9 Aug

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

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MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2010

Iran stoning case lawyer seeks asylum in Norway

SHAABAN 28, 1431 AH

China mudslides leave 127 dead, 1,300 missing

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All white on the night for Australia elections

United too good for Chelsea in season opener

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Kuwait: No plans to ban BlackBerry Riyadh delays ban to test ‘solutions’

US to drop charges against Agility unit KUWAIT: Kuwait’s logistics firm Agility yesterday confirmed that US prosecutors have moved to dismiss fraud indictments against its subsidiary, Agility Holdings. Agility, formerly Public Warehousing Co, K.S.C. (PWC) was dropped from supplying food to the US Army in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan after being accused of overcharging the military. The company held contracts worth $8.5 billion spanning more than three years.

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CAIRO: Tourists ride a horse cart late on Saturday. — AFP

Egypt seeks to woo Arabs for Ramadan CAIRO: With its cooler temperatures but more sizzling entertainment, Egypt has long been a prime destination for rich Arab tourists, especially from the Gulf states. This year, however, the authorities fear that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts on Wednesday at the height of the annual tourist season, will mean that many potential visitors stay at home instead. In a bid to avert a slump in its lucrative tourist industry, particularly during boom-time August, Egypt has launched a major campaign aimed at luring visitors, with the promise of fireworks, concerts, folkloric shows and displays by whirling dervishes.

During Ramadan, Muslims who are fit and able are

required to abstain from food, drink and smoking during daylight hours. They then traditionally gather to break the fast at sunset with their families for the iftar meal. For many Muslims, Ramadan is therefore not a time to book holidays abroad, but a time when most socialising takes place in the home.

Against this tradition, Egypt is trying to attract Arab tourists to the banks of the Nile during the holy month with the “Fawanees Ramadan Festival.”

Fawanees are colourful lanterns hung across the country and in homes to mark the holy month.

The festival will kick off in the capital Cairo with a parade of traditional sailing boats or “felucca” down the Nile.

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KUWAIT: Kuwait said yesterday it had no plans to ban some BlackBerry services over security concerns as neighbouring Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are threatening to do. “At the moment, I can tell you that there is no intention to stop BlackBerry services in Kuwait,” communications minister Mohammad Al-Busairi told reporters. He said, however, that the state was waiting for solutions to be provided by the Canadian maker of BlackBerry, Research in Motion, to answer the concerns of those governments.

“We are in direct and indirect talks, and contact, with Saudi Arabia, UAE and the BlackBerry maker to follow up on the solutions presented by the company,” he said.

The minister, who is also the government spokesman, said Kuwait has “moral and security” concerns about the use of BlackBerry, but did not elaborate.

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Workers can break fast in heat: Fatwa

BANDAR ABBAS, Iran: Iran’s Ghadir submarines are seen in this southern port yesterday. Iran’s state media said the country’s navy has taken charge of four new Iranian-built submarines as part of Tehran’s efforts to upgrade its defense capabilities. The official IRNA news agency said the Ghadir class submarines can fire missiles and torpedoes at the same time and can operate in the Arabian Gulf’s shallow waters. Iran has also three Russian-made submarines. — AP

DUBAI: Workers contending with high heat and humidity can break their Ramadan fasts to avoid health problems, according to a fatwa issued by the state religious authority in the United Arab Emirates. “It is permissible for workers in certain professions to break the fast because of severe hardship,” says the fatwa, or Islamic religious edict, issued by the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments.

However, it also says that this is on the condition that the worker start the day fasting, and stop only when it is too difficult to continue.

The fatwa, published on the General Authority’s website, was issued in response to a question from an oil rig worker who asked whether it was permissible to break his fast over fears of health problems from not eating or drinking while working in high heat and humidity. Temperatures in the desert Gulf state consistently top

40 degrees Celsius. Dehydration and heat stroke are the main health risks for those who are fasting in high-temperature areas, said Dr Lalit Taori, who works at a health clinic in Dubai. “When you don’t take water and these things, you’re very at risk,” he said.

Those who work outdoors, such as construction workers, and also people with conditions such as diabetes or heart disease, are especially at risk of health problems due to fasting in high heat, he said. “The main danger sign is severe dizziness,” Dr Taori said, adding that others are profuse sweating or not sweating at all, confusion, and collapse. If someone exhibits such signs, he or she should be taken to the hospital, he added. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins in the UAE either on Wednesday or Thursday, with the exact day depending on the sighting of the new moon. — AFP

NATIONAL

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Monday, August 9, 2010

Playing sports popular

Doctors warn against unhealthy activities during Ramadan

By Ahmad Saeid KUWAIT: The holy month of Ramadan, scheduled to start later this week, is encouraging people to readjust their sport schedules to suit their days of fasting.

Fasting from sunrise to sunset places a heavy toll on the human body, especially when it is combined with high temperatures. With the increased consumption of food after sunset, many are left with limited choices about whether to practice their favorite sports before or after Iftar prayer. “Diabetes patients should abstain from playing sports before Iftar because they risk further lowering their blood sugar,” said doctor AbdulAziz Muhammad, a nutrition specialist.

Muhammad added that those with diabetes who are willing to participate in sports activities should do so strictly after Iftar. “To healthy people it is only a matter of preference though.

Those who want to keep healthy should pay more attention to what they eat and how much they eat, rather than at what time of the day they are willing to play sports,” he added.

Abdulrahman Khaleel, a college student, said that he will increase the

amount of time he has assigned for working out during Ramadan. “I am currently doing about two hours of body building every day. I plan to increase it to three hours a day in order to burn all the calories that I gain from the food and sweets I will eat during Ramadan,” Khaleel said. He added that many of his colleagues prefer to play football in the evening during Ramadan because of the relatively good weather. Ahmad Jaber, a private

sector employee, said that he wants to practice his favorite sport during Ramadan but that the nature of his work does not allow him to. “When I go back home I am exhausted and I just want to rest. I want to play basketball like I used to in college but unfortunately I can’t,” he added.

Some non-Muslim expats living in Kuwait said that they will also have to change their sports habits during Ramadan because their work hours

will change. “I will continue to do my daily routine of walking by the sea but I will only change the timing,” said Sara Ross. “Now I will head to the seaside walking path after Iftar.”

For others the scene remains the same. “I will not change anything that I do now. I go to the gym and I practice Yoga. I don’t think that I will change anything for Ramadan,” said Fajer Eisa, an employee in the private sector.

in the news

in my view

The state of Kuwait’s culture

By Fouad Al-Obaid

I

remember, a few years ago, when I attended the golden jubilee celebrations of Al-Arabi magazine at the UNESCO HQ in Paris. It was a proud moment for our beloved country. Its small size has, since inception, has been a beacon of freedom and regional ‘enlightenment.’ We have, through, the first few decades postindependence been staunch supporters of arts and culture. Our plays, music, and magazines along with our press, attest to such things. As we fast-forward to our contemporary era, while media has developed. While more diverse mediums have been created, it remains hard to find quality in production or content.

Tragically, intellectually and culturally we have surrendered to the whims of the religious clergy within our society who believe that they are guardians of our morality. They have

taken it upon themselves, from within the hall of Abdallah Al-Salim, to dictate a policy of supposed ‘piety’. Ironically, we have come to see the transformation of the so-called preachers into full-fledged tele-evangelists who appear on TV and act like clowns.

Despite their supposed ban on music, it is no longer uncommon to see them appear on television advertisements, singing!

We have gone from a country that encourages theater, to one that questions ministers for using school theaters! We have gone from a country that produces shows and plays that call for enlightenment to serials that portray social darkness, disguised in a cloth of hate, sectarianism, and social prejudice. We have gone from a progressive society that is open to globalization, to one further entrenched in the cloak of a veil ruled by Fatwa.

Ironically, and to much amusement, it is noticed that even the clergy are not sure of what is permissible. They are not able to distinguish between rational and ludicrous norms.

It is a sad reality that while we are wasting time battling between liberal

and conservative ideas across newspaper pages, development and issues of national importance are not being properly cared for. We have, as a nation, created an ambitious development plan to upgrade and develop our national infrastructure through the implementation of various mega projects.

However, unless these mega projects are pushed and sustained by the development of support projects, their operation and management will bring no tangible long-term gain to the state.

We are a society that needs to realize that the power of ideas and ideals are what moves countries and nations.

We need to find inspiration perhaps in a mystified glorious past, however such should not be our main concern.

For, a vision of the future is what we need to guide our collective march into what is hoped to be a bright future.

Borrowing the words of the last World Cup motto, “This time for Africa,” it is high time that we adopt “this time for Arabia”.

fouad@kuwaittimes.net

Bonus payments KUWAIT: A senior Ministry of Information official has reportedly asked oil and information minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah to investigate the list of senior staff awarded performance-related bonuses for their work over the past year. A ministry insider told Al-Jarida that the senior official, a director in the information ministry’s engineering department, had raised the issue following allegations that several of those included for bonuses did not merit these payments. One of the individuals awarded a bonus has reportedly been absent from work for the past six months while accompanying a family member abroad for medical treatment, the insider revealed.

The ministry worker added that this is just one of a number of questionable bonus payments made to staff members who have not shown the professional standards of conduct which would merit payment of such bonuses.

Hajj head’s term KUWAIT: The Minister of Justice and State Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Rashid Al-Hammad, has approved a decision to extend the term of the chairman of the Supreme Council for Hajj Affairs, Dr. Khalid Al-Mathkour, for an additional year. The decision was submitted to the cabinet for approval to take effect immediately. Meanwhile, the Awqaf ministry’s Hajj Affairs’ Committee has finalized the internet connection system between hajj convoys, enabling the ministry to maintain easy access to a database that lists the profiles for workers in this field and statistics for pilgrims, as well as information about the vehicles used in the trip. The ministry further revealed that it is to permit convoys to merge their operations this year, while stressing that restrictive measures will be taken against those convoy agencies which commit violations, reported Al-Qabas.

On a separate note, a number of agencies have submitted a joint memorandum to the cabinet, calling for financial compensation for the losses they incurred last year, noting that a lack of support could lead to increases in the prices charged for Hajj and omrah pilgrimage trips.

KUWAIT: The National Security Awareness Campaign press conference in progress.— Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

‘Security services, private sector should cooperate’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The National Security Awareness Campaign recently held its first press conference ahead of launching its latest campaign in Kuwait.

The event was held at the Sheraton Hotel which featured participation from several Interior Ministry officials, including the Assistant Undersecretary for Operations Affairs Maj Gen Dr Mustafa Al-Zuabi, in addition to the Ministry’s official spokesman and head of the Security Media Department Brig Gen Mohammad Al-Sabr.

At first, Al-Sabr explained the goals of the campaign which, he said, conveys cooperation should be achieved between the state’s security services and the private sector so as to solidify national security awareness.

He added that the campaign aims to showcase the role played by security officers in the society’s building and development process. It is also important to support the law’s integrity in an

attempt to curb the spread of offenses committed.

“The lack of security awareness and the role to be played on behalf of security personnel have caused violations to spread, especially in light of the lack of effective awareness programs,” AlSabr said. He indicated that traffic accidents have become a nightmare in the country which needs to be seriously addressed.

The campaign’s media consultant and CEO of the joint security media production institution, Abdulmuhsin Al-Bannay, indicated that the campaign - dubbed ‘Hayaty’ (my life) - aims to create a social partnership between the private and public sectors on solidifying the concept of social responsibilities, while focusing on the role played by the media in spreading awareness.

He further explained that, in addition to multimedia and printed material, the campaign includes tours conducted across public and private firms, in addition to lectures that are held at schools and other educational institutes.

Special Ramadan offers at Entertainment City KUWAIT: The Entertainment City will offer special discounts to visitors during the holy month of Ramadan.

This year, a free entrance ticket will be offered along with every ticket bought. In a statement made to the press, Activities and Operations Department Manager at the Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC), Anwar Al-Nisf said that the city would hold Girgian celebrations on Aug 24 and 25 respectively.

Children dressed in national attires will be allowed free access to the facility. The Entertainment City welcomes visitors during Ramadan from Monday to Saturday, and will remain open from 8:30 pm till 2

am. Mondays are reserved for female visitors only.

Anwar Al-Nisf

NATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

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No ban yet on Filipino housemaids in Kuwait Law firm represents Manila in two murder cases

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah receiving Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah at Al-Seif Palace yesterday. — KUNA

kuwait digest

Time ripe to privatize postal services

By Dr. Shamlan Yousef Al-Essa he Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the main official responsible for the implementation of the government’s five-year development plan, has confirmed that the government intends to privatize the country’s postal, telephone and other communications services.

I absolutely agree that there is a pressing need to privatize postal services, which have deteriorated so greatly that any respectable nation would refuse to continue with them.

Both citizens and expatriates have told a number of strange stories about postal service malfunctions, with post being delivered ludicrously late or to the wrong addresses.

Hadeel, a Kuwaiti student studying in the USA, sent a letter to her brother Eyad back in Kuwait on October 21st to congratulate him on his birthday which falls on November 24th. While the letter arrived in Kuwait on November 10th, 2009, it never found its way to Eyad who, by chance works at the Ministry of Communications’ postal department, and was instead returned to the US with ‘Address Unknown’ scrawled on the front, although the Post Office Box number and postcode in Salmiya were all clearly and correctly written on the envelope. Hadeel received the returned letter on July 6th, 2010, meaning that letters sent to the USA take around nine months to arrive, as if they had been sent by camel. It’s quite clear that MoC employees know nothing about English.

Another story was told by an American professor of English who has been working at Kuwait University for over 20 years. Her friends back in the States sent her a letter, which, after a long time, was returned to the senders bearing the worrying inscription, ‘Recipient has died.’

As one might expect, her friends and fam-

T

Zebari:UN Resolution 833 key to settle issues KUWAIT: The Iraqi foreign minister indicated on Saturday that the main remaining issue of contention between his country and Kuwait does not concern borders, debts or other topics, but is instead centered on United Nations Resolution No. 833 “which is the main key to solving all the issues between the two countries”.

Hoshyar Zebari was referring to the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in 1993, which reiterated that the United Nations IraqKuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission was not to reallocate territory, but to mark the precise coordinates of the border between Kuwait and Iraq on the basis of the 1963 agreement between the two countries.

“The upcoming Iraqi government is asked to announce its commitment to the international resolutions, including obligations to the UN and Kuwait as per Resolution Number 833”, Zebari told AlQabas in a phone interview, pointing out that Iraq is currently in a transitional period whose end has yet to be determined.

Zebari declined to comment on a recent statement by the official Iraqi government spokesman, who stated that the international regulations are unjust to Iraq, saying that he refused to “waste [his] time on replying to the spokesman’s remarks.” The foreign minister further asserted that the policy of avoiding media propaganda followed by Kuwait is the best approach to take at this point.

Concerning the current interim Iraqi government’s ability to maintain the boundary demarcation with Kuwait, Zebari asserted that this issue will be in the hands of the upcoming government since the current one is unable to handle any tasks at this point.

ily in the US were stunned and horrified, immediately calling Kuwait only to discover, thankfully, that she was very much alive. This incident resulted in the professor’s poor mother suffering a stroke, and nobody seems to know who should take responsibility for this...

A third postal tale was recounted by a Bahraini family friend, who said that she had gone to a local post office in Bahrain to check for the arrival of an important letter she was expecting, fearful that it might have been lost in the post. “Don’t worry,” the post office staff reassured her, “We aren’t in Kuwait to lose people’s letters!”

Last year, someone called telling me that a parcel of books with my name on it had arrived and that I had to go collect it myself, not because the books’ content was banned but only because that is how postal services are currently run. The main question now is, will postal services be privatized as Sheikh Ahmed promised?

Our experiences suggest that the government will try to get the approval of the sole defenders of the public sector workers, the National Assembly, which is expected to launch political and propaganda wars against the private sector. Therefore, I suggest that Sheikh Ahmed follows the Americans’ policy in this regard. The US post service was established in 1775, with the total revenue from the various post services, which employ over 786,000 people, was $74.8 billion in 2007 alone. Nevertheless, the US government allowed some private companies such as UPS, DHL and Federal Express to participate in the provision of postal services competitively with the government. The whole world, including communist China, is quickly shifting towards a free market economy while we are still considering privatization through the government. — Al-Watan

KUWAIT: In the aftermath of the two brutal murders of Filipinas in Kuwait last month, the Philippines Embassy assured Kuwait that no ban will be imposed on the employment of Filipino domestic helpers in the country. In an exclusive interview with the Kuwait Times yesterday, t h e P h i l i p p i n e Vi c e C o n s u l Re a Oreta asserted that until now, there have been no directives issued from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on placing a ban on Filipino domestic helpers in Ku w a i t . S e v e r a l h u m a n r i g h t s groups and individuals have been calling for a ban of deploying domest i c h e l p e r s i n Ku w a i t . O re t a explained that a ban is not the only s o l u t i o n t o t h e p ro b l e m t h a t Filipinos from several sectors have been facing in the country.

“We would like to reiterate that no discussions have been held in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on the ban,” she said. In her words, a ban is not the only solution.

She argued that there are other options available which the Philippine government will explore and study before imposing a ban.

“I am sure that a ban will be the last option. Besides, even if the decision [to ban domestic helpers] is approved, Filipinos will still be able to enter Kuwait through other channels. So, I think the ban is not on the table right now as we believe it was not the only solution. It would probably be the last,” she mentioned.

The two murder cases shocked the entire country and the Filipino community in Kuwait.

In-mid July, Asria Samad Abdul, 34, [housemaid] was allegedly tortured by her employer on a daily basis before being run over several times with a car to death in Kabd.

Norhaisa Nasa Andao - a 32-year-old

Filipina employee at a beauty salon was stabbed to death 31 times before her horrified colleagues at her worksite in Jabriya. The murder cases took place on the same day but at separate locations.

The suspects, in both cases, are now under police custody in Kuwait.

Once the final forensic reports and medical reports are obtained, their cases will be heard in the Court of First Instance.

Ye s t e rd a y, At t o r n e y S h e i k h a Fawzia Al-Sabah met with Oreta at the embassy in Jabriya to formally accept the DFA [approval] decision which retains her law firm as the embassy’s representative to help resolve the two murder cases. In Sheikha Al-Sabah’s words, all efforts will be exerted towards resolving the two murder cases. She said, “I’ll do my best to help resolve these two cases. My heart goes out to the family of the victims. I presented myself [to be their lawyer] so as to help the victims’ families. I studied the cases carefully. For us, we have the due advantage of winning these cases easily,” she said. Atty AlSabah added that she would do all she can to resolve the two cases as soon as possible.

When asked why the embassy had retained the services of Sheikha Fawzia Al-Sabah Law Firm, Oreta stressed that it was based on her t r a c k re c o rd s a n d t h e f a c t t h a t Fawzia Al-Sabah herself is an advocate and the champion of human rights issues in Kuwait.

“She’s been representing our countrymen without ever mentioning that she was behind the victory [of their cases]. Besides, the name S h e i k h a Fa w z i a A l - S a b a h i s a n advantage. We have high regard for her law firm. I am sure that she will deliver her promise, including the speedy trial and resolution of these two particular murder cases soon,” she concluded.

KUWAIT: Sheikha Fawzia Al-Sabah (left) talking with embassy officials yesterday.— Photo by Ben Garcia

‘US waste deadlier than Iran nukes’ KUWAIT: The environmental dangers posed to the Gulf by the US forces’ use of depleted uranium shells are equivalent to those from the Iranian nuclear program, according to a local environmental lobby group.

The Green Line Environmental Group (GLEG) said that the American administration is dealing with the issue in a wholly selfish and hypocritical manner and exhibiting vast double standards concerning environmental disasters. GLEG head Khalid Al-Hajeri pointed out that while the White House made a major issue out of the recent oil spill in the Mexican Gulf, it had also given the US Army the green light to violate environmental and human rights around the world, particularly in the Arabian Gulf, with the use of these toxic weapons.

Al-Hajeri said that the US Army in Iraq has now decided to transport and store hazardous waste, consisting of the remains of army equipment and machinery contaminated by depleted uranium in the Iraqi liberation war, moving these items to its Al-Eideed base in Qatar. This is now the largest hazardous waste store in the Middle East, said the leading environmentalist.

Al-Hajeri added that Greenpeace, the global environmental NGO, had gone to great lengths to ensure the accuracy of its information on this matter, working closely with US Army informants and Iraqi and Qatari environmentalists to verify the credibility of the data.

The GLEG chairman said that the US Army will move the first shipment of contaminated waste from Iraq to the Qatari base via Kuwait during Ramadan.

He warned that the Qatar base contains the largest store outside the US of ammunition contaminated with depleted uranium, adding that the storage of further contaminated waste makes the site even more dangerous.

The prominent environmentalist said that GLEG has informed environmentalist counterparts in Qatar about the matter to enable them to take the necessary steps to prevent the shipment of contaminated waste from being transferred there.

Al-Hajeri called upon GCC states to review their security plans with the US Army in such a way as to prevent the American military from violating environmental and human rights.

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NATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

End in sight for problems

MoC signs two contracts to improve landline services

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The repeated complaints about problems activating or connecting to landline telephones will come to an end very soon. At its headquarters yesterday, the Ministry of Communication signed two contracts with two private companies for the maintenance of the landline telephone network. Currently there are four governorates suffering from a shortage of service to their landline telephones because contracts with previous providers had expired; Fahaheel, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Farwaniya, and Jahara. "We have responded to people's complaints and the Ministry will fix all the problems, said Dr Mohammed AlBaseeri, Minister of Communication and Minister for Parliament Affairs during the signing ceremony. "The technicians, engineers, and officials of the Ministry did a great job."

KUWAIT: The Director General of the General Department of Drugs Control (GDDC) Major General Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Khalifa yesterday received the team that organized the commemorative events to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, thanking them for their efforts that made the celebration such a success. — Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

kuwait digest

Kuwait's development plans

By Dr Abdulmuhsin Jamal

K

uwait is in store for a year that is sure to feature serious development following the enforcement of the state's development plan. This requires a more settled political scene in order to make room for efforts of hard work.

Ministers are calling for a one year truce to allow them to focus their development efforts. That may explain the recent activity in the political scene that has cre-

ated a more stable atmosphere.

Adopting this approach will further expose MPs who provoke pointless tension. The active majority will focus on procedures to benefit the country's development and implement much anticipated projects.

It's sad to see neighboring countries make achievements on a yearly basis while Kuwait wastes its time and efforts on futile arguments and MPs misuse their constitutional tools.

Kuwait needs political debate on a high-

er level. MPs should ask more realistic questions that focus on the issues and problems they want to be fixed. We can overcome problems in Kuwait with action and without tense dialogue and exaggeration.

Time is precious. I believe that ministers should be given a one year period to carry out their duties as part of the development plan. After that, a minister's performance can be assessed and citizens can tell a productive minister from an insufficient one. — Al-Qabas

Disturbing sights at Bnaid Al-Gar KUWAIT: Bnaid Al-Gar, an area located in the heart of the country's capital, reflects a totally contradicting image than that hoped for Kuwait's future, reported Al-Qabas. A tour through the filthy streets of the area reveals several disturbing sights, including ramshackle buildings hosting low-wage workers living in miserable situations.

These homes are often overcrowded with Asian and Egyptian workers, where six to seven persons share two bedroom apartments without airconditioning. Meanwhile, the area features a daily struggle between feuding nationalities fighting over residency space.

Considered a landmark for top ranked hotels and shops in the country, Bnaid Al-Gar has a hideous dark side, literally. The lack of lighting on several of the areas streets engulf the location in complete darkness.

Also, the multiple room buildings often have a single restroom, which is shared by all the residents of the house and lack any form of basic hygiene.

While some people blame workers for allowing themselves to fall victim to the exploitation of building owners, others put the blame on the government. They say that it is the government's responsibility to make sure such abuse does not take place in the country, let alone its capital city.

KUWAIT: Nine people, including a firefighter, were taken to Adan Hospital with breathing difficulties yesterday following a major blaze in an apartment block in Fahaheel. Firefighters from Fahaheel, Mangaf and the technical rescue center came together to tackle the blaze, with thick smoke blanketing the entire eight-storey building by the time they arrived at the scene. One team of firefighters immediately began evacuating all the residents of the block, while another set about fighting the fire.

— Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

VIVA Kuwait launches Fan-Page Ramadan campaign on Facebook KUWAIT: VIVA Kuwait is enhancing social media communication by interacting online through Facebook to create an engaging, energetic, fulfilling and transparent experience during the holy month of Ramadan. Sharing delicious Ramadan Recipes on VIVA Kuwait's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/VIVAQ8 is the beginning of campaigns launched by VIVA Kuwait to emphasize the importance of cyber communication.

According to recent statistics, 35% of Kuwaitis are active members on Facebook.

Ramadan Recipes on VIVAQ8 Facebook page will allow our fans to combine their interest in social networking with the joy of Ramadan by e-mailing their recipes to recipes@viva.com.kw. VIVA Kuwait's campaign team will customize and post the recipes on the Facebook VIVAQ8 page for all members to vote on and share with friends and families. The three "most liked" recipes will win valuable prizes.

VIVA Kuwait will be sharing Ramadan activities on YouTube, Twitter and our official website: www.viva.com.kw, and on VIVA Kuwait Facebook

page: www.facebook.com/VIVAQ8 , where names of the "Ramadan Recipes Campaign" winners will have their names announced.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait.

Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA's quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling.

VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 21.6Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

The first contract signed between the Ministry of Communication and Kuwait Network Electronic Company is for the maintenance of the landline network. "The existing net is very old and it needs regular maintenance," Al-Baseeri said. "For the past few months people faced problems as the contract expired. The new contract is for three years and has a value of KD 4,620,700.

We hope that the execution period will be short."

The second contract was signed with the TCIL Company. "According to this contract the company will supply the Ministry with spare parts and electronic cables necessary to maintain the landline network. This contract is for one year and has a value of KD 3,219,031," he added.

The landlines will soon be privatized.

"The telecommunication issue is one of the ministry's priorities," Al-Baseeri stressed.

Before this service is transferred to the private sector, users of landline telephones should enjoy perfect services. We signed these two contracts to provide complete services for the users. Now we don't have an excuse for not responding to complaints.

Within a few weeks the improvements will be noticeable."

According to Al-Baseeri the Ministry is not intending to cut BlackBerry services in Kuwait. "We are in contact with RIM and with all of Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates, to follow up on the solutions provided by RIM to the countries that submitted such demands, such as Lebanon, Algeria, Belgium, UK, the USA and others. We have certain laws and regulation that we have to respect, and all applications have to comply with the law. We appreciate the cooperation of RIM and mobile service providers (Zain, Wataniya, Viva)," he explained. Al-Baseeri

stressed that Kuwait has security and moral commitments on this issue. "The Ministry is responsible for blocking or censoring pornographic sites," he said. "We corresponded with RIM regarding this issue and they demanded a four months period to fix that. The biggest obstacle is the speed of technological development. Everything changes so fast, today's solutions may not work tomorrow." Al-Baseeri expressed his satisfaction with the Kuwait Airways Corporation's (KAC) situation and performance. "This is the high season for travelling and the KAC is doing well. We will start with the privatization process after Ramadan. The City Group Bank will supervise the procedure. Employees of KAC will have to express their willingness to remain with KAC before August 31 and the Ministry will decide their position after the privatization," he concluded.

6,000 housing units to be distributed KUWAIT: The Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Development and Housing, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad AlSabah categorized citizens' basic needs into educational, health and housing services.

Al-Fahad also emphasized the housing authority's eager-

ness in persuading private sector companies to finish buildings. At least 80,000 housing units would be distributed, out of which at least 6,000 will be distributed before the end of 2010.

"We used to distribute 1,0003,000 units a year. It has pro-

longed waiting time for so many citizens," he explained. He underscored that the government's five year development plan aims at providing 48,000 housing units within five years, in addition 2,500 others that will be offered for bidding," he said. Furthermore, Al-Fahad

highlighted that a study was done on allowing citizens to complete all housing transactions through e-mail, reported Al-Watan.

The housing authority had completed the first phase of its automated electronic services project.

in the news Pupils' summer work experience KUWAIT: A group of female Kuwaiti high school pupils recently completed a summer employment program working as fish and seafood sales staff for the Dana seafood firm. The schoolgirls said that the program, which was organized by the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP), had been an invaluable experience and that they had learnt numerous lessons from the challenges they faced during their work with the company, reported Al-Rai. The MGRP offers a number of employment opportunities with local firms for Kuwaiti high school pupils during the summer holiday every year, with this year's program, which began on June 27, seeing 900 pupils getting work experience in a diverse range of workplaces, including banks, hotels, training centers, telecom firms, Cooperative Societies, non-profit organizations and other bodies.

KSA, Syria demand investigation KUWAIT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reportedly received a classified list containing the names of 200 Saudi and Syrian nationals currently resident in Kuwait from the two nations' embassies, requesting verification of whether or not those listed have Kuwaiti citizenship. The foreign ministry submitted the names to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), instructing it to launch an investigation into the named individuals' status and report back to the two embassies. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iran Majdi Al-Thafeiri has denied that any Kuwaiti citizen has given up their citizenship in order to retain Iranian nationality. Ambassador AlThafeiri told Al-Watan that up until the embassy's closure for the weekend last Thursday night the Kuwaiti Embassy there had received no official correspondence concerning a Kuwaiti citizen wishing to give up their citizenship.

German surgeon performs operations KUWAIT: A German surgeon performed six complex surgical operations involving knees, joints, and prosthetic limbs in cooperation with Razi Hospital doctors, said the head of the hospital's Orthopedics Department Dr. Hamad Al-Haran. Dr. Al-Haran said that the visiting specialist also provided advice and diagnoses concerning some 100 complicated cases at the hospital. The senior hospital official pointed out that Al-Razi Hospital has a number of excellent and highly experienced orthopedic specialists, adding

that hosting visiting experts helps to increase the resident specialists' capabilities and experience even further and improve the sector in general. He revealed that another team of doctors, this time from the North Rhine-Westphalia region would be visiting at the end of the month. The visits follow the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Kuwait's health minister Dr. Helal Al-Sayer and German health officials last October. The Ministry of Health has already hosted over 500 specialists from around the world since last year, with the overall aim being to improve the quality of services offered at Kuwaiti healthcare facilities and reduce the need for patients to be sent abroad for treatment, helping to reduce the long-term costs of foreign medical treatment BP investment proposal KUWAIT: MP Saleh Al-Mulla has added his voice to those of other lawmakers in condemning oil minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah's recent announcement that the government is considering purchasing assets from British Petroleum. The MP warned against investing funds in political deals, saying, "Kuwait should abstain from investing in the oil sector and in deals made for political interests." He indicated that while investment is a crucial part of the Kuwaiti economy, it should be kept entirely separate from anything that might lead to suspicions of its being done for political benefit, reported Al-Rai. Al-Mulla urged the government to take a more cautious approach to seeking investment opportunities "in order to avoid any errors like the one which the cabinet was about to fall into when it was about to sign a contract with the Dow Chemical firm." BP, a multinational world leader in the oil business that is headquartered in the UK, was hit hard recently by a massive oil leak that followed the explosion in April of one of its rigs in the Mexican Gulf, causing a major environmental crisis in the region.

The MP insisted that the firm's reputation has still to fully recover following the incident and that discussion of investing in it at this juncture would be hasty. "We need to save Kuwait from suspicions concerning speculation that could suggest that our government agreed under pressure from an allied country to save a struggling company," the MP said. Al-Mulla further asserted that the government does not have the authority to use public funds as a tool to pursue its own political interests.

New plans to improve curriculum KUWAIT: The Ministry Of Education and Higher Education Dr Moudhi AlHomoud has begun implementing plans to improve its curriculum, as part of the country's development plan.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education Dr Moudhi Al-Homoud said that the ministry was studying the current situation so as to decide on which part of the syllabus needs revision.

Tenders will be floated and special consultants and training courses will be held on what employees require. She added, the plan includes a correction of the current state. This is to decide what textbook needs to be evaluated by the technical committee.

A specialized committee will draft new text books, reported Al-Anba. She explained that this work will be supervised by the Ministry's curriculum section, reported Al-Anba.

This will be held in cooperation with Kuwait University.

KUWAIT: Ramzi Sabboury and other officials with the top performers.

CBK rewards top staff performers KUWAIT: Al-Tijari awarded two of their staff for the great performance achieved during the travel season. Both Othman AlQenai and Musaed Al-Muhaideeb achieved top performers for providing customers with Travel Insurance policies provided by AIG that would grant care and avoid inconvenience during the customers' travels overseas.

Ramzi Sabboury - The Executive Manager of the Marketing and Sales, said that the Commercial Bank of Kuwait

awarded each of the staff with a Blackberry Bold 9700 plus a monetary incentive in recognition of their efforts.

Sabboury said, "At Al-Tijari, we always give incentives to our staff in appreciation of their efforts for providing top quality customer service. We also ensure that staff know their customers and provide them with the services that meet their needs. Accordingly, our Marketing and Research Dept. always develops products and services that meet such needs and

requirements. The Travel Protect Insurance product is one of such products provided by a multinational insurance company, AIG and for that reason it gives the customer peace of mind when traveling anywhere around the World, at the lowest cost in the market."

Sabboury also mentioned, "That continuous encouragement is always the key to ensure top achievements and thus best customer service and this is our rule at the bank and will always be.

NATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

5 NA favors populist policies

Kuwait consumer debt bailout debate rolls on KUWAIT: While Kuwait’s banks avoided the extremes of the global economic downturn, their exposure to international markets through investment firms continues to have an adverse impact. Business leaders are now urging Kuwait’s government to step in and buy the risky assets affecting banks’ stability. However, they say parliament’s plans for a

KUWAIT: Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah leaving for London with a high-level security delegation yesterday. Sheikh Jaber will sign a security cooperation memo of understanding between Kuwait, UK and North Ireland. —KUNA

Scientific Center to host KSF workshops KUWAIT: The Kuwait Science Fair (KSF), the largest science competition held in Kuwait for three years in a row, yesterday announced it has received the support of the Scientific Center of Kuwait, the largest science educational center in the Middle East, who on their part will host the competition’s workshops and orientation sessions in the Center’s state of the art facilities.

The Kuwait Science Fair was created and continues to be managed by ExxonMobil Production and Exploration Limited and Kuwait Energy, who came together in 2008 with a shared commitment to generate student interest and excitement in math and science and to help inspire the scientists and innovators of tomorrow.

The Kuwait Science Fair is a project-based student competition endorsed by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad AlSabah, the Minister of Oil and Information and Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for the third year in a row.

The competition’s third run will kick-off in October with

Aseel Al-Turkait more support from local companies and institutions.

The Scientific Center Chairman and Managing Director, Engineer Mijbil AlMutawa said: “We are glad to return as a supporter of the Kuwait Science Fair by joining them in their mission to engage the innovators of tomorrow.

We look forward to hosting the participating students and I can’t wait to see the creative

solutions they come up with.”

In addition to hosting KSF’s workshops and sessions, The Scientific Center will also be providing unique prizes for the competition’s finalists, to be announced in March 2011.

Kuwait Science Fair Managing Director, Aseel AlTurkait said: “We are very excited about The Scientific Center’s generous commitment to host our student workshops

and sessions in their world class meeting facilities. I’m sure our participating students will be enthusiastic about working in such a science-infused building.

The Scientific Center is home to Kuwait’s largest Aquarium, indoor Zoo, as well as a six-storey IMAX theatre that airs big budget documentaries and educational shows.

Last year, the Kuwait Science Fair witnessed great success with the participation of over 150 projects from more than 220 students in 46 different schools in Kuwait. Awards included a scholarship from Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), KD750 in cash, as well as an internship at Schlumberger.

The finalist’s school received a computer lab from Schlumberger and was admitted into Schlumberger’s Excellence in Educational Development program (SEED), which works to educate students on global issues influencing their future and topics that include water conservation, energy usage, and climate change.

During the boom period preceding the downturn, with excess liquidity and a strong appetite for returns, over 100 Kuwaiti investment firms were licensed.

Many used short-term borrowing to finance long-term investments, resulting in a maturities mismatch when funding froze and projects faced delays.

Despite the crisis, these investment companies still hold healthy assets on and off their balance sheets worth more than 100 percent of GDP, while Kuwait’s banks are also exposed, although to a lesser degree. This has led to increasing calls for government action.

“Some of the companies with problems in the past few years simply miscalculated their short-term assets at the time of the credit crunch,” Sadoun A Ali, the CEO of KIPCO Asset Management Company (KAMCO), said.

“They still have good long-term assets and a solid business model, but are unable to get new funding as the market has frozen.”

So far, the government’s main intervention in support of struggling investment firms has been the Financial Stability Law of 2009, which covered bankruptcy protection and credit provision.

However, the financial community says the law is not fully tested and its terms are

complete bailout of consumer debt would be an intervention too far. With the government-controlled energy sector dominating the economy, local banks were underexposed to lending for domestic industry, among other sectors. Debt was instead focused on investment firms and real estate projects, which both took a major hit during the crisis.

too strict, so a wider effort to bolster liquidity is needed.

Business leaders say that a governmentbacked fund for repurchase to buy toxic assets needs to be set up, arguing that a repo fund would be more effective than stepping in when companies face immediate bankruptcy.

“The government is sitting on surplus money. A ‘good asset’ fund would provide solid companies with a way to secure funds to pay off bad debts. Once they have successfully restructured themselves, they can then repurchase their good assets back from the government,” KAMCO’s Ali told OBG While Kuwait’s financial community and many economists commend the notion of a government-supported repo fund, a major obstacle lies in gaining the support of parliament, which often favors populist policies.

Kuwait is considered a “cradle-to-grave” welfare state, with citizens benefiting from the country’s oil wealth through free and subsidized services, and sometimes direct financial support.

There is a strong mindset among Kuwaitis, backed by the constitution, that the state’s oil reserves and in turn the treasury belong to the people.

Parliament has proposed several times over the past 18 months to buy all consumer

debt at a cost of more than $20 billion, with the principal owed forgiven and interest payments rescheduled over a longer term.

The government has vetoed the proposal each time, but the assembly could potentially override this if another vote produces a two-thirds majority.

Under the proposal only Kuwaiti nationals - who comprise around one-third of the country’s 3.4m residents - would benefit from the scheme.

Economists say that high living standards among citizens mean that a consumer relief package would not have the multiplier effect of stimulus spending on infrastructure. It could lead to defaults by borrowers who can afford loan payments but choose not to make them.

Another perhaps more long-term damaging effect feared by economists is that a consumer bailout could create an attitude amongst Kuwaitis that sound financial planning is unimportant and that when things go awry, the government will always be there to bail them out.

“It rewards bad behavior, and could result in good borrowers being tempted to become bad ones,” said Michael Accad, the CEO of Gulf Bank. “Government money would be far more productively spent on infrastructure projects.” —Oxford Business Group

Questions over Sixth Ring Road crater KUWAIT: A number of government bodies have come under fire following the appearance of a seven-meter-deep crater in the center of the Sixth Ring Road, apparently the result of a cave-in at a site where an underground pipe was being laid there.

With some experts suggesting that only the swift response of security officials prevented a full-scale disaster, many have questioned the criteria used to select the contractors who car-

ried out the excavation work for the pipe. Another issue coming under scrutiny is the government’s response to such incidents and their repercussions, reported Al-Qabas, with some officials pointing out that the consequences could be catastrophic if such an accident were to occur at a medical, oil or housing facility.

The Central Tenders Committee has come in for heavy criticism, with some insid-

ers suggesting that its criteria for choosing contractors to carry out tenders should be reappraised in order to ensure that it is not putting ensuring the lowest prices ahead of the quality and safety of the workmanship.

One building industry professional said that it’s important to raise questions about how limited real estate firms are selected to handle major projects, as well as to question the process of quality control in construction.

When it comes to the assessment process before awarding contracts, said the construction expert, it is important to ask whether the government has conducted studies into the technical and financial risks involved before reaching any final decision. Furthermore, it’s still unclear as to whether the government or the contractors themselves would be held responsible if any disaster were to take place.

Kuwait distributes aid to Pakistan flood victims ISLAMABAD: A team of Kuwait Joint Relief Committee (KJRC) yesterday distributed relief goods among the flood victims in northern Pakistani province of KhyberPakhtunkhawa, where deluge has outdone the 2005 earthquake and pushed backed the province’s development by almost 50 years. A two-member team of KJRC, comprising Faisal Al-Yaqout and Falah Khalid Al-Mutairi, has been visiting provincial capital Peshawar since Friday. The team assessed and reviewed the situation and held meetings with Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Shakeel Khan Qadir. The team will also be holding meeting with the KP Chief Minister today.

Talking to KUNA, the team members said that they have, so far, distributed 2,000 tents, one 1,000 food items, 1,000 plastic sheets among the victims. Food has also been distributed among at least 2,000 families in Nawshera, Charsaddah and adjoining districts. The team said that they visited the flood-affected areas and were shocked at the widespread destruction caused by heavy rains and flash floods.

They also agreed with reports that the present deluge has outdone 2005 earthquake but expressed surprise at the slow response of international community towards aid and relief efforts.

As compared to the 2005 earthquake, there is more damage but less immediate aid and assistance from the international community can be seen, said the team members. They also appealed to the international community and brotherly Muslim countries, in particular, to help Pakistan in this critical hour of need. Kuwait has announced aid of five million dollars for the flood-affected areas. After 2005 earthquake, Kuwait was among the first few states to announce aid of hundred million dollars. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Hawally municipality inspectors recently launched an inspection campaign that resulted in detecting many violations that included finding various kinds of insects and cockroaches in sugar and chocolate powder used in making pastry and sweets. The team also found expired food items in various dates, pastry and sweets stores.

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NATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

Drinkers caught in Salmiya

Long criminal record for Kuwaiti-Iranian citizen KUWAIT: It's been discovered that dual Kuwaiti-Iranian citizen who recently approached Iranian authorities requesting that his Kuwaiti citizenship be annulled in favor of retaining only his Iranian nationality has an extensive criminal record in Kuwait. According to a Ministry of Interior source, the applicant, 35-year-old Hassan Al-Khabaz, has served a prison sentence for a drugs-related offence, as well as being found guilty in connection with several other crimes. The Iranian authorities discovered Al-Khabaz' criminal record when they contacted their Kuwaiti counterparts to obtain the information about him necessary to rescind his Kuwaiti citizenship, including his criminal record, reported Al-Rai.

kuwait digest

The truth behind BlackBerry

By Dr Wael Al-Hassawi

T

he Kuwait Human Rights Society (KHRS) recently released a statement stating that enforcing a ban on services provided by BlackBerry phones tantamount to violation of human rights and the constitutional articles that protect Kuwait's human rights situation. The least that can be said about the above mentioned claim is that it is laughable.

While news reports released later indicate that the issue is concerned about banning access to pornographic websites that the company had reportedly promised to address, it is also important to look at the big picture - the governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are considering limiting access to

the device's services.

The main point of concern about the services rendered by BlackBerry is the fact that these services use a high-tech encryption system that is difficult to be decoded, making it impossible to track down.

Therefore, these devices can be used by terrorist networks for communication purposes without the fear of being monitored.

Therefore, it is understandable why a ban is being called for, keeping security reasons in view. In this case, they are valid.

This is similar to how Alfred Nobel must have felt when he discovered the destructive results of the newly invented dynamite. I believe that BlackBerry manufacturers were startled to discover serious hazards that unmonitored data

exchange services can have on global security, especially given the rapidly increasing population of the smart phone.

While the CEO of the Research in Motion (RIM) company, which develops, the device has come under severe criticism in Middle Eastern countries, which are apparently considering enforcing a ban, even accusing them inadequate academic qualities.

Apparently, he overlooked the fact that the European Union (EU) had passed a decision two years ago to place ban 32, 000 employees from owning BlackBerry devices. Furthermore, India has also requested officials from the company to discuss offering services in a safer environment. Otherwise, they will consider imposing restrictions on these services.— Al-Rai

KISR calls for higher energy council KUWAIT: An official from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) stressed yesterday on the importance of establishing a higher council for energy in Kuwait.

Scientific researcher at KISR's technologies and energy department Dr. Ali Hajiya said that it was important to increase cooperation between the Electricity and Water Ministry, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Kuwait University (KU), KISR, the Environment Public Authority (EPA), and the Commerce and Industry Ministry to solve the electricity problem.

That electricity issue is a significant issue that is related to the state's development and ensuring the continuous flow of electricity in the future, he highlighted.

Consumption should be reduced and a

new power plant should be built to keep pace with the natural annual increase of electricity consumption, which equals seven percent, he said. Demand on electricity increases because of the establishment of new cities.

Kuwait faces an electricity problem each summer as the temperature increases, he said. It is significant to increase the awareness of the people of Kuwait regarding power consumption and to issue legislations to encourage saving electricity, he emphasized. Schools and universities should have classes on saving electricity, he stressed. Kuwait should also have laws and legislations to regulate the importing of electrical appliances, he said. Currently about 11,200 megawatts of electricity are

provided, he noted. Hajiya said that electricity consumed a lot of energy, making up 10 percent to 15 percent of the total electricity consumption.

The housing sector is the sector that consumes electricity the most, making up 70 percent of electricity consumption, he added. He noted that air conditioners at houses should be set at 24 or 25 degrees.

To reduce energy consumption, he suggested that the government pays the electricity bills of citizens if they consume a specific amount of electricity. He said the state should not rely on oil only for energy, adding that Kuwait must establish solar energy plants. KISR conducted many studies on renewable energy and alternative energy, he pointed out. — KUNA

Safir Hotels offer special room packages for Ramadan month KUWAIT: While Ramadan is a season of pure joy and festivities, Safir Hotels & Resorts welcomes you and your family to experience the holy month of Ramadan at any of the Safir properties around Kuwait.

Safir Hotel & Residences, Safir International Hotel and Safir Marina Hotel are offering guests special room packages for the entire month valid through Eid. Guests can also select from an array of restaurants to dine in that include live cooking station, open buffets and enjoyable live music.

Safir Hotel & Residences Fintas, invites you to experience this Ramadan the season of togetherness with a multitude of room packages, activities and events exclusively arranged to complete your stay; take advantage of our special room packages which includes complimentary "Suhor." Spend your evenings at "Al Seif Ballroom" for Ghabka or Suhor with live music band, LCD screens, Shisha, live cooking stations including pasta, saj, shawarma and ouzi. Flavors Restaurant will serve Iftar, Ghabka & Suhour with five different buffets on a daily basis making it a perfect choice for families to meet and interact. The newly opened Chit Chat Café Restaurant on the other hand creates a delightful dining experience for guests to enjoy a wide selection of authentic

traditional cuisine.

Safir Hotel & Residences will also be offering lucky guests round trip airline tickets provided by Gulf Air with open destinations.

Safir International Hotel invites you to enjoy your Ramadan Ghabka's and Suhour's at the Pearl Tent with its extensive buffet in a cozy ambiance, background music, Shisha and beautiful embellishments. Break your fast at the "Sea Breeze" Restaurant located on the 19th floor overlooking Kuwait Towers, Gulf Road and the upbeat City Sky Scrapers.

Indulge yourself and your family with a lavish spread of traditional Arabic delights and live cooking stations specially designed to appeal to the diners of all nationalities during Iftar and Suhour. The hotel's wonderful ambiance, remarkable hospitality, delicious food and fantastic view make it the ideal location for your Ramadan nights.

In keeping with the Ramadan tradition, Safir Marina Hotel offers guests the opportunity to experience the wonderful Oriental ambience at all outlets of the hotel.

The "Kamar Al Marina Tent" located inside the hotels prominent "Six Palms" restaurant offers scrumptious dishes from live stations and specially prepared buffets. Guests can also enjoy their "Shisha" listening to the soothing ori-

ental live music. The "Atlantis" restaurant has special Iftar serving, guests can relish on a variety of famous mouth watering Ramadan dishes, sweets and beverages.

Safir Marina Hotel will also have a raffle on 30 tickets provided by KLM Air France and is proud to mention the support of Al Rai Media throughout the month Salwa Sabah Al Ahmed Theatre and Hall gives special attention to the requirements of private functions, this exquisite hall can accommodate up to 750 guests at a time. It also offers a selection of different menus for Iftar and Sohour at exclusive prices and is fully equipped to cater for groups and organizations.

Guests staying at the Safir Marina Hotel can relax and enjoy their stay in the luxurious suites at discounted prices for the entire Ramadan period. They can avail the exotic spa, pool area and state of the art fitness centre. Apart from all these, the hotel's convenient and strategic location provides an added advantage to guests as they have direct access to the Marina Mall to satisfy their Eid shopping desires. All Safir properties provide the perfect atmosphere for guests with a private and relaxing atmosphere, deluxe accommodation, superb dining, memorable entertainment with friendly and efficient service.

Aid donation campaign for Pakistan floods victims KUWAIT: Kuwait Red Crescent Society has launched a campaign for collecting donations for victims of the widespread floods in Pakistan.

The society said in a statement released yesterday it would start receiving the donations at its headquarters as of today. Donors could show up to deliver the aid in the morning and at night, for three days.

Financial aid could be deposited at the society bank account No: 1000211158 (the National Bank of Kuwait).

Pakistani official sources said the seasonal heavy downpours claimed the lives of 1,500 people and prompted 15 million others to flee homes.

On Aug 4, the KRCS Board Chairman Barjas Humoud AlBarjas declared allocation of $5 million for the victims of the severe floods in Pakistan, in accordance with directions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah.

Earlier, Secretary-General of the Kuwait Joint Relief Committee Faisal Al-Jeeran said a delegation from the committee would travel to Pakistan for the distribution of relief assistance for the displaced.

The commission had sent KD100,000 as an initial assistance to authorities in Islamabad to help the affected population.

He appealed to charities and philanthropists in Kuwait to act quickly to aid the flood victims in north-west Pakistan. — KUNA

In another, related case, the decision to withdraw the citizenship of former dual Kuwaiti-Saudi citizen Khalid Al-Mareekhi, a prominent poet, has been officially approved with an Amiri decree published in the official gazette endorsing the decision.

Asian murdered An Asian man was found dead inside his sponsor's house in Oyoun, reported Al-Aan. After conducting an investigation, police determined that the man had been the victim of foul play and was stabbed to death.

Authorities held two maids working at the house for further questioning.

Drinkers caught Police arrested 13 men and a woman in Salmiya for being intoxicated over the weekend, reported Al-Watan. When questioned, it was discovered that the lawbreakers gathered to drink before Ramadan because they intended to stop during the holy month. They were referred to the nearest police station. Meanwhile, a citizen was arrested after he was found intoxicated at the Red Palace's Park in Jahra, reported AlWatan. The arrest occurred shortly after a police patrol was alarmed at the man's suspicious behavior in the park.

Swimmers saved The coastguard saved five swimmers from drowning after strong currents drove

them away from shore at Failaka Island, reported Al-Watan. After receiving an alert from the captain of the boat that was carrying the young men, lifeguards rushed to the location and recovered the swimmers at two separate locations. Afterwards they were taken to Failaka Island's police station for questioning.

Bad plot A young Kuwaiti man ranked as a Lance Corporal with the Ministry of Defense was placed under arrest with his Syrian friend after he illegally impersonated an officer, reported Al-Watan. He attempted to pull over a car carrying three women on Fifth Ring Road while claiming to be an investigations officer. Police responded to the scene after they received an emergency call from the female driver who discovered that the harasser was not who he claimed. Police discovered that the flashers he used during the incident belonged to his uncle, who is the chief of a police station. The two were held for questioning.

Illegal relationship A maid was held for questioning after she gave birth to a baby who was the result of an illegal relationship, reported Al-Rai. A citizen living in Jahra informed police that his maid had delivered a baby inside his house. When questioned, the maid con-

fessed to hosting her ex-boyfriend in her room and explained that he is the one who got her pregnant. Police arrested the newborn's father and the couple was taken in for further questioning.

Kidnap failed An attempt to kidnap an Asian woman in Abu Halifa was interrupted by passersby, reported Al-Rai. The woman was on her way home from her workplace at a nearby beauty salon when she was approached by a car with three youngsters offering her a ride. When she rejected their offer they attempted to force her into the vehicle.

The thugs abandoned their attempt when people responded to the victim's screams.

Police are currently searching for the criminals.

Workers imprisoned Police are investigating a man who locked two air conditioning maintenance workers inside a room in his house in Naeem after he was unsatisfied with their work, reported Al-Rai. Police responded to the scene after receiving an emergency call from one of the workers who was imprisoned by the homeowner. The resident agreed to free the workers after he was informed that police would be forced to break into the house should he fail to do so.

The homeowner was held for questioning.

in the news Iraqi mass graves KUWAIT: Teams of Kuwaiti and Iraqi specialists searching for the remains of Kuwaiti prisoners of war among the remains found in mass graves in Iraq are currently sorting the remains of the bodies exhumed there in order to send them to laboratories where it is hoped they can be positively identified. The United Nationsbacked operation is continuing under strict confidentiality as per the agreement reached between the two countries on the issue, reported Al-Rai. This was based on maintaining absolute confidentiality concerning the confirmed identities of those exhumed until the final lists of names are released due to the sensitivity of the issue and the potential effects on the PoWs' families. The operation is focusing on mass graves found in Karbala and Al-Amara where, according to previously released information, the remains of a number of Kuwaiti PoWs were interred. In the meantime, talks are currently underway to devise a new strategy for carrying out the identification tests on the remains at laboratories to be established in Iraq rather than removing all the remains for testing in Kuwait.

Ahmadi Port spill KUWAIT: MP Ali Al-Omair has laid the blame for the recent oil spill in Ahmadi Port firmly at the feet of Kuwait's oil sector, further asserting that oil sector mismanagement has been behind the majority of environmental disasters in the country. Al-Omair told Al-Rai that the parliamentary environment committee would discuss the oil sector's commitment to complying with environmental and safety regulations at a forthcoming meeting, where the committee members hope to determine the reasons for a spate of accidents of this nature, particularly in the southern part of Kuwait. The MP indicated that oil minister Sheikh Ahmad AlAbdullah Al-Sabah and the CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) will also be invited to attend the meeting. On a separate note, Al-Omair called for the parliamentary priorities committee to be disbanded, "since it has failed to achieve the goals which it was established for."

Co-ops privatization KUWAIT: The Mayor of Yarmouk recently criticized the government's plan to privatize co-ops, which he said are already established as part of the private sector, reported Al-Rai. He warned that such an approach will benefit business owners at the expense of consumers.

Talking as part of an event to launch the Ramadan discount festival at the Yarmouk co-op, Mayor Abdulaziz Al-Meshary said that co-ops act as role models for providing quality products and services to consumers without focusing on gains. He asserted the importance of protecting this concept. Additionally, AlMeshary said that privatizing 18 percent of the co-ops' shares to fund developmental projects is unacceptable. He said "these funds belong to shareholders," and added that Kuwait is a rich country with enough assets for such projects.

KUWAIT: Ramadan campaign photos from previous years.

NBK set to host Iftar banquets during holy month of Ramadan KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the largest bank in Kuwait and the highest rated in the Middle East, is set to host Iftar daily banquets during the holy month of Ramadan as part of an extensive social program specifically developed by NBK in concordance with the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan and as a further testament of the Bank's commitment to its social responsibility.

NBK Public Relations Officer, Talal Al-Turki said that in light of the remarkable success Al-Watani Iftar Banquets witnessed during the past years, NBK decided this year to take in advance preparations necessary for the successful hosting of AlWatani Iftar Banquets within an extensive Ramadan social program that comprises a multitude of philanthropic activities.

Al Turki added that last year's Al-Watani Iftar banquets had set a record number of more than 100,000 Iftar meals offered to fasters and it is expected that Al Watani Iftar banquets will witness a much more attendance on the part of fasters and will consequently set a new record number that outpace last year's figure.

Talal Al-Turki "The distribution scale and range of Al-Watani Iftar banquets this year will be broader, more extensive and involves a larger number of NBK staff volunteers who will receive and attend fasters at the two main Ramadan tents near the Grand Mosque and next to Salmiya Cinema Branch, in addition to distributing hundreds of fastbreaking meals via special convoys to numerous mosques, strategic and crowded locations in Kuwait", Al-Turki said.

Al-Turki pointed out that NBK had basically initiated the

"Do Good Deeds in Ramadan" campaign 16 years ago to reflect the philanthropic spirit of Ramadan through donating the proceeds of the campaign to various humanitarian and charitable organizations, "However, in the past years, NBK decided to totally devote the campaign to a more tangible and concrete action that directly affects Ramadan needy fasters and offer them free Iftar meals throughout the whole month of Ramadan via a well concerted campaign that involves NBK staff volunteers", Al-Turki added. "In addition to hosting AlWatani Iftar banquets, the Ramadan Social Program developed by NBK this year comprises a multitude of philanthropic activities featuring the spirit of social solidarity, compassion and interaction through providing financial and moral support for the various institutions along with conducting regular visits to the underprivileged sections of our society such as elders, orphans, special needs people and patients at NBK Children Hospital in addition to hosting Girgian and Ghabqa parties during the holy month of Ramadan", Al-Turki concluded.

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

7

Ahmadinejad to visit Lebanon after Ramadan: FM TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Lebanon after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a top official said yesterday, as Tehran pledged its support to Beirut and Damascus in face of any “aggression” from Israel.

“The president will go to Lebanon at the first occasion after Ramadan,”

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at a joint news conference with his visiting Lebanese counterpart Ali alShami.

The holy month, during which the Muslim faithful abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex during daylight hours, is expected to begin on Thursday in Iran, depending on the

sighting of the new moon.

The last visit by an Iranian president to Lebanon was by reformist Mohammad Khatami in May 2003, while Lebanese President Michel Sleiman had visited Tehran in November 2008.

Mottaki also pledged Iran’s support to Lebanon and Syria against any

threats from Israel.

“The government of the Islamic republic and the Iranian nation are standing with the Lebanese and Syrian governments and nations against the aggression and threats of the Zionist regime,” Mottaki said.

He said Iran was holding continuous consultations with Beirut and

Damascus and Tehran is “ready to answer positively any request from its brothers.”

Mottaki and Shami lashed out at Israel as they condemned the Jewish state for the recent clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border and the May 31 raid by its commandos on an aid flotilla heading to the blockaded territory of

Gaza. “The survival of the Zionist regime is facing serious problem,” Mottaki said in comments translated by the English language Press TV channel.

Shami, who acknowledged Iran’s support over the Arab-Israel issue, added that “Israeli aggression is due to its hostile nature.”

On August 4, a deadly firefight on the border between Israel and Lebanon, took the lives of an Israeli colonel, two Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist.

The May 31 Israeli raid on the aid flotilla left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked an international outcry against the Jewish nation. —AFP

Death toll stands at 43, with 185 wounded in Basra blasts

Car bombs hit cities of Ramadi, Falluja BANDAR ABBAS: Two new Iranian Ghadir-class submarines are unveiled during a ceremony in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas yesterday. —AFP

Aziz’s health deteriorating AMMAN: Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi foreign minister and leading lieutenant of Saddam Hussein, is experiencing deteriorating health in Iraqi detention, although his morale remains strong, his son said yesterday.

Aziz, whose long tenure as the country’s top diplomat made him the international face of the Iraqi dictator’s regime, surrendered to US forces about a month after the war began in March 2003.

He was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison for his role in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering, and was handed over last month to Iraqi custody from the US “My father’s health has deteriorated, but his morale is good,” Ziad Aziz told The Associated Press. The elder Aziz, who is now 74, suffers from hypertension and diabetes and had two strokes in the past

year. Ziad said his father suffers from back and leg pain, making it impossible for him to walk and forcing him to use a wheelchair to get around.

Aziz also had a gum infection and couldn’t wear his dentures, his son said. “He can’t eat solid foods,” he said. Ziad Aziz said his mother visited the elder Aziz in his Baghdad prison on July 30 and provided this latest information on his father’s health. —AP

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right, attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem offices, yesterday. —AP

UN poised to launch Gaza flotilla probe JERUSALEM: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday expressed confidence that the UN’s Gaza flotilla inquiry would satisfy global public opinion, as the panel’s Israeli and Turkish delegates were named.

“I believe this committee will direct the important opinion of the international community, and not the committee set up by the anti-Israeli body in Geneva,” the Israeli premier told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Today, Israel said it would agree to cooperate with a UN committee to probe the deadly May 31 raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship which left nine Turkish

nationals dead.

But it has refused to have anything to do with another UN inquiry, launched last month by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council-a body which Israel perceives as having an inbuilt bias against the Jewish State.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon’s four-man team will be chaired by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, with outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as his deputy.

The other two members, a Turkish national and an Israeli, were named by the UN on Saturday as Ozdem Sanberk,

former director general of the Turkish foreign ministry, and Joseph Ciechanover, who held the same position in Israel.

“I decided to appoint Dr Joseph Ciechanover as Israel’s representative on the PalmerUribe committee,” Netanyahu told the cabinet, two days before the UN panel is to begin its deliberations.

“Israel was involved in the process of setting up the committee, writing its mandate and selecting its members,” Netanyahu said.

The UN committee is due to begin work on August 10 and submit a first progress report by mid-September. —AFP

BAGHDAD: Car bombs exploded in the cities of Ramadi and Falluja west of the Iraqi capital yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens of others, police sources said. The blasts followed three explosions at a busy market in the centre of Iraq’s southern oil hub Basra late on Politicians and security officials say insurgents appear to be trying to take advantage of the power vacuum.

The bomb in Ramadi exploded near a restaurant in a busy area on the city’s main street, killing at least seven people and wounding another 21, a police source said.

Two other car bombs blew up in Falluja, about 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.

Police said one was left behind by gunmen who robbed a currency exchange merchant of $85,000 at his home. It killed one person and wounded four others, a hospital source said.

The other exploded near a police patrol. A police source said the blast killed two people and wounded 11 others while a hospital source said 10 people were wounded.

In Basra, families tried to identify scores of charred bodies in the morgue of one of Iraq’s biggest cities after firefighters spent until late on Saturday extinguishing fierce flames.

A Reuters witness said shops stretching 300 metres (yards) either side of the busy al-Ashaar market were burned out.

“The death toll of the three explosions that hit the market yesterday (Saturday) reached to 43 people killed and 185 wounded,” Riyadh Abdulameer, head of Basra’s health department, told Reuters, adding this was not the final count.

“There were three terrorist explosions. One of them

Saturday that killed at least 43 and wounded 185, officials said. Oil-rich Iraq has remained in a political limbo since an inconclusive March 7 election while Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish political factions try to sort out a coalition government.

BAGHDAD: A US soldier patrols next to Iraqi security forces as they inspect the site of a suicide attack in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, yesterday. A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives, killing several people, at a petrol station in the city, medical and security officials said. —AFP was a car bomb,” said Ali alMaliki, the head of the security committee in the Basra council. A security source said one of the explosions was a bomb put under a big generator supplying electricity to many shops in the market. “Dead bodies were removed by shovels and

cranes.” said Ali Abdulameer who was waiting at the morgue, searching for the body of his nephew who was killed.

“Dead bodies can’t be recognised. Families are quarrelling. Each one says this corpse belongs to me. So far I couldn’t find the corpse

of my nephew,” he added.

Overall violence in Iraq has ebbed since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006/07 but bombings and suicide attacks occur regularly across the OPEC producer.

Iraq has the world’s thirdlargest reserves and many of the oilfields are located

around Basra.

Nearly 400 civilians were killed in bombings and other attacks in July, almost double the June toll, Iraqi authorities say. Tens of thousands of people were killed during the height of Iraq’s sectarian slaughter in 2006-07. —Reuters

Israeli whistle-blower Vanunu freed from jail JERUSALEM: Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu was freed from jail yesterday after serving 11 weeks behind bars for breaking the terms of his release and meeting a foreigner, a prison official said.

“Mordecai Vanunu was freed from prison on Sunday morning,” a spokesman for the prisons authority told AFP. Vanunu began serving a three-month sentence at a prison in Ramle near Tel Aviv on May 23.

A court had in December ordered him to do three months community service or serve three months in prison for violating the terms of his release from jail back in 2004.

The former nuclear technician was arrested in December at a Jerusalem hotel while talking to a Norwegian woman-a violation of the terms laid down when he was freed after serving 18 years for disclosing the inner workings of Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant to Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper The 55-year-old had opted for community service but asked the Supreme Court if he could perform it in Arab east Jerusalem for fear he would be harassed by Israelis on the mainly Jewish western side of the city.

The court rejected his request and ordered him to serve three months behind bars.

Vanunu was originally jailed in 1986 and spent

more than 10 of his 18 years in prison in solitary confinement.

Since then, he has been detained several times for violating the terms of his release that ban him from travel or contact with foreigners.

Vanunu became an international cause celebre during his time in prison.

At home, he is still widely reviled for converting to Christianity shortly before he was kidnapped in Italy and shipped back to Israel.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nucleararmed power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but it has a policy of neither confirming nor denying that. —AFP

8

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

Swiss minister advocates shift in approach to EU GENEVA: Switzerland's justice minister said the country, which is not a member of the European Union, had to change its approach to relations with the bloc, in an interview published yesterday.

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a conservative former member of the anti-EU Swiss People's Party, acknowledged in the

Sonntagszeitung that it was difficult to maintain the 11-year-old piecemeal approach of bilateral economic and technical ties with its neighbours.

Fiercely independent Swiss voters have repeatedly rejected closer political ties and membership of the European Union, although the issue is highly divisive.

"It's certainly right that we should think over our relationship with the EU and have to think hard about what is possible under the conditions of our federal system and direct democracy," she told the weekly.

"What is clear is that we cannot simply carry on as before," she added.

Widmer-Schlumpf argued that the current 27-nation bloc had changed and had less leeway for exceptions from its rules.

She nonetheless ruled out EU membership for now because of the overhaul it would impose on the historic, referendum-based Swiss federal system.

The comments by Widmer-

Schlumpf, a highly respected minister whose political career is anchored in the anti-EU right, come amid renewed debate in Switzerland about its European future.

Despite her current opposition to membership, the minister said she could imagine the EU evolving into a "Europe of the regions" with a more devolved federal system in the com-

ing years.

"Then entry for Switzerland would maybe be interesting and possible," Widmer-Schlumpf added.

EU officials have expressed frustration with Switzerland's quest to expand on separate agreements such as free movement of labour, education, border policing and transport, which give it similar economic

advantages to member states without assuming the political commitment of membership and joint decision-making.

Iceland last month started formal talks with the European Union over accession. Norway, Switzerland and a few tiny principalities are the only other west European countries that have stayed out of the EU. — AFP

Doctors fear the sack if they diagnose heatwave illness

Moscow opens anti-smog centers as wildfires burn MOSCOW: Moscow authorities say they have opened more than 120 antismog centers as wildfires around the capital suffocate residents and ground dozens of flights. Municipal official Vladimir Petrosyan said yesterday that exasperated Muscovites could "get their breath back" in 123 air-conditioned

rooms that have opened to the public in government buildings and hospitals.

Most apartments in Moscow lack air conditioning. Emergency officials said they registered 49 wildfires around Moscow yesterday, including 14 peat bog fires.

MOSCOW: Young American tourists, brave the thick blanket of smog covering Moscow as they visit the Red Square, yesterday, with St.Basil's cathedral in the background. A suffocating smog from wildfires hung over the Russian capital, raising the concentration of dangerous pollutants to an unprecedented new high as exasperated residents donned masks and dozens of flights were delayed or diverted at the city's airports. — AP

Cameron's foreign policy 'gaffes' split opinion LONDON: Straight-talking or gaffe-prone?

Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron has divided opinion with some unusually direct public comments on foreign policy from Pakistan and Gaza to the US. Cameron seems to have patched things up with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after he accused Pakistan of promoting "the export of terror" on a visit to India last month.

The pair insisted relations between Britain and Pakistan were "unbreakable" and vowed to step up cooperation on security after meeting Friday for the first time since the controversy erupted.

But the dust has not yet settled on other controversial remarks made by Cameron, a centre-right Conservative, in his first visits to world leaders since taking office as head of a coalition government in May. While in Turkey, he called Gaza a "prison camp" and said he was "angry" at the slow pace that Turkey's bid for European Union membership was progressing, seen as a jibe at France and Germany.

He also acknowledged that Britain was the "junior partner" in relations with the United States ahead of a trip to the White

House. Last week, in an apparent slip of the tongue, he even suggested that Iran had a nuclear weapon-although Downing Street later insisted he was only talking about Tehran's pursuit of one.

"He is increasingly getting a reputation for being a foreign policy klutz, with two right feet, both of them firmly planted in his mouth," said Chris Bryant, a Foreign Office minister in the last Labour government under Gordon Brown.

Other commentators have suggested that Cameron might be better off conveying his stronger opinions in private, rather than through very public soundbites.

Cameron defended his comments on Pakistan by saying it was important "to speak frankly about these things to countries that are your friends" and this attitude also seems to extend to other nations.

And some experts suggest that, while there may have been some gaffes, Cameron's straight-talking could be linked to a shake-up of how British diplomacy works. The 43-year-old prime minister wants to see greater emphasis on boosting Britain's ties with emerging economic powers like India and Turkey.

This means turning away from the interventionist policies pursued under the previous Labour government-particularly prime minister Tony Blair, who took Britain into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq-and, by implication, freeing up Cameron in his foreign policy declarations.

"I think there's a genuine shift of emphasis," Chris Brown, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told AFP. "I think the feeling that the present government has is that the last government had a rather exaggerated view of Britain's importance within the world and they want to say look, it's not like that, we're a medium power".

Whatever the motivation, Cameron's approach seems to have found favour with the British public-for now at least.

Asked to sum up their view of his comments abroad, 49 percent agreed that he was "being plain speaking and other countries will respect that" while 27 percent said he was "being a loudmouth and risks upsetting relations with our allies" in a YouGov/Sun newspaper poll released earlier this month. — AFP

Hundreds evacuated from deadly flooding in Germany BERLIN: Rising floodwaters forced the evacuation yesterday of more than 1,400 people in southeastern Germany, including residents of two homes for the aged, authorities said.

After three people drowned Saturday in a cellar in Neunkirchen near the city of Chemnitz in a flash flood, police warned that a heavy downpour posed a threat to residents throughout the region.

"It is still raining hard and there is no let-up in sight," said a spokesman for disaster management in the city of Goerlitz, which lies on the Neisse River dividing Germany from Poland, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) to the east of Chemnitz.

Authorities said 1,450 residents of Goerlitz and the surrounding area had been taken to safety in boats, buses and helicopters.

Heavy rains and a dambreak on Witka Lake in Poland near the German border led the

Neisse and several other rivers in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic to burst their banks, German authorities said.

"Flash floods hit the city

within a few hours and there was nothing we could do to prepare ourselves," Goerlitz Mayor Michael Wieler told news channel N24.

The extreme weather in central Europe has claimed the lives of at least eight people including four in the Czech Republic and one in Poland. — AFP

OSTRTZ: A boat of the German Lifeguard Association DLRG makes its way through the flood waters of the Neisse river in Ostritz near Goerlitz, eastern Germany, next to the Polish border yesterday. — AFP

The Moscow Ecological Monitoring Service said the concentration of airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide is more than three times normal levels.

Moscow airports reported delays or diversions of some 90 flights yesterday due to low visibility.

Meanwhile, doctors said they were wary of diagnosing patients with heat and smoke-related illnesses out of fear they will lose their jobs, hinting at Russia's long record of covering up the impact of disasters.

Many Russians have criticised the government's slow response to the peat and forest fires that have engulfed swathes of Russia and left a harmful smoke cloud that has choked the capital for several days.

The opposition accused authorities of being in denial.

Powerful Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, notably silent during the crisis since he left for holiday on Aug. 2, was returning because of "the developing situation in the city due to fires", news agencies quoted his spokesman as saying.

Fires caused by the hottest weather since records began 130 years ago have left thousands homeless and prompted officials to warn against venturing outdoors in Moscow, where flights were diverted and residents wore surgical masks. The Emergencies Ministry said yesterday the area forest and peat fires in the Moscow region had tripled since Friday; currently at 210 hectares (519 acres), up from 65.7. France, responding to Moscow's plea for aid, offered 120 men, 37 vehicles, 15 motorpumps and a bombardier DASH water plane, the French presidency said in a statement yesterday.

An unnamed doctor at a Moscow clinic wrote on his site that the bodies of those who had died from heatstroke and smoke ailments over the last few days were piling up in the basement, as the "fridges are full", leaving a "rotting stench". He added the situation was similar at hospitals across Moscow. "(But) we can't give that diagnosiswe don't want to be sacked.

We have families to feed," he said on his site http://mamako.livejournal.com/704159.html; comments that were were carried by several Russian media outlets yesterday.

He added that if a state of emergency were declared in Moscow as in other regions, doctors have to be paid double. Another doctor at a major hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that staff had been instructed by senior management to not link patients' illnesses with the heatwave.

A spokeswoman for the Moscow city government declined to comment on the doctors' claims.

Pro-Western opposition party Yabloko yesterday accused the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 350 km (220 miles) east of Moscow, of deliberately denying residents access to information on the fires raging in his region by not reinstating site wyksa.ru, which was shut on Aug. 5 in a cyber attack.

The site had served as a lifeline for residents by giving detailed information on how to get help, Yabloko said in a statement, adding that its closure "killed people".

Last week the Ministry of Defence denied two military installations were damaged by fire, but the reports were later revealed to be true. Critics say Moscow has a history cover ups when disaster strikes, from its delay in responding to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster to the conflicting reports surrounding the 2000 sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine.

Though the government maintains the official death toll from fires is 52, an "informed source" told Interfax news agency on Friday that the death rates in Moscow surged nearly 30 percent in July because of the heat and foul smoke cloud.

One of the world's top grains producers, Russia has announced a temporary ban on exports after crops were ravaged by the dry weather. The news sent world wheat prices soaring. —Agencies

TSKHINVALI: In this photo taken on Saturday, young Ossetians place candles during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war in Tskhinvali, the capital of the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia. — AP

Moscow vows support for breakaway Georgian regions SUKHUMI: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday made a surprise visit to Abkhazia, his first trip to the breakaway Georgian region since Moscow's war with Tbilisi two years ago.

Visiting on the second anniversary of the conflict, Medvedev assured Abkhazia's rebel leader Sergei Bagapsh of Russian support for his statelet and said he had no regrets about recognising Abkhaz independence.

In the wake of the August 2008 war, Moscow recognised Abkhazia and fellow rebel region South Ossetia as independent states-a move so far followed by only a handful of countries and condemned by the West.

"It was not a simple decision," Medvedev said.

"But time has shown that it was the right decision.

The existence of the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was under threat."

"If that decision had not been taken, the situation now would be completely different," he added. The 2008 war saw Russian forces pour into Georgia after fighting broke out over South Ossetia, and later over Abkhazia itself, prompting the worst post-Cold War crisis between Russia and the West. Russian official news agencies confirmed that the visit was the first by a Russian president since Moscow recognised Abkhazia's independence. Georgia, which along with most of the international community insists the region is an integral part of its territory, reacted with exasperation, saying Medvedev would be better off dealing with Russia's wildfire crisis at home.

"I think it would be better if the Russian president were focused on domestic problems. I think maybe he is trying to distract attention," Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili told AFP. "They are still playing a game that they have lost. These territories are now recognised as occupied territories and these kinds of trips will not change that or add anything positive to the

region." A buoyant Medvedev visited the local concert hall, a school rebuilt with Russian funds and chatted to Russian tourists on the Black Sea embankment of Abkhazia's main city Sukhumi.

"I regret nothing. If we had not recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia we would not be drinking coffee here. More likely, there would have been a prolonged, bloody conflict. We prevented a bloodbath," he said.

Abkhaz separatists waged a civil war with Georgia in the 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union that killed several thousand people and left 250,000 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, as refugees.

Since Moscow's declaration of its independence, Abkhazia has been boosted by significant Russian aid and visits by large numbers of Russian tourists. But its economy remains stricken by the lack of international recognition.

In an embarrassment for Moscow, only Venezuela, Nicaragua and the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru have followed its move to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. "We will develop good relations with Abkhazia, we will develop economic relations and we will develop relations in the sphere of security," Medvedev added.

Medvedev said there was every chance that Abkhazia could flourish, adding: "Now it is very important to to continue relations in the economic and social spheres."

Bagapsh thanked Medvedev on behalf of the Abkhaz people "for finding time your complicated schedule" to visit the rebel region.

After the brief war, Russian forces withdrew into South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the ceasefire has held up without any major clashes despite continued tensions. Residents of South Ossetia also commemorated the war, lighting candles and listening to a requiem mass overnight in the main square of its capital Tskhinvali. — AFP

Dutch voters back new cabinet but shifting left AMSTERDAM: A majority of Dutch voters hope that the cabinet formation talks starting today will lead to a new rightleaning government, even as public support continues to shift to the left, a poll showed. The Maurice de Hond poll released yesterday found 52 percent of voters hope the Liberals and the Christian Democrats will reach a deal to form a minority government, with parliamentary support from the anti-Islamic Freedom Party.

Those three parties will begin talks today, two months to the day after parliamentary elections. Since then a number of negotiations to form different cabinets have failed, but the new talks are the most serious yet.

The potentially right-leaning cabinet would take strong austerity measures, with up to 18 billion euros ($23.75 billion) in budget cuts. It also likely would defer to the Freedom Party and its iconic leader Geert Wilders on issues related to immigration and Islam in society.

With Wilders's support the government could count on 76 votes in the 150-seat parliament, a razor-thin majority that has raised questions about how long the new government would last.

A recent poll found 60 percent of voters expected a new parliamentary election within two years. The De Hond poll found Wilders would win that new election, taking 31 seats, a gain of seven from the June poll.

The Liberals would lose five seats to come second and the Christian Democrats would lose

three to come in fourth place.

But aside from Wilders, the biggest gains would be in the center and on the left. De Hond found the Socialists would add three seats, while the social-liberal D66 and the Green Left would add two each.

Surveyed voters said Socialist leader Emile Roemer would be the most effective

leader of the opposition to the potential new government in parliament.

Roemer, a former schoolteacher, took over the Socialists in March after they made huge losses in municipal elections. He surprised the nation with a strong debating style that helped limit his party's losses in the June poll. — Reuters

NANTES: A woman in a niqab arrives yesterday at the police station in Nantes, western France.

France’s parliament voted on July 13 to ban the niqab, but the French senate will vote on the measure next month, after which it could still be challenged on constitutional grounds. — AFP

Monday, August 9, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

9

No contact with 33 missing miners

In Chile, cave-ins halt rescue of miners BOGOTA: Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, left, Colombia's Navy Commander ViceAdm. Alvaro Echandia, second left, Colombia's Air Force Commander Gen. Julio Gonzales, third left, and Colombia's Army Commander Gen. Alejandro Navas review troops during Santos' swearing-in ceremony in Bogota, Colombia, Saturday. — AP

Colombia's new leader conciliatory with neighbors BOGOTA: Juan Manuel Santos, sworn in Saturday as Colombia's 59th president, vowed to cement security gains but declared himself open to dialogue with rebels in hopes of ending the Western Hemisphere's only armed conflict.

He also got to work immediately mending frayed relations with neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador. Although he was invited, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was not among the 14 Latin American and Caribbean leaders, including Felipe Calderon of Mexico and Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, attending Saturday's ceremony on the carpeted cobblestones of Bogota's central plaza. Also absent was Chavez's close ally President Evo Morales of Bolivia.

Chavez broke diplomatic ties with Colombia two weeks ago after outgoing hard-line President Alvaro Uribe's government presented the Organization of American States with video of alleged Colombian rebel camps in Venezuela. Chavez did, however, send his foreign minister. In Caracas later, after he heard Santos express a desire for improved relations, Chavez said he is ready "to turn the page and look to a future with the hope of peace, brotherhoold and full integration between Colombia and Venezuela." President Rafael Correa of Ecuador did attend the inauguration, though he severed ties with Uribe's government in 2008 after the Colombian military raided a guerrilla camp a mile inside his country, killing a rebel chief and 25 others.

Those ties have been on the mend, however, and one of the first things Santos did as president was hand over to Correa the hard disks from the computers of rebel chief Raul Reyes that the Colombians seized in the raid. As a condition for fully restoring relations, Correa had asked for the hard disks, which include electronic messages indicating leftist rebels contributed to his 2006 election campaign. The countries' foreign ministers were to meet to work on returning ambassadors to each of their capitals.

Santos, a 58-year-old economist, set a new, less confrontational tone. He is a scion of one of Colombia's leading political families. Uribe is a rancher's son from Medellin, the coun-

try's second city. And the mood was certainly more relaxed than Uribe's 2002 inauguration, when homemade mortars lobbed at the presidential palace by leftist rebels killed 19 people, most of them indigents who were blocks away. Santos indicated his presidency would take a broader approach to ending Colombia's nearly half-century conflict -- focusing for one on attacking the nation's deepseated inequalities at their roots through social programs and job creation.

He signaled an unwillingness to talk peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, until it frees its hostages, halts "terrorist acts" and stops recruiting child soldiers and planting land mines. "But at the same time I want to reiterate: The door to dialogue is not locked," Santos said. "It is possible to have a Colombia at peace, a Colombia without guerrillas, and we're going to prove it! By reason or by force!" A Cabinet minister in three previous governments and the great grandnephew of a president, Santos held the defense portfolio in 2006-2009 under Uribe, who remains immensely popular among Colombians for sharply diminishing murders and kidnappings and badly battering the rebels.

Santos won election with 69 percent of the vote June 20.

Before his official inauguration, Santos, his wife, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez, and three children began the day high in Caribbean coastal mountains at an unorthodox "passing of the baton" ritual presided over by indigenous people from four nations. Dressed entirely in white linen and barefoot, Santos received a wooden staff, a necklace of polished stones and two string bracelets, one for each wrist. The stones represent the earth, water, nature and the government, whose job Santos said later in his inaugural speech is to protect them. The bracelets represent equilibrium.

Colombia is Washington's staunchest ally in Latin America. Representing the United States at the afternoon inauguration was Jim Jones, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, and a congressional delegation led

by Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat from New York who chairs the House subcommittee on Western Hemisphere affairs.— AP

US lawmakers face home-front skeptics WASHINGTON: Defending an armload of historic legislative wins with a pocketful of arguments, President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in Congress are wooing wary voters 90 days before critical November elections.

His Republican foes, meanwhile, are using the month-long August break to press their argument that 19 months of Obama's leadership have failed to cure the ailing economy with unemployment still hovering near 10 percent.

Republicans have made "where are the jobs?" their mantra and cast every Democratic achievementincluding landmark overhauls of US health care and financial industry rules-and the rest of Obama's agenda as "job-killing."

"Policies originating from this White House are creating an environment of uncertainty and fear for business people and employees, preventing investment and hiring," the number two House Republican, Eric Cantor, said Friday.

Democrats point to a steady

decline in unemployment since Obama took office in January 2009 to underline their refrain that Republicans would return the country to the policies that set the stage for the 2007-2009 economic meltdown.

"Every day, Congressional Republicans side with special interests over the public interest, and pledge to take us back to the 'exact same agenda' that got us into this mess in the first place. Democrats are standing up for a new direction," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

Historically, a sitting US president's party loses seats in midterm elections in his first term-and even the White House has joined a chorus of observers warning Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives.

With all 435 House seats and 37 of the 100 Senate spots up for grabs, as well as state legislatures and key governorships, what's at stake is nothing less than the future of Obama's agenda.— AP

COPIAPO: Hopes of saving 33 miners trapped in a collapsed gold and copper mine in Chile dwindled yesterday after new cave-ins forced a halt to rescue efforts through a ventilation shaft.

"There was some movement and new cave-ins, so the rescuers had to get out quickly to save their lives," Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told reporters on Saturday. "This obviously blocks this possible entry point. We're consulting with the entire technical team trying to find other means of solving this," he said.

San Esteban mine director Alejandro Bohn added that "we want to keep it real: the possibility of finding a quick solution is extremely low."

"Right now, our main concern is to have a good alternative plan," he told a press conference outside the mine.

Bohn said there were 33 people confirmed trapped inside the mine since Thursday, revising earlier reports of 34 miners. Chilean President Sebastian

Pinera visited the rescue site on his way home from the presidential inauguration in Colombia, promising to "do everything possible" to get to the trapped miners.

But he sounded a note of pessimism.

"This is not easy, and I have to tell you the truth," Pinera said. "The situation is now not only in our hands, but also in the hands of God, and I want to ask him for his help in avoiding the loss of lives."

More than 300 rescue workers were assembled at the San Esteban mine on the outskirts of Copiapo, in Chile's Atacama desert, 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of Santiago.

They have yet to make contact with the 33 missing miners since the collapse, which blocked an access road to the mine, and it was unclear whether they had been able to reach an underground shelter stocked with enough water, food and oxygen for up 72 hours.

"We're very hopeful, but we cannot be sure our workers followed procedure and

made their way there," Bohn said, adding that supplies in the shelter were "limited and insufficient for a prolonged stay. We hope the workers are rationing them."

A rescuer who asked not to be identified said Saturday's attempt to reach the miners got to a point "around 80 meters (87 yards)" short of the shelter before the new cave-ins scuttled the operation.

Golborne said earlier that "five teams of eight people, 40 people in total" were dropping into openings that are between two to four square meters wide in search of the trapped miners.

The gold and copper mine, some 800 meters above sea level, is cut into a mountain and usually accessed by a ramp that descends in a spiral, but the collapse cut off that route, forcing workers to use the mine's ventilation shafts, which are cut vertically into the rock. "We really don't know if rocks have fallen in on them or not, or whether they are alive," mine manager Pedro Simunovic told AFP. — AFP

COPIAPO: Relatives wait outside a collapsed mine where about 34 miners are trapped in Copiapo, Chile. Search groups suspended their hunt for 33 workers trapped inside a gold and copper mine in northern Chile after a new collapse. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

10

Monday, August 9, 2010

Treatment of suspected Indonesian separatists raises alarm JAKARTA: Publicised incidents of suspected torture of separatists in eastern Indonesia have alarmed rights groups, who say further reform is needed to eradicate the kind of brutality tolerated under former President Suharto.

Indonesia has embraced democracy since the fall of the autocratic Suharto in 1998 and is attracting strong interest from foreign investors, thanks largely to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s market-friendly reforms.

The United States recently lifted a ban

on ties with Kopassus, Indonesia’s oncenotorious special forces unit, citing the military’s improved human rights record.

But military and police efforts to crush long-running separatist movements in resource-rich Papua and the Moluccas in easternmost Indonesia have alarmed human rights activists.

“Indonesia now is not Indonesia 10 years ago and there have been significant institutional reforms that protect human rights.

But we do have some elements of the old Indonesia,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia

advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

“I think it shows how far the Yudhoyono administration has to go.”

Earlier this month, a gruesome video clip on Youtube showed a Papuan separatist lying in the jungle after his abdomen had been sliced open by a bayonet as he was questioned by uniformed officers.

National police spokesman Edward Aritonang was quoted in the English-language newspaper, Jakarta Post, saying that police had made the video to document their arrest of the man, Yawan Wayeni, a

member of the secessionist Free Papua Organisation (OPM).

Local media also reported last month that a Papuan journalist had been found dead with signs of torture on his body and that other Papuan journalists had received phone threats.

In another incident, seven people were arrested in the Moluccas in early August for owning banned separatist flags and “a political book”, said Johanis Huwae, spokesman for the Moluccan provincial police.

Indigenous groups in the southern

Moluccas, particularly on Ambon island, have long agitated for the creation of an independent Republic of the Southern Moluccas. Some have been jailed in the past for performing a war dance associated with the movement.

The incidents showed more needed to be done to protect the rights of peaceful protesters, said New York-based Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International last week raised concerns that the recently arrested Moluccan people may be at risk of torture but this allegation was rejected by

police.

Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said it was unfair to make generalisations based on cases with different circumstances.

“Things are far better compared to the old ways,” he said.

International Crisis Group, a Brusselsbased think tank, last week published a report urging the Indonesian government to address political discontent and migration in Papua urgently if it was to avoid fuelling the separatist movement. —Reuters

127 dead, thousands missing in China landslides Half of an entire town under water BEIJING: Rubble-strewn floodwaters tore through a remote corner of northwestern China yesterday, smashing buildings, overturning cars and killing at least 127 people. Half of an entire town was under

water and an estimated 2,000 more people were missing in the latest deluge in a summer that has seen China’s worst seasonal flooding in a decade.

Terrified residents fled to high ground or upper stories of apartment buildings after a debris-blocked river overflowed during the night in the northwestern province of Gansu.

Worst hit was the county seat of Zhouqu in the province’s Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with the official Xinhua News Agency reporting half of it under water. Many houses collapsed and streets were covered with a yard (meter) of mud and water after the early morning landslides, it said.

The landslides struck after heavy rains lashed the country late Saturday and the Bailong River overflowed, Xinhua quoted the head of Zhouqu county, Diemujiangteng, as saying, “Now the sludge (thick mud) has became the biggest problem to rescue operations. It’s too thick to walk or drive through,” he was quoted as saying.

State broadcaster China Central Television said the death toll in the province was at least 127, with about ZHOUQU: In this photo released by China’s Xinhua news agency, buildings, vehicles and roads are hit 2,000 people missing. Power, by mudslides in Zhouqu county, in northwest China’s Gansu Province yesterday yesterday. Rubble- water and communications strewn floodwaters tore through a remote corner of northwestern China yesterday, smashing buildings, were cut in affected areas in the southern part of the province, overturning cars and killing at least 127 people. — AP about one-third of whose residents are ethnic Tibetan, and it was not known how many of the missing were in danger or simply out of contact.

The devastation was worsened by the blockage of the river upstream, which created a 2-mile (3-kilometer)-long lake that overfilled and sent massive waves of mud, rocks and water crashing down on the town, ripping houses from their foundaSEOUL: North Korea has seized a South citing findings of a multinational investiga- return on September 10, the Yonhap news tions and tearing six-story Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan (East tion, accused it of torpedoing a South agency said. apartment buildings in half.

The current naval drill follows a major Sea), the South’s coastguard said yesterday, Korean warship in March.

Explosive experts were flyThe North denies involvement in the joint South Korean-US naval and air exerin an incident which could further inflame ing to the scene by helicopter sinking and has threatened retaliation for cise in the Sea of Japan late last month. It high cross-border tensions. to demolish the blockage and The boat with four South Korean and what it calls a provocative South Korean ended without incident despite the North’s safely release potential flood three Chinese crewmen was detained while military exercise being staged in the Yellow threats of military retaliation. waters. Tents, boxed meals and As part of its own five-day drill due to apparently operating near the North’s Sea in response to the sinking. medical supplies were being The exercise, which involves 4,500 end today, the South’s navy has staged exclusive economic zone, the coastguard rushed to the area, where more troops, 29 ships and 50 fighter jets, is one of intensive night-time exercises aimed at said in a statement. rain was forecast through It was being towed yesterday to the a series planned in coming months-some of detecting North Korean submarines.

Wednesday.

The navy came in for strong criticism for them with South Korea’s ally the United North’s northeastern port of Songjin.

CCTV said 45,000 people “We urge North Korean authorities to States-in a show of force against the North. failing to detect the alleged submarine night had been evacuated, but the YTN television said the fishing boat sent attack on March 26 which split a corvette in handle this case in accordance with internaregion’s remote, mountainous tional norms and practices and return the a message at 11:00 am yesterday (0200 two with the loss of 46 lives. location was hampering the “The anti-submarine exercise... is a preship and the crew at the earliest possible GMT) saying it was heading for Songjin. emergency response. Heavy The television quoted a Seoul govern- lude to a war of aggression against the date,” the coastguard said. equipment could not be brought It was not immediately clear whether the ment official as saying the boat had been North,” the newspaper of the North’s ruling Daeseung 55 was suspected of illegal fish- operating in or near a fishing area jointly communist party, Rodong Sinmun, said along the narrow access roads, ing. The seizure came during a major South shared between Russia and North Korea, Saturday. forcing rescuers to rely on The North’s military has threatened “the Korean naval exercise which has stirred 270 kilometres (170 miles) east of the shovels, picks and buckets, most powerful” retaliation if the South triganger and threats of retaliation from the North’s Musudan region. while scattered stones either The 41-ton vessel’s home port is Pohang gers a conflict during the current drill. “Our North. barred the way or caused tires Cross-border relations have been stormy in the southeast of South Korea. It left the warning is not empty talk,” the paper said. to rupture. Pictures showed since South Korea and the United States, port city on August 1 and was scheduled to —AFP streets covered in layers of mud and stones, shattered buildings and cars washed downstream. CCTV reported Premier Wen Jiabao was had flown to Jiuzhaigou in neighboring Sichuan province and was heading to the disaster area to oversee rescue work. The Lanzhou Military Area Command in the provincial capBRISBANE: Australian opposi- sions over the removal of former tions that the government had with futile environmental gesital dispatched 2,400 soldiers to tion leader Tony Abbott pledged prime minister Kevin Rudd. failed to take action against people tures,” he said. The Greens, who help with rescue efforts. More tougher prison sentences for peoThe latest Reuters Poll Trend smuggling.”We’ve got mandatory are likely to hold the balance of than 1,000 firefighters and miliple-smugglers yesterday as he shows Australia is facing an jail sentences in the current legis- power in the upper house Senate tia members from the surformally launched his campaign to increasing risk of the first hung lation. We have had a crackdown,” after the election, on Sunday prorounding area were also being unseat the Labour government in parliament since World War Two. she told Australian television. posed a long-term 100 percent sent to aid relief efforts, Xinhua the Aug 21 election.

No Australian government since Border protection laws intro- renewable energy target, and said said.

Abbott also promised a united 1931 has lost after a single term. duced this year set a penalty of up they would push for A$5 billion Around China, the country’s team if he wins office- pointing to In his main new policy in the to 20 years’ jail and up to 10 years ($4.5 billion) in green loans to proworst flooding in a decade has dissension within Labour since campaign speech, Abbott said for assisting smugglers. mote big clean energy projects.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard people-smugglers who repeatedly killed more than 1,100 people Abbott also promised to set up While that policy is unlikely to replaced her predecessor in a offended would go to jail for 10 a carbon-emissions reduction fund be implemented, it points to a this year, with more than 600 party coup in June. years or more-sentences more in his first three months to combat starting point for post-election still missing. The floods have Illegal immigration is shaping akin to rape and manslaughter. climate change. He opposes the discussion on climate policy. The caused tens of billions of dollars up as a decisive issue in what is “We are determined to send a government’s plan for a carbon- Greens want a carbon tax and in damage across 28 provinces likely to be a close election, with strong message to people smug- trading scheme. deep emissions cuts by 2020. and regions. Overall this year, opinion polls showing that voters glers that their cruel and callous If he wins, Abbott said Abbott also promised to kill off about 875,000 homes have in marginal seats are concerned trade in human cargo must stop,” Australia would meet targets to Labor’s proposed 30 percent minbeen destroyed, 9.61 million that Canberra is not doing enough Abbott told an auditorium packed cut greenhouse emissions by five ing tax on the first day of a conserpeople evacuated, and 22 milto turn back boatloads of asylum with cheering Liberal-National percent by 2020, but through tree vative government, produce a lion acres (8.76 million seekers. Surveys show Abbott’s Party coalition supporters, under planting and other moves-not national economic blueprint withhectares) of crops ruined, conservatives have a real chance the banner “Stand up for through a carbon tax or trading. in his first month, and to outline according to the government’s of defeating Gillard, with the gov- Australia, stand up for real “What we will never do, tax reforms within his first 12 ernment’s campaign hurt by ten- action.” Gillard dismissed sugges- though, is is damage our economy months. —Reuters flood control office. — AP

N Korea seizes S Korea’s fishing boat amid tension

Australia’s opposition targets boat people in campign launch

CHANGWON: This photo taken on October 28, 2008 shows then-South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Tae-Ho (L) listening to South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (R) during Lee’s visit to a provincial government building in Changwon. South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak yesterday named the former provincial governor as new prime minister, and replaced seven other ministers in the biggest cabinet reshuffle since he took power in early 2008. — AFP

S Korea names new PM, seven other ministers in reshuffle SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak yesterday named a former provincial governor as new prime minister, and replaced seven other ministers in the biggest cabinet reshuffle since he took power in early 2008.

But Lee kept his current foreign, defence and unification ministers in place amid continuing high tensions with North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Kim Tae-Ho, 47, will be the country’s youngest prime minister for almost 40 years if parliament confirms his nomination.

Lee, who is halfway through his single fiveyear term of office, also announced new ministers for education (Lee Ju-Ho); culture (Shin Jae-Min); agriculture (Yoo Jeong-Bok); the knowledge economy ministry (Lee Jae-Hoon); health (Chin SooHee); labour (Bahk Jae-Wan) and special affairs (Lee Jae-Oh).

The reshuffle aims to strengthen the government’s “moderate pragmatism-oriented policy”, said presidential spokesman Hong Sang-Pyo, who announced the names.

Hong said Kim, former governor of South Gyeongsang province in the southeast, was expected to play a key role in improving communications with the younger generation.

Lee’s conservative ruling Grand National Party suffered a major defeat in June local elections, although it bounced back by unexpectedly winning five of eight parliamentary by-elections on July 28.

Prime minister Chung Un-Chan resigned late last month following the the government’s failure to win parliamentary approval for a key development project.

Kim Kyung-Min, a politics professor at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said the fact that Lee kept his strategically important ministers in place indicates no change in his North Korea policies.

“Given the hostile relations between Seoul and Pyongyang and the voter sentiment in South Korea that is not favourable to the North, I don’t think the situation will change anytime soon,” he told AFP. Lee announced a partial trade cut-off and other reprisals against the North after international investigators concluded that a North Korean submarine had torpedoed a South Korean warship near the disputed Yellow Sea border in March.

The North vehemently denies carrying out the attack, which killed 46 sailors. It has threatened possible retaliation for an ongoing major South Korean anti-submarine exercise.

“I think the current administration learned the lesson the hard way that they need more communication with young voters after the June local elections,” said Kim, the Hanyang professor.

“Naming Kim as prime minister shows a determination to forge closer relations with young Koreans.”

The prime minister-designate must be approved by parliament, where Lee’s party has an overwhelming majority. Other ministers are subject to confirmation hearings but legislators cannot block their appointment.

“Today’s young Koreans in their twenties and thirties are in deep despair... but I want to show them Korea is a land of opportunity,” prime minister-designate Kim told a press conference, in an apparent reference to high youth unemployment.

“Having been born the son of a poor cattle farmer and later becoming the youngest county chief and the governor, I want to give them hope, that they can make it if they have courage and work hard.” The president named Lee Jae-Oh, one of his closest aides, as minister for special affairs, tasked with dealing with political affairs.

He was promoted just 11 days after securing victory in the July 28 by-elections. —AFP

Philippines searches for missing cargo ship MANILA: The Philippine coast guard was searching yesterday for a domestic cargo ship with 17 crewmen that disappeared after encountering big waves and reporting engine trouble.

Crewmen aboard the 498-ton SF Freighter radioed the ship’s owner, Seaford Shipping, on Saturday to report the problems but shortly afterward all contact was lost, coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.

The owner launched an initial search near the ship’s last known location off the coast of Marinduque province and contacted the coast guard, Tamayo said. A coast guard plane spotted a ship yesterday in waters off Marinduque, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Manila, but later determined it was not the missing freighter, he said.

At least five coast guard and private vessels were involved in the search, but bad weather and poor visibility were hampering the effort, he said. Passing ships and coastal communities were told to be on the lookout for the ship, which was en route to

Manila from central Cebu province carrying a cargo of steel bars. Gusty wind and waves, meanwhile, pulled up the anchor of a cargo barge in Manila Bay late Saturday, causing it to ram five unoccupied huts and eight fishing boats in a coastal village in suburban Navotas city,

Tamayo said. No injuries were reported.

A tropical depression, which has enhanced monsoon rains and winds in northern and central regions, moved away from the country yesterday. Ships have been warned to expect rough seas. —AP

MANILA: Filipino girls stand on top of garbage washed ashore along the bay in on a rainy yesterday. A domestic cargo ship with 17 crewmen has been reported missing off a central province after encountering big waves and engine trouble, officials said. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, August 9, 2010

11

More protests planned after Kashmir curfew lifted SRINAGAR: Thousands of people crowded shops, businesses and banks in Indian Kashmir yesterday after officials lifted a 10-day curfew and separatist leaders called for a daylong break in protests to allow people to stock up on food and other necessities. Police said the government would re-impose the around-

the-clock curfew if the protests resume.

The Indian-controlled region has been wracked by weeks of clashes between rock-throwing Kashmiri protesters who have set official buildings and vehicles ablaze, and paramilitary police using guns and tear gas in an effort to contain the

large anti-India crowds. At least 50 people have died, most of them shot by government forces during protests.

Authorities removed steel barricades and layers of razor wire from roads across the predominantly Muslim region yesterday to allow people to buy food and other items.

“Sunday has come as a breather, and we’re stocking up on essential supplies like medicines and baby food,” said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Srinagar, the largest city. Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, has called for five days of protests this week starting Monday and urged

people to stock up on supplies.

The tension in the Himalayan region — divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both — is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

Meanwhile, both factions of the separatist alliance rejected an Indian government offer of talks, saying they would be futile unless New Delhi formally accepts the region as a disputed territory and repeals laws that give Indian soldiers and officials special powers to suppress dissent.

“I’m willing to resume a quiet dialogue,” Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in India’s Parliament on Thursday.

Separatists reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want to form a separate country or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. —AP

Thousands abandon houses hit by mud flows

Search for missing in Indian Himalayas after floods kill 137

KABUL: Afghan fireman checks out a mini van hit by a roadside bomb in Kandahar, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. The van carried police officers back from a training, one officer died in the blast, a provincial spokesman said. —AP

Afghan police probe foreign medic killings KABUL: Police were yesterday hunting for a group of gunmen who killed eight foreign medics, including six Americans, in remote northern Afghanistan as authorities sought to recover and identify the bodies.

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, according to the provincial police chief.

Two Afghans were also killed in the attack and one survived.

The team of volunteer medics were returning with their driver from a medical camp in neighbouring Nuristan province when they were attacked, said Dirk Frans, director of the Kabulbased International Assistance Mission (IAM).

He said the last communication with the group was on Wednesday evening.

Frans said the US embassy was trying to return the bodies to Kabul by helicopter yesterday for formal identification, after bad weather postponed a planned flight a day earlier.

“I don’t think anyone wants to waste any more time. The relatives are still living between hope and fear,” said Frans.

There were competing theories over the motive for the attack, with police saying it was likely a robbery, while two militant groups claimed responsibility, said Frans.

Frans said a militant group known to operate in the northern region, Hizb-e-Islami, first said it had carried out the killings.

But the Taleban also claimed responsibility, saying first that the medics were Christian missionaries and later accusing them of working as military spies.

“The whole thing is still very confusing. We are of course going to wait for the official investigation and see what comes out of that,” Frans told AFP. Badakhshan provincial police chief Aqa Noor Kintoz said the group had been lined up and shot in dense forest, according to the testimony of the Afghan driver, who was the sole 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 the group had been travelling unarmed in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, avoiding a dangerous path through Nuristan by driving through Badakhshan, where there have been few insurgent attacks.

The sole survivor, Saifullah, was being held by police as a witness, said Frans, adding that he had been a “faithful worker” for IAM for four years and there was “no suspicion at all” of his involvement.

Saifullah apparently escaped death by reading verses of the Quran, prompting the men to realise he was a Muslim and release him in neighbouring Nuristan.

Northeast Afghanistan has been regarded as largely free of the Taleban-led insurgency troubling other parts of the country.

Frans said many of the dead would be buried in a Christian cemetery in central Kabul as all but one of the foreign medics had been living in Afghanistan full-time.

IAM, a Christian volunteer organisation, had been working in Afghanistan through royal, communist and Taleban rule and would continue despite the killings, Frans said. —AFP

Afghanistan says to ‘deal with’ security firms KABUL: Afghan security forces will be more than capable of safeguarding the country, the government said yesterday, repeating in some of its strongest criticism yet that troublesome Western private security units should be disbanded.

Siyamak Herawi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said the push to scrap firms employing tens of thousands of private security guards was linked to Karzai’s 2014 timetable for Afghan forces to take over all security and operational responsibilities from US and NATO-led forces.

“The government wants to deal thoroughly with the companies and now that the capacity of the Afghan government is gradually increasing those entities in need of security individuals can use organised and educated Afghan soldiers,” Herawi told Reuters.

Private security companies competing for contracts worth billions of dollars have long been an irritant for Afghan and US and NATO forces in the country after a series of scandals.

The companies, who the Afghan government estimates employ 30,000-40,000 guards, work mainly for Western enterprises in Afghanistan. Last year,

the US government said it did not know how many contractors, of any kind, it employs in Afghanistan.

Karzai has criticised private security guards often in the past but launched a stinging attack at the weekend, saying they were too costly and were “daily creating miseries”.

“They trample our people’s rights and disrupt security,” Karzai told the Civil Services Institute in a speech on Saturday. “We ask the international community to dissolve these private security companies because Afghanistan no more has the ability to afford these companies.”

More than 140,000 foreign troops, and some 300,000 Afghan security forces, are battling the Taleban in an insurgency that has reached its worst point since the Islamist militants were ousted by USbacked Afghan forces in 2001.

Casualties for troops and civilians have reached record levels but US President Barack Obama, who has committed an extra 30,000 troops to the fight, wants to begin a gradual reduction from July 2011.

Herawi said Karzai was drawing up a plan to convince his allies the companies were causing instability.

Karzai’s government tried unsuccessfully last year to reg-

ister all of the firms, find out the amount of arms they had and where they came from, and how much money the industry was worth, an Afghan security source said.

Some of the firms also have ties with Afghan regional power brokers who are involved in multi-million dollar reconstruction projects by foreign forces.

Afghans particularly see them as accumulating wealth and power rather than caring for Afghanistan. The former commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said in April the use of private contractors to support military and security operations in conflict zones had gone too far.

This came soon after Washington said it was looking into accusations of a rogue unit using contractors to help hunt militants in Afghanistan.

The US State Department said last year it would review its use of contractors at overseas embassies after a scandal over sexual hazing by security guards at the US embassy in Kabul. Also last year, US-trained Afghan forces stormed the police headquarters in southern Kandahar province to remove a prisoner and killed eight police, including Kandahar’s top policeman. —Reuters

LEH: Emergency teams in India’s remote Himalayan region of Ladakh yes- astating floods that swept away roads, buildings, bridges and power cables in terday struggled to deliver food and aid to survivors of flash floods that killed a tide of rock and mud. Rescuers fear many more victims may have died after at least 137 people and left 500 missing. A cloudburst on Friday caused dev- being buried.

Thousands of residents in Leh, the main town of Ladakh in the Indian-controlled sector of Kashmir, abandoned houses hit by the mud flows and moved to higher ground where they slept in the open despite the cold.

Indian soldiers, police and paramilitary troops led the relief operation yesterday, sifting through destroyed homes and providing basic medical care to those injured.

Tourists visiting the region and local Buddhist monks also helped in the clearance and rescue work, which was hampered by a lack of heavy-lifting equipment and the severe mountain terrain.

“We now have 137 confirmed deaths and over 400 injured,” a police officer in Leh told AFP, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

He said the village of Choglamsar, on the outskirts of the town, had been swamped by mudslides and many residents were feared dead.

LEH: Volunteers and relatives carry a body out of the flood-damaged Choglamsar village, on the outskirts of Leh, situated in an arid Leh, India, yesterday. Officials say rescuers are digging through crushed homes and piles of mud as they search mountain desert at an altitude for hundreds of people still missing after flash floods sent massive mudslides down remote desert mountainsides of 3505 metres (11,500 feet), in Indian-controlled Kashmir. —AP receives virtually no rainfall all year and has no planned drainage system.

The main hospital was badly damaged in the floods and makeshift medical centres dealt with scores of patients yesterday.

“Children with broken bones have been carried here, and many people say the water just took away everyManagement 10-year-old sister biscuits.

ROHRI: Pakistani navy Pakistani civilian govern- Disaster Flooding has also taken a thing in its path,” an AFP phoboats travelled along kilo- ments are too weak and inef- Authority in Sindh province, metres of flood waters yes- ficient to cope with disas- told Reuters up to 10,000 toll over the border in the tographer at the scene said. terday to rescue people ters, analysts don’t see any people were evacuated by Indian state of Jammu and “The army are trying to stranded in a disaster that threat to the current admin- the military overnight in Kashmir, where rain was arrange distribution of emerPunjab province, and several hampering rescue and relief has angered many over the istration. gency supplies and to set up efforts. Flash floods have thousand in Sindh.

The army is busy fighting government’s response. relief camps, and soldiers In Punjab, hundreds of killed at least 132 people in The worst floods in 80 Taleban insurgents and have begun erecting tempoyears have killed over 1,600 does not want to be people were evacuated from the Himalayan region of rary bridges where bridges people, disrupted 12 million strapped with Pakistan’s drenched areas to a railway Ladakh. Mudslides engulfed have disappeared,” he said. a town in northwest China lives, washed away crops enormous problems-from track on higher ground.

Communication links with “What we are wearing is yesterday, killing at least and farm animals and over- costly rebuilding after the the area remained patchy and whelmed President Asif Ali floods to the struggle to all that we have, the rest is 127 people and leaving 2,000 Leh was without mains elecZardari’s civilian govern- attract foreign investment all gone-our house, animals, residents missing as rescue tricity. Landslides blocked the in a troubled economy to wheat we had stored, every- teams dug through crushed ment. thing has been destroyed,” homes and readied a blast to The military, which has widespread poverty. two roads to the area via “I don’t think they are university student Fiza dislodge debris blocking a maintained a dominant role Srinagar, the main town in in foreign and security poli- willing to dump Zardari,” Batool said as she fed her river. —Reuters Indian Kashmir, and via the Kamran Bokhari, cy even during civilian rule, said Manali-Leh highway. is leading Pakistani relief Regional Director, Middle Six planes carrying military efforts, as it has done in past East and South Asia at globemergency teams arrived at crises like the 2005 earth- al intelligence firm STRATthe damaged Leh airport on FOR. quake.

Saturday, along with specialist “The current army leadAnalysts do not expect medical units and five tonnes the government’s poor han- ership ... is very clear that of medicine flown in from the dling of the crisis to encour- there is a war that needs to national capital New Delhi. age the military, which has be waged.”

Ladakh is a highly miliForeign aid organisaruled the country for more tarised area because of sensithan half of its history, to try tions, also playing a much bigger role than the governto seize power. tive border disputes with both But more homes and ment, say weather has hamPakistan and China. It is also crops are likely to be swept pered relief efforts and the renown for its Buddhist culaway with heavy rain fore- floods have wiped out some ture, while its mountains and cast to lash the country in of their supplies. rivers attract international Floodwaters have roared the next 24 to 36 hours. adventure tourists.

Rubber and wooden navy down from as far away as “On Saturday we rescued and India boats set out from areas in Afghanistan some seven foreigners from Sindh province, where flood through the northwest to the Batalik sector of Ladakh, waters burst from the Indus the agricultural heartland of and the search is on to trace if River across vast distances, Punjab and on to southern there are any others missing,” to help Pakistanis who have Sindh along a trail more army spokesman J.S. Brar told watched safe ground shrink than 1,000 km (600 miles) by the hour and waters swal- long.

AFP. In some areas only the low up their livestock.

Kashmir’s tourism chief “We have been doing this tops of trees and telephone Farooq Shah told AFP there for several days,” said navy poles are visible. Pakistanis were no reports of any foreign officer Akhter Mahmood are stuck on the rooftops of casualties. after his boat travelled their homes. Some fighting “There is no death of forthrough about 20 kilometres to hold on to anything they eigners in Leh town but we can walk waist-deep in of flood water. are trying our best to collect Zardari drew heavy criti- water carrying logs from information about tourists cism for leaving the country their shattered homes. who had gone out to villages “This is unprecedented for officials visits in Europe and up into the mountains,” during the crisis. He has ... it’s beyond imagination, Shah said. said the prime minister was it’s beyond expectations” The floods came as neighhandling the crisis and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza reporting developments to Gilani told reporters on a bouring Pakistan suffered the visit to Sukkur, in Sindh him. worst flooding in its history province. “Our country has Even though relief efforts with 15 million people affected may have improved the mili- gone back several years.” and at least 1,600 people Saleh Farooqui, director tary’s standing, and widened killed. —AFP the perception that general of the National

Pakistan navy boats travel far to reach flood victims

OPINION

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issues

GOP drift

By Dr James J Zogby

R

epublicans have dug a deep hole for themselves on matters related to the Middle East and Islam reflecting the extent to which the Party has become captive of the neo-conservative "clash of civilization" crowd and their partners on the evangelical Christian right. This drift becomes clear listening to statements by Republican leaders and surveying the attitudes of the party's base.

Comments, a few weeks back, by 2012 presidential aspirants Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, in opposition to the building of a mosque in New York City,are a case in point (Palin called the mosque a "stab to the heart" while Gingrich claimed that "America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization"). Other top Republican contenders are no better. Mike Huckabee, a leader of the religious right, has made disparaging comments about Muslims and is so bizarrely pro-Israel that he has stated "there's really no such thing as a Palestinian"; while Mitt Romney, once moderate Governor of Massachusetts, now darling of conservatives, has, on more than one occasion, suggested that the government wiretap mosques.

The GOP has virulently opposed President Obama's Middle East peace initiative and outreach efforts to the Muslim World. Following his June 2009 Cairo University speech, I debated Liz Cheney and former Senator George Allen, both of whom working from Republican Party talking points, took the President to task accusing him of selling America short in order to curry favor with Muslims.

They charged Obama with "moral equivalence" (meaning that he equated his concern with the Palestinians with the traditional American concern for Israelis) and "apologizing" for our use of torture and the Iraq War. The effort to score partisan political points by exploiting fears of Muslims and exacerbating tensions emanating from the Arab-Israeli conflict led two Republican stalwarts, Bill Kristol (neo-conservative editor of the Weekly Standard) and Gary Bauer (one time Presidential candidate and leader of the Christian right), to form the "Emergency Committee for Israel". The group has sponsored TV ads attacking a Democratic senate candidate accusing him of befriending radical Muslims and being an enemy of Israel.

The same aggressive hardline behavior is on display in Congress. Just last week, Texas Republican Louie Gohmert introduced a resolution explicitly authorizing an Israeli attack on Iran. While Gohmert can be dismissed as a loose cannon given his penchant for long winded fundamentalist rants about Israel's claims to the Holy Land - it is disturbing that his "Israeli attack on Iran" resolution was endorsed by 1/3 of the Republican Caucus.

Also last week, Florida Congresswoman Ileana RosLehtinen, who would become

chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee if Republicans take control of Congress, countered the Obama Administration's effort to elevate the status of Washington's PLO office by circulating a letter calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to expel Palestinian diplomats from the US and move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

This ideological drift has filtered downward and is now playing out in elections around the US. In Colorado, for example, Republican senate candidate Jane Norton criticized the Obama Administration's efforts to include Muslims in NASA's science and technology programs, calling it a "feel good" effort that Americans could not afford. In Tennessee, the sitting Lt Governor, Ron Ramsey,who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, was quoted saying "you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, a way of life or cult".

And a candidate for Congress in Tennessee has made an issue of efforts by the local Muslim community to build a mosque, saying that "our nation was founded on the tenets of the JudeoChristian tradition; we have a right to defend that tradition".

This marriage of neo-conservatives and the Christian right and its impact on the Republican Party's approach to Middle East policy was on display last week at the annual gathering in Washington of the group, Christians United for Israel. While one lone Democrat was on the program (stridently hawkish Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley), other headliners included the GOP's Minority Whip, other Republican elected and former elected officials and representatives of hardline, rightwing, proIsrael groups and conservative think tanks.

All of this has had a profound impact on deepening the partisan divide on a range of issues, including how Democrats and Republicans approach critical Middle East policy issues. In recent polls we have noted a disturbing gap between the two parties. For example, in an answer to the question "How should the Obama Administration pursue peace in the Middle East", 14 percent of Democrats said "Support Israel" and 5 percent said "Support the Palestinians", but 74 percent responded that the US "should steer a middle course". 71 percent of Republicans, on the other hand, said "Support Israel" and 3 percent said "Support the Palestinians", while only 20 percent said "steer a middle course".

This Republican drift and the harshness of their anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric is worrisome. America's engagement across the Middle East and South Asia is too important and the dangers we face are too great for such virulence and misunderstanding to have taken hold in one of our political parties - especially when that party's current leaders appear so willing to vent their venom and use it for political advantage.

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

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

Israel watches two hot borders, and maybe a third

By Douglas Hamilton

I

srael has Iranian-supported enemies in Lebanon to the north and Gaza to the south. Its back to the sea is safe. But security on its eastern border may be threatened if hostile Iran expands into an unstable Iraq. Israeli analysts differ on the risk of encirclement by enemy forces allied to Tehran, on the degree to which Hamas and Hezbollah will do Iran's bidding, and on the chances of Iran gaining greater leverage in Baghdad via its Shiite connections. They agree, however, that despite going to war in Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2009, Israel has left powerful Iranian allies in place on these flanks. Of the two, the Hezbollah movement of Lebanon poses a more serious threat than Gaza's Hamas.

"I hope we'll have a quiet summer and things will get back on track," said Defence Minister Ehud Barak, after rocket attacks in the south, which he blamed on Hamas, and lethal fire in the far north with Lebanon's army which did not, according to Israeli statements, involve Hezbollah. There is no sign that the incidents were linked. What they may portend is hard to gauge.

Israel's greatest concern with Iran is, of course, to stop its suspected nuclear arms project. But the risk of border conflict may be more immediate."It's impossible to predict when violence

could occur," says Ephraim Kam of the Institute for National Security Studies.

"The situation is volatile and violence could erupt any time."

Israel made peace with Egypt in 1979 and peace with eastern neighbour Jordan in 1994. Peace with a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank would reinforce Israel's security, deepening its eastern buffer of nonhostile states. There is a risk that violence overtakes diplomacy before a breakthrough can be achieved with the Palestinians. A war might raise Israeli security demands and Palestinian scepticism to a point that they scupper already remote prospects of a treaty.

A rocket strike from Gaza on the city of Ashkelon last Friday broke a year of calm there after a devastating Israeli offensive of Dec-Jan 2008-09 against Hamas. A Gaza rocket on Saturday smashed into a children's centre in nearby Sderot. No one was injured in either strike. Israel's air force retaliated, killing a Hamas military commander in an attack on the Gaza Strip. On Monday, a rocket salvo from the Egyptian Sinai overshot Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing a man in Jordan's Aqaba resort. It was "without a doubt" fired by Iranian-backed Hamas, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning of harsh retaliation if repeated. Hamas issued a denial.

On Tuesday at the other end of the

country, Lebanese gunfire - from an army sniper by the Israeli account - hit two Israeli officers as they watched a tree-pruning operation on the security fence below the UN "Blue Line".

Lebanon's army says it first fired warning shots, then Israelis fired at their soldiers, who shot back in turn. An Israeli colonel died. Israeli artillery and tank fire then killed two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist. Both countries worked to keep the lid on after that.

But it was the worst incident in four years of relative calm since the 2006 war.

"A thin line connects the rocket fire from Gaza on Ashkelon with the rocket fire from Sinai on Eilat and Aqaba, and runs all the way to the sniper's bullet that killed the commander," says a former Israeli National Security Council director, Uzi Dayan. Israel must not leave security to others, he says. In talks with the Palestinians it must demand "sovereignty in all areas that are of vital security importance, first and foremost the Jordan Valley as Israel's eastern security border".

Israel's concern in the Jordan Valley, part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank captured by Israel in a 1967 war, is infiltration by Islamist guerrilla units and suicide bombers, rather than waves of tanks as in a conventional war of the past. It is not yet clear how much of an obstacle this concern may be to

securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Jordan Valley must be part of a Palestinian state.

Security provided by a third party such as NATO would be acceptable, he says, but not continued Israeli occupation there.

Iraq's inability to form a government seven years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, and now the planned withdrawal of US combat forces by the end of August, are not reassuring for Israel. But they do not necessarily mean Iran will profit. "It's not true that Iran is surrounding Israel through proxies from all sides," said Kam. "Of course Iran is also gaining influence in Iraq. But you can't say that the moment the Americans pull out ... Iran will go in."

At this moment the compass of risk swings to Lebanon where, according to an Israeli military source, some Lebanese army units had "recently been very aggressive", threatening Israeli troops verbally and with gestures, and aiming their weapons. While Israel held Lebanon responsible for the firefight, it did not suggest that Lebanese army chiefs instigated it, or that Hezbollah had infiltrated the Lebanese army to do so.

The incident was "an escalation because somebody made a mistake", said the military source, pointedly

refusing to describe it as a deliberate attack. Defence Minister Barak told Israel Radio it was a "provocation", but also declined to call it "an ambush". "I don't think they planned this in the general staff of Lebanon. Nor do I think they planned it in Hezbollah. I don't know enough to tell you exactly who gave the order," he said.

Lebanon says Israeli forces had given notice about the tree-cutting to which they eventually agreed as long as it was UN-supervised. A senior UN peacekeeping official said Israel had rejected a UNIFIL request to supervise the operation. Since the 1994 peace treaty, Jordan has blocked infiltration of Israel over the flat, open, desert Jordan Valley. And since its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Israel has kept the flat, open, desert Gaza Strip literally fenced in. But the 120-km "Blue Line" of demarcation with Lebanon poses a stiffer challenge, jinking around steep, wooded valleys and mountain villages where Hezbollah can blend in, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army, which deployed along the border in late 2006. UNIFIL says it has seen no transfer of weapons to the area. "The Lebanese army is better than Hezbollah, and UNIFIL soldiers are better than the Lebanese army," Barak said. "At the end of the day, none of them is perfect". — Reuters

Sarko targets crime to revive political fortunes

By Noah Barkin

F

rench President Nicolas Sarkozy's polarising plans to crack down on crime and illegal immigration have struck a chord with the electorate and may help revive his flagging fortunes after months of scandal and economic decline. The measures, unveiled late last month following an upsurge in violence in the country's poor "banlieues", foresee stripping French nationality from citizens with an immigrant background who commit crimes like killing policemen or practising polygamy.

They have been denounced by Sarkozy's leftist opponents as a cynical ploy to divert attention from a funding scandal dogging his Labour Minister Eric Woerth. Former Socialist prime minister Michel Rocard likened the proposals to Nazi-era policies under France's war-time Vichy regime. But the tough-on-crime stance that Sarkozy built his reputation on during a stint as interior minister half a decade ago and then rode to victory in the 2007 presidential election appears to be resonating again with a French public that polls show is increasingly worried about domestic crime and security.

A survey by Ifop published in Le Figaro last week suggested there is overwhelming support for the measures from voters across the political spectrum and a Saturday poll in Le Parisien daily showed Sarkozy's popularity ratings, in freefall for months, inching up in the wake of the crime plans. "Can Sarkozy use this to revive his fortunes? Yes of course he can," said Frederic Micheau of Ifop. "This is a core theme for him, one he built his reputation on and one which helped him win in 2007. It had become urgent for him to do this because he was losing momentum, losing credibility."

Steep losses for Sarkozy's centreright UMP party and a rise in support for the far-right National Front in

French President Nicolas Sarkozy rides a bicycle in Lavandou, southeastern France, on Aug 6, 2010 as he spends summer holidays at his mother-in-law's property in Cap Negre. — AFP regional elections last March underscored the risks for the president of ignoring the core conservative voters that fuelled his run to the Elysee Palace three years ago. Many have grown disillusioned with the slow pace of economic reforms promised during the 2007 campaign. Statistics showing a steady rise in violent crimes since Sarkozy took office had also left him vulnerable on an issue seen as a traditional strength.

By returning the focus to security, Sarkozy hopes to win back these disillusioned constituents, shift the debate

away from the Woerth scandal and unsettle the left, which apart from Rocard has been reluctant to criticise the substance of the president's crime proposals because they appear so popular. "It is not a favourable subject for the left and you can see that by how silent they have been," said Patrick Weil, a Sorbonne historian and author of 2009 book "How to be French - Nationality in the making since 1789". "They would prefer to keep the focus on the economy, on unemployment and on Woerth," he said. Still, reviving his record low popularity ratings in time for a tough

re-election battle in 2012 will depend on whether Sarkozy can build on the nascent gains seen over the past week and regain the momentum on other fronts, notably the economy. Data last week showed a sharp narrowing of the government budget deficit in the first half of 2010, while separate figures showed French exports at their top level in nearly two years. Gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter, due on Friday, could also surprise on the upside, giving the government ammunition against opponents who have heaped blame for France's eco-

nomic woes on the 55-year-old president.

While countries like Germany have seen unemployment fall this year as they recover from their deepest postwar recession, the French jobless rate has stuck stubbornly near 10 percent for months-a big reason for Sarkozy's poor ratings. The weak economy has in turn complicated the government's challenge in pushing through a planned increase in the retirement age to 62 from 60 - part of an overhaul of pension rules to ease the pressure on strained public finances. French labour unions have promised massive protests in September when the controversial legislation goes to parliament.

If Sarkozy can muster the political capital to overcome union resistance on pensions, analysts say the momentum could shift against the opposition Socialists whose divisions on economic policy and on who should challenge the president in 2012 have been overshadowed by the government's woes until now. Much also depends on a cabinet reshuffle that Sarkozy has promised for October. With the shakeup, he hopes to draw a line under his past troubles and win fresh momentum heading into 2011, when he will seek political advantage from France's presidencies of the G8 and G20. Sarkozy must decide whether to keep on Prime Minister Francois Fillon, an emerging centrist rival within the UMP whose popularity ratings exceed his own.

The fate of polarising cabinet members like hardline Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and Woerth, who is spearheading the pension overhaul amid illegal donation allegations linked to L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, will also be closely watched. "The reshuffle is very important," said the Sorbonne historian Weil. "Sarkozy will try to use it to bring his troops together and build on this opening to the conservatives that we've seen with the crime crackdown." — Reuters

ANALYSIS

Monday, August 9, 2010

13

NYC mayor eloquent advocate for mosque M

By Beth Fouhy

ayor Michael Bloomberg is not known for public displays of emotion. So he startled more than a few observers this week in a speech supporting a proposed mosque near ground zero, recalling the firefighters who died in the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. "In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked: 'What God do you pray to? What beliefs do you hold?'"

Bloomberg said, his voice breaking.

"We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting."

The debate over the mosque has emerged as a national proxy battle over religious freedom and the symbolic significance of the World Trade Center site. And no public figure has been more identified with the mosque than Bloomberg, who has been willing to yoke his own stature and reputation to a project its critics call a victory for terrorists. "He believes in diversity and the greatness of New York is in the diversity of its people," said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist who has worked for Bloomberg. "He's consistent. He doesn't owe anything to anyone, and my hunch is that he's not out of line with where most people in the city are on this issue."

The billionaire mayor, a Republican-turned-independent, has never shied from championing a cause - from knocking proposed tax increases on hedge fund managers to banning trans fats in the city's restaurants. But he has been unusually forceful on the mosque issue, even as otherwise loquacious New York politicians such as Democratic US Sen Chuck Schumer have largely steered clear.

After spending weeks answering questions about the mosque,

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (center), City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (fourth left) and members of local religious institutions stand in front of the Statue of Liberty for a news conference in New York Aug 3, 2010. — AP Bloomberg decided to give a speech outlining his views on the matter. "He wanted to speak proactively, forcefully and at some length," said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, who helped craft the address.

Bloomberg delivered it Tuesday surrounded by a multicultural array of religious leaders, with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop. "I believe that this is as important a test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime, and it is critically important that we get it right," he said.

The mosque, to be located two blocks from ground zero, would be part of a

13-story, $100 million Islamic center that would also feature a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool and gym.

It's a project of the Cordoba Initiative, an advocacy group that promotes improved relations between Islam and the West. The mosque has drawn vocal opposition from many relatives of the Sept. 11 victims and local and national Republican leaders, including former Alaska Gov Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Last week, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, announced its opposition as well.

Some critics object to any mosque

being built so close to the site where nearly 3,000 people died at the hands of Muslim extremists. Others say they have specific concerns about Cordoba and its director, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who said in an interview shortly after the 2001 attacks that US policies were partly responsible for the attacks. Rauf also refuses to disclose who is funding the mosque's construction. Bloomberg has steadfastly rejected those concerns. He views the mosque, in part, as a redevelopment project like any other - carrying with it the possibility of creating jobs and bringing something new and interest-

ing to a stretch of lower Manhattan.

Bloomberg is staunchly pro-development; during his 8 1/2 years in office, his administration has rezoned thousands of blocks in dozens of neighborhoods, welcoming new construction in every corner of the city.

The mayor has roundly dismissed complaints about the mosque from Republican officials while making what many might view as a fundamentally conservative argument: that government should not interfere in private enterprise. "This building is private property and the owners have a right to use the building as a house of worship," Bloomberg said. "The government has no right whatsoever to deny that right." The mayor scoffed when asked if he had any concerns about Rauf. "My job is not to vet clergy in this city," he said.

But Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some Sept 11 victims' families, said Bloomberg is being played, because Rauf has links to Muslim extremist groups and advocates the eventual "Islamization" of the US. "The mayor is demagoguing an issue that is wreaking agony on family members of those killed in the name of Allah," Burlingame said. "Bloomberg says it's about the separation of church and state? The imam doesn't believe in the separation of church and state.

He's laughing up his sleeve." Rauf did not reply to a phone message. But his wife, Daisy Khan, has said the Islamic center would include a memorial to the 9/11 victims. In the end, observers say, Bloomberg's willingness to speak his mind on the mosque is boosted by the fact he's almost certainly in his last term as mayor and won't face voters again. "When you're running for office, you tend not to take controversial positions," Sheinkopf said.

"Bloomberg is not running." — AP

Jonathan eyes poll bid but needs the north

By Nick Tattersall

N

igerian President Goodluck Jonathan looks increasingly like a leader who plans to be in office after January polls, but it remains unclear how easily he can secure the core northern backing he needs for victory. With less than six months to polling day in Africa's most populous nation, Jonathan has still not said whether he plans to stand. There is no date for ruling party primaries, campaigning has yet to begin and policy debate is non-existent.

But a string of recent announcements

by Jonathan's administration - from roadbuilding and oil refinery projects to pledges on boosting electricity supply suggest he is a leader who wants to be seen to have a long-term plan. "Jonathan is announcing public works projects that are akin to campaign vows," global intelligence company Stratfor said in a recent report on Nigeria. "It is unlikely the initiatives will be completed before the elections are held ... Jonathan is taking a calculated risk, hoping the incomplete projects will be seen as demonstrating the need for a full term to finish what he has begun." The challenge for Jonathan, an ethnic Ijaw and a Christian from the restive southern Niger Delta oil heartland, is securing the backing of the Muslim north. An unwritten agreement in the ruling party dictates that Nigeria's highest office should rotate between the north and south every two terms.

Jonathan inherited the presidency when northern President Umaru Yar'Adua died earlier this year part way through his first term, meaning a northerner should be Nigeria's next leader.

A bid by Jonathan could lead to protests from some factions in the north, but a failure to stand could cause unrest in the Niger Delta and threaten a year-old amnesty for militants. Sources close to

Jonathan say he is concerned about the implications of dropping zoning and about his own credibility as a candidate in polls he has pledged to make free and fair.

"There are different pressures on Jonathan. I'm pretty sure if he thought he might not win he wouldn't stand," said Antony Goldman, Nigeria expert and head of London-based PM Consulting.

"But on the other hand can he afford not to run? What would it mean for him as an Ijaw man back in (his home state) Bayelsa, how easy would it be to sell not running to his constituency?"

Jonathan has support from state governors in the south and the central Middle Belt, where the backbone of the army are from. Northern Muslim governors have acknowledged his right to stand but have stopped short of endorsing him. The constitution says a presidential candidate needs at least a quarter of the votes in two thirds of the country's 36 states to win, meaning core northern support is key. "Whether Jonathan announces his candidacy will depend on whether he and his allies can buy enough support, through spreading patronage projects and appointments throughout the country, to overcome northerner hostility," Stratfor said.

Presidency sources said on Thursday Jonathan was planning a minor cabinet reshuffle. Some analysts said this could be a chance to use the redistribution of posts to placate possible opponents of his presidential bid. The best way for Jonathan to win popular support would be to convince Nigeria's 140 million people he can improve mains electricity supplies. Even the wealthiest parts of the main cities are reliant on diesel generators.

Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga announced a week ago that agreement was near for a framework to make private power generation for the national grid

commercially viable, potentially unlocking billions of dollars of investment and helping end chronic power shortages. Oil Minister Deziani Allison-Madueke announced that wide-ranging legislation to reform the energy industry would pass in the coming weeks and a licensing round for new oil blocks would be held before the end of the year. Lucrative oil

blocks and reforms to put more of the mainstay energy industry in local hands are useful cards to hold for any administration seeking political favour, analysts note. Jonathan has made organising free and transparent polls in 2011 one of the main aims of his administration. If he stands, he would want to do so knowing the polls could deliver him a credible

mandate, analysts say.

"If all you do ... is to ensure that our elections are transparent, it shall be sufficient to endear you to the nation and you shall go down in history as one of our greatest leaders," retired military general Theophilus Danjuma said while Yar'Adua was on his deathbed and Jonathan was acting leader. — Reuters

Kenya constitution to take time

By Tom Maliti

T

he passage of Kenya's new constitution ends a decades-long struggle to cut down the massive powers of the presidency, although it now will take up to five years to implement all the changes approved in this week's referendum. New institutions such as a Supreme Court and a Senate must now be formed. The country's judiciary is to face a vetting process aimed at ridding it of corrupt or incompetent judges. And Parliament will have to pass 49 new laws under a timetable.

"Kenyans can't just sit back and relax. We have to pay attention now to the criteria and process of appointing people to the commission that is responsible for implementation.

That is going to be the first big political battle in terms of interests," said Muthoni Wanyeki, the executive director of the independent Kenya Human Rights Commission. Kenya was in a similar place eight years ago. At the time, Mwai Kibaki won a landslide presidential victory that ended the 39year rule of the country's independence party. His massive mandate raised expectations that his administration would reverse low economic growth, poor government services and endemic corruption.

Kenyans in 2002 were full of enthusiasm and expectations, and Kibaki was seen as the man to deliver on the promise of a new beginning, said policy analyst Mutuma Ruteere. Fees were abolished for government-run primary schools, and enlistment soared. Half the country's judges were fired after investigations into corruption, restoring faith in what was a discredited institution. State-owned companies started running more efficiently, expanding and declaring profits. But during Kibaki's second year as president, in 2004,

his administration became implicated in a multimillion-dollar security contracts scandal. Disillusionment set in. As Kibaki dithered on taking action against Cabinet ministers implicated in the scandal, public support for his administration fell.

For this and other reasons, when Kibaki sought re-election in 2007 he was no longer the shoo-in he had been five years earlier. One of the key political interests that will determine how the new constitution is implemented is the relationship between Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. They have had a warm-cold relationship since signing a power-sharing deal in Feb 2008 to end political violence that followed the disputed Dec 2007 presidential poll and left more than 1,000 people dead.

Their power-sharing deal committed them to implementing an ambitious reform program that included the referendum vote on a new constitution. During the campaigns, Kibaki and Odinga enthusiastically supported the new constitution and their relationship improved. Early in the campaigns Odinga was clearly more assertive in rallying Kenyans to back the draft charter. But after doctors ordered him to rest following head surgery, Kibaki picked up the slack and became an enthusiastic leader.

Ruteere says the energy and enthusiasm displayed during those campaigns by Kibaki, who is portrayed by Kenyan editorial cartoonists as a sleeping president, shows Kibaki wants the new constitution to define his legacy. His second term ends in 2012 and he is barred from seeking re-election. "I think he is aware of the need to leave a better legacy," says Ruteere, the director of the Nairobi-based Center for Human Rights and Policy Studies. "Part of me thinks that he worries about being remembered as the president who presided over the 2007-2008 violence." — AP

Next challenge for Uribe: Leave quietly

By Hugh Bronstein

O

ne thing both friends and enemies of outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe agree on is that it won't be easy for the fiery conservative to leave quietly after eight years of very hands-on rule. The most popular leader in Colombian history stepped down on Saturday with a 75 percent approval rating after having battered leftist guerrillas and sparked investment in a country once known mainly for coffee, cocaine and kidnapping. Analysts agree that cattle rancher Uribe might try to pressure President Juan Manuel Santos, his former defense minister, into lock-step adherence to his policies.

But Santos, a market-friendly technocrat from an elite Bogota family, has marked his distance by naming several key ministers who have had public disputes with the outgoing leader. Santos will seek to forge his own identity while respecting the fact that he won office on Uribe's coattails. It will not be an easy balance to strike. "Having thoroughly dominated Colombian politics for eight years, Uribe will not go quietly into the wilderness," said Michael Shifter of Washington-based InterAmerican Dialogue. "Santos will have to chart his own course but at the same time be respectful of an electorate that is devoted and eternally grateful to

Newly sworn-in Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (right) embraces former president Alvaro Uribe in Bogota on Saturday. — AFP Uribe," Shifter said.

Last month the outgoing leader went public with accusations that Venezuela was sheltering Colombian guerrillas, prompting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to cut bilateral diplomatic relations just as Santos was calling for dialogue with the neighbor-

ing country. "Clearly President Uribe has been having trouble stepping out of the limelight," said Mark Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group. Uribe has been named vice chairman of a United Nations panel investigating Israel's May 31 attack on a Gaza-bound aid

flotilla. He has also told friends that he will devote time to strengthening his political party as speculation swirls that he may run for mayor of Bogota.

Known for micromanaging everything from road projects to bombing raids against the cocaine-funded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Uribe is leaving Colombia much safer than it was when he first took office in 2002. But success on the battlefield came at a price. The army, pressured to show results, was rocked by a scandal over what the United Nations called the widespread and systematic practice of soldiers murdering innocent peasants to pass their bodies off as rebels killed in action. Administration officials also stand accused of wiretapping judges, journalists and opposition politicians.

His often confrontational style led Uribe into feuds with critics and independent institutions such as the Supreme Court, which investigated lawmaker allies accused of collaborating with paramilitary death squads.

Uribe has based his career on defeating the FARC rebels who killed his father in a kidnapping attempt in the 1980s.

He eclipsed his political rivals by forming an emotional bond with fellow victims, both rich and poor, of FARC violence.

The only reason he did not run for and win a third term is that the courts

stopped a constitutional reform aimed at allowing another re-election. But as popular as Uribe remains, he'll have a hard time setting the agenda from the sidelines. Santos has already said he will govern in his own way, not Uribe's.

"Uribe will no doubt stay on top of what Santos does and does not do, and he'll speak publicly about what he does not like about security policy, negotiations with Chavez or overtures to the guerrillas," said Mauricio Romero, professor of political science at Bogota's Javeriana University. "This will cause a rumpus in the press and in Congress, but it will not go any further than that," he added.

Santos lacks Uribe's common touch with voters but he has strong clout in Congress. He easily won June's election against the eccentric Antanas Mockus, a former Bogota mayor.

Analysts warn of a possible conflict down the road between the urbane Santos and Uribe, who hails from a tight-knit farming community in Colombia's northern mountains.

"Uribe will find it difficult to keep his mouth shut," said political analyst Ricardo Avila. "If he decides to criticize Santos it would be more of an annoyance than a real obstacle.

Tensions between the two are bound to surface but at the end of the day incoming presidents always have the upper hand, even if the outgoing president is Alvaro Uribe." — Reuters

focus

Broke states pose threat to recovery

By Emily Kaiser

T

he US economy may sink perilously close to another slump, as cities and states cut jobs and curb spending to balance their recession-ravaged budgets. Two-thirds of the 50 states projected budget gaps for their current fiscal year.

They started out the period with a cumulative $84 billion hole, government associations estimate, an amount equal to 0.6 percent of total US output. Cities facing shortfalls may have to purge nearly 250,000 jobs from public payrolls over the next 18 months, according to a recent survey, potentially enough to drive up the jobless rate by roughly 0.2 percentage points.

None of that is welcome news for the White House or for politicians - ranging from US senators to small-town mayors - who will face reelection in about three months. The economy and jobs are the dominant issues in virtually every election this year. Budget woes are making both worse. "We know state and local governments are struggling and they are going to be a drag on the recovery," Christina Romer, a top White House economic adviser, said in a recent interview with Reuters Insider.

The looming fiscal cutbacks are probably not severe enough on their own to trigger a fresh recession, but they could very well push economic growth to near stall speed and leave the economy vulnerable to another downturn. The US economy has been growing for a year, but state and local finances have worsened because high unemployment drained jobless insurance funds and reduced sales tax revenue, while the housing bust crushed property tax receipts. Neither show signs of a quick recovery.

"Without economic growth, without a (healthy) housing market, most state and local governments are hurting buckaroos," said Joel Naroff, an economist who advises state and local governments.

Unlike the federal government, which is running a nearly $1.5 trillion deficit this year, 49 of 50 states have balanced budget rules that bar them from spending more than they take in Vermont is the lone exception. They must cut spending or raise taxes to plug the gap. The federal government has cushioned the blow by channeling $224 billion for education, health care and unemployment insurance to states as part of last year's stimulus package, which had a total price tag of $862 billion.

Even as the federal government ramped up its recession-fighting spending, state and local governments had to cut back, blunting the impact of the stimulus.

Federal spending excluding defense rose at an 18 percent annualized rate since the start of the recession in December 2007. By contrast, state and local government spending fell at a 2 percent pace over that time.

It is a similar story for employment. A survey released last week by three government associations estimated that local governments will cut 481,000 jobs between 2009 and 2011.

As of last month, local governments had laid off 234,000 workers, which suggests another quarter of a million job cuts still to come. By contrast, the federal government has added 214,000 since January 2009, although some of that reflects temporary hiring for the 2010 Census.

Washington's stimulus jolt may have limited the local job cuts. The municipal labor force is down about 1.7 percent from a September 2008 peak. In the deep double-dip recession of the early 1980s, the local labor force shrank by 3.8 percent.

The pace of layoffs, however, may be picking up.

Labor Department data released on Friday suggested local governments aggressively cut jobs in July, which for most marked the beginning of their fiscal year. There were 38,000 jobs cut last month, nearly triple the number lost in June. State governments cut another 10,000 in July.

"That reflects their very tough budget situation," the White House's Romer told Reuters Insider on Friday.

Government spending also looks likely to fall further. Most states have enacted budgets for the current fiscal year that include deeper cuts than in the previous two years, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Those cutbacks are coming at the same time that the federal stimulus money is drying up. Taken together, it puts a drag on gross domestic product equal to 1.7 percentage points, Goldman Sachs economist Andrew Tilton said. Economists in a Reuters poll forecast a GDP growth rate under 3 percent for the next four quarters, leaving little margin for error.

Tilton thinks the picture may be even more grim than the consensus view. The economy grew at a sluggish 2.4 percent pace in the latest quarter. Much of that gain came from government spending and the build-up of business inventories, two factors that are fading fast. If growth is to accelerate from here, consumer spending will have to strengthen.

Tilton thinks it will, but not robustly enough to prevent a significant slowdown. "It's not just that it needs to pick up. It needs to pick up significantly in order to keep growth where it is now," he said.

The current quarter may be the toughest period because it includes the start of the fiscal year for most municipalities.

"They're already making those cuts now," said Naroff, the economist who advises local governments. "If it's going to have an impact, look at the third quarter of this year.

That's a place where we've got to worry about it." What to do about the problem is controversial. The White House argues that leaving states to fend for themselves risks driving up unemployment and derailing the recovery, and has pushed hard for further assistance.

But some conservatives counter that bailing out governments that overspent rewards fiscal irresponsibility. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago weighed in this week with a research paper examining the effectiveness of fiscal assistance since the 1970s. The conclusion was that helping state and local governments is generally not a good way to boost the economy. "If the federal government's primary purpose were to provide an economic stimulus, it would probably be better off simply spending the money directly rather than funneling it through the states," the paper said.

The researchers also warned that if states believe Washington will always come to the rescue, they have little incentive to make difficult budget decisions.

The same "moral hazard" argument was raised over the bank bailouts in 2008.

Aside from a $26 billion aid package, which the US House of Representatives cut short its summer break to vote on next week, it looks unlikely that states and local governments will receive any more help from Washington. Naroff said that might be for the best. "My personal view is, it's about time a lot of them started realizing that there's not an infinite well of money out there," he said. — Reuters

NEWS

14

Monday, August 9, 2010

Singapore PM: We won’t let in too many foreigners SINGAPORE: Singapore’s prime minister sought yesterday to ease concerns that the city-state is allowing in too many foreign workers who will undermine national unity.

The surge of foreigners living in Singapore has become a hot topic in the lead-up to the next general election, which the government must call by Feb 2012. Many of the newcomers are from China, India and other Asian countries. “We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast and not too large,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said during a speech ahead of today’s National Day. “And we will make clear that citizens come first.”

About 150,000 foreign workers have entered Singapore per year since 2007, and they now make up about a third of the island’s 3 million work force and about a fourth of the total population of 5 million, up from 10 percent in 1990. Local media have reported growing complaints by Singaporeans about poor quality customer service at restaurants and retail stores, crowded subways and occasional violent crimes by foreigners. Many foreign workers may not speak fluent English, which is the most commonly spoken of Singapore’s four official languages.

“It’s no secret that a record influx of foreigners in recent years has led to discontent among Singaporeans, who feel crowded out of their own country,” wrote Straits Times reporter Radha Basu in a recent editorial.

“New immigrants are being blamed for a host of ills, from the squeeze in trains to the tussle for jobs.” Lee reiterated that foreign workers were necessary for economic growth, which the government expects to be as much as 15 percent this year. Lee said

last month the government would allow more than 100,000 foreigners into Singapore this year to help keep the economy from “overheating” and inflation in check.

Singapore’s decades-long boom, which has made it one of the world’s wealthiest countries, has been fueled in part by foreign laborers who are willing to do jobs in areas such as construction and hospitality for lower wages than locals. Policymakers are eyeing the inflation rate, which the government expects to rise to about 3 percent this year from 0 percent last year. The central bank in April shifted its exchange rate target from a zero percent appreciation of the Singapore dollar to a “modest and gradual” appreciation in a bid to dampen price increases.

“We cannot do without a proportion of foreign workers,” Lee said yesterday. “With new arrivals living and working harmoniously with those born here, we will keep Singapore dynamic, cosmopolitan, and successful.” Singapore is seeking to diversify its economy away from manufacturing toward tourism, and foreign workers are playing a key role in building and staffing projects such as the casino resorts opened this year by Las Vegas Sands and Malaysia’s Genting, which have helped attract record visitors.

“There are a lot of jobs Singaporeans wouldn’t do anyway,” said Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Policy Studies. Koh helped conduct a poll last year that found 63 percent Singaporeans surveyed believed the government’s immigration policy was weakening national unity. However, two-thirds of respondents also said they supported bringing in more foreigners if it helped the econ-

omy. Singapore also tries to attract what is known locally as “foreign talent” - educated professionals from abroad to work in the finance industry and other high-paying sectors.

The government’s immigration policy has provided cheap labor for companies and depressed wages for Singaporeans, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary general of the opposition Reform Party, said in a statement yesterday. “The government continues to treat Singapore as a business rather than a country,” Jeyaretnam said. “As long as the government permits a relatively elastic supply of labor from abroad while the cost of other domestic inputs, like land, continue to rise, then the real wages and salaries of our own workers will get squeezed, and this has indeed happened.”

Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party has been in power continuously since full independence in 1965. Goh Chok Tong, the country’s prime minister from 1990 to 2004, urged Singaporeans to stop complaining about issues such as several instances of flooding this summer, soaring property prices and crowded subway trains. “I encourage you to look at the bright side of things,” Goh said in a speech late Saturday.

Goh, who is now a senior adviser to the prime minister, said Singaporeans should seek a “meaningful, more fulfilling life” rather than only the pursuit of material wealth. “By the 90’s, the Singapore Dream had been elevated to the 5 Cs cash, credit cards, car, condominium, and country club membership,” Goh said. Now, Singaporeans should strive to “have a good career, live in comfort, surrounded by children, and be considerate and charitable.” — AP

HEINOLA, Finland: Russia’s Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy is removed from the sauna during the final at the World Sauna Championships on Saturday. — AP

Russian man dies in heat at sauna contest HELSINKI: A Russian man trying to win the Sauna World Championships died after collapsing with severe burns in the final stage of an event that required contestants to sit in a 110-degree Celsius room as water was tossed onto a searing stove, officials and witnesses said.

Vladimir L adyzhenskiy, an amateur wrestler who was in his 60s, was pronounced dead late Saturday after he collapsed alongside reigning champion Timo Kaukonen of Finland roughly six minutes into the final round. Nearly 1,000 spectators had gathered in the southern Finnish town of Heinola to watch 130 competitors from 15 countries, waving flags and cheering on the contestants before medical workers pulled the shaking and bleeding men out of the sauna.

Video footage shows workers pouring cold water over the two men and administering first aid as organizers tried to cover up the scene and calm spectators.

The men were bleeding from what appeared to be severe burns, said Hakon

Eikesdal, a photographer with the Norwegian daily Dagbladet.

Ladyzhenskiy headed a charity fund in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. The fund’s spokesman Konstantin Kruglyansky told the LifeNews daily that his family has demanded an investigation into his death.

Kaukonen, about 40, was hospitalized in stable condition yesterday, contest spokesman Ossi Arvela said. The annual contest had been held since 1999. It will never be held again, Arvela said. Half a liter of water is added to the stove every 30 seconds and the last person to remain in the sauna is the winner. There was no prize other than “some small things” Arvela said. He declined to provide details.

Eikesdal said Kaukonen - the defending world champion - had refused to leave the sauna despite getting sick and that organizers had to force the men out.

Sauna bathing is a popular pastime in the Nordic countries and Russia, but espe-

cially in Finland, which has an estimated 1.6 million saunas for a population of 5 million people. Temperatures are normally kept around 70-80 degrees Celsius. “I know this is very hard to understand to people outside Finland who are not familiar with the sauna habit,” Arvela said. “It is not so unusual to have 110 degrees in a sauna. A lot of competitors before have sat in higher temperatures than that.”

According to a research report from 2008, the annual death rate in Finnish saunas was less than 2 per 100,000 inhabitants, representing around 100 Finns a year. It said the majority of deaths were due to natural causes, such as heart problems and that half of the deaths occurred under the influence of alcohol. Around 25 percent of the deaths were the direct result of the heat exposure. Arvala said all rules in Saturday’s competition were followed and the temperatures and times were similar to those in previous years.

He said police are investigating the death. — AP

Egypt seeks to woo Arabs for Ramadan Continued from Page 1 The campaign, organised by the tourism ministry, seeks to promote the Egyptian Ramadan experience in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Libya and Tunisia.

Non-Arab Turkey, with its majorityMuslim population, is also being targeted by the campaign which is backed by heavy advertising. Egyptair’s fleet of aircraft and Cairo international airport are also taking part and have been especially decorated for the occasion, while several luxury hotels favoured by Arab wealthy tourists are offering special Ramadan packages.

Advertising spots have been aired on Egyptian and Arab satellite channels under the slogan “Egypt’s Spirit in Ramadan”.

The campaign is of vital importance to

Cairo’s coffers. Arab tourists, particularly those from the Gulf, make up almost 20 percent of the 12 million visitors who come to Egypt annually. Egypt’s tourist industry last year brought in more than 10 billion dollars in revenue and employs around 12 percent of the active population.

“Arab tourists are very important for Egypt,” Samy Mahmud from the ministry of tourism told AFP. “On average, they spend a lot more money than the others, and their stays are much longer,” he said.

While European or American tourists tend to travel in organised package holidays at low prices, Arab visitors book suites in Cairo’s luxury hotels for stays that can last as long as several weeks, Mahmud said.

But this year the timing could hit tourism revenues hard. The peak season for Arab tourists this year coincides with Ramadan, and this will also be the case for

several years to come as the holy month, which follows the lunar calendar, goes forward by around 10 days every year. So deeply rooted is the family association with Ramadan that Egypt’s glitzy campaign will have a hard time luring many Arab tourists away from mama’s cooking during the holy month - even for a jamboree on the Nile.

“For me, Ramadan is celebrated at home and with the family,” said Hussein Ali, a Kuwaiti visiting Cairo before the holy month begins. “During the month, there are many visits paid to family and friends’ homes, and I would never miss that for a few concerts organised in Egypt,” he said. Tunisian teenager Qassam agreed. “Egypt is a beautiful place and I have really enjoyed my stay here but Ramadan should be spent at home with the family, in Tunisia,” he said. — AFP

SYDNEY: Shoppers walk through Sydney’s Chinatown on Aug 2, 2010. — AFP

All white on the night for Australia elections SYDNEY: Despite its Aboriginal roots and a large Asian population, Australia’s politics are almost exclusively white with just a handful of ethnic minority candidates in this month’s elections.

Australia’s diversity - from Outback townships to Sydney’s Chinatown and growing numbers of South and Southeast Asians - is poorly reflected in its leaders, who remain typically Caucasian, middleaged and male. Malaysian-born Senator Penny Wong is the government’s lone Asian face, while the candidates of both major parties include only half a dozen of obvious Asian ancestry, from a list of more than 300.

Labor’s Tauto Sansbury is the only Aboriginal candidate, highlighting the extent to which native Australians, whose history on the continent stretches back tens of thousands of years, are sidelined.

“I’m doing this to try and create a lot more interest from the Aboriginal community that we have a place in politics and that there should be more people like myself running for politics,” he said.

Australia’s history is steeped in Asian immigration, from Gold Rush Chinese miners and Japanese pearl-divers of the late 1800s, to Vietnamese refugees and Chinese students given residency after the Tiananmen Square massacre. More recently, large numbers of Chinese and Indian students have settled here, along with smaller groups of Indonesian, Timorese, Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum-seekers, pushing Australia’s Asian

population to about 10 percent.

Liberal candidate John Nguyen exemplifies the trend, after fleeing war-torn Vietnam on a rickety boat aged five and arriving in Australia via a Malaysian refugee camp in 1980. “I don’t remember everything but I remember bits and pieces. I remember being attacked by pirates - we were attacked seven times,” he said.

Nguyen, who is standing in Melbourne’s ethnically diverse seat of Chisholm, said a less monochrome government could help Australia’s standing in the region, where it is often regarded as white-dominated and anti-immigration.

“I know a lot of people from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. They still talk about the Pauline Hanson episode, which is quite unfortunate,” he said. “They say Australia is a country that is not tolerant of migrants, which is totally untrue because Australia is a country of migrants.”

Hanson was elected to parliament on an anti-immigration platform in 1996, and told the lower house that Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Asians” in her maiden speech. The country also suffers from memories of the “White Australia” policy, which restricted Asian immigration until the mid-1970s.

Recently, hundreds of attacks on students from India outraged that country’s media, while both Labor and the Liberals have promised tough policies to stop the scores of refugee boats which have

arrived this year.

Sociology professor Andrew Jakubowicz of the University of Technology, Sydney, said non-white politicians often find it hard to win selection as candidates for parliamentary seats. “Due to concentration of migrant communities, it is much harder for a person of Asian background to gain pre-selection or be elected at the federal level than it is to a local council,” he said. “The odds of a person from a particular ethnic group being pre-selected drops the closer you get to the federal level, because they’re locality-based selections.”

L abor candidate Joy Banerji, who became Australia’s first Indian-born city mayor in 2004, said it would take time for the various waves of migrants to reach the political classes. “It took a generation for some of the European migrants, like the Greeks and Italians, to turn up as candidates,” she said. “These things take probably a generation at least. It will probably be in the next generation that we see better representation.”

Adam Ahmed, 27, a Melbourne-based lawyer and voter in the August 21 polls, said Asian migrants often focused on establishing themselves before gaining any with political aspirations. “Asian people tend to want to do jobs that are ‘safe’ and will earn them a good living - stable things like being a doctor or a lawyer,” said Ahmed, whose family is of Pakistani origin. “Being a politician is not a safe job.” — AFP

Kuwait: No plans to ban BlackBerry Continued from Page 1 He confirmed a report it had asked RIM to block pornographic sites. He said RIM has asked Kuwait for four months to deal with its request to block pornographic sites.

“We sense cooperation from the company,” Busairi said.

Meanwhile, Saudi’s telecoms regulator has postponed a ban on BlackBerry until today so that suggested solutions to the kingdom’s security concerns offered by RIM can be tested. The Communications and Information Technology Commission said the 48-hour grace period, ending today evening, was given “to test the suggested solutions”, a statement carried by SPA state news agency late on Saturday said. The CITC decision was also based on the “ongoing efforts by the providers of mobile services to meet the requirements of the commission’s regulations”. “A decision to stop or maintain the service will be taken according to the results” of the tests, it said.

“Three servers are being tested, one for each of the three mobile operators. We’re waiting for feedback (from the telecoms firms),” an official from CITC’s technical department told Reuters yesterday. A deal between RIM and Saudi Arabia was “virtually” sealed, an official at one of the three mobile services providers said on Saturday.

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said that RIM has agreed in principle to grant access to Saudi authorities to decipher its messenger exchanges between users. A

special server for the messenger services is to be set up in the highly security-conscious Gulf state, birthplace of Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, Al-Arabiya reported.

The Saudi telecommunications authority had announced that it had ordered mobile providers to block key BlackBerry services from August 6 or face a $1.3-million fine.

The regulator had said the suspension was because “the way BlackBerry services are provided currently does not meet the regulatory criteria of the commission and the licensing conditions”. BlackBerry’s encrypted emails and data are stored on servers in Canada, where RIM is based, meaning that third parties such as intelligence agencies cannot monitor the secure communications. BlackBerry subscribers number around 700,000 in Saudi Arabia, a conservative kingdom which enforces a rigid Islamic social code and strictly censored Internet.

Some BlackBerry users reported a brief shutdown of services on Friday. It came five days after the United Arab Emirates, with some 500,000 BlackBerry users, announced it would cut off BlackBerry messenger, email and web browsing services on Oct 11 over security fears. Confusion over the future of BlackBerry services has infuriated some Saudi users who are still unsure if their smartphones will continue to provide instant messaging services or will turn into ordinary phones.

“Is this a game for kids? You either cut

off the service or leave it on,” one reader commented on Al-Riyadh daily’s website, addressing the CITC. “I feel that you do not know what you are doing.” Others joked about the uncertainty, with one alleging incompetence by the telecoms regulator.

“Ha-ha, you didn’t know how to switch off the service,” the blogger wrote. But some still favour a BlackBerry ban because of security fears. “What do you get if the terrorists manage to prepare plots that the state fails to uncover, and then blow you up along with your BlackBerries?” asked a reader using the pseudonym “Saudi Fighter” on the Al-Watan daily’s website.

The newspaper said the market for BlackBerry handsets, which saw a drop in prices and sales in recent days, had strengthened with optimism that the matter will be resolved. Mohammed AlMutairi, who owns a mobile phone shop in Riyadh, told the daily: “Sales improved on Saturday compared to the previous three days” which followed the regulator’s ban announcement.

Bahrain and Oman have said they oppose a ban on BlackBerry, a favourite tool of business travellers, while Lebanon, a frontline state with Israel, has yet to reach a decision despite its security concerns.

Outside the Arab world, India is mulling a ban and Indonesia is not ruling out the option, although on Thursday it denied that the world’s largest Muslim country was considering a suspension of BlackBerry services. — Agencies

US to drop charges against Agility unit Continued from Page 1 “Further to the Kuwait Stock Exchange release dated July 27 2010, we are writing to confir m that United States Attorney’s Office in Atlanta moved to dismiss the indictment against Agility ‘Holdings’, an Agility Public Warehousing Company KSC subsidiary,” the company said in a statement to the Dubai bourse.

The company said it could not confirm or explain a report in local magazine

MEED that led the Kuwait Stock Exchange to suspend trading in its stock pending clarification. MEED said US prosecutors had moved to dismiss indictments against the Kuwait-based company, which was understood to mean the charges were dropped against the parent firm. “We have no way of confirming what evidence MEED relied upon to reach their findings,” Agility said in a letter signed by Chairman Tarek Sultan.

The subsidiary, Agility DGS Holdings,

has pleaded not guilty to the sealed indictment. Agility has said it is still negotiating a settlement with the U.S. government, but it is not clear if it could lead to lifting the ban on bidding for any new contracts. Two companies are keen to grab the work, Kuwaiti logistics firm KGL, and Dubaibased ANHAM FZCO LLC that has already won a contract. Kuwait, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, has become a major logistics base for the US military since the 1991 Gulf War that liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. — Reuters

15

SPORTS

Monday, August 9, 2010

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Saturday: Cincinnati 4, Chicago Cubs 3; Toronto 17, Tampa Bay 11; NY Yankees 5, Boston 2; Atlanta 3, San Francisco 0; Chicago White Sox 4, Baltimore 2; Minnesota 7, Cleveland 2; LA Angels 10, Detroit 1; NY Mets 1, Philadelphia 0; Pittsburgh 8, Colorado 7 (10 innings); Milwaukee 5, Houston 2; Florida 5, St. Louis 4 (10 innings); Arizona 6, San Diego 5; Oakland 6, Texas 2; Kansas City 2, Seattle 1; LA Dodgers 3, Washington 2 (10 innings); American League Eastern Division W L PCT GB NY Yankees 68 41 .624 Tampa Bay 67 43 .609 1.5 Boston 63 48 .568 6 Toronto 58 52 .527 10.5 Baltimore 36 74 .327 32.5 Central Division Chicago White Sox 63 47 .573 Minnesota 62 49 .559 1.5 Detroit 53 57 .482 10 Kansas City 47 63 .427 16 Cleveland 47 64 .423 16.5 Western Division Texas 64 46 .582 Oakland 55 54 .505 8.5 LA Angels 56 56 .500 9 Seattle 41 70 .369 23.5 National League Eastern Division Atlanta 63 47 .573 Philadelphia 61 49 .555 2 NY Mets 55 55 .500 8 Florida 54 56 .491 9 Washington 49 62 .441 14.5 Central Division Cincinnati 63 48 .568 St Louis 61 49 .555 1.5 Milwaukee 52 59 .468 11 Houston 47 62 .431 15 Chicago Cubs 47 63 .427 15.5 Pittsburgh 39 71 .355 23.5 Western Division San Diego 63 46 .578 San Francisco 63 48 .568 1 Colorado 57 53 .518 6.5 LA Dodgers 57 54 .514 7 Arizona 43 68 .387 21

PHILADELPHIA: New York Mets’ David Wright (left) tags out Philadelphia Phillies’ Jayson Werth in the seventh inning of a baseball game. — AP

Braves down Giants, Marlins edge Cards ATLANTA: Tim Hudson threw eight dominant inning and Troy Glaus hit a two-run single in Atlantaís threerun fourth as the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 3-0 on Saturday.

Billy Wagner, who blew a save opportunity in Atlantaís 3-2, 11-inning loss to the Giants on Friday night, finished for his 27th save in 33 chances, striking out the side.

Hudson (13-5) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out six, improving to 4-0 with a sparkling 0.63 ERA in his last four starts. He is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last five starts against the Giants, dating to 2006. The National League East-leading Braves have won three of four to improve to 38-15 at home, best in the majors.

Marlins 5, Cardinals 4 At Miami, Hanley Ramirez hit an RBI double in the 10th inning to give Florida the much-needed victory over St. Louis.

Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Donnie Murphy also homered for the Marlins, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Clay Hensley (2-4) pitched a scoreless 10th to get the win. Chad Tracy hit a one-out single off Ryan Franklin (6-2) before Ramirez doubled to

deep right-center field.

The Cardinals trailed 3-2 with two outs in the ninth before Yadier Molina and Aaron Miles each hit RBI singles off Leo Nunez.

Uggla tied it with a drive off Franklin in the bottom half. It was Ugglaís ninth homer in his last 15 games and 25th overall.

Díbacks 6, Padres 5 At Phoenix, Chris Young started and ended the game with homers, powering Arizona to the win over San Diego. Young opened with his 16th career leadoff homer off Clayton Richard, helping the Diamondbacks build a 5-3 lead.

Jerry Hairston Jr. led off the San Diego ninth with a homer off Aaron Heilman (3-3), then Adrian Gonzalez tied it with a two-strike, two-out solo shot to left. Young ended it quickly, hitting the winning homer off Luke Gregerson (3-6) to left, sending the sellout crowd of 48,946 happy on the night Luis Gonzalez became the first Diamondbacks player to have his number retired.

Pirates 8, Rockies 7 At Pittsburgh, rookie Pedro Alvarez hit a win-

ning three-run homer with two out in the 10th inning to send Pittsburgh to a wild victory over Colorado. Alvarezís 10th homer and second in as many days came on an 0-1 pitch from Huston Street (2-3) with Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones aboard.

Ian Stewart hit a tying three-run homer in the ninth for the Rockies and Todd Heltonís two-run shot off Sean Gallagher (2-0) in the 10th made it 75. Jones and Chris Snyder also homered for lastplace Pittsburgh, which has won three of five.

Alvarez, the No. 2 overall draft pick two years ago, connected for the ninth time at home this season, capping a 3-for-6 night.

Mets 1, Phillies 0 At Philadelphia, Johan Santana allowed five hits in 7 1-3 innings and Jeff Francoeur homered as New York blanked Philadelphia.

Francisco Rodriguez got the final five outs for his 24th save in 29 chances as the Mets ended Philadelphiaís five-game winning streak and 12-game home surge. Santana (9-6) struck out six, walked three and didnít allow a hit until Placido Polanco singled with two outs in the sixth.

Reds 4, Cubs 3 At Chicago, Drew Stubbs hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and drove in a pair of runs to lead surging Cincinnati over Chicago.

Stubbs doubled and scored in the third, started the eighth with his 14th homer and singled in a run in the ninth. The speedy center fielder snapped out of a 1-for-37 funk after being benched for five games. He is batting .318 with five homers against the Cubs this season.

Reds closer Francisco Cordero entered with a 4-1 lead but walked the bases loaded and before forcing in a run by hitting Starlin Castro with an 02 pitch. Nick Masset came on and struck out Derrek Lee, walked Aramis Ramirez for Chicagoís final run and struck out Marlon Byrd for his second save.

Brewers 5, Astros 2 At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks hit an inside-thepark homer and George Kottaras added a solo shot to help Milwaukee get the win over Houston.

Randy Wolf (8-9) gave up two runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Brewers. The left-hander was forced to leave his previous start last Sunday

Yankees beat Red Sox NEW YORK: CC Sabathia outpitched John Lackey and Ramiro Pena drove in two runs while subbing for injured Alex Rodriguez as the New York Yankees stopped their mini-slide by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Saturday.

Rodriguez was hit in the lower left leg by Lance Berkmanís sharp grounder during batting practice, and medical personnel ran onto the field to check him.

X-rays were negative and there was no indication when the All-Star third baseman would return to the lineup.

Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead single in the fifth inning for the Yankees, who had kept the best record in the majors despite losing four of their previous five games.

Sabathia (14-5) shook off an early homer by Victor Martinez and matched Tampa Bayís David Price for the AL wins lead. The big left-hander also earned his 150th career victory. Lackey (10-7) has won only once in his last seven starts.

Blue Jays 17, Rays 11 At Toronto, the Blue Jays became the first team to hit eight homers in a game in three years, getting two apiece from Aaron Hill and J.P. Arencibia in a win over Tampa Bay. Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion and Lyle Overbay also connected for the Blue Jays, who lead the majors with 175 homers.

Bautistaís shot was his major league-best 34th of the season.

It was the most homers in a game for the Blue Jays since they hit a major league-record 10 against Baltimore on Sept. 14, 1987.

The New York Yankees were the last team to hit at least eight homers in a single game, according to STATS LLC, going deep eight times in a 16-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on July 31, 2007, at Yankee Stadium.

James Shields (10-10) became just the eighth pitcher in the modern era to surrender six homers in a game. Tampa Bay has lost a season-high four straight. Arencibia homered on the first pitch of his first major league at-bat, a two-run shot to left in the second. He added another first-pitch homer in the sixth, a solo drive to right off Dale Thayer, and finished with four hits.

White Sox 4, Orioles 2 At Baltimore, Gavin Floyd allowed two runs in seven innings as Chicago ended Buck Showalterís unbeaten run as manager of Baltimore.

The Orioles had won four straight since Showalter took over on Tuesday, matching their longest winning

Dodgers 3, Nationals 2 At Los Angeles, James Loney singled home the winning run with one out in the 10th inning as Los Angeles beat Washington.

Sean Burnett (0-6) came on in the 10th and gave up a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard, who took third on Scott Podsednikís single to right-center. The Nationals then went to a fiveman infield, pulling Michael Morse in from right field, and Morse held Belliard on a chopper over the mound by Ryan Theriot.

Andre Ethier was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play and Morse returned to his normal position, but Loney lined a 1-0 pitch down the right field line to end it. Jonathan Broxton (4-3) earned the victory with his second two-inning stint this season. — AP

Alexander retains titles

streak of the season. Baltimore bolted to an early 2-0 lead in a bid to make it five in a row, but the margin failed to stand up against the AL Central leaders.

Carlos Quentin hit his 22nd homer in the fourth inning, and Chicago added single runs in the seventh and eighth against reliever Jason Berken (3-3) before scoring an unearned run in the ninth.

Athletics 6, Rangers 2 At Oakland, California, Coco Crisp homered, hit two sacrifice flies and scored twice to back 10-game winner Gio Gonzalez and Oakland to the victory over Texas. Mark Ellis also had a sacrifice fly as Oakland quickly jumped on former Aís ace Rich Harden (4-4).

The Aís snapped Texasí three-game winning streak and pulled within 8Ω games of the AL Westleading Rangers. Taylor Teagarden homered for Texas.

Angels 10, Tigers 1 At Detroit, Scott Kazmir allowed one unearned run in five innings in his return from the disabled list as Los Angeles routed slumping Detroit.

Kazmir (8-9), who had been sidelined since July 10 with shoulder fatigue, snapped a four-start losing streak. He gave up three hits and a walk, striking out three as the Angels clinched their first road series victory since June 16-18 against the Cubs. The Tigers have lost four straight and seven of eight.

Twins 7, Indians 2 At Cleveland, Carl Pavano pitched seven innings to beat his former team and Joe Mauer had four hits as Minnesota defeated Cleveland.

Clinging to a 3-2 lead, Pavano (14-7) struck out Shelley Duncan to get out of a bases-loaded jam on his final pitch of the night. He allowed seven hits, struck out six and walked four on the one-year anniversary of being traded for minor leaguer Yohan Pino.

Royals 2, Mariners 1 At Seattle, Bruce Chen scattered three hits over seven innings as Kansas City held off Seattle. Chen (7-5) yielded a solo home run to Russell Branyan along with a pair of harmless singles. He struck out four and didnít walk a batter in his second longest outing this season. He is now 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in six career starts against Seattle.

Blake Wood worked a scoreless eighth and Joakim Soria finished it with a little drama in the ninth. Chone Figgins opened with a single and moved to second on a fielderís choice. Soria then struck out Branyan and Franklin Gutierrez. — AP

against the Astros in the seventh inning when he was struck on the wrist by a ball hit by Hunter Pence.

Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get his sixth save of the season in 11 chances. It was his first save since May 7 against Arizona and No. 597 for his career.

NEW YORK: Yankees’ Jorge Posada follows through on an RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox. — AP

LOUIS: American Devon Alexander retained his WBC and IBF junior welterweight titles with a unanimous 12-round decision over Andriy Kotelnik of the Ukraine on Saturday. The 23-year-old Alexander (21-0) won 116-112 on all three cards.

He scored enough points early to withstand a late charge from 31-year-old Kotelnik (31-4-1), a former WBA super lightweight champion. Alexander suffered a deep cut over his right eye in the 10th round but was able to keep away from Kotelnik long enough to record the decision. He hopes to face fellow title-holder Timothy Bradley (26-0) in a battle of unbeaten 140-pound (63.5-kilogram) fighters in January.

“I thought I did enough to win,” Alexander said.

“It was an OK performance. He was tough as nails, give him credit.” Alexander, a southpaw, used a stick-and-jab method to rack up points early in the fight. He was the more active fighter and held a 1,113-763 advantage in punches thrown during the 12-round affair.

“I trained for 12 rounds and got the victory,” Alexander said. “That is what I came here to do.”

Kotelnik, 31, opened a cut above Alexander’s right eye in the fifth round. The cut opened further in the 10th, forcing Alexander to hang on down the stretch while cramping up in the final round. “It was my first cut, but I fought through it like a world champion,” Alexander said.

Kotelnik, a silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics, won three of the last four rounds on one judge’s card and two of the last four on the other two. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Alexander’s strong start. Kotelnik felt the judges were influenced by the pro-Alexander crowd of 9,117. “I want the belt, I deserve it,” Kotelnik said through an interpreter. “If the fight happened anywhere but here, I would be the champion. I have no words to describe what happened. That guy has something that belongs to me.” Earlier, IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud of the United States successfully defended his crown with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Jamaican veteran Glen Johnson.

Alexander, an amateur Golden Gloves standout, jumped into the limelight with an eighth-round knockout of Juan Urango in March and solidified his reputation as an up-and-coming fighter with the gutsy win on Saturday. Cloud (21-0), 28, used his strength to wear down the 41-year-old Johnson (50-14-2). All three judges scored the fight 116112. — AP

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Monday, August 9, 2010

KALISPELL: Eric Holmes driver of the No. 20 Napa Auto Parts Toyota leads the field en route to winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Toyota/Napa Auto Parts Bonus Challenge 150 at Montana Raceway Park.—AFP

Edwards wins Watkins Glen pole WATKINS GLEN: Carl Edwards won the pole for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.

Edwards turned a lap of 124.432 mph (200.24 kph) in 70.882 seconds to easily outdistance Jamie McMurray’s lap of 123.814 mph (199.25 kph) in 71.236 secs.

It was just the fifth pole in 215 starts for Edwards, his first on a road course in Cup competition, and it was fast. Edwards was just a few ticks off Jeff Gordon’s 2003 track record of 124.58 mph (200.48 kph) in 70.7979 seconds.

“Unbelievable! I can’t tell you how much that helps our team,” Edwards said. “(Crew chief) Bob (Osborne) said P1. I

thought he said 21. That’s a great lap.

We’re just enjoying the wave we’re riding.

We’re making a comeback.” And that should help team owner Jack Roush in his recovery from a plane crash 10 days ago.

The 68-year-old Roush, who also received a boost last week with Greg Biffle’s win at Pocono, is at the Mayo Clinic and will remain there indefinitely to treat facial injuries.

Edwards has put together four straight finishes of seventh or better, including a second at Chicagoland and a third a week ago at Pocono, to surge to 10th in the points standings with only five races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint

Cup title. Only the top 12 drivers qualify for the Chase.

“It feels good,” said Edwards, whose last pole was two years ago at Bristol. “You guys know how we’ve struggled. This last month we’ve been going in the right direction. It means a lot to all the folks who stuck with us — Aflac, Ford. Nobody’s giving up. If I can just get a good start, keep our car up front, race in clean air, keep the fenders on it, I think the qualifying effort will pay off.”

Juan Pablo Montoya will go off third, followed by AJ Allmendinger and Kurt Busch.

Five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart, Biffle, Scott Speed, Jimmie

Johnson and Kyle Busch round out the top 10. Australian driver Marcos Ambrose, who finished second to Stewart in last year’s race, will start 11th. Gordon, a fourtime Watkins Glen winner, qualified 16th and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 41st.

The top four cars in the Hendrick Motorsports stable struggled in Friday’s two practices despite feedback from Gordon, who took part in a Goodyear tire test in June and thought he had brought some valuable data back to the shop. Only Johnson found enough speed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.

“With the tire test that Jeff was a part of,

it’s just kind of mind-boggling that we could have been that far off,” said Johnson, who notched the first road course victory of his career at Sonoma in June.

“Making up ground, I hope we can make up enough before the race.” Gordon has been winless at the storied track since 2001, but was somewhat happier after qualifying. “I felt some real positive things in the car,” said Gordon, who has made 602 straight Cup starts.

“The car turned a little bit better than I was expecting. I saw some things that have some real potential. I’m very happy about that. It’s certainly a big gain from yesterday. I’m excited about that.”

Ambrose, still seeking that breakthrough Cup victory, started from the pole in Saturday’s Nationwide race and was confident about yesterday. He finished second to Stewart a year ago in the Cup race and third to Kyle Busch in 2008 after starting last.

“I was a little conservative,” said Ambrose, who handed that Sonoma victory to Johnson when he stalled his car under a late caution while leading and couldn’t get it refired in time to keep pace. “I got some wheel spin but I’m excited. I feel like we’re going to have a good car for Sunday. It’s part of the sport. No matter where you are in the field, you’ve got to go.”—AP

Wilkinson looking for French World Cup boost PARIS: England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson hopes to inspire Toulon to the French Top 14 title this season and stake his claim for a starting berth at the 2011 World Cup. The 31-year-old, who kicked England to the 2003 world title, had an oustanding debut season for the ambitious French club last term, landing the prestigious award for best fly-half from rugby journal Midi Libre.

However, Toulon and Wilkinson face an arduous task if they are to go one better than last season and reach the final - they went out to eventual champions Clermont controversially in the semis - having finished second in the table.

Aside from the formidable offensive talents of Clermont, there will be the challenges from 2009 champions Perpignan, European Cup winners Toulouse and cash-rich Racing-Metro.

Expectations are high too that European Cup finalists Biarritz and Stade Francais can produce vastly-improved challenges.

Stade have hired highly-rated Australian coach Michela Cheika after his tenure ended at Leinster where he won the 2009 European Cup. Despite carrying a shoulder injury, Wilkinson is looking forward to Friday’s home opener against relegation favourites Bayonne.

“The first six years of my career were mas-

sively intense,” said Wilkinson, who collected one national league title with Newcastle in 1998 and two English Cups.

“Then came six years when I was just fighting injury and I was searching for a way of feeling part of something again,” he told the Times. “I feel indebted to Toulon for giving me that glorious feeling.”

Stade Francais had a season to forget last term, going through two coaches - Australian Ewen McKenzie and former Perpignan handler Jacques Delmas. They also endured a series of injuries and long suspensions for key players David Attoub and Julien Dupuy who were found guilty of gouging. The Paris side even finished outside a place for this season’s European Cup. Stade rounded off their pre-season campaign with a 25-22 defeat by Toulon, but Cheika was encouraged by a display where several established stars were missing. “It was a good match with a nice style of play at many points in the match,” enthused Cheika.

“Our front five, without any of our international players, showed a real hunger which pleased me. I know a season is not built around one match and it is imperative to put all the little things in order.”

Cheika’s compatriot Vern Cotter has

Lynx rally past Sky

already earned himself a place in French club rugby history having guided Clermont to their first title.

He has recruited Ti’i Paulo and backrow forward Sione Lauaki to provide even more competition, but accepts that Clermont have not been handed an easy task in their opening set of fixtures. “We are going to have to hit the ground running,” he told rugby365. “Five of our first seven matches are away. That will be tough but we have to start this championship with a deep commitment. We have to win matches and take points at every opportunity.”

Toulouse were delighted to have captured their fourth European Cup last term but coach Guy Noves was disappointed at going out to Perpignan in the Top 14 semi-finals.

Veteran France centre Yannick Jauzion has issued a warning to the rest of the players what he and Noves expects from them.

“I hope that all the players realise that the European Cup victory is in the past now,” said Jauzion, who was an integral part of the France team that landed the Six Nations Grand Slam.

“If we really have the desire to beat whatever team is in front of us, then we have to relive the atmosphere and spirit that we showed towards the end of last season — only this time from the start.”—AFP

Elsom sees light at the end of long, dark tunnel CHRISTCHURCH: Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom cut a far different figure yesterday than earlier in the week, despite his side succumbing 20-10 in Christchurch for their ninth straight loss to the All Blacks.

The blindside flanker was widely reported to have been frustrated at training on Tuesday, standing apart from the team as they dropped pass after pass, flubbed set pieces and kicked aimlessly.

However, against the All Blacks at Lancaster Park on Saturday the Wallabies did what he had asked of them-they fronted up-and while their attack was thwarted time and time again by a swarming black line, Elsom said the perfor-

mance showed signs of life as they look ahead to next year’s World Cup. “I think that was definitely a building block there,” Elsom told Reuters at the team’s hotel in Christchurch before they returned to Australia. “While we didn’t get the result we wanted, that was a very focused performance.

“There are things we would like to change, but it’s always like that. As far as the way we want to play and how we want to play, for the large part you saw that.”

Elsom, sporting several stitches in a cut above his right eye, said the challenge for his young team, who have been criticised for being inconsistent

from week to week, was now to build on their trip to South Africa.

The Wallabies play the Springboks, who are winless and now have no hope of retaining the Tri-Nations title, twice in South Africa on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4. Australia won their first match 30-13 in Brisbane last month.

Elsom acknowledged there were similarities between the current squad and the greentinged side that Bob Dwyer built to win the 1991 World Cup, in the way players had been thrust into test rugby about 18 months out from the tournament.

“I’d struggle to say that we are the same team as we were

12 months ago ... we have a very different roster.

“The amount of guys we have got in the team now, who 24 or 12 months ago you would ask ‘would we be picking them as starters in the Bledisloe Cup?’ Well, you might not have believed that.

“Last night was invaluable to give these guys a feel of what it’s (test rugby) like. “I think there is a lot of positive things (about the performance), but we can’t rest on that.

“We didn’t win the game and we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be. We’re not happy with where we’re sitting (so) it’s important that we get back to work and build on that.”—Reuters

Seimone Augustus of Minnesota Lynx in action against Chicago Sky.

CHICAGO: Seimone Augustus scored 27 points, including the tiebreaking 3pointer with 26.9 seconds left in overtime to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 87-82 victory over the Chicago Sky in the WNBA on Saturday.

Lindsay Whalen had 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, Charde Houston added 17 points, and Monica Wright had 11 to help the Lynx (9-16) rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Jia Perkins led Chicago (12-16) with 16 points and Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dominique Canty added 13 points and Tamera Young scored 10.

Storm 111, Shock 65 At Seattle, reserve Svetlana Abrosimova of Russia had 20 points and Swin Cash added 18 to help lead Seattle over Tulsa in a clash between the teams with the WNBA’s best and worst records.

Seattle set a league record for largest margin of victory (46 points), topping by one point a win by the Houston Comets in 1998.

Australia’s Lauren Jackson added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle (244), which won its second straight game after two consecutive losses.

The Storm improved to 15-0 at home. Ivory Latta had 14 points to lead Tulsa (5-24), which has lost nine of 10 and 21 of 23. —AP

Monday, August 9, 2010

17

SPORTS

Cejka shoots 67 to take 2-stroke lead

NEW YORK: Rory Sabbatini watches his tee shot on the fifth hole during the third round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship golf tournament. — AP

Montgomerie considers Langer for Ryder Cup NEWPORT: Europe captain Colin Montgomerie is considering handing a Ryder Cup wild card to Bernhard Langer, even though the German quit playing mainstream golf several years ago.

Langer, 53, played the last of his ten Ryder Cups at The Belfry in 2002 and now competes on the seniors Champions Tour in America.

In the last three weeks he has won both the British Seniors Open and the US Seniors Open.

Montgomerie believes his vast Cup experience could be invaluable to a Europe team which looks like containing at least four rookies.

“I would not rule out picking Bernhard,” Montgomerie said. “I’m not ruling out anybody,

especially someone who has performed to that degree and is in the form of his life.”

Montgomerie said to win the British Seniors at Carnoustie, then travel eight time zones and beat local favorite Fred Couples at the US Seniors Open in Seattle was no mean feat.

“He (Langer) said afterwards that he used everything he had learned in the Ryder Cup to overcome a very vocal home support and I think it wouldn’t be such a dramatic move pick to have someone of that age and that experience in the team,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be such an out-of-the-blue pick.

I think he’s playing as well as he ever has and

he’s said he is. And I know through having played with Bernhard Langer that he is as good a partner as anyone could ever have.”

Montgomerie has another month before he has to finalize his team to play the United States in Wales from Oct. 1-3, and he may have an experience gap that could be filled by Langer.

There is a danger that Montgomerie will not have the services of European No. 1 and World No. 3 Lee Westwood, who pulled out of the Bridgestone Invitational after two rounds Friday with a calf injury. The Englishman says he will need at least six week of rest and treatment before he can return to golf. — AP

Frost, Calcavecchia lead at Blaine BLAINE: David Frost shot a 6-under 66 and was tied with Mark Calcavecchia for the lead after two rounds of the 3M Championship on Saturday. John Cook (67), Kirk Hanefeld (64) and David Peoples (66) were two shots back.

In his fifth tour event since turning 50 on June 12, Calcavecchia started the day one shot behind Tommy Armour III, but birdied six of his first 10 holes to open up a three-shot lead.

Calcavecchia’s lead shrunk to one before back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th. But he had bogeys at No. 17 and another at the par5 18th, which ranked as the day’s second-easiest hole, to finish with a 66. His second shot went into a greenside bunker and his chip went about 75 feet past the hole. He three-putted from there.

Playing with Calcavecchia, Frost made three birdies in a four-hole span on the front nine, before going eight holes without another.

He made two more in the final four holes.

Cook, who tied for third at last week’s US Senior Open, shot a 5 under 67.

He was 3 under on the front nine and made birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 to get within one shot of Calcavecchia before a bogey on No. 16.

Hanefeld, who has one top-25 in 10 starts this year, was 4 under on the front, and birdied No. 10, 11, 16 and 18. He hit every green and fairway in regulation.

Steve Haskins eagled No. 18 for a 66, and is joined by Jeff Sluman (68) three shots behind.

Armour was just 1 under for the day, and joined at — under by Mark O’Meara (66), who birdied seven of eight holes in one span, Ross Cochran (67) and Bruce Vaughan (67).

BLAINE: John Cook tees off on the first hole during the second round of the 3M Championship golf tournament. — AP The openness of the TPC Twin Cities has been a welcome relief for tour players. The last two events were the British Senior Open in Scotland and the US Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club outside Seattle, two unforgiving tracts where poor shots equaled poor results.

A few sprinkles fell on the course early in the

day before humid conditions took over, further softening the greens and allowing players to take aim directly at the pin, just as they did on Friday.

Defending champion Bernhard Langer likely won’t repeat. He is one of four players who are seven shots back. No champion has defended his title in the event’s 18-year history. — AP

VERONA: Alex Cejka shot a 5under 67 to move to 15 under and take a two-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round at the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

Chris Couch tied the course record with a 63 and was alone in second place at 13 under.

Billy Mayfair birdied six holes on the front nine and was in third place at 12 under after a 66.

Charles Warren, Bill Lunde, Robert Garrigus and Chris Tidland were tied for fourth place at 11 under. Warren recorded the first 63 of the day after he had seven birdies and eagled the par-5 12th hole in a bogey-free round.

Peter Lonard set the course record at the 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship when he carded a final-round 63.

Cejka, from the Czech Republic, is trying to become the first foreign-born winner in the fouryear history of the event.

International players have won 11 of the last 15 US PGA Tour events. Cejka — the second-round leader — is winless in 227 previous starts on the US tour. He has finished second twice.

“I still have to go out there tomorrow and try hard and try to shoot a couple under,” Cejka said. “I cannot rely on my twoshot lead and trying to go out there and just shoot even par. I don’t think that would do it.”

Sunshine, mild temperatures and a gentle breeze left the 7,482-yard Atunyote Golf Club almost defenseless. Just three of the 72 players that made Friday’s cut shot over par.

Cejka had a shaky start on the second hole, where he three-putted for just his third bogey of the week. He recovered with a birdie on the par-4 fourth with a second shot that spun back to tap-in range. On No. 5, he reached the par 5 in two and two-putted from 28 feet for another birdie.

Cejka’s next birdie came on another par 5 at No. 12. This time he laid up 77 yards short of the green with his second shot and landed his third three feet from the hole. Cejka got to 13 under with a birdie putt from inside seven feet on the par-3 16th.

His second shot on 17 ended up less than four feet from the cup for another birdie as he became the first player to reach 14-under. At the 615-yard closing hole, he was on the back fringe in two and two-putted for his sixth birdie of the day. He hit 17 greens in regulation.

“I’d rather be two in front than four behind,” Cejka said.

“Doesn’t matter what happens tomorrow. The others will have to come, too, but it’s always nice to have the lead. It doesn’t matter by how many.”

Cejka played his first PGA Tour event in 1996 and is competing in his 228th event, but has never won. He finished second at the 2004 International and tied for second at the 2003 BC Open. This marks the third time in his career he has held the 54-hole lead, including the 2001 British Open. He has 11 international victories. “I think in the past I was struggling a little bit with the putter the first couple holes when I had the lead, and suddenly the lead was gone after three, four holes because you make one bad shot, you make a three-putt and suddenly someone makes a birdie and you’re not in the lead,” he said. “I hope I learned something out of it in the past and it will show tomorrow.”

Mayfair has improved his score each day after he opened with a 70 and followed with a 68 on Friday. He has the most success of anyone in the top seven with five victories and 15 runner-up finishes in 23 years on the PGA Tour. However, his last win was in 1998, when he finished on top at the Nissan Open and the Buick Open.

“It was a great temperature out there,” Mayfair said. “The golf course is in great shape, and it was definitely conditions for some good scoring. I took advantage of it on the first nine holes. I didn’t play as good on the back, but six under, I’ll take it.”—AP

OHIO: Tiger Woods watches a missed putt on the second green during the fourth round of the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club. — AP

Tiger lost in the woods AKRON: Tiger Woods logged another miserable round and then all but conceded the world No. 1 ranking to Phil Mickelson.

In the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday, Woods had five bogeys, a double-bogey and two birdies in a 5-over 75. He is 11 over — his worst score in relation to par through 54 holes since turning professional in 1996.

Woods, whose personal life has been in tatters since revelations of infidelity last November, has been the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world for more than five years.

But Mickelson can overtake him with a high finish — something that Woods fully expects.

“Well, if Phil plays the way he’s supposed to this weekend, then he’ll be No. 1,” Woods said after completing third-round play at Firestone Country Club. Mickelson shot a 71 to fall into a tie for 10th. He needs to finish at least in fourth place alone to become No. 1.

A week before the US PGA Championship and with six weeks left to the Ryder Cup, Woods’ game is in shambles. He actually drove the ball slightly better on Saturday, hitting half of the 14 fairways, but showed no consistency. He was 1 over through six holes, but then jerked an iron far to the left of the green and into a large bunker next to the par-3 seventh.

“Great swing!” he yelled at himself on the tee. Woods then blasted out of the sand to 25 feet above the hole and missed the par putt.

On the eighth hole, he hit his drive into the right rough, advanced it further along in the high grass to the right, and then mis-hit a chip shot that came up short of the green.

He hurried to the ball and quickly hit another chip that ran 6 feet past the hole, then missed that putt, settling for a doublebogey.

“Well, I drove it terrible, hit my irons terrible, didn’t putt well, and it added up to a lot,” Woods said later. The 75 was his worst third-round score in relation to par since the 2002 British Open, where he shot 81. After completing his round, he returned to the driving range. At that time, he was 18 shots off the lead and in 78th place, ahead of only two other players in the 80-man field. He has never been worse than a tie for 71st through 54 holes since turning pro.

He took off for two weeks after tying for 23rd at the British Open, and hoped to use the Bridgestone as a tuneup for next week’s US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. He also hoped to put up a strong finish that would move him up in the US Ryder Cup standings. He came into the week in ninth place, with the top eight players assured of spots on the team.

The timing seemed to be ideal, since he has dominated the Bridgestone and Firestone Country Club like few players have anywhere. He won the Bridgestone (and its forerunner, the NEC Invitational) from 1999-2001, 2005-7 and last year. But instead of setting himself up for the final major of the year and the game’s top team competition, his play has caused many to question whether he is the same player who captured 14 major championships before his 34th birthday. Woods was asked if he could take anything positive out of his three rounds so far this week. “No, not right now,” he said. — AP

Nadal tests knee as US Open run begins TORONTO: World number one Rafael Nadal will make his first tournament start since lifting the Wimbledon title, leading the field at the Toronto Masters as the ATP starts the concluding sprint to the US Open.

Nadal will be coming down from another sporting high after travelling to Johannesburg to watch his beloved Spain win the World Cup. The Spaniard will get the chance to test the right knee that underwent tests in the days following Wimbledon, with Nadal hoping his fitness finally allows him to make a serious challenge at the last Grand Slam of the season starting in New York on August 30.

The US Open remains the only Major title to elude him.

Meanwhile, serious business beckons in Toronto as Nadal leads a field with most of the major players - save injured reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro — in attendance.

Nadal, who won the Canadian event the last time it was played in Toronto in 2008, also lifted the title in 2005 at Montreal. The tournament alternates between the two cities.

Chasing on the second seeding is Serb Novak Djokovic, who — like number three Roger Federer - will make his first outing since Wimbledon.

Djokovic won the title in 2007 but went out in the quarter-finals a year ago. Federer stands an unaccustomed third in the table after losing a Wimbledon quarter-final to Czech Tomas Berdych.

The Swiss cleared his mind with a Mediterranean family cruise on a luxury yacht last month and has just con-

cluded a week training in Europe with German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The pressure is on the long-time dominator of the sport, who can rescue his season with a sixth US Open crown from the past seven editions.

Nadal, meanwhile, will also sharpen his fitness by playing doubles with Djokovic. “Last year I didn’t play because I had problems with the knee.

This year I like the idea,” said the Spaniard.

“Doubles is an important part of the game and you can improve lots of parts of your game. Playing with Novak will be positive. He is one of the most talented players in the world.”

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray, the defending champion, will aim to dispel disappointment after losing a bid for the Los Angeles title, dropping the final two weeks ago after holding a match point against American Sam Querrey.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling endured a similar finals defeat at home last month to Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, the form player on clay during the summer with two trophies in three weeks.

Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko takes the sixth seeding as he searches for consistent form after coming back from a broken wrist.

Wimbledon finalist Berdych is seeded seventh ahead of American Andy Roddick, due to drop out of the ranking top 10 for the first time since August of 2006.

Roddick’s slide has been accelerated by a fourth-round Wimbledon loss to Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun, a semi-final exit in Atlanta and a third-round loss to Gilles Simon in Washington. — AFP

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Monday, August 9, 2010

Alonso lifts Real over LA Galaxy

PASADENA: Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra of Mali (left) defends against LA Galaxy midfielder Juninho of Brazil inside the penalty box to cause a foul and a penalty kick in the first half during their international friendly soccer match. —AP

Cash-strapped Rangers braced for Smith farewell GLASGOW: Rangers may start their defence of the Scottish Premier League as underdogs to Old Firm rivals Celtic, but the club’s players will be determined to give manager Walter Smith a winning send-off from Ibrox.

Speculation had surrounded the manager’s future since the club clinched their second league title in a row in April and the manager announced in the summer that this campaign will be his last.

Smith will now go head-tohead with rookie Celtic manager Neil Lennon and the Ibrox boss will be desperate to sign off with a tenth title career win.

The 62-year-old is the second most successful manager in the club’s history and has captured six trophies since he returned for his second spell in charge in January 2007, as well as taking Rangers to the UEFA Cup final in 2008.

However the club’s much documented financial problems have frustrated Smith and meant the manager and his backroom staff were left to lead Rangers to title success last season while working without contracts.

Smith, who will hand over the reins to assistant manager Ally McCoist and first team coach Kenny McDowall at the

end of the season, revealed it was his backroom staff that persuaded him to stay on for one final season.

“I decided to stay after speaking to everyone involved, especially Ally McCoist, Kenny McDowall, Ian Durrant and the other boys as much as anything.

They made me change my mind,” said Smith.

“Their enthusiasm was the deciding factor for me. Their impact is more important to me than anyone else because it keeps me going as much as the players.”

There is a sense of deja vu for Smith as the manager heads into the new campaign for the second season running with a depleted squad facing a Celtic side undergoing a complete overhaul under a new manager.

Last season’s challenger, Tony Mowbray, only lasted until March but Lennon may provide tougher opposition and has already claimed first blood with a 2-1 win in the final Old Firm derby of the season while interim boss.

Rangers’ title win gives them direct entry into the group stages of the Champions League - a tournament from which Celtic were knocked out in the qualifiers last week - and the multi-million pound cashpot that goes with it.

However this has not stopped several players heading for the exit at Ibrox as the club’s owner David Murray, who took the club off the market in May, looks to balance the books.

There has been an exodus of first team and fringe players, including top scorer Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo, Kevin Thomson, DaMarcus Beasley, Steven Smith and even highly-rated youngster Danny Wilson.

Smith has been unable to sign a new player since August 2008 despite being told there is money to spend. He admits he is worried about the impact injuries and suspensions could have on his squad in the new season, but is hopeful of bringing in fresh faces before the transfer window shuts at the end of August.

“We have to bring some in anyway as the squad is far too small. Hopefully we can get some in before the start of our season, but if that doesn’t happen then obviously before the end of the transfer window,” Smith said.

“If we can bring in three players, that would take the group up to 18. We’ve got one or two younger boys who have been doing well in pre-season and they can bolster our squad over pre-season.” —AFP

STUTTGART: In this June 16, 2006 file picture Dutch player Arjen Robben jubilates. —AP

Robben gets Kicker player award BERLIN: Bayern Munich’s Dutch star winger Arjen Robben was named footballer of the 2009/10 Bundesliga season by sporting magazine Kicker yesterday.

The 26-year-old - who is due to miss the next two months owing to a thigh muscle injury which has provoked a major row between his club and his national federation — saw off three clubmates in the voting by sports journalists.

Robben - who was a major influence as the Dutch reached the World Cup final where they lost 1-0 to Spain - received 445 votes while

German international midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, World Cup Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller and German captain Philipp Lahm got 180, 118 and 35 votes respectively.

Robben, who staged an amazing recovery from his initial injury in the final warm-up match prior to the finals to start in all the knockout stage matches, was outstanding as Bayern did the domestic double and reached the Champions League final last season. Compatriot and Bayern coach Louis van Gaal was voted coach of the season. —AFP

PASADENA: Xabi Alonso scored in the 72nd minute as Real Madrid rallied to beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 Saturday and complete an undefeated preseason trip through California.

Gonzalo Higuain scored two goals in the space of 10 minutes for Real Madrid in front of 89,134 at the Rose Bowl.

“For this trip, everything was perfect,” Real coach Jose Mourinho said. “We trained well. We trained hard. The players were together for 24 hours in a perfect environment for them to grow up as a group.”

Mourinho said he was most pleased with his players’ resilience, especially in the second halves of both games. “Obviously, I like this mentality of not wanting to lose, of wanting to overcome, a lot,” Mourinho said.

“For me the second half was fantastic in every aspect.” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said that Mourinho — who guided Inter Milan to the Champions’ League, Italian league and Italian cup titles last season — will make Real a formidable team.

“They’re one of the best club teams in the world,” Arena said. “They’re going to going to challenge in Champions’ League and certainly give Barcelona a run for their money in La Liga.”

Todd Dunivant and Landon Donovan scored for the Galaxy, who are winless in six of seven games.

“All in all, I think our team was able to play with a top-notch team like Real Madrid and see what this level can be like,” Galaxy forward Clint Mathis said.

“It was good for our team in a critical portion of our season.”

Dunivant opened the scoring for Los Angeles in the 40th minute. After the Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez headed Donovan’s corner off the right post, Dunivant poked the deflection of his own blocked shot while lying on his back at the goal line.

Donovan made it 2-0 in the 45th minute when he beat Poland goalkeeper Jerzy Dudekith with a penalty after the Galaxy’s Juninho was kicked in the face by Royston Ricky Drenthe.

Higuain scored off Cristiano Ronaldo’s left-wing cross from nine yards (meters) In the 51st minute and equalized 10 minutes later when he gathered a Fernando Gago pass and lofted a shot between Dunivant and defender Gregg Berhalter that sailed inside the left post.

Higuain, who led Argentina with four goals during the World Cup, finished Real Madrid’s tour with three goals. “His pace surprised me,” Arena said.

“He outran a couple of players who could at least run well. He went right by them.

I was impressed with him in the World Cup but after watching him tonight, I’m much more impressed.”

Sergio Canales ‘s no-look, back-heel pass freed Higuain for a shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Josh Saunders.

But the long rebound fell to Alonso, who converted a high, 19-yard (meter) diagonal shot inside the left post.

Iker Casillas, the captain of Spain’s World Cup-winning team, replaced Dudek for the second half. The Galaxy’s Clint Mathis, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, made his final professional start and played 27 minutes. Mathis played 11 years in Major League Soccer and 46 games for the United States, including the 2002 World Cup. Sami Khedira didn’t take the field for Real Madrid.

Khedira, purchased by Real from VfB Stuttgart, started all seven games for Germany in the World Cup. —AP

CHINA: Benjamin Martinez Martinez of Barcelona (right) vies for the ball with Zhou Ting of Beijing’s Guo’an during a friendly match in Beijing. —AP

Barca triumph, Messi wins over Chinese fans BEIJING: Spanish champions Barcelona yesterday finished their pre-season Asia tour with a 3-0 win over Beijing Guoan, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi given a rousing reception during his first-half cameo.

Tens of thousands of fans turned out for the friendly at the Bird’s Nest, played on the second anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics-most of them hoping for a moment of brilliance from Barca’s prize forward.

Messi, who led Argentina to Olympic gold in Beijing, did not score, but he had several opportunities including one that hit the post. The crowd roared every time he touched the ball.

The Catalan club-who played in China

without eight members of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad-drew first blood with a goal in the 10th minute by Sergi Roberto.

Three minutes later, Nolito found the back of the net to make it 2-0.

In the second half Barca mainly sent on reserves at the 80,000-capacity Bird’s Nest, which appeared to be a bit more than halffull.

Guoan, the reigning Chinese Super League champions, mounted several decent attacks throughout the game, led by Honduran forward Walter Martinez and Australian brothers Ryan and Joel Griffiths.

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored Barca’s final goal just before fulltime. Messi, who had a frustrating World Cup, scored two goals in Barca’s 5-2 win

over the K-League All-Stars in Seoul on Wednesday as part of Barcelona’s Asia tour.

His appearance in South Korea had been in doubt, as coach Pep Guardiola said Messi was not match-fit. But the club made a quick about-face after a meeting with furious promoters, saying he had made “good progress” in training and was ready after all.

Barca however were forced to pay a 200,000-euro (265,000-dollar) penalty as Messi only played 15 minutes in Seoul-less than the time stipulated in the contract, the club said. They paid a further 100,000 euros because of the absence of midfielder Xavi, a member of the Spanish World Cup squad. —AFP

Marseille falter against Caen PARIS: Marseille made a disappointing start in the defense of its French league title with a 2-1 home loss to newly promoted Caen while Paris Saint-Germain defeated Saint-Etienne 3-1 on Saturday.

Marseille struggled throughout the match and Caen scored the opener in the 52nd minute after Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda fumbled defender Nicolas Seube’s shot.

Mamadou Samassa equalized in the 77th from an offside position then forward Youssef El Arabi headed home in the 87th.

“I said that we will need 38 feats this season and tonight we accomplished one,” said Caen manager Franck Dumas. “Marseille is a great team but they are not ready and we took advantage of it.” PSG beat SaintEtienne with goals from Mevlut Erding, Stephane Sessegnon and Nene.

PSG hooligans from the kop of Boulogne threw flares outside the Parc des Princes before the game to protest against a decision that prevented them from regrouping in their Boulogne stand.

Police forces quickly arrived at the scene and dispersed the fans.

In February, a 38-yearold PSG fan suffered serious head injuries during street clashes among PSG fans at a

league match against Marseille and later died after falling into a coma.

Official supporters groups considered too troublesome have been disbanded, and the club hopes to make Parc des Princes a more family orientated place.

PSG delighted its fans with decent attacking football and opened the scoring in the 4th minute after Erding collected a throughball from Guillaume Hoarau in the box to beat goalkeeper Jeremie Janot with a low shot between his legs.

“With Guillaume, we are playing well together and it’s improving,” Erding said.

“We can achieve good things together.” PSG controlled the game in the first half but was caught on the break in the 39th when Dimitri Payet dummied a defender and slotted home.

PSG quickly recovered as Sessegnon scored two minutes later with an acrobatic volley that hit the post and bounced on Janot before going in. Brazilian playmaker Nene, who joined PSG from Monaco, doubled its lead in the 83rd. “This is a very good start to the season,” PSG coach Antoine Kombouare said.

“I’m still waiting for a defender to join the club to have a more balanced team and to be dangerous in all

competitions this season.”

Marseille played without defenders Souleymane Camara and Gabriel Heinze and created few chances until coach Didier Deschamps brought in international midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, who is likely to sign with Newcastle in the coming weeks, a likely move confirmed by Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier.

Hatem Ben Arfa found Samassa with a chipped ball for the equalizer but ElArabi connected with a cross from the left to give his team the three points three minutes from time. “We don’t have the means of our ambitions,” said Deschamps, adding that Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who played in Marseille before establishing in London, wouldn’t return to the club during the transfer window. “I don’t think about it,” Deschamps said. “Not even in my dreams.” Lyon was held to a scoreless draw by Monaco while Auxerre conceded a 22 draw to Lorient.

Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis collapsed early in the game but quickly regained consciousness and was able to keep playing. Gomis already had a blackout while training with the France team two years ago.

Monaco had the best chances in the first half as Lyon struggled to keep pos-

session in the midfield. Lyon defender Cris created his team’s first clear chance in the 36th minute but volleyed over the bar before Gomis sent his shot a few centimeters wide.

Lyon, runner-up last season, won seven titles in a row before Bordeaux won in the 2008-09 season.

Bordeaux starts late yesterday at Montpellier.

At Auxerre, forward Sigamary Diarra put Lorient ahead in the 6th minute, firing home with an angled shot following a swift collective move.

Benoit Pedretti collected a cross from the left in the 19th to equalize with a shot from the edge of the box inside the far post.

Auxerre, which will face Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League playoff round this month, went ahead in the 57th minute courtesy of Anthony Le Tallec’s goal but Lorient salvaged a draw thanks to a deflected strike from Arnold Mvuemba.

In Saturday’s other games, it was: Lens 1, Nancy 2; Nice 0, Valenciennes 0; Rennes 1, Lille 1; Sochaux 2, ArlesAvignon 1 and Toulouse 2, Brest 0.

In Toulouse, France striker Andre-Pierre Gignac injured his left ankle and was taken to hospital for scans. —AP

Santos stay unbeaten MEXICO CITY: Ecuador’s Christian Benitez scored twice to keep Santos Laguna unbeaten in Mexico’s Apertura tournament with a 3-0 win over Pachuca on Saturday.

Colombian Darwin Quintero scored the other goal for Santos, which won its other two league matches _ 4-1 over Atlante 4-1 and 4-0 over Pumas.

In other key matches Saturday, America and Tigres drew 1-1 and defending Clausura champion Toluca drew 1-1

with Jaguares. In late matches, Guadalajara Chivas defeated San Luis 10, Necaxa beat Atlas 1-0 and Monterrey won 2-1 over Atlante. Quintero scored for Santos in the 23rd minute and Benitez added his in the 57th and 82nd.

Argentine Damian Alvarez gave Tigres a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute, beating America keeper Guillermo Ochoa. But Argentine Daniel Montenegro equalized for America in the 76th.

Isaac Brizuela came off the bench to

score late for Toluca in its draw with Jaguares. Brazilian Danilinho scored in the seventh minute for Jaguares.

Marco da la Mora scored in the 20th for Chivas, which rested six regular players to prepare for this week’s first-leg final of the Copa Libertadores against Brazil club Inter.

Dario Gandin scored for Necaxa in its win over Atlas. Late yesterday it’s Moreila vs. Queretaro, Estudiantes vs.

Puebla and Pumas vs. Cruz Azul. —AP

SPORTS

Monday, August 9, 2010

19

English Premier League guide LONDON: Team by team guide to the new English Premier League season which kicks-off on August 14. All transfer fees are listed in pounds:

ARSENAL

CHELSEA Manager: Carlo Ancelotti Last season: Premier League champions, Champions League last 16, FA Cup winners, League Cup quarter-finals In: Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool) 5m Out: Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahce) undisclosed, Joe Cole (Liverpool) free, Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen) free, Juliano Belletti (Fluminense) free, Rhys Taylor (Crewe) two-month loan, Ryan Bertrand (Nottingham Forest) six month-loan Outlook: As Carlo Ancelotti soaked up the sun during his close-season holiday, the Italian wrestled with the question that will define his team’s campaign: How do you top the most successful season in your club’s history?

After pipping Manchester United to the Premier League title and then winning the FA Cup a week later, Ancelotti could rightly look back on his first season in English football with pride.

But the former AC Milan coach knows demanding Blues owner Roman Abramovich will never be completely satisfied until Chelsea are crowned kings of Europe, so the Champions League will once again be the main aim at Stamford Bridge.

To achieve that goal Ancelotti needs more new recruits than just Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun and moves for Brazilian duo Ramires and David Luiz, both of Benfica, are in the pipeline.

Manager: Arsene Wenger Last season: 3rd in the Premier League, Champions League quarter-finals, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup quarterfinals In: Laurent Koscielny (Lorient) 10m, Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux) free Out: Eduardo (Shakhtar Donetsk) 6m, Philippe Senderos (Fulham) free, Sol Campbell (Newcastle) free, Fran Merida (Atletico Madrid) free, Luke Ayling (Yeovil) free, Francis Coquelin (Lorient) season-loan, Sanchez Watt (Leeds) seasonloan Outlook: Only one issue dominated the agenda at the Emirates Stadium since the end of another barren campaign and Arsene Wenger is delighted that the future of Cesc Fabregas has finally been resolved ahead of the new season.

When Fabregas met Wenger before the World Cup to tell his manager that he wanted to rejoin Barcelona, the Spain midfielder was confident his wish would be granted.

Instead Wenger was determined to hold off Barca’s interest and his refusal to be bullied

by Barca forced Fabregas to admit he was going to stay.

Whether the captain will be contented for the next 12 months remains to be seen.

Even with Fabregas, Arsenal are without a trophy in 2005 and the additions of Laurent Koscielny and Marouane Chamakh in pre-season won’t be enough to end that drought if their talisman is anything less than 100 percent committed.

TOTTENHAM

MANCHESTER UNITED Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson Last season: Premier League runners-up, Champions League quarter-finals, FA Cup 3rd round, League Cup winners In: Chris Smalling (Fulham) 10m, Javier Hernandez (Guadalajara) 6m Out: Ben Foster (Birmingham) 4m, Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow) undisclosed, Tom Heaton (Cardiff) free, David Gray (Preston) free, Daniel Drinkwater (Cardiff) season-loan, Josh King (Preston) three month-loan, Mame Biram Diouf (Blackburn) season-loan, James Chester (Carlisle) five month-loan, Matthew James (Preston) season-loan Outlook: There was still more than half an hour of United’s 2009-10 season remaining when Sir Alex Ferguson marked the start of his bid to regain the title.

With Chelsea cruising to the win they needed to end United’s three-year reign as champions, Ferguson sent on youngsters Federico Macheda and Darron Gibson for Dimitar Berbatov and Paul Scholes in the last game of the season against Stoke.

The changes marked the passing of the torch to the next generation and Ferguson is convinced the decision to put his faith in the likes of Macheda, Gibson and new signings Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling will be rewarded.

Ferguson knows money is tighter than in the past at Old Trafford due to the huge debts amassed by owners the Glazer family, but the Scot remains convinced his youthful squad, aided by stellar performers like Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, can win a record 19th English championship.

Manager: Harry Redknapp Last season: 4th in Premier League, FA Cup semi-finals, League Cup quarter-finals.

In: Sandro (Internacional) undisclosed.

Out: Adel Taarabt (QPR) 1m, Lee Butcher (Leyton Orient) undisclosed, Dorian Dervite (Villarreal) free, John Bostock (Hull) season-loan, David Button (Plymouth) season-loan Outlook: Having a bucket of iced water poured over him by a gaggle of jubilant Spurs players in the aftermath of the victory which clinched a top four finish may not have been how Harry Redknapp imagined the finest moment of his career would turn out. But it was somehow fitting that qualification for the Champions League play-offs, where they face Swiss side Young Boys, will forever conjure up memories of Redknapp standing in a drenched suit at Manchester City with his face wreathed in smiles. A club regarded as perennial underachievers had finally fulfilled their potential thanks to Redknapp’s astute guidance, and the architect of Tottenham’s renaissance has no intention of resting on his laurels.

If the likes of Luka Modric, Wilson Palacios, Gareth Bale and Michael Dawson can repeat last season’s herculean efforts, Redknapp’s prediction of a Tottenham title challenge may not seem so far-fetched in a few months time.

MANCHESTER CITY Manager: Roberto Mancini Last season: 5th in Premier League, FA Cup 5th round,

League Cup semi-finals In: Yaya Toure (Barcelona) 25m, David Silva (Valencia) 24m, Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio) 16m, Jerome Boateng (Hamburg) 10m Out: Valeri Bojinov (Parma) undisclosed, Martin Petrov (Bolton) free, Paul Marshall (Walsall) free, Javier Garrido (Lazio) undisclosed Outlook: Roberto Mancini has been acquiring new players with the carefree relish of a lottery winner let loose in Harrods and his lavish spending spree could transform City into serious title challengers.

Mancini has spent over 80 million pounds on four new players as City’s billionaire Abu Dhabi-based owners continue to splash the cash in an attempt to buy their way into the sport’s elite.

Recruiting Yaya Toure from Barcelona, Valencia winger David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio and Hamburg defender Jerome Boateng is quite a statement of intent.

The spending is unlikely to end there and, while City’s approach to squad-building will bring scorn from those who prefer teams to develop more organically, you only have to look at the title triumphs enjoyed by Chelsea and Blackburn in the past to see that big money buys success in the Premier League.

ASTON VILLA Manager: Martin O’Neill Last season: 6th in Premier League, Europa League qualifying round, FA Cup semi-finals, League Cup runners-up In: — Out: Stephen O’Halloran (Coventry) undisclosed, Wilfred Bouma (released) Outlook: Having to choose between joining a mega-rich club with ambitions of European supremacy or staying at a team in danger of becoming the nearly men of English football must seem like a simple decision to James Milner.

For the second year in succession, Manchester City have come calling for Villa’s best player and they expect money to talk - as it did when Gareth Barry moved to Eastlands 12 months ago.

If Villa have any desire to turn their squad’s undoubted potential into something more tangible, they need O’Neill to find a way to persuade England midfielder Milner that he can fulfil his ambitions at Villa Park.

But it seems increasingly certain that Milner will follow Barry’s example and head for the Villa exit door, possibly paving the way for stars like Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor to make a similiar decision in the near future.

legendary reign at Anfield.

If second is nowhere then seventh - Liverpool’s final position in the Premier League last season - would have left ‘Shanks’ shaking his head in disbelief.

Roy Hodgson couldn’t be any less like the out-spoken Shankly but the new Liverpool boss will need to rebuild his unsettled club in much the same way the Scot did in the 1960s.

Hodgson arrives from Fulham to find a team in disarray after the woeful end to Rafael Benitez’s reign, but the signing of Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard’s decision to stay were two much-needed boosts at the start of an intriguing season for the Reds.

EVERTON Manager: David Moyes Last season: 8th in Premier League, Europa League last 32, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 4th round In: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw) undisclosed, Jermaine Beckford (Leeds) free Out: John Ruddy (Norwich) undisclosed, Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry) undisclosed, Dan Gosling (Newcastle) free, Carlo Nash (Stoke) free, Anton Peterlin (Plymouth) free Outlook: The feeling that Everton have been stuck in a rut for the last 12 months has led to a sense of frustration at Goodison Park in pre-season.

Toffees boss David Moyes already has a squad capable of beating any team in the country on their day, as they showed with victories over Manchester United and Chelsea last season, but he needs all his key players to stay fit over a sustained period to have any chance of challenging the top four.

Moyes has taken a gamble on Jermaine Beckford’s ability to reproduce his impressive Leeds goal-scoring record against top-flight defences and has persuaded Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta to sign a new five-year contract despite interest from several top clubs.

appointment in Mark Hughes, who earned his reputation at Blackburn - a club with the same pedigree and ambitions as Fulham - and will be motivated to make amends for his sacking

by Manchester City.

BLACKBURN Manager: Sam Allardyce Last season: 10th in Premier League, FA Cup 3rd round, League Cup semi-finals In: Mame Biram Diouf (Man Utd) season-loan Out: Steven Reid (West Brom) free, Andy Haworth (Bury) free, Marcus Marshall (Rotherham) free Outlook: Climbing away from the relegation zone into the safety of mid-table following the arrival of Sam Allardyce ensured Rovers could look back on last season as a success.

Allardyce is an old hand at winning survival battles after his time at Bolton but the Blackburn boss believes his squad is good enough to avoid any nerves come the end of the new campaign.

Although there has been little transfer activity at Ewood Park, Allardyce can rely on proven top-flight performers like Ryan Nelsen, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Paul Robinson, while young English defender Phil Jones is a great prospect for the future.

STOKE Manager: Tony Pulis Last season: 11th in Premier League, FA Cup quarter-finals, League Cup 4th round In: Florent Cuvelier (Portsmouth) undisclosed, Carlo Nash (Everton) free Out: Andy Griffin (Reading) undisclosed, Steve Simonsen (Sheffield Utd) free, Diego Arismendi (Barnsley) seasonloan, Ibrahima Sonko (Portsmouth) season-loan Outlook: Heading into their third season in the Premier League, unfashionable Stoke have reached a crucial stage in the club’s remarkable rise.

For the last two years, Tony Pulis’s battlers have prided themselves on being able to rough up any opponent no matter how famous the names in their line-up.

Those route one tactics established Stoke in the topflight, but now Pulis has the money at his disposal to bring in better quality players, who could add skill but possibly dilute the team’s work ethic. It is a decision that will define Stoke’s future.

LIVERPOOL Manager: Roy Hodgson Last season: 7th in Premier League, Champions League group stages, Europa League semi-finals, FA Cup 3rd round, League Cup 4th round In: Danny Wilson (Rangers) 5m, Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton) 1.7m, Joe Cole (Chelsea) free, Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege) free Out: Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea) 5m, Robbie Threlfall (Bradford) undisclosed, Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao) undisclosed, Philipp Degen (Stuttgart) season-loan, David Martin (Milton Keynes Dons) free Outlook: “First is first and second is nowhere,” growled Bill Shankly when asked to consider the possibility that Liverpool might not win the league one year during his

BOLTON

FULHAM

Manager: Owen Coyle Last season: 14th in Premier League, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 5th round In: Marcos Alonso (Real Madrid) undisclosed, Robbie Blake (Burnley) free, Martin Petrov (Man City) free Out: Ali Al Habsi (Wigan) season-loan, Nicky Hunt (Bristol City) free Outlook: Owen Coyle’s controversial decision to ditch Burnley for a move to local rivals Bolton midway through last season led many to question the Scot’s wisdom.

At the time Bolton looked more likely to go down than Burnley but Coyle got it spot on.

He lifted Bolton away from the relegation zone, while across Lancashire, Burnley slumped back into the Championship.

Coyle’s pleasing commitment to passing football looks set to continue following the signings of flair players Martin Petrov and Robbie Blake and the purists will hope Bolton are rewarded with survival again.

Manager: Mark Hughes Last season: 12th in Premier League, Europa League runners-up, FA Cup quarter-finals, League Cup 3rd round In: Philippe Senderos (Arsenal) free, Out: Chris Smalling (Man Utd) 10m, Elliot Omozusi (Leyton Orient) free, Wayne Brown (Bristol Rovers) free Outlook: Reaching the Europa League final was a fitting finale to Roy Hodgson’s magical reign at Craven Cottage and there is no reason for Fulham fans to fear the fairytale is over just yet.

Hodgson’s close-season departure to Liverpool was inevitable once the Reds showed serious interest, but Fulham won’t necessarily slump back to the lower reaches of the Premier League without their astute leader.

After a failed attempt to lure Martin Jol from Ajax, the Fulham hierarchy made a canny

Manager: Mick McCarthy Last season: 15th in Premier League, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 3rd round In: Steven Fletcher (Burnley) 6.5m, Stephen Hunt (Hull) 3m, Jelle Van Damme (Anderlecht) 2.5m, Steven Mouyokolo (Hull) undisclosed, Out: Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) 500,000, Jason Shackell (Barnsley) undisclosed, Andrew Surman (Norwich) undisclosed, Daniel Jones (Sheffield Wednesday)

BIRMINGHAM Manager: Alex McLeish Last season: 9th in Premier League, FA Cup quarter-finals, League Cup 3rd round In: Nikola Zigic (Valencia) 6m, Ben Foster (Man Utd) 4m, Enric Valles (NAC Breda) free Out: Lee Carsley (Coventry) free, Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) free, Artur Krysiak (Exeter) free, Franck Queudrue (released) Outlook: Backed by Hong Kong based tycoon Carson Yeung, Birmingham will attempt to improve on the club’s best top-flight finish for 51 years.

Alex McLeish’s men confounded expectations that they would struggle after promotion from the Championship thanks to a ferocious work ethic and a rock solid defence inspired by the form of on-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart.

With Hart back at Manchester City, McLeish has brought in former England goalkeeper Ben Foster from Manchester United and added physical presence to his shotshy forward line with the purchase of towering Serbia striker Nikola Zigi.

SUNDERLAND Manager: Steve Bruce Last season: 13th in Premier League, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 4th round In: Titus Bramble (Wigan) 1.5m, Christian Riveros (Cruz Azul) undisclosed, Simon Mignolet (St Truidense) undisclosed, Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes) undisclosed Out: Lorik Cana (Galatasaray) 5m, Marton Fulop (Ipswich) undisclosed, Daryl Murphy (Celtic) free, Roy O’Donovan (Coventry) free, Nyron Nosworthy (Sheffield Utd) season-loan, Michael Liddle (Leyton Orient) six month-loan Outlook: A club with Sunderland’s rabid fanbase will always dream of greater things, but in reality another season of comfortable survival would be accepted as a respectable achievement at the Stadium of Light.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce could have done without the departure of key midfielder Lorik Cana and a serious injury to goalkeeper Craig Gordon in pre-season, while his signing of error-prone former Newcastle defender Titus Bramble raised a few eyebrows on Wearside.

Yet Bruce’s side, who can look forward to the resumption of their rivalry with Newcastle, should finish in mid-table again if Englnd striker Darren Bent reproduces the form that brought him 25 goals last season.

WOLVES

undisclosed, George Friend (Doncaster) free, Sam Vokes (Bristol City) five month-loan Outlook: After defying the odds by avoiding relegation last season, Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has launched a major spending spree in a bid to establish his club in the top-flight.

Bolstered by the financial rewards of Premier League survival, McCarthy paid over six million pounds to sign striker Steven Fletcher from Burnley and also splashed out on Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Hunt from Hull.

If McCarthy’s heavy investment pays off Wolves will hope to follow Stoke’s example and move into a mid-table berth, but failure could lead to relegation and a serious headache for the club’s bank manager.

WIGAN Manager: Roberto Martinez Last season: 16th in Premier League, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 2nd round In: James McArthur (Hamilton) undisclosed, Ronnie Stam (FC Twente) undisclosed, Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes de La Plata) undisclosed, Antolin Alcaraz (Club Brugge) free, Ali Al Habsi (Bolton) season-loan Out: Titus Bramble (Sunderland) 1.5m, Tomasz Cywka (Derby) free, Antonio Amaya (Rayo Vallecano) sixmonth loan, Jason Koumas (Cardiff) season-loan Outlook: Keeping Wigan away from the relegation zone will once again be the main aim for Latics boss Roberto Matinez.

Although Wigan’s close-season transfer activity barely registered a flutter of interest outside the DW Stadium, Martinez was more concerned with holding onto prize assets Charles N’Zogbia, Hugo Rodagella and Maynor Figueroa, who have attracted interest from bigger clubs.

If that trio are still at the club by the time the transfer window closes at the end of August, Martinez will be confident of extending Wigan’s stay in the top-flight to an unlikely seventh season.

NEWCASTLE Manager: Chris Hughton Last season: Championship winners, FA Cup 4th round, League Cup 3rd round In: James Perch (Nottingham Forest) undisclosed, Sol Campbell (Arsenal) free, Dan Gosling (Everton) free Out: Nicky Butt (released), Fabrice Pancrate (released) Outlook: Newcastle fans have always embraced their reputation as the sport’s great romantics, but a healthy dose of realism is rife on Tyneside ahead of the Magpies’ return to the topflight.

A year spent in the purgatory of English football’s second tier delivered a much-needed wakeup call to a club often weighed down by the high expectations of its passionate fanbase.

Chris Hughton’s team were worthy winners of the Championship though and the squad looks better equipped to deal with the demands of Premier League action following the acquisitions of veteran defender Sol Campbell and talented young midfielder Dan Gosling.

WEST BROM Manager: Roberto Di Matteo Last season: Championship runners-up, FA Cup 5th round, League Cup 3rd round In: Boaz Myhill (Hull) 1.5m, Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre) 800,000, Steven Reid (Blackburn) free, Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid) free Out: Borja Valero (Villarreal) season-loan, Joss Labadie (Tranmere) free, Luke Daniels (Bristol Rovers) season-loan Outlook: Not for the first time, Albion will spend this season aiming to cling onto their place among English football’s elite. The Baggies have become a real yo-yo club in the last decade as promotion from the Championship is routinely followed by relegation, but Roberto Di Matteo’s squad are confident they can break that cycle.

Di Matteo, whose side face his former club Chelsea in their opening game, has assembled a well-organised and entertaining outfit who were too good for the Championship and could surprise a few bigger teams this term.

WEST HAM Manager: Avram Grant Last season: 17th in Premier League, FA Cup 3rd round, League Cup 3rd round In: Pablo Barrera (Universidad Nacional) 4m, Frederic Piquionne (West Ham) 1m, Thomas Hitzlsperger (Lazio) free, Tal Ben Haim (Portsmouth) six month-loan, Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland) undisclosed.

Out: Bondz Ngala (Plymouth) free, Guillermo Franco (released), Araujo Ilan (released) Outlook: Pessimism has often been the dominant emotion at Upton Park after decades of underachievement, but there are finally signs of a more positive attitude following Avram Grant’s arrival.

New boss Grant has a reputation as a fine man-manager and should be able to steer the team into calmer waters after their narrow escape from relegation last season, especially if he can persuade key midfielder Scott Parker to ignore interest from Spurs.

But it is the former Portsmouth and Chelsea manager’s skill as a boardroom politician that could be most useful when dealing with combustible owners David Sullivan and David Gold.

BLACKPOOL Manager: Ian Holloway Last season: 6th in Championship, promoted via play-offs, FA Cup 3rd round, League Cup 3rd round In: — Out: Daniel Nardiello (Exeter) free, Ben Burgess (Notts County) free, Hameur Bouazza (released) Outlook: Winning promotion to the top-flight for the first time since 1971 was a remarkable feat for a club operating on Blackpool’s limited resources, but the achievement seems to have come with a few headaches judging by the close-season chaos at Bloomfield Road.

Seasiders boss Ian Holloway has been struggling to find enough senior players to meet the requirement to name a 25man Premier League squad, while the club had to ask for their first game of the season to be moved to Wigan because stadium improvements, including the construction of a new stand, won’t be finished in time.

Holloway’s group of unheralded journeymen are heavy favourites to be relegated, but the experience of taking on the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool should leave memories that last a lifetime.—AFP

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EPL survival the goal for promoted teams LONDON: Newcastle, West Bromwich Albion and Blackpool face a baptism of fire on their return to the Premier League and all three promoted clubs enter the new season with survival on their minds.

After a single-season absence, Championship winners Newcastle will have little time to find their feet as they travel to Manchester United on August 16, where they have not won in the league for almost 40 years.

Chris Hughton’s side look the best-equipped of the three Premier League new boys to survive this season, although the manager’s task has been made more difficult by the refusal of Mike Ashley, the club’s multi-millionaire owner, to spend significant amounts in the transfer market.

Hughton has been forced largely to look at loans

or free transfers in strengthening his promotionwinning squad, with the one million pounds spent on former Nottingham Forest defender James Perch the single fee so far paid, while Dan Gosling and Sol Campbell arrived on free transfers.

Having featured in 16 of the previous 18 Premier League seasons, where they finished runner-up in 1996 and 1997, Newcastle carry far more heritage, prestige and with it expectation than the majority of clubs promoted to the top flight.

Long-term, Hughton is looking to repeat the top-five finishes Newcastle secured for three seasons running from 2002, but acknowledges that like all newly promoted clubs, the first aim is survival.

“With what this club has in terms of fan base and stadium, the top five has to be the aim, but it’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.

“Tactically we’ll have to be different to last season, and our home form will be vital. It’s normal to have mixed emotions going into the season, but I think the overriding one is that of excitement.”

Only once in Premier League history have all three promoted teams stayed up the following season, and if Newcastle’s opening fixture is a daunting one, West Brom, Championship runners-up in May, face a sustained spell of difficult games to start the campaign.

Their first four trips send them to champions Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as they bid to cast-off their image as a yo-

yo club after moving between the top two divisions seven times in the last eight years.

“I’m confident we’ve a good group of players,” boss Roberto Di Matteo insisted. “We’ve kept the core from last season and brought in quality to ensure we progress.

“We’ve kept the balance but we’ve strengthened because we needed to in stepping up a division.” After being promoted via the Championship play-offs Blackpool, who finished sixth in the second tier, have to bridge a huge gulf to survive.

Unsurprisingly, they’ve being given little hope of sur vival, having been made shor t-priced favourites by the bookmakers to head straight back down as they approach their first season at this level since 1971.

Blackpool have been beset by problems since clinching promotion with a Wembley victory over Cardiff, and have had to switch their first scheduled home game against Wigan to give them extra time to increase capacity at Bloomfield Road to a modest 17,000.

Manager Ian Holloway has just 20 players to choose from at present after a frustrating summer, having been unsuccessful in his attempts to bring back Leicester City forward DJ Campbell, and Everton defender Seamus Coleman, who both played prominent roles on loan last season.

Holloway is yet to make a signing ahead of the new season and he said: “I need to bring people in because the squad’s nowhere near good enough but the window doesn’t help.”— AFP

Utd deliver early blow to title rivals Chelsea Chelsea 1

Man United 3

LONDON: Manchester United Wayne Rooney (right) and Michael Carrick lift the trophy after their 3-1 win over Chelsea in their English FA Community Shield soccer match at Wembley Stadium yesterday. — AP

Australia retain Champions Trophy GERMANY: Australia has beaten England 4-0 to win the Champions Trophy field hockey tournament for the third straight year.

Australia has lost only once to England in a competitive match in 35 years and the Kookaburras were heavy favorites in Sunday’s game at

Warsteiner HockeyPark. Australia also won a hat trick of trophy titles from 1983-85.

Eight-time champion Netherlands beat Olympic champion Germany 4-1 in the third-place playoff. Olympic silver medalist Spain beat New Zealand 32 in the fifth-place playoff. — AP

GERMANY: Australia’s hockey captain Edward Ockenden (center) celebrates with the trophy and teammates after winning the ABN AMRO Hockey Champions Trophy final against England . — AP

LONDON: Manchester United delivered an early blow to title rivals Chelsea with a 3-1 victory over the Premier League champions in the Community Shield at Wembley yesterday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team have spent the closeseason licking their wounds after being pipped to the title by the Blues, but they underlined their determination to regain the crown with a ruthless display in the annual curtain-raiser to the English top-flight season.

A first half goal from Antonio Valencia put United in front and new signing Javier Hernandez added the second after the break.

Salomon Kalou got one back for Chelsea, but Dimitar Berbatov’s late strike ensured United have the early momentum heading into the new campaign.

Berbatov’s goal was the product of a 20-pass move. “It’s my first goal of the season, so it’s a really good day,” said the Bulgarian.

“Now we will celebrate and wait for our first league game against Newcastle next week. We have a great team spirit, we are like one big family.”

This may have been no more than a glamorous friendly, but there was definite edge to the match as these two old rivals tried to land a psychological blow ahead of the Premier League kick-off on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney responded to jeers from Chelsea fans with a superb cross-field pass towards Valencia, who out-paced the stumbling Ashley Cole but couldn’t quite lift his chip over Henrique Hilario.

Valencia turned provider moments later as the Ecuador winger picked out Paul Scholes 10 yards from goal, only for the veteran midfielder to volley well over.

Ancelotti’s double winners, who beat United in the Shield last season, threatened when Nicolas Anelka’s powerful long-range effort tested Edwin van der Sar. Branislav Ivanovic forced van der Sar into a much more difficult save when the Serbian defender towered above Nemanja Vidic to meet Malouda’s freekick with a bullet header.

Rooney had been one of England’s most disappointing performers in South Africa, where he looked completely devoid of his usual enthusiasm.

Back in a United shirt he was once again the effervescent figure who terrorised defences last season. He covered large parts of the pitch in the first half, shooting just wide from a tight angle before chasing back tenaciously to break up a Chelsea attack. Inevitably, Rooney played a key role when United took the lead in the 41st minute.

Scholes, in sublime form, spotted Rooney’s run to the right edge of the Chelsea penalty area and found him with a long pass that dropped in behind Cole.

John Terry had tracked Rooney and the striker took advantage by whipping a low cross into the area vacated by the Chelsea captain.

Valencia, having sprinted clear of Cole, found himself in yards of space and met Rooney’s superb delivery with a cool finish past Hilario.

That was Rooney’s last contribution as Ferguson sent on Hernandez, Berbatov and Nani at half-time.

Chelsea have been below their best during a pre-season marred by three successive defeats and Carlo Ancelotti’s team were missing Didier Drogba’s imposing presence, so it was no surprise when the Ivorian came off the bench after an hour.

Drogba’s arrival gave extra impetus to the Blues and Michael Essien went close for Chelsea with a curling strike from outside the penalty area.

Another chance went when Cole shot straight at van der Sar after the United goalkeeper spilled Paulo Ferreira’s cross.

Ancelotti brought on Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun, a close-season signing from Liverpool, for the last 18 minutes, but it was United who scored again in the 76th minute.

Valencia escaped Cole on the wing and drilled over a low cross that Hernandez converted at the far post in comical fashion, the Mexican slipping as he shot and seeing the ball bounce off his foot and onto his head before flying into the net.

Ivory Coast striker Kalou reduced the deficit in the 83rd minute when he tapped-in after van der Sar palmed Daniel Sturridge’s shot into his path.

But United had the last word as Berbatov took Nani’s pass in stoppage time and floated a perfect chip over Hilario to seal the win. — AFP

WASHINGTON: David Nalbandian, of Argentina, watches the progress of his forehand against Marin Cilic, of Croatia, at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. — AP

Nalbandian dumps Cilic in Washington WASHINGTON: David Nalbandian, in top form after nagging injuries, reached his first ATP final since January of last year on Saturday, ousting Croatian fourth seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 at the Washington Classic.

The 28-year-old veteran from Argentina took advantage of 27 unforced errors from the Australian Open semi-finalist to advance and likes his chances in Sunday’s hardcourt final against eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

“When I’m playing this good, I’m tough for everybody. It doesn’t matter who is on the other side,” Nalbandian said.

“I’m doing good things, trying to be more offensive. Win or lose, I’m playing at a good level. If it’s not this week, it’s going to be another week.”

Nalbandian, ranked 117th, was sidelined nine months after hip surgery, made a brief return early this year, then missed two months with a sore hamstring before coming back in July to help Argentina reach the Davis Cup semi-finals.

“My surgery was not an easy one. Not many players come back from that,” said Nalbandian. “I never felt any pain when I was practicing back. I’ve had a good recov-

ery. All the time I’m feeling good.”

Baghdatis shrugged off a left ankle injury in the second set to beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) in the other semifinal. The 25th-ranked Cypriot seeks a fifth career ATP title and his first since this past January at Sydney.

Nalbandian, seeking his 11th career title and first since 19 months ago at Sydney, missed the past six Grand Slam events, had not played an ATP event since April and had not made a semi-final since February 2009 at Buenos Aires. But he outclassed the 13th-ranked player in the world with ease.

“He was really consistent and put a lot of pressure on me,” Cilic said. “He was able to control a lot of points. He didn’t miss many balls. I can’t blame myself for too many things. He played well. He was not giving me any openings. “He’s going to be a really tough player to beat these next couple of weeks.”

Nalbandian has lost three of four prior matches with Baghdatis, including a 2006 Australian Open semi-final and their most recent meeting in the third round at Wimbledon in 2007.

“David is quick on his feet, likes to open the court a lot,” Baghdatis said. “He likes to

move you around the court.”

After an exchange of breaks to open the match, Nalbandian denied Cilic on two break points to hold in the fifth game, then broke Cilic in the sixth and eighth games on netted forehands from the European to claim the first set.

Nalbandian broke Cilic with a cross-court forehand winner to seize a 2-0 lead in the second set and broke again to win when Cilic netted a backhand on match point.

“I returned good. That made me play with more confidence,” Nalbandian said. “I tried to pressure him and that worked.”

Baghdatis, reunited last month with coach Guillaume Peyre of France because “we had unfinished business”, could return to the top 20 after a rankings slide from the top 150 last year with wrist and back injuries.

Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up, went down in the eighth game of the second set as Malisse missed a break chance by hitting a backhand long.

“I just twisted my ankle a little bit,” Baghdatis said. “I felt it a bit. Now it feels OK. But I was a bit scared. That’s why I fell down. But I got it taped. I was moving around and I was fine.”— AFP

Svetlana, Radwanska to square off again CARLSBAD: Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-0 Saturday to reach the final of the 700,000-dollar San Diego Open final.

The Russian will be playing in her first WTA final since a victory in Beijing last October, and she’ll face the same opponent as she did then: Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.

Radwanska, the fourth seed, defeated Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2 to earn her first trip to a final since Beijing 10 months ago.

Unseeded after falling to number 21 in the world, Kuznetsova displayed her powerful forehand and capitalized on Pennetta’s unprepossessing service game to win nine of the last 10 games.

“It’s good that I make it to a final, but it’s not enough,” Kuznetsova said. “Even winning a trophy is not enough but it’s one step forward.”

Kuznetsova won three times in 2009 to take her career total of titles to 12, but it has been a battle for her in 2010.

Prior to San Diego, Kuznetsova had reached only one quarter-final this year and she fell out of the top 20 for the first time since February 2004.

“I lost my game,” she said. “It took some time to sort things out. I want to be back and be strong.

I don’t want to be back and be number 12 or 15, that’s not my goal. I want to be higher and I believe I can do it.” Kuznetsova’s victory over Pennetta is projected to move her back into the top 20.

The tight first set stayed on serve until the two traded breaks in the eighth and ninth games, Kuznetsova taking a 5-4 lead.

Kuznetsova then broke Pennetta in the final game as the Italian hit a backhand long. Pennetta’s serve deteriorated further in the send set and Kuznetsova took full advantage.

“It’s not my favorite shot, of course,” said Pennetta, who had beaten French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals.— AFP

FARUM: Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki returns a ball to Czech Klara Zakopalova before winning the women’s single final of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open 2010 tennis tournament. — AFP

Caroline wins Danish Open COPENHAGEN: Caroline Wozniacki defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (5) to win the Danish Open yesterday.

Under pressure to win the inaugural event in front of an expectant home crowd, the top-seeded Wozniacki had wobbled as she advanced to the final, but needed just 78 minutes to claim her eighth WTA Tour title in straight sets at the Farum Arena.

Zakopalova had beaten the secondseeded Li Na of China in the semifinals of the indoor hard court tournament, but was unable to upset Wozniacki, who broke twice and held serve to take the

first set comfortably.

Seventh-seeded Zakopalova did manage to break Wozniacki with the scores at 2-2 in the second, but the No. 3ranked player fought back to take the set to a tie-breaker. Wozniacki had five match points before finally closing out the match, to the delight of the crowd.

It was only the second time that the pair had faced each other. Wozniacki won the first meeting in three sets at the Japan Open in 2007.

Victory at the $220,000 tournament gives Wozniacki her second title of the year. In May, she also won the Ponte Vedra Beach event. — AP

Toyour Al-Jannah Hypermarket inaugurated

GM and Bright Automotive unveil tie-up

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Putin sows controversy with grain ban

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Monday, August 9, 2010

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UAE stock trading slump hits brokers, jobs cut Dubai stocks turnover on course for 6-year low DUBAI: Slumping market turnover is forcing some equity brokerages in the United Arab Emirates to cut staff or suspend operations as firms struggle to cope with costs and low revenue.

More brokers are likely to shut this year, analysts warn, with little expectation for a pick-up in trade as domestic indexes languish near 2010 lows.

Several brokers have asked for their UAE licenses to be suspended this year or have ceased trading operations, including the UAE operations of Oman-based Gulf Baader Capital Markets and Makaseb Islamic Financial Services.

“By the end of the year, it might be only the bank brokerages and others with strong capital that survive,” said Vyas Jayabhanu, head of investments, Al Dhafra Financial Broker. “We don’t foresee a pick-up in trading volumes, given the economic situation.” Ninety brokerages are licensed to trade the two domestic UAE bourses, Dubai Financial Market, and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, according to regulator the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), but this number could fall by more than half, some analysts say.

The SCA was not available for comment. “In the current environment, it’s likely that only the top 20 brokers are making a profit, which means about 75 percent are making a loss,” said Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer. “If the market rebounds, then maybe 50 percent of brokers will be making a profit.”

McKinnon predicts there will be only 40 to 50 UAE brokers within the next two to three years.

“Some will close, some will consolidate,” he said. Turnover and trading

volumes on the DFM and ADX have slumped, extending a trend that started as the global financial crisis struck in 2008. ADX daily average turnover is 128 million dirhams ($34.85 million) this year, down from 280 million dirhams in 2009 and less than a seventh of 2008 levels.

The DFM this year is on track to fall far below even last year’s turnover, which was a five-year low.

Year-to-date turnover is 51.5 billion dirhams, versus 2009’s full-year 173.5 billion.

Brokers complain that trading commissions are no longer enough to cover costs and many have slashed jobs as they try to stay afloat. “Brokerages enjoyed a bubble along with the market and didn’t take any defensive steps to guard against a downturn. They didn’t see the crash coming,” said a former trader at a UAE brokerage who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Two to three years ago, people were leaving their jobs selling credit cards or at banks to join brokerage firms. Money was easy to make given the high volumes and high commissions,” said the former trader, who was laid off along with most of his department in May. “So many people have lost their jobs and if I was still at work, I would be dreading that phone call or email to say they were letting me go.

Everybody is scared,” he said.

“Volumes in the UAE are pretty poor and the outlook for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf markets isn’t much better.” The DFM index is down 17.2 percent this year and 76 percent below a January 2008 peak. Abu Dhabi’s bourse is down 7.9 percent year to date. - Reuters

Onus shifts to Fed after US jobs drop WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting panel will meet tomorrow amid pressure to resume crisis-era spending to restart a stalled recovery.

The 10-member body is expected to keep interest rates at historic lows, but Fed watchers will be looking for any hint of a return to stimulus spending. After planning to reel in crisis measures, the L abor Department reported US economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, thrusting the Fed’s policies back into the spotlight.

The bank battled the financial crisis by spending more than one trillion dollars, buying up Treasury bonds, mortgagebacked securities and other financial instruments to lubricate markets.

Ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting speculation is rife that members could start re-buying assets scheduled to fall off the books.

“The FOMC meets next Tuesday and the members may decide to do something to show they are taking action,” said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors, “that may sound good but the Fed is largely out of bullets.”

But with political opposition all-but ruling out another round of government stimulus, the Fed may be forced to use what little it has left. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and St. Louis Fed president James Bullard have both hinted that the central bank could act.

“We are going to continue to monitor the economy closely and continue to evaluate the alternatives that we have,” Bernanke said. According to Standard Chartered analyst John Calverley the Fed could resume buying treasury bonds, but is more likely to dip its toe in the water first.

“The Federal Reserve may take a tiny step in this direction at next week’s FOMC meeting by reinvesting the proceeds of maturing bonds rather than allowing the portfolio to shrink.”

Analysts say that could mean spending anywhere between 100-300 billion dollars over the next year. But the move would not be without risk for the plight of the dollar, bond markets and stock holders.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke The move could also have broad repercussions for investor confidence according to Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities.

“Such a move would clearly be a shift in the Fed’s policy stance brought on by fears that the economy is rolling over,” he said, adding the move may not even tackle what ails the economy.

In recent months companies, particularly the financial firms have been increased saving and cash levels, staving off hiring. At the same time consumer demand shows few sign a resurgence.

“Adding liquidity to an already saturated financial system will do nothing to spur activity,” said Stanley.

Any large-scale move could also put pressure on the US currency, which has lost ground of late against the euro. “The printing of trillions of dollars to purchase government debt will put serious pressure on the value of the dollar,” warned Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

But a decision by the Fed not to act could also have major repercussions amid worries of a double-dip recession. Standard Chartered estimates that around 60 percent of US growth since the depth of the crisis came thanks to companies rebuilding inventories, a process that has come to a grinding halt.

Investors may also be shocked if the Fed does not act, sending stock indexes into a short-term spin. “Markets have begun pricing in a small probability of some kind of Fed action by year-end,” said Joseph Abate of Barclays Capital. — AFP

NEW YORK: Bread is displayed for sale at a Manhattan grocery store in New York City. As a result of drought and an outbreak of wildfires that have decimated Russia’s wheat crop, US wheat prices have been steadily rising, igniting fears of a global rise of food prices. — AFP

Ousted HP CEO Hurd settles with accuser SAN FRANCISCO: Ousted HewlettPackard Co CEO Mark Hurd has settled allegations of sexual harassment lodged against him by a female contract worker for HP, a person with intimate knowledge of the case told The Associated Press late Saturday.

The harassment accusations set off a chain of events that led to the discovery of allegedly falsified expense reports about Hurd’s meetings with the woman and culminated in Hurd’s stunning resignation this week that left a hole in the world’s largest technology company. The person familiar with the case told the AP that Hurd agreed to pay the woman, but this person wouldn’t reveal the size of the payment. The settlement was between Hurd and his accuser and did not involve a payment from HP, this person said.

This person requested anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly about the issue. The deal was reached Thursday, a day before Hurd’s resignation.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the settlement. Hurd engineered a stunning turnaround of the Silicon Valley stalwart before his ouster. Under Hurd, HP has spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions to transform itself from a computer and printer maker dependent on ink sales for profits to a well-rounded seller of hardware and lucrative business services. HP’s market value nearly doubled during his five years.

The company is suddenly leaderless as it stands at a turning point to integrate some of those acquisitions, the most recent of which was the purchase of smart phone maker Palm Inc. for $1.4 billion in June.

Hurd was forced to resign Friday after HP’s board of directors said Hurd falsified expenses to hide numerous private dinners with a woman who was paid up to $5,000 per event to greet people and make introductions among executives attending HP events that she helped organize. The expenses were scrutinized when the woman recently accused Hurd of sexual harassment. The nature of the complaint could not be learned. Hurd and a lawyer representing the woman, whose identity could not be learned, all said the relationship was not sexual. Hurd insists they were legitimate business expenses. Hurd doesn’t know the total value of expenses being disputed or have a full accounting of them, the person briefed on the situation said.

Hurd’s departure leaves it to find another leader to keep HP on the course he mapped out.

HP’s stock fell nearly 10 percent to $41.85 in after-hours trading, when the news was released after the close of markets Friday. The company has a deep bench in management and the stock drop was reactive and doesn’t reflect the company’s prospects, an analyst said.

“I don’t view his departure as catastrophic,” said Dinesh Moorjani, an analyst

with Gleacher & Co. “The strategy is working fine. The level of uncertainty for me is relatively low just given the circumstances. This wasn’t a one-man company.”

Hurd, who spent 25 years at ATM maker NCR Corp. before coming to HP in April 2005, became a Wall Street darling. The $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems made HP a major player in technology services, challenging archrival IBM Corp.

HP also now offers computer networking, helped by the $2.7 billion takeover of 3Com Corp., racheting up the rivalry with Cisco Systems Inc. The Palm acquisition catapulted the company into the fast-growing smart phone business. The additions also broadened the pool of people who could replace Hurd. It’s a deep bench, and internal candidates could have an edge, given that Hurd and predecessor Carly Fiorina — who got the boot in 2005 over concern about her management style and her decision to buy Compaq Computer — both came from outside HP. Inside candidates could include Todd Bradley, who oversees personal computers and mobile devices at HP; Vyomesh Joshi, who leads the printer division; Ann Livermore, in charge of servers, services, software and storage; and Shane Robison, leader of HP’s corporate strategy and marketing. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak, now interim CEO, took herself out of the running for the permanent job. In recent weeks, Hurd had started talks for a

Dubai falls to month low, led by Emaar MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Dubai’s benchmark slumped to a one-month low yesterday, tracking weaker global markets and a lower oil price, as US unemployment figures underscored that the pace of economic recovery remains slow.

Other Middle Eastern markets ended flat or slightly lower, as investors remained on the sidelines and there were no major catalysts to boost sentiment.

“There is not any domestic news to drive the market,” said Mohamed Khaled, risk manager at Prime Emirates. In Dubai, real estaterelated stocks led by Emaar Properties underperformed other sectors. The property giant fell 2.4 percent, weighing on the index, which fell 1.6 percent to 1,494 points, its lowest close since July 7.

“People remain negative on the real estate sector and until they see a change in demand or prices go up this will remain the case,” said an Abu Dhabi-based trader.

In Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties

fell for a third consecutive session, following a recent string of downgrades from brokers which are worried about the company’s cash position.

Dana Gas was also among the worst performers, falling 3.8 percent, even though UAE-based Crescent Petroleum, Dana’s largest shareholder, denied an Iranian report that Tehran had cancelled a 25-year gas supply contract it had signed with the National Iranian Oil Co. National Bank of Abu Dhabi gained 1.8 percent, helping to limit the bourse’s losses to 0.1 percent.

In Kuwait, trading in Agility remained suspended for a second straight session. The logistics firm yesterday said US prosecutors have moved to dismiss fraud indictments against its subsidiary Agility Holdings.

Agility, formerly Public Warehousing Co, KSC (PWC) was dropped from supplying food to the US Army in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan

after being accused of overcharging the military. The Kuwait index fell 0.1 percent.

Oman’s bourse traded flat, as investors awaited second-quarter results of some blue-chips in the coming days. “Omani markets expect the results of bigwigs like Omantel, Galfar Engineering, Renaissance Services and Al Hassan Engineering during this week,” said Kanaga Sundar, senior research analyst at Gulf Baader Capital Markets in Oman.

Egypt’s bourse ended 0.3 percent lower, with domestic food-related stocks gaining ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when demand for food usually surges.

Saudi Arabia’s index declined 0.2 percent, retreating for a third session out of four.

Alinma and Emaar Economic City, the most actively traded stocks during Sunday’s session, fell 0.5 percent and 0.5 percent respectively. —Reuters

three-year contract that could have been worth $100 million, the person close to the case said. Those went off track when the woman accused him and HP of sexual harassment, this person said.

The company determined Hurd didn’t violate its sexual harassment policy but broke its rules of conduct. The woman’s lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, declined to describe the harassment. Allred would not identify her client or make her available for an interview. Hurd will get about $28 million in cash and stock just to walk away. The person said Hurd realized he could no longer lead HP in part because at least two board members were convinced he had had a sexual relationship with the woman and was trying to cover it up.

Hurd is accused of listing other people as his dinner partners on expense reports when he’d been out with the woman. HP also claimed Hurd arranged for her to be paid for work she didn’t do.

There was only one instance in which that occurred, the person close to the case said, but it was for an event that was canceled at the last minute and the woman’s contract required that she would be paid unless an event was canceled 30 days in advance.

Hurd says the errors in the reports may have been entered unwittingly by an assistant, according to the person close to the case. Hurd hasn’t gotten a full accounting from HP of the expenses he is alleged to

have falsified or a total, though he has agreed to refund the company, this person said.

This person said Hurd met the woman, who is in her 40s, when interviewing her in 2007 for a job greeting and introducing executives at corporate events that she also helped organize.

They talked at a luxury hotel and met for a second time in Denver when she was flown in for a final interview at an HP event Hurd was attending, according to this person. Hurd approved the hire then, the person said. Hurd and the woman often shared dinner after events she was hired for, said the person, who described the relationship as an acquaintance that became friendly. Hurd’s ouster is the third in five years at HP’s top echelon. First was Fiorina’s in 2005, then former Chairwoman Patricia Dunn was ousted in 2006 amid a boardroom spying scandal that involved spying on reporters’ and directors’ phone records to figure out the source of leaks to the media.

“It says they’re off track in some fundamental way,” said Stephen Diamond, associate professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and an expert on business law.

“The first thing is, they have to find the right kind of CEO,” he added. “And I think what that CEO needs to do is come in and say, ‘How many board members were here during the last two scandals? If you were, please resign now.” —AP

Iran must cut imports to crush sanctions: CB chief TEHRAN: Iran has to cut imports to overcome the latest round of economic sanctions world powers slapped on the Islamic republic over its nuclear drive, the country’s central bank chief said yesterday.

“Reducing the consumption of imported goods means confronting the sanctions. There is no other way,” Mahmoud Bahmani told a news conference. “Sanctions are happening and we should not be scared or frightened. We should convert the sanctions into opportunities.”

The UN Security Council hit Iran with a fourth set of sanctions on June 9 over its nuclear program. The United States and European Union have since imposed even tougher punitive measures of their own.

Bahmani insisted the way to thwart the effect of the sanctions which target Iran’s banking, financial and energy sectors-was to cut down on imports. “We need to decrease imports. We should not allow all goods to enter the country,” the central bank governor said, adding Iran must produce most of the goods itself and also raise taxes on inbound luxury items. Iran’s imports for the year to March 2010 totaled about $55 billion, the state news agency IRNA reported, citing economic ministry figures. Bahmani also advocated reducing domestic consumption of gasoline, a petroleum

TEHRAN: Iran’s Central Bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani.—AFP targeted by the unilateral US sanctions.

Iran, OPEC’s second largest exporter of oil, depends significantly on imported gasoline to meet its domestic requirements due to a lack of refining capacity.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had called earlier yesterday for similar action, saying Iran must lift its production levels to a “global scale” in order to “inflict a blow” on world powers. The hardliner particularly dismissed the “pitiable” European nations, saying Iran’s economy was not dependent on them, according to ISNA news agency. — AFP

BUSINESS

22

Monday, August 9, 2010

Companies signed MOU in July

GM and Bright Automotive unveil strategic relationship KUW AIT: Bright Automotive a nd Genera l Motors recently announced that they have agreed to pursue a strategic relationship and that GM has provided funding to the Indiana automaker. This is

the first funding a ction by the new ly-formed Genera l Motors Ventures, LLC, and it w ill help accelerate Bright’s production of the IDEA, a revolutionary plug-in hybrid commercial vehicle.

IDEA, a revolutionary plug-in hybrid commercial vehicle

Supply outweighs demand for office space in the UAE ABU DHABI: One of the most expensive places on earth to rent will soon suffer from a glut in available office space, a real estate report has reported.

In the United Arab Emirates, tens of millions of square feet of office space is expected to be available in the coming years, likely causing the currently high rents to drop and some developers to fail.

According to the third quarter report on real estate in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, real estate consultants Landmark Advisory, by 2014 the UAE will have close to 46 million square feet of empty office space.

Despite this, the market is still a draw for investors, analysts said.

“While rents and sale prices continue to soften, there is still interest in investing locally,” Jesse Downs, Director Research & Advisory Services, Landmark Advisory told The Media Line.

“While we’ve seen yield compression in Dubai almost since the market peaked in the fourth quarter of 2008, now yields are starting to increase again. If this continues, it could help bring investors back to Dubai,” she said.

“With the current and projected financing constraints, mortgage activity is expected to remain low leaving the market dominated by investors,” Downs added.

Dubai is the sixth most costly rental location on earth, more expensive than Midtown New York, the most expensive area in America. An average square

meter of rental in Dubai costs $1,188.

“In Dubai, the residential oversupply will peak in 2012 with vacancies of 25-28 percent. Of course, this is based on current supply projections, which are subject to change,” Downs said “In Abu Dhabi, the residential market is still undersupplied, but that is gradually easing in the coming years.”

She predicted it could take up to a decade to fully absorb the expected over supply of properties and see vacancies return to “normal levels.”

Downs suggested that the real estate market could be helped by various regulations and improved financial incentives. Ayesha Sabavala, an economic analyst covering the Middle East for Economist Intelligence Unit, said that the issue was not necessarily only about real estate.

“The United Arab Emirates is more than just about real estate,” Sabavala told The Media Line “Real estate is just one component of Gross Domestic Production, albeit an important one.”

Many Gulf countries, including Dubai, have used real estate construction both as a way to diversify their economies away from a dependence on oil and natural gas resources and as an essential part of attracting foreign investment by encouraging companies to establish offices in the region.

This strategy proved to be very successful until 2008 when

real estate prices in the city crashed in the aftermath of the global finical crisis and left behind a huge bill.

“However, oil production, oil prices, the ongoing diversification program and ultimately the pace of recovery in the global economy are what will drive growth in the United Arab Emirates,” she said.

As an example, Sabavala noted that despite an increase in manufacturing, it was oil that still drove growth.

“As global growth improves and companies have sufficient confidence to expand their businesses and as long as the United Arab Emirates remains attractive to businesses through providing the right infrastructure, open business and an attractive tax environment, companies will continue to establish themselves in the country,” Sabavala added.

Last March, an indication of how high the rent for commercial space was in Dubai prior to the financial crisis was seen in a report by global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield. In that report, it noted that office space in the Dubai International Financial Center, one of the most attractive locations in the emirate for business fell, to $1,358 per square meter, ranking it the fourth most expensive in the world. By comparison, the second most expensive rental property in the world remained London’s West End financial district, with average rents going for $1,843 per square foot. — The Media Line

“This relationship is an important step forward for Bright, and a strong endorsement of our highly experienced automotive team and our incredible vehicle,” said Reuben Munger, Bright Automotive Chairman and CEO. “With this deal, Bright gets financial support that puts us on the fast-track toward mass production of the IDEA. And perhaps just as importantly, we gain a strategic partner that is a world leader in electrification.”

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in July. General Motors Ventures LLC provided funding to Bright this week, and the two companies intend to complete the formal agreements later this year. Upon completion of the agreements and other terms, General Motors Ventures would have a minority stake in Bright Automotive (www.brightautomotive.com) and Bright would have access to GM technologies, and advanced engine and transmission systems, for its vehicle.

“Funding early-stage start-up companies is a new way of doing business at GM to accelerate the introduction of innovative technology to support our core automotive business and give us a competitive advantage,” said Jon Lauckner, President of GM Ventures.

“In this case, our funding of Bright Automotive will accelerate the introduction of advanced propulsion and lightweight technologies in the commercial vehicle market.”

“We talked with several leading automakers, but GM clearly had the right vision, the most capable technology, and the closest alignment with our business approach,” said Michael Brylawski, Bright Automotive Executive Vice President. “We are thrilled to work with GM to create American jobs, stimulate technology development, and build an innovative American vehicle that will help reduce oil dependence and cut costs for businesses.”

In developing the IDEA, Bright started with a clean sheet of paper, listened to customers, and took a novel approach to product development that focused on light-weighting, aerodynamics and a highly efficient drivetrain. The result is a multipurpose vehicle for business fleets the first designed to be highly efficient and provide a clear economic benefit.

The IDEA delivers a positive total cost of ownership to fleet customers by providing significantly greater fuel efficiency than current fleet vehicles in its class. The IDEA operates in electric mode for 60km before switching to an estimated 6.5L/100km hybrid mode for 2L/100+km potential based on daily driving behavior. Bright Automotive provides details on the IDEA at www.brightautomotive.com.

Funding through GM Ventures will allow Bright to begin ramping-up the development of the production program for the IDEA in the third quarter of 2010.

Bright continues to seek a low interest loan through the Department of Energy’s ATVM program. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Markets rebound in July MARKAZ MONTHLY REPORT KUWAIT: GCC markets turned positive in July as corporate earnings lifted sentiment in addition to positive reports from rating agencies. GCC markets gained 5% for the month, bringing the YTD gain to 4%. The MSCI GCC index underperformed emerging markets and BRIC for the month but is outperforming the indices on a yearly basis. All GCC markets saw gains, except Bahrain which shed 0.17%. Gains were led by Kuwait’s Weighted Index which was up 5.5% for the month.

As for corporate earnings, Gulf Bank swung to a profit of KD 2 million after posting losses in the same period of the previous year. NBK posted a 10% growth in second quarter earnings and provisions of $81 million for the same period. In the UAE, NBAD and First Gulf Bank saw 1H10 earnings growths of 21% and 12%, respectively, while Emirates NBD saw earnings decline 29% in the same period. While in Saudi Arabia, Blue Chips gained despite poor results; Al Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group gained 6% and 5%, respectively, despite

1H10 earnings declines of 1% and 3%, respectively.

Liquidity continued to dry up across the GCC in July, as volume and value traded declined a further 5% and 27%, respectively during July. In terms of volume, all markets saw declines, except Kuwait where volume traded was up 70% for the month, value traded in Kuwait was up 23% to $2.46 bn. Volatility in the GCC was down 40% in July, led by the UAE markets where MVX Abu Dhabi and MVX Dubai declined 48% and 39%, respectively.

Global markets World markets saw gains in July as positive economic signals emerged from Developed Europe. MSCI World gained 8% in July after losing 3% in June, bringing the YTD loss to 2%. Monthly returns were positive for the month, led by MSCI Europe’s gain of 12% followed by Shanghai, up 10% for the month. The FTSE was up 7% as the UK reported strong 2Q GDP growth.

Oil output rise, price jump buoy Oman govt revenues State revenues rise 31% for H1 MUSCAT: Higher output and a jump in oil prices lifted Oman’s revenues by 31 percent in the first half of the year to 4.22 billion Oman rials ($10.96 billion), the ministry of national economy’s bulletin said yesterday.

Average oil production rose 8.1 percent to 856,700 barrels per day in the first half versus a year earlier, it said. Oman sold its oil at an average price of $77.57 per barrel, up 69.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. Oman is a small independent oil producer in a region with OPEC’s largest crude exporters, but its oil has a big influence on international markets, as it is used in benchmark pricing for around 12 million barrels per day of

crude exported from the Middle East to Asia.

Its natural gas production increased 6.3 percent to 563.551 billion cubic feet in the first half, the data showed. The sultanate has awarded a number of exploration contracts to foreign companies in the last five years to boost gas production, to meet rising domestic demand.

The country’s expenditure rose 8.8 percent to 3.52 billion rials in the first half, achieving a budget surplus of 702.8 billion rials. Oman has forecast a deficit of 810 million rials for 2010 after basing its budget on the price of oil at $50 per barrel. — Reuters

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

.2810000 .4530000 .3770000 .2720000 .2750000 .2600000 .0045000 .0020000 .0775300 .7553550 .4020000 .0750000 .7404940 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2853500 .4550160 .3790490 .2746650 .2778070 .0508780 .0403120 .2619960 .0367570 .2119070 .0033370 .0062370 .0025480 .0033470 .0041350 .0777290 .7572880 .4035670 .0761430 .7426090 .0064120 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2874500 .4582300 .2766110 .0766290

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.341 6.223

.2910000 .4610000 .3850000 .2800000 .2840000 .2670000 .0075000 .0035000 .0783100 .7629470 .4180000 .0790000 .7479360 .0072000 .0580000 .2874500 .4582300 .3817270 .2766110 .2797760 .0512380 .0405980 .2638470 .0370180 .2134080 .0033610 .0062810 .0025660 .0033710 .0041640 .0782250 .7621190 .4064270 .0766290 .7473460 .0064570

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 267.200 762.150 4.210 282.800 562.800 14.100 51.600 167.800 53.100

383.700 37.460 6.210

405.100 0.193 92.810 3.890 212.200 744.280 3.355 6.390 78.840 76.520 213.230 42.010 2.548 459.500 6.300 9.130 78.100 286.600

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

385.200 37.610 6.460 0.035 0.272 0.253 3.450 407.120 0.194 92.810 46.200 4.490 213.700 1.953 49.100 744.460 3.450 6.530 79.270 76.520 213.230 42.010 2.716 481.500 41.300 279.900 278.400 6.300 9.280 198.253 78.200 287.000 1.260 GOLD 1,295.810 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 459.500 286.800

SELL DRAFT 265.700 762.150 4.133 281.300

213.200 50.581

Rate for Transfer 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

Selling Rate 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 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

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 288.500 3.360 6.220 2.560 4.130 6.375 78.090 76.595 761.600 50.575 461.400 0.00003280 3.885 1.550 407.000 5.750 386.500 284.600

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000 US Dollar 286.200 Euro 383.500 Pound Sterling 459.350 Canadian Dollar 281.100 Japanese Yen 3.390 Indian Rupee 6.220 Egyptian Pound 50.570 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.547 Bangladesh Taka 4.126 Philippines Peso 6.390 Pakistan Rupee 3.355 Bahraini Dinar 762.100 UAE Dirham 78.060 Saudi Riyal 76.480 *Rates are subject to change

BUSINESS

Monday, August 9, 2010

23

Toyour Al-Jannah Hypermarket opens The Toyour Al-Jannah hypermarket was recently inaugurated in Shuwaikh close to the Al-Meerah hypermarket and opposite to the Ministry of Defense building. The inauguration ceremony was patronized by the market’s owner Husain Al-Kandari. The 2,400 square meters facility is considered the country’s largest hypermarket which offers a wide collection of domestic appliances, stationery and toys in addition to other goods and products required during the holy month of Ramadan. The products are available at very reasonable prices.

Everyone is a winner this Ramadan with Yusuf A Alghanim Automotive Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive is celebrating the holy month of Ramadan with spectacular offers for all Chevrolet and Cadillac customers. During this month, every customer purchasing a Chevrolet or Cadillac vehicle is a winner with gifts ranging from cash prizes up to KD 1,000, LCD TVs and Sony PlayStation 3 consoles. With the limited number of the tantalizing Chevrolet Camaro Synergy and the near arrival of the all-new 2011 Cadillac CTS and CTSV Coupe, Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive has truly outdone itself in terms of providing customers with outstanding offers and introducing the latest exciting additions to the Chevrolet & Cadillac line-up.

Showcased in the Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons showrooms this month is the limited edition Chevrolet Camaro Synergy. Featuring the brilliantly striking Synergy green exterior and an impressive 3.6L direct injection V6 engine, the Camaro Synergy is guaranteed to turn all others on the road green with envy. A sixspeed automatic transmission with 304 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft of torque add extra surges of power to the already impressive design accented by bold, glorious cyber gray rally stripes. The interior is equally breathtak-

ing, with Synergy Green instrument panel and door inserts and Synergy Green stitching accenting the Jet Black cloth seats, steering wheel, shift knob, and center console.

Cadillac’s already impressive range of vehicle continues to grow this fall with the imminent arrival of the all-

new 2011 Cadillac CTS and CTS-V Coupe. The CTS Coupe redefines the fusion of luxury and sport and is equipped with an impressive Direct Injection, 3.6L V6 engine generating 304 Horsepower at 6,600 rpm.

For extra power, the CTS-V Coupe will be equipped with a 6.2 Liter supercharged V8

engine generating 609 Horsepower at 6,100 rpm.

With a awe-inspiring design featuring signature vertical lighting highlighted with LED light pipes, rear fascia with mesh lower grilles and a rear spoiler integrated into the signature center highmounted stop lamp, the CTS-V Coupe is poised to take it’s rightful place as the centerpiece of Cadillac’s revised lineup. What’s more, the luxury coupe offers a host of customer driven technologies including an integrated Bose 5.1 surround sound system with Bluetooth connectivity & iPod/MP3 capability with 40 GB hard drive, a pop-up navigation system and rear view camera system.

Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive wishes all customers a blessed and happy Ramadan, and adds the finishing touch to the ownership experience with high-quality after-sales services. With the world’s biggest and most advanced automotive service center dedicated to world-class service and high quality vehicles, customers need not worry about their service and maintenance needs. To find your perfect vehicle, visit the nearest Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons showroom and take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime offer while you can.

SIA teams up with CAG, STB to boost tourism Singapore Airlines has teamed up with Changi Airport Group (CAG) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to offer new valuepacked holiday packages that provide even more reasons to visit Singapore. Under a justsigned Memorandum of Understanding, the three partners will be working closely on a range of advertising and other joint activities worldwide to promote tourism to Singapore.

The global tie-up will give tourists the opportunity to visit new and exciting places of interest in Singapore, and savor what the multicultural food paradise has to offer through Singapore Stopover Holiday packages priced from as low as $33 per person on twin-share basis for the first night.

“With so many new attractions being added to Singapore’s tourism landscape, the city is bristling with vibrancy. We are very excited to collaborate with STB and CAG to promote Singapore as the destination of choice. To further entice travellers, customers who sign up for our special Singapore holiday offers will enjoy added value in the form of dining and shopping vouchers,” said Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines’ Executive Vice President, Marketing and the Regions.

In addition to these attractively-priced packages, customers can enjoy a range of complimentary services and features in Singapore, including: ● Free transfers from airport to hotel on SIC basis, ● Admission to seven key

attractions such as the Singapore Zoological Garden and Sentosa, ● Unlimited rides on the SIA Hop-on Bus, ● An international calling card “Today’s competitive tourism landscape offers savvy travelers many options. But this year, the international spotlight is on Singapore and its many new attractions. We want Singapore to be top-of-mind for holiday-makers, whether it’s for the first or tenth time.

Together with SIA and CAG, we aim to entice more travelers to discover Singapore’s exciting tourism offerings. For our stopover guests, we warmly welcome them and hope they will be inspired to take more

and longer vacations in Singapore,” commented Chew Tiong Heng, STB’s Director of Destination Marketing.

CAG’s Executive Vice President, Air Hub Development, Yam Kum Weng, added, “This is a great time to visit or stop over in Singapore, especially with the many new and exciting tourism developments. We are proud to partner SIA and STB on this initiative, and encourage travelers to take advantage of the attractive packages being offered to come and experience Singapore and Changi Airport.”

SIA Holidays and SilkAir Holidays packages comprise two nights’ stay in Singapore and a further two nights’ stay in

any of the Singapore Airlines and SilkAir destinations beyond Singapore. This includes cities in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Customers can visit their nearest travel agent or contact Singapore Airlines Kuwait office at 2225 8230 to purchase the various holiday packages on offer. Customers may also book Singapore Stopover Holiday packages online at singaporeair.com.

Singapore Airlines operates four-times weekly between Kuwait and Singapore via Abu Dhabi. Singapore Company Registration Number: 197200078R

Saudi state wheat importer in no rush to buy RIYADH: The Saudi grains authority said yesterday world wheat prices are expected to retreat further but not to the lows seen earlier in 2010 and that it can wait five months before issuing its next hard wheat tender.

Wheat prices in both the United States and Europe retreated on Friday but held just below two-year highs as markets reacted to the sudden imposition of a ban on grain exports from drought-hit Russia.

Waleed Elkhereiji, director general of Saudi Arabia’s state-run Grain Silos and Flour Mills

Organization (GSFMO), also said the kingdom’s domestic harvest of hard wheat stood at 1.1 million tons this year, 16 percent above the 950,000 tons produced last year.

“A drop in input costs, seeds and agricultural equipment, has encouraged planting and led to a higher harvest,” Elkhereiji told Reuters in an interview at GSFMO’s headquarters in Riyadh.

GSFMO has enough hard wheat stocks to cover the kingdom’s needs until April, without taking into account its 990,000 tons hard wheat purchased in June

and additional stocks of 90,000 tons of flour, he said. “We are also taking delivery of the local hard wheat harvest: We have so far received 900,000 tons and there is an additional 200,000 tons expected to be delivered by endSeptember. We have a comfortable level of stocks,” he said.

The authority will still need to import 2 million tons of hard wheat before the start of the next harvest in the desert kingdom.

“It’s the same quantity imported this year”.

Elkhereiji also revealed that GSFMO will start importing soft

wheat for the first time. “Some food industries need it so we are going to import it. If it is not in our next tender it will be the one after it, in 2011. We have already started adapting our mills to be able to process soft wheat”. He declined to elaborate, saying the soft wheat imports have yet to be determined.

Asked about the potential size of GSFMO’s upcoming hard wheat tender, Elkhereiji said: “Current level of prices does not encourage buyers to enter the market with large quantities”. “The pre-emptive planning we have gives us five

months before issuing the next tender... Prices will decline but they will not return to the lows we have seen earlier this year,” he said.

The price spike after Russia announced its export ban was such that GSFMO would have paid an extra $80 million for its latest hard wheat purchase. “We worked hard and luck was on our side,” said Elkhereiji.

“Russia accounts for 10 percent of the world’s wheat trade and the drought that has affected it has not spared some other European producers. Still Canada,

the United States, China, India and Pakistan are doing well. “I don’t foresee a crisis, or a crisis similar to what happened in 2007 and the prices now are still below their level in 2007.”

He noted Saudi Arabia has not imported Russian wheat since 2008. Since 2008 the desert country has sought to save water by reducing the amount of wheat they buy from local farmers by 12.5 percent a year, abandoning a 30-year wheat cultivation plan that had helped the country cover its domestic needs. The policy has turned GSFMO into one of the

biggest new buyers in the international grains market. GSFMO will sign tomorrow agreements to expand its silos and milling capacity as it readies for an increase in imports.

It will award the Swiss Buhler AG two contracts worth 368 million riyals ($98 million) to build a 1,200 tons per day flour mill in Makkah and to expand by 67 percent mill capacity in Jeddah to 450 tons per day. Local firm Haif Company will be awarded a 506 million riyals contract to build grain silos in Makkah with a 250,000 tons capacity. —Reuters

24

BUSINESS

KSE tracks negative global market trends, ends down Global Daily Market Report KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended the first trading session of the week on a negative note tracking weaker global markets. While trading in Agility Company remains suspended. Global General Index (GGI) shed by 0.56 points (0.29 percent) during yesterday's session to reach 194.22 points. KSE Price Index posted a loss of 3.80 points (0.06 percent) yesterday and closed at 6,662.3 points.

Market capitalization decreased

by KD91.76mn to its value to reach KD32.11bn.

Market breadth During the session, 118 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 43 equities retreated versus 29 that advanced. A total of 140 stocks remained unchanged during yesterday's trading session.

Trading activities were positive yesterday as volume of shares traded on the exchange rose by 8.02 percent to reach 188.49mn shares, and value of shares traded increased by 21.67 percent to stand at KD19.42mn.

The Real Estate Sector was the volume leader, accounting for 39.11 percent of total market volume. Manzel Holding Co topped the volume list with a total traded volume of 23.04mn shares. On the value side, Service sector was the value leader contributing 25.66 percent of the total traded value yesterday. Gulf Bank witnessed intensive value with a total traded value of KD1.05mn.

In terms of top gainers, Bayan Investment Co took the top spot, adding 8.77 percent and closed at KD0.062. On the other

Monday, August 9, 2010

Egyptair expects full-year profit up, eyes expansion CAIRO: Egyptair, Egypt's flagship carrier and one of Africa's largest airlines, aims to boost fullyear profit nearly a third, rebounding from a global economic downturn, an executive said yesterday.

"We are making a profit," said Hussein Massoud, chairman and chief executive officer of the Egyptair holding company. "We are planning to see more this year."

The firm aims to make a profit of 750 million Egyptian pounds ($132 million) in the year to June 2011, up from 573 million pounds in 2009/10, he said.

Egyptair, a member of the Star Alliance network, is pressing ahead with plans to expand its

fleet, Massoud told reporters on the sidelines of an AVEX international airshow conference. "We turned the crisis into an opportunity and have advanced our receiving of aircraft," he said, adding the firm has received an Airbus A330 ahead of schedule.

The firm was expecting four Boeing 737-800 aircraft by the end of 2010 and two 777-300 aircraft in November and December. The firm also said an initial public offering (IPO) was not being planned, but was an option for the future.

"Three to four years ago we thought about an IPO, but now our status is healthy and we are in no need of such things. But no one knows the future," Massoud said. — Reuters

Egypt looks to reschedule Russia wheat shipments

hand, Kuwait Building Materails Manufacturing Co. decreased by 6.67 percent during yesterday's session, to be the biggest loser.

The scrip closed at KD0.350.

Sectors Regarding Global's sectoral indices, 5 sectors reported daily losses while two sectors increased. On the decliners' front, both Global Banking Index took the lead, losing 0.77 percent from their value, backed by Ahli United Bank, down 3.77 percent, closing at KD0.510.

On the gainers' front, Global Investment index added 0.40

percent to its value reaching 104.77 points. Backed by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), up 2.94 percent, closing at KD0350.

On the other hand, Global 10 Large Cap Index was the biggest loser, for the day, losing 0.53 percent of its value, backed by National Bank of Kuwait & National Mobile Telecommunications Co. Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 78.69 dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with $78.88 the previous day, according to OPEC

Secretariat calculations. Daily trading hours will be shortened on the Kuwait Stock Exchange during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the bourse said in a statement on its website yesterday. The market will open at 10:40 am and close at 12:45 pm during Ramadan.

Inflation in Kuwait last May rose 2.9 percent compared to the previous year, showed figures from the Central Statistics Department yesterday.

However, inflation rose 0.3 percent compared to last April, it showed. According to the statistics, inflation of drinks and

tobacco had the biggest increase, up 7.8 percent.

Meanwhile, food inflation increased 5.9 percent, transport and communication inflation decreased 2.3 percent.

Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah announced that the bank is conducting a study on applying pressure tests, which are applied on banks, on investment companies. The investment companies were among the most important economic sectors, adding that it was important to ensure their strength, the governor said.

CAIRO: Egypt has sent a letter to Russia's trade minister asking to reschedule delivery of 540,000 tons of wheat Egypt purchased before Russia said it was temporarily banning grain exports.

The Egyptian trade ministry also said on Sunday it wanted to form a joint committee with its Russian counterpart to discuss the signed contracts and request that agreed-upon wheat prices be upheld. "These contracts were agreed upon before the Russian government made the decision to halt exports," the trade ministry said.

Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer. Hefty state subsidies keep bread affordable in Egypt where a fifth of the population lives on less than $1 per day, according to UN figures.

Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who announced the export ban last week, is seeking to keep inflation in check after the

worst heatwave on record ravaged crops.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the ban would become effective from Aug. 15 and apply to contracts already signed. News of the ban sent wheat prices to contract highs. Egypt had signed contracts for 540,000 tons of wheat from Russia for delivery between Aug. 1 and Sept.

10, and is now seeking an additional 60,000 tons of wheat per month to make up for the shortfall. Egyptians traditionally increase consumption of bread during the holy month of Ramadan which begins this week. It has enough wheat to cover production of subsidized bread for the next four months, the trade ministry said. A state newspaper yesterday cited an Egyptian government minister saying Egypt would not raise local wheat prices or cut bread subsidies after Russia's export ban sent world prices soaring. "The changes that

are taking place are expected to impact the budget for the fiscal year of 2010-11 between 2.5 and 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($441-$705 million)," the trade ministry said, adding it would continue its policy of diversifying wheat origins to reduce Egypt's vulnerability in case of future shortfalls from one source.

"While Russia has emerged as one of our biggest suppliers of wheat, we have adopted the policy of diversifying our sources for some time now in order to ensure we have a continuous relationship with suppliers around the world," it said.

Egypt, which has temporarily halted import contracts from countries in the Black Sea area including Ukraine and Kazakhstan, following Russia's export ban, said on Saturday it had bought 240,000 tons of French wheat for shipment from Sept 1-15. — Reuters

BUSINESS

Monday, August 9, 2010

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ECB, BOE rate moves, US job data hit dollar KUWAIT: The announcement of ECB and BOE Rate decision and employment numbers in the US paved the road for stronger European currencies against the US dollar.

The euro rose during the week to reach a high of 1.3333 and closed at 1.3288. The sterling pound continued its bull rally since mid May, opening the week at 1.5709 reaching a high of 1.6002 and closing the week at 1.5950. The Swiss franc started the week at 1.0430 and closed at almost the same level at 1.0395. Last, the Japanese currency strengthened further to 85.00 against the US dollar, yen closed the week at 85.35.

More Americans filed applications for unemployment insurance last week, indicating firings remain elevated as the recovery moderated. Initial jobless claims climbed by 19,000 to 479,000 in the week ended July 31, the most since April and exceeding the highest estimate of economists.

Companies in the US added workers in July for a seventh straight month at a pace that suggests the labor-market recovery will be slow to take hold. Private payrolls that exclude government agencies rose by 71,000 after a June gain of 31,000 that was smaller than previously reported. Overall employment fell 131,000 and unemployment held at 9.5%.

The number of contracts to purchase

previously owned houses unexpectedly fell in June, indicating demand kept dropping after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit. The index of pending home resales dropped 2.6% from the prior month. The expiration of a government tax credit on April 30 caused the gauge to slump 30% in May, the most since data began in 2001.

Economic indicators The manufacturing rebound that helped the US out of the recession cooled in July, reflecting a slowing in orders and production.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing gauge dropped to 55.5 last month, from 56.2 in June.

Service industries expanded in July at a faster pace than forecast, The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which covers about 90% of the economy, rose to 54.3 from 53.8 in June.

The European Central Bank left interest rates at a record low as policy makers start to consider how to scale back the crisisfighting measures introduced over the past two years. The ECB’s Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt set the benchmark lending rate at 1% for a 16th month.

Following the rate decision, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude

NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKETS REPORT

Trichet said Europe is recovering faster than forecasted and money markets are improving, paving the way for the ECB to phase out liquidity tools used to fight the financial crisis. Trichet added that ECB’s main rate is still “appropriate,” he said, indicating officials see no immediate need to tighten their policy.

European bank lending rates have risen to their highest in a year after Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, signaled his lack of concern. Though the ECB held its key-refinancing rate at

1%, as expected, three-month Euribor, a closely followed rate at which banks lend to each other, rose to 0.904%, its highest since July 2009.

Economic Indicators European retail sales were unchanged in June as households cut spending in Germany and France. The Sales in the 16nation Euro area showed no increase from May, when they rose 0.4%. In Germany, the region’s biggest economy, June retail sales declined 0.9% in the month, while France, the Euro region’s second-largest

economy, showed a 1.3% decrease.

German factory orders surged more than twice as much as economists forecast in June as the global recovery gathered strength and European companies increased investment. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 3.2% from May, when they dropped a revised 0.1%.

BOE keeps rate and stimulus in place The Bank of England kept its bondstimulus plan in place and left its benchmark interest rate at a record low as officials’ sustained emergency aid for the economy during the biggest budget squeeze since World War II. The ninemember Monetary Policy Committee, led

by Governor Mervyn King, held the target for bond holdings at 200 billion pounds ($318 billion.) The bank kept the key interest rate at 0.5%.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest government-owned lender, swung into profit for the first time since 2007 as bad-loan provisions dropped.

Net income was 9 million pounds ($14 million) in the first six months of the year, compared with a loss of 1.04 billion pounds a year earlier.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s

largest mortgage lender, reported a profit for the first time since its acquisition of HBOS Plc forced the bank to seek a government bailout. Bad-loan charges fell by half.

Pro-forma pretax profit was 1.6 billion pounds in the first six months of the year, compared with a loss of 3.96 billion pounds a year earlier. Barclays Plc, Britain’s thirdlargest bank, said first-half profit rose 29% as a drop in provisions for bad loans mitigated a decline in investment banking revenue. Net income rose to 2.43 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) from 1.89 billion pounds in the year-earlier period.

UK house prices rose the most in four months in July as record-low interest rates and the economic recovery boosted demand for homes, Halifax said. The average cost of a home increased 0.6% to 167,425 pounds ($266,540), reversing a decline in June.

Australia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a third month after slower inflation and diminished financial risks abroad left officials with little need for any shift in policy. Governor Glenn Stevens maintained the overnight cash rate target at 4.5%.

Kuwait Dinar at 0.28590 The USDKWD opened at 0.28590 yesterday morning.

APEC meeting vows to boost quality of economic growth Strategy to put global economy back on track TOKYO: Asian and Pacific countries agreed yesterday to improve the “quality” of their growth and help put the global economy back on track from its crisis. The accord was reached at a meeting of ministerial-level officials as well as industrial and academic leaders from the 21 countries of the Asia-

WASHINGTON: A pair of combines from Befort Harvesting LLC, of Hays, Kansas work their way through a wheat field, about six miles from Pasco, Washington. Russia banned grain exports for the rest of the year on Thursday after a severe drought and wildfires destroyed 20 percent of its wheat crop. — AP

Putin sows controversy with Russia grain ban MOSCOW: “I would like to inform you about one more decision,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told his cabinet at the end of a government meeting as he prepared to drop one of his trademark bombshells.

Top wheat exporter Russia, Putin said, would from August 15 ban the export of grain until December 31 to keep prices down at home amid the worst drought to hit the country in decades.

The announcement catapulted wheat futures in Chicago and Europe up 10 percent to new two-year highs and prompted a warning from the UN food agency of a “serious” situation on world food markets. While markets knew the drought had destroyed 10 some million hectares of land in Russia, days earlier a deputy agriculture minister had given assurances exports would be at a similar level to last year’s 21.4 million tons.

As if that was not enough, the decree signed by Putin stipulated that fellow major grain producer Kazakhstan should also match Russia’s move due to their joint membership in a regional customs union.

The decision showed Russia was prepared to temporarily sacrifice its ambitions to hugely boost its presence on the global grain market in favor of keeping stable prices for its population at home.

“We must not allow an increase in domestic prices and must preserve the headcount of our cattle,” explained Putin bluntly.

Abdolreza Abbassian, economist and secretary of the Intergovernmental Group on Grains at the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said “a situation which was not serious has now become serious.”

For Vladimir Petrichenko, director of the Prozerno agricultural analytical firm, “there can only be one comment-shock.” “We will only be able to return to the global markets with a tarnished reputation, with losses,” he told the Interfax news agency.

Bread and flour could now see price rises and the impact on global markets even fed into shares of brewing firms, with shares in Carlsberg and Diageo, the Guinness brand owner, tumbling as well as those in foodmaker Nestle.

Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said with weather forecasts pointing to the continuation of the drought in Russia meant the market would closely monitor the situation in the weeks ahead. “The market focus remains on Russian wheat export potential and how lowered supply prospects will feed into global wheat production and trade balances,” she said.

The world is still haunted by the global food price crisis of 2007-2008 when food prices rocketed on the back of droughts in developed countries and concerns about rapidily expanding global demand.

Putin’s powerful deputy Igor Shuvalov told Russian radio Friday that the decision “could be revised depending on the harvest” but he did not give further details.

Russia’s state railways (RZhD) meanwhile announced it would halt all transport of Russian grain exports from August 7. Crucially for the domestic market, Putin also announced that government grain auctions would be shelved this year and the state’s 9.6 million tons of grain stores would instead be distributed to the Russian regions most in need.

Analysts at UBS said Putin was seeking to soften the impact of a situation that had seen global wheat prices rise by 70 percent since mid-June with Russian domestic wheat prices showing “pretty much the same dynamics.”

“The export ban is clearly an attempt to break the link between domestic Russian prices and global prices,” they said in a note to clients. “This is partially politically motivated but there are also global experts who believe that the world market has shot up too quickly, driven by speculation.”

Some analysts have cast doubt on whether the ban would even help keep down domestic prices.

“We are not convinced that this move will have a positive impact on the local grain market,” said Natalya Orlova, chief economist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. “We doubt the move will compel (Russian exporters) to sell this grain domestically. Only if the government buys the grain from exporting companies and intervenes on the domestic market will the move help stabilize prices.”— AFP

China’s savings rate to drop in coming decade: Report GENEVA: China’s high savings rate is expected to fall substantially in coming years as its workforce shrinks, the population ages and social security spending increases, a BIS report shows.

In research published by the Bank for International Settlements on the “myth and reality” of China’s savings rate, Ma Guonan and Wang Yi found that the Asian giant needs its population to spend more in order to sustain rapid economic growth in coming years.

The researchers, who were writing in their personal capacity, also reject claims that Chinese state firms have been benefiting from high savings thanks to exchange rate distortions and subsidies designed to drive economic growth. They point out that “less advantaged” and more efficient firms have been the ones posting the greatest gains in earnings in recent years rather than state-owned companies.

China’s gross national savings soared from 39.2 percent of output in 1990 to 53.2 percent in 2008, far higher than the United States, which saved just 12.2 percent in 2008.

Even compared to other Asian giants-Japan with

27 percent in 2007 and India with 33.6 percent in 2008 — China’s share of savings as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is significantly larger.

Nonetheless, the population and social trends that have underpinned China’s growth and savings rates are likely tail off significantly over the next decade, the two Chinese researchers argued.

The frugal Chinese have come under fire from critics who claim that Beijing fuelled a credit bubble in the West by investing these savings abroad, especially in the United States.

Chinese holdings in US Treasury bonds reached $900.2 billion in April, making it the biggest holder of such investments. In the wake of the global slump, world leaders and economists have been asking China to spend more, rather than pin its economic growth on exports to the West, in order to help address world trade imbalances.

Ma, a BIS economist and Wang, who is from the Chinese central bank, note however that the current savings trend by Chinese households will not last.

The swelling working population in recent years has boosted savings in recent years, they note. — AFP

It was aimed at paving the ground for APEC leaders to work out an unprecedented “growth strategy” for the region at the forum’s annual summit in November in the Japanese port city of Yokohama. “As the world’s leading growth centre, the APEC region has a great responsibility for the future course of the global economy,” said a statement from the co-chairmen of the meeting.

“APEC should contribute to improving the quality of growth in the global economy as well through its growth strategy, as envisaged by the APEC economic leaders last year,” said the statement posted APEC’s official website. APEC leaders agreed at last year’s summit in Singapore to formulate the strategy in 2010 to “shape the region’s growth following the financial and economic crisis,” said the statement.

APEC was launched in 1989 to promote trade and strengthen economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, which now accounts for more than half the world’s economic output and 40 percent of its population. The grouping includes Australia, China, Japan, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Countries in the region are exploring ways to shift their emphasis on economic development from exports to domestic demand,” Japanese trade minister Masayuki Naoshima told a news conference after co-chairing the meeting.

“Japan wants to cooperate in economic development by backing infrastructure projects,” said Naoshima. The other co-chairman was Satoshi Arai, the Japanese minister of state for economic and fiscal policy.

The meeting confirmed that APEC aims to achieve economic growth that is “balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure,” the statement said.

Balanced growth should be led by “structural reforms” while inclusive growth features job creation-especially for women-human resources development and better access to finance, it added.

Energy efficiency will be the core of sustainable growth while innovative growth will be driven by an improvement in the research and development environment, the statement said.

The members of APEC can contribute to secure growth by working together in such areas as counter-terrorism, prevention of pandemic diseases and food security, the statement added. — AFP

Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. International institutions including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank were also represented at the two-day meeting, which ended yesterday in the Japanese resort of Beppu.

KAMPONG SPEU: Cambodian farmers grow rice in a field in Kampong Speu province, some 60 kilometers south of Phnom Penh yesterday. Cambodia’s parliament approved a five-year national development plan on May 31 aimed at achieving annual growth of 6%, helped by billions of dollars in foreign aid.—AFP

Fears over plan to sell vital Georgian pipeline TBILISI: Plans by Georgia to sell off at least part of a major gas pipeline from Russia are raising fears among both Georgians and Armenians that the strategically vital asset will fall into the hands of political foes.

Georgia’s parliament last month approved the lifting of a legal ban on the privatization of the North-South pipeline which runs from Russia to Armenia and was previously listed as a “strategic asset” that could not be sold.

Georgian officials insist that only a minority stake could be sold. But the potential sale has nonetheless sparked concern among some in Georgia, who fear Russia could be a likely buyer, and in Armenia, who worry that arch-rival Azerbaijan could purchase a stake in the key supply route.

Its sale could exacerbate tensions in the volatile South Caucasus region, a crucial link in Western-backed efforts to ship oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, bypassing Russia.

Previous talk of privatizing the pipeline raised deep concerns in the West, where some fear a Russian purchase would extend Moscow’s grip on gas supplies in the region.

Prime Minister Nika Gilauri said the Georgian government is looking at only a partial privatization of the pipeline and downplayed political concerns. “We might consider in the future an IPO (Initial Public Offering) or something like that on the London Stock Exchange, of approxi-

mately 10-20 percent. But we will never, ever sell a majority stake in the pipeline,” he told AFP in an interview this week.

“It will be fully controlled and managed by the Georgian government,” Gilauri said.

But Georgia’s opposition worries that even if the current government insists it will retain a majority stake, removing the legal ban on selling the pipeline opens the door to a possible full privatization in the future, with Russian state gas giant Gazprom seen as the main potential buyer. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008 and many here fear the country’s giant northern neighbor is determined to eventually retake control of Georgia. “There is a fear that if it is sold it will be bought either directly by Gazprom or by a subsidiary,” said Levan Vepkhvadze, a member of parliament with the opposition Christian Democratic Party which opposed the lifting of the ban.

“The problem is that-and actually this is what we are demanding-such decisions must not depend on the government’s will but be regulated by law,” he said.

Critics have also warned that selling the pipeline to Gazprom, which earlier expressed interest, could even give Russia a legal justification for military intervention in Georgia.

“Russia has recently passed legislation allowing it to use military force abroad to defend its foreign assets,” said Lado Papava, an analyst with the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International

Studies.

“Gazprom is a state company. If it buys the pipeline that is not a privatization but a nationalization by a foreign country,” he said. In Armenia, the potential sale has sparked fears that oil-rich Azerbaijan, which is already Georgia’s major energy partner, could purchase the pipeline as a means to put pressure on Yerevan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a long-simmering conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region, a mainly ethnic Armenian enclave that broke from Baku’s control during a brutal war in the early 1990s.

“There is a real possibility that Azerbaijan could acquire shares in the Georgian pipeline and this is very dangerous for Armenia as long as the Karabakh conflict is not resolved,” Armenian political scientist Stepan Grigorian said.

“Azerbaijan would use this gas pipeline as a tool to put pressure on our country,” he said.

Analysts said that if Georgia does go ahead with a sale, Western governments may try to influence Tbilisi to ensure the pipeline ends up in friendly hands. When Georgia first floated the idea of privatizing the pipeline in 2005, the United States provided 50 million dollars in funds for urgent repairs instead, in a move analysts said was aimed at keeping it out of Russian hands.

Georgia agreed under the deal to a five-year ban on selling the pipeline, which expires in April 2011. —AFP

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Monday, August 9, 2010

New South African land policy still under wraps ELGIN, South Africa: The graceful farm is like any other in South Africa’s wine country, with a cosy restaurant and tasting room circled by mountains and rows of trellised grape vines.

But Thandi Wines is one of the few black-owned operations in a highend business that like most commercial agriculture is still predominantly white-owned 16 years after the end of apartheid minority rule.

“It’s the first truly broad-based black empowerment wine company in the history of South Africa,” said chief executive officer Vernon Henn.

“It’s proper transformation-land

ownership; poor people almost own (all) the value chain, farm, wine company, so all the profits. That is, for me, what the government always intended to achieve with black empowerment.”

In Thandi’s case-the word means “love” in Zulu-farm worker families own 55 percent of the company, while the surrounding community owns at least half the land.

That is a rare success. South Africa’s skewed land ownership remains one of the most visible legacies of apartheid when blacks had no rights to the bulk of land that was classified whites-only.

The government has admitted that its efforts at change have had miserable results, with up to 90 percent of projects unproductive and just six percent of white farms redistributed to black farmers.

President Jacob Zuma’s government has promised to overhaul land reform policy but new proposals have been repeatedly delayed. Leaked reports indicate the new rules could include a ceiling on private land ownership and allowing foreigners to buy land only with a South African partner.

“It’s high time for a policy overhaul,” said Ruth Hall of the Institute

for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies.

Despite Zuma’s pledges to make land reform a priority, the department has faced the recent loss of its director general and another top official.

“Essentially it’s a department that’s been without clear direction in terms of policy for at least a year,” said Hall. “So now it’s urgent that something be put on the table that can form the basis for a more public debate about the way forward.”

The state has adopted a “use it or lose it” stance for new black farmers, hoping to prod them into making their land productive by threatening

to take back idle fields.

But analysts say that they have received little support to make their operations profitable.

“The support that is available has tended to be channelled to very few of the beneficiaries,” said Hall. “So small numbers of highly commercial projects have managed to capture the lion’s share of available resources, leaving most beneficiaries largely to fend for themselves.”

The issue is contentious in the region after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s land reforms saw some 4,000 white farmers lose their land in an often violent campaign that

savaged food production, leaving the country dependent on international aid.

But the slow pace of South Africa’s reforms is also causing concern.

A target to transfer 30 percent of white farms by 2014 has been postponed a decade. Reaching the initial goal would cost nearly $10 billion on the current, ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ model.

Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti has ruled out nationalization but he has also cautioned that the government cannot continue to “slavishly” rely on the free-market

approach.

Commercial farming group Agri SA, which Nkwinti has briefed on the new policy, has concerns over the proposals for the land ceiling and the state’s right of first refusal in farm sales.

But it has welcomed the push to speed up reforms and the focus on boosting development in the countryside.

“We are quite anxious to see the detail,” legal and policy advisor Annelize Crosby said. “At the same time, it’s important that whatever is put out there is well considered.” —AFP

Unions vie for dramatic change of strategy

As economy recovers, Germans eye pay rise BERLIN: After years of agreeing to moderate pay hikes to safeguard jobs, Germany’s powerful unions are gearing up for a dramatic change of strategy, bidding for wage gains that bosses say could derail the recovery. Heavily dependent

on exporting quality German-made products, the economy, Europe’s biggest, was hit harder than most by the global crisis but now appears to be recovering faster as demand across the globe picks up.

MUNICH: People walk in front of flags bearing the Allianz Group logo and the European Union flag prior to a shareholders meeting in Munich, southern Germany. German insurer Allianz SE said on Friday that its net profit dropped 46 percent in the second quarter as losses on assets and investments outweighed an improvement in business and revenues. —AP

Wind turns to gold in remote Romania COGEALAC, Romania: Strong winds sweeping southeastern Romania have long been seen as a curse but as electricity companies are increasingly turning to renewable energy, the area has become a coveted asset.

Romania’s decision to open up its wind-power market has triggered fierce competition among investors, several of whom target the Dobroudja region, described by experts as one of the best sites in Europe.

In June, Czech company CEZ started operating its first wind energy unit in Romania, at Fantanele, 260 kilometers (170 miles) east of Bucharest.

The 1.1-billion-euro ($1.45 billion) energy farm, expected to become the biggest in Europe next year, will have a capacity of 600 Megawatts.

But CEZ’s plans to expand to the neighboring village of Cogealac have been hampered by Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, which has set its mind on the same site.

Iberdrola and its local partner Eolica

Dobrogea have announced plans to build the world’s largest land-based wind-energy farm, with a capacity of 1,600 megawatts. Total investment should top 2.2 billion euros.

The rivalry between the two groups sparked a violent protest last week, when the mayor of Cogealac backed by several dozen followers, some of them carrying clubs, tried to drive the Czechs away from the village.

Security guards fired rubber bullets, with the protest leaving five people injured, while five others-including mayor Hristu Cati-were arrested for disturbing the peace as the project got caught up in allegations of corruption.

Prosecutors said Hristu Cati was arrested for paying villagers take part in the protest against the wind farm.

“Hristu ... is making us lose a lot of money that CEZ would have invested at Cogealac,” said Doina, 53, a former local councillor who does not want her family name to be mentioned.

In a region where people hardly

COGEALAC, Romania: A man rides a horse next to wind generators in Cogealac, 250km east from Bucharest. Romania’s decision to open its wind-power market has triggered fierce competition among investors, several of whom target the Dobroudja region, described by experts as the second-best choice in Europe. —AFP

make a living by tilling the arid land, the Czech investment was nothing short of a windfall-the company pays 3,000 euros a year as rent for every plot of land where it installs a wind turbine.

Sitting at a table in Fantanele’s only bar, a beer in front of him, Marin, a driver in his thirties, wishes he was one of the happy few. “Boy, why wasn’t I so lucky to have a wind turbine fall from the sky on my land? That would have pulled me out of poverty.”

CEZ spokesperson Cosmina Marin said benefits for the local community go far beyond this. “We have repaired the roads, installed running water and plan to build a sewage system and pay for a rubbish dump.”

All in all, the company has invested several hundred thousand euros in modernizing the infrastructure of Fantanele, she said, adding that the same could be done at Cogealac if it were not for the mayor’s “nonsensical” attitude.

“I don’t get him, there’s enough wind for everybody here.” But wind power does come with restraints, experts say. Limited grid access is one.

For if Romania enjoys a privileged position on Europe’s wind map, with a potential estimated at 14,000 megawatts, the national grid can only take on 3,000 megawatts.

Economy Minister Adriean Videanu said recently the authorities have received requests for a total production of 23,000 megawatts, “far more than the system can take.”

Companies such as Enel (Italy), EDP (Portugal) and Petrom-OMV (Austria) figure among the groups planning to invest.

But electricity system operator Transelectrica said that in the absence of major investments, the national grid cannot carry a much bigger load. “Things could otherwise be risky because wind energy is whimsical.” But for now at least, the market is open-Romania harnessed just 14 megawatts of wind power in 2009. —AFP

Foreign orders are booming, the country’s low unemployment has been hailed as a “jobs miracle,” top firms are reporting strong profits and consumer and business confidence levels are soaring.

And having contributed, they say, to this performance by not pushing for pay rises during the tough times, trade unions want a slice of the pie now the recovery is setting in.

“In this first wage round after the crisis, we want to ensure employees get their fair share of the upswing,” Berthold Huber, head of IG Metall, one of Europe’s biggest unions, wrote in the Rheinischer Merkur daily.

“That is good for the employees, good for the economy and secures jobs.”

“We want our part of the recovery,” said Oliver Burkhard, another senior official from IG Metall, which represents more than two million workers in the steel and metalworking industry.

The unions have German public opinion and many economists on their side. A recent poll for ARD television showed that seven in 10 Germans thought union demands for a three-percent pay rise was “appropriate.”

Peter Bofinger, one of the “five wise men” that advise Chancellor Angela Merkel on economic policy, called for a “strong increase in wages of at least three percent” saying it would boost Germany’s sluggish domestic demand.

Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Union, Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said in a recent interview he “absolutely” understood union demands for higher wages.

Unions have been “unbelievably responsible” in the past two or three years, which has enabled Germany to overcome the global slump better than many of its European neighbors, Seehofer said.

Fearing mass lay-offs amid plunging growth, IG Metall agreed in February a two-year deal with a pay freeze and a oneoff payment in 2010 followed by a 2.7 percent hike next year.

On the other side of the negotiating table, employers’ federation head Dieter Hundt warned it was “premature” to talk of wage hikes as the German economy is not yet completely out of the woods.

Some also caution that the unions’ change of strategy could lead to German inflation taking off and eventually to European Central Bank interest rates climbing off their record low levels.

“German inflation slumbers but the alarm has been set,” Commerzbank economist Eckart Tuchtfeld wrote Friday in a research note about German wage policy. But the Financial Times Deutschland said bosses should not fear increased union pay demands as labor leaders have shown they can be responsible when times are tough.

“For unions to demand massive wage increases in light of the DAX (stock market) ... would of course be ridiculous, as the upswing is still too fresh and risky,” the newspaper wrote in a recent editorial. “But companies should not fear moderate demands, as unions have actually in recent years demonstrated that they are more sensible than some have claimed.” —AFP

DURBANVILLE: A South African worker carrying a bucket full of grapes during the annual harvest, on the Durbanville hills, a few kilometers outside Cape Town.

There are only a few black-owned operations in a high-end business that like most commercial agriculture is still predominantly white-owned 16 years after the end of apartheid minority rule. —AFP

Kyrgyzstan economy devastated by year of ethnic unrest, chaos BISHKEK: Sitting inside a dimly-lit shop packed with unsold goods in the heart of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, Natalya explains wearily why she now keeps a suitcase packed at all times. “(We) are ready to leave the Kyrgyz Republic at any moment, since we don’t believe we’ll be able to survive a third revolution or another round of riots,” said Natalya, who declined to give her last name.

“Right now we’re waiting-if stability is restored and order returns to Kyrgyzstan we will stay and continue our work. But even so, our orders have dropped so much and so have our profits,” she added.

Battered by bloody ethnic clashes and its second coup in five years, Kyrgyzstan is facing economic disaster, with experts warning that not even a recent pledge of international aid may be able to stave off collapse.

In April street protests sparked by rising utility prices and the perceived corruption of president Kurmanbek Bakiyev led to days of street riots which killed nearly 100 people and toppled his authoritarian government.

But hope that an interim government led by career diplomat Roza Otunbayeva would rapidly stabilize the country and allow for desperately needed economic reforms were dashed in June, when ethnic riots rocked the south of the country.

At least 350 people died and more than 400,000 were displaced during the fighting between ethnic majority Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks, which devastated the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Last month donors from more than 25 countries, led by the World Bank, agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan with $1.1 billion (828 million euros) in urgently needed financial assistance.

That aid, however, should be seen more as a vote for hope than a sign of confidence, said Ben Slay, a senior economist with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) who specializes in ex-Soviet Central Asia. “Well, the donors didn’t offer the Kyrgyz government 1.1 billion dollars because they were ecstatic about the situation in Kyrgyzstan, they offered it because they were concerned,” he told AFP by telephone.

“There is a palpable fear of what will happen in Kyrgyzstan if the money to get through the winter is not forthcoming from somewhere.”

Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished Central Asian state lacking the resource wealth of neighboring Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, has long suffered from political instability virtually unheard of in a region dominated by strongmen.

The country is not entirely without resources, however, and GDP had been growing on the back of increasing remittances from its army of migrant laborers and the rising price of gold, its main natural resource.

The country reported 16 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2010 and had been projecting five percent overall growth in 2010, a welcome recovery from a disappointing 2009 when the financial crisis drove down remittances.

But that was before the troubles began in April. According to

recent data from Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Economic Regulation and Trade, GDP is now on pace to decline by nine percent overall in 2010, meaning an astonishing 20 percent decline in the second half of the year.

The areas expected to be worst affected are in the southGDP in Osh city alone is projected to fall by 48 percent-raising the specter of fresh instability spurred by economic distress in a region still very much on edge.

In an interview with AFP this week Otunbayeva, who will serve as caretaker president through the end of 2011, called the economic situation in the country “critical”, even as she said that aid would allow it to survive the winter.

Kyrgyzstan is tentatively set to hold parliamentary elections on October 10, which would usher in their first fully functioning government since the April revolution, which has led some observers to adopt a waitand-see approach.

Bishkek has long faced dire predictions about its economic well-being and has so far been able to hobble along with international assistance, said one western diplomat who spoke with AFP on condition of anonymity.

“It was bad before (the coup) and certainly it’s much worse now. Do I expect to see fuel lines and bread lines at the grocery stores? no,” he said.

Still, “it will be interesting to see when the guys show up on October 11 and open up the cabinet doors and they’re looking in the cupboard going: ‘There’s nothing in there. No money’,” he said. —AFP

Reformers gain a toehold in Nigerian corruption fight LAGOS: The tale of Nigeria’s banking crisis gets complicated, as matters related to money in this country often do, but it may be best to start with the private jets.

Banks essentially loaning money to themselves used the cash for all sorts of alleged shady deals, including buying private jets or manipulating stock prices-and that was only part of the problem.

“The banks did not fail,” Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said in a strikingly blunt speech earlier this year. “They were destroyed and brought to their knees by acts committed by identifiable people.” Nigeria is seeking to emerge from a financial crisis that boiled over last year by taking actions that may come as a surprise to those weary of hearing about the country’s crippling corruption.

Officials are in the process of setting up a “bad bank” to soak up billions of dollars in deadbeat loans and have cleaned house at financial institutions suspected of dubious practices.

The bourse regulator announced last week

that it was firing the head of the stock exchange after allegations of financial mismanagement in a move seen by some as another victory for reformers.

Despite all of that, observers say massive work clearly remains to set the oil-rich country on a path that could finally allow it to exploit its huge potential.

There is also the question of whether financial reformers are being allowed to push ahead because elections will be held early next year.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who has pledged to reduce corruption, is expected to run.

Victor Ndukauba, research director at Afrinvest financial firm in Lagos, said the removal of the head of the stock exchange could be seen as “reformers getting the upper hand.”

He also said the bank changes have been a positive step, but officials should take their efforts further. “What made banks go down that road in the first place? Corporate governance and risk management are extremely crucial,” Ndukauba said. —AFP

TECHNOLOGY

Monday, August 9, 2010

27

Texting tests China’s character BEIJING: For Ma Silang, the long descent into forgetfulness began after he graduated from high school, went off to London for three years to study photography and bought his first computer. Now the 30-year-old fashion photographer, a native Beijinger, has such difficulty writing in his mother tongue that the other day when he was scribbling a shopping list for himself he suddenly realized that he had forgotten one of two characters that make up the Chinese word for “shampoo.”

“It is inevitable that we forget our Chinese characters unless we make a special effort to practice writing a few hours each week, and who has time for that?” said Ma, looking up from an iPhone on which he was tapping a message while waiting for his MacBook to be repaired at Beijing’s Apple store. This is a strange new form of illiteracy, or, more exactly, dysgraphia, the inability to write, that is peculiar to China. The epicenter of the contagion is in places like the Apple store, a multilevel, glass-facaded emporium for China’s tech-savvy.

The typical victim is someone like Ma, dressed in a pinstriped, button-down shirt, Bermuda shorts and loafers, he looks as if he stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad, who is young, well-educated and affluent.

The more gadgets people own, cell phones, smart phones, computers, the less often they go through the elaborate sequence of strokes that make up Chinese

characters. Whether on their computers or texting on phones, most Chinese use a system where they type out the sound of the word in Pinyin, the most commonly used Romanization system, and presto, they are given a choice of characters to use.

No muss, no fuss, no pens, no pencils, not to speak of inkwells and calligraphy brushes. “People don’t write anything by hand anymore except for name and address,” admitted Ma. Almost any Chinese person you meet will confess to a lapse of memory, almost like a senior moment. The hand clutching the pen or pencil is poised above a sheet of paper about to write a character learned in childhood and memorized in countless repetitions when, suddenly, an embarrassing pause. In an April poll commissioned by the China Youth Daily, 83 percent of the 2,072 respondents acknowledged problems with writing characters. The phenomenon is so common that there is even a name for it, tibiwangzi, which translates to “take pen, forget character.”

“The other day I was writing a note by hand and when I came to the word zaijian (goodbye), I did sort of a double-take because I wasn’t sure I’d written the zai correctly,” said 18-year-old Cheng Jing, a college freshman.

To some extent, similar problems arise anywhere that people rely on technology rather than memory, outsourcing of the brain, as they call it in the many treatises

BEIJING: Fashion photographer Ma Silang typing at a computer inside an Apple store in Beijing, China.

Ma, like an increasing number of Chinese, is finding that technology is crowding out their ability to handwrite their native language. —MCT

that address the question of whether computers and the Internet are stifling our intelligence.

In China, the situation rises to the level of a cultural crisis since the characters, more than any other facet of life, epitomize thousands of years of tradition.

Chinese is the oldest continuously used writing system in the world; the characters used today can be traced to pictographs found on bones and turtle shells dating to 1200 BC. Even though in the 1950s Mao Zedong ordered the simplification of many characters to promote wider literacy, much of childhood in China is still spent memorizing and copying.

By the time students are 15, they will have spent about four to five hours per day over nine years learning to write a minimum of 3,000 characters.

Writing, moreover, is not merely about communication, in Chinese culture, it is an art form and spiritual exercise, believed by some to improve concentration, longevity and even martial arts skills. “These characters are in the soul of every Chinese person,” said Wang Jianxue, a 38year-old calligraphy teacher from Harbin who was lovingly leafing through the stacks at a bookstore in Liulichang, a street of quiet shops that sell brushes, ink stones, rubbings, scrolls and curios. “The nation has to maintain its personality through its characters. They are our cultural heritage. The computer is just a tool.”

Outside the shop, a man in white silk pajamas traced characters in water on the pavement with a device that looked more like a sponge mop than a brush.

“This is my hobby,” 41-year-old Wang Jiazhong said as he wrote out the characters meaning “beautiful spring day” and then watched them disappear as the water evaporated in the beating sun. “Chinese people these days care only about material life.

Even in Japan and Korea more people practice calligraphy than here. How could such a thing happen when the characters began here?” he complained.

“The government has to do something. Without government intervention, people won’t pay attention.”

In fact, the Chinese government is beginning to take notice.

In 2008, the Education Ministry surveyed 3,000 teachers around the country and found 60 percent complaining about declining writing ability. As a result, the ministry last year launched a writing competition with 10 million participants and has begun pilot programs to make students do more handwriting. “It is not about producing beautiful calligraphy,” said Yu Hong, who runs the ministry’s program on writing language. “We want to help students to come back to writing again.” —MCT

Google’s march toward social networking Google this week confirmed its acquisition of online entertainment company Slide. The purchase rehashed speculation that the search giant is interested in working its way into social media, possibly with a game-centered service called “Google Me.” Although there isn’t any word on specific product details David Glazer, engineering director at Google confirms the company will invest more effort to make its services more “socially aware” in a recent blog post.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone.

Google has repeatedly expressed interest in the past year, starting with the announcement of Google Wave at the 2009 I/O Developer Conference.

If Google plans to dethrone Facebook (or at least become a contender in the world of social media) it needs to learn a few things from its past social endeavors, most of which haven’t ended so well.

However, it’s clear that Google is keeping at this mission.

Here’s a quick recap of Google’s social media moves in 2010: February 8: The Wall Street Journal reports Google prepared to unveil a social component to Gmail that would display a stream of “media and status updates” within the web interface.

February 9: Google introduces its social networking tool called Google Buzz and says it will be available to all Gmail users within a week.

February 10: Privacy concerns are raised when it is discovered that Google Buzz compiles a list of the Gmail contacts that users most frequently contact and makes it public.

February 15: Google modifies Buzz to appease privacy concerns. It also adds the option to hide Buzz

or shut it off completely.

February 18: Google faces a class-action lawsuit over Google Buzz for allegedly violating the 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which was intended to protect individuals against companies that compromise the confidentiality of a computer.

May 11: GigaOm reports that Google hires an executive recruiting agency to find a “Head of Social.” Gigom claims to have a copy of the recruiting letter and says the following is from the job description: “This is a new and very strategic position, as Google knows it is late on this front and is appropriately humble about it. In Google’s view, conceptually, there are two ways to tackle social, each impacting who may be successful in this senior post: 1) building an innovative offering specifically in this area; or 2) developing the capability and integrating social into Google’s existing portfolio.”

June 29: Digg co-founder Kevin Rose posts a tweet that a “very credible” source said Google would be launching a Facebook competitor, called Google Me “very soon.”

July 5: Matt Brittin, Google’s UK chief executive, doesn’t comment on or deny the “Google Me” rumors in an interview with The Telegraph. He also says there is room for more than one giant in the world of social networking: “Facebook is an absolute phenomenon but there are other social networks which are successful too. We’ve got Orkut, which is fantastically successful in India and Brazil.”

July 10: TechCrunch reports that Google “secretly “invested $100 to $200 million in Zynga, the company that created Farmville and a slew of other popular games on Facebook. —PCworld

TOKYO: In a file picture taken on June 24, 2010 a man holds his iPhone 4 in Tokyo. Regulators on August 3 authorised the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4 in the lucrative South Korean market, after the firm’s decision last month to delay sales in the country upset consumers. —AFP

Departure in wake of antenna problems

Apple executive leaves company CALIFORNIA: An Apple Inc. executive whose responsibilities include iPhone hardware is leaving the company in the wake of antenna problems with the newest version of the smart phone. Apple was forced to offer a free fix after consumers complained and numerous media outlets reported a problem with dropped calls.

Mark Papermaster, Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone and iPod hardware engineering, is leaving the company, according to Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. Dowling wouldn’t comment beyond a brief statement or say whether Papermaster was fired or is leaving voluntarily.

Papermaster’s departure comes weeks after Apple announced it will give free protective cases to buyers of its latest iPhone model to alleviate the so-called “death grip” problem: holding the phone with a bare hand can muffle the wireless signal.

The antenna problems were a rare glitch in Apple’s rollout for a new product. Consumer Reports refused to recommend the iPhone 4 and called on Apple to compensate buyers.

Die-hard fans of the Apple’s products have dubbed the stumble “antennagate.” Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering, will assuming Papermaster’s responsibilities, Dowling said.

Mansfield oversees groups that components for the iPhone and iPod touch, including the A4 chip, Retina display and touch screens. Papermaster, who came to Apple in 2008 from IBM, could not be reached for comment at a phone number listed under his name. —AP

SAN FRANCISCO: In this Sept 9, 2009 file photo, Apple iPod Nanos are shown after an Apple event in San Francisco. 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. —AP

Apple to improve website on iPod Nano overheating TOKYO: Apple’s Japanese unit has promised to improve website warnings over its first-generation iPod Nano music player after incidents of it overheating and catching fire, a government statement said.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a weekend press release that Apple Japan had submitted a report about measures it has taken against the incidents-such as giving warnings or recalling the products.

The report was filed in response to an order issued a week ago by the ministry after recharging problems caused 27 over-

WikiLeaks to publish new documents BERLIN: The online whistle-blower WikiLeaks said it will continue to publish more secret files from governments around the world despite US demands to cancel plans to release classified military documents. “I can assure you that we will keep publishing documents , that’s what we do,” a WikiLeaks spokesman, who says he goes by the name Daniel Schmitt in order to protect his identity, told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday.

Schmitt said he could not comment on any specific documents but asserted that the publication of classified documents about the Afghanistan war directly contributed to

the public’s understanding of the conflict.

“Knowledge about ongoing issues like the war in Afghanistan is the only way to help create something like safety,” Schmitt said.

“Hopefully with this understanding, public scrutiny will then influence governments to develop better politics.” He rejected allegations that the group’s publication of leaked US government documents was a threat to America’s national security or put lives at risk. “For this reason, we conveyed a request to the White House prior to the publication, asking that the International Security Assistance Force provide us with reviewers,” Schmitt said. “That request

remains open. However, the Pentagon has stated that it is not interested in ‘harm minimization’ and has not contacted us, directly, or indirectly to discuss this offer.” The NATO-led ISAF security force is mostly deployed in Afghanistan’s less volatile north.

The Pentagon has maintained that the Defense Department had no direct contact with WikiLeaks about possible efforts to redact those documents to make them less of a security threat.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said late last month that it was “absolutely, unequivocally not true” that WikiLeaks had

offered to let US government officials go through the documents to make sure no innocent people were identified.

The Pentagon demanded on Thursday that WikiLeaks cancel any plan to publish more classified military documents and pull back tens of thousands of secret Afghan war logs already posted on the Internet. The demand to stop publishing more classified documents, which the Pentagon has no independent power to enforce, is primarily aimed at preventing release of approximately 15,000 secret documents that the website WikiLeaks has said it is holding and possibly classified US State Department cables. —AP

heating incidents, including six fires, which left four people with minor burns. “The ministry is in the process of closely examining the report and making additional inquiries to the company,” the statement said. Apple has sold about 1.8 million units of the 2005 iPoD Nano model in Japan since September 2005.

The Japanese unit has put information on its website about the problems, including recommending battery replacements.

However, the lack of prominence given to the warnings has provoked criticism. The ministry statement said that Apple Japan

has vowed to “improve the homepage in a way to make it easy for users to understand with regard to warnings and measures to prevent recurrences of incidents.”

It also noted that the company had newly notified the ministry of 34 other “non-serious” overheating accidents. The ministry called the delay “truly regrettable.” The latest setback for Apple follows the launch of its iPhone 4, which has been dogged by reception problems linked to its new design and manufacturing issues that have led to the delay of the white version. —AFP

BERLIN: WikiLeaks spokesman in Berlin, Daniel Schmitt poses for a photo after an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany on Saturday.

—AP

28

HEALTH & SCIENCE

Monday, August 9, 2010

Previous attempts to repair fall short

Third spacewalk needed to fix station cooling system: NASA WASHINGTON: Astronauts need to conduct an extra, third spacewalk outside the International Space Station after their efforts Saturday to repair a failed cooling system on the orbiter fell short, NASA said. "I really think we're going to end up with three EVAs," or extra vehicular activities, ISS manager Michael Suffredini said after US astronauts completed a first spacewalk in which they ran into trouble trying to unhook and remove the busted module

that has caused the cooling problem. A second spacewalk has already been scheduled for no earlier than Wednesday, but NASA said it was clear that a third walk was now needed. "It would take a lot of good luck and somebody coming up with a really short tweak to the EVA for us to get to the point where we can start that (new) ammonia pump" after the second spacewalk, Suffredini told a briefing broadcast on NASA's website.

SPACE: In this image taken from video and made available by NASA, astronauts Douglas Wheelock, right, and Tracy Caldwell Dyson begin work on the International Space Station to replace a broken ammonia pump on Saturday. —AP

Hidden beneath the surface, oil will impact Gulf for years to come LOUISIANA: As BP works to finally kill its runaway well and anxious coastal residents breathe a sigh of relief, experts warn it could take years-or even decades-for the Gulf of Mexico to recover. Three weeks after the flow was fully stemmed with a temporary cap, the massive slick which once spread for hundreds of miles has been mostly dissolved or dispersed. Nightmare scenarios in which tens of thousands of birds were smothered to death by blankets of oil proved unfounded after the bulk of the slick stayed offshore. Fishermen who feared their way of life was destroyed are being allowed back into most waters.

"There's essentially no skimmable oil left on the surface," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, told reporters Friday.

"Things have improved quite dramatically and that's a combination of the work we've done and Mother Nature." But while Suttles appeared relieved that the well was finally plugged and should be officially "killed" in a matter of days, he cautioned that "we're far from finished."

Hundreds of miles of Louisiana's fragile coastal wetlands remain coated with sticky sludge and each tide carries fresh tar balls onto once-pristine beaches as far away as Florida. Vast quantities of oil remain hidden below the waves, suspended in the water column in droplets which remain toxic to the fish and other marine life which once supported a multibillion dollar commercial and recreational fishing industry.

The good news is that the oil appears to

be biodegrading rapidly. The problem is that there is simply so very much out there. It took 87 days to fully cap the well in the wake of a devastating explosion on April 20 that killed 11 workers and sank the BPleased Deepwater Horizon rig, unleashing a torrent of oil into the Gulf.

In that time, 4.1 million barrels of oil escaped into the sea: enough to fill 260 Olympic-sized pools and make this one of the world's worst spills on record. Just eight percent of the oil was removed from the sea by skimmers and controlled burns. A government report issued last week estimates that another 42 percent is essentially "gone" thanks the heavy use of chemical dispersants and natural processes like evaporation and the microbes which feed on hydrocarbons. "This whole notion that that stuff is weathering away is really questionable," said Jim Cowan, a professor in Louisiana State University's department of oceanography and coastal sciences. "What dispersed oil does is eventually dissolves into sea water and the ultimate fate of that is ultimately undetermined." Tarballs from the 1979 Ixtoc blowout are still washing up on Texas beaches. While the oil may float initially, it will sink once mixed with sand or sediment and then get kicked back up again during storms, he explained.

"What this has turned into now is the potential for a long term chronic problem," he said in a telephone interview. "Chronic impacts are always more difficult to deal with from an ecosystem standpoint." The

toxic mix of oil and chemical dispersants could decimate fish populations by killing off vulnerable larvae and reducing the reproductively of those which survive. "It's a race between the microbes eating it and everything else being exposed to it," said Larry McKinney, executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. "Microbial action comes at a cost.

They're organisms. They use oxygen." The Gulf was already under stress from coastal erosion and a massive "dead zone" created when agricultural runoff from the Mississippi River feeds algae, which sucks the oxygen out of the water.

"We will likely have a pretty severe impact," McKinney told AFP, adding that the real concern is that the oil spill could be the final tipping point for an already stressed ecosystem. "You can only be knocked down so many times before you can't get back up again." Marine conservationist Rick Steiner, a retired University of Alaska scientist, said it's far too soon to hazard a guess at the true impact of the spill. "What we're hearing is they don't think the damage will be as bad as they initially thought," Steiner said.

"We have to remember that the same thing was said after the Exxon Valdez. But much of the damage didn't become apparent until the second or third year." Herring stocks have still not returned more than 20 years after the Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. And oil is still seeping out of underground pockets on that rocky shore when it rains.—AFP

Kids also vulnerable to stress, depression Popular wisdom has long held that young children survive traumatic events better than adults do, in part because they suffer less. Being too young to understand fully the nature of what's happening around them - during war or natural disaster, for instance - they should bounce back with much more resilience.

But new research on child survivors of Hurricane Katrina and witnesses of the 9/11 terrorist attacks suggests otherwise.

"There is increasing evidence that kids know what is going on if they are directly exposed and see something like planes crashing into the [World Trade Center] towers," says child psychologist Claude Chemtob of New York University, lead author of one of several new papers on children and disaster, published in a special section of the July and August issue of Child Development. (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.) Together, the new studies show that young children and teens not only exhibit symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression that are similar to those of adults, but that they may react more strongly to trauma because adults do. They also show that younger children and girls are more likely to develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than boys and older kids.

In the first two studies, researchers analyzed the long-term effects on children

and their parents of the 9/11 attacks. In one analysis, led by Chemtob, researchers followed 116 preschool children and their mothers in Lower Manhattan who had been directly exposed to the World Trade Center attacks. Interviews were conducted with the mothers and with the children's preschool teachers nearly three years after 9/11.

Chemtob found that compared with children whose mothers did not report symptoms of PTSD or depression, those whose mothers were affected were three times more likely to be emotionally reactive - being clingy and quick to become upset - and seven times more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior three years after the traumatic events. "Kids are very attuned to their moms because moms send cues to their kids about what's safe and what's not. If Mom is less available and more focused on the fearful aspects of life, then she is not helping," Chemtob says.

In contrast, a second study on 9/11 that looked at more than 400 children, aged 12 to 20, and their mothers, found that those who were directly exposed to the attacks - those who witnessed the planes hit the towers, for example - were only slightly more likely to suffer PTSD than children who did not directly experience the trauma, but were significantly more likely to be depressed. Only 4% of these children

had PTSD 15 months after the attacks, but 12% were depressed.

Notably, this study, led by child-development researcher Elizabeth Gershoff of the University of Texas at Austin, mirrors the findings of a 2008 study that Chemtob conducted with the same group of children involved in his current paper. In the 2008 study, he also found that children who were directly exposed to the events of 9/11 - seeing dead or injured people, watching people jump out of a building or witnessing a tower collapse - were three times more likely to be depressed or anxious than those who were not directly exposed. "We have tended to say that young kids don't need help, but in fact they are very vulnerable," says Chemtob.

Chemtob's and Gershoff's conclusions are further supported by two other studies appearing in the current issue of Child Development on the child survivors of Hurricane Katrina. In the first study, a team of researchers from Louisiana State University (LSU) interviewed 387 public schoolchildren in St. Bernard Parish, one of the areas most devastated by Katrina, and found that young children were more profoundly affected than adolescents.

Three years after the hurricane, children between the ages of 9 and 11 were four times more likely to show symptoms of PTSD than were teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18. —Time

"We're going to end up being in this condition, this risk posture, a few more days than originally planned," he said.

Conditions on the ISS remained stable and the station's six-person crew-three Americans and three Russians-was not in danger, US space agency officials said. But the development is a setback for NASA. Astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson had just completed the longest spacewalk outside the ISS and, at eight hours and three minutes, the sixth longest ever.

Yet they could not wrest the faulty pump module from the outside of the station's first starboard truss. "We did our best to get it disconnected, but it didn't apparently want to," spacewalk flight director Courtenay McMillan said. At one point, Wheelock resorted to hammering on one of the stuck lines' buttons, which caused the mechanism to open successfully.

Then, an ammonia leak forced an extension of the spacewalk, as the duo needed to "bake-out" the ammonia that escaped from the lines and contaminated their suits. NASA encountered trouble with the four valves and their quick disconnect, or QD, mechanisms that the astronauts needed to use in order to get the module completely unhooked and removed.

NASA described the QDs as "sensitive systems" designed to feed ammonia through the valves at high pressure.

Astronauts noticed ammonia had built up around one of the valves, and it started leaking ammonia when opened.

McMillan said it was safer to leave the hose connected than to risk disconnecting it in its current configuration and then being unable to stop the leak. "If we let it leak for too long, we might actually lose more ammonia than we can afford to in terms of getting the system restarted," she said.

Experts will meet at Mission Control in Houston, Texas yesterday to map out the next steps, NASA said. The agency will need "probably a couple more EVAs to get the job done," McMillan said. She added that NASA was "looking at every possible option" to ensure a rapid resolution to what has become a nagging condition for the orbiting station.

Suffredini insisted that the space agency will overcome the problem.

"The challenge is to get through this problem before the next problem hits the other cooling system," he said. The two astronauts were hoping to move the 780-pound (355-kilogram) spare unit around 30 feet (10 meters) from the opposite side of a truss for insertion into the gap left by the defective pump.

"This is a big, unwieldy object, so maneuvering it around and handing it off to crew members... could take some time and a lot of focus," McMillan told reporters earlier in the week. The crew had faced an unusually short lead time for such a tricky spacewalk-less than a week, compared with the two weeks NASA usually takes to prepare for a spacewalk to fix a "Big 14 failure," when a major unit stops working.

If the second of the two ISS cooling units fails-a highly unlikely scenario, according to NASA-the astronauts would no longer be able to cool most of the space station components.

But the crew would not be in danger because they could move to the Russian segment of the ISS, which has its own cooling system. The ISS, which orbits 350 kilometers (220 miles) above Earth, is a sophisticated platform for scientific experiments. It is a 100-billiondollar cooperation between 15 countries, and has been manned uninterrupted since October 1990.—AFP

CHICAGO: Lindsey Eyles, 11, gets ready for a CT scan at the Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago on July 27, 2010. Eyles wears special shielding to prevent excess radiation on certain areas of the body. —MCT

Making CT scans kid-friendly CHICAGO: Ferdousi Dawood was worried. Her daughter's headaches were excruciating, and prescription medicines and natural remedies had failed to make a difference. Now, a doctor at Children's Memorial Hospital was recommending a CT scan to peer inside the 10-year-old's brain.

Dawood was concerned about the radiation and what it might mean to the girl's development. "As a mom, I feel so bad," she said recently. "I try to do everything positive for her, to keep her away from anything that can hurt her." But if there were something wrong with Safa, her daughter, Dawood wanted to find out.

Families have reason to be alert to risks associated with diagnostic tests such as CT scans.

Kids' changing bodies and brains are especially sensitive to ionizing radiation from X-rays used in the exams. And because children have longer to live than adults, they're more likely to experience delayed effects of radiation exposure, notably a small potential increased risk of cancer.

That's not a cause to shun the tests, medical experts agree. Medical imaging is an extraordinary tool that allows doctors to make diagnoses, select optimal treatments and save lives, they say.

But it does warrant caution, and medical professionals have been adopting measures to reduce children's radiation exposure. These include adjusting CT scanner settings for smaller bodies, imaging only those areas under medical investigation and using other tests, such as ultrasounds and MRIs, whenever possible.

Yet problems remain. Some hospitals and freestanding imaging centers continue to administer adult-size doses of radiation to children, experts report. Facilities also sometimes scan children repeatedly without cause or expose children's breasts, eyes, thyroids and genitals to unnecessary radiation by scanning too broadly or failing to use protective shields.

"We still have a way to go in terms of optimizing these examinations," said Dr. Donald Frush, chief of pediatric radiology at Duke University Hospital, acknowledging the shortcomings in the medical field. About 7 million CT scans are administered to children every year; the number is expanding nearly 10 percent annually, according to a 2008 review of radiation risks associated with CT scans for kids in Current Opinion in Pediatrics. Almost one-third of the tests are given to children in their first decade of life.

Safa Dawood had complained of feeling "water in her head" for months before her family doctor ordered a CT scan at Children's Memorial, her mother said. The pain was so bad that the gentle girl with soft dark eyes sometimes would lay her head on a table and weep.

The day of the scan, her mother said she was determined to ask Safa's doctor how much radiation Safa received and what effects it might have on her health. To protect the girl's eyes, a radiologic technologist arranged for the scan to be done at an angle that avoided this sensitive area.

Later, Dawood said the test did not identify a specific problem, and Safa's headaches were continuing. Experts say that although children's hospitals have focused on minimizing radiation exposure, most kids get scans in adult hospitals or imaging centers that have been slower to improve practices.

"It's common for us to see children who come in from other hospitals having had scans that often weren't necessary," said Dr. James Donaldson, chairman of medical imaging at Children's Memorial.

Often, scans taken at other institutions have to be redone at Children's because kids weren't prepared properly for tests or because the right area wasn't imaged, he said. Many involved high radiation doses that weren't adjusted for a child's size

or weight, Donaldson said.

Changing that is the goal of a national campaign called Image Gently that is endorsed by the American College of Radiology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Pediatric Radiology and more than a dozen other U.S. medical organizations.

Participants have agreed not to be sidetracked by ongoing controversy over the relationship between CT medical imaging and cancer. Some experts argue that only high doses of ionizing radiation , much higher than those given via CT scanning , are known to be dangerous; others insist that no dose, however low, can be considered safe. The evidence comes from studies on survivors of the atomic bombs in Japan and on workers exposed to radiation.

"While we don't know with absolute certainty that medical radiation causes cancer, we want to act as if it does," said Dr. Marilyn Goske, chair of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging and head of radiology education at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

At Children's Memorial, that means figuring out how little radiation can be used to obtain an image that's useful to physicians. Think of radiation as light: The more used, the more brilliant the image becomes. The trick is to calibrate the radiation so that the exposure is just enough, Donaldson said. Help is expected to come later this year from a blue-ribbon panel developing guidelines for better child-size estimates of radiation doses, said Keith Strauss, director of radiology physics and engineering at Children's Hospital in Boston. "The research has been done, the data is out there, now it's a matter of pulling it together," he said.

At the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, Dr. Kate Feinstein, section chief of pediatric radiology, said her group reviews every request for imaging, referring to information from prior imaging studies included in electronic medical records. (An exception is trauma cases that require immediate action.) "If there's an exam we feel would be better to do with ultrasound or a MRI, we'll call the doctor and recommend it," she said. An example is when a child has suspected appendicitis, for which ultrasounds have become the usual first choice.

Minimizing radiation doses is routine at the U. of C., and the effort will be aided by a 256-slice CT scanner just installed at Comer Hospital. Kids spend less time exposed to X-ray beams because of the machine's speed, and radiation doses should be at least half of what they are currently, Feinstein said.

Last week Lindsey Eyles, 11, became one of the first patients to try out the equipment. Her doctor, James Nachman, said he was looking for signs that the girl's cancer was responding to chemotherapy. Just over a year ago, Lindsey was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma that originated in her upper arm and traveled to her lung. The girl has had 10 CT scans, mostly of the chest, at three medical centers where she has been treated, in addition to X-rays and a positron emissions tomography scan, or PET scan.

"Too many, in my book," said her mother, Susanne Eyles. At this point, the benefits from the tests , monitoring the progress of the girl's cancer and its response to treatment, are far more important than any risks, said Nachman, a pediatric oncologist.

"Unfortunately, we really don't have the data to say whether the number of scans we're doing are optimal," he added. As long as Lindsey's doctors say imaging tests are medically necessary, "then we'll say yes, go ahead," her mom said. But "as a parent, I plan to keep on asking how many of these does she really need."—MCT

SPACE: In this photo released yesterday shows almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupting in a tumult of activity on August 1, 2010. —AFP

Monday, August 9, 2010

HEALTH & SCIENCE

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Salt room therapy on shifty ground LOS ANGELES: Heidi Kling is reading in an all-white room. She’s shoeless, but socks protect her feet from the 6 inches of salt that cake the floor. The only objects in the windowless room are four chaises and hand-molded plaster icicles that hang from the ceiling. If there were a Yeti in the room, you would swear you were on the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Normally, at 1 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, Kling would be at work or running errands, but today her allergies, which cause her ears to ring, have brought her to this monochrome sanctuary.

Basking in salt rooms, also known as halotherapy, is an alternative therapy for people with chronic respiratory and skin problems that is modeled after the salt caves and spas that originated in Eastern Europe more than 200 years ago. In the last decade, the trend has caught on, and facilities have opened up in Israel, Canada, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Florida and, most recently, Encino, Calif., home of the Salt Chalet, the first salt room treatment center on the West Coast.

But though salt rooms may be garnering fans, health experts are leery of the medicinal benefits that these rooms are purported to provide. Stories about miraculous recoveries and unprecedented health improvements are all

over the Web, said Dr. Dean Schraufnagel, professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. That doesn’t guarantee they’re true. “There haven’t been any clinical studies that research this particular therapy method,” he says.

Tucked away in a shady corner on the second floor of Encino Commons, an outdoor shopping center most notable for cameos in the movie “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” the Salt Chalet is hardly noticeable in the shadow of a Bed, Bath & Beyond and a Bally Total Fitness center.

For $55 a pop, clients relax in rooms with salt-caked walls and floors. A small hole in the wall hides the piece de resistance of the whole shebang, a generator spewing out { cup of Dead Sea salt for every 45-minute session. As customers sit, relax and breathe, they are presumably inhaling and coming into contact with this supposedly therapeutic salt.

The Salt Chalet consists of three salt rooms, two for adults and one for children. Brightly colored shovels, buckets and toy trucks litter the salt-strewn floor of the children’s room, while adults have the option to watch television, listen to music, read a book, talk to other clients in the rooms or dim the blue-hued lights

and sleep. “Everybody does their own thing when they’re in the room,” says proprietor Dikla Kadosh, who opened the facility nine months ago with her husband, David Mashiah.

Patty Adams, an accountant from San Diego, commutes to the Chalet once a week for two back-to-back sessions, booking the private adult room so she can recline without embarrassment in a bikini while listening to her iPod. She has a skin condition, psoriasis guttate, that causes red, raised lesions on much of her body during flare-ups, and she’s not comfortable revealing her skin in public.

“I like to go in with as much skin exposed so that every part of me can get a bit of the salt.” She says she has seen great improvements in her condition since she started coming to the salt room (her only other medication is antibiotics). “My skin has finally cleared up, and I’m not embarrassed to show my arms,” she says, pointing to a faded pink sore.

Adams says she learned about salt rooms from an article published earlier this year in the Jewish Journal’s Tribe magazine. That coverage, as well as publicity that it has received from KCAL Channel 9’s local news, LA Talk Radio and the daytime television series “Doctors,” has helped widen Salt Chalet’s cus-

tomer base, occasionally attracting clients from as far away as Washington state.

Schraufnagel says though it’s true that inhaling salt solutions can help treat common dust and seasonal allergies and reduce congestion in patients with cystic fibrosis by clearing up mucus, “this does not mean that salt rooms can do the same thing.”

Saline solutions administer salt to the body in a more direct way than salt rooms do, Schraufnagel notes. The solution is squirted into the nostrils, quickly and efficiently transporting salt of a specific particle size to the lungs and chest cavity. What’s more, the particle size of the salt in the solution is probably more predictable and uniform, as well as smaller, than those emitted from a salt room generator. Though the size of the particles in the air of the salt rooms is unknown, they’re probably too large to be easily inhaled, Schraufnagel says , as evidenced by the fact that some customers say the particles are large enough to be seen as they shoot out of the machine.

“To get into your lungs, the particles need to be very small,” he says, “between 1 to 5 microns in diameter.... A salt room wouldn’t be as effective as the mist from an inhaler for people with asthma or a saline solution for people

with sinus or allergy problems.”

Dr. Mark Lebwohl, chairman of the dermatology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, agrees that the benefits of salt room therapy are as yet unproved, but adds that he understands how halotherapy has become popular.

Many salt rooms, including the Salt Chalet, use salt imported from the Dead Sea. Because of the sea’s unique properties , it is the lowest point on Earth and has the highest concentration of minerals in a body of water , many people swear that its components (salt, mud and water) can treat a variety of ailments, Lebwohl says, especially skin conditions.

That hype is probably undeserved, he says: In truth, it may mostly be the sunlight that makes the Dead Sea experience therapeutic.

The spot is more than a quarter mile below sea level, and as sunlight travels through this extra depth of air, many of the sun’s damaging shortwavelength UV rays are filtered out.

In a 1996 study of 81 people with psoriasis at a Dead Sea spa, Israeli researchers found that after four weeks, the condition improved in 28 percent of those people who bathed in Dead Sea water, but of those who only sunbathed there, 73 percent saw results. Improvement

was seen in 83 percent of those who both sunbathed at the spa and went in the water.

Dr. Neil Kao, an assistant professor of medicine at the College of Medicine at the University of South Carolina, says that if salt rooms are as effective as people claim they are, then one would expect to see similar health improvements from other salt-related activities. “(Why would it) be different from ... swimming in the ocean and swallowing salt water?” he said.

Regardless of doubts and the lack of studies, the salt-room trend appears to be slowly on the upswing. “In the last few years, six salt room centers have been built in the U.S., most within the last few months,” Dikla says. She expects to see at least one additional salt room on the West Coast by the end of this year. And if nothing else , well, the sessions are relaxing. When her 45-minute session is up, Heidi Kling clicks off her iPod and takes a deep, cat-like stretch as she wakes up her body. “I’m not normally able to take naps in the day, but when I come here ...

I can’t help myself. I don’t know if these sessions are doing anything to help my allergies just yet, but I’m going to keep coming here in the hopes that they do.” — MCT

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

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Monday, August 9, 2010

Working towards promoting student initiative and motivation...

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he Australian College of Kuwait succeeds in supplying Kuwait with distinguished leaders in the work force.

The Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) in a recent survey of its graduates has identified several successful professionals. Many of ACK’s graduates have found success in their new professional life after years of dedicated academic commitment.

ACK stated that it will always support its students and their sense of initiative by providing them with a wide and enhanced range of academic and practical programs. ACK is also keen on maintaining such support to its students to enable its students to sharpen their capabilities and skills and to reach their maximum professional standing and potential.

Furthermore, ACK explained that some of its graduates were able to reach the road of success early on in their journey such as Yousef Faisal Al-Qanai, a former ACK student who holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing has already established his own company, AYMSTRONG, in

Kuwait’s private business sector.

Professor Vishy Karri, President of ACK, stated, “We are proud of Yousef Faisal Al-Qanai’s academic and current professional accomplishments. Yousef has set a practical model for the college’s vision that includes ongoing motivation and hard work.”

Professor Karri also added, “We at ACK are proud of our student body and we strive to support its potential and capability. In order to sustain that kind of support, we must continue to foster the concept of initiative. Knowledge, confidence and application are the key factors for ACK graduates’ success in the academic and professional field.” He also explained that these principles are a vital component of ACK’s mission that seeks to spread these ideals in Kuwait. Karri added that these values could only be achieved if the professional environment supports the principles and provides graduates with a working environment that is grounded in a sound and logical foundation and work ethic.

Yousef Al-Qanai, one of ACK’s

unique graduates, expressed his delight with the college’s appreciation of his professional accomplishments, “The Australian College of Kuwait has given me the opportunity for hands-on experience in my field of

profession. Having a bachelor’s degree in marketing strengthened my grasp on my academic and professional know-how.”

Al-Qanai continued, “I attained and developed a strong sense of initiative

and courage throughout my years at ACK, and for that reason, I decided not to apply for a job. Instead, I chose to establish my own business, AYMSTRONG, as the start of my own professional career and life. The compa-

ny focuses on human development and the ability to make positive changes through offering health and fitness programs. Furthermore, the company works on supporting these programs via event management, project management, and marketing campaigns.”

The young entrepreneur explained that “we at AYMSTRONG aim to be the sole leader in the human empowerment industry and we can achieve that by making sure that every client of ours who joins our cause will eventually lead a healthy and more productive life. Our mission is to guide and empower our clients to aid them in developing and enhancing themselves with our team of qualified experts, events and activities.”

Al-Qanai spoke of AYMSTRONG’s philosophy and how it functions on the main belief that human development and wellbeing begins with guidance and empowerment.

“With the right knowledge, intrinsic motivation and constant direction toward one’s goal, the doors of success will soon be within one’s reach,” Al-Qanai explained.

When asked about the origin of his company’s name, Al-Qanai pointed out that “AYMSTRONG” is simply a unique way of saying “I am strong.” The logo itself is a wolf’s paw; the wolf represents strength and cunningness while the paw is a sign of solid guidance.

As a token of his pride, Professor Karri wished Al-Qanai good luck before he presented him with Developing High Potential Leaders, a book Professor Karri autographed. He mentioned that this book will aid Al-Qanai in further developing and enhancing his leadership skills.

The proud ACK graduate concluded that “I learned many things while I was a student at ACK, things that gave me the will to pursue what I truly wanted and thus helped in developing the skills I needed to possess in order to achieve what I have accomplished today. ACK has equipped me with the main things that are needed to establish and manage a business successfully which are the right knowledge, skills and attitude.”

Sheraton unveils new online experience for guests designed by Microsoft Bing

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Sahara Kuwait Resort prepares to receive the holy month of Ramadan

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he team at Sahara Kuwait Resort has put the final touches to the operational plan for the holy month of Ramadan; the General Manager Hassan Bayerli declared that the Resort is ready to welcome its

guests to fulfill all their wishes. He added that the restaurants will serve Iftar at sunset through an open buffet of International, Middle Eastern and Local Cuisine. In addition Ghabqa will be served daily after 9 pm in the

Ramadan tent where special variety of Ramadan’s’ food, drinks and sweets will be served and accompanied by the Aleppo Musical band performing special folklore music and Molawiyah encircling performance.

heraton Hotels & Resorts today unveiled a new online experience for guests designed by Microsoft’s new decision engine, Bing, featuring intuitive tools that promotes a sense of discovery and captures the “pulse” of the local destination, helping guests seamlessly navigate their stay.

Designed as a social, interactive online global destination, the new “Sheraton Guest Portal powered by Bing” will be featured worldwide in the “Link@SheratonSM experienced with Microsoft(r)” in addition to in-room web access. As part of the brand’s $6 billion revitalization effort, Sheraton Hotels have redesigned nearly 400 lobbies worldwide with the addition of its innovative Link@Sheraton experience with Microsoft, a unique lobby lounge that enables today’s travelers access to information and technology for work, leisure and social networking.

The new portal was specially designed to provide guests with an intuitive, tailored on-line experience specific to their destination - like having a personal concierge in the palm of your hand. As part of the new online experience, guests will find constantly updated relevant content, specific to each Sheraton location, such as local maps and the top search results for area restaurants, attractions, special events

and services. With this pertinent information right at their fingertips, guests are able to make smarter, faster decisions on the road whether they’re looking for a local favorite to grab a bite in Boston or the top shopping tour in Milan. The new portal uses a mix of rich imagery with a dashboard of dynamic tools that aggregates the top items requested from the concierge and makes them easy to find. With one click of the mouse guests can print a boarding pass, find the nearest entertainment and must see sites, get the local weather forecast, read the top news stories of the day or discover more about their hotel, such as the restaurant hours and spa offerings.

“Microsoft has been an integral partner during our revitalization of the Sheraton brand from the beginning with the launch of the Link@Sheraton powered by Microsoft,” said Hoyt Harper, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management for Sheraton Hotel & Resorts. “Utilizing the Bing technology we’ve created a portal that will provide our guests with a geographically relevant and unique online experience whether they’re in the lobby or their room.”

We’re thrilled to work with Starwood to bring the powerful decision making tools of Bing to Sheraton cus-

tomers,” said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president, Online Services Division, Microsoft. “When you are on the road for business or vacation and staying at a Sheraton hotel or resort, Bing will be a great asset for helping customers make important decisions on the go, including local search tools that help you decide where to eat, what to see, and an immersive mapping experience to help customers get around.”

The Link@Sheraton experienced with Microsoft and the Sheraton Guest Portal powered by Bing are signature components of Sheraton’s $6 billion global effort to enhance the brand and differentiate the guest experience at properties worldwide. The Link’s unique lobby lounge enables today’s travelers to stay connected with instant access to information and technology for work, leisure and social networking.

Designed as a social environment, The Link invites guests to interact with each other while they check their email, research local attractions and even print boarding passes using free Wi-Fi and Internet-enabled computer stations. It also features a Link Café, televisions and daily newspapers.

Nearly 50% of all Sheraton guests use the Link@Sheraton during their stay that is more than eat breakfast, use the gym or go to that bar.

Exquisite culinary experiences await you during Ramadan at the Sheraton

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JW Marriott Kuwait launches ‘spirit to serve the hungry’

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he JW Marriott recently announced the launch of the ‘spirit to serve the hungry’ campaign held in cooperation with the World Food Program. The hotel’s administration urged for participation in the campaign which will help raise necessary aid for food supplies at poor areas around the world.

njoy your Ramadan nights at Sheraton Kuwait’s famous Ramadan tent where the traditional settings of Ramadan and the warm family atmosphere can be experienced. Sheraton’s team of expert chefs will be preparing mouthwatering dishes to titillate every palate. Enjoy our open buffet and live cooking stations for Iftar and Suhour whilst quenching your thirst and boosting your energy with our traditional Ramadan beverages which include Jelab, Tamarhindi, Ark Sous, Kamardine to name a few.

Al Hambra international restaurant will be open for “A La Carte” dining daily from 7:00 pm until 1:00 am. For a moment of respite, relax in the elegance of the English Tea Lounge and enjoy the traditional English hospitality open daily during the holy month of Ramadan from 7:00 pm until 2:00 am. The English Tea Lounge is also available now at The Avenues Mall and will welcome you everyday during the holy month of Ramadan from 8:00 pm until 1:00 am where you can discover the best of English Tea. For your private functions during the holy month of Ramadan, the Sheraton Kuwait has prepared a wide selection of Ramadan menus for Iftar, Gkabka and Suhour.

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Monday, August 9, 2010

31 Embassy information EMBASSY OF US

The Regency Hotel holds special ‘press’ Quraish dinner

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he Regency Hotel recently organized a Quraish dinner for press and media team to thank them for their efforts and support. Executive Chef, Oswald had painstakingly and very creatively put together an elaborate and exclusive menu for this very event.

The media team members were welcomed by the entire Hotel Management, Sales and Restaurant team at the spacious and very luxu-

Announcements 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.

Egyptian week during Ramadan at Crowne Plaza

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amadan is always different at Crowne Plaza Kuwait. This year, the Egyptian Week will be held at the Al Afrah ballroom of the hotel, during the first week of the holy month of Ramadan. Under the slogan of the Soul of Egypt in Ramadan, this celebratory occasion is to be conducted under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism in Egypt, in addition to the Embassy of Egypt in Kuwait and the Port Ghalib resort.

With the aim of boosting the tourism of Egypt, from the Arab region during the month of Ramadan, the décor will be totally along the lines of Egyptian flavor, transporting any visitor to the Al Afrah Ballroom to a world of relaxation and pleasures, waiting for the tourist to explore. The importance of the knowledge of a country’s customs and traditions are an important

feature of its tourism.

To this end, an Egyptian styled tent will be set up, while another corner of the ballroom will feature the ever - famous and always on demand coffee shop, popularly known as Fishawy. The famous lanterns of Ramadan add to the ambience of the décor and style, while the tent seating style is the norm during the week for any visitor who chooses to linger and enjoy the moment.

Delicious Egyptian food will be presented to the strains of traditional music of the East played on the harps and the flutes as well as the indigenous instruments of the Ney and Oud played by a band specialized in the folk music of Egypt. The traditional Egyptian dance, Al Tanoura, is another remarkable feature of this week, performed by professionals, and a wonder to the beholder,

with the layers of skirts that twirl to the music and the movement of the dancers.

Step into a fascinating world this Ramadan through the doors of the Crowne Plaza Kuwait. The biggest and most beautiful moon hangs from a height of 15 meters hangs there, amid softly twinkling stars and glowing Ramadan lanterns, guiding your way to the Al Afrah Ballroom. Crowne Plaza Kuwait keeps pace with the latest developments and technology to provide the best to its guests at all times of the year. The newest hallmark feature is the Spa Aquatonic with the unique Aquatonic pool, which helps the blood circulation, providing relaxation and weight loss. Take this opportunity to enjoy the beauty of architecture and technology featured on a global level this Ramadan!

Experience Ramadan at Al-Shallal Restaurant in Kuwait Hyatt Hotel

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.

Australian Federal Election 2010

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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.

rious lobby and enjoyed sumptuous buffet dinner at The Silk Road Restaurant.

The event was an overall grand success which promises our people in Kuwait the very best in service this coming Ramadan. Scrumptious cuisine and a welcoming Arabian ambiance with the Regency family is something commendable.

The Regency family wishes Ramadan Kareem to all Kuwaiti Nationals & residents!

K

amal Ballout General Manager of Kuwait Hyatt Hotel invite you to come and enjoy the traditional Ramadan atmosphere at our superb Al-Shallal Restaurant which will be open daily from sunset till early morning. Our chef will prepare wide range of delicious buffet for Iftar and Sahour with rich variety of Arabic and Continental cuisine, Shisha with different variety of flavor is available in our Al-Shallal Restaurant. Enjoy also the extra ordinary experience for your private function either in the hotel or outside catering.

During the holy month of Ramadan our Lobby Lounge will be open daily from sunset till sunrise enjoy with your friends and family our fresh baked cakes, fresh juices, different varieties of coffee with mouth watering snacks.

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 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.

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria wishes to invite all Nigerians residing in Kuwait to come and register with the Embassy.

The registration is compulsory for all Nigerians residing /visiting Kuwait. Kindly bring the following documents along with you: • A photocopy of the Nigerian passport • One passport photograph • Copy of the civil identification card or visa For additional information please call: 25620278 or visit the Embassy at Block, 4, Malik Bin Anas Street, Avenue 44, House 31, Along Al-Aqsa Road, Rumaithiya. The Consular Section opens Sunday - Thursday from 9 am - 3 pm Your prompt response is highly solicited.

EMBASSY OF 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

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Monday, August 9, 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 Damages Cold Case Ghost Whisperer The Ex-List Survivor Heroes vs Villains ER Mercy The Ex-List Murdoch Mysteries Ghost Whisperer Survivor Heroes vs Villains ER Murdoch Mysteries Ghost Whisperer The Ex-List Damages Cold Case Mercy ER White Collar Inside the Actors Studio 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 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:55 11:20 11:50 12:45 13:10 13:40 14:35 15:00 15:30 16:25 16:50 17:20 18:15 19:10 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:50

Weird Creatures with Nick Baker Ultimate Air Jaws Shark Bait Beach Untamed & Uncut Animal Cops Houston Animal Cops Houston SSPCA: On the Wildside Vet on the Loose Animal Crackers Meerkat Manor The Planet’s Funniest Animals The Planet’s Funniest Animals Groomer Has It In Too Deep Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz Monkey Life Dolphin Days Animal Precinct E-Vets: The Interns Pet Rescue Animal Cops Miami Wildlife SOS RSPCA: On the Frontline Ultimate Air Jaws The Planet’s Funniest Animals The Planet’s Funniest Animals Dogs 101 I’m Alive China’s Last Elephants Animal Cops Houston I Shouldn’t Be Alive I’m Alive Animal Cops Philadelphia Untamed & Uncut

00:20 01:10 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:15 03:35 03:45 04:10 04:25 04:45 04:55 05:30 06:30 07:00 07:15 07:35 07:45 08:15 08:30 08:50 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:45 13:15 13:45 14:15 15:15 15:45 16:15 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:35 22:45 23:45

00:05 00:35 01:25 02:10 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:35 05:05 05:50 06:15 07:00 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:45 10:05 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30 15:50 16:15 17:00 17:50 18:45 19:40 20:10 20:40 21:05 21:55 22:40 23:30

01:30 03:30 05:15 07:30 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:15

Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential Hotel Babylon Inspector Lynley Mysteries Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Coast Mastermind 2006 Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Gigglebiz Tweenies Tellytales Tikkabilla Mastermind 2006 Coast Last Of The Summer Wine Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Only Fools And Horses Doctors Mastermind 2006 Coast Last Of The Summer Wine Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Doctors Only Fools And Horses Mine All Mine Waterloo Road The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Terry Jones’ Barbarians Doctor Who Confidential Holby City Holby City

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 Indian Food Made Easy Rhodes Across China James Martin’s Champagne Coastal Kitchen Cash In The Attic USA Antiques Roadshow Living In The Sun Bargain Hunt Hidden Potential Cash In The Attic USA Rhodes Across China Living In The Sun Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me Cash In The Attic Living In The Sun Bargain Hunt Hidden Potential Rhodes Across China Fantasy Homes In The City Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me MasterChef Goes Large Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Cash In The Attic Come Dine With Me MasterChef Goes Large

Civilization Of Maxwell Bright-18 The Border-PG15 Liberty Heights-18 2012: Startling New Secret-PG Reservation Road-PG15 Losing Isaiah-PG15 Travellers And Magicians-PG15 Xanadu-PG We Are Marshall-PG15 American Teen-PG15 Katyn-PG15 Arlington Road-18

2009 09:00 Quattro Int Events: 1000 Trails/red Bull Linecatcher 09:30 Quattro Int Events: The Huber Brothers: Expedition Antartica 10:00 Quattro Int Events: Cape Epic 2009 10:30 Quattro Int Events: Gt Academy 1 11:00 Fim World Motocross Mx1 = Mx2 12:00 Untracked Series 1 12:30 Untracked Series 1 13:00 Breitling Airsports 2009 13:30 Breitling Airsports 2009 14:00 Rebel Events 2009: Asthetiker Special Ep 14:30 Rebel Events 2009: Int’l Highlights Road To Ep4 15:00 Fim World Motocross Mx1 = Mx2 16:00 Untracked Series 1 16:30 Untracked Series 1 17:00 Quattro Int Events: Fwt Verbier 2009 17:30 Quattro Int Events: Orange Freeski 2009 18:00 Quattro Int Events: 1000 Trails/red Bull Linecatcher 18:30 Quattro Int Events: The Huber Brothers: Expedition Antartica 19:00 Quattro Int Events: Cape Epic 2009 19:30 Quattro Int Events: Gt Academy 1 20:00 Untracked Series 1 20:30 Untracked Series 1 21:00 Fim World Motocross Mx1 = Mx2 22:00 Bmx Megatour 23:00 M1 Challange

Wild Child on Show Movies 23:00 Hannah Montana 23:25 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:50 Wizards Of Waverly Place 00:40 Destroyed in Seconds 01:05 Destroyed in Seconds 01:35 Ultimate Car Build-Off 02:30 Wheeler Dealers 03:00 Wheeler Dealers 03:25 Construction Intervention 04:20 How Stuff’s Made 04:50 How It’s Made 05:15 Destroyed in Seconds 05:40 Destroyed in Seconds 06:05 Extreme Engineering 07:00 Massive Machines 07:25 Discovery Project Earth 08:15 Street Customs Berlin 09:10 Mythbusters 10:05 Ultimate Survival 11:00 Overhaulin’ 11:55 Border Security 12:25 How It’s Made 12:50 How Stuff’s Made 13:20 Mythbusters 14:15 Miami Ink 15:10 Ultimate Survival 16:05 Dirty Jobs 17:00 Deadliest Catch 17:55 Mythbusters 18:50 Cake Boss 19:15 Border Security 19:40 The Gadget Show 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 How Stuff’s Made 21:00 Ultimate Survival 21:55 Deadliest Catch: Toughest Moments 22:50 Black Gold 23:45 Ross Kemp in Afghanistan

00:30 00:55 01:20 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:50 11:45 12:40 13:35 14:30 15:25 16:20 16:50 17:45 18:40 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science The Colony The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Catch It Keep It NYC: Inside Out Nextworld How Does That Work?

Engineered Junkyard Wars The Sun Are We Alone?

Race to Mars Race to Mars Race to Mars Race to Mars Investigation X Investigation X How Stuff’s Made Scrapheap Challenge Brainiac Da Vinci’s Machines Kings of Construction How It’s Made How It’s Made Mighty Ships Da Vinci’s Machines Kings of Construction Mega Builders

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 09:10 09:35 10:00 10:20 10:45 11:00 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 17:55 18:15 18:40 19:00 19:25 19:45 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:45 22:10 22:35

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 Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Handy Manny Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jungle Junction Fairly Odd Parents Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Hannah Montana Fairly Odd Parents Phineas And Ferb Replacements Suite Life On Deck Hannah Montana Kim Possible A Kind Of Magic Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Stitch Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Fairly Odd Parents Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Jonas Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance

00:40 Bank Of Hollywood 01:30 25 Celebrity Near Death Experiences 03:15 Extreme Hollywood 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Battle Of The Hollywood Hotties 05:30 Streets Of Hollywood 06:00 Ths 07:45 Behind The Scenes 08:10 Behind The Scenes 08:35 E! News 09:25 Denise Richards: It’s Complicated 09:50 Leave It To Lamas 10:15 15 Unforgettable Hollywood Tragedies 12:00 E! News 12:50 Behind The Scenes 13:15 Pretty Wild 13:40 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:05 Kendra 14:30 Dr 90210 15:25 Ths 16:15 Behind The Scenes 16:40 Behind The Scenes 17:10 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami 17:35 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami 18:00 E! News 18:50 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 19:15 Pretty Wild 19:40 Ths 20:30 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:20 Giuliana And Bill 22:10 E! News 23:00 The Soup 23:25 Wildest Tv Show Moments 23:50 Pretty Wild

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 2009 08:30

Legend Of Spiderman 1 King Of The Cage 2 Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Tread Bmx Continuum 1 I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 I-Ex Season 2 Quattro Int Events: Fwt Verbier Quattro Int Events: Orange Freeski

00:00 01:00 01:30 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 21:30 22:00 23:00 23:30

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:05 04:00 04:55 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 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

Chopped 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 30 Minute Meals 30 Minute Meals Guys Big Bite Throwdown With Bobby Flay Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Food Network Challenge Barefoot Contessa Everyday Italian Iron Chef America Unwrapped Guys Big Bite Chopped 30 Minute Meals Tyler’s Ultimate Food Network Challenge Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Everyday Italian Iron Chef America Throwdown With Bobby Flay Guys Big Bite

Dr G: Medical Examiner True Crime Scene Disappeared Serial Killers I Escaped Death Ghosthunters FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Forensic Detectives FBI Files Undercover The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls The Prosecutors Disappeared Forensic Detectives FBI Files Undercover The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives FBI Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls The Prosecutors

The Strangers on Show Movies Action

21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Disappeared FBI Case Files Forensic Justice Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:30 Bondi Rescue 01:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 01:30 Bondi Rescue 02:00 Graham’s World 02:30 Banged Up Abroad 04:30 4Real 05:00 Pressure Cook 05:30 Motorcycle Karma 06:30 Bondi Rescue 07:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 07:30 Bondi Rescue 08:00 Graham’s World 08:30 Banged Up Abroad 10:30 4Real 11:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet 11:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 12:30 Word Travels 13:00 Bondi Rescue 13:30 Departures 14:30 Long Way Down 15:30 Madventures 16:00 Banged Up Abroad 17:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet 17:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 18:30 Word Travels 19:00 Bondi Rescue 19:30 Departures 20:30 Long Way Down 21:30 Madventures 22:00 Banged Up Abroad 23:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet 23:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled

(Global Edition) 21:30 Colbert Report Global 22:00 Monday night Stand Up 23:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 23:30 New Adventures of old Christine

00:00 The Martha Stewart Show 01:00 Downsize Me 02:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00

The Philanthropist Law & Order Desperate Housewives One Tree Hill Three Sisters Home Improvement Psych Emmerdale

06:05 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:55 10:50 12:05 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 15:55

Human Weapon Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Sea Detectives How the Earth Was Made 2 Tales of the Gun Declassified Pawn Stars Human Weapon Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Sea Detectives How the Earth Was Made 2 Tales of the Gun Declassified

16:50 18:05 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:40

Pawn Stars Human Weapon Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Sea Detectives Tales of the Gun Mega Movers Deep Sea Detectives Engineering Disasters Ice Road Truckers 2

01:15 SFW 02:50 The Object Of Beauty 04:30 I Love You, Don’t Touch Me 05:55 Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf 07:25 Sleepover 08:55 Jiminy Glick In Lala Wood 10:25 Hennessy 12:10 Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number!

13:50 The Extreme Adventures Of Super Dave 15:20 Mr. Accident 16:50 Italian Movie 18:25 Hoosiers 20:20 Barbershop 22:00 Legally Blonde 23:35 Bojangles

00:00 Brothers 00:30 Scrubs 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (repeat) 01:30 The Colbert Report (repeat) 02:00 Entourage 02:30 How to make it in America 03:00 Saturday Night Live 04:30 Family Biz 05:00 Just Shoot me!

05:30 Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 07:00 Eight Simple Rules 07:30 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air 08:00 Frasier 08:30 Just Shoot me!

09:00 Family Biz 09:30 The Drew Carey show 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Will & Grace 11:00 Frasier 11:30 New Adventures of old Christine 12:00 Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 13:00 The Drew Carey show 13:30 Just Shoot me!

14:00 Family Biz 14:30 Scrubs 15:00 Brothers 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 Best of late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

A Dog Year on Super Movies 03:00 Moms Get Real / Now you know / Amplified 04:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Best Of) 05:00 GMA Weekend (Repeat) 06:00 Parenting 06:30 Popcorn 07:00 Ahead of The Curve 07:30 Chef’s Table 08:00 The Martha Stewart Show 09:00 Downsize Me 10:00 The Best of Jimmy Kimmel 11:00 The View (repeat) 12:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 13:00 The Martha Stewart Show 14:00 GMA Live 16:00 Ahead of The Curve 16:30 Nature’s Edge 17:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Best Of) 18:00 10 Years Younger 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 02:15 04:15 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Man About Town-18 Eva-PG15 Mostly Ghostly-PG Bottle Shock-PG15 Wild Child-PG15 Keith-PG15 Valkyrie-PG15 Gifted Hands-PG15 Wild Child-PG15 Ocean’s Thirteen-PG15 Joe’s Palace-18 I Love You, Man-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:10 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Predator 2-18 The Strangers-PG15 Arn: The Knight Templar-PG15 Wushu Warrior-PG15 Nightfall-PG15 Smokin’ Aces-18 Alone In The Dark 2-18 Nightfall-PG15 Star Trek 10 : Nemesis-PG15 Traitor-PG15 Kiss The Girls-18 The Hills Run Red-18

02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:15 20:00 22:00

The Birdcage-18 Touch And Go-PG Bridal Fever-PG I.q.-PG Big Daddy-PG15 Wag The Dog-PG Fifty Pills-PG15 I’m Not Rappaport-PG15 The Matchmaker-PG15 Dirty Work-PG15 Deep In The Valley-PG15

00:00 Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs-FAM 02:00 G-force-PG 04:00 Magic Sport 2-PG 06:00 Robin Hood: The King’s ReturnFAM 08:00 Scruff Cinderella’s Carnival-FAM 10:00 Magic Sport 2-PG 12:00 Basket Fever-FAM 14:00 G-force-PG 16:00 Robin Hood: The Invincible KnightFAM 18:00 Hey Arnold! The Movie-PG 20:00 The Good Witch-PG 22:00 Basket Fever-FAM

06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Coronation Street Desperate Housewives Three Sisters Home Improvement One Tree Hill Psych Desperate Housewives Emmerdale Coronation Street Three Sisters Home Improvement The Philanthropist Law & Order Psych One Tree Hill Emmerdale Coronation Street Eureka Drop Dead Diva Desperate Housewives Without a trace One Tree Hill

00:00 NRL Premiership 02:00 AFL Premiership 04:30 NRL Premiership 06:30 World Sport 07:00 World Pool Masters 08:00 Tri Nations 10:00 NRL Premiership 12:00 Live NRL Premiership 14:00 Futbol Mundial 14:30 Tri Nations 16:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 17:00 NRL Premiership 19:00 Triatholn 20:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 21:00 NRL Premiership 23:00 World Match Racing Tour Highlights

00:00 01:00 03:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:30 15:00 17:00 18:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

WWE NXT WWE SmackDown UFC 117 Silva vs. Sonnin UFC Unleashed WWE Bottom Line Red Bull X-Fighters Highlights UAE National Race Day Planet Power Boats Le Mans Series Highlights V8 Supercars Championship WWE Vintage Collection FIA GT1 World Championship UAE National Race Day WWE Smackdown WWE Vintage Collection UFC 117 Silva vs. Sonnin UFC Wired UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed

01:00 Choke-18 03:00 The Loss Of A Teardrop DiamondPG15 05:00 From Time To Time-PG15 07:00 Familiar Strangers-PG 09:00 A Dog Year-PG 10:30 Rails And Ties-PG15 12:30 The Children Of Huang Shi-PG15 15:00 The Christmas Clause-PG 17:00 A Dog Year-PG 19:00 Management-PG15 21:00 Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants 2-PG15 23:00 Precious-PG15

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:55 04:50 05:40

Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Sea Detectives How the Earth Was Made 2 Tales of the Gun Declassified Pawn Stars Pawn Stars

00:05 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof 01:55 Slaves Of New York 04:00 Mutiny On The Bounty 07:00 High Society 08:45 The Screening Room 09:15 Two Weeks In Another Town 11:00 Welcome To Hard Times 12:40 The Screening Room 13:10 The Champ 15:15 Where Were You When The Lights Went Out? 16:45 The Sunshine Boys 18:35 Hearts Of The West 20:15 Captain Nemo And The Underwater City 22:00 Vampira

00:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey 01:00 Travel Today 01:30 Great Scenic Railways-US & Canada 02:00 Globe Trekker 03:00 Travel Notebook 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey 06:00 Planet Food 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 $100 Taxi Ride 08:30 Distant Shores 09:00 Culture Shock 09:30 Croissants In The Jungle 10:00 Planet Food 11:00 People of the Sea 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Chef Abroad 13:30 The Thirsty Traveler 14:00 Sophie Grigson in the Souk 14:30 Distant Shores 15:00 Culture Shock 15:30 Croissants In The Jungle 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 $100 Taxi Ride 17:30 Chef Abroad 18:00 Planet Food 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Planet Food 21:00 Hollywood and Vines 21:30 The Thirsty Traveler 22:00 Globe Trekker

00:00 Millennium Fashion: The Year In Fashion 03:00 Split Ends 04:00 Dr 90210 05:00 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 06:00 How Do I Look?

07:00 Style Star 07:30 Dress My Nest 08:00 My Celebrity Home 09:00 Style Star 09:30 Style Her Famous 10:00 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

11:00 Peter Perfect 12:00 Ruby 13:00 Clean House 14:00 Tacky House 15:00 Home Wars 16:00 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

17:00 How Do I Look?

19:00 Split Ends 20:00 Clean House: Search For The Messiest...

21:00 Peter Perfect 22:00 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 23:00 Peter Perfect

Monday, August 9, 2010

33

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Monday 09/08/2010 Airlines Flt Route Wataniya Airways 322 Sharm El Sheikh Wataniya Airways 188 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 306 Cairo Middle East 406 Beirut Bangladesh 045 Dhaka/Bahrain Wataniya Airways 408 Beirut Gulf Air 211 Bahrain Turkish 772 Istanbul Ethiopian 620 Addis Ababa/Bahrain Jazeera 435 Mashad Air Arabia Egypt 551 Alexandria Egypt Air 614 Cairo Jazeera 267 Beirut DHL 370 Bahrain Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 138 Doha Falcon 201 Dubai Jazeera 637 Aleppo Jazeera 503 Luxor Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok Jazeera 527 Alexandria British 157 London Jazeera 529 Assiut Kuwait 204 Lahore Kuwait 382 Delhi Kuwait 302 Mumbai Fly Dubai 053 Dubai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 352 Cochin Kuwait 284 Dhaka Kuwait 344 Chennai Kuwait 362 Colombo Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 121 Sharjah Qatari 132 Doha Etihad 301 Abu Dhabi Jazeera 425 Bahrain Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 182 Bahrain Middle East 404 Beirut Wataniya Airways 102 Dubai Jazeera 165 Dubai Jazeera 447 Doha Iran Aseman 6521 Lamerd Jazeera 171 Dubai Egypt Air 610 Cairo Oman Air 645 Muscat Jordanian 800 Amman United 982 Washington DC Dulles Wataniya Airways 432 Damascus Fly Dubai 057 Dubai Jazeera 257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 332 Alexandria Wataniya Airways 422 Amman Saudia 500 Jeddah Kuwait 552 Damascus Nas Air 745 Jeddah Qatari 134 Doha Kuwait 548 Luxor Kuwait 546 Alexandria Kuwait 678 Muscat/Abu Dhabi Kuwait 118 New York Bahrain Air 344 Bahrain Etihad 303 Abu Dhabi Emirates 857 Dubai Gulf Air 215 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 402 Beirut Saudia 510 Riyadh Jazeera 493 Jeddah Arabia 125 Sharjah Jazeera 239 Amman Jazeera 367 Deirezzor SriLankan 227 Colombo/Dubai Kuwait 104 London Wataniya Airways 304 Cairo Wataniya Airways 106 Dubai Kuwait 542 Cairo Kuwait 502 Beirut Kuwait 786 Jeddah Kuwait 618 Doha Jazeera 177 Dubai Kuwait 744 Dammam Kuwait 674 Dubai Kuwait 614 Bahrain Kuwait 774 Riyadh Indian 575 Chennai/Goa Fly Dubai 061 Dubai Middle East 402 Beirut Rovos 081 Baghdad Jet A/W 572 Mumbai KLM 0445 Amsterdam Wataniya Airways 404 Beirut Wataniya Airways 632 Rome DHL 372 Bahrain Gulf Air 217 Bahrain Jazeera 459 Damascus Emirates 859 Dubai Qatari 136 Doha United 981 Bahrain Jazeera 429 Bahrain Jazeera 449 Doha Jazeera 185 Dubai Egypt Air 612 Cairo Tunis Air 327 Tunis Lufthansa 636 Frankfurt Pakistan 239 Sialkot Wataniya Airways 108 Dubai

Time 00:10 00:30 00:50 00:40 01:05 01:05 01:05 01:15 01:45 01:45 02:00 02:05 02:10 02:15 02:25 02:55 03:25 05:25 05:45 05:50 06:15 06:20 06:30 06:40 07:10 07:20 07:50 07:55 08:00 08:05 08:10 08:20 08:20 08:25 08:40 09:00 09:25 10:25 10:45 10:45 10:50 11:05 11:15 11:20 11:45 12:40 12:55 13:15 13:35 13:35 13:35 13:50 14:05 14:05 14:10 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:30 15:35 16:15 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:40 17:40 17:55 18:00 18:35 18:35 18:45 18:50 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:05 19:15 19:20 19:20 19:25 19:30 20:05 20:20 20:30 20:30 20:40 20:50 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:35 21:55 22:15 22:30 22:40 22:55 23:35 23:45 23:55 23:55

Departure Flights on Monday 09/08/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 528 Assiut Middle East 409 Beirut India Express 390 Mangalore/Kozhikode KLM 0447 Amsterdam Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt Safi 216 Kabul Indian 982 Ahmedabad/Hyderabad/Chennai Pakistan 206 Peshawar/Lahore Middle East 407 Beirut Turkish 773 Istanbul Bangladesh 046 Dhaka Ethiopian 620 Bahrain/Addis Ababa Air Arabia Egypt 552 Alexandria Egypt Air 615 Cairo DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 306 Abu Dhabi Qatari 139 Doha Wataniya Airways 101 Dubai Jazeera 164 Dubai Wataniya Airways 331 Alexandria Jazeera 422 Bahrain Jazeera 446 Doha Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 181 Bahrain Jazeera 256 Beirut Wataniya Airways 431 Damascus British 156 London Jazeera 170 Dubai Kuwait 545 Alexandria Fly Dubai 054 Dubai Kuwait 677 Abu Dhabi/Muscat Wataniya Airways 421 Amman Kuwait 551 Damascus Arabia 122 Sharjah Kuwait 547 Luxor Wataniya Airways 631 Rome Emirates 856 Dubai Qatari 133 Doha Etihad 302 Abu Dhabi Wataniya Airways 401 Beirut Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Kuwait 165 Rome/Paris Wataniya Airways 303 Cairo Middle East 405 Beirut Kuwait 541 Cairo Jazeera 238 Amman Jazeera 492 Jeddah Jazeera 366 Deirezzor Kuwait 103 London Iran Aseman 6522 Lamerd Kuwait 501 Beirut Kuwait 785 Jeddah Egypt Air 611 Cairo Oman Air 646 Muscat Wataniya Airways 105 Dubai Jordanian 801 Amman Fly Dubai 058 Dubai United 982 Bahrain Jazeera 176 Dubai Kuwait 673 Dubai Wataniya Airways 403 Beirut Kuwait 617 Doha Saudia 501 Jeddah Nas Air 746 Jeddah Jazeera 458 Damascus Kuwait 773 Riyadh Qatari 135 Doha Kuwait 613 Bahrain Kuwait 743 Dammam Rovos 082 Baghdad Bahrain Air 345 Bahrain Etihad 304 Abu Dhabi Gulf Air 216 Bahrain Emirates 858 Dubai Wataniya Airways 305 Cairo Kuwait 543 Cairo Arabia 126 Sharjah Jazeera 184 Dubai Saudia 511 Riyadh Jazeera 448 Doha SriLankan 228 Dubai/Colombo Jazeera 428 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 407 Beirut Wataniya Airways 433 Damascus Wataniya Airways 107 Dubai Kuwait 283 Dhaka Jazeera 266 Beirut Fly Dubai 062 Dubai Kuwait 331 Trivandrum Middle East 403 Beirut Jet A/W 571 Mumbai Wataniya Airways 187 Bahrain KLM 0445 Bahrain/Amsterdam Gulf Air 218 Bahrain DHL 373 Bahrain Kuwait 675 Dubai Emirates 860 Dubai Falcon 102 Bahrain Kuwait 381 Delhi Qatari 137 Doha Kuwait 301 Mumbai Kuwait 205 Islamabad Jazeera 526 Alexandria United 981 Washington DC Dulles Jazeera 502 Luxor Kuwait 411 Bangkok/Manila Egypt Air 613 Cairo

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Time 00:05 00:05 00:25 00:30 00:50 01:00 01:05 01:10 01:40 02:15 02:15 04:15 02:40 03:05 03:15 03:45 04:00 05:00 06:50 07:05 07:30 07:30 07:40 07:45 07:50 08:05 08:10 08:25 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 09:10 09:10 09:20 09:20 09:30 09:40 10:00 10:10 11:35 11:35 11:45 11:50 11:50 12:00 12:10 12:15 12:15 12:30 12:45 13:00 13:30 13:55 14:15 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:50 14:55 15:10 15:10 15:35 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:05 16:20 16:20 16:25 17:00 17:25 17:35 18:05 18:05 18:05 18:10 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:40 20:00 20:10 20:50 21:00 21:20 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:20 23:40 23:40 23:40 23:55

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available with family for Keralite family or a working lady or bachelor near Indian Community Senior school, Salmiya. Tel: 66135116.

(C 2553) Sharing accommodation available in a C-A/C building with separate bathroom, in Abbasiya, Sreeragom furniture building (opp.

Spencerce bakery) for a couple or an executive bachelor with a Keralite family from September 1.

Contact No: 24348730 / 99750711. (C 2552) 9-8-2010 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

FOR SALE Toyota Yaris 2008, black, inside black, hatchback, full option, run 30,000 km only, in excellent condition. KD 2,350. Tel: 99881982.

(C 2551) 9-8-2010 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

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

SITUATION WANTED

MATRIMONIAL 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

Proposals invited for 31 years Keralite Ezhava male, divorced, working in Kuwait looking for suitable alliance.

Caste no bar. Email: prabinparapurath@gmail.com (C 2554) 9-8-2010

fessionally 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

Proposals invited from pro-

8-8-2010

34

SPECTRUM

Monday, August 9, 2010

Calvin

CROSSWORD 47

Aries (March 21-April 19) This is a time when you can expect a little extra support or recognition from those around you. You may feel that you are in touch and in harmony with others and that the lines of communication are open. The support you need is there for whatever you would like to accomplish, or not accomplish, today. You could find that you are appreciated for your feelings or your ability to act and get things done.

There is an instinctive need to be powerful or perhaps, respected. The respect is present because of your own personal makeup but power comes from your wisdom. When there is plenty of space to express your wisdom, you will gain much power. This is a communicative time and you will find yourself flexible, mental and other-oriented.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Many lines of communication are opened and you gain more recognition as a result.

Your love of simplicity is good for politics too. It brings out the truth and a sense of honesty in a group. You are freedom loving and at times, independent. This is a creative period for you, a time to take a chance, a time to be appreciated and admired. You can really get your ideas across to others. You will be reminded of a resolution about diet and nutrition today. Romance and other things that tug at the heartstrings come your way as a new cycle begins. A child or lover may come to mean everything. You are happy in austere settings and enjoy getting back to the basics. Religion, truth and the world of philosophy and ideas are of interest today.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. A master's degree in business.

4. An abnormal state in which the normal flow of a liquid (such as blood) is slowed or stopped.

10. An overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration.

13. The address of a web page on the world wide web.

14. In an unnatural eery manner.

15. An informal term for a father.

16. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (19021984).

18. A blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically.

19. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

20. A sudden short attack.

22. A state in southwestern Germany famous for its beer.

24. Formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between Canis Major and the Southern Cross.

25. A port city in southwestern Iran.

27. A hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color.

28. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

29. A system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage.

33. A Powhatan Indian woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life (15951617).

38. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

39. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

41. A metric unit of length equal to 10,000 meters.

42. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

44. A lawyer who pleads cases in court.

47. Botswanan statesman who was the first president of Botswana (1921-1980).

48. A small island.

51. (astronomy) A measure of time defined by Earth's orbital motion.

52. A small cake leavened with yeast.

56. Illusory auditory perception of strange nonverbal sounds.

60. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

61. King of England who was renounced by Northumbria in favor of his brother Edgar (died in 959).

64. The residue that remains when something is burned.

65. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

66. A member of the Semitic speaking people of northern Ethiopia.

67. A doctor's degree in education.

DOWN 1. Ritual hand movement in Hindu religious dancing.

2. Eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips.

3. Nonstandard usage adv 1.

4. (of champagne) Moderately dry.

5. A brittle silver-white metalloid element that is related to selenium and sulfur.

6. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

7. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.

8. A Greek epic poem (attributed to Homer) describing the siege of Troy.

9. The forest trees growing in a country or region.

10. The sixth month of the civil year.

11. Gully or streambed in North Africa and the Middle East that remains dry except during rainy season.

12. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

17. (Philippine) A dish of marinated vegetables and meat or fish.

21. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

23. Type genus of the Anatidae.

26. The cry made by sheep.

30. A software system that facilitates the creation and maintenance and use of an electronic database.

31. The British system of withholding tax.

32. (computer science) A standardized language for the descriptive markup of documents.

34. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

35. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

36. Malicious satisfaction.

37. A white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum.

40. Not fake or counterfeit.

43. The function or position properly or customarily occupied or served by another.

45. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agriculture and patron of scribes and schools.

46. All the plant life in a particular region.

49. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

50. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque.

53. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

54. Serving as or forming a base.

55. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

57. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on the sea or ships.

58. Hormone secreted by the posterior pituitary gland (trade name Pitressin) and also by nerve endings in the hypothalamus.

59. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

62. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.

63. A heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You could be guiding young people in religious matters. You are a very feeling person and can sense the drift of a situation without a lot of analysis. Question and answer sessions are fun and easy this day. There could be challenges to fulfill someone elseís expectations. You could be left with a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to matters of education, philosophy and conceptual ability. In a word, you revere this kind of stuff, not because it is natural to you but rather because it does not come easily for you--you have to work for it. There may be a tendency on your part to puff up your intellectual powers. There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with someone you love. This is a happy time.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your inner resources and emotions are accented today. You can expect a sense of support and good will from those around you for whatever you would like to achieve. You are in a planning mood and are very clearheaded and able to view all the alternative paths. Go ahead and make those decisions. You can see the road ahead and will make the right choices. There is an interest and ability in athletics, exercise, working with the physical body and the out-of-doors, should be life-long. Another form of this could be in training or coaching others. This is what you may find yourself doing in the afternoon. Romance is your trademark and this evening you will come up with some fascinating ideas in how to add some extra spice to your romancing.

Leo (July 23-August 22) There are abilities present today to ground and make spiritual ideas a practical matter--bringing them down to earth and into everyday life. You have great discipline when it comes to working with spirituality and unity--whatever binds or links all of us together. There is smooth progress ahead of you today and all opposition; if any, seems to have melted away. You would be able to teach others through your own experiences. You grasp the principles that bind things together, the essentials of practical religion--a down-to-earth mysticism. Provided you do not spend it all on the fancy things that catch your eye, this can be a financially favorable period. This is a great time to reflect and understand your situation--just how you feel you are progressing in your life.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) The world is a sacred place to you and you have an absolute commitment to spiritual ideas. Intuition is a fact of life and you most often display your sensitive, kind and gentle side. You are a romantic, with a tender heart. You always work for a real future, doing what has to be done. You love all that is musical and artistic. You are sensitive to all that is psychic and you enjoy real faith. You may decide to dive in to one of your hobbies and could even decide to do some reading or writing, perhaps a short story. Obtaining and exchanging information is of emotional significance for you. Becoming involved with neighbors or sibling(s) satisfies a deep emotional need. Communicating feelings in a clear manner is important now.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Someone that speaks a foreign language may come to your attention this morning. You will be able to help them in some way that others will not. Perhaps your helpfulness will be most appreciated as you help teach the meaning of diving symbols or smooth out a misunderstanding from some slang phrase. You find it easy to work with the emotions and feelings of others and with great imagination.

You enjoy working with groups of people as well. You are in a great mood of self-enjoyment. You may see value in or feel love for an older person or someone in authority--perhaps some entertainment show. This is a great time to be with friends or a loved one. You have a built-in sense of what others want and can come up with just the right image.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A new piece of furniture or something else that needs assembly will have your attention this morning. If you have instructions, you can do anything! You are exacting when it comes to getting down to the basics. This tendency for perfection may continue as you enjoy other people's art expression this afternoon. Your taste in art and appreciation in general are heightened. An art exhibit or presentation, perhaps a collection of some sort, has fascinated you and this is where your interests may be much of this day. Purchasing some item that will be increasing in value is profitable. This evening is a great time to have some deep discussions with a loved one. This private time and interest in each other create a wonderful bonding.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) If necessary, this is the time to make amends. Making peace with the past and meditating on things unseen becomes important to you now. Someone needs your attention and you may be able to guide others in some care-giving concern. Do not be afraid to speak your mind. You work with understanding in areas of the mind that are the most personal or private: in-depth psychology. You tend to be radical when it comes to self-analysis, which means healthcare, food and mental health, etc. Serving and caring for yourself and others are primary sources of inner growth and changes for the next few years. Your burning zeal for the ideal world and your need to be included in a group of like-minded souls are major factors in your makeup.

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) You create ways to ground yourself and gain a focus this morning. Your sense of direction and guidance are the key to understanding you at any in-depth level. You are natural at solving problems--always managing to come up with the correct approach. There is an innate capacity to negotiate with the law and authorities, plus an ability to find your way when it comes to inner and spiritual matters. Others sense this gift and accept your guidance and advice. This is a very good time to communicate your goals and put them into words--a good time for decisions. There are many opportunities today to help the less fortunate.

Perhaps this would include some job guidance. Through helping others today, you will have insight into your own life progress.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Your friends, partners and relationships mean a lot to you. They are a primary source of strength and you always look to them for support and encouragement. You are indeed a social being and will no doubt weave this fact into your lifestyle. You are above all, a natural go-between, or mediator between the generations. A family gathering today will get your attention and you may be called upon to help others see two sides of any question. You have a strong and positive effect on those who come to know you. This evening others may be fascinated in your techniques to reframe and refurbish negative or old ideas. People learn that healing physical problems or changing mental wrong thinking can have most positive results under your tutelage.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You appreciate tradition and regularity and can be quite happy when others do not try to change your surroundings. You are very methodical and practical when it comes to balancing the matters of home, family and career--often at the expense of your social life. However, today close relationships take on more feeling, power and importance. You and family members may enjoy a meal away from home with lots of time for chatter. Feeling cared for and needed is comfortable; the lack of these things can cause an instinctive feeling of uneasiness. You decide to complete a few things on your to-do list for today but you concentrate on finishing up early enough to enjoy a shared massage with your loved one. You look forward to a relaxing evening.

INFORMATION

Monday, August 9, 2010

35 FIRE BRIGADE Operation Room 112 Al-Madena 22418714 Al-Shohada始a 22545171 Al-Shuwaikh 24810598 Al-Nuzha 22545171 Sabhan 24742838 Al-Helaly 22434853 Al-Fayhaa 22545051 Al-Farwaniya 24711433 Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983 Al-Fahaheel 23927002 Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983 Ahmadi 23980088 Al-Mangaf 23711183 Al-Shuaiba 23262845 Al-Jahra 25610011 Al-Salmiya 25616368

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 HOSPITALS Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha始a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

24874330/9 CLINICS

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

4892674

Al-Omariya

4719048

N.Kheitan

4710044

Rabiya

4732263

Fintas

3900322

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 AIRLINES

PHARMACIES ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE Ahmadi

PHARMACY Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

ADDRESS Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

PHONE 23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554

EMERGENCY 112

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists: Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea Dr. Masoma Habeeb Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy Dr. Mohsen Abel Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly

25622444 25752222 25321171 25739999 25757700 25732223 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT): Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners: Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists: Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Plastic Surgeons: Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari Dr. Abdel Quttainah

22617700 25625030/60

Family Doctor: Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.

Zahra Qabazard Sohail Qamar Snaa Maaroof Pradip Gujare Zacharias Mathew

25710444 22621099 25713514 23713100 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047 Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0 Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe 23729596/23729581 Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321 Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539 Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406 Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272 Dr. Salem soso 22618787 General Surgeons:

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Paediatricians: Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

(2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535 Dentists:

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists:

Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 25339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555 Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939 Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300 Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004 Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515 Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446 Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291 Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari

25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr

25329924

Psychologists/Psychotherapists Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688 info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677 William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kuwait Airways Wataniya Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines

22433377 24379900 177 22477631 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/2433141 22456700 22412284/5 22453820/1

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK)

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044

Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Holland (Netherlands) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Ibiza (Spain) Iceland India Indian Ocean Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia

00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689 00241 00220 00995 0049 00233 00350 0030 00299 001473 00590 001671 00502 00224 00592 00509 0031 00504 00852 0036 0034 00354 0091 00873 0062 0098 00964 00353 0039 00225 001876 0081 00962 007 00254 00686 00965 00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389

SPECTRUM

36

Monday, August 9, 2010

eonardo DiCaprio is reportedly planning to propose to girlfriend Bar Refaeli. The ‘Inception’ star - who has been dating the Israeli-born beauty for nearly five years - is said to have enlisted the help of his mother Irmelin to help him choose the perfect ring for the model. A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “He is finally ready to settle down and make it offi-

L

cial. Leo has told his closest friend that his mother has been helping him pick out an engagement ring for Bar.” The 35-year-old actor - who has previously dated a string of beauties, including supermodel Gisele Bundchen - is also planning to sell his Hollywood mansion and buy a house with Bar, 25. The source said: “He’s asked her to move in with him. Bar doesn’t mind

spending the night at his bachelor pad but she isn’t comfortable living there all the time.”

Meanwhile, a Canadian woman accused of attacking Leonardo with a beer bottle in 2005 was ordered by a judge on Wednesday to stay at least 500 yards away from the star. The incident left the Hollywood hunk needing a dozen stitches to his face and neck.

he 42-year-old actress - who has five-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, and son Henry, three, with her cameraman husband Daniel Moder - apparently turned to the religion while filming her latest movie ‘Eat Pray Love’ in India last year. She told Elle magazine: “I’m definitely a practicing Hindu. Golly, I’ve been so spoiled with my friends and family in this life. Next time I want to be just something quiet and supporting.” Julia now often visits temples to “chant, pray and celebrate”. In ‘Eat Pray Love’ - which is based on a memoir

by US writer Elizabeth Gilbert - Julia plays a divorcee who decides to travel the world, before finding love in Bali. During filming in India last year, Julia completely immersed herself in the Hindu culture and was “astounded” during a visit to the Taj Mahal. The screen beauty was apparently “astounded” by the white marble structure, which is the most famous mausoleum on the globe and listed as one of the “seven wonders of the modern world”. At the time, a source said: “Julia was breathless, absolutely astounded by the Taj. She looked on in wonderment as her guide explained the intricate patterns and designs on the marble surface. “The Taj is a legendary symbol of love and hopefully the monument will be an inspiration to her for her latest film.”

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he ‘Girlfriend’ singer - who is known for her grungy look - says she couldn’t live without the cosmetic product as she wears it all the time and would feel naked without it. She said: “The thing that I’m most addicted to is black eyeliner. It’s been my obsession for years.” Avril also admits her style has changed since she first burst onto the scene eight years ago but doesn’t have any regrets about her fashion choices. She told website StyleList.com: “I feel like my style has evolved since I was 17 years old and I’m 25 now. I’ve changed fashion-wise which is normal to do. But I look back and see all of the pictures and all of the different crazy things that I wore.

And it was cool back then wearing the tie and skater pants.” As well as being a make-up fan, Avril recently launched her debut fragrance Forbidden Rose and insists she was involved in every part of the process. She said: “I was involved with everything because I have to make sure it’s something that I can stand behind and it has to represent me. Not only visually did I go through everything with creating the box, font and bottle, but I went through the whole message behind it including the ad campaign and commercial. I like the fragrance because you can wear it at day and night. Its fresh, edgy and fun. It makes me feel good. All of my girlfriends wear it, so we basically smell the same.”

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ady Gaga believes she is the reincarnated spirit of her dead aunt. The ‘Bad Romance’ singer - who has been meeting recently with spiritual guides - thinks her creativity comes from her late aunt Joanne, who transferred her spirit into her mother Cynthia’s womb.

She explained: “My father’s sister Joanne died when she was 19 and he was 16. And when my mother was engaged to marry my father, they were staying in his house, where he grew up, and a light came into the room and touched her stomach and went away. She believes that Joanne came into the room and sort of OK’d her for my dad and that Joanne transferred her spirit into my

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elena Gomez hasn’t been on a date for six months.

The 18-year-old actress - who split from singer Nick Jonas earlier this year and has also previously dated ‘Twilight’ actor Taylor Lautner - hasn’t met a guy she liked for a long time but insists she is happy to be single. She told website BettyConfidential: “Unfortunately, I haven’t been on a date in over six months. In hindsight, it doesn’t really seem that long between dates. “The truth is I

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haven’t met anyone, but I’m young. I don’t need to have a boyfriend right now.” The ‘Monte Carlo’ actress thinks it takes a long time to find the “perfect” man and says she understands the pain of unrequited love. She added: “Any crush or relationship is always a big ordeal. To get that one boy to like you and then if he doesn’t it feels like the end of the world. “I figure that you will have about 1,000 dates until you get to your perfect guy.”

ac Efron grew up next to a haunted house. The ‘High School Musical’ heartthrob who was raised in Arroyo Grande, California - has revealed there was ghost-filled home that people were afraid of. He said: “When I was growing up, the house next door was haunted nobody would go inside. It had all these broken boards and there were all kinds of weird stories about happened there.” Despite being scared of what was potentially inside the spooky property, Zac and his friends plucked up the courage to go in one day. He recalled: “One time me and my friends went in but it was really weird like something in ‘Alice In Wonderland’. “We had to hike through a field of tall grass to get to the front porch. There was a smashed window in the back, so we went inside and looked around. We went up to the attic and heard a bunch of noises. We were like, ‘What is that?’ Then all of a sudden bats just flew out at us - we were sacred and ran away. I’m pretty sure the place is haunted.” If Zac, 22, ever came back as a ghost he claims he would be a mischievous spirit always playing pranks on people. He said: “I would just mess with people all the time and play pranks. I would steal things and hide them. So, you know, when you lose your keys that would be me.”

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anuary Jones doesn’t think there are many gentlemen left. The actress - who plays troubled sixties suburban housewife Betty Draper in US TV show ‘Mad Men’ doesn’t find the old-fashioned attitudes depicted in the show very shocking because she doesn’t think much progress has been made in society. She said: “The things that are said in the show about race and religion are maybe more shocking because it’s not done now. But for women I don’t think we’ve come very far. At least they were gentleman back

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then. They might say something stupid behind your back, but at least they opened the door.”

The 31-year-old blonde beauty began her career as a model and believes the cut-throat fashion world prepared her for rejection in Hollywood.

She explained to Tatler magazine: “It taught how to be rejected in a way that I didn’t take personally. “I never got that beaten down feeling with the auditioning process and acting. If anything it made me go for it more to prove them wrong.”

— Bang Showbiz

mom. “So, when I was born, it’s almost as if I was her unfinished business. She was a poet and a real renaissance woman, pure of heart - just a beautiful person. She died a virgin. And one of my guides told me he can feel I have two hearts in my chest, and I believe that about myself.” The eccentric star also revealed she used to want to follow the path of her aunt and die at a young age. She added to Vanity Fair magazine: “It’s a bit of a sick thing when a 17 year old says in her nightly prayers that I would rather die young and be a legend than be married with children and die an old lady in my bed.”

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B illboard CD reviews ron Maiden knows how to make up for lost time. Four years after “A Matter of Life or IDeath” - the longest wait for a new album in

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years, Big Boi has played second fiddle partner Andre 3000. So Big FBoiortosetOutKast out to do what anyone in his position would do: make his presence known. After years of setbacks, splitting from label Jive Records and facing contractual issues that prevented Andre 3000 from making guest appearances on his new album, “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty,” Big Boi delivers an inventive, highspirited set full of synth-funk signifiers, talkbox flair and snares. The Atlanta rapper combines rock, electro, hip-hop, dubstep, rumba and classical on tracks like the single “Shutterbugg.” The song “General Patton” begins with a sample of an opera performance and showcases Big Boi’s bravado as he raps over the loud production. The cut “Tangerine’ (featuring TI and Khujo Goodie) includes a country-like guitar as tambourines randomly quake throughout, while a breathy Jamie Foxx sings the hook on “Hustle Blood,” a smooth R&B jam.

By Robert W Butler or several years, The Walt Disney Co. has worked on an animated version of “Rapunzel,” the fairy tale about a beautiful, lonely girl with long hair who has been condemned to live in a high tower.

But when the trailer hit theaters this month, the movie had been renamed “Tangled.” And Rapunzel was hardly seen.

Instead, the trailer focused on a roguish, wise-guy thief named Flynn Rider. What gives? “‘Chick flick.’ Those are dirty words to most men,” said movie industry analyst Paul Degarabedian of Hollywood.com.

“Here’s the problem: Girls will go to see guy movies, but guys don’t want to see girl movies. That’s been a truism throughout the history of cinema.”

Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Missy Schwartz noted that after Disney’s animated “The Princess and the Frog” failed to attract boys and grossed a disappointing $104 million, “the studio is emphasizing ‘Tangled’s’ male character at the expense of anything remotely girly.

Somewhere Ariel and the rest of the Disney princesses are weeping.” The runaway success of this summer’s “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” can be traced at least, in part, to an advertising campaign that downplayed the film’s romantic triangle of human Bella, vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob in favor of fangs, fur and furious action.

From the “Eclipse” trailer you might not even realize that the movie is part of an epic love story. Which was fine with Kansas City moviegoer Andy Kyserdescribed by his wife, Emily, as a man who “doesn’t watch crying movies unless it’s ‘Rudy.’”

Kyser, 32, who works in sales for UPS, was familiar with the whole “Twilight” phenomenon because his wife was a big fan. He knew he would be expected to attend the new film with Emily, but admitted the “Eclipse” trailer piqued his curiosity in ways the two earlier installments had not. “What got me going was the fight scenes,” he said. “It looked really exciting.”

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he urgent rocker “Saturday Sun” is a rousing, if somewhat misleading, way to open Crowded House’s sixth studio album.

A collection of moody, meditative numbers that gradually reveals its charms after successive spins, “Intriguer” feels far removed from the more radioready fare of the band’s early years.

But that’ll suit frontman Neil Finn’s core fan base just fine, particularly those who treasure his introspective solo work and his Finn Brothers projects with sibling Tim. “Archer’s Arrows” throbs with righteous anger, while songs like “Falling Dove,” “Twice If You’re Lucky” and “Even If” evoke a sense of yearning and loss, without veering toward despair. And on the standout track “Isolation,” Finn duets with his wife, Sharon, for a subdued meditation on solitude before the whole thing gives way to a cathartic fade-out featuring stinging guitar lines from son Liam. Through it all, Finn’s durable songcraft never fails to enthrall.

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iven Alejandro Escovedo’s struggles in the early ‘00s with near-fatal health probG lems, we should be grateful that the man is alive, let alone making music as vibrant as what’s found on his latest album. An exhilarating, life-affirming blast of no-bullst rock ‘n’ roll, “Street Songs of Love” features Escovedo reteaming with famed David Bowie/T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, who also manned the boards for his arresting 2008 album, “Real Animal.” Remarkably, “Street Songs” manages to top that earlier effort and includes Escovedo’s most accessible work yet. The set is anchored by a trio of hard-driving anthems: “This Bed Is Getting Crowded,” “Tender Heart” and “Faith” (featuring Bruce Springsteen), all of them bristling with defiant energy. Other high points include the beautiful ballad “Down in the Bowery” (with Ian Hunter sharing lead vocals) and hook-filled songs like “Silver Cloud” and “Undesired,” which will find a home on rock radio if there’s any justice in the world.— Reuters

A photo provided by the Walt Disney Co shows a scene from Tangled. — MCT The effort to attract male viewers worked. Not only did “Eclipse” have the fourth-highest-grossing Independence Day opening weekend ever, but, said Degarabedian, “I’m hearing that audiences for ‘Eclipse’ are 35 percent male. That is about double the numbers of the first two ‘Twilight’ movies.”

While “Twilight” fans are not exactly weeping over the male-oriented advertising for “Eclipse,” some are disappointed, saying that the approach taken by Summit Entertainment reinforced stereotypes about entertainment geared mostly to women. “We understand that there’s a financial incentive to attract men to the franchise,” said Jennifer Aubrey, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a coauthor of a new book, “Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, & the Vampire Franchise.”

But attempts to make the movie

Zsa Zsa Gabor

the British metal heroes’ 35-year history-the sextet delivers its longest outing yet (more than 76 minutes), a loosely thematic 10-song opus that features some of Maiden’s most ambitious and intricate work. Recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, where the group also made some early favorites, “The Final Frontier” boasts just one track that runs less than five minutes and five that weigh in at more than eight. Those include the suite-like bookends “Satellite 15 ... The Final Frontier” and the epic album closer, “When the Wild Wind Blows,” based on an apocalyptic graphic novel by Raymond Briggs. The delicately crafted “Coming Home” is Maiden’s most effective power ballad ever, while “The Man Who Would Be King” delivers a slice of medieval mayhem. And the jam section during the cut “Isle of Avalon” suggests a metal take on the Grateful Dead. With all that, “The Final Frontier” boldly goes where few metal bands have gone before.

Zsa Zsa Gabor?s hospital release delayed ctress Zsa Zsa Gabor, who is in her 90s, was not released from the hospital as expected on Saturday because she went into shock, her publicist said. Publicist John Blanchette said doctors wanted to keep Hungarian-born Gabor, who has has been hospitalized since a mid-July fall at her Bel-Air home, in the hospital for at least another day. Gabor went into shock at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Saturday morning, Blanchette said. It was not immediately clear what caused Gabor to go into shock, but the actress has suffered from various problems since breaking her hip, including having a bad reaction to morphine. — Reuters

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“boyfriend worthy” undervalue its diehard female supporters, Aubrey said.

“Girl culture is routinely dismissed as schlocky and unworthy. Pop music, soap opera, chick lit ... all are culturally devalued when compared to forms that men tend to enjoy.

“In our research we heard from ‘Twilight’ fans who had been mocked for their enthusiasm. We talked to boys who are embarrassed to call themselves ‘Twilight’ fans. They were so ridiculed by their peers that they had to renounce the books and movies.” By appealing to the guys, Aubrey said, Summit may have created a short-term boost in ticket sales. But it also missed a long-term opportunity to “develop the terms for future female franchises.”

“The media won’t confer cultural legitimacy on an entertainment until it is accepted by men,” she said, adding that “Twilight’s” success was just as valid as

By Etan Vlessing he frontman for Canadian rockers Sum 41 is in the hospital with unspecified injuries after an apparent bar melee in Japan, according to the band. “Deryck Whibley was attacked in a bar last night by 3 unknown people. He is in the hospital now. Japanese police are looking into the matter,” the Ontario-based band reported on its Twitter account late Thursday night.

The group updated the assault claim with a blog report Friday afternoon on Sum41.com and a separate Facebook page. “It is unfortunate to say, but Deryck Whibley is still in the hospital. He was attacked late last night in Japan. We are waiting for results and we are hoping for the best. Thanks for your support,” the

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band said. Last week, the Canadian band canceled some US dates on the Warped Tour after reporting that Whibley had come down with a severe case of bronchitis.

— Reuters

that of the “Harry Potter” or “Star Wars” series. “Why not sell the movie for what it is?”

Movie marketing has come a long way since filmdom’s golden era, when the content of studio films had to conform to the moralistic dictates of Hollywood’s Production Code and every movie was deemed suitable for everyone. It didn’t matter if you were a grandmother or a 5year-old ... one trailer fit all. But today’s movie-going audience is splintered-kids, action fans, grown-ups, women, sci-fi and comic-book geeks, tweeners. “Eclipse” suggests how the same movie can be effectively marketed to different audience segments.

“For the ‘Twilight’ series you don’t even need the guys to have a huge boxoffice hit,” Degarabedian said. “But why not go for the guys? To do that they just had to focus on things guys want to see.”

Tailoring movie marketing for specific

ilmmaker Spike Lee is calling a “lie” a US government report that 75 percent of the spilled Gulf Coast oil is gone. Speaking to a meeting of the Television Critics Association yesterday, Lee said journalists should expose what he called the real story.

He argued that it’s unlikely that “abracadabra, presto chango” the vast majority of the oil has vanished from Gulf of Mexico waters and coastal wetlands.

Federal scientists said last week that nearly three-quarters of the oil has been removed by various artificial or natural means, but that the spill’s effect on wildlife will long continue.

Lee was promoting his new documentary about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise,” a follow-up to his 2006 film about the hurricane, debuts Aug. 23 and 24 on HBO. — AP

audiences is a fairly new development. In recent years, studios have often turned out two trailers for a forthcoming movie-one to play before G, PG and PG-13 films, another featuring more disturbing/shocking/lurid material to be shown before R-rated features.

Now there are so many delivery systems for movie advertising-TV, specialty magazines and websites, not to mention the in-theater trailer-that it pays to create slightly different ads for different audiences, said Paul Pflugof Principal Communications Group, a consulting firm that works with many Hollywood studios.

The same movie can advertise in Playboy and McCall’s, he noted, but smart marketers will recast the message for each magazine to be more attractive to the readers of those very different publications.

With these new opportunities come some risks. For example, did any of those men who bought tickets to “Eclipse” feel that they had been lured in by advertising that misrepresented the film’s tone and content? Pflug said the instantaneous nature of modern communications made it dangerous for movie advertisers to play too fast and loose with the truth.

“For several years we’ve been seeing movie trailers that contain scenes that aren’t in the finished film,” he said. “But now it’s unwise to do that, and the reason is texting. After the first showing on the East Coast on opening day, audience members will be texting, telling their friends about the movie. And they will call you out if they feel the trailer misrepresented the movie they’ve just seen.”

An attempt by movie marketers to mislead ticket buyers may backfire, creating a viral storm that hurts rather than helps the film, Pflug said. “It keeps you honest.”

Perhaps the last word on the subject should come from Kyser, who reported that “Eclipse” got to him a bit more than he was comfortable with. “I actually got a little angry when Bella kissed Jacob before the big battle,” he said. “Not that I like Edward a lot-I’m not on anybody’s ‘team.’

It’s just that the movie got me involved.

Despite my manliness.”— MCT

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Spike Lee

By Tish Wells ver since “Star Wars” hit theaters in 1977, fans have felt passionately about the series. For many, it broadened their horizons, excited their imaginations and provided new friends. Lucasfilm, George Lucas’ production company, has started a project aimed at capturing-and promoting-the ongoing obsession with the “Star Wars” brand. Called the “Stories Project,” the effort consists of videotaping fans’ memories of how the six-film saga has touched their lives.

“Everyone’s got a story; we’ve been hearing them from fans-and sharing them amongst ourselves internally-for years,” said Josh Kushins, 32, the head of Lucasfilm communications, who was born a year after “Star Wars” debuted. “We are dedicated to collecting as many as possible. ... It’s really eye-opening to see how ‘Star Wars’ has affected people’s lives throughout the years.” Kushins will be taping at the mega”Star Wars” convention Celebration V, Aug 11-15 in Orlando, Fla. Lucas, the creator of the series, recognized what an icon “Star Wars” has become in the prologue of a new book, “Star Wars: Year by Year.” “‘Star Wars’ has become so ingrained in the cultural psyche that world leaders have defined themselves with reference to it,” he said in a statement that would seem egomaniacal if it weren’t true. Some fans remember vividly when the movie first came out. “I saw it in June 1977, saw it on a Saturday,” said Brian Mix, 49, then of San Diego. He became a huge fan with “The Empire Strikes Back,” the 1980 sequel.

He used to take days off work to watch the filming of the sand barge scenes of “Return of the Jedi” in 1983.

Some fans, such as the late Bev Clark in Seattle, published fan magazines that Lucasfilm collected.

Some editors even framed the checks Lucas sent them instead of cashing them to pay their sizable printing costs. Christopher DeGrazio, 35, an online support specialist at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., which specializes in entertainment media, was 6 when he first saw “The Empire Strikes Back”

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‘Star Wars: Year-ByYear’ edited by Lucy Dowling is a chronology of ‘Star Wars’ and the effect it has had on popular culture since 1977.—MCT Two fans, young and old, ‘Star Wars’ fans from Dragoncon in 2006. The black fighter pilot costume is from the films, the younger is in a ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars’costume. — MCT in a theater. He first saw “Star Wars” on a laser disc.

He’s shared his enjoyment of the series with his two children, though he hasn’t shown his son, Bryant, 9, the darker “Revenge of the Sith.”

“I just felt it was a bit too much with all the ‘good’ characters ... being executed, and our ‘hero’ turning so violently into a killer,” DeGrazio said. His son is a fan of the animated “Clone Wars” series, the latest from Lucasfilm. “The clones look cool,” Bryant DeGrazio said. For younger fans steeped in all six “Star Wars” films, the slowly unfolding storyline has

an otherworldly quality. Mix recalls the reaction of the younger set when he was standing in line in 1999 to see a rerelease of the original “Star Wars.”

“There were kids in line doing video interviews asking us, ‘What was it like not knowing that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father?’ They’ve spent their whole lives knowing it.” Why, three decades later, is the series still a great attraction? “I think it has to do with how old you were when that movie crossed your life,” Mix ventured. “If you were between 14 and 17, that’s when you got the big

whoosh; that’s probably the movie you’re going to like the best.”

Kushins said that Lucasfilm hadn’t decided yet what it intends to do with all the video it was collecting of fans.

“The project’s still very much in its early stages,” he said. “Right now, we are focused on speaking with fans and gathering their stories.” There’s little doubt, however, that there will be a market for their stories, if only among those serious fans for whom anything “Star Wars” is worth both time and money. — MCT

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Monday, August 9, 2010

Travel

A tourist takes pictures of rocks balancing on windswept cliffs on Maui, Hawaii. — MCT photos

By Gary A Warner aui is called the “Valley Isle,” but let’s face it-most tourists’ topography is limited to beaches, beaches and more beaches. Maui has 81 of them. Each day thousands of visitors arrive at the airport in Kahului and fan out across the narrow isthmus with its sugar mill still belching smoke, turning right to head up to the sand strands at Kaanapali, Napili and Kapalua, or left to the golden shores of Kihei and Wailea.

Most pay little more than an awed glance over their shoulders toward the cloud wrapped immensity of Haleakala, the “house of the sun,” a dormant volcano rising 10,023 feet from the sea surface that makes up 75 percent of the island’s surface. It’s been a long time since it demanded attention-geologists were spewed with ash and lava in the 17th century.

I’m not going to be so preposterous as to suggest you ditch the sunscreen and pool chair for a cowboy hat and a sweater and spend your entire Maui vacation upcountry. But slicing out a day or two for exploring the flanks of the volcano is a lot of fun, especially when the heat and the crush of crowds get to you. There’s nobody hawking timeshares in what passes for downtown Kula. Up here, you get pines instead of palms. The scent of lavender instead of the smell of the sea. A landscape whose white picket fences and strands of barbed wire might remind people of the Texas hill country or Santa Barbara or eastern Virginia, except the slopes always go up, up, up.

“It was 39 degrees the other night,” said John Davis, a teacher who moved from the beachside resort of Kihei to Kula. “Living by the ocean, you forget what it is like to be cold. Up here, you can wear long pants and pajamas and sleep under blankets at night.” Grab a map and follow my play-byplay for a day on the mountain. Go where the fourlane highway gives way to two-lane and then twisting, undulating side roads with blind corners and hairpin turns. Those who take the time to turn from makai (toward the ocean) to explore mauka (toward the mountains) find a unique world of tropical cowboys, otherworldly gardens, plantation-style B&Bs, quirky animal farms, spirits (religious and drinkable) and the best restaurant outside of a resort gate.

Upcountry Maui is the first place I visited on my own dime, to see a friend who had moved to Ulupono and 25 years later has migrated even further up Haleakala’s flank to Kula. I’ve stayed on a protea farm and celebrated Thanksgiving in a former general store turned celebrated dining spot. Start out in the hippie-turned-yuppie enclave of Paia, where the mountain roads hit the seaside. Continue up through Makawao, an old cowboy town that’s now full of yoga studios and touristy trinket shops but is 10 degrees cooler than on the beach.

Heading inland, Baldwin Road steepens as it

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climbs through cabbage and pineapple fields before pulling into the town of Makawao. The 19th-century village battles to hold onto its feel for the days of the paniolos-Hawaiian cowboys who still compete at the Makawao Rodeo Grounds.

The mix of clapboard buildings, trendy restaurants, barber shops and coffee bars is a big draw, and the traffic can slow to a crawl during the summer and on weekends when Maui residents head for the hills.

Makawao is a good spot to get out and stretch your legs and fill your tummy on the way to the crater. Polli’s, a one-time vegetarian Mexican restaurant, now draws California expatriates who need to satisfy their chicken-enchilada and beef-taco cravings. Casanova’s Italian restaurant is open only for dinner, but you can go to the coffee house and bakery, sit on the lanai and enjoy watching the passersby.

If you are just passing through, stop by Komoda’s Store on Baldwin Avenue, where the pastries are among the best on the island. The cream puffs are the most popular, along with Malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts).

Golf nuts will want to stop in Pukalani, which means “hole in the heavens.” Just to the southwest of Makawao on the Haleakala Highway, the town is home to the Pukalani Country Club, the only links in

the area. Heading south out of Pukalani, stay on Highway 37 and make a short stop at the Church of the Holy Ghost. This 1897 octagonal structure is an island landmark, one of the most important churches from the plantation era when exporting sugar and other commodities was more important than importing tourists.

The road winds higher still, past the black and white cows, where cypress dot the slopes and cows meander in green fields. There is a 1930s gas station with a sign warning “No smoking bruddah.”

The protea belt around Kula produces fields of brilliantly colored hefty bulbous flowers that look like something out of a psychedelic science fiction movie. Mars. Kula Botanical Garden showcases the flowers, along with sandalwood and other island flora. If you are looking to buy, head up Upper Kimo Road to Cloud’s Rest Protea Farm, where four dozen or more varieties are grown and sold.

Kula is also home to Alii Kula Lavender Farm, where walking tours will take you through the purple herb garden. Owner Alii Chang can take you on a golf cart tour of the 45 types of lavender on his farm.

Set up a lunch with lavender seasonings on lamb or ono. Or just dawdle with a spot of tea and lavender scones, watching cows wander through the lavender fields while overhead tandem paragliding tourists float through the clouds to settle into a sloping, soft

Goats play on the surfboards at the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm which produces gourmet cheeses on Maui. grassy field. Somewhere up in the trees is a zipline tour for those who need the adrenaline rush of speeding through trees like Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Leave with all things lavender-soap, candles or bath salts.

The farthest point out on an upcountry day trip is usually Ulupalakua Ranch on the south end of Highway 37 before it makes the big scary (and mostly off-limits to rental cars) turn toward Hana.

Tedeschi Vineyards is Hawaii’s most famous winery.

Grapes that go into sparkling white wines and dry reds are grown on the southern flank of Haleakala.

There’s also fermented pineapple juice, all sold from a 19th-century tasting room that used to be a local jail.

If you time it right, you can have lunch across the street at Ulupalakua Ranch General Store, where burgers, beef or buffalo, are barbecued on a big outdoor grill from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

Vegetarians beware-the burgers are so fresh you can hear the future patties mooing out back. It’s all served in a village so laid back that during my last visit a cat lolled undisturbed in the sun-smack in the middle of a crosswalk on the empty highway.

On the way back, fuel up for the drive to the beach with a blast of 100 percent organically grown caffeine at Grandma’s Coffee House in Keokea.

Beware the awesome sugar high from the huge cin-

namon rolls behind the counter.

A favorite kid’s stop is Surfing Goat Dairy, where German expatriates Thomas and Eva Kafsack churn out award winning goat cheese spread drawn from the milk of more than 80 goats who call 42 acres of Haleakala home. Visitors get to tour the Europeanstyle operation, with its Milk Room, Ripening Room and Cheese Room. Kids will like meeting the kids, while adults savor the creamy smooth cheese that comes in less expensive “Aloha” and “Paradise” varieties, while connoisseurs go for the “Shark Bite” collection named for the bite it takes out of your wallet. A two-ounce jar mixed with truffles will set you back $26. When it comes to the end of the day, most vacationers want a great meal with a great view. So it will take some seriously good eats to pull away from the tiki torches and ocean views. Haliimaile General Store won’t disappoint. Chef Bev Gannon’s “new Hawaiian” cuisine has been drawing diners up the hill to the old clapboard store in Makawao for more than 20 years.

Start with the signature crab pizza appetizer, then move on to coconut seafood curry and finish with Haliimaile pineapple upside-down cake. After a long day on the mountain, go work off the food with a nighttime stroll on the beach, making sure to look back once in awhile to see if the moon is peaking out over the “house of the sun.”— MCT

By Mary Ellen Botter he lighthouse at this southern tip of coastal Texas hasn’t brightened the way for sailors since 1905, but it remains a beacon for visitors. Of the state’s 16 lighthouses, Port Isabel is the only one open to the public. The white column topped by a glass-walled lantern room and the reconstructed lighthouse keeper’s cottage beside it make up one of the state’s smallest historic parks-a preserve of just nine-tenths of an acre.

Unmissable by travelers driving to South Padre Island on State Highway 100, the lighthouse is at the mainland end of the 2.6-mile-long Queen Isabella Causeway linking the community of Port Isabel and Padre Island. First lighted in 1853, it guided shipping along the coast, was used as a lookout by both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War, and was doused early in the 20th century when shipping waned. During World Wars I and II, it was a defense site.

The 73-foot-tall pillar’s thick walls have withstood storms and time. Repair work begun in 1950, when the site was donated to the state, was completed in 1970. What visitors find is a challenging but short climb to a 16-mile-wide panorama taking in the causeway, Laguna Madre bay, South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico.

Forty-seven steps of an iron spiral staircase lead to a 14-rung ladder ending in a

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Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site at Port Isabel, Texas, includes the lighthouse, first lighted in 1853, and a re-creation of the keeper’s house, which now contains the town’s visitor center.—MCT

gallery below the glassed-in lantern another eight nearly perpendicular steps above.

Those who huff and puff to the top of the single-file climb can step out on a narrow balcony ringing the lantern.

Not an experience for young children, people who fear heights or close spaces, or those with health problems, it nonetheless pays off for photographers and the strongof-thigh. The keeper’s cottage below houses the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce’s visitor center and a display on the lighthouse’s history with a few artifacts.

If you go

Rocks balance on windswept cliffs on Maui.

Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site is at 421 E. Queen Isabella Blvd.

Open daily. Hours vary by season; generally 9 am to 5 pm.

Tickets to climb cost $3 for adults; $2, seniors; $1, students; free, 4 and younger (not recommended for young children). A combination ticket also including Treasures of the Gulf Museum and Port Isabel Historical Museum costs $7 for adults; $5, seniors; $2, students; free, 4 and younger. — MCT

39

SPECTRUM

Monday, August 9, 2010

Travel

Tours are available at the old Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri.

— MCT photos

wo young bankers on our preview tour of the old Missouri State Penitentiary climbed into the dual white metal chairs used to execute inmates by cyanide poisoning. Our guide, Mark Schreiber, saw a golden opportunity and hit the switch to a fan inside the gas chamber. “Whoosh” went the fan. “Whazzat!” went the startled bankers, jumping in their seats. Schreiber was a deputy warden at the pen and, as its official historian, is helping recruit other former employees to act as guides for public tours of the prison, which began in May. The idea for the tours began five years ago when the prison was decommissioned and its inmates sent to a new correctional facility on the outskirts of Jefferson City. The city held a weekend open house at the old prison, and some 22,000 people lined up to get an inside look at the legendary lockup, which opened in 1836 and had a guest list that included Pretty Boy Floyd, James Earl Ray and Sonny Liston.

Jefferson City, as Missouri’s state capital, has plenty of attractions for a day trip or leisurely weekend. Visitors can tour the governor’s mansion, the Supreme Court building and the domed Capitol, which last year was named the nation’s prettiest state capitol interior by an article in USA Today. The walls of the House Lounge are decorated with a monumental mural by Thomas Hart Benton that displays the state’s often stormy history.

But the addition of the old state pen, with its tiers of cells and wealth of stories, will provide an eerie stop that is as fascinating as it is foreboding. “Everybody talks about Alcatraz,” Schreiber said of the San Francisco Bay prison that is a tourist draw. “This prison was 100 years old when Alcatraz began taking inmates. When this prison opened, the Battle of the Alamo was going on in Texas, Andrew Jackson was in his second term. It’s the oldest prison west of the Mississippi.

“Alcatraz at most had 500-something inmates. This prison held 5,200. The federal government never got female inmates until 1927. So we had famous females like Emma Goldman sent here. She was quite the anarchist.

She believed in solving things with dynamite.”

The city is pondering plans for the 144-acre site of the old prison, which sits on a bluff with a view of the Missouri River. A new $66 million federal courthouse is under construction just across from the prison’s front entrance. The prison site may include a hotel, a Missouri Naval Museum, maybe even condos. A commission of city and business leaders is considering possible uses, which is why the bankers accompanied reporters on the preview tour.

The interior of the prison remains much the same as when inmates and staff walked out, although time and weather have taken their toll, with peeling paint hanging from ceilings like stalactites. While the inside is stabilized for safety, no redecorating is planned for the public’s “hard hat” tours. Visitors will get the full impact of walk-

T

ing into a prison with a history of murder and mayhem.

“Things were brutal in here,” Schreiber said. “In the early years, they had a cat o’ tails for whipping prisoners.

This was the state’s only maximum-security prison until 1989. Anybody with a long sentence or a history of problems came here.” The tour included Housing Unit No. 4, the oldest building still on the site, dating to 1868. “At the time of the 1954 prison riot, this was an all-black unit,” Schreiber said. “There were six to eight inmates in each of these cells. We were in a warehouse mode then.”

I climbed the stairs and the crosswalks between tiers, searching for cell No. 33, where heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston served time with five other inmates.

As I tried to imagine six inmates in the tiny cell, Schreiber interrupted my thoughts with a yell from below.

“Don’t slam any doors behind you cause I can’t get you out,” he said. “And I’m not kidding.” As Schreiber walked, he talked. And each building held another tale. “You couldn’t count the number of escapes from here,” he said.

“In one year in the 1920s, there were 30-something escapes. One guy took the warden’s car, went out to California and got married in it.

“We had a guy who was going to make a glider and go over the wall right there. Another guy made gunpowder; tested it in his cell during a thunderstorm. He was brilliant. He’s still in the institution, at the maximum-security prison in Potosi. Sends me a Christmas card every year.” Our tour ended at the most infamous building of all, the execution chamber. Sitting alone inside a fenced courtyard, the small rock building is where 39 men and one woman died for their crimes. All were killed by cyanide except the last, George “Tiny” Mercer, who was put to death in 1989. Because of fears that the aging chamber would leak, Mercer was executed by lethal injection.

On our way out, Schreiber pointed to the only thing

If you go

By Tom Uhlenbrock

left for Europe in the spring with more guidebooks than pairs of pants in my travel backpack. Walking out of baggage claim in Prague, I felt the load of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia on my shoulders. But about halfway through the three-week trip, our plans dropped off the map. My sister and I were in Budapest and decided to take the train through Bosnia-Herzogovina to arrive in Dubrovnik. The only problem was that none of our travel books included the once war-torn nation.

My sister e-mailed a grad school friend who had fled Bosnia during the war and resettled in Fresno, Calif. “Lejla,” she wrote, “Where do you recommend we visit?” “You just blew my mind! You lucky girl!”

Lejla wrote back with a detailed itinerary. We arrived in Sarajevo, the capital, after a sweltering 12-hour train ride. We walked to a modest pension. Our room opened with our own skeleton key. We grabbed a little sleep before embarking on Lejla’s tour.

Our invisible guide narrated the thinnest, but most authentic travel guide I’ve used: a three-page email printed from an Internet cafe. Retracing Lejla’s route, I experienced Bosnia through a personal and often painful lens. I’d never met her, but I could hear the emotions in her e-mail-the fond memories of the park where she cut classes and suggested that we

I

that looked new in the prison. “We added the razor wire up there just before we left because we knew some guy wanted to be the last to escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary before it closed,” he said. “I’m going to bid everybody farewell right here. I’ve got to lock up the house.” My next guide also had a sense of humor. Wiley Tracy, a diminutive, dapper gent of 82 years, was to lead us around the state Capitol. He spotted one young man in the group and told him, “I’m sorry, sir, we can’t allow you on the tour.”

When the man stammered an objection, Tracy explained, “Not with that shirt on.” The poor guy was wearing a Kansas Jayhawks T-shirt. The capitol building is Missouri’s fourth, Tracy said, and third built in Jefferson City. When it was completed in 1917 at a cost of $3.5 million, the state spent another million to add art. The dome rises 262 feet above the basement floor and is adorned with a statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of Agriculture.

The first floor has self-guided museums that showcase the state’s history and resources. The second floor has 41 half-moon-shaped paintings, including some that feature an optical illusion that artists call “three-point perspective.” When you view the painting of Eads Bridge in St. Louis from one side, the bridge seems to be heading away from you. But when you walk slowly to the other side, the bridge appears to move and head the other way.

The third floor has bronze busts in the Hall of Famous Missourians and Benton’s huge mural in the House Lounge. Benton was paid $16,000 for his work in 1935.

Today, the mural is valued at over $10 million. “When it was completed, there were a lot of unhappy legislators,” Tracy said. “It was to be a social history of Missouri, and the legislators expected only good things. Benton showed slavery, the treatment of the Mormons, outlaws like Jesse James, a speakeasy in St. Louis, the Depression era.

Benton showed Missouri as it was.”

Penitentiary tours: Admission is $12. Call 1-800-769-4183 to reserve a tour time and buy tickets. State Capitol: 201 West Capitol Avenue, 1-573751-2854 and mocapitoltours.com.

Other Jefferson city sights: Governor’s Mansion-Built in 1871, this is one of the oldest governor’s mansions in the country. The three-story brick building has a great hall with 17-foot-ceilings, glittering chandeliers and portraits of the state’s first ladies. During our visit, the current first lady, Georganne Nixon, and the family dog, a Welsh Springer spaniel named Daniel Boone, came down to greet visitors. She was gracious, Boone was a bit skittish. 100 Madison Street, 1-573-751-7929, missourimansion.org Runge Nature Center-The Missouri Department of Conservation’s nature center has displays that explain the state’s various habitats, from forest and prairies to wetlands and rivers. The exhibits include live creatures that live in the habitats. You can check out an alligator snapping tur-

The scars of violence coexist with signs of prosperity in Mostar, Bosnia, a city once under Ottoman rule. — MCT photos

By Courtney Perkes

Guide Wiley Tracy explains the mural painted by Thomas Hart Benton at the State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Inmates sentenced to death were executed by cyanide in the gas chamber at the old Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri.

tle, a longnose gar and an Osage copperhead. 330 Commerce Drive, 1-573526-5544, mdc.mo.gov/areas/cnc/runge Supreme Court-The library stacks at the Missouri Supreme Court building have 110,000 volumes and glass floors between the two levels.

The walls are decorated with portraits of various judges. The favorite of kids on tours is a painting of an old boy named Elijah Norton of Platte County. Norton is clean shaven but has a ring of gray hair curling up from beneath his collar. 207 West High Street, 1-573-751-4144, www.courts.mo.gov Historical Museum-The Cole County Historical Museum has antique furniture and historical treasures that date from the era of the Louisiana Territory. The museum has a Civil War exhibit with uniforms and weapons and a collection of the inaugural gowns worn by the state’s first ladies. 109 Madison Street, 1-573-635-1850, colecohistsoc.org Atelier CMS-This is a nonprofit visual arts studio where Carla Steck brings in other artists to hold workshops for aspiring young artists, includ-

This cemetery is a sea of markers with names of men who were born in the 1970s and died in the early 1990s in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

stop for a soda-or her orientating us to look at the forest-covered mountain where Serbian snipers firing into the city shot and blinded her husband.

Lejla’s instructions took us on a bus ride to an ancient Ottoman-period fort high above the city, where she said we would have the best vantage point of Sarajevo and the former battle lines. She then guided us down a hill to the war cemetery where many of her friends are buried. Christian graves with crosses lay alongside Muslim graves with Arabic script.

Nearly every marker showed a birth date in the 1970s and a death date in the 1990s.

Sarajevo was a living, disfigured, monument to war. Men hobbled on one leg. Women walked with canes. No area seemed untouched. A memorial plaque and bouquet of flowers were mounted outside an upscale clothing store. I was stunned that burial spots were crammed everywhere in the city-underneath apartment balconies, across from bakeries, next to plots of farm land.

Lejla’s e-mail directed us to the city library that was burned by the Serbs and is undergoing renovation. It looked like a bombed-out prop from a movie set. She instructed us to stop at an indoor Turkish bazaar from the 1500s. It was near the spot where the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in 1914, setting in motion the tangle of military alliance that led to

World War I. Nearby was a medieval Muslim mansion, recalling Bosnia’s place as a western outpost of the Islamic world.

Her directions were often informal: “have a dessert at the sweetshop at the exact place of the disappearance of the cobblestone.” In another description she wrote: “it can be confusing because there are so many small streets and no map accounts for them because they appeared after the war and there is no money to cartograph them.”

In the late afternoon, we walked through the main promenade to a plaza where a group of older men were playing a game of life-sized chess. The black and white pieces were about two feet tall and the squares of the sidewalk worked perfectly with some painted black to mimic the board. A crowd gathered around the men, and though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, they seemed to be calling out unsolicited strategy advice. One man, wearing a shirt and tie, sat atop an aluminum trash Dumpster. The men laughed, smoked and studied every move.

We continued on past shell-marked apartments, the Iranian embassy and drab Soviet-looking office buildings. We found crazy-good Mexican food, a huge relief after a lunch of cheese pizza with ketchup masquerading as tomato sauce. We then popped into a hookah bar with radiant Arabian lanterns hanging

Tours are available at the old Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri.

ing troubled teens. The studio is in a remodeled barn that is chock full of colorful creations. You can’t miss it on Highway 179 in the countryside. A giant metal wildflower is in front, a huge bug sits on the porch and a gargantuan turkey vulture flies outside. Highway 179 and Atelier Drive, 1573-690-2556, atelier-cms.com Summit Lake Winery-The winery is on a bluff across the Missouri River from Jefferson City, with a view of the Capital City skyline. An outdoor patio is the perfect place to try the Norton or Lewis & Clark dry white while admiring the Capitol dome. 1707 South Summit Drive, 1-573896-9966, summitlakewinery.com Central Dairy-Last, but perhaps the top spot to stop, is Central Dairy.

A classic 1930s soda fountain, the banana split is big enough for two, maybe three. I had the Moose Tracks, which had crushed Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate swirls and vanilla ice cream, covered with walnuts that had been toasted in butter. A sinful delight for $2.25. 610 Madison Street, 1-573-635-6148, centraldairy.biz — MCT

This sign marks the entrance to the Sarajevo City Hall in Sarajevo, which is undergoing renovations.

over long, low couches. The menus were in English.

Maybe this must be where the UN peacekeepers liked to hang out.

The next morning, we took the bus to the historic city of Mostar, the most important city in Herzogovina. The journey was made longer by frequent stops for the driver and passengers to get off and smoke. At the town square, we arranged to rent a room from a local family. Lejla advised us to see if any of the local boys were diving in the Neretva River from the Old Bridge. Despite the name, it is a recently rebuilt version of the 15th century arched stone masterpiece destroyed by Croatian artillery during the war. The bridge was majestic over the turquoise blue water.

A crowd gathered around a young man in a red Speedo, who teased us by leaning closer and closer to the edge, but never jumping. After his partners in the adrenaline business had collected enough tips from spectators down below, he dived in. My sister and I had rationed enough Bosnian Marks to cover the bus ride to Croatia. We pooled our meager change and shared pasta and beer at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the Neretva and the Old Bridge. The price was among the lowest of our trip, the equivalent of a few dollars. With our whirlwind Bosnian trip complete, we folded up Lejla’s guide and, sadly, went back to the guidebook and the beaten path. — MCT

A group of men gather in the late afternoon for their chess game in a pedestrian square in Sarajevo.

www.kuwaittimes.net

Vietnamese brides flock to South Korea

By Aude Genet

B

ritish pop star Robbie Williams has married his US actress girlfriend, newspapers reported yesterday. The singer, 36 — who recently rejoined the British band Take That-has tied the knot with Ayda Field, 31, at his mansion in Los Angeles. Newspapers showed pictures of marquees set up in the grounds. “At last, Rob is happy. That’s what you want for your kids and this is the happiest I’ve seen him,” the singer’s father Pete said, according to the News of the World.

“Ayda is so beautiful and so delightful and so lovely and just so right for him. They are brilliant together.” He added: “I don’t have any grandchildren yet. Rob’s will be my first.

I’m pleased he’s going to start a family. I can’t tell you, I am just so very pleased for him. He might end up a stay-at-home dad-you never know. But I think he’ll always do his music.”

The star’s father said despite Williams rejoining Take That, he would not be returning to live in Britain. “Rob considers himself to live in LA now. That’s where Ayda wants to live. His mum’s there,” he said. “He isn’t coming home, they will stay out there. He’s not wanting to move back here, he’s always kept his house in LA because that’s home.” In 1995, Williams parted company with Take That, a boy band which dominated the British pop scene in the 1990s, and had a string of romances with fellow pop stars and Hollywood actresses as he pursued a successful solo career.

But the pop star has calmed down since meeting Field in 2006, and he popped the question to her last November live on an Australian radio show. The news comes just weeks after it emerged that Williams was rejoining Take That and that the band had been secretly recording a new album to be released in November. Reports said the swiftly-arranged wedding came too soon for the other band members to attend.—AFP

A

fter 30 minutes of discussion it was settled. Le would become his bride. She and three other young Vietnamese women had been presented to two South Korean men by illegal marriage brokers in Ho Chi Minh City. The men made their choices and three days later Le, then 25, was married. After completing the paperwork, she left behind her poor life on a farm in southern Vietnam to live in South Korea. Tens of thousands of other Vietnamese women have made the same journey. “I left because of my family’s economic difficulties,” Le said.

Her parents earned less than two million dong (108 dollars) a month, and the husband gave the family five times that ahead of the marriage.

Then the money stopped, because Le’s South Korean dream was cut short. “I wasn’t beaten but I was locked up all day long,” said Le, who only gave her first name. She spoke at an official Women’s Union centre which counsels prospective brides of foreigners and helps those who return after encountering difficulty.

Le said her husband “was shouting all the time.” She fled, was arrested, and sent back to Vietnam where she returned to her home in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. Le was one of about 40,000 Vietnamese women who married South Koreans between 2004 and 2009, according to researchers. Increasing numbers of Southeast Asian men, particularly in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, are marrying foreigners because fewer women in their homelands are willing to wed and take on a traditional role, a study by Daniele Belanger, of Canada’s University of Western Ontario, said in late July.

Official figures in South Korea show there were 7,249 marriages between South Koreans and Vietnamese women last year. South Korean television shows are popular in Vietnam, exposing the would-be brides to Korean culture-and dreams of a better life. Many of them are impoverished and poorly-

Robbie Williams marries US actress

File photo shows a young Vietnamese bride poses for her wedding album in Ho Chi Minh City.—AFP educated residents of the rural Mekong Delta, where they are sought by illegal marriage brokers based in nearby Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

Tran Giang Linh, a Vietnamese researcher, studied families in the Delta province of Can Tho and found some brides were able to send home more than 3,000 dollars in one yearroughly three times Vietnam’s per capita income. But activists say some foreign brides, coaxed by false promises or deceptive advertising, end up living with spouses who have few assets, are ill, alcoholic or just difficult.

Seoul said it would set up a task force to reform the international matchmaking business following the death in July of Vietnamese bride Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc, 20. She was

allegedly beaten and stabbed to death by her 47-year-old husband eight days after she arrived in the southern port city of Busan. The man told police he heard a “ghost’s voice” urging him to kill his bride when they quarreled. He had been treated 57 times for schizophrenia since July 2005, South Korean police said.

Ngoc and her husband met through a marriage agency, Vietnamese media reported. Following her death, a Vietnamese government spokeswoman said clamping down on illegal marriage brokers would be difficult because “it is not easy to identify which marriage is unlawfully brokered”.

An increasing number of marriages are arranged through networks of relatives, although Belanger said family

members often have links to the brokers. Matchmaking agencies in receiving and sending countries still play a major role but “family networks are taking on a greater importance,” she said. Taiwan used to be the destination of choice for Vietnamese women seeking foreign husbands. Some 100,000 Vietnamese wives have been registered there since the early 1990s, according to data gathered on the island. The flow shifted to South Korea over the past several years, partly because Taiwan tightened its documentation process, said Hong-zen Wang, director of the Graduate Institute of Sociology at Taiwan’s National Sun Yat-sen University.

“Now South Korea is the principle destination,” he said. Last year Taiwan

also banned commercial international matchmaking services after a series of high-profile criminal cases, including one in which a man was jailed for enslaving and torturing his Vietnamese wife. Although the problems which foreign brides can encounter abroad should not be minimized, arranged marriages do not systematically lead to abuse, Belanger said.

And the potential for a better life and the ability to send money home to the family draws five or six women a month to the Women’s Union advisory centre in Vinh Long. For Le, who has remarried to a Vietnamese man, the centre is still a source of support three years after her failed marriage to the Korean. “It helps me to return to a normal life,” she said.—AFP

9th Jember fashion carnival

Robbie Williams

Campbell diamond testimony under spotlight

By Aaron Gray-Block British supermodel Naomi Campbell’s testimony at the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor is put to be tested today when her former agent is expected to contradict her over a gift of diamonds. Carole White will appear at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague to testify over a late-night gift Campbell received in 1997 after both of them had attended a charity dinner hosted by South Africa’s then-President Nelson Mandela.

Taylor, on trial for war crimes in The Hague, was also at the dinner. White previously told the prosecution that Campbell and Taylor were “mildly flirtatious” with each other and that she heard Taylor tell Campbell he was going to send her some diamonds. “Ms Campbell seemed excited about the diamonds and she kept talking about them,” White said in testimony read out to the court.

White recalled that Campbell was later given “a scrubby piece of paper” containing about six small greyish pebbles, but that Campbell “was disappointed because she thought she was going to get a big shiny diamond and these just looked like pebbles.” For her part, Farrow has also told the prosecution that Campbell came to breakfast with an “unforgettable” story that two or three men had given her “a large diamond” which they said was from Taylor.

Prosecutors are trying to link the diamonds to Taylor, 62, to prove allegations that he received diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone, which they say he then used to buy weapons during the 1997 trip to South Africa. Taylor denies the allegations. “Blood diamonds” are diamonds mined in conflict zones and sold to fund warring parties. Campbell has called White’s comments a lie and said last week she did not know who the diamonds came from, saying she had been woken in the night by two men knocking at her bedroom door who gave her a pouch with a few small “dirty looking pebbles”. The fashion model said she told White and Farrow about the gift the next day at breakfast and that she gave them to Jeremy Ratcliffe, the then-head of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

Ratcliffe said he took them because he feared Campbell might be breaking the law by taking them out of South Africa and kept them for the next 13 years. He handed them over to South African police on Thursday, shortly after Campbell’s testimony. —Reuters

Models showcase designs along a 3.6-km long road being used as a catwalk during the 9th Jember Fashion Carnival yesterday in Jember, East Java.

World Treasure was the theme for this year’s carnival, which featured more than 600 models parading along Jember’s longest street. —AFP

This file photo taken on June 17, 2008 shows Mia Farrow, Chairperson of Dream for Darfur Advisory Board before a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss peace and security in Sudan.—AFP