CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said he had cut all diplomatic ties with Damascus on Saturday and backed a no-fly zone over Syria, pitching the most populous Arab state more firmly against President Bashar Al-Assad. Addressing a rally called by Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo, the Sunni Islamist head of state also warned Assad’s ally, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, to pull back from fighting in Syria. “Hezbollah must leave Syria. These are serious words,” said Morsi, whose country host- ed a conference of Sunni clerics this week who issued a call for holy war against Damascus. “There is no space or place for Hezbollah in Syria,” Morsi said. The rally underscored the region’s deepening sectarian rift. A cleric who spoke before Morsi described Shiites as heretics, infidels, oppressors and poly- theists. It was also a show of support for Morsi as his opponents mobilise for protests to demand early presidential elections. Morsi waved Syrian and Egyptian flags as he entered the audito- rium packed with 20,000 supporters. The crowd chanted: “From the free revolu- tionaries of Egypt: We will stamp on you, Bashar!” Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood politi- cian, steered clear of direct references to Shiites and Iran but in a partial allusion to Tehran, he accused states in the region and beyond of feeding “a cam- paign of extermination and planned eth- nic cleansing” in Syria. “We decided today to entirely break off relations with Syria and with the current Syrian regime,” he said. Continued on Page 15 SUBSCRIPTION 40 PAGES NO: 15842 150 FILS Max 43º Min 31º High Tide 05:48 & 17:16 Low Tide 11:48 & 23:50 MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013 SHAABAN 8, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net New elections to be held • Opposition to boycott polls Court upholds one-vote decree, scraps Assembly conspiracy theories Is 8 a lucky number? [email protected] By Badrya Darwish C ongratulations and celebrations, but it seems like the one vote is the only option for you and me. At last after a long wait, the constitu- tional court gave its last verdict. Naturally, most peo- ple expected this ruling, myself one of them. Few disputed that it would be otherwise. On the other hand, if you look at this, the one-vote system is not a bad option. Actually, the idea of the one-vote system gives a chance to those who do not have a tribe supporting them and reduces the bad influence of nepotism. But in all honesty, I do not see it working in Kuwait. Maybe it suits the globe because many countries adopt the one-vote system. Don’t forget that these places have party systems. We do not have party systems. And let’s not forget that Kuwait is a tribal country. No matter how hard we try to avoid tribal- ism, it will take us many years to break away from it. We can see this in any aspect in Kuwait. All the latest incidents and political issues showed that you can- not undermine the tribes and their role in the politi- cal landscape of the country. The only thing that I really loved is the dissolving of the current parliament. The problem is that these parliamentarians used to brag how much they did for Kuwait. Take the Dow deal for example. Most recently, Kuwait paid $2 billion and a bit over as compensation to a US company for backing out of a contract that was signed between them. Honestly, I cannot recall any accomplishments that this parlia- ment has done. If you are familiar with any, please enlighten me. Except being a totally pro-govern- ment parliament that never rejected any govern- ment proposal, there was nothing much from their side. They defied the concept of what parliaments are for. By the way, by now I have lost track of how many parliaments we have had in the past few years. Is eight going to be a lucky number? I hope so. The other problem for us is that the new elections should be held within two months. The coming month of Ramadan means that elections will fall in August, when people will be travelling for holidays out of the country. This means we have to stay in Kuwait just for the elections. I wonder how many people will make this sacrifice? news in the KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah addresses the nation yesterday. — KUNA KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah affirmed full respect to the constitu- tional court’s ruling yesterday, calling on his fellow Kuwaitis to unite against “voices of chaos”, sedition and democracy. “I repeat what I have said before that I accept ... the ruling of the constitutional court regard- less of its content, and I call upon all citizens to respect it and abide by it,” Sheikh Sabah said in a speech to the nation following the constitutional court’s ruling. Complying with the court’s ruling will reflect “respect to our high esteem judiciary ... and commitment to our constitution. This is what we have always been keen on and will always be God’s willing,” said the Amir. Continued on Page 15 Amir respects court ruling, urges unity against chaos By B Izzak KUWAIT: In yet another dramatic day in Kuwait’s politi- cal crisis, the constitutional court yesterday nullified the election process held on Dec 1 last year and dissolved the National Assembly, but at the same time it upheld the controversial Amiri decree that amended the elec- toral law and sparked street protests. Head of the court’s five-judge panel Youssef Al-Mutawa read out the verdict in the Palace of Justice auditorium that was packed with journalists and lawyers. The court, whose verdicts are final, called for holding fresh elections on the basis of the single-vote law that has been repeated- ly described by the opposition as unconstitutional. The court based its decision to scrap the Assembly for the second time in a year on the basis that another Amiri decree issued in October last year to establish the National Election Committee is “unconstitutional”, say- ing there was no urgency in issuing the decree. In June last year, the constitutional court nullified the election process and scrapped the opposition-dominated Assembly that was elected in Feb 2012 on the basis of flawed procedures. A few months later, HH the Amir issued the contro- versial decree to amend the electoral law under a clause in the constitution that gives the Amir the right to issue laws when the Assembly is absent or dissolved. The decree amended the electoral constituency law by reducing the number of candidates a voter can pick from a maximum of four to just one. Accordingly, the decree was known as the single-vote law. The court explained that the executive authority has the full right to issue legislation when the Assembly is dissolved and pointed out that the amendment decree could not wait until the Assembly came back. As a result, the court said the controversial decree served national interests, adding that many democratic countries in the world have a single-vote system in elections. But the opposition decided after a late-night meet- ing that it will boycott the forthcoming election, say- ing the verdict has effectively ended the Kuwaiti con- stitution. Continued on Page 15 CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi waves as he arrives at a rally to show solidarity with the people of Syria, in a stadium on Saturday. — AP Morsi cuts Syria ties, backs no-fly zone Gulf welcomes Rowhani KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah congratulat- ed moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani for winning the presidential elections on Saturday. Sheikh Sabah said he was looking forward to cementing bilateral relations and cooperation for the best common interest. Sheikh Sabah wished Rowhani success and hoped that bilateral relations would further improve and develop. Saudi King Abdullah also congratulated Rowhani yesterday. “We are glad to congratulate you in the name of the people and government of Saudi Arabia... wishing prosperity to the people of the brotherly Islamic republic of Iran,” King Abdullah told Rowhani in a letter. The king hailed Rowhani’s views on regional cooperation and improving relations. Saudi Arabia was the last Arab state in the Gulf to comment on Rowhani’s win. Saudis to block WhatsApp DUBAI: Saudi Arabia plans to block Internet-based communication tool WhatsApp within weeks if the US-based firm fails to comply with requirements set by the kingdom’s telecom regulator, local newspapers reported this week. This month the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) banned Viber, another such tool, which like WhatsApp is hard for the state to monitor and deprives telecom companies of revenue from international calls and texts. “We have been communicating with WhatsApp and other similar communication plat- forms to get them to cooperate and comply with the Saudi telecom providers, however nothing has come of this communication yet,” Abdullah Al-Darrab, governor of the CITC, told Arab News. Hajj pilgrim numbers cut RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has cut back the number of pilgrims that may perform the hajj this year due to construction work aimed at expanding the holy site of Makkah, the hajj minister said. The authorities had decided to reduce by half the number of pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, and by about 20 percent those from abroad, said Bandar Hajjar. “This is an exceptional and temporary decision,” the minister said, quoted by SPA state news agency late on Saturday. Some 3.1 million pilgrims performed the hajj last year, most of them from abroad. Hajjar said the expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah would add 400,000 sq m, raising its capacity to accommodate 2.2 million people at the same time.
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CAIRO: Egyptian President MohamedMorsi said he had cut all diplomatic tieswith Damascus on Saturday and backeda no-fly zone over Syria, pitching themost populous Arab state more firmlyagainst President Bashar Al-Assad.Addressing a rally called by SunniMuslim clerics in Cairo, the SunniIslamist head of state also warnedAssad’s ally, the Iranian-backedLebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, to pullback from fighting in Syria. “Hezbollahmust leave Syria. These are seriouswords,” said Morsi, whose country host-ed a conference of Sunni clerics thisweek who issued a call for holy waragainst Damascus. “There is no space orplace for Hezbollah in Syria,” Morsi said.
The rally underscored the region’sdeepening sectarian rift. A cleric whospoke before Morsi described Shiites as
heretics, infidels, oppressors and poly-theists. It was also a show of support forMorsi as his opponents mobilise forprotests to demand early presidentialelections. Morsi waved Syrian andEgyptian flags as he entered the audito-rium packed with 20,000 supporters. Thecrowd chanted: “From the free revolu-tionaries of Egypt: We will stamp on you,Bashar!”
Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood politi-cian, steered clear of direct references toShiites and Iran but in a partial allusionto Tehran, he accused states in theregion and beyond of feeding “a cam-paign of extermination and planned eth-nic cleansing” in Syria. “We decidedtoday to entirely break off relations withSyria and with the current Syrianregime,” he said.
Continued on Page 15
SUBSCRIPTIO
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PA
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4215
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Max 43º
Min 31º
High Tide 05:48 & 17:16
Low Tide11:48 & 23:50
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013 SHAABAN 8, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net
New elections to be held • Opposition to boycott polls
Court upholds one-votedecree, scraps Assembly
conspiracy theories
Is 8 a luckynumber?
By Badrya Darwish
Congratulations and celebrations, but it seemslike the one vote is the only option for youand me. At last after a long wait, the constitu-
tional court gave its last verdict. Naturally, most peo-ple expected this ruling, myself one of them. Fewdisputed that it would be otherwise. On the otherhand, if you look at this, the one-vote system is not abad option.
Actually, the idea of the one-vote system gives achance to those who do not have a tribe supportingthem and reduces the bad influence of nepotism.But in all honesty, I do not see it working in Kuwait.Maybe it suits the globe because many countriesadopt the one-vote system. Don’t forget that theseplaces have party systems. We do not have partysystems. And let’s not forget that Kuwait is a tribalcountry. No matter how hard we try to avoid tribal-ism, it will take us many years to break away from it.We can see this in any aspect in Kuwait. All the latestincidents and political issues showed that you can-not undermine the tribes and their role in the politi-cal landscape of the country.
The only thing that I really loved is the dissolvingof the current parliament. The problem is that theseparliamentarians used to brag how much they didfor Kuwait. Take the Dow deal for example. Mostrecently, Kuwait paid $2 billion and a bit over ascompensation to a US company for backing out of acontract that was signed between them. Honestly, Icannot recall any accomplishments that this parlia-ment has done. If you are familiar with any, pleaseenlighten me. Except being a totally pro-govern-ment parliament that never rejected any govern-ment proposal, there was nothing much from theirside. They defied the concept of what parliamentsare for.
By the way, by now I have lost track of how manyparliaments we have had in the past few years. Iseight going to be a lucky number? I hope so. Theother problem for us is that the new electionsshould be held within two months. The comingmonth of Ramadan means that elections will fall inAugust, when people will be travelling for holidaysout of the country. This means we have to stay inKuwait just for the elections. I wonder how manypeople will make this sacrifice?
newsin the
KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah addresses the nation yesterday. — KUNA
KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah affirmed full respect to the constitu-tional court’s ruling yesterday, calling on his fellowKuwaitis to unite against “voices of chaos”, sedition anddemocracy. “I repeat what I have said before that Iaccept ... the ruling of the constitutional court regard-less of its content, and I call upon all citizens to respect
it and abide by it,” Sheikh Sabah said in a speech to thenation following the constitutional court’s ruling.Complying with the court’s ruling will reflect “respectto our high esteem judiciary ... and commitment to ourconstitution. This is what we have always been keen onand will always be God’s willing,” said the Amir.
Continued on Page 15
Amir respects court ruling,urges unity against chaos
By B Izzak
KUWAIT: In yet another dramatic day in Kuwait’s politi-cal crisis, the constitutional court yesterday nullified theelection process held on Dec 1 last year and dissolvedthe National Assembly, but at the same time it upheldthe controversial Amiri decree that amended the elec-toral law and sparked street protests. Head of thecourt’s five-judge panel Youssef Al-Mutawa read out theverdict in the Palace of Justice auditorium that waspacked with journalists and lawyers. The court, whoseverdicts are final, called for holding fresh elections onthe basis of the single-vote law that has been repeated-ly described by the opposition as unconstitutional.
The court based its decision to scrap the Assemblyfor the second time in a year on the basis that anotherAmiri decree issued in October last year to establish theNational Election Committee is “unconstitutional”, say-ing there was no urgency in issuing the decree. In Junelast year, the constitutional court nullified the electionprocess and scrapped the opposition-dominatedAssembly that was elected in Feb 2012 on the basis offlawed procedures.
A few months later, HH the Amir issued the contro-versial decree to amend the electoral law under a clausein the constitution that gives the Amir the right to issuelaws when the Assembly is absent or dissolved. Thedecree amended the electoral constituency law byreducing the number of candidates a voter can pickfrom a maximum of four to just one. Accordingly, thedecree was known as the single-vote law. The courtexplained that the executive authority has the full rightto issue legislation when the Assembly is dissolved andpointed out that the amendment decree could not waituntil the Assembly came back. As a result, the court saidthe controversial decree served national interests,adding that many democratic countries in the worldhave a single-vote system in elections.
But the opposition decided after a late-night meet-ing that it will boycott the forthcoming election, say-ing the verdict has effectively ended the Kuwaiti con-stitution.
Continued on Page 15
CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi waves as he arrives at a rally to showsolidarity with the people of Syria, in a stadium on Saturday. — AP
Morsi cuts Syria ties, backs no-fly zone
Gulf welcomes RowhaniKUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah congratulat-ed moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani for winning the presidential elections onSaturday. Sheikh Sabah said he was looking forward to cementing bilateralrelations and cooperation for the best common interest. Sheikh Sabah wishedRowhani success and hoped that bilateral relations would further improve anddevelop. Saudi King Abdullah also congratulated Rowhani yesterday. “We areglad to congratulate you in the name of the people and government of SaudiArabia... wishing prosperity to the people of the brotherly Islamic republic ofIran,” King Abdullah told Rowhani in a letter. The king hailed Rowhani’s viewson regional cooperation and improving relations. Saudi Arabia was the lastArab state in the Gulf to comment on Rowhani’s win.
Saudis to block WhatsApp DUBAI: Saudi Arabia plans to block Internet-based communication toolWhatsApp within weeks if the US-based firm fails to comply withrequirements set by the kingdom’s telecom regulator, local newspapersreported this week. This month the Communications and InformationTechnology Commission (CITC) banned Viber, another such tool, whichlike WhatsApp is hard for the state to monitor and deprives telecomcompanies of revenue from international calls and texts. “We have beencommunicating with WhatsApp and other similar communication plat-forms to get them to cooperate and comply with the Saudi telecomproviders, however nothing has come of this communication yet,”Abdullah Al-Darrab, governor of the CITC, told Arab News.
Hajj pilgrim numbers cutRIYADH: Saudi Arabia has cut back the number of pilgrims that mayperform the hajj this year due to construction work aimed at expandingthe holy site of Makkah, the hajj minister said. The authorities haddecided to reduce by half the number of pilgrims coming from withinSaudi Arabia, and by about 20 percent those from abroad, said BandarHajjar. “This is an exceptional and temporary decision,” the minister said,quoted by SPA state news agency late on Saturday. Some 3.1 millionpilgrims performed the hajj last year, most of them from abroad. Hajjarsaid the expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah would add 400,000sq m, raising its capacity to accommodate 2.2 million people at thesame time.
L O C A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
DUBAI: In collaboration with Duabi Health Organization, Duabi police yesterdayhosted a workshop on cardiology diseases. Around 100 GCC and Middle Eastcardiologists and cardiology surgeons took part in the workshop.
KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah presides over a Cabinet session yester-day.—KUNA
KUWAIT: The French embassy in Kuwaithas sent letters to French nationals inthe country giving instructions on howto deal with “cases of emergency or cri-sis,” a local daily reported yesterday.
“ The letter comes amid circum-stances which saw King Abdulla binAbdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia return homeafter cutting short his vacation, due tothe developments in the region, espe-cially with regard to Syria, while [UnitedStates] President Barack Obama heldtalks (on Saturday) with European lead-ers on the eve of the G8 meeting onSyria,” Al-Rai reported yesterday in afront-page story.
The letter reportedly gave instruc-
tions “complementary to proceduresimplemented by local authorities” withregard to precautions that need to betaken in case of a crisis. It includes a“pre-evacuation plan” and mentionsthat assembly points should be super-vised by “community security supervi-sors.” The letter called on French nation-als to keep the embassy updated abouttheir personal information as well asinformation about their family members,including their current address. It alsourged people, in the event of a crisis, tocarry a “medium-size suitcase containingpersonal belongings and documents,cash, credit cards, valuables, enoughfood for two days,” and other items.
French Embassy issues
advisory to nationals
KUWAIT: The Kuwait Cabinet announced fullrespect and commitment to put into effect theSupreme Constitutional Court’s ruling on the legalchallenges to the last parliamentary election.
“The Cabinet stresses full respect to rulings ofour fair judiciary and our serious commitmenttoward enforcing it in line with the constitutionand laws, “ Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs andMinister of State for Municipal Affairs SheikhMohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said ina statement read out after an extraordinary meet-ing for the Cabinet to study yesterday’s court ver-dict.
The ministers underscored that the independ-ent and fair judiciary will continue to have the finalsay in all legal and constitutional disputes inKuwait. The cabinet, under His Highness the PrimeMinister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-
Sabah, issued instructions to relevant state bodiesto study the supreme court ruling and take thenecessary measures to implement it. The SupremeConstitutional Court yesterday annulled the cur-rent parliament, elected in December 2012, andthe organization of new parliamentary elections intwo-month period. In another related case, thecourt rebuffed a challenge to law No 20 of 2012which brought a one-person, one-vote system inplace of the former rules that allowed voters tocast ballots for four candidates.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information andMinister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh SalmanSabah Al-Salem Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah said “TheState of Kuwait with all its institutions respects therule of law on any verdict issued by the constitu-tional court”. Commenting on the ruling of theConstitutional Court which approved the single
vote system today, the Minister stressed that thecourt’s decision today enhances the durability ofthe democratic system that is enjoyed by the Stateof Kuwait. He added that “Kuwait has a proud his-tory of respecting the constitution and maintain-ing the rule of law, and today ’s court rulingdemonstrates the strength of our democratic insti-tutions and our judicial system. The Governmentwill continue to work tirelessly to achieve develop-ment and keep pace for a bright future for ourcountry.”
He pointed out that “Our leadership has alwaysworked for Kuwait ’s interests, cohesion, andnational unity. Citizens have always been bondedtogether through national unity and have proventhat they are able to preserve our nationalachievements and to defend our sustainabledevelopment.” —KUNA
Kuwait Cabinet vows full
respects to court rulingVerdict enhances democratic system: Sheikh Salman
KUWAIT: The Lebanese authorities arrest-ed a Syrian national on Friday, a day afterhis accomplice was arrested for involve-ment in a botched attempt to kidnap aKuwaiti national in a town located 23 kilo-meters east of Beirut.
The two suspects reportedly planned tokidnap Sheikh Jaber Al-Yousuf Al-SalmanAl-Sabah and take him to Syria where theyplanned to demand a ransom for hisrelease. Al-Rai newspaper reported yester-day new details of the operation mountedto thwart the kidnap bid , stating that a 15-member security force headed Thursday to
the scene from where the suspectsplanned to abduct their intended victim.The suspects prepared to take Al-Sabahhostage while he was walking towards amosque near his vacation home for theafternoon prayer, but called it off when aLebanese military vehicle passed by. Thesecurity forces moved in the moment thesuspects moved to kidnap their target a lit-tle later.
Meanwhile, Al-Rai reported that theoperation was documented on tape whichis to be broadcast Tuesday June 25 onMTV, a Lebanese private station. — Al-Rai
Second suspect in
failed kidnap held
KUWAIT: In view of there beingtoo little reports on tourism inKuwait, the Leaders Group compa-ny which specializes in training,PR, event management, tourismand administrative consultancy,decided to come up with a month-ly report to highlight the short-comings that have been hinderingtourism from becoming a sourceof national income.
According to the report, thetouristic sector is highly significantin boosting the development planprojects with the ultimate goal ofturning Kuwait into a regionalcommercial and financial hub. Italso stressed that the fact thatKuwait trailed last among touristicdestinations in the GCC region, asper Monitor International, hadgreatly and negatively affected theeconomy at a time when otherGCC states, with a similar climateand social and economic circum-stances, have strongly placedthemselves on the regional touris-tic destinations map.
Further, the report stressed thattourism was capable of attractinginvestments worth billions in the
form of international companiesand agencies building theirregional headquarters in Kuwait. Italso stressed that the tourism sec-tor affects the activity of over 40other sectors such as real estate,recreation, industry, transport,catering, shopping malls andmany others, especial ly whenexper ts l ike the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) are warningthat oil can no longer remainenough as the sole source ofincome, accounting for over 95percent of the national income.
Moreover, the report said thatmany serious initiatives had beenlaunched to develop tourism inKuwait, such as Kuwait’s 20-yearstrategic plan in 2005, and thatsuch endeavors had been hin-dered by bureaucracy. Accordingto the plan, local and internationaltouristic flights would jump to 4.4million annually by 2025.
The plan suggested thatinstead of considering it as a meresource of entrainment and amuse-ment that only contributes 1.9 percent to the national income,tourism could be easily turned into
a developed and highly productiveindustry. In addition, the plan not-ed that less than one per cent ofthe manpower working in tourismcomprised Kuwaitis and that the
maximum hotel capacity was only7000 rooms that was expected togrow to 10000 by 2025 when overten new hotels would open.
“Unfortunately, occupancy rates inKuwaiti hotels came down from 53per cent in 2011 to 51 per cent in2012 whereas hotels in Dubai, KSAand Qatar have a 90 per cent occu-pancy rate during peak seasons,”lamented the report.
The report also stressed thatKuwait has all the potential need-ed and that the government hasmany infrastruc ture projec tsready for execution though manyof them were still in blue prints,such as a new port for containers,Subbiya City, increasing KuwaitInternational Airport’s capacity tohandle 13 mil l ion passengersannually and to be later enhancedto handle 25 million.
Finally, the repor t said thattourism could increase the econo-my’s competitiveness by savingover 10 per cent of what citizensspend on foreign tourism perannum, increasing direc t andindirect governmental revenues,reducing public budget deficit,providing 30000 job opportuni-ties for citizens and reviving andserving around 40 other econom-ic sectors.
Leaders Group issues first
monthly tourism report
Nabila Al-Anjari
Under the aegis of World Cancer Declaration, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) yesterday chose UAE’sSheikha Jawaher Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi as the World’s Kids Cancer Ambassador.
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: Thieves in Shuwaikh area unsuc-cessfully tried to rob cash from an ATM bysimply hauling away the machine after tyingit to a pickup truck with the help of ropes.An Egyptian guard working in a commercialcenter told the police that he heard thesound of glass being smashed and when hewent to check out, he saw thieves tying themachine with ropes and trying to haul all ofit. They ran away after noticing the guardbut took away his mobile phone. Police lift-ed finger prints from the spot and found
that the thieves had used a hammer tobreak through the glass to access themachine. The guard told the police that thethieves were using a new pickup vehicle. Acase was registered and sent to theShuwaikh detectives.
Woman robbedIn another case, an Indian woman expat
told officers at the Salmiya police stationthat an unknown person approached her ina side alley and snatched her chain of goldthat she was wearing. A case was registeredand police was looking for the thieves.
Robbers attempt
to haul away ATM
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: Ahmadi governorate security per-sonnel carried out a campaign under thesupervision of Brig Maratooq Abdulaziz Al-Aslawi and with the Wafra area commander,Colonel Salem Al-Azemi, following it up. Thecampaign resulted in the arrest of 20 persons
found without identification papers. Certainviolations found on the streets wereremoved, including tents and stacked upused tires, mobile groceries and ice vendors’vehicles. The campaign was part of theongoing exercise being carried out by securi-ty personnel across the governorate in coop-eration with the Kuwait municipality.
20 more held in Ahmadi
LO C A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor(MSAL) is expected soon to establish the PublicAuthority for Labor Affairs, as the first step towards can-celing the sponsorship system for private sector laborforce, a local daily reported yesterday, quoting ministryinsiders. The parliament last month passed a bill to setup the authority, two years after the enforcement of theprivate sector’s labor law in 2010. The authority will han-dle the files of the entire labor force in the private sec-tor, effectively ending the employer sponsorship systemin a state where expatriates make up 68 percent of thepopulation.
“The delay was caused by political circumstances, aswell as the fact that the law needed amendments withregard to the authority being affiliated to the ministryinstead of being independent,” said the sources, whospoke to Al-Watan on the condition of anonymity. Theyfurther explained the law needed some terminologychanges “to meet international standards.” For instance,the sources added, the word “sponsor” needed to bereplaced with “employer”, and the term “expatriatelabor” needed to be changed to “foreign workers.”
After the sponsorship system is canceled, the author-ity will handle all matters pertaining to private sectoremployees, including recruitment of expatriate laborforces and managing their relationship with theiremployers. “The sponsorship system will be replacedwith an alternative system that allows the MSAL to beresponsible for expatriate labor forces,” the sourcesexplained. They also stated that the new system would“significantly help” efforts to fight visa trafficking as itwould prevent job providers from issuing work permitsthey can sell to workers. According to the sources,establishing the Public Authority for Labor Affairs is cur-rently “a top priority” for the ministry, which has alreadyprepared a list of candidates to be hired - one generaldirector and three deputies.
The sponsorship or “kafala” system contains loop-holes that are often used by visa traffickers to issuework permits through fake companies or nonexistentjob openings before selling them to unskilled laborersseeking work opportunities in the oil-rich Gulf region.Human right violations resulting from these practiceshave drawn criticism from international organizations inthe past few years. There are nearly 90,000 people livingillegally in Kuwait, according to official figures.
Earlier, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi had identified “marginal laborers” as the targetof a plan announced last March to deport 100,000 for-eigners each year, as part of efforts to reduce the coun-try’s expatriate population by one million in 10 years.The 2.6 million expatriates in Kuwait account for 68 per-cent of the country’s total population of 3.8 million.Marginal laborers are those who usually accept menialjobs, often live without valid visas and, in most cases,are victims of visa traffickers.
KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday received a written letter from Mali’s President Dioncounda Traore’s dealing with bilat-eral relations. It was delivered by Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali. The meeting was also attendedby the Amiri Diwan Advisor, Muhammad Dhaifallah Sharar. —KUNA
Sponsorship
system to be
scrapped soon
KUWAIT: Assistant Undersecretary Lt. General SheikhFaisal Nawaf Al-Sabah has urged those holdingdependent visas and engaging in employment not toviolate the rules of the visa, which is given by law to thewife, children, father and mother as per their age.
“Those having dependent visas should not misusetheir visa or work for others, because once we catchthem, we shall not listen to excuses and other claims. Ifanyone is caught working at a place while holding adependent visa, legal action will be taken against himor her and against his or her sponsor. The sponsor willbe held accountable and shall be banned from spon-soring anyone in future, and the violator shall bedeported regardless of his or her circumstances, sincehe or she has violated the law and did not abide by theregulations,” he stated.
Noting that the month of Ramadan is approaching,Lt General Faisal Al-Nawaf said the ministry has put inplace some strict regulations and will take actionagainst expats who misuse visit visas and practice beg-ging in front of masjids, houses, commercial areas andother places. He added that he has prepared a securityplan to arrest those who use the festive atmosphereduring Ramadan to cheat citizens and expats and makeeasy money through begging.
Lt General Al-Faisal warned that those caught beg-ging would be deported along with their sponsors forviolating the laws. He also called on citizens and expatsholding dependent visas to abide by the rules and alsoprevent their sponsors from breaking the law, in orderfor both to avoid legal action.
Moi issues
warning on
dependent visa
KUWAIT: Kuwait has no plans to block access to appli-cations like Viber or others on smartphones that areused to make calls free of charge, but the final say onthe issue will be left to the Public TelecommunicationsAuthority. This was stated by Minister ofCommunications and State Minister of Housing AffairsSalem Al-Othaina, who explained that the job of thenew authority was to organize the telecom sector inKuwait in general.
Meanwhile, Al-Othaina revealed in his statements toAl-Qabas that the ministry was coordinating with thePartnership Technical Bureau on a project to privatizethe telecommunications sector, which included land-lines and infrastructure.
The law to establish the Public TelecommunicationsAuthority was passed by the parliament last week. “TheAuthority is one of the most important projects thatremained under discussion in parliament since 2009,and is necessary to control and regulate the telecommarket,” Al-Othaina said. Meanwhile, the ministerrevealed that the ministry planned to place a tenderbefore the end of the year for the second stage ofthe ministry’s projects to replace landline cableswith fiber optics. Currently, 23 percent of Kuwait’slandlines are connected through optical fiber, andthe minister indicated that the new project will cover29 new areas.—Al-Qabas
Privatization of
landlines soon
By Labeed Abdal
Back home run...!
We need to read correctly the messages emerging fromthe Iranian presidential race which ended yesterdaywith people choosing the most moderate of the candi-
dates with 50 percent of the votes.The Islamic Republic of Iran is a regional neighbor that we
hope will keep going ahead with options that are peaceful andwill continue with its internal and foreign policies. Social and eco-nomic disturbances have been the name of the game in theMiddle East Arab Spring movement that started from Tunisia andspilled over to Egypt, Libya etc, and is still brewing in Syria.
Also, even in Turkey, tensions are on the rise, with crowdsgathering at the Taksim Park in Istanbul. There is tension betweenthe protesters on the street and the prime minister as people arelooking for more democracy and want to retain a park historicallyused by them and not allow it to be used as a Leisure Park. Onehopes the parties will halt the demonstrations till a final courtorder is pronounced. There have been many such examples ofpeople wanting a say in the country’s public issues, a more mod-erate approach and more reforms.
One must be reasonable in meeting the people’s demandsand remain understanding of all the parties, especially when itcomes to people who need to feel that they have been heardproperly.
One major problem in such a scenario has been the way theuprisings were dealt in many of those countries, ranging fromcrackdowns, smoke bombs, rubber bullets, teargas guns and whatnot. In many cases, there were reports of protestors sufferingsevere injuries, being killed and even becoming victims of rape.
What is required to deal with such situations is a determina-tion to preserve the unity and integrity of the country, and adoptan approach of real dialogue, a healthy respect of a dissentingopinion and other democratic values. One who lacks any logicalreasoning will keep blaming such imbroglios on a certain superpower or someone else.
In all such cases, the responsibility lies with the concernedcountry to ensure that people’s freedoms and liberties are pro-tected, and regimes refrain from being dictatorial. Governancereforms must receive priority.
As old agreements and old maps of a century old vintage gothrough a churning, one must not forget many new factors likethe new global polarities, power shifts, power sharing principlesand shifting centers of power.
Without doubt, any power vacuum would lead to an all roundconflict. The stakeholders must remember that they must con-cede genuine rights of the people in the region, be amenable todemands for a fair and equal right of self determination, changeand reform.
Also, the countries need to manage the ongoing power strug-gles under the umbrella of internationally-sanctioned systemsand extend support for peace proposals that are fair to all.
One must remain determined not to lose focus or be blindedby vested interests.
In my view
By Muna Al-Fuzai
Syria needs
true help
Local Spotlight
Ido believe that the Muslim brothers are desperately try-ing to get back not only to the Middle East where theyhave remained entrenched for many years but are try-
ing hard to reach the pinnacle of power by overthrowingmost, if not all, regimes in the region. The clearest proof ofthis currently is their near daily effort to incite the Muslimsaround the globe about how their Syrian brothers arebeing murdered every day at the hands of the Syrian pow-ers.
It is essential to understand the structure and objectivesof the Muslim Brotherhood. I think it will be completelybereft of logic to trust their call for Jihad in Syria to save thelives of Syrian men and women. If they really meant theirword, then how come they did not make such a call a longtime ago for the Palestinian cause? Or is it the case that theissue of Palestine holds no priority for them? Are thePalestinians not Muslims? I think we should not be naÔveto accept a call to fight, kill or be killed while those whomake these calls remain hidden? Can someone tell mewho the real opposition is against the Syrian ruling pow-ers? Who are they? Everyday, I see a different name emerg-ing from one or the other western country exhorting theMuslims to save Syria from the current ruler but I also won-der why they themselves don’t jump out of their fancyarmchairs and go fight for their country. Why don’t theythemselves fight those they claim have become corruptinstead of sending daily media messages calling for moneythat may fatten their bank account but will not benefit any-one else?
Throughout history, we Arabs have witnessed similarsituations when it came to the Palestine cause for which somuch money was sent to help the people there and yet,the standard of living did not change because those inpower pocketed the money and did not allow it to reachthe needy.
Yes, we need to learn some crucial lessons about howto help the real victims instead of randomly giving awayresources to cells that we know nothing about on howthey will use the money thus collected.
I need to say that I would want this article to serve as acaution to those receiving text messages on their mobilesor WhatsApp application urging them to donate and sup-port the Syrian people with images of a former MP carry-ing guns and presenting him as a role model. I wonderhow he entered Syria, because if this happened with theapproval of Syrian powers, then all is okay there, and if theysneaked into Syria through Iraq, for example, then this wasa breach of security that should be taken into considera-tion. Who knows who may enter Kuwait now in a similarfashion? If someone poses this question to me in a semi-nar, I will be speechless.
I do recall a movie I saw a couple of years ago in which acertain terrorist keeps threatening the US leaders till he isarrested and found issuing his threats from his house nextdoor to Capitol Hill. It was all very funny but it shows thatnot every threatening call is true and some people are realmaniacs. Think of Egypt and just how well are they manag-ing now? Now, the Muslims Brotherhood did not come upwith any miracles there. It is very clear to everyone. Why dowe want to have another Egypt called Syria?
Of course, Syria does need help. I know that calls forhelping the country but it should be done via official chan-nels and not through freelance self-styled do-gooders. Ifcalls to help Syria are true, then everyone should supportthe UN-backed calls and the UNHCR to help those in needand through the right channel.
LOCALMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Opinions have been expressed, and positions havealready been predetermined while others will beannounced any moment. Regardless of how the
Constitutional Court’s ruling impacts conflicting politicalinterests, there is no doubt that its verdict wil l berespected by all political and social players on theKuwaiti scene.
The government and the people are required afterthe ruling to work together in order to protect the unityof the Kuwaiti society, and give top priority to national
unity. The government for sure faces a huge challengeto push for the national cause that addresses both, indi-viduals as well as the community, while it works toenhance their political awareness. It is clear today thatvoters need to become more enlightened when it comesto fulfilling their national responsibility in electing com-petent members of parliament.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has reiterated the ruling family’s commitment todemocracy on numerous occasions. This necessitatesefforts by the government to draw a roadmap to achievethe Amir’s vision of remaining committed to the demo-cratic approach and dialogue, as well as the many devel-opmental projects that Kuwait is in dire need of. There isalso immense need to believe that a constructive dia-logue, in which different opinions are respected, willbenefit the country.
The regional developments including political andsectarian struggles that are tearing apart neighboringcountries should not be ignored. We definitely will notremain unaffected by what is happening around us, asreligious and sectarian extremism could very well hit usif we fail to stand united in the face of pressing chal-lenges.
Kuwait has made landmark political and democraticgains, and these deserve to be protected through allpeaceful, intellectual, political and social means so thatthe country can develop knowing fully well the presentand future requirements.
We share a long history and achievements at thesocial and political levels. We managed to make a quan-tum leap for our country and are reaping its fruits today.It is our duty to share with the future generations thepride about what we have achieved. —Al-Qabas
Beyond the ruling
kuwait digest
By Khalid Al-Tarrah
Kuwait has been living in anxiety in anticipationof the Constitutional Court ruling on the consti-tutionality of the decree to amend the electoral
system. Kuwaitis are perhaps only distracted by theimages of killings and massacres happening in Syria.
In the meantime, discontentment is still widespreadin society on account of poor health, educational,housing, infrastructure and traffic services, as well asthe lack of sports and cul-tural activities combinedwith increased social cate-gorization along sectarian,racial and tribal l ines.Meanwhile, civil societyinstitutions continue to bealmost completely missing,whereas the governmentcontinues to ignore creativeyoung citizens who needsupport so that they cancontribute towards theircountry.
Kuwaitis are still sufferingunder a bureaucracy thatslows down the simplest ofprocedures at the statedepartments. People arestill being prosecuted forexpressing their opinion onsocial networks that are dif-ferent from those of thegovernment. Politicians arestill refusing to accept opin-ions that differ from theirs, and the executive authorityremains unwilling to enforce the law equally.Meanwhile, wasta (connections) and favoritism are stillthe main routes adopted for recruitment to leadingposts while competent candidates are ignored.International organizations’ reports continue to rateKuwait poorly when it comes to corruption and trans-parency indexes. Meanwhile, there are 120,000 peoplewho still live in Kuwait without having any identity or
enjoying human rights.After all that, Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh
Mohammad Al-Abdullah makes a public statement inwhich he states that “Kuwait is on the right path totake its position among the advanced countries,thanks to the cooperation between the [legislative andexecutive] authorities since the beginning of the year.”
It seems like the minister is either unaware or sim-ply indifferent to everythingmentioned above. Ormaybe he thinks that whathas been currently happen-ing in Kuwait is considered‘normal’ in advanced coun-tries. Maybe he thinks thatall legislations passed by aparliament elected amid aboycott by 60 percent of thepopulation are ‘progressive’;including the debt relief billthat failed to achieve publicequality. Maybe he is notaware of the fact that gov-ernment offices are stackedwith legislations passed inthe past but which so farremain unenforced. Maybehe does not know that legis-lation is only a small stepthat has to be followed upwith action by the govern-ment to put the law intoeffect, and in a proper way
to achieve developmental goals so that Kuwait canbecome a developed state.
Maybe the minister sees ‘cooperation between thetwo authorities’ as having a hapless parliament thatmakes no efforts to monitor ministers’ performanceand is working with a cabinet that defuses every effortto grill any of its members. Either it is that, or perhapsthe minister thinks he lives in a country other thanKuwait. —Al-Rai
A minister from outside
kuwait digest
By Mohammad Hayat
It seems like the minister iseither unaware or simply indif-ferent to everything mentionedabove. Or maybe he thinks thatwhat has been currently hap-pening in Kuwait is considered‘normal’ in advanced countries.Maybe he thinks that all legis-lations passed by a parliamentelected amid a boycott by 60percent of the population are‘progressive’; including thedebt relief bill that failed toachieve public equality.
Assessment of government performance is necessaryin advanced countries to determine what kind of andhow much development is needed in which spheres
and thus chalk out plans and strategies to achieve the objec-tives. The lack of assessment makes it difficult to determinethe correct way to achieve the goals, or to diagnose theproblems that negatively affect the quality of work andachievement levels.
Governments are not the only parties that require per-formance appraisal. Even whenit comes to individuals, weoften need to evaluate ourown performance and deter-mine whether it is leaving anegative or a positive effect onthe people around us. Butunlike one individual’s assess-ment of his or her own per-formance, in case of an institu-tion the appraisal becomesnecessary because it is meantfor public welfare.
In Kuwait, there is a lack ofinterest in assessing the per-formance of the government,whether it is regarding minis-ters or senior officials whoseduties are intrinsically connect-ed to serving the people andthe state. For decades, we have never heard a minister or asenior state official being relieved of his or her duties follow-ing any performance assessment carried out based on clear-ly defined standards of evaluation.
While Kuwait’s political system is different compared toparty systems where parties assess each other’s performanceand their ability to face challenges, we often witness minis-ters and state departments forced out of their positions foralleged efforts to improve a situation or end a certain crisiswhich, most of the time, has nothing to do with performance.
The performance of the government as a whole is not
assessed in Kuwait. Instead of holding the governmentresponsible for incompetency and poor management, min-isterial posts are reshuffled as a result of political reactionsor to address certain problems in a way that reflects person-al vendetta and is no reflection of the minister’s perform-ance. That is why Kuwait is replete with incidents of ministe-rial changes being effected as a result of conflicting politicalviews, especially those expressed by political and sectariangroups that push for appointing candidates to leading
posts based on favoritisminstead of competency.
Assessment of governmentperformance needs to be ademocratic approach and willbe a step in the right direction.It will act as a tool to determinethe government’s level of suc-cess in fulfilling publicdemands. In addition to push-ing development and address-ing problems, performanceassessment also protects offi-cials from public criticism.Moreover, it helps us focus onworking as per professionalstandards such as leadership,creativity and professionalism,instead of leaving job promo-tion to the whims and fancies of
certain individuals whose idea of evaluation may not neces-sarily be based on objectivity.
There are examples aplenty about deficiency on per-formance and lack of commitment to do an honest apprais-al in our society, including the failure to enforce laws such asthe anticorruption authority law, the wealth disclosure law,not to mention going ahead with mega construction proj-ects. We find that performance assessment lacks even at atime when MPs are consistently voicing complaints againstthe executive authority’s incompetency and lack of properplanning. —Al-Rai
Performance assessment
kuwait digest
By Yaqoub Al-Sharrah
Assessment of governmentperformance needs to be a dem-ocratic approach and will be astep in the right direction. It willact as a tool to determine thegovernment’s level of success infulfilling public demands. In addi-tion to pushing development andaddressing problems, perform-ance assessment also protectsofficials from public criticism
Kuwait has made landmarkpolitical and democratic gains,and these deserve to be protect-ed through all peaceful, intellec-tual, political and social meansso that the country can developknowing fully well the presentand future requirements.
No sooner had MP Khaled Al-Shatti filed a parliamentaryinquiry asking the Minister of Social Affairs and LaborThekra Al-Rasheedi about illegal charities collecting
donations for the Syrian opposition that MP Khaled Al-Shulaimuiquestioned the minister of Awqaf Sherieda Al-Maosherji aboutthe total number of both licensed and unlicensed Husseiniyas inKuwait and the measures taken against unlicensed ones.
What’s wrong with these two MPs? Al-Shatti knows for surethat donations in the form of cash and kind and appeals toKuwaiti volunteers to fight the Syrian opposition had begun assoon as the first shot was fired against the regime. So, raking upthe issue donations collected by unlicensed charities is onlymeant to instigate the people. On the other hand, Al-Shulaimiknows for sure that both licensed and unlicensed Husseiniyashave been in Kuwait ever since its inception, that is long beforehe, his father, his grandfather and great grandfather had beenborn.
What, then, are those two people’s representatives are tryingto prove by posing such tricky questions? I cannot but accusethem both of trying to stir a sectarian conflict. They both look asif they were carrying sharp knives and plan to shred this nationinto pieces. Being lawmakers, both of them should have beenable to make a better assessment of the situation and remainedcareful so as not to jeopardize national security. What is happen-ing in Syria is spilling outside its borders and Kuwait is no excep-tion, unless we remained more careful and wiser.
Both MPs should not have mixed their personal interests withtheir political stance. They should not have poured ‘oil on fire’ bymistakenly thinking that their inquiries were driven by patrioticmotives to defend this or that sect’s principles.
On for almost three years, the Syrian crisis is dangerously start-ing to extend beyond that distressed country’s borders. It beganon account of an opposition-led rebellion and ended up into afight over identity and affiliations. It is becoming more complicat-ed, thanks to international intervention and the activities ofextremist guerillas fighting on either side. The sectarian hostilitiesand explosions in Lebanon and various Iraqi cities are but anextension of the Syrian conflict. Kuwait is not fortified againstsuch tumultuous events unless we exercise more caution, havefear of Allah and exhibit more concern for our country’s safety. It istime for Kuwaitis to send signals that there is complete coherenceand solidarity among its people. — Al-Watan
Those MPs do not
represent Kuwait!
kuwait digest
By Hassan Ali Karam
L O C A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: Authorities have raised alert levelsat their highest in all governorates as theholy month of Ramadan begins. As usual,huge amounts of foodstuff are beingpumped in the markets during this occa-sion, prompting the municipality authori-ties in all governorate branches to focustheir inspection campaigns on food. Legalaction will be taken against anyone violat-ing food safety norms to ensure goodhealth of consumers.
In this respect, public relations directorRasheed Al-Hasham said that a comprehen-sive field plan drafted in cooperation withall municipality governorate branches willbe implemented when the month ofRamadan begins. The plan will cover thepublic markets, foodstuff outlets, coopera-tive societies, slaughter houses and food-stuff manufacturing companies to ensurethat everyone abides by the rules and regu-lations and only foodstuff that are safe andsuitable remain in circulation. The workteams will be on their guard round theclock, and will receive any complaints onthe hotline 139 for public service at allhours.
In the capital governorate, municipalitybranch director Eng. Faleh Al-Shimmarysaid that a plan has been prepared for theentire month whereby markets will be keptunder strict supervision. The places visitedby a large number of people, such asMubarakiya market, meat markets, whole-sale markets at Shuwaikh and the foodstuffstores at Al-Rai Area, that form the supplyline for food items, in addition to increasingnumber of butchers and laborers in capital
slaughter house will remain under specificwatch. These are the places where hygienenorms must be particularly applied, includ-ing quick lifting of the skins and leftovers ofs laughtered animals f rom outside theslaughter houses.
The director of imported foodstuff, Eng.Istiqlal Al-Muslem, said that all efforts wereon to cover all import outlets along theland, sea and air routes as these are themain gateways for the foodstuff coming toKuwait. Efforts are being made to ensure nofood is used till it is cleared through labtests as fit for human consumption. Legalaction will be taken against violators, sheadded. Since the month of Ramadan fallsthis year in the middle of the summer, whentemperatures are very high, supervision hadstarted a few months earlier to ensure safe-ty of the food items.
In the Hawllay governorate, director ofthe municipality branch Fahad Al-Fahadsaid that having learnt from past experi-ence, “We have take necessary measures toincrease the level of supervision across allmarkets and slaughter houses besides end-ing the menace of vendors who are usuallyactive during this season.”
He said that the foodstuff related activi-ties were kept under consideration as therewere a large number of outlets in the gover-norate, many of them located near thebeach where there is great demand frompublic in the evenings. He said that inspec-tions will be carried out twice a day. Apartfrom the one carried out daily in routine, anadditional check will be run after Iftar and“Sohoor”. These will be surprise inspections,and no advance warning would be given.
Ahmadi governorate director Eng. Fahad
al-Otaibi said his staff was prepared in allrespects and coordination was being car-ried out among all departments, especiallyconcerning the food items. Al-Otaibi saidthe inspection campaigns were carried outround the year as per a prepared programand on all occasions.
In Mubarak Al-Kabeer, governorate direc-tor Eng. Shriedeh Al-Mutairi said that strictsupervision was in place as far as foodstuffoutlets and central stores in the gover-norate were concerned, in addition to facto-ries in Subhan areas. A plan was in place forthe occasion. Al-Mutairi said that during acampaign, an unlicensed store was discov-ered in a building and was closed. Threecitations were handed out for the violationsdiscovered and food items weighing 100kgs found unsuitable for human consump-tion were destroyed.
In Jahra municipality branch, directorEng. Sami Al-Saeedan said because of alarge population of the governorate, a num-ber of regulations were imposed regardingdifferent food related activities includingthose applicable to super markets, restau-rants and food supply chains that prepareIftar meals. In addition, strict control wasbeing exercised over vendors who sell dairyproducts in the main streets usually beforeIftar. And finally in Farwaniya Municipality,its director Eng. Ahmad Al-Hazeem said thata number of formal it ies were beingobser ved on the occasion of the holymonth and inspection officials will remainfocused on all foodstuff outlets and ven-dors, mainly in J leeb Al-Shoyoukh andKhaitan. He pointed that a thorough planwas in place to monitor the governorate’sslaughter house during the holy month.
As holy month approaches,Municipality beefs up raids
Comprehensive field plan in place: Al-Hasham
KUWAIT: The municipal officers conduct inspections and seal food outlets duringtheir field campaigns ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: The Capital GovernorateMunicipality emergency team hasfound about 2,000 kilograms of natu-ral honey, whose sell-by date hadexpired since 2012, at one of thestores behind the wholesale marketstreet in Shuwaikh Industrial Area,according to Al-Qabas Daily. The dailymentioned that the honey was pro-duced in Pakistan and Hungary andhad been detained to be destroyedlater. A citation for selling expired foodproducts was handed to the storeowners, and the Ministry ofCommerce delegate took some sam-ples of the honey for further testing.
2,000kg of expired honey confiscated
The expired natural honey is shown.
Stamps forgery racket busted at Kuwait port
KUWAIT: Four people were arrestedat the Doha Port after customs offi-cials recovered government stampsand forged documents from theirboat. According to sources withknowledge of the case, the fourIranian nationals were referred to theState Security Department for investi-gating their possible involvement inincidents of smuggling, and determin-ing what all they could have smug-gled using forged entrance and exitpermits.
HomicideInvestigations were on to deter-
mine the circumstances leading to thedeath of a man whose body wasfound at a construction site in theSabah Al-Ahmad City. Criminal investi-gators on Saturday reached the sitenear the water reserves project in thecity where the body was found from apit. Preliminary investigationsrevealed that the victim died of a fatalhead injury, based on which the casewas classified as homicide.
Domestic violencePolice are looking to arrest a man
who faces charges of domestic vio-lence and risking his family’s wellbe-ing as he used a firearm. Police rushedto a house in Ashbiliya on Saturdaywhere a Kuwaiti woman had lockedup herself and her children inside aroom to escape her husband’s wrathafter he fired gunshots while being in
an inebriated state. The officers wereable to safely extricate the womanand her children. She explained thather husband assaulted her physicallybefore her son tried to intervene, atwhich point he grabbed his gun andfired multiple rounds. The manrefused to leave the house, afterwhich police headed back to thepolice station and launched proce-dures to summon him for investiga-tions.
Maid charged with tortureA domestic worker was arrested
after her employer accused her ofphysically assaulting his child. Thecase was filed recently at the Roudhapolice station where a Kuwaiti manapproached police, accompanied byhis housemaid. He accused the Asianwoman of ‘torturing’ his seven-year-old son by severely beating him. Thewoman will remain in custody pend-ing further investigations.
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: Drug enforcementagents arrested an Asianexpat for possessing 50grams of heroin and 100drug pills that were recov-ered from his residence.
Earlier, information wasreceived about his involve-ment in the drug trade. Awork team was formed toverify the tip-off. Once thatwas done, legal permissionwas obtained and his resi-dence was raided whereagents found the abovementioned drugs. The manconfessed to trading indrugs. He and the contra-band were sent to the con-cerned authorities.
Sheikh Al-Khaled, Mucavi discussKuwait’s role in Africa food security
ROME: Head of the EconomicDepartment at Kuwait ForeignMinistry Sheikh Ali Al-Khaled Al-Sabah has discussed with Chairmanof the Africa Group of PermanentRepresentatives in Rome-basedFood and Agriculture Organization(FAO) Ambassador Carla ElisaMucavi Kuwait’s contribution todevelopment and food security inAfrica.
Sheikh Ali also mulled withMucavi the proposed agenda of thecoming Arab African Summit inKuwait and the coordinationbetween the FAO African Group andNear East Group, which Kuwait willchair shortly. The Kuwaiti officialexpressed his country’s support tothe international efforts to achievesustainable development and food
security for the countries of theAfrican continent.
For her part, Mucavi greatlyappreciated Kuwait’s contributionto development projects in Africa.She lauded Kuwait’s quick responseand help to disasters-stricken areas,
citing Kuwait’s initiative to estab-lish the International Fund forAgriculture Development inresponse to the famine that hitEthiopia in 1970s. Last week, FAOannounced that 38 countries havemet internationally-established tar-gets in the fight against hunger,forefront of them Kuwait, chalkingup successes ahead of a deadlineset for 2015. “These countries areleading the way to a better future.They are proof that with strongpolitical will, coordination and
cooperation, it is possible toachieve rapid and lasting reduc-tions in hunger,” FAO Director-General JosÈ Graziano da Silva said.
Graziano da Silva urged all coun-tries to keep up the momentum,aiming for the complete eradicationof hunger, in keeping with the ZeroHunger Challenge launched in 2012by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Globally,hunger has declined over the pastdecade, but 870 million people arestill undernourished, and millions ofothers suffer the consequences ofvitamin and mineral deficiencies,including child stunting,” the FAOchief said.
“We need to keep up our efforts,until everyone can live healthy andproductive lives.” — KUNA
Asian held with narcotics
L O C A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
News
High School results may be postponed KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education is currentlyconsidering postponing declaring the results forthe final examinations since the date set for it —July 6 (Saturday)— coincides with the municipalcouncil elections. In this regard, educationalsources said that the arts section students wouldsit for their last exam on Thursday, July 4 and thetest would need two days to be marked. “The prob-lem is that the results are usually declared live onair by the minister, but it will be difficult to do sobecause TV channels will be busy covering theelections,” said the sources.
MoE retirementMinistry of Education sources revealed thatMinister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf has put an end to therumors floating around for the past two monthsabout retiring employees who have put in 30 yearsor more of service from supervisory jobs. Al-Hajraftold officials during a meeting of theUndersecretaries two days back about the decisionby the civil service council to retire all those meet-ing the above condition by September next.Sources said that Al-Hajraf directed UndersecretaryMariam Al-Wateed to communicate the decision toall sections yesterday to take necessary action forcompliance. By asking that he vacant positions befilled as soon as possible, it signaled that theAssistant Undersecretary for administration hassent a list of names of those to be retired in aphased manner, beginning with those who havecompleted 35 years in service and followed up bythose who have put in lesser number of years. ButAl-Hajraf said that the decision will be implement-ed in case of all those who have served for 30 ormore years, irrespective of the offer proposed byAl-Duaij.
Heart support materials ‘safe’Minister of Health Dr Mohammad Al-Haifi said thatthe way MP Faisal Al-Kanderi raised the subject ofheart support materials has only spread fearamong the public while the reality is that a factfinding committee has found that the heart sup-port materials were fine and safe. The committeehas concluded its report, and everything was foundin perfect order. Tenders since 2011 have beenawarded to a company and radiologists hadcleared these as per the specifications.
Ramadan donations Well-informed sources said that the charitiesdepartment at the Ministry of Social Affairs andLabor (MSAL) has made all arrangements for theupcoming holy month of Ramadan including set-ting up inspection teams that would monitor dona-tion collection throughout Kuwait. The sourcesadded that the donations will be collected using K-Net service, and officially stamped and approvedreceipts that cannot be forged will be issued. Thecash donations would be collected only at theheadquarters of the ten approved and authorizedcharities.
in brief
KUWAIT: Director of the office of Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah met yesterdaywith Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Satish Mehta. During the meeting, theydiscussed bilateral relations between the two countries and issues of com-mon interest. —KUNA
DUSHANBEH: The Kuwaiti media delegation in Tajikistan. —KUNA
WASHINGTON: The US Secretary of State JohnKerry Kerry said in a phone call to Iraqi ForeignMinister Hoshyar Zebari “that he was impressedby the recent progress the two nations (Kuwaitand Iraq) have made toward resolving remain-ing UN Chapter VII issues” and that “this was aclear example of determined and persistentdiplomacy paying off.”
Kerry also discussed recent developments inIraq and the region, the State Departmentstatement stated. I t disclosed that Kerr ythanked the Iraqi Foreign Minister “for hisefforts to help organize a unity meeting ofIraq’s political and religious leaders at the endof May and the meeting between PrimeMinister (Nouri) Maliki and KRG President(Masoud) Barzani on June 9.”
The statement added that Kerry noted that
he was “encouraged by the positive tone ofthese meetings and urged Iraqi leaders to buildon these steps by continuing direct dialogueand taking concrete action to address politicaldifferences.”
“The two agreed on the importance of a uni-fied approach against violence and the need toaddress legitimate grievances peacefully and ina manner consistent with the Iraqi constitu-tion,” it stressed.
He assured the Foreign Minister that theUnited States would continue to work to helpIraq improve relations with other neighbors inthe region,” the statement noted. The Secretaryand the Foreign Minister also discussed the sit-uation in Syria, where Kerry “reaffirmed that theUnited States continues to work aggressivelyfor a political solution with the goal of a second
Geneva meeting, but that the use of chemicalweapons and increasing involvement ofHezbollah demonstrates the regime’s lack ofcommitment to negotiations and threatens toput a political settlement out of reach”
“The Secretary expressed our concern aboutthe increasingly sectarian nature of the Syrianconflict on both sides, including atrocities com-mitted in recent days in Qusayr and in DeirEzZor,” according to the statement. In that light,Kerry noted his “appreciation for the ForeignMinister’s statement on June 11 discouragingIraqis from joining the fight in Syria,” whereKerry further urged that Iraq “take every possi-ble measure to help end the military resupplyof the Assad regime and thereby increase thepressure that will be necessary to advance apolitical solution.” — KUNA
Kerry lauds progress in Iraq-Kuwait relations
‘Determined diplomacy pays off’
DUSHANBEH: Current visit by a Kuwaitimedia delegation to Tajikistan is meant topave way for an upcoming official visit byTajik President Emomali Rahmon to Kuwaiton June 23-25, the delegation head saidyesterday.
The visiting Kuwaiti officials are seekingthrough this visit to promote economic,media and tourist potentials of the repub-lic as well as highlighting its civilization,Talal Al-Sultan, also the external mediaspecialist of the Ministry of Information,told KUNA. The Tajik President confirmedhis country’s desire to cement relationswith Kuwait at various levels during ameeting with the Kuwaiti delegation, onSaturday, Al-Sultan confirmed. He saidRahmon invited Kuwaiti investors toexplore business opportunities in the Tajikmarket, stressing on his government’sreadiness to overcome all obstacles thatmay face Kuwaiti entrepreneurs who
desire to visit the country for business.The Tajik President will sign eight agree-
ments during his visit to Kuwait on eco-nomic and cultural cooperation, invest-ment and tourism promotion of his coun-try, Al-Sultan noted.
Tajikistan, since independence, hasestablished a free economic-financial sys-tem designed to boost commerce andsecure all possible facilities for exports andimports. Al-Sultan noted that he met withDeputy Chairman of the Tajik televisionand radio who expressed his country’sdesire to strengthen media cooperationwith Kuwait ’s Ministry of Informationthrough reciprocal delegations’ visits andtraining of cadres.
A delegation from the Ministry ofForeign Affairs visited the Tajik Capitalthree weeks ago to take part in a meetingof the Kuwaiti-Tajik Economic CooperationCommittee. —KUNA
Media Delegation paves way for Rahmon visit
KUWAIT: “Down to top “ volunteer team,dedicated to cases of Down Syndrome (DS)is the first of its kind in the Gulf region, vicechairman of the team Salem Al-Fadli said.
He added in remarks yesterday that agroup of young Kuwait is formed thehumanitarian volunteer team, dedicated forpeople of Down Syndrome, working hard tospread awareness in the society about (DS),besides allowing people with such cases topractice creative activities. “Down to up”team was called this way to motivate thefamilies with children suffering from DS,whom the team works hardly to reach themand take care of their children. It was theidea of chairman of the team, Nasser Al-Reshedi, who gathered a total of 40 volun-teers with ages ranging between 16-30years from various specialties, fields andeducational levels, while the administrationof the team was formed out of this group.
Kuwaiti youths have extraordinary ener-gy, and are always keen to offer help andassistance to others, especially those withspecial needs, he said. The team has chosencaring for cases of Down Syndromebecause this segment of the society suffersfrom negligence, and almost no volunteer-ing group at all has taken care of them pre-viously, he affirmed.
It holds various activities of educational,and entertaining nature for cases of DownSyndrome, including hand crafts work-shops, besides music, sports and house-keeping classes, he stated.
The team also organizes field trips to sci-entific, and entertaining centers as well ascampaigns to clean shores, besides holdingfairs to exhibit the products of cases ofDown Syndrome, Al-Reshedi added.
The volunteers’ work includes spreadingawareness in the society about the appro-priate volunteer concepts, besides briefing
people on the Down Syndrome, its causesand possibilities to avert it, he said. Theteam celebrates a number of occasions,including the annual anniversary of estab-lishing “Down to up” volunteer team onNovember 28, the World Down SyndromeDay, besides national celebrations, he men-tioned.
It had written and showed a play, called“moment” tackling the Down Syndrome,sponsored by the Kuwait NationalPetroleum Company (KPNC), which hostedthis play in one of the Company’s halls, andthe invitation was open to the public, hestated The team is facing several challengesand obstacles including lack of cooperationby some families with children of cases ofDS, besides weak media coverage of relatedactivities, Al-Reshedi said. He pointed outthat the team has no official sponsor, prais-ing the support it receives from the KuwaitiSociety for Down Syndrome, which hoststhe team’s official headquarters. The teamwelcomes any new volunteer and is reach-able via telephone, accounts on social net-works including (Twitter) and (Instagram),he said. He expressed thanks to all bodiesthat cooperated with the team to serve itshumanitarian aims in serving people suffer-ing from Down Syndrome, especially “PitzzaExpress” which allowed the team to organ-ize a pizza cooking class for a group of cas-es of Down Syndrome lately. Down syn-drome (DS) or Down’s syndrome alsoknown as trisomy 21, is a genetic disordercaused by the presence of all or part of athird copy of chromosome 21. Down syn-drome is the most common chromosomeabnormality in humans. It is typically asso-ciated with a delay in cognitive abil ity(mental retardation, or MR) and physicalgrowth, and a particular set of facial charac-teristics. —KUNA
‘Down to up’ volunteering team, first of its kind in Gulf
KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of Statefor Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah stressed Kuwait media’s ability to for-tify national unity affirming the government oppositionto prejudice against any segment of the society.“Kuwaiti media excels in taking responsibility and isable to be a key partner in fortifying national unity,” saidthe minister in a statement to Al-Qabas newspaper,published yesterday.
“Our national unity cannot be bidden over or alteredby irresponsible actions by individuals,” noted SheikhSalman, reiterating the government strong keenness onprotecting the national unity, which is a red line thathas “no room for tampering.” He noted that Kuwait hasbeen witnessing current on-going rapid regionalevents, “but our national unity is safe as our society iscohesive and keen on working within the constitutionalframeworks and the principle of respect for the stateinstitutions, and whoever tries to offend these princi-ples, will take full responsibility of his/her action.”
Sheikh Salman stressed “the Information Ministry willnot hesitate to take firm action against anyone whotries to harm our national unity.” On the InformationMinistry’s role of organizing and following up on offen-sive remarks posted on social networking websites,Sheikh Salman stressed that the ministry is proceedingwith a project to regulate electronic media, after his dis-cussions with media institutions and bodies, officials ofwhich “emphasized the need to preserve media free-doms.” — KUNA
Kuwait’s media able to fortify unity: Minister
KUWAIT: A number of NGOsand political powers recentlywarned about a sectarian con-flict saying some irresponsibleparties were trying to takeadvantage of the tragic situa-tions in Syria. They said certainirresponsible voices were tryingto harm the discourse of ‘nation-al coherence’ that has markedKuwait’s stance on the issue.
They also warned what theydescribed as ‘importing conflictsfrom another society on thepretext of supporting them.’
In this regard, the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA), theWomen Cultural Society, KuwaitGraduates Society, Public FundProtection Society, KuwaitSociety for Formative Arts, ChildEvaluation Center, Kuwait
Writers’ Syndicate and thePhysiotherapy Society recentlyissued a joint statement warn-ing of such a danger and urgingall sides to safeguard Kuwait’snational solidarity.
The eight NGOs also urgedcitizens not to be carried awayby extreme and extravagantcalls usually made by peoplewho ‘are only after their own
interests regardless of the price’that the country may have topay. “History is full of similarexamples of sectarian conflicts,such as the civil wars inLebanon and Ireland, thatdestroyed everybody and every-thing and ended up with nowinners,” the statement said,highlighting that thoughregional peoples had every
right to fight for their freedomand rights, such conflicts shouldnot, under any circumstances,be exported to other countriesmerely to garner some support.“The funny thing is that somebodies that support the victimsin one country may switchstances and support victimgladiators in another,” added thestatement. —Al-Jarida
NGOs call for unified voice on Syria conflict
The Touristic Enterprises Company organized a card games tourna-ment at the Shaab Sea Club recently featuring 15 club members.The event was attended by Shaab Sea Club Supervisor Sami Al-Jeeran, as well as Kuwaiti actor Saad Al-Faraj who attended on apersonal invitation.
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Car bombs, shootings kill 32 people in Iraq
Page 9
Rowhani hails victory for ‘moderation’Page 8
thousands rally for Erdogan
Police teargas pockets of protest in city centreISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganyesterday told a crowd of more than 100,000 supporters itwas his “duty” to order a crackdown on an Istanbul protestpark, as police and anti-government demonstrators facedoff in fresh clashes. A day after riot police dislodged thou-sands of protesters occupying Gezi Park, officers in the areawere still firing tear gas and jets of water at pockets of pro-testers determined to regroup. Some 10 km away, in a muchlarger park, Erdogan launched a show of strength for sup-porters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),drawing the largest crowd yet since the demos against hisgovernment erupted more than two weeks ago.
Addressing the cheering sea of people, many of whomwore white AKP caps, a combative Erdogan said protestershad forced his hand by defying repeated warnings to clearout of the park. “I said we were at an end. That it was unbear-able. Yesterday the operation was carried out and it wascleaned up,” Erdogan said. “It was my duty as prime minister.”
The violence sparked by the Gezi Park evacuationmarked a major escalation in mass unrest that has posedthe biggest challenge yet to the Islamic-rooted govern-ment’s decade-long rule. Two of Turkey’s main trade unionfederations, KESK and DISK, announced they would go onstrike today in protest at the police clashes overnight. “Ourdemand is for police violence to end immediately,” KESKspokesman Baki Cinar told AFP. The unions represent hun-dreds of thousand of workers and the stoppage is likely toaffect schools, hospitals and public offices across the coun-try.
The police intervention in Gezi Park came after Erdoganissued a final warning to protesters during a fiery speech atan election rally in the capital Ankara on Saturday. Two hourslater, officers with gas masks and riot shields stormed thepatch of green. Thousands of campers scrambled to escapeclouds of acrid tear gas, clearing the site within minutes andleaving a trail of empty tents in their wake. Many soughtrefuge in the luxury hotels bordering the park, promptingpolice to douse the lobby of at least one five-star establish-ment with water as guests choked on tear gas fumes.
Thousands of demonstrators later took to the streets ofAnkara and the western city of Izmir in solidarity. The politi-cal turmoil first began when a peaceful sit-in to save GeziPark’s 600 trees from being razed prompted a brutal policeresponse on May 31, spiralling into countrywide demon-strations against Erdogan. The crisis has claimed four livesand injured nearly 7,500 people so far, according to theTurkish Medical Association.
Opponents accuse Erdogan of authoritarian tendenciesand of forcing Islamic conservative reforms on the mainlyMuslim but staunchly secular nation of 76 million. But the59-year-old, who has been in power since 2002, remainshugely popular. The AKP has won three elections in a rowand took nearly half the vote in 2011, having presidedover strong economic growth. Erdogan has repeatedlyurged his supporters to answer the protesters by votingfor his AKP in next year’s local polls. More election ralliesare planned in cities across Turkey in coming weeks,Erdogan said.
Mey Elbi, a 39-year-old yoga teacher, was in Gezi parkwhen police entered and said they seized the protesters’goggles and gas masks. “I won’t give up,” she told AFP.“We’re angry, this is not over. The world has seen thattogether, we can stand up to Tayyip.” The Taksim Solidaritygroup, seen as most representative of the protesters, con-demned Saturday’s “brutal attack”, which it said had left“hundreds” injured. Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlusaid 44 people had been hurt, none seriously.
By yesterday evening, Gezi Park and the adjoining
ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech to supporters during a rallyyesterday. —AFP
Taksim Square, another focal point for the protests, weresealed off and guarded with a heavy police presence.Yellow tape lined the area, blocking entry to pedestrians,as bulldozers broke up protesters’ makeshift barricadesand municipal cleaners returfed grassy areas and plantedfresh flowers. “Gezi Park and Taksim Square have beenevacuated and returned to the people,” Erdogan told theparty faithful.
Erdogan has taken a tough line on the protesters butmade an unexpectedly conciliatory gesture when he heldhis first talks with Taksim Solidarity representatives onFriday. He offered to suspend the Gezi project pending acourt ruling on its legality, if protesters agreed to leave. Butthe group rejected the olive branch, saying the govern-ment had failed to address all their demands, whichinclude a call for arrested demonstrators to be releasedand for police chiefs in cities that saw clashes to be sacked.The United States and other Western allies, along withhuman rights groups, have widely criticised Erdogan’s han-dling of the crisis. —AFP
Gunmen kill 3
Lebanese, TurkBAALBEK, Lebanon: Gunmen killed three LebaneseShiites and a Turk yesterday in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, asecurity source said, revising an earlier toll breakdown, asthe conflict in neighbouring Syria raised fresh tensions. Theunidentified assailants shot dead “two members of theJaafar family, an Amhaz family member and a Turk” in anambush while they were smuggling fuel through the Qaaarea, he told AFP, asking not to be named. He had initiallyidentified the victims as four Lebanese and said a fifth manwas seriously wounded. But he revised the account toidentify the fourth man killed as a Turk with a Lebanesemother, a resident of eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
The incident occurred in an agricultural part of Qaa,home to a predominantly Sunni population. Tensions wererunning high in the wake of the incident, the source said,with armed members of the Jaafar family gathering aroundfive kilometres from the mainly Sunni town of Arsal. Sunniresidents of the area, in a statement received by AFP, con-demned “this attack on honourable members of theregion... that aims to sow sectarian discord”. “We disassoci-ate ourselves from the perpetrators of this massacre what-ever their identity,” they said, urging the authorities to huntdown the assailants.
An army statement said it had increased patrols in thearea and called for calm, saying it would “allow no one toexploit this unfortunate incident and threaten national uni-ty”. The conflict in Syria, pitting a Sunni-led oppositionagainst a regime dominated by Alawites, an offshoot ofShiite Islam, has worsened tensions in Lebanon. The pow-erful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah backs theregime of President Bashar Al-Assad and has sent fightersto battle alongside Syria’s army.
Lebanon’s Sunni-led opposition, however, backs theuprising against Assad. The fighting has regularly spilledover into Lebanon, with rockets fired from Syria landing inSunni and Shiite areas along the border. The Syrian air forcehas also launched raids inside Lebanese territory.Hezbollah commands support throughout much of east-ern Lebanon along the frontier, but Sunni areas such asArsal within the region back the Syrian uprising. —AFP
I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
QUWEIRA, Jordan: US Marines from 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit hidebehind a sand hill in a demolition military act during Eager Lion exercises300 km south of Amman yesterday. — AP
QUWEIRA, Jordan: US Marines from 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit hidebehind a sand hill in a demolition military act during Eager Lion exercises300 km south of Amman yesterday. — AP
CAIRO/RIYADH: The election of a moderateIranian president could help rein in hostilitybetween Tehran and its Arab neighbours,but many Arabs doubt he can end a sectari-an confrontation that has been inflamed bywar in Syria. Hassan Rowhani, a Shiite clericknown for a conciliatory approach andbacked by reformists, will have only limitedsay in policy determined by Iran’s supremeleader; but with the Syrian carnage fuellingrage among Sunni Arabs across the region,any gestures from Tehran may help containit.
“We hope the new Iranian president willbe a believer in a political solution in Syria,”said one ambassador at the Arab League inCairo. “All that we read about Rowhanimight be grounds for hope - but there is agreat difference between election cam-paigns and what is said once in office.” Forthe United States and Western powers, atodds with Iran for decades and now rallyingwith arms behind rebels fighting Syria’sIranian-backed president, fierce religious
enmities in the oil-rich Middle East add tofears of wider instability.
In Saudi Arabia, whose US-allied rulerslead opposition to what they see as Iran’sdrive to spread its power and religion, well-informed analyst Jamal Khashoggi said: “I’msure for the Saudi leadership this is the bestoutcome of the elections.” He recalled thatIran’s last reformist president, MohammadKhatami, who visited Riyadh while in officefrom 1997-2005, had mended ties - but at atime of less ferocious disputes. Unlike now,Khashoggi said, “Iran was not meddlingheavily in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen ... Therewere no Shiites killing Sunnis.”
In Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels arebattling Iran’s ally President Bashar al-Assadand his Alawite establishment, who belongto an offshoot of Shi’ism, oppositionactivists saw little hope for change fromRowhani: “The election is cosmetic,” saidOmar Al-Hariri from Deraa, where the upris-ing began during the Arab Spring two yearsago. Muhammed Al-Husseini, from the
Sunni Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham inRaqaa, noted power in Iran rested withSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.“The powers given to the Iranian presidentare weak these days,” he said. “They are fakepowers.”
In Bahrain, whose Saudi-backed Sunnimonarchy accuses Iran of fomentingprotests among the Shiite majority on theisland since 2011, Information MinisterSamira Rajab told Reuters: “I think Rowhaniis one of a team. And anybody who comesfrom that team will continue the same poli-cy ... We have no more trust in the Iranianregime after what happened in Bahrain.”
In Egypt, by far the biggest Arab nation,new rulers from the Muslim Brotherhoodhad lately launched a rapprochement withIran but have now joined a Sunni call forjihad in Syria after Iran’s Lebanese allyHezbollah sent in its fighters last month.Traditionally more open than the Saudi cler-ical hierarchy to conciliation across the sec-tarian divide, the Brotherhood still hopes
for a change of heart in Tehran: “We arelooking forward to seeing how the winneris going to act,” said Murad Ali, a spokesmanfor the Islamist movement’s Freedom andJustice Party. “Will there be any change tothe policies from the Iranians, especiallyconcerning the Syrian crisis? We are in gen-eral open to cooperation with Iran ...However, we do have our concerns ... relat-ed to ... their interference in Syrian affairs.”
On the streets of Cairo, however, sectari-an passions are running high, piling pres-sure on Egyptian and other Arab rulers.Outside the Al-Azhar Mosque, built 1,000years ago by the Shiite Fatimid caliphs whofounded the city but now a major seat ofSunni learning, construction workerMohamed Abdelsattar, 35, said: “AllEgyptians hate Iran after what has hap-pened in Syria. What’s happening therenow is Shiites killing Sunnis.” Limousinedriver Abdelaziz Darwish, 57, had lowexpectations of any change in Tehran: “AllIranians are the same,” he said. “Shiites are
more dangerous even than the Jews.”Standing by his fresh-juice stand, Khaled
Fathi, 49, twinned his anger at Iranianinvolvement in Syria with suspicion of thewelcome that Islamist President MohamedMorsi gave earlier this year to Iran’s hardlineoutgoing president, MahmoudAhmadinejad: “Iran makes problems for usall over the world,” he said. “Iran is helpingMorsi, I’m sure of it.”
A group of Lebanese Sunni clerics, visit-ing Al-Azhar while attending the Cairo con-ference that has issued a call for holy war inSyria, voiced some hope for change fromRowhani, however: “Maybe this new presi-dent in Iran will be better,” said SheikhHassan Abdelrahman from the city ofTripoli, which has seen recent fightingbetween Lebanese Sunnis and Shiites.Sheikh Malik Al-Jdeideh, also from Tripoli,said: “We came to Egypt to tell MohamedMorsi that we reject Iranian actions in Syria... But we are working for all religions to beat peace.”— Reuters
Arabs put (slim) hopes in new Iran president
AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah said yester-day the kingdom was ready to fight to pro-tect itself against any threat to its securityfrom the escalating civil war in neighbouringSyria. He was speaking as Jordanian and U.S.forces proceeded with joint military exerciseswith the participation of 17 other countries.Diplomats say the exercises, which enteredtheir second week, aim to send a strong mes-sage to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. “Ifthe world does not help as it should, and ifthe matter becomes a danger to our country,we are able at any moment to take the meas-ures to protect the country and the interest ofour people,” King Abdullah told militarycadets at a graduation ceremony in southernJordan.
He also saluted members of his country’sarmed forces who helped over the last yearundertake a massive humanitarian reliefoperation to bring across the border hun-dreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeingbombardment in their villages and towns andseeking a safe haven. A Pentagon spokesmansaid on Saturday Defense Secretary ChuckHagel has approved a Jordanian request forAmerican F-16s and Patriot missiles to remainin the Western-backed kingdom after the endof the military manoeuvres. The decision toput Patriot batteries - an air and missiledefence system - in Jordan has particularlyangered Russia, Assad’s main internationalally, which accuses the West of fanning theconflict in Syria. — Reuters
Jordan ready to fight any threat from Syria
AMMAN: Sunni extremists blew up a Shiite mosquein a village in eastern Syria stormed by rebels earlierthis week, another sign of the growing sectarianhatred in the country’s civil war, activists said yester-day. They said Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria carried outthe destruction. It showed the determination ofextremists to drive Shiites out of the village of Hatlain the Deir el-Zour region near Iraq. Last weekrebels battled pro-regime militiamen there, killingmore than 60 Shiite fighters and civilians, accordingto activists. In Lebanon, gunmen deployed in thestreets of the northeast and set up roadblocks in
protest following the killing of four Lebanese Shiitemen in an ambush, security officials said yesterday.The security officials, speaking on condition ofanonymity in line with regulations, said the fourwere found dead in the Wadi Rafeq area betweenRas Baalbek and Al-Qaa near the border with Syria.They said the men were from the powerful Jaafarand Amhaz clans, triggering fears of retaliation. Itwas not immediately clear how they were killed orwhat the motive was, but yesterday’s ambush isbelieved to be related to sectarian tensions relatedto the Syrian civil war. Tensions between Sunnis and
Shiites in Lebanon increased after the Shiite Iranian-backed Hezbollah openly joined the fight in Syriaon the side of President Bashar Al-Assad. MostSunnis in Lebanon support the mostly Sunni rebelsfighting to oust Assad.
In amateur videos of the mosque destruction inSyria, fighters walked into the mosque in Hatla andtrampled on books, some with covers showing pic-tures of Shiite clerics. The videos then showed anexplosion that brought down the building.Sunday’s video posted on the Internet appearedgenuine and corresponded with other AP reportingfrom the area. Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of theBritain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,said that the mosque was demolished Friday, threedays after the battle. Other videos that emergedearlier have showed rebels cursing Shiites and sug-gested fighters had burned Shiite homes. “It’s clearthat they want to root out Hatla’s Shiite inhabitants,”he told AP.
The town is home to several thousand people,about 30 percent of them Shiites. It was considereda pro-regime community in the Euphrates River val-ley, where rebels - including the Al-Qaeda-linkedgroup Jabhat el-Nusra - have taken over much ofthe surrounding territory. The Syrian uprising beganmore than two years ago with peaceful protestsagainst President Bashar Assad, but later grew intoa civil war that has killed 93,000 people and proba-bly many more, according to the UN.
Most of the armed rebels in Syria are from thecountry’s Sunni majority, while Assad has retainedcore support among the minorities, including hisown Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, alongwith Christians and Shiites. In the past year, sectari-an bitterness has grown in the conflict. Each secthas been accused of massacres against the other,and Sunni and Shiite fighters from other countrieshave increasingly joined the battle. The prolongedcivil war has frayed Syria’s traditional relations withJordan and Egypt. — AP
DUBAI: Thousands of Iranians celebrated on thestreets into yesterday’s early hours, counting onmoderate president-elect Hassan Rowhani to fol-low through on promises of better relations abroadand more freedom at home after routing hardlinersat the polls. A mid-ranking Shiite cleric, Rowhani isan Islamic Republic insider who has held seniorpolitical and military posts since the 1979 revolu-tion and maintained a good rapport throughoutwith theocratic Supreme Leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei, Iran’s most powerful man who has thelast word on all the big issues.
While no reformer himself, Rowhani gained thebacking of politically sidelined but still popularreformist leaders. His call for an end to the “era ofextremism” won over many voters disgruntled overeconomic crises and crackdowns on free speechand dissidents that marked MahmoudAhmadinejad’s presidency. Rowhani’s surprise winhowever is not expected to quickly resolve thestandoff with the West over Iran’s disputed nuclearambitions or break its commitment to backingPresident Bashar Al-Assad in Syria’s civil war.
But the new president will run the economy ofthe sprawling OPEC member state of 75 millionpeople and exert influence when Khameneidecides on national security matters. His victorygoes some way to repairing the legitimacy of theIslamic Republic, punctured four years ago whendozens were killed in protests after an electionreformists said was rigged, and may help pragmat-ic voices muzzled since then to re-emerge.
Thousands of young Iranians took to the streetsof the capital Tehran and other big cities as soon asthe poll results were announced on Saturday, mak-ing sure their voices and expectations of the newpresident were clearly heard. The president-elect,known in the West as Iran’s main nuclear negotia-tor in 2003-05, immediately sought to buildbridges yesterday, expressing approval of thestreet parties but also having talks with the conser-vative speaker of parliament. “With their celebra-tions last night, the Iranian people showed they arehopeful about the future and God willing, moralsand moderation will govern the country,” Rowhanitold state TV.
“This is a victory of intelligence, of moderation,of progress... over extremism,” Rowhani said. “A newopportunity has been created by this great epic,and the nations who tout democracy and opendialogue should speak to the Iranian people withrespect and recognise the rights of the Islamicrepublic.” Then they will “hear an appropriateresponse”, added Rowhani, who has championed amore constructive engagement with world powers.Khamenei, who has the final say in all strategicmatters in Iran, congratulated Rowhani. “I urgeeveryone to help the president-elect and his col-leagues in the government, as he is the president
of the whole nation,” Khamenei said on his website.Hardliners whose power comes from their
unquestioning loyalty to Khamenei both badlymiscalculated the public mood and failed to setaside their own factional differences and field a sin-gle candidate, analysts said. Both Khamenei andthe powerful hardline Islamic Revolutionary GuardCorps that controls large swathes of the oil-depen-dent economy said the election was a victory forall. Whether Rowhani succeeds in ushering inchange to Iran, or whether the next four years yieldthe same stalemate that marked the 1997-2005presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami, willhinge on his ability to balance the demands andexpectations of the people with the interests andconstraints of those who hold the pivotal instru-ments of power in the Islamic Republic.
Rowhani’s reputation as a mediator and some-one who has worked within the corridors of powershould be an advantage that Khatami, who wasdirector of the national library before he becamepresident, never enjoyed. “Rowhani is the ultimateregime insider. In contrast to Khatami, who held nogovernmental position when he was catapultedinto the presidency, Rowhani has never been out ofpower or Khamenei’s good graces,” said Ali Vaez,Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. “Also,Rowhani is a centrist politician, with a uniquebridge-building ability. He is unlikely to alienatecompeting power centres, who can stymie hisreforms,” he said.
A big test will be whether Rowhani pushes forthe release from house arrest of MirhosseinMousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, two reformist leadersheld under house arrest since 2011. That demandwas a constant chant of Rowhani supporters at hiscampaign rallies and on the streets of Tehran andelsewhere overnight. “This will in my view be thefirst real test of how sincere this election has been.Then we will know the calibre of Mr Rowhani,” saidAli Ansari, professor at St Andrew’s University inScotland. “Much depends on the political will of thefractured elite and the willingness of Khamenei topull back. There is some anxiety that the powersthat be, having got their ‘popular election’, will nowsettle back into their comfort zones.”
Despite similarities between Khatami andRowhani’s upset election victories, political realities“are fundamentally different”, said Yasmin Alem, aUS-based Iran expert. “The supreme leader is morepowerful, the Revolutionary Guards are more influ-ential, and the conservatives are more in control.However, Rowhani is a crafty statesman and standsa better chance ... of navigating Iran’s politicalminefield.” Rowhani has a tough task ahead of himdealing with Iran’s myriad domestic and foreignpolicy problems, she said. “Iranian voters shoulddemonstrate the same maturity and patience theydid at the polls, if they want to avoid the disillu-sionment that followed Khatami’s presidency.”Rowhani himself called for patience soon after hiswin was announced on Saturday. — Agencies
New Iran president hails victory for ‘moderation’
Iranians count on Rowhani to bring change
TEHRAN: Iranians gather under a giant portrait of moderate president-elect HassanRowhani outside his campaign headquarters in downtown Tehran on Saturday.— AFP
SBENEH, Syria: A picture shows destruction in this town, south of the Syrian capitalDamascus, yesterday. — AFP
Extremists blow up Syria Shiite mosque
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu called yesterday forno relaxation of international pressure onIran to curb its nuclear efforts after theelection of a new president widely hailedas a moderate. Netanyahu said it was Iran’ssupreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,and not the newly elected president,Hassan Rowhani, who set a nuclear policythat has been challenged by tough eco-nomic sanctions and the prospect of mili-tary action. “The international communitymust not give in to wishful thinking ortemptation and loosen the pressure onIran for it to stop its nuclear program,” theright-wing Netanyahu told his cabinet,according to a statement released by hisoffice.
But Israeli President Shimon Peres, gavea different assessment of possible changein nuclear activities that Israel and theWest fear are directed towards developingatomic bombs. Iran says it is enriching ura-nium for peaceful purposes only. Asked ifRowhani, a former nuclear negotiator withworld powers, would alter the course ofthe nuclear programme, Peres toldReuters: “He said he will not go for theseextreme policies. I am not sure he specifiedhis policies. But it will be better, I am sure,and that is why the people voted for him.”
A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Peresholds a largely ceremonial position andhas little influence on decision-making inIsrael. But his comments added to a bur-geoning debate among Israelis over the
meaning of Rowhani’s surprise victory. “It(the result) surprised all the experts and allthe prophets, and this is really intriguing.Why? Because apparently there are hiddenforces and strengths that were unseen orunderestimated,” Peres said.
Ephraim Halevy, a former head ofIsrael’s Mossad intelligence agency, said onIsrael Radio that Rowhani’s election “is thebiggest failure Khamenei has sufferedsince coming to power”. The poll’s out-come, Halevy said, was an expression ofthe Iranian people’s “anger and frustration”over the effect of international sanctionsthat have hit them hard as a result ofKhamenei’s nuclear policy. Netanyahu,however, said Israelis “are not deludingourselves” in the wake of Rowhani’s elec-tion. “Iran will be judged by its actions,” hesaid. “If it continues to insist on developingits nuclear program, the answer must beclear - to stop it by any means.”
Israel, widely believed to be the MiddleEast’s only atomic power, has signalled itcould take military action against Iran ifinternational sanctions and diplomacy failto bring about a change in its nuclear poli-cy. The United States, Israel’s main ally, hascautioned against any go-it-alone attackand said time remains for peaceful effortsto persuade Iran to change course. “Thegreater the pressure on Iran, the greaterthe chance of bringing a halt to the Iraniannuclear programme, which remains thegreatest threat to world peace,” Netanyahusaid. — Reuters
Netanyahu urges no let-up in world pressure on Iran
I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
NAJAF, Iraq: The spiritual heart of ShiiteIslam and a hub for religious tourism inIraq is being badly hit as sanctions againstneighbouring Iran have resulted in fewerpilgrims with less money to spend.Business leaders, shopkeepers and hotelowners in Najaf, site of a shrine to arevered figure in Shiite Islam and home tomost of the sect’s top clerics, all reportdeclining trade as economic sanctions tar-geting Iran’s controversial nuclear pro-gram have made it harder for visitors fromIraq’s eastern neighbour to make the trip.“Revenues for hotels which host Iranianpilgrims have plunged since the begin-ning of the year,” said Zuheir Sharba, chair-man of Najaf ’s chamber of commerce.“They have fallen by half.”
That marks a marked turnaround for acity that had embarked on an ambitioushotel-building program to accommodategreater numbers of pilgrims, with Sharbahimself telling AFP in 2011 that “if there
are more rooms, more people will come”.The city houses the shrine to Imam Ali, aseventh century Muslim leader and cousinof the Prophet Mohammed, and is fre-quented by Shiite pilgrims from aroundthe world, though the biggest chunk ofvisitors come from Shiite-majority Iran.Those tourists typically travel in organisednine-day tours, during which they spendthree days in Najaf, which lies about 150km south of Baghdad.
The massive decline in Iranian pilgrimshas badly hit the city, which is dependenton tourism-related revenues for 60 per-cent of its income. The sharp drop is large-ly due to the plummeting value of theIranian rial. In Dec 2010, $1 bought 11,500rials but today, it is equivalent to 36,000rials. Iran’s Economy Minister ShamseddinHosseini has blamed sanctions tied toIran’s controversial nuclear program,which Western powers and Israel believe isbeing used by the Islamic republic to
develop an atomic bomb. Tehran deniesthe charges and insists the nuclear pro-gram is for peaceful purposes.
According to Hosseini, Iran’s oil rev-enue has dropped by 50 percent in thepast year, and he has warned that “the sit-uation will not improve in the near future”.And, as a result of the declining value oftheir currency, Iranians now have less pur-chasing power when travelling overseas.One Iranian pilgrim, who declined to giveher name, admitted that while she hadlong dreamt of visiting Najaf, the trip was“very expensive”.
Hotel owners are also facing a crunchas deals with Iranian tour operators havegone sour. “We - hotel owners in Najaf -wanted to raise the nightly rate per personfrom $20 to $30 because of the rising costof power generators, but the Iranianembassy in Baghdad refused,” said AmirAl-Ameri, owner of the Rebal hotel. “Andalso, Iranian tour operators have stopped
paying us what they owe. So now, manyhotels in Najaf are refusing to take Iranianpilgrims.”
Najaf, a city with a population ofaround 500,000, is filled with a wide vari-ety of languages, reflecting the varyingbackgrounds of Shiites, who make uparound 15 percent of Muslims worldwide.They are the majority population in Iraq,Iran and Bahrain and form significantcommunities in Afghanistan, Lebanon,Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia, with trav-ellers often coming to Iraq from as far asthe United States and Canada.
So to fill the shortfall caused by thedecline in Iranian pilgrims, Iraq’s tourismministry now wants to focus on Shiites vis-iting from other countries housing majorShiite communities. “It is necessary thatwe diversify,” admitted Baha Al-Maya, anadviser to the minister. “This is a crucialquestion, to overcome the fall in the num-ber of Iranian pilgrims.” But for a city heavi-
ly dependent on Iranians, bridging thatgap will not be easy. “Before (the declineof the Iranian rial), we sold 90 percent ofour stock, but now we are down to 30 per-cent,” said Ahmed Al-Essawi, whose stall inthe Najaf souk sells the fine black fabricused to make the chador, the full-bodyrobe worn by Iranian women. His prod-ucts are made in Iran, and his clients areexclusively Iranian, meaning Essawi hasfelt the decline more than most.
Elsewhere, adjacent to the market,multiple hotels simply bear a “closed” sign,with no explanation offered, though noneis needed. Other hotels, still under con-struction, have been abandoned com-pletely by contractors. “Some hotels werealmost finished when their constructionwas stopped,” said chamber of commercechairman Sharba. “Other establishmentswanted to begin renovations, but workhas not even started because they haveno idea what the future holds.” —AFP
Iraqi holy city hit hard by Iran economic woes
This image released on Dec 25, 2012 shows one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, in an undisclosed place. —AFP
BAGHDAD: A string of nearly a dozen apparentlycoordinated bombs and shootings in citiesacross Iraq killed at least 32 and woundeddozens yesterday, extending a wave of violencethat is raising fears of a return to widespreadkilling a decade after the US-led invasion.Violence has spiked sharply in Iraq in recentmonths, with the death toll rising to levels notseen since 2008. Nearly 2,000 have been killedsince the start of April.
Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majorityareas and were the cause of most of the casual-ties, killing 26. The blasts hit half a dozen citiesand towns in the south and center of the coun-try. There was no claim of responsibility for any ofthe attacks, but they bore the hallmark of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which uses car bombs, suicidebombers and coordinated attacks to target secu-rity forces, members of Iraq’s Shiite majority, andothers.
The blasts began when a parked car bombwent off early morning in the industrial area ofthe city of Kut, killing three people and wound-ing 14 others. That was followed by another carbomb in the nearby city of Aziziyah that targeteda gathering of construction workers that killedtwo and wounded 12, according to police. In ateahouse hit by the blast, a blood-stained tribalheaddress and slippers were strewn on the floor,along with overturned chair and couches. Kut islocated 160 km southeast of Baghdad.
“The cafe and the street outside is covered inblood,” said Hisham Shadhan, whose father ownsthe cafe badly hit in the Aziziyah attack. “The carwas parked just next to the cafe and when itwent off, it destroyed the front part of the cafe.Many cars have caught fire, and it also causedhuge damage to nearby shops.” The force of theblast overturned cars and left shrapnel strewnacross the scene, but authorities quickly cleanedup much of the visible damage, an AFP journalistsaid.
In the oil-rich city of Basra by the Gulf coast insouthern Iraq, a car bomb exploded in a busydowntown street, police said. As police and res-cuers rushed to the scene of the initial blast, thesecond car exploded. A total of six people werereported killed. Cleaners were seen brushing offdebris of the car bomb that damaged nearbycars and shops. About an hour later, two parkedcar bombs ripped through two neighborhoodsin the southern city of Nasiriyah, 320 km south-east of Baghdad, killing one and wounding 17,
another police officer said.And in the town of Mahmoudiya, 30 km south
of Baghdad, two civilians were killed and ninewounded when a car bomb went off in an openmarket. In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kmsouth of Baghdad, a blast struck a produce mar-ket, killing eight and wounding 28. Afterwards,watermelons, tomatoes and apples were scat-tered on the ground where a bulldozer was load-ing charred and twisted stalls and cars into a lorry.
And in Madain, a roadside bomb and then a
car bomb exploded, killing three and wounding14. Madain is about 20 km southeast ofBaghdad. Near Hillah, a car bomb exploded in aparking lot, killing one and wounding nine.Hillah is about 95 km south of Baghdad. A shoot-ing happened near the restive northern city ofMosul. Police officials say gunmen attackedpolice guarding a remote stretch of an oilpipeline, killing four and wounding five. Mosul,some 360 km northwest of Baghdad, has been
the scene of some of the deadliest unrest out-side of the Baghdad area in recent weeks.
In the northern city of Tuz Khormato, a road-side bomb targeted a passing police patrol,killing two policemen and wounding another,another police officer said. The town is about 200km north of Baghdad. Medical officials confirmedthe casualty figures. Officials spoke on conditionof anonymity as they weren’t allowed to releasethe information.
The attacks came a day after the leader of Al-
Qaeda’s Iraq arm, known as the Islamic State ofIraq, defiantly rejected an order from the terrornetwork’s central command to stop claimingcontrol over the organization’s Syria affiliate,according to a message purportedly from him.Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s comments reveal hisgroup’s determination to link its own fightagainst the Shiite-led government in Baghdadwith the cause of rebels trying to topple the Iran-backed Syrian regime. —Agencies
Car bombs, shootings
kill 32 people in IraqAttacks bear hallmark of Al-Qaeda
BASRA: Iraqi security forces (background) inspect the site of a car bomb attack yes-terday. —AP
NOUAKCHOTT: Al-Qaeda’s north Africanbranch confirmed that one of its topleaders, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, waskilled in fighting in Mali, three monthsafter France announced his death,according to a statement published yes-terday. Algerian-born Abou Zeid, consid-ered one of the most radical leaders ofAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM),was killed “on the battlefield defendingthe ummah (the Muslim community) andsharia law,” according to a statement car-ried by the private Mauritanian newsagency ANI. It gave no date for his death.
Paris had announced in March thatAbou Zeid was killed in fighting with itsforces after France led an offensive torout Al-Qaeda linked Islamist groupsfrom northern Mali. Both France andChad, whose troops were also involvedin the offensive, said the 46-year-old mili-tant was killed at the end of February. “Itis the first time that an AQIM statementhas officially referred to the death ofAbou Zeid,” said ANI director MohamedMahmoud Ould Abou Al-Maali, a special-ist on the Islamist group. In March how-ever, Algerian television said that Al-Qaeda had named a replacement forAbou Zeid, Algerian national DjamelOkacha.
Abou Zeid had a reputation as a
severe, aloof character with an unflinch-ing capacity for violence when required.Born in Debdeb in Algeria, close to theborder with Libya, Abou Zeid was ayoung activist in the FIS Islamist move-ment that won the country’s first demo-cratic elections in 1991 but was deniedpower. He then disappeared under-ground for most of the 1990s. He re-emerged spectacularly in 2003 as secondin command of the GSPC group whichkidnapped dozens of foreigners in south-ern Algeria, and that would later, alongwith several other organisations, evolveinto AQIM.
Latterly, Abou Zeid - whose real namewas Mohamed Ghdir according toAlgerian court documents - was consid-ered a deputy to AQIM’s “Saharan emir”Yahia Djouadi and commanded a katiba,or battalion, of fighters from Mauritania,Algeria and Mali known as Tareq ibnZiyad, named after an eighth-centuryMuslim military commander. Malidescended into chaos in the wake of aMarch 2012 coup as Al-Qaeda-linkedIslamist rebels capitalised on the powervacuum to seize a Texas-sized triangle ofdesert territory in the north. Francelaunched its offensive in its former colonyon Jan 11 to stop the Islamists fromadvancing on the capital Bamako. —AFP
AQIM confirms death
of leader Abou Zeid
PM due in Benghazi
after bloody clashesBENGHAZI: Libya’s premier was due to meet local authorities inBenghazi yesterday, a government source said, as special forces unitspatrolled the city a day after clashes with gunmen killed six soldiers.Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was due to travel to the eastern city withmembers of his government to discuss the security situation, thesource said on condition of anonymity. An onlooker in Benghazi toldAFP that “special forces soldiers have been deployed in the city andpatrolled the streets, which are calm again”.
Amid the trouble and its aftermath, Libya’s highest politicalauthority, the General National Congress, postponed a vote to choosea replacement for its head, Mohamed Al-Megaryef. Megaryefresigned on May 28 after the GNC adopted a law banning officialswho had served under ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi from gov-ernment jobs. Elsewhere in Libya, gunmen shot dead an appeal courtjudge in the eastern town of Derna on Sunday, official news agencyLANA cited the head of the court, Abdelaziz Trabelsi, as saying. “JudgeMohammed Ibrahim Houidi, president of the criminal division, waskilled yesterday morning as he left the appeals court building inDerna,” he said. Trabelsi added that the attackers had fled immediatelyafter the shooting, quoting witnesses. Eastern Libya has been thescene of attacks targeting judges, soldiers and policemen who servedunder Kadhafi’s regime.
A senior US official visiting Algeria yesterday said Washington wascommitted to supporting Libya in the transitional period after its revo-lution.”We must all support the Libyan government as they try tomove forward to the destiny the Libyan people have asked for forthemselves,” Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs WendySherman told a news conference. She said she had talked to Algerianofficials about how Algiers could improve the situation in neighbour-ing Libya. “Algeria is a leader in the region... and I think if we all worktogether we can help the Libyans succeed,” she said.
Late on Saturday, Libya’s grand mufti Sheikh Sadeq Al-Gharianicalled for residents of Benghazi to “stay calm” and unite during “thisdifficult phase that the country is passing through”. In a televisionappeal, Ghariani also urged the “General National Congress to openan investigation and put an end to this spiral of violence”. The head ofthe security forces’ joint operations room, General Mohammed Sherif,said that “special forces have identified the attackers... and some ofthem have been arrested,” without giving further details. Clashesbetween elite forces and gunmen killed six soldiers and wounded fivein Benghazi on Saturday, the military said. Benghazi, the cradle of theuprising that ousted Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, has been increasinglyrattled by attacks on security forces and Western interests, oftenblamed on Islamists. —AFP
MINNEAPOLIS: The revelation that a formercommander of a Nazi SS-led military unit haslived quietly in Minneapolis for the past sixdecades came as a shock to those who know 94-year old Michael Karkoc. World War II survivors inboth the US and Europe harshly condemned thenews and prosecutors in Poland have said they’llinvestigate. An Associated Press investigationfound that Karkoc served as a top commander inthe Ukrainian Self-Defense Legion during WorldWar II. The unit is accused of wartime atrocities,including the burning of villages filled withwomen and children.
“I know him personally. We talk, laugh. Hetakes care of his yard and walks with his wife,” hisnext-door neighbor, Gordon Gnasdoskey, saidFriday. “For me, this is a shock. To come to thiscountry and take advantage of its freedoms all ofthese years, it blows my mind,” said Gnasdoskey,the grandson of a Ukrainian immigrant himself.
Karkoc told American authorities in 1949 thathe had performed no military service duringWorld War II, concealing his work as an officer andfounding member of the legion and later as anofficer in the SS Galician Division, according torecords obtained by the AP through a Freedom ofInformation Act request.
Though records do not show that Karkoc hada direct hand in war crimes, statements from menin his unit and other documentation confirm theUkrainian company he commanded massacredcivilians, and suggest that Karkoc was at thescene of these atrocities as the company leader.Nazi SS files say he and his unit were also involvedin the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which the Nazisbrutally suppressed a Polish rebellion againstGerman occupation.
No one answered the door Friday morning atKarkoc’s house on a residential street in northeastMinneapolis. Karkoc had earlier declined to com-ment on his wartime service when approachedby the AP, and repeated efforts to arrange aninterview through his son were unsuccessful. LateFriday, Karkoc’s son, Andriy Karkos, read a state-ment accusing AP of defaming his father. Karkocbecame a naturalized US citizen in 1959.
“My father was never a Nazi,” said Karkos, whouses a different spelling for his last name. He alsosaid the family wouldn’t comment further until ithas obtained its own documents and reviewedwitnesses and sources. Family attorney PhilipVillaume said Saturday that the family may com-ment further within a few days. “Their intention isto investigate the matter and research it, andthen they’ll make a further public statement,” hesaid.
Polish prosecutors announced Friday they willinvestigate Karkoc and provide “every possibleassistance” to the US Department of Justice,which has used lies in immigration papers todeport dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals.The AP evidence of Karkoc’s wartime activitieshas also prompted German authorities to expressinterest in exploring whether there is enough toprosecute. In Germany, Nazis with “commandresponsibility” can be charged with war crimeseven if their direct involvement in atrocities can-not be proven.
Efraim Zuroff, the lead Nazi hunter at theSimon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, said thatbased on his decades of experience pursuingNazi war criminals, he expects that the evidenceof Karkoc’s lies as well as the unit’s role in atroci-ties is strong enough for deportation and warcrimes prosecution in Germany or Poland. Former
German army officer Josef Scheungraber - a lieu-tenant like Karkoc - was convicted in Germany in2009 on charges of murder based on circumstan-tial evidence that put him at the scene of a Naziwartime massacre in Italy as the ranking officer.
Members of Karkoc’s unit and other witnesseshave told stories of brutal attacks on civilians. Oneof Karkoc’s men, Vasyl Malazhenski, told Sovietinvestigators that in 1944 the unit was directed to“liquidate all the residents” of the village ofChlaniow in a reprisal attack for the killing of aGerman SS officer, though he did not say whogave the order. “It was all like a trance: setting thefires, the shooting, the destroying,” Malazhenskirecalled, according to the 1967 statement foundby the AP in the archives of Warsaw’s state-runInstitute of National Remembrance, which inves-tigates and prosecutes German and Soviet crimeson Poles during and after World War II.
In a background check by US officials on April14, 1949, Karkoc said he had never performedany military service, telling investigators that he“worked for father until 1944. Worked in laborcamp from 1944 until 1945.” However, in aUkrainian-language memoir published in 1995,Karkoc states that he helped found the UkrainianSelf Defense Legion in 1943 in collaboration withthe Nazis’ feared SS intelligence agency, the SD, tofight on the side of Germany - and served as acompany commander in the unit, which receivedorders directly from the SS, through the end ofthe war.
It was not clear why Karkoc felt safe publish-ing his memoir, which is available at the USLibrary of Congress and the British Library andwhich the AP located online in an electronicUkrainian library. Karkoc currently lives in a mod-est house in an area of Minneapolis that has a sig-nificant Ukrainian population. He recently cameto the door without help of a cane or a walker. Hewould not comment on his wartime service: “Idon’t think I can explain,” he said. —AP
MINNESOTA: In this photo, MichaelKarkoc, photographed in Lauderdale,Minn prior to a visit to Minnesota fromSoviet President Mikhail Gorbachev inearly June of 1990. —AP
I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
VATICAN: Harley-Davidson riders parade in Via della Conciliazione leading toSt Peter’s Square during a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, at the Vaticanyesterday. —AP
XALAPA: Morris sits on the lap of Diego Cruz, as Sergio Chamorro petsMorris, at their home in Xalapa, Mexico. —AP
US spy agency says fewer than 300 phone numbers closely scrutinizedPaper claims email monitoring foiled NYC subway plot
WASHINGTON: The US government onlysearched for detailed information on calls involv-ing fewer than 300 specific phone numbersamong the millions of raw phone records col-lected by the National Security Agency in 2012,according to a government paper obtained byReuters on Saturday. The unclassified paper wascirculated Saturday within the government byUS intelligence agencies and apparently is anattempt by spy agencies and the Obama admin-istration to rebut accusations that it overreachedin investigating potential militant plots.
The administration has said that even thoughthe NSA, according to top-secret documentsmade public by former agency contractorEdward Snowden, collects massive amounts ofdata on message traffic from both U.S. basedtelephone and internet companies, such datacollection is legal, subject to tight controls anddoes not intrude on the privacy of ordinaryAmericans.
The paper circulated on Saturday said thatdata from the NSA phone and email collectionsprograms not only led US investigators to theringleader of a plot to attack New York’s subway
system in 2009, but also to one of his co-conspir-ators in the United States. The paper discussesan NSA program that collects “metadata” rawinformation that does not identify individualtelephone subscribers - from major US phonecompanies showing all calls made by those com-panies’ subscribers to phones within the UnitedStates and overseas. It also mentions anotherNSA program, called Prism in leaked documents,that collects from internet companies what thepaper says are emails of foreigners who mightbe of interest to counterterrorism or counter-proliferation investigators.
Millions of phone records were collected in2012, but the paper says US authorities onlylooked in detail at the records linked to fewerthan 300 phone numbers. A person familiar withdetails of the program said the figure of fewerthan 300 numbers applied to the entire mass ofraw telephone “metadata” collected last year bythe NSA from US carriers - not just to Verizon,which is the only telephone company identifiedin a document disclosed by Snowden as provid-ing such data to the NSA.
The paper repeats assertions by administra-
tion spokesmen that NSA email and telephonedata-collection programs contributed to the dis-ruption of “dozens of potential terrorist plotshere in the homeland and in more than 20 coun-tries around the world.”
The paper says NSA collection of email andtelephone data helped US authorities trackdown Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant whoin 2009 was arrested for plotting to bomb theNew York City subway system. Zazi pleadedguilty to terrorism charges. NSA monitoring ofthe email of alleged Al-Qaeda operatives inPakistan led them to an unnamed person in theUnited States who was making “efforts to pro-cure explosive material,” according to the gov-ernment paper. The NSA gave its raw informa-tion to the FBI, which identified Zazi, who wasthen living in Colorado. After tailing him to NewYork, the FBI arrested him. By cross-checkingZazi’s phone number with its giant data base ofraw phone traffic, the paper said more leadswere generated for the FBI. One of those leadstook authorities to Adis Medunjanin, who wasconvicted last year in the subway plot and sen-tenced to life in prison. —Reuters
VATICAN CITY: Biker culture came to theVatican yesterday as Pope Francis blessedthousands of Harley-Davidsons and theirriders celebrating the manufacturer’s 110thanniversary with a loud parade and plentyof leather. Thundering Harley engines nearlydrowned out the Latin recitation of the “OurFather” prayer that accompanied Francis ashe greeted the crowd before Mass. Standingin his open-top jeep, Francis drove up themain boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square,blessing the thousands of people in whatwas a giant Harley parking lot.
Once the service got under way, bikersin their trademark leather Harley vests satin the square alongside nuns and tens ofthousands of faithful Catholics taking partin an unrelated, two-day pro-life rally.Francis addressed them both afterwards,giving a blessing to the “numerous partici-pants” of the Harley gathering. Some esti-mates say a half-million Harley owners fromaround the world descended on Rome forthe four-day anniversary of the Americanmanufacturer. The main events wereSaturday’s parade past the Colosseum andother historic landmarks and yesterday’sVatican blessing.
Earlier in the week, Milwaukee,Wisconsin-based Harley gave Francis two
white classic Harleys for the Vatican policeforce to use. There was something a bitincongruous about the Harley crowd -known for their “Freedom” motto, outlawimage and adventuresome spirit - takingpart in a solemn papal Mass to commemo-rate a 1995 encyclical on the inviolability ofhuman life.
“Evangelium Vitae” is a roadmap of thechurch’s teaching against abortion,euthanasia and murder. Harley’s advertisingfor its 2013 bike collection reads “Live life onyour own terms. More than 30 ways to defythe status quo.” The Vatican spokesman theRev. Federico Lombardi noted that therewere probably quite a few Catholic riders inthe crowd and that regardless, anyone iswelcome to a papal Mass. “I know greatpeople who have big bikes,” Lombardiquipped.
In his comments to the pro-life crowd,Francis offered prayers “for every human life,especially the most fragile, defenseless andthreatened.” But he stayed away from sayinganything more polarizing about abortion orcontraception. He then spent a good half-hour after the Mass caressing, kissing andchatting with a few dozen sick or disabledpeople in the square, including one on amotorcycle wearing Harley garb. —AP
MEXICO CITY: This mayoral hopeful inMexico promises to eat, sleep most of theday and donate his leftover litter to fill pot-holes. Morris, a black-and-white kitten withorange eyes, is running for mayor of Xalapain eastern Mexico with the campaign slogan“Tired of Voting for Rats? Vote for a Cat.” Andhe is attracting tens of thousands of politi-cian-weary, two-legged supporters on socialmedia. “He sleeps almost all day and doesnothing, and that fits the profile of a politi-cian,” said 35-year-old office worker SergioChamorro, who adopted the 10-month-oldfeline last year. Put forth as a candidate byChamorro and a group of friends after theybecame disillusioned with the empty prom-ises of politicians, Morris’ candidacy has res-onated across Mexico, where citizens frus-trated with human candidates are nominat-ing their pets and farm animals to run in July7 elections being held in 14 states.
Also running for mayor are “Chon theDonkey” in the border city of Ciudad Juarez,“Tina the Chicken” in Tepic, the capital of thePacific coast state of Nayarit, “Maya the Cat”in the city of Puebla and “Tintan the Dog” inOaxaca City, though their campaigns are notas well organized as that of Morris. Politiciansrepeatedly rank at the bottom of polls aboutcitizens’ trust in institutions. A survey lastyear by Mitofsky polling agency rankingMexicans’ trust in 15 institutions put politi-cians and government officials among thebottom five. Universities and the CatholicChurch were the top two, respectively.
Morris’ cuteness, the clever campaignand promises to donate money collectedfrom the sales of campaign stickers and T-shirts to an animal shelter has attracted catlovers, but Chamorro said most of his sup-porters are citizens tired of corrupt politi-cians and fraudulent elections. “Morris hasbeen a catalyst to show the discontent thatexists in our society,” Chamorro said. “Ourmessage from the beginning has been ‘ifnone of the candidates represent you, votefor the cat’ and it seems people are respond-ing to that.”
Xalapa, a university city of 450,000 peo-ple, is the capital of the Gulf coast state ofVeracruz, where residents have in last twoyears been beleaguered by drug violence,corruption scandals and the killings of atleast nine reporters and photojournalists.During last year’s presidential election, avideo posted on social networks showed amassive warehouse in Veracruz stuffed with
election give-away groceries. Authoritiesalso seized $1.9 million in wads of cashfound when police decided to search pas-sengers of a private plane arriving fromVeracruz to Toluca, the capital of the homestate of now-President Enrique Pena Nieto.Officials later said they had found nowrongdoing and the money was returned.Giovanna Mazzotti, a 48-year-old universityprofessor from the city of bright colonialbuildings and steep streets, said she sup-ports Morris’ campaign and plans to go to aparty for him being held Friday. The candi-date is not expected to attend.
“In this state there is no rule of law, thereis no respect for human rights, there are noinstitutions,” Mazzotti said. “It’s great thatthis campaign is showing the fiction in ourelections. Every three years politicians laughat us, it’s good to laugh at them a bit, too.”Morris has a website, a Twitter account anda Facebook page with more than 115,000‘likes,’ that makes him more popular insocial networks than the five human may-oral contenders. Americo Zuniga, the candi-date for the ruling party who is leading inelection polls, had 33,000 Facebook ‘likes’ asof Friday. His website has a collection ofmemes that picture Morris yawning whiledescribing his “ample legislative experi-ence,” an image that mirrors photographs oflawmakers sleeping during congressionalsessions.
Morris’ campaign managers are askingsupporters to write-in ‘Morris’ or draw a cat’sface on the ballot to send a message toauthorities, who are not taking the cat’sgrowing popularity lightly. Members of theElectoral Institute of Veracruz this weekcalled on voters not to waste their vote on acat. “We are asking for people to participateby voting for those citizens registered onthe ballots,” electoral institute presidentCarolina Viveros told local media this week.“Everything else is part of expressions hap-pening in social media and I respect that,but you have to vote for the registered can-didates, please.” Morris also has internation-al supporters. On Friday, the animal-welfaregroup People for the Ethical Treatment ofAnimals wrote Morris congratulating himfor his campaign. Stubbs, a cat that hasbeen the honorary mayor for more than 15years of the sleepy Alaska town ofTalkeetna, has shown support for Morris byposting his fellow feline candidate’s spotcampaign on its Facebook page. —AP
Morris the cat runs for mayor of Mexican city
Pope blesses hundreds of Harley-Davidsons
Shock lingers after Nazi unit leader found in US
Arkansas Senator Pryor hit from right,
left before 2014LITTLE ROCK: The conservative Club for Growth tagsDemocratic Sen. Mark Pryor as President Barack Obama’s “clos-est ally” in the state. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun-control advocacy group says Pryor “let us down.” Pryor’s re-elec-tion race is 17 months away, but the Democratic incumbentseen as perhaps the most vulnerable in 2014 is already takinghits from the right and the left. That’s forced the second-termsenator to aggressively defend himself and step into re-electionmode sooner than planned, even though he has no Republicanopponent.
“My goal right now is to put the campaign off until the elec-tion year, 2014,” Pryor told reporters recently. “They keep drag-ging me back into the politics, they keep running ads and try-ing to keep it stirred it up here.” Republicans are trying to unseatPryor and three other Democratic incumbents who representstates that Republican Mitt Romney won in last year’s presiden-tial race: Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolinaand Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
Democrats need to defend 21 seats, including seven inlargely rural states that Obama lost in 2012. Republicans needto pick up six seats to regain Senate control. But the GOP isdefending fewer incumbents and could benefit from history:The party controlling the White House usually loses seats dur-ing the midterm election of a second-term president. Pryor,who began airing his first television ad last month, faces pres-sure especially early in Arkansas. He’s trying to survive in a statewhere Republicans enjoyed widespread gains over the pasttwo election cycles, fueled by Obama’s unpopularity.
The GOP controls both chambers of the Legislature and allfour US House seats. In 2010, Democratic Sen Blanche Lincolnlost her bid for a third term. Last year, Republicans swept all fourHouse seats and won control of the Legislature for the first timesince Reconstruction. National and state Republicans are eagerto topple Pryor, whose father, David, was a senator and gover-nor. It’s a turnaround from 2008, when Republicans wereunable to find anyone to challenge Mark Pryor and he easilywon a second term.
“When you hear Arkansas Democrats try to spin things forMark Pryor, the only things they can point to is he’s raised a lotof money, he’s got a high name ID and the fact his father is pop-ular,” David Ray, a spokesman for the state GOP. “That’s not avery strong place to start.” Among Republicans, US Reps. TomCotton and Steve Womack are widely viewed as potential chal-lengers. So far, Pryor is taking heat from outside groups ratherthan a challenger. The Senate Conservatives Fund, a politicalaction committee, has begun airing $320,000 worth of televi-sion ads criticizing Pryor’s 2009 vote for the federal health carelaw and calling him too liberal. The conservative Club forGrowth, which backed Cotton last year, has aired ads linkingPryor to Obama. At the same time, Pryor has absorbed criticismfrom the left after voting against expanded background checksfor firearms purchases. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, theBloomberg group, is airing television and radio ads criticizingPryor for the vote. The ad invokes the shooting death of BillGwatney, the state Democratic Party chairman who was killedin his office in 2008. Bloomberg has also urged New Yorkdonors to not contribute to Pryor or the other Democratic sen-ators who voted against the background checks measure inApril.
“When my dear innocent friend was shot to death, I didn’tblame guns. I blamed a system that makes it so terribly easy forcriminals or the dangerous mentally ill to buy guns,” AngelaBradford-Barnes, who worked with Gwatney, says in the ad.“That’s why I was so disappointed when Mark Pryor votedagainst comprehensive background checks. On that vote, he letus down.” Robert McLarty, a Democratic consultant in LittleRock who’s not affiliated with Pryor’s campaign, said the sena-tor’s biggest challenge right now is that he doesn’t have anannounced opponent while he’s fending off attacks from bothsides. “He’s not able to direct a compare and contrast style cam-paign,” McLarty said. “He’s not able to take a candidate on theother side and say this is how we differ.” But McLarty and otherssay Pryor is in a better position than Lincoln was in 2010. Shesurvived a bruising Democratic primary with the help of formerPresident Bill Clinton, who campaigned for her. But she losthandily in the fall of 2010. Pryor has higher approval figuresthan Lincoln did and appears unlikely at this point to draw aserious primary challenger next spring. Clinton headlined aMarch fundraiser to kick off Pryor’s re-election bid, helping himraise more than $1 million in a night. Pryor reported havingmore than $3.4 million in the bank for the 2014 race. —AP
WARSAW: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meetsthe leaders of four ex-communist European countriesyesterday at a regional summit in Warsaw, where he isexpected to promote the country’s nuclear technolo-gies. On his first trip to Europe since taking over aspremier in December, Abe will attend the meeting ofthe so-called Visegrad Group: the Czech Republic,Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Then he will head toNorthern Ireland where the G8 summit begins today.Analysts say Abe will be trying to generate interest inJapan’s nuclear technologies with a view to exportingthem to Europe.
“Now whenever Prime Minister Abe shows up
abroad, it’s Japanese nuclear technology that he pro-motes,” Mariusz Dabrowski, a Japan specialist at thePoland-Asia Research Centre, told AFP. But nuclearpower has become a sensitive issue in Japan after theFukushima Daiichi plant went into meltdown in 2011.Reactors spewed radiation over a wide area, after a9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsuna-mi. In the wake of the disaster, Japan turned off its 50reactors for safety checks but has restarted two ofthem, saying it needs to head off possible summer-time power shortages. Despite vocal public opposi-tion, Abe has said he wants to restart other unitswhen they are proven safe. Abe’s recently unveiled
bid to treble Japan’s infrastructure exports to 30 tril-lion yen ($300 billion, 225 billion euros) a year toboost the economy will almost certainly have toinclude nuclear reactors.
Yesterday, he is expected to sign a nuclear cooper-ation deal with the Czech Republic in which Praguewill undertake to use Japanese nuclear technology.Ahead of yesterday’s meeting, Abe told Poland’sRzeczpospolita daily that countries such as theVisegrad four are attractive markets for Japan. Hehoped to deepen cooperation in science and technol-ogy, particularly in the energy sector, he told thepaper in an interview published Friday. —AFP
Japan PM to tout nuclear exports at Europe summit
I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
COLORADO SPRINGS: Residents returningto the neighborhoods they were drivenfrom just days ago by Colorado’s mostdestructive wildfire ever are seeing first-hand the path of destruction left behindby the flames. Firefighters battling the firein a rural region northeast of ColoradoSprings have made huge advances inrecent days, aided by unexpected rainshowers and calmer winds, and authoritieslifted most evacuation orders. Fire crewsexpanded containment lines Saturday to55 percent. Jack and Judy Roe thoughttheir home was among the nearly 500destroyed but found it standing amid oth-er scorched houses in their neighborhood.
“We’ve been on such an emotionalroller coaster over this thinking we hadlost everything and then to find out thatit’s still there. It was a big relief to us, but I
mean, our hearts were breaking for ourneighbors,” Judy Roe said. Describing thescene, she said she saw charred piles ofwhat remained of homes, with bricks theonly distinguishable feature. Bob andBarbara Metzger lost their home, whilenearby by their SUV, clotheslines and sur-rounding trees were spared.
“As long as the world around me looksthe same, I’ll be fine,” Barbara Metzger said,showing a photo of her burnt home withsurviving trees around. “We’ll rebuild.”Authorities have also gained a clearer pic-ture of a grim landscape in a burn areacovering 25 square miles (65 square kilo-meters).
El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa saidthe fire’s destruction has made it difficultfor his deputies to assess damage.Deputies have said “it looks like a nuclear
bomb went off in some of those areas, andyou can’t even recognize whether it was ahouse or some other kind of structure,”Maketa said. “That is the level of incinera-tion and destruction that took place insome areas.”
The fire exploded last Tuesday amidrecord-setting heat and tinder-dry condi-tions. Two people have died, their bodiesfound inside their garage Thursday. Theircar doors were open as though they hadbeen about to flee, authorities said. It’sunknown what sparked the blaze, butinvestigators believe it was human-caused.So far, it’s cost more than $3.5 milliontofight. White House officials said Saturdaythat President Barack Obama called Gov.John Hickenlooper on Friday to get anupdate on conditions and reinforce hiscommitment to help. — AP
Colorado wildfire evacuees see total destruction
BERLIN: Barack Obama will walk in John F. Kennedy’s foot-steps this week on his first visit to Berlin as US president,but encounter a more powerful and sceptical Germany intalks on trade and secret surveillance practices. Observerssay Obama has cultivated an effective if “workmanlike” rela-tionship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’smost influential leader, mirroring a sobering of transat-lantic ties since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Obama, who dazzled a crowd of 200,000 people with anopen-air speech in 2008 in the centre of the capital whilestill a candidate, will face more modest expectations thistime round on his arrival late tomorrow for a 24-hour stay.But he appears ready to try to harness some of thealliance’s bygone sparkle by timing his visit one weekahead of the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s “Ich bin einBerliner” speech.
That pledge of solidarity with the embattled Cold Warcity is still a reverential moment in the German nationalconsciousness, and a touchstone on the country’s pathback to the community of nations after the Nazi horrors.Accompanied by his wife Michelle, Obama will hold anoth-er public address about the countries’ “enduring bonds”Wednesday, this time at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbolof German unity.
But the agenda for the talks, on the heels of a G8 sum-mit in Northern Ireland, looks less than visionary, with slowprogress on a EU-US trade pact to figure prominently.Germany, however, is longing for reassurance that Europestill matters to the US since Obama’s much-heralded pivotto Asia.
Leading news magazine Der Spiegel last week featureda cover picture of Obama in Kennedy’s shadow, the tagline“The Lost Friend”, and an angst-ridden report about frayingties. “Kennedy’s visit to Berlin was an almost ecstatic cele-bration of a protective alliance,” it wrote. But it said nearly70 years after World War II and two decades after the endof European communism, “the trip of (JFK’s) no-less-charis-matic successor will likely be a prosaic family gathering.”
The US has slashed troop levels in Germany to 73,000from nearly 200,000 in the early 1990s and China hassurged past Europe’s top economy as a market for USgoods. Commentators note that Germans, like other ardentObama supporters, are frustrated by impasses on slowingclimate change and closing the Guantanamo Bay lockup.
Obama nevertheless enjoys a level of support here thateven Merkel, Germany’s most popular post-war leader,could envy as she seeks a third term in September elec-tions-nearly 90 percent hoped he would be returned tooffice last November. But now revelations of a globalInternet snooping operation run by the National SecurityAgency have shocked a country where memories of sys-tematic spying on citizens by communist East Germany’sdespised Stasi are still raw.
Merkel’s spokesman said today the issue was sure toarise and Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger demanded a full explanation. “All factsmust be put on the table,” she said in an online editorial.They will also hash out sticking points on the stalled tradedeal between the US and the EU, the world’s largest eco-nomic relationship. Merkel backs the accord but says it
must address German concerns about US genetically mod-ified crops.
The slaughter in Syria and the troop drawdown inAfghanistan will also dominate discussions. Howevertransatlantic tensions over US calls for Germany to booststimulus spending have eased as the eurozone debt tur-moil has calmed. As for Merkel and Obama’s personal rela-tionship, they appear to have come to respect and trusteach other more over time with the chancellor receivingthe rare honour of a White House state dinner in 2011 andthe Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“(In 2008), Obama exhibited a fluency that bordered onthe glib which has never been the chancellor’s thing. She’snot fluent and certainly never glib,” ConstanzeStelzenmueller of the German Marshall Fund of the UnitedStates told AFP. She said Obama, who has underlined hisand Merkel’s role as trailblazers because neither “looksexactly like the leaders who preceded us”, had becomemore pragmatic as he faced hurdles while implementingpolicy. “Meanwhile the chancellor has had to learn thatsome serious issues of public interest such as how to man-age the euro crisis need to be communicated better... sothere’s been some convergence.” As part of his first Germanstate visit, albeit his third trip to the country, he will alsomeet President Joachim Gauck, a former East German dissi-dent, before returning to Washington. — AFP
COLORADO SPRINGS: Cheryl Carden, who lost her house in the Black Forest wildfirehugs neighbor Rebecca Abernathy after Abernathy’s niece Saylor Brown, bottomright, gave her flowers during a press briefing Saturday, June 15, 2013, at the PikesPeak Community College Rampart Range Campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. — AFP
MADRID: More than four decades after her newbornwas snatched away, Marie-Jose E. has found her sonafter DNA tests proved they are related, a rare happyending in Spain’s “stolen babies” scandal dating back tothe Franco era. “I am living a fairy tale,” said Marie-Jose,her voice trembling with emotion in a telephone inter-view with AFP from the central French city of Tourswhere she now works as a teacher. “It is incredible. I feeleuphoric. I have had terrible highs and lows. When Iwake up in the morning, I tell myself that he is there,that he exists and then I am afraid of losing him.”
Her son, who turns 44 next month, lives in Valencia,the Mediterranean port city in eastern Spain where hewas born and then adopted. Marie-Jose, who had aSpanish father and a French mother, was 22 when shebecame pregnant out of wedlock. Her father, who shedescribed as “very, very strict”, took her to the “SantoCelo”, or “Holy Zeal”, convent to give birth on July 12,1969, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity toprotect her personal life. Despite her father’s repeatedpromises that she would be able to keep her baby, hegave the newborn to the nuns at the convent withoutMarie-Jose’s consent.
“It was a nightmare,” she said, still recalling the “nasti-ness” of the Mother Superior. “I never spoke to my fatheragain,” Marie-Jose said. Her mother died of cancer threeyears after her son was taken, and her father died twoyears later of the same disease. Marie-Jose and her sonare among thousands of families said to have fallen vic-tim to the stolen babies scandal in Spain.
Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco,the newborns of some left-wing opponents of theregime or unmarried couples were removed from their
mothers and adopted. Sometimes, mothers were toldthe lie that their babies had died after birth. The guidingprinciple was that the child would be better off raisedby an affluent, conservative and devout Roman Catholicfamily. The system outlived Franco’s death in 1975 andcarried on at least into the 1980s as an illegal baby traf-ficking network. But two years ago campaigners beganto gather the stories of those who were convinced theirbabies were stolen. As news of the campaign spread,hundreds of adoptive children and mothers who sus-pected they had been fooled by doctors and nunsjoined in. More than 2,000 cases have been registeredin Spanish courts, though many have run into bureau-cratic barriers, with hospitals saying they no longer holdthe relevant records.
Marie-Jose, who is married and has another son nowaged 30, never gave up the search for her first born. Herson discovered he was adopted at the age of 14. “Butthey told him his biological parents had died in a caraccident,” Marie-Jose said. After the death of his adop-tive mother in 2011, at the height of the stolen babiesscandal in Spain, Marie-Jose’s lost son noticed that hisbirth certificate listed his adoptive parents as being hisbiological mother and father.
He decided to seek the truth. “Finally, an older firstcousin told him everything three weeks ago,” Marie-Jose said. “He had been sold by the nuns, which hap-pened a lot at the time,” she said. Her son contactedassociations that help reunite such families in Valencia,which quickly matched him up with Marie-Jose, whothey knew well. DNA tests proved the mother-son link.“Since then, we call each other every day,” Marie-Josesaid. Few families have been so lucky in Spain. — AFP
Obama to harness JFK magic on Berlin visit
Germany: Europe still matters to US
Mother finds ‘stolen baby’ 44 years later
BELFAST: Oxfam charity volunteers wear masks depict-ing the G8 leaders, US President Obama (left) andGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) around a largecauldron during a photo call to draw attention to theissue of world hunger outside City Hall yesterday. — AFP
MEXICO CITY: A 5.8-magnitude earth-quake shook central Mexico early yester-day, sparking panic in the capital andsome power cuts but no major damageor casualties were reported. The quakestruck just after midnight (0519 GMT),east of the city of Huitzuco in Guerrerostate, at a depth of about 30 miles (50kilometers), according to Mexico’sNational Seismological Service and theUS Geological Survey.
The officials downgraded the magni-tude of the quake from 6.0 reported ini-tially. Although the quake was feltstrongly in the capital, “in the preliminary
report, Mexico City was not damaged,”Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera wrote onhis Twitter feed. Civil Protection chiefFausto Lugo told reporters: “We have noreports of major incidents. We reviewedthe city and have no incidents.”
But power was out in some areas ofMexico City, a local radio station report-ed, and the strong tremors sparked panicin some restaurants and bars, as cus-tomers hastily evacuated. The interna-tional airport said on its social networkaccount that there was “no damage toour airport infrastructure after complet-ing the review that we make as part of
earthquake security protocols.” In thecoastal resort city of Acapulco, an AFPreporter saw some tourists leave theirhotels but said there were no reports ofdamage. In the southern state of Oaxaca,there were also no injuries or damage,except “some people with panic attacks,who did not need to be hospitalized,” thelocal Red Cross said.
An 8.1-magnitude earthquake inSeptember 1985 destroyed part ofMexico City and killed 3,700 people,according to official figures. Civil groupsput the death toll from the quake ataround 20,000 people. — AFP
PIEDRAS NEGRAS: Rescue workers take people away from flooded areas in the Piedras Negras,Mexico, Saturday,June 15, 2013. — AP
5.8-magnitude quakestrikes central Mexico
QUETTA: Weeping relatives gath-ered yesterday to identify thecharred remains of loved ones killedin a double attack in Pakistan’s trou-bled southwest claimed by abanned Sunni militant group. Atleast 25 people were killed onSaturday when militants blew up abus carrying female students inQuetta, capital of restiveBaluchistan province, and thenstormed a hospital where survivorshad been taken for treatment. Theextremist sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ ), responsible for astring of outrages against Pakistan’sShiite Muslim minority, said it wasbehind both attacks.
An LeJ spokesman said a femalesuicide bomber struck the bus-arare tactic in Pakistan-before gun-men attacked the hospital, claimingthe strikes were revenge for anoperation by security forces earlierthis month. Militants occupied parts
of the Bolan Medical Complex in astandoff that lasted several hoursand ended when security forcesstormed the building, freeing 35hostages.
Authorities shut down the hospi-tal yesterday, moving patients toanother facility, as investigatorscombed the grisly aftermath of theviolence. “All patients were shiftedfrom here overnight. Inside I haveseen blood and small pieces ofhuman flesh,” a security official atthe locked gates told AFP.
The intensity of the blast andsubsequent fire reduced the stu-dent bus to a blackened skeleton,and outside the mortuary of theProvincial Sandeman Hospital yes-terday, weeping relatives gatheredto identify bodies amid a strongstench of burnt human flesh. Thestate of the bodies added confusionto the relatives’ burden of grief assome were given contradictory
information about their loved ones.Mohammad Hamza, 19, said that
on Saturday he had been given thebody of his student sister, only to betold a mistake had been made. “Icame here after someone had givenus the information that we had tak-en the wrong body and my sister’sbody was still here at hospital, but itis not true,” Hamza told AFP. Itappeared the body he was given onSaturday was indeed his sister.
Mohammad Yasir, deputy regis-trar of Sardar Bahadur KhanWomen’s University, said DNA test-ing may be needed to identifymany body parts. A witness caughtin the hospital during the shootoutdescribed hiding during the terrify-ing ordeal. “ The firing was sointense that I thought that my time(to die) has come and I started recit-ing verses from the Holy Quran,” AliGul, 35, said.
“Some patients cried and
begged the gunmen to spare them.The gunmen told them to keep qui-et and said they were only killingsecurity forces.” LeJ spokesmanAbubakar Siddiq called newspaperoffices in Quetta late Saturday toclaim the killings, saying the attackswere retaliation for a raid by securi-ty forces.
At least three militants and twowomen were killed during a securi-ty operation at a house in theKharotabad neighbourhood ofQuetta. Officials said they belongedto Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan, withwhom LeJ has links. The attackscame hours after a national monu-ment linked to Pakistan’s foundingfather Muhammad Ali Jinnah wasdestroyed by separatist militants inZiarat town, 80 kilometres (50 miles)southeast of Quetta.
Quetta is a flashpoint for sectari-an violence between majority SunniMuslims and minority Shiites, whoaccount for 20 percent of Pakistan’s180 million population, and the citysaw the country’s two bloodiestattacks so far this year.
A giant bomb planted in a watertanker being towed by a tractorkilled 90 Shiite Hazaras in February,while another suicide bombing at asnooker club in January killed 92others. Both were claimed by LeJ.There was fury in the Pakistani pressyesterday, both at the perpetratorsand the security forces for failing toprevent the third major atrocity inQuetta in six months. Dawn, thecountry’s leading English-languagenewspaper, said the state’s short-comings had been shown onceagain.
“That the state has again failedboth at the level of intelligence-gath-ering and preventing a terroristattack from succeeding is also obvi-ous,” it said in an editorial. “Unhappily,the more obvious these truths, theless likely it seems that anything willbe done to address them.” SardarBahadur Khan Women’s University islocated close to a Shiite Hazaraneighbourhood in Quetta, and manyHazaras are students.
Baluchistan, which borders Iranand Afghanistan, is rife with Islamistmilitancy and a regional insurgencywaged by separatists demandingpolitical autonomy and a greatershare of profits from the region’s nat-ural resources. —AFP
I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
HYDERABAD: In this photograph, India’s Gujarat state Chief MinisterNarendra Modi (left) talks with Bihar state Chief Minister and senior JanataDal United (JDU) leader, Nitish Kumar, during a conference. —AFP
N Korea proposes high
level dialogue with USDe-nuclearisation a prerequisite for talks: US
PYONGYANG: North Korea’s top governing bodyyesterday proposed high-level nuclear and secu-rity talks with the United States in an appeal sentjust days after calling off talks with rival SouthKorea. The powerful National DefenseCommission headed by North Korean leader KimJong Un issued a statement through state mediaproposing “senior-level” talks to ease tensionsand discuss a peace treaty formally ending theKorean War.
There was no immediate response fromWashington, but President Barack Obama’s envoyon North Korea said Friday that while the US isnot averse to talking with Pyongyang, the bar forresuming engagement is higher in the wake ofrepeated nuclear threats and provocations.
Foreign analysts expressed skepticism, sayingimpoverished North Korea often calls for talksafter raising tensions with provocative behaviorin order to win outside concessions.
The rare proposal for talks between theKorean War foes follows months of acrimony overNorth Korea’s defiant launch of a long-rangerocket in December and a nuclear test inFebruary, provocative acts that drew tightenedUN and US sanctions. The US and South Koreacountered the moves by stepping up annualspringtime military exercises that promptedNorth Korea to warn of a “nuclear war” on theKorean Peninsula.
However, as tensions subsided in May andJune, Pyongyang has made tentative overturesto re-establish dialogue with South Korea andWashington. In a notable shift in propaganda inPyongyang, posters and billboards calling onNorth Koreans to “wipe away the American impe-rialist aggressors” have been taken down inrecent weeks.
Meanwhile, a recent proposal fromPyongyang for Cabinet-level talks with SouthKorea - the first in six years - led to plans for twodays of meetings in Seoul earlier this week. Thetalks dramatically fell apart even before theybegan amid bickering over who would lead thetwo delegations. North Korea fought against US-led United Nations and South Korean troops dur-ing the three-year Korean War in the early 1950s,and Pyongyang does not have diplomatic rela-tions with either government. The KoreanPeninsula remains divided by a heavily fortifiedborder.
Reunifying the peninsula was a major goal ofNorth Korea’s two late leaders, Kim Il Sung andKim Jong Il, and is a legacy inherited by current
leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea is expected todraw attention to Korea’s division in the weeksleading up to the 60th anniversary in July mark-ing the close of the Korean conflict, which endedin an armistice. A peace treaty has never beensigned formally ending the war.
As Pyongyang continues to shun disarma-ment and shut out nuclear inspectors,Washington’s top worry is North Korea’s nuclearweapons program. Pyongyang is estimated tohave a handful of crude nuclear devices and hasbeen working toward building a bomb it canmount on a missile capable of striking the UnitedStates.
Earlier this year, Kim Jong Un enshrined thedrive to build a nuclear arsenal, as well as build-ing the economy, as national goals. North Koreaclaims the need to build atomic weapons todefend the country against what it sees as a USnuclear threat in Korea and the region.
North Korea will not give up its nuclear ambi-tions until the entire Korean Peninsula is free of
nuclear weapons, a spokesman from theNational Defense Commission said in a state-ment carried by the Korean Central NewsAgency. “The denuclearization of the KoreanPeninsula does not only mean ‘dismantling thenuclear weapons of the North’” but also shouldinvolve “denuclearizing the whole peninsula,including South Korea, and aims at totally end-ing the US nuclear threats” to North Korea, thespokesman said.
The US denies having nuclear bombs inSouth Korea, saying they were removed in 1991.However, the US military keeps nuclear sub-marines in the region and has deployed them formilitary exercises with South Korea. After blam-ing Washington for raising tensions by imposing“gangster-like sanctions” on North Korea, theunnamed NDC spokesman called on the US topropose a venue and date for talks but warnedagainst setting preconditions.
US envoy Glyn Davies said Friday inWashington that the US isn’t opposed to engage-ment but would not accept North Korea as anuclear state nor reward it for “absence of badbehavior.” The key to a diplomatic solution, hesaid, is for the US and North Korea’s four neigh-bors involved in long-stalled nuclear negotia-tions with Pyongyang to send a unified message:that it must live up to previous commitments todenuclearize. Davies, who is to meet with hisJapanese and South Korean counterparts nextweek to discuss North Korea, said there is a grow-ing international consensus against the North’snuclear ambitions.
“We have every expectation that Beijing willuse its special relationship with (North Korea) toencourage Pyongyang to choose a differentpath,” he said in a comments made at the WilsonCenter think tank. Washington has been burnedin the past by efforts to reach out to Pyongyang.Months of behind-the-scenes negotiations yield-ed a significant food-for-disarmament deal inFebruary 2012, but that was scuttled by a failedNorth Korean long-range rocket launch justweeks later.
Pyongyang’s bid to reach out to the US comesas South Korea’s new president, Park Geun hye, isto sit down for talks with China’s new leader, XiJinping, in Beijing later this month. Park, whoseNorth Korea policy calls for building trust whileremaining firm on provocations, has been activein reaching out to Beijing. Xi, meanwhile, metrecently with Obama in California. China cruciallysupplied North Korea with troops during theKorean War, and has remained a key ally andbenefactor since then, but has pushedPyongyang to return to disarmament talks.
“The fact that North Korea proposed talks(with the US) ahead of the South Korea-Chinasummit signifies its intent to keep China incheck,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of NorthKorean studies of Dongguk University in Seoul,South Korea. Pyongyang also is sending a mes-sage to South Korea warning that if Seoul doesnot actively try to improve relations with NorthKorea, the regime will go directly to Washington,sidelining Seoul, he said. —AP
PYONGYANG: People walk past a roadside propaganda billboard promoting the “mil-itary first” policy and a boost to build the country’s economy yesterday. —AP
NEW DELHI: A powerful Indian regionalparty pulled out of the main oppositionalliance yesterday, a split that could hobblethe rise of a controversial Hindu nationalistleader who hopes to oust the rulingCongress party in elections due by May2014. The Janata Dal (United) party, basedin the eastern state of Bihar, announced itwould end a 17-year-old alliance with theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the BJPpromoted firebrand leader Narendra Modito lead its election campaign.
The exit could hamper the chances ofthe Hindu nationalist BJP finding enoughallies to mount a convincing challenge toPrime Minister Manmohan Singh’s adminis-tration, whose second term has beenplagued by scandals and a worseningeconomy.
It could also encourage a rag-tag ofregional parties - with fickle leaders anddiverse local agendas - to form their ownso-called third front coalition, which, if theywere successful, could present a risk forAsia’s third-largest economy. Nitish Kumar,the chief minister of Bihar state and a sen-ior JD(U) party leader, announced the breakwith the BJP at a news conference.
“BJP is going through a new phase. Weare not in agreement with that. We cannotcompromise with our basic principles,”
Kumar said. The BJP chose Modi to lead itselection campaign yesterday last week, aposition that would in all likelihood makehim the party’s candidate for prime minis-ter. But his selection has exposed rifts with-in the BJP and the broad oppositionalliance.
Modi is one of India’s most popular lead-ers, who has won praise from voters andbusiness leaders for economic growth inthe state of Gujarat under his stewardshipas chief minister. But many people see himas too divisive to lead the country. Criticssay he did too little to stop, or even quietlyencouraged, religious riots in his state in2002 that killed at least 1,000 people, mostof them Muslims - an accusation he denies.
Kumar’s vote base includes a significantnumber of Muslims, which could have madeit difficult for him to throw his full supportbehind an alliance headed by Modi. A BJPspokesman and other critics said Kumar’sdecision to leave the opposition was oppor-tunistic. Kumar did not announce any politi-cal plans but there has been speculation hecould join an alliance led by the prime min-ister’s ruling Congress party. The generalelection could pit Modi against RahulGandhi, son of Congress party chief SoniaGandhi and the scion of India’s most power-ful political dynasty. —Reuters
India’s main oppn alliance
splits ahead of election
KARACHI: A Pakistani woman cries for an injured relative at a hospital. —AFP
Weeping families identify Pakistan victims
QUETTA: A Pakistani militant group behind aseries of bloody assaults on minority ShiiteMuslims has said it carried out attacks on a buscarrying women students and a hospital thatkilled at least 25. The extremist Sunni outfitLashkar-e-Jhangvi said a female suicide bomberstruck the bus in Quetta, capital of the restiveBaluchistan province on Saturday, killing 14women students. A follow up attack around 90minutes later on a hospital treating survivorsleft at least 11 dead and led to a prolonged gunbattle between security forces and militantsoccupying part of the building.
The standoff lasted for several hours andended when security forces stormed the build-ing, freeing 35 people who had been takenhostage, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar toldreporters on Saturday. Abubakar Siddiq, aspokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), callednewspaper offices in Quetta late Saturday toclaim the killings.
“The suicide attack on the bus was carriedout by one of our sisters. She boarded the stu-dent bus and blew herself up,” Siddiq said.“Then we carried out a second suicide attack atthe hospital and our fighters killed several peo-ple. We did this because security forces killedour fighters and their wives in Kharotabad.”Pakistani security forces on June 6 killed at leastthree militants and two women during a raid ata house in the Kharotabad neighbourhood ofQuetta. Officials said they belonged toTehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan, with whom LeJhas links. The attacks came hours after a nation-al monument linked to Pakistan’s founding
father Muhammad Ali Jinnah was destroyed byseparatist militants in Ziarat town, 80 kilome-tres (50 miles) southeast of Quetta. Quetta is aflashpoint for sectarian violence betweenmajority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiites,who account for 20 percent of Pakistan’s 180million population, and the city saw the coun-try’s two bloodiest attacks so far this year.
A giant bomb planted in a water tankerbeing towed by a tractor killed 90 ShiiteHazaras in February, while another suicidebombing at a snooker club in January killed 92others. Both were claimed by LeJ. There wasfury in the Pakistani press yesterday, both at theperpetrators and the security forces for failingto prevent the third major atrocity in Quetta insix months. Dawn, the country’s leadingEnglish-language newspaper, said the state’sshortcomings had been shown once again.“That the state has again failed both at the levelof intelligence-gathering and preventing a ter-rorist attack from succeeding is also obvious,” itsaid in an editorial.
“Unhappily, the more obvious these truths,the less likely it seems that anything will bedone to address them.” The bus targeted inSaturday’s attack was from Sardar BahadurKhan Women’s University, which is located closeto a Shiite Hazara neighbourhood in Quetta,and many Hazaras are students. Baluchistan,which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is rife withIslamist militancy and a regional insurgencywaged by separatists demanding politicalautonomy and a greater share of profits fromthe region’s natural resources. —AFP
Sunni militants claim
twin Pakistan attacks
BEIJING: China’s official army newspaperyesterday branded the United StatesInternet surveillance program exposed byformer spy Edward Snowden as “frighten-ing”, and accused the US of being a “habit-ual offender” when it comes to networkmonitoring. The People’s Liberation Army(PLA) Daily hit out at the US for implyingthat spying on citizens from other coun-tries was justified, and said that the PRISMmonitoring program had probably beenused to collect large amounts of dataunrelated to anti-terrorism operations.
The remarks about the program areamong the most scathing to appear inChina’s state-run press following Beijing’srefusal to make an official comment. “USintelligence agencies are ‘habitual offend-ers’ with regards to network monitoringand espionage,” the article, attributed tothe PLA’s Foreign Languages Institute,said.
“There is reason to believe US intelli-gence agencies, while collecting anti-ter-rorism information online have also ‘inci-dentally’ collected a lot of information inother fields.” Under the so-called PRISMprogramme, the US National SecurityAgency can issue directives to Internetfirms like Google or Facebook to gainaccess to emails, online chats, pictures,files and videos that have been uploaded
by foreign users.“US President Obama has said that
PRISM is not directed at US citizens,” thearticle said. “The implication is that for thepurposes of US security, monitoring citi-zens of other countries is not a problem.This simple, overbearing logic is the fright-ening aspect of the PRISM program. “TheUS government says that PRISM is con-cerned with anti-terrorism, and does notinvolve any other matters. But anyonewith intelligence expertise can tell this isadmitting ones guilt by protesting inno-cence.”
The PLA Foreign Languages institute isChina’s top military language trainingfacility, and is thought to be a key train-ing-ground for Chinese intelligence offi-cers. The article also accused the US ofspying on its own citizens, saying that ithad “clearly... not been established” thatUS intelligence agencies had only usedthe program to monitor foreign nationals.
China has stayed tight lipped followingthe revelations from the former US gov-ernment subcontractor, which includedclaims of US hacking directed at Chinaand which came amid tensions betweenWashington and Beijing about onlineespionage. On Thursday China’s foreignministry gave little insight into Beijing’sthinking. —AFP
China army newspaper hits
out at US’s PRISM program
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi, in severing tieswith Damascus, aims to show solidarity withWestern and fellow Arab states opposed to Syria’s
regime and also boost his under-fire image at home,analysts said. Morsi, an Islamist from the MuslimBrotherhood, told supporters in a Cairo stadium for a“Support for Syria” rally on Saturday that he was goingto “definitively” cut diplomatic relations with Syria. TheSyrian government yesterday slammed the decision.Morsi had joined the “conspiracy and incitement led bythe United States and Israel against Syria by announc-ing the cutting of ties,” an unnamed official told Syria’sstate news agency SANA. He accused Morsi ofannouncing the cut in ties to deflect attention fromdomestic crises.
On Saturday, Morsi said Egypt will recall its charged’affaires from Damascus and shut the Syrian embassyin Cairo. Calling on the international community toimpose a “no-fly zone” over Syria, Morsi also said he hadmade “contact with Arab and Muslim states to organisean emergency support meeting” for the Syrian people.He condemned the intervention in the conflict ofLebanon’s powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, whichhelped government troops to victory over rebels in theSyrian town of Qusair.
Cairo already scaled back its diplomatic representa-tion to Syria in Feb 2012, when it recalled its ambassa-dor before Morsi came to power. After he won a presi-dential election in June of last year, Morsi took a hardline with the Syrian regime, notably during a confer-ence in Tehran, the main ally of Damascus in the region.The move won him favour from Western countries, par-ticularly the United States, and Arab countries hostileto the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
By definitively cutting relations, Morsi is seeking tomake a new gesture to countries which oppose theAssad regime, according to analysts. “Morsi’s govern-ment has adopted the American position on the Syrianconflict and is trying to please Washington by assistingit” in the region, said Iman Rageb of Al-Ahram Centrefor Strategic and Political Studies. “He is hoping theAmericans will close their eyes to the way the govern-ment could react” to opposition protests called for June30 on the first anniversary of his election, she said.
Morsi’s decision has brought Egypt closer into thecamp of countries opposed to Assad, notably energy-rich Qatar which has given Cairo crucial financial sup-port to help it weather a severe economic crisis. But incutting ties with Damascus, analysts said Morsi alsointended to boost his hand at home, where he is facinggrowing opposition. A petition launched several weeksago calling for his resignation has already collected 15million signatures, according to local media. “Morsi’sdecisions are linked to the domestic situation, in orderto turn attention away” from the economic crisis andinternal political tensions, said Mohammed Al-Orabi, aformer foreign minister.
Amin Shalabi of Egypt ’s Council for ForeignRelations also said Morsi was trying to improve his pop-ularity at home. “The president is trying to draw atten-tion to external issues to ensure popular support,” hesaid. However, “the internal crisis is so serious that noexternal issue can overshadow it”. Morsi referred to thedomestic situation in Egypt in his speech on Saturday.The president warned that he would act “with determi-nation” against anyone who “wanted to push the coun-try into a spiral of violence and chaos”.
The break in ties with Syria will win support fromEgypt’s Salafists, Sunni Muslims who follow a strictinterpretation of Islam and are vehemently opposed tothe regime in Damascus. Syria’s regime is dominated bymembers of Assad’s Alawite minority, an offshoot ofShiite Islam. Egypt is mostly Sunni Muslim, as are thevast majority of Syrian rebels. A popular uprising thatbroke out in Syria in March 2011 turned into a bloodycivil war, in which at least 93,000 people have died,according to UN figures, and it is growing increasinglysectarian in nature. On Thursday, influential Sunni cler-ics from several Arab states, including Egypt, called forjihad, or holy war, against the “sectarian” regime inSyria. — AFP
Issues
Morsi cuts Syria ties to woo West, boost his image
By Haitham Eltabei
14A N A L Y S I SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
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Moderate’s triumph is mandate for change
Rowhani ‘tone’ may reopen doors for IranBy Farhad Pouladi
New President Hassan Rowhani’sexperience as Iran’s nuclear negotia-tor will go a long way toward chang-
ing the “tone” of talks with major powersand could lead to an easing of sanctions,analysts say. His negotiating skills won himthe respect of his European interlocutorsand the monicker “diplomat sheikh”. Buthis policies under reformist presidentMohammad Khatami were abandoned in2005 when President MahmoudAhmadinejad was elected and Rowhaniquit his post over differences.
“Rowhani cannot change the core ofIran’s nuclear strategy, which is deter-mined by the supreme leader,” AyatollahAli Khamenei, Ali Vaez, the Brussels-basedInternational Crisis Group’s senior analyston Iran, told AFP. “But what he can alter isthe tone and the team,” while easingTehran’s isolation, he said. “Adopting amore conciliatory rhetoric and engagingmore experienced negotiators could havea positive impact on nuclear negotiationswith the P5+1,” UN Security Council per-manent members, Britain, China, France,Russia, the US, plus Germany.
Afshon Ostovar, a Middle East and Irananalyst in the US-based CNA research cen-
tre, also believes that Rowhani’s successwould depend on Khamenei. “Above all,what Rowhani is able to accomplish willdepend on how much support he receivesfrom Khamenei,” he said. Rowhani is a rep-resentative of Khamenei on the SupremeNational Security Council, Iran’s top securi-ty body, and was its secretary for 16 yearsuntil 2005, and has played up his ties withKhamenei.
Tehran has been engaged since 2006with the P5+1 over its controversialnuclear work, but with no breakthrough. Ithas as a result come under mounting inter-national sanctions and isolation. In his firststatement after his win was confirmed, themoderate conservative cleric urged worldpowers to treat Iran with respect andrecognise its rights, an apparent allusion toits nuclear policy. “A new opportunity hasbeen created by this great epic, and thenations who tout democracy and opendialogue should speak to the Iranian peo-ple with respect and recognise the rightsof the Islamic republic,” he said.
Mohammad Saleh Sedghian, head ofthe Tehran-based Arabic Centre for IranianStudies, believes the seasoned diplomat isthe man to engage in talks with Iran’s arch-foe, Washington, to find a solution to thenuclear issue. “In one of his campaign
speeches, Mr Rowhani said that since themajority in the 5+1 are under pressurefrom the US, Iran should negotiate withthe side that exerts it, Washington,” hepointed out. “So he will talk directly to theUS to solve the issue” Sedghian told AFP.
Following Rowhani’s victory, the UnitedStates itself said it was prepared to engageIran directly over its nuclear program,which the West suspects is aimed at build-ing a bomb, despite Tehran’s constantdenials. Such engagement would beaimed at reaching a “diplomatic solutionthat will fully address the internationalcommunity’s concerns about Iran’s nuclearprogramme,” said the White House.However, “Rowhani is the ultimate regimeinsider, who knows how to build bridges. Ithink it would be unlikely and unwise forhim to alienate powerful stakeholderssuch as the IRGC (Islamic RevolutionGuards Corps) or the conservatives,” saidVaez.
The elite force has been a major stake-holder in many of the country’s macroprojects, especially transportation, con-struction and the import-export business,according to government data. Many of itsmembers have stepped out of uniform andlaunched political careers. MohammadBaqer Qalibaf and Mohsen Rezai who lost
Friday’s presidential election were bothdecorated top commanders of the Guards.
Domestically, Rowhani, who was boost-ed by the backing of Khatami and formerpragmatic president Akbar HashemiRafsanjani and was able to fend off hard-line conservatives, does not fear the wrathof the conservative camp, Sedghian said.“Since these names in the conservativecamp lost to Rowhani, they are not goingto make problems on his path to settingup a cabinet,” he said. Ostovar said the del-icate balancing act between domesticforces would pose a challenge for Rowhanibut that the new man in Iran’s highestelected office should be given time. “Iwould not expect him to put forward anybold initiatives that could face resistancefrom his opponents, at least not in theshort term,” he said.
And whereas Ahmadinejad stirred inter-national outrage with his outspoken anti-Israeli rhetoric and doubts over theHolocaust, Iran’s image around the worldunder Rowhani will change, said an Iraniananalyst. His predecessor was “the face ofIran in the world.
This image will now change. From nowon, it be that of a level-headed, calm ...man with a moderate tone,” he told AFP,asking not to be named. — AFP
By Marcus George
Iranian voters weary of years of economic isolation andtightening political restrictions threw down a bluntdemand for change on Saturday by handing a moderate
cleric a landslide victory in a presidential election. Havingwaited throughout Friday night and most of Saturday, millionsof Iranians at home and abroad greeted Hassan Rowhani’s vic-tory with a mix of euphoria and relief that eight years underhardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were finally over.That Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator, trounced hardline“Principlist” rivals most loyal to the theocratic system andSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Friday’s contest leftmany in the Islamic Republic in shock.
A second surprise was that the country’s first presidentialpoll since a disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad in 2009appeared to be free and fair. His victory goes some way torepairing the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, badly dam-aged four years ago when the disputed poll led to massunrest. And it may herald an increase in political space for thesort of reformist groups which bore the brunt of the securitycrackdown that ended the disturbances. “Though hardlinersremain in control of key aspects of Iran’s political system, cen-trists and reformists have proven that even when the cards arestacked against them, they can still prevail due to their sup-port among the population,” said Trita Parsi, president of theNational Iranian American Council.
After final results were announced and the nerve-rackingwait came to an end, Iranians revelled in having deliveredtheir message to Iran’s theocratic leader, Ayatollah AliKhamenei, whose loyalists dominated the field of candidates.From the streets of Tehran came reports of a festive atmos-phere, as crowds of Rowhani supporters dressed in his cam-paign colour purple gathered to celebrate his emphatic victo-ry. Some chanted “Ahmadi Bye Bye” heralding the imminentend to incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency. Thelong wait quickly became the subject of rich humour. “Don’tbe in a rush. It is the first time they are counting votes. Theydidn’t expect it would take so long,” quipped one Facebookmessage, alluding to the widespread allegations of vote-rig-ging four years ago.
Victory will be followed by the colossal challenge of put-ting Iran back on its feet, repairing the damage done by eightyears of growing mistrust between Tehran and the West. Iranhas been battered by economic sanctions imposed by theUnited States and its allies over its nuclear activities, resultingin soaring inflation and unemployment. While Iran maintainsit will not develop nuclear arms, it has refused to curb what itsays is its rights to nuclear power. With such a strong mandateand a clear intent to reach out his hand, there will be guardedhope that the 64-year-old cleric can progress nuclear talks. Butwith Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decidingstate policy, Rowhani will face limits to his area of operations.
“(Mr Rowhani) will choose the core cadre at the foreignministry and Supreme National Security Council and this candefinitely have an impact. But the general orientation is decid-ed by the Supreme Leader ... and naturally Mr Rowhani will
cooperate with him,” said conservative member of parliamentAhmad Tavakoli, the ISNA news agency reported. Equallyintractable will be the issue of two reformist leaders who havebeen under house arrest for more than two years over whatcritics have decried as their seditious role in the post-electionprotests in 2009.
Throughout the campaign Rowhani supporters havestirred the memories of 2009, chanting the names of the twoimprisoned leaders, Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi,at campaign events and intensifying calls for their release. Butthat means confronting powerful elements of the conserva-tive establishment who may not yet be prepared to welcomepeople they call “seditionists” back into the fold. “A Rowhanilandslide will have to deliver substance, not just cosmetics,and this requires quite a few people to admit that the lasteight years have been an aberration,” said Ali Ansari, professorat St Andrew’s University in Scotland. “I don’t see that coming
from the pages of Kayhan (a hardline newspaper). I still havereservations,” he added.
The 64-year-old cleric has pledged to draw up and imple-ment a “civil rights charter” and has spoken up for the rights ofwomen and ethnic minorities. He was heavily critical of theatmosphere of tight security ahead of the election and gar-nered strong support from liberal Iranians as a result. But vot-ers seemed most preoccupied with the desperate state of theeconomy. Between them Rowhani and the runner-upMohammad Baqer Qalibaf - the pragmatic modernising may-or of Tehran who is very popular in the city for his clear mana-
gerial skills - took more than two thirds of votes cast.Even many conservatives had called time on Iran’s overtly
ideological stance for not providing for the Iranian public.“The defeat of the Principlists was necessary,” read an editorialon the Tabnak news website affiliated to Mohsen Rezaie, aconservative election candidate and former head of theRevolutionary Guards who came fourth in the election. “ThePrinciplist current must understand that one cannot be ineffi-cient and expect the people to still support them in throngs.”
Despite widespread calls from conservative activists to getbehind a single candidate, three big-hitters all remained in thecontest, pulling their shared power base apart at the seams.The man many expected to be at the front of the pack, currentnuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, slumped to third place.“Iranians are worried about their future. (The prospect of ) aJalili presidency and a harsh securitised domestic environ-ment - I think people thought it would lead to a situation of
confrontation inside the country,” said Farideh Farhi of HawaiiUniversity.
Iranians may have to wait patiently for change because ofIran’s multi-tiered power structure, which has gradually erod-ed the office of the president over the last two decades.“Rowhani’s upset victory has effectively redeemed Iran’s elec-toral system, which was tainted after the 2009 presidentialpoll,” said Ali Vaez, an analyst at International Crisis Group.“Remember that Iran is governed by complex institutions andcompeting power centres that inherently favour continuityover radical change.” — Reuters
Iranians celebrate the victory of moderate presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani (portrait) in the IslamicRepublic’s presidential elections at Vanak square in northern Tehran on Saturday. — AFP
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013N E W S
Continued from Page 1
Sheikh Sabah said he instructed theCabinet to comply with the court’s rul-ing, which obsessed people and trig-gered an atmosphere of “anxiety andtension”. “Now we have to leave this issueand its deliberate aftermath behind us,and continue the march of reform anddevelopment, realizing the lessons ofthis experience,” he said. Sheikh Sabahaffirmed that Kuwait “is a state of institu-tions ruled by the constitution and law,and there is no authority nor ceilingabove the authority of the right and jus-tice.” Citizens should be keen to seek thejudiciary to settle differences “which is acivilized aspect . . . and a victory fordemocracy that every Kuwaiti citizenshould be proud of,” he added.
The Amir said Kuwait was victoriousand that he appreciated the people whoexpressed their principled positions andbore their national responsibility toenforcing democracy and complyingwith the constitution. Sheikh Sabah saidhe excused those who deviated from theright path, and thanked the speaker andmembers of parliament for their faithfulefforts to carrying out their national uni-ty as well as their achievements.
Sheikh Sabah called upon all peopleto follow footsteps of their fathers andgrandfathers who were known for their“forgiveness, cooperation, clean heartand hand, respect of the old and takingcare of the young”. The Amir said he car-ried no “grudges” against anyone, andthat the unity of the ruler with his peoplewas a “major element in our Kuwaiticommunity”. He said democracy inKuwait was based on shura, or consulta-tion, and was then complimented by theconstitution which was written by repre-sentatives of the people through dia-logue, consensus and understanding. “Itwas the agreement and consensus ofeverybody,” he added.
Sheikh Sabah said democracy inKuwait did not materialize overnight “butafter a long chain of experiments andpractices”. “Our community in Kuwait isnot an exception from other communi-ties; we are all responsible to protectingand developing our democratic systemto achieve our hopes and aspirations ...without the domination of one segmentor control of a group or sidelining anoth-er but to guarantee the representation ofall Kuwaiti segments,” he said.
Democracy should be developed toimprove participation of the public,
boost dialogue, understanding and con-sensus, accept differences of opinions,respect views of others, reject violenceand extremism, reject personal interests,not to attack others, and place Kuwait’sinterest first, he said. “This is the sounddemocratic practices we seek to achieve,to develop our democracy via dialogue,consensus, understanding and consulta-tion which serves the interest of thenation and citizens,” said the Amir.
Sheikh Sabah said that “we all shouldrespect” the constitution as well as “feelproud of our just judiciary that we alwaysseek”. He called for the respect and sup-port of the judiciary because “we cannotbut accept and respect” its rulings. Hesaid the Kuwaiti people have proventheir loyalty to their country, keennesson its security and stability. Kuwaitis“reject calls of sedition and division,reject voices of chaos and stick to theirnational unity and support their leader-ship”, he said. Sheikh Sabah voiced con-cern over “sick sectarian” signs in theKuwaiti community “which might triggerextremism and spark destructive discord,a matter rejected and condemned byevery faithful Kuwaiti”. “We will not allowour country to be a place for sectarianconflicts and settlement of sick scores,”affirmed the Amir, “nor allow discord topoison our solid community.”
Sheikh Sabah highlighted Kuwait’ssupport for Arabs and Muslims out of itskeenness to backing “principles of jus-tice”. He underlined that security ofKuwait “is a sacred duty ... and it is on topof priorities”. “There shall be no construc-tion, no development, no economy, noservices, no schools and no hospitalswith the lack of security,” affirmed theKuwaiti leader. “Protecting the country isa collective responsibility . . . whichrequire wisdom and spirit of responsibili-ty...,” he said.
Sheikh Sabah said the top prioritynow was to protect Kuwait from “disas-ters surrounding us, maintaining its secu-rity and stability, shield it from stormswhich roar near us, (which) burn thecountry and kill the people, and spreaddestruction, as hundreds of innocentpeople are being killed or injured everyday and millions are displaced.” SheikhSabah said urged Kuwaitis to learn les-sons of events “happening not far fromus.” He said that the road was long andfull of “difficulties and challenges ... butthe unity, cooperation and solidarity ofKuwaitis are capable of achieving suc-cess and objectives”. — KUNA
Amir respects court ruling...
Continued from Page 1
He also urged world powers not to hesitate toenforce a no-fly zone over Syria. Western diplomatssaid on Friday that Washington was considering alimited no-fly zone over parts of Syria, but theWhite House said later that the United States hadno national interest in pursuing that option.
Russia, an ally of Assad and fierce opponent ofoutside military intervention in Syria, said anyattempt to impose a no-fly zone using F-16 fighterjets and Patriots based in Jordan would be illegal.Morsi said he was organising an urgent summit ofArab and other Islamic states to discuss the situa-tion in Syria, where the United States has in recentdays decided to take steps to arm the rebels.
Egypt’s US-funded and -trained army is among themost powerful in the Middle East. There has beenno suggestion, however, that Egypt, a countrysteeped in poverty, should get involved in thefighting in Syria.
Morsi said: “The Egyptian people supports thestruggle of the Syrian people, materially and moral-ly, and Egypt, its nation, leadership ... and army, willnot abandon the Syrian people until it achieves itsrights and dignity.” The Brotherhood has joinedcalls this week from Sunni Muslim religious organi-sations for jihad against Assad and his Shiite allies.Egypt has not taken an active role in arming theSyrian rebels, but an aide to Morsi said this weekthat Cairo would not stand in the way of Egyptianswho wanted to fight in Syria.
Syria said yesterday that Egypt’s decision to cutdiplomatic ties is “irresponsible”, accusing its presi-dent of fueling sectarian conflict in Syria and serv-ing a US-Israeli conspiracy to divide the MiddleEast. The strongly-worded Syrian statement yester-day said Morsi is supporting an idea that wouldviolate its sovereignty, and is “serving the goals ofIsrael and the United States” in the region.“Mohamed Morsi joins a choir of conspiracy andincitement led by the United States and Israelagainst Syria,” the statement said.
It also accused Morsi of endorsing calls by hard-line clerics calling for fighting in Syria againstAssad’s regime “to shed Syrian blood instead ofdirecting the compass toward liberating occupiedPalestinian lands”. — Agencies
Morsi cuts Syria ties, backs...Continued from Page 1
Former speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun saidthe constitutional court’s verdict encouragesautocratic rule in Kuwait and will help elect aAssembly that would be a puppet to the gov-ernment. Saadoun said the meeting formed acommittee that will propose a series ofactions that will be taken against the ruling,as he called on the Kuwaiti people to boycottthe next election.
HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah welcomed the court’s verdict, sayingthat it is a proof that Kuwait is a country ofinstitutions ruled by the constitution and thelaw. He called on all citizens to respect theverdict and abide by it as he urged citizens to“put this issue behind us” and to consolidatenational unity. The Amir also stressed that hewill not allow sectarian disputes to take placein Kuwait. The Cabinet held an extraordinarymeeting to assess the situation and said it hasordered concerned authorities to implementthe ruling. It however gave no dates for anyaction.
It was not clear so far when fresh electionswill be held and what will happen beforethat. Under Kuwaiti law, fresh elections mustbe held within two months of dissolving theAssembly, but this date falls either inRamadan or immediately after. Observers
spoke about alternatives that may includedelaying the polls until after summer holi-days.
Earlier, members of the opposition strong-ly lashed out at the court ruling. Former MPWaleed Al-Tabtabaei said it was “the worstdecision” because it confirmed the single-vote legislation, while former MPMohammad Al-Kandari said it has practicallywithdrawn the power of the people to legis-late and rested it in the hands of the govern-ment. Former MP Mubarak Al-Waalan saidthe only outcome for the political stalematein the country is to “withdraw the decree”.However, the liberal National Action Bloc wel-comed the verdict out of respect for the con-stitutional court and its rulings.
Information Minister Sheikh SalmanHumoud Al-Sabah said it would boostdemocracy in Kuwait. “The court’s decisiontoday enhances the durability of the demo-cratic system that is enjoyed by Kuwait.Kuwait has a proud history of respecting theconstitution and maintaining the rule of law,”the minister said. Analysts and observers saidthe court’s verdict will not contribute toresolving the political crisis that has been rag-ing for over a year and it is expected to esca-late tension in the country. But it was clearyesterday that a section of the opposition isexpected to contest the coming election.
Court upholds one-vote decree..
KUWAIT: Opposition members and former MPs attend a meeting at the residence of Ahmad Al-Saadoun (center) yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat
S P O RT SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
MADRID: The exodus of top Spanish players from cash-strapped La Liga is a goodthing for the national team but bad for the domestic league, according to Barcelonaand Spain defender Gerard Pique. Jesus Navas became the latest international tomove abroad when he left Sevilla to join Spain team mate David Silva at ManchesterCity this month.
Nine members of the Spain squad contesting theConfederations Cup in Brazil now play outside theirhome country.
Heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona, theworld’s richest clubs by revenue, can afford the bestplayers and dominate La Liga as a result. They have 13Spanish internationals between them.
However, financially troubled clubs in the secondrank like Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla havebeen forced to cash in on their prize assets, who areincreasingly seeking a new challenge and better wagesaway from Spain.
“On the one hand it’s good for the nationalteam but on the other it’s a little bit bad for LaLiga because players are leaving who are fromyour country,” Pique said in an interview with Assports daily published yesterday.—Reuters
‘Exodus bad for La Liga’LONDON: Australia captain Michael Clarke hopes to be fit to return for today’s finalChampions Trophy Group A game against Sri Lanka after missing the first twomatches with a back injury. “I’m hopeful, no doubt about that, but I really have towait to see how I pull up tomorrow morning after training again today,” he told a
news conference on Sunday. “My back is certainlyimproving, which is a positive.”
Australia lost their opener to England before theirclash with New Zealand was rained off, meaning they
sit bottom of the group with one point knowingdefeat at the Oval today will knock them out of thetournament. Clarke’s recurring back trouble hasled to speculation he could be a doubt for someof the five-test Ashes series in England whichstarts at Trent Bridge on July 10.
“Yes I’m confident (of playing in all of theAshes), but I was confident I’d play every
game in this series so you are asking thewrong guy,” he said. England have theirown injury worries for the Ashes with theirmost dangerous attacking batsman KevinPietersen missing the Champions Trophybecause of a knee problem.—Reuters
Clarke in fitness raceTHAILAND: Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng showed his class with twoeagles in the final round to secure a comfortable three-stroke homewin in the Queen’s Cup yesterday.
The 47-year-old, who started the day a stroke back fromBangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, shot a four-under-par 67 that includ-ed eagles on the eighth and the final hole, to move clear of the chas-ing pack with a 14-under total of 270.
Compatriot Arnond Vongvanij finished second while Japan’sDaisuke Kataoka was third, five shots adrift. Prayad started the daywith a bogey on the first hole at the Santiburi Samui Country Club,where he had finished in the top-three on three occasions since 2009.
He dropped another shot on the seventh after birdies on thefourth and sixth and the eagle on the eighth calmed his nerves.
He made nine consecutive pars after that and signed off in styleamid loud cheers from the home crowd. “When Arnond bogeyed the12th, I had a feeling that this would be my week. I’ve been strugglingwith injuries for so long and I finally got my game together this year,”Prayad told the Asian Tour website (www.asiantour.com). “I’ve comeso close to winning here but couldn’t finish the job previously. Soobviously this win really means a lot to me.” Siddikur finished in a tiefor eighth spot after a dismal six-over-par final round of 77. —Reuters
American LeagueEastern DivisionW L PCT GB
Boston 42 28 .600 -Baltimore 39 30 .565 2.5NY Yankees 37 31 .544 4Tampa Bay 36 32 .529 5Toronto 31 36 .463 9.5
Central DivisionDetroit 37 29 .561 -Cleveland 33 34 .493 4.5Kansas City 32 34 .485 5Minnesota 30 35 .462 6.5Chicago W Sox 28 37 .431 8.5
Western DivisionOakland 41 29 .586 -Texas 38 30 .559 2Seattle 31 38 .449 9.5LA Angels 30 38 .441 10Houston 25 44 .362 15.5
National LeagueEastern Division
Atlanta 40 28 .588 -Washington 34 33 .507 5.5Philadelphia 33 36 .478 7.5NY Mets 24 39 .381 13.5Miami 20 47 .299 19.5
Central DivisionSt. Louis 44 24 .647 -Cincinnati 41 28 .594 3.5Pittsburgh 40 28 .588 4Chicago Cubs 28 38 .424 15Milwaukee 28 39 .418 15.5
Western DivisionArizona 37 31 .544 -San Francisco 35 32 .522 1.5Colorado 36 33 .522 1.5San Diego 34 34 .500 3LA Dodgers 29 38 .433 7.5
MLB results/standings
Chicago Cubs 5, NY Mets 2; Toronto 6, Texas 1; Atlanta 6, San Francisco 5; LA Dodgers 5,Pittsburgh 3 (11 innings); Boston 5, Baltimore 4; Milwaukee 6, Cincinnati 0; Colorado 10,Philadelphia 5; St. Louis 13, Miami 7; Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 3; LA Angels 6, NY Yankees 2;Washington 7, Cleveland 6; Minnesota 6, Detroit 3; Seattle 4, Oakland 0; Houston 4, ChicagoWhite Sox 3; San Diego 6, Arizona 4.
Prayad wins golf Queen’s Cup
ATLANTA: Freddie Freeman’s bases-loaded, line-drive single off closer Sergio Romo capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning that lifted the AtlantaBraves to a 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giantson Saturday. BJ Upton hit two homers off ChadGaudin, but the Braves trailed 5-4 entering theninth. Romo (3-3) walked pinch-hitter Evan Gattis,who was replaced by pinch-runner Reed Johnson,with one out. Andrelton Simmons followed with agrounder that skipped past third baseman JoaquinArias for an error, putting runners on first and sec-ond.
Jason Heyward followed with a liner that fell infront of left fielder Andres Torres, loading the bases.Justin Upton worked a walk to tie it and Freemancame through with the game-winning single toright field. Braves closer Craig Kimbrel (2-1) struckout Hunter Pence to end the ninth with runners onfirst and second.
DODGERS 6, PIRATES 5In Pittsburgh, Juan Uribe singled home Andre
Ethier in the top of the 11th inning to rally LosAngeles to the victory over Pittsburgh.
Ethier doubled off Vin Mazzaro (3-1) leading offthe 11th then raced home when Uribe’s chopperwent over the head of third baseman PedroAlvarez. Nick Punto drove in Uribe with a double tothe gap one batter later to provide some insurance.
Peter Moylan (1-0) picked up the win afterescaping a bases-loaded jam in the 10th. BrandonLeague, who lost his job as the closer to KenleyJansen this week, managed the final three outs forhis 14th save.
Travis Snider capped a late Pittsburgh rally witha solo home run off Jansen with one out in theninth to tie the game.
CUBS 5, METS 2In New York, Scott Feldman allowed two hits in
seven innings and Starlin Castro hit a two-run dou-ble to left in a three-run eighth inning that liftedChicago clear of New York.
Feldman (6-5) struck out six and had a two-RBIsingle in the fourth off Jonathon Niese (3-6) to helphimself on the way to his first win since May 29.
Kevin Gregg got the last three outs for his ninthstraight save and Chicago beat the Mets for thesecond day in a row, after losing five of sevenbefore getting to Queens.
BREWERS 6, REDS 0In Cincinnati, Juan Francisco drove in three runs
with a sacrifice fly and homer in a ballpark wherehe’s had some big moments, and Yovani Gallardopitched six innings to lead Milwaukee’s blanking ofCincinnati. It was a rare win in Cincinnati for theBrewers, who have dropped 11 of their last 14games at Great American Ball Park.
Logan Schafer had three hits off Homer Bailey
(4-5), his second straight three-hit game. Schafer isfilling in for Ryan Braun, on the DL with an injuredthumb. Gallardo (6-6) gave up three hits and a pairof walks in his second straight impressive start.Three relievers completed a seven-hitter forMilwaukee’s first shutout. The Brewers were theonly team in the majors without one.
ROCKIES 10, PHILLIES 5In Denver, Tyler Chatwood pitched five effective
innings in his return from a triceps injury and TylerColvin homered during a six-run first inning asColorado snapped a three-game losing streak bydoubling up Philadelphia.
The Rockies also relied on solid defense to end asix-game skid against the Phillies, turning threedouble plays and getting a gem from third base-man Nolan Arenado, who snared JonathanPettibone’s sharp grounder in the second with adiving stop and made a one-hop throw from hisbackside to get the Phillies pitcher.
Wilin Rosario had three hits, all for extra bases,Arenado was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Chatwoodpitched in with two hits, including an RBI single.
Chatwood (4-1) boosted his average to .437 (7for 16) with 5 RBIs in his first game since June 3,when he left after four innings at Cincinnatibecause of right triceps soreness.
CARDINALS 13, MARLINS 7In Miami, Carlos Beltran homered from each
side of the plate and tripled to lead a 17-hit attack,and Lance Lynn notched his ninth victory when St.Louis outslugged Miami.
Swinging left-handed, Beltran hit his 15th homerun in the second inning and tripled for the firsttime since May 2012 in the eighth. He hit anotherhome run from the right side in the ninth - the 11thtime he has homered from both sides in a game.
Yadier Molina singled home two runs in theCardinals’ five-run first inning, and David Freese’sfourth homer in the third inning put them ahead tostay. Lynn (9-1) allowed a career-high seven runs infive innings against the lowest-scoring team in themajors, but his two-run single in the fifth inninggave the Cardinals a three-run lead to help thempull away.
PADRES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4In San Diego, Yasmani Grandal’s three-run
homer capped a five-run fourth inning as SanDiego beat Arizona to stretch its winning streak tofive and reach the .500 mark for the first time intwo years.
Jason Marquis (9-2) allowed three runs andthree hits in 6 2-3 innings to win his eighth straightdecision. San Diego (34-34) pulled to within threegames of first-place Arizona in the NL West. The lasttime the Padres were at .500 was April 10, 2011,when they were 4-4.
Huston Street, who returned from the disabledlist on Friday, earned his 12th save in 13 opportuni-ties. He gave up an RBI double in the ninth toGerardo Parra before getting Didi Gregorius to flyout to center for the final out.
Arizona’s Wade Miley (4-6) had been staked to a3-0 lead in the first inning, in part on a two-runhomer by catcher Miguel Montero.—AP
Braves get past Giants
ST. PETERSBURG: Tampa Bay right-hander AlexCobb was taken off the field on a stretcher after hewas hit on the right ear by a line ball off the bat ofKansas City’s Eric Hosmer in the fifth inning of theRays’ 5-3 win over the Royals on Saturday.
The Rays announced that Cobb, who remainedconscious the whole time, was taken to BayfrontMedical Center in St. Petersburg for further exami-nation. Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn later said alltests were normal and that Cobb suffered a mildconcussion.
Luke Scott, Matt Joyce and Evan Longoriahomered for the Rays, who had lost five of six. AlexTorres (2-0) replaced Cobb and struck out four over1 2-3 scoreless innings. Fernando Rodney pitchedthe ninth for his 14th save in 19 opportunities.Joyce hit a solo homer off Jeremy Guthrie (7-4) inthe fifth that put the Rays up 4-2.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 4In Baltimore, Mike Carp and Jonny Gomes
homered to back an effective pitching perform-ance by John Lackey, as the Boston Red Sox beatthe Orioles to end a five-game losing streak inBaltimore.
After dropping the first two games of the series,the Red Sox fell into a 2-0 hole before bouncingback. Carp’s home run snapped an 18-inning scor-ing drought in the fourth, and Gomes made it 5-2in the sixth with a solo shot that chased Baltimorestarter Freddy Garcia (3-4).
Boston leads Baltimore by 21/2 games in theAmerican League East. Lackey (4-5) gave up tworuns, seven hits and a walk in seven innings toimprove to 12-4 against the Orioles.
Former Oriole Koji Uehara struck out the side inthe eighth and Andrew Bailey gave up a two-runhomer to Matt Wieters in the ninth before securinghis eighth save.
BLUE JAYS 6, RANGERS 1In Arlington, Adam Lind and Colby Rasmus
both hit two-run homers as the Blue Jays won theirfourth game in a row, beat the sliding Rangers.
Even with the unexpected early return of sec-ond baseman Ian Kinsler from his rehabilitationassignment, the Rangers’ season-long losing streakreached five games. All of those losses are at home,and they’ve dropped 10 of 14 overall to fall out offirst place in the AL West.
Lind put the Blue Jays ahead to stay in the first,when his seventh homer of the season ricochetedhigh off pole down the right field line. Rasmus hithis 12th homer, and second in two games, in thefourth to make it 4-0.
Those homers accounted for all four runs offJosh Lindblom (0-2), who went six innings on his26th birthday. RA Dickey (6-8) gave up one run in 52-3 innings.
ANGELS 6, YANKEES 2In Anaheim, Erick Aybar homered and drove in
two runs, and Albert Pujols added two more RBIs inthe Angels’ victory over the Yankees on Saturday
night that sent New York to its fifth straight defeat.Tommy Hanson (4-2) recorded a season-high
eight strikeouts while pitching five-hit ball into theseventh inning for the Angels, who have won threestraight after a four-game skid. Josh Hamilton hadan RBI double, and Aybar hit an early homer beforedelivering a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth.
Brett Gardner had an RBI triple for the Yankees,who matched their worst skid of the season. MarkTeixeira also left in the fourth inning with an aggra-vated right wrist. Howie Kendrick had three hitsand drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh forthe Angels.
ASTROS 4, WHITE SOX 3In Houston, Jason Castro and Chris Carter
homered in the fourth inning to give Houston thelead as the Astros held on for a win over the WhiteSox. The game was tied at 1-1 when Castrolaunched a solo homer into the bullpen in right-center to start the fourth inning. Carter’s one-outhomer clanged off the foul pole in left field toextend the lead to 3-1 and leave starter John Danks(1-3) shaking his head.
Brandon Barnes’s double drove in a run in thefifth inning to make it 4-1. Adam Dunn hit his 18thhomer to start the seventh and Gordon Beckham’sground-rule double made it 4-3.
Harrell (5-7) allowed seven hits and three runswith a season-high seven strikeouts in 6 2-3innings. Danks yielded five hits and four runs in six-plus innings.
MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 0In Oakland, Henry Blanco hit a sixth-inning
grand slam in his Seattle debut to break a scorelesstie and Felix Hernandez pitched seven stronginnings to win his third straight decision as theMariners beat the Athletics. The 41-year-old Blanco,a .184 hitter with no home runs coming into thegame, was an unlikely candidate to deliver thedecisive hit for Seattle. The Mariners signed himFriday, three days after his release by Toronto. Hebecame the oldest Mariners player with a slam.
Hernandez (8-4) struck out five of Oakland’s ini-tial eight batters and seven through four innings onthe way to eight Ks.
Michael Morse had two doubles among histhree hits, including one in the sixth before Blanco’sdrive stayed just inside the left-field foul pole.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 3In Minneapolis, Trevor Plouffe had three hits,
including a two-run homer, in his return to theTwins lineup, and Sam Deduno held Detroit incheck over seven innings in Minnesota’s victory.
Plouffe, back after missing 22 games because ofa concussion and left calf strain, was a triple shy ofthe cycle. He drove in three runs in support ofDeduno, who has allowed only five earned runs inhis last five starts. Deduno (3-1) gave up two runsand seven hits to win his third straight decisionsince being recalled in May. Glen Perkins added his16th save in 18 chances.
After missing his previous start with shoulderstiffness, Anibal Sanchez struggled with pitch loca-tion and only lasted 3 2-3 innings for Detroit. DarinDowns (0-2) gave up three runs and five hits inrelief of Sanchez, and took the loss.
INTERLEAGUE GAMENATIONALS 7, INDIANS 6
In Cleveland, Anthony Rendon hit his first majorleague home run following Nick Swisher’s ninth-inning error to propel the Nationals to a win overCleveland. Two pitches after his foul popup fellbetween the Indians’ first baseman and secondbaseman Jason Kipnis, Rendon homered into theNationals’ bullpen off Vinnie Pestano (1-2) to stunthe Indians and the crowd of 33,307.
Swisher and Kipnis both drifted into foul territo-ry and it appeared either could have made thecatch, but neither player appeared to call for it andthe ball fell to the ground. Swisher was chargedwith the error. Drew Storen (1-1) pitched the eighthfor the win while Rafael Soriano worked the ninthfor his 18th save. Mike Aviles doubled with twoouts, but first baseman Adam LaRoche made aleaping catch of Michael Bourn’s line drive to endthe game.—AP
Rays down Royals
ATLANTA: Freddie Freeman No. 5 of the Atlanta Braves is mobbed by teammates after knock-ing in the game-winning run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants. —AFP
ST PETERSBURG: Pitcher JeremyGuthrie No. 11 of the Kansas City Royalspitches against the Tampa Bay Rays dur-ing the game at Tropicana Field. —AFP
RALEIGH: Former world sprint titleholder Tyson Gay has a lofty goal inmind for August’s global champi-onships - three trips to the podiumjust like six years ago.
Completely fit for the first timesince winning gold in the 100 and200 metres and 4x100 relay at the2007 worlds, Gay told Reuters he willrun both sprints at next week’s U.S.championships, then seek a spot onthe relay team for Moscow.
“I want to do the double for sure,”the 30-year-old Gay, American recordholder in the short sprint, said in atelephone interview from his centralFlorida training base.
“I feel like I am actually able to andI always loved the 200,” he said. “And Ifeel like I am healthy enough. “I feellike it will prepare me for the worlds,and if I run the 200 that will give memore success for the 100.”
Hamstring, groin and hip injuries,along with the emergence ofJamaican double world record holderUsain Bolt, have denied Gay an indi-vidual global title since his triple atthe Osaka world championships. Butsmart training and a more conserva-tive running schedule have limitedthe injuries and made him the fastest100 metres runner in the world thisyear. No one, not even Bolt, has beenquicker than the 9.86 seconds theslender American clocked at theJamaican Invitational in Kingston inMay. His 19.79 seconds last month inthe 200 also would equal Bolt’s worldleading time if it had not been windassisted.
“It makes me feel good, but I am alittle surprised,” said Gay, noting Boltand others have had more competi-
tive races than his two 100 metresand one 200.
“I planned on racing a normalschedule but coach (Lance) Braumanwanted to take things slow this year.After New York we decided I haddone enough to go on to the nation-als,” added Gay, who won in 10.02seconds in the rain and cold in theBig Apple.
The US championships in DesMoines, Iowa, which serve as the UStrials for the Aug. 10-18 worlds inMoscow, begin on Thursday and run
through Sunday. Even the softly-spo-ken Gay does not know what toexpect of himself.
“One minute I want to run a superfast time,” he said. “The next I want toplay it smart and make the team andsay the big dance is not until August.”
The heartbreak of London 2012,where he missed his first individualOlympic medal by one hundredth of
a second with a fourth-place finish,has subsided. Time and theAmericans’ silver medal in the 4x100relay helped as did the encourage-ment of friends and even strangerswho made him realise how much hehas accomplished in his career.
But he also finds it refreshing tobe healthy again. “I don’t have torush. I don’t have that extra stress onme,” Gay said of the multiple times inrecent years he has had to go flat outin last-minute practice sessions afterinjuries in a bid to be ready for U.S.
trials or global competition. “It is thebest I have looked in years,” Gay saida leading U.S. biomechanics expertrecently told him. A brighter outlookon his own achievements andprospects has not lessened Gay’srespect for Bolt and his world records.
“He is still going to be the man tobeat regardless,” said Gay, admiringthe way the Jamaican bounced back
from injury and defeat by trainingpartner Yohan Blake at the islandnation’s 2012 Olympic trials to winthe 100 and 200 in London.
“He turns around and looks like atotally different person,” said Gay. Butthe American believes he can bemore competitive this year, and couldeven challenge his 2009 U.S. 100metres record of 9.69 seconds, com-pared to Bolt’s 9.58 world record.
“I think I can,” said Gay who wouldhave no problem with the world join-ing in a delayed celebration of his31st birthday, which comes two daysbefore the Aug. 11 100 metres worldfinal.
He will run his first race after theAmerican trials in the 100 atLausanne on July 4 and long-rangeplans are to continue competingthrough the 2016 Games in Riowhere he hopes his elusive quest foran individual Olympic medal willfinally end.
More immediately, there is a deci-sion to be made about his appear-ance. Gay had an almost fuzzy look atMay’s New York Diamond Leaguemeet with his fuller beard and longerhair, the product, he said, of theamount of time devoted to training.
“I was training so hard... my hairgrew out for several months and thebeard grew out for several months,”he said.
The look will not become perma-nent, though. “It may come offtomorrow,” Gay said. “I may want tobe a little bit more aerodynamic forthe trials,” he added, recognising howclose a shave his loss to countrymanJustin Gatlin was for a prized medalin London.—Reuters
Gay has triple medal
haul in mind for worlds
Tyson Gay
S P O RT SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
HALLE: Swiss Roger Federer celebrates with his trophy afterwinning the ATP Gerry Weber Open tennis tournament. —AFP
LONDON: Andy Murray was crowned king ofQueen’s Club for the third time as the worldnumber two roared back to defeat defendingchampion Marin Cilic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in yesterday’sfinal.
Murray was pushed hard by the Croatian fifthseed, but the US Open champion responded tothe challenge with the kind of classy display thatbodes well with Wimbledon just eight daysaway.
He picked up a cheque for £73,315 (86,300euros) for his latest triumph at the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event, but more impor-tantly his dominant week’s work served as theperfect preparation ahead of his latest bid toend Britain’s long wait for a male winner of thesingles’ title at the All England Club.
The 26-year-old’s third successful Queen’scampaign in five years, following previous victo-ries in 2009 and 2011, took his career haul of ATPTour titles to 27 and ended his wait for a firsttournament win since the Miami Masters inMarch.
However, Murray, who started the week con-cerned by his fitness after a lower back injuryforced him to miss the French Open, will hope afirst set tumble that left him briefly clutching hisgroin in pain proves nothing serious.
“It’s been extremely wet and I just slipped. I
was a bit sore in the groin area, thankfully it was-n’t too bad,” Murray told the BBC.
“Marin’s one of the best grass-court players inthe world. We had a lot of close matches and Iwas lucky to come through at the end becausehe was playing such good tennis.”
Cilic added: “Andy showed he’s a great fighterand congratulations to him for his win here. “Itwas an extremely good week for me. I hope I cancontinue my good form and come back nextyear.”
Murray has dominated on grass over the lastyear, reaching his first Wimbledon final and tak-ing the gold medal in the London Olympics atthe All England Club by thrashing Roger Federer.
He had also won eight of his previous ninemeetings with Cilic and looked unfazed by therain delayed start when play finally got under-way three hours later than scheduled.
Setting the tempo from the baseline, Murraycleverly pushed the world number 12 out ofposition as he drove a blistering forehand tobreak in the second game.
However, the Scot wasn’t able to make themost of his early momentum. Cilic was going forthe lines to good effect and he broke when aforehand from the Scot smashed into the net onthe third break point of a pivotal game at 4-2.
The situation looked even bleaker for Murray
when he screamed in anguish after falling as hewent to change direction after being wrong-footed by a Cilic winner on break point on theCroat’s serve in the next game.
He lay in obvious discomfort on the grass forseveral moments and held his groin before final-ly playing on. Murray seemed fairly untroubledby the injury once he resumed but he hadgreater difficulty subduing Cilic.
The Croatian forced a succession of Murraymiscues and he broke for a 6-5 lead beforestaving off two break points to take the set.
Even when Murray earned three break pointsat 3-2 in the second set, Cilic had all the answersand fought his way out of trouble.
But Murray refused to accept it wouldn’t behis day and he hit back to level the match.Serving to stay in the set at 6-5, Cilic’s concentra-tion wavered for the first time and Murraypounced, unloading a superb return that theCroat could only push tamely into the net.
Murray had the initiative now and deliveredthe knockout blow with a break in the fourthgame of the deciding set.
Cilic helped the Scot’s cause with a sloppygame riddled with unforced errors and Murraywas in no mood to refuse the gift, quickly clos-ing out the match in ruthless fashion with aseries of searing winners.—AFP
Murray king of Queen’s
LONDON: Britain’s Andy Murray poses with the trophy after winning the ATP Aegon Championships final tennis match against Croatia’sMarin Cilic at the Queen’s Club. —AFP
HALLE: Roger Federer won hisfirst title of the year yesterday, theworld number three beatingRussia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5/7),6-3, 6-4 in the ATP final at Halle.
This was the 31-year-old Swissgreat’s sixth Halle title and the77th win of his career, but firstsince Cincinnati on the eve of theUS Open in 2012.
His 77th title also saw himdraw level with John McEnroe inthird position in the all-timecareer titles list. After losing theopening set, the former worldnumber one battled back to pre-serve his per fect record overYouzhny in 15 meetings in overtwo hours of play.
“Winning solves everything. Iam satisfied with my game, confi-dent, fresh and excited aboutwhat lies ahead,” said Federer whowill be chasing a record eighthWimbledon title from next week.
“There’s always a few things Ican work on but I can think aboutthat between now and the start ofWimbledon.” For Federer, beatenby Rafael Nadal in his only previ-ous final appearance of 2013 onthe clay in Rome and brushedaside by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in theFrench Open quarter-finals, thiswas the ideal preparation aheadof his Wimbledon defence.
The top seed, who overcameveteran German Tommy Haas inSaturday’s semi-final, was thrilledto finally get off the mark for theyear. “Mikhail has produced agreat tournament, that’s why I’mso happy to have won,” he said.
“I had to fight hard to remain inthe race in the second set. Iserved well (he produced 12 aces)and that’s what saved me today.”
Federer missed five breakpoints in the first set, four of themcoming in the opening game,before coming off second best inthe tie break after one hour ofplay.
But he fought back to level theencounter against the Russian,going on to win the match with alove game on his service.
Federer had won this grasscourt title four years in successionfrom 2003 to 2006 and again in2008. Yesterday’s win was his 13thtrophy on grass.
Federer, who now has a 43-5career record at Halle, had been inimpressive form at the tourna-ment with a 39-minute, 6-0, 6-0win over German qualifier MischaZverev in the quarter-finals, onlythe second double-bagel of hiscareer.
He then saw off defendingchampion Tommy Haas in a tightthree-setter in the semi-finals. “Tolose the first set twice and stillwin, it ’s a great feeling,” saidFederer.
Youzhny had reached the finalby beating three seeded players-Kei Nishikori, PhilippKohlschreiber and then RichardGasquet, all of them in straightsets. “I continue to improve mygame. Tennis changes every yearand I have to change with it if Iam to stay at the top,” said the 31-year-old Russian.—AFP
BIRMINGHAM: Sixteen-year-oldCroatian Donna Vekic was deniedher first WTA title as she lost 7-6(5)6-4 to Tour stalwart DanielaHantuchova in the Aegon Classicfinal in Birmingham yesterday.
Vekic, the youngest player in thetop 350 in the rankings, fell in hersecond final of the year asHantuchova’s greater experienceedged her to her first title at the
Wimbledon warm-up event atEdgbaston, having been runner-upin 2011.
“She played a very good matchand deserved to win,” London-based Vekic, who is trained by TimHenman’s old coach David Felgate,told Reuters.
“This was my second WTA finaland I’m still only 16. Things havegone fast so far in my career but I’m
hoping when I make my third final Iwill win it.
“But it’s been a great week con-sidering it was my first grasscourtevent on the WTA Tour. Now I’mreally looking forward toWimbledon.”
Vekic, ranked 89th in the world,showed her mettle to break theHantuchova serve in the eighthgame after losing her own to a
double fault, going on to take theformer world number five into atiebreak. Slovakian Hantuchova, 30,then pounced in the 10th game ofthe second set to claim her sixthcareer title.
All eyes will be on Vekic, whoreached her first W TA final inTashkent last year, when she makesher Wimbledon main draw debutthis year.—Reuters
MELBOURNE: The British and Irish Lions’hopes of victory in their last tour matchbefore facing Australia will be tested by ahastily-assembled backline and an ACTBrumbies side keen to inflict a timely psy-chological blow in Canberra tomorrow.
Like all the provincial sides thrown to theLions, the Brumbies will front up with a start-ing 15 robbed of their best Wallabies playersbut under strict orders to leave the touristsbruised, if not beaten, after full-time atCanberra Stadium.
The Lions notched up their fifth win fromfive tour matches against the New SouthWales Waratahs on Saturday, running out 47-17 winners at Sydney Football Stadium, butthe emphatic victory extracted a toll.
Centre Jamie Roberts was left nursing asuspected hamstring strain and could joinEngland centre Manu Tuilagi in the treat-ment room, leaving the Lions vulnerable inthe one area they can least afford it. WithWelshman George North also nursing ham-string concerns and fellow winger TommyBowe injured with a broken hand, Lionscoach Warren Gatland has padded out hisbackline with a clutch of fly-ins led by 36-year-old Shane Williams.
The former Wales winger, who touredwith the Lions in 2005 and 2009 and retiredfrom international rugby at the end of 2011,flies in from Japan and will slot in for just theone match before leaving the squad to domedia work.
Englishman Christian Wade, shipped infrom Argentina, starts on the other wing,with Brad Barritt landing from the UnitedStates and starting at centre in the side cap-tained by Ireland hooker Rory Best.
England’s Billy Twelvetrees starts at insidecentre against the two-time Super Rugbychampions. The cobbled-together backline,albeit complemented by a still-formidableforward pack, offers the Canberra-basedBrumbies arguably the best chance of theAustralian provincial sides to beat the Lions-or at least leave the squad with a few doubtsbefore the first Wallabies test on Saturday.
“We realise it’s going to be tough on afew players, but there’s some combinationswith experience we looked at,” Gatland toldreporters in Sydney yesterday.
“Billy and Brad know each other pretty
well, Shane Williams will obviously come in.“Having worked with him for a long time, Ithink he’ll fit in pretty well with our gameplan and will understand what we’re tryingto do, so there’s some combinations andplayers who been there, done that beforeand knowing what’s expected of them.”
Gatland has also offered all of the players,barring Williams, the additional motivationof a spot in the team to play the Wallabies atLang Park, despite his earlier intention tohave the test side settled by the time of theWaratahs match.
“They have to have that belief that theycan go out and perform on Tuesday and putyour hand up and get selected for Saturday,”Gatland said.
“There’s no way we’re going out sacrific-ing the game, I’m sure those players who goout tomorrow will be incredibly motivatedto continue this tour unbeaten.
“And there’s still that opportunity forplayers to put their hand up and say: ‘I wantto be part of that test team, that test 23’ -and that’s what their motivation has to be.”
The Jake White-coached Brumbies haveno intention of being cannon fodder andneed only watch footage of their 2001 effortagainst the Lions for inspiration.
The Brumbies were gallant 30-28 losers atthe same stadium in the previous tour in2001 after utility back Austin Healey savedthe Lions’ blushes with a late try.
“This is a huge occasion for us as a team,but also individually,” said White, whocoached South Africa to their 2007 WorldCup triumph.
“The Lions are one of rugby’s last roman-tic sides, there is plenty of history there andwe know that beating the Lions will go downin Canberra’s rugby folklore for many years tocome.” White, touted as a possible successorto Australia coach Robbie Deans, has guidedthe Brumbies to their first playoffs appear-ance in Super Rugby for nearly a decade thisseason and has a clutch of classy backs at hisdisposal, including livewire fullback JesseMogg and winger Henry Speight. CaptainPeter Kimlin, who starts at number eight, andprop Scott Sio were also released fromWallabies duty for the match after earliertour matches sparked criticism for offeringthe Lions uncompetitive teams.—Reuters
ARDMORE: Phil Mickelson moved a stepcloser to one of his biggest goals, a USOpen title, as he emerged from a see-sawthird round battle at Merion to take aone-shot lead into late yesterday’s finalround. Mickelson rolled in a nine-footbirdie putt at the 254-yard 17th hole toleapfrog playing partner Luke Donald,who slipped out of the lead with a bogeyon the mammoth par-three.
Four-times major winner Mickelson,looking for his first US Open title after fin-ishing runner-up a record five times,bogeyed the daunting 18th hole but stillcame away with the lead after complet-ing an even-par 70 for a one-under-par209 total.
“It is a hard challenge, but it is a lot of
fun,” said Mickelson, keen for the nextstep in his quest for a f irst US Opencrown.
“Let’s go. I can’t wait to get back outplaying.” Yesterday could be a dream dayfor Mickelson, who would add a missingline to his impressive resume with anOpen victory as he celebrates his 43rdbirthday and Father’s Day with his dadwatching him play at Merion.
“I’ve had opportunities in years past,and it has been so fun, even though it’sbeen heart breaking to come so close anumber of t imes and let i t s l ide,”Mickelson said.
One shot back after a rousing battleatop the leaderboard were 2011 Masterschampion Charl Schwartzel, who posted69, and Americans Hunter Mahan (69)and Steve Stricker (70).
Former world number one Donald,who double -bogeyed the 18th af terstruggling with the deep rough to finish
with a 71, was another shot adrift at one-over 211 along with fellow EnglishmanJustin Rose (71) and 36-hole co-leaderBilly Horschel (72).
“ I should have done better,” saidDonald, who had taken sole possessionof the lead after Schwartzel and Mahanboth bogeyed the 17th. “It was disap-pointing.
“But I’ll take the positives out of today,a really solid 16 holes of golf that I playedand I’m only two back.” Mickelson, theleader after each round, fell from topspot after a bogey on the third hole, butcame alive on the back nine with threebirdies to fight his way back on a tumul-tuous day that saw a slew of competitorstake turns in charge.
The big left-hander said he felt betterplaced to tackle the challenge of winningthe US Open this time around.
“I feel better equipped than I haveever felt heading into the final round of aUS Open,” said Mickelson, who has threeMasters and a PGA Championship title tohis credit.
“My ball striking is better than it’s everbeen. My putting is better than it hasbeen in years, and I feel very comfortableon this golf course. I love it.
“Given that I’ve had some past majorchampionships now and some successhere...I think it’s going to be fun. I don’tthink I feel any more pressure than any-body else who wants to win.”
Six different players — Mickelson,Horschel, Donald, Rose, Australian JohnSenden and Schwartzel had turns in thelead over the first nine holes.
World number one Tiger Woods, hop-ing to end a five-year drought in themajors dating back to the 2008 US Open,and world number two Rory McIlroy alsomoved within three shots of the pacewith birdies on the first hole.
However, the high-profile duo, playingtheir third successive round together,staggered through the rest of the way.Woods shot 76 to plunge 10 shots off thepace, and McIlroy registered 75 to benine behind Mickelson.
After the merry-go-round of leaders inthe front nine, Schwartzel and Donaldsettled into a tie for supremacy after theturn and were joined at two-under byMahan when he birdied the 16th.
Mahan and Schwartzel both bogeyedthe last two holes to yield the top posi-tion to Donald, who was then overtakenby Mickelson.
Schwartzel said he knows what it willtake for him to add a second major titleSunday to his Augusta triumph. “You’regoing to have to give every single shot allyour attention,” the South African said.“There’s no hole where you can sort ofease back and sort of freewheel a bit.Every shot that you hit is really intense.”
Three shots off the pace wasAustralian Jason Day, who registered a 68for two-over 212 despite a bogey at thelast. One more shot away was RickieFowler who carded 67 for the best roundof the day.
Senden, who briefly led by one, fadedwith five bogeys in the last 11 holes topost a 74, finishing six strokes off thelead. Coming up big at the end wasMickelson, who was clearly excited aboutwhat Sunday could mean. “It ’s got themakings to be something special, but Istill have to go out and perform and playsome of my best golf,” he said.—Reuters
Hantuchova bags Aegon Classic
Federer wins Halle titleTies McEnroe on 77 trophies
Lions brace for
Brumbies challenge
Mickelson leads US Open
ARDMORE: Phil Mickelson of theUnited States hits his second shot onthe 18th hole during Round Three ofthe 113th US Open at Merion GolfClub.—AFP
S P O RT SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Photo of the day
Levi Siver windsurfs at the Rock at Pistol River near Gold Beach, Oregon. —www.redbullcontentpool.com
Group AEngland 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.31 - qualified for
semi-finalsNew Zealand 3 1 1 0 1 3 +0.78Sri Lanka 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.52Australia 2 0 1 0 1 1 -0.96
Group BIndia 3 3 0 0 0 6 +0.94 - qualified for
semi-finalsSouth Africa 3 1 1 1 0 3 +0.33 - qualified for
semi-finalsWest Indies 3 1 1 1 0 3 -0.07Pakistan 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.03
Semi-finalsJun 19, The Oval: A1 v South Africa
Jun 20, Cardiff: A2 v India
FinalJun 23, Edgbaston
Note: Day matches start at 0930GMT, D/N (day/night matches) at 1200GMT
Champions Trophy tableChampions Trophy table after yesterday’s match between England and New Zealand atCardiff (played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run-rate):
EnglandA. Cook c and b N McCullum 64I. Bell c B McCullum b McClenaghan 10J. Trott c N McCullum b Mills 8J. Root c Ronchi b McClenaghan 38E. Morgan lbw b Vettori 15J. Buttler c N McCullum b Mills 14R. Bopara c Williamson b McClenaghan 9T. Bresnan run out (Franklin) 4S. Broad c N McCullum b Mills 0J. Tredwell c McClenaghan b Mills 0J. Anderson not out 0Extras (lb2, w4, nb1) 7Total (all out, 23.3 overs) 169Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Bell), 2-25 (Trott), 3-100(Root), 4-141 (Cook), 5-143 (Morgan), 6-159(Buttler), 7-166 (Bopara), 8-169 (Bresnan), 9-169(Broad), 10-169 (Tredwell)Bowling: McClenaghan 5-0-36-3 (3w); Mills 4.3-0-30-4 (1nb); Anderson 1-0-4-0; Vettori 5-0-27-1;Franklin 2-0-20-0; N McCullum 4-0-30-1;Williamson 2-0-20-0 (1w).
New ZealandL. Ronchi c Trott b Anderson 2M. Guptill b Anderson 9K. Williamson c Anderson b Broad 67R. Taylor lbw b Bresnan 3B. McCullum c Root b Bopara 8J. Franklin c Morgan b Bopara 6C. Anderson c Anderson b Bresnan 30N. McCullum c Buttler b Anderson 13K. Mills not out 5Extras (lb8, w8) 16Total (8 wkts, 24 overs) 159Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Ronchi), 2-14 (Guptill), 3-27(Taylor), 4-48 (B McCullum), 5-62 (Franklin), 6-135 (Williamson), 7-140 (Anderson), 8-159 (NMcCullum)Did not bat: D Vettori, M McClenaghanBowling: Broad 5-0-25-1 (2w); Anderson 5-0-32-3 (3w); Bresnan 5-0-41-2 (2w); Bopara 5-0-26-2(1w); Tredwell 4-0-27-0.Result: England won by 10 runsMan-of-the-match: Alastair Cook (ENG)Note: Match reduced by rain to 24 overs perside.
CARDIFF, United Kingdom: Final scoreboard in the Champions Trophy Group A match betweenEngland and New Zealand in Cardiff yesterday:
SCOREBOARD
CARDIFF: New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (left) bats during the 2013 ICC ChampionsTrophy cricket match against England at the Cardiff Wales Stadium.—AFP
CHANTILLY: French jockey Thierry Jarnet celebrates after winning on Treve the164th Prix de Diane, a 2100-metre flat horse race open to three-year-old thor-oughbred fillies. —AFP
CARDIFF: England put a ball-tampering rowbehind them to book their place in the semi-finalsof the Champions Trophy with a 10-run win overNew Zealand in Cardiff yesterday.
New Zealand, chasing 170 for victory in a matchreduced by rain to 24 overs per side, were held bythe tournament hosts to 159 for eight. Victory sawEngland, yet to win a major 50-over tournament,into the last four as one of two qualifiers out ofGroup A after their build-up for this match wasovershadowed by ball-tampering allegations madeagainst them by former captain Bob Willis. If SriLanka beat champions Australia in Monday’s finalGroup A fixture at The Oval they will also feature ina last four that already includes Group B winnersIndia and runners-up South Africa. New Zealandcould yet reach the semi-finals themselves ifAustralia win but fail to do so by a large enoughmargin to better the Black Caps’ net run-rate.James Anderson, who finished with three wicketsfor 32 runs in five overs, reduced New Zealand to14 for two by dismissing openers Luke Ronchi andMartin Guptill in the same over. Medium-pacer RaviBopara, in overcast conditions assisting seamers,took two for 26 in five overs.
England captain Alastair Cook, the man-of-the-match, was dropped three times by NathanMcCullum on his way to top-scoring with 64 in atotal of 169 all out.
Off-spinner Nathan McCullum finally clung onto a return offering from his own bowling to dis-miss left-handed opener Cook.
This victory also meant England won their‘decider’ with New Zealand after they triumphed 2-1 in a one-day series in New Zealand earlier thisyear before the Black Caps turned the table by thesame margin in a series in England in the run-up tothe Champions Trophy..
Kane Williamson kept New Zealand hopes alivewith a 48-ball fifty completed when he struckAnderson for his seventh four before lofting TimBresnan for six.
Suddenly, New Zealand needed 36 to win off 18balls with five wickets left. But Williamson thenholed out off Stuart Broad for 67, although thepaceman had a worrying few moments before areview for a tight no-ball call went in his favor.
And 135 for six became 140 for seven whenCorey Anderson, making his one-day internationaldebut, was caught by Anderson off Bresnan.
That left New Zealand 140 for seven and need-ing 30 to win off 10 balls. Anderson wrapped upvictory by having Nathan McCullum caught behindoff the final delivery of the match.
After New Zealand won the toss, Ian Bell wasout when Brendon McCullum held a superb catchat short extra-cover off Mitchell McClenaghan.
And 16 for one became 25 for two whenJonathan Trott, chipped Mills straight to NathanMcCullum, Brendon’s older brother, at mid-wicket.
Trott’s exit gave Mills his 25th ChampionsTrophy wicket, surpassing the competition recordof retired Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah
LONDON: England strike bowler James Anderson has rejectedclaims from former captain Bob Willis that the ball was tamperedwith during a Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka at theOval last Thursday. Willis, who is now a television pundit, saidumpire Aleem Dar’s decision to change one of the two balls after25 overs of the Sri Lanka innings was made because the ball hadbeen scratched to assist the bowlers and not because it had goneout of shape.
David Lloyd, another former England player who is also now atelevision commentator, tweeted: “Ball change is simple...umpiresthought that Eng changed the condition of the ball....which isagainst the laws.” The allegations were denied by England one-day coach Ashley Giles, who told a news conference: “We don’ttamper with the ball. The ball was changed, as far as I am aware,because it had gone out of shape.” Anderson told the Mail yester-day that Willis’ comments were an unwelcome distraction. “Thefact is people can think what they like. We know the truth, I canstate categorically that no one in the England team has ever tam-pered with a ball and we won’t allow comments made by some-one like Bob Willis to worry us,” he said.
“I hadn’t bowled for a while so I didn’t see the shape of the ballbut the umpires put it through their rings to test it and decided itneeded changing.” Anderson said the England bowlers’ ability toreverse swing the ball did not mean it was being tampered with.“Just because one bowler or one team reverse a ball better thananother on a given day doesn’t mean to say he or they have beentampering. It just means they’re more skilful,” he said. “I can assureyou that if any of the England bowlers achieve it then it is withinthe letter of the laws.” —Reuters
PARIS: Veteran French jockey ThierryJarnet won his first French Oaks in styleyesterday easing to victory on theunbeaten Treve at Chantilly racecourse.
The 46-year-old - who had won twoPrix de l’Arc de Triomphes but nevermanaged to win the fillies classic - con-jured up a great burst of speed midwaydown the finishing straight to comehome four lengths clear at 9/1 and givetrainer Criquette Head-Maarek her thirdwin in the race but first since 2000 withEgyptband.
However, this was especially personalfor her as they were the same all red silks- those of her father Alec - carried to vic-tory by her first Oaks winner Harbor wayback in 1982.
Both Head-Maarek and Jarnet were intears after Treve crossed the line in frontof an impressive crowd that includedAustralian actor Simon Baker, star of suchfilms as LA Confidential and popular USnetwork TV series The Mentalist.
Head-Maarek, whose family is steepedin French racing history with her brotherFreddie having been a top jockey (herode Harbor to victory in 1982) and nowan equally successful trainer while Alecwas a champion trainer, said that thepeople’s warm reaction had provokedthe outpouring of emotion.
“Well I think it is because of my experi-ence and my advancing age that theycame up to congratulate me,” said the 64-year-old, who was tasting her first GroupOne success in almost three years sincelanding The Prix Moulin in September2010.
“Also to win this race in the colors thatI won my first in and with the family linkit is all a bit much. “However, Treve Ialways regarded as my best horse, evenlast year at two, and she confirmed thatimpression to me when we started thisseason.
“She has extraordinary acceleration
and she displayed that to great effecttoday. This is a wonderful win for thewhole team.”
However, Head-Maarek, married to aracing journalist, admitted she had notplanned everything with such scientificexcellence.
“My one mistake is that I didn’t enterher for the Arc de Triomphe. Will I supple-ment her? No there are plenty of otherraces out there,” said Head-Maarek, whois perhaps the best trainer of fillies inEurope having saddled seven winners ofthe French 1000 Guineas and also wonthe English 1000 Guineas four times.Jarnet, who has had over 18,000 ridessince he started riding competitivelywith his first winner coming in 1985, saidthat horses like Treve were the reason forhim continuing in the sport.
“I had never won this before, I wasedged out by a nose on Baya in 1993 so Iknew the pain of what it was like to justmiss out,” he said.
“It is great now to be able to jot thisone off my must do list, although, I haveto say it was starting to become a case ofnow or never as I am getting rather old!
“However, a horse like Treve renewsone’s enthusiasm for the sport becausehorses of her quality are the reason whywe exist and survive in the sport.”
The 16/1 outsider Chicquita, whounusually for a flat horse had fallen lasttime out, finished strongly to take sec-ond under last year’s French Derby win-ning rider Anthony Hamelin while OlivierPeslier, like Jarnet without a win in therace prior to yesterday, had to make dowith third on the 4/1 chance Silasol inwhat was his 19th attempt. FavoriteFlotilla had every chance entering thefinal two furlongs but her hopes ofadding the Oaks to her impressive win inthe shorter 1000 Guineas were soondashed as she faded quickly to finish welldown the 11 runner field.—AFP
MONTMELO: Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzotrimmed the gap to championship leaderDani Pedrosa at the top of the MotoGPstandings to seven points when hestormed to victory at a swelteringCatalunya grand prix yesterday.
The Spanish world champion beat com-patriot and Honda pilot Pedrosa to the firstcorner and pulled away in the latter stagesto win by just under two seconds, his sec-ond consecutive win at the Montmelo cir-cuit near Barcelona.
Rookie Marc Marquez completed an all-Spanish podium when he finished justbehind Pedrosa in third after pushing histeam mate hard on the final laps.
A host of riders including Britain’s CalCrutchlow, Spaniard Alvaro Bautista andAmerican Nicky Hayden crashed out leav-ing former world champion Valentino Rossiof Italy to coast home in fourth.
“Right from the first corner we were hav-ing huge problems with the front tyre but Iimagine all the riders were as the tempera-ture was horrible,” Lorenzo said in an inter-view with Spanish television broadcasterTelecinco.
“It was extremely hot and the tyres losta lot of performance but as I said the startwas crucial and I got a better start than Iexpected and was able to get past Dani atthe first corner,” he added.
“It was a bit like cat and mouse but
towards the end I was able to push a bitharder and I was able to win such a toughand physically challenging race.”
It was a faultless performance fromLorenzo, who also beat local hero Pedrosainto second in Catalunya last year, and the26-year-old Majorcan has 116 points aftersix of 18 races.
Pedrosa leads on 123 points withMarquez third on 93 and Crutchlow fourthon 71. “At the beginning it was reasonablycomfortable with a decent rhythm but thenthe tyres started to deteriorate and thethree of us slowed down,” Pedrosa toldTelecinco.
“I was never able to get to the straightright behind Jorge to attempt a pass,”added the 27-year-old. “It was an easy dayto fall and I wanted to push him (Lorenzo)but I knew that I couldn’t make any mis-takes.” In the Moto2 category, Spaniard PolEspargaro secured his second win of theyear ahead of compatriot Esteve Rabat insecond, Swiss Thomas Luethi in third andchampionship leader Scott Redding ofBritain in fourth. Luis Salom moved to thetop of the Moto3 standings with his thirdvictory of the year with Alex Rins andMaverick Vinales in second and thirdrespectively as Spaniards filled the top fiveplaces. The riders now head to Assen,Netherlands for the next races at the end ofthis month.—Reuters
Jarnet lands French Oaks
SPAIN: Yamaha Factory Racing Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo celebrates on thepodium after winning the MotoGP race of the Catalunya Grand Prix. —AFP
Lorenzo storms to victory
England’s bowler Anderson denies ball-tampering claims
Kiwis fall 10-runs short asEngland book semis spot
Muralitharan. James Franklin almost struck first ballwhen Cook pulled him to mid-wicket only forNathan McCullum to drop the chance.
Left-hander Cook drove Franklin for six andflicked him over his shoulder for a four. But Franklin
almost had him again only for Nathan McCullum todrop a juggled chance at mid-wicket.
Nathan McCullum then put down a relativelyeasy catch when, at backward point, he droppedCook’s cut off Williamson.—AFP
19S P O R T SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
RIO DE JANEIRO: Italy’s Mario Balotelli scores his team’s second goal during the soccer Confederations Cup Group A match between Mexico and Italy at Maracana stadium. — AP
RIO DE JANEIRO: Mario Balotelli showed off hisstrength and rapidly developing talent by scoring thewinner in Italy’s 2-1 victory over Mexico yesterday atthe Confederations Cup.
In the 78th minute, Balotelli collected a perfectlyplaced acrobatic pass from Emanuele Giaccherini andmuscled in between two defenders to break a dead-lock in the first official match at the renovatedMaracana Stadium.
Celebrating his 100th appearance with the nationalteam, Andrea Pirlo had given Italy the lead with one ofhis trademark free kicks in the 27th. Mexico equalizedin the 34th, when Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez con-verted a penalty kick after Andrea Barzagli trippedGiovani Dos Santos.
In an entertaining Group A match, Italy dominatedpossession while Mexico relied on counterattacks,coming close when Andres Guardado hit the crossbar
in the 11th.Italy moved level with Brazil on three points in the
group after the hosts beat Japan 3-0 in the tournamentopener Saturday.
The Azzurri had not impressed in their last twomatches, drawing with both the Czech Republic in aWorld Cup qualifier and with Haiti upon arriving inBrazil earlier this week, but Pirlo and Balotelli made thedifference this time.
For his 13th goal with Italy, Pirlo curled a spinningshot over Mexico’s wall into the top left corner afterBalotelli earned the foul that set up the dead-ball shotfrom 30 meters (yards) out.
Mexico’s equalizer came after Barzagli let DosSantos get by him to set up Hernandez’s 33rd goal in51 appearances for Mexico. The 25-year-oldHernandez, who plays for Manchester United, is oncourse to better the Mexico record of 42 goals held by
former great Jared Borgetti.As usual, the temperamental Balotelli by turn mis-
behaved and by turn proved unstoppable. At onepoint midway through the second half, Balotelli kickedhis boot across the area after being thwarted byMexico’s stubborn defense.
But the AC Milan striker finally broke through as thematch appeared headed for a draw, holding off Mexicocaptain Francisco Rodriguez then powering pastanother defender, Hiram Mier, to slot the ball in as heskidded across the grass. Much like at last year’sEuropean Championship, when he scored both goalsin a 2-1 semifinal win over Germany and pulled off hisshirt after one of them, Balotelli reacted by stripping offhis jersey to show off his muscular physique, earning ayellow card.
Perhaps worried that he might pick up a second yel-low card, as in the match against the Czech Republic,
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli replaced Balotelli in the85th with Alberto Gilardino. Balotelli walked off to awarm reception from the sold-out crowd.
For Mexico, which entered amid a stuttering WorldCup qualifying campaign, the loss will extend pressureon coach Jose Manuel De la Torre. However, theMexican side showed promise and came close to tak-ing the lead in the second half.
Mexico has won only one of six qualifiers with threegoals scored, and failed to find the target at all in its lasttwo drawn matches against Panama and Costa Rica.
Despite their squad’s recent troubles, Mexican fans,many of them wearing their customary sombreros,hugely outnumbered blue-clad Italian supporters on acomfortable afternoon.
In the next round of Group A matches Wednesday,Italy next faces Japan in Recife and Mexico play Brazil inFortaleza. — AP
Balotelli fires Italy past Mexico
Preview
BELO HORIZONTE: Nigeria’s status as resounding favoritesto beat minnows Tahiti in their Confederations Cup openertoday has been compromised by a delayed arrival thatleaves them just 36 hours to prepare for the game.
Tahiti became the first team to arrive in Brazil for theintercontinental showpiece when they touched down onJune 7, a full 10 days before the Group B clash with Africanchampions Nigeria in Belo Horizonte. In stark contrast,Nigeria are not due to arrive until 0400 local time (0700GMT) yesterday, giving Stephen Keshi’s squad precious littletime to shake the jet lag from their systems and get readyfor the match.
A row over bonus payments had put Nigeria’s participa-tion in jeopardy, only for sports minister Mallam Bolaji
Abdullahi to broker a truce between the squad and theNigeria Football Federation (NFF). The Super Eagles havenonetheless gone 17 games unbeaten and will expect toopen their campaign with victory against a side ranked138th in the FIFA ranking.
Representing the French Polynesian islands in the southPacific, which have a population of just 270,000, Tahiti haveno previous senior tournament experience.
Their preparations have included a 7-0 thrashing byChile’s under-20 side and a 1-0 loss to Brazilian second-tierclub Mineiro, and forward Steevy Chong Hue knows his sidecould be set for a rude awakening. “For an amateur player, itis a dream to face the best players in the world,” he said.
“However, for it not to become a nightmare, we have tokeep working really hard so we are ready for the first game.”Despite the vast disparity between the sides, Nigeriadefender Efe Ambrose says the risk of international humilia-tion will keep his team-mates on their toes.
“We cannot afford to take any chances,” the versatileCeltic player told the FIFA website. “Big shocks have hap-pened before in these kind of tournaments and we don’twant to be the victims this time.”
Tahiti, who qualified by winning the Oceania NationsCup, will hope to draw inspiration from the venue ofMonday’s game, which was the scene of the United States’shock 1-0 victory over England at the 1950 World Cup.
Home to Brazilian sides Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro,the 62,547-capacity Estadio Mineirao has undergone anextensive overhaul in preparation for the ConfederationsCup and next year’s World Cup. Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta willhand a debut to former Monaco forward Marama Vahirua,the squad’s only professional player, whose commitmentsin Europe have prevented him from playing at internationallevel before. Nigeria will be without Lazio midfielder OgenyiOnazi, who has followed Spartak Moscow striker EmmanuelEmenike and Chelsea winger Victor Moses in withdrawingfrom the squad due to injury. — AFP
Tahiti plot ambush
of jetlagged Nigeria
BELO HORIZONTE: Tahiti’s national football teamplayer Marama Vahirua, the only professionalplayer of the team, kicks a ball during a trainingsession. — AFP
BELO HORIZONTE: As Neymar drove ablistering shot into the top-right cornerof the Japanese goal in Brazil ’sConfederations Cup opener onSaturday, he strengthened his claim toone of the most coveted garments inworld sport.
There are many iconic shirt numbersin football-the Argentina number 10,the number seven shirt at ManchesterUnited, Celtic and Liverpool-but noneare as evocative as Brazil’s numero dez.
In many countries, such as Argentina,Italy and the Balkan states, the number10 is associated with languid playmak-ers, but in Brazil it often graces the torsoof the team’s most dynamic player.
When someone dons the shirt, theyare thereby grasping a thread that runsall the way back to the great Pele. Pelefirst wore the jersey as a 17-year-old atthe 1958 World Cup in Sweden and itdid not leave his back until he calledtime on his international career, 13years and three World Cup winners’medals later, in 1971.
As well as his 77 international goals,Pele’s outrageous inventiveness meant
that the shirt came to represent Brazil’sinnate gift for creativity.
At the 1970 World Cup, Brazil ’scrowning glory, he tried to lob theCzech goalkeeper from halfway and lat-er flummoxed Uruguay goalkeeperLadislao Mazurkiewicz with an auda-cious dummy in the semi-finals. Neitheraction resulted in a goal, but with hisimagination and his ideas, Pele gavethrilling hints that there were new andunorthodox ways to play the game.
Any number of Brazil’s players couldhave sported the number 10 at the 1982World Cup in Spain, but the honor fell toZico, who spearheaded one of the mostpopular teams never to have won thetournament.
Pele aside, the only other men to liftthe World Cup in the Brazil number 10shirt are Rai and Rivaldo, both of whompossessed the requisite attributes of ele-gance, vision and match-changing class.
With its green numbering against ayellow background, the shirt is recognis-able all around the world, but in thewrong circumstances, it can weigh like alead weight.
Ronaldinho and Kaka, Ballon d’Orwinners both, failed to inspire Brazil atthe World Cups of 2006 and 2010, andrecent wearers, including Neymar’s for-mer Santos team-mate Ganso, havefared little better. “The number 10 nor-mally denotes two things,” says Brazilianfootball specialist and writer Jack Lang.“Firstly, and most obviously, an elementof fantasy: the 10 is the player who canwin a match-or rescue it-with a feint,flick or free-kick.
“But the craque (star player) has aburden to bear: he’s not like the otherplayers, so isn’t judged by the same cri-teria.
“There is a responsibility involvedbecause the team’s prospects are soentwined with his performance.” It wastherefore with great care that Neymarwas eased into the number 10 shirt.
For Santos, and at previous tourna-ments with Brazil, he has worn the num-ber 11 shirt, synonymous with the skit-tish outside-lefts of yesteryear. A num-ber 11 can be a great talent, but he israrely the player around which the teamis constructed. — AFP
Today’s match on TV
FIFA Confederations Cup
French Polynesia v Nigeria.....................22:00Al-Jazeera Sport 1 HDAl-Jazeera Sport +9Al-Jazeera Sport 2 HD
Neymar renews Brazil’s
number 10 love affair
Neymar
BusinessMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Jittery markets await clarity from the Fed
Page 22
Islamic finance in Tunisia could reach 25-40% share
Page 23Why World Cup can’t save Brazil’s tourism industry
Page 26Spaniards march against austerity
Page 25
KSE rises on court rulingTraders attribute Kuwait gains to state-linked funds
DUBAI: Kuwait’s bourse rose yesterday on whattraders said was buying by government-linkedfunds ahead of a politically sensitive court ruling.After the close, the court dissolved parliamentand called for new elections, bringing freshuncertainty to the Gulf state. Most other regionalmarkets fell in heavy selling, dragged down byescalating geopolitical tensions surroundingSyria and the shaky global environment foremerging markets.
Kuwait’s measure climbed 0.3 percent, haltinga two-session losing streak. The market is still up34.1 percent year-to-date, in a rally driven mainlyby retail investors, who have been encouraged bya government push on economic developmentand expected improvement in corporate earn-ings.
The Constitutional Court threw out oppositionchallenges to changes to the electoral systemwhich had been decreed by HH the Amir. It is notyet clear whether this will prompt a strongercampaign of opposition street protests, orwhether the next parliament will be more or lesswilling to work with the Cabinet to implementstalled economic projects.
“There are many people praising this resolu-tion - but my only reservation is that we don’tneed any more obstruction in the movement oflong-overdue economic development,” saidFouad Darwish, head of brokerage at GlobalInvestment House. Darwish said the market out-look would depend on whether the previous par-liament was reinstated or new elections tookplace.
But political uncertainty may trigger govern-ment buying through the National PortfolioFund, established to support the market, headded. “I’m sure the government had its hand inthe market to lift prices.”
RegionElsewhere, most regional markets retreated.
Dubai’s benchmark lost 2.3 percent, cutting its
2013 gains to 44.6 percent. Abu Dhabi’s measureretreated 0.9 percent. As the Syria crisis intensi-fied, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said hehad cut diplomatic ties with Damascus andbacked a no-fly zone over Syria. Saudi Arabia’sKing Abdullah cut short a holiday abroad to dealwith the issue of Syria, while the United Statessaid it would keep F-16 fighters and Patriot mis-siles in Jordan at Amman’s request.
“The biggest discount to this region by for-eigners is political risks, and although generallythis risk is misunderstood and overdone, the situ-ation in Syria is a real threat,” said Amer Khan,fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management inDubai. The instability in Syria could potentiallyaffect the Suez Canal and therefore oil supplies,he added. In Doha, the index shed 0.6 percent,its second decline from Wednesday’s 57-monthhigh.
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar surgedlast Wednesday after an announcement by indexcompiler MSCI that it would upgrade the twocountries to emerging market status. But sincethe markets had already gained sharply this year,the positive impact of the news has been short-lived. Traders said Qatar was not, however, signifi-cantly affected by news that the central bank hadtightened its curbs on how much banks couldinvest in stocks and bonds, lowering the cap to25 percent of their capital and reserves.
The rules may not have much immediateeffect in forcing banks to sell securities becausenot all banks have reached the limits, and sincethe time frame for banks to comply is not yetclear. Egypt’s main benchmark fell 1.0 percent,extending 2013 losses to 15.7 percent. Tradingvolumes fell to 30 million shares, a three-weeklow, as investors maintained a risk-averse attitudetowards a market with huge economic and politi-cal risks. Saudi Arabia’s bourse climbed 0.5 per-cent, reversing some of its losses from the previ-ous session, when it plunged 4.3 percent inresponse to the Syria crisis. — Reuters
DUBAI: Dubai World, the state-linked groupwhose $25 billion of debt brought the emirateto the brink of financial collapse in 2009, hassold one of its UK assets as part of its efforts torepay creditors. A unit of Toronto-basedinvestment company Brookfield AssetManagement has bought logistics warehousedeveloper Gazeley from Dubai World sub-sidiary Economic Zones World (EZW ), theCanadian firm said in a statement. It did notdisclose the value of the transaction. The saleis the first major divestments of a foreignasset by Dubai World since it agreed on a debtdeal with creditors in 2011. The restructuringagreement promised full repayment to credi-tors through a series of disposals of overseasassets bought at peak prices in 2006-07.
Gazeley is one of four businesses held byEZW, which operates technology, logistics andindustrial parks as well as the Jebel Ali FreeZone (JAFZA), a business district, under theDubai World Group umbrella. Its portfolioincludes 524,000 square metre of assets andland bank of 1.3 million square metres.Proceeds from the sale of Gazeley are expect-ed to go towards the repayment of a $1.2 bil-lion loan secured by associate firm JAFZA inJune last year.
EZW had pledged up to $300 million forJAFZA from the proceeds raised by theGazeley sale, and should the sale be complet-ed, funds will be used to part-repay the bankfacility, a company prospectus stated. Thelogistics warehouses firm was set aside forsale in 2012 as part of Dubai World’s restruc-turing deal. Gazeley had hired Citigroup Incfor the sale in 2011, banking sources toldReuters at the time.
“This particular asset was earmarked for
sale and it’s a positive indication that theyhave disposed it,” said a senior Dubai-basedbanking source whose firm has exposure toDubai debt. “The big elephant in the room isstill Dubai World and we would like to seemore such deals coming out of them in thenear future. There is a willingness to do itmore than before and (the) general improve-ment in market conditions should help goingforward.”
Dubai World bought Gazeley from Wal-Mart Stores in 2008 for an estimated 300 to400 million pounds ($459-$611 million). A fallin asset prices since then means the sale toBrookfield may have occurred at a lower price.Brookfield Asset spun off subsidiaryBrookfield Property Partners in April, whichholds substantially all of the commercial prop-erty assets previously held directly byBrookfield Asset.
Brookfield Property said the acquisitionwas made along with its institutional partnersthrough a fund managed by an affiliate ofBrookfield Asset. It will own 30 percent ofGazeley post the acquisition. Brookfield wasthe first large international fund to targetDubai’s real estate, when it announced plansto launch a $1 billion fund with state-con-trolled Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD)in 2011. The firm, along with ICD planned tobuy up distressed assets in the emirate.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s central bank has tight-ened its curbs on how much banks can investin stocks and bonds, according to a circularreleased by the central bank and seen byReuters. Banks’ total investment in equitiesand debt instruments must be limited to 25percent of their capital and reserves, thoughdebt instruments issued by the government
and national banks are exempt from the lim-its. Previously, under instructions to banksissued in November 2011, the limits were 30percent each for equities and debt instru-ments.
Among other restrictions, the central bankset new limits for investment in individualcompanies and unlisted securities, and intro-duced a 15 percent ceiling for total securitiesinvestment outside Qatar. Real estate invest-ment by Islamic banks will be limited to 10percent of capital and reserves; previously, thelimit was 30 percent. The central bank did notgive the reasons for its new rules, but Qatar isgearing up to spend tens of billions of dollarson major infrastructure projects, and it is seek-ing to develop its government debt marketpartly to help finance this. The circular did notsay over what time frame the new rules wouldbe implemented, and central bank officialscould not be contacted to elaborate. The rulesmay push banks to free up more money tolend to infrastructure projects or invest ingovernment debt, but may not have muchimmediate effect in forcing them to sell secu-rities because not all banks have reached thelimits.
A report by Jaap Meijer, regional head offinancial research at Arqaam Capital, estimat-ed Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) would be mostaffected by the new rules, since it currentlyhad 32 percent of its capital in equity anddebt securities, 7 percentage points above theceiling, while 19 percent of its capital was inunlisted securities, 9 points above the limit.Qatar National Bank, Commercial Bank ofQatar , Al Khalij Commercial Bank and QIBexceed the limits for international invest-ments, he said. — Reuters
Dubai World makes major asset sale
DUBROVNIK: Croatia’s azure Adriatic coastline dottedwith over a thousand verdant islands has already wonthe nation a spot on the world tourist map and hopesare high that July’s EU entry will boost the sector andprovide a much needed shot in the arm to the strug-gling economy. “EU entry will certainly improve Croatia’simage as a tourist destination and might even bring aninvestment surge,” said Goran Hrnic, chief executive ofthe Gulliver Travel agency, a member of TUI Travel,Europe’s largest tour operator.
In 2012, Croatia hosted a record 11.8 million tourists-mostly Germans, Slovenians, Italians and Austrians-near-ly triple its population of 4.2 million. Tourism provideskey support for Croatia’s economy, which has struggledin recession nearly continuously since 2009. Last year,tourism accounted for some 15 percent of the country’sgross domestic product (GDP) with income totallingsome 6.8 billion euros ($8.8 billion).
After a peak in the 1980s, Croatia’s tourism was hard-hit by its 1991-1995 independence war. The conflict eventouched the so-called Pearl of the Adriatic, when Serbforces laid seige and shelled the medieval port ofDubrovnik in 1991, killing and wounding dozens andcausing severe damage. But since the end of the war, theindustry has gradually recovered to surpass its pre-warlevels. The country’s main draw is its 1,777-kilometre(1,101-mile) long coast with some 1,100 islands andislets, of which only 66 are inhabited.
An alluring Mediterranean climate, budget airlineconnections, and affordable prices have proved a win-ning formula for tourists seeking sun and sand andyoung clubbers out for a good time. But its luxuriousnight spots also draw international celebrities and itsand lavish marinas serve the yachting set out to findRobinson Crusoe-style secluded bays.
“We definitely expect stronger demand for Croatia”after July 1 when the nation will wind up a decade-longprocess and join the European Union, Zeljko Miletic,
head of the Dubrovnik hoteliers’ association, told AFP.Hanke Reitz from Germany decided to visit Dubrovnikbefore the crowds move in at the peak of the season inJuly that coincides with the EU entry. “Many in Europewill now notice Croatia and realise they do not have togo to Greece or Spain to have beautiful holidays,” saidReitz.
In Dubrovnik, the UNESCO world heritage-listedmedieval town described by George Bernard Shaw as“paradise on Earth”, tourists often outnumber citizens.Last year, almost 800,000 tourists visited its famous two-kilometre-long (1.2 mile-long) city walls, built over the12th to the 17th century, and strolled along the polishedstone blocks of the main promenade Stradun.
Apart from tourists, who arrive mainly by plane andstay an average five days, every year Dubrovnik hosts
around one million cruise-ship visitors. Even the ownersof a cafe that has made itself an international reputationby doing things the traditional way sees some value inthe change coming next month.
“For the past 50 years nothing has changed, neitherquality nor service, that is why people like us,” said DinkaPopovic, the Skola owner. The small cafe got its name-School-from students cutting classes and spending timethere filling up on its typical Dalmatian cuisine, usesorganic products from the same suppliers it has usedfrom decades.
Popovic says it “will be better in EU” as she servedhome-made prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, sardinesalad, and strudel to clients at her seven tables. “Therewill be no borders, so people might decide on visitingeven more,” added her husband Miljenko. —AFP
KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait recentlyupdated its ‘eAhli Online Banking’ servicefound on its website www.eahli.com toprovide a more user friendly, seamlessexperience to the customer.
Othman Tawfiqi, Head of AlternativeDelivery Channels stated ‘eAhli OnlineBanking’ service is one of the most com-prehensive and up-to-date sites thanks tothe modern technology tools that wereincorporated. Now you can pay your creditcards outstanding balance directly via‘eAhli Online Banking’ where the paymentgets deposited into your card accountright away.’
Tawfiqi highlighted, “Now customerscan set instructions to place an amount inanother account for a specified period, fortimely and automatic transfer of pay-ments. In the new service you will find an
exclusive tab for SMS service where youcan register to track your account everystep, and other requests such as create anaccount, issue a credit card or a chequebook, or raise credit cards limit at any-time.”
With ‘eAhli Online Banking’ ABK cus-tomers can transfer funds online whetherlocal or international, in addition to receiv-ing a detailed bank statement for the lastsix months. He added, “ In the newlyrevamped ‘eAhli Online Banking’ service,different packages have been createddepending on the account type, in addi-tion to the exclusive package made forPrestige account customers, and a specialpackage made to suit the younger agegroup via Fahoodi account. Last, but notthe least, customers can now even paytheir Zain bills using this service”.
ABK updates ‘eAhli Online Banking’ service
B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
EXCHANGE RATES
Commercial Bank of Kuwait
US Dollar/KD .2770000 .2880000GB Pound/KD .4310000 .4470000Euro .3680000 .3760000Swiss francs .3020000 .3170000Canadian Dollar .2780000 .2920000Australian DLR .2940000 .3020000Indian rupees .0040000 .0069000Sri Lanka Rupee .0020000 .0035000UAE dirhams .0771240 .0778990Bahraini dinars .7513970 .7589480Jordanian dinar .3930000 .4110000Saudi riyals .0720000 .0770000Omani riyals .7366120 .7440150Egyptian pounds .0370000 .0440000
CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATESUS Dollar/KD .2841000 .2862000GB Pound/KD .4338920 .4370990Euro .3707360 .3734770Swiss francs .3043390 .3065880Canadian dollars .2795430 .2816100Danish Kroner .0497330 .0501010Swedish Kroner .0443660 .0446940Australian dlr .2963730 .2985640Hong Kong dlr .0365940 .0368650Singapore dlr .2291130 .2308060Japanese yen .0029600 .0028810Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0052870Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0022880Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0029190Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0036810UAE dirhams .0773800 .0779520Bahraini dinars .7538810 .7594530Jordanian dinar .0000000 .4048090Saudi Riyal/KD .0757800 .0763400Omani riyals .7382100 .7436660Philippine Peso .0000000 .0069870
Bahrain Exchange Company
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd
Al Mulla Exchange
ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.901Indian Rupees 4.870Pakistani Rupees 2.886Srilankan Rupees 2.231Nepali Rupees 3.049Singapore Dollar 226.790Hongkong Dollar 36.693Bangladesh Taka 3.652Philippine Peso 6.590Thai Baht 9.227
Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 283.400Euro 381.000Pound Sterling 447.350Canadian Dollar 281.200Japanese Yen 3.050Indian Rupee 4.925Egyptian Pound 39.930Sri Lankan Rupee 2.203Bangladesh Taka 3.642Philippines Peso 6.615Pakistan Rupee 2.878Bahraini Dinar 754.650UAE Dirham 77.200Saudi Riyal 75.700*Rates are subject to change
COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFTEurope
British Pound 0.4385459 0.4475459Czech Korune 0.0067169 0.0187169Danish Krone 0.0467706 0.0517706Euro 0.3737158 0.3812154Norwegian Krone 0.0457018 0.0509018Scottish Pound 0.4341150 0.4416150Swedish Krona 0.0400591 0.0450591Swiss Franc 0.3034377 0.3104377
AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.2621097 0.2741097New Zealand Dollar 0.2207648 0.2307648Uganda Shilling 0.0001113 0.0001113
AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.2723886 0.2813886Colombian Peso 0.0001443 0.0001623US Dollars 0.2816500 0.2838000
AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.0035991 0.0036541Cape Vrde Escudo 0.0031476 0.0033776Chinese Yuan 0.0452909 0.0502909Eritrea-Nakfa 0.0163867 0.0194867
Guinea Franc 0.0000440 0.0000500Hg Kong Dollar 0.0340195 0.0371195Indian Rupee 0.0048687 0.0049337Indonesian Rupiah 0.0000238 0.0000289Jamaican Dollars 0.0028329 0.0038329Japanese Yen 0.0029338 0.0031138Kenyan Shilling 0.0032678 0.0034978Malaysian Ringgit 0.0863871 0.0933871Nepalese Rupee 0.0029300 0.0031300Pakistan Rupee 0.0028520 0.0028920Philippine Peso 0.0061723 0.0066423Sierra Leone 0.0000725 0.0000755Singapore Dollar 0.2230032 0.2290032Sri Lankan Rupee 0.0021664 0.0022084Thai Baht 0.0089038 0.0095038
ArabBahraini Dinar 0.7463592 0.7548592Egyptian Pound 0.0379239 0.0399539Ethiopeanbirr 0.0127229 0.0192229Ghanaian Cedi 0.1442921 0.1460821Iranian Riyal 0.0000789 0.0000794Iraqi Dinar 0.0001724 0.0002324Jordanian Dinar 0.3947072 0.4022072Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 1.0000000Lebanese Pound 0.0001740 0.0001940Moroccan Dirhams 0.0223261 0.0463261Nigerian Naira 0.0012034 0.0018384Omani Riyal 0.7261310 0.7371310Qatar Riyal 0.0772976 0.0780806Saudi Riyal 0.0751467 0.0757867Sudanese Pounds 0.0461426 0.0466926Syrian Pound 0.0027430 0.0029630Tunisian Dinar 0.1740625 0.1800625UAE Dirhams 0.0758409 0.0772909Yemeni Riyal 0.0012801 0.0013801
UAE Exchange Centre WLL
COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 276.14 284.000Canadian Dollar 283.39 282.000Swiss Franc 312.97 312.000Euro 382.43 380.000US Dollar 283.40 284.500Sterling Pound 449.28 448.500Japanese Yen 3.08 3.300Bangladesh Taka 3.655 3.670Indian Rupee 4.931 5.050Sri Lankan Rupee 2.209 2.550Nepali Rupee 3.083 3.250Pakistani Rupee 2.877 2.900UAE Dirhams 77.23 78.800Bahraini Dinar 754.29 753.000Egyptian Pound 39.91 38.80Jordanian Dinar 403.34 410.000
Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 283.750Canadian Dollar 280.895Sterling Pound 445.920Euro 380.130Swiss Frank 300.705Bahrain Dinar 751.230UAE Dirhams 77.230Qatari Riyals 77.885Saudi Riyals 75.630Jordanian Dinar 399.990Egyptian Pound 39.942Sri Lankan Rupees 2.223Indian Rupees 4.857Pakistani Rupees 2.877Bangladesh Taka 3.643Philippines Pesso 6.561Cyprus pound 696.050Japanese Yen 4.000Thai Bhat 9.785Syrian Pound 4.055Nepalese Rupees 3.325Malaysian Ringgit 95.150
Malaysian ringgit 94.271Irani Riyal 0.271Irani Riyal 0.273
GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 75.990Qatari Riyal 78.290Omani Riyal 740.160Bahraini Dinar 756.880UAE Dirham 77.605
ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 39.950Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.068Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.329Tunisian Dinar 175.830Jordanian Dinar 402.420Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.912Syrian Lier 3.096Morocco Dirham 34.444
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 284.850Euro 379.140Sterling Pound 445.220Canadian dollar 280.640Turkish lira 149.830Swiss Franc 306.620Australian Dollar 269.330US Dollar Buying 283.650
GOLD20 Gram 265.00010 Gram 134.0005 Gram 70.000
Omani Riyal 737.02 748.000Qatari Riyal 78.26 79.500Saudi Riyal 75.70 76.000
Jittery markets await clarity from the FedWill Fed really reel in quantitative easing program?
WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve’s policyboard meets tomorrow to review the economyand its stimulus program, and markets are look-ing for one thing: clarity. After weeks of tumul-tuous stock market volatility and a sharp fall inbond prices, bankers, investors and anyone elsewith a vested interest are waiting to hear: is theFed really about to reel in its quantitative easingprogram?
If so, could that be within months? Or willthe US central bank wait for stronger economicgrowth to take that step? The markets eagerlyawait any meeting of the Federal Open MarketCommittee, which sets the benchmark US dollarinterest rate and, at the moment, continues tohold long-term rates down with its $85 billion-a-month QE bond buying program. But muchmore rides on this FOMC meeting tomorrowand Wednesday, because over the past monthbillions of dollars have been bet on an aggres-sive interpretation of comments by Fed chiefBen Bernanke that the Fed is about to turn thecorner on five years of stimulus.
The belief that it will start tapering its bondpurchases within months has sent bond pricesplummeting and interest rates shooting up, andthat, in turn, has pulled stocks lower, after theyreached new records fueled by the Fed’s easymoney policy. Yet US economic growth slowedslightly in the spring and remains at risk to slow-er growth around the world, and with the gov-ernment slashing spending, Fed stimulus is stillneeded, economists say.
The Fed’s guideposts, unemployment andinflation, remain far off their target for a “nor-malized” fiscal policy. The unemployment rate ishovering at 7.6 percent-the target is 6.5 per-cent-and inflation is well below the 2.0 percentlevel the FOMC sees would be healthy. Mostanalysts say that means that the FOMC is likelyto stay the course in this meeting. But howBernanke hones his hints on future policy in apost-meeting press conference Wednesday willbe key.
“We do not expect Mr Bernanke to yet showconfidence that the time to taper QE is near,”said Carl Riccadonna at Deutsche Bank. “But themost important aspect of his media Q&A will bewhether he signals that a second-half taperremains plausible.” The bond market has decid-ed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond shotup from 1.63 percent at the beginning of May to2.23 percent in the past week, and the 30-yearjumped from 2.82 percent to 3.38 percent.
Partly behind that were the seeming at-oddscomments by Bernanke to Congress on theissue on May 22. He first warned that tighteningmonetary policy now could stall the US recov-ery. But moments later he said the Fed coulddecide to start reining in stimulus in its “nextfew meetings,” taken as meaning as withinmonths. Since then stock markets have swungwildly from day to day as investors hang onevery economic data point to confirm or weak-en the interpretation that cutting QE is nigh.
Yet Bernanke has been at pains to stress that
the tapering QE purchases would begin only ifthe economic data supports a picture of a con-sistently improving economy. And the Fed hasnot yet concluded that, with US industry andemployment still growing slowly.
Still, there are reasons for nervousness. Manyinvestors fear a repeat of February 1994.Likewise a time of a tepid turnaround fromrecession, and with no evidence of inflationarypressures, the Fed without warning raised itsbenchmark federal funds rate for the first timein five years, and did so repeately over the next10 months for a rate hike totalling a massive 2.5percentage points. It came as a huge shock tothe bond and stock markets, and criticismrained over the Fed. Two decades later, the con-ditions are similar. But the Fed has clearly takento heart the lessons with its expanding empha-sis on “communications”-on flagging the evolu-tion of its thinking to the public in a regular andconsistent way so there are no surprises.
“The Fed will not slow its bond buying at theupcoming meeting. But Ben Bernanke has anopportunity to clarify for markets that, even ifthe Fed tapers later this year, interest rate hikesare still far in the future,” said economist PaulEdelstein at IHS Global Insight. Analysts at WellsFargo said the low inflation rate means the Feddoes not have to move yet. “While we expectinflation to rise over the remainder of the year, itwill likely remain securely below the Fed’s twopercent target and could sway the Fed to waituntil late this year to begin tapering.” —AFP
By Hayder Tawfik
After the recent talk by the FederalReserve about early tapering withthe monthly bond purchase,
investors around the world took frightand got into a selling frenzy of all kind offinancial assets. Equities took the brunt
and was followed by bonds and in thelast few days emerging market curren-cies were sold off aggressively. This wasanother reminder of the extent to whichmarket gains have been based on ultraeasy monetary policies followed aroundthe world by most central banks ratherthan underlying economic growth.
The warning by the IMF about thefragility of the world economy was in myopinion a warning to central banks thattapering with Quantitative Easing is fartoo early. The IMF and OECD remindedus how fragile global growth was by cut-ting forecasts for major economies,while the European Central bank did thesame by caving in twice with extensionto deficit to GDP targets for euro-zonemembers to allow for an easing in aus-terity and focus on reforms. Globalunemployment rate remains perilous,inflation benign and consumer confi-dence indicators depressed. Adding toall these is the concern about the weakerChinese economy.
Economic data from the US are stillshowing falling unemployment andstronger consumers spending with ahealthy housing market. But the US is notimmune from what is happening aroundthe world. I think Ben Bernanke is think-
ing twice about early tapering and hisconcern should be the declining inflationrate and not strong economic growth.Most central banks have undershot theirinflation targets and this is quite worry-ing at a time of weak global economicgrowth and tough austerity measures.
Was the recent correction in equities,bonds and currencies are justified!
The answer is very simple. It is all todo with valuations. I have been saying forwhile those historical yields on bonds arenot sustainable regardless if centralbanks buying or not. It is purely overval-ued and investors are not paid to holdthem. Even if these bonds are rated topquality. On the contrary they are themost overvalued as investors been chas-ing save heaven bonds. Equity valuationis less overvalued relative to bonds andcash. Stocks with good financial funda-mentals and solid earnings have beenovervalued for a while and will remainovervalued but that is not a reason tohold on to them unless an investor has tobe in the stock market. I think investorsshould focus on small to mid cap stocksthat are domestically orientated andhave less risk to a global economic slowdown. As for currencies, well the compet-itive devaluation has been going on for awhile and the recent sell off in some ofemerging markets currencies is a bless indisguise for some central banks.
At present, investors will wonder overwhat periods will central banks reversethe Quantitative Easing policy and whatwill be the impact on the markets. A rap-id reversal in easy monetary policy bycentral banks at a time when govern-ment spending is still cut and when thebanks and the consumers are runningdown their debts could result in a trendreversal in the capital markets. The worryof which has caused most of the recentcorrections. I think central banks will startunwinding the ultra easy monetary poli-cy very slowly and in a measured way soas to avoid market shock and reduceunwarranted risk. My advise to investorsis to take advantage of big sell off creat-ed by a quantitative easing reversal andposition themselves for more sustainableglobal economic recovery.
—Hayder Tawfik is the Executive VicePresident of Asset Management, at DimahCapital.
IMF’s downgrade of worldeconomic growth is
a warning to central banks
Croatia hopes the ‘EU label’ will boost tourism industry
DUBROVNIK: This photo shows the medieval port of Dubrovnik on Croatia’sAdriatic coast. —AFP
B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Uncertain times in financial marketsNBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT
The dollar started the week on anegative tone, as Federal ReserveBank President Bullard said that the
US economic performance could becharacterize by slow but steady growth,improving labor markets and a surpris-ingly low inflation rate. He said that the“Labor market conditions have improvedsince last summer, suggesting theCommittee could slow the pace of pur-chases, but surprisingly low inflationreadings may mean the Committee canmaintain its aggressive program over alonger time frame”. The dollar conse-quently fell against most of major curren-cies waiting for the decision of the nextweek’s FOMC meeting. The speculationson Fed pairing the QE are the focusweighting on the financial markets forthe moment. In spite of, the supportiveeconomic data released in US, the confu-sion is growing on whether Fed willreduce the asset purchases by the end of2013 or not, a fact investors are hopingthe chairman of the Fed will address inthe coming week.
The USD Index had a negative weekas it opened at 81.83 then droppedsharply reaching a 17 week-low of 80.50.The index closed the week near the lowat 80.618. In currencies, the euro ralliedagainst the greenback throughout avolatile week, as better than expected EUIndustrial production data came out.Also helping support the euro, werecomments from the ECB presidentDraghi indicating there is no need fornegative interest rates for now .The euroopened the week at 1.3176 where itfound support and rallied to reach a 15week high of 1.3390.The euro closed forthe week at 1.3346.
The pound continued its rally againstthe dollar, supported by better unem-ployment and industrial output datafrom the UK .The pound opened theweek at 1.5523, then rallied and againstthe greenback to reach a 17-week highof 1.5734. The currency closed near itweeks high 1.5703. Yen opened the weekat 97.50 then reached a high of 99.28. Inthe middle of the week, we had a dra-matic change in sentiment after the bankof Japan refrained from additional meas-ures to calm volatility in Japanese
Government Bonds. The dollar fellagainst the yen reaching a 3 month lowof 93.78 were it found a minor supportand closed at 94.07
The Australian dollar rallied againstthe greenback on the back of better thanexpected consumer confidence and job-less data .The currency opened the weekat 0.9430 and climbed to a high of0.9664, the currency closed the week at0.9566.
Retail SalesUS retail sales improved last month,
indicating that job gains and loweringborrowing costs are encouraging con-sumers to spend more. Retail sales rose
0.6 percent after edging up 0.1 percentin April, the Commerce Department said.Eight out of the thirteen retail sales cate-gories showed gains last month, led a 1.8percent increase in auto purchases fol-lowed by a 0.9 percent gain in homebuilding materials.
Jobless claimsThe number of Americans filing new
claims for unemployment benefits felllast week, pointing to moderate jobgrowth despite slowing economic activi-ty. Initial claims declined by 12,000 to aseasonally adjusted 334,000.
Business inventories The US Commerce Department said
on last week that business inventories
increased 0.3 percent following a 0.1 per-cent drop in March. The rise was in linewith economists’ expectations.Inventories are a key component of GDPas it has added 0.5 percent a percentagepoint on the US first quarter GDP thatadvance 2.5 percent.
Standard & Poor revisesUS credit outlook
Credit rating agency Standard & Poorupgraded its credit outlook for theUnited States government to “stable”from “negative,” but declined to returnthe US debt to gold plated rating. InAugust 2011, Standard and Poor becamethe first credit rating agency to down-
grade the sovereign US credit rating fromtop-rated “AAA” to “AA”. S&P said in arelease “We believe that our current ‘AA ‘rating already factors in a lesser ability ofUS elected officials to react swiftly andeffectively to public finance pressuresover the longer term in comparison withofficials of some more highly rated sover-eigns and we expect repeated divisivedebates over raising the debt ceiling,”
University of Michiganconsumer sentiment stable
University of Michigan June prelimi-nary index of consumer sentiment fell to82.7 from a final reading of 84.5 the priormonth. The index averaged 64.2 duringthe recession that ended in June 2009and 89 in the five years prior.
ECB bond buying program challenged Last week, the European Union rescue
scheme was challenged in Germany’sconstitutional court, causing a clashbetween Germany’s top economic poli-cymakers, setting out very divergentviews on the legality of measures to han-dle the euro-zone financial crisis. At theconstitutional court, the Bundesbank’schief opposed the ECB’s buying ofbonds to ease the pressure on euro-zonecountries while Germany’s finance minis-ter and ECB board member stronglydefended the policy. The court will haveto spend several months considering itsruling. However, in a prior case, the con-stitutional court decided that the bailoutwas legal but said Germanys lower houseof parliament should be consulted fullyon future bailouts.
Europe consumer price index Consumer prices in the euro area
expanded 1.4 percent in a year to May,matching previous estimates and upfrom April’s 1.2 percent a year earlier, therate was 2.4 percent. The core readingrose 1.2 percent, up from 1.0 percent pre-vious.
UK unemployment steadyUnited Kingdoms’ jobless rate held
steady at 7.8 percent, as expected, whilebenefits claims dropped to its lowest lev-el in two years. In the latest sign that theBritish economy is shrugging off twoyears of stagnation, the number of peo-ple claiming jobless benefit dropped by8,600 last month, its seventh consecutivefall. The Bank of England policymakerPaul Fisher said the economy still needednursing back to health.
UK industrial productionbetter than expected
UK Industrial output rose in April for athird consecutive month, emphasizingthe slow nature of the country’s econom-ic recovery so far this year. Industrial out-put, which makes up around 16 percentof UK’s economy, rose 0.1 percent on themonth in April after a jump of 0.7 percentin March. On an annual basis, Industrialoutput was down 0.6 percent, less thanhalf the drop recorded for March.
AustraliaAustralia’s consumer confidenceAustralian consumer confidence
recovered in June after two months ofsharp falls, as households became lessgloomy on the outlook for both theirown finances and the economy. The con-sumer sentiment rose 4.7 percent inJune, recovering from a 7.0 percent dropin May, the low interest rate environ-ments supported the sentiment as con-sumers see this as a good time to makemajor purchases or enter the housingmarket.
Australia’s jobless rate improvesAustralian jobless rate fell 5.5 percent
according to the Australian Bureau ofStatistics. The Australian economy added1,100 jobs in May, following a 45,000 jobincrease the month earlier. The dataunderscores the resilience of theAustralian economy, which has beendriving by investment in resources tomeet Chinas demand.
ChinaThe World Bank lowered its growth
rate on China to 7.7 percent in 2013,from, a previously projected 8.4 percent,amid concerns of slower growth in thecoming months. In addition, the WorldBank cut its global growth outlook for2013, the bank forecasts the world GDPwill grow at 2.2 percent this year, slightlylower than its previous projection of at2.3 percent growth. The slower growthrate attributed to deeper-than-expectedrecession in Europe and a recent slow-down in large developing economies.
Bank of Japan The Bank of Japan refrained from
allowing longer fixed-rate loans tosmooth bond market volatility. TheJapanese central bank left the maximumlength of such loans at as much as oneyear, and maintained its pledge toincrease the monetary base by 60 to 70Trillion yen per year. This move camedespite most analyst predictions thatBOJ would approve two-year or longerloan operations
KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait(NBK), in partnership with EtihadAirways, offers Premium CreditCardholders exclusive discountson air travel. NBK Premium CreditCardholders will receive a 10 per-cent discount on Economy Classand 15 percent discount onDiamond First Class and PearlBusiness Class when they book aflight to any Etihad Airways desti-nation.
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ENNISKILLEN: Europe is mired in debt and reces-sion. Financial markets have hit violent ups anddowns on fears that US stimulus efforts may soonbe scaled back. Japan is finally looking up afteryears of stagnation - but it remains an open ques-tion if the recovery will stick. That’s the global econ-omy that will confront the heads of the Group ofEight leading economies as they gather Mondayand Tuesday for their annual summit in NorthernIreland.
British Prime Minister David Cameron will serveas summit host for US President Barack Obama andthe leaders of Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japanand Russia. At the top of the agenda: New coopera-tion to fight tax evasion and increase transparencyamong governments. Also on the table will be howmuch help to give to rebels in Syria, and a push forlower trade barriers between the United States andthe European Union.
On the sidelines and over dinner, it’s expectedthat the discussions will broaden to include theelection results in Iran and data protection, follow-
ing revelations about a US counter-terror surveil-lance program. As always, the summit takes placeunder heavy security, guarded by 8,000 policebacked by water cannon. The venue itself is sur-rounded by extensive security fences, and on threesides by water. There’s only one access road to theclosest town, Enniskillen, some 5 miles (8 kilome-ters) away.
While its peace process has been hailed world-wide as a success story, Northern Ireland remains asociety troubled by deep-seated divisions betweenCatholics and Protestants. Officials have said trou-ble away from the summit site can’t be ruled out.Additionally, thousands of anti-capitalist and laborunion protesters are expected to march from thetown to the summit fence on Monday.
Since last year’s G-8 meeting at Camp David inthe US, there has been a modest economic upswingthroughout the developed world and prospects arebrighter after five years of turbulence and recession.Yet despite progress, the economic outlook remainsfraught with uncertainties.
Chief among the question marks: When will theUS Federal Reserve begin to curtail its extraordinarystimulus, which has supported the recovery in theUS and helped send markets around the world tonew peaks? Global stock and bond markets havewhipsawed since May 23, when US Fed ChairmanBen Bernanke said that the US central bank mightslow its drive to keep long-term borrowing costslow in the coming few months. Here is a quick pic-ture of where the G-8 countries’ economies stand:
United States: If Europe is the weak link and Asiathe strongest, then the US and Canadian economiesare squarely in the middle. The two countries areexperiencing steady, if not spectacular, economicgrowth and job gains.
In the US, the once-battered housing sector hasbeen recovering for the past year. Home sales havereached three-year highs. And prices have jumpedthis spring by the most in seven years. That hasencouraged builders to start work on more homes.The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.6 percentfrom 8.2 percent a year earlier. For all the G-8 partic-ipants, the most unsettling shift is the possible endof massive monetary stimulus from the Fed - a fac-tor beyond their immediate control. The Fed’s injec-tions of money into the economy through bondpurchases - known as quantitative easing - hadhelped send markets soaring. Now it’s not clearwhich way markets will head. At previous summits,Obama has pushed European leaders to focus moreon growth, rather than austerity. But mostEuropean governments have already begun to
make that shift. So Obama is likely to focus on otherglobal concerns, such as the violence in Syria.
Japan/Asia: For once, the bad news for Asia isnot coming from Japan. The world’s third-largesteconomy grew at a 4.1 percent annual rate in thefirst three months of the year. Prime Minister ShinzoAbe has promised to explain to fellow G-8 leadershis strategies for fostering long-term growth. Overthe past few months, the yen has dropped fromabout 80 yen to the dollar in October to about 94yen now - as the Abe administration tried to bringan end to the country’s two-decade stagnation.
Japan’s central bank has been pumping moneyinto the economy in the hope of stoking inflation -the country has suffered from falling prices formuch of the past 20 years, which has halted growth.One consequence of the new inflationary approachhas been the sharp fall in the value of the yenagainst other countries’ currencies. This has madeJapanese goods cheaper to the rest of the world,which has boosted exports.
But the lower yen has provoked concern amongGerman officials. Their exporters compete head tohead with Japan’s in major markets. Abe is sched-uled to meet separately with German ChancellorAngela Merkel. Abe is likely eager to do someexplaining after financial markets see-sawed sincehe presented his initial, broad-brush reform planslast week. Worries about the effectiveness of thesemeasures, combined with the uncertainty overwhat the US Fed may do, has pushed Japan’s Nikkeiindex into bear market territory with a 20 percent-plus fall. Europe & Russia: Europe’s leaders hope anew trade deal between the EU and the UnitedStates can help spur growth. EU trade ministersagreed last Friday on their negotiating position andit’s hoped a deal that would scrap the tariffs andregulations that impede trade might be reachednext year. And Europe needs stimulus. Austeritymeasures introduced by Europe’s governments tocontrol their deficits have inflicted severe economicpain and produced social unrest across the group17 European Union countries that use the euro. Theeuro-zone’s economy shrank by 0.2 percent in thefirst quarter - the sixth such decline in a row - andunemployment is at 12.2 percent. The situation isfar worse in countries that are struggling to reduceheavy debt burdens - unemployment stands at 26.8percent in Spain, 27.0 percent in Greece. Privatecompanies haven’t managed to fill the vacuum cre-ated by the drastically reduced government spend-ing. In the United States, by contrast, the govern-ment has imposed far milder spending cuts and taxincreases.— AP
DUBAI: Tunisia’s fledgling Islamic financeindustry could take a 25 to 40 percentshare of the country’s financial sector infive years’ time if necessary rules, consumereducation and private investment plansmaterialise, a Thomson Reuters studyfound. Islamic finance was previously neg-lected by Tunisia’s rulers but in the wake ofthe 2011 revolution, the new Islamist-ledgovernment is promoting the industry.Currently, sharia-compliant businessaccounts for just 2.5 percent of the Tunisianfinancial sector, the study said. In the GulfArab states, the ratio is believed to beabout a quarter.
The study estimates that Islamic finan-cial assets in Tunisia could reach $17.8-$28.5 billion by 2018, up from $1.4 billionat present. In a poll of about 700 ordinaryTunisians conducted for the study, 54 per-cent said they would consider switching tobanking with Islamic lenders even if thatmeant lower rates of return, while 40 per-cent would be open to switching even iftheir money was not guaranteed. But 64percent of respondents said they wereunclear about how Islamic finance worked.
One boost for Islamic finance in Tunisiawould be issuance of the country’s firstsukuk, which the government is planning. “Iexpect the issuance process to take place inthe second half of 2013,” Chaker Soltani,general director of debt management andfinancial cooperation at the finance min-istry, was quoted as saying in the study.
The Jeddah-based Islamic DevelopmentBank (IDB) has given Tunisia a financialguarantee to issue a sukuk worth $600 mil-lion. Last week, the IDB extended said itwould extend $1.2 billion in funding toTunisia for industrial, agricultural and tradeprojects. Mohamed Sadraoui, deputydirector of general supervision and bank-ing regulation at the central bank, said
Islamic windows - units of conventionalbanks that offer Islamic financial services -would be permitted to operate under cen-tral bank guidelines that ensured opera-tions were segregated.
“There are four or five well-known banksin Tunisia that are trying to facilitate theway for their Islamic finance businesses,”said Mahmoud Mansour, deputy generalmanager of the Tunisian arm of Bahrain-based lender Al-Baraka Bank. He addedthat three takaful (Islamic insurance) com-panies had applied for licences.
Al-Baraka, which entered the country in1983, is awaiting approval for an onshorebanking licence so it can open morebranches and serve a broader client base,said Mansour. Zitouna Bank, the country’sonly full-fledged domestic Islamic lender,also plans expansion. “We are planning forover 100 branches across the country with-in the next five years,” Ezzedine Khoja, pres-ident and general manager of ZitounaBank, said in the study.
The bank, set up in 2009, plans toincrease its capital base to 100 milliondinars ($61.7 million) from the current 70million dinars by the end of this year, aswell as launching an investment funds unitand possibly expanding abroad, he added.Some industry practices that are controver-sial among some Islamic scholars, andcould therefore affect customer percep-tions, are generally being avoided inTunisia, the study found. One of these istawarruq or commodity murabaha, a com-mon cost-plus-profit arrangement inIslamic finance.
“We here in Tunisia do not consent totawarruq, a product that is widely spread inthe GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council),” saidKhoja. “We don’t believe in this product andreject its use for Tunisia, despite its wide-spread use in other jurisdictions.” —Reuters
G8 faces uncertain recoveries
LONDON: British Prime Minister DavidCameron (right) greets Russian PresidentVladimir Putin ahead of a meeting at 10Downing Street yesterday. — AFP
Islamic finance in Tunisia could reach 25-40% share
LISBON: Teachers attend a demonstration against the removal of staff in educationand the extension of working hours laid down in the new austerity measuresannounced by the Portuguese government to meet the country’s international credi-tors. — AFP
B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
WASHINGTON: Unpaid internships havelong been a path of opportunity for stu-dents and recent grads looking to get afoot in the door in the entertainment, pub-lishing and other prominent industries,even if it takes a generous subsidy fromMom and Dad. But those days of workingfor free could be numbered after a federaljudge in New York ruled last week that FoxSearchlight Pictures violated minimumwage and overtime laws by not payinginterns who worked on production of the2010 movie “Black Swan.”
The decision by US District JudgeWilliam H Pauley III may lead some compa-nies to rethink whether it’s worth the legalrisk to hire interns to work without pay. Formany young people struggling to find jobsin a tough economy, unpaid internshipshave become a rite of passage essential forpadding resumes and gaining practicalexperience.
“I’m sure this is causing a lot of discus-sions to be held in human resource officesand internship programs across the coun-try,” said David Yamada, professor of law atSuffolk University in Boston. There are up to1 million unpaid internships offered in theUnited States every year, said RossEisenbrey, vice president of the EconomicPolicy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank.He said the number of internships hasgrown as the economy tumbled and heblamed them for exploiting young workersand driving down wages.
“The return on a college investment hasfallen, students are facing higher and high-er debt burdens, and the reaction ofemployers is to make matters worse forthem by hiring more and more peoplewithout paying them,” Eisenbrey said. In theruling, Pauley said Fox should have paid thetwo interns who filed the lawsuit becausethey did the same work as regular employ-ees, provided value to the company andperformed low-level tasks that didn’trequire any specialized training.
The interns, Eric Glatt and AlexanderFootman, performed basic administrativework such as organizing filing cabinets,tracking purchase orders, making copies,drafting cover letters and running errands.“Undoubtedly Mr Glatt and Mr Footmanreceived some benefits from their intern-ships, such as resume listings, job refer-ences and an understanding of how a pro-duction office works,” Pauley wrote. “Butthose benefits were incidental to workingin the office like any other employees andwere not the result of internships intention-ally structured to benefit them.”
Chris Petrikin, a spokesman for 20thCentury Fox, said the company believes theruling was erroneous and plans to appeal.Fox had argued that the interns received agreater benefit than the company in theform of job references, resume listings andexperience working at a production office.Juno Turner, an attorney for the plaintiffs,said it was the first time a court had given
employee status to young people doingthe types of duties commonly associatedwith interns. The case is one of several thathave been filed in recent years demandingthat all interns deserve a salary.
“This is an incredibly important decisionas far as establishing that interns have thesame wage and hour rights as otheremployees,” Turner said. “You can’t just callsomething an internship and expect not topay people when the interns are providinga direct benefit to the company.”
In ruling for the interns, the judge fol-lowed a six-part test outlined by the LaborDepartment for determining whether aninternship can be unpaid. Under the test,the internship must be similar to an educa-tional environment, run primarily for thebenefit of the intern as opposed to theemployer, and the intern’s work should notreplace that of regular employees. Glatt, thelead plaintiff, lamented the fact that unpaidinternships have become so normal “peopledo it without blinking an eye.” “It’s justbecome a form of institutionalized wagetheft,” he said Wednesday in a conferencecall with reporters. Glatt has an MBA fromCase Western Reserve University and saidhe is currently studying law at GeorgetownUniversity Law Center. —Reuters
UDON THANI: Steel girders jut from the low sky-line of the Thai city of Udon Thani near the Laosborder as workers lay cement for a new shoppingmall, one of many illustrating a boom in the Thaieconomy beyond the bright lights of Bangkok.The malls, factories and construction sites inThailand’s northeast are emerging alongside itsfarms as a potent economic fuel in one of Asia’stop emerging markets. Growth in Thailand,Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, hasbegun to slow, but the economy of the northeastis in the grip of a boom.
The economic renaissance of “Isaan”, Thailand’s
poorest and most populous region, has coincidedwith expansionary policies - from wage increasesto farm subsidies - that are enriching an area atthe heart of a “red shirt” protest movement thatbacked Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a2011 election. As a new middle class emerges,investors and companies are taking note. CLSAemerging markets guru Chris Wood cites theregion in explaining long-term bets on Thailand.“There is a macroeconomic ramping up of thenortheast,” he said. The potential may never berealised if a crucial 2.2 trillion baht ($71 billion)infrastructure programme becomes a casualty of
the feuding between Yingluck’s ruling Puea ThaiParty and its opponents. But if the plan wentahead, as is generally expected, it would changethe entire economic structure of the northeast,said Rahul Bajoria, an economist at BarclaysCapital. “It’s the next entry point for investors andconsumers - if they link it up to China, it becomesthe entry point to Thailand, not Bangkok,” he said.
“But it’s been difficult for the bureaucracy toexecute programmes because they don’t knowwho will be in power in a year or two.” Economicgrowth in the region reached 40 percent from2007 to 2011, against 23 percent for the country
and just 17 percent for greater Bangkok.Monthly household income rose 40 percentbetween 2007 and 2011, the biggest jumpof any Thai region. Interviews with business-men and investment data suggest the trendis continuing.
The number of private investment proj-ects in the northeast rose 49 percent in 2012from the previous year, with the totalamount invested more than doubling to$2.3 billion, according to the Bank ofThailand. Much of it is concentrated in prop-erty - from high-rise condominiums to townhouses and shopping plazas. “The northeasthas a large population, a dense population,so the income is big,” said Naris Cheyklin,chief financial officer of Central Pattana Pcl,referring to the one-third of Thailand’s 68million people who live there. In April,Central Pattana opened a 2.75 billion baht($88.7 million) mall in Ubon Ratchathani,near the southern tip of Laos, their third inthe region.
Politically driven boomPolitics explains part of what is going on.
Yingluck’s government brought in a nation-wide minimum wage of 300 baht ($10) a dayin January. In some Isaan provinces, that wasan increase of 35 percent, among thebiggest gains in the country, on top of anationwide 40 percent rise in April 2012.Many workers, such as those building the168 Platinum Mall in Udon Thani, are happyto return to the northeast for wages that arenow on a par with Bangkok’s. Isaan’s “redshirts” are among the staunchest supportersof Yingluck’s brother, former prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a2006 coup but influences policy from self-imposed exile in Dubai.
While in power from 2001, his populistpolicies - from virtually free healthcare tolow-interest loans to the rural poor - madehim a hero in Isaan. The red shirts formedthe core of a movement that paralysedBangkok in April-May 2010 in protest at thegovernment of then Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva and the forces that ousted Thaksin -
the traditional Bangkok elite including topgenerals, royal advisers, business leadersand old-money families.
Those protests were put down with force,but the red shirts got their revenge in the2011 election and now see the rewards. “Alot of the boom is upcountry, and that ispolitically driven, partly, because that’swhere Thaksin’s supporters are,” said Woodat CLSA. The poverty rate in Thailand fell to13 percent of the population in 2011 from58 percent in 1990, according to the WorldBank, but per capita gross domestic productin Isaan in 2011 was still less than an eighthof that of Bangkok at $1,600 a year, accord-ing to the state planning agency, the NESDB.
That is changing. Government policieshave pushed up purchasing power by subsi-dising agricultural products such as rice, tapi-oca and rubber. Under Yingluck’s govern-ment, farmers have been paid 15,000 bahtper tonne of unmilled rice, a 50 percent pre-mium over market prices, according toexporters. “During the Thaksin and Yingluckera, a lot has been given to Isaan, and theamount of money being poured into theregion is significantly more than previousgovernments spent,” said IttipholTreewatanasuwan, mayor of Udon Thani,once a US Air Force base for anti-communistoperations in Southeast Asia. Lives are beingtransformed. Panjaporn Phatanapitoon, gen-eral manager of the 168 Platinum Mall, saidpeople in the northeast were now bettereducated, attitudes were evolving fast andurbanisation would come much more quick-ly than in Bangkok.
Regional investmentThe 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin
caused years of unrest, but political calmhas returned since Yingluck’s election win.“When we change the politicians, theychange the policy. I f there are morechanges to these policies, it will damagethe economy,” said Uthai Uthaisangsuk, asenior vice president at property developerSansiri Pcl. —Reuters
Thailand’s boom: To the northeast, the spoils
BANGKOK: In this file photo, residences on stilts sit along the Chao Phraya River witha construction site in the background in Bangkok, Thailand. — AP
Unpaid internships in
peril after court ruling
WASHINGTON: Eric Glatt, a GeorgetownLaw student, poses for a photograph ontheir campus. — AP
KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait heldthe Al-Najma Account Daily draw yesterday.
The draw was held under the supervi-sion of the Ministry of Commerce &Industry represented by Sager Al-Manaie.The winners of the Najma Daily Draw whoget KD 7,000 are: Ali Mubarek Faleh Al-Ajmi, Ahmad Jassem Ahmad Al-Shatti, Al-Sayed Abdulatif Mahmoud Mohammed,Mohammed Aref Alislam Shams Alislam,and Shaikah Muslim Saran Al-Damaj.
The Commercial Bank of Kuwaitannounces the biggest daily draw inKuwait with the launch of the new Najmaaccount. Customers of the bank can nowenjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is thehighest in the country and another 4mega prizes during the year worth KD
100,000 each on different occasions: TheNational Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha andon June 19 which is the date of the bank’sestablishment.
With a minimum balance of KD 500,customers will be eligible for the dailydraw provided that the money is in theaccount one week prior to the daily drawor 2 months prior to the mega draw. Inaddition, for each KD 25 a customer canget one chance for winning instead of KD50. Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes thisopportunity to congratulate all lucky win-ners and also extends appreciation to theMinistry of Commerce and Industry fortheir effective supervision of the drawswhich were conducted in an orderly andorganized manner.
Al-Tijari announces Najma draw winners
B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Spaniards march against austerity
Joblessness rate soars to 57.22%MADRID: Thousands of people protested inMadrid yesterday against austerity policies andrecord high unemployment, urging PrimeMinister Mariano Rajoy to focus on creatingjobs to help pull the country out of recession.To the din of whistles and drums, the demon-strators snaked through the central streets ofthe Spanish capital under a blazing sun, wavingred and white union flags and carrying placardsreading “Austerity Destroys and Kills” and“Spending Cuts Are Robbery”.
“We hope the government realises that youcan’t reverse the situation with cuts, cuts andmore cuts. It is time to change course and domore to foster growth,” said Diana Rodriguez,47, a former bank teller who has been unem-ployed for nearly two years. Demonstrationswere held in 28 other cities across Spain,including Barcelona, the country’s second-largest city, and the Atlantic port of Vigo in thenorthwest.
They were organised by Spain’s three largestunions, the Workers’ Commissions, the GeneralUnion of Workers and the Workers’ TradeUnionist Federation. Rajoy’s conservative gov-ernment has introduced a range of spendingcuts and tax hikes, as well as pension reform, toshore up strained public finances since it tookoffice in December 2011 following a landslidegeneral election win.
It has vowed to find 150 billion euros ($195billion) in savings between 2012 and 2014 aspart of the painful austerity program that hassparked mass demonstrations. The Spanish
economy, the euro-zone’s fourth-largest, shrankby 0.5 percent during the first three months of2013, its seventh consecutive quarterly decline,while the unemployment rate soared to arecord 27.16 percent, the highest level sincethe re-birth of Spanish democracy after thedeath of General Francisco Franco in 1975. For
those between the ages of 16 and 24, jobless-ness has soared to 57.22 percent. “The govern-ment has to change course. It is obvious thatthe path they are taking us on will just dig usdeeper into this mess,” said Carlos Lago, a 32-year-old civil servant who carried a sign read-ing “Without Bread, There Is No Peace”. —AFP
MADRID: A young protestor gestures as he marches during a demonstration yesterday. —AP
CALIFORNIA: Salesman Jorge Fernandez (left) helps customer Jesse Godinez, ofSan Fernando, who was shopping for two new tires for his car at Rent-a-Wheel inCanoga Park, California. —MCT
When the tires on their Dodge Caravan hadworn so thin that the steel belts were showingthrough, Don and Florence Cherry couldn’tafford to buy a new set. So they decided to rentinstead. The Rich Square, N.C., couple lastSeptember agreed to pay Rent-N-Roll $54.60 amonth for 18 months in exchange for fourbasic Hankook tires. Over the life of the deal,that works out to $982, almost triple what theradials would have cost at Wal-Mart.
“I know you have to pay a lot more this way,”said Florence Cherry, a 57-year-old nurse whodrives the 15-year-old van when her husband,a Vietnam veteran, isn’t using it to get to his jobas a prison guard. “But we didn’t really have achoice.” Socked by soaring tire prices and shorton funds, growing numbers of Americans arerenting the rubber to keep their cars rolling.Rent-to-own tire shops are among the newestarrivals to a sprawling alternative financial sec-tor focused on the nation’s economic under-class. Like payday lenders, pawn shops and BuyHere Pay Here used-car lots, tire rental busi-nesses provide ready credit to consumers whocan’t get a loan anywhere else. But that accessdoesn’t come cheap.
Customers pay huge premiums for theirtires, sometimes four times above retail. Thosewho miss payments may find their car on cin-der blocks, stripped of their tires by dealerswho aggressively repossess. Tire rental con-tracts are so ironclad that even a bankruptcy fil-ing can’t make them go away. Still, with pay-ments as low as $14 a week, rent-to-own - longthe province of sofa sets and flat-screen TVs - isproving irresistible for consumers desperate forsafe transportation.
It’s also a booming business for specializedtire and wheel dealers that have become bene-ficiaries of a struggling US economy. Fast-expanding chains with names like Rent-a-Wheel and EZ Rims 4 Rent that got their startselling high-end rims to car enthusiasts havediscovered a lucrative market selling tires ontime. “We see tremendous opportunity servingpeople who are just looking for dependabletires to get to work,” said Larry Sutton, founderand president of Rent-N-Roll. The Tampa, Fla.,chain has 66 locations nationwide, includingtwo in California, and plans to open six morethis year.
Sutton registered the trademark RNR TireExpress last fall and has been rebranding manystores to focus on tires instead of the oversizedchrome rims that were the chain’s mainstay.Today, Sutton said, tires make up two-thirds ofRNR’s sales, up from less than half several yearsago. A host of economic factors are pushingthe growth of tire rentals.
Soaring costs for natural rubber and petro-leum used to manufacture tires have pushedup prices. The average price of a passenger tirein the US increased 57 percent in 2012 from2006, according to data from trade publicationModern Tire Dealer. The prices on some popu-lar sizes have more than doubled. Consumers,meanwhile, have an increasingly difficult timeaffording big-ticket purchases. Since 2009,median household income has fallen morethan 5 percent. And in the wake of the reces-sion, the number of households in the countrywith credit histories too damaged to qualify formost credit cards has risen to 35 percent from27 percent five years ago.
With more people shut out of traditionalfinancing, the rent-to-own industry has flour-ished. Promising no credit checks, small downpayments and the option to return merchan-dise at any time with no questions asked,chains such as Rent-a-Center are raking in hugeprofits from a customer base that’s swelled to4.8 million people, up 67 percent since 2007,according to the Association of ProgressiveRental Organizations.
Tires account for just a tiny slice of the $8.5-billion rent-to-own market. But they stand out
from the industry’s traditional fare because -unlike with a dinette set - giving back tiresmeans not being able to drive to work. “Tiresare a necessity,” said Jim Hawkins, a Universityof Houston law professor who studies the alter-native finance industry. “These customers arevulnerable because they have no choice.” Thefirst rent-to-own tire and wheel dealersappeared in the mid-1990s, targeting youngurban males looking to spiff up their rides.Chains enlisted rap personalities such as SnoopDogg and Busta Rhymes to hawk shiny cus-tomized rims and low-profile tires. But after theeconomy crashed, dealers saw an influx of cus-tomers asking for standard passenger tires.Many new patrons were older and a surprisingnumber were women, a group the industryhad all but ignored.
Michelle Collins of Denham Springs, La,made her way to a Rimco store after her long-unemployed husband found work. The tires ontheir Chevy Silverado were in terrible shape,too dangerous to be used for the long drive tohis new job as an industrial painter. But theywere such an odd size that the cheapestreplacement set cost $1,340 at a regular tirestore, far beyond Collins’ budget.
The Rimco salesman said he’d get her rentaltires for the same price and almost no moneydown - so long as she paid them off within 120days. What Collins didn’t realize was that thecost would skyrocket if she missed the “same-as-cash” deadline. She found out the hard way.
This spring, Collins, who owns a used-bookstore, made her 18th and final monthly pay-ment of $164.10, bringing the total price for thetires to nearly $3,000. That works out to theequivalent of more than 120 percent annualinterest, quadruple the highest credit cardrates. “We couldn’t risk losing the job over tires,no matter what the cost,” said Collins, 40, whohas five children living at home.
Like other tire rental stores, Rimco is under-going a transformation thanks to changingcustomer demand. Four years ago, 70 percentof Rimco’s sales were aftermarket rims and therest were tires; today that ratio is reversed. Thechain, a unit of Atlanta rent-to-own giantAaron’s, has 28 stores and plans to open sevenmore by year’s end. The market leader is Rent-a-Wheel. With $100 million in sales, the compa-ny last year ranked as the nation’s seventh-largest independent tire dealer, according toModern Tire Dealer. The chain operates 89stores branded as either Rent-a-Wheel or Rent-a-Tire and has aggressive expansion plans. “It’sa very young industry, but it has a lot of poten-tial,” said Matt Seaburn, president of the LosAngeles chain, which was founded in 2006.“But we have to be careful about where weoperate, who we deal with and how we dealwith them.”
Customers and employees of tire rentalstores said that often translates to aggressivecollection practices. When Birdie Smith and herdaughter rented four tires for their Infiniti sportutility vehicle at the Inglewood, Calif., branch ofRent-a-Wheel, they were reminded they had topay $41.90 every Saturday, in person.
But money was tight, and they eventuallymissed a payment. Smith, who lives in SouthLos Angeles with her daughter and threegrandchildren, was shocked to see a squad carpull up to their house a few days later. “Thepolice said we owed Rent-a-Wheel money andwe’d better pay up,” said Smith, a retiree wholives off Social Security income. Smith eventual-ly paid off the tires in full, she said. “Those Rent-a-Wheel guys drive a hard bargain.” Policeinvolvement is rare. But since rental companiestechnically own the merchandise until the lastpayment is made, some in law enforcementconsider failure to pay tantamount to theft.Some contracts contain clauses allowing thedealership to enter a customer’s property torepossess. —MCT
ROCHESTER: Bitcoin has shot up andcrashed at least twice now. Exchangeswhere the fast-rising new digital cur-rency trades have been hacked, and sohave individual accounts. It’s beenlinked to illegal activity in under-ground cyber haunts such as Silk Road,and sparked a move by the US govern-ment to halt unregulated use. AndBitcoin persists. Heck, CNBC has aBitcoin ticker on its website. In itsfourth year of circulation now, thedecentralized online-only form ofmoney has evolved from a libertarian-styled geek curiosity to a contender forbecoming the first digital currency togo truly mainstream. There are nowmore than 11 million “coins” createdworth more than $1 billion. Lumpyand volatile as it is, the math-basedcash is one of the fastest-rising alterna-tive currencies in a world filled withthem.
Tyler Moore, who studies alterna-tive currencies, said he still isn’t surewhy. “It’s one part luck, one partdecentralization, and one part thisdesign that carries appeal for peoplethat don’t like inflation,” said Moore, anassistant professor of computer sci-ence and engineering at SouthernMethodist University in Dallas. “Thetiming of it was really good.” Bitcoinslipped onto the scene in 2009, as trustin established banks crumbled andinflation fears rose. It’s not managedby anyone. There’s no central bank. It’sbased on open-source encryptiontechnology.
In fact, the digital cash can be creat-ed by anyone with the hefty computerpower required to solve specifiedalgorithms that secure the network.Bitcoins are rewards for effort. The sys-tem takes banks out of the picturecompletely as individuals pay eachother directly. Transactions are private,but because there’s a public ledger ofthem, it’s unlikely they are perfectlyanonymous. Currently, about 25 moreBitcoins are introduced about every 10minutes by people all over the world,pros say. The limit of 21 million Bitcoinswill be reached by 2140, as the theorygoes, and no more Bitcoins will be cre-ated. On Friday, one Bitcoin was trad-ing for about $112.
A newly developed Bitcoin “ATM”machine that’s expected to go intoproduction this fall promises to makeit easy to turn dollars into Bitcoins, andmore and more retailers are acceptingBitcoin for payment. But the bottom
line is that there still isn’t a great dealyou can do, legally, with the digitalmoney. Gamblers like to use it foronline gambling, pros say. Bitcoin isstill largely about techies in cyber-space. Like Brian Goss. Goss, a 33-year-old radiology resident and father ofthree in Rochester, Minn., created astash of Bitcoins back when they weretraded for pennies. Goss said he forgotabout the Bitcoins for about a year and“almost deleted them.” He remem-
bered them in 2011 when prices shotup and sold some to cover some bills.
He sold some more when pricesbriefly rocketed above $240 in April,and made nearly $30,000. He stuck thedollars in a checking account.
“We did little things,” he said. “I gotmy wife a membership to the gym ...and got a daytime baby sitter a coupletimes a week to help her out.” Gosssaid he’s a fan because he sees Bitcoinas a way for people in less open or sta-ble economies to participate in theglobal market. Plus he thinks creditcard swipes fees are a drag on theeconomy and likes his privacy. Hedoesn’t want companies gatheringdata on him. Goss said he still has 350
or so Bitcoins left. He thinks Bitcoinwill succeed, but considers it a hobby,not a way to make money. “Right nowI wouldn’t call it investing, I would callit gambling,” Goss said. Venture capi-talists too are rolling the dice.Lightspeed Venture Partners in MenloPark, Calif, for instance, has invested inthree Bitcoin or Bitcoin-related ven-tures since the start of the year.Managing Director Jeremy Liewdescribes Bitcoin’s evolution this way:
The first wave was people driven bypolitical interests who liked the decen-tralized nature of Bitcoin. The secondwave liked Bitcoin’s anonymity for ille-gal activity.
It’s the third wave that interestsLiew: people now being attracted byBitcoin’s super-low transaction costs.Bitcoin is beginning to attract smallbusinesses unhappy with moreexpensive payment options such asVisa and MasterCard, Liew said. “We’rejust starting to see that,” said Liew. “It’snot soccer moms, but it is starting tobecome people who aren’t interestedfor ideological reasons or legal rea-sons. They’re interested because it’sjust cheaper. That’s pretty interesting.”
There’s a minefield of obstacles towidespread adoption. Bitcoin transac-tions are not reversible _ once they’redone, they’re done. And it’s still experi-mental. Shopping options for Bitcoinshave been extremely limited,although that’s showing signs ofchanging. A San Francisco startupcalled Gyft, backed by GoogleVentures, recently started acceptingBitcoin as payment for its gift cards forover 200 retailers such as Burger King,
Amazon and Crate and Barrel.What are Bitcoiners buying? Mostly
low-value cards for everyday stores - $5and $10 cards for Burger King and CVSare common, said Gyft CEO VinnyLingham. “We’re still in the earlyadopter crowd,” Lingham said.Meanwhile, regulators are takingaction. In March, the TreasuryDepartment’s Financial CrimesEnforcement Network broadcast that itconsiders any entity exchanging ortransmitting digital currencies to be inthe money service and subject to thesame money-laundering rules as otherfinancial institutions. Such rules make itharder for customers to be anonymousor untraceable. —MCT
Bitcoin sticks around as other digital currencies rise, fall
ROCHESTER: Brian Goss, a radiology resident in Rochester, Minnesota, holds an iPhone with the Bitcoindigital transaction form ready for a payment. —MCT
Poor drivers turnto tire rentals
KANSAS CITY: An unfolding tale in the Great Plainsis raising questions of just how serious the UnitedStates is about boosting domestic production andbreaking its “addiction” to foreign oil. At a time whensoaring energy prices and mounting internationalinstability would seem to put a premium on everybarrel of US oil, some domestic wells have been shutdown and others are in danger of closing.
The culprit is a flood of cheaper Canadian crudewhich, instead of replacing supply from members ofthe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,is replacing oil production in states close to theCanadian border. Producers in several Great Plainsstates say refinery customers are replacing theirproduct with Canadian crude, which is increasinglybeing cooked and squeezed out of petroleum-rich“tar sands.” Moreover, they say it is becoming more
difficult to ship their oil to other markets because thecheaper Canadian product is crowding them out ofpipelines.
Domestic oil is being discounted as much as 40percent in such states as Montana, Wyoming andNorth Dakota - giving small producers there lessthan what Big Oil companies and members of OPECare getting. As a result, some projects to drill newwells are being postponed or reconsidered, and in afew cases, producing wells are actually being closed.Some owners of oil wells, who have farmed out theproduction to the oil companies, have even receivedletters saying their wells may have to be shut down.
The situation also is an indication of a US energypolicy that lacks focus, some American producerssay. “This oil isn’t displacing unfriendly foreign oil butdomestic producers,” said Robert Harms, president of
The Northern Alliance of Independent Producers inBismarck, N.D. Many Great Plains producers say theyare stunned by recent market changes. They find itespecially galling that they are confronting the situa-tion amid the talk about easing the US addiction toforeign oil. Instead, producers now fear that produc-tion gains in the last few years will unravel.
“Here we are destroying it,” said Harold Hamm,chairman of Continental Resources Inc., one of thelargest producers of oil in the Rocky Mountainregion. In theory, at least, more and cheaper crudefrom Canada offers at least the prospect of lowerprices for consumers. But Stephen Brown, an econo-mist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, saidsuch a narrow, market-based, supply-and-demandview may be too narrow when our domestic energysecurity is involved. —MCT
Cheap Canadian crude hurts US oil production efforts
B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
PARIS: The Paris Air Show, which opens for businesstoda, brings hundreds of aircraft to the skies around theFrench capital, the usual tense competition between air-craft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, and a slew ofinnovations large and small. Here’s what to look for overthe show:
Battle of the wide-bodiesThe much-anticipated Airbus A350 flew for the first
time on Friday, launching a new air race between theEuropean plane maker and Boeing for long-haul wide-body aircraft. Boeing has dominated the market so far,but troubles with the lithium ion batteries in its 787Dreamliner are giving customers a reason to give a closelook at Airbus’ first all-new plane in eight years. The CEOof Airbus parent EADS, Tom Enders, has said he expectsa “few hundred” new orders. Boeing executives, mean-while, downplayed the air show’s importance for orders,noting that the two companies have historically split thecommercial aircraft market.
A year ago, at the Paris Air Show’s sister event inBritain, Boeing beat Airbus for the number of ordersannounced. The US company took in $37 billion inorders and commitments, well above Airbus’ $16.9billion. But the announcements during the air showsare not always a reliable indicator of business sinceprices are often negotiated down heavily and bigorders don’t always coincide with the event. The racefor the title of biggest plane maker is as tight as ever.Over the whole of 2012, Airbus delivered 588 planes.That was a record, but one Boeing beat with 601deliveries, the first time since 2003 it came out on top.
No hands on deckThey have swooped into wildfires to take tem-
peratures and tracked animals across Africa. Theyhave guided a fuel tanker to safety through icywaters. Drones are increasingly being used for non-military purposes and are expected to featureprominently at the Paris Air Show. There are still
tough restrictions on their flight for safety reasons,but while the Federal Aviation Authority works onnew rules, the makers of drones will aim to show offinnovation and technical prowess at the show.Eurocopter, a company based in France, will show-case new technology that can transform a mannedhelicopter into one that flies without a pilot.
Even in Paris, sequestration takes tollAmerican fighter jets aren’t taking to the skies
above Paris, nor will they be seen on the ground, forthe first time in more than two decades thanks tothe US government’s spending cuts - the infamous‘sequestration’. The US pavilion remains the largest,but the event will be less of a sales showcase for lat-est military hardware and more a place for suppliersto meet up with potential customers. Russia, on theother hand, is looking to make a splash by present-ing fighter jets and military helicopters at the showfor the first time since 2001. The Sukhoi manufac-turer will showcase its Su-35, a twin-engine multi-purpose fighter, for the first time outside Russia.Britain and France also will have fighter jets on dis-play.
Every little bit countsLess flashy but just as important for the industry
will be the myriad technological innovations thatparts suppliers will come to Paris to present. Thebiggest issue? The cost of fuel. The price of jet fuelhas more than tripled worldwide since 2003 - atrend both jet manufacturers and airlines expect tocontinue. Electric- or solar-powered commercialflights are wildly improbable and biofuels aren’t yeteconomically viable, so airlines are looking toimprove mileage any way possible. For long-haulflights, that means more carbon-fiber in airplanebodies and other design tweaks, such as electricmotors for taxiing. For passengers, it means no endin sight on extra baggage fees. — AP
Paris Air Show peek shows wide-body battle, drones
LE BOURGET: A man walks past the Aircraft Agusta Westland ‘Project Zero’ all-electric tilt rotor tech-nology on display for the Paris Air Show in le Bourget, North of Paris yesterday. — AP
RECIFE: For soccer fans flocking to ConfederationsCup matches in Brazil’s tropical northeast nextweek, getting tickets to the stadium should be sim-ple - but two in three will not find accommodationsin the host city Recife. Officials are sending visitorsas far as 120 kilometers (75 miles) inland to spendthe night, a detour on par with staying inPhiladelphia for a New York Knicks game. The tour-nament which began Saturday, a dress rehearsal forthe 2014 World Cup, will lay bare for visitors whatmay surprise many: despite gorgeous beaches, atempting climate and legendary hospitality, Brazil’stourism industry pales next to its neighbors.
The country takes up half the South Americancontinent but receives just a fifth of its internationalvisits. The land of Carnival and beach cocktailsranks behind everywhere in the western hemi-sphere but Venezuela in foreign tourists per capita.To be sure, it is exceedingly difficult to find some-one who regrets a vacation in Brazil. The country’sgrowing middle class has also provided enoughdomestic demand to make its tourism industry theworld’s sixth largest.
As with much of the Brazilian economy, a cap-tive local market seems to have made things tooeasy for the sector, pushing up prices, sappingcompetitiveness and contributing to a troublingforeign deficit. Foreigners’ spending in Brazil hasscarcely kept pace with inflation over the past fiveyears, while Brazilians themselves have increasinglypassed up domestic travel for trips to Miami andLisbon. The dollar’s recent weakness has stoked thetrend, resulting in a tourism deficit of $15.6 billionlast year and adding to a record current accountgap.
How has Brazil - blessed with 7,500 kilometers ofsunny coastline, the fame of Rio de Janeiro and thewonders of the Amazon - managed to blow such anopen shot on goal? A foreign fan heading to a soc-cer match in Brazil next week may find one of theanswers right away - at the hotel counter.
Even in Recife’s more expensive hotels, introduc-ing oneself in English can prompt blank stares andembarrassed grins. In one case, the concierge at ahotel - FIFA-certified accommodation for the WorldCup - went silent after such an introduction. “Hello,my name is?” he then asked, furrowing his brow.Due to Brazil’s size, isolation and uneven education,most residents have little or no contact with a sec-ond language. Brazil’s English proficiency ranked inthe bottom 15 percent of a global study by teach-ing company Education First.
Resorts, restaurants and tourism outfits there-fore pay - and charge - a hefty premium for bilin-gual service. “If you can afford English lessons,you’re not going to work the front desk of a hotel,”said Gunde Schneider, a Brazilian of Germandescent with a bed-and-breakfast in nearbyGravata. “More likely, you’re the owner of the hotel.”
The road to RecifeFor the American fan in Recife, however, a mis-
understanding at the front desk will be just one in astring of frustrations. The hassle starts before set-ting foot in Brazil, with a visa process that gives a
taste of the country’s notorious bureaucracy.Neighboring countries from Argentina to Boliviaalso have “reciprocity fees” paid at the airport in thename of parity with US visa costs. Brazil takes it astep further, requiring Americans to apply at a con-sulate and wait a week or more for an entrance visa,mimicking the burden on Brazilians.
The cost: at least $160. An easy flight to Recifewill also be tough to find, due to a legacy of barriersto foreign airlines. Of over 100 nations that havesigned an open skies agreement with the UnitedStates, Brazil is one of a handful that have not put itinto practice. As a result, flights funnel into SaoPaulo and Rio, where airports are packed beyondcapacity. Foreign visitors to Brazil’s northeast canoften watch their final destinations through thewindow as they fly south to catch connectingflights from the major hubs - a six-hour round trip.
When a fan lands in Recife, the journey is still farfrom over. The wait in the cab line should last at
least half an hour thanks to the monopoly of theairport taxi cooperative - one of countless barriersto competition driving up prices. The WorldEconomic Forum also blames Brazilian policies dis-couraging foreign investment in land, airlines andtourism services for the lack of affordable offerings.
Lingering stigmaBrazilians are quicker to blame the state of the
tourism industry on a tarnished reputation fromthe 1990s, when a chaotic economy and rampantgang violence deterred visitors, shuttering one infive of Recife’s hotels. In a public survey at the 2010World Cup, Brazil’s tourism ministry found safetyconcerns were the overwhelming reason touristsgave for why they would not visit Brazil in 2014 -
this coming from soccer fans in South Africa.Brazilian officials say the tournament will refresh
that reputation, just as it gave South Africans achance to turn the page on their fraught politicalhistory. “The visibility will give a broader vision tothe world,” said Valdir Sim„o, a senior Braziliantourism official, highlighting the diversity of adozen host cities. “People will see: Brazil is not anexotic destination.”
But the problems are bigger than bad publicrelations. The WEF ranked Brazil’s natural resourcesfor tourism as the best in the world, but the com-petitiveness of its travel industry has slipped to 51stin a ranking of 140 nations.
Harmful regulations, high prices and bad roadsput Brazil among the worst 25 countries in thosecategories - below the likes of Kazakhstan andGambia in each respect. The two in three visitingfans without lodging in Recife next week may driveas little as 30 minutes to hotels along the coast or
as much as two hours inland for accommodations.At the far reaches of that radius is Caruaru, a
sprawling, low-slung city of 350,000 where newlypaved streets wind among walls of exposed cinderblock. The city is used to drawing tourists for itstruck races and traditional music festivals, one ofwhich is in full swing this month. Caruaru bills theevent as “The World’s Biggest and Best Saint John’sFestival.”
Caruaru’s hotels seem blithe about theConfederations Cup. With lodging in short supplyand local vacationers eager to attend the festival,major hotels are already booked nearly every week-end this month. Consulted a week ahead, the onlyrooms left at the Hotel Village Caruaru on Saturdaywere going for 1,000 reais ($470) a night. — Reuters
Why World Cup can’t save Brazil’s tourism industry
KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced thenames of the five lucky winners of itsYawmi account draw, each taking home aprize of KD 5,000. The lucky winners of thedaily draws took home a cash-prize of KD5,000 each, and they are: Taha Faraj ShafiqMohammad, Fatmah Mohd Ali Al-Wazzan,Fatemah Abdulhameed Suwayed Salem,Dalal Hasan Mohammed Al-SalemAlobaidly, and Al-Shiekha Amal JassimMohd Al-Sabah.
With its new and enhanced features, theYawmi Account has become more conven-ient, easier, and faster for customers tobenefit from. Now, customers will be eligi-ble to enter the draw after 48 hours onlyfrom opening the account. Customers are
also required to deposit KD 100 or equiva-lent only to enter the daily draw, and thecoupon value to enter the draw stands atKD 10.
The newly designed Yawmi account hasbeen launched to provide a highly innova-tive offering along with a higher frequencyand incentive of winning for everyone.Today, the Yawmi account is a well under-stood product, where its popularity can beseen from the number of increasing accountholders. Burgan Bank encourages everyoneto open a Yawmi account and/or increasetheir deposit to maximize their chances tobecoming a daily winner. The more cus-tomers deposit, the higher the chances theyreceive of winning the draw.
Burgan Bank announces Yawmi account winners
KUWAIT: EQUATE PetrochemicalCompany has earned “ The BestContribution for Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR)” award during the“Middle East Awards 2013” by theChartered Institute of Purchasing &Supply (CIPS). On this occasion,EQUATE President & CEO MohammadHusain said, “Coming from the presti-gious UK-based CIPS, EQUATE wasgranted this award for its distinguishedCO2 Recovery Project, which is the firstof its kind in Kuwait.”
Husain added, “EQUATE’s commit-ment to overall sustainability throughits multilateral CSR program is simplyan embodiment of its ‘Partners inSuccess’ tagline with all stakeholdersthrough launching several initiativesrelevant to education, health, environ-ment and other sectors.”
In recognition of its sustainabilityachievements, EQUATE has earned sev-eral prestigious honors, including HisHighness the Amir Award for the BestPlant in Kuwait; The Gold Award inHealth, Safety, and Environment (HSE)for Gulf private sector companies; The
Award for Best Gulf Company inRecruiting Nationals; Arabian BusinessBest CSR Company Award; Oil & Gas(O&G) Middle East CSR Award; O&GBest Implemented EnvironmentalProgram of the Year; Middle EastChemical Week (MECW) Plant of theYear Award; as well as Kuwait’s CSRAward in the Industrial and Oil Sector.In addition, EQUATE has received theHighly Commended Best CommunityProgram Award during the First MiddleEast CSR Award Summit.
Established in 1995, EQUATE is aninternational joint venture betweenPetrochemical Industries Company(PIC), The Dow Chemical Company(Dow), Boubyan PetrochemicalCompany (BPC) and QurainPetrochemical Industries Company(QPIC). Commencing production in1997, EQUATE is the single operator ofa fully integrated world-scale manufac-turing facility producing over 5 milliontons annually of high-quality petro-chemical products which are marketedthroughout the Middle East, Asia,Africa and Europe.
EQUATE wins int’l CSR award
DUBAI: Sadara Chemical Co, a joint ven-ture between Saudi Aramco and DowChemical , has signed a fundraising pack-age for the $19.3 billion petrochemicalcomplex it is building in the east of thekingdom, three banking sources said yes-terday. The financing package totalsaround $12.5 billion and consists of loansfrom banks, export credit agencies and thestate-owned Public Investment Fund, aswell as proceeds from an Islamic bondissue. The remaining cost will be met bythe two partners.
The facility, located at Jubail IndustrialCity in Saudi Arabiaís Eastern Province, willbe the worldís largest chemical complexever built in a single phase. It will producemore than 3 million tonnes of petrochemi-
cals each year when completed in 2016.Sadara was not immediately available forcomment. The sources spoke on conditionof anonymity as the matter has not beenmade public.
The split between the different portionsof the facility were changed from an origi-nal outline released in May 2012 after thesuccess of the sukuk, which was completedat the start of April, two of the bankers said.Sadara raised 7.5 billion riyals ($2 billion)from the local currency Islamic bond, hav-ing increased the deal size from 5.25 billionriyals on strong demand from investors.Also included is a $4.975 billion direct loanfrom the US Export-Import Bank. Signed inSeptember, it was the largest ever loanfrom the institution. — Reuters
Saudi Aramco-Dow JV raises funding for $19bn project
KUWAIT: Mohammed Saleh and RezaYousuf Behbehani Company, the authorizeddealers of GMC Vehicles in Kuwaitannounced the second winner of the GrandPrize of their golden jubilee anniversarypromotion this month. Youssef HassanSuleiman Al-Awadi won the KD 10,000 cashprize upon the purchase of a GMC Sierra2013. This win comes just few days after thefirst KD 10,000 prize was won by JassimAbdallah Abdel Rehman Mohammad.Youssef Hassan Suleiman Al-Awadi wasoverwhelmed upon winning the prize andcelebrated jubilantly at the showroom inthe presence of all his family members.
“We are extremely happy to announcethis win and we extended our heartiest con-gratulations to Al-Awadi and all the previ-ous winners. It is a joyous occasion for usand we have loved to share our happinesswith our customers by rewarding them withthese prizes and there are still a lot moresuch prizes to come. We look forward tosharing the same with our esteemed cus-tomers” stated Adel Behbehani, Director ofSales at Mohammed Saleh and Reza YousufBehbehani Company. Earlier this month,
Behbehani launched a special promotion tocommemorate its 50th anniversary wherebycustomers would get up to KD 1,500 cash
back upon purchase of any of the GMC vehi-cles in addition to an opportunity to winseveral cash prizes up to KD 10,000.
2nd GMC customer wins at Behbehani golden jubilee
BRASILIA: General view the Mane Garrincha National stadium in Brasilia is seen. — AFP
t e c h n o l o g yMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
NEW YORK: There’s little wonder whyGeorge Orwell’s novel “1984” is seeing aresurgence in sales. More than half ofAmericans polled in a survey releasedThursday said they agreed with thestatement “We are really in the era of BigBrother.” The survey from the Universityof Southern California was conductedlast year, before recent revelations oflarge-scale, secret government surveil-lance programs. Yet it still found thatsome 35 percent of respondents agreedthat “There is no privacy, get over it.”
A growing number of Internet userssaid they are concerned about the gov-ernment checking on their online activi-ties, according to the survey. But evenmore people were worried about busi-nesses doing the same.
The USC Annenberg School’s Center
for the Digital Future has polled morethan 2,000 U.S. households about theirInternet and technology use each year,with the exception of 2011, since 1999.
Forty-three percent of Internet userssaid they are concerned about the gov-ernment checking what they do online,up from 38 percent in 2010. But 57 per-cent said they were worried about pri-vate companies doing the same thing -up from 48 percent in the earlier study.
A 2012 survey by the Pew ResearchCenter found that almost three-quartersof Americans are concerned that busi-nesses are collecting too much informa-tion about people like them, while 64percent had the same worry about thegovernment.
In addition to their views on privacy,the most recent report also found that
86 percent of Americans are online, upfrom 82 percent in 2010. That’s the high-est level in the study’s history and fur-ther evidence of how central theInternet has become in American’s lives,especially in the age of mobile devices.“We find that people almost never losetheir mobile phone,” said Jeff Cole,author of the study and director of thecenter. “They can drop it in the gutter,have it stolen but leave it on the table ata restaurant - most of us don’t even getthrough the front door before noticingit.” More than half of the Internet userssurveyed said they go online using amobile device, up from a third who saidthe same thing in 2010. As expected,texting is becoming increasingly impor-tant for people of all ages - 82 percent ofmobile phone users text, up from 62 per-
cent in 2010 and 31 percent in 2007.Among other key findings: Thirty per-
cent of parents said they don’t monitorwhat their children do on social net-working sites such as Facebook, while 70percent said that they do. Nearly half ofparents, 46 percent, said that they havetheir kids’ passwords so they can accesstheir account.
* People spent more time online thanin any previous year of the study. Onaverage, they were online 20.4 hours perweek, up from 18.3 hours in 2010 andabout nine hours in 2000. One percentof respondents said they visit websiteswith sexual content “several times a day,”while 69 percent said they never do.
* Dial-up is going the way of thedodo: 83 percent said they access theInternet using a broadband connection,
up from 10 percent in 2000.* The line between work and home
life is blurring. Nearly a quarter ofInternet users said they “often” use theInternet at home for work-related pur-poses. Conversely, 18 percent said they“often” go online at work for non-workrelated activities. The study did not saywhether these were the same people.
The 2012 poll had a margin of error ofplus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Andabout that “1984” sales surge - the bookhas been steadily climbing up Amazon’slist of “movers and shakers” books, theonline list of the biggest sales gainersover the previous 24 hours. As ofThursday afternoon, the 60th anniver-sary edition of the classic was No. 6 onthe list, with sales up threefold in theprevious day. —AP
Survey: Many Americans say ‘Big Brother’ is here
WASHINGTON: Amid the explosion of socialmedia and new networking tools, governmentsand businesses are grappling with balancingtheir security needs against their wish to join theonline conversations. “Communications technol-ogy has dramatically democratized the processof gaining a public audience,” said journalist andformer military analyst Joshua Foust at aWashington forum on digital diplomacy.
“As an individual you can have a public reachthat was unimaginable even 10 years ago... anda lot of our institutions whether social or civic orgovernmental haven’t caught up all the way.”
The introduction of tools such as Twitter andInstagram has ensured that news and informa-tion zooms instantly around the globe in a click,to be viewed by millions of people within sec-onds. This leaves no time to check facts, andcould be cause for red faces or even potentialdisaster and lasting damage if a tweet is wrong,or misinterpreted.
“Time can be the enemy,” said David Darg, co-founder of the new social news platformRYOT.org, and a long-time filmmaker.
“In diplomatic circles, if there’s a crisis hap-pening how quickly do you get a message out toassure people what’s happening, while at thesame time making sure that your information iscorrect and what you’re tweeting is correct.”
The easy access and relatively anonymityoffered by the unruly Internet also deepens con-cerns about leaks, highlighted this week as the
United States launched a criminal investigationinto IT-specialist Edward Snowden for exposingsecret surveillance programs.
“These are the kind of issues that are going tobe plaguing governments in particular goingforward as citizens or privileged insiders decideto go public and expose either secrets or privateinformation,” Foust said.
“Secrecy is also an important part of publicdiplomacy, what you don’t say can be be asimportant as what you do say, and absences canmean just as much as presences.”
But with the outreach offered by the web, theUS State Department is among many branchesof the US government which have embracedsocial media as a way of engaging with peoplearound the world.
New Secretary of State John Kerry eventweets and Tuesday replied to British counter-part William Hague “looking fwd to seeing youspecial relationship w/ UK, incredibly valuedpartner on #Syria and much more.-JK.”
But even his savvy diplomats have run intotrouble. The US embassy in Cairo had to freezeits Twitter account in April after coming underfire from Egyptian leaders for tweeting a link to ashow by US comic Jon Stewart mockingEgyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
“If you’re John Kerry you have a very differentonline personality than if you’re Jon Stewart,”said Evan Kraus, executive director for digitalstrategy at communications consultants APCO.
“There’s obviously a great desire to be funny,and interesting and clever on social media. But ifyou’re not doing in an authentic way then it fallsflat, and it doesn’t work.”
The nature of social networking is also chang-ing, the forum organized by the DiplomaticCourier magazine heard. “Maybe five years ago itwas about putting your point of view out therein as compelling a way as you could and dragpeople kicking and screaming to visit your web-site or blog,” Kraus said.
“I think that’s over. What’s changed is how doyou take your content, your expertise, your per-sonality, your story and weave that into thoseconversations that are already happening.”
The new power afforded to ordinary citizensby social networks was however having a pow-erful impact on governments and politicianswho were trying “to really endear themselves ina new way that we’ve never seen before,” Dargsaid.
“Governments are increasing aware of theviewpoints of their constituents and good gov-ernments and good leaders react to what theirconstituents care about,” added Kraus.
And the millennial generation was not con-tent with being a passive bystander, the expertsagreed. “Most leaders are smart and they knowthe difference between a passive click, and realemotionally charged support. So if you can cre-ate that I think you do create real change, nomatter what,” added Kraus. —AFP
WASHINGTON: A solar-powered planenearing the close of a cross-continentaljourney landed at Dulles InternationalAirport outside the nation’s capital earlyyesterday, only one short leg to New Yorkremaining on a voyage that opened in May.
Solar Impulse’s website said the aircraftwith its massive wings and thousands ofphotovoltaic cells “gracefully toucheddown” at 12:15 a.m. EDT after 14 hours andfour minutes of flight from Cincinnati, Ohio,to Dulles in Washington’s Virginia suburbs.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard was at the con-trols for the last time on the multi-leg“Across America” journey that began May 3in San Francisco. His fellow Swiss pilot,Andre Borschberg, is expected to fly thelast leg from Washington to New York City’sJohn F. Kennedy International Airport inearly July, the web site added.
It is the first bid by a solar plane capableof being airborne day and night withoutfuel to fly across the US, at speeds reachingabout 40 mph. The plane opened by flyingfrom San Francisco via Arizona, Texas,Missouri and Ohio onward to Dulles withstops of several days in cities along theway. Organizers said in a blog post earlySunday that Piccard soared across theAppalachian mountains on a 435-mile(700-kilometer) course from Cincinnati to
the Washington area, averaging 31 mph (50kph). It was the second phase of a leg thatbegan in St. Louis.
The plane, considered the world’s mostadvanced sun-powered aircraft, is poweredby about 12,000 photovoltaic cells thatcover its enormous wings and charge itsbatteries during the day. The single-seatSolar Impulse flies around 40 mph andcan’t go through clouds; weighing about asmuch as a car, the aircraft also took longerthan a car to complete the journey fromOhio to the East Coast.
Despite its vulnerabilities to bad weath-er, Piccard said in a statement that the con-clusion of all but the final leg showed thatsun-powered cross-continent travel “provesthe reliability and potential of clean tech-nologies.” Organizers said fog at CincinnatiMunicipal Lunken Airport was a concernthat required the ground crew’s attentionbefore takeoff just after 10 a.m. Saturday.The crew gave the plane a gentle wipe-down with cloths because of condensationthat had formed on the wings.
“The solar airplane was in great shapedespite the quasi-shower it experienced”before takeoff from Cincinnati, the web siteadded. Washington was the first East Coaststop before the final planned leg to NewYork. —AP
Dangers and delights of digital diplomacy
PHOENIX: In this Wednesday, May 22, 2013, file photo, the Solar Impulse, piloted byAndre Borschberg, takes flight during the second leg of the 2013 Across Americamission, at Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. —AP
Solar-powered plane lands near Washington
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook andMicrosoft Corp. representatives saidthat after negotiations with nation-al security officials their companieshave been given permission tomake new but still very limited rev-elations about government ordersto turn over user data.
The announcements Fridaynight come at the end of a weekwhen Facebook, Microsoft andGoogle, normally rivals, had jointlypressured the Obama administra-tion to loosen their legal gag onnational security orders.
Those actions came afterEdward Snowden, a 29-year-oldAmerican who works as a contractemployee at the National SecurityAgency, revealed to The Guardiannewspaper the existence of secretsurveillance programs that gath-ered Americans’ phone records andother data. The companies did notlink their actions to Snowden’sleaks.
Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s generalcounsel, said in a statement thatFacebook is only allowed to talkabout total numbers and must giveno specifics. But he said the permis-sion it has received is still unprece-dented, and the company was lob-bying to reveal more.
Using the new guidelines, Ullyotsaid Facebook received between9,000 and 10,000 governmentrequests from all government enti-ties from local to federal in the lastsix months of 2012, on topicsincluding missing children investi-gations, fugitive tracking and ter-rorist threats. The requests involved
the accounts of between 18,000and 19,000 Facebook users.
The companies were notallowed to make public how manyorders they received from a particu-lar agency or on a particular sub-ject. But the numbers do include allnational security related requestsincluding those submitted vianational security letters and underthe Foreign IntelligenceSurveillance Act, or FISA, whichcompanies had not previouslybeen allowed to reveal.
The companies remain barredfrom revealing whether they’ve
actually received FISA requests, andcan only say that any they ’vereceived are included in the totalreported figures. Microsoft releasedsimilar numbers for the same peri-od, but downplayed how muchthey revealed.
“We continue to believe thatwhat we are permitted to publishcontinues to fall short of what isneeded to help the communityunderstand and debate theseissues,” John Frank, Microsoft’s vicepresident and deputy generalcounsel said in a statement.
Frank said Microsoft received
between 6,000 and 7,000 criminaland national security warrants, sub-poenas and orders affectingbetween 31,000 and 32,000accounts.
Both attorneys emphasized intheir statements that those affect-ed by the orders represent a “tinyfraction” of their huge user bases.
Google did not release its ownnumbers, saying late Friday that itwas waiting to be able to revealmore specific and meaningful infor-mation.
“We have always believed thatit ’s important to differentiatebetween different types of govern-ment requests,” Google said in astatement. “We already publishcriminal requests separately fromnational security letters. Lumpingthe two categories together wouldbe a step back for users. Ourrequest to the government is clear:to be able to publish aggregatenumbers of national securityrequests, including FISA disclo-sures, separately.”
Facebook repeated recent assur-ances that the company scrutinizesevery government request, andworks aggressively to protect users’data. Facebook said it has a compli-ance rate of 79 percent on govern-ment requests.
“We frequently reject suchrequests outright, or require thegovernment to substantially scaledown its requests, or simply givethe government much less datathan it has requested,” Ullyot said.”And we respond only as requiredby law.” —AP
NEW ZEALAND: Google Inc has launched asmall network of balloons over the SouthernHemisphere in an experiment it hopes couldbring reliable Internet access to the world’smost remote regions, the company said lateFriday.
The pilot program, Project Loon, took offthis month from New Zealand’s South Island,using solar-powered, high-altitude balloonsthat ride the wind about 12.5 miles (20 kilo-meters) - twice as high as airplanes - abovethe ground, Google said.
Like the Internet search engine for whichGoogle is best known, Project Loon uses algo-rithms to determine where the balloons needto go, then moves them into winds blowingin the desired direction, the company said.
By moving with the wind, the balloonsform a network of airborne hot spots that candeliver Internet access over a broad area atspeeds comparable to 3G using open radiofrequency bands, Google said. To connect to
the balloon network, a special Internet anten-na is attached to buildings below. TheMountain View, Calif-based companyannounced the project on its official bloghttp://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/introducing-project- loon.html, and its websitehttp://www.google.com/loon/. The 30 bal-loons deployed in New Zealand this monthwill beam Internet to a small group of pilottesters and be used to refine the technologyand shape the next phase of Project Loon,Google said.
Google did not say what it was spendingon the pilot project or how much a globalnetwork of balloons might cost. Google hasalso developed self-driving vehicles, whichthe company says could significantly increasedriving safety. Those vehicles are beginningto gain support from lawmakers in places likeCalifornia, where a bill legalizing their opera-tion on state roads was signed into law last byGovernor Jerry Brown. —Reuters
DUBAI: EMC today announced that25-year IT industry veteran HabibMahakian has been appointed GeneralManager for the Pakistan and the Gulfregion. In his new role, Mahakian willbe responsible for expanding EMC’sfootprint in Pakistan, Afghanistan andthe eight maturing markets of the Gulf,including Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain,Yemen and Oman.
He will focus on strategy and busi-ness development to extend and fur-ther accelerate EMC’s growth in theregion by delivering and supportingthe full range of EMC products, servic-es and solutions in established andnew markets, and enhancing partnerand channel relationships. Mahakian
will report to Mohammed Amin, EMC’sSenior Vice President and RegionalManager for Turkey, Eastern Europe,Africa and the Middle East region, Priorto his new role, Mahakian held a num-ber of leadership positions at EMC,including Country Manager of EMCSaudi Arabia (KSA) and the RegionalDirector for Pakistan and the NorthGulf and Levant regions. Before joiningEMC, Mahakian worked at SaudiBusiness Machines in Saudi Arabia.Mahakian holds a Bachelor’s ofScience, Electrical Engineering fromYarmouk University in Jordan.
EMC Executive Quote: Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice
President, Turkey, Europe East, Africa,and Middle East, EMC “Over the last12 years, Habib has successfully ledEMC’s operations across a number ofstrategic markets, including NorthGulf and Saudi Arabia (KSA) beforethat, to help customers and partnersdevelop new opportunities to trans-form their IT architecture, drive com-petitive differentiation and businessagility. With his wealth of experienceand track record of success, I am con-fident that in his new role Habib willhelp drive EMC’s growth in the regioneven further, while cementing ourposition as trusted partner to our cus-tomers and channel network acrossthe region.”
EMC appoints Mahakian as Regional GM for Pakistan and the Gulf region
Google’s Project Loon explores Internet access
Web giants get broader surveillance revelations
MENLO PARK: In this Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, file photo, a FacebookUser Operations Safety Team worker looks at reviews at Facebookheadquarters in Menlo Park. —AP
CALIFORNIA: In this March 1, 2013 photo released by Google, a fully inflated test bal-loon sits in a hangar at Moffett Field airfield. Google is testing the balloons whichsail in the stratosphere and beam the Internet to Earth. —AP
Habib Mahakian
H E A LT H & S C I E NC EMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO: Lauren Greydidn’t think much about the gen-der recorded on her Illinois driver’slicense until she went to test-drivea new car. Although she had beenliving as a woman for months andeasily obtained a license with hernew name and a picture reflectingher feminine appearance, Grey’s IDstill identified her as male, puzzlingthe salesmen and promptinguncomfortable questions. “Theyare like, ‘This doesn’t match.’ Thenyou have to go into the story: ‘I wasborn male, but now I’m not,’” saidGrey, 38, a graphic designer livingin suburban Chicago. “And they arelike, ‘What does that mean?’ It wassuper embarrassing.” Similarly awk-ward conversations ensued whenshe tried to rent an apartment,went to bars or was taken out ofairport security lines for inspection.
Most US residents don’t thinktwice about the gender printed ontheir government-issued docu-
ments. But those “M” or “F” markers- and the legal and administrativeprerequisites for switching themon passports, birth certificates andother forms of identification - are asource of anxiety and, even, dis-crimination for transgender indi-viduals. The rules vary from state tostate, agency to agency and evenclerk to clerk. But a transgenderapplicant generally has beenrequired to submit both a courtorder approving the genderchange and a letter from a surgeoncertifying that the person under-went irreversible sex reassignmentsurgery before obtaining a newdocument.
Over the last few years, though,the emerging movement for trans-gender rights has been quietlypressing the issue, persuadingstate lawmakers and federal andstate agencies to simplify thelengthy and often costly process.Advocates recorded their latest vic-
tory Friday, when the SocialSecurity Administrationannounced that it would no longer
require proof of surgery to alter thegender identification of individualsin its computers and records. The
move mirrors similar actions by theUS State Department, whichamended its passport applicationpolicies three years ago to do awaywith the sex reassignment surgeryrequirement, and US Citizenshipand Immigration Services, whichlast year did the same for greencards, work permits and other doc-uments it issues.
“Most people may not see thisas a big deal, but transgender peo-ple know that this seemingly smalltechnical change will protect theirprivacy and give them more con-trol over their own lives,” MaraKeisling, executive director of theNational Center for TransgenderEquality, said.
“Since 9/11, it ’s become ...incredibly important to have accu-rate and consistent identification.Without it, you can’t open a bankaccount, you can’t use a creditcard, you can’t apply for a loan, youcan’t get a job, you can’t vote, you
can’t get insurance.” As a result oflawsuits and lobbying, about halfof US states - most recently Illinois,Alaska, Virginia and Idaho - nowallow residents to revise the gen-der designations on their driver’slicenses without first undergoingsurgery or getting a judge’sapproval. Applicants instead mustprovide a letter from a health pro-fessional stating they havereceived counseling, hormonetherapy or another form of gender-transition treatment.
Holding mismatched identifica-tion also exposes transgender peo-ple to the threat of discriminationor violence, advocates say. A 2008survey of 6,450 transgender peo-ple conducted by the NationalCenter for Transgender Equalityand the National Gay and LesbianTask Force found that 40 percent ofrespondents had been harassedafter presenting an ID that conflict-ed with how they looked. —AP
‘M’ or ‘F’? Outdated IDs worry transgender people
Forget abandoning carbohydrates or detoxing.The new dieting craze sweeping Britain and tak-ing off in the United States lets people eat what-ever they like - but only five days a week. “TheFast Diet”, also known as the 5:2 diet, is thebrainchild of TV medical journalist MichaelMosley and journalist Mimi Spencer and allowspeople to eat what they want for five days butonly eat 600 calories a day on the other two.
Their book, “The Fast Diet”, has topped best-selling book lists in Britain and the United Statesthis year and been reprinted more than a dozentimes. Mosley said the diet is based on work byBritish and US scientists who found intermittentfasting helped people lose more fat, increaseinsulin sensitivity and cut cholesterol whichshould mean reduced risk of heart disease anddiabetes.
He tried this eating regime for a BBC televi-sion science program called “Eat, Fast, LiveLonger” last August after finding out his choles-terol level was too high and his blood sugar inthe diabetic range. He was stunned by theresults. “I started doing intermittent fasting ayear ago, lost 8 kgs (18 pounds) of fat over 3months and my blood results went back to nor-mal,” Mosley told Reuters. Mosley said he hadbeen amazed at the way the diet had taken offwith a list of websites set up by followers of the5:2 diet or variations of the eating regime to
share their experiences. Following the success of“The Fast Diet”, Spencer joined forces with dieti-tian Sarah Schenker to bring out “The Fast DietRecipe Book” in April which has topped ama-zon.co.uk’s food and drink list with 150 recipescontaining under 300 calories. Eating a 600 calo-rie daily diet - about a quarter of a normalhealthy adult’s intake - could consist of two eggsfor breakfast, grilled chicken and lettuce forlunch, and fish with rice noodles for dinner withnothing to drink but water, black coffee or tea.
One day at a timeMosley put the diet’s success down to the
fact it is psychologically attractive and leads tosteady drop in weight with an average weeklyloss of 1 pound (0.46kg) for women and slightlymore for men. “The problem with standard dietsis that you feel like you are constantly having toexercise restraint and that means you are think-ing about food all the time, which becomes self-defeating,” said Mosley. “On this regime you areonly really on a diet two days a week. It is alsoextremely flexible and simple.”
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) initiallyexpressed doubts about the diet and its long-term effects, saying side effects could includesleeping difficulties, bad breath, irritability, anxi-ety, and daytime sleepiness. But as the populari-ty of the 5:2 diet has grown and become one of
the most searched diets on the Internet, the NHShas started to look again at the diet and itseffects. On its website last month the NHS saidthe British Dietetic Association (BDA) reviewed a2011 study by researchers at the UK’s UniversityHospital of South Manchester that suggestedintermittent fasting could help lower the risk ofcertain obesity-related cancers such as breastcancer. “The increasing popularity of the 5:2 dietshould lead to further research of this kind,” theBDA said in a statement. Schenker, a sports andmedia dietitian who works with football clubsand food companies, said it was a shame thatthe NHS had criticized the eating regime thathad proved such a success with so many people.“We are in the midst of an obesity crisis and youneed to balance up which is worse - intermittentfasting of staying obese?”
Schenker told Reuters. Despite concernsraised by the NHS, the 5:2 diet has been widelypraised by those who follow it. Deb Thomas, 50,a management coach from London, said shehas followed the diet for six months anddropped a couple of dress sizes. This has alsoinspired her husband to join her in fasting twodays a week. “It is such an easy diet to followthat fits into my way of life,” Thomas said. “Youhave a tough day of not eating but you knowthe next day you can eat normally again, andthat keeps you going.” —Reuters
XIHU: In the harsh desert steppe of farnorthwestern China five prehistoric-lookingPrzewalski’s horses, once classed as extinct inthe wild, emerge from the endless plains. Thehorses-named after a Russian officer andexplorer who spotted them around 1880 —bear a striking resemblance to those depict-ed in European cave paintings, with shortnecks, spiky manes and a yellow hue. Theygraze calmly on a few strands of straw as thewind whips across the vast, open landscape.“These ones here, they can be approached.The others will run away as soon as you getwithin 300 meters (yards) of them,” says SunZhicheng, an official at the 660,000-hectare(1.6-million-acre) West Lake national naturereserve.
According to the International Union forConservation of Nature, Przewalski’s horsesonce roamed as far as Western Europe. But asthe centuries passed, climatic changereduced their habitat and the remainderwere so widely hunted, mainly for food, thatthey were classified as extinct in the wild in1960 — although a living specimen was laterfound in Mongolia. But a few survived inEuropean zoos, and now efforts are under-way to reintroduce them to the wild. TheChinese project near Xihu in Gansu provincefaces daunting challenges freezing winters,sweltering summers and limited supplies offood and water.
According to Chinese legend, Sun says,the animals were discovered two millenniaago by an exiled criminal around the oasis ofDunhuang, a crossroads on the Silk Road. “Aman had been convicted and banished fromDunhuang. While he was walking near a lakehe saw one of these horses. “He made a man-nequin and put it on a path the horse wouldfollow. One day he took the place of themannequin, and he was able to catch thehorse to offer it to the emperor. “The manthen lied to the emperor Han Wudi, sayingthe horse had sprung out of a spring. And hecalled it a heavenly horse. The emperor lovedthe horse so much that he wrote a poemabout it.” In 1986 China purchased 18 of thehorses from the United States, Britain and
Germany and has since bred them in captivi-ty, with their numbers growing to more than70. Starting in 2010, carefully selected batch-es have been released into the reserve. “Nowthere are 27, 16 females and 11 males,” saysSun. “We even registered the birth of a foal inJuly 2011, a new success in our reintroduc-tion process.” But very few animals canendure an environment as hard and dry asGansu’s desert steppe.
Przewalski’s horses require daily access towater that is within a 30-kilometre (20-mile)range and does not freeze in winter. Theyalso need 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of dryfood per day, relatively close to the water. Ina region that receives less than four centime-ters (1.5 inches) of rain per year, many ofthese conditions could become problems,says Sun. The reserve is taking back-up meas-ures to improve the horses’ chances. “Wehave increased the water supply by expand-ing 10 wells. At a later point we are thinkingof bringing water from the river.
“In winter we have to break the ice so thatthe horses can drink.” The horses eat grassesand certain plant species, says reserveemployee Lu Shengrong, but when vegeta-tion becomes sparse in winter-time, they willbe fed dry alfalfa, straw, black beans andcorn. Of the 2,000 or so Przewalski’s horsesthat now exist worldwide, about a quarterare part of efforts to reintroduce them to thewild, says Claudia Feh, a biologist doing simi-lar work in Mongolia, where several hundredhave been released. The worst threat theyface, she says, are ordinary horses, which caninfect them with disease or crossbreed withthem, diluting the gene pool. “The biggestenemy is the domesticated horse,” Feh says.Przewalski’s horses have “a very narrowgenetic base” as all living members of thespecies are descended from just 13 or 14individuals, she says. “They are going to dis-appear genetically if we do not preventcrossbreeding.” For any wild population tosurvive long-term, or even 50 years, it mustbe 1,500 strong, Feh says. “That goal is faraway,” she adds. “This is a species that is stillrather fragile.” —AFP
MINNEAPOLIS: Her face flushed,Rosemary Lamont sat on the gymfloor one recent afternoon, listeningto her trainer’s impassioned com-mands. “Sit up tall and lift that leg,”the trainer coached, counting downthe remaining seconds. “Five, four,three, two, one. Beautiful!” Lamontsmiled, exhaling loudly. The 69-year-old woman is among legionsof cancer patients adopting a newrecovery strategy: They’re abandon-ing their beds and hitting the gym.A growing body of evidence sup-ports the idea that sweating is bet-ter than resting after cancer. Theworkouts both restore energydrained from cancer treatmentsand, in some cases, help preventthe disease’s return.
There are an estimated 13.7 mil-lion cancer survivors nationwide,according to the American CancerSociety. Lamont’s exercise class forcancer patients, new this spring atthe Eden Prairie, Minn, CommunityCenter, is the latest response to agrowing demand for cancer fitnessprograms. As the benefits becomemore widely known, more of the fit-ness programs are popping up,such as the Livestrong Foundation’spartnership with YMCAs across thecountry and local programs at theYWCA and yoga centers.
“The cancer journey can be verydisempowering because your bodycan betray you, and there’s lots ofthings you just don’t have controlover,” explained Cathy Skinner, whois among a rare breed of trainersspecially certified by the AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine to workwith cancer survivors. “But exercise,state of mind, nutrition-those thingsyou can control.”
Lamont, of Eden Prairie, was bat-tling a second bout of breast cancerwhen she underwent chemothera-py earlier this year. It left her feelingexhausted. But she didn’t take itlying down. She started workingout, twice a week. It’s paying off.Driving a metal pin into a stack ofweights during a recent workout,Lamont said: “My arms and legs aremuch stronger. It’s just amazinghow quickly it’s come.”
In personal trainer Kara Jeter’sclass, Lamont and a small group ofwomen do a mix of cardio, strengthtraining and mind-body work. Jeter,while not a cancer survivor herself,said her heightened awareness ofthe disease motivated her to pushfor the new class at the Eden Prairiefitness center. “We said, ‘OK, we real-ly need to get our act togetherbecause there are so many peopleaffected by cancer,’?” said Jeter, whoteamed up with two other trainers
to create the class.It ’s something doctors are
embracing, too. Dr Andrea Chevilleof the Mayo Clinic said exerciseoffers significant benefits for cancerpatients. She cited in particular a2005 study in the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association,which found that breast cancerpatients who walked briskly forthree hours a week had almost a 50percent reduction in their risk ofbreast cancer recurrence. “That’shonestly as good as any drug wehave,” she said. She advises doing ahalf-hour of moderate exercise five
times a week. Cheville also saidexercise will reduce a healthy per-son’s risk of developing certain can-cers, namely colon and breast can-cer.
The American Cancer Societyalso recommends exercise, butadvises patients to consult withtheir oncologists before starting anexercise program; the organizationposts a list of precautions on itswebsite.
Kelli Klein, group fitness coordi-nator at the YWCA of Minneapolis,launched a cancer recovery exerciseprogram exclusively for women in
2010 at the Lake Street YWCA.Called Cancer Recovery andExercise for Women (CREW), theprogram follows the same mix ofcardio and strength training as oth-er cancer fitness programs.
“The connection there, the mag-ic, if you will, is the same magic thatis the result of exercise being bene-ficial for so many other things-thatis, cell regeneration,” Klein said. “Wethink of exercise as impacting ourwaistline, impacting our musclesand even impacting our bone den-sity. But we really need to thinkabout exercise as having a fully sys-temic impact on our bodies, affect-ing our bodies right down to thecellular level. Then we can reallybegin to grasp the huge impor-tance of exercise in recovery fromany injury, any illness, and especiallycancer.”
Past CREW participants haveincluded those whose cancer is inremission and those who havestruggled with several bouts andare still working out. “It’s no longer adeath sentence,” Klein said. “Canceris something we manage like heartdisease or high blood pressure.Exercise is part of the therapies.”
Larry Fountain, 53, a singer fromWest St Paul, Minn, was diagnosedwith colon cancer in 2007 and hasbattled three rounds. He discoveredSkinner’s cancer recovery exerciseprogram by chance. She is offering asummer session beginning thismonth at three gym locations-Uptown, Eden Prairie and St Paul.Fountain started working out withher, after undergoing chemothera-py. “It made a heck of a difference,”he said of the exercise. “She reallyhelped me get my strength andbreath back so I could sing again.”He lifts weights and does exercisesto strengthen the core muscles inhis abdomen. Getting some exercisealso worked wonders for his mind.
“I always like to credit that experi-ence with just helping pick me upout of the dumps,” Fountain said. “Ithelped me start feeling like youknow, ‘I’m alive again, I’ve got anoth-er shot.’?” Back at the Eden PrairieCommunity Center, the women inJeter’s class are starting to bond.They’ve talked about gettingtogether outside of class. “We all arefriends now,” said Diana Hambrook,72. She was in the middle of doingbicep curls with handheld dumb-bells when Lamont walked up tochat. “You graduated to five-pounders?” Lamont asked. “Whoa,you’re getting stronger.” Hambrooknodded, rolling up her sleeves toreveal her bulging biceps. “See?” shesaid proudly. —MCT
SYDNEY: Australia imposed an interimban on 19 synthetic cannabis andcocaine-like drugs yesterday as part of acrackdown on the psychoactive sub-stances which mimic the highs of theirillegal counterparts. Assistant TreasurerDavid Bradbury said the 19 productswould be banned from sale and supply forup to 120 days under consumer laws, ameasure which will give states and territo-ries time to update their laws to ban them.“Synthetic drugs are dangerous sub-stances that can kill and should not beavailable for sale,” Bradbury said.
Many synthetic drugs are alreadybanned in parts of Australia, but Bradburysaid the market was fast-moving and sup-pliers had shown a willingness to changebrand names and packaging to getaround bans made under consumer laws.Australia’s most populous state NewSouth Wales temporarily banned synthet-ic drugs earlier this month after a 17-year-old Sydney boy fell to his death after tak-ing a synthetic LSD product which madehim believe he could fly. Home Affairs
Minister Jason Clare confirmed yesterdaythat the government will also develop leg-islation to ensure unauthorized syntheticdrugs cannot be imported. The move willmean that “new drugs coming onto themarket are presumed to be illegal untilthe authorities know what they are andclear them as safe and legal”. Clare said arange of synthetic drugs were being soldin Australia, including via the Internet.They mimicked the effects of cannabis,cocaine and methamphetamine and werebeing marketed as a legal alternative toillicit drugs. He said the new legislationwould be in line with that already in placein Ireland and due to be brought intoforce in New Zealand in August. Lastmonth, Europe’s drug agency warnedabout the rise in new synthetic psychoac-tive substances on that continent. TheEuropean Monitoring Centre for Drugs andDrug Addiction said 73 new psychoactivesubstances were detected on the marketin 2012 — compared to just 49 in 2011 —and a greater proportion were from moreobscure chemical groups. —AFP
XIHU: A photo shows a keeper feeds Przewalski’s horses at the West Lake nationalnature reserve area near Xihu, in northwestern China’s Gansu province. —AFP photos
Przewalski’s horses
roaming China’s plains again
Australia cracks down
on synthetic drugs
New diet craze offers five days of
feasting for two days of famine
Cancer patients take fight to the gym
MINNESOTA: Diana Hambrook, left, works out under the eye of train-er Kara Jeter during a fitness class for cancer survivors.
MINNESOTA: Trainer Kara Jeter offers encouragement during a fitnessclass for cancer survivors in Eden Prairie. —MCT photos
CALIFORNIA: In this photo taken last Tuesday is Ben Hudson, thedirector of the Gender Health Center, a health clinic that providestreatment verification for transgender people seeking to updatetheir idís is photographed in Sacramento,. —AP
H E A LT H & S C I E NC EMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
WASHINGTON: Mounting scandals at theInternal Revenue Service are jeopardizing criti-cal funding for the agency as it gears up toplay a big role in President Barack Obama’shealth care law. Obama sought a significantbudget increase for the IRS for next year, whenthe agency will start doling out subsidies tohelp people buy health insurance on state-based exchanges. Congressional Republicans,however, see management problems at theIRS as an opportunity to limit the agency’sfunding just as it is trying to put in place themassive new law. Republicans have beenfighting the health care law ever sinceDemocrats enacted it in 2010 without a singleGOP vote. Unable to repeal the law, someRepublicans hope to starve it by refusing tofund its implementation.
The IRS scandals are giving them a timelyexcuse. “I think it’s safe to say they’re not goingto get the kind of increase they’re asking for,”said Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla, chairman ofthe House appropriations subcommittee thatfunds the IRS. “The question is, based on theirbad behavior, are they going to end up withless money?” Crenshaw said. Last month, theIRS was rocked by revelations that agents hadtargeted tea party and other conservativegroups for extra scrutiny when the groupsapplied for tax-exempt status during the 2010and 2012 elections.
A few weeks later, an inspector general’sreport said that the agency had spent lavishlyon employee conferences during the sametime period. From 2010 through 2012, the IRSspent nearly $50 million on employee confer-ences. In 2010, the agency used money thathad been budgeted to hire enforcementagents to instead help pay for one conference
that cost $4.1 million, according to the watch-dog’s report. Three congressional committeesand the Justice Department are investigatingthe targeting of conservative groups, andmuch of the top leadership at the IRS has beenreplaced.
Obama appointed a new acting IRS com-missioner, Danny Werfel, a former White Housebudget official. Werfel is conducting an inter-nal review of the agency and is expected toissue recommendations for changes by theend of June. All this is happening as theagency works to implement the health lawthat includes some of the most sweepingchanges to the tax code in a generation. “TheIRS needs to repair the plane while it’s in flightright now,” said Paul Cherecwich, chairman ofthe IRS Oversight Board, an independentboard within the agency. “Should the currentbudget environment continue, the IRS willhave to continue to have to do more with lesswhile rebuilding taxpayer trust.
It has no choice, and it won’t be easy.” Likemany federal agencies, the IRS has seen itsbudget and workforce shrink since 2010, whenthe agency was allotted $12.1 billion. This year,the IRS is expected to spend $11.2 billion.Obama’s proposed budget for next year is$12.9 billion - a 14 percent increase over cur-rent spending. About $440 million would gotoward implementing the health care law. Thatwould include hiring nearly 2,000 employees,according to an analysis of the president’sbudget proposal by the GovernmentAccountability Office.
“We are working to get to the bottom ofwhat happened at the IRS, hold the responsi-ble parties accountable, make sure it cannothappen again, and restore public trust and
confidence in the IRS and its ability to adminis-ter the tax code fairly and efficiently,” saidWhite House spokeswoman Amy Brundage.“For years Republicans in Congress have maderepeated attempts to stop and slow down theAffordable Care Act. This is just the latestattempt to put up roadblocks to implement-ing the law,” Brundage said. “The health law isthe law of the land, and we are working to
implement it well, so millions of Americanswill have access to affordable and qualityinsurance.”
Starting next year, the IRS will administersubsidies to help millions of individuals buyhealth insurance. The subsidies, technically taxcredits because they are administered throughthe tax code, will help low- and middle-income families buy health insurance through
the state-based exchanges. Under the newlaw, nearly everyone in the U.S. will berequired to have health insurance starting in2014, or face penalties. The IRS will collectthose penalties.
About 6 million people are expected to getthe insurance subsidies next year, and thatnumber will grow to 20 million by 2017,according to estimates by the nonpartisanCongressional Budget Office. The enrollmentseason to buy health insurance through theexchanges starts Oct 1.
“The bottom line here is that the IRS canbarely manage what it already has to do, andthat’s a generous characterization given thetargeting of conservative groups,” said Sen.Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on theSenate Finance Committee, which overseesthe IRS.
“Adding Obamacare under the IRS, that canonly be described as a looming disaster,” Hatchsaid. “And now the Democrats are saying weneed to give the IRS more money. I’m not sureI’m willing to do that.” Democrats in Congresssay they are growing tired of Republicanattempts to repeal a law that has survived areview by the Supreme Court and whose mainchampion - Obama - won re-election last year.
“The American people will see over the nextsix months the lengths the Republicans will goto destroy the implementation of theAffordable Care Act,” said Rep. Jim McDermottof Washington state, a senior Democrat on theHouse Ways and Means Committee. “I’veexpected it from the first day this (IRS) issuecame up.” “I’m sad about it, it ’s awful,”McDermott added. “But sometimes in a democ-racy people have to learn the hard way, and theAmerican public is going to learn. —AP
IRS scandals threaten funding for health care law
WASHINGTON: In this photo Rep Jim McDermott, D-Wash, asks a question during a HouseWays and Means Committee hearing on the unfair targeting by the IRS of organizationsseeking tax-exempt status on Capitol Hill. —AP
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W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Announcement
The Meat Co Kuwait launchesweekly Jazz Nights
The Meat Co Kuwait will be bringing more thanoutstanding steak to the table with the launchof their new weekly jazz nights. The Meat Co
Jazz Nights will be treating its customers to thesmooth sounds of the Kuwait Jazz Trio, who will beentertaining the crowd with their extensive reper-toire of tunes, including the works of Cole Porter,Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Billy Strayhornand George Gershwin. Kuwait’s premier jazz bandwill be performing every Wednesday from 8pm atThe Meat Co, Kuwait - using the traditional jazz trioinstruments of piano, bass and drums -thrilling theaudience with the best of international jazz late intothe evening.
Indian Embassy sets up helpline
The Indian Embassy in Kuwait has set uphelpline in order to assist Indian expatriates inregistering any complaint regarding the gov-
ernment’s ongoing campaign to stamp out illegalresidents from the country. The embassy said inpress release yesterday that it amended its previousstatement and stated if there is any complaint, thesame could be conveyed at the following (as amend-ed): Operations Department, Ministry of Interior,Kuwait. Fax: 22435580, Tel: 24768146/25200334. Itsaid the embassy has been in regular contact withlocal authorities regarding the ongoing checking ofexpatriates. The embassy has also conveyed to themthe concerns, fears and apprehensions of the com-munity in this regard. The authorities in Kuwait haveconveyed that strict instructions have been issued toensure that there is no harassment or impropertreatment of expatriates by those undertakingchecking. “The embassy would like to request Indianexpatriates to ensure that they abide by all locallaws, rules and regulations regarding residency, traf-fic and other matters,” the release read. It would beprudent to always carry the Civil ID and other rele-vant documents such as driving license, etc. In casean Indian expatriate encounters any improper treat-ment during checking, it may be conveyed immedi-ately with full details and contact particulars to theembassy at the following phone number 67623639.These contact details are exclusively for the above-mentioned purpose only.
IMAX film programMonday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for GroupsFlight of Butterflies 3D 10:30am, 8:30pmTornado Alley 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm, 7:30pmTo The Arctic 3D 12:30pm, 9:30pmBorn to be Wild 3D 6:30pm
Tuesday:** 9:30am Showtime Available for GroupsTornado Alley 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pmFlight of Butterflies 3D 11:30am, 9:30pmTo The Arctic 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pmBorn to be Wild 3D 5:30pm
Wednesday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for GroupsTo The Arctic 3D 10:30amTornado Alley 3D11:30am, 6:30pm, 9:30pmFlight of Butterflies 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pmJourney to Mecca 5:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 8:30pm
IMAX
In line with its students’ skillsenhancement strategy, the AustralianCollege of Kuwait (ACK) organized a
field trip to the Kuwait InternationalAirport for Foundation Skills Program(Level 3 - English) students wishing tomajor in Aircraft MaintenanceEngineering.
ACK’s Foundation Skills Program hasbeen established to provide a firm edu-
cational base on which students canbuild their subsequent courses of studyin multiple areas, such as English, math-ematics, physics and computing skills.The particular aim of the field trip was toexpose English students to real-life situ-ations where they would need to usetechnical aviation terms to expressthemselves and communicate with oth-ers. However, the trip also consolidated
the students’ understanding of engi-neering systems, giving them a glance atwhat their future careers would be like.
Headed by Camille Bondi, Head of theEnglish Foundation Skills Program andaccompanied by their teachers, the fieldtrip students got the unique chance totour the Airport’s MaintenanceDepartment guided by the department’shead, who offered them important theo-
retical and practical information, whichcame to complement their college learn-ing. Other field trips have been sched-uled by the Australian College of Kuwaitfor later this year as part of the institu-tion’s overall strategy to nurture its stu-dents and provide them with the bestacademic support possible for a brighterfuture.
ACK holds field trip for students to Kuwait International Airport
Nestled in the heart of the country, JW Marriotthotel Kuwait City and Courtyard by Marriotthotel Kuwait City are offering exciting packages
for the upcoming summer travel season to locals, expa-triates, as well as visiting families from other GCC coun-tries. The new offer is valid from June 1 to August 31,2013.
Guests residing at the hotels can particularly enjoydaily free international buffet breakfast with 20 percentoff on food and beverage and for those with kids aged12 years and under will receive 50 percent off on meals.To add to the exclusive benefits, guests are entitled to50 percent off on spa treatments and massages alongwith free access to the swimming pool and health club.Free unlimited high speed wired and wireless internetand 50 percent off on laundry services are ensured forcomplete convenience on every level.
Fun filled deals at the modern, downtown Courtyardby Marriott hotel include a reduced stay price at KD 46per night on weekdays, while a blissful weekend get-away on Thursday or Friday could be relished at KD 60per night. Hotel guests can enjoy delicious buffet and a
la Carte menu at the Courtyard by Marriott’s Atriumrestaurant and the renowned Indian restaurant Souland Spice, offering the perfect blend of Indian spices ina contemporary presentation. The restaurant offers anextensive a la carte menu featuring authentic Indiandishes.
Meanwhile, guests staying at the five star luxury JWMarriott Kuwait Hotel, can enjoy weekday offers atKD55 per night and KD70 per night on weekends. Anexciting buffet at the hotel’s very popular La Brasserierestaurant will be provided, featuring delicious interna-tional buffets.
George Aoun, General Manager of Kuwait MarriottHotels, said, “With many years of extensive experiencecatering to families and visitors from around the regionduring the busiest season of the year, this brand guar-antees complete anticipation of their demands andpreferences. Our offers therefore ,are tailor made to fitall ,ranging from the finest dining to the ultimate shop-ping experience under one roof .We truly hope ourguests feel welcome and enjoy their days with us.”
Kuwait Marriott Hotels launchexciting family summer deals
The Najla Al-NaqqiForum invites themedia to a press
conference forMunicipal Council elec-tions candidatesHamed Al-Omairi (firstconstituency) andYahya Al-Enizy (seventhconstituency) onMonday, June 17, 2013.The event starts 8:00pm at the forum’sbuilding in Salwa, Bock2, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsastreet, house No 388.
By the end of this 2012-2013 school year, Yousif Saleem successfully graduated from KG1 at the Pakistani School. Congratulations.
Information
Embassy
EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIAThe Australian Embassy Kuwait does nothave a visa or immigration department. Allprocessing of visas and immigration mattersin conducted by The Australian Consulate-Generalin Dubai. Email: [email protected] (VFS)[email protected] (Visa Office); Tel:+971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (VisaOffice); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwaitapplications can be lodged at the Australian VisaApplication Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-BanwanBuilding Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, oppositethe Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait.Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday -Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens canapply for tourist visas on-line atwww.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.
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EMBASSY OF CANADAThe Embassy of Canada in Kuwait doesnot have a visa or immigration depart-ment. All processing of visa and immigra-tion matters including enquiries is conducted bythe Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE.Individuals who are interested in working,studying, visiting or immigrating to Canadashould contact the Canadian Embassy in AbuDhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.going-tocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: [email protected]. The Embassy of Canada is locatedat Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah.Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception isopen from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services forCanadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.
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EMBASSY OF US Parents of Kuwaiti citizen children maydrop off their sons’ and daughters’ visaapplications - completely free of aninterview or a trip inside the Embassy. The chil-dren must be under 14 years of age, and addi-tional requirements do apply, but the servicemeans parents will no longer have to scheduleindividual appointments for their children, norcome inside the Embassy (unless they areapplying for themselves). The service is onlyavailable for children holding Kuwaiti pass-ports. To take advantage, parents must drop offthe following documents: Child Visa Drop-offcover sheet, available on the Embassy website(http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.htm)- Child’s passport; The Child’s previous pass-port, if it contains a valid US visa; 5x5cm photoof child with eyes open (if uploaded into DS-160, photos must be a .jpg between 600x600and 1200x1200 pixels, less than 240kb, andcannot be digitally altered); A completed DS-160 form; Visa Fee Receipt from Burgan Bank; Acopy of the valid visa of at least one parent. Ifone parent will not travel, provide a visa copyfor the traveling parent, and a passport copyfrom the non-traveling parent with a letterstating no objection to the child’s travel. - Forchildren of students (F2): a copy of the child’s I-20.
Children born in the US (with very fewexceptions) are US citizens and would not beeligible for a visa. Parents may drop off theapplication packet at Window 2 at the Embassyfrom 1:00 to 3:00 PM, Monday to Wednesday,excluding holidays. More information is avail-able on the U.S. Embassy website:kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.html
EMBASSY GREECE The Embassy of Greece in Kuwait has thepleasure to announce that visa applica-tions must be submitted to Schengen VisaApplication Centre (VFS office) located at 12thfloor, Al-Naser Tower, Fahad Al-Salem Street, Al-Qibla area, Kuwait City, (Parking at Souk Watia). Forinformation please call 22281046 from 08:30 to17:00 (Sunday to Thursday). Working hours:Submission from 08:30 to 15:30. Passport collec-tion from 16:00 to 17:00. For visa applicationsplease visit the following websitewww.mfa.gr/kuwait.
W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
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EMBASSY OF VATICANThe Apostolic Nunciature Embassy ofthe Holy See, Vatican in Kuwait hasmoved to a new location in Kuwait City.Please find below the new address: Yarmouk,Block 1, Street 2, Villa No: 1. P.O.Box 29724,Safat 13158, Kuwait. Tel: 965 25337767, Fax:965 25342066. Email:[email protected]
[From left]: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah poses for a photo with the father of the bride, groomand Major General Abdulfattah Al-Ali.—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat
A general view of the guests.
[From left]: Vice President of the Kuwaiti National Guard Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the groom Abdulmuhsin Al-Ali, HH the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Ali and Major General Abdulfattah Al-Ali.
Kuwait Football Association President Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (right)with Major General Abdulfattah Al-Ali and his son.
Sheikh Faisal Al-Hmoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah stands between the groom and hisfather.
Undersecretary Assistant for Training and Learning Affairs in the Ministry ofInterior, Major General Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (fifth fromleft) poses for a photo with a number of guests.
Former minister Fadhel Safar poses with the groom and his father.Nasser Al-Sayer (middle) poses with the groom and his father.
Former MP Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi (middle) is seen with the groom and hisfather.
Guests lineup for greeting the newly-wed.
Maj Gen Ali celebrates son’s wedding
The Ministry ofInterior’s AssistantUndersecretary for
Traffic Affairs MajorGeneral Abdulfattah Al-Alicelebrated the wedding ofhis son Abdulmuhsen in aceremony held Saturdayat the Behbehani Hall inShaab. The ceremony wasattended by state officialsand many other guests.
T V PR O G R A M SMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
DOLPHIN TALE ON OSN MOVIES HD
SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE ON OSN CINEMA
14:35 Border Security15:05 Auction Hunters15:30 Auction Kings16:00 Robson Green’s ExtremeFishing Challenge16:55 Yukon Men17:50 Mythbusters18:45 Sons Of Guns19:40 Industrial Junkie20:05 How It’s Made20:35 Auction Hunters21:00 Storage Hunters21:30 Gold Divers22:25 Alaska: The Last Frontier23:20 Flying Wild Alaska00:15 Gold Divers
14:50 Combat Countdown15:45 The Baby Mammoth16:40 HMS Ark Royal17:35 Mystery Cars18:00 Mystery Cars18:25 Hero Factor18:50 Hero Factor19:20 American Car Prospector20:10 Tattoo Hunter21:05 Out Of Egypt22:00 American Car Prospector22:55 Death Machines23:50 Most Evil00:45 Mystery Cars01:10 Mystery Cars01:35 American Car Prospector
14:20 Kitchen Chemistry14:45 Kitchen Chemistry15:10 Thunder Races16:00 Nextworld16:55 Mega World17:45 Fire In The Sky: A Daily PlanetSpecial18:35 The Gadget Show19:00 The Tech Show19:30 X-Machines20:20 Mega World21:10 Food Factory21:35 Food Factory22:00 X-Machines22:50 Human Nature23:40 Food Factory00:05 Food Factory00:30 How Do They Do It?01:00 Mega World01:50 Human Nature
14:00 Pawn Stars14:30 Pawn Stars15:00 Pawn Stars15:30 Pawn Stars16:00 Pawn Stars16:30 Pawn Stars17:30 Pawn Stars18:00 Pawn Stars18:30 Pawn Stars19:00 Ax Men20:00 Pawn Stars20:30 Storage Wars21:00 Ancient Aliens22:00 Pawn Stars22:30 Pawn Stars23:00 Shipping Wars23:30 Shipping Wars00:00 Pawn Stars00:30 Storage Wars01:00 Ancient Aliens02:00 Pawn Stars
14:00 C.S.I.15:00 Glee16:00 Emmerdale16:30 Coronation Street17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 C.S.I.19:00 Parenthood
20:00 Covert Affairs21:00 Once Upon A Time22:00 Banshee23:00 Greek00:00 Glee01:00 Banshee02:00 Once Upon A Time
03:00 Guys With Kids03:30 1600 Penn04:00 Seinfeld04:30 The Tonight Show With JayLeno05:30 Two And A Half Men06:00 All Of Us06:30 Til Death07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon08:00 Seinfeld08:30 Two And A Half Men09:00 Guys With Kids09:30 Hot In Cleveland10:00 2 Broke Girls10:30 Til Death11:00 The Tonight Show With JayLeno12:00 All Of Us12:30 Seinfeld13:00 Two And A Half Men13:30 Til Death14:00 1600 Penn14:30 2 Broke Girls15:00 Hot In Cleveland15:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart16:00 The Colbert Report16:30 All Of Us17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon18:00 Samantha Who?18:30 Malibu Country19:00 Hot In Cleveland19:30 Parks And Recreation20:00 Don’t Trust The B InApartment 2320:30 30 Rock21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition21:30 The Colbert Report GlobalEdition22:00 Family Guy22:30 Louie23:00 Girls23:30 Enlightened00:00 30 Rock00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition01:00 The Colbert Report GlobalEdition01:30 Family Guy
05:15 A Kind Of Magic05:35 A Kind Of Magic06:00 Prankstars06:25 Suite Life On Deck06:45 Shake It Up07:10 A.N.T Farm07:35 Jessie07:55 Good Luck Charlie08:20 Good Luck Charlie08:45 Doc McStuffins09:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse09:30 A.N.T Farm09:55 A.N.T Farm10:15 Jessie10:40 Jessie11:05 Good Luck Charlie11:25 Good Luck Charlie11:50 Good Luck Charlie12:15 Shake It Up12:35 Shake It Up13:00 Austin And Ally13:25 A.N.T. Farm13:45 Jessie14:10 Shake It Up14:35 Suite Life On Deck15:00 Gravity Falls15:25 Good Luck Charlie15:50 Jessie16:10 Shake It Up16:35 A.N.T. Farm17:00 Austin And Ally17:20 Gravity Falls17:45 Suite Life On Deck18:10 Good Luck Charlie18:30 Code: 918:55 Code: 919:20 Prankstars19:40 Prankstars
20:05 A.N.T. Farm20:30 Good Luck Charlie20:50 Suite Life On Deck21:15 Austin And Ally21:40 That’s So Raven22:00 Shake It Up22:25 A.N.T. Farm22:50 Austin And Ally23:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place23:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place00:00 Hannah Montana00:20 Hannah Montana00:45 Brandy & Mr Whiskers01:05 Brandy & Mr Whiskers01:30 Emperor’s New School01:50 Emperor’s New School02:15 Replacements02:35 Replacements
14:30 Style Star15:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians16:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians17:00 Ice Loves Coco17:30 E! News Special: CountryMusic Festival18:00 E! News19:00 E!es20:00 Married To Jonas20:30 Married To Jonas21:00 Playing With Fire23:00 THS00:00 Opening Act00:55 Style Star01:25 THS
03:30 Celebrity MasterChef03:55 Bargain Hunt04:40 Design Rules05:00 James Martin’s Champagne05:25 Antiques Roadshow06:15 Cash In The Attic07:00 Food Poker07:45 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent08:35 Bargain Hunt09:20 Antiques Roadshow10:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix11:05 Celebrity MasterChef12:00 Celebrity MasterChef12:25 Come Dine With Me13:15 Bargain Hunt14:00 Cash In The Attic14:45 Antiques Roadshow15:40 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition Specials16:20 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition Specials17:00 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent17:55 Food & Drink18:25 Planet Cake18:50 Food Poker19:40 Come Dine With Me20:35 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition21:20 Antiques Roadshow22:15 Bargain Hunt23:00 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent23:55 Food Poker00:40 Come Dine With Me01:30 Food Poker02:20 Cash In The Attic
03:25 Unique Eats03:50 Food Crafters04:15 United Tastes Of America04:40 Chopped05:30 Iron Chef America06:10 Unwrapped06:35 Unwrapped07:00 Guy’s Big Bite07:25 Guy’s Big Bite07:50 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts08:15 Unique Sweets08:40 United Tastes Of America09:05 Barefoot Contessa09:30 Food Network Challenge10:20 Extra Virgin10:45 Kid In A Candy Store
11:10 Charly’s Cake Angels11:35 Unique Sweets12:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes12:50 Have Cake, Will Travel13:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back ToBasics13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back ToBasics14:05 Food Wars14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives15:20 Guy’s Big Bite15:45 Chopped16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back ToBasics17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back ToBasics17:25 Food Wars17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives18:40 Charly’s Cake Angels19:05 Unique Sweets19:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes20:20 Chopped21:10 Chopped22:00 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts22:25 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts22:50 Andy Bates Street Feasts23:15 Andy Bates Street Feasts23:40 Food Wars00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives00:55 Unwrapped01:20 Unwrapped01:45 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts
03:00 Once Brothers-PG1505:00 Alpha And Omega-PG07:00 Johnny English Reborn-PG1509:00 Dolphin Tale-PG11:00 Dead Lines-PG1513:00 A Cinderella Story : OnceUpon A Song-PG14:45 The Vow-PG1516:30 Dolphin Tale-PG18:30 Captain America: The FirstAvenger-PG1521:00 War Horse-PG1523:30 The Girl With The DragonTattoo-R02:15 Dead Lines-PG15
07:00 Warbirds-PG1509:00 Something Borrowed-PG1511:00 Ring Of Deceit-PG1513:00 The Game Of Their Lives-PG1515:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire &Ice-PG1517:00 Just Crazy Enough-PG1519:00 An Invisible Sign Of My Own-PG1521:00 Martha Marcy May Marlene23:00 American Reunion-1801:00 Just Crazy Enough-PG15
00:30 ICC Cricket 36001:00 AFL Premiership03:30 PGA Tour Highlights04:30 PGA European TourHighlights05:30 Trans World Sport06:30 Inside The PGA Tour07:00 International Rugby Union09:00 ICC Cricket 36009:30 Live AFL Premiership12:30 Inside The PGA Tour13:00 PGA European Tour Weekly13:30 Futbol Mundial14:00 Trans World Sport15:00 NRL Premiership17:00 NRL Premiership19:00 Live Nations Cup21:00 Live Nations Cup23:00 ICC Cricket 36023:30 Inside The PGA Tour
04:00 Soldiers Of Fortune-PG1506:00 The Ring-PG1508:00 The Speed Of Thought-PG1509:45 Constantine-PG1512:00 Ice Quake-PG1514:00 The Speed Of Thought-PG1516:00 Hide And Seek-PG1518:00 Ice Quake-PG1520:00 Backdraft-PG1522:45 Fertile Ground-1800:45 The Godfather-18
08:00 Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG10:00 The Smurfs-PG12:00 Zathura: A Space Adventure-PG14:00 Police Academy 3: Back InTraining-PG1516:00 The Smurfs-PG18:00 Sorority Wars-PG1520:00 Revenge Of The Nerds II :Nerds In Paradise-PG1522:00 Reno 911!: Miami-1800:00 Analyze That-PG1502:00 Revenge Of The Nerds II :Nerds In Paradise-PG15
09:00 Water For Elephants-PG1511:00 Jane Eyre-PG1513:00 Nomads-PG1515:00 Water For Elephants-PG1517:00 Loosies-PG1519:00 Kathmandu Lullaby-PG1521:00 Blind Revenge-1822:45 Summer Of Sam-PG1501:15 An Officer And A Gentleman-18
00:00 International Rugby Union02:00 International Rugby Union04:00 ATP Tennis05:30 ATP Tennis07:00 Live NRL Premiership09:00 British & Irish Lions12:00 ATP Tennis13:30 ATP Tennis15:00 Trans World Sport16:00 Live ATP Tennis18:00 ICC Cricket 36018:30 British & Irish Lions20:30 Futbol Mundial21:00 ATP Tennis23:00 NRL Premiership
04:00 Batman: Year One-PG1506:00 Arthur Christmas-PG08:00 War Horse-PG1510:30 One Angry Juror-PG1512:00 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG1513:30 Why Did I Get Married Too?-PG1515:30 War Horse-PG1518:00 Rise Of The Planet Of TheApes-PG1520:00 Summer Coda-PG1522:00 Dark Shadows-PG1500:00 Arena-1802:00 War Horse-PG15
00:30 Mass Participation01:00 UIM Powerboat Champs01:30 UIM Aquabike Champs02:00 Motor Sports 201303:00 European Le Mans Series04:00 UAE National Race Day Series05:00 NHL07:00 WWE Bottom Line08:00 WWE NXT09:00 WWE Experience10:00 WWE This Week10:30 Mobil 1 The Grid11:00 NHL13:00 Prizefighter16:00 WWE Bottom Line17:00 NHL19:00 WWE Smackdown21:00 NHL23:00 UFC Countdown
01:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
02:00 UFC Countdown03:00 Live UFC Prelims05:00 Live UFC08:00 Live NRL Premiership10:00 Trans World Sport11:00 ICC Cricket 36011:30 Live NRL Premiership13:30 British and Irish Lions Tour15:30 Futbol Mundial16:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter17:00 UFC Countdown18:00 UFC Prelims20:00 UFC 23:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
ClassifiedsMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
AVENUES-2TATTAH (DIG) 1:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 3:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 6:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 8:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 11:00 PM
AVENUES-3FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 12:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 3:15 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 6:00 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 8:45 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 11:45 PM
360º 1AFTER EARTH (DIG) 2:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 4:15 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 6:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 8:45 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 11:00 PM
360º10(VIP-2) AFTER EARTH (DIG) 12:45 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 3:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 5:15 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 7:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 9:45 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 12:05 AM
SHARQIA-2THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 1:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 2:45 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 5:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 10:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:30 AM
MUHALAB-1EPIC (DIG) 1:30 PMEPIC (DIG) 4:00 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 6:45 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 9:30 PM
MARINA-2AFTER EARTH (DIG) 1:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 4:15 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 6:45 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 9:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 12:15 AM
AL-KOUT.3FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 1:30 PM
NOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 4:15 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 6:45 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 9:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 12:15 AM
BAIRAQ-1THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 12:30 PMEPIC (DIG-3D) 3:15 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 5:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 8:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 11:30 PMNO SUN+ TUE+WED
BAIRAQ-3DARK SKIES (DIG) 2:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 5:00 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 7:15 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 9:30 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 12:30 AM
FANAR-4THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 12:30 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 3:15 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 5:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 9:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:30 AM
SHARQIA-1DARK SKIES (DIG) 12:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 2:30 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 4:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 6:30 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 8:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 10:30 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 12:45 AM
SHARQIA-2THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 12:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 2:30 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 5:15 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 7:00 PMNO THUMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 9:45 PMNO THUMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 12:30 AMNO THU+ SUN+ TUE+WED
SHARQIA-3TATTAH (DIG) 12:30 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 2:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 5:00 PM
NOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 7:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 9:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:05 AMNO SUN+ TUE+WED
MUHALAB-1EPIC (DIG) 1:30 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 4:00 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 6:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 9:30 PM
MUHALAB-2AFTER EARTH (DIG) 12:45 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 3:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 5:15 PMYEH JAWANI HAI DEEWANI (DIG) 4:00 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 7:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 9:45 PM
MUHALAB-3THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 2:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 3:45 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 6:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 10:00 PM
FANAR-1NOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 1:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 3:30 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 5:30 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 7:45 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 10:00 PMAFTER EARTH (DIG) 12:30 AMNO SUN+ TUE+WED
FANAR-2TATTAH (DIG) 1:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 3:30 PMEPIC (DIG) 5:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 8:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 10:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:45 AMNO SUN+ TUE+WED
FANAR-3FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 2:00 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 4:30 PMFAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 6:30 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 9:00 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 11:00 PMDARK SKIES (DIG) 1:00 AMNO SUN+ TUE+WED
KuwaitKNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY
(13/06/2013 TO 19/06/2013)
CHANGE OF NAME
MATRIMONIAL
I, Kamasani Damodaramholder of Indian passportNo. E6147415 issued atHyderabad on 26-08-2003, Iwish to change my nameKamasani Damodar Reddy.
(C 4443)15-6-2013
Fajr: 03:13Shorook 04:49Duhr: 11:49Asr: 15:23Maghrib: 18:49Isha: 20:22
Prayer timings
Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)
DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION
Arrival Flights on Monday 17/6/2013Airlines Flt Route TimeQTR 148 DOHA 00:05JZR 267 BEIRUT 00:20JZR 539 CAIRO 00:40THY 764 SABIHA 01:40ETH 620 ADDIS ABABA 01:45GFA 211 BAHRAIN 01:55AFG 416 JEDDAH 02:15UAE 853 DUBAI 02:25ETD 305 ABU DHABI 02:30THY 768 ISTANBUL 02:50FDB 67 DUBAI 03:10RJA 642 AMMAN 03:10QTR 6130 DOHA 01:50KAC 284 DHAKA 08:15KAC 302 MUMBAI 07:50KAC 206 ISLAMABAD 07:25JZR 555 ALEXANDRIA 06:20JZR 529 ASSIUT 06:40JZR 1541 CAIRO 06:25JZR 503 LUXOR 07:40MSR 612 CAIRO 03:15RBG 555 ALEXANDRIA 03:15QTR 138 DOHA 03:30THY 770 ISTANBUL 04:35DHX 170 BAHRAIN 05:10FDB 69 DUBAI 05:50BAW 157 LONDON 06:30FDB 53 DUBAI 07:45KAC 412 MANILA 12:05KAC 344 CHENNAI 09:35KAC 672 DUBAI 13:40KAC 546 ALEXANDRIA 14:15KAC 352 COCHIN 09:55JZR 241 AMMAN 12:35JZR 257 BEIRUT 14:30JZR 1543 CAIRO 08:20JZR 165 DUBAI 11:35JZR 561 SOHAG 12:00UAE 855 DUBAI 08:25ABY 125 SHARJAH 08:50QTR 132 DOHA 09:00FDB 55 DUBAI 09:15ETD 301 ABU DHABI 09:30GFA 213 BAHRAIN 10:40IRC 6521 LAMERD 10:50MEA 404 BEIRUT 10:55MSC 403 ASSIUT 11:35UAE 871 DUBAI 12:45MSR 610 CAIRO 13:00QTR 140 DOHA 13:45FDB 57 DUBAI 13:50MPH 93 AMSTERDAM 13:55SVA 500 JEDDAH 14:30KNE 472 JEDDAH 14:35OMA 645 MUSCAT 14:40
UAE 859 DUBAI 21:15ETD 307 ABU DHABI 21:30QTR 136 DOHA 21:35GFA 217 BAHRAIN 21:45QTR 146 DOHA 22:00JAI 576 COCHIN 22:05FDB 59 DUBAI 22:20AIC 975 CHENNAI 22:25UAL 981 BAHRAIN 22:40TAR 327 TUNIS 22:55DLH 636 FRANKFURT 23:10PIA 205 LAHORE 23:15JAI 574 MUMBAI 23:20MSR 614 CAIRO 23:30FDB 8053 DUBAI 21:30FDB 8057 DUBAI 14:50TMA 213 BEIRUT 17:00KAC 118 NEW YORK 16:00KAC 788 JEDDAH 15:00KAC 674 DUBAI 19:25KAC 104 LONDON 18:45KAC 786 JEDDAH 18:30KAC 542 CAIRO 18:15KAC 618 DOHA 19:10KAC 774 RIYADH 19:25KAC 742 DAMMAM 19:30JZR 177 DUBAI 17:30JZR 135 BAHRAIN 23:00JZR 535 CAIRO 16:10JZR 777 JEDDAH 17:50JZR 239 AMMAN 22:30JZR 189 DUBAI 20:10JZR 185 DUBAI 22:40RJA 640 AMMAN 15:55QTR 134 DOHA 16:15ETD 303 ABU DHABI 16:35UAE 857 DUBAI 16:55ABY 127 SHARJAH 17:10UAL 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 17:15GFA 215 BAHRAIN 17:20SVA 510 RIYADH 17:20NIA 251 ALEXANDRIA 18:00QTR 144 DOHA 18:25FDB 63 DUBAI 18:55GFA 219 BAHRAIN 19:05MSC 405 SOHAG 19:15JAI 572 MUMBAI 19:35OMA 647 MUSCAT 20:00FDB 61 DUBAI 20:00ABY 129 SHARJAH 20:05MEA 402 BEIRUT 20:15MSR 618 ALEXANDRIA 20:30AXB 489 COCHIN 20:35MSC 401 ALEXANDRIA 21:00ALK 229 COLOMBO 21:10KLM 411 AMSTERDAM 23:40THY 772 ISTANBUL 23:45
Departure Flights on Monday 17/6/2013Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 AHMEDABAD 00:05JAI 573 MUMBAI 00:20UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 00:25DLH 637 FRANKFURT 00:30MSR 615 CAIRO 00:30PIA 206 PESHAWAR 00:55JZR 1542 CAIRO 01:20JZR 502 LUXOR 01:30THY 773 ISTANBUL 02:20THY 765 ISTANBUL 02:40ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 02:45AFG 416 KABUL 03:15QTR 6131 DOHA 03:20THY 769 ISTANBUL 03:40UAE 854 DUBAI 03:45FDB 68 DUBAI 03:50RBG 556 ALEXANDRIA 03:55MSR 613 CAIRO 04:15ETD 306 ABU DHABI 04:20QTR 139 DOHA 04:25QTR 149 DOHA 05:15JZR 560 SOHAG 05:35FDB 70 DUBAI 06:30RJA 643 AMMAN 06:35GFA 212 BAHRAIN 07:00JZR 240 AMMAN 07:10THY 771 ISTANBUL 07:10KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 07:20JZR 164 DUBAI 07:25BAW 156 LONDON 08:25FDB 54 DUBAI 08:25JZR 256 BEIRUT 08:50JZR 534 CAIRO 09:10KAC 671 DUBAI 09:25ABY 126 SHARJAH 09:30KAC 787 JEDDAH 09:35UAE 856 DUBAI 09:50FDB 56 DUBAI 09:55QTR 133 DOHA 10:00ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:15GFA 214 BAHRAIN 11:25KAC 541 CAIRO 11:30KAC 165 ROME 11:45IRC 6522 LAMERD 11:50MEA 405 BEIRUT 11:55JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:25KAC 103 LONDON 12:30MSC 406 SOHAG 12:35KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:00JZR 176 DUBAI 13:20MSR 611 CAIRO 14:00UAE 872 DUBAI 14:15FDB 58 DUBAI 14:30QTR 141 DOHA 14:55
KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05MPH 93 AL MAKTOUM 15:25KNE 473 JEDDAH 15:30FDB 8058 DUBAI 15:35OMA 646 MUSCAT 15:40SVA 501 JEDDAH 15:45KAC 617 DOHA 15:45KAC 773 RIYADH 16:00JZR 188 DUBAI 16:00KAC 741 DAMMAM 16:30RJA 641 AMMAN 16:55JZR 238 AMMAN 17:05QTR 135 DOHA 17:20ETD 304 ABU DHABI 17:20JZR 538 CAIRO 17:40ABY 128 SHARJAH 17:50UAE 858 DUBAI 18:15GFA 216 BAHRAIN 18:20SVA 511 RIYADH 18:20UAL 982 BAHRAIN 18:30JZR 184 DUBAI 18:30JZR 266 BEIRUT 18:40TMA 214 BEIRUT 19:00NIA 252 ALEXANDRIA 19:00QTR 145 DOHA 19:25FDB 64 DUBAI 19:35GFA 220 BAHRAIN 19:50JZR 134 BAHRAIN 20:05KAC 283 DHAKA 20:15MSC 404 ASSIUT 20:15JAI 571 MUMBAI 20:35FDB 62 DUBAI 20:40ABY 120 SHARJAH 20:45KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 20:50OMA 648 MUSCAT 20:55KAC 351 KOCHI 21:05MEA 403 BEIRUT 21:15MSR 619 ALEXANDRIA 21:30DHX 171 BAHRAIN 21:50MSC 402 ALEXANDRIA 22:00FDB 8054 DUBAI 22:10ETD 308 ABU DHABI 22:15ALK 230 COLOMBO 22:20UAE 860 DUBAI 22:25QTR 137 DOHA 22:35KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:40GFA 218 BAHRAIN 22:45FDB 60 DUBAI 23:00KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 23:00QTR 147 DOHA 23:05JAI 575 ABU DHABI 23:05JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA 23:20JZR 1540 CAIRO 23:25KAC 411 BANGKOK 23:40TAR 328 DUBAI 23:45JZR 530 ASSIUT 23:55
Inviting marriage proposalfor Tamil Christian girl age30, working in Kuwait, qual-ifications B.P.T + M Sc (UK).Contact Email:[email protected]
(C 4441)12-6-2013
Inviting marriage proposalfor Kerala Christian boy, age29/ ht - 176cm, from Trichurdistrict working as anAccountant in a reputedcompany in Kuwait.Contact: Email: [email protected]
(C 4440)
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Your feelings need to be stirred before you can throw yourself completelyinto any venture. Love, ideal and a strong sense of your own worth are vital to
your well-being. If there is something that the majority wants to do today, consider that youcould bail out if you decided not to continue the activity later; just hang with the guys for a bit;you might decide to stay. You enjoy life yourself and you value enthusiasm in those aroundyou. Your appetite for action is probably well known and well noted. Sports, outdoor activitiesand everything physical are high on your list of favorites. Sex is, no doubt, also important fortonight. A love relationship is strengthened and you have the strong feeling that there issmooth sailing ahead.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
STAR TRACK
This is certainly a busy day. You may be in the center of much activity.Perhaps some volunteer service or worship group activity is your choice for now. You have awonderful way of working with others, helping them to sense and feel the unity of life. Yourlove of the spiritual and the eternal is clear to all who meet you. You love to solve the problemsof the world, at least in words and images and when you tell it, all are enchanted; dreams andimages are your stock and trade. Your dreams and ideals are very important to you, as youmethodically go about putting them into practice now or reading about a new technique tohelp you program for success. You could bring imagination and religious understanding tophysical and scientific studies.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
You have great optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances at the deep-est emotional levels. You feel a love of order and law—an appreciation for
responsibilities and duty. The tough astrological aspects that have put you through many a testat the beginning of this year are about to give you a rest. Stay calm and give time a chance todo its healing in several areas of your life. Work to achieve and maintain as much of a balance inyour affairs as is possible and keep saving those pennies. You relish your freedom and as thisday comes to a close you will find a little quiet time to get off by yourself and refurbish yourenergies. This time of refurbishment may involve a bit of exercise such as bicycle or swimming,or an afternoon nap. Love is available.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
There are insights into your dreams today. This is a good time to reshape andrenew your philosophy or religion, during which your imagination is at full tilt. New
ideas and new understandings are possible. Getting your message across to others takes little time orexplanation today—others seem to understand just what you mean. Your timing should be perfectand those around you will find you most spontaneous and flexible to go wherever you are needed.Your management and supervisory abilities are in high gear. You are not moved by the pretendedemotions of another and you prefer concrete subjects to flights of fancy. Your love of groups and thesocial scene may find you interested in relationships of all kinds.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
When you love, you love with energy and passion. You value personalcontact, cutting through all the externals and getting to the heart of things. You understandand appreciate vulnerability and have no qualm about presenting your own sensitive spotsto others. You enjoy working behind the scenes, getting at any secrets and hidden areas ofthe mind and psyche. Detective or news reporter would be an ideal profession for you toconsider, perhaps freelance. Your passion in discovering the answer to mysteries is strongand you may find that even as you guess at hidden truths, you will be moving in the rightdirection. You are a good friend and tonight is a good time to help one particular friend stayon a rational path.
Leo (July 23-August 22)
Be open to the suggestions of others today. This is a day of exploringyour feelings—a kind of restlessness for a new emotional experience. Your most essentialquality has to do with the very real love and compassion you radiate. Your sense of valuesand sheer appreciation for life is connected to all who come to know you. People will valueyou for your warmth and dynamic qualities as much as for your ideas. You may be able tohelp in some community effort or organize a block party this evening. A neighbor that hasalways been hard to interact with finally opens up to you in positive ways. You can relate toalmost all types of people with equal ease and find this is another one of those days filledwith lots of interesting people.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
This is a good time for making amends, making peace with the past andmeditating on things that you would like to understand better. Philosophy and religion aresubjects that fascinate and occupy your mind. Your ideas are always to the point and candid,never florid or superficial. You are an expert at working with words that depict mystical andmythological ideas. You are at home in these realms and can always manage to bring other-worldly ideas into the practical realms. You might consider working at an island retreat. Thissort of profession is beginning to look profitable. This afternoon you may enjoy coachingyoung people in outdoor sports. You are a natural in this arena and enjoy participating. Sing orhum an old tune, just for fun
Libra (September 23-October 22)
Be satisfied with the ordinary and usual for now. Novel ideas or insightscould be more damaging than useful. There is hectic emotional energy pre-
vailing. There is a greater appreciation for things of value and the idea of value itself is inorder. This could be a period of great material gain; it is certainly a time when materialthings have a great deal of importance for you. People may be asking you for adviceregarding very personal and emotional issues. You are understanding of the situation andare able to find the real truth in order to help another understand. This evening is for you;stop fidgeting! You are allowed some time for yourself. If there is not a hot tub, pool orlake to dive into, a good book or movie can be fun.
Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Anyone who tries to get you to play with words is in for a big surprise. Yourmind cuts right through all the window dressing. Before anyone knows it, you
have the important aspects out front for everyone to see. You would make a great investigator,either in scientific research or undercover work. Your ability to get to the point is all but phe-nomenal. You can talk and put into words areas of the psychological that others would not gonear. Your drive to make dreams real keeps you working for your vision. One important thingyou work on for this summer is a fun vacation. You have been saving and with a little part-timework you will be able to take that cruise or learn to fly. Waiting for the right time you can seethat your goal is close at hand.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
CAPRICORNThere is optimism, hope and faith in what is yet to be experienced or accom-
plished. Family, home, relatives and real estate play a bigger part in your life now.You may decide on certain property or an area in which to move. You experience life mostlythrough your emotions and how you feel about someone or something. Your intuition is strongand can guide you accurately in making forecasts or decisions. Your sensitivity makes you recoilfrom aggressive types. You will be concerned with maintaining and strengthening your posi-tion, rather than pushing outward. This afternoon you relax with loved ones and play with newrecipe ideas. These next few months should be easy and filled with opportunities and a variety
of friendships.
Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Much can be accomplished today. You are very creative when it comesto your home and surroundings. Ideas of decorating or redecorating may be on yourmind. You may enjoy involvement in any mental efforts or like forms of discipline. You willwork long and hard at whatever you put your mind to today—results will be positive. Youcould present or teach religious and philosophical ideas, anything where substance andcontent are at issue. You have such an outpouring of insights that having a conversationwith you can be a real experience. Your mind works like lightning. Your words andthoughts come quickly and are illuminating, whatever the subject. You are an inspirationand driving force in the lives of others.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
Don’t be surprised if you are not in top mental gear today. You could bestruggling to communicate so as to be easily understood. Hard words are possible with an old-er person today. This is a time of exploring your feelings, a kind of restlessness for a new emo-tional experience. Perhaps this would be a good day to catch up on your own chores and thenfind ways in which you can relax and enjoy the company of your loved ones. A strong need fornurturing is a bigger than usual element in your life. You may feel the need to care for others orto have them care for you. This is a perfect time to go to a movie or rent a video to enjoy athome. Work in the yard or with plants, art and all forms of relaxation are beneficial to you in allsorts of ways.
Aquarius (January 20- February 18)
CROSSWORD 223
ACROSS1. Measure of the US economy adopted in 1991.4. Of or relating to the enteron.11. English writer and a central member of theFabian Society (1858-1943).15. Any of various long-tailed rodents similar tobut larger than a mouse.16. Oriental moth that produces brownish silk.17. The capital of Western Samoa.18. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.20. The capital and largest city of Jordan.21. Large gregarious predatory feline of Africaand India having a tawny coat with a shaggymane in the male.22. Of a temperature scale that registers thefreezing point of water as 32 degrees F and theboiling point as 212 degrees F at one atmos-phere of pressure.24. Moth whose larvae are flour moths.26. The compass point that is one point north ofdue east.29. Strike with disgust or revulsion.30. Someone who engages in surfboarding.32. The grasses.34. A white metallic element that burns with abrilliant light.35. A public promotion of some product or serv-ice.37. The arrangement of the hair (especially awoman's hair).40. Jordan's port.42. A state in New England.44. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rub-berized fabric.45. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.49. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.50. Any of various strong liquors distilled fromthe fermented sap of toddy palms or from fer-mented molasses.52. Water buffalo of the Philippines.53. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which thepilot is talked down by ground control using pre-cision approach radar.54. (statistics) Of a distribution.56. A state in midwestern United States.57. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that ishighly corrosion-resistant.59. Before noon.60. A city in northern India.63. An official language of the Republic of SouthAfrica.66. A Chadic language spoken south of LakeChad.68. Predatory black-and-white toothed whalewith large dorsal fin.71. The slender spear of the Bantu-speaking peo-ple of Africa.74. The ninth month of the Moslem calendar.75. A local and habitual twitching especially inthe face.76. (zoology) Lacking a tail or taillike appendage.79. One of a pair of long straps (usually connect-ed to the bit or the headpiece) used to control ahorse.80. Antibacterial drug (trade name Nydrazid)used to treat tuberculosis.81. The unwanted discharge of a fluid from somecontainer.82. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.
DOWN1. German tennis player who won sevenwomen's singles titles at Wimbledon (born in
1969).2. An informal term for a father.3. A major god.4. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.5. The 13th letter of the Greek alphabet.6. A male monarch or emperor (especially ofRussia prior to 1917).7. Electronic warfare undertaken under directcontrol of an operational commander to locatesources of radiated electromagnetic energy forthe purpose of immediate threat recognition.8. The Russian imperial line that ruled from 1613to 1917.9. A genus of orb-weaving spiders includingcommon garden spiders and barn spiders.10. A Russian river.11. A member of a North American people for-merly living in the Colorado river valley inArizona.12. Protective outer layer of seeds of floweringplants.13. All the plant and animal life of a particularregion.14. Obvious and dull.19. Manufactured in standard sizes to be shippedand assembled elsewhere.23. A son who has the same first name as hisfather.25. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth andmother of Cronus and the Titans in ancientmythology.27. English monk and scholar (672-735).28. Give a certain impression or have a certainoutward aspect.31. Medium-sized tree-dwelling monkey of theAmazon basin.33. Green algae common in freshwater lakes oflimestone districts.36. African antelope with ridged curved horns.38. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.39. English scholastic philosopher and assumedauthor of Occam's Razor (1285-1349).41. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mytholo-gy.43. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates.46. United States gangster who terrorizedChicago during Prohibition until arrested for taxevasion (1899-1947).47. An Indian side dish of yogurt and choppedcucumbers and spices.48. A tiny or scarcely detectable amount.51. Sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupi-al with gray furry ears and coat.55. 1/10 gram.58. On a ship, train, plane or other vehicle.61. A river that rises in central Germany and flowsnorth to join the Elbe River.62. Type genus of the Ardeidae.64. The seventh month of the Hindu calendar.65. United States writer (born in Poland) whowrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).67. (informal) Exceptionally good.69. (Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the firstchildren of Adam and Eve born after the Fall ofMan.70. A former copper coin of Pakistan.72. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or3.785 liters.73. A plant hormone promoting elongation ofstems and roots.77. A monarchy in northwestern Europe occupy-ing most of the British Isles.78. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.
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34s ta r s
Daily SuDoku
inf or m at ionMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558
Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622
Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967
Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638
Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241
OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223
Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426
General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501
UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427
For labor-related inquiries and complaints:
Call MSAL hotline 128
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 24874330/9
Kaizen center 25716707
Rawda 22517733
Adaliya 22517144
Khaldiya 24848075
Kaifan 24849807
Shamiya 24848913
Shuwaikh 24814507
Abdullah Salem 22549134
Nuzha 22526804
Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764
Qadsiya 22515088
Dasmah 22532265
Bneid Al-Gar 22531908
Shaab 22518752
Qibla 22459381
Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082
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
Ardhiya 24884079
Firdous 24892674
Omariya 24719048
N Khaitan 24710044
Fintas 23900322
Al-Madeena 22418714
Al-Shuhada 22545171
Al-Shuwaikh 24810598
Al-Nuzha 22545171
Sabhan 24742838
Al-Helaly 22434853
Al-Faiha 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
GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE
Plastic Surgeons
Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272
Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari 22617700
Dr. Abdel Quttainah 25625030/60
Family Doctor
Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581
Psychiatrists
Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047
Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0
Gynaecologists & Obstetricians
DrAdrian arbe 23729596/23729581
Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321
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INTERNATIONALCALLS
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
l if e s t y l eG O S S I P
Beyonce Knowles has settled a $100 millionlawsuit. The 31-year-old singer has reachedan agreement with videogame company
Gate Five after allegedly backing out of a deal tocreate her own motion-capture dance game called‘Starpower: BeyoncÈ.’ Lawyers for both sides signedan agreement dismissing “all claims or counter-claims” without legal fees and filed the papers in
Manhattan Supreme Court in New York on Friday.The gaming company’s lawyer Peter Gallaghertold the New York Post’s Page Six: “We’ve settledamicably. I can’t discuss the terms of the settle-ment, but it was resolved.” The ‘Love On Top’ singerreportedly dropped out of the deal last winterbecause she claimed that Gate Five had notsecured the funding they had promised. The com-
pany countered that the Grammy-winner, who hasa 17-month-old daughter, Blue Ivy, with her rapperhusband Jay-Z, ditched the deal on a whim andclaimed it lost its nearly $7 million investment and70 people lost their jobs. The terms of the agree-ment were not disclosed. The singer is set to kickoff the US leg of her Mrs Carter Show world tourlater this month.
Beyonce settles $100 million lawsuit
Demi Lovato claims Simon Cowell is very “humble”. The ‘Heart Attack’singer was surprised at how normal and approachable the media mogulwas when she first met him as a judge on ‘The X Factor’ USA last year.
She said: “I expected him to be a lot more intimidating. And I mean that in ahumbling way, because when people think of Simon Cowell, they think like,‘Oh, the big boss, he’s mean to people’ or whatever, but he’s super down-to-earth ... Actually I don’t know about down-to-earth! “He’s pretty fancy, but he’sa humble guy. When he walks in a room, it doesn’t matter if you’re the biggestcelebrity or the biggest big-shot in the room, he’ll treat you the same as theperson who’s coming into the room to bring you tea. I thought that was prettycool.” Despite his lavish lifestyle and expensive habits - including insisting uponhaving black loo roll in his house and splurging £3000 a week on floral arrange-ments - Demi, 20, joked his wardrobe could use some updating. She explainedto heat magazine: “The jeans he wears are torn up at the bottom and you cantell that they’re not brand new. So there are parts of him that are super-fancyand then other parts that are super down-to-earth.” The pair have build afriendship in spite of theirage difference and oftenexchange text mes-sages, with Demirevealing she evenhas a special nick-name for Simon.She laughed: “Hecalls me Gobby,and I guess thatmeans that I talka lot or some-thing. I call himGrampa orGrandma.”
Cowell is very humble, says Demi
Lindsay Lohan has never been better, according to her motherDina Lohan. The 26-year-old actress left the Betty Ford clinic inRancho Mirage, California, on Wednesday to complete her 90-
days of court-ordered treatment at Cliffside Malibu, with theapproval of her lawyers, prosecutors and a judge, and her motherbelieves she will continue to flourish now she is in a more suitablerehab program. In a message to a fan on Twitter on Friday night, Dinaexplained why the ‘Scary Movie V’ star decided to swap facilities, writ-ing: “Betty Ford was amazing and it is a 30 day program .....linds isnow moving forward to a place she can continue flourish (Sic)” Askedby another fan whether the actress is doing okay at the moment, hermother replied: “She has never been better thank you.” Other sourcesclose to the ‘Liz & Dick’ actress recently said she told anyone whowould listen that she was miserable at Betty Ford. She reportedlysaid: “It’s detrimental to my safety and sobriety here.” The troubledstarlet is said to have let everyone know how much she “hated” hertime at there and stopped at nothing to make sure she could leave assoon as possible. An insider previously said: “Lindsay hated the BettyFord Center. “She made it clear that she did not want to be there andthat she was going to get out of there any way that she could.”
Lohan continues to flourish
Jackson wants tolive with Diana Ross
Paris Jackson wantsto live with god-mother Diana Ross,
according to reports. The15-year-old daughter ofMichael has been recover-ing from her recent sui-cide attempt and hasapparently told socialworkers at UCLA MedicalCentre she doesn’t wantto be under the care ofgrandmother Katherineand cousin TJ Jacksonanymore. The Daily Starnewspaper has revealedthe troubled star “wantsto live”, but wants to do sounder the care of the‘Chain Reaction’ hitmaker.According to an insider,Paris said: “I want to live. Ijust don’t want to live at
home any more. I feel like I’m being stifled there. “I miss my dad terri-bly still and at times I feel like there’s no one I can talk to about how Ifeel. “I want to go and live with Diana, who was one of dad’s closestfriends.” It was recently said that the 69-year-old singer was con-cerned for her goddaughter’s well-being but had no intention ofstepping on the toes of the Jackson family while the ‘Thriller’ star’schildren are in good care. A source previously revealed: “Dianaabsolutely isn’t going to make a move for custody of the children.She only wants what is best for them. “Diana has tremendous respectfor Katherine and all that she has done for the children and told her ...when they spoke, that if she needed anything, she stands ready tohelp in anyway.”
Kutcher to give Kunis honeymoon
treat in spaceAshton Kutcher and Mila Kunis want to get married this sum-
mer and have their honeymoon in space. According to earlierreports, the couple are keen to have a British wedding once the
‘Two and a Half Men’ star’s divorce from ex-wife Demi Moore is final-ized - and it has now emerged he wants to take his new bride on oneof Sir Richard Branson’s flights into space. The British business tycoonhas set up a project to allow people to embark on the incredible two-hour commercial trips and Ashton - who already bought his £124,000seat - wants a truly special honeymoon. An insider told The Sun onSunday newspaper: “Ashton is already going into space on Branson’sVirgin Galactic flight and he has said Mila will definitely be at this sideas his honeymoon present.” The couple are said to want to get mar-ried as soon as they can because they have plans to settle down andstart an “old-fashioned” family. A source previously revealed: “Mila andAshton have fallen in love with the UK. “They are desperate to getmarried as soon as possible because they want to start a family andare slightly old-fashioned about these things.” The inaugural flight onSpaceShip Two will be packed with stars including Justin Bieber,famed physics genius Stephen Hawking and Leonardo DiCaprio. Thefirst trip is due to happen this Christmas Day with more flights follow-ing in 2014. Passengers will travel 62 miles in altitude - the interna-tionally recognized boundary of outer space - and will experienceweightlessness and an incredible view of the curve of the Earth.
Julianne Moore is embar-rassed at how her relationshipwith Bart Freundlich began.
The 52-year-old actress met the43-year-old director in 1996 whenthey worked on ‘ The Myth ofFingerprints’ together, and whileshe was instantly smitten, sheadmits the filmmaker - with whomshe has children Caleb, 15, anddaughter Liv, 11 - initially didn’t
want to get romantically involved. Asked how they got together, she said:“On a film shoot. It was a bit embarrassing; he didn’t want to start a rela-tionship. It was his very first film, but I really liked him. And it continuedfrom there. Bart lived in New York, I lived in Los Angeles. We both wentback and forth as much as possible. Soon after, we had a baby. It was ‘flu-id’. We always wanted to see each other. “After my past relationships end-ing and it being like, ‘Well, that’s over’, this one is still going strong 17years later.” Julianne - who married Bart in 2003 - admits the hardest thingabout their relationship is finding the time to be together because of theirrespective workloads. She added to the French edition of Vogue maga-zine: “The difficulty for a couple, every couple, is both having time-con-suming jobs. A couple has to be worked on. Taking the kids to school, hav-ing dinner together, going on holiday... if you spend too much time apart,it becomes dangerous.”
Robbie Williams is “still learning” howto be a dad. The ‘Let Me EntertainYou’ star is father to eight-month-old
daughter Theodora ‘Teddy’ Rose with wifeAyda Field, and is still figuring out how tobe a father. He said: “My wife and I are stilllearning how to be parents, but I thinkwe’re doing a pretty good job. I’m sure thatwhen my daughter will bring home her firstboyfriend I’ll? be so intimidating that he’llrun away, but embarrassing as well, just tohave a bit of fun”. While Robbie is besottedwith his daughter, he admits to being self-ish. He added to Italy’s Grazia magazine:“I’ve been asked many times if I consideredmyself a narcissist, so I looked up the realmeaning of the word and I came to theconclusion that indeed I am one. I think ofmyself as better than other people, notevery person, but many, unique and talent-ed and I aim to success. And one of the nar-cissist’s traits is selfishness, which is mybiggest guilt”.
Moore embarrassed by relationship
Williams‘still learning’ to be a dad
Adele installs bulletproof windows in new home
Adele has bulletproof windows in her new £5 million home. The ‘Skyfall’ hitmak-er - who was awarded an MBE for her services to music in the Queen’s BirthdayHonours list yesterday - is taking no chances despite her house being in the
same neighborhood as the likes of the Beckham family. It is said the 25-year-oldsinger wants to protect herself, her partner Simon Konecki and their eight-month-oldson Angelo and was quick to make improvements to the west London property. Aninsider told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: “She moved in a couple of months ago.She has renovated the whole place and has even installed bulletproof windows. Theproperty has four bedrooms.” Despite the protective measures, Adele was recentlyrevealed to be shopping for bargains at second-hand stores as she started furnishingher new home. A source previously said: “Adele is like any normal girl - she loves a bar-gain. “She’d rather shop local, too, so these are the obvious places to go. “She doesn’tget bothered much where she’s decided to live so she’s got plenty of time to delveinto whatever’s in the shops.” —Bang Showbiz
37L I F E S T Y L EMONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
F E A T U R E S
Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, center, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, third right, Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, second right, and South Korean actor Chun Jung-myung, far right, pose during the press confer-ence for the Chinese Film Festival in Seoul, yesterday. The 5th Chinese Film Festival opened in Seoul yesterday for a 5-day celebration of Chinese films to boost bilateral cooperations of the movies and culture.At left is head of CJ E&M Pictures Jeong Tae-sung, and Chairman of Korean Film Council Kim Eui-suk, second left. — AP
Antonio Malpeli gazes proudly at the tower-ing rounds of Parmesan in his small factoryand declares one thing sure: the medieval
monk recipe used to make this Italian delicacywill never change. Malpeli, who boasts arms wor-thy of a boxer after three decades of stirringimmense vats of frothing milk, wears modernrubber overalls and boots but describes himselfas a ‘descendent’ of the Benedictine monksbehind the cheese. “The monks discovered thecheese while looking for a way to conserve milk.The method was then passed down through thecenturies,” the 47-year-old said.
“The technology has been refined a bit, butthe fundamental concept has remained the same.It will not change,” he added, standing in front ofthe huge wooden shelves supporting rounds lov-ing produced over the past two years. “The secretof good Parmesan lies in good milk-the cowshave to eat the correct feed-and also in the art ofcheese-making,” he said with a smile. The co-operative Malpeli works for in the town of SalaBerganza, which lies at the foot of green hills nearParma in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern
Italy, currently produces 32 cheeses a day andaround 11,000 a year. It is one of close to 400 sitesproducing Parmigiano-Reggiano DOC-a con-trolled designation of origin status obtained in1996 — by which Parmesan must be producedwithin regional boundaries and under strict quali-ty controls.
The first written references to Parmesan dateback to 1254. The methods for making the popu-lar cheese were conjured up in the large monas-teries in the area by monks looking for a long-term way of conserving the milk produced by themany cows they used to help them work thefields. Experiments over time led them to opt forlarge rounds-modern ones weigh 40 kilograms(88 pounds) on average and use 600 liters of milk-which are then dried over a minimum of 12months, though some sit for up to 48 months.
They are then put to a sound test: each roundis tapped with a special small metal hammer byworkers from the Parmigiano-Reggiano consor-tium, who listen for hollow sounds that wouldindicate it is not top quality. The aim is to protectthe brand’s reputation; no mean task for a prod-
uct counterfeited thousands of times, sparkinglong legal and commercial battles. “Forgery is aproblem. The consortium has been crackingdown on it, but it happens all over the place,” saidMalpeli, who learned the trade from his father,and is the fourth generation of cheesemakers inhis family.
The sector has been bouncing back after twoearthquakes last year in the Emilia Romagnaregion caused extensive damage to Parmesanmaturing cellars. “The system remained standing.Those who suffered damages have begun pro-ducing again, its passed,” said Malpeli, whose fac-tory was spared. Total Parmesan productionreached 3.3 million rounds last year, up 2.3 per-cent on the previous year, and the industry islooking to boost exports. It has its eye on far-flung China in particular: around 85 tons ofParmesan were exported to China last year-out ofsome 2,245 tons to Asia in general-where thefruity taste is making an impression on palates.The consortium aims to up sales abroad and beexporting half of its production within the nextfive years. — AFP
Modern day ‘monk’ keeps Benedictine Parmesan recipe alive
A file picture taken on Febuary 15, 2008 shows a worker checking a wheel of seasonedParmigiano Reggiano cheese in a factory in Valestra, near Reggio Emilia. — AFP
Summer of joy at Joyalukkas
Joyalukkas has launched the ‘Summer of Joy’ promo-tion at its showrooms across the GCC. The exciting
summer bonanza will offer customers an exclusive giftpack created for Joyalukkas by Yardley of London. In addi-tion to this Joyalukkas has also created an exclusive soli-taire diamond jewelry set, which will be offered to cus-tomers at a very special price.
“We believe in creating customer friendly initiativeswhich enhance customers shopping experience and givethem maximum value addition. Based on this objectivewe are looking forward to excite our customers with theFree Yardley gift pack offer. The plan is to reward themwith gifts they would love to use or gift to near and dearones,” said Joy Alukkas, Chairman & MD, JoyalukkasGroup.
The Free Yardley gift pack is an exclusive pack of 4 dif-ferent products created by the globally renowned cos-metic brand for Joyalukkas. This exclusive 4 product giftpack will contain an English Lavender EDT 125ml, EnglishLavender Talc 250gm, English Lavender body Spray150ml and a 100gm English Lavender Soap bar. Theexclusive Yardley gift pack will be offered to customers onevery purchase worth KD400. In addition to thisJoyalukkas has created a scintillating 1ct solitaire dia-mond pendant set (pendant, earrings and finger ring)which will be offered at a special price of KD550 only.
“We have researched the needs of customers shop-ping during the summer and based on this we arrived atthese two exciting offers to ensure we delight them atJoyalukkas. Yardley is a globally renowned aspirationalcosmetic brand and very popular with our customer basehence we thought this gift would be ideal for them. Asolitaire set is something which every woman dreams ofand so we have created a special set at a very reasonableprice to make it accessible for all,” said John Paul JoyAlukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group.
Joyalukkas has also added an extensive range and col-lection to meet the summer demands of jewelry shop-pers. The range covers all forms of jewelry in traditionaland contemporary designs to meet all the needs anddesires of jewelry lovers.
Nicely done, Jack Johnson. Johnson and his bandovercame tough odds and thorny logistics to head-line the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Saturday
night, replacing late cancellation Mumford & Sons.Despite the short notice, they produced a set filled withgood humor, mellow vibes and a ton of hits. “We want todedicate this whole set to Ted Dwane and all of Mumford& Sons,” Johnson said after taking the stage before tens ofthousands of fans. “And we wish we could all be here play-ing music together. Maybe that will be next year.”
Mumford & Sons was forced to pull out of its much-anticipated headline slot on Thursday after bassist Dwaneunderwent a surgical procedure earlier in the week to
treat a blood clot on his brain. The group had hoped tokeep the date in Manchester. Though Dwane is recover-ing, he was not ready to perform and the group wasunwilling to take the stage with a replacement, leaving alarge amount of money on the table. There was muchspeculation among Bonnaroo organizers and watchersabout how fans would react to the switch - the first head-liner cancellation in 12 years of Bonnaroo. But Johnsonquickly won over the crowd and kept its fickle attentionwith a light touch and his easygoing persona.
“Give us that one,” Johnson joked after a flub late in theset. “We practiced for a couple of hours.” Bonnaroo 2013turned out quite differently from what Johnson wasexpecting. He hasn’t played the festival since 2008 andwas in town to do a little light promotion for his newalbum, “From Here To Now To You,” out in September, andto appear with his friends in ALO. He got a phone callThursday as he drove to the festival from organizers won-dering if he’d be interested in upping his involvement.
After thinking about it, Johnson flew in his band,rehearsed some Friday night, attended a breakfast withfans in Nashville on Saturday morning and then preppedfor the show. It’s been two years since the four-pieceplayed a long set, convening for just 45 minutes last yearat Farm Aid. About the only thing that seemed the worsefor wear were the 38-year-old Hawaiian singer’s trade-mark curls, which unraveled in middle Tennessee’soppressive humidity.
Heck, Johnson even had time to write a new songcalled “Bonnaroo” for the set, singing in part: “I had a late-night gig with ALO/It was very low stress, it was very lowpro/But then the phone rang and things got strange/Andmy low pro was about the change/Can you get the bandtogether in two days to play a show up on the bigstage?/But I don’t know, it’s been a year or two since weplayed these tunes/What the hell, it’s Bonnaroo.” A littlelater in the set he incorporated Mumford’s “The Cave” intoa medley with his song “Go On,” telling the crowd: “Maybeyou guys can help us with this part.”
For those not into Johnson, there were plenty of otheroptions on an exceedingly busy Saturday night thatincluded appearances by British punker Billy Idol, Weird AlYankovic and the Rock ‘n’ Soul Dance Party Superjam withJim James and John Oates. Mumford & Sons’ folk-rockcousins The Lumineers drew one of the festival’s largestcrowds before Johnson took the stage. It was so large, infact, fans on the edge of the crowd couldn’t hear theband’s mostly hushed, acoustic songs.
“Everybody be quiet, I’m trying to hear the band,” onefan yelled as The Lumineers possibly performed a BobDylan song. R&B singer R. Kelly had no trouble gettingattention, though. He began his post-Johnson set bybringing dozens of chorus members on stage for a rendi-tion of his song “Ignition.” Suddenly the lights went darkand Kelly was illuminated 40 feet above, standing in the
basket of a crane that hovered over the Which Stage’s dis-tinctive question mark symbol. “They told me back stagethere’s no cursing here,” Kelly told the crowd a little later. “Ijust laughed. I can’t (expletive) curse?” — AP
Jack Johnson pulls off the switch at Bonnaroo
Ben Wahamaki of The Lumineers, performs.
Jack Johnson performs at What Stage during day 3 ofthe 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival inManchester, Tennessee. — AFP photos
‘World citizen’ Depardieu to seek Algerian passport
French actor and newRussian nationalGerard Depardieu
said yesterday he wasapplying for an Algerianpassport and possiblyothers, describing him-self a “world citizen”. The64-year-old star, one ofthe world’s most prolificactors, acquired Russiannationality in Januaryafter getting into a fightwith the French authori-ties over a new 75-per-cent tax on the super-
rich. “I would like to have seven” passports, he toldFrance’s Journal du Dimanche. “I’m going to ask foran Algerian one and others as well,” he said. “This willhelp me avoid visas.”
Depardieu, who has openly professed his admira-tion for President Vladimir Putin, said the Russianstrongman had “done a lot for culture.” The actordescribed himself as something of hell-raiser and“someone who is a bit of a rebel, who shakes upthings and who is sometimes drunk. “I think it’s a bitof this hooligan spirit which pleases Putin,” he said,adding however that he was a man with his head onhis shoulders. A Paris court is due to rule Friday on adrink-driving charge against Depardieu, who wasdetained in November after falling off a scooter whilemore than three times over the legal alcohol limit.Prosecutors have sought a 4,000-euro ($5,300) fineand penalty points. — AFP
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
l if e s t y l eT R A V E L
Fish dealers make hand signals during the first tuna auction of the year at the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.
To
ky
o
File photo, a frozen tuna is placed on a cart following the first auction of the year at the TsukijiMarket in Tokyo. — AP photos
5 freebies from shrine to ‘cool’ Japan Finding free things in one of the world’s most
expensive cities may sound impossible.Surprisingly, Tokyo offers a wide range of
museums, parks, historical sites and cultural activ-ities for free - good news for budget travelers whowant to see a lot and still enjoy expensive sushi.
Old and newMeiji Jingu Shrine is a piece of old Tokyo not to
be missed. Boasting the nation’s largest wooden“torii” gate, the shrine was built more than 90 yearsago to commemorate Emperor Meiji, who reignedas Japan opened to the rest of the world after cen-turies of isolation. The great-grandfather of cur-rently reigning Emperor Akihito also was a symbolof Japan’s modernization and militarization in thelate 19th and 20th centuries. Lucky visitors maycatch a solemn Shinto-style wedding procession.The gardens, lily ponds and shrine grounds are apleasant respite from the noisy city center.
A short walk from the serenity takes you toHarajuku and Omotesando, a Mecca of latest fash-ion and culture, the district of “cool” new Japan.Walk down the Takeshita street packed withyoung people looking for latest “kawaii” (cute)trends. Then stroll Omotesando boulevard, whereyou’ll find high-end boutiques in contemporarylandmark Omotesando Hil ls, designed byrenowned architect Tadao Ando, and poke yourhead in the artsy Design Festa Gallery. Take abreak or people-watch at Yoyogi Park.
Japan’s capitol hillParliament, or the National Diet, as it is official-
ly known, stands on a site once occupied by feu-dal lords and is now home to Japan’s legislativeheadquarters. Completed in 1936, the buildingwith a landmark pyramid-shaped dome housesthe two chambers - the more powerful House of
Representatives (Lower House) and the House ofCouncilors (Upper House) - under the Japaneseparliamentary system. The Upper House providesa free hour-long tour when the house is not in ses-sion. The tour, which starts on the hour between 9am and 4 pm, includes the public gallery, theemperor’s room and central hall, with the floordecorated with intricate mosaic design using 1million pieces of tiles and mural paintings depict-ing the four seasons.
Tsukiji fish marketSprawling Tsukiji fish market - the world’s
biggest - is where those beautiful slices of tuna onyour sushi come from. Want to witness the famoustuna auctions? Then get up early and be there by5 am to cue up for the first 120 viewing slots. Ifthat’s too early, you can still spend hours roaminga maze of narrow alley ways, but watch out for themotorized carts whizzing around with ice troughsfilled with fish. (Don’t wear open-toed shoes!)Nearly 2,000 tons of fish of all kinds are tradeddaily here, as well as every kind of sea food imagi-
nable. You are still advised to visit early in themorning as everything shuts early afternoon.There are a number of fresh sushi shops withinand around the market, as well as a fun shoppingarea selling products ranging from dried fruits torazor-sharp knives. Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple, aBuddhist temple known for its Indian-style archi-tecture, is right across the street, also free ofadmission.
Walk to Odaiba beachNeed to burn calories after eating all the deli-
cious local food, but you’re too busy sightseeing?Here is a perfect plan - a scenic walk over the
Rainbow Bridge to the reclaimed island of Odaibaout in the Tokyo Bay for a picnic, sunbathing on aman-made beach, or even a jog. The walk is justover one mile (1.7 kilometers) including the 918-meter-long (just over half a mile) single-span sus-pension bridge and takes less than an hour oneway. A walk on the north side of the bridge pro-vides the panoramic view of Tokyo’s skyline, withthe world’s second-tallest structure Tokyo SkyTreerising into the sky like a needle. The south sideoverlooks Daiba Park and a scale copy of theStatue of Liberty, as well as Shinagawa and Oipiers. You get to see both on a round trip, but youhave an option of tak ing the Yurikamome(Seagull) elevated railway system one way. DaibaPark, which sticks out right underneath theRainbow Bridge, used to be a site of cannon bat-teries built in the late 1850s to protect Tokyo frompotential foreign attacks following the arrival ofan American fleet led by Commodore MatthewPerry in 1853. It was not used and later turnedinto a park. There are several parks and museumsthat are also free, including the Museum ofMaritime Science, Tokyo Sewerage Exhibit Hall(about the structure of Tokyo’s drainage system)and Tokyo Water Science Museum.
Experience a (fake) quakeJapan is one of the most earthquake-prone
countries in the world. This public facility, theIkebukuro Disaster Prevention Center, run by theTok yo Fi re Depar tment , of fers a uniquelyJapanese experience that can be educational, abit scary but also fun.
Visitors can experience a temblor - as violentas the March 2011 disaster that struck northernJapan - in a quake simulator built in a livingroom set. The center also provides the crucialbasic instructions of how you can protect your-self in case of a major earthquake and other dis-asters. — AP
People walk at Takeshita street at Harajuku.
Foreigners take pictures of a Japanese traditional wedding ceremony at Meiji Jingu Shrine.
A father takes a photo of his family on the walkway of the Rainbow Bridge inTokyo.
Shinto priests lead a Japanese couple under a parasol during a traditionalwedding ceremony at Meiji Jingu Shrine.
Visitors take souvenir photos in the compound of Parliament.
Junior high school students walk in the compound as they tour Parliament.
Junior high school students walk on the redcarpet as they tour inside Parliament.
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
l if e s t y l eT R A V E L
With sunshine bathing its multicoloredfacades against a backdrop of deepblue sky, the Pena Palace in Sintra is
like a castle seen through a kaleidoscope. Ajumble of bright yellow domes, red towers,blue tiles, a drawbridge and a half-man, half-fish sculpture holding up a window, the PenaPalace is lauded as the finest example ofPortuguese romanticism, an eclectic mix thatborrows style notes from - among others - theMoors, German gothic revival and the localmanueline architecture.
Fernando II, husband of Portuguese QueenMaria II, had the palace built in the 1840saround the remains of a derelict monastery.Now tourists can wander through its ornaterooms and oversized kitchens as well as itssprawling gardens, featuring plants broughtback from around the world and ponds wherecarp and black swans drift languidly aroundcrenelated duck houses.
And Pena is far from the only spectacularpalace in Sintra, long a playground of royaltyand the ostentatiously wealthy. The town’saltitude and shady forests have historicallyprovided welcome relief from sweltering sum-mer temperatures of the Portuguese capital,Lisbon, which is now only a half-hour’s driveaway.
Bang in the middle of the old town is theNational Palace with its distinctive conicalchimneys. A couple of kilometers (miles) into
the lushly forested hil ls is the Palace ofMonserrate -once visited by British poet LordByron - surrounded by manicured gardensand what is billed as the first lawn planted inPortugal.
And if your eyes tire of all the palatialpomp, you can retire for a morning to the coolconfines of a 16th century monastery, whereFranciscan friars lived in extreme austerity,providing a stark contrast to Sintra’s explosionof architectural excesses.
Overlooking it all are the well-preservedremains of an eighth century Moorish fort,whose restored ramparts cling to a hilltopabove Sintra and offer spectacular views ofthe Atlantic Ocean and the Pena Palace on anadjacent hill.
The wealth of historic buildings ledUNESCO to inscribe the entire Sintra “CulturalLandscape” on its World Heritage List in 1995,saying its “structures harmonize indigenousflora with a refined and cultivated landscapecreated by man as a result of literary and artis-tic influences.”
Nowhere can that be better seen than inthe grounds of the Palace of Monserrate, asummer residence for 19th century Britishtextile millionaire Francis Cook, whose gar-dens include a folly of a ruined chapel with anAustralian banyan tree draped over its walls, amanmade waterfall, a valley full of tree fernsfrom Australia and New Zealand, cacti from
Mexico and a Chinese mourning cypress inthe middle of the steeply sloping lawn.
The palace itself is no less spectacular, withthree dome-topped towers connected by acorridor full of ornately carved arches andcolumns. It is not hard to imagine Lord Byronwandering from a piano recital in the north-
ern tower’s music room to the nearby billiardsroom before strolling past panels of Indianalabaster carved in Mogul style to the library,where he could pen a verse amid the darkwalnut bookshelves. All of the buildingsaround Sintra are open to the paying publicand easily accessible, offering a glimpse backin time to the days when Portugal was awealthy seafaring nation ruled by a monarchywith a penchant for palaces.
Walking from ornate bedrooms to tiledbathrooms of the palaces and gazing at theirhuge kitchens gives an idea of the sumptuouslives of the Portuguese royals and their guestsand it is easy to feel why they flocked herefrom Lisbon in the summer when you strollthrough the shaded gardens, catchingglimpses of the ocean and surrounding hills.But in a country currently buckling underEuropean Union-mandated budgetary auster-ity measures, the pared-back simplicity of theMoorish castle and the Capuchos Conventalso leave lasting impressions.
The castle was built by Moors in the ninthand 10th centuries, gradually fell into disre-pair and was restored in the 19th century by
none other than Fernando II, the queen’s con-sort responsible for neighboring Pena Palace.A short drive into the hills, austerity is takento its extremes at the Franciscan monasteryknown as the Convent of the Holy Cross ofCork Convent, built in 1560 and inhabiteduntil 1834.
Here, the only nods toward any kind ofdecoration are the 18th century azulejo tilesin its Chapel of the Passion of the Christ.Elsewhere, doors to dormitory rooms are builtdeliberately small so that monks have to bowin humility just to get into the cramped quar-ters, and doors and shutters are lined withcork harvested from trees in the surroundingforest.
WSitting on the steps of the monks’ grainstore in the shadow of a leaning cork oaklooking at the simple stone buildings thatblend into the woods, Sintra and its palacesseem a world away. — AP
The exteriorof Pena Palace
in Sintra.
Sintra, Portugal, like a castle in a kaleidoscope
The garden of Monserrate Palace in Sintra. Photo shows tiled walls and arched door-ways inside the Monserrate Palace.
Photo shows Pena Palace in the distance with the steps of the Moorish Castle in the foreground in Sintra.
The MonserratePalace in Sintra,
Portugal. — AP photos
The colorful facade of Pena Palace in Sintra.
37‘World citizen’Depardieu to seek Algerianpassport
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2013
Balinese women carry offerings in a parade during the 35th Bali Art Festival in Denpasar, on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on June 15, 2013. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugu-rated the festival which was highlighted with a parade of traditional art teams along with other cultural displays from Bali and others Indonesiaís provinces. — AFP
The ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star, who was dueto give birth to her first child on July 11, has reportedlywelcomed her daughter at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
in Beverly Hills with her rapper boyfriend Kanye West by herside. A source told UsMagazine.com: “Kim had her baby.She’s five weeks early. Kim got sick last night and had thebaby early. They’re all doing great and amazing!” Kanyeskipped a listening party for his new album amid rumorsKim was in labor.
The 36-year-old rapper reportedly disappointed some ofhis biggest fans by not showing up to a party at Milk Studiosin Los Angeles on Friday night where he was scheduled topreview tracks from his new album ‘Yeezus’, which leakedonline before its official release next Tuesday. Sources toldgossip website RadarOnline.com that a rumor quickly sweptthrough the event that the reason the ‘New Slaves’ hitmakerwas a no-show was because his reality TV star girlfriend wasgoing into labor. Several of Kim’s close friends including
Scott Disick and Jonathan Cheban both attended the party.The 32-year-old beauty, who has been noticeably absent
on social media today, previously revealed that she was dueto give birth to a baby girl in early July. Kanye recentlyrevealed that he plans to do everything in his power to pro-tect the privacy of his daughter. Asked for his thoughts onparenthood, he said: “One of the things was just to be pro-tective, that I would do anything to protect my child or mychild’s mother ... [But I haven’t] fully developed thosethoughts yet. Idon’t have a kid yet. “Well, I just don’t want totalk to America about my family. Like, this is my baby. Thisisn’t America’s baby.”
People magazine said Kardashian, 32, gave birth onSaturday ahead of schedule, with the baby reportedly due inearly July. Kardashian stars with her sisters in the realityshow “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” She has a clothingline and several product endorsements and was the most-searched person on the Yahoo! in 2012. Grammy-winning
rap star Kanye West and Kardashian began dating in April2012.
Two months ago Kardashian and her second husband,Kris Humphries of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, announced theyhad reached a divorce settlement. They had split 72 daysafter their August2011 wedding. Humphries had firstsought an annulment, alleging that Kardashian, who citedirreconcilable difference when filing for divorce, had nointention of keeping to the marriage, which was filmed aspart of her reality show. — Agencies
Photo shows US rapper Kanye West and Kim Kardashianarriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s CostumeInstitute Gala benefit in New York. — AFP photos
Kim Kardashian hasgiven birth to a baby girl
File photo shows US socialite KimKardashian arriving atthe annual White House Correspondents’ Association din-ner in Washington.
Auctioneers are pinning their hopes on“uber-collectors” to help London summerart sales top last year’s $1 billion total
when the series kicks off later this month.Estimates from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and smallerrivals such as Phillips and Bonhams for salesover the next few weeks in the British capitalshow that the paintings, sculptures and furni-ture under the hammer are on course to defy asluggish global economy again this year.
The top two houses have put more than$300 million worth of their most expensiveworks up for sale on public show until June 11at their London galleries in Mayfair, hoping pre-sale exhibitions might inspire a bit of impulse-buying from serious collectors making theLondon stop on the art trail. “What we hope isthat the rather more transitory uber-collectorswho are in London, Basel and Venice will comein and see things that they wouldn’t normallylook at,” deputy chairman of Christie’s Europe,Orlando Rock, told Reuters.
Christie’s, the world’s biggest auctioneers,has a star lot that is a price-on-request (around$23 million) diptych by 20th century Americanpainter Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a paintingfrom Russian Expressionist Wassily Kandinsky,which could set a lifetime record for the artist ifit sells north of $23 million. Its top estimate is$24.86 million. Nearest rival Sotheby’s hasFrench Impressionist Claude Monet’s “Le PalaisContarini” with a top estimate of $31 millionand paintings by 18th century FrenchmanClaude-Joseph Vernet ($7.7 million) and Britishcontemporary artist David Hockney ($4.6 mil-lion).
Continued weakness in a battered euro zoneand slowing Chinese economic growth havemade investors wary in the last two years, buthigh-end art sales have continued to breakrecords. New York has long been consideredthe global capital of the auction world - mostrecent records have been set there. This year’s
spring auctions were no different, ending on arecord-shattering high as Christie’s May 15post-war & contemporary art sale achieved thehighest total - $495 million - in the history of artauctions. None of the star London lots currentlycome near the $58.4 million paid at theChristie’s sale in New York for US artist JacksonPollock’s “Number 19, 1948”.
SilkwormA closer look at the estimates from
Christie’s and Sotheby’s give a mixed pictureof a London season that looks healthy but maynot blast the record books. Estimates fromChristie’s of about $388 million for this year arelower than sales of just under $600 million lastyear, although the top estimate fromSotheby’s for $562 million easily eclipses lastyear’s nearly $385 million.
Alongside the Old Masters, modern andfine art, auction houses have mixed in pre-
cious objects such as a Georgian coffee potexpected to become the most expensive pieceof English silver ever sold and a 15th centuryVirgil manuscript, as well as collectibles like awatch worn by James Bond in “Thunderball”and unreleased lyrics from singer Bob Dylan.London, a natural fit for Russian tycoons whohave homes in the city and Middle Easternbuyers just a mid-haul flight away, will offersought-after sculptures from antiquities to
Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore andElisabeth Frink, as well as fine Louis XIV furni-ture.
A jeweled automaton silkworm lurks near apair of Louis XVI vases among the 80 workschosen by Sotheby’s for public display, alongwith a 17th century El Greco painting and a1927 piece from Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.“This will be an exhibition that speaks to thecatholic taste of today’s collectors as well as toeveryone who loves great works of art andenjoys the thrill of the unexpected,” said MarioTavella, Sotheby’s deputy chairman for Europe.
Soaring prices for art at a time of globaleconomic uncertainty have long promptedwarnings of a sharp correction and even col-lapse, but time and again in the last four yearsthe market has defied the gloomiest predic-tions. Chinese demand has weakened andtastes can be fickle, but the very best works ofart have generally risen in value since a sharpbut brief drop in auction turnover in 2009.
The only copy of Edvard Munch’s seminalimage “The Scream” still in private handscame up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York lastyear. After nearly 15 minutes of intense bid-ding, made in million-dollar increments, itsold for $120 million including commission, anew auction record for any work of art.
The two previous records were also recent- Pablo Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves andBust” fetched $106.5 million in 2010, havingsold for $19,800 in 1951. In the same yearGiacometti’s “Walking Man I” made $104.3 mil-lion. Institutions have played a key role inthe recovery, with Qatar emerging as one ofthe biggest buyers of art in recent years as itfills a growing network of museums.According to widespread reports, the Gulfstate paid $250 million for Paul Cezanne’s“The Card Players” in a private deal in 2011,which is believed to be the highest price everpaid for a work of art. — Reuters
London art market woos ‘uber-collectors’ to buoy summer sales
Indian Bollywood actors Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan pose during a promotional party for the forthcoming Hindi film ‘Ghanchakkar’in Mumbai on June 15, 2013. — AFP
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