Playoffs: Tentative OR Major League Soccer New York Red Bulls v Chivas USA 05:00 MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers 08:00 Golf Central International 08:30 The Golf Channel 11:00 MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers 14:00 Golf Central International 14:30 Champions Tour Highlights Principal Charity Classic 15:00 ASP Surfing World Championships Quicksilver Pro, Gold Coast, Australia 15:30 Major League Soccer New York Red Bulls v Chivas USA 18:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 19:00 NHL Playoffs: Tentative OR MLB St. Louis v LA Dodgers 22:00 ARCA Racing Series: Pocono ARCA 200 Long Pond, PA

00:30 A Haunting 01:20 FBI Files 02:10 Deadly Women 03:05 Deadly Women 04:00 Forensic Detectives 04:55 Real Emergency Calls 05:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner 06:10 Ghosthunters 06:35 Ghosthunters 07:00 Forensic Detectives 07:50 FBI Files 08:40 Fugitive Strike Force 09:30 Mystery ER 10:20 Forensic Detectives 11:10 FBI Files 12:00 Solved 12:50 Real Emergency Calls 13:15 Real Emergency Calls 13:40 Royal Inquest 14:30 Forensic Detectives 15:20 FBI Files 16:10 Fugitive Strike Force 17:00 Mystery ER 17:50 Forensic Detectives 18:40 FBI Files 19:30 Solved 20:20 Real Emergency Calls 20:45 Real Emergency Calls 21:10 Royal Inquest 22:00 I Almost Got Away With It 22:50 Murder Shift

01:30 Fish Don’t Blink 03:00 Kiss The Sky 04:45 Slamdance

06:25 Roadhouse 66 08:00 Mac And Me 09:40 Prancer 11:20 Secret Of N.I.M.H., The 12:40 Access Code 14:10 Supernova 15:40 Rose Garden, The 17:30 Broadway Danny Rose 18:55 Welcome To Woop Woop 20:30 A Matter Of Justice 22:00 Handmaid’s Tale, The 23:45 Neon City

00:00 Bondi Rescue 00:30 Lonely Planet 01:30 The Best Job In The World 02:00 Weird And Wonderful Hotels 02:30 Cruise Ship Diaries 03:30 Banged Up Abroad 04:30 Madventures 05:00 Food School 05:30 Surfer’s Journal 06:00 Bondi Rescue 06:30 Lonely Planet 07:30 The Best Job In The World 08:00 Weird And Wonderful Hotels 08:30 Cruise Ship Diaries 09:30 Banged Up Abroad 10:30 Madventures 11:00 Food School 11:30 Surfer’s Journal 12:00 Bondi Rescue 12:30 Lonely Planet 13:30 Banged Up Abroad 14:30 Banged Up Abroad 15:30 Banged Up Abroad 16:30 Madventures 17:00 Food School 17:30 Surfer’s Journal 18:00 Bondi Rescue 18:30 Lonely Planet 19:30 Banged Up Abroad 20:30 Banged Up Abroad 21:30 Banged Up Abroad 22:30 Madventures 23:00 Food School

00:00 The Office 00:30 Will & Grace 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 Party Down 03:30 The Book Group 04:00 Saturday Night Live 05:00 Drew Carey 05:30 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 07:00 Just Shoot me!

07:30 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air 08:00 Frasier 08:30 Yes dear 09:00 Married with Children 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 Will & Grace 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 14:00 Married with Children 14:30 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air 15:00 The Office 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The Drew Carey show 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 Hope & Faith 18:30 Just Shoot me!

19:00 Community 19:30 Rita Rocks 20:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Cleveland Show 22:30 The Book Group 23:00 Saturday Night Live

00:00 The Martha Stewart Show 01:00 10 Years Younger 01:30 10 Years Younger 02:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

03:00 The Monique Show 04:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 05:00 GMA (repeat) 07:00 GMA Health 07:30 What’s the Buzz 08:00 The Martha Stewart Show 09:00 10 Years Younger 09:30 10 Years Younger 10:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

11:00 The View 12:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 13:00 The Martha Stewart Show 14:00 GMA Live 16:00 GMA Health 16:30 What’s the Buzz 17:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 18:00 Look A Like 18:30 10 Years Younger 19:00 The View 20:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 21:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

22:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 23:00 The Monique Show

00:00 Killshot-18 02:00 God Grew Tired Of Us-PG15 04:00 Keith-PG15 06:00 Man In The Chair-PG15 08:00 The Tale Of Despereaux-PG 10:00 Capturing Mary-PG15 12:00 Valkyrie-PG15 14:00 Baby Mama-PG 16:00 The Tale Of Despereaux-PG 18:00 Seven Pounds-PG15

20:00 Ocean’s Thirteen-PG15 22:00 My Life In Ruins-18

01:00 Cloverfield-PG15 03:00 Broken Arrow-18 05:00 Iron Man-PG15 07:10 The Underneath-PG15 09:00 Stargate: Continuum-PG15 11:00 Mean Machine-18 13:00 Chocolate-PG15 15:00 Stargate: Continuum-PG15 17:00 Planet Of The Apes-PG15 19:00 Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia 21:00 The Cottage-18 23:00 Bronson-R

00:15 Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day 02:00 The Last Shot-PG15 04:00 Christmas At The Riviera-PG 06:00 Santa Baby 2-PG15 08:00 Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants 2-PG15 10:00 The War Of The Roses-PG15 12:00 First Sunday-PG15 14:00 My Favorite Martian-PG 16:00 Miss Pettigrew Lives For A DayPG15 18:00 National Lampoon’s: Electric Apricot-PG15 20:00 How To Be A Player-18 22:00 Finding Bliss-18

00:00 The Trumpet Of The Swan-FAM 02:00 Justice League: The New Frontier 04:00 Superman: Doomsday-FAM 06:00 Mucha Lucha! Return Of El Malefico-FAM 08:00 Barbie Mariposa-FAM 10:00 Superman: Doomsday-FAM 12:00 The Nameless Warrior-FAM 14:00 Justice League: The New Frontier 16:00 Scooby-Doo And The Loch Ness Monster-FAM 18:00 Harriet The Spy-PG 20:00 Zeus And Roxanne-PG 22:00 The Nameless Warrior-FAM

00:00 Lost 01:00 Lost 02:00 Without A Trace 03:00 Dawson’s Creek 04:00 Every Body Loves Raymond 04:30 Home Improvement 05:00 Law and order 06:00 Emmerdale 06:30 Coronation Street 07:00 Without A Trace 08:00 Every Body Loves Raymond 08:30 Home Improvement 09:00 Dawson’s Creek 10:00 Law and order 11:00 Without A Trace 12:00 Emmerdale 12:30 Coronation Street 13:00 Every Body Loves Raymond 13:30 Home Improvement 14:00 Lost 15:00 Lost 16:00 Law and order 17:00 Dawson’s Creek 18:00 Emmerdale 18:30 Coronation Street 19:00 Grey’s Anatomy 20:00 Private Practice 21:00 Criminal Minds 22:00 Beauty and the Geek 23:00 Dawson’s Creek

10:00 V8 Supercars Championship 11:00 V8 Supercars Championship 12:00 WWE NXT 13:00 FIA GT1 World Championship 15:00 Aussie Rules 17:30 V8 Supercars Extra 18:00 WWE NXT 19:00 WWE Smackdown 21:00 UFC Wired 22:00 UFC Unleashed

01:00 Franklyn-PG15 03:00 The Memsahib-PG15 05:00 The Children Of Huang Shi-PG15 07:15 Sins Of The Mother-PG15 09:00 Hannah Montana Movie-PG 11:00 Momma’s Man-PG15 13:00 The Longshots-PG15 15:00 The Firm-PG15 17:00 Hannah Montana Movie-PG 19:00 Fool’s Gold-PG15 21:00 Beauty And The Briefcase-PG15 23:00 The Stoning Of Soraya M.-PG15

01:15 The Screening Room 01:45 North By Northwest 04:00 The King And Four Queens 05:30 Bad Day At Black Rock 07:00 Silk Stockings 08:55 Never So Few 10:55 The Comedians 13:25 It Happened At The World’s Fair 15:10 Cimarron 17:35 Ice Station Zebra 19:55 The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm 22:00 Shaft 23:45 National Lampoon’s Movie Madness

00:30 Dogfights 01:20 Ice Road Truckers 2 02:10 Mega Disasters 03:00 World War II: Lost Films 03:55 Battlefield Detectives 04:50 Battle 360 05:40 Battles B.C. 06:30 Dogfights 07:20 Ice Road Truckers 2 08:10 Mega Disasters 09:00 World War II: Lost Films 09:55 Battlefield Detectives 10:50 Battle 360 11:40 Battles B.C. 12:30 Dogfights 13:20 Ice Road Truckers 2 14:10 Mega Disasters 15:00 World War II: Lost Films 15:55 Battlefield Detectives 16:50 Battle 360 17:40 Battles B.C. 18:30 Dogfights 19:20 Ice Road Truckers 2 20:10 Mega Disasters 21:00 Nostradamus Effect 21:55 Deadly Dust Storm 23:40 Mega Disasters

00:00 Dr 90210 01:00 Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane 01:30 Dallas Divas & Daughters 02:00 Split Ends 03:00 How Do I Look?

04:00 Dr 90210 05:00 Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane 06:00 How Do I Look?

07:00 Style Star 07:30 Style Her Famous 08:00 My Celebrity Home

09:00 Style Star 09:30 Dress My Nest 10:00 Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?

11:00 How Do I Look?

12:00 Ruby 13:00 Clean House 14:00 Clean House Comes Clean 14:30 Dress My Nest 15:00 What I Hate About Me 16:00 Whose Wedding Is it Anyway?

17:00 Jerseylicious 18:00 Jerseylicious 19:00 Split Ends 20:00 Clean House 21:00 Clean House Comes Clean 21:30 Dress My Nest

01:04 French Only 01:45 Playlist 02:00 Urban Hit 02:45 Playlist 05:04 Focus 06:04 Playlist 08:04 Hit US 09:00 Code Compilation 09:24 Playlist 13:04 Urban Hit 13:50 Playlist 16:04 Sound System 16:45 Playlist 18:00 Urban Hit 18:45 Guest Star 19:00 Playlist 20:04 RNB 20:45 Playlist 21:00 Legend 22:00 Playlist

00:00 Dream Destinations 00:30 Destination Art 01:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 02:00 Planet Food 03:00 Globe Trekker 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Planet Food 06:00 Intrepid Journeys 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Travel Today 08:30 Distant Shores 09:00 Spring 09:30 Grannies On Safari 10:00 Planet Food 11:00 Intrepid Journeys 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Taste Takes Off 13:30 The Thirsty Traveler 14:00 A Taste of California 14:30 Entrada 15:00 Spring 15:30 Grannies On Safari 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Essential 17:30 Taste Takes Off 18:00 Planet Food 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 21:00 Planet Food 22:00 Globe Trekker

00:00 VH1 Rocks 00:30 So 80’s 01:00 Greatest Hits 02:00 Vh1 Music 05:00 Chill Out 07:00 Vh1 Hits 09:00 Vh1 Music 11:00 Aerobic 12:00 Top 10 The Chemical Brothers 13:00 Music For The Masses 14:00 Vh1 Pop Chart 15:00 Vh1 Music 17:00 (P) VH1 Weekly Album Chart 18:00 Vh1 Music

00:00 Test Cricket 07:00 NRL Full Time 07:30 International Rugby Union 09:30 ICC Cricket World 10:00 International Rugby Union 12:00 International Rugby Union 14:00 Futbol Mundial 14:30 Sea Master 15:00 International Rugby Union 17:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 18:00 World Hockey 18:30 NRL Full Time 19:00 Futbol Mundial 19:30 European Tour Weekly 20:00 World Sport 20:30 Rugby Union Churchill Cup 22:30 Mobil 1 The Grid

00:30 Futbol Mundial 01:00 ATP Tennis 09:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 10:00 World Hockey 10:30 Sea Masters 11:00 FEI Equestrain World 11:30 Masters Football 14:30 Live ATP Tennis 22:30 European Tour Weekly 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 NRL Full Time

00:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 01:00 Prizefighter 04:00 Red Bull X-Fighters 05:30 UFC All Access 06:00 UFC Unleashed 07:00 WWE Vintage Collection 08:00 Red Bull X-Fighters 09:30 V8 Supercars Extra

Mean Machine on Show Movies Action

Star Listings (UAE Timings) STAR Movies 21:00 Good Boy! 22:30 Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger 00:15 Dim Sum Funeral 01:50 Kinky Boots 03:40 French Connection, The 05:25 VIP Access: Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time 05:55 Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger 07:40 Dim Sum Funeral 09:15 Joshua 11:00 Finding Amanda 12:35 French Connection, The 14:20 Phantom Racer 15:50 Someone Like You 17:30 Carny 19:00 In Tranzit STAR World 20:00 Australia’s Next Top Model 20:50 Starsky & Hutch 21:00 BOSTON LEGAL 21:50 Who’s The Boss?

22:00 Grey’s Anatomy 23:00 [V] Tunes 00:00 [V] Tunes 01:00 [V] Tunes 02:00 Ugly Betty 03:00 Scrubs 03:30 Scrubs 04:00 Stone Undercover

05:00 06:00 06:50 07:00 08:00 08:50 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 11:50 12:00 12:50 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:00

America’s Got Talent Grey’s Anatomy Starsky & Hutch BOSTON LEGAL Australia’s Next Top Model Different Strokes The King Of Queens The Bold and the Beautiful [V] TUNES Grey’s Anatomy Who’s The Boss?

Ugly Betty Starsky & Hutch America’s Got Talent Scrubs Scrubs Stone Undercover BONES Prison Break Cops S19 Cops S19 Who’s The Boss?

BONES

Granada TV 20:00 The Paul O’Grady Show 21:00 Live The Dream: As Seen On Screen 22:00 Emmerdale 22:30 Coronation Street 23:00 Live The Dream: As Seen On Screen

00:00 The Chopping Block (Series 1) 01:00 What Katie Did Next (Series 1) 02:00 Romance Wednesday: Cold Feet (Series 3) (Double Bill) 04:00 Dates From Hell 05:00 Emmerdale 05:30 Coronation Street 06:00 The Chopping Block (Series 1) 07:00 Romance Wednesday: Cold Feet (Series 3) (Double Bill) 09:00 What Katie Did Next (Series 1) 10:00 Filthy Homes From Hell 11:00 Emmerdale 11:30 Coronation Street 12:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 2) 13:00 Romance Wednesday: Bob And Rose (Double Bill) 15:00 What Katie Did Next (Series 1) 16:00 Emmerdale 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 2) 18:00 Romance Wednesday: Bob And Rose (Double Bill) Channel [V] 21:00 [V] Countdown 23:00 Backtracks 23:30 Double Shot 00:00 Loop 00:30 [V] Tunes 01:00 [V] Plug 01:30 Loop

02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00

Backtracks XO [V] Tunes [V] Plug The Playlist [V] Countdown Backtracks Double Shot Loop [V] Tunes [V] Plug Loop Backtracks XO [V] Tunes [V] Plug The Playlist Keys To The VIP Double Bill [V] Tunes [V] Tunes Backtracks Double Shot Loop [V] Tunes [V] Plug Loop Backtracks XO [V] Tunes [V] Plug

20:30 The Playlist Fox News 20:00 Happening Now 21:00 The Live Desk 23:00 Studio B with Shepard Smith Live 00:00 Your World with Neil Cavuto 01:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 02:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 03:00 The FOX Report with Shepard Smith 04:00 The O’Reilly Factor 05:00 Hannity 06:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 07:00 The O’Reilly Factor 08:00 Hannity 09:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 10:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 11:00 Fox Report 12:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 13:00 The O’Reilly Factor 14:00 FOX & Friends First Live 15:00 FOX & Friends Live 17:00 America’s Newsroom 18:00 America’s Newsroom 19:00 Happening Now National Geographic Channel 20:00 Superhuman : Strongman 21:00 Lonely Planet -Lonely Planet- Roads Less Trav : Colombia 2

22:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet -Baja California 7 22:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet -Catch Of The Day 12 23:00 Theme Week -Aftermath : Betrayed By The Sun 00:00 Seconds From Disaster -Plane Crash In the Potomac S3-7 01:00 ABOUT ASIA -Megacities : Mumbai 8 02:00 Tribal Odyssey -The Dinka 03:00 Cliffhangers -Saving Bart 04:00 Dangerous Encounters -Dangerous Encounters With Brad : Wild West S5-3 05:00 ABOUT ASIA -Megacities : Mumbai 8 06:00 Lockdown -Inmate To Ex-Con S4-2 07:00 DogTown -The Outsiders 08:00 Tribal Odyssey -The Dinka 09:00 I Didn’t Know That -5 09:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet -Taste Of Chile 14 10:00 Theme Week -Aftermath : Population Overload 11:00 Seconds From Disaster -Plane Crash In the Potomac S3-7 12:00 ABOUT ASIA -Megacities : Mumbai 8 13:00 Wild Wednesday -Dangerous Encounters With Brad : Shocking S5-4 14:00 Wild Wednesday -Hooked : Fish Gone Wild 15:00 Theme Week -Aftermath : Population Overload 16:00 Superhuman : Steroids 17:00 Seconds From Disaster -Plane Crash In the Potomac S3-7 18:00 Wild Wednesday -Dangerous Encounters With Brad : Shocking S5-4

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

33 Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Wednesday 09/06/2010 Airlines Flt Route Wataniya Airways 188 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 306 Cairo Wataniya Airways 434 Damascus Wataniya Airways 408 Beirut Gulf Air 211 Bahrain Turkish 772 Istanbul Wataniya Airways 322 Sharm El Sheikh Jazeera 267 Beirut DHL 370 Bahrain Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 138 Doha Kuwait 802 Cairo Falcon 201 Dubai Jazeera 637 Aleppo Jazeera 503 Luxor Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok Jazeera 527 Alexandria British 157 London Jazeera 529 Assiut Kuwait 382 Delhi Kuwait 302 Mumbai Fly Dubai 053 Dubai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 352 Cochin Kuwait 284 Dhaka Kuwait 362 Colombo Kuwait 344 Chennai Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 121 Sharjah Qatari 132 Doha Iran Air 603 Shiraz Etihad 301 Abu Dhabi Iran Aseman 6791 Mashad Jazeera 425 Bahrain Falcon 203 Dubai Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 182 Bahrain Middle East 404 Beirut Alnaser 711 Baghdad/Najaf Wataniya Airways 102 Dubai Jazeera 165 Dubai Mahan Air 5066 Mashad Jazeera 171 Dubai Egypt Air 610 Cairo Kuwait 672 Dubai Oman Air 645 Muscat Saudia 508 Riyadh Wataniya Airways 432 Damascus United 982 Washington Dc Dulles Jordanian 800 Amman Egypt Air 621 Assiut Fly Dubai 057 Dubai Jazeera 257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 422 Amman Kuwait 562 Amman Saudia 500 Jeddah Kuwait 552 Damascus Jazeera 481 Sabiha Nas Air 745 Jeddah Jazeera 525 Alexandria Qatari 134 Doha Kuwait 546 Alexandria Kuwait 544 Cairo Nas Air 703 Riyadh Bahrain Air 344 Bahrain Jazeera 427 Bahrain Etihad 303 Abu Dhabi Rovos 061 Baghdad Emirates 857 Dubai Wataniya Airways 402 Beirut Gulf Air 215 Bahrain Saudia 510 Riyadh Jazeera 239 Amman Jazeera 493 Jeddah Arabia 125 Sharjah Srilankan 227 Colombo/Dubai Wataniya Airways 304 Cairo Kuwait 166 Paris/Rome Yemenia 824 Sanaa/Doha Wataniya Airways 106 Dubai Kuwait 542 Cairo Kuwait 502 Beirut Kuwait 618 Doha Kuwait 786 Jeddah Jazeera 497 Riyadh Jazeera 177 Dubai Kuwait 614 Bahrain Kuwait 674 Dubai Kuwait 774 Riyadh Kuwait 102 New York/London Indian 575 Chennai/Goa Fly Dubai 061 Dubai Middle East 402 Beirut Jet A/W 572 Mumbai Rovos 081 Baghdad Wataniya Airways 642 Vienna Wataniya Airways 404 Beirut DHL 372 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 632 Rome Gulf Air 217 Bahrain Jazeera 459 Damascus Emirates 859 Dubai Qatari 136 Doha United 981 Bahrain Jazeera 449 Doha Lufthansa 636 Frankfurt Jazeera 185 Dubai Jazeera 429 Bahrain Shaheen Air 441 Lahore/Karachi Kuwait 548 Sharm El Sheikh/Luxor India Express 393 Kozhikode/Cochin KLM 0447 Amsterdam/Bahrain Egypt Air 606 Luxor Pakistan 215 Karachi Wataniya Airways 108 Dubai

Time 00:30 00:50 00:55 01:05 01:05 01:15 01:20 02:10 02:15 02:25 02:55 03:25 04:45 05:25 05:45 05:50 06:15 06:20 06:30 06:40 07:20 07:50 07:55 08:00 08:05 08:10 08:20 08:20 08:25 08:40 09:00 09:20 09:25 09:55 10:25 10:30 10:45 10:45 10:50 10:55 11:05 11:15 12:20 12:40 12:55 13:15 13:15 13:30 13:35 13:35 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:05 14:10 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:30 15:30 15:45 16:40 16:50 16:50 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:40 17:40 18:00 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:20 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:30 20:05 20:20 20:30 20:30 20:45 20:50 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:35 21:55 22:30 22:30 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:55 23:55

Departure Flights on Wednesday 09/06/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 528 Assiut India Express 390 Mangalore/Kozhikode Indian 994 Mumbai/Chennai Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt Pakistan 206 Lahore Turkish 773 Istanbul DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 306 Abu Dhabi Qatari 139 Doha Wataniya Airways 101 Dubai Jazeera 480 Sabiha Jazeera 164 Dubai Jazeera 422 Bahrain Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 181 Bahrain Jazeera 524 Alexandria Jazeera 256 Beirut Wataniya Airways 431 Damascus British 156 London Jazeera 170 Dubai Kuwait 545 Alexandria Fly Dubai 054 Dubai Kuwait 543 Cairo Kuwait 177 Frankfurt/Geneva Kuwait 671 Dubai Wataniya Airways 421 Amman Kuwait 551 Damascus Kuwait 561 Amman Arabia 122 Sharjah Wataniya Airways 631 Rome Emirates 856 Dubai Wataniya Airways 641 Vienna Kuwait 117 New York Qatari 133 Doha Etihad 302 Abu Dhabi Iran Air 602 Shiraz Iran Aseman 6792 Mashad Wataniya Airways 401 Beirut Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Falcon 204 Baghdad Middle East 405 Beirut Wataniya Airways 303 Cairo Rovos 062 Najaf/Baghdad Kuwait 541 Cairo Jazeera 238 Amman Jazeera 492 Jeddah Alnaser 712 Najaf/Baghdad Kuwait 103 London Kuwait 501 Beirut Kuwait 785 Jeddah Mahan Air 5065 Mashad Jazeera 426 Bahrain Egypt Air 611 Cairo Oman Air 646 Muscat Wataniya Airways 105 Dubai Jordanian 801 Amman Fly Dubai 058 Dubai Egypt Air 622 Assiut Saudia 509 Medinah United 982 Bahrain Jazeera 176 Dubai Kuwait 673 Dubai Wataniya Airways 403 Beirut Kuwait 617 Doha Jazeera 496 Riyadh Kuwait 547 Sharm El Sheikh/Luxor Nas Air 746 Jeddah Saudia 501 Jeddah Jazeera 458 Damascus Kuwait 773 Riyadh Kuwait 613 Bahrain Qatari 135 Doha Nas Air 704 Medinah Rovos 082 Baghdad Bahrain Air 345 Bahrain Etihad 304 Abu Dhabi Emirates 858 Dubai Gulf Air 216 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 305 Cairo Arabia 126 Sharjah Jazeera 184 Dubai Saudia 511 Riyadh Jazeera 448 Doha Srilankan 228 Dubai/Colombo Wataniya Airways 407 Beirut Yemenia 824 Sanaa Wataniya Airways 107 Dubai Jazeera 428 Bahrain Kuwait 283 Dhaka Jazeera 266 Beirut Kuwait 361 Colombo Fly Dubai 062 Dubai Kuwait 331 Trivandrum Middle East 403 Beirut Jet A/W 571 Mumbai Wataniya Airways 187 Bahrain Gulf Air 218 Bahrain Kuwait 801 Cairo DHL 373 Bahrain Kuwait 675 Dubai Jazeera 612 Lahore Emirates 860 Dubai Falcon 102 Bahrain Qatari 137 Doha Kuwait 203 Lahore Kuwait 301 Mumbai Jazeera 526 Alexandria Jazeera 636 Aleppo Jazeera 502 Luxor United 981 Washington Dc Dulles Kuwait 415 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

ACCOMMODATION Time 00:05 00:25 00:50 00:50 01:10 02:15 03:15 03:45 04:00 05:00 06:50 07:00 07:05 07:30 07:45 07:50 08:00 08:05 08:10 08:25 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:55 09:00 09:10 09:10 09:15 09:20 09:30 09:40 09:45 10:00 10:00 10:10 10:20 10:55 11:35 11:35 11:45 11:50 11:50 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:15 12:15 12:30 13:00 13:30 13:40 13:55 13:55 14:15 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45 14:50 14:55 15:10 15:10 15:35 15:35 15:40 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:05 16:20 16:20 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:35 18:05 18:05 18:05 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:10 19:25 19:40 19:40 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:50 21:00 21:20 21:30 21:35 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:10 22:25 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:20 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50

Sharing accommodation available in a 2 big bedroom flat, opposite Al Rashid Hospital in Salmiya. Please contact: 66577745. (C 2376) A fully furnished flat for sharing during summer vacations from mid-June to mid-Aug CA/C, nice location bldg, prefer families on visit.

Phone: 66702685, 66674242. (C 2377) Sharing accommodation available for family near Indian Central School, Abbassiya from 25 June.

Contact: 99853244.

(C 2375) 9-6-2010 Sharing accommodation available for two working ladies with a small Keralite family near Neethi store Abbassiya.

Phone: 65730628. (C 2370) 8-6-2010 Furnished one BHK/flat for rent from 24/5 to 26/6 in Abbassiya near Uduppi palace.

Please call: 66910015. (C 2369) 7-6-2010 One single room with separate bathroom available in Farwaniya for couples/one executive bachelor (Indians only) to share with a Keralite family in a two BHK CA/C flat, opp. Farwaniya police station. If interested please contact 66786103.

(C 2365) 6-6-2010 One room available in two bedroom flat Farwaniya near Crowne Plaza hotel for decent bachelor. Please contact 66490857. (C 2364) 5-6-2010 Fully furnished 1 BHK flat available from 22nd June to 12th Sept at Abbassiya, opp. German Clinic. Contact: 97834504. (C 2362) 4-6-2010

94449173. (C 2373)

FOR SALE Mercedes Benz car, model 2005, S350 L, full option + navigation, black color, kilometer: 170,000, used by diplomat, excellent condition, maintained since purchased by Al-Bishr & AlKazemi workshop. Contact: 66420301, 99774390.

(C 2371) Audi - A6 - 2000 model, 6 cylinder, sun roof, leather seats, well maintained. Tel: 97416536, 55880927.

(C 2380) P4, Intel Celeron, 2.4 GHz, 40 GB HDD, 256 MB RAM, CD ROM, 56K modem, soundcard, speakers, 17” CRT monitor, ready for Internet KD 25. PIII, Intel, with 17” CRT monitor KD 12. Contact: 66244192.

(C 2378) 9-6-2010 Pajero 2007, color red, 3.8 GLS, 6-cylinder, sun roof, leather seats, only 37,000 kms, expat leaving, KD 4,500 neg. Tel: 94449173.

(C 2372) One year Internet card, original price KD 55, sale price KD 15. Tel: 55451465, 66451465. (C 2350) Indoor plants, KD 10 to KD 2, great deal, also bunk bed, leather sofa, recliner, table football etc, expat leaving, priced to sell. Call

SITUATION VACANT

Engineer leaving Kuwait 30-06-2010, spacious flat, 2BHK + maid room, opp.

Mughal Mahal, Salmiya, rent KD 270, good quality furniture and appliances KD 575 ono. Can sell separately. Call 66228644. (C 2366) 8-6-2010 One year Internet card, original price KD 55, sale price KD 15. Tel: 55451465, 66451465. (C 2350)

SITUATION WANTED

Indian female (MBA in HR), 10 years experience in HR/Administration, specializing in recruitments, PMS, MIS reports & overall admin functions. Proficient in MS Office. Good communication skills. Please contact: 66634322. (C 2368) 7-6-2010

English speaking maid for a family living in Mangaf.

Please contact 60055305 or 23741548.

5-6-2010

CHANGE OF NAME I, Chaman Sharif Abdul Gafur Kathari, holder of Indian Passport No. F 1478448 have changed my name to Sharif Shaikh.

(C 2363) 4-6-2010

LOST Lost passport, Motalib Jaj Miah, Bangladeshi Passport No: V0064058, Civil ID No: 275052008605. Finder please contact: 666556013.

(C 2367) 7-6-2010

SPECTRUM

34 CROSSWORD 1014

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) You could be most persuasive with others and eloquent in speech and communication. The initiative is yours and you will find positive results will develop from your actions.

This is a day to take risks and dare to be a little unconventional. There are new insights, inventions and an independent point of view. Your career could open up by taking the road less traveled, or by daring to be the oddball. Growth and success could be tied to your possessions or to the way you respond to the various ideas and impulses operating in your life now. This may mean the connection you have with your teachers, partners, hobbies or the competitions that you enter. Your day ends with the most positive of attitudes.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)You may find yourself having a difference of opinion with others this Tuesday. You could be going against tradition if you become too independent for group approval. This could actually slow your progress. You could have difficulty getting your ideas across to others, sometimes feeling inadequate in matters that require logic or the use of your mental powers. You may have doubts about those who talk too much and seems long on ideas. You may lack flexibility, managing a foot-in-the-mouth when you least need it. Give your ideas time to set in so that others will see the best ways in which to carry on a project.

Take the observer point of view and watch things develop for the rest of this day. You may find you made a positive difference.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. Annual grass of Europe and North Africa.

4. The cry made by sheep.

7. A quantity of no importance.

11. 100 pyas equal 1 kyat.

12. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

13. A republic in the Middle East in western Asia.

14. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

15. A woolen cap of Scottish origin.

16. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

17. Largest crested screamer.

20. A decree that prohibits something.

23. With no effort to conceal.

26. (informal) Of the highest quality.

30. A port city in southwestern Iran.

32. Genus of tropical plants with creeping rootstocks and small umbellate flowers.

34. A small cake leavened with yeast.

35. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

36. An uproarious party.

38. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

42. Projectiles to be fired from a gun.

45. A public promotion of some product or service.

48. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

50. Type genus of the family Myacidae.

51. Type genus of the Anatidae.

52. An associate degree in applied science.

53. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

DOWN 1. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

2. An Indian nursemaid who looks after children.

3. A village in eastern Ireland (northwest of Dublin).

4. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

5. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

6. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

8. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

9. Fallow deer.

10. A Kwa language spoken in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

18. Port city in western Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. 19. A representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the dead body of Jesus.

21. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

22. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

24. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

25. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

27. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

28. The district occupied entirely by the city of Washington.

29. An informal term for a father.

31. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

33. How long something has existed.

37. A strategically located monarchy on the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.

38. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

39. A Hindu prince or king in India.

40. Common Indian weaverbird.

41. A small nail.

43. A master's degree in business.

44. An association of countries in the western hemisphere.

45. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosionresistant.

46. A doctor's degree in dental surgery.

47. The executive agency that advises the President on the federal budget.

48. Informal terms for a mother.

49. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Throwing caution to the wind, you could ignore whatever responsibilities you have this Tuesday, and pursue a particular objective. Your animal-like instincts come in handy when it comes to big business. You are where the action is most intense. Your mind will get through the unimportant and move straight to the bottom line.

Some may even respect your tenacity and it becomes exciting to be near you.

Mental discipline and patience are keynote as you take on a new project or a new customer this afternoon. Tonight is for anything creative or that gives you an opportunity at self-expression through arts, theater, sports or with children. You enjoy hobbies but unless you have gobs of money, it is time to fine-tune your choices.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discover. You will be feeling successful and able to cope with whatever comes across your path today. Good advice from a guide or older person may be forthcoming. You are very fortunate in being able to grow and progress throughout your life without major difficulties. You can always find the resources you require plus the necessary instruction on how to use the resources. Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager and business person. You bring a great deal of love to your work. Your mind is full of practical ideas, especially related to your job or skills. Tonight you have new ideas in how to manage your time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others today.

You know just what to do and can act without haste and emotion. You are called on to make use of your natural abilities and common sense. There is a need to be respected, which is an emotionally charged issue in your life at this time and you may find yourself wanting to say things you might regret--bite your lip.

You will want to set your work aside later today in order to help teach a new employee the details about some new project. An influential person may take notice of your special talents. You are feeling unusually good and could write about the things you see around you today. This evening you will find that romance is possible.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may find yourself having emotional differences with someone at work today. A report with facts may help you to prove your point without having to spend time in argument. Having these facts to back up your ideas will gain you much. You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others and you enjoy having problems to solve. You know just what to do and you can act without haste and emotion. You also enjoy a good break time, especially at the noon hour when you can get outside to walk and think about things outside of work. You are one to enjoy life and embrace all the differences that life has to offer. If you are shopping tonight, make out a list before you go into the stores--it will help you save.

Libra (September 23-October 22) A rebellious streak could affect your career now--careful. Your sense of independence may tend to kick over the apple cart and upset everything. Your progress and success may be at the expense of your more unconventional tendencies; a source of struggle.

You prefer a career that accents your own devotion to the dreams and ideals you stand for these days. Working with groups in a spirit of cooperation and communion is a natural. You come up with new solutions or inventions today and others will follow your lead. A closed mind believes the future and the present will be the same. There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with someone you love. This is a happy time.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connections that unite. Something new has your attention today and this could mean a new boss as much as it could mean a new piece of equipment or even a new job. A new system of working may put you in the leadership role and you know people are watching. You will succeed at whatever you take on so relax . . . don?t be so hard on yourself; move forward one step at a time. You will perform correctly and others will understand exactly what you are communicating. Later today, you could find yourself at a basketball, baseball or hockey game this evening . . . yelling your lungs out! Here you will likely find a special friend with whom you have a lot in common.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You or someone close to you finds mistakes today. Some people say that people are not really trying unless they discover mistakes from time to time. Besides, if we were not meant to start over; we would not continue to have Monday mornings. You have an innate love of the law and working through things. You are not discouraged by problems and obstacles--you may look forward to solving them. You have the ability to work with others, particularly regarding vocation or career guidance. You can advise and guide others in matters that are work-related decisions and may find yourself doing so today.

This could be a particularly lucky day. Look into ways that you could put aside some income for future investment purposes.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You are a terrific businessperson and you exhibit your ability to get past the surface of things and separate the things that have real worth. Ideas are in the air. Tap into that universal mind through some quiet meditation during a break time. Your presence in a group situation today has a very decided effect. Others may feel that nothing is a secret from you.

Family, home and security seems just about ideal. Your family life has gone through some big improvements lately and may continue to improve. You are creative when it comes to partnerships or lovers; you seem to establish unusual and different relationships. You reflect and celebrate the positive things in your life and in the family. You may find a love relationship deepens now.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a time of

Yesterday’s Solution

good fortune. Good surprises are plentiful. Situations are almost perfect and it is easy to see which path is the one to take. The challenge comes when you work to keep your concentration strong. Continual discovery, persistent search and persistent change and transformation keeps you on the move and growing. You are able to penetrate and get to the very heart of things. Research into when, what and where you really want to make your changes may be beneficial. A break from work, perhaps out-ofdoors, may be worth telling about later today. A one-on-one with a bird or some other animal makes life more appealing. You may enjoy a good movie or book or feel like escaping from day-to-day realities for a while.

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Kuwait Qatar Abu Dhabi Dubai Raas Al Khayma Al-Shareqa Muscat Jordan Bahrain Riyadh Makkah - Jeddah Cairo Alexandria Beirut Damascus Allepo Tunisia Rabat

00965 00974 009712 009714 009717 009716 00968 009626 00973 009661 009662 00202 00203 009611 0096311 0096321 0021610 002127

Washington New York Paris London Madrid Zurich Geneva Monaco Rome Bangkok Hong Kong Pakistan Taiwan Bonn New Delhi Mumbai Madras Hyderabad

001212 001718 00331 004471 00341 00411 004122 0033 00396 00662 00852 0092 00886 0049228 009111 009122 009144 009140

Word Sleuth Solution

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You are interested in helping others today. Teaching or helping others to be more original when it comes to the words or thoughts is a good thing. Your eye-hand coordination is excellent and your laserlike mind makes conversations fast-paced and illuminating. You can be very funny in your conversations today. There are many practical ideas available to you, especially related to your job or skills. You are always coming up with new ideas to manage things better and make things work. You have a strong concern for life, equality, gentleness and acceptance. You love community projects and group work of any kind and may find yourself in meetings this evening with discussions that concern the beautification of your neighborhood. Aim High!

INFORMATION

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

35 FIRE BRIGADE Operation Room 112 Al-Madena 22418714 Al-Shohada始a 22545171 Al-Shuwaikh 24810598 Al-Nuzha 22545171 Sabhan 24742838 Al-Helaly 22434853 Al-Fayhaa 22545051 Al-Farwaniya 24711433 Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983 Al-Fahaheel 23927002 Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983 Ahmadi 23980088 Al-Mangaf 23711183 Al-Shuaiba 23262845 Al-Jahra 25610011 Al-Salmiya 25616368

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 HOSPITALS Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha始a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

24874330/9 CLINICS

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

4892674

Al-Omariya

4719048

N.Kheitan

4710044

Rabiya

4732263

Fintas

3900322

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 AIRLINES

PHARMACIES ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE Ahmadi

PHARMACY Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

ADDRESS Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

PHONE 23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554

EMERGENCY 112

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists: Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea Dr. Masoma Habeeb Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy Dr. Mohsen Abel Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly

25622444 25752222 25321171 25739999 25757700 25732223 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT): Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners: Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists: Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Plastic Surgeons: Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari Dr. Abdel Quttainah

22617700 25625030/60

Family Doctor: Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.

Zahra Qabazard Sohail Qamar Snaa Maaroof Pradip Gujare Zacharias Mathew

25710444 22621099 25713514 23713100 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047 Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0 Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe 23729596/23729581 Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321 Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539 Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406 Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272 Dr. Salem soso 22618787 General Surgeons: Dr. Abidallah Behbahani 25717111 Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Paediatricians: Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

(2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535 Dentists:

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists:

Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 25339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555 Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939 Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300 Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004 Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515 Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446 Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291 Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari

25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr

25329924

Psychologists/Psychotherapists Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688 info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677 William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kuwait Airways Wataniya Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines

22433377 24379900 177 22477631 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/2433141 22456700 22412284/5 22453820/1

INTERNATIONAL CALLS 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)

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

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 Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia

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 00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389

36

SPECTRUM

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Bullock says Johansson is a

Gemma Arterton

‘great kisser’

has got

he 45-year-old actress locked lips with 25-year-old Scarlett at the MTV Movie Awards when she presented her with the Generation Award at the event on Sunday , and Sandra praised her for her skills after. Referring to her ‘The Proposal’ co-star Ryan Reynolds - also Scarlett’s husband - Sandra said: “Ryan is right, Scarlett is a great kisser.” Scarlett also returned the favor, indicating she should have won the prize for Best Kiss - which went to Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ - at the MTV Awards ceremony. According to UsMagazine.com, she said: “I thought you should have won... it was a great kiss.” Sandra has made few public appearances since revelations of her husband Jesse James’ affair with tattoo model Michelle ‘Bombshell’ McGee, but shot down any suggestions she would quit acting because of the affair. She said: “No matter what you might have seen or heard or read lately, I love what I do. And I’m not going anywhere.”

T

married he former Bond girl tied the knot with fiance Stefano Catelli in a private ceremony in the Spanish village of Zuheros on Sunday, which was attended by only close friends and family. The 24-year-old actress looked stunning in a strapless cream gown and her brunette locks were pinned up with a long veil attached. The newlyweds were then driven away from the hill-top venue in a vintage open-topped car and taken to a nearby venue for their reception. Villager Helen Hartstein said: “I spoke to Stefano’s auntie and she said how proud she was. Gemma looked stunning, so beautiful and quite shy.” The couple got engaged last year after Italian sales manager Stefano proposed at the Download music festival in the UK. Gemma has previously spoken about her love for the Italian sales manager - who she has refused to name in public - saying she knew he was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with as soon as they met. She said: “It was

T

Katy Perry’s censored TV aty Perry was banned from watching ‘The Smurfs’ when she was a child, as her mum thought the Smurfette character was “sl***y”. Katy Perry’s parents used to censor her television viewing. The ‘I Kissed a Girl’ singer who is engaged to British comedian Russell Brand - revealed she is excited about playing Smurfette in the upcoming live action remake of the popular television cartoon the ‘Smurfs’ because she was banned from watching it when she was younger. She explained: “I’m going to be Smurfette; I’m so excited! I’ve never seen an episode, because my parents wouldn’t let me. “My mother thought that Smurfette was a little bit sl***y, being the only female in the village. And now I’ve shown her: I called her up and said, ‘Guess what, ma? I’m Smurfette.” Katy admitted it wasn’t the first time her career choices have shocked her pastor parents Mary and Keith Hudson. She added to MTV news: “It was just like one of those days, ‘Guess what, mom? I kissed a girl!’ ‘Guess what, mom?

I’m going to be naked in a music video!’ “ However, those who were looking forward to seeing the singer’s acting skills in Russell’s latest movie ‘Get Him to the Greek’ may be a little disappointed, as the British comic claims her cameo was scrapped because her performance was “atrocious”. He said: “Her acting was so atrocious that it ruined the film. It ruined it.

It just made the film boring and rubbish.”

K

L

T

my Winehouse’s boyfriend has dumped his other lover. The ‘Rehab’ singer reportedly issued an ultimatum to Reg Traviss after she learned he was also dating burlesque performer Raven Isis Holt, prompting the film director to end his two-year relationship with the performer. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Reg got into trouble last week because he hasn’t told Amy about Raven. “Amy went out on the town and Reg was only up the road dining with her. “When Amy found out she challenged him - and Reg decided to stick with her.” Last week, Raven, 25, insisted Reg - who met Amy at his parents’ pub in central London a few weeks ago - would never dump her for the 26-year-old singer. She said: “Amy can’t steal my man. He’s told me they are just friends and I believe him. There’s no way he’d leave me for Amy.” Amy - who ended her reconciled relationship with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil after meeting Reg - has had her new romance approved by her father Mitch Winehouse, who has previously been outspoken about her personal life. He said: “I’m happy she’s got a new boyfriend.

I’m happy that she’s moving on with her life.”

A

ady Gaga has won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Awards in San Francisco, beating friend Adam Lambert. Lady Gaga has won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Awards. The singer, who caused a stir with a lesbian kiss in her controversial ‘Telephone’ video, was honored at the 21st Awards show on Saturday night bothfor her music and for promoting equality and increasing the visibility of the LGBT community.

Gaga beat her friend ‘American Idol’s Adam Lambert, as well as Brandi Carlile, The Gossip and Otep, in what was the final installment on the GLAAD Awards in San Francisco after two ceremonies earlier in the year were held at New York and Los Angeles. Other big winners included Lee Daniels, the gay director of ‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’

by Sapphire’, who revealed that he had overcome huge issues with his sexuality since his youth. He said: “I come from a world where I was beaten daily by my dad because of my gayness. “I had bullies and I wanted to kill myself.” Cybill Shepherd won the Golden Gate Award for her portrayal of lesbian Phyllis Kroll in ‘The L Word’, accepting the accolade from her two daughters. She said: “We stand on the shoulders of our elders and I want to thank everyone who’s worked so hard to make this possible.

“I’m very humbled and I don’t know that I could be more dedicated to this cause, but I could never thank you enough, GLAAD, for your education of me.” Also in attendance were country singer Chely Wright, and Australian dance singer Sam Sparro who performed.

he ‘Lost’ actor - who has a 14month-old daughter, Java, with his wife Yessica Kumala - loves looking at beautiful women in skimpy underwear but admits his biggest turnoff is oversized underwear and baggy clothing. He said: “The hottest thing is lingerie. The least sexy outfit is baggy sweat pants and a large T-shirt. And granny panties!” The 40-year-old hunk is also scared off by women who fill their bedroom with stuffed toys and wedding magazines. He said in an interview in the June issue of Women’s Health magazine: “One stuffed animal is fine, but if there are a lot, that’s scary. Another warning sign is when a woman has too many pictures of herself around. And the worst: baby and bridal magazines!” Although he is clear about what traits put him off a woman, Josh also knows what he likes and he adores women who are cute, pretty and hot.

He added: “It’s nice if a woman has a bit of each. Cute is the fun part you play around with every day. Pretty is nice to look at. And hot is sex.” However, Josh hasn’t always been the ideal boyfriend and was once smashed over the head with a picture frame as a teenager when his girlfriend found out he had cheated on her. He said: “I had a girlfriend, but I agreed to go to another girl’s prom at a different school. My girlfriend busted me and broke a picture frame over my head. I believe it was a montage of photos of us. I didn’t need stitches though. It was a nice, clean smash.”

Winehouseʼs committed boyfriend

Holloway hates ‘granny panties’

absolutely instant. I remember going home the night after I met him and writing in my diary that I’d met the man I’m going to marry. “I gave that diary entry to him for his birthday two weeks later. But it didn’t freak him out, because he was thinking the same thing. I just really want to spend the rest of my life with him. He’s an amazing man.”

Lady Gaga’s GLAAD honor

GLAAD Award winners: Outstanding Music Artist ................................. Lady Gaga Golden Gate Award .......................................... Cybill Shepherd Davidson/Valentini Award ............................... Lee Daniels Outstanding Documentary ............................. ‘Ask Not’ Outstanding Digital Journalism.......................‘The Stonewall Riots: 40 Years Later’ San Francisco Local Hero Award .................... Robert Hanson

SPECTRUM

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

37

Music & Movies

Senegal uses star power to tackle malaria with song contest fisherman, a hairdresser and a radio DJ seated in a swish villa in Dakar have one thing in common: the desire to win Senegal’s hottest music competition while boosting awareness about malaria. Several people sit strumming guitars while a television blares in the background on the top floor of a house where the final contestants in an AmericanIdol like song contest have been living for the past week. While star power is certainly up for grabs in the finals Wednesday night, the search for Senegal’s next big artist is all about teaching people how to stave off the mosquito-borne disease which kills a million people annually.

The contest is linked to the star-studded name of Youssou Ndour, often dubbed Africa’s most famous singer. He recently recorded a malaria anthem with other well-known local artists.

His brother and producer Bouba Ndour sees it this way: “If I could sell every line of every Youssou Ndour song in every village in Senegal - I can sell the malaria message.”

From some 1,000 demo tapes sent in by contestant hopefuls, numbers have been whittled down to nine finalists in concerts held around the country.

Contestants also had to write tests on malaria knowledge and spend time with healthworkers in villages to proceed to the next round. Among the finalists is Jack Diabone, 28-year-old radio DJ from Tambacounda in eastern Senegal who himself had malaria just a few weeks ago but “luckily I caught it early.”

“I said to myself, why not take part and use my voice to transmit the message.” Ibrahima Diouf, 33, from Kaolack, east of the capital says he gets great satisfaction from taking his knowledge back to his village. “I learned new things about malaria I didn’t know.”

According to New York-based NGO Malaria No More which

A

works in Senegal, an African child dies every 30 seconds from the disease which is easily preventable and treatable.

Annual economic loss in Africa due to malaria is estimated to be 12 billion US dollars. Ndour’s malaria anthem tells the story of a young man who gets malaria and misses out on life, and how he should have used a mosquito net.

Appealing to local culture is one tactic to reach global malaria targets to have all Africans covered with prevention and treatment tools by the end of this year, and eliminate malaria mortality by 2015.

“We are taking the power of comedy and music and culture to tell the story of malaria control,” Malaria No More managing director Kate Campana told AFP. A popular Senegalese comedian dresses up like a mosquito in one of Ndour’s music videos and its hugely popular traditional wrestlers, whose matches draw tens of thousands, have all signed up to spread the message.

For Bouba Ndour big names are the “only way to attract the public.” “We made sure while the people were there (at the concerts) that the right message is delivered and while they went to a great concert ... they were really prepared to face malaria and change behavior.” Screened on television and ending with a bang on Wednesday night, the show is like American Idol, but with a humanitarian twist.

Bouba - who is also president of the judging panel - says of the contestants: “It’s two extremities. To be honest you will see an artist sing and you will almost laugh. Some of it was terrible you have to admit it, and some of it was very good.”

The winner gets to perform to a 20,000-strong crowd in Bercy, Paris with Youssou Ndour in coming weeks as well as an album.

While the winner will be a malaria ambassador, so will those contestants heading back to their villages.—AFP

(From left) Ralph Macchio, star of the original ‘The Karate Kid,’ poses with, from left, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, producers of a remake of the film, and the Smiths’ son Jaden and Jackie Chan, co-stars of the new film, at the premiere in Los Angeles, Monday.—AP

Alanis Morissette Demi Moore set to publish memoir in 2012 marries rapper boyfriend H C ollywood actress Demi Moore is all set to go public in a memoir with details of her three marriages and showbusiness career spanning three decades. HarperCollins said on Monday that it had bought world rights to a memoir by the actress that will cover her life and career. The book, as yet unnamed, is scheduled for release in 2012.

Business news website Crain’s New York.com quoted unidentified publishing industry executives with knowledge of the deal saying HarperCollins had agreed to pay more than $2 million for the book. HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis declined to comment on the reported price tag.

Moore, 47, has starred in a list of movies including “Ghost,” “Indecent Proposal,” and “A Few

Good Men,” as well as some widely-panned films such as “Striptease” and “G.I. Jane.” The actress has in the past acknowledged a troubled upbringing and difficult relationship with her alcoholic mother, Virginia King, who died from a brain tumor in 1998.

Moore was once one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and in 1991 controversially appeared naked and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. Moore was married to singer-songwriter Freddy Moore for five years from whom she took her surname before marrying actor Bruce Willis in 1987, a marriage that lasted 13 years and resulted in three daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. She married actor Ashton Kutcher, 32, in 2005.— Reuters

Sheen to plead guilty to misdemeanor

By P Solomon Banda harlie Sheen could work at a Colorado theater company by day and spend his nights in jail under a deal reached with prosecutors that calls for the actor to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in his domestic abuse case, an attorney said Monday. In exchange, prosecutors would drop criminal mischief and felony menacing charges stemming from an argument Sheen had with his wife on Christmas Day at an Aspen home where they were on vacation, said Yale Galanter, an attorney for Brooke Mueller Sheen.

The deal calls for Sheen to serve a 30-day sentence and three months’ probation, the lawyer said. A judge must still approve the agreement. A hearing set for Monday was continued until July 12. Attorneys planned to meet yesterday in Aspen to discuss the case, Galanter said. Sheen was at the courthouse with his lawyer Richard Cummins, but neither offered any comments after the proceedings.

Lawyers met privately at the courthouse, with prosecutors asking a judge for more time to work out the deal. Pitkin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin didn’t provide further details. “We’re going to need more time than available to complete the finer points,” he said. After the meeting, Galanter refused to say what had caused the delay but noted the work-release proposal wasn’t a glitch. “We were all extremely frustrated,” Galanter said outside the courthouse. “Right now, we’re really back at square one.”

C

Charlie Sheen, right, with attorney Yale Galanter arrives at the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen.—AP

He wouldn’t elaborate.

Galanter said Brooke Mueller Sheen remained supportive of her husband. Prosecutors confirmed last week that Sheen had reached a plea agreement but released no details. Sheen, the star of the hit CBS TV comedy show “Two and a Half Men,” previously pleaded not guilty to menacing, criminal mischief and assault charges. The menacing charge carries a prison sentence of up to three years. During the jail term, Galanter said, Sheen would be released during the day so he can work at Theatre Aspen. He could leave the jail for work at 8 a.m. and would have to return by 8 pm.

Paige Price, the theater’s artistic director, said Sheen had agreed to work for free. His duties would include teaching a class for professional actors and possible fundraising for the nonprofit. “We think it is community service in that it is a nonprofit,” Price said.

Brooke Mueller Sheen approved the deal, Galanter said. She previously asked prosecutors to drop the charges against Sheen, but they refused, according to the lawyer. He said prosecutors had offered a deferred sentence, whereby Sheen would plead guilty to a felony and charges would be dropped after two years, which is similar to the way other cases are resolved in Colorado.

Sheen has taken anger management classes and will present evidence showing he has completed a 36hour course, Galanter said. “They’re both adults, and they have two beautiful babies together. I know they’re working on it. I can tell you that no matter what hap-

pens, Charlie and Brooke will always be good friends,” he said. On Christmas Day, Brooke Mueller Sheen told police the actor had threatened to kill her after she told him she wanted a divorce. She said he straddled her on a bed with one hand on her neck and the other holding a knife. Charlie Sheen told police he and his wife had argued but denied threatening her. He told officers they slapped each other on the arms and that he had snapped two pairs of her eyeglasses in front of her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Sheen told police he was upset by the divorce threat. He went through a bitter divorce and custody battle with his previous wife Denise Richards. Within a week of his arrest, Sheen and his current wife both said they wanted to reconcile. In February, they hugged in an Aspen courtroom after a judge modified a restraining order that had kept them from contacting each other.

Since the incident, both have completed alcohol rehab programs, and Galanter has said they’ve been sober for months. It’s not the first run in with the law for Sheen, the star of films such as “Platoon,” “Wall Street” and “Hot Shots!” who agreed last month to return to “Two and a Half Men” for two more seasons. In December 1996, he was charged with attacking a girlfriend at his Southern California home. He later pleaded no contest and was placed on two years’ probation. In 1998, his father turned him in for violating his parole after a cocaine overdose sent him to the hospital. He was ordered to undergo a rehabilitation program.—AP

Last British survivor of WWII ‘Great Escape’ dies

By Yuri Kageyama

Briton believed to be the last survivor of the World War II German prison breakout immortalized in the film “The Great Escape” has died aged 97, his family said yesterday. Former Royal Air Force pilot Jack Harrison was among scores of Allied servicemen who tried to break out of the infamous Stalag Luft III prisoner of war (PoW) camp near Germany’s border with Poland.

Their efforts were portrayed on the silver screen in the blockbuster 1963 film starring US actors Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Garner, and Britain’s Richard Attenborough. Some 200 prisoners tried to escape on the night of March 24, 1944, through a tunnel codenamed Harry, after two other passages, called Tom and Dick, were discovered by German guards. Harrison was waiting his turn-number 98 on the escape list-when the breakout was noticed. He had to frantically burn his forged identity card and change back into prisoner uniform.

A total of 76 prisoners escaped, but only three reached safety. Fifty of those recaptured were shot.

After the war Harrison returned to Scotland and resumed his career as a teacher. He spent his final days in a veterans’ home in Bishopton, near Glasgow, and died last Friday, his children said.

“To others he was considered a war hero, but to us he was much more than that,” his son and daughter Chris and Jane said in a statement. “He was a family man first and foremost as well as a church elder... scholar, traveler and athlete. He took up marathon running in his 70s to raise money for charity. “He was a caring father and grandfather and he will be missed by the whole family,” they added. — AFP

ifty-five journalists, academics and film directors in Japan condemned intimidation and threats that led movie theaters to cancel screenings of “The Cove,” a documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese village. Three movie theaters that had been scheduled to show the film later this month canceled their plans last week after receiving a flood of angry phone calls and warnings of protests by nationalists, who have been screaming slogans outside the Tokyo office of the Japanese distributor in recent months.

Protesters criticize the film as a betrayal of Japanese pride. The American movie, this year’s winner of the Academy Award for best documentary, features undercover footage of the dolphin hunt in a Japanese village and documents efforts by Ric O’Barry, a former trainer for the “Flipper” TV series, to stop the slaughter of dolphins for food.

Distributor Unplugged said it was negotiating with dozens of theaters throughout Japan, but no showing has been scheduled so far. The film was shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October, but has not yet opened to the Japanese public.

Movie director Hirokazu Koreeda, journalist Soichiro Tahara and feinist Chizuko Uneo were among the 55 public personalities who signed a protest letter in which they said they were alarmed by the intimidation tactics used to pressure theaters to cancel the planned screenings. “This is a film that has been widely shown abroad. If the work, which is about Japan, cannot be shown in Japan, it only underlines the weakness of the freedom of speech in Japan,” they said in the statement sent to media and Unplugged on Monday.

They said that opinion may be divided on the film, but that meant it should be shown to a wide audience to encourage debate. Most Japanese have never eaten dolphin meat. But some believe killing dolphins and whales is part of tradition-

anadian-born rock singer Alanis Morissette has secretly married her boyfriend, a rapper she started dating last year, she announced on Monday. The Grammy-winning musician and MC Souleye, 30, (a.k.a. Mario Treadway) tied the knot during a small ceremony at their Los Angeles home on May 22, according to People magazine.

Morissette, who turned 36 last week, did not disclose details when she took to Twitter and Facebook to share the news. “Hi guys!

So happy to share with you that my man Souleye and I got married,” she wrote.

“We’re very excited to embark on this journey with each other.” Morissette, best known for her 1995 tirade against a former boyfriend, “You Oughta Know,” was previously engaged to actor Ryan Reynolds but the relationship ended in 2007. — Reuters

Alanis Morissette

By Fran Blandy

Japanese pundits protest dolphin film cancellation

A

F

Performer Lewis West is stood on by a fellow cast member during a sequence called Red Shoes during a dress rehearsal for their show ‘Circa’ yesterday, at the Sydney Opera House. The show mixes elements of a circus with contemporary dance.—AP

al culinary culture and resent the interference of outsiders focused on species protection. “The work intentionally distorts Japanese people’s food culture, and showing this will hurt many people’s feelings,” one of the protesting nationalist groups, Shuken Kaifuku wo Mezasu Kai, said in a recent statement.

“It’s true Japanese may not feel happy about the way they are depicted in this film,” Tahara said earlier this week in an interview broadcast on the Internet. “But blocking it is not right.” O’Barry blamed “a small minority of extremists” for the theater cancellations. “The Japanese people have a right to see it if they want to,” he said. — AP

In this April 9, 2010 file photo, one of right-wingers scuffles with police officers during their demonstration outside the office of Unplugged Inc, a Japanese distributor of the Academy-award winning film ‘The Cove’ in Tokyo, Japan.—AP

SPECTRUM

38

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Fashion

Lucite bangle bracelets.

— MCT photos

Lucite necklace

whose Lucite pieces are sold at stores including Anthropologie. “It can be worn in the winter on black and in the summer on white. I just love mixing it with baroque pearls and chains.

The beauty is you can wear a lot of it and not look overdone.”

So how did the pretty plastic take over the jewelry world?

Known scientifically as polymethyl methacrylate, the synthetic polymer was developed in the late 1920s and marketed by Rohm & Haas in 1933 as Plexiglas; around the same time DuPont developed a similar product that it named Lucite, which became the more popular name in the 1950s. (Since then, it’s been sold under many trade names including Polycast and Oroglass, but people often refer to any clear plastic as Lucite.) The clear polymer made for a wonderful ingredient in car hood ornaments and was also used in furniture and china.

But it is Lucite’s appearance and durability that make it perfect in the jewelry world. After designers such as Cartier started mixing glass with diamonds in the 1920s for particularly rich-looking brooches and chains, artists picked up on Lucite, and its opaque cousin Bakelite, because it had the same effect but was shatterproof, Lane said. Actress and fashion icon Gloria Swanson used to wear “those stretch Cartier bracelets, and I did a version that was much bigger and used Lucite,” he said of the early-1960s pieces that helped start his career.

Then Lucite and Bakelite became part of

By Elizabeth Wellington rom Prada heels to Chanel bags, it’s time to welcome Lucite back as a see-through sensation. Whether you go designer or costume, the transparent accessories are clearly the statement pieces of the season. There’s John Wind, chief executive officer of Aston, Pa.-based Maximal Art, who says he is “obsessed” with it. For spring, he fashioned the clear resin into ropes of flowers and butterflies on bold chain-link necklaces. RJ Graziano, of Home Shopping Network fame, tinted his pearl-shaped earrings with soft blues and peach for a lovely icy effect. And then there’s Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Alexis Bittar, jewelry’s modern-day Lucite king. His elegantly carved bangles are available in pastels as well as primary shades.

I’m not immune to the Lucite love, having recently purchased a ring courtesy of Robert Rose. But the ultimate stamp of approval comes from our best girlfriends: Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha, who will be wearing the clear jewels-as well as clothes by Prada, Venexiana, and of course, Oscar de la Renta-in “Sex and the City 2.”. Lucite bangles and long necklaces will be effortlessly mixed into the girls’ wardrobes, and I have it on good authority that Kim Cattrall will be wearing Lucite by New York-based jewelry designer Kenneth J. Lane in her appearances promoting the movie. “It can be worn with anything, with any color, and any time of year,” said Lane,

F

By Jean Patteson ou’ve seen the Sex and the City 2 movie, which debuted Thursday. Now you want to know all about the fashions, the designers, the stylists and the stars.

The go-to source is a companion book, Sex and the City 2: The Stories. The Fashion. The Adventure. For fashionistas, the best part is the beautifully-illustrated section that provides every last detail about the clothes, shoes and accessories worn by Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), along with commentary by the star. There’s also plenty about the wardrobes of Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.

Y

Shorts that flatter pear-shaped figures Question: I lead an active, outdoors lifestyle and like to wear shorts

From top left clock wise, Lucite heel, Lucite bangle bracelets and Lucite necklace.

when the weather is hot _ which is most of the time in Florida. I am taller than average and quite slim, but I have relatively wide hips and heavy thighs, so I look chunky in shorts. What style will best flatter my pear-shaped figure?

Answer: First, avoid styles that emphasize your bottom-heavy shape or draw attention to your thighs.

That would include mid-thigh-length shorts, and designs with full pleats, wide leg openings and cargo styling with “saddlebag” side pockets and cuffed or rolled hems.

Instead, go with longer, flat-front shorts with straight or tapered legs in a sturdy fabric. In other words, think structured and tailored, not loose and baggy.

Your choice of color can also help.

Select neutral shades that don’t contrast too starkly with the color of your legs, rather than high-contrast

colors such as white with dark legs, or black with pale legs.

And finally, to make your legs appear a little longer, and therefore slimmer, team your shorts with sandals or shoes with a small heel in a shade close to your own skin tone.

Question: I am a middle-aged woman who needs jeans with a tummy-control panel and a no-gap waistband in the back. I have seen several brands like this in the stores, but they all cost close to $100 or more.

My budget will stretch to $30 for jeans, but no further. Am I dreaming?

Answer: Some dreams do come true. The Riders line of jeans from Lee are custom-made for you _ and your budget. They come with a tummy-control panel, a no-gap waistband (at or near the natural waistline), and in a variety of cuts, including relaxed fit, straight leg and boot-cut.

Available at Walmart, most styles are priced under $20.

Lost & found Lost: Does anyone make pretty wireless bras? I am a size 38-C and break out in hives if I wear a wired bra. I am tired of plain old beige, white and black. How about some prints, florals and lace?

Ida is looking for Max Factor Pan Stik.

Found: Good news for Thelma, who is looking for mastectomy bras.

Several readers suggest she visit the Eden Spa at Florida Hospital/Orlando, which carries mastectomy bras and breast forms, as well as lingerie, sleepwear, some casual clothing, wigs and headgear.

The staff is trained to fit the bras. For an appointment, call 407-303-9727.

The hospital is at 601 E Rollins St, Orlando. Other readers recommend Binson’s Home Health Care Centers or online stores such as tlcdirect.org and amazon.com. Norma can order Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin Lotion by Eucerin at eucerinus.com or 1-800-227-4703. Chelsee can purchase Olivia + Joy handbags at Macy’s. Rose should be able to find her favorite Scherer lipstick shades at Walmart. And Mary Ellen can order Arrid XX Roll-on Deodorant at arrid.com. Jean Patteson welcomes your questions. Mail: Orlando Sentinel, MP-218, P.O. Box 2833, Orlando, FL 32802. Phone: 407-4205158. E-mail: jpatteson@orlandosentinel.com.—MCT

By Gersende Rambourg lamboyant couturier Jean-Paul Gaultier is leaving Hermes to be replaced by Lacoste’s in-house stylist, Britain’s Giles Deacon is to join Ungaro-in times of crisis, fashion looks to safe designers and wearable garb. “These men are stylists who believe fashion must do more than shine, it must have meaning, and this is a direct consequence of the (global financial) crisis,” Jean-Jacques Picart, a consultant who works with the world’s top luxury goods firm, LVMH, told AFP. “They don’t even like being called creators, they describe themselves as designers,” he said of Deacon and Lacoste’s Christophe Lemaire.

“Egos, over-the-top styles, unwearable stuffit’s all become unfashionable.” Seeing designers play musical chairs from one house to another is common enough in the world of high-end wear.

But with contracts often inked in for short two- to three-year periods, the risk factor in fashion transfers is far higher than in the sports world.

Gaultier’s departure as artistic director of the luxury ready-to-wear brand Hermes was announced last week. “That’s it, the end of a beautiful story which lasted seven years,” he told AFP. His last

F

By Dominique Ageorges uying diamond watches or designer labels on the Internet might seem anathema for those able to jet across the world for a shopping spree, yet luxury firms are slowly but surely investing in e-trade. Two highend French labels, Lacoste and Mauboussin, have just opened Internet boutiques while British luxury Internet site net-a-porter has been bought out by luxury Swiss group, Richemont, owners notably of Cartier and Chloe. The luxury sector long thumbed its nose at the virtual world on grounds that “surfing on the Internet was far removed from the experience of a brush with luxury,” said Joelle de Montgolfier, head of the Europe luxury sector for consultants Bain & Company.

A telling example is Louis Vuitton, part of leading luxury group LVMH. It

B

Hermes collection, spring-summer 2011, will be presented in October this year.

The month of May is ideal for such announcements, said luxury consultant Donald Potard.

“With the next season’s collection already on the drawing board, the upset is minimized.” But while footballers are instantly operational, a new designer needs to soak up the history, style and substance of a house before producing an entire collection that meets the standards and look of the label.

“Or that signals a complete break with the past,” said Olivier Saillard, the new head of Paris’ Galliera fashion museum. Saillard said the designer merry-go-round started in the 1960s but hotted up in recent years, with some couturiers spending too little time at one house. Gaultier’s seven-year stay at Hermes, where he headed womenswear, was a reasonable length, enabling the designer to imprint a style.

Other houses such as Ungaro, more recently, had changed designers each season at a “hysterical, almost comical” pace, he said. “It’s a sign the house is in bad shape. “There’s no set recipe but a good transfer is often one that’s been thought through and that’s announced without fanfare,” he added.

opened a site as early as 1999 but launched sales only in 2005. Paris luxury house Hermes this week estimated its Internet sales at five percent of its total. In a sector where exclusivity touches as well on distribution and price control, the cultural revolution has been slow in coming. In 2009, worldwide luxury sales on the Internet totaled 3.5 billion euros, a fraction of total sales amounting to 153 billion euros, Bain & Company said. But while the share of sales on the Internet remains tiny “it rises 35 percent each year, including in times of economic crisis,” De Montgolfier told AFP. Consultants Precepta believe Internet sales in the luxury sector could double to seven billion euros in 2011. Luxury web boutiques offer identical packaging to boutiques and ensure shipments are controlled. “Not being present on the Internet amounts to losing sales in real stores,” said Eric

fashion’s big-bigger-and-biggest bauble obsession of the 1970s, when use of costume jewelry was at its height. The 1980s became more about the real thing _ the precursor to early’90s minimalism and then early-millennium bling.

Bittar, who started selling hand-carved Lucite on the streets of New York in the early ‘90s, gave the transparent accessory its modern comeback. Once he started selling to Barneys, the collection grew as fashionistas and fashion directors noticed how the pieces added oomph to their magazine spreads.

“It was a slow movement,” said Liz Scarlett of Scarlett Alley in Old City, which has been carrying Bittar’s work since the 1990s. “It’s retro-modern.” But it wasn’t until two years ago, Scarlett said, that she noticed an increase in Lucite sales as other designers started easing the polymer back into collections. Michael Kors showed an oversize beaded necklace for his spring 2010 collection in February. And RJ Graziano’s icy Lucite grouping does well on HSN. Philadelphia’s own Gary Rose, chief executive officer of Robert Rose, worked with department stores this year to develop a private-label clear-jewelry collection. Now Macy’s is marketing it as its Lucite collection, part of the store’s must-have looks for spring. “I think it’s a great palate cleanser,” Rose said. “It mixes well with chains and metals, and it’s the perfect accessory for a strong pastel color story.”— MCT

He noted in example the discreet arrival at Balenciaga in 1997 of Nicolas Ghesquiere, who since “has become one of the most influential creators on the scene,” or of Alber Elbaz, the celebrated American-Israeli designer, at Lanvin in 2001. “A designer matures within the comfort of a house but it takes more than just one season,” even when the bankers are insisting on a quick fix, Saillard said.

Too many designer musical chairs turn stylists into stars, “diminishing the humility factor” in a job where experience counts, he added, noting the long and discreet 20-year term spent designing Hermes’ lucrative men’s lines by Veronique Nichanian. Picart said a new house designer should never be judged before their third collection. “The designer’s first collection indicates his desires, the second enables him to make corrections and the third is a confirmation.”

Both Gaultier’s replacement at Hermes, Christophe Lemaire, 45, and Briton Giles Deacon, 40, who was appointed to Ungaro in May, “are less excessive, less concerned by appearances, less futile than some of their predecessors,” he added. “They’re a new generation of fashion designers,” Picart said. “They have a new attitude that’s a result of the crisis.”— AFP

Bascle, who heads strategy and development for Devanlay, the textile arm of Lacoste, which has just opened its first web-shop in France. “In the sector of premium labels, one out of two customers who buys in a boutique has consulted the web beforehand for the same product,” he told AFP. Lacoste, which hopes by 2014 to generate 100 million euros in turnover via web sales, is also banking the move will rejuvenate its image. French jewelers Mauboussin, who have just launched e-trade in France, expects to see Internet sales of six to eight million euros, “equivalent to a Paris boutique.”

In the jewelry sector, Boucheron, part of the Gucci Group owned by PPR, were the first to open an Internet boutique in 2007. As for Italy’s Gucci, its web turnover “increased 50 percent in 2009 worldwide,” a spokeswoman said.

In the United States, where e-trade has taken on, “it allows us to serve

customers in smaller towns where labels are not present,” said Gucci Group. Faced with the boom in e-trading and the change in customer habits, the luxury sector has had to give in and follow suit to avoid subsidiary sites grabbing a slice of the pie, such as multibrand stores like Neimann Marcus or specialized Internet boutiques such as net-a-porter. But many high-end brands, such as Louis Vuitton or Hermes, only offer a selection of their goods.

Jewelry firms such as De Beers in the United States, a joint-venture of De Beers-LVMH, or Tiffany for example choose to offer engagement rings on the net rather than more expensive sets. “There’s no hurry”, said Philippe Pascal, who heads LVMH’s watch and jewelry division. “After sales service has to be perfect to ensure customers are entirely happy with a purchase.”— AFP

39

SPECTRUM

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Fashion

By Samantha Critchell

M

arc Jacobs took home the big prize as the top talent in womenswear at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, but the big moment on stage at Lincoln Center was Sarah Jessica Parker’s tribute to the late Alexander McQueen. McQueen committed suicide earlier this year. On Monday night, Parker told a celebrity-studded crowd that included Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Biel and Rachel Weisz that it was with “honor and great regret” that she was there to mark the contribution and creativity the designer gave to his industry. “I would have loved to see what he would do next,” she said.

Parker wore a purple-and-pink print gown from the pre-fall collection that she said was handselected for her by the house’s new designer-and former McQueen assistant-Sarah Burton. After her remarks, a parade of somber models presented McQueen’s final fashion collection for the upcoming fall season, which was rooted in several heavily embroidered, dramatic styles topped by feather-mohawk headpieces. The audience reserved its one standing ovation of the evening, however, for Michael Kors, who received a lifetime achievement award from Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Wintour, a friend of Kors for almost three decades, recalled several funny stories about the judge on the cable TV reality show “Project Runway” who is known in fashion circles for his sunny disposition.

The best one: On a vacation to Jamaica that had been mostly mired in rain, Kors headed straight for the ocean for a quick dip when the skies cleared. He ended up bobbing for hours in the water, though, because he realized-after it was too late-that Ralph Lauren was directly on the beach in front of him and Kors didn’t want to be seen in his swimsuit.

Wintour also shared the tidbit that Kors is an aspiring Broadway producer.

Kors, who had brought Paltrow-who wore a oneshoulder, black beaded gown-as his date, said he was “blown away” when the CFDA called to tell him of his award: “I thought to myself, ‘I’m just a kid. How did this happen?”‘ The CFDA devotes a good chunk of its annual awards, considered the top honors in American fashion, to its young, emerging talent.

Winners of the Swarovski awards were Jason Wu, who designed Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown, in the womenswear category, Richard Chai for menswear and Alexander Wang for accessories.

Wu arrived on the red carpet with Weisz, who wore one of his designs-a purple dress with photostyle floral print. “Now that I’ve taken her here, maybe she’ll take me to the Oscars,” Wu said.

Jacobs is known as the US leader in fashion trends, but he had a four-year losing streak going into the night and hadn’t won the womenswear award since 1997. (He did win for accessory design in 1998, 2003 and 2005, for menswear in 2002, and the international award for his work at Louis Vuitton last year.)

Model-turned-cosmetics mogul Iman received the fashion-icon award, presented to her by longtime friend Isabella Rossellini. Wearing a custom-made, black strapless Giambattista Valli, Iman joked that now she could tell her rock star husband David Bowie, “Move over, you’re not the only icon in the house.” Other winners: • David Neville & Marcus Wainwright of Rag & Bone for menswear • Jeweler Alexis Bittar for accessories.

• Christopher Bailey for Burberry for the international award.• Tonne Goodman, Vogue fashion director for visuals.

• Kim Hastreiter, editor and publisher of Paper magazine for fashion journalism.

• Ralph Lauren for the popular vote award, chosen by the public in an online poll.

Actress Dakota Fanning

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker attends the 2010 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Monday, June 7, 2010. — AP photos

Actress Emilie de Ravin

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and designer Michael Kors

Model Iman

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow

Actress Emilie de Ravin

Actress Rachel Weisz

Actress Jessica Biel

Actress Rachel Weisz and designer Jason Wu

www.kuwaittimes.net

Diana?s racy black dress to be auctioned

A

racy black gown worn by Lady Diana Spencer on one of her first official engagements is up for sale in London. The strapless silk taffeta dress, by designers Elizabeth and David Emanuelwho also designed Diana’s frothy wedding gown-is expected to fetch between 30,000 pounds and 50,000 pounds ($36,000 to $61,000) at yesterday’s auction.

It’s part of a collection that includes the blouse Diana wore for her official engagement portrait in 1981, and the cotton toile prototype of her wedding gown, used to ensure the fit was just right. The black gown was worn by Diana at age 19, on her first official outing after her engagement to Prince Charles was announced. Its revealing cut and strik-

60 dancers from the English National Ballet pose for photographers during a photocall to promote the opening of ‘Swan Lake in-the-round’, which coincides with the company’s 60th anniversary, outside the Royal Albert Hall in west London yesterday. ‘Swan Lake in-the-round’ runs from June 9-19’. —AFP

75 long-lost silent movies being returned to US

A

This March 12, 1942 file photo shows film director John Ford at unknown location. —AP

This early 1930s file photo shows actress Clara Bow, Hollywood’s original “It” girl, in New York City. —AP

cache of 75 long-lost silent films uncovered in the New Zealand Film Archive vault is being sent back to the United States. Among the movies found in storage is the only known copy of “Upstream,” a drama by legendary director John Ford, the earliest surviving movie by comic actor and director Mabel Normand, and a period drama starring 1920s screen icon Clara Bow. Only 15 percent of the silent films made

by Ford, who won four Oscars, have survived.

Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson said the find is important as there are no prints remaining in the US “These important films will be preserved and made available to both US and New Zealand audiences to enjoy,” he told The New Zealand Herald newspaper yesterday. Film Archive corporate services manager Steve Russell said the films were discovered when American preservationist Brian Meacham visited last year.

Many of the films remained in New Zealand because distributors at the time did not think the return shipping costs were worth the expense, he said. “It’s one of the

Liz Taylor work by Warhol leads Christie?s

A

rare portrait of Elizabeth Taylor

by Andy Warhol is expected to be the top lot at Christie’s auction of post-war and contemporary art on June 30 in London. “Silver Liz”, dated 1963 and unseen in public for more than 20 years, is estimated to be worth 6-8 million pounds ($9-12 million), and two auctions that make up the series are expected to fetch 54-77 million pounds in total.

Last year, three series of post-war and contemporary sales held in February, June and October raised 55 million pounds, underlining the strength of the recovery in fine art prices in recent months that has seen world auction

A marble bust of the Roman emperor Traianus Decius from the 3rd century AD is seen at an exhibition in Sofia on June 7, 2010. —AFP

Christie’s staff display ‘Silver Liz, 1963’, a rare portrait of British born actress Elizabeth Taylor by US artist Andy Warhol which has been unseen in public for over 20 years, in London, yesterday. —AP

Roman gladiator graveyard? unearthed in Britain

A

records tumble. Among the other highlights are “Mappa” by Alighiero Boetti, a map of the world woven by women from an Afghan village, underlining the theme of globalization. It is estimated to sell for 0.9-1.2 million pounds.

Christie’s will also offer eight works by the so-called “YBAs” (Young British Artists), including three which were exhibited at Charles Saatchi’s 1997 show “Sensation”, which helped launched the careers of Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, the Chapman Brothers and Glenn Brown.

Auction favorites Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andreas Gursky will also be represented at the sale. —Reuters

A visitor looks at a sculpture by Auguste Rodin at an exhibition in Sofia on June 7, 2010. —AFP

rare cases where the tyranny of distance has worked in our and the films’ favor,” Russell said. Because they were printed on unstable and highly inflammable nitrate film stock, “there are very strict conditions when sending it by air,” he told the Dominion Post newspaper.

Returning the films will cost the US National Film Preservation Foundation more than 750,000 New Zealand dollars ($500,000).

“We’re having to ship in UN-approved steel barrels, a little bit at a time,” said foundation director Annette Melville. “So far, we’ve got about one-third of the films, and preservation work has already begun on four titles.”

“About a quarter of the films are in advanced nitrate decay, and the rest have good image quality, though they are badly shrunken,” she added.

The late Ford’s 1927 film “Upstream” was being copied onto safety stock in New Zealand to prevent further damage in transit.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hopes to screen the restored film in September, Melville said. Copies of the films are to be made available in New Zealand through the Film Archive. —AP

rchaeologists in Britain believe they have found the world’s best-preserved gladiator cemetery, unearthing skeletons with the kind of violent injuries usually sustained in a Roman amphitheatre. The York Archaeological Trust dug up 80 skeletons in York, northern England, that date from between the first and fourth centuries AD. Forensic tests found that the majority were male, very robust and mostly above average height.

Most of the skeletons were violently decapitated and appeared to have been buried with some respect.

Gladiators-famously depicted in Hollywood films by actors Kirk Douglas and Russell Crowe-were trained fighters who entertained Roman crowds in savage clashes against other warriors and ferocious animals.

One of the biggest clues that the deceased might have been gladiators came through bite marks found on one of the skeletons.

“One of the most significant items of evidence is a large carnivore bite mark-probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear — an injury which must have been sustained in an arena context,” said Kurt Hunter-Mann, who is leading the investigation. Many of the skeletons also had one arm that was stronger than the other, consistent with the frequent handling of a weapon. “The arm asymmetry would also be consistent with weapons training that had already started in teenage years,” Hunter-Mann said, “and we know from Roman accounts that some gladiators entered their profession at a very young age.”

However, he warned that the evidence was not conclusive. “At present our lead theory is that many of these skeletons are those of Roman gladiators,” he said. “So far there are a number of pieces of evidence which point towards that interpretation or are consistent with it. But the research is continuing and we must therefore keep an open mind.”

The skeletons were found at the Driffield Terrace site in York, where excavation work started in 2004.

The Romans founded York as Eboracum in 71 AD. Amphitheatres have been discovered at several old Roman settlements across England, although archaeologists have yet to find evidence of a gladiator arena in York. The researchers have also considered that the remains might belong to soldiers, but believe

In this March 9, 1981 file photo, Lady Diana Spencer, then-fiancee of Britainís Prince Charles attends her first official engagement, a charity event at the Goldsmith’s Hall, in London. —AP

Unpublished works by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson found

S

everal unpublished manuscripts by Stieg Larsson, the Swedish crime author who died before his “Millennium” trilogy became a global cult hit, have surfaced in Stockholm, Sweden’s national library said yesterday. “We have received material from a small archive from a periodical called the Jules Verne Magazine, and in that small archive there were some manuscripts by the author Stieg Larsson that were never published,” Sweden’s deputy national librarian Magdalena Gram told AFP. The manuscripts, written around 1970 when Larsson was just 17, were “in the science fiction genre” and had been sent to magazines in hope of publication, Gram said. She said the library had been aware of the manuscripts for some time, but that she had only just started looking at the papers and could provide no further details.

Gram said it would be up to Larsson’s estateholders-his father and brother-whether to publish the works, but said they should think twice before doing so, since the early works could potentially harm the author’s reputation. L arsson’s “Millennium” trilogy has become a phenomenon in Sweden and abroad, translated into more than 30 languages and made into popular Swedish movies with Hollywood versions in the works.

Its popularity is a striking contrast to the author’s tragic fate. Larsson, who worked as a journalist in Stockholm before writing the books, did not live to enjoy the sensational success; he died in November 2004 of a heart attack, aged 50, a year before the first

Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” trilogy has become a global phenomenon, translated into more than 30 languages. —AFP