8 Aug

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

40 PAGES

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2010

SHAABAN 27, 1431 AH

Residents flee as acrid smog blankets Moscow

CIA flight carried secret from Gitmo PAGE 13

NO: 14814

HP CEO forced to resign amid harassment claims

Hobbling Laxman hits ton to secure India Test win

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US warns Westerners in Saudi Arabia face threat RIYADH: The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Westerners face possible attack from unidentified extremists in the central province of AlQassim, in the first warning of its kind this year.

“We have received credible information that an unidentified extremist (s) in Saudi Arabia may be planning to attack Westerners working and living in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia,” the embassy

said in a statement posted on its website. “The timing and method of potential attacks are currently unknown,” said the statement dated Aug 4, urging US citizens to “exercise prudence and enhanced security awareness at all times”.

Qassim is among the most conservative regions in the kingdom. The key US ally is ruled by the Al-Saud family in alliance with

in the news

Fast violators face jail, fine KUWAIT: In a s t a t e m e n t released ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, the Ministry of Interior’s security media department reminded citizens and residents of regulation 44 of the year 1968.

The law enforces a maximum KD Al-Sabr 100 fine and/or maximum three-month jail sentence for any person caught consuming food and drink or committing any other fast breaking practice in public before sunset throughout the holy month. The ministry’s official spokesman and head of its security media department Brig Gen Mohammad Al-Sabr explained that this law is in place to take into account the feelings of Muslims fasting throughout the day during Ramadan. He added that the law allows the ministry to suspend any restaurant or cafe for two months if they are caught serving food or drink before sunset during the holy month.

clerics from the austere Wahhabi school of Islam. A Saudi foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the alleged threat by saying the statement “concerns only the US embassy”. “The kingdom continues its effort to confront terrorism and terrorist operations.

Thanks to God, the kingdom has achieved and still achieves great successes in this endeav-

our,” Osama Al-Noghali told Reuters.

Militants carried out attacks against Western targets, government symbols and oil facilities between 2003 and 2006. The attacks included suicide bombs at Western housing compounds, the interior ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh and oil and petrochemical companies, plus an attempt to storm the world’s

2 Saudi border guards die RIYADH: Drug smugglers shot dead two Saudi border guards in a clash along Saudi Arabia’s restive border with Yemen, official Saudi media reported yesterday. The clash along a porous border that has seen conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemeni Shiite rebels, took place near the Majaza border post in the southern Saudi province of Asir on Friday, the official SPA news agency said. “Border patrols on a routine reconnaissance operation spotted a group of 15 smugglers who were trying to cross the border for the purpose of trafficking,” SPA quoted a border command spokesman as saying.

Riyadh to be granted access to BlackBerry data

JAMMU: A woman named Chosdon weeps for missing relatives during a special prayer for victims of flash floods yesterday. — AP

Kashmir floods kill 132 LEH, India: Rescuers waded through mud to seek survivors yesterday after floods caused by freak rains killed more than 130 people and left hundreds missing in a part of Indian Kashmir popular for adventure sports. Nearly 300 people were missing, police said, after floodwaters left a trail of destruction Friday in the Himalayan region of L adakh, flattening buildings, overturning vehicles, toppling utility poles and creating a sea of mud.

“Our total so far is 132 people dead and it could rise. We have many people who are missing,” a senior police official said, asking not to be

identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

No foreigners were reported among the dead while just one foreigner suffered minor injuries, according to officials. More than 150 people were unaccounted for in Choglumsar, the worst-hit village on the outskirts of Leh, the main town in the majority Buddhist area, the officer said. Rescuers were also looking for more than 100 labourers missing from Shyong village, the officer said, while at least 25 soldiers were missing after the floods washed away several army posts.

India’s NDTV network reported at

least 400 people were missing.

“Our immediate priority is to look for survivors,” said state tourism minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, who was directing rescue efforts in Leh. Thousands of Indian soldiers, Buddhist monks, and tourists who had travelled to the area for white-water rafting and other adventure sports joined in the rescue efforts, bringing out dead and injured from the rubble. More than 400 people were injured in the floods, triggered by a cloudburst which struck without warning in the region which shares a sensitive Continued on Page 14

about the coup which could see them lose office after just one term.

Gillard said they had a “positive” discussion about campaign strategy and Rudd’s role, but the tension was palpable and she was unusually terse when pressed on why journalists were banned from the tightly-managed affair.

“Reality exists whether you are there or not, and the reality of this is Kevin and I had a positive and constructive discussion,” Gillard said of the meeting, which was conducted behind closed doors in the Continued on Page 14

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the makers of the BlackBerry have reached a preliminary deal on granting access to users’ data that will avert a ban on the phone’s messenger service in the kingdom, Saudi officials said yesterday. The agreement would likely involve placing a BlackBerry server inside Saudi Arabia to allow the government to monitor messages and allay official fears the service could be used for criminal purposes, the telecom regulatory officials said.

Bandar Al-Mohammed, an official at the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission, told AP that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd has expressed its “intention ... to place a server inside Saudi Arabia.” That will guarantee the kingdom’s ability to see communications and data exchanged on BlackBerry handsets, he said. AlMohammed said talks were ongoing and declined to provide more details pending an announcement, which he said was expected soon.

The deal could have wideranging implications for several other countries, including India and the United Arab Emirates, which have expressed similar concerns over how BlackBerry maker RIM handles data. Saudi security officials fear the service could be used by militant groups to avoid detection. The kingdom has been waging a crackdown for years against Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.

The kingdom also enforces heavy policing of the Internet, blocking sites both for political content and for obscenities.

“Whatever Saudi Arabia does will be followed by other countries in the region,” said John Sfakianakis, a BlackBerry user who is chief economist at the Riyadh-based Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group. “RIM is quite smart.

Continued on Page 14

KABUL: File photo taken on Sept 6, 2001 shows a Taleban foreign ministry official displaying a book seized from the offices of Christian aid agency International Assistance Mission (IAM). The bulletriddled bodies of eight members of IAM were found on Friday. — AFP

Eight foreign medics killed in Afghanistan 6 Americans among dead KABUL: Eight foreign medical aid workers have been shot dead in the remote forests of north Afghanistan, their charity said yesterday as the Taleban claimed it killed them for being “Christian missionaries”. The bullet-riddled bodies of five men, all Americans, and three women, an American, a German and a Briton, were found in the northeastern province of Badakhshan on Friday, said the provincial police chief.

Two Afghans were also killed

and two survived. They were part of a 12-member team of volunteer medics returning from a medical camp in neighbouring Nuristan province said International Assistance Mission (IAM) director Dirk Frans.

Despite the Taleban claim, Frans said police had told him that robbery was the likely motive for the killings. Frans said the group had been in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, avoiding a dangerous path Continued on Page 14

Lebanon reels after ex-general arrested BEIRUT: This week’s arrest of a well-respected retired general and politician allied with Hezbollah on suspicion of spying for Israel has sent shock waves through Lebanon and left many wondering how deep the Jewish state has infiltrated the country. Fayez Karam, a member of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), is the first political figure to be arrested in Lebanon as part of a wideranging probe launched in 2009 into Israeli spy networks.

A well-informed source close to the investigation told AFP that after his detention

Fayez Karam last Monday on the orders of the prosecutor general, Karam confessed to spying for Israel.

Continued on Page 14

Castro back in parliament

Gillard calls truce with knifed Rudd SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard buried the hatchet with former leader Kevin Rudd in a strained tactics meeting yesterday as claims of bitter disunity continued to dog her election campaign. Gillard met Rudd for the first time since the ruthless June coup which saw her snatch the leadership from him in a bid to stem the ruling Labor party’s ebbing popularity ahead of polls. Grim-faced and unable to make eye contact, the pair reconciled over maps of Queensland, Rudd’s home state, where Labor is suffering an angry backlash

the kingdom resurfaced after its top anti-terrorism official, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was hurt in a suicide attack in his house in September by a Saudi posing as a repentant militant returning from Yemen. Saudi Arabia arrested 113 mainly Saudi and Yemeni AlQaeda-linked militants in March, including two suicide bomb teams. — Reuters

RIM, Saudis reach deal to avert ban

Zakaria returns ADL award NEW YORK: Columnist and TV host Fareed Zakaria has returned a First Amendment award and $10,000 stipend to the Anti-Defamation League in protest of the organization’s opposition to a proposed mosque near ground zero. The ADL said in a statement Friday that it was “saddened” and “stunned” by Zakaria’s decision.

Zakaria, a Newsweek and Washington Post columnist and CNN host, said in a piece published Friday on Newsweek’s website that he can’t in good conscience keep the league’s Hubert H Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize that he was awarded in 2005. In a letter to the ADL, Zakaria says: “You are choosing to use your immense prestige to take a side that is utterly opposed to the animating purpose of your organization.”

The ADL is the leading Jewish civil rights group in the US. It has said the location of the planned mosque is “counterproductive to the healing process”.

biggest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in 2006.

A large-scale security crackdown and a rehabilitation program of militants sponsored by progovernment clerics have helped Saudi security services to stay ahead of plots to destabilise the country’s absolute monarchy in recent years.

But concerns over the security situation in

BRISBANE: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard meets former premier Kevin Rudd to discuss their election campaign yesterday. — AFP

HAVANA: Former Cuban President Fidel Castro addressed the island’s parliament for the first time in four years yesterday and appealed to world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, to avoid a nuclear war. The return of the veteran 83year-old Cuban revolutionary to the National Assembly, transmitted live by Cuban state television, crowned a spate of recent public appearances after a long period of seclusion due to illness.

Castro, dressed in a longsleeved green military shirt without rank insignias, used it to expound again his recent warnings that US pressure Continued on Page 14

HAVANA: Fidel Castro speaks at a special session of parliament in his first official appearance in front of lawmakers in four years yesterday. — AP

NATIONAL

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Rapid, effective response

MoI, MPW investigating Sixth Ring Road crater KUWAIT: Engineering experts at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) are currently working closely with their counterparts at the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) to determine the reason for the sudden appearance of a crater in the Sixth Ring Road beside the Amghara Bridge on the section of the road heading towards Jahra City.

KUWAIT: A police officer checking the crater. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Efforts to settle currency market issue KUWAIT: With the return of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah from his personal leave, the Cabinet is expected to address a busy schedule this week, reported AlQabas.

Among the Cabinet’s top issues is choosing members of the currency market authority board. Their meeting today is expected to feature a decision on who the board will consist of, six months after the Parliament passed the law to establish the authority.

Meanwhile, Cabinet members are said to be split on the best way to find a solution for the fact that several candidates turned

down opportunities to chair the authority’s board. Some ministers believe that there is still time to handle the issue while others believe further delay will put the Cabinet in a bad situation. Many are afraid a further delay will make it seem as though they are unable to solve problems that stand in the way of law’s enforcement.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet seems determined to settle the currency market authority issue before the start of Parliament’s next term. Meanwhile, the Cabinet will discuss meeting the quarterly report of the development plan.

The report, which covers the period between April and July 2010, will help the

Cabinet assess the obstacles in the way of implementing the new authority. The Cabinet is giving the issue a great deal of attention as they prepare the plan’s semiannual report, which should be ready to be presented to the Parliament by the end of October.

On a separate note, MP Adel AlSaraawi demanded a quick response from the Cabinet on his inquiries of the development plan’s marketing campaign, which has reportedly been assigned to the Saatchi and Saatchi company.

The assignment has received much controversy considering the tender was awarded to the only company to place a bid.

Kuwaiti team reaches flood-hit Peshawar

DAMASCUS: The Arab-Turkish Dialogue Forum in progress yesterday.

First round of Arab-Turkish dialogue kicks off in Syria DAMASCUS: The first round of the ArabTurkish parliamentary dialogue kicked off here yesterday to discuss the future of Arab-Turkish relations and ways of developing them within political, economic, and cultural cooperation.

The gathering will look into the latest developments in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan, in addition to the Iranian nuclear file and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Arab Parliament Mohammad Abu Hudeib underscored in his speech the importance of this dialogue for Arab Parliament and the people of the two nations, expressing hope that this dialogue will be a serious beginning for closer bilateral relations and broader prospects for development in various fields.

He pointed to the strategic depth of relations that bind the Arabs with the Turks, wishing that this would be a good omen for the two nations.

Abu Hudeib called for opening a new page in relations between the Arab and Turkish nations, noting that the current meeting would put a coordinating framework for a future meeting to be hosted by Kuwait before the end of the year.

For his part, Kuwaiti National Assmbly MP Marzouq Al-Ghanim said the GCC-Turkish dialogue to be hosted by Kuwait next October at the government level underscores the interest of the Kuwaiti government, parliament and people to develop relations between the Arabs in general and Kuwait with Turkey in particular.

This came in statements made by the

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Kuwaiti parliament Al-Ghanim to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the sidelines of his participation in the first round of the ArabTurkish dialogue.

Al-Ghanim described the Arab-Turkish relations as strategic and important in light of serious challenges facing the region, a matter that required joint coordination and cooperation.

He recalled Turkey’s firm positions towards the Arab and Islamic issues, foremost the Palestinian issue.

Al-Ghanim said that coordination between Arab governments and the Turkish government was a source of annoyance for many governments, particularly the Government of the Zionist entity, stressing in this regard the need to take rapid strides to promote bilateral ArabTurkish cooperation.

Greater and further steps along this path should be taken, he said, indicating that the Turks and Arabs have been lax in their attitude towards strengthening their ties.

He said that Kuwait “is anxious” to host the next round of talks between the Kuwaiti and Turkish parliaments “so that this dialogue would be follow-up to the Gulf-Turkish meeting due to be held in Kuwait during October.”

MP Al-Ghanim voiced hope that the first round of Arab-Turkish talks taking place in Damascus would conclude with proposals that would constitute the basis for an accord, to be signed during the next meeting in Kuwait. He also proposed that the next meeting at this level be held by the year’s end. —KUNA

Wasta, corruption widespread KUWAIT: The government performance monitoring committee has announced that it is preparing what looks likely to be a highly critical detailed report on administrative corruption and violations at all ministries, which will subsequently be presented to the cabinet.

During a number of field visits to government departments, committee members discovered that many departments are

heavily overstaffed but show little or no productivity, said one committee insider.

While the committee members discovered that some department heads and administrative officials and staff in ministries are industrious and highly competent, the committee insider told Al-Watan that others are unhelpful and negligent towards their duties, with many abusing their privileges.

The majority of government departments suffer from endemic wasta (nepotism/favoritism) leading to an absence of equality, justice or incentive for civil servants, the insider added, further stating that the report confirms the widespread existence of financial violations in the ministries of health and of social affairs and labor, as well as in the municipality.

ISLAMABAD: Torrential rains and flash floods are continuing to wreak havoc in Pakistan as a Kuwaiti team of relief committee has reached Peshawar to assess the situation so that the aid can be effectively distributed among the victims.

While the heavy rains have worsened the disaster in its second week, fresh flash floods submerged near 125 villages and areas in Southern Sindh province yesterday, according to an official of the risk management authority.

The high flood-tide of 9,62,000 cusecs in Sindh river has broken the record of last fifty years, said the metrological department.

Dozens of villages have already been destroyed by floods in eastern Punjab and Northern Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa (KP) provinces.

KP information minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, addressing a press conference in Peshawar said that the floods in the province have, so far, claimed 926 lives.

However, sources in the provincial risk management authority and rescue agencies put the death toll to more than 1600, as being estimated by the United Nations. Head of flood relief operations Major General Ghayoor Mehmoo in KP has said some 1,400 people have been killed, with 213 still missing.

Local news channels citing local sources said that land-sliding in Skardu yesterday killed more than fifty-four people and trapped dozens of others. Also, ten more casualties were reported from Lower Dir district of Swat valley.

Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that relief work in flood hit areas is being carried out in coordination with Federal, Sindh Governments’ departments and the personnel of Pakistan Army, Navy and aviation have also been fully mobilized for relief efforts.

The military in a statement said that more than 1,00,000 stranded people have been rescued to safer places. About 568 boats and 31 helicopters have been deployed in rescue activities, it said, adding, 770 tons of rations have been distributed and 25,000 tents provided at various flood affected areas.

Meanwhile, a two-member delegation of Kuwait Joint Relief Committee (KJRC) was visiting Peshawar to assess the situation for the distribution of KD100, 000 among the flood victims.

The Kuwait government has announced an aid of $5 million for the flood-affected areas. The delegation will hold meetings with the concerned provincial authorities today. Earlier, the brotherly Muslim country of Kuwait had donated USD 100 million for the quake-hit areas of Pakistan in 2005.— KUNA

The head of the MPW’s Engineering Sector Mahmoud Karam said on Friday that it is probable that the hole was made accidentally due to a malfunction in excavation equipment used by ministry personnel while they were digging a tunnel to be used for a new pipe running under the road.

Karam said that the ministry had sent a team of technical and engineering experts to carry out an assessment of the problem and determine the reason for the cave-in and the magnitude of the work required to repair it as quickly as possible.

The senior MPW official also stated that the ministry is working closely with the MoI to pinpoint the cause of the cave-in and to ascertain whether the affected pipe is used for fresh water or sewage in order to devise a rapid and effective response and to address the resulting problems.

Karam also indicated that there is another, major underground water pipeline running parallel to the Sixth Ring Road, which could be fractured by further major excavation work, with work continuing to determine whether it has sustained any damage.

He added that the preliminary measures to be taken by the MPW and MoI include diverting traffic from the Sixth Ring Road in order to ensure road users’ safety, as well as rapidly determining the cause and size of the problem in order to carry out the necessary maintenance work as soon as possible.

At the time of the crater’s appearance, the MPW was laying a new sanitary drainage pipe running from Jahra sewage station to Kabad sewage station as part of the ministry’s plan to upgrade and update Kuwait’s sanitary drainage system. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Police block traffic near the crater yesterday.

in the news ‘Nine towers’ project KUWAIT: Senior Ministry of Health (MoH) officials recently held a meeting concerning the ‘nine medical towers project,’ a major construction plan for new hospitals and medical facilities which will provide a total capacity of 2,250 beds.

During the meeting between MoH Undersecretary Dr. Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Services and Maintenance Affairs Samir Al-Asfour and the head of the ministry’s legal affairs department, it was decided to form a committee to evaluate the bids submitted by thirty companies to carry out the projects in order to narrow the shortlist down to nine. Meanwhile, Al-Rai reported that the MoH is also planning to recruit more medical, nursing and technical staff to meet the increased demand expected to result from all the new facilities.

Kuwait hosted 500 specialists KUWAIT: Kuwait has hosted 500 foreign medical specialists since last year, in line with the state’s policy of improving the country’s medical services. Ministry of Health (MoH) Undersecretary Dr. Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi said yesterday that the ministry’s decision to host the specialist doctors was part of its policy to benefit from foreign expertise in improving the national medical services. The specialists’ activi-

ties during their time in the country include participating in workshops, performing critical operations, addressing seminars and advising local medical personnel, Dr. Al-Abdulhadi explained. He further indicated that the health ministry plans to invite more medical teams from abroad to enable Kuwait to make a qualitative leap in this vital sector. He also explained that recently-signed accords with other countries will ensure an improvement in the services provided at Kuwait’s Chest Diseases Hospital, the National Bank of Kuwait’s Cancer Hospital for Children and the Hussein Makki Jumaa Hospital for Cancer.

Hi-tech security equipment KUWAIT: Official sources revealed that the Minister of Interior, Sheikh Jaber AlKhalid Al-Sabah will leave to the UK this week with a high ranking security delegation, reported Al-Anba. The delegation will include acting Undersecretary General Ghazi Al-Omar who will sign for a centralized security camera system to be installed in Kuwait. The monitoring system will observe several of Kuwait’s most important locations and be linked to a central operation room, similar to other advanced countries. The sources did not speak on the cost of the system. The step was made after the US State Department announced

in a report that Kuwait is still under threat of a terrorist attack. While the sources didn’t deny that Kuwait, and the area as a whole, is under threat of terrorism, they did acknowledge that Kuwait has not suffered from an attack within the past two decades. They added that Kuwait’s security services have done a satisfactory job apprehending terror suspects.

Curricular development KUWAIT: Curricular development for Kuwait’s schools has become a vital necessity to keep pace with international developments and changes, said a senior Ministry of Education (MoE) official on Friday. Muna Al-Sallal, the director of Hawally Education Zone, said that it is not logical to teach current and future generations the same curricula used by previous generations. She explained that the education ministry is seeking to ensure outstanding performances from teachers and pupils alike to guarantee comprehensive quality in all the elements involved in the education process in order to face strong challenges such as globalization. Al-Sallal also told Al-Watan that the next school term will see the introduction of school meals for elementary-level students, while the range of school activities will be increased.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

NATIONAL

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Most humid period of summer

Beat the tough weather in Kuwait and take a walk

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: August marks the most humid period of summer in Kuwait, besides the hot sun and dusty weather. The temperature has been dramatically rising, in addition to the high humidity. This makes breathing difficult someWhat is actually surprising and somehow impressive in this regard is that some people actually have strong enough willpower to brave the factors of the weather that could prevent them from enjoying their walks and letting their bodies feel the spirit of life and movement away from the laziness and bonecracking sound that usually comes when people sit and sleep for long periods with the AC on.

If one takes a walk along the beach-

front promenade near the Scientific Center in Salmiya, one will see many people carrying their water bottles and practicing jogging or even running.

Lena, a young housewife, said that she gets tired of not going outside to breath fresh air for long periods. She took her two small kids for a walk despite sweating from the humidity and the heat, but she said that it is healthy for the body to get some relief from the artificial atmosphere indoors. She explained that

times. People tend to gather in enclosed places to stay cool with the air conditioners strongly activated all the time. Who would ever think to take outdoor walks in such weather? One might guess the answer would be in the negative, assuming that nobody would actually brave the high temperature and humidity to go out for a walk in August in Kuwait. she had been waiting for a long time for the weather to change and become better, but she got tired of waiting, she needed to get moving outdoors.

Ibrahim told the Kuwait Times that he has been gaining weight lately, so decided to go jogging on the beachfront promenade. He said that he is trying to take advantage of this time preceding the holy month to have some walks and exercise his body despite the humid weather.

Ibrahim said that it feels healthier to

walk and sweat in order to lose fats and feel energetic again after the long time spent indoors in the artificial atmosphere of the AC. He added saying that there are lots of social obligations during Ramadan and one needs to sleep more during the day and thus he won’t be able to have such a lot of free time during that period as he does now, so he decided to take advantage of this period to beat the heat and the humidity and enjoy taking walks.

Dual citizen drops Kuwaiti nationality KUWAIT: Slightly over a week since dual KuwaitiSaudi citizen and well-known poet Khalid Al-Mareekhi announced that he was surrendering his Kuwaiti citizenship in order to retain his Saudi nationality, another dual citizen, this time a KuwaitiIranian, has announced his intention to give up his Kuwaiti citizenship and to maintain his Iranian nationality.

The citizen, named as Hassan Al-Khabbaz, has reportedly notified officials at the Iranian embassy of his decision, which he made without providing any public statement to date about the reason behind it.

The Iranian authorities immediately contacted their Kuwaiti counterparts to officially inform them of AlKhabbaz's decision, requesting the necessary information to finalize the citizenship status transfer process, reported Al-Rai. After receiving notification of the application, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior (MoI) reportedly launched an investigation into Al-Khabbaz's records, including any possible criminal records in order to determine his motivation for contacting the Iranian embassy rather than the Kuwaiti authorities about his decision.

The cabinet passed a decree during its meeting last week to retract Al-Mareekhi's Kuwaiti citizenship and to ban him from reentering Kuwait after he left for Beirut where he is currently spending his summer holiday.

KUWAIT: The Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences recently welcomed a group of recruits to become university graduates following the 2010/2011 school year. The new recruits will be part of the 22nd batch of specialization officers to graduate from the university. The students will take part in a course that includes training programs and daily lectures in addition to field tours that will allow them to become more accustomed to a military lifestyle. The training will prepare security personnel in different specialties in order to meet the demands of several ministry departments.

Dutch ambassador invites tourists KUWAIT: Holland has far more to offer than the stereotype of tulips, clogs and windmills, said the Dutch Ambassador to Kuwait in a recent interview, in which he also emphasized the "strength and depth" of Kuwaiti-Dutch relations.

The ambassador, Ton Bon von Ochsee, told Al-Rai that the Netherlands is distinguished by its scientific, economic and cultural advancements, noting that it ranks among the world's top sixteen economies and is tenth worldwide in terms of per capita income.

Praising the great hospitality of the

Kuwaiti people, the ambassador urged Kuwaiti businesspeople to invest in the Netherlands, "which has much to offer in various investment fields."

Ambassador Von Ochsee also called on Kuwaiti students to consider studying at Dutch universities when they are contemplating continuing their studies at foreign institutions.

He explained that language should not be regarded as an obstacle since most of the Netherlands' universities and colleges use English in teaching.

He further urged the introduction of more academic exchange programs,

both between teaching staff and students in the two countries, particularly in the fields of science and technology.

The ambassador revealed that the Dutch Embassy in Kuwait issues around 2,600 tourism visas to Kuwaiti tourists annually, voicing hope that this number would double in the future.

He also emphasized the importance of coexistence between peoples of all origins, cultures and beliefs, saying that adopting peaceful strategies towards handling conflict situations is the best way to overcome the global challenges facing future generations.

Minister signs landline maintenance contract

KUWAIT: A team from the food and markets supervision division at the Kuwait municipality destroyed three tons of bovine meat coming from an Asian country via the airport. The meat was found to be unfit for human consumption.

kuwait digest

Arab public image

By Dr Mubarak Al-Therwah

P

eople in the Arab World need to come up with a way to enhance their public image.

Among these efforts should be focusing on the general behavior of Arab citizens abroad, as most tourists are instructed to maintain their behavior while visiting other countries.

History has shown on numerous occasions how good behavior can leave great impressions.

For example, Indonesians explain how Islam spread to their country because of the behavior of Yemeni traders more than 500 years ago.

They were known for their honesty, tolerance, morals and behavior. Today, Islam is the major faith among its citizens.

Tourists are considered ambassadors of their own country. People in the Gulf region are known for their love of travel and spend their summer vacations abroad.

Unfortunately we have also become known for behaviors that do not reflect the true behavior of the people in the region.

It would be great of tourists not to limit themselves to only luxury during their touristic journeys but also allocate a portion of the vacation for exploration.

They should expose themselves to the history, culture and civilization of the countries they visit. It would also be great if they ask themselves whether they have represented their country well during the journey or not.—Al-Rai

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications (MoC) is today expected to sign a KD 2.5 million contract with a maintenance firm to carry out extensive maintenance work on its landline network in Jahra, Farwaniya, Ahmadi and Mubarak Al-Kabeer.

Subscribers in several areas across Kuwait, including Mishref, Firdous, Ardiya, Sabah Al-Nasser and Farwaniya, have suffered from regular disconnection problems over the past few months, with the MoC explaining that the lack of an on-call maintenance team to repair problems as they arise exacerbated the problem.

A MoC official told AlQabas that since the problems first arose, the communications minister Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi "has been working closely with the Audit Bureau and the Central Tenders Committee to sign a contract with a specialist maintenance contractor."

The landline network should return to full normal operations soon after the maintenance work is underway, the ministry official added.

CAIRO: Officials pose for a group photograph after signing the agreement yesterday.

Kuwait, Egypt sign gas export deal CAIRO: KPC (Kuwait Petroleum Corp) said yesterday that it has signed a deal to export gas oil and aircraft fuel to Egypt for a period of three years.

KPC's Managing Director for International Marketing Abdulatif Al-Houti signed the agreement with Vice

President of Egypt General Petroleum Authority (EGPA) Mohammad Shuaib.

Al-Houti told KUNA the deal would be put into activation as of next January, stressing that such deal would help strengthen petroleum cooperation between Kuwait and

Egypt.

KUFPEC's Branch Manager in Egypt Said Safan affirmed the importance of such a deal to bolster bilateral relations, adding that KUFPEC was involved in other petroleum ventures in Egypt.

Established in 1981 by its

parent company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), KUFPEC is an international oil company, engaged in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas outside Kuwait, active in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. — KUNA

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NATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

MP demands answers on overstaffed MoI office

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: MP Adel Al-Saraawi has demanded that the interior minister take swift action over what the parliamentarian said is the intolerable situation in the office of the Ministry of Interior’s Assistant Undersecretary for Financial and Administrative Affairs where heavy over-employment means that many staff there have nothing to do.

Al-Saraawi asked pointedly if the minister, Sheikh Jaber AlKhalid Al-Sabah, found it acceptable that the Assistant Undersecretary has formed a section linked to his office which violates the regulations governing the ministry. The MP said that it is wholly illogical that the assistant undersecretary’s department employs 472 staff, some of them with the job title of ‘cook,’ although there are no cooking facilities or positions there, and that the minister must, therefore, remedy the situation forthwith.

Al-Saraawi said that the MoI has refused to supply him with the details of all the staff employed in this section, and requested details of what work the staff in this department had carried out in the three years between May 9, 2006 and June 2009.

Oil spill situation under control

Navy to conduct containment drill KUW AIT: A Kuw a it Na tiona l Petroleum Com pa ny (KNPC) official has reassured the public that a recent oil spill that affected Kuw ait’s southern w aters is limited and does not form any serious danger to the local marine environment and marine life in the area. The southern coastIn a press release, KNPC Deputy Managing Director Asaad Saad explained that the actual amount of oil spilt was limited to 10 barrels, while the wind direction helped diffuse it towards southern areas. Saad said that KNPC specialists had acted promptly to remedy the situation and contain the spilt oil while maintaining the safety of local beaches.

An Ahmadi refinery official explained that such accidents are normal and often happen around the world, further noting that work teams have carried out tours of the affected areas in order to contain the spill, and use environmentally friendly material in the process of removing spilt oil and cleaning the

line betw een Abu Hlaifa and Al-Koot has recently been affected by the oil spill that resulted from a malfunction during the loading of a KNPC oil tanker, w hich has subsequently prevented residents of the affected areas from sw imming or fishing there.

beaches.

In related news, Kuwait’s naval forces are to hold a major training operation in containing potential oil spills at the end of October in coordination with several other public bodies.

The operation, which was announced on Friday by the Ministry of Defense (MoD), aims to assess the country’s preparedness to deal with massive oil spills which could adversely affect the Gulf. It follows the incident in the Mexican Gulf in April of this year when a massive oil spill affected the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion on board an oil rig operated by British Petroleum (BP). The leak was only capped earlier this month.

“The intention behind the emergency drill is to ensure that Kuwait has the necessary equipment and well-trained personnel in case of any similar disasters happening in the Gulf,” explained a MoD official, who revealed that a number of other bodies will also be taking part in October’s training operation, including the Environmental Public Authority, Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Kuwait Oil Company and the Ministry of Health.

The trainings will be carried out for a ‘Category Three’-level oil spill, which is considered the most serious level of spill, requiring international coordination to minimize the risk. — Agencies

MEW violations KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water has been responsible for a string of violations which cost the country over KD 11 million in total, according to a new Audit Bureau report.

The report said that the ministry had lost the money by, among other things, failing to establish the requirements of three tenders it drew up, as well as in the importation, installation, operation and maintenance of a large number of back-up diesel generators.

The report said that the lack of precision in the tender specifications had led to the implementation of the projects in question being delayed by several years, reported Al-Qabas. It also accused the MEW of failing to conduct the proper studies before submitting tenders for bidding, with several tenders rewarded to the lowest bidders regardless of the quality of their work.

KUWAIT: A team of Ministry of Information officials working closely with colleagues from the Ministry of Interior recently confiscated 50,000 pornographic DVDs during a series of raids on stores and vendors. A ministry official said that as soon as many vendors heard about the campaign, they abandoned their DVDs, feeling perhaps that discretion was the better part of valor.

— Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

One dead, eight injured in accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

Abdulla Al-Tuwaijri

NBK announces Ramadan working hours

KUWAIT: Doha Port customs officials foiled an attempt by some Iranians to smuggle counterfeit products into Kuwait. All the would-be smugglers were taken into custody. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait and the highest rated bank in the Middle East, announced that their branches will be open from 10:00am to 1:30pm during the holy month of Ramadan.

NBK’s Deputy General Manager, Abdulla Al-Najran AlTuwaijri said that NBK branches will accommodate their clients’ requests and ensure services to the most frequented areas in Kuwait during the holy month.

He added that NBK has taken all necessary measures to make sure that customers have access to NBK’s call center, ATM services and Watani online services throughout Ramadan.

KUWAIT: A 38-year-old Indian man died in a car accident on the Seventh Ring Road. His body was removed for autopsy.

In a separate incident, a 26-year-old man was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital with head injuries after another crash.

Meanwhile, four bedoon men were injured in a collision on the Fifth Ring Road. All were taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

In another case, two 23-year-old Kuwaiti men were rushed to Jahra Hospital after being injured in a motorbike accident on Jahra Road near the Doha turn-off.

In a separate incident, a 52-year-old Kuwaiti man broke his left leg in a car crash in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. He was taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

Window fall A 33-year-old Pakistani man was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital after suffering fractures to his left arm and left ankle when he fell from the first floor of a building.

Three fights A 30-year-old Bangladeshi man suffered a broken nose in a fight near Jahra Hospital, where he also went for treatment. In a separate incident, a 28-year-old Egyptian man sustained a black eye in a fight at the Aqua Park. He was taken to Amiri Hospital.

In a third punch-up, a 40-year-old Egyptian suffered a cut to one ear. Police took him to a police station in the Capital area to book him before taking him to Sabah Hospital for treatment.

Qurtuba fire A 22-year-old Kuwaiti man was treated

at the scene for smoke inhalation following a blaze at his family’s home in Qurtuba.

Thieves caught Ahmadi police have arrested two men a Gulf expatriate and a bedoon (stateless) resident for a series of thefts in the area.

The men admitted to having carried out the robberies and have been remanded in custody.

Qairawan robbery A delivery man was robbed by two unidentified men in Qairawan area. A hunt is underway for the thieves.

Fugitives arrested In a recent crackdown, Jahra police arrested 17 wanted individuals, including a bedoon man who they discovered was carrying a quantity of drugs.

Wife turns spy to catch unfaithful husband out KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti woman in her fifties who became suspicious of her sixty-year-old husband’s behavior used hi-tech covert surveillance equipment to catch him as he conducted an affair with a female Arab expatriate in her twenties who he had brought to the country on a visit visa.

The case began when the woman became increasingly distrustful of her husband following his retirement when he began leaving the house frequently while offering no plausible justification, to the point where he was rarely at home.

The suspicious wife visited local mar-

kets, as well as going online, to secretly buy surveillance equipment to track him, planting a listening device in his car to covertly record his conversations. She heard him holding romantic discussions with another woman and having a series of conversations arranging for the woman to come to Kuwait, with the meeting set for the beginning of August, although the betrayed wife could not work out the exact details.

She then secretly planted a location-finder in her husband’s vehicle which could identify its whereabouts. She told her daughter and son-in-law about her husband’s infideli-

ty, also informing them that her monitoring equipment indicated that the meeting would take place somewhere in Sharq.

When the mother, daughter and son-inlaw travelled to Sharq following the signal from the monitoring device, they found the unfaithful husband’s car parked outside a three-star hotel there. They waited outside in their vehicle until the unsuspecting adulterous spouse emerged with a woman in her twenties. The mother, daughter and son-in-law then confronted him, calling police to report his adultery and demanding a divorce.

KUWAIT: NBK officials pose with the AUK students following the lecture.

NBK provides lecture to AUK students KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) provided a lecture for students of the American University of Kuwait (AUK) on the basics of strategic marketing.

The lecture is part of a series that the bank has offered as requested by professors

of academic institutes throughout the country.

NBK’s Public Relations Manager, Abdulmuhsin Al-Rasheed, public relations official, Badriya Al-Rasheed and marketing officers Deemah Naseebah and Najlaa Al-

Majid provided the lecture.

The AUK media faculty professor Dr Mohammad Husain Akbar expressed his gratitude to the bank for their contribution toward helping students benefit from their experience in several fields.

NATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

5

Woman stabs husband with broken bottle

Maid in custody for sexually assaulting child KUWAIT: An Asian maid was arrested after she was accused of sexually assaulting a child, reported Al-Anba.

A citizen brought his five-year-old daughter to the hospital after she complained of lower abdominal pain.

Once there, he was told by doctors that his daughter was the victim of sexual assault. His daughter explained that the family’s maid assaulted her and the father pressed charges against her at a local police station. Police issued a warrant for the maid’s arrest after a forensic analysis proved that the girl had been assaulted. The maid was transferred to the Public Prosecutor’s Department to face charges.

Citizen found dead A middle-aged citizen was found dead in his house in Fahad AlAhmad, reported Al-Watan. The citizen was staying in the house alone while the rest of his family traveled abroad for vacation. The 44-yearold’s death was discovered when the family members returned home from vacation and found him lying dead on the floor where his body had reached an advanced state of decomposition. Police and medical staff responded to the scene and determined that the man had been dead for a week before his body was discovered. It was also determined that his death was the result of a

Suicide attempt

heart attack.

Road victims A 40-year-old Afghan man died as a result of the fatal injuries he sustained after he was struck by a speeding car while crossing a road in Jahra, reported Al-Watan.

Paramedics pronounced the man dead upon arriving on the scene of the incident and an investigation was launched in search of the driver who hit him. Meanwhile, two young Kuwaiti men died in a car accident on Nuwaiseeb road when their vehicle overturned, reported Al-Rai. Police are investigating the matter further.

An Indian woman attempted to kill herself by consuming a large amount of pills inside of her Salmiya apartment, reported Al-Watan. She was taken to Mubarak Hospital in an ambulance soon after falling unconscious in her apartment. A case was opened at the nearest police station to investigate the motive behind the suicide attempt.

Domestic violence An Indian man was rushed to Mubarak Hospital in critical condition after his wife attacked him with a broken glass bottle, reported AlWatan. The melee took place at the

Policewoman assaulted

the suspect she was beaten severely. The suspect did not stop beating the officer until backup units responded to the emergency and restrained her. She was referred to the Sabah Al-Salem police station while the officer was brought to the Adan Hospital.

A first lieutenant policewoman was knocked unconscious after receiving a severe beating from a female she was trying to place under arrest, reported Al-Rai. The incident occurred at an amusement park in Al-Messeelah where the policewoman spotted a ‘mannish’ woman harassing other women there. After the officer approached

A drug addict was arrested shortly after he was caught acting strangely in a perfume shop in Rai, reported Al-Rai. Police reported to the scene after receiving an emergency call about a man who was caught using perfumes inside the shop and throwing bottles on the

couple’s residence in Salmiya, where the wife stabbed her husband on the left side of his face and in the chest with a smashed glass bottle.

Police placed the wife under arrest and held her for questioning.

floor. Soon after arriving to the scene, police discovered that the suspect was intoxicated after smoking a hashish joint. He was taken to the Andalus police station.

Prostitution Hawally police arrested three Chinese female masseuses who offered sexual services to customers in the Hawally apartment they ran their business out of. An order to raid the apartment was issued after police were able to confirm the suspicious activities that were taking place there. After being arrested, the suspects were taken to the proper authorities.

Addict in custody

Oudh oil prices rise for Ramadan KUWAIT: Incense, perfumes and Oudh (aloeswood) oil are among the most important characteristics of Kuwaiti homes, and play a central role in welcoming guests into one’s home.

The choice, variety and prices of these items vary greatly according to the country of origin as well as the seasons, with the prices reaching their highest levels during periods like the present as preparations for Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr see householders laying in large supplies as they prepare to host numerous guests. Stores compete with special offers, placing incense burners outside in order to attract customers and promote their products.

Mohammad Al-Enezi, an incense retailer in Mubarakiya, revealed that the scientific name for the tree from which aloeswood comes is Aquilaria.

These large, evergreen trees, which can live for up to 100 years, grow across South Asia, particularly in India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand, he explained.

Al-Enezi said that the Oudh oil is produced when the aloeswood trees become infected with a type of mold. Prior to infection, the heartwood is relatively light and pale-colored; however, as the infection progresses, the tree produces a dark

aromatic resin in response to the attack, which results in a very dense, dark, resin-embedded heartwood. This resin-embedded wood is commonly called gaharu, jinko, aloeswood, agarwood, or Oudh and is valued in many cul-

tures for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incenses and perfumes. Al-Enezi explained that, unfortunately, since it is not possible to distinguish the infected trees from the healthy ones from the outside, some of those

kuwait digest

Let’s raise traffic awareness

By Dr Hassan Al-Musawi find myself routinely writing about the country’s traffic and road accidents problem. I’m unsure whether this is due to the subject’s importance or to the lack of attention paid to it by state officials.

Nevertheless, I believe it’s important to regularly shed light on this issue given the increase in the number of road accident fatalities.

Furthermore, it’s becoming increasingly essential to prioritize this problem after the recent revelation that on average over 1,000 citizens and residents of Kuwait are killed in road accidents annually. This is before one also takes into account the material and other damage resulting from this avoidable problem.

From the reckless driving of taxi drivers who are seen breaking all the laws while seeking customers, to the ‘need for speed’ shown by some, which probably conceals a suicidal impulse, there are several elements that cause traffic accidents.

The first element, of course, is drivers

I

themselves, who could greatly help to avoid accidents by committing to complying with the traffic laws. Second, vehicle safety also play a crucial role in limiting accidents, with periodic maintenance helping to cut car problems and accident rates.

The third element is the quality of the road infrastructure. It’s no secret that our road network needs massive expansion as it struggles to handle the current traffic levels. Maintenance is another urgent requirement, with many local roads being of distinctively inferior quality.

In addition, the lack of rapid response emergency help services increases the likelihood of death among road accident victims.

To address these problems, the country needs a national road safety campaign to limit accident rates to the minimum through spreading awareness of the need to adhere to traffic laws, which could be accomplished through ensuring close cooperation between all the parties involved. —Al-Qabas

searching for Oudh resin cut down the trees randomly, harming the environment and ironically significantly reducing the number of trees which their livelihood is reliant on.

The incense merchant added

that Indian incense is the most globally popular and expensive variety due to its deep, black color and heavy weight, as well as its distinctive aroma, with those from Cambodia and Burma being the next most costly.

Thieves, bootleggers arrested in Hawally KUWAIT: Hawally police have arrested a three-men gang responsible for a string of robberies at local shops and homes. The men - two Kuwaitis and a Bedoon (stateless) resident - were caught during a routine traffic patrol when police searched their vehicle after they attempted to flee when they were asked to pull over. During the search, the officers found equipment used to carry out the break-ins and on being questioned following their arrest the three men admitted to their activities. They were taken into custody and are awaiting trial.

The security patrol campaign that netted the thieves was part of a large-scale operation comprising 21 security crackdowns across Hawally, which has reportedly significantly helped in

reducing the number of thefts in the area.

In a separate incident, Ahmadi police arrested three Asian bootleggers, who offered a home delivery service to their clients, who they reportedly misled into believing that the homemade alcohol was imported.

The operation that led to the men’s arrest was launched following a tip-off about their activities, which indicated that they were using a taxi to deliver the shipments of liquor to oil sector workers in Mangaf and Abdullah Port.

When the men were arrested, police confiscated 100 bottles of alcohol from them which they were preparing to sell, reported AlQabas. The trio has been referred to the relevant authorities for further action.

in the news Telephone calls profit KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications (MoC) made a total profit of KD 58.74 million last year on international calls, according to newly-released figures. The profit shows a significant fall on the previous year’s earnings of KD97.43 million, reported Al-Qabas, reflecting a sharp fall in the number of international calls, from 172 million in 2008 to 83 million in 2009. The new figures indicate that the majority of last year’s international calls 21,649 - were made to Saudi Arabia, with the number of calls to Egypt, in second place, falling to 20,861, the first time in recent years that it has not topped the list.

Cyber service project KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Housing Welfare said yesterday the first phase of its cyber service project was completed, adding that the project would be soon launched on the internet and voice-call service. Deputy Director General for Human Resources Development at the Authority Nabil AlKharafi told KUNA that the authority managed to link the database for 10 government institutions, noting that the project would ease up transactions amongst such institutions as well as with citizens and clients. The first phase of the project had been complete within record time, stated Al-Kharafi, adding

that the next six months would witness the implementation of the second phase of the project as soon as the budgetary is approved by the cabinet. The official hoped that good news about the state’s other development project would surface out soon, affirming that Kuwait was on the path for a better future.

Solution to bedoon issue KUWAIT: A senior state official said on Friday that a forthcoming government report will propose a radical but fair solution to the longstanding problems faced by Kuwait’s bedoon (stateless) community, adding that after it is issued, “no person will ever be referred to as a Bedoon in Kuwait again.” Speaking to Al-Rai, former MP Saleh Al-Fadhalah, who heads a technical committee formed by the Supreme Council for Planning and Development to devise solutions to the bedoons’ problems, rejected media reports that the committee had completed its work. He said that the committee has completed 70 percent of its report into the issue and will resume work to complete the remaining 30 percent today before submitting the final report to the cabinet. Al-Fadhalah said that all bedoon people will be accorded the rights which the committee’s report finds them to be entitled to, adding that the report will bring a conclusive end to this longstanding problem.

NATIONAL

6

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Al-Barjes receives Pakistan ambassador

Kuwait aid delivered worldwide: KRCS KUWAIT: The President of the Kuw ait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Barjes Humoud Al-Barjes said yesterday that the State of Kuw ait spares no effort in extending help and assistance to disaster victims in various parts of the w orld, a matter that gives the impression that Kuw aiti society is alw ays benevolent.

kuwait digest

Journalism is struggling, old and new

By Hassan Ali Karam hey taught us in journalism that if a dog bites a human being it is not news, but if a human being bites a dog then that is news!! Arrouia newspaper stopped publishing and that is no shock, the shock would be if it continued participating in the competition.

Arrouia, Awan along with Al-Sout all stopped publishing and there may be others on the way. This is to be expected when we work in an atmosphere where the causes of failure are stronger than those of success.

Let us not dwell on sadness and appeasement. The ground to accept new publications is not available in Kuwait.

New papers do not appear with a new look to distinguish them from old ones.

Freedom, or the freedom of expression, is not established alone and it is not enough to publish long lasting journalism.

Freedom in Kuwait has something similar, or better, than in the west.

Papers there are falling one after the other, even though they started publishing a long time ago. Readers exceed the number of Kuwaitis. Some of them

T

stopped publishing permanently while others are fighting for survival. Some have changed from paper to electronic form in a compromise and an alternative to closing.

The mistake committed by new newspapers is that they started with free distribution and continued for a long time, that was enough to chew up their budgets. There are still newspapers that resort to free distribution.

They are afraid to charge customers because they don’t want to lose their readership. This is proof of the new papers’ failure to attract their own readers.

Some, may wrongly think that old journalism enjoys strong financial abundance, but this is not true. Many of them suffer from a lack of money and support, despite limited government funding. If it was not for the financial aid some papers receive locally, or from abroad, some of them would stop.

The talk about foreign payment is painful and regrettable, and this is not the time to speak about it, but we can say that some of the papers stopped publishing because of a lack of financing or debt accumulation. The Al-Rai Al-

Ama newspapers, owned by the late Abdelaziz Al-Musaeed, is an example.

Al-Watan with its original owner Ahmad (Mahboub) Al-Amer is a second example. Akbar Al-Kuwait, owed by Abdelaziz Al-Fulaij, is a third and the closing of Al-Basheer Daily, owned by Saadoun Jassim Yacoub, which published one issue is a fourth. The old journalism did not have a rosy path as some mistakenly think. They have suffered fatal financial difficulties.

If the government did not rush to support new journalism, their fall would be a sure thing. Supporting the new journalism, like the old one, is something wanted because it is not right to support the old journalism because it is old and it is not right to support the new journalism because it is new. Either we support all the papers or none of them.

We are sad that Arroua stopped publishing. The paper adopted a centrist national view, despite its Salaf identity.

Its pages remained open to the whole of society’s spectrum. We were also sad when Awan stopped publishing. They provided us with a cultural dose. The hope remains though that they may publish once again. — Al-Watan

Housing distribution method to be explained KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) is expected to explain this week the method that will be used to distribute housing units in Al-Naseem and Al-Qairawan, reported AlRai. The statement will also include details on the dates

and times citizens should pick up their applications.

The announcement is expected to end the controversy that was started with the unclear statements of the head of the open spaces utilization committee, Subhi AlMullah. The official’s state-

ments made citizens confused about whether they would have a better chance to wait for housing units in AlNaseem or if it would be better not to waste the chance to entering the Saad Al-Abdullah lottery for housing units, expected to take place within

the next few months.

Meanwhile, the PAHW announced that they reached an agreement with companies whose shares are partly owned by the government in order to pay housing allowances to the staff members of these companies.

Speaking after his meeting with Pakistan’s ambassador here, Iftikhar Aziz, Al-Barjes said that during the meeting they had discussed the pressing needs of the vast numbers of flood-stricken people in Pakistan.

He added that he and the ambassador had also discussed a strategy to deliver aid to the floods victims in Pakistan, as well as the humanitarian situation there.

Al-Barjes underscored Kuwait’s solidarity with the Pakistani people to overcome this ordeal, affirming that the State of Kuwait always stands with afflicted countries and to provide them with all the necessary assistance to overcome their plight.

The KRCS head said that the State of Kuwait has always been at the forefront of those nations providing all kinds of humanitarian aid to Pakistan in order to alleviate its worstoff people’s suffering, recalling in this regard the ‘Habibullah’ hospitals contributed by Kuwait.

For his part, Ambassador Aziz expressed his country’s gratitude for the support pro-

KUWAIT: KRCS President Barjes Humoud Al-Barjes with Pakistan Ambassador Iftikhar Aziz and other officials. vided by Kuwait to aid victims of the floods, which have resulted in heavy losses of lives, property and infrastructure. To date, over 1,600 people are confirmed to have died in the continuing devastation.

The ambassador said that

the immediate directives of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to provide all sorts of assistance to the flood-stricken people in Pakistan reflects the close ties between the two peoples and leaderships.

He said that Kuwait’s contribution would help to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the floods, adding that the floods have caused the displacement of 13 million people to other areas of Pakistan to date. — KUNA

in the news Fatw a negligence KUWAIT: Fatwa and Legislation Deputy Chairman, Faisal Al-Sarawi gave himself leave for the months of July and August, as well as all of the departments defense lawyers, despite the fact that it conflicts with current court cases lawyers must be present for to defend in person.

Official sources revealed that 50 case are currently being defended by Fatwa and AlSaraawi kept only three lawyers to defend the cases during this month reported Al-Shahed. The Ministry of Communication was surprised to lose a case filed by one of those accused of forgery, which was won because no one was there to defend the ministry. The sources wondered who was responsible for the confusion, why the fatwa lawyers are all on leave and who will put an end to such negligence.

Travel fees KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior indicated that the waiver of travel expenses for an absent laborer or maid requires legislative amendments, reported Al-Anba.

The Ministry responded to MPs demands to waive travel expenses from sponsors of absentee maids and laborers and instead hold the person who gave the maid shelter responsible for his or her travel expenses and compensate the sponsor for all money paid to the maid. The ministry said such an act requires amendments to the law.

KUWAIT: Abdulaziz Al-Balool Awarding one of the students.

Wataniya Telecom sponsors graduation KUWAIT: Education is foundation that enables a country to develop and build a future generation that will contribute positively towards a better tomorrow. Wataniya Telecom has always been a strong supporter of education and recently sponsored the graduation ceremony of Hamad Essa Al-Rujaib High School. This is a platform through which Wataniya is reinforcing its efforts with constant initiatives to further

develop the educational sector in Kuwait. The ceremony took place at the Movenpick Hotel.

By actively investing and encouraging the youth of Kuwait, Wataniya Telecom hopes to equip the new generation with the tools that will maximize their potential and enable Kuwait to build a better tomorrow.

Abdol Aziz Al Balool, PR Manager at Wataniya expressed his pride in all the

graduating students and said: “Sharing the success and happiness of our students fills us with optimism and hope. To witness the enthusiastic and ambitious young people receive their diplomas is a moment of great pride and joy for the whole nation.”

The school principal and the students expressed their appreciation and gratitude towards Wataniya Telecom.

They were pleased and felt rewarded for Wataniya’s

active interest and engaging presence at such a happy and crucial turning point in their lives.

Al Balool confirmed Wataniya’s initiative to continue supporting the academic field in Kuwait and giving the graduates all the assistance they may need. Thereby ensuring that the future generation of Kuwait will continue to prosper and become successful and responsible citizens.

Ministry corruption KUWAIT: The Minister of Public Works and Municipality Affairs, Fadhel Safar announced that the government is going to mend all the municipality’s problems and develop its sector’s performance, reported Al-Jarida. “We are determined to limit corruption within the municipality,” he said. He added that the rate of corruption and problems in the municipality have dropped significantly because of the introduction of accountability programs that punish those found not carrying out their duties.

Education response KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt, Dr Rashid Al-Hamad said that the cultural office is waiting for an answer from the department of higher education regarding whether to register students who wish to enroll in the Egyptian universities for BA and BSc degrees.

KUWAIT: A police car crashed into a cement barrier in the Shuwaikh Industrial Zone near the Mira Market yesterday.

KUWAIT: A crane collapsed in the Shuwaikh Industrial Zone yesterday just behind the IKEA store. The injured were transferred to a nearby hospital. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

7

Anti-Qaeda militia leader gunned down

Six police among seven killed in Iraq violence GAZA CITY: A Palestinian man works on fixing generators at a repair shop in Gaza City, yesterday. Engineers shut down Gaza City’s sole power plant yesterrday, cutting power off to some half a million people in the midst of a heat wave, with officials saying they don’t have enough fuel to keep it running. —AP

Gaza power plant shuts down citing lack of fuel GAZA CITY: Engineers shut down Gaza City’s sole power plant yesterday because of a lack of fuel, switching off electricity to some half a million people in the midst of a heat wave.

The fuel for the plant comes from the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank which says it has reduced shipments because the Gaza’s Hamas government is behind on payments “The electricity was cut in Gaza City because of there wasn’t enough fuel for the station,” said power station official Suheil Skeik.

The plant serves Gaza City and its surroundings, while the remaining million people in the rest of the tiny territory rely on neighboring Egypt and Israel for their power needs.

An engineer said they expected an emergency fuel shipment today, which would allow them to restart one of the plant’s four turbines and supply a few hours of power. For the past few months the plant has supplied just six to 10 hours of power a day because of the ongoing problems getting enough fuel from the West Bank government. Residents who can afford it use generators to supplement the shortage and in Gaza City’s commercial district roaring generators squat on the sidewalk filling the air with the smell of gasoline.

But a complete power cut is expected to deepen misery in Gaza, where residents have suffered through a sweltering heat wave — severe even by the standards of this hot, dry seaside enclave. Temperatures have soared well over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) for the past few weeks.

Gaza’s rulers, the militant Islamic group Hamas, are meant to collect utility bills and send the cash to their rivals, the Westernbacked Palestinian Authority, which use it to buy the fuel.

Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib says Hamas isn’t sending enough money, and on average, they were receiving only $1.3 million a month from the distribution company, while they were paying $9 million for the fuel. “We need some transparency here. There has to be some kind of audit,” Khatib said.

Skeik said the plant sent about one million dollars last week, and expected to send another million in coming days. Although the Palestinian Authority hasn’t had a presence in Gaza since Hamas seized power over the territory in June 2007, it receives aid from the international community to pay for part of Gaza’s bills. —AP

ADAISSEH: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, left, listens to the clash explanation from a Lebanese army officer during his visit to the scene where the clash happened between the Lebanese army and the Israeli troops last Tuesday, in the southern border village of Adaisseh, Lebanon, yesterday. —AP

BAGHDAD:- Six policemen were among seven people killed in and around comes as the US military draws down its forces in Iraq, five months after Baghdad, including four who died in a fierce gunbattle in a Sunni neigh- parliamentary elections that have yet to result in a new government being bourhood of the Iraqi capital, officials said yesterday. The latest violence formed.

In the deadliest attack, four policemen were killed and 10 people wounded, including eight police, when clashes broke out at about 2:00 am (2300 GMT) in Saidiyah, a stronghold of AlQaeda in southern Baghdad during the worst years of Iraq’s insurgency after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003.

The shooting occurred after a man whose car was stolen traced it to a nearby house and informed the police, who came under fire when they arrived, an interior ministry official said.

“There was an exchange of fire from 2:00 am until dawn and four policemen were killed,” the official said. “Ten people, including eight policemen, were injured.”

One wounded officer who spoke to AFP from Yarmuk hospital in western Baghdad said police recovered a car bomb, a WEST BANK: Palestinian youth use their sling shots as Israeli, foreign and local demonstrators gather in homemade bomb, a grenade, a Beit Omar village to protest against Jewish settlers from the Israeli settlement of Karmi Tsor north the West silenced pistol and a rocket-propelled grenade at the site of the Bank town of Hebron, yesterday. —AFP clashes.

Also in the capital, a traffic policeman was killed and another wounded when gunmen attacked their patrol late Friday Assad said Israel was the one placing obstaPARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy has appointment.” night in the northern neighbourTensions between Syria and Israel rose cles in the way of peace and that the possinamed a former French ambassador to the hood of Hurriyah.

Middle East as a mediator between Israel this year after Israeli President Shimon bility of war in the Middle East was once In the former rebel bastion of and Syria in an effort to kick-start stalled Perez accused Syria of supplying Scud mis- again increasing.

Fallujah, just west of the capital, France’s relations with Syria were peace talks, the French foreign ministry siles to the Lebanese Shi’ite movement a policeman was killed and three strained by the assasination of Lebanese Hezbollah. said. others were injured when gunBut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005.

A ministry spokesman said Jean-Claude men attacked a checkpoint in Cousseran, a former ambassador to Netanyahu said last month Israel remained Initial UN reports implicated Syrian and the city’s south, captain Anas alLebanese security agencies, but Damascus Damascus and Cairo, would take up the role. interested in negotiating peace with Syria.

Abadi said.

Damascus has also expressed willingness has said it had no hand in the bombing which “I can confirm that (Sarkozy) has charged Thirteen people were Jean-Claude Cousseran with a mission con- to return to the negotiating table, although killed Hariri and 22 others. wounded, including four chilParis has sought to improve ties with cerning the relaunch of the Israeli-Syrian President Bashar al Assad reiterated on dren and five women, when part of the (Middle East) peace process,” the Sunday he was unwilling to compromise on Damascus since 2008 with a view to encourinsurgents detonated bombs in the return of the Golan Heights, occupied by aging talks with Israel, considered by France spokesman said. policemen’s homes yesterday to be a key step towards peace in the Middle “The countries concerned and our main the Israelis since 1967. morning, he added.

In a statement published in Syrian media, East, diplomatic sources say. —Reuters partners have been informed of his Meanwhile, an anti-Qaeda militia leader was gunned down in the centre of Khales, 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

“Sabah Al-Obaidi, a Sahwa leader in Khales, was killed by armed attack on one of Khales’s main roads this morning (Saturday),” police Major Mohammed Al-Karkhi said.

The Sahwa, Sunni tribal militias known among the US army as “Sons of Iraq”, began siding with American forces against AlQaeda in late 2006, turning the tide of the insurgency.

The violence comes as US troops pull out of Iraq ahead of Washington’s declaration of the end of combat operations at the end of August, resulting in a force of about 50,000 soldiers in the country, from around 64,000 now.

US and Iraqi officials have warned of the dangers of an upsurge in violence if negotiations on forming a new government following the March 7 polls drag on, giving insurgent groups an opportunity to further destabilise the country. —AFP

France names envoy to relaunch Syria-Israel talks

Lebanon to draw up army weapons plan ADAYSSEH: Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said yesterday he would work to equip the armed forces with all necessary weapons following Tuesday’s deadly cross-border exchange with Israeli troops.

The former army chief was speaking during a brief visit to the village of Adaysseh just north of the border that overlooks the site where fighting killed two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist, as well as an Israeli officer.

“At its next meeting the cabinet will draw up a plan to equip the army with all the weaponry it needs, and without taking the attitude of certain countries into account,” Sleiman told journalists without elaborating.

“A campaign exists to prevent the army from being properly equipped, but we are launching our own campaign to ensure that it is,” he added.

Lacking both manpower and modern equipment including combat aircraft, the Lebanese armed forces have around 60,000 personnel.

A statement issued later from Sleiman’s office said he had “launched a national, Arab and international cam-

paign to equip the army, calling on neighbouring and friendly states to supply all kinds of arms that will allow him to defend the country.”

Defence Minister Elias Murr and senior officers

accompanied Sleiman on his visit, which was marked by tight security.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told public radio that the Jewish state had protested to

Maliki still wants PM job despite govt impasse BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki acknowledged on Friday he was “part of the problem” holding up the formation of a new Iraq government but challenged allies and opponents to find a better candidate for the top job. Five months after an election Iraqis hoped would underpin governance, Maliki told Reuters Iraq’s security was stable and said investor confidence had not been shaken by lengthy and so far fruitless talks for a coalition government.

But he said that his opponents were attempting to weaken the premiership and said this could destabilise Iraq and bring back militants linked to al Qaeda as well as the militias that were involved in Iraq’s sectarian slaughter in 2006-07.

A March 7 parliamentary election produced no clear winner, leaving the Shi’ite Maliki and secularist ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi battling to form a majority coalition as Iraq tries to ramp up production from its world-class oil reserves and rebuild an economy ravaged by war. “They are saying there is a broad objection to Maliki. But I know that there will be greater objections to (other) candidates,” he told Reuters in an interview on Friday. “Yes, I am part of the problem but I didn’t create the problem,” he said. “I want to solve the problem.” Maliki’s largely Shi’ite State of Law coalition won two seats fewer than Allawi’s Sunni-backed, crosssectarian Iraqiya in the vote but then merged with the third-place finisher, the Iran-friendly Iraqi National Alliance, to form a Shi’ite bloc. —Reuters

both the United States and France over “the supply of sophisticated weapons to the Lebanese army” after the firefight.

Last month the US embassy in Beirut in a statement in Arabic quoted an adviser to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates as saying Congress has approved 100 million dollars in aid to the Lebanese military for 2010.

Adaysseh, with around 3,000 residents, is in a region largely controlled by Hezbollah, the Shiite movement that fought a devastating war with Israel four summers ago.

The village square was the scene of a fierce battle during the 2006 war, and many houses were shelled at the time.

Hezbollah sat out Tuesday’s hostilities, but said it was ready to strike deep into Israel in the event of further “aggression.”

This week’s fighting erupted after Israeli troops began to cut down trees that Lebanon claimed were on its side of the border. Israel and UN peacekeepers in the area said the trees were on Israeli territory. —AFP

8

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

The long road to reconciliation in Kosovo PRISTINA: Kosovo Albanians, their confidence boosted by a UN court opinion backing independence, want to reach out to the territory’s Serb minority but ingrained distrust is hampering efforts at reconciliation.

“Without reconciliation ... we will not be able to improve our lives as citizens and people who want clear perspectives for themselves and their children,” said Veton Nurkollari, the Kosovo Albanian organiser of Doku Fest, an international documentary film festival, aiming to use culture to bridge differences.

“There is a need for reconciliation, an urgency even,” he told AFP. Nearly 95 percent of Kosovo’s population of two million are ethnic Albanians, who feel empowered by the recent International

Court of Justice’s verdict that its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 — opposed by Belgrade-was not illegal.

The UN high court’s non-binding opinion was followed by urgent calls to both Albanians and Serbs to turn a new page and start a constructive dialogue.

However, overcoming a long divisive history is no easy task.

Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian and Serb communities have lived isolated from each other for decades. Tensions came to a head during the 1998-1999 conflict that pitted Albanian separatists against the forces of Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic. The war left some 13,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Albanians.

For Jetmir Idrizi, 26, a Kosovo Albanian photographer, reconciliation should start with bringing to justice “all those, Serbs and Albanians” responsible for crimes committed during the conflict.

“It will be better if we reach an understanding amongst ourselves, without foreign interference,” he said, sipping a tea on the terrace of a Turkish-style tea house in the old centre of the town of Prizren.

Another Albanian, Genc Salihu, 29, said economic development is the key to overcoming the past.

“We need a 700-euro (900-dollar) monthly income per person to become closer; money is needed to overcome fear,” said Salihu as he enjoyed a jazz-filled afternoon in a bookstore-cafe in the capital Pristina.

At the moment the average monthly salary in Kosovo is just under 200 euros.

In Gracanica, a major Serb-populated enclave near the capital, there was a notable easing of tensions as Serbs appeared open for reconciliation as long as their community in Kosovo could be preserved.

“Without recognizing their state, it is necessary to find an understanding with the Albanians, for us to be able to remain on our land here,” 24-year-old Serb farmer Miloje Glisovic said.

But in the north of Kosovo, the area bordering Serbia proper and populated by a Serb majority, the tone is less conciliatory.

Sasa, 38, an employee of a non-government organisation who did not give his last name, dismisses the idea of living together

in harmony as implausible.

He cited as an example that 45,000 Serbs used to live in Pristina. “Now there are no more than 68,” he said-a figure that Kosovo Albanian observers agreed sounded about right.

More than 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo after the territory was placed under UN administration in June 1999 following a NATO bombing campaign that drove out Milosevic’s Serb forces. They were afraid of reprisal attacks by Albanian extremists.

“The international community insists nowadays on a development of one community, the Albanian one,” insisted Sasa, who lives in the Serb-populated northern part of ethnically divided Kosovska Mitrovica.

He warned that “it would be necessary

first to work equally on the development of both communities and then talk about reconciliation.”

Milan Ivanovic, one of the hardline Serb leaders in Mitrovica, insisted: “There cannot be reconciliation if I take all you have and demand, after I rob you, to reconcile with me.”

Kosovo’s independence has been recognized by 69 countries, including the United States and most members of the European Union. But Serbia and its ally Russia remain opposed to the separation and Belgrade has tabled a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly that calls for new negotiations on Kosovo to find a mutually acceptable solution, but does not insist on status talks. — AFP

Health experts warn to leave city

Residents flee as acrid smog blankets Moscow MOSCOW: Residents began fleeing Moscow yesterday as the w orst smog in living memory smothered the city and forced people to don protective masks against pollution over six times higher than safe levels. The w ildfires w hich have sparked the smog w ere still spreading in central Russia, w ith 290 new fires in the last 24 hours as w eather forecasters said Russia’s w orst heatw ave in decades w ould continue for the next days.

MOSCOW: Tourists wears protective face masks as they walk through thick smog on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, yesterday. The city of Moscow was shrouded a dense smog that grounded flights at international airports and seeped into homes and offices. — AP

Pirates abandon captured freighter BRUSSELS: Somali pirates abandoned a freighter they had briefly seized in the Gulf of Aden, leaving two injured members of its Syrian and Egyptian crew to radio for medical aid, European naval forces said yesterday.

The Syrian Star “is now free,” the European Union NAVFOR command said, adding in a statement: “Initial reports are that the pirates left the ship of their own accord utilising one on the rescue boats.”

Late on Friday night, the ship “requested medical assistance for two crew members that were injured in the initial hijack” on Thursday, reportedly when the pirates fired shots at the crew, in the eastern part of the Gulf of Aden, the EU NAVFOR said. A third crew member was injured in a work-

related incident.

The Syrian Star, flagged in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, was the second ship seized this week after sea bandits on Monday captured a Panamanian freighter with 23 crew from Egypt, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A day later, a Spanish warship foiled an attack on a Norwegian chemical tanker off the Horn of Africa. The vessel was holding seven suspected Somali pirates pending possible prosecution.

This week, a Saudi insurance company said it would pay a 20-million-dollar ransom to free a hijacked ship and its 14-member crew held hostage for five months.

Foreign naval powers have deployed dozens of warships since 2008 in a bid to secure the Gulf, a crucial maritime route

leading to the Suez Canal through which tens of thousands of merchant vessels transit each year.

But pirates have gradually extended their area of operations, seizing ships as far east as the Maldives’ territorial waters and as far south as the Canal of Mozambique.

Naval missions, including the European Union’s Atalanta deployment, have boasted success in curbing attacks but the number of hijacked ships and detained seafarers remains at one of its highest levels since Somali piracy surged in 2007.

Unofficial figures show 2009 was the most prolific year yet for Somali pirates, with more than 200 attacks-including 68 successful hijackings-and ransoms believed to exceed 50 million dollars in total. — AFP

Russia accuses US of loose weapons control MOSCOW: Russia accused the United States yesterday of breaching its obligations over the non proliferation of weapons, a sign of strained relations between the two powers.

The charge came after a new arms control treaty between the United States and Russia suffered a setback this week when the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed a ratification vote until midSeptember.

Russia said it had successfully test fired two ballistic missiles from the Barents Sea on Friday, Interfax news agency reported, in another sign of muscle-flexing from Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on its web site the United States had been in breach of several arms-related treaties including the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and a treaty on conventional weapons.

“During the START I period, the United States failed to resolve Russia’s concerns over how this treaty was being fulfilled,” the ministry said, citing a

long list of what it called irregularities, including a U.S. failure to provide information on ballistic missiles trials.

Russia also accused the United States of preventing international supervision of its compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

The ministry also said secret information from the US Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory had ended up at the hands of a drug dealing gang in 2006.

“The peculiarity of the incident was that, unlike in several other such cases-when nuclear secrets were obtained by foreign intelligence services-now they were found by police with a criminal group connected to the drug trade,” it said.

The ministry also said checks conducted by a US government body in July 2010 revealed that several institutions dealing with viruses had failed to provide enough security measures to prevent an intruder from entering their facilities.

The Foreign Ministry also

MOSCOW: This May 9, 2008 file photo shows a Russian truck-mounted Topol intercontinental ballistic missile displayed at Moscow’s Red Square during the annual Victory Day parade. As of early 2010, Russia is believed to deploy almost 1,100 nuclear warheads on 331 ICBMs. —AP alleged that some 1,500 sources of ionizing radiation were lost in the US between 1996 and 2001.

“In 2004, it was revealed that Pacific Gas and Electric Company lost three segments of wasted fuel rods, used at Hamboldt Bay nuclear power station,” it said in the 11-page report.

The documents also castigates US for research into biological weapons and smallpox.

Last month saw the only major

US-Russian spy trade since the end of the Cold War, despite a seemingly warming trend in relations between the US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Obama has cast the new treaty, which commits the former Cold War foes to reducing deployed nuclear weapons by about 30 percent, as a first step toward his goal of a world without nuclear weapons. —Reuters

Moscow landmarks including the Kremlin and golden church cupolas disappeared behind a layer of smoke as many Muscovities remaining in the city wore protective masks or simply clutched wet rags to their faces.

Drivers put on their headlights in broad daylight to see through the acrid haze blanketing the capital while the sun appeared as a hazy disc easily viewed by the naked eye with little discomfort. The smokeeasily visible from space in NASA images-penetrated into homes and offices and was even detected inside the Moscow metro, one of the deepest underground systems in the world. “The situation is truly extreme. People are in circumstances under which they should not have to live,” leading Russian doctor Ivan Yurlov of the League for the Nation’s Health group told the Kommersant daily.

With health experts warning that the best solution was to leave the city for the weekend, package tours abroad were completely sold out and there was a rush for seats on trains and planes out of the capital, news agencies said.

But travellers faced chaos as flights from Domodedovo, one of Moscow’s main international airports, and Vnukovo airport to the southwest of the capital were disrupted by the smog with flights diverted to other airports.

Dozens of flights were delayed and around 40 flights cancelled, state aviation committee Rosavitsia said.

“It’s hellish, all the flights are delayed or cancelled. There are thousands of passengers waiting in the heat and smog and the air conditioning isn’t working,” a passenger trying to flee via Domodedovo told AFP by telephone.

The other main international hub, Sheremetyevo in the north of Moscow, was working normally. State air pollution monitoring service Mosekomonitoring said that carbon monoxide levels in the Moscow air were now 6.6 times higher than acceptable levels.

Tiny invisible particles from the fires were also present in concentrations 2.2 times higher than norm, with specialists warning these could prove highly dangerous if they entered the human system.

Germany closed its embassy until further notice and advised citizens against “non-essential” travel to the affected regions while the US State Department asked its nationals to seriously review their travel plans.

Russia moved a friendly match with Bulgaria to Saint Petersburg, fearing for the health of the players while Spartak Moscow’s home clash with Zenit St Petersburg and the Moscow derby between Dynamo and CSKA were cancelled. From yesterday firefighters would be tackling blazes in the Moscow region “24 hours out of 24”, said the deputy minister for emergency situations, Aleksandr Chuprian.

The fires have raised concerns about the security of Russia’s main nuclear research centre in the still closed city of Sarov, one of the areas worst hit by the blazes and where the emergencies ministry has sent thousands of workers. —AFP

KIGALI: A poster of Rwandan President Paul Kagame is seen inside of a bus as a man selling hats walks past at the Nyabugogo market in Kigali yesterday ahead of Rwanda’s presidential elections set for tomorrow. The incumbent lauded achievements under his leadership and voiced confidence of winning this week’s presidential election, in a letter to supporters seen on his website. — AFP

Rwanda not behind attacks on opponents: Prosecutor KIGALI: The Rwandan government was not behind a series of attacks carried out against its opponents in recent weeks, prosecutor General Martin Ngoga yesterday told AFP in an interview.

“What does the government stand to gain by launching attacks on opposition politicians? I think they (the opposition) gained more. The government is not behind these attacks,” he said.

“I don’t know why anyone would suggest the state is involved even when the outcome of the investigations is there,” he said.

He said the brutal killing of Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, a relatively little-known politician from the opposition Green Party had been “grossly misinterpreted.”

Rwisereka’s half-decapitated body was found dumped by a river in mid-July.

“This man was a victim of crime,” he said, adding that investigations are ongoing.

“The indications we have so far are that this has nothing to do with him being a politician,” he said, adding: “The level of brutality should be enough to de-link the state from the crime.”

Both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the European Union condemned Rwisereka’s killing and urged authorities to conduct a full investigation.

General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former ally of Rwandan President Paul Kagame who fell out with his former boss, narrowly survived being shot in the stomach after fleeing to South Africa.

South Africa has suggested foreign agents might have been involved in the shooting but did not say from which country they came.

Ngoga said that far from being the work of the

Rwandan government, the shooting was a setback to his country’s attempts to have Kayumba extradited.

The journalist Jean Leonard Rugambage was shot shortly after the website of his suspended newspaper claimed to have uncovered the regime’s responsibility in the attempted murder of Nyamwasa.

Ngoga said those involved in Rugambage’s killing were on trial.

Rugambage “was implicated in the genocide in a case in which he allegedly killed the manager of a local bank. He was in custody for three years.

The person we are prosecuting now is a brother to Rugambage’s victim,” the prosecutor said.

He also denied using delaying tactics in the case against Victoire Ingabire, an opposition politician who was prevented from running in Monday’s presidential election and who is facing charges of negating the 1994 genocide and associating with rebels from the democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

“There is no delaying tactic,” he said, adding Rwanda is waiting to hear from the countries it contacted and from which people working with Ingabire transferred money to the FDLR. “We cannot start the case here until those countries are through (with their investigations),” he said.

He argued Ingabire was not under house arrest as she says, but rather on on bail.

“Every bail has its conditions and hers are she should not go out of Kigali.”

“The situation she’s in now is bail whose conditions can be relaxed or strengthened depending on how she conducts herself.” — AFP

Violence escalates after Solomons elections HONIARA: Rioters damaged shops and burned a ballot box as vote counting in the Solomon Islands’ general elections was marred by escalating violence yesterday in three provinces. Local police worked with foreign peacekeepers to restore order following Wednesday’s vote.

The Solomon Islands Royal Police sent reinforcements to Temotu, Central and Malaita provinces where crowds angry at election results damaged shops and buildings. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

In Auk Malaita province, angry crowds went on a rampage, burning a ballot box and damaging the headquarters of the provincial government.

In Tulagi in Central province, 16 people were arrested on charges of breaking into a shop owned by a successful candidate.

And in Lata in Temotu Province, angry supporters of a losing high-profile candidate burned and looted a shop and damaging office

buildings, Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said yesterday.

Police said the situation in Lata was under control but arrests were likely. Election results have often sparked unrest among supporters of rival politicians, resulting in injuries and property damage in the South Pacific nation of about 600,000 people scattered across 1,000 islands.

An Australian-led international security force has attempted to maintain peace in the Solomons since 2003, after hundreds were killed in ethnic violence that drove at least 20,000 people from their homes.

A record 509 candidates are seeking election to the nation’s 50-seat parliament.

Vote counting in most constituencies is expected to be completed today, although voting in the remote outer regions of Ontong Java and Sikiana is to take place Monday because of transportation difficulties.

Foreign election observers were pleased overall with the polling, and

the Electoral Commission has said it has found no evidence of fraud.

In the latest results, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the People’s Congress Party Fred Fono lost his seat. Also ousted was former Foreign Affairs Minister William Haomae.

Haomae was unseated by the former governor of the Solomon Islands Central Bank, Rick Hou, who recently resigned from the World Bank to pursue a political career. Former prime ministers Manasseh Sogavare and Snyder Rini retained their seats.

Derek Sikua, who became prime minister in 2007, is also seeking re-election. In Malaita, a former key leader of the militia group the Malaita Eagle Force, Jimmy Lusibaea, won a seat with almost four times as many votes as his nearest rival.

Previously known as Jimmy Rasta, he was recently released from jail after serving five years for robbery and is now a successful businessman. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

9

Santos takes office with strong mandate BOGOTA: Colombian Presidentelect Juan Manuel Santos takes office with a strong mandate to keep fighting left-wing guerrillas, spur economic growth and tackle a messy diplomatic dispute with neighboring Venezuela.

Santos, a former defense and finance minister welcomed by Wall Street, takes over the helm of a much safer Colombia after eight years of President Alvaro Uribe’s US-backed campaign against Latin America’s oldest rebel insurgency.

Santos began the presidential handover with a symbolic ceremony with leaders of Colombia’s Arhuaca, Kogui and Wiwa indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada mountains near the

Caribbean coast.

A US and British-trained economist, Santos has vowed to continue Uribe’s crackdown on FARC rebels and maintain his pro-business approach, which has seen foreign investment grow five-fold since 2002 as Colombia’s conflict waned.

Santos has a healthy majority in the Congress. But he must tackle high unemployment and push through reforms to reduce deficits which are blocking Colombia from regaining the investment grade credit status it lost in a 1990s crisis.

Once seen as a failing state mired in cocaine violence, Colombia has enjoyed a resurgence since Uribe first came to office in 2002. Oil and mine

investment soared as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC were battered and troops retook parts of the country.

Among Santos’ challenges will be managing relations with his Andean neighbors, particularly Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has broken off diplomatic and trade ties in a confrontation causing concern about Andean stability.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said he will seek to mediate an end to the crisis and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro traveled to Bogota for the inauguration in a signal of a thaw in relations. “We want to extend the hand of friendship,” Maduro said after

arriving in Bogota. “We are willing to work on advancing, moving toward the future.”

Chavez, a staunch US foe, accuses close Washington ally Colombia of working with the White House to undermine his socialist government.

Colombia says Venezuela allows FARC rebel leaders to seek refuge across its borders.

Santos, son of an elite Bogota family, and Chavez have clashed repeatedly in the past. But both men say they want to mend ties, especially because of benefits from a renewal of $7 billion a year in bilateral trade.

Colombia’s economy is on the mend with growth seen at more than 3.5 percent this year. But its unem-

ployment rate is among the highest in the region, its peso is rising on the country’s commodities boom and Wall Street is demanding Santos tackle a stubborn fiscal deficit.

Uribe leaves office as the country’s most popular leader. But his second term was marred by scandals over abuses by troops, illegal wiretapping of his critics, and probes into legislative allies over collaboration with paramilitary gangs.

As Uribe’s defense minister, Santos was the architect of some of the strongest blows against the FARC and he acknowledges his debt to his former boss. But he has sought to distance himself, saying he will govern in his own manner. —Reuters

BOGOTA: Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos arrives for the handover ceremony of the Colombian Armed Forces supreme command at a military school in Bogota on the eve of his government’s inauguration. Colombian admiral Edgar Cely is taking over as head of the Armed Forces. — AFP

Relatives optimistic

Rescuers approaching trapped Chilean miners Mexico revived baby dies TULANCINGO: Dafne Hernandez, shows a death certificate of her newborn daughter and a coffin meant to be used at her burial during an interview with local media in Tulancingo, Mexico, Thursday. The newborn baby was declared dead by doctors last Monday before she revived inside her coffin

during her wake and was immediately driven to a private hospital.

Hidalgo state attorney general Jose Rodriguez said the baby girl finally died Thursday due to her premature condition. The doctor who wrongly pronounced the baby girl dead last Monday is under investigation. —AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama applauds Elena Kagan during a ceremony to mark her confirmation to become the next Supreme Court justice, Friday, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Kagan is the first Supreme Court nominee in nearly 40 years with no experience as a judge, and her addition will mark the first time that three women will serve on the nine-member court together. —AP

Kagan to be sworn in as US Supreme Court justice WASHINGTON: Elena Kagan will be sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, becoming only the fourth woman in US history to win a seat of the nation’s highest court.

But the court’s conservative make-up is unlikely to change.

US Senators voted 63-37 Thursday to confirm Kagan as one of the nine justices who act as final arbiters of the US Constitution, set precedent for lower courts, and decide the nation’s toughest moral and legal dilemmas.

Five Republicans broke ranks to back the 50-year-old former Harvard Law School dean, and just one Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, voted against her.

She will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, but will not be formally seated until October 1 for the court’s fall session. Though never seriously in doubt, her confirmation to the lifetime post gave President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies a much-needed victory before November mid-term elections in which they are expected to suffer heavy losses.

Thanking the Senate, Obama said he was “confident that Elena Kagan will make an outstanding Supreme Court Justice.”

The confirmation brought to two the number of justices named by the president-after the court’s first Hispanic justice,

Sonia Sotomayor-and the total number of women on the high bench to three for the first time ever.

Kagan’s “legal qualifications are unassailable. She earned her place at the top of the legal profession,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Her qualifications, intelligence, temperament and judgment will make her a worthy successor to Justice John Paul Stevens,” he said, referring to the retiring leader of the court’s liberal bloc. But Kagan was not expected to tip the overall ideological balance of the court, which many observers have described as the most conservative in decades. —AFP

COPIAPO: Rescue workers slowly closed in on 34 miners trapped deep inside a small gold and copper mine in northern Chile yesterday after a cave-in, as relatives kept hopes alive in an all-night vigil.

No contact has yet been made with those trapped since the collapse at the mine near the northern city of Copiapo on Thursday. But officials said rescuers had moved past the worst of the cave-in and are hopeful they are in an underground shelter with oxygen and water.

“It is a slow process. The rescue workers will not leave until they have results, either good or bad,” said Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, who arrived at the mine before dawn after flying back from a visit to Ecuador.

“As rescuers descend, we hope to have contact, signs of life, in a few more hours.”

He said air was probably reaching the underground shaft where the miners are trapped, about 450 miles (725 km) north of the capital, Santiago.

Rescuers were using air shafts to try to reach the men who are trapped about 900 feet (300 metres) underground.

Relatives were optimistic after praying around a bonfire near the mine entrance all night.

“My brother is down below, but we are confident he will emerge alive along with all his companions,” said 38-year-old miner Carlos Oliveros, praying in front of a small statue of the patron saint of miners, San Lorenzo.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, on an official visit to Colombia, has said his government would hold the mining company accountable for any safety lapses.

The accident shut down the mine, one of three adjacent sites producing a combined 1,200 metric tons of refined copper annually.

The closure is not expected to hurt copper output in Chile, the world’s No.1 copper producer. Major mining accidents are uncommon in the country, because authorities keep strict controls over operations.

Union official Felix Medina said conditions at many smaller mines in the area are precarious. He said the mine employs 150 people and has a recent history of accidents, with 13 fatalities on site and three deaths on the road to Copiapo.

The mine has no escape routes and was closed in 2005 by workers because of bad conditions, but was reopened two years ago, he added. —Reuters

Schwarzenegger: Let same-sex weddings resume now SAN FRANCISCO: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage, has surprised gay rights supporters by urging a federal judge to allow gay couples to resume marrying in the state without further delay. Lawyers for Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, two gay couples and the city of San Francisco all filed legal motions Friday asking Chief US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker to implement his ruling striking California’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional. “The Administration believes the public interest is best served by permitting the court’s judgment to go into effect, thereby restoring the right of same-sex couples to marry in California,” the Republican governor’s lawyers said on his

behalf. “Doing so is consistent with California’s long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect.” In his 136-page decision overturning Proposition 8 Wednesday, Walker said he was ordering the state to cease enforcing the 22-monthold ban. But he agreed to suspend the order until he could review the briefs submitted Friday.

The measure’s sponsors have asked the judge to keep the ban in effect until their appeal of Walker’s ruling invalidating Proposition 8 is decided by higher courts.

They argued in court papers filed earlier this week that resuming gay marriage now would cause legal chaos if the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or US Supreme Court eventually reverse Walker’s ruling.

It was unclear when the judge would

decide whether to grant a stay that would prevent marriage licenses from being issued to gay couples during the appeals process. If he does clear the way for samesex couples to wed, lawyers for sponsors of Proposition 8 said Friday they would seek an emergency order from the 9th Circuit to prevent that from happening.

The governor and attorney general almost always defend state laws when they are challenged, regardless of their personal views. But in this case, both Schwarzenegger and Brown refused to participate in fighting the lawsuit aimed at overturning the ban, even though they both were named as defendants.

That left the job of defending Proposition 8 to its backers, a coalition of religious and conservative groups known as Protect Marriage. —AP

COPIAPO: Rescuers, miners and relatives gather at the entrance to the San Esteban gold and copper mine near the city of Copiapo, in the arid Atacama desert, 800 kilometers (480 miles) north of Santiago, yesterday. Dozens of rescue workers scrambled Friday to locate 34 miners trapped inside a copper and gold mine in northern Chile after a cave-in. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties from the accident. —AFP

10

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

US-Vietnam nuke deal will likely allow enrichment WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has told US lawmakers that a nuclear cooperation deal with Vietnam is unlikely to include a promise by the Hanoi government not to enrich uranium, congressional aides say. The United States had sought a no-enrichment pledge, which the State Department promotes as the "gold standard" for civilian nuclear cooperation accords.

It would have been modeled on a deal last year in which the United Arab Emirates pledged, in return for US nuclear equipment and reactors, not to enrich uranium or extract plu-

tonium from used reactor fuel -- procedures that would provide material that could be used in a nuclear weapon.

The Obama administration has been eager to send a strong nonproliferation message, especially to Iran, which the United States and others accuse of covertly seeking nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, but it has resisted international pressure to stop enriching uranium.

A UAE-style deal with Vietnam could have been used by the United

States to push other countries for similar commitments not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel.

Many countries, however, balk at what they consider an infringement on sovereignty. Countries that have signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty have the right to enrich uranium for civilian use on their own soil under safeguards.

Two congressional aides familiar with the discussions said the Obama administration has concluded that it is unlikely to persuade Vietnam to agree to a UAE-style no-enrichment pledge. The aides spoke on condi-

tion of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Another congressional aide, briefed by the administration, said the talks with Vietnam are in their final stages. The Vietnam development was reported first by The Wall Street Journal.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley would not talk about specifics of the deal with Vietnam.

He called the UAE nuclear accord the "gold standard" and noted that the UAE had decided "that it would forgo the right of enrichment that every country in the world has." "We

certainly want to see other countries make that same kind of decision," Crowley said Thursday.

Asked if the United States would agree to a deal that would allow Hanoi to keep its right to enrich, Crowley said: "If a country decides to pursue nuclear energy, and a country decides that it chooses to enrich on its own soil, then we would prospectively work with that country" to make sure its program would meet all international safeguards and work with the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy

Agency. Vuong Huu Tan, director of Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, said that "Vietnam does not plan to enrich uranium, which is a very sensitive issue." The United States and Vietnam signed an agreement in March meant to pave the way for US firms to help build nuclear power plants. The countries are now negotiating a broader deal that would allow US firms to enter Vietnam's nuclear power sector.

Vietnamese officials say they also have signed nuclear energy cooperation agreements with Russia, China, France, South Korea, India and

Argentina.

Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center think tank and a former Pentagon official, urged the Obama administration to "step back and ask, 'Does it make sense to be peddling nuclear cooperation as a way to make and influence friends there?"'

"This deal gives double standards a bad name. They need to slow down," he said. "If you're going to do it, then don't lower your standards.

What does that buy you? Nothing but trouble." — AP

Police hunt two politicians over airport blast

Ex-Philippine leader asked to testify at massacre trial MANILA: Muslim clan leaders on trial for the Philippines' deadliest politically-linked massacre are to call ex-president and former ally Gloria Arroyo to the witness stand, a state prosecutor said yesterday. The six defendants, along with 190 alleged members of their private army, are accused of murdering 57 people in the province of Maguindanao, which they had ruled for nearlawyers believe she continued to protect them until her term as president ended on June 30.

Under Arroyo, the trial of the detained Ampatuans and their allies had been delayed since April, a potential witness was shot dead and charges were dropped against two clan members only to be reinstated after a public outcry.

Calls to Arroyo's spokeswoman yesterday were not returned, while the defendants' lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Fadullon, the state prosecutor, said the lower court judge in charge of the murder trial has summoned prosecutors and lawyers for the defendants to a meeting on August 11 to discuss how the trial should proceed.

Meanwhile, Philippine police said yesterday they were investigating the possible involvement of two politicians in the bombing of a provincial airport in the south that left two people dead.

However it would be entirely up to the court whether Arroyo, now a sitting member of parliament, could be compelled to take the stand should she refuse to be a witness for the defence, he added.

The defendants, who include clan leader Andal Ampatuan Snr, are accused of abducting, killing, and dumping into mass graves 57 people in November 2009 to stop a rival from challenging them in elections.

Nearly half the victims were journalists who were accompanying the rival's relatives as they drove to the local election office in the southern province to file his official papers for the May 2010 elections. Critics say Arroyo turned a blind eye on the Ampatuans' alleged excesses, including allowing them to run their own private army to serve as a proxy force against Muslim rebels.

Although Arroyo severed her alliance with the Ampatuans following the massacre, relatives of the victims and their

ly a decade with the support of then-president Arroyo. Arroyo, several former top aides, and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima are in the list of witnesses for the defence submitted to the court by the Ampatuan family's lawyers, assistant chief state prosecutor Richard Fadullon told AFP. "They (defendants) can request the court to issue subpoenas," Fadullon said.

"We requested our partners from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other intelligence agencies to conduct manhunt operations against the (politicians)," national police chief Jesus Verzosa told reporters.

The "human bomb" attack on Zamboanga airport may have been linked to a failed assassination attempt last year on Governor Sakur Tan of nearby Sulu province, Verzosa added.

Tan was among 24 people injured Thursday when a man carrying a backpack loaded with explosives and another man were killed in a blast outside the passenger terminal shortly after Tan had stepped off a plane.

Verzosa said police want to question three people including two of Tan's political rivals, Temogen Tulawie, known by his nickname Cocoy, and Moamar Askali.

All three were at large after they were indicted along with two other suspects in the assassination attempt against Tan on

May 13 last year in which four of the governor's bodyguards were wounded, the police chief said.

Tulawie and Askali belong to Sulu families that have contested local elections against Tan. Both Zamboanga and Sulu are part of the impoverished Mindanao region, where deadly Muslim and communist insurgencies have raged for decades.

The Philippines has long suffered from political violence, and many powerful politicians command "private armies" to violently enforce their will against critics and opponents.

Police said one of the men killed at the airport was carrying the bomb, but said they doubted it was a suicide attack and that he may have been duped into carrying the deadly device.

The bomb was remotely triggered, but the components were different from the roadside bomb used in the Sulu attack, Verzosa said. — AFP

Indonesia president survives terror plot JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday that police had foiled a terror plot against him as he visited West Java province, state media reported.

"I received a report from security last night that certain elements with bad intentions were lurking in the Ciwidey area to do something against

me," Yudhoyono was quoted as saying by the Antara state news agency.

Yudhoyono added that terrorists would never win in Indonesia and they only "victimise innocent people", Antara reported, giving no further details of the alleged plot during the president's visit on Friday.

Two terror suspects were arrested

in a police raid in West Java yesterday, according to local media.

Police tried to arrest three suspects, but one was able to flee the raid at a house in Cibiru subdistrict on the outskirts of Bandung, Tempo Interaktif news website reported, quoting West Java police chief Sutarman.

Twin terror attacks on Jakarta luxu-

ry hotels, led by now-dead mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, killed nine people in July last year.

Noordin, who was killed in a police raid in Central Java in 2009, led a violent splinter faction of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network blamed for a string of attacks in Indonesia. — AFP

S Korea conducts anti-missile training amid North warning

BANGKOK: Demonstrators calling themselves 'Thailand Patriot Network' reacts to the speech of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a demonstration against government policy over a land dispute with Cambodia at the Thai-Japan Youth Sport stadium in Bangkok yesterday. — AP

Thai protesters gather in Bangkok BANGKOK: Thai royalist "Yellow Shirts" rallied in Bangkok yesterday as the influential movement seeks to pressure the government over a territorial row with Cambodia.

Thai police said around 1,200 people-many wearing yellow and waving national flags-gathered at a sports stadium after protesters shied away from confrontation with authorities by abandoning plans to meet at Government House.

Political gatherings of more than five people are banned under a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok in April during mass anti-government protests.

The Yellows, known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), have previously allied themselves with the current Thai political leadership but the protest is the latest sign that the group is flexing its political muscle. Last minute talks with

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva secured the venue compromise, although around 300 demonstrators did turn up at the government compound, and the Thai leader is now expected to speak at the rally.

Chamlong Srimuang, a senior PAD leader, told reporters that demonstrators simply wanted to press the government for information on its progress on the thorny Cambodian land issue.

"Today is not a protest against government," he said.

The PAD has criticised the governing Democrat party for signing up to a deal with Thailand's neighbour in 2000 that the Yellows believe paved the way for recognition of a Cambodian land claim.

The group has demanded that Thailand tear up the memorandum of understanding, eject Cambodian citizens from the disputed 4.6 square

kilometre (1.8 square mile) area, and try to regain control of the Preah Vihear temple.

The Yellow Shirts, who are backed by the Bangkok-based elite, are a force to be reckoned with in Thailand's colour-coded political landscape. Rallies in 2006 helped trigger the coup that unseated fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, hero of the mostly poor, working class "Red Shirts", whose mass protests in Bangkok this year culminated in deadly clashes with troops.

Red Shirts have complained of double standards in the way authorities treat their movement.

While many Red leaders are in prison following their rally-during which about 90 people died and nearly 1,900 were injured-there has been little action against Yellows over a 2008 airport siege that left thousands stranded. — AFP

SEOUL: A major South Korean naval exercise went into its third day yesterday, the defence ministry said, as North Korea issued a fresh warning against what it termed "a prelude to a war of aggression".

The drill far south of the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea, was focused on defence against North Korea's guided missiles and submarines, the ministry said.

The exercise is one of a series planned in coming months in a show of force against the North, which the South blames for a deadly torpedo attack on one of its warships in March.

A total of 4,500 troops, backed by 29 ships and 50 aircraft, are being mobilised for the fiveday drill.

"Some 20 Navy ships carried out anti-missile training in the Yellow Sea," a military official was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

Yesterday's drill included anti-aircraft and anti-submarine battles in the Yellow Sea as batteries stationed in an island near the sea border continued live-fire training.

Pyongyang has angrily denied responsibility for the March sinking of the corvette Cheonan near the disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea. The incident killed 46 sailors and sharply raised tensions.

Its communist party's official daily, Rodong Sinmun, said on Saturday the naval exercise in the tense Yellow Sea was aimed at triggering an armed conflict to start a war of aggression.

"The anti-submarine exercise... is a prelude to a war of aggression against the North," it said.

The North's military has threatened "the most powerful" retaliation if the South triggers a conflict during the exercise.

"Our warning is not empty talk," the paper said without elaborating.

Last week's manoeuvres came after South Korea and the United States last week carried out a massive joint naval and air drill in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

The joint drill was relocated from the Yellow Sea separating China and the Korean peninsula after Beijing protested.

But Seoul and Washington said future drills would be held in both the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the Yellow Sea. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Thursday future joint drills would once again involve the USS George Washington and the aircraft carrier would carry out exercises in the Yellow Sea. — AFP

ZHAOYUAN: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers escort rescued miner onto an ambulance at the site of fire at Luoshan Gold Mine in Zhaoyuan, Yantai City, east China's Shandong Province yesterday. A fire broke out at the Luoshan Gold Mine run by Lingnan Mining Co. Ltd. on Friday. — AP

China gold mine fire kills 16 workers BEIJING: Sixteen workers died when a fire broke out in a gold mine in east China, state media reported yesterday, in the latest accident to hit the nation's notoriously dangerous mining sector last week.

Most of the victims died of toxic smoke inhalation underground or in hospital after the accident, which happened on Friday in Shandong province's Zhaoyuan city, the official Xinhua news agency said.

More than 300 miners had been working underground when the blaze started and most were lifted to ground level safely, but about 50 were left trapped, a spokesman for the rescue headquarters was quoted as saying.

Rescuers then gradually managed to pull more workers out until the last seven were rescued earlier yesterday.

Dozens of injured miners were sent to nearby hospitals, and most of these did not have lifethreatening conditions, doctors were quoted as saying.

"We smelt a pungent odour and suspected something might have gone wrong. We closed the vents and waited to be rescued," said Lu Ming, one of the miners being treated in hospital, according to Xinhua.

The work safety bureaus in Zhaoyuan and Shandong refused to comment on the accident when contacted by AFP, and calls to the city and provincial governments went unanswered.

According to an initial investigation, the blaze broke out in a shaft at the gold mine when an electric cable caught fire. The mine was fully licensed but police have taken the director in for questioning, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, a gas outburst at a coal mine in the southwestern province of Sichuan yesterday trapped six miners underground, the report said, in yet another accident in the sector.

China's mining industry is plagued by lax regulation, corruption and inefficiency.

Earlier last week, a total of 32 people were killed in two coal mine accidents.

An explosion rocked a colliery Tuesday in the southwestern province of Guizhou, killing 16, state media reported.

Sixty miners were working underground when the accident happened in Renhuai city, but many managed to escape or were saved.

Late Monday, 16 workers were killed when deadly gas leaked into a pit at the Sanyuandong coal mine in Dengfeng city in central Henan province.

Last weekend, 24 miners were trapped in a flooded pit in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, while 17 others were killed in an explosion at a mine in the northern province of Shanxi.

The government regularly pledges to clean up safety problems in its mines but deadly accidents are still routine.

Only last month, Premier Wen Jiabao lamented the nation's "serious" work safety situation, ordering mining bosses to work side-by-side with workers in the pits to ensure that companies more closely observe safety rules.

Last year 2,631 miners were killed in China, according to official figures, but independent labour groups say the actual figure could be much higher as many accidents are covered up to avoid costly shutdowns. — AFP

MANILA: Fire victims sit among burned corrugated sheets as they survey the extent of the damage after a fire yesterday in suburban Malabon City, north of Manila, Philippines. Some 200 houses, mostly built of light materials, were gutted by fire. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, August 8, 2010

11

Karzai: Shutter private security companies in Afghanistan KABUL: President Hamid Karzai called yesterday for the international community to stop supporting private security companies in Afghanistan, which he said have created parallel security forces in competition with police and army.

He also said foreign donors should help curb corruption by telling his government details about the reconstruction contracts they award.

Karzai spoke during a visit to the Afghan Civil Service Institute, which is training thousands of civil servants in Kabul and across the nation to bolster the capacity of

the Afghan government. The president boasted that the recent international conference he hosted in the capital is proof that the government becoming stronger.

To help strengthen his government, the US and NATO should eliminate private security companies, which Karzai said has created a security structure in Afghanistan that undermines the Afghan army and police. “Afghan or foreign companies, there are some 30,000 to 40,000 people in these security companies,” Karzai said.

“They have created security problems for us, whoever is working in these private

security companies, they are not working for the benefit of Afghan national interests. ... If they really want to be at the service of Afghans, they should join Afghan National Police.” The Afghan government has no oversight over the private security guards.

“Very urgently and seriously we want from the foreigners to stop creating private security companies,” Karzai said. “We cannot tolerate these companies, which are like a parallel structure with our forces. We cannot have police, army and — at the same time — another force as private security companies.” Karzai also said that Afghan

officials will not be able to effectively battle corruption until foreign donor nations and organizations reveal more information about the billions of dollars of aid flowing into the Afghanistan.

“The United States of America and NATO should reveal the details of their contracts,” Karzai said. “If we don’t know who has received a contract, we cannot eliminate corruption in Afghanistan.” Afghan government officials have blamed the international community for the corruption by criticizing the way foreign nations award contracts, which sometimes end up in the hands of

politicians and powerbrokers.

“The contracts that they are making to any one — either politicians or government officials — should be revealed to us,” Karzai said.

“We must know who has a contract, why he has and how he has it. Until then, we will not be able to solve these problems. Our struggle with corruption would be very difficult.” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, while in Kabul for the recent international conference, agreed that the international community needs to take a close look at its own contracting process, which some-

times contradicts the war strategy.

“We also have to take our hard look at ourselves because it is very clear our presence, all of our contracting, has fed that problem,” she said.

“This is not just an Afghan problem, it’s an international issue. We have to do a better job of trying to more carefully channel and monitor our own aid.” She said the US is “pressing the Afghan government at all levels to be more accountable, to go after corruption,” but that the US also had a responsibility to improve management of its programs. — AP

Fresh downpours hamper Pakistan relief for millions US pledges $35 million in aid SOOMRA PANHWARI: Torrential rains frustrated aid efforts in Pakistan yesterday, with some helicopters grounded as authorities battled to help 15 million people affected by the country’s worst ever floods. Military rescue workers were rushing to evacuate families in the poor farming belt of Sindh province, where disaster officials were on red alert for a major del-

KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress party leader Ram Chandra Poudel, second right, proceeds to caste a vote during a session to elect a new prime minister in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday. Nepal’s parliament has failed to elect a new prime minister in its fourth attempt since June, with no party holding an outright majority or able to form a coalition.— AP

Curfew relaxed briefly in Kashmir SRINAGAR: A week-long curfew was briefly lifted in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar yesterday even as anti-India protests claimed the life of another demonstrator, police said.

The protester died in hospital Saturday after being injured the previous day when security forces opened fire during a demonstration in the northern town of Sopore in Indian Kashmir which has been roiled by a 20-year insurgency against New Delhi’s rule.

Police said they were forced to resort to firing after teargas and baton charges failed to subdue the crowd.

The Muslim-majority region has been rocked by violent demonstrations against New Delhi’s rule since the death in early June of a teenage student who was killed by a police tear-gas shell.

Some 49 people have been killed, many of them young men and teenagers shot dead by security forces, including 32 in the past eight days.

In Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar, curfew was relaxed for the first time in seven days, prompting panic buying by residents to stock up on food supplies.

“We are relaxing the curfew for two hours,” the police announced through loudspeakers mounted on vehicles in Srinagar, a city of one mil-

lion people.

While main markets remained shut to protest at the killings, smaller neighbourhood shops opened.

They reported they were running out of supplies as buyers emptied shelves.

“I am struggling to get some baby food for my three-year old daughter,” said housewife Bilkees Jan, 29, after returning empty-handed from three shops.

The protests in the past eight weeks have been some of the biggest anti-India demonstrations in Indian Kashmir since 2008.

The curfew was imposed last Saturday in Srinagar and other towns in the Kashmir valley by authorities who hoped to prevent further protests.

Curfews were also eased in a few other towns, police said.

State government authorities said they were seeking to provide enough food and medicine for the Himalayan region.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir and New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of training Muslim militants fighting Indian rule.

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram alleged in parliament earlier in the week that Pakistan now appeared to be behind the wave of civilian unrest engulfing Indian Kashmir. — AFP

Politician, 2 NATO troops killed in Afghanistan KABUL: A candidate in Afghanistan’s upcoming elections and two NATO soldiers have been killed in the country’s volatile south, officials said yesterday.

Parliamentary candidate Najibullah Gulistani was abducted 18 days ago and his beheaded body was found on Friday in Ghazni province, said provincial police chief Khyalbaz Sherzai.

“He was dumped in an area near his home in Qara Bagh dis-

trict,” said Sherzai.

Political assassinations have become increasingly common in Afghanistan, where parliamentary elections are due to be held on September 18 after being once delayed over security and logistical fears.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said two soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the restive south, but gave no further details.

Improvised explosive

devices are the weapons of choice for Taleban fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency in their southern heartlands of Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where around 30,000 international troops are deployed.

The two deaths bring the overall number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 419, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website. — AFP

“The situation is bad, particularly in the Swat valley, and we have advised people in low-lying areas to vacate their homes as river water levels are rising,” said Adnan Ahmed, a provincial official.

The UN’s special envoy dispatched to help with the floods cancelled a flight to stricken areas, and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani also postponed his trip for a day because of the rains.

Those uprooted from their homes in Sindh have been moved to relief shelters in government buildings, schools and tents, but many families in low-lying areas resisted evacuation, said irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo.

“I didn’t want to leave but when the water levels got high and we were hungry and couldn’t cook anything... my brother told me we should leave,” said Najma Bibi, 30, as she searched for food with her eight-year-old son.

“My brother is back in our village trying to protect the wheat stocks, our clothes and other things in our home and we hope he will join us later,” she said.

Prime Minister Gilani has appealed for immediate international help to cope with the country’s worst ever floods, which have affected 15 million people nationwide, according to the national disaster management authority.

Countries including the US, Britain and China have pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid for victims of the nearly twoweek-old disaster.

The UN estimates at least 1,600 people have been killed by the floods that have ravaged the largely impoverished, insurgency-hit country, sweeping away entire villages.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, head of flood relief operations Major General Ghayoor Mehmood has said some 1,400 people have been killed, with 213 still missing.

Flooding has spread to Indianheld Kashmir, where at least 115 people have died, while some parts of the Punjab are under six feet (two metres) of water, affecting nearly two million people, a senior crisis management official said.

“The scale of the needs is absolutely daunting,” Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said Friday.

More than 252,000 homes are thought to have been damaged or destroyed across Pakistan and 1.38 million acres (558,000 hectares) of crop land flooded, and it could take weeks before electricity is fully restored.

The flooding has threatened electricity generation plants, forcing units to shut down in a country already suffering a crippling energy crisis.

In Punjab a senior government official said water had entered an oil refinery unit, oil depot and a power generation plant, with workers being forced to leave their homes in the area.

Survivors have lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue and provide better relief, piling pressure on a cashstrapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.

Particular scorn has been heaped on the unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari for pressing ahead with a visit to Europe at the height of the disaster.

The United States has pledged a total of 35 million dollars in aid, with military helicopter relief missions travelling into the worst-hit regions.

Australia yesterday doubled its aid pledge to 10 million dollars (9.2 million US). — AP

uge that could burst the banks of the swollen Indus river. Fresh downpours hammered northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where some helicopter services ferrying aid were suspended until the bad weather subsided, although forecasters said there would be at least two days more rain.

MULTAN: Employees of Lal Pir Thermal Power are rescued by army soldiers from floodwater in Lal Pir near Multan in central Pakistan yesterday. More rain soaked flood-ravaged Pakistan yesterday and even heavier downpours were forecast for coming days, deepening a crisis in which hard-line Islamists have rushed to fill gaps in the government’s patchy response. —AP

Pakistani and British leaders brush aside diplomatic spat LONDON: President Asif Ali Zardari addresses Britain’s Pakistani community yesterday after coming under fire at home for being out of Pakistan during its worst flooding in 80 years.

Zardari is due to speak at a rally in the city of Birmingham after talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday in which they agreed to do more together to fight Islamist militancy and brushed aside a diplomatic spat.

“Storms will come and storms will go and Pakistan and Britain will stand together,” Zardari said after meeting Cameron, who had angered Pakistanis with comments last week that Pakistan must not “look both ways” when dealing with militants.

Cameron’s comments during a visit to Pakistan’s archrival India prompted the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency to say its chief was cancelling a trip to Britain in protest, raising fears of a reduction in counter-terrorism cooperation. Officials from both countries have played down those fears, with Cameron speaking on Friday of an “unbreakable relationship between Britain and Pakistan based on our mutual interests”.

It is a measure of how important that relationship is that Zardari should choose to address a rally in Britain-a rare event for a visiting head of state and a sign of the significance of the British Pakistani community.

Britain has more than one million people of Pakistani origin, the majority of them from what was once the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir which lies at the heart of tensions between Pakistan and India.

Security analysts say that the combination of poverty, unemployment, racism and political grievances among

some members of the community provide a fertile breeding ground for the few who seek to join Islamist militant groups based in Pakistan.

Dubbed the “Kashmir escalator”, both Britain and Pakistan have tried to tackle it through sharing intelligence.

It was still unclear whether Zardari had managed to patch up the diplomatic row with Britain to prevent any damage to intelligence sharing.

With at least 1,600 people killed by floods in Pakistan, more than 100 Pakistanis protested on Saturday outside the international convention centre where Zardari was due to speak, many urging him to return to his disaster-stricken country.

Among competing protests by groups from various political organisations, one man shouted over a megaphone for an independent Kashmir, while others

urged the president to go home, chanting “Go Zardari, go!”

One banner read “Zardari, part-time president!” and another “Thousands dying; president holidaying!” The Birmingham event had raised expectations that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the president and the late Benazir Bhutto, would make his first major political speech there after graduating in June from Oxford University.

But in an apparent attempt to appease anger at home over the floods, Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday cancelled plans to attend and said he would instead stay in London to collect donations for flood victims.

Bilawal yesterday vehemently defended his father President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Europe despite the flooding disaster affecting up to 15 million people at home in Pakistan.

Opening a donation point at the Pakistani High Commission

in London, the 21-year-old insisted his father was raising much-needed funds.

“He’s doing the best he can and what he thinks is best to help the people of Pakistan,” the Oxford University history graduate said.

“His personal presence in Pakistan would not be able to raise this much money,” he said, adding that multi-million dollar donations had been made

by France, Britain and Abu Dhabi.

The Gulf emirate had “also promised to come and help the rehabilitation after the floods have gone, after the media have gone, and after people are not paying attention,” he said.

“If he thought he could be more useful in Pakistan, I’m sure he would be there.” Zardari has been criticised in Pakistan and by some in the British Pakistani community for carrying on his visit. — Agencies

LONDON: Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, right, launches a donation point for victims of the floods ravaging northern Pakistan at the Pakistan High Commission in London, yesterday. Listening on are Pakistan High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, second right, and Bashir Riaz, former spokeman for Benazir Bhutto, second left. — AP

OPINION

12

Sunday, August 8, 2010

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issues

Iraq, America and hired guns H

By Bernd Debusmann

ere is a summary of America's future role in Iraq, in the words of President Barack Obama: "Our commitment is changing - from a military effort led by our soldiers to a diplomatic effort led by our diplomats." And here is a note of caution about that promised change: "Current planning for transitioning vital functions in Iraq from the Department of Defense to the Department of State is not adequate for effective coordination of billions of dollars in new contracting, and risks both financial waste and undermining US policy objectives."

Obama's statement came in an Aug 2 speech in which he confirmed that by the end of this month, America's combat role would end. The 50,000 American soldiers remaining in Iraq (down from a peak of almost 170,000) would advise, train and support Iraqi security forces. By the end of next year, the last US soldier would come home. The warning on inadequate planning and the danger of wasting billions was sounded in a mid-July report by the Commission on Wartime Contracting, a bipartisan panel set up in 2008 in response to mounting concern over waste and inefficiencies on a monumental scale in dealing with ever-growing legions of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The commission's report challenged the widespread perception that Iraq is on the road to normality after years of floundering thanks to the right military strategy and democratic processes including elections. "In stable, peaceful countries, (the Department of) State can count on the host nation to meet emergency needs for security or other services," the report said. "Iraq, however, is not stable and peaceful."

Instead, it is "turbulent", a state of affairs that has consequences Obama did not mention in his end-of-combat-mission speech. The president's civilian effort led by diplomats requires protection. Once the soldiers leave, that protection will have to come from thousands of newly contracted private military contractors.

It is the latest twist in the often perverse logic that has driven America's war in Iraq uniformed soldiers out, hired guns in. The number of private security contractors protecting American civilians is forecast to rise from 2,700 now to between 6,000 and 7,000.

"They will have contractors flying aircraft, driving armoured vehicles, providing medevac (medical evacuations), dealing with explosive ordinance disposal," Grant Green, a member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, said in a radio interview after Obama's speech. "You are going to have a lot more contractors doing things that many people will consider inherently governmental, or close to combat."

The phrase "inherently governmental" is at the heart of the often contentious debate

over the use of private contractors, some of whom have made headlines and given an entire industry a black image by using excessive force and antagonizing local populations with Wild West behaviour. (Think Blackwater.) Giving inherently governmental roles to private contractors can backfire in many ways. "If they are raising their own mini-army, they'll also become more prominent targets," says Robert Young Pelton, author of "License to Kill", a book on the rise of private military contractors.

"Once the military leaves, violence is likely to rise."

Ironically, America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has a track record of fierce opposition to wartime contractors. When she was running for president, against Obama, she was the first co-sponsor of a bill stipulating that "all personnel at any United States diplomatic or consular mission in Iraq are provided security services only by federal government personnel". Explaining her support for the bill, she said: "The time to show these contractors the door is long past due."

The bill did not pass. Its intent clashes with reality on the ground - the world's only superpower cannot fight its wars nor protect its diplomats in unstable countries without private contractors. Their number is vast - 95,000 in Iraq and 112,000 in Afghanistan according to the latest Pentagon count. This means that there are more civilian contractors than American troops both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Contrary to popular perceptions, most of the contractors are not armed and perform jobs that range from driving trucks and cooking food to issuing ID cards and cleaning toilets. In Iraq, the United States lists 11,029 armed private security contractors (11.5 percent of the total), just over 1,000 of them Americans, working for the Pentagon. (Those figures do not include contractors for the State Department or the CIA).

Is there a way to stuff the contractor genie back into the bottle? Probably not. The trend towards outsourcing roles previously performed by the military began with the end of the Cold War and the perceived "peace dividend" that prompted the armed forces to be shrunk by some 800,000. Contractors make up part of the gap.

There's no scarcity of job opportunities for them. In Baghdad alone, guarding the fortress-like US embassy, America's biggest in the world, and ferrying diplomats to appointments in convoys of bullet-proof cars, requires a cast of hundreds. Add security personnel for five planned new embassy outposts around the country - known as Enduring Presence Posts and you have a small army of private soldiers. And that's not counting at least a dozen other key security-related tasks the State Department will have to take over from the military. — Reuters

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.

Abbas cornered as US pressure grows for talks

By Tom Perry

P

alestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is holding fast against US pressure to begin direct peace talks with Israel before he is ready.

The next few weeks are likely to show whether he can stay his course. He will have to decide whether to defy US President Barack Obama, who wants negotiations to begin by September, or the many Palestinians who are urging him to avoid direct talks with an Israeli government they believe is not ready for peace.

The odds would seem to favour a determined Obama getting his way sooner or later at the expense of Abbas' credibility, already damaged by political blunders that have played into the hands of his rivals in the Hamas group. But bending to Washington's will would mean an embarrassing retreat from the demands he has set for direct talks. Even with a superpower knocking at his door, people familiar with Abbas' thinking say it is not a foregone conclusion he will give in.

Abbas wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make plain his intentions on key issues before Palestinian agreement to move from US-mediated "proximity talks" that began in May to face-to-face negotiations. Aged 75, Abbas is keen to avoid blotting his record with yet another round of failed talks on creating a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, an enclave run by Hamas Islamists opposed to peace negotiations with Israel.

Influential Palestinians are urging him to say no unless his demands are first met, making it all the more diffi-

cult for Abbas to agree. "(The United States) should do something to break the impasse by giving him something to preserve his credibility," a Palestinian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Abbas needs US guarantees. He has heard good intentions from America, but that is not going to lead anywhere."

Netanyahu is ready to talk now, putting Abbas, the weaker of the two, in the uncomfortable position of appearing an obstacle to US diplomacy that has failed to make much headway over the past 18 months. He has already turned down a US request which he says was made in July for an immediate start to direct talks.

Publicly at least, there is no flagging of resolve that has surprised critics who never miss a chance to label him a sellout.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation rallied to Abbas' side on Monday, warning that hastiness could expose US diplomacy to the risk of complete collapse. The Palestinians are trying to keep the focus on the content rather than the form of the negotiations. Seventeen years since the start of the peace process, what is the point, they ask, of talking for the sake of it?

US assurances have so far fallen short of what Abbas is seeking. He wants Netanyahu to give a sense of the shape and size of a future Palestinian state, accept the idea of a foreign party, NATO for example, guarding its borders and halt building settlement Jewish buildings on occupied land.

Abbas told Arab ministers last week that Obama had sent him three letters which the United States viewed as an adequate base for a move to direct

talks. But he made clear the Palestinians were seeking more, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. "We must all continue to work with the American administration to achieve what we want with respect to the terms of reference and a halt to settlements before a start of direct talks and in order to guarantee their success," Abbas said. Palestinians familiar with what has gone on during

the three months of indirect negotiations mediated by US Senator George Mitchell are dejected. They were heartened by Obama's unusually harsh criticism of Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem this year, but have been disappointed by what they see as his failure to exercise strong pressure on Netanyahu. Abbas now faces a choice between upsetting Obama or the many Palestinians, including mem-

bers of his own Fatah party, who are putting pressure on him to stick to his demands.

"There is wide opposition to a start to direct negotiations in the Fatah movement, in the PLO and among the public," said Palestinian political commentator Hani Al-Masry. "If they mobilise, it will difficult for (Abbas) because such a decision will have no legitimacy." — Reuters

No war likely on border - for now

By Rana Moussaoui

A

n escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli border is unlikely despite last week's deadly clashes as all parties, including Hezbollah, appear keen on containing the situation, at least for now, analysts say. "Israel and Hezbollah had a golden opportunity to fight it out and Hezbollah would have had a perfect alibi to say they were defending the country," said Ghassan Azzi, political science professor at Lebanese University. "But I don't think the war is for tomorrow as it's not the right time," Azzi told AFP. Tuesday's flare-up along the volatile border between Lebanese and Israeli troops - over an operation to uproot a tree - marked the worst fighting in the area since the 2006 war between the Shiite Hezbollah and the Jewish state. The clashes, which left four people dead, illustrated the high tension in the region and how a small incident could potentially escalate into all-out war. But the subsequent measured response by all the parties also showed that no one wants a fight, at least for now. "In the near future, I don't see an escalation," said Oussama Safa, head of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. "It is not a Lebanese army corporal who is going to start the war in the south," he added. "It is way beyond that and the factors for that war aren't there yet."

The Israeli military believes the shootout was sparked by a lone Lebanese army officer who was not acting on orders from higher-ups, Israeli defence experts said.

Analysts pointed out that Hezbollah, by far the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon, on Tuesday had stayed out of the clashes that took place in a region largely under their control in a move that shows it is not ready for war. "Hezbollah is trying very smartly to get as much mileage as possible out of this," Safa said. "They have said they are ready (for battle) ... but the timing is absolutely theirs."

He added that had the militant group, backed by Syria and Iran, stepped into the fray on Tuesday it would have provoked a regional conflict. "Fighting along the army would mean war and this is not on the table right now," he said.

Israel, which considers Hezbollah its number one enemy in Lebanon and is keen on neutralising the party's military capacity, also showed restraint after Tuesday's skirmish.

"One must act in such a way that a local incident does not degenerate into a full-blown crisis," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday. "I hope there will be no escalation, that we will have a calm summer and that things will return to normal."

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a report released this week that it was clear the calm that has prevailed in the Israeli-Lebanese arena since the end of the 2006 war reflected fears that the next conflict would be far more devastating. "None of the most directly relevant actors - Israel, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran - relishes this prospect, so all, for now, are intent on keeping their powder dry." — AFP

Discontent seen behind ‘attack’ on Ahmadinejad

By Alistair Lyon

E

conomic or ethnic discontent may lie behind an apparently amateurish attack on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's convoy on Wednesday - if such it was - rather than any plot by militants or foreign foes to kill him. Ahmadinejad, one of Iran's most divisive leaders since the 1979 Islamic revolution, is defying tougher sanctions over his country's nuclear program, but is under fire from reformist and conservative critics of his foreign and economic policies. His disputed re-election in June 2009 provoked huge street protests that were crushed by security forces led by the elite Revolutionary Guards. Defeated candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi always urged their supporters to avoid violence.

A source in the president's office said Ahmadinejad survived unhurt when a homemade explosive device was thrown at his motorcade as it drove through the western city of Hamadan. Some Iranian media denied there had been any attack at all, or sharply toned down their initial accounts of the blast. The semiofficial Fars news agency, after first reporting a man had hurled a home-made grenade, later said a firecracker had been set off by a man who was "excited" to see

Bodyguards stand around Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center) as smoke rises near his motorcade in the city of Hamedan on Aug 4, 2010. — AFP the president. There was no official word on who was behind the bang and no claim of responsibility. Speculation about possible culprits ranged from foreign intelligence services to Iranian ethnic militants and other domestic opponents of Ahmadinejad.

Theodore Karasik, a security analyst at the Dubai-based INEGMA group, linked the incident to "growing discontent"

with Ahmadinejad's rule, even among some of his core constituents. "This happened in a provincial area where he's supposed to be more popular. If he gets people riled up there, then that's not good," he said. "Now the conservatives are turning on him because of the economy and the position Iran is in because of the fourth wave of (United Nations) sanctions."

There have been no previous

confirmed attempts on the president's life. In Dec 2005, Iranian authorities denied reports that Ahmadinejad had been the target of assassins in the lawless southeastern region of Baluchistan. The Iranian leader may blame outside powers such as Israel and the United States, but the small scale of Wednesday's blast suggests that even a disgruntled loner could have done it. "It's not well-

organised. It's an individual attempt, not a group," said Dubai-based security analyst Mustafa Alani, who pointed to ethnic Kurd or Baluch discontent as a possible cause. He predicted that Ahmadinejad would seize on the affair as evidence that he is being targeted by foreign enemies. "They (the Iranians) will pin it on the Americans or Israelis."

Ahmadinejad declared this week that the Israelis had him in their sights. "The stupid Zionists have hired mercenaries to assassinate me," he told a conference in Tehran on Monday. The populist Iranian leader has toured the provinces more than any of his predecessors, often offering cash, loans or local development projects to consolidate his support. "We will have to see whether this is serious enough that he cuts back doing that," said Gala Riani, Middle East analyst at IHS Global Insight. "There have been occasions when people have thrown things at him or heckled him, but that has been it."

Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, is feeling economic pain as the United States and the European Union add their own sanctions to milder UN measures adopted in June.

Tehran said last week it was ready to return to talks with Western powers on a nuclear fuel swap, shortly afer the EU

had announced steps to block oil and gas investment. Although Ahmadinejad faces domestic grumbles over inflation and unemployment, he enjoys the broad support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Revolutionary Guards. "Although this incident is significant in itself, it should not destabilise Iran," said Marie Bos, Middle East analyst at Control Risks in London, arguing that a local group without international connections was most likely to have been behind it.

Oil markets shrugged off the fuss. "I expect that any backlash there might be from Ahmadinejad will be far more important to the oil market than the initial attack itself," said Paul Harris, head of natural resources risk management at Bank of Ireland. "You would expect the oil market to react if there is any attempt to link the attack to the current tensions with the West and the rampingup of sanctions."

The Iranian authorities have so far reacted in a guarded fashion to the motorcade incident, whether trivial or not. Their opponents in exile predictably saw it as a sign of unrest. "It is obviously a reflection of the fact that all is not well and control is not total, contrary to conventional wisdom," said Mehrdad Khonsari, a secular Iranian dissident in London. — Reuters

ANALYSIS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

13

BlackBerry row lifts veil on state cyberspies

By Peter Apps

T

he arguments over whether several emerging nations can effectively hack BlackBerry devices give a rare glimpse of the shadowy world of state electronic surveillance already changing politics, espionage and business. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are both in dispute with Canadian smartphone maker Research In Motion, saying they want access to the encrypted phones to monitor security threats. Both are threatening to block its messenger function.

The row highlights a growing gulf between the idea of a free Internet and the desire by a growing number of authoritarian governments from China to Iran to control information and deepen surveillance to tackle dissent and insurgency. Indian security agencies are also demanding access to BlackBerry messages as a condition for further expansion, saying they suspect militants used the handsets to help plan the 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people died. Lebanon and Algeria are making similar demands.

"It is part of a wider trend," said Jonathan Wood, global issues analyst at London-based consultancy Control Risks, which advises companies on security, corruption, politics and other issues. "After 9/11, you had this huge expansion of Western powers monitoring electronic communications for national security. Other countries are now catching up. The difference is they want to use it more broadly."

That could range from monitoring and thwarting millions of potential dissidents to gaining advantage in business deals - a particular worry for Western firms sometimes in competition with state-backed companies.

Most countries say there are strict controls over authorising

Saudi man enters a mobile shop at a market in the capital Riyadh on Aug 5, 2010. – AP electronic intercepts - but it is often impossible for outsiders to tell how they are actually used.

"It's obviously going to be a concern for Western business," said Wood. "You have the risk that some of this information may be used for commercial purposes."

The BlackBerry in particular has become a ubiquitous tool of bankers, company executives, political activists and diplomats.

Its government-level 256-bit encryption is at the heart of its appeal. BlackBerrys are used for planning everything from coffee meetings to debt restructuring and corporate mergers, from protest marches to romantic liaisons - often as their jetsetting users travel casually through several countries.

Many firms in sensitive sectors already control use. Lockheed Martin said staff used

BlackBerrys in the Gulf and elsewhere but with restrictions.

"The corporation has rigorous standards and protocols on how we process and communicate sensitive information," spokesman Jeffrey Adams said.

"Cyber security is a global concern."

Some argue there is already a double standard. BlackBerry servers are located in the United States, Britain and Canada. Few doubt that intelligence agencies in those countries have access to them.

Perhaps as a result, France has banned its officials from using the devices. But most analysts say Western efforts have focused mainly on trying to use electronic intercepts to track a small number of militants, organised criminals and others including child pornographers.

Some emerging nations are clearly targeting political dissenters for whom cheap, hardto-trace electronic communications have made organising much easier. "When BlackBerry came, I started to get messages criticising the government from people I'd never seen involved in activism," said UAE blogger Ahmed Mansour. "Regular people started discussing taboo subjects."

Widespread unrest, coordinated on the Internet, after Iran's disputed election last year showed how social networking and microblogging sites such as Twitter could be used to mobilise opposition. Since then many countries have tightened controls and blocked websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

In the highest-profile row until now, Google angered Beijing

earlier this year when it announced it would no longer comply with Chinese censorship rules.

It said its servers had suffered numerous cyber-attacks from China - seen as keen to monitor dissidents over the Internet while limiting access to outside sites through its firewall. "All the major high-tech multinationals are pushing for a boundless global Internet, while authoritarian states across the board are increasingly interested in regionally based "intranets" where governments exert sovereignty over their own servers and routers," Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, wrote in a note.

Western intelligence agencies have also occasionally been tripped up by the new electron-

ic world. Security experts were aghast last year when it emerged the wife of the new head of Britain's spy service MI6 had posted pictures of her husband, family and friends and other personal details on Facebook. But normally, secrecy reigns. Bjoern Rupp, chief executive of secure phone manufacturer GSMK - which supplies governments, celebrities and armed forces - said the unusual feature of the Saudi and UAE BlackBerry dispute was its public nature.

The level of access spy agencies have to monitor BlackBerry messages has been at the heart of negotiations to roll out the devices around the world - with RIM notoriously coy over what was agreed. Even without agreement, experts say there are ways intelligence agencies can break the BlackBerry's security. "An outright ban... is a very clumsy approach," Rupp told Reuters. "Most countries with an active interest in monitoring their citizens' telecommunications act in a much more sophisticated and subtle way in order to keep such activities out of the public spotlight."

In Russia, rolling out BlackBerry took two years of negotiations and the agreement of the powerful state security agency the FSB, which was entitled to monitoring rights under anti-terror laws - and demanded the servers be based in Russia. Expanding in China also took two years of security discussions. In the Gulf, political activists say secure BlackBerry messaging hugely increased their ability to communicate with each other. If the service is blocked, they will simply switch to other tools such as encrypted Skype calls. "(BlackBerry) messaging was revolutionary for people here," said Abdel Hamid, a UAE lawyer and human rights activist. "It awakened them.

That's something I don't think will disappear." — Reuters

RIM seeks security solution not a fight

By Susan Taylor

F

or Research In Motion, pragmatism appears to have carried the day once again, as Saudi Arabia let Friday pass without making good on its threat to shut down RIM's BlackBerry Messenger service.

Despite reports of temporary interruptions, thousands of BlackBerry users in the kingdom could still access Messenger hours after the government said it would silence it. Analysts say the deadline's passing without incident suggests RIM is willing to cut a deal with governments that want to monitor communications traveling through BlackBerry's famously sealed network.

"It seems to me RIM will be pragmatic in working out solutions with these governments and satisfy local laws and at the same time continue to offer the leading security they they've been offering for a number of years,"

CIBC World Markets analyst Todd Coupland said. Even though RIM struck a defiant stance in the days leading up to the deadline, its negotiators on Friday were discussing with the Saudi telecom regulator a plan to put servers in the country, a source with direct knowledge of the talks said. That could give authorities better access to messages that have been handled exclusively through servers in Canada and the UK. Earlier this week, as a growing group of governments demanded access to RIM's rock-solid encryption on national security grounds, the company insisted that third-party access was impossible. Mike Lazaridis, a RIM founder and its corporate technology guru, came out swinging as the story gathered steam. "Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the Internet, they should shut it off," he told the Wall Street Journal.

Even so, Lazaridis said the company was in discussions with various governments, and that the issue will likely get resolved. "I think they take their lumps in these sort of ... dictatorial nations, and go on from there," Needham & Co analyst Charles Wolf said. "Let's worry about RIM's ability to catch up with iPhone and Android and less about these stupid decisions," he said. The highly publicized tussle has taken some of the shine off this week's launch of the BlackBerry Torch, designed to compete against smartphones from Apple and handsets using Google's Android software.

Industry experts and analysts say it is unlikely anyone will ever learn how the company forged a compromise with countries seeking access to data that RIM says it has no way of intercepting.

"In the past, when people have made similar threats, either they withdrew completely, without RIM doing any-

thing, or perhaps, behind the scenes, RIM was able to ... come up with a compromise that allowed everybody to go away happy. And that's never publicized," said Duncan Stewart, Deloitte Canada's director of research on technology, media and telecommunications.

"Of the very long list of people who have threatened to ban BlackBerries, nobody's actually done it, ever, not once, not even for a minute."

In a statement this week, RIM said that claims it has provided unique wireless services or access to any one country are "unfounded". "There is only one BlackBerry enterprise solution available to our customers around the world and it remains unchanged in all of the markets we operate in," the company said. Aside from two brief statements and one interview, the tight-lipped company has been particularly quiet this week, only infrequently responding to media questions. "In this case, given

that you're dealing with geopolitical concerns, less is more. The less you say and the more you work toward a resolution and state it, the better," Mackie Research Capital Corp analyst Nick Agostino said.

Ultimately, observers say RIM could benefit from the high-stakes row.

BlackBerry user Robert McFarlane, who is chief financial officer of Canada's No. 2 phone company, Telus Corp, said countries that ban the service risk becoming a business "backwater". They may also boost RIM's reputation. "If they play it right, from a marketing standpoint, what's going to be reinforced in everyone's minds is that the BlackBerry is so secure that these bad governments are afraid of it. It's actually a selling feature," he said. "I think it's been etched in everyone's mind that BlackBerries are way more secure than iPhones. And I'm not sure everyone understood that before." — Reuters

India struggles to douse Kashmir separatist fire

By Alistair Scrutton

I

ndia faces a full-blown separatist uprising in Kashmir that may sink hopes for peace in the strategic region as disaffected Muslim youth rebel against a government seen as leaderless, complacent and out of touch. New Delhi paints the street protests as incited by Pakistan-based militants or radical bands of stone throwers.

But the evidence is growing this may be a wider and spontaneous movement led by young Kashmiris angry at years of misrule.

Critics say the risk is that India's refusal to recognize the roots of the alienation may ignite a vicious cycle of violence and return Kashmir to the kind of upheaval seen during the 1990s. It all bodes badly for a disputed region seen as key to wider long-term stability under South Asia's security arch of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This is the most serious challenge to central authority I have seen in 20 years," said Siddharth Varadarajan, strategic affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper.

"And the government doesn't have much of a clue how to resolve it."

Muslim-majority Kashmir, which India and Pakistan both claim but rule in parts, has been racked by militancy since 1989 when an insurgency against Indian rule erupted. Around 47,000 people have died but militancy had fallen in the past few years.

The latest violence started

Kashmiri protesters shout slogans near a burning government vehicle after they set it on fire during a protest in the Barthana neighborhood of Srinagar Aug 4, 2010. – AP with the death of a teenage student in early June. The region has been locked down for weeks, and protesters have defied curfews to attack police with stones and set security camps and police stations on fire.

The death toll in seven weeks has risen to at least 40, mostly demonstrators shot dead by police. Basic foods and fuel supplies are running short and families have been confined to

their houses for days, with schools and businesses shut. So polarised has it become that protesters seem more radical than their leaders. An appeal by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a separatist hardliner, for peaceful protests went unheeded.

For many Kashmiris, the whole population appears to support the protests.

Volunteers have established blood donation camps, pooled rice and vegetables in communi-

ty kitchens and supplied food to patients in Srinagar hospitals.

"The protests seem to have taken a direction of their own, which we've never seen before," said well-known separatist leader Sajjad Gani Lone. "There is not a leader who could say stop the protests and they would stop it."

It did not have to be this way.

Only 18 months ago, hopes for peace in Kashmir grew after young Kashmiri leader Omar

Abdullah, who is backed by the central government in New Delhi, won the state election on promises of ending injustice in the region and pushing economic development. His election came only months after mass protests across the valley, then the biggest in two decades, sparked by a dispute over land for a Hindu shrine trust.

But those hopes were quickly dashed by Abdullah's own mistakes - he was seen as detached from the problems of Kashmiris - as well as alleged army abuses including the rape of young girls, and heavy handedness from India's government, such as the banning of pre-paid cellular phones and text messaging on security grounds. "Omar has mishandled the situation but the real problem is that India's political leadership took their eyes off the ball," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.

Home Minister P Chidambaram says more than 1,000 security personnel were injured by protesters and that the government is open to a political settlement if demonstrators shun violence. But over the last 18 months, New Delhi failed to move on any of Kashmir's contentious issues, including a widely hated law that gives special powers to the army such as holding suspects for up to two years without trial.

"It is all symbolic of the vacuum in Indian leadership," said political analyst Narasimhan Rao. "This government is just moving from one controversy to

another," he added, referring to government battles over high inflation to controversies over mismanagement in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Indeed, the government appears to have little policy initiative to diffuse the crisis aside from just wearing down the protesters, perhaps hoping that the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week will help protests subside. That same policy led the 2008 protests to tail off, a relief that proved only temporary.

"Kashmiris cannot offer the same degree of mobilisation forever," said Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a Kashmir university law teacher. "New Delhi interprets that as reconciliation by Kashmir. In reality, it is just a dormant volcano."

New Delhi does have a card up its sleeve. Despite the deaths and protesters, this is not the equivalent of China's Tibet.

While Kashmir was a diplomatic football in the 1990s, this time round the troubles have had little international resonance, with no criticism from the United Nations or the United States.

While Pakistan has made some diplomatic noise, there is little sign that the disturbances will impact on relations that are tentatively improving after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "Compared to a decade ago, no one is willing to annoy India," said Varadarajan.

"It carries too much weight globally. In this region, the world 's eyes are on Afghanistan, not Kashmir."— Reuters

focus

Mustafa Al-Hawsawi

Ramzi Binalshibh

CIA whisked men from Guantanamo

By Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman

F

our of the nation's most highly valued Al-Qaeda terrorists were moved secretly to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003, years earlier than has been disclosed, then were whisked back into overseas prisons before the US Supreme Court could give them access to lawyers, AP has learned. The transfer allowed the United States to interrogate the detainees in CIA "black sites" for two more years without allowing them to speak with attorneys or human rights observers or challenge their detention in US courts.

Had they remained at the Guantanamo Bay prison for just three more months, they would have been afforded those rights.

"This was all just a shell game to hide detainees from the courts," said Jonathan Hafetz, a Seton Hall University law professor who has represented several detainees.

Removing them from Guantanamo Bay underscores how worried President George W Bush's administration was that the Supreme Court might lift the veil of secrecy on the detention program. It also shows how insistent the Bush administration was that terrorists must be held outside the US court system.

Years later, the program's legacy continues to complicate President Barack Obama's efforts to prosecute the prisoners suspected of being behind the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The arrival and speedy departure from Guantanamo were pieced together by the AP using flight records and interviews with current and former US officials and others familiar with the CIA's detention program. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the program.

Top officials at the White House, Justice Department, Pentagon and CIA consulted on the prisoner transfer, which was so secretive that even many people close to the CIA detention program were kept in the dark.

CIA spokesman George Little said: "The so-called black sites and enhanced interrogation methods, which were administered on the basis of guidance from the Department of Justice, are a thing of the past."

Before dawn on Sept 24, 2003, a white, unmarked Boeing 737 landed at Guantanamo Bay. At least four Al-Qaeda operatives, some of the CIA's biggest captures to date, were aboard: Abu Zubaydah, Abd Al-Nashiri, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa AlHawsawi. Binalshibh and AlHawsawi helped plan the 9/11 attacks. Al-Nashiri was the mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Zubaydah was an Al-Qaeda travel facilitator. The admitted terrorists had spent months overseas enduring some of the harshest interrogation tactics in US history. By late summer 2003, the CIA believed the men had revealed their best secrets.

The agency needed somewhere to hold them, but no longer needed to conduct prolonged interrogations.

The US naval facility at Guantanamo Bay seemed a good fit. Bush had selected the first six people to face military tribunals there, and a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that detainees could not use US courts to challenge their imprisonment. Also, the CIA had just constructed a new facility, which would become known as Strawberry Fields, separate from the main prison at Guantanamo Bay. The agency's overseas prison network, meanwhile, was in flux.

A jail in Thailand known as Cat's Eye closed in Dec 2002, and in the fall of 2003 the CIA was preparing to shutter its facility in Poland and open a new one in Romania.

Human rights investigators and journalists were asking questions.

The CIA needed to reshuffle its prisoners. The prisoner transfer flight, outlined in documents and interviews, visited five CIA prisons in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania, Morocco and Guantanamo Bay. The flight plan was so poorly thought out, some in the CIA derisively compared it to a five-card straight revealing the program to outsiders: Five stops, five secret facilities, all documented. The flight logs were compiled

by European authorities investigating the CIA program. The flight started in Kabul, The Afghan capital, where the CIA picked up Al-

Abu Zubaydah Hawsawi at the secret prison known as the Salt Pit. The Boeing 737 then flew to Szymany, Poland, where a CIA team picked up 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and took him to Bucharest, Romania, to the new prison, code-named Britelite.

Next it was on to Rabat, Morocco, where the Moroccans ran an interrogation facility used by the CIA. At 8:10 pm on Sept 23, 2003, the Boeing 737 took off from a runway in Rabat. On board were Al-Hawsawi, Al-Nashiri, Zubaydah and Binalshibh. At 1 am the following day, the plane touched down at Guantanamo.

The existence of a CIA prison at Guantanamo was reported in 2004, but it has always been unclear who was there. Unlike the overseas black sites, there was no waterboarding or other harsh interrogation tactics at Strawberry Fields, officials said. It was a holding facility, a place for some of the key figures in the 9/11 attacks to await trial. Not long after they arrived, things began unraveling.

In November, over the administration's objections, the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Guantanamo Bay detainees could sue in US courts.

The administration had worried for several years that this might happen. In 2001, Justice Department lawyers Patrick Philbin and John Yoo wrote a memo saying courts were unlikely to grant detainees such rights. But if it happened, they warned, prisoners could argue that the United States had mistreated them and that the military tribunal system was unlawful. "There was obviously a fear that everything that had been done to them might come out," said Al-Nashiri's lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

Worse for the CIA, if the Supreme Court granted detainees rights, the entire covert program was at risk. Zubaydah and AlNashiri could tell their lawyers about being waterboarded in Thailand. Al-Nashiri might discuss having a drill and an unloaded gun put to his head at a CIA prison in Poland. "Anything that could expose these detainees to individuals outside the government was a nonstarter," one US official familiar with the program said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the government's legal analysis.

In early March 2004, as the legal documents piled up at the Supreme Court, the high court announced that oral arguments would be held in April. After that, a ruling could come at any time, and everyone at the island prison, secretly or not, would be covered.

On March 27, just as the sun was setting on Guantanamo, a Gulfstream IV jet left Cuba. The plane landed in Rabat the next morning. By the time the Supreme Court ruled June 28 that detainees should have access to US courts, the CIA had once again scattered Zubaydah, Al-Nashiri and the others throughout the black sites.

Two years later, after The Washington Post revealed the existence of the program, Bush emptied the prison network.

Fourteen men, including the four who had been at Guantanamo Bay years earlier, were moved to the island prison. They have remained there ever since. The four men who were making their second journey to Guantanamo Bay received what they nearly obtained years earlier, before they were spirited away.

"The International Committee of the Red Cross is being advised of their detention and will have the opportunity to meet with them," Bush said in a White House speech Sept 6, 2006. "Those charged with crimes will be given access to attorneys who will help them prepare their defense, and they will be presumed innocent." — AP

NEWS

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Indonesia Net use booming MALKIYA, Bahrain: A boy bathes his puppy yesterday at sunset along the coast of this Arabian Gulf village. Temperatures hit 41 degrees Celsius and summer humidity made for a sweltering day. — AP

Kashmir floods kill 132 Continued from Page 1 border with China and has a large Indian military presence. Thousands more were left homeless in the disaster, which came as India’s neighbour Pakistan was swamped by its worst-ever floods. Indian air force planes made five sorties, flying in medicines, doctors and food for victims of the devastation, an official spokesman said. The government is seeking “to give treatment to the people injured and cater to the needs of those displaced by the tragedy,” federal Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters in Leh. Civilian doctors were operating in the main army hospital as the Leh Civil Hospital “has been filled with mud,” said army spokesman Sitanshu Kar.

A powerful two-metre wall of water, mud and sand smashed into the area as people slept early Friday, making it look “like it was bombed”, R S Raina, who works for state broadcaster Doordarshan in Leh, told AFP. Shops in a newly built market in Leh were transformed into temporary mortuaries where rescuers laid out bodies. “Unclaimed bodies are piling,” a police officer said. “Those bodies which are claimed are immediately cremated or buried.”

Farooq Shah, the region’s director of tourism, said only one foreign tourist was known to have been injured and was out of danger. But he said the situation would become clearer in couple of days as some tourists had travelled to remote villages now cut off by the devastation. Up to

3,000 tourists, including foreigners, were staying in Leh but none of the major hotels suffered serious damage, Leh tourism official Nissar Hussain said.

Private airlines resumed operations, allowing some tourists to leave.

Rescuers waded through knee-deep mud in an effort to reach victims trapped in collapsed buildings. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who have a strong presence in Leh, said in a statement they had rescued 100 people yesterday. The mountainous area in the southeastern part of Muslim-majority Kashmir is a favourite destination for foreign adventure tourists. Leh lies 3,500 m above sea level and is in a usually arid part of Indian Kashmir where heavy rainfall is uncommon. — AFP

Lebanon reels after ex-general arrested Continued from Page 1 “You don’t arrest someone like him without rock-solid proof and there was enough evidence against him,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.

“He may not have given the Israelis much technical information, but his arrest has a huge political impact because of his position and rank,” he added.

He said Karam, 62, who stood in parliamentary elections last year, allegedly used cell phones with roaming numbers from European countries to contact his Israeli handlers. He reportedly met them in Paris, where he travelled regularly, and was nabbed because of an unspecified mistake. Ironically, in the 1980s Karam headed the Lebanese army’s anti-terrorism and counter-espionage unit where he worked closely with FPM leader Michel Aoun, who was army chief at the time and who also served as interim prime minister.

Aoun was staunchly anti-Syrian and was forced into exile in France at the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war when Damascus imposed its rule over its tiny

neighbour. Aoun returned to Lebanon in 2005, one month after Syria withdrew its troops following a 29-year presence. In a controversial move in 2006, he entered an alliance with the Iran- and Syriabacked Shiite group Hezbollah. Aoun also caused a stir by visiting both Damascus and Tehran.

Karam, who through the years has remained close to Aoun, was himself arrested by Syrian troops in 1990 and spent five months at the notorious Syrian jail of Mazzeh. He went to Israel after his release through southern Lebanon, which was then occupied by Israel, and then headed to France where he set up a drycleaning business. “He may have begun to spy for Israel in reaction to the harsh treatment he suffered during his detention at the Mazzeh prison,” the source said.

Karam’s arrest, which has been the talk of the capital Beirut, has shocked political circles in Lebanon, which along with Syria is still technically at war with Israel. “We are stunned,” said Simon Abi Ramia, a deputy with the FPM. “We just cannot believe it.” Another retired general who knows Karam well and who con-

They’re seeing this is a very lucrative market. They don’t want to take themselves out of this market,” he added.

A second Saudi regulatory official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details of the deal, said tests were now under way to determine how to install a BlackBerry server inside the country. RIM representatives did not immediately return messages seeking confirmation. The Canadian company issued a statement last Tuesday denying it has given some governments access to BlackBerry data. RIM says its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted emails sent by corporate BlackBerry users. The consumer version has a lower level of security.

Canadian International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan confirmed Friday that Canadian officials were in talks with RIM and Saudi officials to try to avoid the ban.

The kingdom is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the device is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is routed through overseas computers - making it difficult, if not impossible, for local governments to monitor. Critics, however, maintain that Saudi Arabia and other countries are also motivated by the desire to further curb freedom of expression and strengthen already tight controls over the media.

The United Arab Emirates has announced it will ban BlackBerry email, messaging and Web browsing starting in October, and Indonesia and India are also demanding greater control over the data.

Analysts say RIM’s expansion into fastgrowing emerging markets is threatening to set off a wave of regulatory challenges, as its commitment to keep corporate emails secure rubs up against the desires of local law enforcement.

Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications regulator, known as the Communications and

Information Technology Commission, announced plans for the ban on Tuesday, saying the BlackBerry messenger service “in its present state does not meet regulatory requirements”, according to the state news agency SPA. It had been due to be shut off Friday. Sfakianakis, the Saudi-based banker, uses three BlackBerrys operated by different telecom companies. He said access to messaging, emails and the Web was interrupted for a brief period early Friday but was quickly restored. No reason was given for the interruption.

BlackBerry phones are popular both among businesspeople and youth in the kingdom who see the phones’ relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities. Local media estimate there are some 750,000 BlackBerry users in the country. “Over the past year and a half, its market presence has increased tremendously,” Sfakianakis said, describing the devices as “a must” for doing business in Saudi Arabia. — AP

Gillard calls truce with knifed Rudd Continued from Page 1 presence of just one photographer and cameraman. She dodged a question on whether she had apologised to Rudd and said Australians would ultimately vote on the issues and not the “political chatter” about divisions in the Labor party or a “picture on their TV screen”. “When Australians come to exercise their vote what they will be thinking about is ‘what matters to me and my family, what matters to my future’,” Gillard said.

But her admission that she and Rudd wanted to “maximise spread” in the critical fortnight before the Aug 21 poll and would not campaign together only fueled speculation that a rift remained and could fracture the party. Conservative rival Tony Abbott labelled the reunion a “soap opera” and said it reinforced Labor’s bitterness and disunity, accusing Gillard of being more concerned with internal bickering than with addressing national issues.

Polling published yesterday showed a one-point shift to Labor after Rudd exploded back onto the political scene last week with a vow to support Gillard, but Abbott was still leading the election race 51 percent to 49 percent. Gillard said Labor was in the “fight of our lives” for the country’s future, but she faces a daily struggle to rise above the controversy of how she came to power and damaging leaks from within her party.

In a bizarre twist which only served to underscore Abbott’s claims, embittered former Labor leader Mark Latham materialised on the campaign trail to confront Gillard with a warning that Rudd would double-cross her. Famed for his vitriol, Latham lost the 2004 election to the conservatives and is a divisive and outspoken figure, most recently accusing Rudd of high-level leaks which badly damaged Gillard’s campaign in the second week.

Latham’s hatred for Rudd is well known he described the axed leader as “a terrible

entrepreneur Fajar Budiprasetyo.

Budiprasetyo co-founded Indonesian social networking service Koprol which Yahoo! snapped up for an undisclosed sum earlier this year. The service - a location-based website like Fouresquare which is adapted for mobile phones started as a “fun project” among friends in 2004, was launched in May last year and already has some 100,000 users, he said.

Its success can be attributed in part to the staggering growth of Internet use in the archipelago, which emerged from 32 years of military dictatorship in 1998 and is embracing its new-found openness with gusto. Whereas most people in the West first connected to the Web in the 1990s through a desktop, Indonesians are logging on for the first time via their mobile phones. They have also leapt straight into social networking sites like Facebook. The country now has the third most Facebook members af ter the United States and Britain with more than 22 million.

That’s one in every 23 Facebook users, going by the site’s latest figures.

And it’s every second Indonesian with access to the Internet - music to the ears of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The Facebook page of the United States’ Jakarta embassy has about 143,000 fans, more than three times as many as the State Department itself. “Users are growing very, very fast. Indonesia is about to explode,” Google Asia Business Development director Emmanuel Sauquet said during a visit to Jakarta in June. “It has very diverse and very active online communities. It’s the right place for us to come now. Compared to

other emerging countries, Indonesia is the fastest growing country.”

Google is collaborating with local wireless broadband Internet company Bakrie Connectivity, whose modem comes with Google Chrome browser as a standard feature. Bandung Institute of Technology researcher Basuki Suhardiman said that as smart phones became cheaper and the country’s middle class grew larger, Indonesia’s Internet use would expand exponentially.

“I predict there will be 70 to 80 million Internet users here in 2012,” he said, up from 40 million now. The promoter of Pesta Blogger, an annual get-together for Indonesian scribes, reckons that about 1.2 million Indonesians blog compared to 150,000 in 2007.

The rapid uptake of the Net looks irreversible, but not everyone in Indonesia is thrilled. Some appear to be afraid of the technology and what it means to traditional values. In a stark illustration of the yawning digital divide, Islamist radicals have called for singer Nazril Ariel’s married lover, television presenter Cut Tari, 32, to be stoned to death in public for adultery. The communication minister, who comes from an Islamic party, has vowed to introduce Web filters to protect the community from smut.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, asked to comment on the “Peterporn” scandal in June, unleashed a torrent of criticism at the Internet. “We have increasingly realised that our nation should not stay naked and be crushed by the information technology frenzy, because there will be many victims,” he said. — AFP

Eight foreign medics killed in Afghanistan sidered him to be a friend said the entire military community was incredulous.

“We’re all in shock because he is really the last person you would expect to be implicated in this,” the ex-general, who requested anonymity, told AFP. “He is extremely polite, honest and very disciplined,” he added. “That’s all we have been talking about this week at the officers’ club.”

Local media reports questioned whether Karam had provided Israel with information about Hezbollah since he was very close to Aoun. “Did Fayez Karam have details on the timing of the meetings that took place between Aoun and (Hezbollah chief) Hassan Nasrallah?” asked the Arabic-language daily AlAkhbar, which is close to Hezbollah.

Members of the militant party refused to comment on the case. Some 100 people have been arrested in the spy probe, among them members of the security forces and telecommunications employees. Karam’s arrest has many people now wondering who will be next. “When you catch a big fish like him you always have others that follow,” the source close to the investigation said. — AFP

RIM, Saudis reach deal to avert ban Continued from Page 1

JAKARTA: So you’ve looked up sexy spy Anna Chapman’s Facebook photos and you’ve cried along with Lindsay Lohan as she was sent to the slammer, but what about Peterporn, Sinta and Jovita? Ever heard of them? If you’re one of those people who lets computer algorithms set your news agenda you might have come across them in Twitter, where they dominated the chatter on the popular microblogging site for several days in July.

But you probably didn’t have a clue why so many of your fellow netizens were tracking them. So if you’re out of the loop, here’s an update. Peterporn is a pun on Peterpan, the name of an Indonesian rock band whose singer, Nazril Ariel, 28, was arrested in June over a homemade porn movie which appeared online. Sinta and Jovita are teenage girls from West Java whose lipsynching performance of an Indonesian pop song, “Keong Racun” (Poisonous Snail), went viral on YouTube in July, attracting more than 1.2 million hits in a month.

You may not care about such pop-culture sensations from a country you normally only hear about when there’s an earthquake or terror bombing, but the likes of Google and Yahoo! are keenly following the Indonesian market. The rapidly developing, mainly Muslim country of 240 million people is emerging not just as an Asian economic power, but as a global Internet power as well, analysts and insiders said.

“Foreign investors are eyeing Indonesia at the moment. The potential here is huge and the market penetration is far from exhausted,” said Internet

piece of work, addicted to the media and leaking” in his angry memoirs - and his presence on the trail is an unwelcome distraction for Gillard.

Rudd and Gillard will hit the hustings in Queensland today in a bid to revive flagging support in must-win seats and hoping to steal the thunder from Abbott’s glitzy rally of his party faithful - the key event of his campaign. Managing Rudd will be a delicate balancing act, with Gillard desperate to cash in on his popularity with voters but anxious that he does not overshadow her authority as leader or distract from her message. Gillard, a flame-haired former lawyer, has just two weeks to lift her support to electable levels and repair the damage wrought by Rudd’s brutal dumping and the leaks about her opposition to popular welfare reforms. The latest Nielsen poll of 1,356 Australians showed a drop in Abbott’s popularity from 52 percent last Saturday but he was still on track to unseat Labor. — AFP

Continued from Page 1 through Nuristan by driving through Badakhshan province, where there have been few insurgent attacks. “They were killed on their way back. They had no guns and no security because we come at the communities’ invitation and they take care of us,” Frans told AFP. “The last call we had was on Wednesday evening....

There has never been any threats against us. If there were threats, we would not have gone,” he said, adding that the organisation would continue its activities.

“We have been working under the king, the communists and the Taleban, and they know what we do,” he said.

Head of Badakhshan provincial police Aqa Noor Kintoz said the group had been lined up and shot in dense forest, according to the testimony of an Afghan survivor. The Taleban later claimed responsibility. “Yesterday at around 8:00 am, one of our patrols confronted a group of foreigners. They were Christian missionaries and we killed them all,” said Zabihullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the Taleban. Frans denied the Taleban’s claim that the group carried Bibles in the local language Dari.

The US embassy said it still could not confirm the number of US fatalities but said it had reports of “several” Americans among them. A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US embassy would be organising the return of the bodies to Kabul where they would be formally identified. International Assistance Mission, whose annual report says its headquarters are in Kabul and has been in the country since 1966, says it provides the majority of eye care available to Afghans, running eye hospitals in

Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

Kintoz said the medics were shot by armed men in a remote area of Badakhshan, according to the testimony of “Saifullah”, an Afghan survivor. “They were confronted by a group of armed men who lined them up and shot them. Their money and belongings were all stolen,” said Kintoz. He said that according to Saifullah’s testimony he had escaped death by reading verses of the Holy Quran, prompting the men to realise he was a Muslim and release him in neighbouring Nuristan. Kintoz said the two dead Afghans were interpreters from Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces.

The police chief said local villagers had warned the group not to enter the forested area, but they had insisted they would be safe because they were doctors, according to Saifullah’s statement. He said the bodies had been found in Kuran wa Minjan district, an area on the border with Nuristan, one day’s drive from the provincial capital Faizabad. Northeast Afghanistan has been regarded as largely free of the Taleban-led insurgency troubling other parts of the country.

A US official in Washington said they were checking whether six Americans were among the dead. “We are investigating the possibility that six Americans were killed in Afghanistan. We are working with the Afghan government, but at the moment we don’t have confirmation,” the official told AFP. The British Foreign Office said it was “aware of reports and (we) are urgently looking into it”. The German government said it believed there was one German national killed “according to the information available”.

Among the dead was team leader Tom

Little, an optometrist from Delmar, New York, who has been working in Afghanistan for more than 30 years, Frans said. Another relief organization, Bridge Afghanistan, said on its website that the group included one of its members, Dr Karen Woo of London. Little, who oversaw eye hospitals in Kabul and two other major cities as well as small clinics in three smaller towns, had been expelled by the Taleban government in Aug 2001 after the arrest of eight Christian aid workers two Americans and six Germans - for allegedly trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. He returned to live in Afghanistan after the Taleban government was toppled in Nov 2001 by US-backed forces.

In a blog posting last month, Woo said the expedition would include an eye doctor, a dental surgeon “as well as me as the general practitioner”. “The trek will not be easy; it will take three weeks and be done on foot and with packhorses - no vehicles can access the mountainous terrain,” she wrote. “The expedition will require a lot of physical and mental resolve and will not be without risk but ultimately, I believe that the provision of medical treatment is of fundamental importance and that the effort is worth it in order to assist those that need it most.”

In May the Afghan government suspended two Christian aid organizations Church Aid of Norway and Church World Service of the United States - after a TV show reported they were proselytising, which is illegal in the devoutly Islamic country. In Afghanistan’s restive south, officials said yesterday that a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections had been killed while two NATO soldiers died in a separate bomb attack. — Agencies

Castro back in parliament Continued from Page 1 against Iran could trigger a nuclear conflagration that would destroy the world.

It was the first time that the historic leader of Cuba’s revolution had participated in a public government meeting since 2006, when he fell ill and underwent intestinal surgery. In 2008, he formally handed over the presidency of communist-ruled Cuba to his younger brother Raul Castro.

Helped to walk in by aides, the bearded leader was greeted in the parliament by a standing ovation and shouts of “Viva Fidel.”

Castro opened the special assembly session, which had been requested by him, by delivering a 12-minute prepared speech in a firm, clear, but sometimes halting voice. He urged world leaders to persuade Obama not to unleash a nuclear strike against Iran, which he said could occur if Tehran resisted US and Israeli efforts to enforce international sanctions against it for its nuclear activities. “Obama wouldn’t give the order if we persuade him ... we’re making a contribution to this positive effort,” he said.

He said he was sure that China and “the Soviets” - an apparent reference to Russia, the former Soviet Union - did not want a world nuclear war and would work to avoid it. Castro also referred to the case of one of five convicted Cuban spies jailed in the United States, Gerardo Hernandez, saying he hoped his wife would be allowed to visit him or that he could even be

released.

President Raul Castro also attended the assembly session, wearing a longsleeved white shirt. Deputies made observations on Castro’s speech, congratulating him and agreeing with him. But Castro later appeared to tire after exchanging views with the deputies, and Cuban parliament head Ricardo Alarcon suggested ending the session after 1-1/2 hours. “That’s what I have to say, comrades, nothing more, I hope we can meet again at another time,” Castro said in brief closing remarks in which he asked whether the parliamentarians had obtained copies of his new book, “The Strategic Victory”, on the guerrilla war that brought him to power in 1959.

The session finished with applause.

“He’s been relatively absent. Having him here with us today is something surprising ... it’s a rebirth. It’ll give us strength to continue the struggle,” Graciela Biscet, 43, an assembly deputy from Santiago de Cuba, told reporters.

Following his 2006 illness, Fidel Castro disappeared from public view and was only seen occasionally in photographs and videos. But since July 7, he has emerged from four years of seclusion and has made several public appearances.

This has ignited widespread speculation that Castro wants to be more active again in the day-to-day life of Cuba.

Analysts and Cuba-watchers have given varied interpretations of what the recent spate of Fidel Castro appearances might mean. Some say the legendary coman-

dante’s influence has remained strong on the Cuban leadership, and that this has put a brake on more liberalizing reforms of Cuba’s socialist system, or on any attempts to improve relations with the United States, which maintains a trade embargo against the island.

But others argue his appearances are intended to show support for his younger brother Raul as the latter tries to revive the stagnated economy with cautious reforms and steer Cuba out of a severe economic crisis. Others say the veteran statesman may just want to get back into the limelight. Fidel Castro, who has also predicted a US clash with North Korea, urged Obama on Wednesday to avoid a nuclear confrontation, which he described as “now virtually inevitable”.

The former president has met Cuban diplomats, economists and intellectuals over the last month, as well as visiting the national aquarium and launching his new book. But Fidel Castro has remained mute, at least in public, on the cautious domestic reform policies of his younger brother, which included a recent announcement that more self-employed workers would be allowed in the statedominated economy. He has, however, kept up regular commentaries since 2007 on international affairs, published by state media. These focus especially on his favorite subjects, such as his views on the threat to humanity posed by US-led capitalism and by global warming and climate change. — Reuters

SPORTS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

15

Que triumphs in Selangor Masters play-off PETALING JAYA: Angelo Que of the Philippines claimed a thrilling play-off victory over England's Chris Rodgers at the 300,000-dollar Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters for his third Asian Tour title yesterday. The 31-year-old Que outlasted a battling Rodgers with a par at the first extra hole after both players finished tied on

six-under-par 278 in regulation play at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant finished third, one shot out of the play-off, after a 68 which included a costly double bogey on his last hole while Australians Scott Hend and Brad Smith shared fourth place with Filipino Juvic Pagunsan on 280.

Taking a one-shot lead into the final round, Que, whose last victory was at the 2008 Philippine Open, carded a 70 in the final round and was caught by playing partner Rodgers, who closed with a 69. But the Englishman was forced to settle for his fourth runner-up finish in Asia after making mistakes in the play-off to allow Que to snatch vic-

tory and the winner's cheque of 59,717 dollars. "It feels great. First time I won was in 2004 and then I waited for four years for my second win. Now I've just waited for two years for my third. It's good and a great feeling. Hopefully I'll keep winning and I won't stop," said Que. "Three is a charm. Winning a third time tells you that you can

really do it no matter what. You just need to have the right mind set and believe in yourself that you can do it." Rodgers, who was searching for a second victory after his 2006 Pakistan Open victory, took the defeat in his stride. "Finishing second is never fun. It was neck-andneck and it was done in good spirit and good fun. We were battling

away in a good way as we've known each other for a long time. It is a good tournament for me but a disappointing finish," said Rodgers.

Thaworn, bidding for a recordequaling 12th Asian Tour victory, charged up the leaderboard with five birdies, including four in a row, on his back nine but stumbled badly with several poor shots which

included one that landed in the hazard on 18.

"I hit it too much right with the driver and then found it difficult from there on. I've always said that this course was a tough one," said the Thai veteran. Airil Rizman finished as the leading Malaysian in tied 14th place after closing with a 74 for a 284 total. — AFP

Injury forces Venus out of Cincinnati CINCINNATI: Seven-times grand slam winner Venus Williams pulled out of this week's Cincinnati Open with a knee injury, the tournament's organizers said on Friday. Williams, disappointed to miss out after making her debut in the event last year, said she experienced pain in her knee last week after returning to her normal practice schedule. "My medical advisors and physio have recommended that I refrain from competition until I am pain free," Williams, whose sister and world number one Serena will not be competing, said in a statement released by the organizers.

"Unfortunately, I am not at a point where I can commit to competing next week." Despite losing Williams, the event still boasts eight top 10 players on the WTA Tour, and 26 of the Top 30, including defending champion and top seed Jelena Jankovic, defending US Open champion Kim Clijsters, and three-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova. The main draw action begins on Monday with the final on Aug. 15. The men's tournament takes place the following week and features Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick. — Reuters

Cejka holds one-stroke lead at Turning Stone VERONA: Alex Cejka of the Czech Republic shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship on Friday. Chris Tidland had a 69 and first-round co-leader Rory Sabbatini shot a 70 to share second at 9 under on the Atunyote Golf Club course. Wind gusts that reached 30 mph wreaked havoc throughout the day, but Cejka birdied four holes after he made the turn to give him eight birdies and no bogeys on the back nine through the first two rounds of the tournament.

Cejka opened with a 66 on Thursday, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens.

"I didn't play as good today as yesterday," Cejka said. "Obviously it was a little bit easier yesterday, no wind. Today, the 30-mile-an-hour gusts, it was tricky. But I hung in there." Robert Garrigus, Woody Austin, John Mallinger, Omar Uresti, Brian Davis and 1995 PGA Championship winner Steve Elkington were next at 7-under 137. Cejka has never won in 227 starts on the PGA Tour since 1996, but has 24 top-10 finishes. He was runner-up at the 2004 International and tied for second at the 2003 BC Open. In three previous starts on the 7,482-yard Atunyote layout, his best finish was 53rd place in 2007.

He is trying to become the first foreign-born winner in the four-year history of this event. "I've been playing really well the last two months," Cejka said. "I was struggling a little bit the last two weeks. I missed the cut, I was a little bit hurt, but I came here, I like the course. And, you know, two rounds to go, a lot of things can happen but I'm playing well. We'll see what happens. If I keep playing like the last two days, I'll be very pleased."

Cejka birdied Nos. 10-12, finishing the run with a short putt after a nice chip from 40 yards out on the par 5.

His last birdie came on the par-4 17th, when he converted a 10-foot putt following an effective approach. Tidland also birdied Nos. 10-12 to reach 11 under, but bogeyed 13 and 15 to slip back. He finished with seven birdies and four bogeys on the day. Tidland was one of 24 golfers that did not complete the first round on Thursday because of a 2-hour, 43-minute weather delay that morning.

He had to finish early Friday before he started the second round. "Played really nice yesterday. Hit a lot of close iron shots. Made some good putts," Tidland said.

"And then today, it was tough. Fortunately, I hit my irons good again today. Drove it in play and made some key par putts." The 37-year-old Tidland tied for sixth at the 2007 AT&T Classic, which is his best finish on the PGA Tour. He tied for 18th place in his only other appearance at this event in 2007. Sabbatini rallied late with birdies at Nos. 16 and 18. He put his tee shot on the 154yard 16th within 8 feet and made the putt. On the 613-yard closing hole, he was in a greenside bunker after his second shot, but blasted out to 2 feet.

"The conditions were tough out there, there's no doubt about that," Sabbatini said. "I gave myself opportunities again and unfortunately I didn't capitalize on the par fives very well again today but I'm getting better. I birdied two of them today, so improving my chances, but no, things are going good. I'm still hitting the ball well. "Obviously the wind made it a lot tougher to get close to the holes and give yourself a lot more feasible birdie opportunities, but I'm still there, close, for the weekend." The best round of the day belonged to Brenden Pappas, who shot a 66 and is tied for 38th at 3 under. There were 72 players who made the cut at 2-under. — AP

OHIO: Phil Mickelson hits out of a sand trap on the third hole during the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. — AP

The Goose flies high at Firestone as Tiger toils AKRON: Phil Mickelson stayed on track in his bid to become world number one for the first time while South African Retief Goosen grabbed a one-shot lead after the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Friday. Top-ranked Tiger Woods again struggled with his driving, but Goosen was in good form off the tee and on the greens as he fired a four-under 66 in rain-softened, overcast conditions at Firestone Country Club. The smooth-swinging South African recorded six birdies and two bogeys for a seven-under total of 133, finishing one ahead of Americans Mickelson (68) and Justin Leonard (66).

Left-hander Mickelson, who would replace Woods as world

Mickelson closes in on top ranking number one with victory this week, recovered from a doublebogey at the 14th with two birdies in the last four holes to be snapping at Goosen's heels.

"I'm happy with the round," the 41-year-old Goosen said after totaling 26 putts and missing only three fairways off the tee.

"I've not done so well around this course in the past, so it's nice to play well for two rounds and see how I can do on the weekend." First-round leader Bubba Watson carded a 71 to lie two strokes off the pace at fiveunder, level with fellow American Bo Van Pelt (68) and Swede Peter Hanson (66).

Australian Adam Scott (70),

Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) and Britain's Paul Casey (68) were among a group of six bunched at four-under. Woods, champion here last year and seeking a record eighth victory at Firestone, hit only three of 14 fairways on the way to a 72 that left him a distant 13 shots off the pace, tied for 72nd in a field of 80. The 14-times major winner, who has not triumphed on the PGA Tour since last year's BMW Championship, left the course without speaking to reporters after he had signed his card.

MICKELSON'S FORTUNE Most eyes will follow Mickelson's fortunes over the

weekend as he bids to knock Woods from his top-ranked perch. Victory here would do the trick or even a top-four finish if Woods places outside the top 37. "Obviously it would be cool," Mickelson said. "It would be something I would love to do, ultimately being regarded as number one according to the rankings. "And I know that I've got a great opportunity this week. I know that I'm playing well, and this is my best opportunity." Goosen, in an upbeat mood after flourishing on the tight, tree-lined layout, said his sole regret was a bogey five at the last where he followed a perfect drive with a poor

approach.

"I just had an eight-iron to the green and pulled it, then hit a poor chip and a good putt that didn't go in," the double US Open winner said. "Every part of your game needs to be good here, driving especially. You need to hit it on the fairway, otherwise you're struggling.

The difference is I'm putting pretty well and today I drove it a bit better." Goosen has not won on the PGA Tour since last year's Tampa Bay Championship but has produced good form this season with seven top-10s in 13 starts. "I've been playing quite consistent ...

I've just not been winning," he said. "This would be a great event to get my first win for the year." — Reuters

Blocking is in the eye of the beholder in IndyCar NEW YORK: Alex Cejka hits out of a fairway bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship golf tournament in Verona. — AP

Kuwait secure 5th place in shooting tournament KUWAIT: Kuwait's double trap shooting team secured fifth place during the 50th World Championship held in Munich, Germany with a score of 421 out of 450. The US team took first place with a score of 433/450, while Russia took second with 427/450. With a score of 425/450, Britain took third place while China came in fourth with 423/450. Qatar's team ended up in sixth place with a score of 418/450.

The championship hosted more than 15 international shooting federations. Meanwhile, on the individual level, Kuwaiti Fuhaid AlDaihani took 10th place while competing with 160 of the world's best shooters. Kuwait's Shooting Club Secretary General, Obaid Munahi Al-Osaimi said that Kuwait will do its best to continue these achievements and make sure its shooters participate in the London 2012 Olympics. He said that Kuwait shooters are close to making that achievement as they will participate in several upcoming international events.

Obaid Al-Osaimi

LEXINGTON: Helio Castroneves understands intentionally blocking a fellow IndyCar Series driver is dangerous, potentially costly and against the rules.

The Brazilian star just wishes series officials would be more consistent when they called it. Castroneves was black flagged by IndyCar officials in last month's race at Edmonton for blocking Team Penske teammate Will Power of Australia with two laps remaining, a ruling that helped New Zealand's Scott Dixon pick up his second victory of the season while Castroneves was bumped to 10th. The typically affable Brazilian erupted afterward, earning himself a $60,000 fine for grabbing an official. Castroneves apologized for his behavior but still believes he did nothing wrong on the track, arguing the rule is too vague.

"The calls have been very inconsistent and I felt I should not have been black-flagged and the rules do not say that," he said. "They change. So it's sad." His fellow drivers disagree, claiming the first turn at Edmonton is one of the easiest spots in the series to police. The turn comes at the end of a long straightaway that's actually an airport runway. A series of black tire marks highlight the typical path of a race car. Castroneves appeared to go well outside it to keep Power in his rearview mirror.

"I don't know what all the fuss is about," said Dario Franchitti. "It's such a blatant disregard for the rules. What's the problem?" Yet drivers understand Castroneves' frustration. Blocking in Indycar is akin to holding in football or charging in basketball: something that's entire up to the eye of the beholder. "It's a hard call to make because half the time you don't know if it's going to be called or not," said Dixon, who has been penalized three times for blocking during his career.

IndyCar president of competition Brian Barnhart

said race officials do the best they can trying to make sure two dozen drivers racing in close quarters at high speeds remain on their best behavior. It isn't easy, particularly when dealing with people whose livelihood depends on getting around the next corner ahead of everyone else. Barnhart maintains blocking "is being as consistently enforced as we can do it" but that the rule is constantly evolving. "We try to make it as clear as possible," Barnhart said.

Even if it doesn't always appear that way to fans.

Driver Graham Rahal watched the Edmonton race with his girlfriend. When he saw Castroneves hop outside to shut the door on Power, he immediately knew Castroneves had crossed the line. His girlfriend didn't see it that way. His message: sorry, this isn't NASCAR. "I think that the beauty of our sport is the clean racing," said Rahal, who posted the fastest practice time on Friday for Sunday's race at Mid-Ohio. "Stock cars it's like 'Oh, I'm going to get by this guy so I'm not going to break this corner and take him out.' That's not racing. That's bumper cars."

Barnhart stressed the rules against blocking aren't there to prohibit drivers from racing, it's to protect them from each other.

Unlike NASCAR, where "rubbing is racing" is part of the show, IndyCar drivers have to be more careful. One inadvertent clipping of wheels can send cars into the wall or worse. It's dangerous. It's expensive and can make for a less than compelling product. If officials loosened up the rules, Barnhart fears races would turn into nothing but a three-hour caution-filled parade with drivers taking turns knocking each other out. For a series trying to rebrand itself, that's not exactly a good business plan. "We've got to do what we can to make our sport easy to follow," he said. "We've got to do what we can to make our sport entertaining." —AP

KUWAIT: Master Lee (right) raises Al-Muzaini’s hand following his coronation.

Kuwait win medal at Hankumdo tourney KUWAIT: The Kuwait Sea Sports Club's martial arts team recently won the silver medal in the 5th World Hankumdo Championship recently held in the Republic of Korea. Kuwait's participation in the Hankumdo tourney marked the only participation from the other Gulf teams, national contestant Badr Al-Muzaini was able to come in second place and insure Kuwait's place at the ceremonial podium.

Al-Muzaini expressed his honor for representing Kuwait successfully in the international tournament, acknowledging at the same time the efforts of his trainer Master Lee, and his two teammates Ghais Marjy and Yousuf Marjy.

16

SPORTS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Loved or loathed, cash-register ringing for Heat MIAMI: Love them or loathe them, the Miami Heat have become the most talked about team in the NBA since signing up LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade but with revenue rising, the franchise are not worrying too much about becoming the bad guys. "I think it is just part of the game, the interesting thing is that while some of that is true, the fact that we are getting orders from all around the world for our jerseys dispels that notion a little bit," Michael McCullough, the Heat's chief marketing officer, told Reuters.

The Heat were described as the "Evil Empire" in a column in the newspaper The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, where feelings still run high about James's decision to quit Ohio for South Florida. Even closer to home in the Florida media, there have been critical words about the way the Heat celebrated the signings with a giant, glitzy party and premature talk of multiple titles from

James.

Across the NBA there is a feeling of waiting to see if the Heat can live up to their own billing-if they can deliver the success that the trio are presumed to be bringing. The waiting ends in a season-opening trip to the Boston Celtics on Oct 26. But while radio talk shows, internet forums and newspaper columns may be full of jibes at the Heat, the cash registers are busy with season tickets and sold out premium seating packages. At Miami International Airport, visitors are now greeted by Heat tee-shirts featuring James, Bosh and Wade, on sale at news stands.

McCullough says that Heat are now number one in NBA retail sales, with James's number six vest the top-selling jersey in the league and it is clearly not only fans in Florida that are snaffling up the red, white and black gear. "The media has done a pretty good job of playing up 'so-andso is saying this about the Heat' but

when you look at where the requests are coming from-we aren't number one in jersey sales because people in Miami are buying it-people all over the US and the world are buying our jerseys and that shows the interest in our team," says McCullough.

THROWING ACCOLADES He added: "There will be a lot of people who choose to make us the villain. I think that is just part of the territory if you are a really, really good team or you have something extraordinary such as what has happened with us and people are throwing accolades that we probably haven't earned yet because we haven't played yet. "But I also think there are a number of people around the world who will gravitate towards this team and we have seen that by people putting their money where their mouth is."

The Heat and the NBA will look to take advantage of international support for the team but it could well

be the players who stand to profit from global interest. Much of that worldwide fan base now interacts online and James has over three millions "fans" of his facebook page. The team has just 178,000. The players' presence in social media offers huge potential according to digital sports marketing consultant, Pat Coyle.

"LeBron announced a lot of what he was doing in free agency on Twitterhis own following is growing.

That is a whole new situation, the individual player having his own brand and digital channel to market through," said Coyle. The old business-of selling seats-is pretty much exhausted for the Heat though-even the highest-priced premium seats, usually reserved for celebrities have all been snaffled up. McCullough said: "Everybody has been in touch, anybody who is anybody has called and we've talked to them. "We looked to fill as many orders as we could and at some point we just ran out of inventory."—Reuters

Anthony rides Heat wave to world championships TORONTO: Joel Anthony was the centre of attention yesterday as Canada named its roster for the upcoming basketball world championships, but it may be the only time the Miami Heat big man enjoys the spotlight this year. Playing alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on Miami's NBA dream team, Anthony's leading man role at the tournament in Turkey will revert to an extra on an all-star cast upon his return to South Beach.

The soft-spoken Montreal native is expected to land the starting centre spot at Miami, but is prepared to yield the stage to the trio of all-stars who are charged with leading the team to NBA titles. "He's a very low key guy, he doesn't get caught up in anything," Team Canada coach Leo Rautins said. "He handles everything extremely well. "He clearly understands who he is as a player and as a person. Money won't affect him at all-zero. "He knows when he goes to Miami what his role is there. "He's generally a quiet guy. A great team guy." James, Bosh and Wade helped the United States to gold at the Beijing Olympics, but all three turned down invitations to play at the world championships.

Anthony said he had no thoughts of ditching the worlds, even after the Heat made their brash off-season signings and offered him a new five-year $18 million deal to stay in Miami. "It's different," explained Anthony. "I have a sense of pride playing for Miami, I love to do it but that's my job. This is home. "It's a little bit different but in the end it's still basketball. I love playing on both teams. "You have a lot of guys who backed out of playing in the world championships whether there bodies weren't feeling right or the team wasn't too comfortable with them going but I'm in a situation where Miami was really open to me to go out here and play for my country." Undrafted out of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Anthony signed with the Heat as a free agent and has spent his three-year NBA career in Miami. He appeared in 80 games last season, averaging nearly 17 minutes, 2.7 points and 3.1 rebounds a game. "If you talk to anyone in the Miami Heat organization they will tell you he is the hardest worker they've ever had," said Rautins. "The first night here there was a loose ball and the guy making $18 million was there head-first diving for that ball.

But that's just the way he is." — Reuters

Berdych, Verdasco sent packing in Washington

CALIFORNIA: Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, serves to Samantha Stosur, of Australia, during the Mercury Insurance Open tennis tournament in Carlsbad. — AP

Pennetta eliminates Stosur in Carlsbad CARLSBAD: Flavia Pennetta of Italy moved into the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win over second-seeded Samantha Stosur on Friday.

Pennetta's win over Stosur means all three of the top seeds have been eliminated.

Pennetta took control with her consistent and accurate ground strokes, along with a more effective serve. Pennetta had 19 winners compared to 12 for her Australian opponent in her third straight win over Stosur. "It's a good feeling because she's one of the best players," Pennetta said.

"She has had an unbelievable year. It's never easy to beat this kind of player. For me, it's much better to play against her."

Pennetta, the No 5 seed from Italy, will meet Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. Kuznetsova ended the run of local teenager CoCo Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-2.

"I think I won by experience," said Kuznetsova, who reached her first semifinal this season. "I wasn't playing my best game.

I think she was so confident (Thursday).

It took me time to break her up." In a match of unseeded players, Slovakia's

Daniela Hantuchova eliminated Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Hantuchova will play No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who won the last nine games to rout seventhseeded Shahar Peer of Israel, 6-2, 6-0 in a night match. Stosur, the French Open runner-up this year, did not record an ace and had five double faults. Stosur is considered to be the second-best server behind No 1 ranked Serena Williams.

Pennetta had eight aces and just one double fault. "I can return her kick serve.

There are few shots that I have that can make her nervous all the time," Pennetta said. "She's one of the best servers. I am really comfortable with her ball. I can handle the speed." Said Stosur: "She makes a lot of balls and runs everything down. She really makes you work for every point you win.

Sometimes that can be a little bit frustrating." Vandeweghe, 18, seemed to carry the momentum she had from Thursday's threeset upset win over Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva.

Vandeweghe, who had to win three

matches in the qualifying tournament to get into the main draw, took a 5-2 lead in the first set against the struggling Kuznetsova.

"I thought early on I was kind of beating her with my pace and the heaviness of the ball," she said. But the two-time Grand Slam champion turned it around when she saved one set point in the eighth game. She then rebounded to win five consecutive games and take the set. At 1-1 in the second set, Kuznetsova rolled through four straight games to go ahead 5-1.

The Russian finally put away the 205thranked Vandeweghe on her third match point in the eighth game. "I came in a little bit tired from last night, a little heavy legged," said Vandeweghe, who said she has received a wild-card entry to play next week at Cincinnati. "I had a great first set. She's a two-time Grand Slam champion for a reason." Vandeweghe is the niece of former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe, who also served as the New Jersey Nets' general manager and coach. Her grandfather, Ernie, played for the New York Knicks in the 1950s. — AP

Nadal-Federer final as appealing as ever TORONTO: A Rafa Nadal-Roger Federer final remains one of the most mouthwatering matches in tennis and the Spaniard set the stage for another classic showdown, calling his rival on the other side of the Canada Masters draw. Back on top of the world rankings, a relaxed Nadal fittingly conducted the draw for the Aug 9-15 tournament high up in Toronto's CN Tower where his first task was to pick either Federer or Briton Andy Murray to line up alongside him. Staring at the two chips, a playful Nadal laughed when placing Federer with second seed Novak Djokovic on the other side of the bracket, leaving himself with the prospect of a semi-final against defending champion Murray.

Federer and the CN Tower-once the world's tallest free-standing structure-have slipped in the rankings but both remain popular attractions in Canada. The Swiss maestro has hoisted the Canada trophy

twice in 2004 and 2006, matched by the Spaniard's 2005 and 2008 titles, but the two have never faced off on Canadian hardcourts. Back in action for the first time since his triumph at the All England Club, Nadal was focusing more on adding an elusive US Open trophy to his Wimbledon and French Open titles this year rather than another clash with his great rival.

PUNISHING SURFACE "It's a very important part of the season and for me every tournament is very important," Nadal told reporters. "Winning three grand slams, and we are speaking about the US Open, is going to be a goal but I can only try my best all the time. "For me this tournament is the most important thing." The North American hardcourt campaign has proved the most punishing part of the season for Nadal, the unforgiving surface exacting a heavy toll on his fragile knees.

But this year Nadal comes into the event rested after taking three weeks off to undergo what he called "prevention treatment", a break that included watching Spain win the soccer World Cup in South Africa.

He returned to practice about 10 days ago but continues to ease back into action.

In contrast to Federer, who faces his Wimbledon conqueror Tomas Berdych and 2007 champion Djokovic, Nadal's draw has fewer hurdles, a possible quarter-final against eighth seed Andy Roddick likely to be the first major test. The Spaniard takes on either Canadian wild card Frank Dancevic or Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka after a first-round bye. "I feel good," said Nadal. "I had a very good grass court season, clay court season and I was in the semi-finals in Indian Wells and Miami. "I am feeling confident in my body. I am thinking about my tennis not my body. "Right now I am (in) perfect condition." - Reuters

WASHINGTON: Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to unseeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic quarterfinals on Friday, adding to the string of upsets at the hardcourt tournament.

Czech Berdych complained that organizers made him play in the day's first match and said he might not enter the tournament in 2011. "I was feeling like I was still sleeping," said Berdych, adding that he thought he deserved preferential treatment as the hard-court tournament's No 1-seeded player.

"Maybe I'm not going to come next year," he said. "If you like the tournament, if you like the place, then you always want to come back. But if you get an experience like that, we will see." Malisse knocked off No 5seeded John Isner in the third round on Thursday, when the surprises also included No 2seeded Andy Roddick's straight-set loss to Gilles Simon of France.

The 62nd-ranked Malisse reached his second semifinal of the year and will face eighthseeded Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open finalist who eliminated third-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-4. Berdych wasn't thrilled about playing Malisse at noon Friday after not getting to sleep until 2 am the previous night because his third-round match Thursday ended at 11:15 pm.

Malisse's ended at 10:30 pm.

Tournament director Jeff Newman said Berdych's match was played first Friday because Baghdatis got off court later Thursday - at 11:38 pm.

"Suitable rest was more needed for Baghdatis, simply from a fairness standpoint," Newman said. Play was supposed to begin Thursday at 4 pm, but was delayed nearly 4 1/2 hours by a thunderstorm.

Newman said he would speak to Berdych and try to persuade the player not to skip the tournament in the future.

"That's obviously something we hope will not be the case," Newman said. "We tried to do the best we could, focusing on what's best for our No 1 seed.

Ultimately, I think, players react when they lose a match.

Hopefully, he'll cool down and feel better. ... He's a great player and one we hope to have every year." Berdych is a career-best No 8, thanks to a breakout season at the Grand Slam tournaments. But Friday's loss means he will remain without a singles title of any sort in 2010.

He reached his first major semifinal at the French Open in early June, and the next month, he upset Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on the way to his first appearance in a Grand Slam final. After losing to Rafael Nadal, Berdych took a break, deciding not to enter any tournaments until Washington, a tuneup for the US Open.

Malisse said he's been bothered off and on this week by a problem on the bottom of his big right toe, but he was able to hang in there with Berdych on lengthy baseline exchanges in whipping wind that topped 20 mph. Malisse broke Berdych in two of the Czech's first three service games, including to 4-1 in a game that included eight deuces. Malisse converted his fourth break chance of the game

Berdych loses to Malisse in DC quarterfinals

WASHINGTON: Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic serves against Xavier Malisse of Belgium during their quarterfinal match on day 5 of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at the William HG FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, DC. Malisse won the match 6-4,3-6,6-2. — AFP when Berdych missed forehands on consecutive points.

Both players held serve relatively easily for much of the second set, until Malisse doublefaulted on break point to fall behind 5-3. Berdych then served out that set, ending it with an ace at 128 mph, followed by a backhand winner down the line that he marked with a fist pump and a yell. Malisse, though, quickly gained control in the final set, breaking to 3-1

when Berdych pushed a backhand long. Malisse ended the match with another break, helped by Berdych missing volleys on the final two points.

Told of Berdych's comments, Malisse said he didn't mind the early start.

"You've got to get through it," he said. "I was actually happy to play at 12, because it's probably a little cooler than at 2:30 or 3." With Americans Roddick, Isner, Mardy Fish and Ryan

Sweeting all losing Thursday, this is the first time no US players reached the quarterfinals at Washington's tournament, which dates to 1969. And because Roddick will drop from No 9 to no better than No 12 on Monday, no US man will be in the top 10 for the first time since the computer rankings began in 1973. "They'll be fine," said Malisse, a 30-year-old Belgian who lives in Florida.

"Everything will be OK." —AP

Nalbandian ends drought WASHINGTON: Former world number three David Nalbandian, who has missed the past six Grand Slam events with injuries, reached his first ATP semi-final in 18 months on Friday at the Washington Classic. The 117th-ranked Argentine rallied to oust Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and will play for a spot in Sunday's hardcourt final against Croatian fourth seed Marin Cilic, who beat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Nalbandian was sidelined nine months after hip surgery, made a brief return early this year, then missed two months with a sore hamstring before returning in July to help Argentina advance to the Davis Cup semifinals. "I feel good," Nalbandian said. "I will just try to keep believing in my game and play the best I can." The other semi-final pits Belgium's 62nd-ranked Xavier Malisse, who upset Czech top seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, against Cypriot eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis, who eliminated Spanish third seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon runner-up, has not played in a Grand Slam event since losing in the second round of last year's Australian Open to Taiwan's Lu YenHsun. The 28-year-old South American, playing his first ATP event since April this week, reached his first semifinal since February of last year at Buenos Aires. He last won an ATP title the month before that in Sydney but is

on a roll now. "During practice I know I can go far," he said. "Without playing matches, it's tough to know how far you can go."

Both Nalbandian and Simon, who missed nearly three months this year with a right knee injury, sprayed unforced errors throughout the match and five of 12 12 service break in the match came in the last set. After an early exchange, Nalbandian broke again on his third chance of the sixth game, surrendered his next serve with a forehand beyond long, broke in five points to 5-3 when Simon netted a forehand and then held for the victory. "In the second set, I started hitting better balls and he went down a little bit," Nalbandian said. "I tried to push it and play more offensive and it worked out."

Eighth-ranked Berdych struggled in his first event since losing his first Grand Slam final to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, unable to capitalize on being an ATP top seed for the first time. Berdych sent a backhand long to hand Malisse a break in the fourth game of the third set and the Belgian broke again in the last game, Berdych hitting a backhand long to end the match after two hours and 10 minutes. "The third set is one of the best sets I've played," Malisse said. "I hit the ball hard and won a lot of points with my serve."

Berdych, who has yet to win a title this year, blamed the loss on starting only 10 hours after finally getting to sleep following a Thursday rain delay. —AFP

SPORTS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Cervelli’s botched popup lifts Red Sox

Cards maul Marlins 7-0

NEW YORK: Francisco Cervelli botched a grab of Mike Lowell’s routine pop led to three unearned runs that put the Red Sox ahead for good in the second inning as Boston beat the New York Yankees 6-3 Friday. David Ortiz hit his 24th home run of the season and rookie Ryan Kalish hit the first of his big league career. Clay Buchholz (12-5) allowed Mark Teixeira’s two-run homer in the first, then settled down to win for only the second time in five starts since June 20. He gave up three runs and nine hits in 7 1-3 innings.

Javier Vazquez (9-8) was hurt by Cervelli but pitched poorly on his own, allowing six runs - three earned - six hits and four walks in 5 1-3 innings.

Giants overwhelm Braves MIAMI: Adam Wainwright pitched two-hitter for his 16th victory and Albert Pujols homered as the St Louis Cardinals beat the reeling Florida Marlins 7-0 on Friday.

Wainwright (16-6) struck out seven and walked three in his fifth complete game and second shutout this season. With the two-hitter, Wainwright matched his career best. The All-Star right-hander also threw one June 4 to shut out Milwaukee.

Pujols hit a three-run shot in the first inning, his fifth homer in six games and 28th this year. He doubled home a run in the fourth. The Marlins have lost five straight games and have been outscored 25-7 in the first four games of their homestand.

Matt Holliday doubled home a run in the third, and the Cardinals hit four doubles - by Skip Schumaker, Brendan Ryan, Jon Jay and Pujols - in their four-run fourth.

Gia nts 3, Bra ves 2, 11 innings At Atlanta, Pat Burrell had a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the 11th inning for San Francisco, which scored the tying and go-ahead runs without a hit. The Giants moved within a game of NL West-leader San Diego, which lost 2-1 to Arizona. The Braves lead over Philadelphia fell to one game in the National League East. The Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-5. The Giants scored the tying run in the ninth without a hit as the Braves made two errors. The go-ahead run scored when reliever Peter Moylan (3-2) walked the bases loaded ahead of Burrell’s fly ball. Tommy Hanson allowed one run and three hits over seven innings and Alex Gonzalez and Chipper Jones, who had three of Atlanta’s six hits, hit solo home runs.

Dia mondba cks 2, Pa dres 1 At Phoenix, Dan Hudson pitched into the eighth inning to outduel Jon Garland in his

second start with Arizona and Adam LaRoche hit his 18th homer as Arizona edged San Diego. San Diego got a solid start out of Garland (10-8), but managed just three hits to lose for the sixth time in 11 games.

Hudson (2-0) gave up a solo homer to Will Venable in the third and two singles after that in 7 2-3 innings. Aaron Heilman worked the ninth for his fifth save and eighth straight scoreless outing.

Rangers 5, Athletics 1 At Oakland, California, Cliff Lee pitched at least eight innings for the 10th straight start and Taylor Teagarden hit a two-run homer as first-placed Texas built their biggest division lead in 11 years with a victory over Oakland.

Lee (10-5), who won for the first time in three starts, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings. The Rangers moved a season-best 19 games over .500 (64-45). Josh Hamilton added a solo homer for the Rangers in the opener of a key series between the AL West’s top two teams. Texas won its third straight and increased its division lead to 91/2 games ahead of the A’s.

Phillies 7, Mets 5 At Philadelphia, Carlos Ruiz singled in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning as Philadelphia beat New York for its fifth straight win. After pinch-hitter Mike Hessman hit a three-run homer off J.C. Romero with two outs in the ninth, Brad Lidge got the final out for his 13th save. The Phillies rallied against Parnell and Pedro Feliciano in the eighth. Newly acquired Mike Sweeney led off with a single and went to third on Jayson Werth’s single.

Ben Francisco’s soft single to leftcenter drove in Sweeney to tie it at 2. Ruiz followed with an RBI single up the middle.

Rockies 6, Pira tes 3 At Pittsburgh, Troy Tulowitzki hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning as Colorado downed Pittsburgh to snap a seven-game road losing streak.

Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both had three hits for the Rockies, who have won six of eight overall. Jason Hammel (8-6) pitched six solid innings to win for the first time since July 10. Rookie Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer for the last-place Pirates, who have lost 11 of 15. Gonzalez hit a two-out single and scored on Tulowitzki’s hit off Chan Ho Park (0-1) to make it 4-3.

Colorado added two runs in the ninth.

Reds 3, Cubs 0 At Chicago, Bronson Arroyo allowed five hits over seven innings as Cincinnati blanked Chicago to move 14 games

17

Orioles 2, White Sox 1, 10 innings At Baltimore, Adam Jones singled in the winning run with two

outs in the 10th inning as Baltimore extended its unbeaten run under new manager Buck Showalter to four straight. Nick Markakis had a season-high four hits for the Orioles, who earned their second straight walkoff victory. It was the third loss in 12 games for the first-place White Sox, whose lone run came on a homer by Gordon Beckham.

Markakis started the game-winning uprising with a one-out single off Tony Pena (3-2).

Angels 4, Tigers 2 At Detroit, Jered Weaver allowed three hits over seven innings to best Justin Verlander, and Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and tossed a bag of baseballs onto the field after being ejected in Los Angeles’ win over Detroit. Brennan Boesch hit a home run for Detroit, which is 518 since the All-Star Break.

Weaver (11-7) allowed one earned run and fanned nine to run his ALleading total to 171. Hunter and Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia were ejected in the eighth inning after Hunter was called out on strikes.

Blue Jays 2, Rays 1 At Toronto, Lyle Overbay doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Brett Cecil won for the first time in four starts for Toronto. Cecil (9-5) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings, walked two and struck out nine, one shy of his career high. The left-hander won for just the second time in nine outings. Matt Garza (11-6) allowed two runs and four

hits in eight innings for the Rays, who hadn’t lost three straight since June 20-23. Garza walked none and struck out four.

Indians 7, Twins 6 At Cleveland, Matt LaPorta homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Cleveland a victory over Minnesota. LaPorta connected for his sixth homer off Matt Guerrier (2-7) after the Twins had tied it in the top half on a two-run single by Alexei Casilla off closer Chris Perez (1-2).

Casilla had a career-high four RBIs. The game-tying hit off Perez, who had not allowed a run over 15 outings since June 28, came after pinch-hitter Jim Thome had an apparent home run ruled a double. The umpires used replay to uphold their call after Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire protested. At Seattle, Chone Figgins drove in three runs and Ryan Langerhans had three hits, including a home run, to help Seattle beat Kansas City’s Zack Grienke for the first time. Grienke (7-11) had a 4-0 record against Seattle with a 1.64 ERA in 10 career appearances. In his previous five starts, he had allowed one earned run in 39 innings, including a team-record 31-inning scoreless streak. That streak included a one-hit, 3-0 victory last Aug 30, a win that helped lock up his Cy Young Award. The Mariners scored their most runs since an 81 win over Detroit on July 4 to support Luke French (1-2), who went eight innings, allowing one run and nine hits. It was his fifth career win, third against Kansas City. — AP

MLB results/standings MIAMI: Florida Marlins runner Brett Hayes (9) is out on an eighth-inning double play as St Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan (right) makes the throw to first base during baseball game action in Miami. The Cardinals won 7-0. — AP over .500 for the first time in 11 years. The Reds (62-48) got a two-run homer from Ryan Hanigan in the second inning and an RBI single from Brandon Phillips in the seventh. Francisco Cordero survived a shaky ninth for his 30th save and the Reds’ seventh win in nine games. The last time the Reds were 14 games over .500 was when they finished 96-67 at the end of the 1999 season at 96-67. Arroyo (12-6) struck out seven and walked one to go 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in his past six starts against Chicago.

At

Brew ers 6, Astros 5 Milwaukee, Prince

Fielder hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to cap Milwaukee’s four-run rally.

Pinch-hitter Joe Inglett set up Fielder’s clutch hit with a tworun homer that got Milwaukee within one. Rickie Weeks then singled and Corey Hart walked before Fielder’s one-out hit off Matt Lindstrom (2-2). Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 12 with a two-run double in the third and Brett Wallace doubled in a run in the fifth to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.

Na tiona ls 6, Dodgers 3 At Los Angeles, Adam Dunn hit two three-run homers off Clayton Kershaw, tying his

career-high for RBIs, as Washington downed Los Angeles. John Lannan (3-5) allowed three runs and five hits over six innings in his second start since returning from a six-week stint with Double-A Harrisburg. It was the left-hander’s first victory with the big league club since May 28 at San Diego. Drew Storen pitched a hitless ninth for his first major league save and the Nationals’ second since trading closer Matt Capps to Minnesota on July 30. Kern hit his 29th and 30th homers in his 29th career multihomer game.

Dunn’s other six-RBI game was on May 24, 2009, against Baltimore. — AP

Major League Baseball Results yesterday; Cincinnati 3 Chicago Cubs 0; Baltimore 2 Chicago White Sox 1, (10 innings); Boston 6 NY Yankees 3; Cleveland 7 Minnesota 6; LA Angels 4 Detroit 2; Colorado 6 Pittsburgh 3; Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 1; St Louis 7 Florida 0; San Francisco 3 Atlanta 2 (11 innings); Philadelphia 7 NY Mets 5; Milwaukee 6 Houston 5; Arizona 2 San Diego 1; Texas 5 Oakland 1; Washington 6 LA Dodgers 3; Seattle 7 Kansas City 1; American League Eastern Division W L PCT NY Yankees 67 41 .620 Tampa Bay 67 42 .615 Boston 63 47 .573 Toronto 57 52 .523 Baltimore 36 73 .330 Central Division C White Sox 62 47 .569 Minnesota 61 49 .555 1 Detroit 53 56 .486 Cleveland 47 63 .427 Kansas City 46 63 .422 Western Division Texas 64 45 .587 Oakland 54 54 .500 LA Angels 55 56 .495 Seattle 41 69 .373

GB .5 5 10.5 31.5 .5 9 15.5 16 9.5 10 23.5

National League Eastern Division Atlanta 62 47 .569 Philadelphia 61 48 .560 NY Mets 54 55 .495 Florida 53 56 .486 Washington 49 61 .445 Central Division Cincinnati 62 48 .564 St. Louis 61 48 .560 Milwaukee 51 59 .464 Houston 47 61 .435 Chicago Cubs 47 62 .431 Pittsburgh 38 71 .349 Western Division San Diego 63 45 .583 San Francisco 63 47 .573 Colorado 57 52 .523 LA Dodgers 56 54 .509 Arizona 42 68 .382

1 8 9 13.5 .5 11 14 14.5 23.5 1 6.5 8 22

Ford reigns in global motorsport program Five victories, by four drivers, on three continents KUWAIT: Five victories, by four drivers, on three continents, over two days. That’s One Ford. Indeed, it was a weekend to remember for Ford’s global motorsport program, as the company took major victories in the World Rally Championship, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chinese Touring Cars and X Games rally competition. “It’s a great example of how our product is winning the world over,” said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president of global marketing, sales and service. “Motorsport is such an important part of our company’s DNA, and there’s a lot of pride that we have teams and drivers that are winning all over the world. It’s something we as a company, and as a racing program, have been doing for years.” Here’s a brief re-cap of the weekend victories:

Anttila won a thrilling Rally Finland on Saturday to earn a place in the history books. The Finns won the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time by 10.1sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, joining a long list of Finnish greats who have triumphed in their home event.

Latvala and Anttila were mobbed by their fellow countrymen as they took to the podium. Twenty-five-year-old Latvala, already the youngest driver to win a world rally, became the youngest winner of Rally Finland since the WRC started in 1973. It was Ford’s second consecutive victory in the legendary event following the success of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in 2009, and the manufacturer’s fourth win in five years.

World Rally Championship BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka

NASCAR Sprint Cup Greg Biffle used late-race pit strategy to pull away in the final 20 laps and win a

wild, emotional Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono, Pa. on Sunday, breaking a personal, 64-race winless streak, and giving Ford a long-awaited first Sprint Cup victory this year. It was also the first points win for Ford’s new FR9 NASCAR engine. Biffle, battling to remain one of the 12 drivers who will compete in the Sprint Cup Championship playoffs, dedicated the win to team owner Jack Roush, who was seriously injured in a plane crash earlier in the week. Biffle spoke to Roush by telephone after the victory.

X Games The ROCKSTAR Fiesta duo of Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan finished 1-2 in both the Rally Car and Super Rally events, taking home gold and silver medals for Ford Fiesta in the ESPN X Games at the Los Angeles Coliseum Saturday night.

Foust and Deegan ran through the compe-

tition in the traditional Rally Car event, setting up an all-Fiesta finale, which Foust won. In the new Super Rally event, the two drivers, along with two other drivers, went head-to-head over five laps of the Coliseum course, with Foust again taking the victory and Deegan coming from behind to finish second. In its first two years at the event, Ford Fiesta has now won three gold medals in rally racing at the X Games, and six of the available nine medals (three gold, two silver and a bronze).

China Touring Car Championship Martin Cao, a 17-year-old budding star, took the Ford Focus to victory in Round 4 of the China Touring Car Championship at the Chengdu International Circuit. With the win, Ford has stretched out its lead in hopes of winning both team and driver championships. Cao’s Ford teammates also did well, with Tengyi-Jang finishing third, Andy Zhen fifth and Rainey-He eighth.

SPORTS

18

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Swimming

Cseh, Pellegrini in the spotlight

CALIFORNIA: Michael Phelps reacts after a second place finish in front of winner Ryan Lochte in the Men’s 200 LC Meter IM Final during the 2010 ConocoPhillips National Championships at the William Woollett Jr Aquatics Complex in Irvine, California. — AFP

Lochte topples Phelps in 200m medley IRVINE: Ryan Lochte seized a long awaited 200-meter individual medley victory over Michael Phelps on Friday, winning the title at the US Swimming Championships in a blistering 1min 54.84sec. Lochte boasts impeccable medley credentials and set the world record of 1:54.10 in winning the world title last year in Rome. But he had never beaten Phelps in the event in head-to-head competition in a major national or international competition. Phelps, who won Olympic gold in the event in 2004 and 2008 and had held the world record since 2003, skipped it at last year’s world championships when Lochte triumphed.

“It feels great,” Lochte said. “I’ve been trying (to beat Phelps) for a long time. To finally get a win feels good.”

Phelps finished second in 1:55.94. Lochte used a strong breaststroke leg to overtake Phelps, who had led after both the butterfly and backstroke. After Lochte grabbed the lead at the final turn, Phelps was

unable to mount a challenge in the closing 50m of freestyle. “With 75 meters left it kind of felt like my body shut down,” said Phelps, the Beijing Olympic hero who is enduring an erratic season after taking time off from training. Even so, he had managed to win his three previous events here - the 200m free and 100m and 200m butterfly.

Lochte, who also won the 400m medley here on Tuesday, said he knew it was crucial to get the jump on Phelps on the breaststroke leg of the four-stroke event. “The key is that breaststroke-to-free turn,” Lochte said. “If he’s right with you and he pushes off that wall, he’ll pop up a body length ahead and it’s over.” Instead, it was Lochte who emerged from the final turn with a solid lead, despite the fact that he came into the championships nursing a groin injury that he said he had been “babying” in training.

Lochte’s victory came less than an hour after he deliv-

ered a storming finish to seize second place behind Nathan Adrian in the 100m freestyle - not one of his usual events.

Adrian, winner of the 50m free on Thursday, won the 100m free in 48.41sec, with Lochte rallying on the second lap for second place in 48.83. Veteran Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale tied for third in 48.96.

Phelps, who won an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing as he proved himself the master of a multiple-event schedule, said Lochte’s double was impressive. “That’s fairly solid. Doing a double like that is pretty challenging,” Phelps said. “He’s definitely swimming well right now.”

Adrian didn’t make a particularly good start, but led at the turn and said he thought he could shave something off his time for the Pan Pacific Championships that start in the same pool on August 18. “There’s definitely some things I could clean up to go a little faster

in this race, but I’m happy with that time,” he said.

Times from this meeting and the Pan Pacs will determine the US team for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. Kathleen Hersey won the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:07.00. Teresa Crippen was second in 2:07.89 and Mary Descenza Mohler was third in 2:08.91.

Mohler, swimming the day after marking her oneyear wedding anniversary, admitted she considered retiring from the sport after last year’s world championships, where she set a short-lived world record in the 200m fly heats and then was squeezed out of the medals. Instead, she decided to press on with the sport she loves, training in Japan where she now lives with her husband, who is an officer in the US Marine Corps.

In the only other individual event of the day, Elizabeth Beisel won the 200m backstroke in 2:08.50, comfortably in front of runner-up Melissa Franklin (2:09.74). — AFP

BUDAPEST: Hungarian medley king Lazslo Cseh and Italy’s Federica Pellegrini will be among the star attractions at the European swimming championships which get underway tomorrow. Europe’s top swimmers will compete on Margaret Island, in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, before heading into the final twoyear run-in to the London Olympics.

The 24-year-old Cseh will spearhead the home nation’s hopes as he bids for a third consecutive continental title in the 200m individual medley and a fourth in the 400m medley distance. Cseh has won everything in the discipline - apart from the Olympic title which is held

by US superstar Michael Phelps - and will be keen to lay the groundwork ahead of his 2012 bid. Pellegrini, meanwhile, arrives as the overwhelming favorite to take double gold in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle events - distances in which she holds the world records.

On paper few can match the Olympic 200m gold medalist, not even Olympic 400m champion Rebecca Adlington of Britain, who has struggled to find her form from Beijing two years ago. The Italian will be relishing her return to Budapest, four years after she failed to dethrone France’s Laure Manaudou, who has since retired and is the mother of a four-month-old daughter with French swimmer Frederick Bousquet. Bousquet, 19, a triple medalist at last year’s worlds, will compete in the 50m freestyle, his favorite distance, in which he holds the second best time this year (21.71).

His biggest rivals will be his compatriots, as France currently dominate European sprinting. Four French swimmers will compete in the 50m freestyle, including Olympic silver medalist Amaury Leveaux. And Bousquet admitted they had been boosted by the recent strong performances of their compatriots at the European athletics championships. “When you see a French athletics team which is the revelation of the European championships that pleases us,” said Bousquet. “We want to emulate them and to continue on from their successes.”

Alain Bernard will also be competing over the sprint distances but his hopes lie mainly over the 100m freestyle in which he holds the Olympic title. Bernard said he was relishing the chance to show how he has progressed from the French championships this spring when he failed to win both the 50m and 100m freestyle races. “I’ve done good things in training and that gives you enormous confidence,” he said. “It’s a key date because we’re two years before the Olympics. It’s important to compete and do things well.”

France will also be hoping to finally capture the men’s 100m freestyle relay, an event in which they have been favorites on paper over the past three years, but have not managed to win. Runners-up behind the United States at the 2008 Olympics, France missed out on the world title behind Russia, who will be among their leading rivals in Budapest. Clashes are also expected between Germany’s defending 400m freestyle champion Paul Biedermann and rising French star Yannick Agnel, 18, who won five gold medals at the European junior championships two weeks ago, and will be competing in his first major competition. — AFP

New Zealand retain Bledisloe Cup with 20-10 win

Rugby

All Blacks on the brink of Tri-Nations glory CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup and all but secured the Tri-Nations trophy with a 20-10 victory over Australia at Lancaster Park yesterday. The victory, courtesy of converted tries by fullback Mils Muliaina and centre Conrad Smith and two penalties from flyhalf Daniel Carter, was also the All Blacks’ ninth successive win against the Wallabies. Fullback Kurtley Beale scored an opportunist try, while flyhalf Matt Giteau added a conversion and penalty for the Wallabies, who have now matched their worst losing streak against New Zealand. They also lost nine tests from 1936-47.

The All Blacks have 19 points in the TriNations and need just one more point in their remaining two games against South Africa on Aug. 21 and Australia on Sept. 11 to be certain of sealing a fifth title in six years. Australia stayed on four points after three matches with South Africa, yet to register a point, bottom of the standings.

“From our point of view its about the Bledisloe Cup,” All Blacks coach Graham Henry told reporters. “It’s a big trophy for New Zealand rugby and the boys value it highly. “They’re delighted. It was a big test match to secure that Cup and it was a major plus.” The match was a classic ‘game of two halves’, with both sides playing at a frenetic pace and sending the ball wide in sweeping movements in the first spell, though the second half degenerated into a dour defensive struggle. The Wallabies dominated possession but their onedimensional game plan of hammering away at New Zealand’s defensive line was continually thwarted.

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand’s Brad Thorn (right) is tackled as teammate Richie McCaw leaps over Australia’s Salesi Ma’afu in the International rugby test at AMI Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday. — AP

Catchings’ 30 points lift Fever over Dream INDIANAPOLIS: Tamika Catchings scored a season-high 30 points and hit the winning free throws to lead the Indiana Fever to a 95-93 victory over the Atlanta Dream to snap a three-game losing streak in the WNBA on Friday. Tammy Sutton-Brown had a season-high 17 points and Katie Douglas scored 14 for the Fever (17-10), who avenged a loss to the Dream earlier in the week to take the season series, 3-2. Indiana moved into first place in the Eastern Conference by percentage points over Atlanta (18-11), which dropped its second straight after winning four in a row. Angel McCoughtry scored 31 points and Iziane Castro Marques added 28 for the Dream.

Liberty 85, Mystics 77 At New York, Cappie Pondexter scored 23 points as New York rode a big second-quarter surge to its fifth straight victory. Leilani Mitchell had 16 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 12 for the Liberty, who outscored the Mystics 24-

WNBA Roundup 7 in the second quarter to take a 14-point halftime lead before cruising to their seventh win in eight games. New York’s winning streak is its longest since opening the 2007 season with five wins.

Monique Currie scored 23 points and Matee Ajavon had 20 for Washington, which had won three straight following a stretch in which it lost five of six.

Sparks 77, Shock 70 At Los Angeles, DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 12 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles rallied to beat Tulsa. Marie FerdinandHarris added 18 points, and Ticha Penicheiro had 13 assists and seven rebounds for the Sparks (1017), who have won four of five. Los Angeles

moved into a third-place tie in the Western Conference with San Antonio, percentage points ahead of fourth-place Minnesota with seven games left. Ivory Latta scored 16 points for the Shock (5-23). Scholanda Robinson and Tiffany Jackson each added eight points, and Jackson and Chante Black both grabbed nine rebounds.

Mercury 103, Silver Stars 87 At Phoenix, Penny Taylor had 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds to lead Phoenix over San Antonio. Six Mercury players were in double figures, including Tangela Smith, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half. Chamique Holdsclaw had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Sophia Young had 17 points and six rebounds for San Antonio. Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi became the third WNBA player to reach 4,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 900 assists. Taurasi accomplished the feat in her 224th career game, the fastest in league history. — AP

BETTER EFFORT The All Blacks, meanwhile, have played a scintillating style in this year’s Tri-Nations but failed to execute as well as they had in their previous three matches, dropping the ball at crucial times when they were on attack. “It was a better effort from us,” Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said. “We produced a lot more position and possession but the All Blacks were successful in denying us momentum which would have been helpful converting that possession into points.”

All three tries came in the first 15 minutes, with the All Blacks able to turn defense into attack and open the scoring when Joe Rokocoko put Muliaina clear with 25 meters to run down the left hand touchline. Carter converted for a 7-0 lead.

The Wallabies, however, responded almost immediately when an All Blacks backline movement broke down and Beale scooted away. Giteau converted to level the scores.

Smith grabbed the All Blacks’ second try after the home side again used wide passes to put the outside players into space and Carter added the sideline conversion. Giteau and Carter then traded penalties and while the All Blacks spent the final few minutes of the half attacking the Wallabies line, they were unable to add to their advantage and went into the break with a 17-10 lead. The second half, however, failed to match the pace of the first and Carter finally broke the deadlock after the break when he slotted his second penalty with 10 minutes remaining to give the All Blacks some breathing room. — Reuters

CHRISTCHURCH: Brad Thorn of New Zealand holds up the Bledisloe Cup - the symbol of trans-Tasman rivalry - after the Tri-Nations rugby Test between New Zealand and Australia at AMI Stadium in Christchurch yesterday. — AFP

NFL

Seahawks, Okung ink six-year deal NEW YORK: Offensive tackle Russell Okung, the sixth player selected in the 2010 NFL Draft, has agreed to a six-year $46.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, NFL.com said on Friday. The deal included a guaranteed $30 million but could net Okung up to $58 million with performance-based bonuses. Okung was the last first-round pick to sign.

Running back CJ Spiller agreed to terms with the Buffalo Bills earlier in the day.

“It feels great, I always say this is the best job in the world,” said Okung. “I’m

back out here and enjoy it. First day out with the guys, just getting into the routine of things.” Okung missed six days of practice before joining his new team mates on the field for the first time on Friday. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said he was thrilled to have Okung at training but added that the youngster had work ahead of him.

“Unfortunately Russell will be well behind now, and he’ll really be in a scramble mode for quite some time now.” — Reuters

19

SPORTS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Chelsea turn to youth to boost title defense LONDON: Chelsea’s attempt to retain its English Premier League title could rely as much on its young players as its much exercised financial muscle. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has strengthened the squad he led to the league and FA Cup double in his first season in charge but the Premier League’s new rules governing squad sizes could thrust several young hopefuls into action.

Teams must submit a 25-man squad list to the league containing at least eight so-called “homegrown” players. But that squad can be bolstered by an unlimited number of under-21 players, so the likes of Fabio Borini, Gael Kakuta and Jeffrey Bruma could

extras Milan beat Panathinaikos PONTIAC: Daniele Bonera scored in a penalty shootout to give AC Milan a victory over Greek champion Panathinaikos after neither team scored during regulation time in a friendly match Friday. After the first seven penalty-takers scored, Panathinaikos’ Antonios Petropoulas shot wide, allowing Bonera to clinch the game 5-3 in the shootout. Panathinaikos dominated the match, but Djibril Cisse had a first-half goal disallowed after being called offside.

Panathinaikos also lost what appeared to be a legitimate goal in the 55th minute when Sidney Govou’s shot off the crossbar crossed the line before being cleared by Bonera. The referee did not give the goal. The game, which drew an announced crowd of 30,514 at the Pontiac Silverdome, was played on a temporary grass field like the one used for the 1994 World Cup. American defender Oguchi Onyewu did not play for Milan while continuing to recover from a knee injury that cost him most of last season and limited him in this summer’s World Cup. Diouf on loan to Rovers LONDON: Manchester United’s Senegal international striker Mame Biram Diouf on Friday agreed to a season-long loan at Premier League rivals Blackburn Rovers.

The 22-year-old arrived at Old Trafford last season from Norwegian side Molde where he scored 33 goals in 75 games. Diouf made six appearances for United last season, scoring one goal.

Lanus thump Arsenal BUENOS AIRES: Guido Pizarro scored in the 73rd minute to give Lanus a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the first match of the Argentina Apertura tournament Friday.

Marcos Aguirre gave Lanus a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute before Mauro Obolo equalized for Arsenal early in the second half. Four matches are scheduled for Saturday with Clausura champion Argentinos Juniors facing Huracan. Many eyes will also be on All Boys’ first match in the first division in 30 years when it travels to Racing Club. Sunday features Argentina’s best-known clubs in action, with River Plate against Tigre and Boca Juniors facing Godoy Cruz. Boca midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme will be in the lineup after settling his contract dispute on Friday.

play key roles. Chelsea has become known for its lavish spending on players since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought it in 2003, bringing the west London club its first league titles for 50 years.

But Manchester City is now the big spender in the Premier League, and Chelsea is looking for investment in its youth system to help it become self-sufficient. “They are very good players,” Ancelotti said.

“They need to stay with us and will have more chances this year. I know them very well. We followed them for the last year and it is the time for them to be involved in the squad. “I don’t know how many games they can play this season but we need to

have these young players in our squad.” Chelsea, along with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, already have practice of conforming to this sort of rule because the Champions League imposes the same regulation.

A homegrown player is one who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with an English or Welsh club for three full seasons or 36 months before his 21st birthday. That means Chelsea will have to dispose of an overseas player, most likely Brazilian-born Deco, should it complete the signing of Brazil midfielder Ramires from Benfica. But a caveat that allows clubs to add a limitless number of

extra under-21 players should give Borini, Kakuta and Bruma chances.

The new ruling could also help Ancelotti engineer the sort of squad overhaul that proved beyond him at AC Milan, where he won two Champions League titles but was undone by an aging side. Chelsea’s title last season came with a team containing eight of the regulars from the side that won the 2006 title under Jose Mourinho. Of those, Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba, Paulo Ferreira and Frank Lampard are all in their 30s, as are Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and new signing Yossi Benayoun.

But Chelsea scored seven goals last season on

Fergie resists major overhaul of United

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs (left), Wayne Rooney (center) and Dimitar Berbatov during an open training session at Old Trafford, Manchester yesterday. — AP

Record crowd at Soccer City in first post-World Cup event JOHANNESBURG: A record 87,000 spectators filed into Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium for South Africa’s season-opening Charity Cup yesterday, less than a month after the arena hosted the World Cup final. The country’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) said it had sold 80,000 seats for the one-day tournament, which features four teams in three separate matches, and handed out a further 7,000 complimentary tickets.

It was the first event at the stadium since Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 on July 11 to lift the World Cup. The attendance figure will be broken again in two weeks when a first-ever

rugby match is hosted at the cavernous venue, which gained iconic status during the World Cup for its distinctive look, resembling a colourful African calabash or pot. A 88,791-seat sellout for the Tri-Nations test between the Springboks and New Zealand’s All Blacks on Aug 21 has already been announced.

Soccer City has a total capacity of 94,700 but during the World Cup only some 84,000 seats were sold because place was required for extensive media and VIP facilities. The PSL is hoping heightened interest following the success of the World Cup will spark an increase in attendance

for local league games, which have been poorly supported over the last decade. “We certainly want to see the fans coming into the stadiums, we want to see all the people who were at the World Cup coming back and experiencing more,” said the league’s chief executive officer Kjetil Siem.

In an effort to capitalize on post-World Cup fever, the PSL announced it would kick off its league campaign on Aug 27 with two back-toback matches at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, also built for the World Cup. The stadium’s capacity has been reduced to 52,000 with

City ‘must show’ return for years of big spending LONDON: In a salutary lesson being provided from afar, Manchester City’s wealthy Abu Dhabi owner is quickly discovering that lavish spending on new talent isn’t a guaranteed route to glory. Almost $500 million has been invested in players by Sheikh Mansour since buying the English Premier League club two years ago. But he is yet to witness a match in person and there isn’t a single trophy to show for an outlay that far exceeds City’s English rivals - not even the League Cup, which is disregarded by most elite clubs and is the last major honor won by City back in 1976.

Such a free-spending strategy isn’t even working at the moment at Real Madrid, which at least has a strong track record of

three occasions, twice hit five goals and rounded off the season with an 8-0 rout of Wigan. So, it’s unsurprising that for now those same players will provide the backbone of Chelsea’s challenge. Joe Cole was peripheral last season because of form and fitness, so his departure to Liverpool and replacement by Benayoun should not weaken Chelsea. Drogba scored 37 goals last season and is fit after playing for Ivory Coast at the World Cup with a broken arm, while Michael Essien will be back in midfield after missing five months and Ghana’s World Cup campaign because of a ruptured cruciate ligament. Chelsea remains the team to beat. — AP

winning trophies that is lacking at City - a team that has long lived in the shadows of 18time English champion Manchester United.

Far from consolidating the squad during this offseason to forge a unified team spirit, Roberto Mancini has spent his first offseason as manager acquiring upgrades to the players brought in by Mark Hughes. Seen as key signings at the time, the likes of Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy find themselves surplus to requirements at Eastlands, just as captain Richard Dunne was offloaded a year ago.

The headline recruits of this offseason, both costing 24 million pounds, have been Spain winger David Silva and midfielder Yaya Toure - brother of City captain Kolo. But

with the transfer window not closing until Aug. 31 more arrivals are expected - especially if City doesn’t make a flying start to the new campaign. The players’ primary task is to ensure the team qualifies for the Champions League for the first time, having missed out on the prestigious competition by one place in May after being denied fourth place by Tottenham.

“The Champions League is massive for me,” midfielder Gareth Barry said. “That’s my first aim and anything above that will be a massive bonus. “Everyone knows that the Champions League is the biggest club competition. Having said that, the Europa League is a competition we will try to win. We’ve got the squad to compete on all fronts this year.”

Even a first championship crown since 1968 isn’t being ruled out, especially with Mancini believing their rivals fear City is a growing threat.

“Are they scared? I think so,” Mancini said. “At the moment only Manchester City are buying players, but that is normal because Manchester City want to improve and the other teams are just big teams who would like a lot of people. “All the other teams are trying to put pressure on us because for 10 years there were only four teams challenging for the title. “This year, there are five. I think all these teams over the years have spent a lot of money.

Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool but now City do.” — AP

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini (behind) with new signings Aleksandar Kolarov (left), David Silva (second left), Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng (right) after an open training session held at the City of Manchester Stadium. — AP

the removal of temporary seating installed for the World Cup. PSL spokesman Altaaf Kazi told Reuters they were confident of a sell-out crowd.

The new stadium in Durban will also be used for local league matches this season. Yesterday’s Charity Cup traditionally opens the season with the country’s four most popular clubs, voted for by public ballot, contesting two semi-finals and then a final, starting at 10 am local time and concluding well into the night. Tickets for the day cost 50 and 70 South African rand (about $7$10), less than half for the cheapest seat at the World Cup. — Reuters

Ancelotti eyes early advantage over Utd LONDON: Carlo Ancelotti wants Chelsea to claim an early psychological advantage over Manchester United by defeating their title rivals in today’s Community Shield clash at Wembley. The last three winners of this prestigious pre-season friendly have gone on to lift the Premier League trophy, with Ancelotti’s side beating United on penalties last season, and the Chelsea boss believes it is important to seize the momentum ahead of the new season, which kicks off on August 14.

With Chelsea pipping United to the league last season, as well as winning the FA Cup, and United securing the League Cup, the two teams will walk out at Wembley as holders of all three English domestic trophies. It would be little surprise if Ancelotti and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson are dueling for all the major honors again this season, giving the friendly fixture an added edge. “I think that for both teams it is an important game because it is a very important check for the season and we want to look how our condition is, and also because against Manchester United is never an easy game,” Ancelotti said. “We want to do our best because Manchester United could be the most important opponent this season, like they were last season. “I think we need to win because we have lost too many friendly games (in pre-season). “We are not happy to lose. We have to come back to win and start well.”

Ancelotti named his team well in advance of today’s match and Didier Drogba will be on the bench as he returns to fitness after the World Cup. Nicolas Anelka replaces Drogba, while Hilario is in goal in the absence of the injured Petr Cech.

England trio John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole will all feature. “I think the players that came back from the World Cup are not fit 100 per cent but they need to play. I will put them on the pitch today,” Ancelotti added. Even without Drogba and Cech, it is a formidable unit and Ferguson is well aware Chelsea will pose the main danger to his side’s hopes of regaining the title.

A year ago Ferguson was drawing attention to the number of aging players in the Blues’ squad rather than singing their praises, but the Scot has no intention of underestimating them this time. “With the experience Chelsea have got, you have to look at them being the biggest threat,” Ferguson said.

“They won the league and the cup last year and I do think you have to see the team that won the league as the ones you look at. “I don’t see why anyone should think any different. Chelsea have the experience. You can’t dismiss them.”

If United are to win a record 19th English league title, Ferguson’s faith in his young players needs to be vindicated in a big way. United’s lack of high-profile signings during the close-season has been blamed on the vast debts amassed by owners the Glazer family, but Ferguson insists he preferred to nurture the talented prodigies in his squad rather than splash out on big names.—AFP

LONDON: Continuing to resist the big-name signings that define Manchester United’s European rivals, Alex Ferguson has invested in only two - relatively cheap - youngsters to help deliver a record-breaking 19th English title. Even a lackluster 2009-10 season by Ferguson’s own high standards - with just the League Cup to show for it - hasn’t convinced the 68-year-old manager that he needs to overhaul an aging squad.

While Ferguson claims he’s not willing to waste the club’s cash on overpriced players, fans aggrieved with the Glazer family owners insist such austerity is a necessity with United’s debts exceeding $1 billion. For less than $30 million, 20-yearold defender Chris Smalling has been recruited from Fulham and 22-year-old striker Javier Hernandez has joined from Guadalajara.

They are arriving at a club beset by fan protests that have raged since January, when green-and-gold protest scarves began blanketing fans at Old Trafford. “I don’t see the value in terms of adding to our squad ... just because people want you to buy someone,” Ferguson said. “Supporters like you to buy players, they like to see a big signing every year. I think sometimes the players like to see a big signing but for me I think we’ve got to be sensible about it and look at our own squad.”

Looking at it, though, Ferguson is still heavily reliant on an aging quartet: Midfielders Ryan Giggs, 36, and Paul Scholes, 35, defender Gary Neville, 35, and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who turns 40 during the season. Center back Rio Ferdinand, while only 31, is constantly sidelined by an array of injuries. “We have a great mix of some senior players and a whole crop of younger players coming through,” Van der Sar said. “United emphasize they are a club that produces young players. I can see some who will be here for a long time.”

Pivotal to United regaining the Premier League trophy from Chelsea - having finished runner-up in May after three straight titles - is a fit and inform Wayne Rooney.

Although he scored 34 times for United last season, the England striker was beset by injuries in the last two months of the campaign and failed to score at the World Cup. No natural strike partner for Rooney has emerged at United, with Dimitar Berbatov still struggling to make an impact two years after becoming the club’s most expensive player, while Michael Owen’s first season was restricted by hamstring troubles.

There could be a heavy reliance on Hernandez, who Ferguson believes would have cost three times his seven-million-pound fee had the Mexican been signed after an impressive World Cup. “There’s no doubt Hernandez has got tremendous pace and penetration,” Ferguson said. “We’ve played two strikers in the past. It doesn’t mean its going to happen every week but it will happen on some occasions.

“Hernandez has had a good start. He’s an intelligent player.”

If United surpasses the record of 18 English championship crowns it shares with Liverpool, the milestone could be the moment for Ferguson to call time on a managerial reign that stretches back to 1986.

“The key is perseverance in this job, and energy to make sure your drive doesn’t change,” the Scot said. “Your job sometimes is like teaching.

A teacher’s job is to inspire the pupils to feel better and to make them feel as if with their talent they can progress, and also that they need to work hard.” — AP

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Liverpool lacking cash, confidence LONDON: Drained of cash and confidence, Liverpool’s English Premier League priorities and targets have been steadily downgraded in the space of a year. At Anfield there is a new realism for a team that went into last season making bold predictions about ending its 20-year title drought only to finish seventh - an 11-year low - and miss out on qualification for Champions League. Just returning to Europe’s lucrative competition by rejoining the top four is the No 1 target for the players and the hierarchy, who are trying to sell the heavily indebted club.

Masterminding the revival is the well-traveled Roy Hodgson, who replaced Rafa Benitez when the Spaniard’s six-year reign ended in June after repeatedly clashing with the board. In luring Hodgson from Fulham, the Reds have a manager who can operate in austere conditions and overachieve, having steered the London club to the Europa League final in May with an amazing run of results.

And with funds in short supply at Liverpool, Hodgson will have to revive its fortunes with a squad largely unchanged from last season.

“For clubs like Real Madrid and Inter Milan, it’s a disaster if they don’t win the league, so they go out and spend big money on new players,” veteran defender Jamie Carragher said. “Liverpool can’t do that - we have to build. Next season, rather than thinking too much about the title, we have to concentrate on getting back into the top four.

“It’s a rebuilding process again and hopefully we can get ourselves right up there.” By the time Benitez left, memories had faded of the successes he delivered in his first two seasons - the 2005 Champions League and the 2006 FA Cup. Hodgson’s biggest early successes have been just persuading captain Steven Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres not to push for transfers to clubs still among Europe’s elite.

The main addition to the squad was Joe Cole - a free transfer from Chelsea, which subsequently replaced the 28-year-old England midfielder by paying Liverpool five million pounds ($8 million) for 30year-old Yossi Benayoun. The same amount was received from Olympiakos for winger Albert Riera and was reinvested in recruiting defender Danny Wilson from Rangers, while Serbia forward Milan Jovanovic arrived, like Cole, for nothing. The foundations were already there for a strong team, but one of the main problems last season was keeping the players fit. Hodgson wants to get the team back playing a more fluid passing game. “The club has great style and has always played in the right way,” Hodgson said. “They play a passing game, where players work very hard for each other and that ties in very nicely with my philosophy of how the game should be played.

There should be no conflict of interest where that is concerned.” One of the biggest conflicts will remain with northwest rival Manchester United, which holds the record with Liverpool for the most English championship crowns. —AP

Gunners ‘ready’ to challenge for title LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his team is ready to challenge for the English Premier League title.

The Gunners have failed to compete seriously since they went unbeaten through the 2003-04 season but Wenger thinks that another year’s experience and minor tweaks to his squad will put his young players in contention for honors.

“The money will not be an excuse for us if we do not achieve our targets,” Wenger said. “Do I have a team I think can play at the top? I say, ‘Yes.’ “I judge my players are ready to compete for the championship.”

With Netherlands striker Robin van Persie back after missing five months last season because of injury, so is captain Cesc Fabregas, despite Barcelona’s attempts to sign him. Fabregas is contracted to Arsenal until the end of the 2014-15 season, and Arsenal thwarted Barcelona after refusing to negotiate even in the face of bids of up to $52 million.

Having retained their World Cup-winning captain, the Gunners can look beyond securing a 15th straight top-

four spot and compete with Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City for the title. Chelsea and City have greater financial muscle than Arsenal, but Wenger has been slowly building his team since dismantling the “Unbeatables,” and the players - mostly either youth team graduates or lowprofile signings - have grown with status each year. “If the other clubs have more money or less money is not so important for me,” Wenger said.

“What is important is ‘do the other clubs have better players or worse players than us?’

“At the end of August we will have the players we need to compete at the top level.”

Wenger is confident that the likes of Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Eboue, Abou Diaby and Denilson will have gained enough confidence and experience from last season’s third-place finish to overcome their shortcomings in bigger games.

Arsenal was mostly derailed last season by losses to the sides immediately around it in the standings. The Gunners picked up just four points from a possible 24 against the other top-five sides. — AP

STOCKHOLM: Tyson Gay of the US (left) wins the men’s 100m race ahead of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt at the IAAF Diamond League ‘DN Galan’ at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. — AP

Gay dethrones Bolt STOCKHOLM: Tyson Gay handed world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt his first defeat in 15 100m finals at the Diamond League on Friday. With the two fastest men in the world facing each other down, Gay emerged victorious in a stadium-record time of 9.84 with Bolt second in 9.97. Gay told reporters: “I know Usain Bolt is not in his best shape, but I’m still happy with the victory. “My body worked well today, I was excited and motivated. The start was OK but I must admit I was surprised not seeing Usain in front

after half the race.”

Bolt said: “It was an alright performance, it wasn’t one of my best. I need to work on my strength, my strength is really low. It let me down in the first 30 meters and Tyson was in the better shape so he won the race.” Bolt, who has been troubled by an Achilles injury, has said he is treating this year as an “off year.” Organizers had hoped for a repeat of last year’s world championship final only for ex-world record holder Asafa Powell to pull out earlier this week with a back injury.

In other top-flight action, Sweden’s ace triple jumper Christian Olsson showed welcome signs of a return to form after a heel injury which kept him out of last week’s European championships in Barcelona. Former world and Olympic champion, Olsson was delighted with his second place to Teddy Tamgho of France and a seasonbest of 17.32.

He told Reuters: “Second place, four centimeter behind number one.

He’s probably number one in the world even though he didn’t win the

was critical of her own performance, despite winning the women’s 200m.

The world champion told Reuters: “It didn’t go as well as I would have wanted it to, I wanted to execute a little better.

“I think I floated coming off the curve and I just didn’t execute the last 100.”

Dariya Klishina of Russia won the women’s long jump in 6.78, beating Brittney Reese of the US by three centimeters. “I missed Barcelona so this is something special for me, the first Diamond League win of my career,” said Klishina. —Reuters

India level test series Laxman guides India to a five-wicket victory

Kaka put career at risk at World Cup: Doctor PASADENA: The doctor who recently performed surgery on Kaka’s knee said the Real Madrid forward put his career at risk by playing for Brazil at the World Cup. Dr Marc Martens performed the arthroscopic surgery on Kaka’s left knee Thursday after a routine preseason check

by Madrid doctors discovered the problem. The Brazil international will be sidelined three to four months. Martens said in Friday editions of Spanish newspaper Marca that Kaka played through the pain in South Africa with a nagging injury that soon became “unbearably painful.”

Martens said Kaka told him the pain came during the knockout stage matches against Chile and the Netherlands. Even without one of football’s biggest stars, Real Madrid brings a formidable lineup to the final match of its two-game tour against the Major League Soccer leader the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl. “All that matters was that the operation was a success,” Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. “As the leader of a group, I cannot waste my time crying over a player.

I have other players counting on me.” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena’s squad features United States World Cup star Landon Donovan and league scoring leader Edson Buddle. Among the other players on Real’s roster are Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael van der Vaart, Gonzalo Higuain and three members of Spain’s World Cup champions: Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos. All of them traveled to California, where Real Madrid rallied for a 3-2 friendly win over Club America of Mexico City on Wednesday at San Francisco.

Joining that group is the club’s biggest offseason acquisition: Sami Khedira, the 23-year-old German midfielder who replaced the injured Michael Ballack at the World Cup. Khedira - who made only five international appearances before the World Cup - started all seven of Germany’s games in South Africa and scored one goal. Real purchased him from VfB Stuttgart in Germany’s Bundesliga. “This is a young group, which is really going to benefit him,” said Casillas, Real’s captain.

“Khedira is brand new and has trouble speaking Spanish. But the squad is doing everything it can to help him adjust.” — AP

European championship. I must be pleased with that.” Croatia’s European high jump champion Blanka Vlasic defied fatigue to claim her fifth straight Diamond League victory over Chaunte Lowe of the US who had to be content with second again.

“I was so empty after the Europeans,” said Vlasic. “I expected to be more fresh but I guess I wasted too much energy.” Local favorite and European silver medalist Emma Green came third.

American sprinter Allyson Felix

COLOMBO: India’s Virender Sehwag drives the car he won for being the man of the match as Ishant Sharma rides on top of it after the final test cricket match against Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday. — AP

COLOMBO: V V S Laxman smashed an unbeaten 103 to guide India to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third test yesterday to end the threematch series level at 1-1. India, chasing 257 to win, started the final day on 53-3 and lost the wicket of nightwatchman Ishant Sharma just three overs into the first session when he was caught by Kumar Sangakkara at mid-wicket off a Suraj Randiv delivery for four.

Tendulkar and Laxman shared 109 runs for the second wicket to tilt the game in India’s favor.

Tendulkar was out after lunch for a watchful 54 off 122 balls, including three boundaries. Laxman faced 122 balls and hit three boundaries for his 16th test century, while struggling with a back spasm which forced him to use a runner. Laxman shared an unbroken 87-run stand for the sixth wicket with Suresh Raina who scored the winning runs with a six over deep mid-wicket off seamer Chanaka Welegedara to finish unbeaten on 41.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that Sri Lanka’s spinners had lost the initial turn and bounce once the ball wore old. “We all knew when we absorb the pressure of those initial overs it will be relatively easy to score.” Dhoni praised man-of-the-match Laxman’s innings as a special once. “He paced his innings really well and he struggled with a back

spasm. There was pain and there was pressure at the same time. I think it is a very special innings.”

Offspinner Randiv, playing only his second test, claimed his first five-wicket haul to finish with 5-82.

Tendulkar was dropped on 18 by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Randiv at short-leg in a decisive let off that probably cost Sri Lanka the match. “It would have been nice to have Sachin out,” Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara said. “No one wants to miss a catch ... at this level when you play with so much at stake the chances that we dropped in this match and in the last proved very costly.” Randiv, who came in to the Sri Lanka side for retired Muttiah Muralitharan, took every Indian wicket to fall in the second innings. He had Virender Sehwag caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene without scoring Friday before bowing Rahul Dravid for seven runs. Murali Vijay was caught at short-leg by Jayawardene for 27, also on Friday. India was dismissed for 436 runs in its first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 425. The home side was all out for 267 in its second innings after Thilan Samaraweera and tailender Ajantha Mendis shared a record 118 runs for the ninth wicket to guide Sri Lanka to a respectable score. Sri Lanka won the first test by 10 wickets in Galle. Sehwag was named man of the series for scoring two centuries, a 99 and capturing seven wickets with his part-time offspin. —AP

SCOREBOARD COLOMBO: Scoreboard on the fifth day of the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka at the P. Sara Oval yesterday.

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 425 (K. Sangakkara 75, M. S. Tendulkar c P. Jayawardene b Randiv54 4 Jayawardene 56, T. Samaraweera 137 not out, P. I. Sharma c Sangakkara b Randiv V. Laxman not out 103 Ojha 4-115, I. Sharma 3-72) 41 India 1st innings: 436 (V. Sehwag 109, V. S. Raina not out 22 Laxman 56, S. Raina 62, L. Maliga 3-119, S. Extras: (b5, lb6, w2, nb9) Total (for five wickets, 68.3 overs) 258 Randiv 4-80, A. Mendis 2-109) Sri Lanka 2nd innings: 267 (T. Samaraweera 83, Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Sehwag), 2-27 (Dravid), 3A. Mendis 78, P.Ojha 3-89, V. Sehwag 3-51, A, 49 (Vijay), 4-62 (Sharma), 5-171 (Tendulkar).

Bowling: Malinga 12-1-49-0 (nb3, w1), Randiv Mishra 3-47) 29-3-82-5 (nb1), Mathews 2-0-5-0, Welegedara 8.3-2-34-0 (nb4, w1), Mendis 14-0-65-0 (nb1), India 2nd innings (overnight 53-3): Dilshan 3-0-12-0 M. Vijay c M. Jayawardene b Randiv 27 India won by five wickets, drew three-match V. Sehwag c M. Jayawardene b Randiv 0 series 1-1.

R. Dravid b Randiv 7

COLOMBO: India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (left) and Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara hold the trophy at the end of the final test cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday. — AP

OMEGA Constellation Quartz 27mm ‘Logo’ with random disposition

Etihad appoints Vice President UAE sales

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Latest jobs data blow to Obama as elections loom

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

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Iran drops LNG project under policy review Tehran to focus more on exporting gas through pipelines TEHRAN: Iran is abandoning a project to produce liquefied natural gas as part of a policy review that will see Tehran focusing more on exporting gas through pipelines, a top oil official has said.

“The oil ministry is currently focusing on gas expor ts by pipelines,” Ahmad Ghalebani, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, told the oil ministry’s news agency Shana on Friday.

The announcement comes as several top global energy majors have either quit or are considering an exit from Iran, which holds the world’s second-largest natural gas reser ves but which world powers slapped with new UN sanctions in June over its contro-

versial nuclear program.

As part of the shift towards piped gas exports, Iran is abandoning Persian LNG, a project which was previously to be executed by Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy major which had been awarded a gas block in the giant South Pars field. Shell quit the project ahead of the fourth round of UN sanctions agreed to in June.

The Persian LNG project had faced several roadblocks even before the latest sanctions, along with another project, Pars LNG, led by French firm Total, which is also in the process of withdrawing from Iran.

A third LNG project, led by the National Gas Company using Ger man technology, is a little more advanced with Iran having

Iran cancels gas deal with UAE’s Crescent TEHRAN: Iran has cancelled a gas contract with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum with which it has had a long-standing dispute over the supply of Iranian gas, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said yesterday.

NIOC and Sharjah-headquartered Crescent signed a 25-year gas contract in 2001, with a price linked to oil.

But as oil rallied some Iranian officials called for a revision to the price formula and blamed the price dispute for delivery delays.

Javad Oji, head of NIOC and Iran’s deputy oil minister said the contract

already invested over $1 billion.

Ghalebani said the LNG policy

HP ousts CEO amid harassment claims SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard Co ousted its CEO on Friday for allegedly falsifying documents to conceal a relationship with a former contractor and help her get paid for work she didn’t do.

News of Mark Hurd’s abrupt departure sent HP’s stock tumbling. Shares of the world’s biggest maker of personal computers and printers have doubled in value during his five-year stewardship, and HP became the world’s No 1 technology company by revenue in that time. The company said it learned about the relationship several weeks ago, when the woman, who did marketing work for HP, sent a letter accusing Hurd, 53, and the company of sexual harassment. An investigation found that Hurd falsified expense reports and other financial documents to conceal the relationship. The company said it found that its sexual harassment policy wasn’t violated but that its standards of business conduct were.

Hurd’s “systematic pattern” of submitting falsified financial reports to hide the relationship convinced the board that “it would be impossible for him to be an effective leader moving forward and that he had to step down,” HP general counsel Michael Holston said on a conference call Friday with analysts. “The facts that drove the decision for the company had to with integrity, had to do with credibility, had to do with honesty,” Holston said, declining to elaborate. Holston said the inaccurate financial reports related only to Hurd’s personal expenses.

Hurd acknowledged there were “instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP.” Hurd, who is married with two children, will get a $12.2 million severance payment and nearly 350,000 shares of HP stock worth about $16 million at Friday’s closing price. The company also extended the deadline for exercising options to buy up to 775,000 HP shares.

High-profile Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred said she is representing the woman and “there was no affair and no intimate sexual relationship” between her client and Hurd. Allred, reached by The Associated Press late Friday, declined to comment further.

A person with intimate knowledge of the case told the AP that the woman worked as a host for more than a dozen events for CEOs that Hurd attended between 2007 and 2009. The person said the disputed expenses range from $1,000 to $20,000 each for travel, lodging and meals. This person, who requested anonymity because this person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the details of the investigation, said many of the expenses were for meals after the events and that Hurd insists they were legitimate business expenses. The total amount of the expenses in dispute could not be learned.

Hurd has offered to repay expenses that were incorrectly filed, this person said.

The company’s chief financial officer, Cathie Lesjak, 51, was named interim CEO. She has been with the company 24 years but has taken herself out of the running to fill the position permanently. HP has set up a search committee to look for a permanent replacement.

Mark Kelleher, an analyst with Brigantine Advisors, said Hurd’s resignation boils down to “one person doing

Hewlett-Packard Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd. — AP some really stupid things.” “That gave a great deal of comfort to investors that this was not a company-fundamental issue,” he said. Still, HP’s shares — which closed on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange at $46.30 — tumbled 9.7 percent after hours to $41.85 as investors reacted to the stunning news of his resignation. Preliminary financial results HP released Friday for its fiscal third quarter came in slightly above analyst expectations.

Beloved by investors for his relentless cost-cutting - and scorned by thousands of laid-off employees for the same — Hurd was seen as rescuing the company from the mess left behind by his predecessor, Carly Fiorina. Hurd has transformed the 71-year-old company from a computer and printer maker hooked on profits from printer cartridges into a company that looks a lot like its archrival IBM Corp., a major player in technology services and other fast-growing areas.

Though their underlying stories are very different, Hurd’s departure is like Fiorina’s in one key way: Both were forced out with the company about to reap the benefits of sweeping changes they made at the Silicon Valley institution.

Fiorina left in 2005 in the wake of her decision to acquire Compaq Computer and an ensuing upheaval over her personality and her business strategies, but the divisive deal proved instrumental in HP’s ascendance under Hurd. By comparison, Hurd is departing after cutting tens of thousands of jobs and launching an expensive expansion, including the $13.9 billion acquisition of technology-services provider Electronic Data Systems, the $2.7 billion takeover of computer-networking equipment maker 3Com Corp. and the $1.4 billion deal for mobile phone maker Palm Inc. To reassure investors, HP, based in Palo Alto, previewed its third-quarter results late Friday in advance of a detailed report Aug 19. The company said it expects to report earnings of 75 cents per share, compared with 67 cents a year earlier. Excluding onetime items, the company says results will be $1.08 per share, a penny ahead of analysts’ current expectations.

Revenue is expected to rise 11 percent from last year to $30.7 billion, slightly higher than analysts’ expectations.

The company’s forecast for the current quarter, which ends in October, is roughly in line with analysts’ expectations. —AP

had been nullified and that from now on: “The oil ministry’s policy is the direct sale of gas to the UAE government”, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

“For the sale of gas to neighboring countries, a unified price formula has been set and all negotiations will be conducted on the basis of this formula obtained on the basis of oil and oil derivative prices,” he said. Iran, a major crude exporter, sits on the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, but sanctions that hinder access to Western technology and other factors have slowed

review does not abandon LNG projects totally as they could

its development as a major exporter.

Oji said gas exports in the last Iranian year, which ran to March 21, 2010, were up 44 percent year-onyear at $6.8 billion. Iran also earned $1.8 billion from the swap and transit of gas during the same period.

Production capacity stands at 540 million cubic metres per day, he said.

Iran had secured a permit from Turkey to transit gas through its territory and was now in negotiations to export gas to Europe, Oji said. He described talks with prospective buyers being at “an intensified phase”.

He gave no further details. — Reuters

become “economical” in the long term. “Considering the long bor-

ders and good relations we have with our neighbors and the vast pipeline network in the country, there is an advantage to exporting gas (through pipelines) than (producing and exporting) LNG,” he said. “(Piped) gas exports are cheaper and can be done faster, while exports of LNG not only require huge investments and complicated technology but are also time consuming.”

He said Iran will need to undertake further studies in the LNG sector. “We must also study additional investment needs and return of capital in this area,” Ghalebani added.

“That does not mean we will put aside the LNG projects... But we will review them.”

Following the latest round of

UN sanctions, the United States and the European Union have put fur ther pressure on Iran by imposing unilateral sanctions specifically targeting the country’s vital energy sector.

The development of South Pars, which holds about eight percent of world gas reserves, has lagged due to a lack of technology and investment, even as Iranian officials claim that local companies have replaced international firms. Shared with the small state of Qatar, the South Pars field holds around 14 trillion cubic metres (500 trillion cubic feet) of gas.

But despite its vast reserves, OPEC’s second largest oil exporter still faces severe gas needs of its own. — AFP

India lends Bangladesh $1 billion as ties warm DHAKA: India gave Bangladesh a billiondollar soft loan yesterday, the biggest credit package New Delhi has ever earmarked for any nation, highlighting warming ties between the neighbors, officials said.

Ties were chilly between the South Asian neighbors from 2001 to 2006 when Bangladesh was ruled by an Islamist-allied government and New Delhi regularly accused Dhaka of harboring Indian insurgents and fostering militancy.

“This one-billion-dollar line of credit is the largest ever given by India to any country,” said Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Dhaka.

“I am confident that this line of credit will be the stepping stone for a shared destiny and will transform our bilateral engagement,” he said at the loan signing ceremony.

The line of credit also marked the single largest loan Bangladesh has received from any nation, development bank or donor agency, Dhaka’s Economic Relations Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said. Mukherjee arrived in Dhaka yesterday for a lightning visit to attend the load signing and for talks with government leaders. He was slated to fly out of the Bangladeshi capital late yesterday.

“The terms of credit are very favorable to Dhaka. The interest rate is just 1.75 percent and will be paid back in 20 years,” Bhuiyan said.

Bangladeshi Finance Minister A M A Muhith said the credit line would boost economic ties between the two nations and be used to upgrade Bangladesh’s transport infrastructure which he described as being “in extremely bad shape”.

The money would be used to help overhaul the impoverished country’s dilapidated ports, aiming to make it a regional transit hub, Muhith said.

“It’s a very big line of credit. It will boost our economic cooperation with India,” Muhith said. The money will also be used to modernize Bangladesh’s railway-repairing and building new tracks, buying locomotives and train coaches, and enhancing transport links with India.

Indian officials said Mukherjee’s presence underscored the importance that New Delhi attaches to building better relations with Bangladesh.

The line of credit was announced by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi in January. It was Hasina’s first visit to India since her secular Awami League party swept back to power with a massive victory in January 2009.

The latest move comes a month after the two countries signed a 35-year landmark electricity transmission deal under which India will export up to 500 megawatts of power to Bangladesh, starting from late 2012.

In February, Dhaka also signed a $1.7billion agreement with India’s state-run National Thermal Power Corp to build two coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 1,320 megawatts in southern Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, won independence in 1971 with Indian military help but relations between the two countries have gone through periods of strain. —AFP

DHAKA: Bangladeshi laborers work at a recycling workshop in Dhaka. —AP

India’s Mahindra eyes S Korea’s Ssangyong NEW DELHI: India’s leading sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra announced yesterday plans to bid for a majority stake in cash-strapped South Korea’s Ssangyong Motor Co as the firm seeks to go global.

Mahindra’s board of directors approved the bid at a board meeting yesterday after the company carried out due diligence on Ssangyong, South Korea’s fourthlargest automaker by sales, a statement said.

Mahindra, India’s largest sport utility vehicle maker by sales, is among six companies worldwide that were shortlisted in June to carry out due diligence on the South Korean company which is under court-ordered bankruptcy protection.

The last date for filing bids for a more than 50 percent stake in Ssangyong is August 10.

Mahindra, which has been seeking to diversify in the automotive sector and become a global utility vehicle player, is seeking to tie up with Ssangyong to gain access to technology that it can use to boost its own product line.

Company officials have been tightlipped about how much Mahindra might have to pay to make a successful bid, but analysts

have estimated that Ssangyong could be worth around $500 million. The board has “authorized submission of a binding bid to acquire a majority stake in Ssangyong Motor Co Ltd, South Korea,” the company said in a statement. Rival shortlisted suitors for Ssangyong include South Korean private-equity fund Seoul Invest, Daewoo Bus and FrancoJapanese alliance Renault-Nissan.

The other Indian company interested in buying Ssangyong, the P K Ruia group, has said it will take a final call on making a bid in the next few days.

Ssangyong is mainly a manufacturer of less expensive but robust sports utility vehicles (SUVs) such as “Rexton,” “Kyron” and “Actyon” that are sold globally. It also makes sedans.

Ssangyong has been under bankruptcy protection since early 2009 after surging oil prices and the global financial crisis undercut sales of its main SUV product line, leading to a cash crunch. Industry analysts say Mahindra and Mahindra is interested in the South Korean vehiclemaker as the Indian company can gain technological benefits from the range of SUVs that the South Korean firm makes. — AFP

SEOUL: Ssangyong Motor’s logo on a glass door of its branch in Seoul. India’s leading sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra announced yesterday plans to bid for a majority stake in cash-strapped South Korea’s Ssangyong Motor Co as the firm seeks to go global.—AFP

BUSINESS

22

Sunday, August 8, 2010

GLOBAL WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

KSE moderately bullish amid corporate results KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) sustained its bullish trend, however, the change was modest across all market sectors this week in line with the thin trading witnessed in the market. With the continuation of the corporate results for the first half of the year and no controvert with the expectations besides no big news concerning major players in the market, all factors remained the same. Kuwait Stock Exchange ended the week up by 0.21 percent at 194.78 point, as measured by Global’s weighted General Index. On a yearto-date basis the market gains escalated to 4.59 percent at weekend.

Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) price index was also up by 11.20 points (0.17 percent) and closed the week at 6,666.1 points. Total market capitalization reached KD32.20bn.

Market breadth was almost even skewing slightly towards advancers side with 58 stocks advancing against 56 declining out of 147 shares traded last week. Trading activity was much lower compared to the week before.

Volume traded was down by 49.88 percent reaching 1.06bn shares changing hands at a total traded value of KD135.54mn (33.69 percent decrease from the week before). The trading volume was highly seen on the Real Estate Sector which accounted for 36.30 percent (383.97mn shares) of the total market traded volume. The high figure is again attributed to high trading volume on Investors Holding Group Company’s share, accounting for 16.5 percent (174.48mn shares) of the overall weekly traded volume. The scrip stayed on top of the volume list and ended the week up by 4 percent.

On the value side, the Banking Sector saw the most value traded with KD39.84mn exchanged, accounting for 29.39 percent of the total market traded value. Four of the Kuwaiti Banks were seen in the top five ranks of the most value traded stock last week, with Kuwait International Bank being on the lead among its peers with KD11.56mn traded last week. However, Zain remained on top of the same list with KD19.45mn traded on its share, accounting for 14.35 percent of the total weekly traded value. The scrip of the largest listed company in the bourse concluded the week flat at KD1.200.

Market sectors ended the week with mixed notes. Global Real Estate Sector Index was the top gainer, adding 0.62 percent to its value. Two of the real estate companies made it to the top five gainers list. A’ayan Real Estate Company came in third place with an increase of 17.39 percent in its share price, while Manazel Holding Company came fifth with an increase of 13.46 percent in its share price. However, in the same sector, Al-Massaleh Real Estate Company topped the losers list for the week after shedding 31.37 percent of its share value. Global Banking Sector Index was the second biggest gainer this week, closing up by 0.48 percent.

In the third place came Global Services Sector Index, adding 0.27 percent to its value. Automated Systems Company was the biggest gainer in the sector and the second in

said that the contracts with Citi and the two other companies will be signed in coming days.

Kuwait’s parliament approved a plan in 2008 to privatize loss-making Kuwait Airways Corporation. Under the plan, the government will sell 40 percent of the flag carrier to the public and 35 percent to a long-term investor.

the market this week, adding 17.65 percent to its share value. However, Al-Qurain Holding Company topped the list, being the biggest gainer in the market, after adding 20 percent to its share price.

On the other hand, Global Food Sector Index was a major loser, shedding 1.31 percent of its value. The retreat is attributed to the 1.25 percent decline in the biggest food company’s share price, Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana), and the notable decline of 13.16 percent in the share price of Kout Food Group.

Global Investment Sector Index was the second biggest decliner, shedding 0.21 percent followed by a 0.19 percent retreat in Global Industrial Sector Index.

Global’s special indices closed higher. Global Large Cap (Top 10) Index ended the week up by 0.33 percent while Global Small Cap (Low 10) index added 0.57 percent to its value.

Global Islamic Sharia Index was also up by 0.70 percent.

Macroeconomic news Moody’s changes outlook on Kuwait’s sovereign ratings to stable.

Moody’s says outlook change reflects parliamentary approval of long-awaited economic legislation. The rating agency cites Kuwait’s strong fiscal and external performance relative to its rating peers.

buying some of BP’s assets, the country’s oil minister told journalists in Moscow last week, after meeting with Russia’s Energy Minister.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said Kuwait was satisfied with its current BP investments, although Kuwait Petroleum would consider investing further if assets put up for sale were attractive and fit in with the company’s strategy.

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) said it has awarded Petrofac Ltd a KD123.3mn ($430.8mn) contract to inject mixed effluent and seawater into 69 wells in northern Kuwait. The state-owned firm said the project in Sabriyah and Rawdatain oil fields was needed to reach a production target of one million barrels a day by 2015 from Kuwait’ northern oil fields.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) sold more than 70,000 tons of naphtha for first-half September loading at higher prices versus a previous sale as sentiment improves, traders said this week. KPC sold 24,000 tons of light grade and 50,000 tons of fullrange naphtha at a premium of about $6.00-$7.00 a ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. “The refiner has likely sold more than just these two cargoes,”

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has offered a total of 74,000 tons of naphtha for first-half September loading, at a time when spot offers for next month’s cargoes from the Middle East have slowed, traders said this week. KPC has offered 50,000 tons of full-range naphtha, and another 24,000 tons of light grade in a tender that closes on August 3, with bids to stay valid until August 4. UAE’s ADNOC, which sold more than 200,000 tons of spot naphtha for August loading, was in talks with buyers in the last two weeks for supplies from October 2010September 2011 at premiums of $11.50-$12.50 a ton to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. “That could have caused them to hold back spot offers,” said a trader, referring to ADNOC’s supplies.

Middle Eastern suppliers, including KPC, have pushed out large amounts of spot volumes for July-August loading after failing to sell their cargoes through term contracts because of high prices. KPC had earlier sold more than 74,000 tons of naphtha for August loading, with some to Glencore and Vitol at a discount.

State-run Kuwait Petroleum International may be interested in

said a trader who estimated that more than 100,000 tons for first-half September could have been sold. The current premiums are higher compared to its previous sale of more than 74,000 tons slated for August 10-20 loading at prices ranging from a discount of $2.00 a ton FOB to a premium of nearly $4.00 a ton FOB. Sentiment has been volatile, but overall it is stronger than two weeks ago as some Middle Eastern spot supplies are being shipped to the West, helping ease a glut in Asia.

Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan plunged 47.1 percent in June from a year earlier to 4.86mn barrels, or 162,000 barrels per day (bpd), for the sixth consecutive monthly drop, the government said. It was the lowest volume since June 2008, when it stood at 161,000 bpd.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced this week that Augusts’ prices for the liquefied petroleum gas (Propane and Butane).

KPC said that Propane will be sold for $575 per metric ton, 40 percent less than July’s price of $615 per metric ton. Meanwhile, Butane will be sold for $595 per metric ton, 30 percent less than July’s price of $625. The prices were affected by

the prices of oil in the international market and several reasons, namely supply and demand and geopolitical and economic factors including economic growth and the rate of the US dollar.

Revamp of oil transfer infrastructure needed as Kuwait seeks to raise oil production, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has awarded another set of pipeline deals worth almost $225mn to two local firms after the Central Tenders Committee approved the deals on July 28. Mechanical Engineering and Contracting Company (MECC), a subsidiary of the local Ali Al-Ghanim and Sons was awarded the KD38.84mn ($132mn) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) deal to build high pressure crude oil pipelines in the north of the country, after submitting the lowest price in a June 1st bid.

The second deal, covers pipelines in southeast Kuwait was awarded to the local Combined Group Contracting Company par of KOC’s plans to maintain production levels in the southeast region. The company submitted a price of KD26.86mn at the end of May. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

Other local news Kuwait Energy Company, an independent oil and gas exploration firm announced that it has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Beach energy Limited for the partial divestment of two Kuwait Energy assets in Egypt, Abu Sennan and Mesaha concessions. Kuwait Energy will remain the majority holder and operator of Abu Sennan concession, the company said. The transaction will reduce Kuwait energy’s equity stake in the Abu Sennan concession, where the company is operator, from 72 percent to 50 percent, and from 30 percent to 15 percent in the non-operated Mesaha concession.

Kuwait appointed Citigroup Inc, Ernst & Young and aviation services firm Seabury to handle the privatization of the state’s national carrier, Kuwait Airways. A state committee

Oil related news Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) said last week that it has awarded Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company and Petrofac Ltd contracts worth KD520mn ($$1.81bn) to design and build pipelines. The state-owned firm said Hyundai will build low sulfur fuel oil, fuel gas and gas oil pipelines from Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery to Subbiya and Doha power stations. The project, worth KD404mn, will be completed by April 2013. On the other hand, Petrofac will build fuel gas and gas oil pipelines plus a pumping station from the same refinery to AlZour and Shuaiba power stations for KD116mn. It is slated for completion on July 2012.

Kuwait Stock Exchange Zain said it received $295.4mn from India’s Bharti Airtel as part of the sale of its African assets. In June, Zain and Bharti closed a $9bn deal for the Kuwaiti firm’s African assets excluding Sudan and Morocco. Zain had received $7.87bn after the closing, and said it would receive a further $400mn within 12 months after completing other formal requirements.

“The firm had received $295.4 million after deducting expenses, from Bharti, and (this amount) will be booked in the third quarter results of this year,” Zain said in statement.

The amount received is part of the $400mn, a Zain spokesman said. The remainder $100mn is expected to be received within the next ten months, the statement said. Zain will also receive another $700mn after one year of the deal closing, as agreed in March.

International Investment Group (IIG), the investment house in the midst of a restructuring process, said its board is proposing not to pay out any dividend for 2009. IIG is one of the Kuwaiti investment houses badly hit during the financial crisis and last month was unable to make a $152.5 million Islamic bond payment. It has appointed KPMG to advise it on restructuring its business after it posted a 2009 net loss of KD36.5mn ($127.5mn) due to a slump in income from investments and fees and foreign exchange losses. IIG said that it would ask shareholders during a meeting on September 2 to suspend its 2009 dividend. It will seek approval to authorize a share-buyback program of 10 percent of its paid-up capital.

Highlights of the week The Credit and Saving Bank has introduced amendments to the bylaws regarding real estate loans, which was recently issued upon a decision by the board in order to offer interest free real estate loans on the condition that the loan should not be more than KD300,000. The financial portfolio bank will also offer maximum KD10,000 loans for citizens who have no right to receive more real estate loans. The monthly installment will be KD90, with the condition that the house should not be rented and needs expansion or renovation and the citizen who takes the loan is able to pay it back to the bank. , Securities House Board Chariman Ayman Boodai said the company had adopted precautionary policies in 2009, involving KD36mn in provisions and KD8mn losses. Provisions and losses of subsidiary companies made up over 76 percent of the company’s total losses for 2009, he said. To offset the losses, the company had to cut its spending by 20 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, he added.

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 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 US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

.2820000 .4520000 .3740000 .2730000 .2770000 .2580000 .0045000 .0020000 .0777470 .7574670 .4020000 .0750000 .7425640 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2859500 .4539840 .3767280 .2755600 .2794520 .0505620 .0402660 .2606160 .0368170 .2114800 .0033090 .0062160 .0025470 .0033440 .0041440 .0778920 .7588780 .4044140 .0762930 .7431050 .0063540 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2880500 .4571910 .2775120 .0767790

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.341 6.223

.2920000 .4610000 .3830000 .2810000 .2850000 .2650000 .0075000 .0035000 .0785280 .7650800 .4180000 .0790000 .7500270 .0072000 .0580000 .2880500 .4571910 .3793890 .2775120 .2814310 .0509200 .0405510 .2624570 .0370780 .2129780 .0033330 .0062600 .0025650 .0033680 .0041730 .0783890 .7637180 .4072790 .0767790 .7478440 .0063990

Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.373 2.551 3.908 212.980 37.064 4.148 6.351 8.943 0.296 0.310 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 76.759 Qatari Riyal 79.090 Omani Riyal 747.840 Bahraini Dinar 764.530 UAE Dirham 78.386 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 53.700 Egyptian Pound 50.490 Yemen Riyal 1.229 Tunisian Dinar 199.670 Jordanian Dinar 406.480 Lebanese Lira 193.100 Syrian Lier 6.207 Morocco Dirham 34.335 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 287.730 Euro 377.930 Sterling Pound 454.900 Canadian dollar 282.090 Turkish lire 191.560 Swiss Franc 277.730 Australian dollar 257.970 US Dollar Buying 286.445 GOLD 20 Gram 232.000 10 Gram 120.000 5 Gram 62.000

Euro Cash 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 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL CASH 267.800 763.8800 4.220 283.500 584.100 14.100 51.700 167.800 53.220

384.500 37.550 6.225

406.020 0.193 93.020 3.900 212.700 745.970 3.360 6.400 79.010 76.690 213.710 42.100 2.553 460.500

9.150 78.280 287.200

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound

386.000 37.670 6.480 0.035 0.272 0.254 3.450 408.040 0.194 93.020 46.300 4.490 214.200 1.957 49.200 746.150 3.460 6.550 79.440 76.690 213.710 42.100 2.722 462.500 41.400 280.500 279.000 6.300 9.300 198.283 78.380 287.600 1.280 GOLD 1,296.740 TRAVELLER?S CHEQUE 460.500 287.200

SELL DRAFT 266.300 763.880 4.140 282.000

213.700 50.695

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

287.300 280.799 450.263 377.664 274.314 706.271 762.697 78.432 79.127 76.809 406.617 50.574 6.160 3.372

Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

2.552 4.167 6.268 3.310 8.903 6.286 3.846

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

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

288.800 3.385 6.120 2.570 4.170 6.250 78.730 77.220 767.700 50.725 445.600 0.00003280 3.890 1.550 410.200 5.750 377.800 283.300

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer rate 286.850 384.300 460.150 282.500 3.400 6.240 50.655 2.553 4.135 6.390 3.355 763.620 78.190 76.610

BUSINESS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

23

5-year plan could solve structural imbalances AL-SHALL ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: We commented positively on approving the 5-Year Development Plan and we still hold the same opinion. The plan, if implemented reasonably enough, will achieve two positive features. First, it defines a road and a measurement tool for the government's performance.

Second, its basis is to remedy the structural economic imbalances.

We say that despite our knowledge of the likely incompetence of a weak public sector to comply with its implementation, and despite our knowledge that the database and the various indexes are underdeveloped, both in quality and quantity, which are the feed stock of real measurement, and despite our knowledge of the possibility of its abduction by corruptors, despite all the reservations we do not recommend the call to suspend the plan out of fear of cautions, but to adopt the call for their remedy when it starts. It seems we began losing the main landmarks of the justifications for adopting the plan. We did not see real understanding of its requirements.

In addition to one-year lag behind its implementation where it is now a 4-year plan and not 5, we do not see real effort to improve the quality and quantity of the necessary data and indexes such as the GDP statements, balance of payments, the final account, the general budget, inflation, etc. Quite lately, there has been erroneous concentration that the plan is moving in its right way measured by the level of awarding of the so-called major

OMEGA Constellation Quartz 27mm 'Logo' with random disposition One of the most provocative members of OMEGA's redesigned Constellation family is the Constellation Quartz 27 mm watch whose white mother-of-pearl dial is decorated with a random distribution of the brand's famous logo.

The watch is available in a choice of five brushed case metal combinations: 18 Ct red or yellow gold, in bicolour blends of 18 Ct red or yellow gold with stainless steel or in stainless steel. The bracelets, which feature butterfly clasps, are fashioned from corresponding metals and feature brushed links and polished bars.

The iconic Constellation claws are polished.

The polished bezel is set with 32 full-cut diamonds and the radical dial is enhanced with twelve diamond hour markers. The combination

of the diamonds and the pattern of randomly distributed OMEGA logos on the dial makes the watch at once elegant and playful.

The screw-fixed caseback is vertically brushed and each one is stamped with the famous Observatory medallion.

The Constellation Quartz 27 mm wristwatch is powered by the OMEGA quartz calibre 1376 which has a battery life of 32 months. A 24 mm version of the watch is also available with the same features and 28 diamonds on the bezel.

The OMEGA Constellation Quartz 27 mm perfectly combines the elegance of diamonds with a dial whose randomly distributed OMEGA logos is dedicated in equal parts to fashion and fun.

projects at a cost of about KD 2 billion so far, excluding the oil sector's projects.

To be clearer, there is a list of objectives -check list- without which no project within the plan may pass unless it gets a pass mark from most of them, and the execution level measured by their value comes last.

First on the list is the structural imbalance in the economy formation structure. The public sector controls two-thirds of the economy, and the rest lives on it. Any project, when it starts and when it is completed, the private sector's contribution should be increased in to the overall production.

The second on the list is the role of the project/projects in reducing the reliance of funding the general budget on the government and on oil -the financial structural imbalance- from what the project would generate from direct or indirect -income tax or profits later on revenues to support the general state's finance.

The third on the list is the labor market where the government employs 77% of the Kuwaiti labor force, half of whom are veiled unemployment and supports others either by supporting the national work force in the private sector or compensating unemployment. Unless it knows in advance the job opportunities for nationals these projects would create, then these projects are meaningless.

The fourth on the list is the demographic imbalance; Kuwaitis form less

than one-third of the population and their numbers are wrong. Mega projects might lead to more imbalances in the demographic structure, which is an imbalance in the national security.

The easiest goal is success in money spending. The financial record is not a record in Kuwait; the early celebration for mere signing of contracts might end up later by a deeper crisis, or by aggravating the 4 earlier imbalances thus collapsing the opportunity of realizing sustained development. It might destroy the last naturally protected locations; it might deform the opportunities of realizing the state's strategic goal in transforming to a financial and trading center; therefore, we request the state officials to subject the plan's projects to the development testing list before their approval.

Financing the Projects A justified talk goes around about the financing restriction on some development plan's projects. Some of them are very huge and longer in term than the time frame which the private financial sector's units can deal with at relatively high risks. Discussing bypassing financing restriction is no innovation.

We do not support the idea of establishing governmental financing entities, nor with expanding the existing ones to play this role. Our first reason of rejection is that creating public rival entities in a country whose plan is to reduce the government's contribution in its econom-

ic activity - the highest in the world- and its strategic goal is to transform to a competitive financial hub is completely at odds with establishing public financing entities.

That does not exclude a likely financing stress where an effective, professional and transparent solution should be created. We suggest crystallizing the idea of employing all private financing institutions or the existing ones to undertake this task. For instance, the volume of each government portfolio managed by each institution should be linked with the volume of its other lending activity in the domestic economy so that these institutions will not hesitate to practice their ordinary and necessary financing activity.

Continuing the government portfolio should be linked with indexes list for their success in managing the financing portfolio of the development projects like the volume, quick completion of financing transaction, quick and effective financing and percentage of Kuwaiti labor force in it.

It however conforms to the development plan's directives: its costs are limited; it has the stimulus for driving the private sector's reluctance in local lending; it calls for the rivalry of the financial sector and creates job opportunities for nationals outside the public sector; and it supports education to devise new specializations that consist with the state's strategic goal of transforming to a financial center.

Chevrolet tops J D Power China Customer Satisfaction Study Chevrolet finished No 1 among 42 vehicle brands in the 2010 China Customer Service Index study by J D Power Asia Pacific. Chevrolet, a brand of Shanghai GM, scored 875 on a 1,000-point scale.

The JD Power study measures customer satisfaction in maintenance or repair work at the authorized dealership between 12 and 24 months of vehicle ownership. The survey addresses five key factors: service quality, vehicle pickup, service initiation, service advisor and service facility.

"We are very pleased with the satisfaction of customers in one of our industry's fastestgrowing brands," said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. "Ensuring an enjoyable shopping and ownership experience is a priority for GM and all of our dealerships across China." On July 28, Shanghai GM sold its 1 millionth Chevrolet vehicle since introducing the brand in 2005.

Chevrolet Cruze launched recently in more than 60 countries including the Middle East region.

Emirates Foundation brings Sesame Street to the UAE

Etihad poised to launch 'all economy' service in October KUWAIT: Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the UAE, will introduce its first 'all economy' class aircraft into its fleet in October 2010. The two Airbus A320s will be configured to carry 162 economy class passengers, an increase of 42 from the current economy capacity.

The all economy cabin aircraft will operate to short haul Etihad destinations, which have high demand for economy traffic and low demand for premium traffic. Initially these will be Alexandria, Calicut, Colombo, Damascus, Doha and

Thiruvananthapuram.

Plans are in place to expand the all economy fleet to 10 A320 aircraft which will enable the airline to launch new short haul destinations which have low demand for premium travel and also to existing Etihad destinations. James Hogan, Etihad Airways' Chief Executive Officer, said: "Etihad has grown at a remarkable pace during the past six and a half years. We have built a strong brand and a robust business, and it is the right time to challenge the way we serve our various markets and segments.

"Our all economy aircraft will allow us to offer a more

competitive product in key point-to-point markets in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Subcontinent, while maintaining the high standards of service we have become known for."

Customers travelling on the new 'all economy' aircraft will receive the same world class service and product that is featured on our current narrow body fleet, such as seat back inflight entertainment screens and hot and cold meals and beverages. Each seat has a 32 inch pitch. Etihad currently has 15 A320 aircraft within its fleet and 35 aircraft are on order from Airbus.

ABU DHABI: The Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy, one of the UAE's leading philanthropic institutions, is bringing the legendary Sesame Street children's show concept to the UAE. Sesame Workshop, USA together with Emirates Foundation, will produce 'Reach for the Sky', an event Mubadala Aerospace is sponsoring and supported by Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi.

Emirates Foundation's Science Technology and Environment Program worked with Sesame Workshop to tailor the event for the children of the UAE. In addition to learning about planets, galaxies, the earth and stars children will explore the phases of the moon and their relationship with Arabian months, including the month of Ramadan, and Islamic achievements in the fields of science and astronomy - all designed to stimulate young people's interest in science and foster a love for learning and discovery. Children will attend live shows performed by beloved Sesame characters; Elmo, Bert, Ernie and Khokha. Alongside the performances comes an exhibition that includes a Mini Cinema where classic episodes of Sesame Street are screened, a treat for children and parents alike. The event will also feature a Story Time corner, where the audience is taken on a magical journey into space through literature, and the Creation Corner, where imaginative minds can draw constellations, make paper planes and even build rockets. Mubadala Aerospace, the official sponsor, contributed to the event with the 'Museum of Flight', which is exhibiting exclusively at this event. The Flying Gizmo Show will use flying toys and models to help kids discover the sci-

ence and history of flight and wing design. The Apollo Moon School will delve into the history and operations of rocketry and robotics with a live, handson approach to capture children's imaginations. "Reach for the Sky" is the latest annual version of the Foundation's own 'Science in the Mall', offering colourful, interactive learning steps for children that engage them with the wonders of science and astronomy today.

Dr Abdullah Ismail Abdullah, Senior Advisor to the Emirates Foundation's Science, Technology and Environment Program which has initiated the project said: "Reach for the Sky stands as part of our larger project Science in the Mall, a scheme we organize every summer. In the last two years the project was implemented in Al-Ain, Ras Al-Khaimah and Abu Dhabi. Based on the feedback and success of this year's edition, we will study the possibility of doing the same event in other emirates."

Dr Ismail added that holding the event at a popular mall allows the Foundation to reach a larger number of youth. Using the best edutainment tools available helps stimulate their inquisitiveness and build a desire to deepen their knowledge of fields like science, engineering and astronomy. "We aim to reach 1,000 children per day in the age range of 4 to 14 years old."

Homaid Al Shemmari, Mubadala Aerospace Executive Director said: "I want the children of the UAE to stimulate their minds with the wondrous world of science and math, get a taste for the many exciting opportunities and fun possibilities that lay within those fields and learn how they can be explored within careers in the aerospace indus-

try'. "We are honored to work with the Emirates Foundation and Mubadala Aerospace to provide young children with a fun learning experience that introduces the wonders of astronomy, science and space travel," said Robert Knezevic, Sesame Workshop's Regional Director of International Partnerships.

"Many of today's parents grew up with Iftah Ya Simsim and we commend the Emirates Foundation for their leadership in re-introducing the project to

today's children. Our joint objective is to prepare today's young people with the skills necessary for the 21st century."

Reach for the Sky activities will run nightly at the Marina Mall Abu Dhabi, starting from August 12, 2010 to coincide with the first day of Ramadan, continuing throughout the Holy month. On weekdays shows will commence at 9:30pm and finish at midnight. On weekends the shows run from 9:30pm to 1 am.

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BUSINESS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

Kuwait market remains in state of caution, uncertainty KUWAIT: For the fifth successive week, Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended the week in the green zone. The market’s main indices recorded gains despite the drop in KSE indicators. The market price index ended last week with an increase of 0.17%, while the weighted index rose by 0.25%.

On the contrary, last week’s average daily turnover declined by 33.69%, compared to previous week, to reach KD27.12 million, whereas trading volume average was 211.53 million shares, recording a decrease of 49.88%.

The daily performance of KSE was characterized by limited changes in market indices, both of them moved in narrow range around previous day’s closing. The purchase orders were marked with cautiousness and selectivity, especially for the leading shares.

Many reasons led the market to a state of caution and uncertainty since the number of companies that disclosed its results for the first half of 2010 are still limited compared to the total number of listed companies. However, the corporate results wasn’t the only reason for the fluctuating market performance during last week as the absence of government’s positive statements, the growth fuel for the market during previous weeks, was an important factor in the hesitant performance of the market.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,666.1 points,

up by 0.17% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.25% weekly gain after closing at 420.29 points.

Sectors’ indices Four of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, three recorded declines, whereas the Insurance sector’s index closed with no change from the week before. Last week’s highest gainer was the Non-Kuwaiti companies sector, achieving 0.73% growth rate as its index closed at 6,896.1 points. Whereas, in the second

place, the services sector’s index closed at 14,651.4 points recording 0.60% increase. The Industry sector came in third as its index achieved 0.36% growth, ending the week at 5,473.8 points. On the other hand, the Investment sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.67% to end the week’s activity at 4,776.9 points.

The Food sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.57%, closing at 4,796.6 points, followed by the Real Estate companies sector, as its index closed at 2,348.8 points.

Sectors’ activity The Real Estate sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 383.97 million shares changing hands, representing 36.30% of the total market trading volume.

The Investment sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 20.69% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 218.81 million shares. On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD39.84 mil-

lion or 29.39% of last week’s total market trading value. The Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD39.08 million represented 28.83% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.24% during last week to reach KD31.12 billion, as four of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization. Three recorded declines, whereas the Insurance

sector’s market capitalization remained the same from the week before. The Real Estate sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD1.74 billion, increasing by 0.65%. The Banks sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 0.50% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD11.56 billion. The third place was for the Industry sector, which total market capitalization reached KD2.74 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 0.31%. The Services

sector was the least growing with 0.28% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD8.39 billion.

On the other hand, the Food sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 1.32% to reach, by the end of the week, KD775.72 million. The Investment sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.49%, reaching KD2.67 billion. — Prepared by the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

BUSINESS

Sunday, August 8, 2010

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Accent on improving GCC business environments KUWAIT: The GCC economies have managed to escape the fallout of the global economic and financial crisis at a relatively low cost, thanks in part to their strong financial positions that enabled the adoption of stimulus packages to support economic growth.

Undoubtedly, the recent crisis has demonstrated the importance of fiscal policies and direct government intervention in countering cyclical downturns in the short run. But other than providing temporary support, fiscal policies should not be viewed as a substitute for enhancing the competitiveness and fundamentals of domestic economies. As such, supporting the resilience of the regional economies in the face of anticipated future shocks should be prioritized.

Unfortunately, and despite the availability of ample resources, the progress of Gulf economies in achieving their visions and strategic objectives is moving very slowly, especially those pertaining to the reduction of the region’s heavy dependence on the hydrocarbon sector through economic diversification and boosting the role of the private sector. Indeed, experience shows that the achievement of these targets requires the creation of an attractive business environment, which has yet to materialize throughout the region. In this note, we will try to shed some light on the strength and weaknesses of the GCC business environments, and the major needed improvements and reforms.

Tw o economic cha llenges Besides the economic instability emanating from oil price volatility and the limited ability to influence the future path of oil prices, Gulf economies face two major challenges over the coming decade: creating adequate jobs for Gulf nationals given mushrooming growth in the number of new entrants into the labor force and the possibility of government budgets slipping into sizeable deficit.

NBK GCC BRIEF

On the first challenge, estimates show that more than half of GCC nationals employed in 2008 worked in the public sector. The percentage of nationals working in the public sector ranged between 30% in Bahrain and 50% in Saudi Arabia, and 82% in Kuwait, 88% in Qatar and an estimated 85% in the UAE. Clearly, the ability of the public sector to absorb new entrants into the labor force will be increasingly limited in the future.

Large deficits in the future are another challenge. The most recent oil boom that started in early 2003 and lasted for 5 consecutive years lured Gulf governments to expand public spending at unprecedented pace. Annual growth in spending averaged 16% over the last 5 years and is expected to expand by a further 12% in 2010. This is likely to limit governments’ capacity and willingness to respond to economic difficulties in the future and increases the possibility of budgets falling into deficit if oil prices decline.

These two challenges can be

addressed by paving the way for the private sector to play a larger role in the economy; to create the needed jobs and to become a major provider of public services. To do this, governments must introduce policies that make it easier for the private sector to do business and remove unnecessary impediments to private investors. While some progress has been made on this front, it remains limited and piecemeal.

Business environments The World Bank’s annual Doing Business report - first published in 2003 - is an authoritative source on the quality of the business environment globally. The report highlights aspects of the business environment where reforms are most needed. It also provides a benchmark for the speed of implementing reforms and generally provides investors with guidance on where to invest.

Doing Business 2010 ranks GCC members in the upper one-third of all countries in terms of the business environment. Saudi Arabia is the

leader in terms of the attractiveness of its business environment followed

by Bahrain, while Kuwait and Oman are the least desirable places to do business. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have both managed to improve their ranking notably over the last 5 years, rising by 36 and 25 places, respectively, in spite of the fact that the number of countries surveyed has risen by 28.

On the other hand, the rankings of both Kuwait and Oman deteriorated by 14 places during the same period, indicating that the two countries lost ground in favor of other countries where the pace of reforms was faster.

Within the MENA region, Gulf countries look in better shape ranking at the top of the 19 surveyed countries.

While Tunisia, at 69, ranks only slightly below Oman most other MENA countries fall well below the GCC members, including Jordan at 100, Egypt at 106, Lebanon at 108, Morocco at 128, and Algeria at 136.

Strength and w eaknesses The Doing Business index for each country is constructed by using

the simple average of ten indicators.

These indicators measure the ease of doing business pertaining to the following aspects: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.

The ten indicators reveal a number of interesting facts for GCC countries. First, not one Gulf country has improved its ranking since 2006 in every indicator of the business environment. This also applies to Qatar and Bahrain, whose coverage started in 2009. Second, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the two GCC countries where reform endeavors are most apparent. Saudi Arabia has improved its ranking in six indicators since 2006, especially in the areas of starting a business and trading across borders, while the UAE advanced its ranking in seven indicators, mainly in starting a business and dealing with permits. Third, all GCC members

are among the top 15 countries with lowest tax burden and most ease of paying or complying with tax laws.

Fourth, some Gulf countries are among the top five countries in a number of indicators. For example, Saudi Arabia is the world leader in terms of simplifying and streamlining property registration, Qatar ranks second in paying taxes, and the UAE ranks fifth in trading across borders (exporting and importing by ocean transport).

Finally, all Gulf countries suffer major weaknesses in enforcing contracts, which captures the time, cost and complexity of procedures in resolving commercial lawsuits, with ranks ranging from 95 in Qatar to 140 in Saudi Arabia.

The NBK report concluded: GCC countries’ rankings in the Doing Business report highlight the need to deal with shortcomings in the business environment. While there has been some progress, it has been limited. Fortunately, most required reforms are not hard to implement

and can be easily adopted without creating political tension. Saudi Arabia, which has seen the most substantial reforms in recent years, can be viewed as a model for others to follow, though Saudi Arabia’s own reform agenda is far from complete.

Oman and Kuwait are the two weakest overall business environments and also the countries with the worst records on reforms. Both will need to act decisively in order to mitigate the growing gap with the rest of Gulf countries.

For example, starting a business in Kuwait requires 13 procedures and 35 days to complete, compared to four procedures and five days in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, eight documents and ten documents are needed in Kuwait to export and import, respectively, compared with five documents in both cases in Saudi Arabia.

The current domestic and global economic conditions should provide an encouraging atmosphere for Gulf countries to expedite reforms in their business environments.

Plan to step up overseas output amid global demand

Toyota may start Prius production in Thailand TOKYO: Toyota Motor will start producing the Prius hybrid in Thailand this year, stepping up overseas output of the fuelsipping vehicles amid swelling global demand, reports said yesterday.

Toyota, the front-runner in hybrid cars that use two power sources-a petrol engine and

another source such as an electric motor-launched the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, in 1997. It will make the latest model of the Prius in Thailand, the second hybrid car following the hybrid version of the Camry sedan, the Nikkei daily and Jiji Press said without citing sources.

Local subsidiary Toyota Motor Thailand Co. will oversee the Prius production, with the technology-sensitive hybrid system including batteries and engines to be supplied from Japan, the reports said.

The world’s biggest automaker wants eventually to export the hybrid cars from

Thailand to quickly expanding Asian markets, the reports said.

Sales of hybrids have been brisk in recent years because of high petrol prices and increasing public awareness of global warming. Last year, Toyota recalled 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles to repair a flaw in the braking system, as part of

around 10 million recalls worldwide that have tarnished its previously stellar reputation for quality.

However, the Prius has retained the popularity, being the most-selling cars in Japan for the past year, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. — AFP

Etihad appoints Vice President UAE sales ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has appointed Hareb Al-Muhairi to the new position of Vice President of UAE Sales. Hareb, a UAE national, will be responsible for the development and implementation of the airline’s sales strategy in the UAE. James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “The establishment of this senior position reflects the importance of our home market to our future growth and success.

“We have recently released our results for the first half of 2010 - our best ever first half performance - and with this return to strong passenger growth, we are intensifying our focus on sales performance, building stronger partnerships in the trade and corporate segments. “Hareb has made a significant contribution to Etihad since joining us in 2004. His knowledge of the business and his deep understanding of the UAE market, which is

our most important market, will be invaluable.”

Al-Muhairi joined Etihad after studying political science and management at the UAE University in Al Ain. He has held various positions in marketing and product development, as well being posted to London as business development manager. In his most recent role, as Vice President of Corporate Communications, AlMuhairi was responsible for implementing the airline’s media strategy.

Al-Muhairi’s appointment is part of a wider sales reorganization within the airline, implemented to ensure Etihad is optimally positioned to support its growth plans.

Under the new structure, Raymond Korban, who was Regional General Manager for Etihad for the UAE and Oman, will become Regional General Manager for Levant and Africa, which will be an increasing area of focus for the airline.

Hareb Al-Muhairi

LG recognized as leader in global design F8012N, LG’s leading digital photo frame, scoops a prestigious reddot design award

Breguet, the most prestigious actor on watch-making stage ollowing on from the opening of the Breguet boutique in the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, on May 26th of this year, Nicolas G Hayek, President and CEO of Montres Breguet SA, is delighted to announce the opening on June 12, 2010 of a new boutique in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

This ultra-modern new complex houses a spacious 115 square-metre Breguet showroom featuring a number of the brand’s signature attributes. The engraved glass echoes the famous engine-turned guilloche pattern on the dials, and its royal blue color pays tribute to the

F

pocketwatch made for the Empress Josephine.

The slender gilt casing evokes the fluting on Breguet watch cases, while the elliptical motifs on the floor and ceiling reflect the oval shape of the Reine de Naples watch, the first ever wristwatch, ordered by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, from A L Breguet in 1810. After Paris, Cannes, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Vienna, Dubai, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, and Yekaterinburg, Montres Breguet is treating its Singaporean public to a brand-new dedicated showcase.

KUWAIT: LG Electronics Business Solutions (LG), a perfect solutions partner for businesses and individuals, has announced that its leading digital photo frame, the F8012N, is to be honored at the prestigious reddot awards 2010. Winning an honorable mention, the F8012N will now have the right to use the “reddot” symbol one of the most coveted in the world of design - on websites, its packaging and advertising materials.

“As the worldwide technology leader in display products, LG has been making continuous efforts to combine stylish design with products developed with smart technology,” said

Mr. H.S Paik, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE. “Winning this world-renowned award will further demonstrate

LG’s design leadership in the IT industry.” Designed to blend seamlessly with home or office decoration, LG’s award-winning

F8012N completes its slim look with a printed circuit board (PCB) innovatively placed in the stand. With its sleek and

modern deep-black frame, the F8012N excels equally when playing slideshows, music and video footage. This versatility means that LG’s premier digital photo frame is ideal not just for home use, it is also the perfect tool for retailers looking to market products with eye-catching in-store demonstrations.

“With this world-recognized photo frame, LG will continue to provide a more personal viewing experience in homes and workplaces everywhere,” added Mr. Paik.

“This will bring color and personalization to any environment and help enrich the lives of our consumers both at work and play.”

BUSINESS

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Caution prevails, but volatility seen lower NEW YORK: US stock investors are turning more to options for protection after the latest data showing the frailty of the economic recovery, but they may find some comfort in Wall Street’s “fear gauge.”

After a dismal July payrolls report, options investors are busy buying protective puts on a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index, but the CBOE Volatility Index suggests there is no need to be too concerned.

Protective put options in the SPDR S&P 500 fund, also known as the SPYders, were a favorite among traders after a larger-than-expected drop in July US non-farm payrolls fueled worries that the economic recovery was faltering. Put options are generally purchased as a protection against a market decline.

According to Trade Alert, an option analytics firm, the top five of the 10 most active contracts on Friday were put options on the SPYders.

The ETF fell 0.4 percent to $112.41.

But the VIX fell 1.6 percent to end at 21.74 as the market bounced much of the way back despite the jobs data and closed well off the lows of the day. “We are at the tail end of the volatility aftershock that peaked on May 20 at just over a 45 reading in the VIX,” said MKM derivatives strategist Jim Strugger.

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK

“At this point in the cycle, the market psychology should be resilient.”

Strugger expects volatility to decline in coming weeks, with the spot VIX sliding through 20 in late August and September to reach the 15 to 18 range.

The VIX, a yardstick of investor anxiety, is a 30-day risk forecast of stock market volatility. The index typically has an inverse relationship with the S&P benchmark as it tracks option prices that investors are willing to pay as a protection on the underlying stocks.

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which may provide a fillip to an otherwise dull summer market. Investors are leaning toward the view the Fed will resort once more to some mild quantitative easing, which may be good or bad for the market.

“Bernanke himself has suggested extending the Bush tax cuts because, as he put it, the economy is still in need of stimulus. So it’s not completely out of reach that the Fed next week could actually implement the purchase of more mortgages or other assets. In other words, Quantitative Easing, Part 2,” said Frank Gretz, market analyst at Wellington Shields & Co in New York.

“This brings up a couple of interesting possibilities... Given that the Fed’s

outlook is still for a moderate recovery, the market might not like that even the Fed has turned negative — the seemingly good news of more easing could instead prove bad news.”

The Fed’s policy-making committee is due to meet on Tuesday.

TECHNICALS The S&P 500 found enough bids after its intraday selloff to stage a late rally and closed above its 200-day moving average of 1,115 on Friday, as it had done all week. The benchmark’s moving average convergence-divergence is still showing a strong buy signal and the benchmark’s momentum is also positive.

But according to Vinny Catalano, global investment strategist with Blue Marble Research in New York, there are no clear signals of an upward or downward move and “right now we just got a short-term sideways trading range.”

Wall Street ended lower on Friday after the disappointing jobs report, but stocks erased most of their losses late.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.8 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.5 percent.

In corporate earnings, major retailers including Macy’s Inc, JC Penney Co Inc and Nordstrom Inc are due to report next week. — Reuters

President scrambling to highlight economic management

Latest jobs data blow to Obama as elections loom W ASHINGTON: The la test grim da ta on unemployment ha s dea lt a new blow to President Ba ra ck Oba ma a s he struggles to ma inta in his pa rty’s ma jority in Congress in November elections. Oba ma , w ho ha s been hurt by the Gulf of Mexico oil disa ster, ha s been scra mbling to highlight his economic ma na gement in helping lift the US economy out

of its w orst slump in deca des. But the la test da ta relea sed on Frida y show ed the recovery is sputtering: A La bor Depa rtment report show ed 131,000 jobs w ere lost in J uly a nd the unemployment ra te rema ined stuck a t 9.5 percent, w hich is better tha n the w orst levels this yea r but still pa infully high.

Carpenters Roy Cole (left), and Mo Nichols work on a house in Tuftonboro. — AP

US consumers cut back on credit cards again in June Borrowing drops at annual rate of $1.3bn WASHINGTON: Consumer borrowing fell in June for a fifth straight month as households keep cutting back on credit card use.

Borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $1.3 billion in June, the Federal Reserve reported on Friday. That marked the 16th drop in overall credit in the past 17 months. Americans backed away from swiping their credit cards for the 21st straight month. That offset a rise in the number of auto loans.

Households are borrowing less and saving more, and that has dragged on the overall economy by lowering consumer spending.

The $1.3 billion June drop in borrowing was much smaller than the $5 billion decline that economists had expected.

The government also revised the May decline to show a smaller drop of $5.3 billion rather than the initial $9.2 billion decrease.

While a smaller decline could signal the long slide on consumer credit is leveling off, economists cautioned against getting too optimistic given continued lackluster job growth and tight credit standards. “As long as income and

employment do not show marked improvements, consumers will avoid taking on new debt,” said Gregory Daco, senior economist at IHS Global Insight.

“Consumers remain bound by a weak labor market ... high debt levels and a fragile housing market.” In a separate report Friday, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent and private employers added only a net 71,000 jobs in July.

That is far below the 200,000 or more jobs that are needed each month to make a significant dent in the jobless rate.

Overall credit dropped 0.7 percent in June. It was the smallest decline since credit increased 1.8 percent in January, the only rise since the beginning of 2009.

The decrease left consumer credit at an annual rate of $2.42 trillion.

The category that includes auto loans rose 2.4 percent in June following a 1.4 percent increase in May. Analysts are predicting another increase in July after auto sales posted solid gains.

Joshua Shapiro, chief US economist at MFR Inc, said consumer credit has fallen by $163 billion since hitting a peak in July

2008 as households have struggled to repair their balance sheets in the midst of a deep recession. But he said that household net worth is down by more than $11 trillion since hitting a peak in the spring of 2007, indicating that many households probably still feel under pressure to get their borrowing under better control.

“While off to a good start, household sector deleveraging still has considerably further to go,” he said in a note to clients.

The Fed’s credit report covers credit card debt, auto loans and other debt not secured by real estate. It does not cover home mortgages or home equity lines of credit.

Earlier this week, the Commerce Department reported that the personal savings rate climbed to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June. It was the highest reading in nearly a year and three times the 2.1 percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began. For years, economists worried that the savings rate had fallen too low.

But now the concern is that consumers aren’t spending enough to help strengthen the recovery. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity. — AP

The private sector created a modest 71,000 jobs for the month, which was not enough to offset the massive government layoff of 143,000 census-takers.

Overall economic growth slowed to a pace of 2.4 percent in the second quarter of 2010, and other economic indicators are soft, even though Obama points to four quarters of economic growth.

The White House has dismissed the likelihood of a doubledip recession but some economists warm of a Japanese-style economic stagnation. Obama tried to put the best face on the most recent employment figures.

“Climbing out of any recession, much less a hole as deep as this one takes some time. The road to recovery doesn’t follow a straight line. Some sectors bounce back faster than others,” Obama said.

Obama said the data showed jobs growing in the private sector for seven consecutive months.

“That’s a good sign.

Meanwhile our manufacturing sector that’s been hit hard for as long as folks can remember has added 183,000 jobs this year.

That’s the most robust seven months of manufacturing growth in over a decade,” he said.

“But for America’s workers, families, and small businesses, progress needs to come faster.

Our job is to make sure that happens.” Obama said the latest figures underscored the need for final passage of a bill aimed at saving 160,000 teaching jobs, which has cleared the Senate, and for other measures favoring small business.

“We need to decide whether we’re willing to do what it takes to keep this economy moving in the right direction... but also to secure a clean energy future and accelerate our recovery and rebuild our economy around three simple words, ‘made in America.’”

But Republicans are waging their own campaign and blaming Obama for wasting a large part of the big $787 billion in stimulus funding approved a year ago. It remains unclear whether the opposition party will be able to block any new stimulus efforts sought by the White House.

With the recovery appearing to falter, two key members of the Obama economic team are on their way out. Budget director Peter Orszag announced his departure in June and top economic aide Christina Romer said on Thursday she would return to teaching.

Obama continues to press his case, hitting the road to tout the rebound in the US auto sector, the finance reform and the huge health care reform measures approved this year. — AFP

OMAHA: Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett uses a super large paddle as he plays table tennis outside the Berkshire-owned Borsheim’s jewelry store in Omaha, Nebraska. Berkshire Hathaway Inc released quarterly earnings on Friday after the market close. — AP

Net income falls 40% at Buffett’s company OMAHA, Nebraska: Warren Buffett’s company reported a 40 percent drop in second-quarter profit because largely unrealized derivative losses of $1.4 billion outweighed improvements at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s operating companies.

Berkshire reported $1.97 billion net income on Friday, or $1,195 per Class A share. That’s down from $3.3 billion, or $2,123 per share, a year ago.

Its revenue grew 7 percent to $31.7 billion.

Those results fell short of the $1,360.44 profit per share expected by the five analysts surveyed

by Thomson Reuters. Two analysts submitted revenue estimates that averaged $30.79 billion.

Berkshire executives typically do not comment on quarterly earnings reports, and they did not respond to an interview request on Friday.

Buffett warned when he first wrote the derivatives contracts in 2007 that their value would vary widely quarter to quarter, and his prediction has held true. For instance, a $1.01 billion derivative loss contributed to a 77 percent drop in net income during 2008’s third quarter. Paper derivative losses of $986 million also contributed to a $1.5 billion loss in the first quarter of 2009.

Last year’s second-quarter profit was inflated because the value of Berkshire’s derivative contracts tied to equity indexes soared as the stock market improved in 2009. Berkshire recorded a mostly unrealized $1.5 billion gain on its deriva-

tives in last year’s second quarter. The true value of the derivatives won’t be clear for at least several years because they don’t mature until more than a decade from now, but Berkshire is required to estimate their value every time the company reports earnings. Buffett has told investors he believes the contracts will ultimately be profitable because the premiums are being invested.

There were also several bright spots in the report. Berkshire’s insurance unit contributed $462 million in underwriting profit, up from $66 million last year. Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad added $603 million in its first full quarter as part of Berkshire. The freight railroad’s profitable quarter was part of a significant improvement in Berkshire’s manufacturing, retail and service businesses.

Fractional private jet leasing firm NetJets rebounded from a $348.5 million pretax loss a year ago to produce a $114.5 million pretax profit in this year’s second quarter. And Berkshire also said it saw significant improvement at its Forest River RVs business, Iscar tool makers and Johns Mansville, which makes insulation and roofing products. Berkshire owns roughly 80 businesses, including clothing, insurance, furniture, utility, jewelry and corporate jet companies. Berkshire also has big investments in companies including Coca-Cola Co and Wells Fargo & Co. — AP

NEW YORK: Bernard Wheeler, a trader with Kellogg Capital Markets LLC, work at his booth during early trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, on Friday in New York. —AP

TECHNOLOGY

Sunday, August 8, 2010

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Internet lifestyles leave digital estates for descendants SAN FRANCISCO: As lives move increasingly online, Legacy Locker is building virtual safe-deposit boxes where people can leave digital estates for descendants. “I have young children that can’t read yet,” said LegacyLocker.com founder Jeremy Toeman.

“One day my blog will have meaning to them in the same way you find an old photo of your grandfather and wonder what the story was.”

Toeman launched his startup in San Francisco in April of 2009 after the birth of his first son; the death of his 94-year-old Internet-savvy grandmother, and a turbulent

airplane flight. He owns a set of domain names and realized that while his wife was entitled to them in event of his demise, she would have no way to get them. His thoughts went to photos, videos, email, and other digital creations people squirrel away at Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail and elsewhere on the Internet.

“Today, you get a shoe box full of pictures; tomorrow you will get a Flickr account,” Toeman said. “Today, you get a diary; tomorrow you will get a blog.” For 30 dollars (US) a year, or a one-time fee of 300

dollars, Legacy Locker acts as a personal online vault for online account login and password information along with backup copies of documents or videos. People can also leave messages to be sent to beneficiaries after they die. Facebook lets people leave their marks online after they have shuffled off their mortal coils, with profiles of the dead remaining as tributes in the global social networking community.

“We created the idea of ‘memorialized’ profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who’ve

passed,” the world’s top online social networking service said in a blog post. Profiles of dead people do not turn up in friend recommendations or general searches at Facebook. Legacy Locker is used primarily as an online strong box for Internet account passwords but is building tools to fulfill the vision of being a secure online repository for people’s virtual estates, according to Toeman. “FarmVille is an incredible success online and I am certain there are people out there that shiver at the thought their farm might one day be unattended and whither

and die,” Toeman said of a Zynga online game with a cult following. “The same with swords or gold at ‘World of Warcraft.’

Ultimately, these are acts of creativity, almost art, and like winnings in online poker accounts they belong in people’s wills.”

He referred to uploads, online musings and other online contributions as a “digital legacy” that should be factored into estates divvied up after people die. “We are going to help people think about that stuff a little more,” Toeman said. “I don’t need my Twitter stream preserved for all time, but

someone who lives their life on Twitter might feel the opposite.” A self-described early-adopter of technology, Toeman noted the wisdom of remembering to turn off computers, televisions and other devices and spending time with loved ones while life allows.

“My wife and I are going camping with this weekend with the kids and will be off the grid,” Toeman said. “I just hope we don’t find ourselves one day in an all online world where people have lost the ability to connect in real life.—AFP

Japan mobile phone makers to roll out ‘augmented reality’ Smartphones to pepper with useful bits of information TOKYO: The “Terminator” had it, US fighter pilots use it and it’s the next hot feature on Japanese smartphones-“augmented reality” which peppers the world around you with useful bits of information. Imagine wearing high-tech

SAN FRANCISCO: In this photo made Aug 3, 2010, two mobile phones are seen in San Francisco. If you want to hear whatever you want, whenever you want it, your best bet is a Web-based subscription music service. Two new ones are hoping to capture your attention and your dollars: Rdio, which was created by the founders of popular Internet phone service Skype, seen on the screen on the phone on the left, and MOG, which comes from the team behind a music blog of the same name. —AP

Appeals court nixes GPS tracking without warrant WASHINGTON: A US appeals court ruled Friday that police cannot track a suspect using GPS technology without a warrant, tossing out the conviction of a man arrested for drug dealing. The US Court of Appeals in Washington overturned the 2008 conviction of Antoine Jones, saying police violated his constitutional rights by tracking his movements with a satellite navigation system device installed on his vehicle without a warrant.

The three-judge panel ruled that Washington police effectively established their case by tracking Jones to locations of drug activity. “It is one thing for a passerby to observe or even to follow someone during a single journey as he goes to the market or returns home from work,” the court opinion said.

“It is another thing entirely for that stranger to pick up the scent again the next day and the day after that, week in and week out, dogging his prey until he has identified all the places, people, amusements, and chores that make up that person’s hitherto private routine.”

The judges said the use of GPS, or Global Positioning System tracking, was a violation of the constitutional guarantee in the Fourth Amendment of unreasonable searches and seizures, saying it was an “intrusion” into “private affairs.” “This case itself illustrates how the sequence of a person’s movements may reveal more than the individual movements of which it is composed,” the court said. “Having tracked Jones’s movements for a month, the government used the resulting pattern-not just the location of

a particular ‘stash house’ or Jones’s movements on any one trip or even day-as evidence of Jones’s involvement in the cocaine trafficking business.”

They said the pattern of GPS data “was central” to the case against him. Privacy activists applauded the decision. “The court correctly recognized the important differences between limited surveillance of public activities possible through visual surveillance or traditional ‘bumper beepers,’ and the sort of extended, invasive, pervasive, always-on tracking that GPS devices allow,” said Jennifer Granick of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a brief in the case.

“This same logic applies in cases of cell phone tracking, and we hope that this decision will be followed by courts that are currently grappling with the question of whether the government must obtain a warrant before using your cell phone as a tracking device.” Arthur Spitzer of the American Civil Liberties Union said the decision strikes a blow in favor of privacy. “GPS tracking enables the police to know when you visit your doctor, your lawyer, your church, or your lover,” he said.

“And if many people are tracked, GPS data will show when and where they cross paths. Judicial supervision of this powerful technology is essential if we are to preserve individual liberty.

Today’s decision helps brings the Fourth Amendment into the 21st Century.” The court upheld the conviction of another man in the case, Lawrence Maynard, saying the GPS tracking was not central to his case.—AFP

Apple to set up Japan Web warning on problem iPods TOKYO: After prodding from the Japanese government, Apple Inc. will post prominent notices on its website warning some iPod Nano music players in Japan may overheat. Sixtyone cases of batteries overheating have been reported in firstgeneration iPod Nano machines sold in 2005 and 2006, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Some units were warped by the heat that caused minor burns when people touched them, but no serious injuries or damage have been reported, it said.

A notice for a battery replacement was posted late last year on Apple Japan’s website but it requires several clicks before it can be read. The government, in talks with Apple Japan since last year, pressed the company to correct that, ministry official Seiji Shimagami said Friday. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said an easily accessible web page will be set up by this week that outlines how to get a battery replacement.

Apple will also send e-mails to registered owners, he said in a telephone interview from California. “Safety is the highest priority for Apple,” said

Neumayr. Japanese are among the world’s biggest fans of Apple products, standing in long lines to snatch up iPhone models and the iPad as soon as they go on sale. The ministry said 1.8 million first-generation iPod Nano players have been sold in Japan, but it is unclear how many of those have the problem battery.

Neumayr declined to com-

ment on whether Nano players in other parts of the world may be affected by the same problem. Last month, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs offered free protective cases to buyers of the iPhone 4 to prevent reception problems that occur when people cover a certain spot on the phone with a bare hand.—AP

Estonian hacker pleads guilty to bilking 9 million from RBS ATLANTA: An extradited Estonian hacker Friday pled not guilty to bilking the Royal Bank of Scotland of nine million dollars in a single day by tampering with its payroll debit cards around the world, US officials said. Sergei Tsurikov, 26, was extradited from Estonia on charges he and a team of young hackers committed wire and computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, which could land him in jail for up to 35 years and a fine of up to 3.5 million dollars.

The US Justice Department said Tsurikov and his people on November 2008 managed to break into the US-based RBS WorldPay site, which handles payroll debit cards used by various companies to pay their employees, who then can draw their wages from an automated teller machine, or ATM. Tsurikov and his team raised the account limits and then provided a network of “cashers” with counterfeit payroll debit cards, which were used over a period of 12 hours to withdraw more than nine million dollars from 2,100 ATMs in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and Canada, the department said. —AFP

That is essentially what Japan’s two largest cellphone operators are about to offer their millions of customers, except they will use the cameras and screens of smartphones plus vast online databases. By harnessing the power of the Internet and bringing it more deeply into people’s everyday lives, they plan to change the way we perceive reality and move a step closer to digitising our world view-literally.

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo is set to launch “chokkan nabi”, or “intuitive navigation”, in September to help people find their way around megacities such as Tokyo and Osaka and other places in Japan. “You just need to focus on a street, a building or a particular spot with your camera-equipped cellphone to see if there is a bank, a restaurant, a supermarket or other location,” said a DoCoMo official. “Labels or signs indicate, for example, the distance to a chosen restaurant, schedules, menus, etc ... With a simple gesture, you can switch back to a conventional map in two dimensions.”

The service has so far registered some 600,000 points of interest throughout Japan, including restaurants, shops and train stations, which can be searched through user-defined criteria. The technology, developed with map maker Zenrin, uses a global positioning system (GPS) and sophisticated software to place virtual tags on realworld objects and also provide directions to places outside the user’s direct view.

It also links with micro-blogging site Twitter, which has been wildly successful in Japan, so that its users can spot each other in real time and real space, and tweet comments about where they are.

Japan’s number two mobile operator KDDI, meanwhile, has developed a platform that allows users to scan for example a CD advertising poster with their camera phone to gain additional material, such as an extract from a song. The service will then offer the user the option to buy a download of the song with just two clicks, or can guide them to the nearest real-world CD shop. The application, which also features virtual characters, is an advanced version of an already popular Japanese application for Apple’s iPhone, called “Sekai Camera” or “World Camera”.

That program identifies visual landmarks and then displays live and past tweets from others as “air tags” in the same location.

Internationally, several operators are harnessing similar technology. Finnish cellphone giant Nokia is offering a free application called Point & Find, which involves pointing your camera phone at real-world objects to access information and functions. The service also allows users to scan barcodes to compare prices, read reviews, or save a product to a wish-list.—AFP

glasses and having small, cartoon speech balloon-style tags pop up within your field of vision, overlaying real-world objects and buildings to describe what you’re looking at.

LONDON: Dr Thom Van ERvery, medical director of the www.dr.thom.com website, sits in his office in London July 27, 2010. In Britain, an increasing number of websites are pushing the boundaries of online medicine, with at least a dozen sites offering consultations and medication most countries only allow during in-person visits - or remote ones with the help of a webcam or telephone call. —AP

British patients click online to see doctor LONDON : The doctor will see you now: Just click here. In Britain, an increasing number of websites are pushing the boundaries of online medicine, with at least a dozen sites offering consultations and medication most countries only allow during in-person visits - or remote ones with the help of a webcam or telephone call. The sites are completely legal, and fall under the jurisdiction of a regulator called the Care Quality commission. Not surprisingly, the most in-demand drugs are for erectile dysfunction, sexually transmitted diseases and hair loss.

The websites don’t handle serious medical problems or emergencies and don’t deal in narcotics, painkillers or other drugs people could become addicted to. “The British websites are definitely an exception, but they are the start of a trend we will soon see everywhere,” said Dr Steinar Pedersen, a founder and special adviser at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine. “Opinions will change as people become more comfortable with technology,” he said.

Pedersen didn’t know of any countries beyond Britain where online medicine for patients who don’t know the doctors and don’t ever speak to them is legal. The European Commission does not monitor such medical websites, but is working on a paper addressing the legal issues of telemedicine. In countries including Canada, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and France, doctors are only allowed to treat patients online if they have previously seen them in person. In the United States, several companies offer online medicine, but patients must typically speak to a doctor on the telephone or set up a videoconference for a live, face-to-face chat.

The Canadian Medical Association said doctors who approve prescriptions for patients they haven’t seen in person face losing their licenses. But that’s not the case in Britain, where rules are more lax. The Care Quality Commission only oversees the work of doctors in private practice. Practitioners who work for the government are exempt from regulation altogether. If drugs are prescribed, the sites must be registered with a drug regulatory agency.

The websites typically charge for a doctor’s consultation fee from about 8 pounds to more than 20 pounds ($13 to more than $30) that is not covered by the national health system.

Some even ship a very small percentage of their drugs abroad; in Europe, it is legal for medication to cross borders as long as it is for personal use. The commission monitors medical websites primarily to ensure the doctors running them are licensed. “We inspect their offices if we get complaints, but otherwise they are monitored by self-assessment,” said a spokesman for the commission, who did not want to be identified in line with government policy. He said since the commission first began registering the websites several years ago, there have been few complaints. “They tend to treat conditions that are relatively straightforward,” he said. If patients indicate any worrying symptoms, the websites tell them they aren’t eligible for online treatment and need to see a doctor. Dr. Patrick Cadigan, a cardiologist and spokesman for Britain’s Royal College of Physicians, described Internet-based medicine as “second-best,” and said it was particularly difficult to make a diagnosis without seeing a patient in person. “To lose personal contact with your patients means you lose clues about what may be wrong with them,” he said.

Cadigan worried some patients may not understand the difficulties of being treated online. He said some people might need some more in-person prodding, as opposed to the standard questionnaires employed by most websites, to correctly answer questions about other health conditions or medical treatment they were already on.

“If you don’t get a thorough medical history from the patient, you could prescribe something that might have adverse effects,” he said.

“I am concerned these websites could be steering patients to treatments for a financial incentive rather than for their own good.” On the London-based website www.dr.thom.com, patients fill out forms to see if they are eligible for online treatment for things like impotence and birth control. Before getting mailed Viagra, for example, patients must fill in a questionnaire that covers their impotence, medical history, height, weight, and blood pressure.

About one in 11 patients doesn’t qualify, in which case the site recommends they see a doctor in person.

The site has at least 100,000 patients, including those from a popular pharmacy chain with whom they are linked. Dr. Thom Van Every, the site’s medical director, says

patients give a medical history and are asked about other drugs they’re on to avoid any dangerous interactions. On his website, patients with acne or genital warts, rashes or other abnormalities, can also upload a couple of pictures of the affected area. Doctors then diagnose the condition and if appropriate, send drugs in the mail. “Most of the people who report this as strange are doctors,” Van Every said. “People are so used to uploading pictures these days for things like Facebook that this is just not a big deal.” Dr. Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said examining pictures to make some diagnoses may be OK, but warned of potential problems such as doctors missing symptoms elsewhere on the body the patient hasn’t photographed.

She said if patients had multiple symptoms or a condition that naturally required a physical exam, like listening to the heart, lungs or conducting joint exams, seeing a doctor virtually wouldn’t work. She said doctors should be particularly careful about prescribing drugs like Viagra and worried about the web sites becoming prescription mills.

“The best thing is to have a relationship with your physician because you’re more likely to get a better diagnosis,” she said.

She said the online sites were useful for people who don’t live close to a doctor, but said there were limits. “If you have something that is potentially urgent, that’s not the time to be messing around with the Web or email.” Heim predicted similar Web sites would pop up in the U.S. eventually.

“The technology ... expands services to patients who may not currently have access,” she said. Earlier this year, Van Every’s site introduced an at-home cervical cancer test with a special tampon. Peter Sasieni, an epidemiologist at Cancer Research U.K., said the charity did not support the wide availability of the test because there isn’t enough data to prove it works.

He said women who shouldn’t be screened, like those under 25 might order the test online, get a false positive and then face further unnecessary exams and anxiety. Doctors working online said patients must accept some responsibility for their own safety. “There are always people who will do things that are not in their own interest,” said Dr. Tony Steele, who runs the online service, Doctor Fox. — AP

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Mission is to replace broken ammonia coolant pump

Space station astronauts tackle urgent repair job CAPE CANAVERAL: A pair of space station astronauts ventured out on an urgent spacewalk yesterday to restore a crucial cooling system , one of the most challenging repairs ever attempted at the orbiting lab. As the sun rose over NASA's spaceport, astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson exit-

ed the International Space Station. Their mission was to replace a broken ammonia coolant pump, a job considered so difficult that two spacewalks are required.

Yesterday was part one. Wheelock quickly made his way to the broken pump as the space station circled 220 miles (354 kilometers) above the planet.

In this image taken from video and made available by NASA, astronauts Douglas Wheelock, top, and Tracy Caldwell Dyson work on the International Space Station to restore a crucial cooling system yesterday. —AP

High weight gain in pregnancy equals heavier, more obesity-prone babies As doctors and researchers grapple with the US's runaway rates of obesity, they have begun to look for causes of it in a critical if little understood period of life: the nine months before birth. Research has found that women who gain too much weight in pregnancy have heavier babies - and that heavier babies are more prone to obesity later on.

Until now, researchers had not been able to rule out the role of genes. If heavier mothers give birth to heavier babies, it was presumed, it could be the woman's genes that cause her to gain excessive weight during pregnancy and that those genes, passed on to her child, contribute to his or her obesity.

A new study helps eliminate that possibility. By looking at a large group of women who gave birth at least twice from 1989 to 2003, researchers were able to compare different pregnancies in the same women. Based on the data, the authors conclude that maternal weight gain during pregnancy leads to higher infant birth weight, independent of genetics. "What this study adds to the literature is the family approach, which reduces the influence of genetic factors. These kids all have the same mothers. The high birth weight isn't because of genes. It has something to do with the weight gain itself," says Matthew Gillman, director of an obesity-prevention program at Harvard Medical School.

Gillman was not involved in the study.

The authors of the study, published Wednesday, Aug. 4, in the journal Lancet, analyzed natal records of 513,501 women and their 1,164,750 offspring born over a 15-year period in New Jersey and Michigan. The researchers excluded mothers with gestational diabetes and babies born before 37 or after 41 weeks. They also ruled out babies with very low and very high birth weights. What they found was that mothers who gained more than 53 lb. (24 kg) during pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have a high-birth-weight baby - more than 8.8 lb. (4 kg) - as women who put on 18 to 22 lb. (8 to 10 kg). "The reason this is important is because high birth weight is known to increase the risk for obesity later in life," says lead author David Ludwig

of Children's Hospital Boston.

"An ideal time to begin obesityprevention efforts for the next generation actually begins before birth."

Traditionally, the publichealth focus has been on making sure that women gain enough weight during pregnancy to lower the risk of having babies with low birth weights - which can result in many health problems in the near and long term.

(Perhaps unexpectedly, one of the risks of low birth weight is also obesity later in life, particularly excessive weight in the center of the body.) Now, however, with more than half of the US population being either overweight or obese, the focus has largely shifted to the other end of the spectrum, women who gain too much weight.

"Many obstetricians aren't telling women how much weight they should gain, and many women's friends tell them, 'You can have an extra ice cream because now you can eat for two.' That's not the case," says Dr. Emily Oken, an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School and an expert on obesity.

The latest guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine recommend that women of healthy weight gain 25 to 35 lb. (11 to 16 kg) during pregnancy.

Overweight women should gain less - 15 to 25 lb. (7 to 11 kg) -

and obese women, who account for some 27% of women of childbearing age, should limit pregnancy gains to 11 to 20 lb.

(5 to 9 kg).

But experts note some limitations to the new study and urge caution regarding its conclusions. One problem is that the study looked only at birth weight, which is at best a proxy for potential obesity. A heavy child might be heavy at birth only because he is very long, for instance. And birth weight does not take into account body composition - lean mass vs. fat.

Although some new studies are now looking at body composition in relation to birth weight as a risk factor for obesity, the research is complicated by the variety of methods of assessing body composition, none of them ideal.

Measurements like those based on skin folds are sometimes hard to take accurately, while those that involve scanning may expose children to radiation. Still others, like magnetic resonance imaging, don't work well with squirming children.

The Lancet study was also not designed to follow children after birth to see whether their high birth weight actually resulted in obesity. Further, it did not take into account women's pre-pregnancy weight but rather just evaluated weight

gain during gestation. Research on whether maternal weight gain increases risk for offspring obesity in all weight classes, or just among obese women, has produced conflicting results.

"Ludwig makes a strong connection from excessive maternal weight gain to childhood obesity, but that strong connection hasn't been met with the findings. You can't just make that jump," says Anna Maria Sieg-Riz, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the University of North Carolina.

"What this study says is that high maternal weight gain leads to high birth weight. And that's where this study's conclusions need to stop." Of course, that doesn't mean that high birth weight itself is of no concern.

Quite the contrary. It can make for difficult labor and delivery, even one that requires a cesarean section. And high birth weight is associated with other health problems later in life, including increased risk for cancer.

It's easy to see this study as just another daunting example of all the things women can do to screw up their children before they are born. But looked at another way, it tells us that with a little more information and some discipline, a child's birth weight is something we can help control. Genes, for better or worse, are not.—Time

KREFELD: A newly-born black rhinoceros baby named "Kiwidi" stands next to its mother "Nane" at the zoo in the western German city of Krefeld on Friday. The young rhino was born on July 30, 2010 at the zoo. —AFP

"Do I get extra credit?"

Caldwell Dyson asked as she gathered tools. Mission Control said she would and joked that she even might earn an extra brownie afterward. Wheelock said all the connections looked good on the pump, and he saw no signs it had been hit by micrometeorites or other debris.

The ammonia pump shut down last weekend and knocked out half of the space station's cooling system. The pump is supposed to push ammonia coolant through the lines on the right side of the complex and prevent equipment from overheating. To cope with the failure, the six-person crew had to turn off all unnecessary equipment and halt science experiments.

The cooling line on the left side , unaffected by the trouble , has had to manage everything.

Engineers worked nonstop over the past week to come up with the emergency repair plan. In addition, astronauts in Houston rehearsed every step of the spacewalk while submerged in NASA's huge training pool.

There was a risk the fully pressurized ammonia lines could leak; the spacewalkers would have to get the toxic substance off their suits before going back inside. In addition, the lines were stiff because of all the pressure, making the repair job especially difficult. NASA originally targeted Thursday for the spacewalk, the same day that Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson were supposed to go out and do some advance work for a November shuttle visit. But flight controllers needed two extra days to refine all the procedures.

Although space station managers knew an ammonia pump would fail one day, they did not expect it to happen so soon in the 12-year life of the complex.

The pump was launched in 2002, but did not start operating fully until 2006. The space station is equipped with four spare pumps; the one that will replace the broken unit went up in 2006.

Each pump is a boxy 5.5 feet (1.7 meters) by 4 feet (1.2 meters) by 3 feet (about a meter) and has a mass of 780 pounds (354 kilograms). Several cooling lines will have to be connected to the new pump, at least some of which will be done on the second spacewalk planned for Wednesday. NASA said the breakdown is serious but has not endangered the crew, and the one functional cooling loop has kept the space station stable. Additional breakdowns could leave the station in a precarious situation, however, and that's why managers wanted to get the broken line working again as soon as possible.

Yesterday's spacewalk was the first by Americans, without a shuttle present, since 2008.

The crew includes three Americans and three Russians.

Caldwell Dyson has been on board since April, and Wheelock since June.—AP

SHANGHAI: A leopard cub sleeps on a water bowl in its air-conditioned cage at Shanghai Zoo on a warm summer day Thursday in Shanghai.—AP

Huge ice island calves off Greenland glacier WASHINGTON: An ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off from one of Greenland's two main glaciers, scientists said on Friday, in the biggest such event in the Arctic in nearly 50 years. The new ice island, which broke off on Thursday, will enter a remote place called the Nares Strait, about 620 miles (1,000 km) south of the North Pole between Greenland and Canada.

The ice island has an area of 100 square miles (260 square km) and a thickness up to half the height of the Empire State Building, said Andreas Muenchow, professor of ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.

Muenchow said he had expected an ice chunk to break off from the Petermann Glacier, one of the two largest remaining ones in Greenland, because it had been growing in size for seven or eight years.

But he did not expect it to be so large. "The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson Rivers flowing for more than two years," said Muenchow, whose research in the area is supported by the National Science Foundation.

"It could also keep all US public tap water flowing for 120 days." He said it was hard to judge whether the event occurred due to global warming because records on the sea water around the glacier have only been kept since 2003. The flow of sea water below the glaciers is one of the main causes of ice calvings off Greenland.

"Nobody can claim this was caused by global warming. On the other hand nobody can claim that it wasn't," Muenchow said. Scientists have said the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest globally on record. The El Nino weather pattern has contributed to higher temperatures, but many scientists say elevated levels of man-made greenhouse gases are pushing temperatures higher.

The initial discovery of the calving was made by Trudy Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service. The ice island could fuse to land, break up into smaller pieces, or slowly move south where it could block shipping, Muenchow said. The last time such a large ice island formed was in 1962 when the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf calved an island. Smaller pieces of that chunk became lodged between real islands inside Nares Strait.—Reuters

in the news Older adults get HIV diagnosis later, die sooner NEW YORK: People over 50 with HIV are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease than younger adults, according to a British study. They are also more than twice as likely to die within a year of their HIV test as are younger people, even if they are diagnosed late.

California firm recalls 1 m pounds beef for e coli CHICAGO: A Modesto, California, meat company is recalling about one million pounds of ground beef patties and bulk ground beef after the meat was linked to seven illnesses from the e coli 0157:H7 bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The meat was produced by Valley Meat Company from October 2, 2009 to January 12, and distributed to retail and food service firms in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona, and internationally.

IUD works for emergency birth control, study finds NEW YORK: A copper intrauterine device was 100 percent effective at emergency contraception in a study of almost 2000 Chinese women who had the device implanted up to 5 days after unprotected sex. The device - called Copper T380A, or Copper T - continued to be effective at preventing pregnancy a year after it was inserted.

Prenatal test not linked to blood pressure problems NEW YORK: Despite concerns raised from some earlier research, a new study suggests that a prenatal test done to screen for genetic abnormalities does not raise a woman's risk of developing pregnancy-related high blood pressure. The test, known as chorionic villus sampling (CVS), is an invasive procedure done to detect Down syndrome and other genetic disorders in some women considered to be at elevated risk-such as those age 35 and older, and women with a family

history of a specific genetic disorder.

Knee injury a career ender for many NFL players NEW YORK: Despite surgery, less than twothirds of National Football League players are able to return to play after knee ligament tears, new research hints. That number runs counter to the optimism of most team physicians, who said they believed 90 to 100 percent of players would be back on the field, according to an earlier survey.

Plain cells turned into beating heart cells WASHINGTON: Two studies published on Thursday show new ways to fix damaged hearts, one by turning structural heart cells into beating cells and another by restoring a primordial ability to regenerate lost tissue. The two approaches need more work before they can be tried in humans, but they represent big steps forward in the new field of regenerative medicine.

Rotavirus vaccines save poorest children WASHINGTON: Trials in Asia and Africa show rotavirus vaccines can save the lives of even the poorest young children and programs should begin to vaccinate as many as possible, researchers reported on Thursday. The vaccines prevented between 39 percent and 48 percent of infections in some of the poorest countries in the world, where more than 400,000 children die from rotavirus every year.

'Desert dust' days may worsen kids' asthma NEW YORK: Dust blown from faraway deserts may accumulate in the air to levels great enough to contribute to children's asthma attacks, a new study suggests. It's well established that poor air quality can worsen symptoms in people with asthma or other lung disease, and children are thought to be particularly susceptible due to factors like their smaller airways and less developed immune systems.

Climate change sparks quickest evolution ever VANCOUVER: At least one fish species can adapt in just three generations to survive a sharp change in temperature, researchers said in a study on the fastest rate of evolution ever recorded in wild animals. "Our study is the first to experimentally show that certain species in the wild could adapt to climate change very rapidly," said Friday lead researcher Rowan Barrett.

However, the University of British Columbia evolutionary geneticist warned, the evolutionary jump carries a deadly price tag: a high mortality rate.

In their research, scientists from Canada and Europe removed marine stickleback fish from the ocean, put them into ponds with gradually dropping temperatures, and studied them for three years. Over three generations, one per year, the fish evolved to survive water 2.5 degrees Celsius below the limit for their great grandparents, said the study released online and to be published in the September 7 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The findings suggest at least some animals may be able to change quickly enough to survive predicted climate change.

Virtually all climate research in peerreviewed science journals predicts global temperatures will gradually rise by several degrees in coming decades, accompanied by swings of extreme cold and heat. "But just because we've seen a large evolutionary response, that doesn't mean a natural population can adapt to climate change with no consequences," Barrett told AFP Thursday. About 95 per cent of the fish population died during the three-year study, with only five per cent developing a tolerance for cold," he said. "The consequences of losing 95 per cent might be catastrophic, because the remaining five per cent might not be able to sustain the population," said Barrett. He added: "We don't know the genetic basis of this trait."

Barrett, who is moving to Harvard after completing a PhD at UBC, said more research is needed to determine whether

such rapid evolution can occur in other species and-most critically-to warming instead of cooling. He said such research may also hold clues for how humans will cope with climate change. The rapid evolution by the marine fish in the study mirrored the 10,000-year-long evolution of freshwater stickleback in British Columbia - descendants of marine fish trapped inland at the end of the last Ice Age, who evolved to live in extreme cold.

Barrett noted that humans also evolved over some 10,000 generations, since their first migration from Africa, raising the question of how many generations it might take for northern peoples to evolve genes that could cope with warmer climates experienced by their African ancestors. "You can start to draw a parallel in evolutionary rates," said Barrett. But he warned that, as shown by the 95 per cent mortality rate in the stickleback, such rapid evolution "can make the population extremely vulnerable... there are always consequences."—AFP

Sunday, August 8, 2010

HEALTH & SCIENCE

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Doctors rely on iPhones to guide treatment CALIFORNIA: The mother charged into the emergency room unannounced carrying her 8-yearold daughter, who was having seizures and couldn’t breathe. As she placed the girl on a gurney, Dr. Kathy Corby instinctively reached for her iPhone. “It was very tense,” recalled Corby, an emergency room physician at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, Calif.. “If you can’t terminate a seizure within an hour or two, the person can sustain brain damage and it can ultimately be fatal.”

The child has a rare hereditary disease and Corby needed to become an instant expert. So she began scanning a number of medical apps loaded onto her iPhone to access “everything you can’t remember on your own in the midst of something like this.”

While medical reference information has long been available through the Internet on computers, physicians like Corby say the ability to instantly access data in any situation and through one-touch tech-

nology is changing the way they practice medicine. Asked to choose between having a stethoscope or a smartphone, some doctors say they would choose the latter.

“You’ve got a whole medical library right in the palm of your hand,” said Meredith Ressi with Manhattan Research, a health-care market research firm that studies doctors’ use of technology. “It’s really transformative.” Doctors no longer have to spend time thumbing through fat manuals stuffed in lab coats, or rely on memory in the heat of emergencies. The ability to easily exchange photos , and engage in video chats, with colleagues using a smartphone is adding a new dimension to consultations. Eventually, doctors may be able to access electronic patient records on their pocket devices, experts say. Already emergency rooms and other hospital areas are being equipped with iPads so medical staff can quickly get critical information. The Stanford Medical School plans to provide all first-

year medical and Master of Medicine students with an iPad this fall.

Still, the sudden plethora of medical apps, there are hundreds on the market and more coming virtually every day, has caused government officials to consider whether new regulations are needed to ensure accurate information is being disseminated digitally.

“When it comes to reference medical apps, you really should only trust the ones from the companies that have been in the ecosystem for a while,” said Iltifat Husain, founder of www.imedicalapps.com, a review site. Physicians are three times more likely to use smartphones than the general adult population in the United States, Ressi said. More than 70 percent of doctors in the United States now use advanced phones or personal digital assistants, and of those 80 percent say the devices are essential to their work, she said.

Medical professionals had viewed such technology as more

foe than friend because it was clunky and complicated to use, said Margaret Laws, an executive at the California HealthCare Foundation in Oakland. But when Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, and then offered the software tools for developers to customize applications for the new platform a year later, it was an “ah-ha” moment in medicine because the new device and software were easy to use, Laws said. Makers of other smartphones, from BlackBerry to Android devices, are now providing similar intuitive technology.

“We want the data right at our fingertips,” said Dr. Lars Grimm, who is completing his residency at Duke University Medical Center.

Grimm recently relied on information gleaned from his iPhone to treat an executive suffering from extreme diarrhea and vomiting after being exposed to a bacterial toxin during a business trip to India. The doctor had read a medical alert about antibiotic-resistant bacteria in India.

So he changed the standard antibiotic prescription for the man and immediately began treating him. Dr Joe Becker said medical apps play a critical role when he treats patients in India and Nepal as part of a global health fellowship through Stanford University. “I am not as familiar treating typhoid fever as I am heart attacks,” said Becker, a faculty member at Stanford University’s Department of Surgery, Division of Emergency Medicine.

Dr Lee Rogers, a podiatrist and associate medical director at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, recently conducted an emergency 45-minute surgery to save the foot of a diabetic patient while two other specialists, both in Arizona, used iPhone 4 video chat technology to look on and make recommendations about tissue removal. “They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but a video is worth 100,000 words,” he said. “It’s amazing how your opinion can change when you’re looking at a video.” —MCT

CALIFORNIA: Dr Kathy Corby, center, shows her iPhone 4 to anesthesiologist Pat Lauder, right, in the emergency room at Hazel Hawkins Hospital in Hollister, California on July 27, 2010. —MCT

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

30

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Abdurredhah Khursheed

The officials are seen cutting the birthday cake.

Aqua Park celebrates 15th anniversary T

he Aqua Park recently held a function to celebrate the 15th anniversary of its inauguration, which featured several musical and entertaining events for visitors from all ages, in addition to an event to cut a large birthday cake as well as fireworks. The celebrations were attended by the facility’s founder Abdurredhah Khursheed, the deputy managing director of the Future Kid Entertainment Company Ibraheem Al-Haroun, and the Aqua Park’s general manager, Mohammad Khursheed.

Ibraheem Al-Haroun

Mohammad Khursheed

Members from the circus team participate in the event.

Abdurredhah Khursheed poses with the Aqua Park’s management.

The attending officials participate in an Ardhah traditional dance display.

People watch the Ardhah display.

Circus march.

Confetti is released into the air to celebrate the Aqua Park’s birthday.

Crowd gathers at the event.

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Sunday, August 8, 2010

31 Embassy information

Greetings

EMBASSY OF US

HSSC Results 2010:

ISCP students hold top 4 positions in Kuwait Many many happy returns of the day to the now 5 years-old Stesha Maria Joshy.

With prayerful greetings from father, mother, grandma, brother Steve Joseph Joshy and sister Seraphin Maria Joshy.

F

ederal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Islamabad has declared Higher Secondary School Certificate Annual Examination 2010 results.

The students of International School of Pakistan, Khaitan, proved their talent by producing

outstanding performance.

Medical Group Hira Shuja Khokar (974) First Position in Kuwait Aisha Ejaz (966) Second Position in Kuwait Zainab Abdul Hameed (960) Third Position in Kuwait Ateeqa Mujeeb (942) Fourth Position in Kuwait

Pre Engineering Group Waleed Abdul Manan stood first by securing 904 marks, Muhammad Saleh got second position securing 878 marks while Khadija Attaullah stood third securing 874 marks.

Saad Au Qureshi took first position in General Science Group by securing 878 marks.

Commerce Group Aleeza Liaqat got first position securing 782 marks, Zahra Shahid stood second securing 767 marks, Sarah Amin stood third who secured 762 marks. Naveed Farooq got 738 marks who stood first among boys.

Most of the students are

placed in A plus and A grades. The management of the School congratulated the successful students and their parents. The role of the qualified and experienced faculty of the school was specially admired who contributed their devoted efforts in bringing the brilliant success.

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 petition-based, including B1/B2 tourist and business visitor visas and all student and exchange-visitor 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 in-depth 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 INDIA The Embassy of India has further revamped and improved its Legal Advice Clinic at the Indian Workers Welfare Center, and made the free service available to Indian nationals on all five working days, i.e. from Sunday to Thursday every week. Kuwaiti lawyers would be available at the Legal Advice Clinic daily from Monday to Thursday, while Indian lawyers would be available on Sundays. Following are the free welfare services provided at the Indian Workers Welfare Center located at the Embassy of India: [i] 24x7 Helpline for Domestic Workers: Accessible by toll free telephone no. 25674163 from anywhere in Kuwait, it provides information and advice exclusively to Indian domestic sector workers (Visa No. 20) as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. [ii] Help Desk: It offers guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal, and other issues (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iii) Labour Complaints Desk: It registers labor complaints and provides grievance redressal service to Indian workers (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iv) Shelters: For female and male domestic workers in distress; (v) Legal Advice Clinic: Provides free legal advice to Indian nationals (Embassy premises; Kuwaiti lawyers 3 PM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday; Indian lawyers 2 PM to 4 PM on Sunday); and (vi) Attestation of Work Contracts: Private sector worker (Visa No. 18) contracts are accepted at the Embassy; 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday; Domestic sector worker (Visa No. 20) contracts are accepted at Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, AlAbraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

Indian Independence Day On the occasion of the Independence Day of India, a flag-hoisting ceremony will take place at the Indian Embassy premises on Arabian Gulf Street at 7 am on Sunday, August 15, 2010. The flag hoisting will be followed by the reading of the message of the President of India and singing of patriotic songs. All Indian nationals are cordially invited to attend the function. The customary Open House Reception after the ceremony is not being held this year in view of the holy month of Ramadan.

Happy b’day to Liva Maria who turned 3 yesterday. Loving greetings from Cherish Cherian and Alma Trisa.

10th birthday to Farhan Hussain, best wishes from grand father, Fida Hussain, uncle Shahed Hussain.

Many happy returns of the day to Nakshathra Vinukumar, who celebrates her 5th birthday.

May Almighty God’s blessings be upon you.

Wish you an evergreen, enjoyable and devoted life. Best wishes and lot of love from : Vinukumar, Sheeja Vinu, Namith and friends & relatives.

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA

Announcements

Happy birthday to Mohammed Ali Ehsan Karmali best wishes from Baba, Mummy, sister, near and dear ones.

Australian Federal Election 2010

T

he Australian Federal Election will be held on Saturday, August 21, 2010. All Australian Citizens who wish to vote will be able to vote in person at the Australian Embassy in Kuwait from Monday August 16 to Friday August 20 from 9 am to 3 pm. Please note that you will not be able to cast your vote on polling day due to the time difference between Australia and Kuwait.

You will need to know which Australian address you are enrolled at to be issued with the correct ballot papers. You can check this at the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website:www.aec.gov.au/check, by emailing info@aec.gov.au or by calling +61 2 271 4411. All enquiries about enrolment must be directed to the AEC. You will need to present a valid identification document (passport, driver’s license, photo IDcard) to be admitted into the Embassy.

PABAK tourney: The PABAK organizing committee would like to announce the opening of the PABAK/Western Union 24th Conference Basketball Tournament in the second week of August 2010.

Registration in the following categories: Open 5’9” & under, non-leaguers, veterans and inter-company, is now going on at the Kuwait Sports Club for the Disabled gym in Hawally every Friday, through email at: rodcerezo@yahoo.com; or call: 6668954. Early entries:

IKEA, Kuwait Cement Co, Wataniya AW, Unisteel, POLO and Caboria Restaurant.

Sept 17 Onam Fest 2010: ‘Vanithavedi Kuwait’ a leading women’s association will be celebrating Onam on Friday, Sept 17, 2010, from 9 am - 6 pm at the Indian Community School, Khaitan Branch, the program named as ‘OnamFest 2010’ will have the public meeting followed by various cultural programs. The traditional

Onasadya will be served.

For the successful conduct of Onam Fest 2010, a program committee has been formed. Dr Vasanthy Nair (general convenor), Valsamma George, Dr Mary (Joint Convenors), Prasanna Ramabhadran (Arts convenor), Tolly Prakash (Food convenor), Shiny Ajith (Raffle convenor), Sumathy Babu (Souvenir convenor), Valsa Sam (Publicity convenor), Syamala Narayanan, (Reception convenor), Sharlette Albert (Volunteer captain). For more details,

contact: 24342807, 66428433, 66596625, 24331598.

Theater & Music All level music classes: ‘Treasure of Talents’ (est in 1992) music education program invites all level music classes on piano, theory of music, vocal, flute. Academic Level teachers help prepare for international exams, children concerts, yearly ‘Treasure of Talents’ Festival and music competitions. Contact Prof Cezary, Tel. 25320427, 66549009 of

Ms Yasmeene - Berlitz Institute Tel: 22542212.

22512533 or email: treasureoftalents@yahoo.com treasureoftalents@hotmail.com ✦✦✦ Call to classical music lovers: Are you a lover of music? Would you like to promote the traditional Indian classical music in Kuwait? If your answer is in the affirmative, please write ton more details to music_karnatic@yahoo.co. in (that is, music underscore karnatic) with your contact details or call 7978286.

Sports FAST Shoot: Filipino Action Shooting Team (FAST) officials, with the support of Gen. Ahmmed Al Saleem would like to invite everyone to their Fun Shoot every Tuesday from 17:00-21:00 hours.

For details contact: Butch Alinea 99816563, Danny San Juan 99540595 Carlos Gutierrez 97270371 and FAST Adviser Manny Cornelio 66737298. ✦✦✦ FPSC Fun Shoot session: The Filipino Practical Shooting Club (FPSC) is inviting its members and non-members who are gun sports

enthusiast to join us every Thursday at 17:00 hours to 21:00 hours (5 pm to 9 pm) for a fun shoot in practical shooting target continues FPSC will hold a sanction tournament for the Philippine Practical Shooting Association (PPSA) as a requirement for the club affiliation for the year 20l0. All FPSC/PPSA members are obliged to participate in these disciplines. For particulars, please call the following officers: Tony 66600481, Eric 99570689, Jovi 66742419, Rommel 66850748, Dadz 66634012, Sunny 99545917, Joseph 99517467, Ramon 97433824, Ramir

99629631.

✦✦✦ Football referees coaching classes: Football referee coaching class for new recruits and refresher classes for active members will be conducted by the Indian Football Referees’ Association (IFRA) Kuwait from today at the Indian English Academy School (Don Bosco Salmiya from 9:30 am onwards).

Audio visual aids will be used to enhance the understanding of the laws of the game better. All new candidates desiring to qualify as

football referees are requested to contact Sarto Baptista on tel 25611621 (after 6pm), Junifer Rodrigues on tel 25633261 (after 5 pm) and also C O John on 66274017 (Mangaf/Fahaheel/Ahmadi area) for more information. ✦✦✦ Kuwait Netball Association games: The Kuwait Netball Association games are played on Tuesday evenings between 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm. To register or for more information email: kuwaitnetball@hotmail.com. New players are always welcome.

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 BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will follow the following office hours during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sunday to Thursday: 09:00 - 3:00 pm. Friday and Saturday: Weekly holidays.

EMBASSY OF PAKISTAN A flag hoisting ceremony will be held at the Embassy of Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 8 am to commemorate the Independence Day of Pakistan. All Pakistanis are cordially invited to attend the ceremony. During the holy month of Ramadan Al-Karim the office timings, of the Embassy of Islamic Republic of Pakistan will be from 8 am to 2 pm. The consular services would also be available during

TV PROGRAMS

32

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Orbit / Showtime Listings

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Mercy Royal Pains Smallville Ghost Whisperer The Ex-List Survivor Heroes vs Villains ER Mercy The Ex-List Kings Ghost Whisperer Survivor Heroes vs Villains ER Kings Ghost Whisperer The Ex-List Royal Pains Smallville Mercy ER Damages Cold Case Murdoch Mysteries True Blood

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:30 04:25 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:35 10:00 10:55 11:20 11:50 12:45 13:10 13:40 14:35 15:00 15:30 15:55 16:25 17:20 18:15 19:10 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:50

Pit Bulls and Parolees Sharkman Shark Attack Files 2 Untamed & Uncut I’m Alive Animal Cops Houston SSPCA: On the Wildside Vet on the Loose Animal Crackers Meerkat Manor All New Planet’s Funniest Animals All New Planet’s Funniest Animals Cats 101 In Too Deep Air Jaws 2 Gorilla School Dolphin Days Animal Precinct E-Vets: The Interns Pet Rescue Animal Cops Phoenix Wildlife SOS International SSPCA: On the Wildside Cats of Claw Hill Cats of Claw Hill Dogs 101 Cats 101 Animal Cops Houston Weird Creatures with Nick Baker Galapagos Ultimate Air Jaws Shark Bait Beach Animal Cops Phoenix Untamed & Uncut

00:20 00:50 01:35 01:50 02:35 03:05 03:20 03:40 03:50 04:20 04:35 04:55 05:05 05:35 06:35 07:05 07:20 07:40 07:50 08:20 08:35 08:55 09:05 09:30 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:30 16:15 17:00 17:15 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:30 22:20 22:35 23:30

Ideal Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential Inspector Lynley Mysteries Green Green Grass Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Coast Mastermind 2006 Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Mastermind 2006 Coast Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Mastermind 2006 Mastermind 2006 Doctor Who Confidential The Weakest Link The Weakest Link Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential Inspector Lynley Mysteries Casualty Casualty Sorted Rough Diamond Sd New Tricks Doctor Who Confidential Hotel Babylon Waterloo Road

00:15 00:45 01:35 02:20 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:45 05:15 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:20 11:10 11:35 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:50 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 17:00 17:30 18:20 19:10 20:00 20:50 21:40 22:05 22:50 23:15 23:40

01:30 04:30 06:30 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:15 23:15

Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Fantasy Homes By The Sea The Home Show Ty’s Great British Adventure Ty’s Great British Adventure Fantasy Homes In The City Indian Food Made Easy Rhodes Across China James Martin’s Champagne Coastal Kitchen Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Fantasy Homes By The Sea The Home Show Ty’s Great British Adventure Ty’s Great British Adventure Cash In The Attic Ching’s Kitchen Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Indian Food Made Easy Rhodes Across China James Martin’s Champagne Coastal Kitchen Saturday Kitchen

Eyes Wide Shut-R Swing Vote-PG15 Nicholas Nickleby-PG15 It Might Get Loud-PG15 Fool’s Gold-PG15 2012: Startling New Secret-PG Reservation Road-PG15 Losing Isaiah-PG15 Liberty Heights-18 The Border-PG15 Milk-18

11:30 Tread Bmx 12:00 Tread Bmx 12:30 Tread Bmx 13:00 On Sight 1 14:00 Fim World Supermoto Championships 2009 15:00 Sony Ericsson World B Boy Series 15:30 Sony Ericsson World B Boy Series 16:00 Lucas Oil Motorcross Championships 2009 17:00 Lucas Oil Motorcross Championships 2009 18:00 Legend Of Spiderman 1 19:00 Sony Ericsson World B Boy Series 19:30 Sony Ericsson World B Boy Series 20:00 The endless Summer 21:35 Joe Kid On A Stingray 1 23:05 Continuum 1

Cairo Time on Show Movies

00:40 Serial Killers 01:35 Time Warp 02:30 Brainiac 03:25 Smash Lab 04:20 How Stuff’s Made 04:50 How It’s Made 05:15 Deadliest Catch ‚Äì Behind the Scenes 06:05 Mythbusters 07:00 Massive Machines 07:25 Wheeler Dealers 07:50 Wheeler Dealers 08:15 Ultimate Car Build-Off 09:10 Construction Intervention 10:05 How Stuff’s Made 10:35 Ultimate Survival 11:30 Deadliest Catch ‚Äì Behind the Scenes 12:25 Sharkman 14:15 Air Jaws 15:10 Air Jaws 2 16:05 Mythbusters Shark Special 17:55 How Stuff’s Made 18:20 River Monsters 19:15 Deadliest Catch ‚Äì Behind the Scenes 20:05 Time Warp 21:00 Mythbusters 21:55 Storm Chasers 22:50 Moments of Terror

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:25 09:55 10:50 11:45 12:40 13:35 14:30 15:25 15:55 16:50 17:45 18:10 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Engineered The Colony Nextworld The World’s Strangest UFO Stories Da Vinci’s Machines What’s That About?

How Stuff’s Made Mighty Ships Junkyard Wars The Gadget Show The Gadget Show How Does That Work?

How Does That Work?

Catch It Keep It Scrapheap Challenge Scrapheap Challenge Scrapheap Challenge Scrapheap Challenge What’s That About?

Savage Planet Perfect Disaster Mighty Ships How Does That Work?

How Does That Work?

Invisible Worlds Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Engineered Da Vinci’s Machines Invisible Worlds Speed Junkie Human Cloning

00:00 00:25 00:50 01:15 01:40 02:05 02:30 02:55 03:20 03:45 04:10 04:35 05:00 05:20 05:45 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:01 07:50 08:15 08:35 09:00 09:25 09:45 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:30 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:35 19:00 19:25 19:45 20:10 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 23:35

Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance Jonas Hannah Montana Hannah Montana The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Brandy And Mr Whiskers Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic I Got A Rocket Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Replacements Hannah Montana Kim Possible Famous Five Fairly Odd Parents Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Hannah Montana Good Luck Charlie Sonny With A Chance Dadnapped Hannah Montana Jonas Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic Replacements Phineas And Ferb Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Sonny With A Chance Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Hannah Montana Good Luck Charlie Sonny With A Chance Gotta Kick It Up Hannah Montana

00:40 01:30 03:15 04:10 05:05 05:30 06:00 Tales 07:45 08:35 09:25 10:15 11:05 12:00 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:30 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Bank Of Hollywood Ths Extreme Hollywood Sexiest Battle Of The Hollywood Hotties Streets Of Hollywood 25 Hottest Hollywood Cougar Bank Of Hollywood E! News Ths Ths Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane E! News Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami Ths Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Behind The Scenes Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill E!es Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane E! News Chelsea Lately The Soup 25 Most Stylish

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00

China Invitational 2009 King Of The Cage 1 Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 Drop In TV Drop In TV Drop In TV Drop In TV Drop In TV Drop In TV Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Iron Chef America 30 Minute Meals Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Guys Big Bite Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Everyday Italian 30 Minute Meals Tyler’s Ultimate Guys Big Bite Barefoot Contessa Everyday Italian Food Network Challenge 30 Minute Meals Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Guys Big Bite Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Everyday Italian 30 Minute Meals Unwrapped Paula’s Party Barefoot Contessa Everyday Italian 30 Minute Meals Guys Big Bite Throwdown With Bobby Flay Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Everyday Italian Iron Chef America Throwdown With Bobby Flay Guys Big Bite

00:30 00:55 01:20 02:10 03:05 04:00 04:25 04:55 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics A Haunting A Haunting Psychic Witness Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics Black Museum FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Forensic Detectives FBI Files CSU Mystery ER Forensic Detectives FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Final Days of an Icon Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives FBI Files CSU Mystery ER Forensic Detectives FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Final Days of an Icon Disappeared Serial Killers I Escaped Death I Almost Got Away With It

00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:30

Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali

04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:30 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:30 22:30 23:00 23:30

Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Treks In A Wild World Cruise Ship Diaries Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Bondi Rescue - Bali Pressure Cook Motorcycle Karma Bondi Rescue Don’t Tell My Mother Bondi Rescue Graham’s World Banged Up Abroad Banged Up Abroad 4Real Pressure Cook Motorcycle Karma Bondi Rescue Don’t Tell My Mother Bondi Rescue Graham’s World Banged Up Abroad Banged Up Abroad 4Real Pressure Cook Motorcycle Karma

01:20 02:55 04:45 06:25 08:10 09:45 11:35 12:55 14:25 16:05 17:35 20:15 22:00 23:40

Igby Goes Down The Perez Family Vampire’s Kiss Bigger Than The Sky High Spirits Curse Of The Pink Panther Napoleon Far North Untamed Heart Signs Of Life Hawaii Beauty Shop Bojangles The Boost

00:00 How I met your mother 00:30 Gavin & Stacey 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (repeat) 01:30 The Colbert Report (repeat) 02:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 SNL one hour version 04:00 South park 04:30 Family Biz 05:00 Just Shoot me!

05:30 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 07:00 Gary Unmarried 07:30 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air 08:00 Frasier 08:30 Just Shoot me!

09:00 Family Biz 09:30 Ten Things I hate about you 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Gary Unmarried 11:00 Frasier 11:30 The Simpsons 12:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 13:00 Ten Things I hate about you 13:30 Just Shoot me!

14:00 Family Biz 14:30 Two and a half men 15:00 How I met your mother 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (repeat) 16:00 The Colbert Report (repeat) 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 New Adventures of old Christine 18:30 Will & Grace 19:00 Brothers 19:30 Scrubs 20:00 Entourage 20:30 How to make it in America 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (repeat) 21:30 The Colbert Report (repeat) 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:30 New Adventures of old Christine

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

The Martha Stewart Show Downsize Me The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Monique Show The Tonight show with Jay Leno GMA Weekend (Repeat)

06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00

Parenting Job Club GMA Health What’s the Buzz The Martha Stewart Show Downsize Me Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The View The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show Parenting Popcorn GMA Weekend Live

Coronation Street Desperate Housewives Three Sisters Home Improvement One Tree Hill Psych Desperate Housewives Emmerdale Coronation Street Three Sisters Home Improvement CSI Law & Order

21:55 Pawn Stars 23:40 Human Weapon

00:45 01:15 03:15 04:00 06:00 07:00 Finn

The Screening Room Cannery Row The Screening Room The Night Of The Iguana The Screening Room The Adventures Of Huckleberry

Rails And Ties on Super Movies 16:00 Ahead of The Curve 16:30 Chef’s Table 17:00 The Tonight show with Jay Leno 18:00 Downsize Me 19:00 The View (repeat) 20:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 21:00 The Best of Jimmy Kimmel 22:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Best Of) 23:00 Moms Get Real / Now you know / Amplified

00:30 02:30 04:15 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Hellboy Ii: The Golden Army-PG15 H2o Extreme-PG15 All She Wants For Christmas-PG15 The Brothers Bloom-PG15 The Man From Earth-PG15 Mostly Ghostly-PG Frost / Nixon-PG15 Bottle Shock-PG15 The Man From Earth-PG15 Valkyrie-PG15 Cairo Time-PG15 Sex And The City The Movie-18

01:00 Rest Stop : Don’t Look Back-PG15 03:00 Goal Iii-18 05:00 The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior-PG15 07:00 Mutant Chronicles-PG15 09:00 Arn: The Knight Templar-PG15 11:10 Art Of War Ii: Betrayal-18 13:00 Wushu Warrior-PG15 14:50 Arn: The Knight Templar-PG15 17:00 Smokin’ Aces-18 19:00 Predator 2-18 21:00 The Strangers-PG15 23:00 Kings Of South Beach-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30

New York City Serenade-PG15 Lonely Street-PG15 Picture This-PG15 Heavyweights-PG Adventures Of Power-PG15 Touch And Go-PG Bridal Fever-PG I.q.-PG New York City Serenade-PG15 The Birdcage-18 Maneater: Part I-PG15 Vegas Baby-18 I’m Not Rappaport-PG15

00:00 Pocahontas Ii: Winter Of The Rocky Mount-FAM 02:00 Zeus And Roxanne-PG 04:00 Casper Haunted Xmas-FAM 06:00 Franklin And The Green KnightFAM 08:00 Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs-FAM 10:00 Casper Haunted Xmas-FAM 12:00 Patoruzito-FAM 14:00 Zeus And Roxanne-PG 16:00 Robin Hood: The King’s ReturnFAM 18:00 G-force-PG 20:00 Magic Sport 2-PG 22:00 Patoruzito-FAM

Predator 2 on Show Movies Action

06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00

CSI Law & Order Desperate Housewives One Tree Hill Three Sisters Home Improvement Psych Emmerdale

16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Psych One Tree Hill Emmerdale Coronation Street The Philanthropist Law & Order Desperate Housewives Psych One Tree Hill

00:00 00:30 01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

World Sport ICC Cricket World Tri Nations Cricket Highlights Rugby League Futbol Mundial World Sport Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Tri Nations Rugby League Live Rugby League NRL Premiership Tri Nations Rugby League

01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

UFC 117 Countdown UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter Live UFC 117 Prelims Live UFC 117 Silva vs. Sonnin WWE Bottom Line WWE NXT WWE SmackDown V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship FIA GT1 World Championship WWE SmackDown UAE National Race Day UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 117 Prelims UFC 117 Silva vs. Sonnin WWE Bottom Line

01:00 02:45 04:15 06:15 09:00 PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 PG15 19:00 21:00 23:00

Hindsight-PG15 Leaving Barstow-PG15 A Shine Of Rainbows-PG15 Australia-PG Bring It On 5: Fight To The Finish-

00:05 00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 10:50 11:40 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00

Modern Marvels Evolve The Next Nostradamus Cannibalism Secrets Revealed Surviving History Dogfights Modern Marvels Evolve The Next Nostradamus Cannibalism Secrets Revealed Surviving History Dogfights Modern Marvels Evolve The Next Nostradamus Cannibalism Secrets Revealed Surviving History Dogfights Modern Marvels Evolve How the Earth Was Made 2 Tales of the Gun Declassified

Hancock-PG15 Familiar Strangers-PG From Time To Time-PG15 Bring It On 5: Fight To The FinishRails And Ties-PG15 Gran Torino-PG15 Mama I Want To Sing-PG

08:45 High Society 10:30 The Screening Room 11:00 Somebody Up There Likes Me 12:50 Mogambo 14:45 Two Weeks In Another Town 16:30 The Screening Room 17:00 The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight 18:35 Rhapsody 20:30 December 22:00 The Champ

00:00 Raging Bulls 00:30 Essential 01:00 Flavours of South Africa 01:30 The Thirsty Traveler 02:00 Planet Food 03:00 Top Travel 03:30 Destination Art 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Raging Bulls 05:30 Essential 06:00 Planet Food 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Swiss Railway Journeys 09:00 The Big Fish 10:00 Planet Sports 11:00 People of the Sea 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Intrepid Journeys 14:00 Cutting Edge California 14:30 Hollywood and Vines 15:00 Flavours of South Africa 15:30 The Thirsty Traveler 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Culture Shock 17:30 Croissants In The Jungle 18:00 Planet Food 19:00 Working Holiday 20:00 Great Scenic Railways-US & Canada 20:30 Travel Today 21:00 Globe Trekker 22:00 Travel Notebook 23:00 Globe Trekker

00:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 01:00 My Celebrity Home 02:00 How Do I Look?

03:00 Split Ends 04:00 Dr 90210 05:00 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 06:00 Go Fix Yourself 06:30 The Look For Less 07:00 Style Star 07:30 Dress My Nest 08:00 Clean House 09:00 My Celebrity Home 10:00 Ruby 11:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 12:00 Jerseylicious 20:00 Jerseylicious 21:00 How Do I Look?

22:00 Clean House: Search For The Messiest...

23:00 The Dish 23:30 Tacky House

01:00 01:04 01:45 02:00 02:45 05:00 05:04 08:00 08:04 08:45 13:00 13:04 15:00 15:24 16:00 16:04

Code Sound System 10 Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Code Playlist Code Africa 10 Playlist Code Urban Hit 30 Code Compilation Playlist Code New

Sunday, August 8, 2010

33

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Sunday 08/08/2010 Airlines Flt Route Ariana 405 Kabul/Dubai Wataniya Airways 188 Bahrain Jordanian 802 Amman Middle East 406 Beirut Kuwait 306 Cairo Kuwait 544 Cairo Wataniya Airways 434 Damascus Gulf Air 211 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 408 Beirut Turkish 772 Istanbul Air Arabia Egypt 551 Alexandria Kuwait 108 Geneva/London Egypt Air 614 Cairo Jazeera 267 Beirut DHL 370 Bahrain Jazeera 483 Sabiha Emirates 853 Dubai Bulgaria Air 7029 Varna Etihad 305 Abu Dhabi Jazeera 513 Sharm El Sheikh Jazeera 241 Amman Qatari 138 Doha Falcon 201 Dubai Jazeera 503 Luxor Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok Jazeera 527 Alexandria British 157 London Kuwait 206 Islamabad Kuwait 382 Delhi Iran Air 615 Shahre Kord Kuwait 302 Mumbai Kuwait 332 Trivandrum Fly Dubai 053 Dubai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 286 Chittagong Kuwait 284 Dhaka Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 121 Sharjah Qatari 132 Doha Iran Air 603 Shiraz Etihad 301 Abu Dhabi Iran Aseman 6801 Ahwaz Jazeera 425 Bahrain Falcon 203 Dubai Jazeera 497 Riyadh Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 182 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 102 Dubai Jazeera 165 Dubai Jazeera 447 Doha Egypt Air 610 Cairo Kuwait 672 Dubai Oman Air 645 Muscat Kuwait 774 Riyadh Wataniya Airways 432 Damascus United 982 Washington DC Dulles Jordanian 800 Amman Fly Dubai 057 Dubai Jazeera 257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 422 Amman Kuwait 562 Amman Kuwait 512 Tehran Saudia 500 Jeddah Kuwait 554 Damascus Qatari 134 Doha Kuwait 1802 Cairo Jazeera 173 Dubai Bahrain Air 344 Bahrain Etihad 303 Abu Dhabi Emirates 857 Dubai Gulf Air 215 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 402 Beirut Saudia 510 Riyadh Wataniya Airways 202 Jeddah Arabia 125 Sharjah Jazeera 239 Amman Jazeera 367 Deirezzor SriLankan 227 Colombo/Dubai Jazeera 511 Sharm El Sheikh Wataniya Airways 304 Cairo Kuwait 166 Paris/Rome Wataniya Airways 106 Dubai Kuwait 502 Beirut Kuwait 542 Cairo Kuwait 618 Doha Kuwait 786 Jeddah Jazeera 481 Sabiha Jazeera 177 Dubai Kuwait 744 Dammam Kuwait 674 Dubai Kuwait 614 Bahrain Singapore 458 Singapore/Abu Dhabi Kuwait 102 New York/London Kuwait 552 Damascus Fly Dubai 061 Dubai Oman Air 647 Muscat Middle East 402 Beirut Rovos 081 Baghdad Jet A/W 572 Mumbai Wataniya Airways 642 Vienna Wataniya Airways 404 Beirut DHL 372 Bahrain Gulf Air 217 Bahrain Emirates 859 Dubai Kuwait 172 Frankfurt Qatari 136 Doha United 981 Bahrain Indian 981 Chennai/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad Jazeera 459 Damascus Safi 215 Kabul Jazeera 449 Doha Lufthansa 636 Frankfurt Jazeera 185 Dubai Jazeera 429 Bahrain Egypt Air 612 Cairo KLM 0447 Amsterdam/Bahrain India Express 389 Kozhikode/Mangalore Kuwait 1804 Cairo Wataniya Airways 108 Dubai Pakistan 205 Lahore

Time 00:05 00:30 00:30 00:40 00:50 00:50 00:55 01:05 01:05 01:15 02:00 01:50 02:05 02:10 02:15 02:20 02:25 02:50 02:55 03:05 03:20 03:20 05:25 05:50 06:15 06:20 06:30 07:15 07:20 07:35 07:50 07:55 07:55 08:00 08:05 08:10 08:25 08:40 09:00 09:20 09:20 10:15 10:25 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:45 11:05 11:15 11:20 12:55 13:15 13:15 13:20 13:35 13:35 13:35 13:50 14:05 14:10 14:20 14:20 14:30 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:05 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:55 18:00 18:15 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:15 19:20 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:40 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:30 20:30 20:45 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:20 21:35 21:55 22:05 22:20 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:55 23:10 23:10 23:25 23:55 23:55

Departure Flights on Sunday 08/08/2010 Airlines Flt Route Egypt Air 607 Luxor India Express 394 Cochin/Kozhikode Indian 994 Mumbai/Chennai Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt Middle East 407 Beirut Ariana 406 Dubai/Kabul Turkish 773 Istanbul Air Arabia Egypt 552 Alexandria Egypt Air 615 Cairo DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Bulgaria Air 7030 Varna Etihad 306 Abu Dhabi Qatari 139 Doha Wataniya Airways 101 Dubai Jordanian 803 Amman Jazeera 164 Dubai Jazeera 496 Riyadh Jazeera 422 Bahrain Jazeera 446 Doha Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 181 Bahrain Jazeera 256 Beirut Wataniya Airways 431 Damascus British 156 London Iran Air 614 Shahre Kord Fly Dubai 054 Dubai Kuwait 171 Frankfurt Kuwait 671 Dubai Kuwait 117 New York Wataniya Airways 421 Amman Kuwait 553 Damascus Kuwait 561 Amman Arabia 122 Sharjah Emirates 856 Dubai Wataniya Airways 641 Vienna Qatari 133 Doha Kuwait 773 Riyadh Kuwait 511 Tehran Etihad 302 Abu Dhabi Iran Air 602 Shiraz Iran Aseman 6802 Ahwaz Jazeera 480 Sabiha Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 401 Beirut Falcon 204 Baghdad Wataniya Airways 303 Cairo Jazeera 172 Dubai Kuwait 541 Cairo Jazeera 510 Sharm El Sheikh Jazeera 238 Amman Jazeera 366 Deirezzor Wataniya Airways 201 Jeddah Kuwait 103 London Kuwait 501 Beirut Kuwait 785 Jeddah Egypt Air 611 Cairo Oman Air 646 Muscat Kuwait 551 Damascus Jordanian 801 Amman Wataniya Airways 105 Dubai Fly Dubai 058 Dubai United 982 Bahrain Jazeera 176 Dubai Kuwait 673 Dubai Wataniya Airways 403 Beirut Kuwait 617 Doha Saudia 503 Medinah/Jeddah Qatari 135 Doha Kuwait 613 Bahrain Kuwait 743 Dammam Kuwait 1803 Cairo Jazeera 458 Damascus Rovos 082 Baghdad Bahrain Air 345 Bahrain Etihad 304 Abu Dhabi Wataniya Airways 305 Cairo Emirates 858 Dubai Gulf Air 216 Bahrain Arabia 126 Sharjah Wataniya Airways 321 Sharm El Sheikh Jazeera 184 Dubai Saudia 511 Riyadh Jazeera 448 Doha SriLankan 228 Dubai/Colombo Wataniya Airways 407 Beirut Wataniya Airways 107 Dubai Jazeera 428 Bahrain Jazeera 434 Mashad Kuwait 283 Dhaka Jazeera 266 Beirut Kuwait 361 Colombo Fly Dubai 062 Dubai Singapore 457 Abu Dhabi/Singapore Kuwait 343 Chennai Kuwait 351 Cochin Oman Air 648 Muscat Middle East 403 Beirut Jet A/W 571 Mumbai Wataniya Airways 187 Bahrain Gulf Air 218 Bahrain DHL 373 Bahrain Kuwait 675 Dubai Emirates 860 Dubai Falcon 102 Bahrain Kuwait 381 Delhi Qatari 137 Doha Kuwait 203 Lahore Kuwait 301 Mumbai Jazeera 526 Alexandria Jazeera 636 Aleppo United 981 Washington DC Dulles Jazeera 502 Luxor Kuwait 411 Bangkok/Manila Kuwait 415 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta Egypt Air 613 Cairo

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Time 00:15 00:25 00:50 00:50 01:40 01:45 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:15 03:45 03:50 04:00 05:00 06:50 07:00 07:05 07:15 07:30 07:40 07:45 07:50 08:05 08:10 08:25 08:35 08:40 08:55 09:00 09:05 09:10 09:10 09:15 09:20 09:40 09:45 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:10 10:20 11:15 11:20 11:35 11:35 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:00 12:05 12:10 12:15 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:30 13:55 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:50 14:55 15:10 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:20 16:20 16:25 16:40 16:55 17:00 17:25 17:35 18:05 18:05 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:10 19:25 19:40 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:20 21:30 21:35 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:20 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:55

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for a Keralite family or working ladies to share with another working lady, well furnished two bedroom flat, near Germen Clinic Abbasiya. Tel: 94467326 (C 2549) Sharing accommodation available with family for single decent bachelor, non smoking. Opposite AlRashid hospital, Shara Amman, Salmiya. (For ladies only) Tel: 66232356 (C 2547) Sharing accommodation available for a couple or a working lady share with small family, near Robin store, Abbassiya from September 1. Tel: 97647066 (C 2545) Sharing accommodation available for a decent bachelor Goan or Manglorian only, with Goan (RC) family near Anmol Restaurant, Salmiya. Tel: 97967615 (C 2544) Sharing accommodation available for families, executive bachelors or ladies with 2 BHR, central A/C, (Indian only). Tel: 66625901 / 24716975 (C 2542) 8-8-2010 Flat for sharing, Farwaniya behind crowne plaza. CA/C, separate bathroom, available internet & laundry.

KD 70 monthly. Call: 66604286 (C 2539) 7-8-2010 Abraq Khaitan, sharing bed space available for single Goan bachelor in C-A/C flat, beside bus stop, opp.

Kuwait clinic near police station round about. Call 97523316 / 24745162 (C 2536) Sharing accommodation available for Keralite family or a working lady. From September 1st near Highway Center Abbassiya. Call 67052936. (C 2538) 5-8-2010

SITUATION WANTED

Need a suitable job as admin asst/secretary/customer services. B.A (English). 3 years experience in Kuwait and good organization skills. Can join immediately. Please call: 65578767 (C 2546) 8-8-2010 Accounts/Finance professional (Indian) 18 years of relevant experience in Kuwait seeks suitable placement. Well versed in International Accounting Standards, group company accounts consolidation, treasury, business planning, budgeting & cash flow projection. Tel.90064475 (C 2535) 5-8-2010

No: 14814

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited from professionally qualified RC boys of decent background for our daughter, RC Manglorean, good looking and very decent, 24/161cm, BCom, MCom; Cosmetology; currently working in Mumbai. Contact Email: famarriageproposal@gmail.com bizstrategies_dvp@yahoo.com

8-8-2010 Proposals invited for 28 years, catholic male nurse MOH caste no bar. e-mail: aneeshcrossalison@gmail.com (C 2534) 5-8-2010

FOR SALE Pajero 99, excellent lady driven, running 160,000 km accident free, ready for checking KD 1350. Call: 60677297 (C 2540) Men始s right hand new brand deluxe golf set 18 pec graphite shaft on all wood oversize fairway wood with sand wedge, putter & deluxe bag including. Price KD 175 (original price KD 300). Interested may call: 99793184 (C 2541) 7-8-2010 Toyota Corolla model 2010 white color 1.8 engine 4,500 km. done alloy rim, fog lamp C.D interior wooden, rear bumper camera sensor.

Price KD 4,200. Negotiable.

Tel: 99105286 (C 2537) 5-8-2010

34

SPECTRUM

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Calvin

CROSSWORD 46

Aries (March 21-April 19) There is something gentle, regular, steadfast and determined about you this Saturday. You are accepting and nurturing-providing a nest or place for family members to gather and be close with each other. You care and always enjoy being helpful with your loved ones.

Remember, though, sometimes a listening ear is all that is necessary. Allow someone else to have the neat ideas or the last word--for today. While there are good parts to being in control there are also negative points to ponder when one person is the decision maker. Allowing someone else to be in control may bring you just as interesting experiences and a relief of duty. This is a good day and close relationships can become even closer. A new type of cooking perks your interest this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances at the deepest emotional levels. This is a time of exploring your feelings and a kind of restlessness for new emotional experiences.

There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connections between things, places and people. Your family encourages you in your artistic abilities. You tend towards mental pursuits and admire intelligence. You may find yourself in a group setting where opportunities will present themselves. There is much mental and physical activity. Tutoring and lecturing could be included here. You love to express yourself and enjoy being surrounded by an audience. You are very magnetic and dynamic. Others love to be with you.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. How long something has existed.

4. The basic unit of money in Gambia.

10. System of measurement based on centimeters and grams and seconds.

13. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

14. A genus of tropical American plants have sword-shaped leaves and a fleshy compound fruits composed of the fruits of several flowers (such as pineapples).

15. A spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus.

16. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

17. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

18. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

19. English geologist remembered as the first person to recognize that dinosaurs were reptiles (1790-1852).

21. Capital and largest city of Iraq.

23. A city of southeastern Mexico.

25. The capital of Western Samoa.

28. Any of various small biting flies.

29. English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943).

32. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue separating or binding together muscles and organs etc.

34. A silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion.

35. A chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints).

36. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

37. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

39. The month following July and preceding September.

42. A member of the Siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the Platte and Missouri rivers in Nebraska.

44. Being ten more than eighty.

46. A radioactive transuranic element.

48. The sixth month of the civil year.

50. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

54. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

56. A doctor's degree in musical arts.

59. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

60. Wildly disordered.

63. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

64. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

65. A member of the Algonquian people formerly inhabiting the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

66. (informal) Roused to anger.

67. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

68. Ruddy duck.

69. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

2. Offering fun and gaiety.

3. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

4. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

5. (electronics) Of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input.

6. A dialect of English spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland.

7. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

8. A midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery.

9. (Old Testament) The second patriarch.

10. Of or relating to or characteristic of the Republic of Chad or its people or language.

11. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

12. (informal) A bunch.

20. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.

22. An awkward stupid person.

24. An antianxiety agent (trade name Xanax) of the benzodiazepine class.

26. The noise made by a short puff of steam (as from an engine).

27. The United Nations agency concerned with civil aviation.

30. (pathology) An elevation of the skin filled with serous fluid.

31. A man who is the lover of a girl or young woman.

33. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

38. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

40. Fiddler crabs.

41. Preaching the gospel of Christ in the manner of the early church.

42. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

43. (computer science) A coding system that incorporates extra parity bits in order to detect errors.

45. A rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion.

47. Not plain.

49. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

51. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

52. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

53. Projectiles to be fired from a gun.

54. (of roads) Made of logs laid down crosswise.

55. Tall New Zealand timber tree.

56. Nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate.

57. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

58. An informal term for a father.

61. Wood duck and mandarin duck.

62. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) A conversation with loved ones today may bring up such beloved subjects as the psyche and the psychological. You are intuitive and enjoy debates and discussions. You are able to carry out ideas and bring your dreams into real life phenomena.

You are very communicative as well as curious and may find you enjoy writing, teaching, lecturing or just talking with other similar thinking individuals. Study, research and investigations appeal to you. Continued education or a new class in a favored subject is calling your name. You are always searching out some answer or another. Visiting with family is most important this afternoon. This evening you will enjoy catching up on some recorded movies or news.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You have the energy and opportunity to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish today. There is much energy and drive. If you can, play some music that will keep you going at a steady beat. By the time you finish your project(s), you will feel as though you only started--time flies. A little roof repair here, a little yard work there, a few chores and your ready to hop into a pool or hammock for the rest of the afternoon. You have great insight into matters of personal freedom. You can usually come up with brilliant ways to express, or act out ideas. New methods of lovemaking, raising kids, caring for animals are yours. You are outspoken, very dramatic, impressive and even regal. You relax with a mate tonight.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You have information today that you had not known about before--a missing piece of the puzzle, so to speak. You clear up some questions between you and a loved one or friend this morning and the rest of the day just moves along quickly. Attention to family relationships, domestic chores and romance is favored today. This is a time of exploring your feelings and learning about sharing. Events may line up in your favor and fair play can be realized. You are willing to listen to others, take cues and then reflect and build upon that information.

Others find you gentle, steady and for the most part, kind. Remember, you have to take time to involve yourself in family or neighborhood activities later today--this will build those firm foundations.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may be especially dynamic and assertive today. There are lots of energy and drive available to accomplish anything you want. You may be representing your company in public surroundings today in some form of advertisement, display or presentation.

Ambition and achievement are qualities you hold in special regard. This is a time for getting ahead, a time for combining business and pleasure and a time for enjoying your career with its rewards. The social graces pave your path to success this afternoon. Although this is a Saturday, you put your skills to work in some way to represent your company in the best light. Use opportunities today to network. You find yourself through other people. You may meet someone new and fun today.

Libra (September 23-October 22) There will be an opportunity to overcome a language barrier. Today's aspects bring you charisma, originality and favorable notice. A good conversation with those you love is possible during the day. You could be preparing for out-of-town company much of the afternoon. You are at your most elegant, particularly in social situations. This is a good time to have friends or family in your home to visit or for entertaining. Your enthusiasm is high and your energies move in positive directions. Pay special attention to your diet and make plans to improve your exercise habits. After your company leaves, or they settle in for the evening, enjoy a long walk with your mate to relax. You may become tempted to take part in a marketing test; read the fine line print.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A communications breakdown may have you jumping to make life a little more pleasant. Sensitivity to the needs and wants of others and an appreciation for their frailties, as well as your own, makes you more cautious and conservative . . . you pick your battles with care. A natural sense of what is right brings you a great deal of popularity. People ask your advice often. Family, home, relatives and real estate play a big part in your life now. You want to belong and be included in decisions--by asking questions you will be able to decipher through and express your own feelings. You are lucky today. Like a fish in water when in the limelight or in a group, you have an innate social charm.

You find opportunities to show off your fun side tonight.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your mind is quick and you are full of sharp insights. There is a feeling that anything is possible if you set your sights high enough. You will locate the right people to help you with some project today. You have optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances at deep emotional levels. You are in top form when it comes to mental activities and this could be a time for real breakthroughs in the idea department. Your dreams, visions and ideals propel you in your activities. This is a time of good fortune when things open up in a very natural way for you. Relationships in general get a boost. Harmony is deeply satisfying and get-togethers with friends and loved ones this evening puts a fun ending to a very full day. Perhaps you are learning to truly relax.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yester

Yesterday’s Solution

To

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Kuwait Qatar Abu Dhabi Dubai Raas Al Khayma Al-Shareqa Muscat Jordan Bahrain Riyadh Makkah - Jeddah Cairo

00965 00974 009712 009714 009717 009716 00968 009626 00973 009661 009662 00202

Alexandria Beirut Damascus Allepo Tunisia Rabat Washington New York Paris London Madrid Zurich

00203 009611 0096311 0096321 0021610 002127 001212 001718 00331 004471 00341 00411

Word Sleuth Solution

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Fun times with friends, family or both can be enjoyed today. You could feel great support from those around you, or circumstances may dictate your taking action. You feel healthy, natural and highly energetic. You love a social life--friends and relationships play a major role in your makeup. You could decide to take a short trip to a nearby city for an auction, entertainment, special sale, etc. Close bonds, such as family or friends are very important to you. You like beautiful surroundings, everything that is calm, tasteful and harmonious. You are very giving and flattering in relationships, able to adjust to any situation. Reflective and tactful, you are able to please others. This is one of those days that are fun and satisfying for all.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This morning is a good time to do a little exercise in order to become focused and grounded for the busy day ahead. You may find that others want you to respond to their needs in rapid order. Easy does it!!! Let us get priorities straight. You will probably be coordinating events and supervising as well-this could involve children, professional responsibilities or entertaining guests. Make guidelines known and all will be successful. Take pictures and encourage picture taking. This is a time of making beautiful memories. Take time to play and enjoy your loved ones this afternoon. A friend, who has been out of touch, mysteriously reappears today. You will find the highlights of her or his story quite interesting. Laughter and shared stories are fun.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You are able to solve problems and guide others through some weird happenings today. The unexpected pops up from time to time and today just may be one of those unorganized times. You have the intuitive insight that will be best put to use in interesting situations. Using your higher power for guidance, you will gain a clear vision of whatever action is needed. There are breakthroughs regarding inner growth as well as compassion and communion. Attention settles on home, security and family values. You find new opportunities for adventure. This evening you may find your own life influenced when you encourage a young person to continue her or his education and start working toward her or his goals.

INFORMATION

Sunday, August 8, 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

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22459381

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22451082

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22456536

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22465401

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25746401

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25316254

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25623444

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25388462

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22630786

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24810221

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4719048

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4732263

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3900322

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22617700 25625030/60

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25620111

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22633135

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25658888

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SPECTRUM

36

Sunday, August 8, 2010

obbie Williams and his fiancee have signed a pre-nuptial agreement ahead of their wedding today. The ‘Angels’ singer and Ayda Field visited lawyers over the last month to thrash out a legal deal which sets the maximum payout the actress can expect to receive if the couple divorce. Robbie’s personal fortune is £80 million and his substantial assets include an £8.5 million mansion in Calne, Wiltshire, South West England, a £9 million yacht and a fleet of expensive cars and motorbikes, including a £300,000 black RollsRoyce with a personalized number plate. He is also set to earn millions from his upcoming reunion tour and album with former band Take That. Meanwhile, more details of Robbie and Ayda’s wedding have been revealed. The couple have scrapped plans to tie the knot on the island of Catalina - which is located 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles - instead opting for a ceremony in a top secret location followed by an intimate reception at the pop star’s £12 million Beverly Hills mansion. Robbie’s parents father Pete Conway and

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mother Jan Williams have flown out to the US for the big day, while Ayda’s mother Gwen will be present but not her estranged dad, who lives in Turkey. The 36-year-old singer’s best friend Jonathan Wilkes will also be there as well as his manager Josie Cliff. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Robbie just wants to get married in a lovely private moment with his parents and Ayda’s mother looking on. “He will have a handful of very special people including his manager Josie and his best friend Jonathan. “The couple will tie the knot and then enjoy a small reception at his house. He does not want a big circus and just wants a private affair behind closed doors.” However, none of Robbie’s Take That bandmates - Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange - will be attending as they are all on separate vacations. After the big day, the ‘Rock DJ’ singer will go on a two-week honeymoon with Ayda, 31, before he starts promoting his new single ‘Shame’, which is a duet with Gary.

James Bond is ultimate icon for British me he movie spy - most recently portrayed on the big screen by Daniel Craig - topped a poll of over 7,000 British men with a huge 64 per cent of the vote, beating time traveler The Doctor from the TV series ‘Doctor Who’ and computer game hero Super Mario into second and third place respectively. Andrew Lubega, editor of AskMen UK, who compiled the survey, told BANG Showbiz: “For a number of decades now, James Bond has continued to be the ultimate symbol in cool for men worldwide - and in 2010 things are no different. “He’s cool, confident, strong, sharply-dressed and not lacking in a gag or two. And if that wasn’t enough, in between killing off the bad guys he always finds time to shack up with a variety of gorgeous women.” Other people to make the list of fictional characters men most want to be like were Mad Men’s Don Draper - played by John Hamm in fourth place and superhero Kick-Ass, who was portrayed in the recent movie of the same name by Aaron Johnson, completing the top five. Survey participants were asked which fictional character they would like to be as part of the lifestyle website’s Great Male survey.

T my Winehouse reportedly “insulted” the King of the Zulu Nation. The singer and her director boyfriend Reg Traviss were at the opening of new African-themed restaurant Shaka Zulu in Camden, north London, which included a speech by monarch Goodwill Zwelithini on Wednesday night. Amy is said to have arrived late and drunk and then proceeded to fall asleep during the king’s 15-minute address to the 200 guests. A source told The Sun newspaper: “It was embarrassing, Amy was in a state. People were cringing.

Before the king arrived she was downing glasses of wine and kissing Reg. She completely insulted the king during the speech and showed no respect.”

Reg tried his best to keep his girlfriend under control and didn’t leave her side. At 9pm he left with Amy via the backdoor and put her in a taxi home. The ‘Rehab’ singer’s antics follow her going on a huge bar crawl around London earlier in the week which ended in her falling asleep at a table outside a pub owned by Reg’s parents. During the night she was seen drinking with former ‘OC’ actress Mischa Barton in Camden pub The Hawley Arms.

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he ‘Milkshake’ singer - whose divorce from the rapper was finalized in May following months of legal wrangling over financial arrangements - says she no longer has any reason to row with her former spouse, with who she has 12-month-old son Knight.

She said: “We’re friends. We get along now and it’s all good. We’re divorced but there’s no point in fighting - there’s nothing to fight about. “Our son Knight is hilarious. He’s a shrunken little person and has lots of personality.” Kelis loves her home life and even recorded

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most of her latest LP ‘Flesh Tone’ in her garage, which she says was an inspiring experience. She explained: “It was good to be home and record. I’m inspired by life every day and conversations with friends.” During a break from the spotlight, Kelis trained as a cordon bleu chef and loves sharing her skills with her loved ones. She said: “I took four years off to have a little life and I studied as a chef as a hobby. I fell in love with food - I like preparing food to share with people. I wanted to do something just for me.”

mily Blunt felt like there was an “imposter” living inside her when she had a stutter. The ‘Devil Wears Prada’ star - who developed a speech impediment at the age of seven - revealed that even though she has since overcome the condition, she sometimes struggles to even say her own name. She said: “It was awful, absolutely awful. You feel like there’s an imposter living inside of you who is misrepresenting who you really are. You don’t want to be accepted for being that person but at the same time you do, and you don’t want someone to finish your sentences, yet you breathe a sigh of relief when someone does. The actress - who won a Golden Globe award for her role in ‘Gideon’s Daughter’ - revealed despite achieving critical acclaim, there are still other female actresses she looks up to and admires. She explained: “Cate Blanchett is wonderful. Rachel Weisz is delicious. And Meryl Streep, of course. She’s such a free spirit, so intuitive, she’s got balls, and she manages to maintain a mystique and a wonderful sense of humor. “She’s someone who I admire not only for what she can do - that’s a given - but for who she is.”

— Bang Showbiz

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he singer-and-actor - who is dating actress Jessica Biel - admits he can’t bare to leave his pimples alone and won’t let them go away naturally. He said: “What do I do if I have a spot? Get rid of it! I love doing that.” Justin also admitted he is “religious” in his use of sun screen as he fears getting red-skinned. He said: “I’m religious with sunscreen. British men do lobster don’t they? When I worked in Orlando as a kid, you could always tell who the Brits were. They had tank-top lines and bright-red arms.” Apart from his use of sun screen, the ‘SexyBack’ star insists he does little to look after his appearance. He added to

he ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actor admits he has many phobias and can’t even be in the same room as a spider.

He said: “I’m not superstitious but I am a scaredy-cat in general. “The last time I was frightened was when I saw a massive spider in the bathroom. I had to run out in my towel and scream for my dad.” The 20-year-old star is in touch with his emotions and is never afraid to let people see him cry, even weeping while watching a movie in public. He explained: “I cry a lot but the last time was watching ‘Brothers’, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire. I was on a plane with so many people walking around, but I couldn’t help shedding a tear.” The ‘Last Airbender’ star - who is dating actress Freida Pinto insists he is a patient person, but hates selfishness. He added: “Nothing makes me physically angry but what does tick me off a little is people being selfish. I don’t like that.”

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Cosmopolitan magazine: “I don’t do a lot of that stuff. I trim my eyebrows when I have my hair cut and I have massages, but they’ll be like, deep tissue. It’s more in the clothes for me. “I have a face wash. And I will put lotion on. And maybe some aftershave.”

AsKMen UK’s Ultimate Icon for British Men 1.

James Bond 2.

The Doctor (from ‘Doctor Who’) 3.

Super Mario 4.

Don Draper 5.

Kick-Ass

SPECTRUM

Sunday, August 8, 2010

By Ian Simpson 2 frontman Bono burst back onto rock’s centre stage on Friday after a two-month absence for a back injury, as the Irish band resumed what its manager predicts will be the most lucrative concert tour in history. U2 shook a packed Olympic stadium in the northern Italian

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city of Turin as Bono strutted, pranced, jogged and danced with little sign of being a 50-year-old rock star just 10 weeks off spinal surgery.

“I don’t really know how to hold back, is the problem. You have to let the songs sing you at a certain point,” Bono told Reuters just before relaunching the second leg of U2’s 360 Degree Tour, so called because fans surround a giant cir-

Bono, right, and Adam Clayton of Irish band U2 perform during their first concert of the new European tour after Bono underwent back surgery following an injury during training, in Turin, Italy, Friday. — AP

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cular platform. U2 and Bono, who said he had done rehabilitation work for three to four hours a day, kicked off a rousing set with “Beautiful Day” and “Magnificent”. They also played two new tracks called “North Star Acoustic” and “Glastonbury”. Bono thanked the cheering crowd for letters and emails he had received wishing him a speedy recovery. “This band is like a family. It’s a family business, U2. I am the prodigal son. I would like to thank my brothers for their patience,” the leather-clad Bono told the crowd, referring to his bandmates.

Postponement, major losses The singer underwent emergency back surgery in May after injuring himself. His subsequent rehabilitation forced the band to delay the North American leg of the tour until 2011.

U2 began the tour in Barcelona in June 2009.

The band’s manager Paul McGuinness said Bono had trained hard to get back to performing and the band had done some recording during his recovery. “That’s a process that goes on all the time,” McGuinness told Reuters. “The doctors are very confident. They certified him fit to perform. It’s really a very short time for a spinal injury.” U2’s tour is widely expected to be a strong point in a weak concert season hit by low sales. “This tour by the end of this year will be the biggest grossing music tour by anyone of all time,” McGuinness predicted. “And we will still have another 30 shows next year, 20-30 shows next year.”— Reuters

US actor Sylvester Stallone, center, Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren and British actor Jason Statham are seen during a news conference to promote their new film ‘The Expendables’ in Kiev, Ukraine, yesterday. — AP

By Micky Noonan

By Zorianna Kit t may not seem a likely place to find a dance partner, but as “Step Up 3D” made its way into movie theaters Friday, its makers were hoping kids would line up at box offices to bust a move. “Step Up 3D” bills itself as the first ever dance movie and follows two other films about dance contests among kids that have been solid hits for the Disney studio. Released in 2006 and 2008, respectively, the first two movies have grossed over $260 million worldwide, combined, and now the studio is hoping it can continue its streak.

The film, which stars professional dancers in acting roles, is directed by Jon M Chu, who also helmed the previous installment. He said the 3D format creates an opportunity for the audience to be part of the dance experience, rather than a mere observer on the sidelines. “The 3D frame becomes an active partner in the dance,” Chu told Reuters. “Suddenly the audience can be inside the dance, inside the dance battle. There’s a duet that happens between the audience and the dancer.”

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ollowing in the footsteps of Ringo Starr, Dave Grohl and Phil Collins, Radiohead’s Philip Selway is the latest big-name drummer to step out from behind his kit and make a solo record, trading in his drums for a guitar and a microphone. His debut album, “Familial”-set for release Aug 31 on Nonesuch Records in the United States and a day earlier in the United Kingdom on Bella Union-features collaborations with Lisa Germano, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche and Patrick Sansone.

“It’s a world apart from what I do in Radiohead,” Selway says of the album’s pared-down, acoustic sound. As he prepared for solo dates in August and September, he spoke with Billboard about the record-and Radiohead’s future.

Billboard: Why record a solo album now?

Philip Selway: It’s had a very long gestation period. It’s something that grew out of stuff I was writing on the road and in my own bedroom, going back about seven or eight years. These fragments of music gained a head of steam, and I reached a point where I came to see their potential as a collection of

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By Ann Donahue oodbye, Simon Cowell. Goodbye, Ellen DeGeneres. Hello, Judge to Be Named Later. Amid the past week’s flurry of rumors about who would fill the two vacant judge slots on “American Idol”-Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, Harry Connick Jr and Chris Isaak among the mames mentioned-one fact remained unspoken: Being an “Idol” judge presents almost as many risks as it does opportunities. The paycheck is outstandingaccording to the Hollywood Reporter, Cowell earned $36 million per year-and with Nielsen Media Research’s tally of more than 20 million viewers twice per week for the Fox show, the promotional platform is unequaled on TV. But signing on to a TV institutionespecially one in flux-is a loaded proposition both professionally and personally.

“Here’s the thing about TV: The good news is, it makes you real famous,” Crush Management founder Jonathan Daniel says. “The bad news is, it makes you real famous. You’re much more famous on television than you are as a musician-the fame of it could be distracting. Look at how huge Bret Michaels is from his TV stuff-more so than when he was the lead singer of Poison.”

The two leading candidates for the job appear to be Tyler and Lopez. “Jennifer Lopez is an entertainer first, so it makes a lot of sense,” Daniel says. “Steven Tyler is not an obvious choice-but he’s an awesome personality and maybe this, in his mind, is something where he can be real outspoken and interesting.” “Steven Tyler is a step in the craziest dimension,” a senior major-label executive says. “It’s quite good for J Lo her record career is probably pretty much over now, anyway.”

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Where “Step Up 2” boasted 60 dancers, “Step Up 3D” ups the number to a large 250. Stepping it up, so to speak, was a no brainer, for Chu. Once aimed very specific niche market, dance has become a lot more mainstream in recent years thanks to the popularity of such reality TV shows like “Dancing with the Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance?” and “America’s Best Dance Crew.” Also on TV, top dance groups compete with variety acts on “America’s Got Talent,” while the popular musical series “Glee” features dancing every week.

In fact, “Step Up” dancer Harry Shum Jr. is also part of cast of “Glee.” “With dance shows on TV, the audience is getting more educated,” said Chu. “They’re learning more of the grammar of dance which is exciting. That gives us freedom...to show a bunch of different styles of dance to tell the story.”

Dance-off, 3D style “Step Up 3D” is about a college student who joins an underground dance crew that battles a rival group in a showdown to win some desperately needed money.

The focus of film is not so much on the plot, but the dancing itself. In fact, Chu said that when writing the script, they looked for “the dancer that inspired the character...we kind of reverse engineered that.”

“A lot of the characters in the film are who they are,” he said. When auditioning dancers, Chu said the filmmakers looked all over the world and the Internet to search for the “NBA All Stars of Dance,” referring to the US National Basketball Association professional league.

Luckily some of them were in front of the filmmakers’ very own eyes, as “Step Up” franchise producer Adam Shankman is also a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance?” Five past contestants from the show are in “Step Up 3D. “We have to continue to move dance forward,” said Chu, who is also the creator of a dance web series called “The LXD.” “We have an opportunity to

Turning points Lopez is clearly at a turning point in her career- earlier this year she was dropped by Sony’s Epic Records and recently signed to Def Jam. Her last song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 was “Do

Philip Selway songs that I couldn’t see working for Radiohead.

Billboard: How did you get Lisa Germano and your other collaborators onboard?

It Well,” which reached No 31 in 2007; the track is from the album “Brave,” which has sold just 166,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her most recent film release, “The Back-Up Plan,” made an underwhelming $37.4 million at the box office, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Moreover, Lopez now faces a music market that is often challenging for 40-something female pop stars.

Tyler’s on a US tour with Aerosmith that wraps Aug 14, but in light of the sniping within the band-including threats of litigation-that has been aired for months, he too seems ready for a change in direction. Indeed, guitarist Joe Perry told the Boston Herald that the band was blindsided by the news that Tyler might be an “Idol” judge.

Although there’s a question as to whether young fans would embrace a 60something rocker as an “Idol” judge, the show could potentially provide the charismatic Aerosmith frontman and his band a way to convert those viewers into a new generation of listeners not familiar with “Sweet Emotion” or “Walk This Way.” Besides, at this point in his career, there would appear to be little risk for Tyler of appearing to be “selling out.”

“For people who think Steven Tyler and Aerosmith should keep the legacy of ‘Seasons of Wither,’ it’s too late for that,” Daniel says. The time commitment of “Idol” forces all other endeavors to the back burner for several months of the year, and extracurricular music projects of “Idol” judges have been hit-and-miss during their time on the show.

Randy Jackson’s 2008 album, “Randy Jackson’s Music Club Vol 1,” has sold a lackluster 35,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Paula Abdul’s single from that album, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow,” has sold 407,000 track downloads, but her follow-up stand-alone single, “I’m Just Here for the Music,” has sold only 80,000 downloads, according to SoundScan. — Reuters

Selway: Both me and (Radiohead bandmate Ed O’Brien) were invited to be part of (Crowded House frontman) Neil Finn’s project, 7 Worlds Collide, in 2001. In 2008, he invited loads of songwriters and

musicians to put together a show as a fund-and awareness-raiser for (humanitarian aid organization) Oxfam, so I got to know Lisa through that, and Sebastian and Glenn.

Billboard: Did you enjoy collaborating?

Selway: It was brilliant, actually. Left to my own devices, I wouldn’t have taken the album where it is. I wanted to keep that intimacy and space but keep it from being sentimental or twee-one of the worst crimes in music. Working with Lisa and Seb and Glenn and Pat brought these very distinctive voices but kept the delicacy of the music.

Billboard: Was there anything you found problematic about solo songwriting?

Selway: My first attempts at singing didn’t marry up with what I thought I was doing.

There was a lot of trial and error, finding something that was musical and conversational at the same time. Also, when I was writing the tunes, I didn’t hear drum parts. It was a bit worrying; it made me question my credentials as a drummer-”Why can’t I think of drum parts?!” But Glenn had ideas, and that freed me up to concentrate on the songwriting side of things.

Billboard: Radiohead famously fell out

with EMI, so why put your solo record out on a major label (the Warner Music Groupowned Nonesuch) in the United States?

Selway: My overriding sense of signing with Nonesuch is that they’re music lovers and they have an amazing roster-it felt like a very good home for the music. When we released “In Rainbows” on our own as a download, we went in with the intention of doing something that had a very fast turnaround, and that felt exactly like the music we’d produced. In no way could we have foreseen the way the idea took off.

Billboard: It’s been almost three years since “In Rainbows” was released. What is Radiohead up to at the moment?

Selway: We’re working on new material, but we’re not rushing and not sure when it will be finished. We work for fairly intense chunks of time, then step away from it in order to come back with fresh ears. Those times away from each other definitely help the process. For so many years, our reference points were just each other, which is the nature of being in a band, really. But it’s good to go and have the experience of playing with other musicians; it opens your eyes to different techniques and approaches to music. — Reuters

Lady Gaga performs during the fifth annual concert festival at Lollapalooza in Grant Park Friday, in Chicago.—AP

By Melanie Sims ady Gaga has come a long way since her appearance three years ago at the Lollapalooza music festival-but she hasn’t forgotten some critics’ less-than-stellar reviews of that performance. The voice behind “Paparazzi” and “Bad Romance” commanded thousands of screaming fans in Chicago on Friday night to forget anyone who ever said they weren’t pretty enough or skinny enough-or that “your Lollapalooza BMI stage show was a (exple-

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tive) trainwreck. You’re a (expletive) superstar. You were born that way!” The order was met with a roar from the sea of mostly teens and 20-somethings squished in front of the stage, bouncing up and down with their fists in the air.

It was redeeming moment and a far cry from Lady Gaga’s first appearance at the festival in 2007, when she sang and played keyboard in a glittery bra and tiny, black bottoms. Recordings of the daytime performance show a distracted crowd and a sparse stage. Three years later, a towering

image of a scantily clad Lady Gaga flashed on a billowing white curtain. The singer started the show in a black jacket with skyhigh shoulder pads. Next, she donned a shiny red cape, later dancing around in a transparent dress.

“My name is Lady Gaga. I thank you for coming to my show. I didn’t used to be brave. In fact I wasn’t very brave at all,” she told her fans. “But you have made me brave, little monsters. So now I’m going to brave for you. Tonight, I want you to free yourself.”—AP

SPECTRUM

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Fashion

By Melissa Magsaysay ou wouldn’t know it from her most noteworthy roles, such as the buttoned-up, warm-hearted caretaker in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” or the fragile and worn-looking prostitute in “Hustle & Flow,” but Taraji P. Henson is a selfproclaimed “fashion and shoe” girl, and she’s got the contents of her newly built closet to prove it.

Dressed in a pair of body-hugging G Star jeans and an olive-green T-shirt with platinum-colored epaulets from Bebe, Henson bounds into her closet with a wide smile, loads of energy and what seems endless excitement to show off her most coveted sartorial possessions. She can pinpoint the first time she wore most of them, how she felt and how many heads she turned. But no matter how many Gucci boxes and Vuitton bags are perched around her, she is completely passionate about each and every piece.

Henson, 39, recently moved from a Spanish bungalow in Glendale, Calif., to a newly built Moroccanstyle home in the Hollywood Hills. Her closet space increased along with the overall square footage. “I now have space. I can see everything,” she says. “I don’t even know how I was fitting everything in my other house. Closet space was at the top of my list when looking for a new house, along with the view.”

She got what she was looking for: Besides unobstructed views from west to east, Henson gained a large closet in her master suite as well as one in her “glam room,” where she gets dolled up for appearances and houses her longer red-carpet gowns and fancier attire.

But it’s her master closet that revs her up for getting creative with her clothes and letting her exuberant personality loose. “Even before I became an actress, I used to wake up and dress according to characters,” she says. “It was all a theme to me. One day I’d have long hair down to here with an exotic look, and the next day I may be ghetto Betty with big bamboo earrings, Converse and little shorts. I think that speaks to me as the kind of artist and actress I am. I’m very expressive, and this helps me in developing characters. I ask myself, ‘What does she look like? What would she wear?’”

The flow of her closet is a work in progress. Not everything is perfectly uniform, not all the hangers match and smell of cedar, nor is there a Jetsonsstyle catalog system in place. But this seems to suit the actress who references her closet like a giant (and high-end) dress-up chest. From stacks of skinny jeans to shoes in the original boxes (categorized by color and style), Henson’s 7-by-12-foot walk-in closet, complete with a built-in vanity, is a girly girl’s sanctuary. Among other things, it’s stocked with sexy skirts, tokens from abroad (such as China, where she spent three months filming “The Karate Kid”) and numerous pairs of shoes in styles suitable for walking the red carpet or walking her dog, a silky terrier named Willie.

“These are my walk-the-dog shoes,” she says, pulling out a pair of caramel-colored, fleece-lined boots festooned with two tiers of fringe that shimmy like a Tina Turner mini-dress. They are just one of many pairs of furry and cold-weather boots. “Tom Hanks gave me these,” she says of some white, cable-knit boots with pom-pom tassels (the actress just wrapped the film “Larry Crowne,” starring and directed by Hanks). “And I wear these (bubblegum-

Wardrobes in history

Y

From Cleopatra to Carrie Bradshaw, a need for that special place.

69 BC to 30 BC Cleopatra is undoubtedly a clotheshorse. Everyday clothing worn by most women in her time includes underdresses of linen or silk with an over-robe, sometimes of the same material. An outer-cloak, or palla, is worn over both those garments. Women of substance wear bright colors such as scarlet and yellow, historians say. Cleopatra’s sandals may very well be Roman; her jewels and crowns, many. But where the heck does she put all this stuff? Most likely in chests and baskets.

1792 A mob invades the Tuileries and ransacks the imprisoned Marie-Antoinette’s opulent wardrobe, a symbol of noble arrogance and oppression. Earlier, a mob broke into Versailles and smashed all the mirrors in the queen’s dressing room. The queen probably keeps her clothes in armoires, which originated sometime in the 16th century to hold weapons-hence the name-but which by the 1700s are used for clothing storage.

Taraji P Henson dons a necklace. pink Timberland boots) if I go up to Big Bear. I have a ski suit with pink stitching, and my goggles are pink. See, everything is about fashion for me!”

Her collection of flat, furry boots is but a minor blip in the well-stocked closet. It’s the heels, nay stilettos, tall supermodel-meets-superhero shoes, that not only stand out like shiny little trophies, but that Henson is obviously most jazzed about.

Shoeboxes stacked according to style, color and print are marked with photographs of the box’s contents. YSL, Guiseppe Zanotti, Louboutin and plenty of her favorite Gucci shoes fill closet compartments to heights that would make any girl first drool, then seethe with envy.

“Oh! I have to show you the shoes that go with the cage dress!” She is referring to a pair of black Gucci heels that she wore-with a Mandalay cocktail dress with a cage-like corset around the waist-when hosting this year’s BET Awards after-party with P Diddy. “Let me tell you something about these shoes,” she says. “They are showstoppers.” She is equally if not more excited to pull down a box containing shoes she calls “mad hunt” shoes, meaning she saw, she found, she bought, she conquered.

Henson has more than a few pairs of mad hunt shoes.

“These Chloe booties were a mad hunt,” she says. “I saw the runway show online and needed this color (a deep forest green suede). They’re like artwork; you can tie them up, slouch them down, they’re so incredible. I’ll really go nuts for some shoes and if you get good shoes, they are forever.

I’ll have these forever.” She ensures that the structure of her shoes lasts as long as her adoration for them by reinforcing the soles and heels of every pair (even her sandals) before wearing them. “I have the bottoms put on all my shoes,” she says “When you’re spending that kind of money on shoes, you’ve got to take care of them, and I do.”

She fawns over a pair of thigh-high Guiseppe Zanotti boots with bondage-esque buckles and

Taraji P Henson uses Polaroid stills taped to the outside of the shoe box to identify its contents inside her closet at her Moroccan-style home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

—MCT photos

n the realm of haute couture, where seamstresses concoct handmade gowns that cost as much as a car, one atelier has caused a sensation by purveying a different kind of made-to-measure. Call it do-ityourself chic. The atelier, called the Sweat Shop, is a kind of Internet cafe where Singer sewing machines replace computers, and would-be fashion designers and creatively inclined clotheshorses pay by the hour to stitch their own garments. The brainchild of a Swiss makeup artist and an Austrian clothing designer, Sweat Shop opened in March, as France was still reeling from global economic crisis and unemployment in the country stood at more than 10 percent.

“It seems like a strange thing to say, but the crisis turned out to be the perfect timing for us,” said Martena Duss, the atelier’s Lucerne, Swiss-born cofounder. “After years of having this attitude that was all about consumption, people are now about recycling and saving and being creative.” The space itself sets the tone: A dilapidated former printing press in the up-and-coming Canal Saint Martin neighborhood of eastern Paris, Sweat Shop is furnished with found and secondhand objects in what might be dubbed haute kitsch style. A couch set in mustard yellow velvet sits beneath a mounted deer’s head; grandma tschotskes and crocheted doilies cover every surface; the white sewing machines, provided free-ofcharge by the manufacturer, sit atop refurbished

I

straps. “These are really my rock star boots,” she says of the shoes that make her look as if she’s about to get on stage and do a duet with Rihanna.

“When I want to feel like a model, I put on these Gucci sandals,” Henson says plucking a pair of metallic sandals with giant platforms out of their box. “These make me feel 10 feet tall, and these just go with everything, like this new piece I just added (a leopard-print Dolce & Gabbana shift dress).

“I talk to my clothes too! ‘Hey, girl! Who am I gonna wear today?’ I know I’m a nut,” she says breaking into her characteristic wholehearted laugh.

In addition to shoes, Henson’s love of handbags shows in her collection. There is a black Gucci tote bag that she plans to pass on as an heirloom someday because, as she says while stroking the buttery leather, “this will just get better with age.” A grapey purple Gucci hobo “pops” any outfit and pairs well with some purple Gucci d’Orsay pumps that are stowed away on a shelf. And the piece de resistance-and here Henson cautions that an onlooker might want to sit down, because the bag is that good-a crimson Valentino shoulder bag with cascading ruffles. Henson can’t help but give it a little smooch.

She moves on to a few sentimental items, such as the silk cheongsams she brought back from China, several pairs of shoes worn during press events surrounding her supporting actress Oscar nomination for “Benjamin Button” and her first pair of designer shoes, as well as the first designer bag she purchased when she started gaining success as an actress in Hollywood. Henson says she was “woozy and sweating” while taking the plunge and purchasing such big-ticket items, but, she is quick to add, “These are things I’ll keep forever.” And since most days Henson is inspired to don a different look depending on her mood or destination, it’s a good thing she has an ample closet with lots of “forever” items to fuel her fantasies.

Henson keeps her signature fragrances, such as “Child” and “My Life” by Mary J Blige, on her vanity top in her closet.

school desks.

It costs euro6 ($7.90) per hour to use one of the Singers, but some prior sewing experience is required. For novices, Duss and her co-owner, Sissi Holleis, offer sewing classes five evenings a week.

Because home economic classes have long been absent from the French public school curriculum, the lessons are Sweat Shop’s most popular offerings, Duss said. Beginners all start with the same simple projects - a pillow or a bag - but after that, clients come with their own fabric and ideas. “The most frustrating thing for people is that they just don’t realize how time consuming it’s going to be,” said Duss. “They come in here thinking they’re going to make a wedding dress in a single afternoon, and it’s like, ‘Um, no, that’s just not possible.’”

Both Duss and Holleis learned how to sew in school, and 38-year-old Holleis turned the skill into a profession, designing an eponymous line that she sold in her Paris boutique. After a decade in business, Holleis closed the store in 2008, said 28-yearold Duss, who studied to be a makeup artist and works mostly on fashion shoots and runway shows.

“Sissi is the real professional. I don’t sew well, per se, but I do it in my own way,” said Duss, who was sporting a roughhewn gray haltertop of her own confection.

In addition to sewing classes, the shop offers knitting lessons, birthday and bachelorette parties

1945 Suburbia: With the end of World War II comes the housing boom in America. In tracts of new houses that rise in expanding suburbs, traditional armoires and wardrobes are replaced with walled-in spaces designed into the bedroom plans.

Taraji P Henson holds one of her handbags, just one of her favorite items.

1968 In Delray Beach, Fla., ClosetMaid’s Norm and Don Sauey invent “ventilated shelving,” a system of adjustable wire racks designed to tame messy closets, launching a craze for closet organizing that has yet to abate.

1979 Princess Diana, a trend-setting clutter-buster, cleans out her closet and donates 79 dresses for charity sale at Christie’s.

1981 As Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest,” Faye Dunaway issues her proclamation: “No wire hangers!

What’s wire hangers doing in this closet when I told you no wire hangers? Ever!” America listens. Nearly three decades later, stores offer hangers in solid walnut, rainbow-colored plastic, no-slip textured vinyl, modern chrome and damask padding.

1986 Filipinos stand in line for hours to see the palace of fallen leaders Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. Jaws drop inside the first lady’s closets, which include a space dubbed Imelda’s Department Store by volunteer guides.

The room has 37 clothes racks packed with more than 1,000 gowns and mink stoles. More than 2,600 pairs of shoes are on display, and two giant racks hold hundreds of imported leather purses. Her imported underwear is piled in a heap nearly 4 feet high.

1993 Madonna renovates her new home Castillo del Lago, a Spanish-style castle in the Hollywood Hills built in the 1920s for Bugsy Siegel. Among Madonna’s changes: converting one-third of the master bedroom into a shoe closet.

2002 In “Panic Room,” Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart play a mother and daughter who take refuge from burglars in a glorified closet equipped with a bulletproof steel door, food, water and fire blankets. In the real world, builders of panic rooms report brisk post-9/11 business, with clients shelling out as much as $500,000.

Showing off her favorite items inside her closet.

2005 Pre-recession America: In an article titled “Walk-In? More Like Live-In,” the LA Times Home section reports on fashion-frenzied Southern Californians spending $80,000 to $120,000 to trick out monster closets averaging 500 square feet. Accoutrements du jour: ottomans, TVs, mini fridges, sinks, sound systems, three-way mirrors, chandeliers and “shoe chambers,” which are closets within closets devoted to footwear.

2006 Authors Eric Abrahamson and David H Freedman examine clutter in American life in “A Perfect Mess.”

Among their subjects are Meg and Ben, a semi-anonymous Manhattan couple living in a two-bedroom, $1.5million apartment with maxed-out closet space. Meg reveals her husband’s solution: a shower stall converted into storage for their overflowing belongings, which include stuffed animals, an unused yoga mat, a seashell collection, handcuffs and a guitar.

— MCT

On the vanity stool in her closet trying on shoes .

In this photo taken July 23, 2010, Switzerland-born co-founder of the Sweat Shop, Martena Duss, smiles as she poses at her cafe in Paris. — AP

and, during the summer, French language immersion-cum-knitting courses. It’s also a cafe, serving up potent espressos and homemade cakes. Sweat Shop has attracted considerable attention from French fashion magazines, and 80 percent of its clientele are women aged 25-35, said Duss, adding that for some reason “there are lots of men in the knitting classes.” The shop also attracts a fair share of people passing through Paris, as well as some veteran seamstresses like an 80-year-old Swedish woman who spends nearly every afternoon there.

The shop has already proven a much bigger success than Duss and Holleis initially envisioned.

“We were a bit nervous because there isn’t much of a do-it-yourself culture in France,” Duss said.

“Maybe it’s because there’s so much perfection all around, with haute couture and haute cuisine, but French people are generally reticent do things that may not be perfect.” “But now, I think people are eager to express themselves and be their own designer and personalize what they wear. They don’t all want to be going around in the same H&M Tshirt,” she said, adding that she and Holleis have already gotten franchise offers. “For the moment, we’re taking it slow. This is like our baby, so we want it to have time to grow up a little. But we sometimes joke that our goal is to have three stores in three years,” she said. A top destination for the first new branch? Possibly New York, she said. — AP

39

SPECTRUM

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Fashion

odeling agent Carole White will tomorrow tell a court trying former Liberian strongman Charles Taylor for war crimes and trafficking in ‘blood diamonds’ that he sent uncut stones to Naomi Campbell, court papers show.

White’s evidence is likely to contradict that of her former protege, who testified she received a gift of “dirty-looking stones” late at night in 1997 after meeting Taylor at a charity dinner but wasn’t sure if they came from him.

White has told prosecutors that the supermodel and Taylor “were mildly flirtatious with each other” and discussed the diamond gift at the dinner hosted by South African president Nelson Mandela. “(White) heard Mr Taylor tell Ms Campbell that he was going to send her diamonds,” according to notes of an interview the prosecution had with White. “It was arranged that he would send some men back with the gift.”

According to White, Campbell “seemed

M

By Jean Patteson Q: How do celebrities cover underthe-eye circles so flawlessly?

Nothing works on my dark shadows.

A: For their close-ups, celebrities usually have the benefit of top-notch makeup artists, photographers and flattering lighting. A certain amount of airbrushing or digital enhancement often comes into play as well. Fortunately for us non-celebrities, there are a number of simple, inexpensive treatments that may help. Dark circles may be hereditary or could be caused by allergies, nasal congestion or the thinning of the skin under the eyes as we age, which makes underlying blood vessels more obvious. Here are some possible fixes to try: Get more sleep. Although tiredness doesn’t usually cause under-eye shadows, lack of sleep does make you paler and more hollow-eyed, so existing shadows are more obvious. Add a pillow.

Elevating your head when you sleep can prevent the puffiness that develops when fluid pools in your lower eyelids, causing them to swell and cast shadows under your eyes. Relieve nasal congestion. Swollen blood vessels make the under-eye area puffy and darker. Clear sinuses with a saline spray or a saltwater solution (\ teaspoon sea salt dissolved in 2 cups warm water).

Use a cold compress. Chilled, used teabags or frozen peas wrapped in a soft

excited about the diamonds and she kept talking about them”.

Two men arrived at Campbell’s door that night, and White said she saw them give her “a scrubby piece of paper” containing about six “small, greyish pebbles”. “(White) thought that Ms Campbell was disappointed,” when she opened the parcel “because she thought she was going to get a big shiny diamond and these just looked like pebbles”.

Taylor, 62, is accused of receiving illegally mined “blood diamonds” in return for arming rebels who murdered, raped and maimed civilians in neighboring Sierra Leone, amputating their limbs and carving initials on their bodies. He faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1991-2001 Sierra Leone civil war that claimed some 120,000 lives.

Prosecutors had subpoenaed Campbell in the hope she will confirm that Taylor had possessed rough diamonds at the time. He denies it. White is due to testify for about

cloth can temporarily reduce dilated under-eye blood vessels.

Wear sunglasses and use sunscreen.

Over time, the extra pigment produced by exposure to the sun can make circles worse. Cosmetics. Creams containing vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E and retinol may reduce the appearance of

two hours from 9:00 am (0700 GMT) on Monday, followed by US actress Mia Farrow for an hour. Farrow, who was also at the dinner, has told prosecutors that Campbell told her and other guests an “unforgettable story” the following day. “She told us that she had been awakened in the night by knocking at her door, she opened the door to find two or three men, I do not recall how many, who presented her with a large diamond which they said was from Charles Taylor,” says Farrow’s statement.

Campbell told judges in Taylor’s war crimes trial Thursday that she had given the stones to a friend, Jeremy Ratcliffe, who worked for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. Ratcliffe has since announced having handed the suspected blood diamonds to South African police on Thursday.

Prosecutors allege the diamonds were part of a batch Taylor took to South Africa “to sell... or exchange them for weapons” for Sierra Leonean rebels. — AFP

swelling worse. Apply by dotting a small amount of concealer under the eyes, from the inner corner to under the pupil. Blend by tapping very gently.

Finish with a light dusting of translucent powder. To try several different brands of concealer at one sitting, visit a cosmetics boutique such as Ulta or

In this image made from television Naomi Campbell is seen holding the bible being sworn in at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in Leidschendam, Netherlands, Thursday, Aug 5, 2010.—AP

or WIN Sport Detergent, the last available online at windetergent.com and amazon.com. Dry-cleaning will also help, but that gets expensive.

Also, store your clothing in a separate room from your husband’s gear.

And ban smoking inside the house to prevent the smell getting into sofas, draperies and linens as well as your clothing and hair. Any other suggestions, readers?

Lost & found Lost: Amelia is trying to find California Baby sunscreen products.

Found: Good news for Doris, who is looking for slacks in pastel shades, especially yellow. She can find pant and capri styles at BonWorth stores, and online at bonworth.com. Readers asking how to enter our Fashion Focus Ultimate Makeover Contest can find all the details at OrlandoSentinel.com/makeover.

dark circles. But finding a cream that works for you could get expensive. The right concealer to camouflage the dark circles would be a more reliable (and less costly) fix.

Makeup artists recommend a peachtinted concealer a shade lighter than your skin color-and avoid scented products and those containing salicylic or glycolic acid, which can irritate delicate eye tissue, making discoloration and

Sephora.

A stinky situation Q: My husband smokes, which stinks up my clothes as well as his.

How do I get rid of the smell? Regular detergent doesn’t do the job.

A: A detergent formulated to remove odor from athletic wear may do the trick. Try Tide + Febreze Freshness Sport, Sunlight Deep Clean

Shaun white shoes Just in time for back-to-school shopping, Target is launching a collection of Shaun White shoes to compliment the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s latest apparel line for the chain. The new collection features skate-inspired looks for boys and young men, and incorporates designs by White’s brother, Jesse.

There are six shoe styles in shades of electric blue, gray and black, including the Scrambler skate shoe ($27.99).

— MCT

Kelly Trella, left, has her son Jake, 2, try on a winter coat she just received from thredUP at their home in Meriden, Conn, Monday. — AP

By Lisa Orkin Emmanuel elly Trella has found a way to get rid of her 2year-old son’s old clothes: She swaps them.

Trella was looking for a way to clear out her basement when she stumbled upon a magazine article about thredUP, a children’s clothes swapping website. She signed up and has been swapping gently used clothes from her Meriden, Conn, home ever since. “Its cost-effectiveness is terrific. It’s really great to have an opportunity to share with folks around the country,” she said.

ThredUP launched in mid-April and now has 15,000 members with another 1,000 being added each week. Founder and CEO James Reinhart says the Cambridge, Mass.-based company is trying to attract parents who are buying back-to-school clothes, which, he says, is one of the largest oneshot expenditures for families during the year. That thredUP even exists is surely driven by the economy, but there are other ways to swap clothes.

The national retail chain Once Upon A Child sells new and gently used products. These days people who once only dropped off clothes are buying them, too, said Dawn Weston, owner of the franchise in Brandon, Fla. “More people are being conservative. They are being conscious of what they spend,” she said. “They didn’t have to worry about it before.

They still want their kids to have those really nice things, but they don’t have the bucks to do it.”

Online back-to-school swapping was a natural extension of clothing rental sites for grown-ups. At renttherunway.com, a $1,050 Herve Leger dress can be rented for $150, “to give every woman in American access to this Cinderella experience,” said co-founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman. Expectant mothers can rent a pretty dress at

K

RentMaternityWear.com.

ThredUP partnered with a Boston charity Cradle to Crayons to give $1 from every swap to the charity to help clothe children and buy them school supplies. The site sends 10 empty post office boxes to each customer. The customer browses the website for boxes of clothing. Once a box is found, the customer pays $13 for shipping and the box is sent to them by whoever currently has it. The customer then agrees to list a box of clothing and they’re notified when someone picks it so they can send it off.

Swappers can choose what boxes of items interest them based on variables such as gender, size and season. There are no photos of the clothing, so decisions are pretty much based on brands and descriptions. “The first box I got, I paid $13 total and I got 13 shirts. No stains. No tears. Yeah, they have gone through the wash a couple times,” Trella said.

Trella said her son goes to day care full time, so she wants clothes that can get dirty, and the price is right. “You are only shelling out a small amount of money,” she said, “You are giving and you are getting. It’s a nice to share.” The basic membership to the site is free; premium is $29.99. The company relies on customer reviews to weed out the people who are giving clothing that is in bad condition.

Redbook Deputy Executive Editor Melanie Mannarino said there is an element of trust involved for the people who use the site. The magazine featured the site in its August issue. “It’s almost friendly and neighborly,” she said. The risk is whether other people will have the same taste in clothing as you do, she said. But, it’s not as limited as shopping at garage sales and thrift stores. Mannarino said the site shows a shift in the American mentality toward saving and conserving. “Now these clothes are going to go to somebody else who can use them,” she said. — AP

Kelly Trella, left, searches the site thredUP on her laptop while her son Jake, 2, plays at their home . — AP

www.kuwaittimes.net

Indian artist Owais Husain poses with one of his paintings at the Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai on August 4, 2010. Husain has the most recognizable surname in Indian art.—AFP photos

Indian artist Owais Husain poses with his paintings at the Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai.

Exiled Indian artist’s son keeps name alive with solo show

By Phil Hazlewood

O

wais Husain has the most recognizable surname in Indian art-his father, MF Husain, is the country’s leading modern painter now living in exile. While Husain senior remains in Qatar, destined never to return to his homeland for fear of protests by Hindu conservatives, his youngest son is keeping the family name alive on the Indian art scene. The 43-year-old is currently showcasing a diverse body of work in his first solo exhibition in Mumbai for 10 years, attracting

plaudits as an artist in his own right.

“I don’t think he carries that baggage of being his father’s son,” said Dadiba Pundole, director of Mumbai’s Pundole Art Gallery, where MF Husain had exhibited many of his works. “He has a completely different approach to painting, more intense in that sense. A lot of it tends to be autobiographical which makes it difficult to some degree to get into the work. “But the element of the narrative is very strong.” Owais Husain’s “Three Worlds” exhibition, which opened at the Tao Art Gallery in south Mumbai on Friday, shows

that he has been busy since his last solo display in the city — not just in the mediums of painting and drawing.

Also on show are examples of his photography, music, multi-media installations, sculptures and even poetry. “I’ve always felt that these elements have been like slaves to my painting and drawing,” he told AFP as he put the final touches to the exhibition. “I just feel I’m a painter who roams from one room to another.

I just try to imbibe that atmosphere within me.” In a room in the basement of the gallery,

the walls are scrawled with messages. In the centre, two beds are covered with balls of red wool, as music-also his own composition-floats through loud speakers.

“This is pretty much what I’m about,” he says, shining a torch around the darkened room.

“I never want people to understand exactly what I’m saying,” he added. “My works are a house. You can enter through a window or through a door... I want to elicit a response.”

To meet Husain is to understand why he works in so many different mediums. He

speaks quickly, fluently and in metaphors, jumping from subject to subject and readily describing himself as a “misfit” who can’t be categorized neatly.

He is currently working on an experimental opera and has just finished shooting an independent film, which will be his directorial debut. But the influence of his father can still be detected, as he admits to being “fascinated by the imagery of the (human) figure”. That got his Muslim father into trouble when he portrayed Hindu goddesses in the nude, provoking protests by religious right-wingers, a

5 most memorable movies about greed

By Christy Lemire

“G

reed, for lack of a better word, is good,” Gordon Gekko famously assured us. “Greed is right. Greed works.”

Greed also can make for memorable films in which characters want, need, desire, and will do whatever it takes to have it all. Sometimes they get in over their heads in their schemes, which always makes things juicier, as we see in this week’s new release “Middle Men.” Inspired by the true story of the origin of Internet porn, it is basically about a couple of guys who wanted to make a ton of money to buy more cocaine and hang out with gorgeous women at exclusive parties. Sounds reasonable. Here are five other movies that should satisfy your desire for more-more-more: “ Wa l l S t r e e t ” (1987): Well, of course, where else would we start?

Oliver Stone’s classic epitomized the conspicuous-consumption mentality of the 1980s and provided Michael Douglas with one of his best-known characters and best-known lines.

(People always get it wrong, though.

Corporate raider Gordon Gekko never actually says “Greed is good” verba-

Charlie Sheen (left) and Michael Douglas are shown in a scene from “Wall Street.”—AP tim.) It also earned Douglas a bestactor Oscar, but truly, the slicked-back hairdo alone could have sealed the award for him. And it still is relevant: The sequel, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” is scheduled to hit theaters next month, starring Shia LaBeouf and featuring Douglas once more as Gekko, albeit with far less hair product. “ C i t i z e n K a n e ” (1941): Who better personified the drive for bigger

and better and more stuff than Charles Foster Kane? Just take a look at Xanadu, the palatial estate crammed with all the crap the millionaire newspaper tycoon amassed. He rose from poverty and began his career as an idealist, but Kane’s desire for more newspapers, power and influence became all-consuming, until he died alone and shrouded in mystery. It is the archetypal rise-and-fall story, and the largerthan-life persona of director, co-writer

and star Orson Welles, both on screen and in real life, added to the intrigue.

Plus, it is largely considered the greatest film ever made. “ Fa r g o ” ( 1 9 9 6 ) : One of the absolute best from Joel and Ethan Coen, it won two Academy Awards: for the brothers’ original screenplay and for best-actress Frances McDormand as the plucky, persistent and extremely pregnant small-town sheriff Marge Gunderson. But the greed part comes from an inept scheme by car salesman Jerry Lundegaard, played by the tremendous William H. Macy, who arranges to have his wife kidnapped to collect the ransom. This does not go as planned. Darkly funny and starkly photographed by the great cinematographer Roger Deakins, “Fargo” is a film you can watch repeatedly and see something new each time. You betcha.

“A Simple Plan” (1998): Similar aesthetically to “Fargo,” with its beautifully bleak winter landscape and Minnesota setting. But whereas that was a neo-noir, this is an emotionally complex family drama; a great example of people who are not as smart as they think they are getting into more trouble than they ever could have imagined. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob

Thornton are equally excellent as brothers who discover $4 million in cash in a downed airplane. What should be a simple plan for the money ends up being anything but when greed and paranoia take hold. Director Sam Raimi ratchets up the tension as his characters make one bad decision, which leads to another, which leads to another ... “ S c a r f a c e ” (1983): We’re going with the Brian De Palma version, not the 1932 Howard Hawks original, just because it is more fun. Admit it: You stop and watch it every time it is on television while you’re flipping channels. It is such a guilty pleasure it is irresistible: the clothes, the cars, the coke, that house with the giant, sunken bathtub and of course, the notoriously over-the-top performance from Al Pacino as drug lord Tony Montana.

Like “Wall Street,” it is an emblem of 1980s’ wretched excess. After all, Tony is told that the world is his, so why shouldn’t he want it all? Or as he so eloquently puts it: “In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.” What more do you need?—AP

46th session of the International Carthage festival

Members of circus of Mana perform during the opening of the 46th session of the International Carthage festival at the Roman theatre in Carthage, near Tunis yesterday.—AFP

mountain of court cases and death threats.

His paintings were vandalized and gallery owners who wanted to display his works were threatened. The 94-year-old, once described as “the pioneer of post-Independence Indian modern art”, gave up his Indian citizenship earlier this year. Owais Husain seems reluctant to talk about his father, saying only that he advised him against embarking on a career as a painter.

“He was being protective in his way,” he added but said that he has been supportive, even though their views on art differ.—AFP

Bodyguard: Anna Nicole’s boyfriend supplied drugs

By Linda Deutsch Anna Nicole Smith was “obsessed” with pills and was assisted in taking drugs by her lawyer-boyfriend in the weeks before her death, the celebrity model’s bodyguard testified Friday. Maurice Brighthaupt depicted a chaotic situation at the home where Smith was staying in the Bahamas after the birth of her daughter and the death of her son, Daniel, from a drug overdose.

Brighthaupt said he saw defendant Howard K Stern holding Smith’s head and giving her pills when she was too weak to take them on her own. Meanwhile, Dr Khristine Eroshevich, another defendant who was Smith’s psychiatrist, was trying to hide medications from Smith after shipping the drugs to the model from Los Angeles, he said. Brighthaupt identified shipping receipts and said Eroshevich sent Chloral Hydrate, a powerful sleep medicine, which Smith gulped from the bottle. It was named in her autopsy as one of the nine drugs on which she eventually overdosed. “She was demanding them like an addict,” Brighthaupt said, but the comment was stricken by the judge because an issue in the case is whether Smith was addicted or merely dependent on drugs to ease pain.

In one confrontation with Smith, Eroshevich “started crying and threatening to leave if she mixed alcohol and prescription drugs,” Brighthaupt said. “And what was Mr Stern saying?” Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose asked. “Oh, he said she can handle it. Anna can handle it,” the bodyguard recalled. Across the courtroom, Stern shook his head and appeared incredulous. Stern and Eroshevich have pleaded not guilty along with Dr Sandeep Kapoor to conspiring to supply the Playboy model and reality TV star with massive amounts of opiates and sleep medications. They are not charged with causing her 2007 overdose death in a Hollywood, Fla., hotel room. On crossexamination by Stern’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, Brighthaupt said Stern loved and cared for Smith. “I don’t think he forced drugs on her.

From what I know, it was her time to take medicine and he gave her medicine,” Brighthaupt said. “I believe Anna made her own decisions.” Brighthaupt said he wishes he had taken drugs away from Smith. “I think about that every day.” He acknowledged selling pictures and interviews to cable TV for more than $100,000 after Smith’s death. But most of what he said on the shows were lies, including his claim that he never saw Methadone, a powerful pain killer, in her home, Brighthaupt said. She was taking it in huge doses. “I thought as someone who had protected her in life, I should try to save what reputation she had left,” he said. “She was like a sister to me.” Brighthaupt said his lying is over now. “I knew there would come a time when I had to be truthful,” he said. “I came clean.” Asked about Stern’s reaction to a suggestion that Smith needed treatment, Brighthaupt said: “He explained she was in rehab before and that it almost killed her and she vowed not to go into rehab again.” As Smith drifted further into a drug haze, she once fell off a raft in the middle of the swimming pool and sank to the bottom before Brighthaupt rescued her, he testified. Brighthaupt, who was one of the last people to see Smith alive, testified that both Eroshevich and Stern injected Smith with substances, but he didn’t know if she was given B-12 shots or drugs. —AP

Maurice Brighthaupt, a bodyguard who goes by ‘Big Moe,’ arrives into Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.—AP