Oppn ex-MPs to boycott polls, Awazem to take part

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Constitutional court to explain ruling on June 26

9Syria-linked clashes kill at least eight in Lebanon 12

Gunmen kill nine foreign tourists in Pakistan 15

Egypt army says it’s ready to save nation 20

India hold nerve to sink England in rainy final

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013 SHAABAN 15, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

Oppn ex-MPs to boycott polls, Awazem to take part

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Twenty-seven former opposition MPs yester-day signed a statement in which they vowed to boycottthe forthcoming elections, but the opposition’s attemptto garner popular support for the boycott was dealt aheavy blow after the Awazem tribe, the largest in thecountry, decided to participate. The Awazem announce-ment was made by the tribe’s chief Falah bin Jame’ at alarge gathering of the tribe. Jame’ told his tribesmenthat he believes that “after the court ruling, we shouldparticipate”. Former opposition MP Falah Al-Sawwagh, amember of the tribe who is boycotting, appealed to thetribesmen not to change their opinion, especially sincethe single-vote amendment does not serve the interestsof the tribe.

Meanwhile, the constitutional court yesterday setnext Wednesday as the date to respond to a petitionasking the court to explain parts of its landmark rulingissued last week to order the National Assembly dis-solved and to confirm the controversial amendment tothe electoral law. The petition was filed by member ofthe scrapped Assembly Abdulhameed Dashti, who saidthat parts of the ruling were not clear and need someexplanation.

Dashti said that unlike a similar ruling issued by thesame court a year ago, the new verdict did not call forreviving the Assembly that was elected in 2009 and dis-solved in December 2011 after street protests by theopposition. Fresh election were later held in Feb 2012but the election process was nullified on June 20, 2012

Continued on Page 15

ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon: Palestinian contestant Mohammed Assaf raises his trophy next to Lebanesesinger Assi Al-Hallani (left) and host Annabella Hilal after winning the ‘Arab Idol’ singing contest early yes-terday. — AFP (See Page 40)

MOSCOW: Former US spy Edward Snowden arrivedyesterday in Russia, requesting asylum in Ecuador toescape the US legal authorities after leaking sensa-tional details of cyber-espionage by Washington.Snowden, the target of a US arrest warrant issuedFriday after he blew the lid on massive secret surveil-lance programs, arrived in Moscow on a direct flightfrom Hong Kong and was expected to head to SouthAmerica via Cuba. The Hong Kong government saidearlier it had “no legal basis” to prevent Snowdenleaving because the US government had failed toprovide enough information to justify its provisionalarrest warrant for the former National SecurityAgency (NSA) contractor.

Snowden, 30, landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevoairport on a scheduled Aeroflot flight at 5:05 pm(1305 GMT), an AFP correspondent at the airportsaid. He did not emerge into the main terminal areawhere crowds of journalists quizzed his jet-laggedand bewildered fellow passengers if they had seenthe fugitive ex-agent on the flight. Airport officialssaid Snowden in fact never crossed the border andwould spend the night in the Vozdushny Express“capsule hotel” inside the departures area ahead ofhis next flight. — AFP (See Page 7)

Snowden flies to Russia, seeking

Ecuador asylum

L O C A LMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

News

Constitutional Court sessionKUWAIT: Kuwait Supreme Constitutional Courtannounced yesterday that it will hold a session onWednesday June 26 to examine a request for explana-tion to ruling No. 15 of 2013 over the challenges tothe electoral law and parliament. In its ruling lastweek, the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered thedissolution of current parliament, elected inDecember 2012, and the organization of new parlia-mentary elections in two-month period. The courtalso rebuffed a challenge to law No 20 of 2012 whichbrought a one-person, one-vote system in place ofthe former rules that allowed voters to cast ballots forfour candidates.

Ramadan well-wishers His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah willreceive well-wishers of Ramadan during the first threedays of the holy month, deputy minister of AmiriDiwan said. Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah said HisHighness the Amir and His Highness the CrownPrince would be receiving all well-wishers in the firstthree days only, and would not visit the “diwaniyas asusual” during Ramadan.

Fault in transformer A fault in one the main transformers 132 KV, whichfeeds Al-Sabah medical area, has lead to power cut onthat area, in addition to Saad Al-Abdullah academyearly morning Saturday. Standby generators for hos-pitals started working immediately after the stop-page, as in each hospital there are number of genera-tors used in emergency cases to keep hospitals inpower. Sources said that ministry emergency teamsworked and repaired the defect and the ministry sent10 generators to the hospitals areas to be standby asthat area is very sensitive and cannot do without elec-tricity. Sources said that defect was repaired and cur-rent was back to normal at 2 pm after using thestandby generators for 5 hours.

in brief

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabahpatronized and attended the opening of amulti-purpose hall for the deaf at Kuwaitsport club for the deaf on Saturdayevening.

Sheikh Jaber inaugurated the hallwhich consisted of a handball court, a vol-leyball court and a swimming pool, allbuilt in line with international standardsfor people with special needs.

Minister of information and minister ofstate for youth affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah, addressing the inauguration cere-mony, said the information ministry was inthe process of appointing sign languageinterpreters for news bulletins and otherprograms.

This step, he added, is part of the min-istry’s contribution to blending the deafinto society and defending their rights.

Sheikh Salman said one of priorities ofthe ministry of youth affairs’ strategy wasto attach greater interest to the people

with special needs in order to developtheir creative and sport skills.

The State of Kuwait believes in theimportance of blending the people withspecial needs in society in all cultural andsport domains, and to be treated equallywith their fellow citizens, said the minister.

The government is well aware of theimportance of backing the people withspecial needs “so that our society remain asociety of cooperation, progress and open-ness on all of its segments,” he added.

The constitution of Kuwait, said SheikhSalman, guaranteed rights of all citizens inaddition to the law No. VIII of 2010 whichorganized rights of people with disabili-ties. He noted that Kuwait sport club forthe deaf was established in 1975 and has500 members, making it one of thebiggest at the Arab and continental levels.

He praised full support of His Highnessthe Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-JaberAl-Sabah, His Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

and Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah to theclub. The inauguration ceremony wasattended by Minister of Social Affairs andLabor Thikra Al-Rashidi, senior officialsfrom the Prime Minister Diwan and thePublic Authority for Youth and Sport.

Chairman of board of Kuwait sport clubfor the deaf Ismail Karam announced themulti-purpose hall would be named afterHis Highness the Prime Minister SheikhJaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Addressing the ceremony, Karam saidthe members of the board and generalassembly agreed to name the hall, follow-ing a proposal by the club’s honorarychairman Fahad Bushaiba.

Karam said the government was keenon supporting people with special needsby increasing the annual financial alloca-tions for the club. Bushaiba thankedSheikh Jaber for attending the inaugura-tion ceremony, and thanked SheikhSalman for keenness to remove all obsta-cles facing the club. — KUNA

KUWAIT: First Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of InteriorSheikh Ahmad Al-Hamoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah called on the secu-rity services and traffic depart-ment yesterday to redouble theireffort and work in order to copewith the advent of the holymonth of Ramadan and the forth-coming parliamentary elections.This came during a coordinationmeeting the minister held alongwith a number of ministry officialsto prepare for the next phase.

The minister listened to brief-ings from various departments onthe ongoing security and trafficcampaigns in various state gover-norates aimed at applying the lawon all violators.

The minister also called on theministry’s senior officials to prose-cute beggars who exploit theatmosphere of faith for begging,stressing the need to act in accor-dance with an integrated plan inorder to achieve comprehensivesecurity and traffic flow ahead ofthe holy month and the parlia-mentary elections.

The Cabinet is expected dur-ing its weekly meeting today(Monday) to form a committeethat supervises parliamentaryelections set for July 25th, a localdaily reported yesterday quotinga government insider familiarwith the issue. The source whospoke to Al-Jarida on the condi-tion of anonymity further indicat-ed that the committee is to be

chaired by First Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of InteriorSheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah, and will be tasked withsecuring the elections processand all other duties that werehandled by National ElectionCommittee before it was dis-solved by a Constitutional Courtruling last week.

The same source further toldAl-Jarida that Minister of SocialAffairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi prefers to stay in her posi-tion post elections rather thancontesting for the parliament. On

that regard, Al-Qabas daily report-ed that Al-Rashidi was told tomake a decision sooner than lateron order to remove any complica-tions which could result if sheruns for parliament. Unnamedsources quoted in the reportexplained that the minister isrequired to fill a significant num-ber of leading vacant posts in theministry, and filling them beforeresigning and then running in theelections could be interpreted as‘favoritism’ to boost her chancesof winning. “The minister needs tosettle the issue as soon as possi-

ble and inform the prime ministerwho wants to guarantee cleanelections”, the sources said.

On a related note, a govern-ment insider told Al-Qabas that acommittee was formed featuringmembers from the social affairs,interior and Islamic affairs min-istries to examine donations col-lected during Ramadan, andinsure that charity money is notused to fund election campaigns.

The government feels confi-dent of holding successful elec-tions with the return of multiplefaces representing liberal and

Islamist groups. On that regard,sources told Al-Rai recently thatthe Kuwait Democratic Forumdoes not have plans to stop mem-bers from contesting in the elec-tions despite announcing rejec-tion to the upholding of the sin-gle vote system. While predictingthat the group supports formerMPs Mohammad Al-Abduljader inthe second constituency andFaisal Al-Shaya in the third, thesources noted that the ‘Forum’informed its members that sup-port is only given if they “work tochange the electoral system” fromthe parliament.

Meanwhile, the same sourceswho preferred to remainunnamed indicated that theNational Democratic Alliances,the umbrella of several liberalgroups in Kuwait, is set to nomi-nate candidates during a meetingnext week. “So far, only former MPMohammad Al-Saqr and RakanAl-Nisf have been nominated,while people close to former MPDr. Aseel Al-Awadhi confirmedthat she is not contesting”, thesources said. In the meantime, thesame sources predicted that theSalafist Islamic Movement isexpected to support candidatesin all but the first constituenciesin the upcoming elections.Several reports suggested in themeantime that major tribes arecurrently coordinating to nomi-nate candidates in the upcomingelections.

Interior Ministry’s officials urged to redouble efforts ahead of elections

New panel to supervise polls

KUWAIT: First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hamoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other officails at the coordination meeting.

Premier attends opening of multi-purpose hall for deaf

KUWAIT: A number of senior officials in theMinistry of Social Affairs and Labor plan tosue their employer challenging the retire-ment orders they were handed out on thebasis that they have already served formore than 30 years. The ministry’s under-secretary, Abdulmuhsin Al-Mutairi, releasedorders last week to refer more than 20directors and supervisors for retirement. Inthe meantime, sources familiar with theissue indicated that similar letters were nothanded out to employees with more than30 years of service under their belt. “In thatregard, several officials decided to chal-lenge their retirement orders on the basis

that the decisions were based on incorrectprocedures,” the sources said. In othernews, the Civil Service Commission extend-ed the retirement age for expatriates work-ing in the Ministry of Education and otherstate departments by five years.

As per a letter signed by CSC PresidentAbdul-Aziz Al-Zebn and sent to the MOEUndersecretary Mariyam Al-Wutaid, non-Kuwaiti employees must retire at the age of65 instead of 60 as was previously followed.The letter was sent in response to an MOErequest to extend the contract of a numberof expatriate employees hired in differentsectors.

KUWAIT: Following the dissolution of theparliament, the Airbus company seemed tobe more flexible and understanding of thedifficult situation the Kuwait AirwaysCorporation (KAC) is going through and,thus, agreed to rent the KAC 15 brand newplanes (five A330s, five A320s to be handedover by 2104 and five more A320 planes tobe handed over by 2015) without linking thefact of renting to purchasing them, saidinformed sources. They also noted that theKAC would also rent five planes from India.

The sources added that the deal mighthave Kuwait Investment Authority guaran-teeing the KAC’s fleet development deal to

put KAC back on the right track.Moreover, the sources said that the KAC

had already signed a contract with JetAirways Company of India to rent five A200-330 luxurious airbuses to be used for shortand medium range flights to Europe, Far andMiddle East destinations. They added thatthe planes that are currently being main-tained pending delivery of two crafts by theend of July and three by September, willhave 42 luxurious separate seats in the pre-mium class and 190 in the economy class.The sources also explained that the fiveplanes would be rented at $680,000 permonth per plane.

KUWAIT : Minister of Education andMinister of Higher Education Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf announced here yesterday thatresults of high school exams in both of itsliterature and science sections will be offi-cially announced on July 8, four days afterthe end of examinations.

The four days, following the final exams,will be a reviewing period for correctionprocedures, as well as collecting and moni-toring final results, said Al-Hajraf in a pressstatement following his field tour on anumber of high schools, accompanied bythe ministry’s officials, to check on the paceof final exams for the fourth school periodof the 12th Grade, which kicked off today

with participation of 44,704 male andfemale students in all school districts in thecountry.

He added that the ministry is making allefforts to guarantee integrity of tests andprovide safe and appropriate climate forstudents to enable them to do their testsquietly and easily, affirming that the min-istry will not be lenient with those whocheat and would implement all rules andregulations firmly in this concern.

The 12th Grade students of the sciencesection are to conclude their final exams inBiology on July 3rd, while literature sectionstudents will conclude their final exam inStatistics on July 4th. — KUNA

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: A newly graduated young man working as a sergeantand who previously worked in a Ministry of Interior’s sector wasarrested last night for being in possession of drugs, and sent to thedrug enforcement administration. During a routine security checkpoint set up at the Third Ring Road at dawn, agents found a manwho appeared not in control of his faculties. A search of his personled the police to recover four joints of Hashish and an envelopecontaining “Chabow” drugs from him, besides different drug pills, abottle of liquor and some Marijuana seeds.

Kuwaiti impersonatorIn another case, a Kuwaiti young man was arrested and sent to

the public prosecutor on charges of impersonating a security man.He was arrested from Hawally and when asked for his identifica-tion, he tendered the ID ostensibly of a sergeant in the Ministry ofInterior. When the police checked out his photo on the ID, it foundcertain differences. Confronted by the police, he confessed that hewas a wanted person and started using the ID after he found it.

Doctor insultedAn Arab expat doctor accused a citizen of insulting him while

he was performing his duties at the Mubarak Hospital. A case ofinsulting a public servant was registered.

Trio heldThree bedoon youth were arrested after they raided a barn and

stole 12 lambs from there. A patrol stopped a pickup vehicle carry-ing the three youths and the 12 lambs. After asking them how theycame in possession of the lambs, they confessed of having stolenthese from a barn at Al-Mutlaa. They accompanied the police andshowed them the barn with its broken door and the Bengali guardwith his hands and legs tied up with ropes.

Drug man in custody

Officials sue ministryfor retirement orders

KAC flies 20 rented planes

HS exams results on July 8

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Mohammad Al-Haifi inaugurating the new AdanMedical Center yesterday.

LO C A LMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Expats reacted to the banon issuing new driving licenses tothem with trepidation and unease,and they termed the move as unfair,contradictory and discriminatoryagainst foreign workers. Among theostensibly contradictory statementmade by Interior Ministr yUndersecretar y Major GeneralAbdulfattah Al-Ali was his claimmade earlier that many of the trafficviolators were domestic drivers.

But the new policy that heapproved allows domestic drivers(visa 20) to obtain a new license.

“Where in the world expatriatesare not allowed to receive a drivinglicense,” an expat asked the KuwaitTimes. “This is absolutely against ourrights and freedom to move around.Expatriates should be allowed tocommute using their own cars aslong as they satisfy the MOI’s require-ments and to suspend such a facilityis absolutely unfair,” an expat whospoke on the condition of anonymitytold this reporter.

Al-Ali had earlier claimed thatfamily drivers were among the mostrampant traffic violators but accord-ing to the new policy, all new appli-

cations for new l icenses for theexpats must be grounded temporari-ly, except those for domestic drivers.

“This policy is absolutely ridicu-lous and contradictory. We have theon-going crackdown against illegalexpats while the law enforcing peo-ple were committing many viola-tions. Now, they want to ban us frompossessing a driving license. I wonderwhat is next,” the expat wondered.Another expat noted if the govern-ment was really serious and commit-ted to implement the rules regardingissuance of a new driver’s license, itmust first provide a proper publictransportation system.

“ They can do that i f there areenough taxis and all of them followthe metered system. As per earlierexperience, taxis are not followingthe rules and regulations. Further,they can also do that if there werereliable buses and a metro train avail-able on the ground. How do youwant the people to ride in a publictransport if these are very unreliable?Also, these modes of transport arriveonly after an hour long wait in siz-zling summer when mercury zoomsto 52 degrees,” the expat comment-ed. Al-Ali reiterated that temporaryrules wil l be in place unti l new

changes are made in the current reg-ulations for expats to obtain licenses.

Atty Labid Abdal, a local newspa-per columnist noted that the newregulations being implemented bythe MOI nowadays are deeply con-nected to f ixing the computerrecords and database of all expatri-ates.

“This is for the benefit of all theexpats and citizens,” Abdal said. “Ithink they are doing this to controland identify certain people livingamong us. We are now living in thenew era of computer and internettechnology and our system must beramped up as is being done in othercountries. So they are implementingcertain measures and it really hurtsand affects the expatriates some-times, but nonetheless, I have heardthat all this is only temporary, so weshould not worry. Besides, things arenot fixed with a magic wand and itusually takes some time,” he added.

Since Al-Ali’s appointment a fewmonths back, he has led a radicalcampaign in which a hundreds ofexpatriates have been depor tedwithout a court order for committinggrave traffic offenses such as drivingwithout a license and jumping redlights.

Freeze on issuance of driving

licenses to expats criticized

‘Unfair, contradictory and discriminatory’

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries receiving Tajikistan President Emomali Rhamon.

Tajik president starts official visit to KuwaitKUWAIT: Tajikistan President EmomaliRhamon arrived here yesterday to start an offi-cial three-day visit to Kuwait during which hewill hold talks with His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

President Rhamon and his accompanyingdelegation were received at the airport by His

Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince SheikhNawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, DeputyNational Guard chief Sheikh Mishaal Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah,Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Sheikh AliJarrah Al-Sabah, top state officials and toppolice, army and National Guard commanders.

A guest coordinating committee wasformed to accompany the guests during theirvisit to Kuwait. The committee is headed by

Amiri Diwan Advisor Dr Abdullah Maatouq Al-Maatouq. During this visit, President EmomaliRahmon is accompanied by Foreign MinisterHamrokhon Zarifi, Presidential State Advisoron Foreign Policy Erkin Rahmatulloev, FinanceMinister Safarali Najmuddinov, HealthcareMinister Nusratullo Salimov, Culture Minister

Mirzoshohrukh Asrori, Chairman of StateCommittee on Investments and State PropertyManagement Davlatali Saidov, Chairman ofCommittee for Youth, Sports and TourismMaliksho Nematov, Director of State MaterialReserves Agency Nurmahmad Akhmedov andother officials. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait plans to reiterate its position that it willavoid becoming involved in arming the rebels in Syriawhen the Syrian issue is brought up during discussionswith United States Secretary of State John Kerry duringhis scheduled visit here on Wednesday.

This was reported by Al-Rai yesterday quoting ‘seniorKuwait i d iplomats’ who spoke on the condit ion ofanonymity. In addition to discussing matters of mutualinterest, the sources indicated that discussions were setto focus on the issue of Fawzi Al-Awdah and Fayez Al-Kandari, the two Kuwaitis still in the Guantanamo Bayprison. In this regard, the sources said that talks will focuson the aftermath of a recent Pentagon report which clas-sified Al-Awdah and Al-Kandari as being too ‘dangerous’to be released.

On the Syrian issue, the sources revealed that Kerrywas expected to provide Kuwaiti officials with the latestdetails regarding the possibil ity of a mil itar y strikeagainst the Syrian regime.

‘Kuwait won’t

commit to arming

Syrian rebels’ KUWAIT: Disagreements between the Ministry of PublicWorks and the Kuwait Oil Company could result in post-poning the third stage of the Subbiya Road Project untilthe end of 2015, a local newspaper reported yesterdayquoting a source with knowledge of the case.

Speaking to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity,the MPW insider said that five pipelines which feed theSubbiya Power Plant with fuel remain the obstacle inthe plans to finalize the project. “The Oil Ministry saidthat the process to relocate the pipelines will not becompleted before 2015, which could force the MPW toreschedule the date of execution for the Subbiya roadproject which set as this year-end,” the source explained.

According to the source, the project is currently in itsfinal stages and the MPW would soon be looking to “putsafety systems along the pipelines to ensure completionof the project.” The cost of the third stage of the projecthas already reached KD 41 million. It will connect themain road with the Boubyan Causeway that is underconstruction.

Pipelines delay

road project

KUWAIT: Kuwait paid KD16,500 million in unemploy-ment allowances to Kuwaitisreleased from jobs in the pri-vate sector since 2008, a localnewspaper reported yesterdayquoting Secretary General ofthe Management andGovernment RestructuringProgram.

Fawzi Al-Majdali further toldAl-Jarida that 2098 Kuwaitisfired from private firms wereregistered with the MGRP as ofJune 17, 2013. The same news-paper also repor ted anincrease in unemployment ratein Kuwait , quoting a Civi lSer vice Commission repor twhich indicated that unem-ployment reached five percentafter recording 4.5 percent ear-lier this year.

Moreover, the report point-ed out an increase in unem-ployment rate among the edu-cated citizens, especially thosewith Masters and PhD degrees.But according to a source quot-ed in the report, the majorityof unemployed citizens withhigh academic qualificationssimply chose to reject workingin the private sector or a gov-ernment post they believedthey were overqualified for.

And while the CSC reportcal led the increase in theunemployment rate as “alarm-ing”, it called for taking “serioussteps” with regards to thecountry’s ‘replacement policy’which advocates hiring Kuwaitimanpower in the public sectorto replace expatriate laborforces whose contracts weredue to expire.

KD 16,500 million unemployment

allowance paid in five years

KUWAIT: Minister of Communications and Housing Salem Al-Othaina inaugu-rating a new exchange building in Southern Subahiya yesterday.


Gone withthe wind

kuwait digest

By Abdullah Misfer Al-Adwani

Every time there is a political crisis in Kuwait,some people emerge to play the role of apolitical, social and constitutional expert

while in reality they might be knowledgeable inone aspect but it is impossible that they are special-ists in every field.

In the meantime, there are others who do a goodjob when it comes to nar-rating historical events andcite the government’s owndoings in the past decadesto suppor t their claimsthat the government hasalways tr ied to imposeautocracy.

As we look for a way outof the ongoing politicalwoes, we have to considerthe fact that the govern-ment is represented bypeople who are our com-patriots, and that it is nor-mal for them to show soli-darity with the govern-ment even if it involveschanging their stance afterjoining the government.

The past never comesback, whether it is a matterof social style (the society’sculture) or the political style when it comes to theart of practicing democracy. Therefore, most strate-gic experts believe that ‘the past breeds the strate-gy of tomorrow’; a concept that neither the govern-ment has understood, nor some political groupshave been able to comprehend. We find politicalgroups reaching an accord mostly when interestsconverge, which exposes the lack of a true reformistagenda.

And since the past never comes back while wefail to learn from our mistakes to put together a cor-rective strategy for the future, the situation contin-

ues to spiral downwards.I believe that a solution is still farfetched at this

point because we remain strategically impotentand culturally impaired with regards to how choicesare made. Regarding the upcoming elections, weare divided into two teams, one that is ‘weighingthe option of participating’ and another that ‘finds

that par ticipation ser vestheir interest regardless ofthe reasons.”

The situation would havebeen better if we could com-prehend the need to applystrategic thinking and putbefore the political figures areformist agenda. We couldhave approached leadersknown for their abil ity toconvince and hold rationalarguments. We have for yearsbeen following individualsand promote anyone with aperceived charisma whileignoring arguments that sug-gest that charisma can some-times be a corrupting factor.

What we need now issummarized as follows:

• Realizing the importanceof taking steps to protect the

1962 constitution.• Diagnosing the problems occurring between

the cabinet and the parliament and find their rootcauses.

• Eliminating nepotism and the quota strategywhen hiring candidates for key posts.

• Adopting strategic thinking in addressing crisesthat have been pending for decades.

We can never guarantee a bright future in thelight of an ideology by which the government runsthe state’s affairs, and the same goes for politicalgroups. —Al-Rai

Past never comes backkuwait digest

By Dr Terki Al-Azmi

Traff ic Depar tment Direc tor Maj GenAbdulfattah Al-Ali, the man responsible forthe ongoing traffic crackdowns in Kuwait,

recently said that Kuwaitis topped the world whenit comes to obeying the law, and argued at thesame time that the main problem his departmentfaced was with the expatriate drivers. If I were theInterior Minister, I would have relieved this man ofhis duties not only because of his unfortunate useof words, but also becauseof his inaccurate and preju-diced statements.

First of all, there might bemore traffic violations com-mitted by expatriates thanthose by citizens - though Iam not entirely sure aboutthat since the Major Generalnever mentioned statisticsto support his claims. Buteven if we assume that thiswas true, perhaps the seniorministry official is ignoringthe fact that the expatriatepopulat ion is now morethan double that ofKuwaitis, and therefore it isonly normal to have moretraffic tickets issued againstnon-Kuwaitis.

Secondly, foreigners didnot come to Kuwait sneaking their way across ourborders. They came because we invited them andprovided everything they needed to carry out theirjobs. Is it fair to now start haunting them andholding them accountable for the increased num-ber of traffic violations, allegedly committed byexpats?

And the third point is that the expatriates needa driving license more than Kuwaitis do becausethey carry out all the jobs that we refuse to, suchas driving taxis, buses, bulldozers, tractors, and

water tankers (let’s not forget to mention sewagetankers, of course). Maj Gen Al-Ali repeatedlyargued that expatriates deported for traffic viola-tions had a record of repeated violations of a seri-ous nature such as jumping the red lights.

If we take an extra look into the profiles of thesedrivers, we would probably find out that most ofthem were assisted by senior officials from insideor outside the ministry to obtain their licenses

without necessarily pass-ing their tests. Why onlyhold an expatriate driveraccountable for traffic vio-lations while ignoring thefac t that many of thempaid Kuwaiti employees to‘pass’ their driving tests?

Also, we cannot be theworld’s most law abidingpeople as Maj Gen Al-Alisuggested when we fail tohonor the law in all aspectsof life. It is just illogical tosay that someone complete-ly honors traffic regulationsbut breaks the law in otheraspects of life. Besides, wecannot claim to be law abid-ing when a majority of us donot even know what the lawis. And we certainly cannot

be the best in honoring the law when corruption andbribery still flourish in the state departments.Therefore, I believe that Maj Gen Al-Ali deserves to beawarded a hypothetical Nobel Prize in Exaggerationfor his statements, because honestly speaking, wecould be the world’s top people in overspeeding,reckless driving, parking in parking spaces reservedfor the disabled, swerving and driving on the street’sshoulder. On top of all that, we are asked to vote inparliament elections more often than any other peo-ple around the world.— Al-Qabas

Exaggerations of Al-Alikuwait digest

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

By Labeed Abdal

[email protected]

Change Kuwait’ssponsorship code

Reports emerging from Kuwait about thereexisting forced labor conditions for domesticlaborers and the possibility of even human

trafficking is a matter that all of us must consider asa case of emergency.

The increased grip of sponsors or the laboragents on workers who came of their own free willinto Kuwait, only to search for a greener pasture tomake a living, must force us to quadruple ourefforts to ensure highest standards when it comesto human rights.

Incidents like nonpayment of wages, long work-ing hours without rest, deprivation, lack of food,working under threats, facing physical or sexualabuse, and restrictions on movement, confiningexpats to the workplace and withholding theirpassports or forging work benefits, all of these aresigns that we need to worry, and must pay closeattention to effect a recovery.

Also workers rights must be guarded as theseare described in the employment contract or lawsthat prevent exploitation.

Having new rules for to guard against traffic vic-tims needs full awareness on the part of the lawenforcement agencies and parties, given the deli-cate matter of human rights involved.

One is glad to see the e-governance project ofKuwait taking major steps to control the existingpopulation and drawing a distinction betweenlegal and illegal residents.

Leaving the workers unprotected means thatthe labor authority should be more effective.

Nothing is impossible, as exemplified by theMinistry of Higher Education which rebuilt itselfafter systemically overthrowing the old administra-tive guard and starting with a new look and workculture.

Definitely, the same must be done for theMinistry of Social Affairs and Labor when it comesto commercial workers.

In my view

Before it’s too late

kuwait digest

By Nabila Al-Anjari

We cannot be the world’s mostlaw abiding people as Maj Gen Al-Ali suggested when we fail to honorthe law in all aspects of life. It is justillogical to say that someone com-pletely honors traffic regulationsbut breaks the law in other aspectsof life. Besides, we cannot claim tobe law abiding when a majority ofus do not even know what the lawis. And we certainly cannot be thebest in honoring the law when cor-ruption and bribery still flourish inthe state departments.

The past never comes back,whether it is a matter of social style(the society’s culture) or the politi-cal style when it comes to the art ofpracticing democracy. Therefore,most strategic experts believe that‘the past breeds the strategy oftomorrow’; a concept that neitherthe government has understood,nor some political groups havebeen able to comprehend. We findpolitical groups reaching an accordmostly when interests converge,which exposes the lack of a truereformist agenda.

Kuwait has enjoyed budget surpluses over thepast few years, helped by the oil prices recover-ing after the global economic crisis. This was

supposed to help achieve progress and developmentin most fields, especially since we have the financialand geographic qualifications to realize growth intourism, economy, sports, etc. Moreover, moderntechnology and experience of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti experts can also be depended on to achievethose goals.

Despite all that, Kuwait continues to fall back in allthe fields. For example, Kuwait dropped from the82nd place to 100th on the world’s developmentindex, which reflects the government’s imbalancedspending. Meanwhile, Kuwait dropped to the 99thspot in the 2012 international index for countrieswhere government decisions are less affected byfavoritism, falling from 61 in the 2009’s index. This, ofcourse, was because of the nepotism in the public sec-tor appointments, a policy that continues to depriveKuwait from the services of its devoted and qualifiedpeople.

Our never-ending problem is one that has to dowith management. At a time when we have seenneighboring countries being transformed from arid

deserts to be listed among the world’s most devel-oped nations, we find that our country is going in theopposite direction because of a policy in whichfavoritism and appeasement jostle out merit. This verypolicy is the reason behind Kuwait sliding down fromthe 31st place in the 2009 welfare index to 38th in the2012 index. Meanwhile, bureaucracy continues to puthurdles in the road towards development. In theworld’s index for difficulties posed by the governmentprocedures, Kuwait ranked 137th in 2012 after beingat 115th place in 2009.

The problem is very clear, and the solution is alsono secret. All it needs is for the government to adopt anew policy in which the top interests of Kuwait andthe future generations receive top priority. The WorldBank and many other major international advisorshave warned Kuwait about the snowballing effect ofuncontrolled government spending, and advised thestate to launch projects with economic payoff in orderto help it face the challenges of the future.

The government must realize that the solution isright now in its own hands, and it might not stay thatway for long. Therefore, the government must act assoon as possible and before it is too late.—Al-Qabas

Iliked the Twitter post of Sheikh Mohammad Al-Awadhi about the National Assembly in Kuwaitin which he said that the councils formed in

2003, 2006, 2008 and 2009 were desolated whilethe 2012 council was declared void. In 2012, it wasthe second council to be declared void. Sheikh Al-Awadhi wondered about the fate that awaits thenext council, speculating whether it will be foundvoid, desolated or paralyzed.

It is a fact that the question posed by Al-Awadhicomes at a right time and place since the age of anyN.A. Council in Kuwait as well as the governments isvery short. Most of the time, the Council lapsesbefore serving its full term. One wonders what iswrong and with whom. Is there something wrongwithin the government, the Council or the people?While it could be a puzzling question, but theresults over the past ten years or more indicate thatthe end result is failure. Looking back at our previ-ous councils, we find that at the end, these werecases of “gone with the wind”, though someCouncils have been pro-government, a few tiltedtowards the opposition council, one a very quiet

and responsible one, one council with a specialagenda but the result was a return to square oneand a resort to election boxes. Why could noCouncil survive? And what are the reasons behindgoing around in vicious circles? Which stops growthand reforms at atime when we are being leftbehind every day compared to what is happeningin the world? Where were we, and where we havereached today? Does Kuwait need to change its citi-zens in order to become stable and quiet? Have ourvoters not become qualified enough to go throughelections or perhaps the election boxes could nomore be the answer to our ambitions? Who isresponsible? And what is the solution?

One wonders what fate is hiding for us. Now thatone man-one vote has become a constitutionalconcept, in the face of strong opposition, a numberof people have still announced they will not be par-ticipating in the coming elections.

One wonders what lied in store for us and whereare we headed for? And what is the title that peoplewill bestow on the next council? Desolated or voidor paralyzed?

May God have mercy on us! — Al-Anbaa

We need our minds!

kuwait digest

By Dr Nadiay Al-Qenae

Who does not want his mind? We obviouslycannot do without this divine gift tomankind. However, regardless of all the

mental diseases, genetic disorders, toxins, bacterialinfections and brain damage that can necessarilydiminish or end our capacity for sound thinkingand reasoning, we human beings have beenbestowed with the blessing of moulding this giftand directing our thoughts towards improving ourown lives and ensuring all round welfare.

We should not also lose sight of the role that ourfive senses play in various stages of our life. Thesesenses can either lead us to summits of achieve-ments or push us down dangerously steep slopeswhere we can lose everything.

However, these five senses cannot function with-out the mind. For example, we can see someonebut we will not be able to recognize him or herwithout the functions that our brains perform.

Mind acts like the main control when it comes towhat we feel, think, learn and remember. It alsocontrols the movements of our bodies and muscles,including our heart. It tells us how to act in varioussituations.

This interface was really necessary in view of awidening circle of people who have been alienatingtheir own minds and are being extremely affectedby what they hear without exerting the lest effort toverify it. We have been overhearing lies that, withrepetition and time, tend to seem like facts. That’swhy injustice, tyranny, grudges and hatred is pre-vailing.

We are being unjust to ourselves by ignoringwhat our mind tells us, all because of an arbitraryword here or a sentence there that we do not evenunderstand. We have only been using our sense ofhearing and, accordingly, judging some people,things or facts without properly examining the con-texts. That is exactly what turns hearsay into ‘facts’and buries the real facts, which reminds me of whatthe Egyptian poet, Ahmed Shawki, once said: Whata parrot with its mind in its ears! —Al-Jarida

The problem is very clear, andthe solution is also no secret. All itneeds is for the government toadopt a new policy in which theinterests of Kuwait and the futuregenerations receive top priority.The World Bank and many othermajor international advisors havewarned Kuwait about the snow-balling effect of uncontrolled gov-ernment spending, and advisedthe state to launch projects witheconomic payoff in order to help itface the challenges of the future.

One wonders what is wrong andwith whom. Is there somethingwrong within the government, theCouncil or the people? While itcould be a puzzling question, butthe results over the past ten yearsor more indicate that the endresult is failure.


Domestic

labor

working

in schools

KUWAIT: In view of the ongoinginspection campaigns and crack-downs on illegal residents andother violating various laws, anumber of school administra-tions recently noticed a numberof workers who used to do clean-ing work at the schools absentingfrom work and later justifyingtheir absence by citing fear ofbeing arrested during the inspec-tions. After a school principalbecame curious to find out whythe workers were missing fromwork, she checked their civil IDsto discover that all of them heldarticle 20 residency visas, whichmeant that they were desertingdomestic laborers.

In this regard, educationalsources said that the ‘maids’ weresupplied by a company thatdrives them to schools at 7:00 amand picks them up by 1:30 pm,charging the ministry KD 70 permaid, of which the maid onlygets KD 50 while the representa-tive pockets KD 10.

Moreover, the sourceswarned that in view of anyschool’s need for at least 10 suchworkers each, it meant that manyof them might suffer a shortageof cleaning staff next year.

Two in police custody for

Amiri hospital brawl

Search for rapist in SalwaKUWAIT: A police officer and another man werebeing held for questioning after the civilianaccused the officer of having an affair with hiswife. Police had rushed to the Amiri Hospital onFriday night after a fight was reported. Theyfound a man trying to break free from securitypersonnel who had caught him while he was try-ing to escape after fighting with the other man.The two were taken to the nearest police stationfor questioning. One of them said he found hiswife at the hospital speaking to a stranger in asuspicious manner, and also claimed that sincethis man intervened between him and his wifewhen he went after her was ‘proof’ enough thatthe two were in a relationship. Police found outthat the man accused of being involved with thewife is an Interior Ministry officer. Investigationsare on.

Sexual assaultSearch is on for a man accused of sexually

assaulting an underage girl in Salwa on Saturday.In her statement to the police, the 15-year-oldKuwaiti girl said that her friend, a 20-year-oldPalestinian national, raped her in her room afterhe came over to visit at dawn. The man reportedlysneaked into the house on an invitation from the

girl. She added that the man escaped after shescreamed for help. She then told her father aboutwhat had happened before the two headed tothe area’s police station to report the case.Investigations were on.

Mosque attackedInvestigations are on in search of three

teenagers who reportedly attacked a Shiitemosque in Jahra with Molotov cocktails.According to the police report, the mosque’sImam came outside after hearing glass shattering,and saw three youngsters running away. Hecalled the police after finding out that theteenagers left behind three bottles filled withinflammable liquid. A case was filed at the Taimapolice station.

Fugitive at largePolice are looking to arrest a male suspect who

escaped and left behind his friend in his car alongwith drug related paraphernalia that the policelater discovered. Hawally police went in pursuit ofa black pickup truck which sported no licenseplates and whose driver ignored orders to pullover. After jumping three traffic lights, the drivereventually stopped and then ran away on foot. A

Kuwaiti man who was in the passenger’s seat ofthe truck was caught. Police later found drugparaphernalia from his possession. Police identi-fied the runaway suspect as being wanted toserve a two-year in prison sentence.

Adaire theftThree people were arrested on charges of steal-

ing metal objects at a military shooting square inthe Adaire’a desert recently. The Syrian men werefirst caught by security servicemen who spottedthem inside the shooting square. Police werecalled to arrest them formally after tools used tocut steel as well as some amount of steel werefound in their possession. They were referred tothe proper authorities for further action.

Maid injuredA domestic worker was hospitalized with burn

injuries when a cooking gas cylinder explodedrecently in Al-Khaldiya. Firefighters, accompaniedby paramedics and police, rushed to the house onFriday night after a fire was reported. A house-maid was taken to the hospital after she sus-tained injuries. She was in the kitchen where thecylinder reportedly exploded. An investigationwas opened.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Ahmadi governorate municipal-ity carried out a campaign to remove aban-doned cars lying in the streets and thoseexhibited for sale in the Ahmadi IndustrialArea. The campaign was carried out with theassistance of the Ministry of Interior at theinstructions of the director, Engineer FahadDughaim Al-Otaibi.

The campaign resulted in the removal of42 vehicles abandoned or exhibited for salefrom the streets and areas falling in the indus-trial area. Al-Otaibi said that the campaign wasconducted successfully and was accomplishedsooner than expected because of the preplan-ning and fruitful cooperation with the gover-norate’s security men headed by Brig. MatooqAl-Aslawi and Fahaheel area commanderColonel Rashid Al-Nomas.

Abandoned cars removedNews

Interior ministry reshuffleKUWAIT: Security sources said First DeputyPrime Minister and Minister of Interior SheikhAhmad Al-Hmoud is in the process of puttingthe finishing touches to the expected reshuffleand the appointment of new leaders in thedepartments of criminal investigation, traffic,and general security. The sources said Al-Hmoudwas likely to start with the criminal investigationdepartment, followed by the traffic and generalsecurity departments. Top officials in generalsecurity are expected to be transferred to thetraffic department. General security is thedepartment having the highest number ofvacancies in leading positions, and the appoint-ment process might be sped up in view of theupcoming elections.

Officials urged to pay billsHundreds of senior government employeescould face legal action for unpaid electricity,water and phone bills, according to the recentcabinet instructions aimed at collecting thestate’s dues in the form of public service fees, alocal daily reported yesterday, quoting a sourcefamiliar with the case. According to the insider,who spoke to Al-Jarida on the condition ofanonymity, the Ministry of Electricity and Water,Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communicationsand Ministry of Municipality Affairs receivedinstructions from the cabinet to take legalaction against non-paying consumers, startingwith more than 700 senior government officialswho have yet to pay their bills. “State depart-ments were told to improve their fee collectionmechanisms and work on releasing bills on amonthly basis in order to avoid having cumula-tive fees,” the source explained.

in brief

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Environment Protection Society(KEPS) said yesterday that percentage of awarenessamong Kuwaiti youth on importance of electricity andwater rationalization has increased significantly in thecurrent month. KEPS’ administration team had con-ducted its monthly questionnaire for June on the lev-els of awareness and knowledge among youngKuwaitis on the importance of electricity and waterrationalization in Kuwait, Abdullah Al-Zaidi, memberof programs and activities department in KEPS toldKUNA. The questionnaire results, which included widerandom sample of male and female youth in accor-dance to their various educational and occupationallevels, showed that 85.7 percent have high awarenesson the importance of electricity and water rationaliza-tion in the country, compared to 7.1 pct who did notcare for rationalization principle, added Al-Zaidi.

On the axis of “speed to repair water leakage”, hementioned that about 92. 9 pct of participants were infavor for speed to repair any glitch that contributes insquandering water, compared to 7.1 pct did not carefor speed of repairing any glitch.

Meanwhile, 21.4 pct agreed that there are manysources of water in Kuwait, compared to 68.6 pct who

thought Kuwait lacks many water sources.On the level of knowledge about alternatives ener-

gy sources, the poll showed that 85.7 pct affirmedtheir knowledge of these sources such as wind powerand solar power, while 41.3 pct were unaware of suchalternative sources.

On usage of energy saving light bulbs in homes,Al-Zaidi said that 64.3 pct of participants were so keenon using such light bulbs, compared to 28.6 pct whodid not use them, and 7.1 pct who did not care. Heindicated that 57.1 pct of participants noted squan-dering of water and electricity by their housemaids,compared to 28.6 pct who did not notice any suchsquandering. On acceptance of increasing electricityand water fees, Al-Zaidi said that 57.1 agreed, com-pared to 42.9 pct who did not agree, while 71.4 pct ofparticipants agreed on increase of awareness cam-paigns of electricity and water consumption rationali-zation. In addition, he said that 21.4 pct of participantsagreed that awareness campaigns had a major role inincreasing awareness on consumption issues amongthe public, while 7.1 pct of participants thought thatcampaigns did not have any role or importance in thisissue. —KUNA

Electricity, water

awareness increases

among youth

Donation

collection

violations

KUWAIT: The manager ofthe charities department atthe Ministry of Social Affairsand Labor, Bader Al-Awadhi, said that the min-istry’s inspection teams hadalready detected some vio-lations in how the donationwas being collectedthrough unlicensed cam-paigns in mosques, alongthe roads and throughsocial networks.

KUWAIT: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) called on travelers to cooperate withauthorities operating at Kuwait InternationalAirport to allow them to provide best service dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan and the travel sea-son. Travelers should check validity of their pass-ports and visas and must arrive at the airport atleast two hours ahead of departure time, Director

of Operations’ Department at Kuwait InternationalAirport Essam Al-Zamel said yesterday. In the state-ment, he stressed importance of complying withweights and sizes of luggage allowed and not tocarry prohibited and hazardous substances such ascompressed gas, solvents, explosives, fireworks,flammable materials and oxidizing, magnetic andtoxic substances.

The DGCA is ready to receive suggestions andobservations through the airport comptroller officelocated at the departure lounge, Al-Zamel noted.

On administrating flight operations during thesummer, the Operation Deptartment Director saidthat extra flights are running during this seasonand the holy month of Ramadan, expecting thepercentage of travelers before Ramadan to reach

25 and 75 percent at the end of it. The operationdepartment has formed teams to provide assis-tance to ensure smooth flow of traffic, regulatepassengers entry, follow up on departure andarrival of flights without delay, Al-Zamel noted,adding that during this season, the most soughtdestinations are to Beirut, Dubai, Istanbul, Jeddahand Alexandria. —-KUNA

Passengers urged to cooperate with airport authorities


KUWAIT: Kuwait Writers Associationorganized two training courses foryoung talents in the fields of poetryand short stories, in collaborationwith “Free Syrian Writers Association”within the New Innovators Forum,starting as of today at associationheadquarters.

The first session will start todayunder the title ‘The art of writing ashort story,’ presented by the Syrianassociation Vice-President Dr SultanAl-Hariri, Kuwait Writers AssociationDirector-General, Talal Al-Rumaidhisaid yesterday.

The three-day session will addresselements of the short story, writingtechniques of literary texts, while thesecond five-day session will beginnext Saturday under the tit le of‘Prosody ’ with researcher Dr.Abdulsamie Al-Ahmad as instructor,he noted.

The session will focus on the art ofwriting eloquent poetry as part of theactivit ies of the New InnovatorsForum, sponsored by Kuwait Writers

Association, which is to help create aconvenient environment for the tal-ented young people between theages of 13-30 to write creative poemsand stories, he added.

Al-Rumaidhi called on youngsterswho want to discover and developtheir literary talents to participate atthe literary sessions, expressing grati-tude for “the free Syrian writers associ-ation” for its cooperation in the serv-ice of literature and culture and work-ing on publishing fine works in thesegenres.

Dr Al-Hariri, who holds a doctoratein Arabic literature, has written severalarticles on literature, critical works,and research papers such as “prayingmanners in Islam,” and “the art of writ-ing and communicating in the Arabiclanguage.”

Dr Al-Ahmad holds a doctorate inArabic grammar and he is Al-Babtainanthology of contemporar y Arabpoet’s researcher as well as a scriptwriter of Islamic Fiqh Encyclopediaprograms for Kuwait Radio. —-KUNA

Association holdsliterary courses

Zain anniversary promotions see 37% increase in network usage

Three receive prizes worth of KD 9,000

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality warned yes-terday that the Municipality teams will removeany billboards, banners, tents or any sort of elec-tion-related ads that are hoisted before the offi-cial launch of electioneering campaigns.

“Municipality teams backed by security per-sonnel will remove any ads violating the elec-toral law without prior notice,” Director of theCapital Municipality branch Faleh Al-Shammarisaid. He laid it bare that theMunicipality will firmly apply law on everybody.

“No one is allowed to rent a place for elec-

tioneering tent before the issuance of the Amiridecree setting the date of the election and elec-tioneering campaign,” he said.

He unveiled that the Municipality is embark-ing on a plan to guarantee the success of theelectoral process to avoid loopholes and prob-lems which emerged in previous ones.

KUWAIT: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrovhas expressed deep gratitude to Kuwait for itshelp to his country at hard times and urged Arabinvestors to consider his country as a potentialand promising market for new enterprises.

“With regard to Kuwait, we have deep affec-tion toward this sisterly state, and we are alsoproud of this relationship,” said the Chechenpresident in an exclusive interview with theKuwaiti daily newspaper, Al-Anbaa. He affirmedthat the republic, part of the Russian federation,maintains solid bonds with the member statesof the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The Gulf States have “guided us on means tomanage living affairs of Muslims ... and showedus that Islam can be prevalent among nations of

great power,” Kadyrov said. On his future plans,the president indicated that he would seek toboost internal and external investments, regret-ting that much of the Arab states’ investmentsare based in the West.

He called on Arab entrepreneurs to launchbusinesses in the republic and in predominant-Muslim Russian regions, noting that investors’rights are protected by certain laws.

On the republic’s relationship with Russia, thepresident said he deliberates with Moscowregarding internal affairs, as part of regularmeetings of presidents of the Russian federationrepublics, but he affirmed that foreign affairs’issues fall within jurisdictions of the RussianForeign Ministry and the National Security

Council. However, he affirmed confidence inRussia’s policies toward Muslim communities ofthe nation.

Asked on issue of the two Chechens whowere charged with masterminding the Aprilbombing in Boston, the US, the president said,“We tend to believe that they should be acquit-ted ... we condemn their maltreatment.”

One of the two suspected Chechen bomberswas killed by US law enforcement officers afterthe bombing and the other remained behindbars.

The bombing happened on April 15. Threepeople died and some 264 others were wound-ed in the explosions that took place during theBoston Marathon. —KUNA

CAIRO: The 34th session of thePermanent Arab Committee forHuman Rights kicked off here yester-day.

The meeting saw participation ofexperts and officials of human rightsin Arab countries and representativesof civil society organizations accredit-ed to the Arab League as an observer.

President of the National

Committee for Human Rights in theState of Qatar Ali al-Marri stressed, inhis opening speech, the significanceof convening this meeting at this sen-sitive period witnessed by the Arabregion.

He pointed to the importance ofthe Committee’s role in the promo-tion and dissemination of the cultureof human rights in the Arab world.

He presented an overview of theachievements of the Committeeincluding the establishment of theArab Charter on Human Rights,issued in 2004, which entered intoeffect in 2008. Al-Marri cautionedthat the Committee’s agendaincludes many items most importantof which is addressing the Israeli vio-lations as being the biggest chal-

lenge to the Arabs.He said, “There is a follow-up by

the Arab League and its Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby to the issues ofPalestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, aswell as the risks posed against thePalestinian territories includingJudaization and attacks on the al-Aqsa mosque, in addition to Islamicand Christian holy sites. —KUNA

Chechen President thanksKuwait for support

CAIRO: The Arab League warned ofan Israeli plan to change thePalestinian education curriculum,especially in Al-Quds, in order tokeep the sons of Palestine distantfrom Arab education systems andthe introduction of the Israeli cur-riculum.

Assistant Secretary General forPalestine and the occupied Arab ter-ritories in the Arab League

Ambassador Mohamed Sabih said atthe opening of the 68th session ofthe Council of Educational Affairs forthe sons of Palestine with the partici-pation of delegations from Egypt,Jordan and the Arab UniversitiesUnion and the Islamic Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organizationas well as the Arab LeagueEducational, Cultural and ScientificOrganization that Israel is master-

minding a dangerous policy tochange the Palestinian educationcurriculum.

Sabih said that Israel wants thePalestinian students to be away fromassociating with the Arab education-al systems and introduce Israeli cur-ricula and delete some of the issuesand topics pertinent to the historyand heritage of the Palestinian peo-ple. Sabih, speaking on behalf of the

Secretary-General of the League ofArab States, Dr. Nabil Elaraby,stressed the need to address theseIsraeli attempts, saying that respond-ing to this issue is very important,especially in finding schools for Arabstudents in Al-Quds, maintaining theArab curriculum, enabling and sup-porting the Palestinian teachers aswell as lifting the siege on the GazaStrip. — KUNA

AL warns of Israeli attempt to change educational curriculum in Al-Quds

Municipality to removeelection billboards, tents

Cairo hosts Arab human rights meeting

Official keen on timely launch of marine center

KUWAIT: Head of the GovernmentPerformance Follow-up Apparatus SheikhAhmad Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday affirmed keenness oninaugurating the Marine Sciences Center ofKuwait University “as soon as possible.”

During his visit to the center building,the official expressed readiness to tackle“obstacles that have hindered the openingof this academic landmark, specialized instudies and research on marine environ-ment.” He also raised questions, duringdeliberations with leading figures of theauthority, about failure to open the center,whose establishment had been concludedand handed over in 2008.

This visit to the site falls within the juris-diction of the apparatus to follow up on“executive status of state ventures.”

Sheikh Ahmad Meshaal Al-Ahmad wasreceived by the secretary general of theuniversity, Dr Nabil Al-Loughani, his assis-tant for administrative affairs Bader Thiab,the head of the construction program, DrRana Al-Fares, and the head of the depart-ment of construction and maintenance,Hamidah Al-Khaldi.

Dr Al-Loughani briefed the official aboutthe site and assured him that “work wasunderway to ensure that it would be openby start of the next academic year.”

The new edifice is highly developed andequipped with all facilities and spacesneeded in the future. It encompasses about40 labs, classrooms, auditorium, andrestaurants. KU started the center project in2004. The center is located in Fintas, 20 kmsouth of Kuwait City. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality operations in progress.

KUWAIT: Sheikh Ahmad Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and othersenior officials at the Marine Sciences Center of Kuwait University.

KUWAIT: As a continuation of the ongoing 30thanniversary celebrations, Zain, the leadingtelecommunications company in Kuwait,announced yesterday that it recently launchedpromotions resulted in an overwhelming successwhereby the company’s network usage increasedby 37% over the previous day. The company fur-ther outlined the success of the 30th anniversarycelebration promotions by announcing the threelucky winners of its “Winning Box” surprise compe-tition, rewarding the winners with prizes thatexceed KD 9,000 in total.

So far, Zain’s 30 wonderful years of celebrationshas witnessed overwhelming feedback from thepublic. Celebrating 30 years at customers service,customers’ calls within the Zain Family (calls fromZain to Zain) were entirely free on Saturday from12 am to 12 pm. This impacted significantly thecustomers’ usage of the company’s network, whichincreased by 37% over the previous day’s networkusage. Adding a thrill to the overall celebrations,Zain announced the three lucky winners of its

“Winning Box” surprise competition. The competi-tion was very simple, all customers needed to dowas visit any of Zain’s branches at the GrandAvenue, Al Hamra Tower or Hawalli , to pick up anykey from the designated bowl and try opening theWinning Box. Prizes rounded up to KD 9,000whereby winners received 10 smart phones andplatinum numbers. Zain’s 30th anniversary celebra-tions and promotions are available all year round,allowing customers to take advantage of the bestoffers in town. Zain invites everyone to be part ofits ongoing celebratory promotions, with a pledgefrom the company of creating a Wonderful Worldof telecommunications experience for every cus-tomer in Kuwait.

For more information about Zain’s numerouscompetitive promotions, customers are advised tovisit any of Zain’s branches located in more than 75locations across Kuwait, visit the company’s web-site on www.kw.zain.com, contact its 24 hour callcenter at 107, or visit the company’s social mediachannels.

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

Bad weather hits India flood rescue operations

Page 12

Abbas accepts Palestinian prime minister’s resignationPage 8

Snowden arrives in RussiaUS wants cooperation of countries where Snowden may go

HONG KONG: In this file picture, protesters shout slogans in support of former US spy Edward Snowden as they march to the US consulate in Hong Kong. —AFP

MOSCOW: Former US spy Edward Snowdenyesterday arrived in Russia from Hong Kong,reportedly on his way to Venezuela, escapingthe clutches of US justice after leaking sensa-t ional detai ls of c yber- espionage byWashington. Snowden, the target of a US arrestwarrant issued Friday after he blew the lid onmassive secret sur veil lance programmes,arrived in Moscow on a direct flight operatedby Russian flag carrier Aeroflot.

The Hong Kong government said earlier ithad “no legal basis” to prevent Snowden leav-ing because the US government had failed toprovide enough information to justify its provi-sional arrest warrant for the former NationalSecurity Agency (NSA) contractor. Snowden,30, landed at Sheremetyevo airport in thenorth of Moscow at 5:05 pm (1305 GMT) butthere was no immediate official confirmationof where he would head next, an AFP corre-spondent at the airport said.

Russian official media quoted airport offi-cials as saying that Snowden was on the plane.The website of WikiLeaks, which says it aidedhis exit, said Snowden was on his way to asy-lum in a “democratic nation”. Russian mediareports cited sources within Aeroflot as sayinghe would fly to Cuba today and then travel on

to the Venezuelan capital Caracas.Snowden did not emerge into the terminal

public area along with other passengers on theflight and his fellow travellers raised the possi-bility he may have been whisked away in a cardirectly from the airport tarmac. “They weregetting luggage straight from the plane intothe car. It seemed a little strange. I saw threepieces of luggage,” Aeroflot passenger JasonStephens from the United States told AFP.

A source at Sheremetyevo told Interfax that“transit passenger” Snowden was still at theairport. “His next flight is to Cuba, he is on theterritory of the airport complex where he hasto be.” AFP correspondents also said they saw adiplomatic car at VIP arrivals with the flag ofEcuador, the countr y whose embassy inLondon is hosting WikiLeaks founder JulianAssange to prevent his extradition to Sweden.A source quoted by RT television said Snowdenwas examined by an Ecuadorian embassy doc-tor at Moscow airport upon his arrival.

WikiLeaks claimed credit for helping toarrange asylum for the man behind one of themost significant security breaches in US histo-r y. “Mr Edward Snowden, the Americanwhistleblower who exposed evidence of aglobal surveillance regime conducted by US

and UK intelligence agencies, has left HongKong legally,” WikiLeaks said in a statement.“He is bound for a democratic nation via a saferoute for the purposes of asylum, and is beingescorted by diplomats and legal advisors fromWikiLeaks,” it said without revealing his finaldestination.

Wikileaks confirmed that Snowden wasaccompanied by a British citizen named SarahHarrison, whom it described as a “journalist,and legal researcher ” work ing with theWikiLeaks legal team. Snowden’s latest inter-view yesterday contained new revelationsabout US cyber-espionage against Chinese tar-gets, drawing a stinging response from China’sofficial news agency Xinhua which brandedWashington an espionage “villain”.

In the latest revelations in the South ChinaMorning Post, Snowden said the NSA washacking Chinese mobile phone companies togather data from millions of text messages. Hesaid US spies have also hacked the prestigiousTsinghua University in Beijing-home to one ofsix “network backbones” that route all of main-land China’s Internet traffic-and the Hong Kongheadquarters of Pacnet, which operates one ofthe Asia-Pacific region’s largest fibre-optic net-works.—AFP

Saudi changes working week to Sunday-Thursday

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced it isswitching its official weekend to Fridaysand Saturdays, bringing the kingdom’sworking week closer in line with othercountries in a move long desired by manyof the country’s businesses. Saudi Arabia,the biggest Arab economy, had been theonly member of the six-member GulfCooperation Council to have a Thursday-Friday weekend after Oman shifted to aFriday-Saturday weekend last month. Thesurprise move, which will be applied fromthis week, was immediately welcomed bySaudi economists and businessmen as giv-ing the private sector an extra day of align-ment with international businesses.

“It will increase interface with the rest ofthe world, now things will move faster,” saidAli Al-Ajmi, a former vice president at stateoil company Saudi Aramco who now runs aproject management business.Abdulrahman al-Ubaid, a former vice presi-dent at Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC),the world’s biggest petrochemcial compa-

ny, and now managing director of SaudiDevelopment and Innovation Group, alsowelcomed the change.

“We expect the impact to be positive onthe Saudi economy, we think our businesswill be easier,” he said. Saudi Arabia is con-sidering opening its stock market to moredirect foreign investment in the future. Atpresent, stocks move considerably on shiftsin global equities and commodities mar-kets. Although the world’s top oil exporterhad discussed looking at the change in itsweekend in the future, few people hadexpected it to make the switch so soon.However, some Saudi companies, includingfood producer Savola had alreadyannounced they would change their ownweekend to Friday and Saturday to improvetheir coordination with regional partners.The fact the change is happening in June,after schools have closed and while manySaudis are on holiday before the Ramadanfast which starts on July 9, means it will beless jarring, economists said. —Reuters

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

BRUSSELS: The European Union is on theverge of scrapping a new round of mem-bership talks with Turkey, a move thatwould further undermine Ankara’s alreadyslim hopes of joining the bloc and damageits relations with Brussels. Germany, the EU’sbiggest economic power, is blocking effortsto revive Turkey’s EU membership bid, part-ly because of its handling of anti-govern-ment protests that have swept the countryin the last few weeks, EU sources say. TheNetherlands too has voiced reservationsabout the EU’s plan to open talks withTurkey next Wednesday on a new “chapter”,or policy area, the sources say.

EU officials had hoped that opening thenew chapter, on regional policy, wouldbreathe new life into Turkey’s deadlockedEU membership negotiations. EU ambassa-dors, who failed to agree last week, areexpected to discuss the issue for a last timeon Monday morning. Barring a last-minutechange of heart in Berlin, Ireland, currentlyholder of the EU presidency, would then

have to tell Turkey that Wednesday’s meet-ing had been postponed or cancelled.

Turkey, already locked in a diplomaticrow with Germany after Chancellor AngelaMerkel said she was appalled by its crack-down on protesters, has made clear itwould respond forcefully to any EU decisionto scrap Wednesday’s talks. Germany’s hard-line stance is causing alarm among someEuropean policymakers who think the EUshould be engaging more with Turkey tosupport civil rights rather than movingaway.

“It would be a huge mistake to try toblock Turkey’s EU progress right at this time,”Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said onTwitter yesterday. Marietje Schaake, a Dutchliberal member of the European Parliament,said it would be unwise for the EU to slamthe door on Turkey. “This situation creates ...a chance for the EU to step up efforts toimprove the rule of law in Turkey, such asthe independence of the judiciary andrespect for the fundamental rights of all

people in Turkey,” she said on her website.

ElectionsAnalysts see electoral considerations as

playing a role in Germany’s position. Merkel’sconservatives oppose Turkish EU member-ship in their programme for September elec-tions and delaying talks with Turkey couldhelp them politically. Amanda Paul, a Turkeyexpert at the European Policy Centre think-tank, said Germany’s stance would have an“extremely serious” impact on Turkey’s mem-bership negotiations, already virtuallyblocked for three years.

“I don’t see the logic behind what theGermans are doing ... because it is not goingto be helpful to either Turkey or the EU. Thisrelationship is an important relationship, it isnot one that can just be thrown away,” Paulsaid.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at London’sChatham House thinktank, said the Turkishgovernment was in a “very prickly and com-bative mood” and was likely to respond to

an EU snub by suspending political contacts,meetings with EU institutions and possiblyrecalling its ambassador. However, MarkLeonard, director of the European Councilon Foreign Relations thinktank, did not seeTurkey breaking off accession talks, whichbegan in 2005 18 years after Turkey firstapplied to join.

Given Turkey’s position, neighbouringIran and Syria, the strategic case for Europehaving a relationship with Turkey wasgreater than ever, he said. Turkey is an influ-ential power in the Middle East and a mem-ber of the NATO military alliance. If Turkey’sEU ambitions were effectively dashed, itwould signal an end to EU expansion to thesoutheast but still leave it scope to expandfurther east where Balkan nations includingSerbia, Macedonia and Montenegro arequeuing up to join.

Slow paceTurkey’s negotiations to join the EU have

advanced at a glacial pace. It has provisional-

ly closed just one of 35 chapters or policyareas. It has opened a dozen more chaptersbut most of the rest are blocked due to dis-putes over the divided island of Cyprus orhostility especially from France, though thathas eased under President FrancoisHollande. It has not opened a new chaptersince 2010. Turkey has been leapfrogged bymany other EU applicants. Croatia, whichapplied for EU membership in 2003, is set tobecome the EU’s 28th member next month.The deadlock means the EU has lost itsappeal for many Turks.

France and Germany have always haddoubts about allowing a largely Muslimcountry of 76 million people into theEuropean club, fearing that cultural differ-ences and its size will make it too difficult tointegrate. Ankara’s supporters, led by Britainand Sweden, say the EU can benefit fromTurkey’s growing economic clout and its roleas an intermediary in the Middle East andthat Europe needs its cooperation to secureenergy supply routes. —Reuters

Germany blocks plan to revive talks with Turkey

ISMAILIA: Protesters chant slogans against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsioutside a court in Ismailia, 139 Kilometers (86 miles) from Cairo yesterday. —AP

Abbas accepts Palestinian

prime minister’s resignationHamdallah quit just two weeks after becoming premier

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas yesterday accepted the resignation of hisnew prime minister, whose quick departureclouded efforts to project government stabilityafter Western favourite Salam Fayyad quit thepost. Officials told Reuters that Rami Hamdallah,an academic and independent who becameprime minister two weeks ago, decided to stepdown after a dispute over authority with hisdeputy, who is an Abbas loyalist and is close tothe ruling Fatah party.

“The president accepted the resignation ofthe prime minister and designated him to headan interim government,” Abbas spokesman NabilAbu Rdaineh said. With Abbas setting policy withIsrael, the political tussle over the prime ministe-rial post seemed unlikely to have an impact onrenewed US efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinianpeace talks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is due toreturn in the coming week for another attemptto restart the negotiations frozen since 2010 in adispute over Jewish settlement expansion onoccupied land Palestinians seek for a state.“When we talk about the peace process,President Abbas is our interlocutor and so it’s notgoing to have an impact,” State Departmentspokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters onFriday, a day after Hamdallah submitted his resig-nation.

“Whatever happens, it’s important that the

Palestinian Authority government remain com-mitted to that effort of institution-building,”Ventrell said. Hamdallah’s predecessor Fayyad, aUS-educated economist, resigned in April aftersix years in office marred by tough economicchallenges but strides in setting touchstonesvital to future Palestinian statehood.

Fayyad was widely respected in the West forhis efforts to curb Palestinian corruption. The for-mer World Bank official was valued as a transpar-ent conduit for foreign aid money crucial tokeeping the economically struggling govern-ment afloat. But Fatah politicians eager to controlthe levers of power berated his ties to the West.Their disapproval of Fayyad, along with populardiscontent over high taxes and prices, helpedsqueeze him out.

EmbarrassmentHani al-Masri, an independent Palestinian

political analyst, said Hamdallah’s resignationwas another embarrassment for Abbas, whosegovernment exercises limited self rule in theWest Bank under interim peace deals with Israel.“This time, he (Abbas) doesn’t have the excusethat the man was propped up by the West orhad his own ambitions,” Masri said, referring topolitical accusations that political opponentsoften directed at Fayyad, an independent.Mohammed Mustafa, the deputy prime ministerwidely seen as having been behind the swift

challenge to Hamdallah, is being touted as hispossible successor, along with Abu Amr, a for-mer foreign minister. Under Palestinian law, areplacement must be named within two weeks.

US officials had expressed misgivings withMustafa as a potential prime minister, a Westerndiplomat told Reuters. A Reuters investigation in2009 found that US aid in the form of loan guar-antees meant for Palestinian farmers were givento a mobile phone company backed by Abbasand headed by Mustafa. At the time, Mustafadenied any wrongdoing said the funds wereused to help fuel Palestinian job creation.Abbas’s administration did not comment at thetime.

Abbas’ most powerful rival, the Hamas Islamistgroup that wrested control over the Gaza Stripaway from Fatah in 2007, said Hamdallah’s resig-nation showcased divisions that only prolongedthe Palestinian political split. Since the brief civilwar after Hamas won legislative polls in 2006,Palestinians have had no functioning parliamentor national elections, and a unity pact pledged byHamas and Fatah in 2011 and renewed this yearhas yet to materialise. Wasel Abu Yousef, a topofficial in the Palestine Liberation Organisation,told Reuters the new prime ministerial vacancycould be an opportunity for Abbas himself tohead an interim government of technocrats,pending new parliamentary polls envisaged bythe reconciliation accord. —Reuters

CAIRO: An Egyptian court said yesterday thatMuslim Brotherhood members conspired withHamas, Hezbollah and local militants to storma prison in 2011 and free 34 Brotherhood lead-ers, including the future President MohammedMorsi. The court statement read by judgeKhaled Mahgoub named two members ofMorsi’s Muslim Brotherhood among thealleged conspirators in the attack on Wadi el-Natroun prison on Jan 29, 2011.

It is the first statement by a court holdingmembers of the three Islamist groups respon-sible for jailbreaks during the chaos of Egypt’s2011 uprising. Two other prisons wherePalestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollahmembers were held were also attacked. Morsiand other Brotherhood leaders have main-tained that they were freed by local residents.Hamas, the Palestinian chapter of theBrotherhood, has denied involvement in theattacks on prisons.

The Freedom and Justice party, the politicalarm of the Brotherhood, said yesterday’s state-ment was “void and illegal.” It posted on itsTwitter account that Mahgoub “will end likeany other judge who did not respect the law orthe constitution.” Still, the court statement islikely to further fuel opposition to Morsi’s rulejust a week before his opponents plan massprotests to try to force him out of office. TheJune 30 demonstrations would mark theanniversary of his taking office in 2012 asEgypt’s first freely elected leader.

The past year has seen growing polarizationas Egypt struggles with a host of problems thatmany accuse Morsi of failing to effectively tack-le. They include surging crime, rising prices,power cuts, fuel shortages and unemployment.Pressure on Morsi grew yesterday when WaelGhonim, the best known youth figure of the2011 revolution, asked Morsi to step down. In avideo message posted on the Internet yester-day, Ghonim accused Morsi of reneging onpromises he made ahead of his 2012 election.

The president, he said, must act like a “patri-otic Egyptian” and resign to prevent “strife.”

Many Egyptians have been alarmed by state-ments from Morsi supporters vowing to “smash”the protesters. Several hard-line Islamists havedeclared the protesters infidels whose killing isjustified. Morsi’s supporters say his opponentsshould try to remove him through the ballotbox, and attempting to force him out is anattack on electoral legitimacy.

Also yesterday, a member of a radicalIslamist group appointed by Morsi as governorof the ancient city of Luxor resigned in the faceof daily protests outside his office. Adel el-Khayat is a member of the Construction andDevelopment party, the political arm of theGamaa Islamiya, which waged an armed insur-gency against the state starting in 1992 andattacked police, Coptic Christians and tourists.

In November 1997, gunmen from the groupattacked tourists at Luxor’s 3,400-year-oldHatshepsut Temple, killing 58. More than 1,200people died in the campaign of violence by thegroup, which later renounced violence, andanother militant organization, Islamic Jihad. “Idiscussed with my brothers from theConstruction and Development party, and weagreed that I should present my resignation asLuxor’s governor because we don’t want blood-shed”, he said in a statement. “We cannotaccept the shedding of even one drop of bloodfor a position that we never wanted.”

Morsi has not spoken publicly about hisescape from Wadi el-Natroun since he gave anaccount of what happened in a frantic phonecall he made to Al-Jazeera Mubasher TVmoments after being freed. “From the noiseswe heard ... It seemed to us there were (prison-ers) attempting to get out of their cells andbreak out into the prison yard and the prisonauthorities were trying to regain control andfired tear gas,” Morsi said in the call. The prisonbreaks took place during the 18-day popularuprising that toppled the 29-year regime ofautocrat Hosni Mubarak. The breaks led to aflood of some 23,000 criminals onto thestreets, fueling a crime wave that continues tothis day. —AP

Egypt court: Brotherhood

members planned jailbreak

ANGIL TOBAYA: Sudanese soldiers keep watch as civilians gather for the arrival ofspecial envoys in Sudan. —AFP

DAYTON: Flames erupt from a plane after a stuntplane crashed while performing with a wing walker atthe Vectren Air Show, Saturday, June 22, 2013, inDayton, Ohio. —AP

ABU SHOUK: The armoured personnel carrierslowly bumps its way out of the UN base inSudan’s far-west region of Darfur with Indonesianpoliceman Andhy Kurniawan at the wheel. Hiscolleague Daud Markus Afi, a part-time singer,mans the machinegun overhead while EndroSuryanto is in charge of the radio. They are lead-ing another African Union-UN patrol into AbuShouk, a camp for an estimated 75,000 of the 1.4million people displaced by the decade-long con-flict in Darfur. A surge in tribal violence, alongwith clashes between rebel fighters and govern-ment forces, has forced another 300,000 to fleetheir homes this year as the security situationdeteriorates.

The rear end of the armoured vehicle carries amessage, in Indonesian, to anyone who might tryto confront the patrol. Fierce, like a wounded ox, itsays. The Indonesians are paramilitary officerswith years of experience in their home country’sconflict zones. But here, their job is to protect amulti-national group of unarmed police advisersfollowing behind them in SUVs, backed up at therear by more Indonesian paramilitaries.

“Our main aim is to protect civilians by ourphysical presence in the field,” says Jaffar Ali, ofPakistan. He is the UN Mission in Darfur’s policecommander in the area. The afternoon patrol, oneof three throughout the day, begins with a brief-ing inside a small office resembling a shippingcontainer. “Today we are going to block four andfive,” an area within the camp, team leader KhalidArrejamy of Yemen tells his colleagues squeezedinto the room. Each patrol includes officers spe-cialising in human rights, family and children’smatters, investigation and other issues.

Arrejamy briefly reminds them of their dutiesbefore they head out. Among their tasks is towatch for rights violations and to identify areaswhere the Sudanese police could benefit fromtraining, Ali tells reporters accompanying the

group. This patrol also includes officers fromEgypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi and Sierra Leone.A notice taped to the office wall reminds themthat they all represent the United Nations, “wher-ever you go, whatever you do. This is no smallresponsibility.”

Their first stop is the Sudanese police station.Abdel Wahab Shaiba Ahmed, the local Sudanesepolice chief, greets the UNAMID members undera tree. He denies relations with the internally dis-placed people (IDPs) are poor. “This is not true,” hetells a reporter. Some of his men sit barefoot on amat, smoking and playing cards in the shade.UNAMID and local officers are working together“to share knowledge... and try to bridge the trustgap between the IDPs and the GoS police (gov-ernment of Sudan),” says Lieutenant ColonelMohammed Al-Dajeh, of Jordan.

But UNAMID police face their own issue oftrust, according to a participant in a meetingbetween UN officials and foreign envoys lastweek. In El Fasher, near Abu Shouk, they held atwo-yearly review of developments in Darfur.Arabic-speaking UNAMID officers “are not accept-ed in the camp,” according to the source at themeeting. “The IDPs say they side with the govern-ment.” The patrol drives on, stopping to chat withAdam Ali, a senior community leader who standsin the sandy street between high mud-brick wallswhich smell of dung.

Ali tells Arrejamy that they need security, water,health and educational facilities. Standing guard afew metres away, the Indonesians joke with someof the many children who emerge to watch the vis-itors. “Over time, we get along fine with the peo-ple,” says Afi, whose unit has spent seven months inDarfur without firing a shot. A Pakistani policemanapproaches some white-shirted schoolboys gath-ered in the shade and asks them about their stud-ies. Two female officers deliver their message to agroup of women. —AFP

UN police patrol as violence

worsens in Sudan’s Darfur

Stuntwoman, pilot

killed in Ohio

air show crashCINCINNATI: A budget analyst with a daredevil streak, JaneWicker knew she was taking a risk when she signed up to enter-tain thousands of spectators at the Vectren Air Show nearDayton. She said in a TV interview she felt confident of her abili-ty and said on her website that lots of practice makes her signa-ture stunt a “managed risk.” She planned to hang underneaththe plane’s wing by her feet and sit on the bottom of the air-plane while it was upside-down. It wasn’t clear Saturday whatwent so wrong. The biplane glided through the sky, rolled over,then crashed and exploded into flames, killing the wing walkerand the pilot, authorities said. No one else was hurt.

A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the small plane turnupside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. Theplane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting intoflames as spectators screamed. Ian Hoyt, an aviation photogra-pher and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with hisgirlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photosas the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to takeanother shot. “Then I realized they were too low and too slow.And before I knew it, they hit the ground,” he said.

He couldn’t tell exactly what happened, but it appearedthat the plane stalled and didn’t have enough air speed, hesaid. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators andpotentially saving lives. “Had he drifted more, I don’t knowwhat would have happened,” Hoyt said. He said he had beenexcited to see the show because he’d never seen the sched-uled performer - wing walker Jane Wicker - in action.

The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organiz-ers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previousschedule and normal operations. The National TransportationSafety Board said it is investigating the crash. On the video, theannouncer narrates as the plane glides through the sky androlls over while the stuntwoman perches on a wing. “Now she’sstill on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye onCharlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world,”the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turnand nosedive.

Federal records show the 450 HP Stearmans was registeredto Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered thephone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said hehad no comment and hung up. One of the pilots listed onWicker’s website was named Charlie Schwenker. A post onJane Wicker Airshows’ Facebook page announced the deathsof Wicker and Schwenker, and asked for prayers for their fami-lies.—AP

CAIRO: Luxor’s new governor, a member ofan Islamist party linked to a massacre oftourists in Egypt’s famed temple city, yester-day said he was quitting after his appoint-ment triggered an outcry and the resigna-tion of the tourism minister. Adel Al-Khayattold a news conference broadcast live ontelevision that he had decided “to submitmy resignation to Prime Minister HishamQandil” just a week after his appointment.

Khayat is member of the political arm ofex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiyawhich had claimed responsibility for themassacre of 58 tourists in Luxor in 1997.Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on June16 named Khat along with 16 other newgovernors, including seven from his MuslimBrotherhood movement. The nominationdrew widespread criticism in Egypt, whereopponents of Morsi have accused him ofhijacking the 2011 uprising that toppledthe regime of Hosni Mubarak.

The appointment was seen as a blowto the once-lucrative tourism industrywhich has been struggling to recover afterthe uprising against Mubarak. It prompt-ed Tourism Minister Hesham Zazou to ten-der his own resignation last Wednesday,saying Khayat’s nomination was an affront

to the tourism industry. Qandil refused toaccept the resignation. Zazou has insistedhe would continue to halt work “as long asthe new governor remains in his post,greatly harming tourism in Egypt general-ly and Luxor specifically,” the prime minis-ter’s spokeswoman, Rasha Al-Azaizy, saidlast week.

Khayat belongs to the Construction andDevelopment party, the political arm ofGamaa Islamiya which was blamed for aspate of attacks in the 1990s before itrenounced violence. A coalition of opposi-tion groups, trade unions and tourismworkers had threatened to close down allpharaonic temples and tourist attractionsshould Khayat remain in the post.

Luxor in southern Egypt, is an open-airmuseum of intricate temples and tombs ofpharaonic rulers and landmarks such as theWinter Palace hotel where crime novelistAgatha Christie is said to have written herthriller “Death on the Nile.” Before the upris-ing against Mubarak, it attracted thousandsof tourists annually, drawn by the Valley ofthe Kings and Valley of the Queens, and themortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut-scene of the 1997 massacre in which fourtourist guards were also killed. —AFP

Egypt’s controversial

Luxor governor quits


BEIRUT: Two Lebanese army officers anda soldier were killed yesterday in a clashwith supporters of a radical SunniMuslim sheikh opposed to the powerfulShiite movement Hezbollah, an armystatement said. “An armed group loyal toSheikh Ahmad Al-Assir attacked, for noreason, a Lebanese army checkpoint inthe village of Abra” on the outskirts ofthe southern Lebanese city of Sidon, themilitary said. “Two officers and a soldierwere killed, while several others werewounded. Several military vehicles weredamaged,” the statement added, updat-

ing the army’s earlier toll of two dead.The clash broke out when Assir’s sup-

porters surrounded an army checkpointin Abra, where a vehicle transportingother supporters of the Sunni cleric hadbeen stopped, a security source told AFPearlier. “After the armed men attacked(the army) with gunfire” the army firedback, the source added. An AFP journal-ist reported that explosions were heardtwo kilometres (more than a mile) away.

The correspondent saw civilians flee-ing the fighting, both by car and on foot.Businesses in Abra closed for the day

because of the raging gunfire. “The shellsare raining down on us, and there isintense gunfire,” a witness told AFP bytelephone. More troops deployed to thearea as the clashes raged through theafternoon. The controversial Sunnisheikh called on his supporters last weekto fire on apartments in Abra that hesays house Hezbollah members.

Abra is home to a mosque whereAssir leads the main weekly prayers onFridays. The sheikh believes Hezbollahuses the Abra apartments to keep himunder surveillance. His supporters

clashed with Hezbollah in Abra last weekin fighting that left one man dead. Assirwas unknown until around two yearsago, when he rose to prominence overhis radical opposition to Hezbollah andits ally, the Damascus regime ofPresident Bashar Al-Assad.

Syria-related tensions have soared inLebanon, deepening sectarian riftsbetween Sunnis and Shiites. ShiiteHezbollah supports Assad’s regime,while the Sunni-dominated oppositionbacks the rebels fighting it. During yes-terday’s fighting, Assir distributed a

video message via mobile phoneaddressed to his supporters.

“We are being attacked by theLebanese army,” Assir said, describingthe military as “sectarian” and accusing itof supporting Hezbollah chief HassanNasrallah.

“I call on everyone... to cut off roadsand to all honourable soldiers, Sunni andnon-Sunni, to quit the army immediate-ly,” Assir said in the message. He urgedsupporters across Lebanon to flock toAbra “to help defend our religion, ourhonour and our women”. — AFP

3 Lebanon troops die in clash with Sunni radicals

DAMASCUS: Rebels in Syria launched an attackon a police post in northern Damascus yesterdaywhich left four police and three insurgents dead,a watchdog said, as violence escalated in andaround the capital. The flare-up came as FrenchPresident Francois Hollande appealed to rebelsto “retake” zones that have fallen into the handsof extremist Islamist groups and a day afterworld powers agreed to provide the oppositionwith urgent military aid. The attack on the policepost took place in the Rokn Eddin neighbour-hood, while explosions in the Bab Musallaneighbourhood in south Damascus killed a civil-ian, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rightssaid. “Three men attacked the Rokn Eddin policestation. Clashes between the (attackers) and thepolice ensued. Afterwards... two explosions wereheard,” said the Britain-based Observatory. Allthree attackers were killed and four policemenalso died. Nine other people were wounded, fiveof them critically, the watchdog added. The inte-rior ministry meanwhile reported 11 peoplekilled, including six “terrorists”, during what itsaid were attacks launched by rebels in RoknEddin and Bab Musalla.

“Al-Nusra Front terrorists tried to enter thepolice station in Rokn Eddin and the criminalsecurity branch in Damascus,” it said. The min-istry described the attacks as “a new escalationby the terrorist gangs”-using the regime term forrebels. “Three suicide attackers clashed withpolice in Rokn Eddin’s police station as they pre-pared to detonate their explosives,” said the min-istry statement.

“Three other suicide bombers” tried to attackthe criminal security branch in Bab Musalla, itadded. “Branch personnel fought them off andkilled them, defusing their explosives,” said theministry, adding that five people besides theattackers were killed. The ministry said investiga-tions at the targeted sites showed the attackerswere members of Al-Nusra Front, an Islamistrebel group. France’s Hollande, on a visit toDoha, urged Syria’s opposition to push extrem-ists out of the zones they control.

“The opposition must retake control of theseareas and push these groups out,” he toldreporters. If extremist groups “benefit from thechaos in future, (Syrian President) Bashar Al-Assad will seize this as an excuse to continue hismassacres.” The Assad regime has systematicallyblamed violence in Syria on Al-Qaeda and affili-ated, foreign-backed groups. Violence also raged

in the Damascus countryside. The army battledrebels both in the Eastern Ghouta area east ofthe capital and in the Qalamoun area betweenDamascus and the Lebanese border, said theObservatory. In northern Syria, 12 troops werekilled in a rebel car bomb attack on the edges ofAleppo city, it said.

The fighting comes after world powers sup-porting the rebels agreed on Saturday to pro-vide them with urgent military aid. Qatar, whichhosted the gathering of foreign ministers of the“Friends of Syria”, said the meeting had taken“secret decisions about practical measures tochange the situation on the ground”. A finalcommunique said “each country in its own way”would provide “urgently all the necessarymateriel and equipment” so that the rebelscould “counter brutal attacks by the regime andits allies and protect the Syrian people”. Therebels have reported receiving new equipmentfrom “friendly” countries a possible allusion to

Gulf Arab nations-but the United States, Franceand Britain have been quiet on what they haveprovided.

Participants in the Doha talks said that thereticence was partly a nod to concerns by Italyand especially Germany, which has repeatedlycautioned that weapons could aggravate theconflict. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamadbin Jassem Al-Thani, meeting with US Secretaryof State John Kerry, said that all but two coun-tries agreed on plans to support the rebels.Washington and Doha had called for increasingaid to end what Kerry called an “imbalance” inAssad’s favour. Kerry said the United Statesremained committed to a peace plan thatincludes a conference in Geneva and a transi-tional government picked both by Assad andthe opposition. But he said the rebels need moresupport “for the purpose of being able to get toGeneva and to be able to address the imbalanceon the ground”. — AFP

Fighting rages in DamascusHollande urges rebels to ‘retake’ extremist zones

DAMASCUS: Picture shows civilians inspecting burnt out vehicles following an attack in thecapital Damascus. — AFP

KARBALA: Shiite Muslim pilgrims pray at the shrine of Imam Hussein during prepara-tions for the annual festival of Shaabaniya marking the birth of Imam Mahdi,revered by Shiites as the coming Messiah yesterday. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda’s Iraq arm is gather-ing strength in the restive northern city ofMosul, ramping up its fundraising throughgangland-style shakedowns and feeding offanti-government anger as it increasinglycarries out attacks with impunity, accordingto residents and officials. It is a disturbingdevelopment for Iraq’s third-largest city,one of the country’s main gateways to Syria,as Al-Qaeda in Iraq makes a push to estab-lish itself as a dominant player among therebels fighting to topple the Syrian regime.

The show of force comes as Mosul resi-dents cast ballots in delayed local electionsThursday that have been marred by intimi-dation by militants. Al-Qaeda’s renewedmuscle-flexing is evident in dollar termstoo, with one Iraqi official estimating thatmilitants are netting more than $1 million amonth in the city through criminal businessenterprises. Mosul and the surroundingcountryside, from where Al-Qaeda was nev-er really routed, have emerged as majorflashpoints in a wave of bloodshed that haskilled nearly 2,000 Iraqis since the start ofApril - the country’s deadliest outbreak ofviolence in five years. Gunbattles have bro-ken out between militants and securityforces, and several candidates have beenassassinated.

Just since the start of last week, attackersin and around the city have unleashed arapid-fire wave of five car bombs, tried toassassinate the provincial governor andkilled another local politician and four otherpeople in a suicide bombing. The violenceincreased as Thursday’s electionsapproached in Ninevah and neighboringAnbar province. Iraqis elsewhere went tothe polls in April, but the Baghdad govern-ment postponed voting in the twoprovinces, citing security concerns. OtherSunni militant groups, including Ansar Al-Islam and the Army of the Men of theNaqshabandi Order, are also active inNinevah. Mosul is the capital of the Sunni-dominated province.

Al-Qaeda’s growing power is particularlyworrying because it is thought to be behindthe bulk of the bombings across Iraq andbecause it is trying to assert itself as a playerin neighboring Syria’s civil war. The head ofAl-Qaeda’s Iraq arm last week defied the ter-ror network’s central command by insistingthat his unit would continue to lay claim toAl-Qaeda operations in Syria, too. “We’redefinitely concerned about it,” said a USdiplomat about the deteriorating securitysituation in Mosul. The diplomat, whowasn’t authorized to speak on the record,said Al-Qaeda’s Iraq arm sees an opportuni-ty to try to build support in the area and is“out blowing things up to show that thegovernment can’t protect and serve thepeople.”

Al-Qaeda’s growing strength in Mosul is

painfully clear to businessman Safwan Al-Moussili. Traders like him say they are onceagain facing demands from militants to payprotection money or face grave conse-quences. Merchants say that practice hadlargely disappeared by the time Americantroops left in December 2011.

“They tell us: ‘Pay this amount.’ And if it’shigher than before, they say something like:‘You recently went to China and youimported these materials and you madesuch and such profits,’” he said. “It seemsthey know everything about us.” Small-scaleshop owners, goldsmiths, supermarkets,gas stations and pharmacies are all beinghit up for money these days. Al-Moussiliand his fellow businessmen feel they havelittle choice but to pay up. About twomonths ago, he recalls, one businessmanrefused to pay, and insurgents planted abomb inside his shop that killed the man.

“That forced everybody to pay, becausewe don’t see the security forces doing any-thing to end this situation,” he said. A Mosulfood wholesaler, who referred to himselfonly by the nickname Abu Younis out ofconcern for his security, said he and othertraders resumed paying $200-a-month kick-backs to Al-Qaeda three months ago afterfinding threatening letters in the markethall where they operate.

Al-Qaeda focused its operations in his-torically conservative Mosul following set-backs in Anbar province in 2006. It soonbecame the only major Iraqi city with a sig-nificant Al-Qaeda presence.

The US urged Iraqi Prime Minister NouriAl-Maliki to focus his resources on Mosul towipe out Al-Qaeda and prevent the insur-gents from reorganizing there. Instead, thegovernment shifted resources at a keymoment to crush Al-Maliki’s armed Shiiterivals in the southern city of Basra, whichprevented a decisive defeat of Al-Qaeda.

Over time, the militants, exploiting eth-nic tensions in the Mosul area betweenArabs and Kurds, were able to reinforcetheir position. Michael Knights, an analyst atthe Washington Institute for Near EastPolicy who closely follows regional securityissues, said Al-Qaeda in Iraq has long gener-ated cash from businesses such as truckingand real estate, and through extortion oflarge firms such as mobile phone compa-nies.

“If they’re extending their extortion backout to local traders, that indicates they’vegot better street control,” he said. “It justshows they’re able to operate in the urbanneighborhoods and don’t see a securityforce retaliation like they did two years ago.And they don’t fear informants identifyingthem.” Abdul-Rahim Al-Shimmari, a mem-ber of the Ninevah provincial council,agreed that extortion is making a come-back. —AP

Qaeda gathers power in northern Iraqi city

TEGUCIGALPA: Manuel Zelaya was unceremoni-ously booted from power four years ago whenHonduras’ army hustled him out of the countryin his pajamas, a coup prompted by fears amongHonduras’ business and political elite that hewas getting too hungry for power. Now he’sback with a new shot at the presidential palace,this time as the husband of the leading presi-dential candidate, Xiomara Castro. Polls showCastro, 53, leading seven other candidatesahead of the Nov 24 election, including the mili-tary general who conducted the coup. The coun-try’s two traditional parties, which backed thecoup, are struggling in third and fourth place,behind Castro and a popular sports TV personal-ity. The election of a self-proclaimed socialistcould be considered a stunning change in acountry where oligarchs have maintained politi-cal power over a poor, uneducated majority forat least a century. But Zelaya, too, is a wealthylandowner from the old guard, and most peoplesee his wife as his cover in a country that banspresidential re-election. He is running for a con-gressional seat from his own state. Even one ofher former speechwriters says Castro lacks thepolitical heft of other female leaders in LatinAmerica, such as Argentina’s Cristina Fernandezor Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, who came to powerwith extensive records of their own. “She is aninvented banner to fill the political needs ofManuel Zelaya,” said Sergio Suazo, a Honduras

National University political science professor.Zelaya says he is merely her driver and guardian,present in the campaign “to ensure the safety ofXiomara and to be as close to her as possible.”But when they arrive at political events, it is hewho is mobbed by cameras and supporters. Shestays in the background until he decides to handher the spotlight.

Even Castro says her election would be a Billand Hillary Clinton-style “Buy one, get one free.”“The decisions are going to be made by me, nowit’s my turn,” she told The Associated Press in acampaign swing. “But I will consult with him onevery occasion, as he consulted with me in thepast.” It was the suspicion that Zelaya wanted toreform the constitution and seek re-election thathelped get him kicked out in the first place. Hewas whisked out of the country at gunpoint inJune 2009 after he defied a Supreme Court orderto drop plans to hold a referendum askingHondurans whether the constitution should berevised. Zelaya was elected from the traditional,centrist Liberal Party, but began aligning himselfmore and more with the late leftist VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez, adopting his populistplatforms and rhetoric. His ouster was backed bymembers of his own party, who thought thatZelaya, like Chavez, would seek to stay in powerindefinitely. Chavez served 14 years and had justbeen re-elected to six more years when he diedof cancer in March. —AP

Deposed Honduran leader’s wife leads in local polls

TEGUCIGALPA: In this June 16, 2013 photo,presidential candidate Xiomara Castro, wifeof ousted President Manuel Zelaya, waves toher supporters at the Free Party’s conventionin Tegucigalpa, Honduras. — AP


WASHINGTON: Declaring “the time forexcuses is over,” President Barack Obamais trumpeting the economic benefits ofan immigration overhaul, arguing that abipartisan bill picking up steam in theSenate would put the nation’s loatheddeficits and fragile entitlements on bet-ter footing. A recent analysis from theCongressional Budget Office, lawmakers’nonpartisan scorekeeper, was Exhibit Ain Obama’s weekly radio and Internetaddress Saturday. The report showsdeficits would fall nearly $1 trillion overtwo decades after the bill becomes law.

What’s more, Obama said, the influxof immigrant-driven investment, tech-nology and businesses would give theeconomy a 5 percent shot in the arm.“This bipartisan, common-sense bill willhelp the middle class grow our economyand shrink our deficits, by making surethat every worker in America plays bythe same set of rules and pays taxes likeeveryone else,” he said.

Confidence that the overhaul couldpass the Senate by impressive margins isgrowing, and leaders scheduled a testvote on the bill for Monday, with a final

vote expected by the end of next week.Although the heart of the bill is a 13-yearpathway to citizenship for millions livingin the United States illegally, it was a mil-itary-style surge to US-Mexican bordersecurity, added this week to placatewary Republicans, that was credited forgiving the bill a much-needed boost.

Obama didn’t specifically address theborder amendment Saturday, but he didnote that the bill “would continue tostrengthen security at our borders.”Despite concerns from some Democratsthat the security provisions - 20,000 new

agents, 350 miles of new fencing, 18 newunmanned drones - are overkill, Obamaspokesman Jay Carney said Friday itwould constitute a “breakthrough” thatthe White House applauded.

“The bill isn’t perfect. It’s a compro-mise,” Obama said, reprising a line he’sused throughout the process whenDemocrats have complained the bill hasbecome too conservative. “But it’s con-sistent with the principles that I and oth-ers have laid out.” In the Republicanaddress, Rep. John Kline of Minnesotasays Obama must show leadership to

avoid an impending hike on studentloan interest rates.

He said it’s fortunate that Obama andHouse Republicans agree on the issueand have both proposed plans thatwould tie interest rates to the market. Heaccused Senate Democrats of blockingeach plan. “If I didn’t know any better, Iwould say they are content to let ratesdouble,” Kline said.

“This eleventh-hour scrambling is aperfect demonstration of why we needto take the politics out of student loansonce and for all.” — AP

Time for excuses on immigration is over: Obama

ROME: A Milan court will decide today whetherSilvio Berlusconi paid for sex with an underageprostitute and abused his powers to cover it up,with the former Italian prime minister facing ajail sentence of up to six years. The verdict,which could have major political repercussions,closes a two-year trial which has captivatedattention on billionaire Berlusconi’s alleged“bunga bunga” sex parties in his private villa out-side Milan while he was premier in 2010.

If the 76-year-old is found guilty it couldweaken Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile, left-right coalition government which depends onthe centre-right leader’s support for its survival.Several members of Berlusconi’s People ofFreedom party have urged him to withdraw hissupport and he may be more tempted to do so ifhe decides his backing for Letta is giving him nolegal protection.

“He is expecting it to go against him, he hasbeen telling everyone that the judges are preju-diced,” said James Walston, politics professor atthe American University of Rome. Berlusconi isaccused of paying for sex with former nightclubdancer Karima El Mahroug, alias “Ruby theHeartstealer”, when she was under 18, and ofabuse of office to get her released from policecustody on a separate occasion.

He denies all wrongdoing and says he is

being persecuted by left-wing prosecutors. Hesays the alleged sex parties were elegant dinnerswhere the female guests performed “burlesque”shows. El Mahroug denies having sex withBerlusconi. Prosecutors say Berlusconi shouldserve one year in jail for paying for sex with aminor and should be given five years’ imprison-ment and a life ban from holding public officefor the abuse of office charge, which they con-sider more serious. In May 2010 the then primeminister called a Milan police station to instructofficials to release El Mahroug, who was beingheld on suspicion of stealing a bracelet. ABrazilian prostitute who lived with El Mahroughad called the premier on his mobile phone totell him she had been arrested.

Political risksBerlusconi’s lawyers say he made the call to

avoid a diplomatic incident because he believedthat El Mahroug, who is actually Moroccan, wasthe grand-daughter of former EgyptianPresident Hosni Mubarak. The prosecution sayshe was anxious to cover up the relations he hadwith her at his sex parties. The media tycoon hasrecently used his own television stations to pro-mote his version of events, with his flagshipCanale 5 channel broadcasting a prime-timedocumentary on the so-called “Ruby Trial”.

Whatever the verdict on Monday, Berlusconiwill not go to jail before he has exhausted hisright to two appeals under the Italian legal sys-tem, which could take years. The political conse-quences, however, could come sooner. Letta,from the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), islikely to be rooting for a not-guilty verdict in theinterests of his fledgling government’s stability.The case is only part of Berlusconi’s legal prob-lems. Last month an appeals court upheld afour-year jail sentence against him for orches-trating a tax fraud scheme connected with hisbusiness dealings - leaving him just one moreappeal, at the supreme court, which could comewithin a year. Despite Berlusconi’s professions ofloyalty to Letta, many analysts believe he willeventually prefer to gamble on fresh elections,in which he could potentially become primeminister once again, rather than risk a definitivesentence. Even if Berlusconi opts to keep back-ing the government, a guilty verdict would makeparts of the PD highly uneasy and increase thecoalition’s instability, said Giovanni Orsina, pro-fessor of contemporary history at Rome’s LuissUniversity. “The PD would be in the same majori-ty with a person who has been condemned inthe first degree for juvenile prostitution which isnot a light issue,” he said. “It would add up to adifficult situation.” — Reuters

Italy’s Berlusconi set to face verdict in underage sex trial

Guilty verdict could weaken Letta government

SOFIA: A protester waves a Bulgarian flag during anti-government protests. - AFP

SOFIA: With their toddlers sticky with icecream and their dogs panting in the sum-mer heat, the Bulgarians protesting for thepast week look very different to the gloomycrowds that toppled the government inFebruary. But this does not make thecolourful mass with their sunglasses, bikes,songs and clever catchphrases any lessdetermined to see the back of the newthree-week-old government and for ashake-up of the whole political class.

“We want to oust these corrupt dema-gogues who call themselves ‘a politicalclass’. It’s the future of our children herethat is at stake-or emigration,” teacher IlianKamenov, 42, told AFP at a recent march inSofia. “I was seven when my parents tookme to rallies for democracy when commu-nism fell (in 1989),” said another, KameliaMitova, 31. “It’s unbelievable that I am herenow for the same reasons.”

The spark that ignited this latest crisis inthe EU’s poorest country was the Socialist-backed government’s decision earlier thismonth to appoint a 32-year-old mediamogul to head a powerful state securityauthority. For the protestors, this showedthat the new administration was in cahootswith the same old powerful business inter-ests and that its promises of a new era oftransparency and accountability were lies.

Even though the government quicklyreversed the security chief decision,between 7,000 and 10,000 people have tak-en part in daily demonstrations since June14 - marching and dancing, shouting andsinging along Sofia’s boulevards everyevening. On a special page on social net-working website Facebook, used to greateffect to organise the latest protests, thedemonstrators say they want to “oust theoligarchy” and see Bulgaria governed likeany other nation in the European Union.

“Even if we are smiling, we are angry”they say. “Protest noisily, react wisely!”, isone of their slogans. “”NOresharski!NOligarchy!” is another, a pun on the nameof the prime minister, Plamen Oresharski,

brought in as a non-partisan safe pair ofhands. Many popular faces-writers, actors,musicians, professors, human rightsactivists-are seen in the rallies, just as theywere during the first demonstrations in thecountry after the toppling of communismin 1989.

In February, by contrast, the demonstra-tors were mostly poorer, angrier and des-perate, taking to the streets across thecountry after receiving winter heating billsthat they simply could not pay. Seven peo-ple set themselves on fire. “Contrary to theFebruary protests about people’s emptypockets, these protests are about morals.These are young, well-educated people,who also earn well-Sofia’s middle class-thatwill be harder to appease,” political analystDimitar Ganev said.

“At last, people started to understandthe importance of civil society that wasvery under-developed up till now,” saidanalyst Antoaneta Tsoneva from theInstitute for Public EnvironmentDevelopment. But most analysts were how-ever convinced that even if protestors’anger is justified, toppling the three-week-old cabinet and holding new snap elec-tions risked turning a crisis into a calamity.

Instead, the president-who has openlysympathised with the protests-has urgedparliament to start work on changes to theelectoral code to improve people’s politicalrepresentation by opening the way for newfaces and smaller parties to enter the legis-lature at the next elections.

In order to give parliament time to dothat, the new vote must be put off untilMay 2014 when Bulgaria will also hold elec-tions for European parliament, Gallup ana-lyst Zhivko Georgiev said.

This would also leave time for the gov-ernment to address the most pressingsocial problems such as growing povertyand unemployment and falling living stan-dards to avoid new anti-poverty rallies nextwinter, Sofia University political analystMaria Pirgova added. — AFP

‘Smiling but angry’, protesters rock Bulgaria

TIRANA: An opposition activist waskilled in an apparently politicallymotivated shooting in Albania onyesterday during a crucial electionthat could determine whether one ofEurope’s poorest countries has achance of joining the EU. Theshootout in the northern town of Lac“might be related to the vote,” policespokeswoman Alma Katragjini toldAFP, declining to give further infor-mation about the incident.

The dead man was identified as a53-year old activist with the Socialist-led coalition of former Tirana mayorEdi Rama, while among three peoplewounded was a candidate from theruling Democratic party of conserva-tive Prime Minister Sali Berisha.Rama-whose coalition has a slightedge in the election race accordingto analysts-branded the shooting a“serious political incident... aimed atintimidating the voters.”

“Berisha should take responsibili-ty... and pay for it,” the 48-year-oldRama told reporters after rushing toLac. Accusations of vote-buying andelectoral roll irregularities have beenflying between the rivals, raising con-cerns of a repeat of the 2009 pollswhich triggered months of politicalturmoil and government paralysis.

Around 6,000 police were on dutyyesterday to try to keep the peace.Berisha, seeking his third mandate tolead the Muslim majority nation aftereight years in power, vowed that “thewill of citizens shall be respected” atthe polls. Having failed to deliverclean elections since the fall of com-munism two decades ago, Albaniadesperately needs to prove that it isable to hold fair polls that meet inter-national standards if it is to have ashot at joining the EU.

Since the collapse of EnverHoxha’s communist regime in 1990,polls in Albania have been marred byviolence and allegations of vote-fix-ing. Brussels, which has twice reject-ed Tirana’s EU membership applica-tion, said the vote “represents a cru-cial test for the country’s democraticinstitutions and its progress towardsthe European Union”.

But as Albania’s 3.2 million voterswere choosing lawmakers for the140-seat assembly, the electoral sys-tem appeared to be struggling tomeet international standards. Theelectoral commission-the agencytasked with certifying the vote-remains paralysed, with no progressmade in efforts to replace three of itsseven members who quit in Aprilover a dispute between the govern-ment and the opposition.

Eugen Wollfarth, head of theOrganisation for Security andCooperation in Europe (OSCE) mis-sion in Tirana, called on politicians to“consider what is best for the coun-try,” which became a NATO memberin 2009. A Western diplomat warnedof a “great risk the results would becontested, either by the outgoingcoalition or by the opposition”.

Both Rama and Berisha havepledged to improve living standardsin the country where many, especial-ly in the poor mountainous north,depend heavily on financial aid sentby an estimated 1.5 million country-men living in western Europe and theUnited States. Berisha, a 69-year oldcardiologist, has been campaigningon the promise of new investments,but also a six percent hike in wagesand pensions to come into effectafter the election. Rama, a Paris-schooled painter, insisted on rooting

out widespread corruption inAlbania, which ranked 113th of 174countries on graft watchdogTransparency International’s 2012 list.“I graduated with top marks but I cannot still find work as the system is rot-ten with corruption,” said 28-year oldjurist Flori Lika, after voting for theSocialists. But 40-year-old economistLuljeta Konomi said Berisha “haschanged the face of Albania. “He isthe only one able to take Albania inthe great European family,” she said.Two more parties-the New

Democratic Spirit of former presidentBamir Topi and the ultranationalistRed and Black Alliance-could alsowin enough votes to enter the parlia-ment. In Tirana, people were queue-ing to cast their ballots even beforepolling stations opened. “In Albania,everyone is so obsessed with politics,they think of it even when they makelove,” said 30-year old engineer ArsenPrifit. Some 600 internationalobservers are monitoring the pollswhich are to close at 1700 GMT, withfirst results expected today. — AFP

LONDON: It wasn’t quite a royal wedding,but with Prince William as best man and aHogwarts castle as the setting it certainlycaused a stir in Britain’s media. William wasattending Saturday’s marriage of his closefriend, Thomas van Straubenzee, to MelissaPercy, the daughter of the Duke andDuchess of Northumberland. Prince Harryalso attended the event at Alnwick Castle,the bride’s family home, which was used in

some of the “Harry Potter” movies. William’swife, the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge,did not attend - though her sister PippaMiddleton did. Other guests includedPrincesses Beatrice and Eugenie, thedaughters of Prince Andrew and SarahFerguson. The Sunday Times and theSunday Telegraph featured the wedding ontheir front pages Sunday, calling it the“society wedding of the year.” - AP

BERLIN: Just days after US President BarackObama walked in his footsteps, Berlin will markthe 50th anniversary of John F Kennedy’s piv-otal “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech with celebra-tions throughout the reunited city. Kennedy’sstirring pledge of solidarity with the besiegedwestern sectors of Berlin still marks the definingtouchstone in relations between the UnitedStates and Europe’s biggest economic power.

The German capital has organised more than50 events in the run-up to Wednesday’s anniver-sary including tours, lectures, exhibitions andnew book publications. They will culminate in aceremony at the Schoeneberg town hall whereKennedy spoke to West Berliners who feared anymoment could see Soviet tanks roll down theirstreets.

His eight-hour visit on June 26, 1963 came ata critical stage of the Cold War, and Berlin was onthe front line. It was only a year since the UnitedStates and Soviet Union nearly went to war inthe Cuban missile crisis, and two years after EastGermany’s communist regime erected the BerlinWall, cleaving the city in two.

The United States had done little when

Berliners were suddenly cut off from their fami-lies and jobs on the other side of the city. But inan electrifying 10-minute address, Kennedy gaveBerliners what they wanted to hear: a condem-nation of the Wall and a promise that the freeworld stood by them. “Freedom has many diffi-culties and democracy is not perfect but wehave never had to put a wall up to keep our peo-ple in, to prevent them from leaving us,” the defi-ant president said, in a firm rejection of commu-nist appeasement.

At the end, Kennedy uttered the immortalwords: “All free men, wherever they may live, arecitizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, Itake pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (I ama Berliner).” His vow, just five months before hewould be assassinated in Dallas, was greetedwith rapturous applause from the around450,000 people thronging the square.

Obama, who spoke Wednesday at the nowopen Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of Germanunity, quoted several Kennedy tropes includinghis most famous German line. In a toast at a din-ner that night hosted by Chancellor AngelaMerkel, who grew up in communist East

Germany, he acknowledged that JFK had set thebar for any US president abroad almost unattain-ably high.

“Fifty years ago, as this city prepared to wel-come President Kennedy, Berliners were ecstat-ic,” Obama said. “Mayor Willy Brandt tried to calmeverybody down-he told them, don’t be tooemotional. It didn’t work.” Although Kennedywas moved by the reaction, his advisorMcGeorge Bundy and Brandt worried that itwould only heighten East-West tensions at atime of tentative moves toward detente.

Ulrich Mack, 80, one of the press photogra-phers in Berlin that day, told AFP that peoplehung from street lamps, road signs and climbedtrees just to get a glimpse at the visitor fromWashington, and threw reams of confetti. “It wasjust a wave of euphoria, it was like being intoxi-cated-from the images, from the situation-it wassimply beautiful,” said Mack, who just released abook of unpublished photographs from that day.“It was amazing to see how this sceptical man,who really was quite hostile to Germans, sudden-ly did an about-face and softened, how he lovedshaking hands in the crowd. —AFP

Deadly shootout mars Albania vote

TIRANA: Albanian Prime Minister and Democratic Party leader SaliBerisha makes a victory sign as he casts his ballot at a polling stationyesterday. — AFP

After Obama visit, Berlin remembers JFK 50 years on

Princes William, Harry attend society wedding

ENGLAND: Britain’s Prince Harry (right) leaves after attending the wedding of theDuke and Duchess of Northumberland’s daughter Lady Melissa Percy to charteredsurveyor Thomas van Straubenzee at St Michael’s Church in Alnwick, England. — AP


DEL NORTE: A massive wildfire threateninga tourist region in southwestern Coloradohas grown to nearly 60 square miles, but offi-cials said Saturday that the erratic blaze hadslowed and they were optimistic they couldprotect the town of South Fork. The fire’srapid advance prompted the evacuation ofhundreds of summer visitors and the town’s400 permanent residents Friday, and it couldbe days before people are allowed back intotheir homes, cabins and RV parks, fire crewspokeswoman Laura McConnell said. SouthFork Mayor Kenneth Brooke estimated that1,000 to 1,500 people were forced to flee.Some business owners were being allowedback into South Fork during the daySaturday to tie up issues left unattended inthe rush to leave.

Officials, meanwhile, closely monitoredan arm of the blaze moving toward theneighboring town of Creede. “We were very,very lucky,” said Rio Grande CountyCommissioner Carla Shriver. “We got a freepass yesterday.” McConnell said no structureshad been lost and the fire was still about 5miles from the town. The blaze had beenfueled by dry, hot, windy weather and astand of dead trees, killed by a beetle infesta-tion. But the fire’s spread had slowed bySaturday morning after the flames hit ahealthy section of forest. Fire crews remainedalert as more hot, dry and windy weatherwas forecast. The wildfire, a complex of threeblazes, remains a danger, officials said. “Thefire is very unpredictable,” Shriver told evac-uees at Del Norte High School, east of thefire. “They are saying they haven’t quite seenone like this in years. There is so much fuelup there.” Winds picked up Saturday after-noon and a heavy black again permeated

the air in Del Norte, where a Red Cross shel-ter was set up for evacuees. Anticipating themandatory South Fork evacuation would lastfor days, the Red Cross promised more sup-plies and portable showers. Ralph andLeilani Harden of Victoria, Texas, spend sum-mers in South Fork. “We jumped out of theSouth Texas hot box into the Colorado fryingpan,” Ralph Harden said.

Bob and Sherry Mason bought the WolfCreek Ski Lodge on the Western Edge ofSouth Fork about a year and a half ago. “This(wildfire) was in our contingency plan beingin Colorado, but we didn’t expect it thissoon,” Bob Mason said. New fire crews, mean-while, descended from other areas to joinmore than 32 fire engines stationed aroundSouth Fork, with hoses and tankers at theready. Firefighters also worked to movepotential fuel, such as lawn furniture,propane tanks and wood piles, away fromhomes and buildings. The town of Creede’s300 residents were under voluntary evacua-tion orders as officials feared the fire couldreach the roads leading out of town.

The heavy black smoke, broken up onlyby an orange glow over the outlines of theSan Juan mountains, was so thick Friday thatthe plume helped keep an 18-square-milewildfire burning 100 miles to the east nearWalsenburg from spreading as fast as itwould have otherwise. Susan Valente, an on-site spokeswoman for the fire nearWalsenburg, said the shade helped keep theforest from drying out in the hot afternoonsun. Residents from 300 homes remain evac-uated while in the city of Walsenburg andthe town of Aguilar remain on pre-evacua-tion notice, meaning residents must beready to flee at a moment’s notice. — AP

PINE: A military C-130 drops a load of fire retardant on a wildfire near Pine, Colorado. — AP

Firefighters optimistic they can save Colorado town

BELO HORIZONTE: Fresh protests rocked BrazilSaturday despite conciliatory remarks byPresident Dilma Rousseff, who pledged toimprove public services and fight harder againstcorruption. Rousseff ’s televised address lateFriday appeared to have failed to sway protest-ers, as protests were held in over 100 citiesSaturday and activists vowed to continue thestruggle and ordinarily football-mad Braziliansonce again protested outside ConfederationsCup games. More than 70,000 people chanting“The Cup for whom?” rallied in the southeasterncity of Belo Horizonte as Mexico edged Japan 2-1 in the football tournament seen as a dressrehearsal for next year’s World Cup.

Police fired tear gas when some protestershurled stones and tried to break through thesecurity perimeter around the Mineirao stadium.Some 25 people, including five police officers,were reported injured in the clashes, and anoth-er 22 protesters were arrested. Later, the unrest

spread as shops were looted, and banks and acar dealership vandalized.”We are against theWorld Cup because it masks the problems thecountry faces,” said musician Leonardo Melo,who dismissed Rousseff’s speech as “rhetoric.”Over the past two weeks, hundreds of thou-sands of Brazilians have protested against thebillions of dollars being spent on the World Cup,accusing the government of wasting money andneglecting health, education and transport.

More than a million marched in scores ofcities on Thursday. In Sao Paulo, 35,000 peopletook to the streets peacefully Saturday todenounce a proposed constitutional amend-ment that would take away the power of inde-pendent public prosecutors to probe crimes,making it harder to combat corruption. In thesouthern town of Uruguaiana, demonstratorspeacefully occupied the bridge linking Brazil toUruguay for four hours. In the university town ofSanta Maria, where a disco fire killed 242 young

people in January, 30,000 people protested.“Santa Maria is not going to stop. We have

242 reasons to fight,” read one large banner. InSalvador, where Brazil beat Italy 4-2 in anotherConfederations Cup match, demonstratorstotaled about 200 people, according to an AFPreporter. Inside the stadium, dozens of fansbrandished placards proclaiming: “Let’s go to thestreets to change Brazil.”

West of Rio, near the Bangu prison, policeconfiscated Molotov cocktails, sticks and stonesand arrested 30 people for looting shops andsmashing furniture on the heels of a protest byaround 500 people, according to the Globo G1website. As the Rousseff government tried toaddress the ever rising tide of dissatisfactionover its social policies, former football star-turned Socialist politician Romario joined thedebate, praising the demonstrators and dubbingworld football body FIFA “Brazil’s real president.”

In her address, Rousseff offered Brazilians a“great pact” between the government and thepeople to improve shoddy public services andstressed the need for “more effective ways tofight corruption.”

But her intervention left the protestersunmoved, judging by a torrent of comments onsocial media websites amid the release of a newpoll showing that three-quarters of Braziliansback the demonstrations. “I was depressed lis-tening to Dilma. It’s a joke, right? Dilma treats usas if we are idiots,” read one typical comment.“We want dates and times, action. Promises arenot enough,” wrote another.

The protests have been largely peaceful, butsome have been marred by violence and acts ofvandalism, notably in Rio and Brasilia, with twodeaths recorded so far. The popular outrage,dubbed by some a “Tropical Spring” after theprotest movements in the Arab world and echo-ing similar turmoil in Turkey this month, hascome as a shock to outside observers. The unresteven led Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt to scrap aplan to come to Brazil to promote his new film“World War Z,” the movie’s distributors saidSaturday.

Rousseff’s predecessor and political mentorLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva left office in 2010 with asoaring 80 percent approval rating, and thesocial policies he initiated are credited with lift-ing 40 million Brazilians out of poverty. Lula alsohelped raise Brazil’s international profile, and theWorld Cup was seen as a key milestone in itsemergence as a global power player after severalyears of steady economic growth. But despitethe nationwide obsession with football, the pro-testers say they feel left behind as they watchgleaming new stadiums spring up in cities para-lyzed by traffic jams and clogged with agingtrains and buses. — AFP

Brazil hit by fresh protests despite Rousseff speech70,000 protest against govt corruption

BELO HORIZONTE: Protesters set fire during a demonstration against corruption and pricehikes in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on June 22, 2013. — AFP

HAILEY: The tearful mother of the only known US prisonerof war said Saturday she’s feeling “very optimistic” abouthis eventual release after his Taleban captors offered lastweek to exchange him for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl’s mother, Jani Bergdahl, spoketo about 2,000 people gathered in Hailey, his hometown, ina city park where he played as a toddler and little boy.

About 400 in the crowd arrived astride motorcycles,adorned in leather and patches commemorating America’smilitary missing in action. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, was takenprisoner in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. First JaniBergdahl, then his father, Bob Bergdahl, who accompaniedthe motorcycle procession on his son’s 1978 dirt bike,spoke for a combined 15 minutes about rejuvenated hopesthat their son’s now-four-year ordeal will soon come to ajoyful close. “We are feeling very optimistic this week,” his

mother, before addressing her son directly. “Bowe, we loveyou, we support you, and are eagerly awaiting your returnhome. I love you my son, as I have, from the first moment Iheard of you, the never-ending, unconditional love a moth-er has for her child.”

Buses also brought POW-MIA activists to the event fromas far as Elko, Nev, some 230 miles to the south. Thoughyellow ribbons on Main Street trees and “Bring BoweHome” placards in Hailey shop windows are a constantreminder of the 27-year-old Bergdahl’s captivity, organizersof the event said the Taleban offer has lent an addition ele-ment of urgency - and hope - to Saturday’s gathering.

Many in the crowd said they were Vietnam veterans;some of them supported the proposed prisoner exchangewithout reservation. “Give them their guys and get our guyhome,” said David Blunt, of Elko, Nev., who said he served inthe US Army in Vietnam as a medic. “Bring our guy home.He’s suffered enough.”

Bergdahl is believed held somewhere in Pakistan, butthe Taleban said they would free him in exchange for fiveof their most senior operatives at Guantanamo Bay, theAmerican installation on the southeastern tip of Cubathat’s housed suspected terrorists following the Sept 11attacks. The militant group’s exchange proposition camejust days ahead of possible talks between a US delegationand Taleban members. Bergdahl’s father, Bob Bergdahl,urged those gathered at Hailey’s Hop Porter Park toremember everyone, regardless of nationality, who hadsuffered during the 12-year conflict in Afghanistan thatbegan following the Sept 11 attacks.

He described his son as “part of the peace process.” “Iwish she was the only mother that was suffering in thatway,” Bob Bergdahl said of his wife. “Mothers all over theworld are suffering because of this war, and I don’t forgetthat for even one day.” He addressed his son’s captors inPashto, the Afghan language he’s learned since BoweBergdahl went missing. —AP

Taleban offer brings in urgency to Idaho rally

HUNTSVILLE: The US state of Texas ispreparing to execute its 500th convictsince the death penalty was restored in1976, a record in a country where capi-tal punishment is in decline elsewhere.On Wednesday, in the absence of a lastminute pardon, 52-year-old KimberlyMcCarthy will receive a lethal injectionin Huntsville Penitentiary for the 1997murder of 71-year-old retired collegeprofessor Dorothy Booth. “What we dois we carry out court orders,” said JasonClark, spokesman for the TexasDepartment of Criminal Justice. “It’s ourobligation to carry this execution out.”

Activists opposed to the deathpenalty are due to gather at the redbrick state prison, known as the “WallsUnit,” to mark the milestone with aprotest against a punishment theyregard as a holdover from another age.In 1976, the US Supreme Court lifted amoratorium on the use of the deathpenalty and since that date 1,336 havebeen executed across the country,more than a third of them in Texasalone. “It is obviously still the leader of

executions in the nation, but it is limit-ed to a handful of counties,” said SteveHall of the StandDown Texas Project,which has campaigns for a new mora-torium. “Texas leads with the number ofexecutions and death sentences butthere’s no doubt you’re seeing thesame trend to decrease that you seenationally.” Richard Dieter of the DeathPenalty Information Center, an academ-ic watchdog, agreed. “Despite thismajor milestone, we expect the totalnumber of executions to be less thanlast year and a new drop in death sen-tences,” he said.

According to DPIC’s figures, thereare 3,125 convicts on death row in theUnited States and, if Wednesday’s exe-cution goes ahead, McCarthy will bethe 17th prisoner put to death in thefirst six months of 2013. But numbersare dropping: 43 people were executedin 2012 down from a peak, in 2002, of71. American juries are also imposingcapital punishment in fewer cases, withonly 78 death sentences last year, downby around three-quarters since the

1990s-although violent crime is alsodown. And, while 32 of the 50 US statesstill have the death penalty on thebooks, many have imposed a de factomoratorium, with few or none of theexecutions carried out and convicts lan-guishing on death row.

Activists like Dieter say this showsthat these states will eventually formal-ly abolish the death penalty, but sup-porters of the ultimate penalty note thatit retains the support of American voters.“By measurements like the number ofexecutions, death sentences and states,the death penalty is in decline,” admittedRobert Blecker, a professor at New YorkLaw School. “But, in terms of the popularsupport, that is fairly constant. It is not indecline,” he said, noting that the propor-tion of voters backing execution alwaysincreases in the wake of “egregious”crimes. Opinion polls consistently showthat between 60 and 65 percent ofAmericans back the death penalty, indi-cating that support goes beyond theroughly 50-50 left-right divide in USelectoral politics. —AFP

IDAHO: Jani Bergdahl (left) joined by husband, Bob, theparents of captive US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, speaksat the “Bring Bowe Back” celebration held to honor SgtBergdahl in Hailey, Idaho. — AP

Texas prepares to execute 500th prisoner


KABUL: Afghanistan’s government said yes-terday it is still waiting for a full explanationof how the Taleban were allowed to open anoffice in Qatar that was akin to an embassy,flying the militant group’s flag and using itsformal name from the years it ruled thecountry. But Foreign Ministry spokesmanJanan Mosazai said the Afghan governmentremains willing to send a peace delegationto Doha to negotiate with the Taleban onceit has its explanation, as well as assurancesthat the office will be nothing more than aplace for talks.

“The Afghan government remains fullycommitted to pursue a process of peacenegotiations with the armed opposition,including the Taleban, but within the con-fines of the conditions and the principlesand the assurances that we have estab-

lished,” Mosazai told reporters in Kabul. Thediplomatic incident served as a reminder ofjust how difficult a task lies ahead in gettingall sides to the negotiating table after nearly12 years of war.

The Taleban’s office opened Tuesday in aceremony broadcast on live television,accompanied by a simultaneous announce-ment that US officials would begin formaltalks with Taleban representatives, whicheventually would be joined by the Afghangovernment. That raised hopes that thelong-stalled peace process could finallybegin. But the Taleban’s use of its old flag anda sign bearing the name of the IslamicEmirate of Afghanistan, which the move-ment used during its five-year rule that end-ed in 2001 with the US-led invasion, pro-voked outrage across party lines in

Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzaireacted sharply, suspending negotiationswith the US over what presence internation-al forces may keep in Afghanistan after 2014and demanded the offending sign and flagbe removed. The Taleban has since compliedafter the Qatar government intervened.Both the US and the Qataris said the Talebanhad agreed on the pre-approved name butviolated the pact at the ribbon cutting cere-mony.

In an e-mailed statement yesterday, how-ever, Taleban spokesman MuhammadNaeem said the use of the flag and namewas “done with the agreement of the Qatarigovernment.” “The statement which statesthat by using the name and raising the flag,the Islamic Emirate somehow violated anagreement... is completely false,” Naeem said

in an English-language statement.The Qatari government had no immedi-

ate response. At the Taleban office in Doha,security was boosted yesterday but therewere no apparent signs of meetings or otherdiplomatic activity. There was no flag visiblefrom the street. On Saturday, Talebanspokesman Shaheen Suhail suggested theTaleban was willing to move ahead withpeace talks, despite “much anger” amongsome members over the removal of thename and the lowering of the Taleban’swhite flag emblazoned with a Quranic versein black.

Mosazai said, however, that Afghanistanis still waiting for a full explanation fromWashington and guarantees the Taleban willnot attempt to revert to its formal nameagain. “We need an explanation about how

this happened, why this happened, whomade this happen - and then for the officeand its terms of reference to be broughtback into full compliance with the writtenassurances given to the Afghan governmentprior to the establishment of the office,” hesaid. He also suggested that after “initial con-tacts” between the Taleban and the UnitedStates, the Afghan government expects tolead official peace talks and would push tomove them to Afghanistan. “Official negotia-tions in the context of the peace process willhave to be, and can only take place,between the (Afghan) High Peace Councilon the one hand and the authorized repre-sentatives of the Taleban on the other,” hesaid. “Our preference would be for thosenegotiations to take place insideAfghanistan after the initial stage.” —AP

Afghanistan seeks explanation for Taleban office

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State John Kerry (center) arrives at Palam AirForce Station yesterday. —AP

Taleban kill 9 foreign

tourists in Pakistan6 Ukrainians, 3 Chinese among dead

ISLAMABAD: Gunmen dressed as police killednine Chinese and Ukrainian tourists in an unprece-dented attack in the Pakistani Himalayas claimedby the Taleban, who said they had set up a newfaction to target foreigners in revenge for US dronestrikes. The attackers struck late Saturday at thefoot of one of the world’s highest mountains,killing climbers at a base camp in the far-flungnorth not previously associated with violence orIslamist militancy.

The deaths call into question the future of for-eign mountaineering and trekking expeditions,which provide the last vestige of internationaltourism in a country on the frontline of Al-Qaedaand Taleban violence. Officials yesterday said onePakistani was also killed while one Chinese nation-al survived the attack, which comes just weeksafter a new government took office. The climberswere staying at a base camp for Nanga Parbat,which at 8,126 metres (26,660 feet) is the secondhighest mountain in Pakistan and the ninth high-est in the world.

The base camp is at Fairy Meadows in theDiamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, which bordersChina and Kashmir. “The incident took placearound 10:00 pm (Saturday, 1700 GMT). They weremountaineers,” Diamer police official MohammedNaveed told AFP. “Gunmen came and opened fireon them. It is confirmed that they have been killed,”he said.

Six Ukrainians and three Chinese were amongthe dead, Pakistani Interior Minister ChaudhryNisar said. Ukraine’s ambassador to PakistanVladimir Lakomov earlier told AFP that five

Ukrainians were killed. The Himalayas in northernPakistan offer some of the most spectacular climb-ing in the world. Its peaks are a magnet for experi-enced mountaineers, often from Europe.

Nisar said the attackers were dressed as GilgitScouts, a paramilitary police unit. “They abductedtwo guides and through them reached the area.One guide was killed in the shootout. One is alive.He is now detained and being questioned,” he said.Pakistan condemned the attack, but the killingswill raise serious questions about security failuresand embarrass a country already suffering from adismal image abroad. The interior minister conced-ed there was no security escort for foreigners inthat area of the mountains.

The top bureaucrat and top police official inGilgit-Baltistan were yesterday suspended, state TVsaid. Local police told AFP that the bodies of thedead were en route to Islamabad by mid-after-noon yesterday after helicopters were dispatchedto the area. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif con-demned “these inhuman and cruel acts”, ordered athorough investigation and called for the culpritsto be brought to justice, the government said.Officials also spoke to the Chinese and Ukrainianambassadors to express their condolences, the for-eign ministry added. “Those who have committedthis heinous crime seem to be attempting to dis-rupt the growing relations of Pakistan with Chinaand other friendly countries,” it said.

While Gilgit-Baltistan has seen deadly sectarianviolence targeting Pakistan’s Shiite Muslim minori-ty, foreigners have never previously been targetedin such a remote part of the region, which officials

said was inaccessible by road. A spokesman forPakistan’s main umbrella Taleban faction, which iswaging a seven-year domestic insurgency, initiallyrefused to comment, but later telephoned AFP toclaim responsibility. He said the attack was inresponse to the death of the group’s deputy chiefin a US drone strike near the Afghan border.

“One of our factions, Junood ul-Hifsa, did it. It isto avenge the killing of Maulvi Wali ur-Rehman,”said spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan. Rehman diedon May 29 in a US drone attack on a house in NorthWaziristan, the most notorious Taleban and Al-Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan on the Afghan bor-der. Ehsan told AFP that Junood ul-Hifsa was a newwing set up by the Taleban “to attack foreignersand convey a message to the world against dronestrikes”.

Pakistan’s Taleban organisation, a nebulous col-lection of factions, has been waging a domesticinsurgency since July 2007 but is not previouslyknown to have had a presence in Gilgit. Rehman,who had a $5 million US bounty on his head, wasaccused by Washington of organising attacksagainst US and NATO forces in Afghanistan andwanted in connection with a suicide attack on anAmerican base in Afghanistan in 2009 that killedseven CIA agents. Pakistan’s government, whichtook office this month after historic elections, facesa massive array of problems related to a moribundeconomy and Islamist militancy. Sharif has previ-ously advocated peace talks with the Taleban andhe criticised the US drone strike that killed Rehman,echoing long-held Pakistani complaints that the UScampaign violates national sovereignty. —AFP

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State JohnKerry arrived in New Delhi yesterday for hisfirst visit to India as the top US diplomat,looking to deliver on a pledge to realise“the full potential” in stuttering bilateralties. His arrival in New Delhi was overshad-owed by news that former intelligenceoperative Edward Snowden, who faces a USarrest warrant over his leaking of a massivesurveillance programme, had flown out ofHong Kong. Officials travelling with Kerrydeclined comment.

Kerry, who flew in from Qatar, is set toaddress Indian concerns about the upcom-ing US withdrawal from Afghanistan on athree-day visit as well as discuss coopera-tion on issues such as climate change andeducation. He is scheduled to hold talkswith Indian Prime Minister ManmohanSingh on Monday as well as ForeignMinister Salman Khurshid.

In a video message ahead of his visit,Kerry said President Barack Obama’sadministration held a “firm belief that astrong India is in America’s national inter-ests”. “The United States not only welcomesIndia as a rising power, we fervently sup-port it,” Kerry said.

“This is the time for both the UnitedStates and India to challenge ourselves inorder to reach higher, in order to strength-en the bonds that we share, and to realizethe full potential of our partnership.” Indianofficials have voiced their concerns to with-draw its troops from Afghanistan next yearand negotiate with the Taleban, who aresworn enemies of India.

Vikram Doraiswami, a senior official inthe Indian foreign ministry who hasresponsibility for relations with the US, saidlast week that Afghanistan would definitelyfeature high in the agenda. “Afghanistan isof course part of our region so we would beinterested to listen to the US... to compare

notes with them on what we understand ofwhat is happening. Definitely it is on ouragenda.”

In an editorial published ahead of hisarrival, The Hindu newspaper said thatKerry would have to battle a feeling in NewDelhi that he was too “sympathetic” to thePakistani military establishment. “Indiannightmares about a possible return of theTaleban and its allies as the rulers of thecountry, will doubtless figure high in thetalks,” it said. “New Delhi will be looking toMr Kerry... for reassurances.”

Afghanistan is one of irritants in tiesbetween the two countries which saw anupturn during the presidency of George W.Bush but analysts say are now in the dol-drums. US business leaders have voice frus-tration over what they charge are unfairtrading practices in India. Drug firms in par-ticular have been angered by India’s cham-pioning generic drugs-which advocates saysave lives in poor nations.

India in turn has been alarmed by pro-posals in the US Congress to curb visas tohigh-tech workers. Kerry, who is beingaccompanied by Energy Secretary ErnestMoniz, is expected to push for India’s sup-port on climate change during a speechyesterday night. US campaigners haveurged Kerry to work with India on climatechange, saying cooperation on issues suchas solar power and energy efficiency willhelp limit carbon emissions as India contin-ues its rapid urbanisaton.

The visit comes less than a year beforeIndia goes to the polls, with the controver-sial Gujarat state minister Narendra Modileading the opposition BJP’s campaign. TheUnited States has refused to issue a visa toModi as he was in power in Gujarat in 2002during deadly anti-Muslim riots. Kerry isnot due to meet Modi, according to US offi-cials. —AFP

Kerry begins first India visit

GOVIND GHAT: A stranded Indian pilgrim, seen carrying a child, is transport-ed across a river using a rope rescue system by Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) personnel in Govind Ghat in India yesterday. —AP

NARATHIWAT: Protesters, some wearing Guy Fawkes masks, gather inThailand’s restive southern province of Narathiwat yesterday. —AFP

GOVINDGHAT: Bad weather hampered rescueoperations yesterday in northern India where up to1,000 people are feared to have died in landslidesand flash floods that have left pilgrims and touristsstranded without food or water for days. So far 557bodies have been found after torrential rains struckthe Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on June 15,flooding the Ganges river and devastating theregion known as the “Land of the Gods” for itsrevered Hindu shrines. Some 15,000 people werestill stranded in remote areas with the full extent ofthe loss of life only likely to emerge after floodwaters recede and rescue workers reach isolatedareas, officials said.

“The death toll could be more than 750 —maybe around 1,000,” Uttarakhand chief ministerVijay Bahuguna said in the state capital Dehradun.In Govindghat, a small town on the route to theSikh holy site of Hemkund, army personnel builttemporary bridges by stringing ropes across riverbanks to help civilians cross safely, an AFP reporterat the scene said. Raging rivers have swept awayhouses, buildings and entire villages in the state,which was packed with travellers in what is a peaktourist season.

Dozens of helicopters and thousands of soldiershave been deployed to help those trapped acrossthe state, including many residents whose houseshave been damaged. Around 120 bodies havebeen recovered from the Kedarnath temple com-plex and more were feared to be lying in nearbyjungle where tourists took refuge after hotels andother buildings collapsed in the deluge.

Nishi Shrivastava, 30, recounted with horrorhow she had to virtually “navigate” among deadbodies strewn near the Kedarnath temple site.“Bodies were lying everywhere. It was worse than anightmare. I had lost all hope of seeing my familymembers again,” she told AFP before boarding abus in Dehradun to go back home to Agra inneighbouring Uttar Pradesh state.

Air relief operations resumed partly in the areasof Harsil and Dharasu after being suspended yes-

terday morning due to rain and overcast condi-tions, Indian Air Force spokeswoman Priya Joshitold AFP. For thousands of stranded people, it hasbeen a grim battle of survival against the odds, anarmy rescue worker who did not want to be namedtold AFP. “They have been stuck for more than fivedays without food or water. Temperatures havebeen dipping sharply in the night but they do nothave any shelter,” he said. Some survivors com-plained they had been exploited by locals eager toprofit from their misery. Shri Purushottam, a 50-year-old from Maharashtra, cried inconsolably ashe recalled the moments when his 10-year-old sonlay lifeless in his arms.

“He died of sheer hunger and thirst. I keptpleading for help. Some villagers said they couldarrange for him to be air-lifted if I gave them 35,000rupees ($520). “I agreed but they took my son awayand abandoned him later on,” he told AFP. The dis-aster relief force was meanwhile planning todeploy unmanned drones to locate survivors inremote areas that remained inaccessible, the NDTVnews network said. Twenty trekkers including sixAmericans were rescued Saturday after they weremarooned near a remote glacier, while the armymanaged to make contact with nearly 1,000 peo-ple stuck in mountains near Kedarnath.

The military operation, involving around 50 hel-icopters and more than 10,000 soldiers, wasfocused on reaching those stranded in the holytown of Badrinath after earlier finding widespreaddevastation in the Kedarnath temple area. Specialtrains and buses have been pressed into service tobring tourists home while medical and food sup-plies were being flown to stranded people.

State officials said yesterday nearly 80,000 peo-ple had been evacuated so far from the flood-dev-astated regions. In the adjacent state of HimachalPradesh, 20 people have been killed and around1,200 tourists remained stranded in remote rain-hitregions. The Kinnaur district has seen heavy dam-age with power cut off to large areas and roadswashed away. —AFP

Bad weather hits India

flood rescue operations

Lanka withdraws

controversial

press codeCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president has scrapped a con-tentious code of conduct for journalists after editors andrights groups condemned it as a further blow to pressfreedom, government and media sources said yester-day. President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered his informa-tion ministry not to proceed with the proposed code ofconduct bill, but instead leave it in the hands of senioreditors to update their own code of ethics.

“The government will not go ahead with the code,” asenior information ministry official told AFP yesterday.“The president met with editors on Friday and discussedthe issue. They may or may not use elements of ourdraft,” he added on condition of anonymity. An editorwho was at the meeting told AFP that Rajapakse made itclear that the government would not impose the pro-posed code on them.

The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka is to discuss the devel-opment and issue a formal reaction next week, the edi-tor said on condition that his name was not used. SriLankan editors as well as international rights groups hadsaid that the proposed bill was too sweeping and wouldcurtail freedoms already under threat in Sri Lanka whichis emerging from decades of ethnic war. The New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Committee toProtect Journalists last week accused the government ofmounting more pressure on the local media throughthe proposed bill.

The new code drawn up by the information min-istry sought to prohibit “material against the integrityof the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature”. It alsowarned against the publication of content that“offends against expectations of the public, morality ofthe country or tend to lower the standards of publictaste and morality”.

Sri Lanka had been ranked 162 out of 179 countriesin a recent press freedom index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders and media rightsgroups say journalists have been forced to self-censor.At least 26 journalists have already fled Sri Lanka in thepast five years to escape threats, intimidation, violence,and imprisonment, according to CPJ. At least five jour-nalists have been killed in the same period. —AFP

BANGKOK: Hundreds of anti-government pro-testers-many wearing white masks-convergedon Bangkok’s shopping district, Thai police saidyesterday, in a reminder of the kingdom’s politi-cal divisions. The demonstration by the ‘V forThailand’ movement-an enigmatic protest groupspawned over social media whose supporterswear the masks of comic book hero ‘V’-was thefourth this month outside the CentralWorldcomplex in the heart of the city. “There wereabout 1,500 white mask protesters attended aprotest,” Deputy Metropolitan police chiefParinya Jansuriya said, adding the protest-whichlasted several hours-was “peaceful.”

Thailand has been plagued by political divi-sions and sometimes violent street protestsinvolving so-called ‘Red Shirt’ supporters of

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra-and her self-exiled brother Thaksin-and ‘Yellow Shirts’ whosupport the pro-establishment opposition.Several other protest groups have sprung up inrecent months protesting against the govern-ment of Yingluck and the influence of her broth-er, who is seeking a return to the kingdom butfaces jail over corruption.

Little is known about the leaders or politicalallegiances of V for Thailand, but the group hasswiftly developed a major social media profilerailing against the government and Thaksin. Thegroup’s Facebook page says it represents “peo-ple power” urging peaceful opposition to “parlia-mentary monopoly and corruption”. In a film ver-sion of the comic strip called ‘V for Vendetta’,white masks are distributed to encourage peo-

ple to rise against a fictional dictator.Thailand is stil l recovering from street

protests by Red Shirts in 2010 that culminated ina bloody crackdown by security forces. About 90people were killed and nearly 1,900 wounded ina series of clashes in May 2010 between demon-strators and security forces. Courts have ruledthat some protesters were killed by securityforces, leading to charges of murder being laidagainst then-Prime Minister and current opposi-tion leader Abhisit Vejjajiva-accusations hestrenuously denies. A trial of 24 Red Shirt leaderson terrorism charges began in December butfour of them enjoy immunity as they are nowlawmakers, so the case is expected to take yearsto complete during breaks in the parliamentarysession. —AFP

Thailand ‘white mask’ protesters rally

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives aretrumpeting an electoral pledge to bump upchild benefits but admit that the power of their

family policy to boost the low birthrate that threatensto take the shine off the German economy is limited.German women have on average 1.3 children, amongthe lowest rate in the industrialised world, resulting ina shrinking and ageing population that threatenslong-term finances and the ability of companies tofind workers. However Family Minister KristinaSchroeder does not see the government’s annual 200billion euro ($264 billion) family policy as a failure. “Iam sceptical about the capacity for politics to managefamilies,” she told reporters Thursday, adding that interms of encouraging women to have more babies“my ambitions are modest.”

However Germany’s policies have often been criti-cised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development in Europe for hindering womenbeing able to combine work and motherhood. Andthe chancellor herself, who is childless, has highlight-ed several times that Germany’s family policy is want-ing compared to that of neighbouring France forexample. Michaela Kreyenfeld, of the Max PlanckInstitute for Demographic Research, said Germany’sfamily policy “lacks coherence”. “Certain mechanismssupport women who work, others encourage them tostay at home, for instance,” she told AFP.

Nevertheless Merkel’s conservatives, who are seek-ing re-election in three months time, plan to stay onthe same path - their platform includes more taxadvantages for families, and a still unspecified hike inchild benefits. Schroeder, who was the first cabinetminister to give birth while in office, argues that, ifpeople do not have children, it is often because theyhave not found the right partner “and on that, thestate can’t do anything for them”. But her critics saythere is no reason to suppose Germans are anyunluckier in love than the French, British or Icelanderswho all have substantially higher birth rates. “Germanystill tries too much to solve problems with money andnot enough with infrastructure” such as more creches,complained Friday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspa-per.

Mass circulation Bild scoffed at the governmenthaving judged its family policy a success and pointedto the system in Scandinavian countries, Iceland andFrance. “It’s actually quite simple. It works everywherewhere there are many women working and wherethere is good childcare. “Why is that so difficult tounderstand?” In Germany, more than one woman outof three with a university education is childless, which,according to Kreyenfeld, is “because they have tochoose between children and career, they don’t man-age to reconcile the two”.

Juggling home and work life and the need to getmore women back to work after having children is aproblem the government is keenly aware of and hasbeen seeking to address for nearly a decade. FromAug 1 every child from the age of one will have theright to a childcare spot, although the promise cur-rently looks set to be difficult to achieve given a lackof spaces in creches, which are run by local authori-ties. Another problem is that German couples withchildren are unlikely to have more than two, unlike inFrance where families with three or four children aremore common, according to Kreyenfeld. “France con-ducts a proactive birth policy and that is not the casein Germany due to historic factors,” she said. Spurringpeople to have lots of children has negative connota-tions after the Nazi regime’s idealisation of largeGerman families. Vera Kreuter, of the Berlin Institutefor Population and Development, said not having lotsof children had now become “the social norm” andwas not going to change any time soon. But she saidthat was no reason to stop trying to foster a turn-around. “To stimulate the birthrate by encouragingpeople to fulfil their wish for a child must be an aim offamily policy, not the only one, but one of them,” shetold AFP. Merkel has warned that demographics is oneof the biggest challenges that Germany faces this cen-tury as the motor of Europe’s economy faces labourshortages and its pension system becomes strained.On visits abroad she has explicitly urged young pro-fessionals to seek work in Germany, which will eventu-ally require some 200,000 new foreign workers peryear, according to officials. —AFP

Issues

Germany fights losing battle with

low birthrate

By Mathilde Richter

14A N A L Y S I SMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

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Melting ice pulls Norway closer to Asia

US struggles to show new push on SyriaBy Shaun Tandon

USSecretary of State John Kerryhas vowed new support forSyria’s rebels but beyond

tougher talk, it remains unclear how muchhas changed. Kerry met with fellow oppo-nents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’sregime during talks Saturday in the GulfArab monarchy of Qatar, a stalwart sup-porter of the Sunni Muslim rebels. Qatarsaid that the talks agreed on a “secret” planto ramp up assistance to rebels fighting theconflict that has claimed nearly 100,000lives. But Kerry declined to lay out specificsother than to insist that - after three similarmeetings among foreign ministers - thistime the situation has changed.

“It’s not anything we say today that willmake the difference to Assad; it’s what hap-pens in the days and weeks and monthsahead - and I hope not too many months,”Kerry told reporters. “But the reality is whathappened here today is different becausethe situation on the ground is different,”Kerry said. He pointed to US PresidentBarack Obama’s stated willingness to stepup support for the rebels after concludingthat Assad defied his warnings by usingchemical weapons.

The rebels have reported receiving newequipment from “friendly” countries a pos-sible allusion to Gulf Arab states - but theUnited States, France and Britain have beenquiet on what they have provided.Participants in the Doha talks said that thereticence was partly a nod to concerns byItaly and especially Germany, which hasrepeatedly cautioned that weapons couldaggravate the conflict. Qatar ’s PrimeMinister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, meeting with Kerry, said that all buttwo countries agreed in the Doha talks onplans to support the rebels. He insisted thatQatar, which has played an increasinglyoutsized role in the region, was only send-ing support to the mainstream Free SyrianArmy.

US officials have privately voiced con-cern about potential support by Arabstates to more extreme elements in theincreasingly sectarian conflict. Obama haspublicly warned of the risks of a full-fledged military intervention against Assad,a member of the Alawite minority wholeads a secular-minded state. Kerry in histalks repeatedly insisted on protections forminorities in Syria in the wake of attacks onAlawites and Shiites. He said that theUnited States did not seek a “military solu-

tion” but instead wanted to correct a grow-ing “imbalance” in Assad’s favour.

The ultimate goal is a transitional gov-ernment with representatives from bothsides, Kerry said, noting that even Assad’shistoric supporter Russia had signed ontothe formula during talks in Geneva lastyear. Kerry accused Iran of starting the“internationalisation” of the Syria conflictthrough the participation of its allyHezbollah, a Shiite movement in Lebanon.“You now have outside actors engagedovertly on the ground in Syria. No othercountry has that. We don’t have that, theQataris don’t have that,” Kerry said.

But the Qatari prime minister, in remarksthat were light in tone but appeared to

take Kerry by surprise, said that the tinygas-rich emirate would send forces to Syriaif it could. “We don’t have enough people -otherwise we might send people on theground,” he said. Kerry also met Saturdaywith the young Sheikh Tamim bin HamadAl-Thani, whom he called Qatar ’s “heirapparent” amid expectations for a transi-tion. Yesterday he met with the emir,Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, accom-panied by James Dobbins, the US specialenvoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Dobbins came to Qatar to explorepotential dialogue with the Taleban, whoopened an office in the gas-rich monarchyas part of reconciliation efforts inAfghanistan. But Kerry yesterday warned

that he may press to close the office unlessthe Taleban address concerns. The Talebanoutraged Afghan President Hamid Karzaiby opening the office under the name“Afghan Emirate of Afghanistan” - implyinga government in exile from the hardlineIslamic group’s five-year rule that endedwith the US military campaign followingthe Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

Qatar later announced the name hasbeen changed to the Political Office of theAfghan Taleban. Kerry later yesterday leftQatar for a three-day trip to India. AfterIndia, the top US diplomat is expected inSaudi Arabia, another strong supporter ofSyria’s rebels, along with Kuwait andJordan. — AFP

By Dennis Chong

Hong Kong has risked the threat of US reprisals in allowingEdward Snowden to leave. But its government insists that therule of law took primacy for a territory that jealously guards

its separateness from mainland China. On social media, there wastalk of political considerations at play in allowing the formerNational Security Agency (NSA) contractor to escape his Hong Kongbolthole for pastures new - possibly Russia, possibly asylum in athird country.

Did the government of the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion (HKSAR) want to remove an irritant that threatened to dragon for years, if Snowden fought through the courts against USattempts to extradite him? Did Beijing, with an eye on its overarch-ing relationship with Washington, similarly want no truck with a lin-gering distraction? But in a press statement confirming the 30-year-old’s shock departure, Hong Kong authorities said the reason wassimple: the US government had failed to meet the legal bar neededto justify its arrest warrant issued on Friday.

The statement said that documents provided by the US “did notfully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law”, sothe HKSAR government had asked for more information. AsWashington had not met its request, “there is no legal basis torestrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong”, it added, saying thathe had left the Chinese territory legally and voluntarily. WhileBeijing retains ultimate control over its defence and foreign policy,and the right to veto extradition decisions, Hong Kong enjoys a highdegree of autonomy under the handover agreement that governedits transfer from British rule in 1997.

The HKSAR government itself has faced intense criticism fromthe Hong Kong public for compromising that autonomy by appeal-ing to Beijing for constitutional reviews from time to time. Hundredsof protesters drawn from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps staged a rain-drenched rally on June 15 demandingthe government resist US pressure to hand Snowden back. An opin-ion poll the next day said half of respondents believed he should beallowed to stay.

Regina Ip, a pro-Beijing lawmaker who bears the scars from pastconstitutional battles, said the authorities had done the right thingnow in upholding the rule of law. “It took the Americans eight daysto put together the charges. It’s reasonable for HK (government)lawyers to take several days to scrutinize the charges,” Ip, who wasformerly the city’s de facto security minister , told AFP afterSnowden left. “I don’t think the HK authorities deliberately draggedtheir feet. They proceeded entirely in accordance with due processand rule of law ... despite pressure from the Americans,” she said.Along with other observers, Ip fears that Hong Kongers could nowlose their visa-free access to the United States if Washington is seri-ous about hitting back at the city’s government. But the price wouldbe justified if Hong Kong has proved that adherence to legal rightsis a non-negotiable principle, she said.

Alan Leong of the pro-democracy Civic Party told AFP that hewas disappointed Snowden had left Hong Kong so quickly. “I am abit disappointed because Mr Snowden actually said he chose HongKong as a place of refuge because he trusted its rule of law, but heleft this morning without giving an explanation,” Leong told AFP. Headded that the Hong Kong courts would have been able to dealwith any extradition applications from the US. US authorities hadasked Hong Kong to detain and extradite Snowden on espionageand theft charges after he leaked allegations of worldwide eaves-dropping of phones and computer systems by the NSA.

White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said onSaturday that the charges “present a good case” for extraditionunder a pre-handover treaty agreed between Washington and HongKong. “Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of theUnited States in law-enforcement matters, and we expect them tocomply with the treaty in this case,” he told CBS Radio News. But theHKSAR government confounded that expectation, and went furtherSunday in demanding answers from Washington about Snowden’sclaim that the NSA had tapped into Hong Kong’s main Internetexchange and Pacnet, a company based in the city that runs one ofthe Asia-Pacific region’s biggest fiber-optic networks. “The HKSARgovernment will continue to follow up on the matter so as to pro-tect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong,” it said. — AFP

HK revels in its rule of law

By Pierre-Henry Deshayes

The town of Kirkenes in northernmost Norway used tobe further away from Asia than virtually any otherEuropean port, but it suddenly seems a lot closer. The

reason: Global warming. Melting ice has opened up theNorthern Sea Route along Russia’s Arctic coastline, chang-ing international trade patterns in profound ways - even ifso far it looks more like a sleepy county road than a busy,four-lane highway. In a change of potentially revolution-ary significance, the travel time between the Japaneseport of Yokohama and Hamburg in Germany has been cutby 40 percent, while fuel expenditure is down by 20 per-cent.

“For the first time in history we are witnessing a newocean opening up in the high north which will have amajor impact on both trade and provision of energy,” saidSturla Henriksen, the president of the NorwegianShipowners’ Association. In 2012, when the ice reached itslowest extent on record, 3.4 million sq km, 46 ships usedthe new route, compared with only four in 2010, accord-ing to Rosatomflot, a Russian operator of icebreakers. Thetraffic is still negligible compared with traditional routes.Ships transit the Panama Canal 15,000 times a year, whilepassing through the Suez 19,000 times. But the future

looks promising. The volume of goods transported alongthe Northern Sea Route is likely to grow strongly in thecoming years, from 1.26 million tonnes last year to 50 mil-l ion tonnes in 2020, according to the NorwegianShipowners’ Association. Kirkenes, whose 3,400 inhabi-tants live in nearly uninterrupted darkness during the win-ter months, is suddenly preparing frantically for theexpected boom. The Tschudi Shipping Group plans toopen a logistics hub measuring the equivalent of 200 foot-ball fields in a fjord nearby that is held ice-free all year bythe warm Gulf Stream.

The port’s location is extremely strategic. It is nine days’travel from both the Pacific and the Mediterranean, andclose to major oil and gas deposits in the Arctic as well asmines in northern Sweden and Finland. Twenty-six of theships that traversed the Arctic Ocean between Europe andAsia last year were carrying hydrocarbons, while six weretransporting iron ore or coal. The new route also opens upan interesting market for liquefied natural gas (LNG)extracted in the Barents Sea, especially after NorthAmerica, the customer that local companies initially had inmind, has turned away following a decision to use its ownshale gas.

On the other hand, Asia’s appetite for gas has increasedafter the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, and

prices there are significantly higher than in Europe.Adding to the lucrative nature of the trade, each shiptransporting LNG by the northern route can do it close to$7 million cheaper than vessels going through the Suez.Traditional goods traffic, however, is not realistic in theselatitudes, according to Tschudi Shipping. “The big tradingroutes in dry bulk shipping are located too far South forthe Northern Sea Route to become relevant,” said HenrikFalck, the company’s project manager for Eastern Europe.And “we can forget about containers”, he added, notingthat owners preferred traditional routes with stops atdensely populated cities along the way. In a fragile ecosys-tem that is the source of immense worry among environ-mentalists, Russia plays a central role in assisting naviga-tion with icebreakers. It has also decided to establish 10bases along its coast to redress the current abject lack ofinfrastructure. Admitted last month as an observer in theArctic Council, China also wants to be part of the game.After the first transit of its icebreaker Snow Dragon lastyear, the world’s second-largest economy now plans tosend its first commercial shipment along the northernroute this summer. Between 5 and 15 percent of Chineseinternational trade could take this new road by 2020, thedirector of the Polar Research Institute of China, YangHuigeng, was quoted as saying in the media. —AFP

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013N E W S

Continued from Page 1

by the constitutional court which also ordered theAssembly to be dissolved and that the 2009 Assemblybe reinstated. The 2009 Assembly was legally revivedbut could not hold any meeting because MPs boycottedits sessions, which forced the government to recom-mend to the Amir to dissolve it and this what happenedand fresh elections were called and held on Dec 1 lastyear.

Dashti inquired from the court if the new rulingrequires the 2009 Assembly to be reinstated andwhether these processes require issuing new Amiridecrees or not. The court explanation could somehowaffect the government procedures to hold the electionafter the Cabinet decided last Thursday to hold the newpolls on July 25. I f the court says that the 2009Assembly must be reinstated, then the election date willbe changed as the government will have to dissolve itand call for fresh polls and this will take some time.

Nevertheless, it is expected that registration of candi-dates for the Assembly polls may start Tuesday orWednesday for 10 days. Withdrawal of candidates willthen continue until 10 days before the election date.Under Kuwaiti law, a candidate must be 30 years oldand above, knows how to read and write and havegood conduct. Registration of candidates can start onlyafter the Amiri decree inviting voters to cast their votesis published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm.

Among those who already declared they are runningare former MPs Youssed Al-Zalzalah, Faisal Al-Duwaisan,Adnan Abdulsamad, Ahmad Lari, speaker of thescrapped Assembly Ali Al-Rashed and many others. Onvoting during the holy fasting month of Ramadan,Rashed said to change the voting from 8.00 am to 8.00pm as stipulated by the election law to avoid high tem-peratures, a new Amiri decree must be issued to makethe change. But Rashed warned that the decree mustbe issued as an emergency decree, which might bechallenged in court.

Oppn ex-MPs to boycott polls, Awazem...

An anti government protester flashes a victory sign during the clashes between protestors and riot police on Taksim square in Istanbul on Saturday. — AFP

CAIRO: Egypt’s army issued a sharp warning to rival political fac-tions yesterday that it may step in to impose order, as clashesahead of major opposition rallies next weekend saw at least twomen shot dead. The statement by the head of the armed forceswas a dramatic reminder of the independent power of the mili-tary in Egypt, a year after the generals handed authority to a civil-ian president - Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist who won the coun-try’s first free elections following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarakin 2011. In a move aimed at both sides in Egypt’s polarised poli-tics, General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who is also defence minister,stressed that the army was acting to protect the “will of the peo-ple” and urged politicians to forge a new national consensus. Amilitary source said fighting and aggressive rhetoric and damageto property in recent days had prompted the intervention. Sisimet Morsi for what an army spokesman described as a “routine”consultation yesterday.

Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood turned their organisationalstrength into political power but have struggled to manage aneconomy in crisis or build a broad base of support that is accept-ed by liberal and other non-Islamist groups. That polarisation hasdriven a campaign to hold massive opposition demonstrationsnext Sunday, June 30, calling for Morsi to resign. In turn, hisIslamist supporters have taken to the streets in shows of strength,calling the opposition bad losers determined to overturn theresults of the elections. General Sisi, who was promoted into hispresent post by Morsi last year, said: “There is a state of division insociety and the continuation of it is a danger to the Egyptianstate and there must be consensus among all. “The will of theEgyptian nation is what governs us and we protect it with hon-our, and we are completely responsible for protecting it,” said Sisi.“We cannot permit a violation of the will of the people.”

While Islamists point to the legitimacy of their electoral pow-er, opponents accuse the Brotherhood of betraying the ArabSpring revolution by seeking to entrench its power. Sisi said thearmed forces would not stand by while Egypt descended intoconflict and urged politicians to use the week remaining beforeJune 30 to narrow their differences. “Those who think that we aredivorced from the dangers that threaten the Egyptian state arewrong,” he said. “We will not remain silent as the country slips intoa struggle that is hard to control.”

Gamal Soltan, a political analyst, said the army may have beenmoved to act by aggressive statements from Morsi supporters ata major rally on Friday: “This is ... the strongest and the mostexplicit statement coming from a military official ... This is explicit-ly saying ... the armed forces will intervene. “By making this state-ment, he is stepping closer to the centre stage of politics.” Aspokesman for the opposition National Salvation Front, KhaledDawoud, said: “These are very reasonable statements, and what isexpected from Egypt’s army. We are facing direct threats fromsupporters of President Morsi to spill blood if we exercise ... ourdemocratic right to demand peacefully early presidential elec-

tions.” A spokesman for the Brotherhood’s political party said itwas studying the statement before making public comment.Army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali told Reuters: “This was asupportive message that the army is sending to its people afterthe army noticed that worries about violence and internal con-flict had spread among the people recently. The army, whichbelongs to the people, cannot stand by if such fears are realised,so the statement was meant to set out the army position, whichis rooted in its national role - it cannot ignore anything that mightthreaten national security.”

Two men, both Islamists, died as a result of clashes. One wasshot dead in overnight in the industrial city of Mahalla, north ofCairo, security sources said. A second man, died of gunshotwounds sustained in clashes at Fayoum south of the capital somedays before. The Muslim Brotherhood described both dead menas “martyrs”. Highlighting mutual mistrust as Egypt struggles toestablish democratic institutions after its 2011 revolution, theBrotherhood also denounced as a “political trial” a court judg-ment on Sunday that called for an investigation of its role in amass jail-break during the uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

Liberals and secular activists in the “Tamarud - Rebel!” cam-paign, accuse Islamists of intimidation. They say they have gath-ered 15 million signatures on a petition calling for Morsi to resign- more than the 13 million votes that elected him. TheBrotherhood and its Islamist allies staged a massive rally in sup-port of Morsi in Cairo on Friday, at which some speakers warnedof a violent response to efforts to remove him. The MuslimBrotherhood said on Facebook yesterday that Karim AbdelGhani, a member of the Islamist Nour party, was shot dead inMahalla by the “Tamarud militia”. Nour said its office in Mahallawas also attacked.

The Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and JusticeParty (FJP), said it planned a funeral on Sunday for MohamedShalaqany, who it said was shot some days before by Tamarud“thugs” in Fayoum, a rural Islamist bastion south of Cairo. “Theirname is Tamarud but they are actually remnants of the oldregime,” Murad Ali, a senior FJP official, told Reuters.

Egyptian media gave extensive coverage yesterday to a rulingby a judge in Ismailia who, in acquitting a man accused of fleeinga local jail during the 2011 uprising, asked the public prosecutorto investigate what he described as a “conspiracy” by theBrotherhood and foreign Islamists to open up the prison. Amongthose freed was Morsi himself, who had been among hundredsof Brotherhood leaders rounded up as a precaution by Mubarak’ssecurity forces when the revolution began. The freeing ofPalestinian militants from Hamas and Lebanese members of theShiite Hezbollah militia, among others, has prompted accusa-tions from the Brotherhood’s opponents that it connived withenemies of Egypt during the incident. After the judgement,opponents of Morsi gathered outside the court, calling for hisresignation. — Reuters

Egypt army says it’s ready to save nation

LONDON: WikiLeaks’ decision to help USintelligence contractor Edward Snowdenescape Washington’s extradition attemptsin Hong Kong has cemented the anti-secre-cy group’s reputation as a thorn in the sideof the American and British governments.In comments likely to infuriate Washington,WikiLeaks said it was escorting Snowden toEcuador and had offered the support of itslegal director Baltasar Garzon, a formerSpanish judge known around the world forordering the arrest of former Chilean dicta-tor Augusto Pinochet.

Ecuador, which is already shelteringWikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange at itsLondon embassy, confirmed Snowden hassought political asylum although ForeignMinister Ricardo Patino did not say whetherthe request had been accepted. “ TheWikiLeaks legal team and I are interested inpreserving Mr Snowden’s rights and pro-tecting him as a person,” Garzon said in astatement. “What is being done to Mr

Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - formaking or facilitating disclosures in thepublic interest - is an assault against thepeople.”

Frustrating US attempts to extraditeSnowden and put him on trial for the unau-thorised release of secret surveillance files,WikiLeaks also sent one of its legal team tojoin him on a flight from Hong Kong toMoscow. WikiLeaks said British legalresearcher Sarah Harrison, one of Assange’sclosest advisers, had “courageously assistedMr Snowden with his lawful departure fromHong Kong and ... in his passage to safety”.

The campaign group gave no detailsabout how it had helped to arrange theescape of one of the United States’ mostwanted men. Advice came from Garzon, ahigh profile human rights campaigner whoinvestigated corruption cases in Spain andopened an inquiry into alleged crimesunder the right-wing dictatorship ofGeneral Francisco Franco, who died in

1975. Since being kicked off the bench inSpain last year - when the Supreme Courtfound him guilty of illegal wiretapping in apolitical corruption case - he has spentmost of his time outside Spain, advising oninternational law.

Garzon, who helped broker Assange’sasylum in Ecuador’s London embassy, wasthe dealmaker with Ecuador in theSnowden case, a source close to theWikiLeaks legal team told Reuters. Anotherprominent legal figure who has represent-ed Assange, the London-based barristerGeoffrey Robertson, was not directlyinvolved in the Snowden case, the sourceadded.

Before helping the former spy agencycontractor - who leaked National SecurityAgency documents to a British newspaper -WikiLeaks was best known for publishingsecret files, rather than giving direct sup-port to those who leak them. Assange hasbeen in Ecuador’s embassy in London since

last June, seeking to avoid extradition toSweden. It wants to question him aboutallegations of sexual assault and rape,which he denies.

British Foreign Secretary William Hagueheld talks with his Ecuadorean counterpartPatino last week in a failed attempt to finda breakthrough in a case that is becomingincreasingly embarrassing for the Londongovernment. Assange says he does notwant to answer the allegations in personbecause he believes Sweden would handhim over to the US authorities, who wouldtry him for his role in the release of 700,000secret US files in one of the biggest leaks inAmerican history. In an interview withReuters this month, Assange said he wasencouraged by Snowden’s actions. “In theUnited States, the ideals that I have foughtfor for so long are now catching on, beingembodied in the extraordinary courage ofindividuals such as Edward Snowden,” hesaid. — Reuters

WikiLeaks defies US to help leaker Snowden

Julian Assange

A supermoon rises through a clear sky past a string of yellow lights in Cairo yesterday. The moon, whichreached its full stage yesterday, was expected to be 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenonknown as “supermoon.” The “supermoon” happens only once this year as the moon on its elliptical orbit is atits closest point to earth. — AP

S P O RT SMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

MALAYSIA: Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul survived a few nervous moments in the clos-ing stages but held on to secure a second Asian Tour title with a one-stroke victory at theSelangor Masters in Malaysia yesterday. Pariya offset five birdies with four bogeys in his one-under-par 70 final round to finish on nine-under 275 for the tournament, held at the chal-lenging Seri Selangor Golf Club.

India’s Anirban Lahiri posted a closing three-under-par 68 to finishsecond while South Korea’s Baek Seuk-hyun, who was leading at the

15th hole, shared third with Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakulafter a late collapse. Pariya’s maiden Asian Tour title came at the

Taiwan Masters in 2010 and the 29-year-old Thai said the clos-ing stretch of holes had tested his composure to the limit.“I’m still shaking right now. I can’t describe the feeling.Walking down the last three holes, there was tremendouspressure,” Pariya told reporters.

As Lahiri waited in the clubhouse a shot behind him,the Thai found a moment of calm as he stood over his final

putt. “I didn’t think about it too much. It was adownhill putt and all I had to do was to put agood stroke in. Luckily, I didn’t feel any pres-sure then. I kept to the routine and got it overwith,” Pariya said after completing a wire-to-wire victory. —Reuters

Pariya wins Asian titleSINGAPORE: World champion Wang Yihan exacted revenge for her heart-breaking Olympic final loss to LiXuerui yesterday when she thumped her Chinese team-mate in the Singapore Open final to topple herfrom the top of the rankings.

The fourth-seeded Wang took just 39 minutes to overpower Li 21-18, 21-12, hitting 17 smash winnersas she claimed her first Singapore Open title and returned to world number one.

Wang, who also beat Li in straight sets at the Badminton Asia Championships final in April, nowappears to have reasserted her dominance just in time to defend her worldtitle in Guangzhou in early August. There was also drama in the men’scompetition when unseeded Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto fought backfrom a set down to stun defending champion Boonsak Ponsana andclaim his first ever Superseries title. The 25-year-old dropped theopening set 20-22 but he overpowered the Thai veteran 21-5 in thesecond set before breaking open a tightly-fought deciding set bytaking seven of a possible nine points to put himself on the brinkat 20-14. Sugiarto blew three match points as nerves set in but hefinally claimed the set and match 21-17 when Boonsak, a two-timewinner of the Singapore event, went long with his return onthe fourth match point. Sugiarto upset three seeds toclaim the victory, one of three by Indonesian playersjust a week after former Olympic championTaufik Hidayat’s emotional retirement inJakarta. —AFP

Wang avenges Olympic lossBRISBANE: Flanker George Smith, a veteran of 110 tests and the 2001 Britishand Irish Lions series, was called into the Wallabies squad for next week’s sec-ond test as injury cover yesterday.

The 32-year-old will be joining the squad in Melbourne along withuncapped fullback Jesse Mogg and Queensland Reds centre Ben Tapuai afterthe Wallabies suffered a string of injuries in their 23-21 defeat to the Lions inBrisbane on Saturday.

Australia had centre Christian Leali’ifano, fullback Berrick Barnes andreplacement back Pat McCabe taken off the Lang Park field by stretcher onSaturday.

Leali’ifano should be fit to play but Barnes, who took a head knock, andcentre McCabe (neck) look doubtful, while there are also concerns aboutwinger Digby Ioane (shoulder) and centre Adam Ashley-Cooper (shoulder).

Australia could also be without captain James Horwill as well after thelock was cited for raking Lions second row forward Alun Wyn Jones in theopening test.

Smith, a former Australia captain, would have been included in theWallabies party for the series after protracted negotiations with his Japaneseclub but he sustained a knee injury on the eve of the squad announcement.

The injury turned out to be not as bad as at first thought, however, and anassessment of his availability for the final two tests in the three-match serieswill be made this week.—Reuters

Wallabies call up Smith

TORONTO: Jose Bautista hit a tiebreakinghome run in the eighth inning as theToronto Blue Jays won their 10th straightgame Saturday, beating the BaltimoreOrioles 4-2.

Maicer Izturis hit a solo homer in thefifth and Bautista had a two-run drive forToronto, on its longest winning streak sincea 10-game run late in 2008. The Blue Jays,who are 14-4 this month, are one victoryfrom matching the franchise record.Toronto had 11-game winning streaks in1987 and 1998.

The Blue Jays led 2-1 heading into theeighth but Taylor Teagarden tied it with ahomer off reliever Darren Oliver (3-1).Miguel Gonzalez (5-3) allowed three runsand three hits in 7 1-3 innings.

YANKEES 7, RAYS 5In New York, Vernon Wells broke out of

his big slump with a pinch-hit and a three-run double as the New York Yankees ralliedto beat the Rays.

Wells was in a 9-for-87 slide that landedhim on the bench the past two days, withrookie outfielder Zoilo Almonte starting inhis place. But with the Yankees trailing 5-4in the seventh inning, Wells batted for No. 9hitter Chris Stewart with the bases loadedand two outs.

Wells’ clutch hit got CC Sabathia (8-5) offthe hook after he allowed five runs in seveninnings. Mariano Rivera worked a scorelessninth for his 26th save.

WHITE SOX 3, ROYALS 2In Kansas City, Alejandro De Aza drove

in Jordan Danks with a sacrifice fly in theninth inning, sending the White Sox to avictory over the Royals. Jesse Crain (2-1) gotthrough a shaky eighth inning for the WhiteSox, putting a runner on third with one outand then leaving him there. Addison Reedhandled a perfect ninth for his 21st save.Aaron Crow (3-3) was the loser. Crainextended his club record with his 29th con-secutive scoreless appearance.

MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 5In Seattle, Nick Franklin had tiebreaking

two-run single in the eighth inning for histhird hit of the game, lifting the Marinersover the Athletics.

Brendan Ryan singled off Ryan Cook (1-1) to lead off the eighth. Ryan moved up ona wild pitch and advanced to third on EndyChavez’s bunt single. Chavez took secondon indifference before Franklin delivered ahit to right field to put the Mariners aheadby two.

Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer offJerry Blevins in the seventh to pull Seattleto 5-all. Yoervis Medina (2-2) earned the vic-tory with 2 1-3 scoreless innings to closeout the game.

INTERLEAGUEPIRATES 6, ANGELS 1

In Anaheim, Francisco Liriano took ashutout into the seventh inning and

Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez andGaby Sanchez hit solo homers and leftfielder Starling Marte threw a runner out atthe plate, leading the Pirates to a victoryover the Angels.

Liriano (6-3) allowed a run and sevenhits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out six andwalked three. The Angels’ run came in theseventh, when rookie J.B. Shuck hit aground-rule double just inside the right

field line and Mike Trout drove him in with atwo-out single. Jerome Williams (5-3) gaveup five runs - four earned - and eight hitsover six innings in his eighth start of theseason and first since June 12. —AP

TORONTO: Blue Jays’ Maicer Izturis (right) hits a home run as Baltimore Orioles catcher Taylor Teagardenwatches during the fifth inning of a baseball game. —AP

WASHINGTON: Jhoulys Chacin pitched sevenshutout innings and hit an RBI single as theColorado Rockies snapped their five-gamelosing streak by beating the WashingtonNationals 7-1 on Saturday.

DJ LeMahieu hit his first home run andMichael Cuddyer’s RBI single in the firstextended his hitting streak to 20 games, thelongest active streak in the majors and tied forthe longest this season. Nolan Arenado alsowent deep for Colorado.

Chacin (6-3) held Washington to five hitswith one walk and three strikeouts to win histhird straight start. Dan Haren (4-9) allowed sixruns and seven hits in 3 1-3 innings.

Making his major league debut, Rockiesoutfielder Corey Dickerson doubled in his firsttwo at-bats and drove in a run during a three-run first inning. Ryan Zimmerman’s ninth-inning homer prevented Washington frombeing shut out for the ninth time this season.Cuddyer has reached base safely in 39 straightgames, breaking the Rockies record set byMatt Holliday in 2007.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, REDS 3In Phoenix, Jason Kubel hit a two-run sin-

gle in the ninth inning to rally Arizona pastAroldis Chapman and Cincinnati for its fourthstraight victory. Jay Bruce’s second home runof the game gave the Reds a 3-2 lead in thetop of the ninth.

Paul Goldschmidt singled past Joey Vottoat first base leading off the bottom half beforeChapman (3-3) issued consecutive walks toMiguel Montero and Cody Ross. With theinfield drawn in, Kubel singled over secondbase for his third career game-ending hit andfirst since May 22, 2010.

Brad Ziegler (4-1) replaced Heath Bell afterBruce’s second home run and earned the win.Gerardo Parra hit a two-run homer for theDiamondbacks. Starting pitchers Mike Leakeand Patrick Corbin dueled for eight inningsbefore turning the game over to the bullpens.Leake retired his first 17 batters.

GIANTS 2, MARLINS 1In San Francisco, Hector Sanchez singled

home the winning run in the 11th inning asSan Francisco snapped a nine-game homelosing streak to Miami.

Giants right fielder Hunter Pence made adiving catch to rob Placido Polanco of a likelygo-ahead single to end the 11th. The Giantsbeat the Marlins at home for the first timesince July 28, 2010.

Barry Zito pitched seven strong inningswith a heavy heart three days after his father’sdeath. He allowed only Ed Lucas’ first careerhome run in the first.

Mike Dunn (2-2) allowed Gregor Blanco’sinfield single to start the 11th, and Ryan Webbgave up Buster Posey’s infield single. Pencewas intentionally walked and Sanchez singledto left for his third game-ending hit. Blanco hita tying double in the fifth for the Giants.Sandy Rosario (2-0) got the win.

PHILLIES 8, METS 7In Philadelphia, pinch-hitter Kevin

Frandsen homered leading off the bottom ofthe ninth inning to lift Philadelphia over NewYork after the Mets wiped out a six-run deficit.

Helped by some shaky Phillies defense,New York scored two runs in the top of theninth off closer Jonathon Papelbon (2-0) to tieit.

Ryan Howard homered twice and drove infour runs. Michael Young also homered forPhiladelphia, which led 7-1 through sixinnings.

Jordany Valdespin homered in the ninthoff Papelbon, who has blown three of his lastfour save chances after converting his first 13this season.

Frandsen hit a long home run on the sec-ond pitch from Carlos Torres (0-1). Philliesstarter Jonathan Pettibone allowed one run insix innings before leaving with a back injury.

BREWERS 2, BRAVES 0In Milwaukee, Francisco Rodriguez earned

his 300th career save, finishing offMilwaukee’s second straight 2-0 victory overslumping Atlanta. Donovan Hand, making hisfirst big league start, allowed two hits in 4 2-3innings for the Brewers. He struck out three inhelping to extend Atlanta’s scoreless streak to24 innings. Burke Badenhop (1-3) got ChrisJohnson on a grounder to end the fifth.Milwaukee has beaten the Braves eightstraight times at Miller Park, outscoring them31-9. Tim Hudson (4-7) lost his sixth consecu-tive decision despite giving up only two runshits in six innings. He allowed RBI singles toJuan Francisco and Aramis Ramirez. TheBraves have scored 10 runs in Hudson’s lastnine starts. He has not won any of them.

DODGERS 6, PADRES 1In San Diego, Zack Greinke allowed one

run over eight sharp innings and AdrianGonzalez ended Edinson Volquez’s no-hit bidwith a homer in the sixth as Los Angeles beatSan Diego.

In his first outing in San Diego since break-ing his collarbone in an April brawl with CarlosQuentin, Greinke (4-2) had a season-higheight strikeouts. He yielded four hits andwalked one in his longest outing of the sea-son. San Diego’s home winning streak wassnapped at eight. Hanley Ramirez homeredinto the third deck in left field and theDodgers capitalized on several Padres mis-cues to snap a three-game skid.

A wild Volquez (5-6) did not give up a hituntil Gonzalez, the former Padres first base-man, led off the sixth with his ninth home run.The right-hander walked a career-high sevenand struck out seven in 5 2-3 innings. He lostfor the first time in six starts. Quentin was 0 for3 with two strikeouts against Greinke.

INTERLEAGUERANGERS 4, CARDINALS 2

In St. Louis, Nelson Cruz got the decisivehit for the second straight game with a two-run homer in the third inning and MartinPerez prevailed in a matchup of rookie startersas Texas beat St. Louis.

Shelby Miller (8-5) allowed two homers forthe second time in three starts and didn’tmake it out of the sixth. AJ Pierzynski also hit atwo-run shot for Texas, which goes for a three-game sweep Sunday night. Perez (1-1) wasrecalled from Triple-A Round Rock, where hewas 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA. The lefty allowed arun in each of the first two innings but gaveup just two hits the next five innings andretired the last 10.

Joe Nathan worked a perfect ninth for his24th save in 25 chances. The start of the gamewas delayed 66 minutes by rain.

ASTROS 4, CUBS 3In Chicago, Ronny Cedeno’s squeeze bunt

scored Justin Maxwell with the tiebreakingrun in the ninth inning to lead Houston overChicago. JD Martinez tied the game with athree-run homer in the sixth for the Astros.

Jose Cisnero (2-0) pitched two scorelessinnings for the win, escaping a bases-loadedjam in the eighth. Jose Veras earned his 15thsave in 18 chances.

Maxwell hit a leadoff double in the ninthagainst Kevin Gregg (2-1) and moved to thirdon Matt Dominguez’s sacrifice. Cedeno fol-lowed with another sacrifice bunt, putting theAstros ahead. Nate Schierholtz hit his career-high 10th homer for the Cubs and LuisValbuena had a two-run single. —AP

Rockies snap losing streak

WASHINGTON: Ross Ohlendorf No. 43 of the Washington Nationals throws apitch during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Nationals Park. —AFP

American LeagueEastern Division

W L PCT GBBoston 45 32 .584 -Baltimore 42 33 .560 2NY Yankees 41 33 .554 2.5Toronto 37 36 .507 6Tampa Bay 38 37 .507 6

Central DivisionDetroit 41 32 .562 -Cleveland 38 35 .521 3Kansas City 34 38 .472 6.5Minnesota 33 38 .465 7Chicago White Sox 31 41 .431 9.5

Western DivisionTexas 43 32 .573 -Oakland 44 33 .571 -LA Angels 33 42 .440 10Seattle 33 43 .434 10.5Houston 29 47 .382 14.5

National LeagueEastern Division

Atlanta 43 33 .566 -Washington 37 37 .500 5Philadelphia 36 39 .480 6.5NY Mets 29 42 .408 11.5Miami 24 50 .324 18

Central DivisionSt. Louis 47 28 .627 -Pittsburgh 45 30 .600 2Cincinnati 44 32 .579 3.5Milwaukee 31 42 .425 15Chicago Cubs 30 43 .411 16

Western DivisionArizona 41 33 .554 -San Francisco 38 36 .514 3San Diego 38 37 .507 3.5Colorado 38 38 .500 4LA Dodgers 31 42 .425 9.5

MLB results/standingsColorado 7, Washington 1; NY Yankees 7, Tampa Bay 5; Toronto 4, Baltimore 2; Chicago White Sox 3, Kansas City2; Houston 4, Chicago Cubs 3; Philadelphia 8, NY Mets 7; San Francisco 2, Miami 1 (11 innings); Milwaukee 2,Atlanta 0; Cleveland 8, Minnesota 7; Detroit 10, Boston 3; Texas 4, St. Louis 2; LA Dodgers 6, San Diego 1; Arizona4, Cincinnati 3; Pittsburgh 6, LA Angels 1; Seattle 7, Oakland 5.

Blue Jays beat Orioles

NEW YORK: Adrien Broner was the bigger talkerand the bigger puncher Saturday, scoring enoughhard blows to beat hometown hero PaulieMalignaggi in a 12-round split decision to take thewelterweight title. Fighting for the first time at 147pounds (67 kilograms) after moving up from light-weight, Broner had enough power to overcome agritty fight by Malignaggi and remain unbeaten in27 fights.

He won his third title in as many weight classeswhile cementing his reputation as one of the risingstars in boxing.

With Floyd Mayweather Jr. watching from ring-side, Broner talked throughout the fight toMalignaggi, who was game but wasn’t able tokeep Broner off of him. Broner was unable to knockMalignaggi down, but won round after round totake the decision in the fight at Barclays Center.

Broner had talked plenty before the fight, too,promising to knock Malignaggi out. He wasn’t ableto do that, but scored enough with lead righthands and left hooks to dominate the fight fromthe middle rounds on.

Despite that, one ringside judge hadMalignaggi winning 115-113 while Broner wasfavored 115-113 by a second judge and 117-111 bya third. The Associated Press had Broner winning117-111.

“He’s a world class fighter,” Broner said. “To cometo somebody’s hometown and beat them on asplit decision, that’s saying something.”

Malignaggi did plenty of trash talking beforethe fight himself, and taunted Broner several timesduring the fight. But while he landed a lot ofpunches, none of them seemed to have mucheffect on Broner, who kept pressing the attackthroughout the bout. “He couldn’t hit me. He

couldn’t hit me,” Broner said. “He was shadowbox-ing.”

Malignaggi fought bravely and he fought hard,trying desperately to find a way to win before hishometown fans. But even though Broner was mov-ing up two weight classes he was bigger thanMalignaggi and, more importantly much stronger.

After allowing Malignaggi to take the first fewrounds with his speed and precision, Broner began

walking him down and landing some thuddingpunches. By the middle rounds he was hurtingMalignaggi to the body, though after taking abody punch in the sixth round Malignaggi stuckhis tongue out at Broner to taunt him.

“He worked for about 30 seconds every round,”Malignaggi said. “This was a close fight. I don’tmind if you had him winning close or me winningclose, it was that kind of a fight.” —AP

Broner wins welterweight title

NEW YORK: Adrien Broner lands a punch on Paulie Malignaggi during their WBAWelterweight Title bout at Barclays Center. —AFP


KUWAIT: Navelim Youth Center (NYC) inscribedtheir name on the glittering JP D’Mello Trophywhen they subdued a fighting 10-men IndianStrikers FC 2-1 in the final of the KIFF LeagueChampionship organized by Kuwait IndianFootball Federation and played at the Al-QadsyiaStadium on Friday, June 14. The yearlong tourna-ment featuring 18 teams from the expatriateIndian community in Kuwait was officiated bythe Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA)and the final was sponsored by Gulf Cable &Electric Industries Company, Kuwait.

The final got underway when the day’s dash-ing host Kevin Vaz the Sports Secretary of KIFFwelcomed the guest and KIFF General SecretaryPraveen Kumar escorted Sunil Chhetri the cap-tain of India Soccer Team and a special invitee ofKIFF to the field to take the first kick, while bothcaptains released symbolic balloons.

Other dignitaries present in the VIP box werethe chief guest First Secretary Sushil Kumar onbehalf of the Indian Embassy, the guest of honor,Naser Omran Kanan representing Gulf Cable &Electrical Industries Company, Asif Juzar ownerof Pro Sports and all club presidents.

Indian Strikers FC making their first appear-ance in the KIFF League final started the game onthe back foot with the experienced forwards ofNavelim led by the opportunistic CruzedioRodrigues and Simao Gaunkar and ably support-ed by Sunford Cardoz and Bernardo Pires in mid-field led wave after wave of attacks and it wasonly a matter of time before Cruzedio drew firstblood when he headed in the first goal in the20th minute of the first half off a corner kick.

Samson who had a wonderful game, made it2-0 from the penalty spot a little later, whendefender Shihin of Indian Strikers acrobaticallyhandled a goal bound ball , and referee JulioCardoso had no hesitation in giving him themarching orders.

However after interval and with only ten men,the physically stronger and never-say-die IndianStrikers made a great comeback in the secondhalf when one of their players was brought downin the box and Dustan Paul confidently convert-ed to give his team a glimmer of hope.

With the beating of drums and encouragedby their large number of supporters, IndianStrikers forward Roy Pathrose, Biju and Amada

tried their level best to find the equalizer, butNavelim Youth Center had other plans and theirdefense held firm with Man of the Match andcaptain Duarte Ferrao marshalling from anunusual position of central defender, thwarted allthe their attempts. The match ended 2-1 in favorof Navelim when the referee who was ably assist-ed by Francis Fernandes and NicholausFernandes on the lines finally blew the whistle,much to the relief of the Navelim supporters.

Before the start of the final, the teams paidrespect to the late JP D’Mello in whose memorythe tournament is conducted and after thenational anthems of both Kuwait and India wereplayed, Fidelis Fernandes the President of KuwaitIndian Football Federation welcomed the guestsand thanked the participating teams as well asthe officiating body IFRA.

Sunil Chhetri in his brief speech thanked KIFFfor inviting him to Kuwait and said he was veryimpressed with the way the Indian expatriatecommunity promoted the game of soccer inKuwait. During half time, The Federation alsomade time to honor Raymond D’Sa the longestserving president of Goan overseas Association

(Goa Maroons) for his selfless service to the com-munity and Indian soccer while Fr. Francis(Franco) Pereira Sdb., was also felicitated for hiscontribution to promoting soccer among theyouth and for having completed 25 years ofpriesthood. Both the awards to the distinguishedgentlemen were given by KIFF President FidelisFernandes.

In the prize distribution ceremony, NavelimYouth Centre swept all the individual trophieswith Man of the match being rightly won byDuarte Ferrao and given by Kevin Vaz, BestGoalkeeper Britto Pereira given by StephenFernandes, best defender was Alfred Pires andgiven by Seby Dias, best midfielder was BernardoPires given by Joseph Gomes and best forwardwas Cruzedio Rodrigues and the award was givenby Mrs. Rauzat Juzar.

The runners-up and individual trophies weregiven away by the guest of honor Naser OmranKanan to Dustan Paul the captain of IndianStrikers and the players, while Fidelis Fernandesand Sunil Chhetri jointly gave away the winner’strophy and individual trophies to Duarte Ferraoof Navelim Youth Centre and their players. Mrs.

Aratha Fernandes gave away the trophies to thereferees.

AVC Sports & Cultural Association under thecaptainship of Kevin Vaz were declared the‘Seasons Champions’ and this is the 5th time AVC— Kuwait have been awarded season champi-onship by KIFF in a span of 12 years from the clubinception.

In this season AVC — Kuwait accumulated themaximum number of points to win the champi-onship after winning the season ending NYC tro-phy. The glittering trophy was collected byAlvaro Dias and given away by Sushil Kumar.

The Rolling Trophy was given away by SunilChhetri and collected by Vincy Pereira on behalfof his club. Striker Anthony Rodrigues of AVC -Kuwait was also awarded the highest goal scorerfor the season and besides the trophy given awayby Praveen Kumar, Anthony also received a goldcoin from the hands of VK Vohra.

The Fair Play Trophy for being the best disci-plined team during the season was won by RealBetalbatim FC and it was collected by the clubpresident Vijay Gonsalves and given away by KIFFV President, Derrick Gomindes .

Navelim Youth Center lift JP D’mello Trophy

Indian icon Sunil Chhetri graces final

KUWAIT: NYC captain Duarte Ferrao receiving the winner’s trophy.

Anthony of AVC receives gold coin from VK Vohra

Captain of Indian Strikers receiving the trophyfrom Nasser Kanan.

Derrick Gomendes VP of KIFF gives away the bestdisciplined trophy.

Guests on ground

AVC Season champions

KiFF President addressingthe crowd.

Memento awarded to Fr. Francis Pereira. Memento given to Raymond Dsa.

Indian Strikers.

Plaque awarded to Chhetri.

Individual prize winners

.Referee Julio Cardoso receiving his award

Referee Julio Cardoso with assistants.

Release of balloons.


Photo of the day

Blake Aldridge of the UK dives from the 28 metre platform on the roof of the Copenhagen OperaHouse during the first round of the second stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series,Copenhagen, Denmark. —www.redbullcontentpool.com

CHICAGO: Patrick Kane scored twogoals and Corey Crawford made 24saves as the Chicago Blackhawks beatthe Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday totake a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cupfinals.

Kane had a terrific postseasonwhen Chicago won it all in 2010,including the winning score in a 4-3overtime victory in Philadelphia thatsecured the title. Now he’s pickingup steam with Chicago one winaway from another championship,collecting seven goals in the last

seven gamesDave Bolland added an empty-

net score and Jonathan Toews hadtwo assists before leaving with anupper-body injury. The captain tooka big hit from Johnny Boychuk late inthe second and did not play in thefinal period.

The Bruins also lost one of their keyplayers when Patrice Bergeron wasinjured in the second. It was unclearwhat happened to the star center, butthe team said he was taken to a hospi-tal for observation. “Getting evaluatedright now,” coach Claude Julien said.“Not much I can say.”

Toews was on the bench for thelast part of the game, and coach JoelQuenneville said he hopes the centerwill be able to play Monday night inBoston.

Zdeno Chara scored in the thirdperiod for the Bruins, who lost consec-utive games for the first time since thefirst round against Toronto. TuukkaRask made 29 saves, keeping theBruins close while they scrambled togenerate quality chances.

Chara got a nice pass from DavidKrejci from behind the net and beatCrawford on the glove side to make it2-1 at 3:40 in the third period. Thewhistling slap shot by the bigdefenseman came after he was on theice for five of Chicago’s goals in the

Blackhawks’ 6-5 overtime victoryWednesday night.

The location of Chara’s third post-season goal brought to mind theglove-side difficulties for Crawford inGame 4. But he held up just fine com-ing off the worst postseason game ofhis career.

He gloved Daniel Paille’s slap shotearly in the third, and the Blackhawkshelped their embattled goaltender byturning up the pressure on Rask afterthe Bruins cut it to one. Kane forcedRask to make a couple of nice stops,and Michael Frolik also made a run tothe net.

The Blackhawks survived one lastpush by the Bruins after they pulledRask, and the crowd of 22,274 roaredwhen the overhead videoboardshowed the No. 1 and the Stanley Cup

on the screen, signifying the team isone victory away from its fifth title.

“They were able to put some pres-sure on us but we were able to shutthe door,” Crawford said. Boston andChicago returned to the ice three daysafter they played the highest-scoringgame in this year’s NHL playoffs. Therewere five goals in the second periodalone, matching the total from theprevious two games combined, andBrent Seabrook’s overtime score liftedthe Blackhawks to the series-tying vic-tory. It was a marked departure fromthe first three games of the finals, andraised questions about what the playwould be like in the last part of theseries. The answer, at least in Game 5,was a return to the strong teamdefense and disciplined play. It meantlittle room to maneuver in both offen-sive zones, especially for the series’biggest stars.

Only Kane was sure able to findenough space. With 21/2 minutes leftin the first, Johnny Oduya’s long slapshot broke the stick of Bostondefenseman Dennis Seidenberg andtrickled to the left side of the netwhere Kane poked it in for eighthplayoff goal.

The line of Kane, Toews and BryanBickell, which coach Joel Quennevilleput back together before Game 4,struck again in the second. Bickell wasstopped by Rask on a rush along theleft side, but skated behind the netand threw it back in front.

The puck went off the right side ofthe goal as Rask got his blocker to thepost. Kane then deftly backhandedthe bouncing puck into the top of thenet to make it 2-0 at 5:13.

That proved to be enough forCrawford, who has allowed one goalor less in nine games this postseason.But this one had to be particularly sat-isfying after facing a barrage of ques-tions about his glove over the pasttwo days.

Since the NHL went to a best-of-seven format for the Stanley Cup in1939, the winner of Game 5 in a dead-locked series has gone on to win thetitle 15 times in 22 occasions.

Those numbers likely don’t scareBoston very much. The Bruins facedthe same situation against Vancouverin 2011 and came back to win thechampionship. —AP

Blackhawks within one

win of Stanley Cup title

CHICAGO: Milan Lucic No. 17 of the Boston Bruins checks BrentSeabrook No. 7 of the Chicago Blackhawks during a 3-1 Blackhawkswin in Game Five of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final. —AFP

IOWA: Brianna Rollins equalled thefourth fastest 100 metres hurdles everrun as she clocked a stunning 12.26seconds at the US world champi-onship trials on Saturday at DesMoines, Iowa.

Finally catching an allowable wind,the 21-year-old US collegiate recordholder sent a strong message toAustralian Olympic and world champi-on Sally Pearson with the fastest timesince 1992.

Only Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova,whose 1988 world record is 12.21 sec-onds, and compatriot GinkaZagorcheva, the former record holder,have run faster. Donkova has done sotwice.

“I just feel so overwhelmed, soemotional. It is so amazing,” saidRollins, who previous best was 12.39seconds at the US collegiate champi-onships.

The time, run with an aiding windof 1.2 seconds, exceeded Pearson’s2011 world championship best of12.28 seconds and three times worldchampion Gail Devers’ Americanrecord of 12.33 seconds.

“Looks like I am bringing my A++game to worlds this year,” Pearsontweeted after the stunning run. CanRollins, who recently turned profes-sional, break the world record?

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” said theformer Clemson University student,whose best before this season was12.70 seconds.

Lured to athletics as a teenager“because someone told me I was fast,”Rollins selected the hurdles “because Ithought it was interesting and fun todo.”

Runner-up Queen Harrison (12.43seconds), third-place finisher Nia Ali(12.48) and Beijing Olympic winnerDawn Harper, who has a wild cardentry, also made the American teamfor the Aug 10-18 world champi-onships in Moscow.

There were season-leading per-formances in the men’s 400 metreshurdles and women’s high jump finals

on a hot and windy day. Olympic silver medallist Michael

Tinsley became the first man to dipunder 48 seconds in the 400 hurdlesthis season, running 47.96 seconds,and Brigetta Barrett, the London highjump runner-up, cleared 2.04 metres(6 feet, 8.25 inches).

Former world champions KerronClement (48.06) and BershawnJackson (48.09) joined Tinsley on theUS team for Moscow.

Teenage sensation Mary Cain, just17, also made the team, finishing sec-ond to teammate Treniere Moser witha gutsy run in a slow women’s 1,500metres.

Beijing gold medallist LaShawnMerritt dominated the men’s 400metres final, winning in 44.21 seconds,but London women’s winner SanyaRichards-Ross was a casualty of thecut-throat trials, missing out on a placein the individual 400m.

Running in sneakers to lessen thepain from recent big toe surgery, theAmerican record holder finished sixth

in 51.92 seconds. Natasha Hastingswon the race in 49.94. World recordholder Ashton Eaton played it safe butstill won the decathlon with 8,291points.

Tyson Gay, going for a sprint dou-ble, easily advanced in 200 metresqualifying, running a wind-assisted20.14 seconds just hours after claim-ing Friday’s 100 metres title in a world-leading 9.75 seconds. Olympic cham-pions Aries Merritt and Allyson Felix

also moved through qualifying butLondon gold medallist Brittney Reesefouled three times in the women’slong jump final and will use a wildcard spot to compete in Moscow.

World record holder Merritt clockeda wind-assisted 13.25 seconds in hisfirst 110 metres hurdles since a Mayinjury.

Felix was fifth fastest in thewomen’s 200 in 22.44, also wind-assist-ed. Three-times national championDavid Oliver looked especially sharp inthe hurdles, clocking a wind-assisted13.14 seconds. —Reuters

Rollins equals fourth

fastest hurdles time

DES MOINES: Brianna Rollins clears a hurdle on the way to victoryin the Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles on day three of the 2013 USAOutdoor Track & Field Championships. —AFP

LE MANS: Audi recorded their 12th win in the Le Mans 24hour race yesterday but it was a victory overshadowed bythe death of Danish driver Allan Simonsen.

Simonsen’s compatriot Tom Kristensen, 45, was part ofthe winning trio of drivers extending his all-time record ofnine victories in the historic race but first since 2008.

Kristensen, whose first win came in 1997, touchinglydedicated his victory to Simonsen instead of his father,who died earlier this year. “We lost someone yesterday whohad the same dream as I did, a good bloke,” said Kristensen.

“Thus my feelings at winning are different this year. I amalso thinking of my father who died in March. I would liketo win again so that I can dedicate it to him because thisvictory is for Allan.”

Kristensen’s team-mates were Scotsman Allan McNish,tasting victory for the third time, and Frenchman LoicDuval, who was winning for the first time.

Simonsen, 34, died as a result of injuries he sufferedafter a horror high-speed crash at the wheel of an AstonMartin on Saturday.

A brief tribute was paid to Simonsen before the podiumceremony yesterday by six-time winner Jacky Ickx andPierre Fillon the president of the organising committee.

The Audi - which gave the manufacturer their fourth

successive win and 11th in the last 13 editions - camehome a lap clear of the Toyota, whose trio of drivers wereFrenchman Stephane Sarrazin and former Formula Oneduo England’s Anthony Davidson and Swiss SebastienBuemi.

Davidson, who competed for the now defunct Minarditeam in Formula One driving in 24 Grand Prix, said thatSimonsen’s crash had brought back terrible memories forhim.

“The most difficult thing this weekend was continuingto drive after learning of the news (about Simonsen) espe-cially for me after what happened to me last year (he had aspectacular crash),” said the 34-year-old.

“Each time I passed by where Simonsen’s crash tookplace I thought of what happened and said to myself thatcould happen to any of us.

“The track was like a skating rink in the rain, there wasno room for error. It was without doubt the toughest raceof my life.”

Audi’s two-time defending champions Marcel Faessler,Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer had led the race untilthey came to a halt in front of the stands late on Saturdaynight and lost 43 minutes while they changed their alter-nator. —AFP

Audi wins tragedy marred

24 hour Le Mans race

DUBAI: Nissan recently unveiled the ground-breaking, innovative ZEOD RC - the world’sfastest electric racing car that will reach speeds ofmore than 300km/h with electric technology atthe Le Mans 24 Hours. The ZEOD RC (ZeroEmission On Demand Racing Car) will make itsrace debut at next year’s Le Mans 24 Hour. Theglobal leader in electric vehicles for the road,Nissan will trial variants of new electric drive traintechnologies as part of its intended future returnto LM P1 competition to challenge for overall vic-tory at the world’s most prestigious endurancerace.

Nissan’s invitation from the Automobile Clubde l’Ouest (ACO) to compete in the 2014 Le Mans24 Hours was announced by Nissan Chairmanand CEO, Carlos Ghosn in Japan in February. Thecar will compete under the ACO’s ‘Garage 56’entry - an additional spot on the grid for vehiclesthat showcase new and innovative technology.

Run as a Nissan / Nismo full factory interna-tional program with input from Japan, Europeand the US, the Nissan ZEOD RC design team isheaded by Ben Bowlby who has been newly-appointed as Nissan’s Director of MotorsportInnovation and previously worked on the NissanDeltaWing program in 2012.

While the car will not race until next year’s LeMans 24 Hours, Nissan recently kicked off aunique aspect of the program - race fans gettingthe chance to unveil the car in the public area ofthe Circuit de la Sarthe. Nissan intends to drawback the curtain for fans across the globe to pro-vide continued updates via its international part-nership with YouTube and its Nismo.TV channel.

“Nissan has become a global leader in thedevelopment of zero emission automotive tech-

nology and the Nissan ZEOD RC will allow us tofurther develop those capabilities using thetoughest endurance race in the world as amobile test bed to test the potential of ourplanned LM P1 power train,” said Andy Palmer,Executive Vice President and ExecutiveCommittee member at Nissan Motor Company

Limited. “The Nissan ZEOD RC is a natural pro-gression that follows on from the developmentof the Nissan Leaf road car and the Leaf RC racecar prototype. The technologies developedthrough the ZEOD RC program will form part offuture innovations for Nissan road cars.

“Nissan is already a global leader in the saleof all-electric cars and we’re eagerly awaiting theopportunity to showcase the lessons learnt withthe development of battery technology in theworld’s oldest, toughest and most high profileendurance race.

“The ZEOD RC program is designed to devel-op multiple technologies to evaluate how they

could be used for a future LM P1 class return ofNissan at the Le Mans 24 Hour. There are multi-ple options we are investigating. A Zero Emissionon Demand option where the driver can switchbetween electric and petrol-powered drive is afuture direction for road cars, so that will be test-ed in addition to pure electric power and other

new technologies that we still have under devel-opment.

“As no other manufacturer is using electricbattery technology in endurance racing, Nissanis innovating again and this will provide us withsignificant amounts of data and information toevaluate potential powertrains for future sportscar programs and allow us to continue as theleader in Zero Emissions technology on theroad.”

Launched in 2010, the Nissan Leaf hasbecome the world’s best-selling all-electric car.The Leaf won the 2010 Green Car Vision Award,the 2011 European Car of the Year, the 2011

World Car of the Year, and the 2011-2012 Car ofthe Year Japan.

Nissan launched the Nissan Leaf RC in 2011 -a race car prototype powered by the same 107-hp electric motor that is used in the road car.

While current battery technology does notprovide the energy storage capacity to race a

solely electric Le Mans prototype, Nissan ZEODRC designer Ben Bowlby believes the develop-ment of the car will be an important step in the“electrification” of the racecars of the future.

“Developing a car like this provides an incred-ibly challenging test bed for what could be high-ly-effective options for road cars of the future.Throughout the next twelve months we will betesting multiple drive train options in an exten-sive test program,” Bowlby said.

“We have many options to consider and test.The test program is part of a longer term goal ofdeveloping a system and a set of rules for thistype of technology in partnership with the ACO

that would be best suited to competing at thehighest level of this sport.”

“Nissan is a leader in electric vehicle technol-ogy for the road, now we want to take those les-sons learnt and utilise that knowledge base inthe development of the new race car.

“Our design team on the Nissan ZEOD RCprogram has concentrated heavily on packagingand aerodynamic efficiency that will not onlyprovide extreme performance but high levels ofenergy efficiency - the goal for all globalautomakers.

“A large part of our work in the comingmonths is to discuss with the ACO future oppor-tunities for the ‘electrification’ of the Le Mansrules in the future and work towards deliveringappropriate technology. Garage 56 is a boldmove by the ACO to showcase Innovation andallow testing of untried components and sys-tems for future competition use. To this end theyare the most forward thinking promoter inMotorsport today.”

Nissan will partner with French tire manufac-turer Michelin to produce tires for the new proto-type. Nissan previously joined forces withMichelin on the Nissan DeltaWing program. TheClermont-Ferrand-based manufacturer has anenviable record at the Le Mans 24 Hour, winningthe past 15 consecutive races overall.

The Nissan ZEOD RC will make its testingdebut later this summer. Nissan’s assault on the2013 Le Mans 24 Hour will again target victory inthe P2 class with 15 of the 22 entries powered byNissan. In the opening rounds of the 2013 FIAWorld Endurance Championship, Nissan hasdominated, taking victory at Silverstone andSpa-Francorchamps.

Nissan unveils Le Mans prototype plans

with world’s fastest electric racing car

19S P O R T SMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

FORTALEZA: For millions of footballfans around the world how Neymarand Fernando Torres perform at theConfederations Cup is of far moreinterest than Brazilians protesting oversocial issues.

While locals demonstrate over thecost of stadiums for next year’s WorldCup, government corruption, lack ofeducation, public health issues andtransport price hikes, most followers ofthe beautiful game only care aboutwhat happens on the pitch.

“I feel really sorry for the Brazilianpeople who are clearly angry,” saidone post on an internet messageboard from New Zealand. “Fine if theyused the Confeds Cup as a catalyst toair their grievances but I will be evenmore angry if they stop the World Cupfrom being in Brazil next year.”

The finals are unlikely to be takenaway from Brazil and, despite localmedia reports that the ConfederationsCup - the World Cup warm-up testtournament - was going to be halted,FIFA said on Thursday the idea had not

been considered for a moment.Barring some unforeseen cata-

clysmic event, Brazil will host theWorld Cup next year as planned andplayers like local favorite Neymar andSpain striker Torres will be the focus.

In an impassioned speech onFriday, Brazilian president DilmaRousseff addressed the protestors’grievances but also pledged her gov-ernment’s support for next year’sfinals. “With regard to the World Cup, Iwant to clarify that the federal moneyspent on the stadiums is in the form offinancing that will be duly repaid bythe companies and (state) govern-ments that are exploiting these stadi-ums.

“Brazil is the only country to haveparticipated in every World Cup and isfive-times world champion and hasalways been well received every-where. “We must give our friends thesame generous welcome we havereceived from them - with respect,love and joy. This is how we must treatour guests. Football and sport are

symbols of peace and peaceful coexis-tence among peoples. “Brazil deservesto, and will, host a great World Cup.”Which is where soccer’s governingbody FIFA comes in.

FIFA owns the World Cup andentrusts organisation of the tourna-ment to a Local Organising Committee(LOC) which makes sure stadiums aresafe and ready on time, ticketingworks and the necessary infrastructureis in place. However, the relationshipbetween FIFA and the Brazilian LOChas been troubled.

Part of the problem stemmed fromthe fact that the now discreditedRicardo Teixeira, who was head of theLOC and the Brazilian FA (CBF), quit hisroles with FIFA’s executive committeeand as head of the CBF in May 2012after years of denying corruption alle-gations.

Two months later a Swiss prosecu-tor’s court named him, and his formerfather-in-law and former FIFA presi-dent, Brazilian Joao Havelange, as hav-ing received more than $40 million in

bribes from FIFA’s former marketingpartners, the bankrupt ISL.

In all of its World Cup bidding doc-umentation FIFA says eight stadiumsare required to host a 32-team WorldCup but Teixeira insisted that 12 werebuilt or renovated and are now beingused. Some venues, l ike Brasilia,Manaus and Cuiaba, do not even havetop-ranking teams and their stadiumscould become white elephants, apoint directly linked to the demonstra-tors’ grievances this week that moneyhas been wasted on the World Cup.

Teixeira formed a close workingfriendship and relationship with FIFAsecretary general Jerome Valcke,whose responsibility is to deliver asafe, cost-effective and workablefinals.

In March last year, with Teixeira outof the planning process on “healthgrounds” in Miami, Valcke deliveredhis famous “Brazil need a kick up thebackside” remark to journalists inBagshot, England, expressing his con-cerns over progress on stadiums,

transport infrastructure and hotels.He was shunned by the Brazilian

authorities for months before relation-ships were gingerly restored. Now, inthe wake of this week’s protests,remarks he made this April look partic-ularly ill-judged. Speaking at a tourna-ment symposium in Zurich, Valckesaid: “I will say something which iscrazy, but less democracy is some-times better for organising a WorldCup.”

He explained it was easier to dealwith a country like Russia, the 2018World Cup hosts, in which the head ofstate can decide everything, ratherthan Brazil “where the political struc-ture is divided into three levels - feder-al, state and city.”

As one FIFA insider close to the sto-ry told Reuters on Saturday: “WellBrazil has certainly showed us it isdemocracy this week okay. This hasmade life very uncomfortable for FIFA,but they will all find a solution and theWorld Cup will go ahead. It alwaysdoes in the end.”—Reuters

Sorry Brazil, but for soccer fans the game must go on

LONDON: Novak Djokovic lived up to his reputa-tion as the ‘Djoker’ on the men’s tour by warmingup for Wimbledon by performing a hip-swingingstriptease for fans at an exhibition match - albeitrather playfully to his waist.

What is in no doubt, though, is that thousandsof people will be flocking to Wimbledon nextweek to watch a more serious Djokovic play asthe Serb launches his bid for a second title at thegrasscourt major. Lucky to be drawn on the otherhalf of the draw to his ‘Big Four’ rivals - RogerFederer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray - the worldnumber one, dressed in pristine white from neck-to-toe, was in a reflective mood as he sat downfor a chat with Reuters.

The six-times grand slam champion escapedto an underground bunker at the All EnglandClub to say he feels neither lucky nor unlucky tobe playing in the golden era of tennis and wouldmost like to have taken on Pete Sampras fromthe past.

REUTERS: This is your ninth t ime inWimbledon’s main draw. What are you memoriesof your first ever match, do you remember whoyou played, which court you played, the scoreand how many people watched you?

DJOKOVIC: “I think I played qualifications inRoehampton in 2005, I remember I played fivesets in the last round of qualifications againstWesley Moodie.

“It was a very difficult match but I remember Imanaged to come into the main draw ofWimbledon for the first time and I won against(Juan) Monaco, and second round I won against(Guillermo) Garcia-Lopez after being two setsdown and three match points down and then Ilost to (Sebastien) Grosjean in four sets. I got totop 100 for the first time so I remember that tour-nament very well.

“I think I played on Court 17, I don’t know howmany people watched but it’s not a very bigcourt . . . but I do remember I won (that firstmatch) in straight sets.”

REUTERS: A lot of players outside the ‘BigFour’ regret their careers have coincided with thisexceptional era, do you feel lucky or unlucky tobe playing in this age because in any other erayou might have already completed a calendarslam?

DJOKOVIC: “There is no need to start askingyourself ‘what ifs’. From one side you could saythat maybe I could have won the calendar slamor maybe five more grand slams if I wasn’t in anera with Federer and Nadal.

“But on the other hand if I wasn’t in their era, Idon’t know if I would be where I am at thismoment because with my top two rivals, I’ve hadsuch a rivalry, such incredible matches over theyears that it took my game to another level. Therivalry also made me improve, made me under-stand what I need to do to get better on and offthe court.”

REUTERS: The game has become extremelyphysical now, are you at all worried about thelong-term damage this will do to your body?

DJOKOVIC: “Every professional athlete goesthrough a lot of pain, is concerned and doesthink about ‘what is going to happen to my bodywhen I finish with my career?’. But I am doingeverything I can with the people around me tostay healthy, take care of wellbeing. Not justabout my body but also with what I eat and whatI drink, my lifestyle and to decrease stress asmuch as we can. “Stress is one of the worst ene-mies of human kind and the cause of many dis-eases. But I see myself continuing to do sportbecause once you are in professional sport, thebody is used to exercise. So if you stop doingexercise and don’t do anything for years, yourbody will respond and send you signals that youneed to do something. I guess I will do sport andI’m happy for that because I love sport and havededicated my whole life to tennis.”

REUTERS: If you could have played any playerfrom the past, who would it be and why?

DJOKOVIC: “ It would be Pete Sampras

because he was my idol and somebody I waslooking up to when I was young. I never got toplay him and I would probably like to play himhere at Wimbledon.”

REUTERS: How do you think you would havematched up against him?

DJOKOVIC: “He would be a definite favouritebecause he has won this tournament so manytimes. But I would like to play him at all fourgrand slams, that would have been very interest-ing to see.”

REUTERS: There has been a lot of negativesports stories around in 2013, l ike LanceArmstrong’s drug confession, match-fixing insoccer, the doping trial in Spain. Do you feel allthese stories have only harmed the sports con-cerned or is all sport paying a price?

DJOKOVIC: “In a way yes. Media influence isso strong now that any story that makes theheadlines has a huge reach globally. Many peo-ple obviously get that wrong message about cer-tain sports because of those cases you have justmentioned and that is something we definitelydon’t want.

“In tennis we don’t want illegal things, wedon’t want players betting, we don’t want playersfailing doping tests. Compared to other sports,tennis is still in a very good place, especiallymen’s tennis. It has a great competition, has agreat era of fantastic champions who are greatpromoters and ambassadors of our sport.

“We all have this responsibility of keeping thisclean image of the sport. Of course you can’talways guarantee what other players will do butwe are very much aware of this responsibility thatwe carry.”

REUTERS: During the French Open final therewas the incident with the flare-waving protesterwho jumped on court during the final betweenNadal and David Ferrer. Do you think tourna-ments are doing enough to safeguard the playerson court or do you feel vulnerable each time yougo on court?

DJOKOVIC: “It doesn’t happen too often but itdoes happen once in a while. The security nowa-days is very strict so I don’t see anything reallybad happening particularly to a tennis player.

“What happened in Roland Garros was maybea mistake of the security that was on the courtbut generally, if you look at it worldwide, it’s real-ly good and players feel safe. I feel safe.

“Frankly if you start thinking that your life is indanger from somebody or something, you startbecoming paranoid. You don’t need these kind ofthings.”

REUTERS: You were criticised by some of your

peers after retiring from your quarter-final matchat the Australian Open in 2009 when you werethe defending champion. How satisfied are youto have silenced those critics who had ques-tioned your fitness four years ago?

DJOKOVIC: My motivation was not to silencethem or to get any kind of revenge because Idon’t seek that. I was looking forward to reallyunderstand what I need to do in order to improveas a tennis player and as a person.

“Also (I wanted) to improve my health, to getit to the best possible condition where I can con-sistently play well and recover and be able toplay the whole year without getting injured orhaving the breathing problems that kind of fol-lowed me from the early stages of my career. Imanaged to do that with certain adjustmentsand diet changes.

“Now I feel really good, I haven’t been injuredvery much in my career which is a very encourag-ing fact for the future.”

REUTERS: Since you’ve changed to a gluten-free diet, what do you miss eating?

DJOKOVIC: “Ha ha, there are certain productsthat I am missing eating from Serbia. There is aproduct called ‘plasma’, it’s like a biscuit that con-tains gluten that I grew up on. That’s somethingthat I miss very much. But look, it’s for my owngood and I know that. I know how well I feel onthe court and in life in general.”

REUTERS: Wimbledon looked very differentduring the Olympics last year. Do you think thereis anything from the Olympics that Wimbledonshould adopt permanently?

DJOKOVIC: “I think the colours were veryinteresting to see in Wimbledon. We respect thetradition here in playing in all white and it’s avery conservative environment.

“But the Olympics Games was something dif-ferent and (made Wimbledon) very urban.Colours all around, players coming out withtracksuits of the colours of their countries. Yousaw purple backgrounds to the courts, it wasinteresting.”

REUTERS: When you are in London, have youever had the chance to do touristy things?

DJOKOVIC (grinning): “Well I’ve been on theunderground but it was a long time ago, maybethe first, second time when I came to London.Since then it’s only been in the car.

“I love parks, so I try to avoid places wherethere are too many people because I need tosave my energy for the tournament. I love visit-ing parks, Wimbledon Park, Richmond Park, thosekind of parks are incredible and London has plen-ty of it.”—Reuters

Golden era inspires playful

Djokovic to get serious

BRAZIL: Brazil’s forward Neymar celebrates after scoring against Italy in this filephoto. —AFP

Scolari’s Brazil side

begin to take shapeRIO DE JANEIRO: Following the choppingand changing of recent years, Brazil appearto have found an equilibrium at theConfederations Cup, where they surgedthrough the group phase to reach thesemi-finals.

Although Saturday’s gripping 4-2 defeatof Italy had no sporting significance, bothsides having already qualified, it confirmedBrazil’s progress after two straightforwardwins over Japan (3-0) and Mexico (2-0).Signs of the revival were first glimpsed inthe hosts’ final two pre-tournament warm-up games: a 2-2 draw with England and a3-0 success over France.

By beating France and Italy, who wereadmittedly weakened by fatigue and theabsence through injury of Andrea Pirlo,Brazil finally secured the victories over top-rank nations that had eluded them inrecent times. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s first prior-ity, upon returning to coach the team for asecond time last November, was to firm uphis defence.

“We’re progressing a lot in terms ofmarking. It doesn’t worry me as much as itdid three or four months ago,” he said afterthe victory over Mexico. His captain, ThiagoSilva, had also expressed concerns over theSelecao’s defensive robustness.

Speaking prior to the game with Franceearlier this month, he said: “I’d be lying if Isaid that it doesn’t worry us. “If we can winall our matches 1-0, without conceding, I’dtake it. Our game needs more balance.”After several experiments, some involvingformer stalwarts such as Ronaldinho, Kakaand Luis Fabiano, Scolari appears to havesettled on a first-choice starting XI.

Key is the predominantly defensive cen-tral midfield pairing of Luiz Gustavo andPaulinho, with the more forward-thinkingHernanes occasionally brought in. Scolarihas instilled tactical discipline into theteam, although Neymar is still granted acertain degree of freedom.

If the forward has occasionally been

over-zealous in his efforts to help out inmidfield, committing 31 fouls in threematches, he has produced the goods at theright end of the pitch.

Despite the huge weight of expectationcreated by the number 10 shirt on his backand his $75.3 million (57 million euros)transfer to Barcelona, the 21-year-old haslived up to his billing.

Allying explosive style with match-win-ning efficiency, Neymar has received threeman-of-the-match awards and has auto-graphed each performance with a memo-rable goal.

Initially targeted by the protesters whohave flocked into the streets during thetournament (‘A teacher is worth more thanNeymar!’ was one chant), he has successful-ly aligned himself with the popular causeand his on-pitch displays even urgedScolari to proclaim him a “genius”.

Explaining the understanding he haswith his attacking colleagues, Neymar said:“Changing positions is very important forthe whole team. We work on it a lot intraining. It enables you to drive your oppo-nents mad.”

Hulk, on the right flank, has been a con-stant menace and Fred ended his poorrecent scoring run with a predatory sec-ond-half double against Italy. Only Chelseaplaymaker Oscar has failed to hit theheights so far. The two full-backs are heavi-ly involved in the team’s attacking play,Marcelo by driving into the centre and DaniAlves by over-lapping on the right.

Against Italy, the former was at the ori-gin of three goals: two for his team, andone against, after Italy midfielder EmanueleGiaccherini exploited the space left by theReal Madrid man’s forward forays to score.Scolari seems willing to accept such risks.

“I think Brazil arrive ready for the semi-finals,” he said, although he warned thatthe team was not yet “ready for the WorldCup”. Nonetheless, they appear to havefound the right path.—AFP

WIMBLEDON: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic works out during a training session at the AllEngland Tennis Club in Wimbledon on the eve of the start of the 2013 WimbledonChampionships tennis tournament. —AFP

Watson keeps share of leadLOS ANGELES: Bubba Watson retained ashare of the lead after the third round ofthe Travelers Championship on Saturdaydespite dropping three shots in the last sixholes. The American, chasing his first PGATour win since he captured last year’sMasters, stumbled with bogeys at the 13th,15th and 17th holes to finish with a roundof even-par 70.

Watson will go into the final round at10-under par, tied for the lead with hiscountryman Charley Hoffman andCanadian Graham DeLaet, on a heavilycongested leaderboard that includedEngland’s newly-crowned US Open cham-pion Justin Rose. “I hit some shots todaythat were really good, some quality shotsbut got a couple bad breaks here and therebut that’s golf,” Watson told reporters.

“At the end of the day I still have achance late yesterday and that’s what weare always looking for on the weeks we areplaying.” Hoffman, who opened the tour-nament with a stunning 61 but fell backwith a second round 73, carded a 66 whileDeLaet signed for a 65, matching the bestround of the day, as he chases his maidenPGA Tour win.

American Chris Stroud (66) andAustralian Nick O’Hern (68) were tied forfourth, just one shot off the lead, whileAmerican Ken Duke was alone in sixth after

a 65. Justin Rose was among a bunch ofplayers in the next group at minus seven,after he shot a second successive 68. At theend of the day, 18 players were within fourstrokes of the lead, setting the stage for agrandstand finish.—Reuters

CROMWELL: Bubba Watson hits out ofthe sand on the 17th hole during thethird round of the 2013 TravelersChampionship. —AFP

Players get opportunity to hone skillsKUWAIT: The Kheitan indoor soccer teamcoach Mubarak Al-Hussaini said the KuwaitMini World Futsal Club Tournament truly aworld event and reflects the importance ofthe tournament which will be a special one.

He said the tournament is an opportunityfor players to learn and hone their skills, espe-cially that all participating teams are champi-ons in their countries.

He said the coaches would be able to getexperience saying that indoor soccer has the

fans very close to the playing floor whichallows them to hear and follow how the gameis being conducted by coaches and howinstructions are given.

He said the presence of the event in Kuwaitwill add to its sports reputation and will provethat Kuwait is able to organize major sportingevents.

Meanwhile the International and AsianFootball Federations appointed 12 refereesfrom Asia and Europe to officiate the matches

of the tournament. The higher organizingcommittee sought the Asian Federation helpto appoint two Kuwaiti referees, and the fed-eration obliged by appointing Musaab Al-Rushood and Mohammad Al-Beloushi in addi-tion to appointing Adel Al-Shatti as supervi-sor. The positive response from the AsianFederation comes as the result of the jointefforts with Kuwait Football Association underthe leadership of Sheikh Dr. Talal Al-Fahad toensure the success of the tournament.

18Rollins equals fourth fastest hurdles time


Scolari’s Brazil Side begin to take shape

Golden era inspires playful Djokovic to get serious Page 19

BIRMINGHAM: The Indian cricket team celebrate with the trophy following victory in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy Final cricket match against England. — AFP

BIRMINGHAM: India added the ChampionsTrophy title to the World Cup they won two yearsago after seeing off England by five runs in a dra-matic Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston yes-terday. Tournament hosts England, still to win amajor one-day international title, appeared tohave done the hard work in holding India to 129for seven in a match reduced by rain to a 20 oversper side contest.

But, chasing 130, they collapsed to 46 for four,before a partnership of 64 between former Irelandleft-hander Eoin Morgan (33) and Ravi Bopara (30),who’d earlier taken three for 20 with his medium-pacers, swung the match back their way.

However, India seamer Ishant Sharma turnedthe match on its head by removing Morgan andBopara, both with the aid of catches byRavichandran Ashwin, off successive deliveries toleave England 110 for six in their 18th over andneeding 19 off the last 12 balls.

That eventually became six off one ball andthat proved too much for tailender James Tredwellas he failed to make contact against fellow off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ravindra Jadeja was named man-of-the-matchafter making 33 not out and then taking two for24 with his left-arm spin.

India’s win left England still searching for theirfirst major ODI trophy after defeats in three WorldCup finals (1979, 1987 and 1992) and a loss to the

West Indies at The Oval in the 2004 ChampionsTrophy final when they last staged this event.

If this was, as has been stated by theInternational Cricket Council (ICC), the lastChampions Trophy, it certainly went out with abang with India’s youthful side containing justthree survivors-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni,Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina-from the team thatbeat Sri Lanka in Mumbai to win the 2011 WorldCup final.

England’s reply suffered an early setback whencaptain Alastair Cook (two) was well caught in theslips for two by Ashwin off Umesh Yada. They were28 for two when Jonathan Trott, on hisWarwickshire home ground, was stumped byDhoni off Ashwin for 20.

Joe Root then holed out cheaply off Ashwinbefore opener Ian Bell, like Trott a Warwickshireplayer, was stumped off Jadeja.

It was a desperately close call but, after severalminutes’ study, Australian third umpire BruceOxenford ruled in India’s favor, although Bell wasclearly convinced there was enough doubt for thedecision to go his way, and England were in trou-ble at 46 for four.

England needed 59 off the final 36 balls butthat target was reduced to 48 off 30 balls afterBopara launched Ishant Sharma over mid-wicketfor six. Morgan then weighed in with a reverse-sweep four off part-time spinner Raina. Bopara

swept Jadeja for six to raise a fifty stand withMorgan. But Morgan then holed out and Bopara,off what might have been a wide had he left italone, was caught off a hook.

The organisers, keen to provide some mean-ingful cricket in what was meant to be a 50 oversper side contest, took the unusual decision toextend play by two hours to ensure a result infront of a packed crowd, with no reserve day.

England dismantled the Indian top-orderafter winning the toss in overcast conditions.India, who shared the 2002 Champions Trophyafter a rain-ruined final against Sri Lanka inColombo, were reduced to 66 for five beforeKohli and Jadeja boosted the total by adding aquickfire 47 for the sixth wicket. Kohli smashed43 off 34 balls that included four boundaries anda six, before he holed out off James Anderson inthe penultimate over.

Jadeja faced 25-balls for his unbeaten 33.Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who went into the finalas the tournament’s leading scorer with 332 runsin four matches, hit 31 of 24 balls that included asix over third-man against Stuart Broad. But theleft-hander was dismissed off Bopara’s seconddelivery, caught in the covers by Tredwell and theall-rounder removed Raina and Dhoni in the spaceof four balls. Raina drove Bopara straight to Cookat mid-on, while Dhoni (nought) slashed thebowler high to Tredwell at third man. — AFP

India wins Champions Trophy

IndiaR. Sharma b Broad 9S. Dhawan c Tredwell b Bopara 31V. Kohli c Bopara b Anderson 43D. Karthik c Morgan b Tredwell 6S. Raina c Cook b Bopara 1MS Dhoni c Tredwell b Bopara 0R. Jadeja not out 33R. Ashwin run out (Bell) 1B. Kumar not out 1Extras (w4) 4Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 129Fall of wickets: 1-19 (R Sharma), 2-50 (Dhawan),3-64 (Karthik), 4-66 (Raina), 5-66 (Dhoni), 6-113(Kohli), 7-119 (Ashwin) Did not bat: I Sharma, U YadavBowling: Anderson 4-0-24-1; Broad 4-0-26-1;Bresnan 4-0-34-0 (3w); Tredwell 4-0-25-1; Bopara4-1-20-3 (1w);

EnglandA. Cook c Ashwin b Yadav 2I. Bell st Dhoni b Jadeja 13

J. Trott st Dhoni b Ashwin 20J. Root c I Sharma b Ashwin 7E. Morgan c Ashwin b I Sharma 33R. Bopara c Ashwin b I Sharma 30J. Buttler b Jadeja 0T. Bresnan run out (R Sharma) 2S. Broad not out 7J. Tredwell not out 5Extras (lb1, w4) 5Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 124Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Cook), 2-28 (Trott), 3-40(Root), 4-46 (Bell), 5-110 (Morgan), 6-110 (Bopara), 7-112 (Buttler), 8-113(Bresnan)Did not bat: J AndersonBowling: Kumar 3-0-19-0; Yadav 2-0-10-1; Jadeja4-0-24-2; Ashwin 4-1-15-2 (2w); I Sharma 4-0-36-2 (2w); Raina 3-0-19-0.

Result: India won by five runsMan-of-the-match: Ravindra Jadeja (IND)Note: Match reduced to 20 overs per side by rain

SCOREBOARD

BIRMINGHAM: Scoreboard in the Champions Trophy final between England and India at Edgbastonyesterday:

RECIFE: Uruguay secured their place in theConfederations Cup semi-finals with an 8-0drubbing of Tahiti, featuring the fastest goalin the competition’s history.

The Confed Cup record-breaker at Recife’sArena Pernambuco was Abel Hernandez, thePalermo striker heading in off NicolasLodeiro’s corner after just 79 seconds.

He went on to bag four, with Diego Perez,Lodeiro and Luis Suarez with a double, join-ing him on the scoresheet. With this result fol-lowing their record 10-0 loss to Spain and 6-1defeat to Nigeria, Tahiti take their leave of thecompetition while Uruguay go on to facehosts Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez hadchanged his entire starting XI for the SouthAmerican champions’ decisive first roundmatch.

Star forwards Diego Forlan, Suarez andEdinson Cavani were all named on the bench,while Bologna midfielder Perez inherited thecaptain’s armband from suspended centre-back Diego Lugano.

Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta made four alter-ations to the team thrashed 10-0 by Spain lastThursday, with goalkeeper Gilbert Meriel,Lorenzo Tehau, Vincent Simon and Samuel

Hnanyine coming into the team.Four-goal hero Hernandez doubled up in

the 24th minute with a skilful side-footed vol-ley past Tahiti keeper Gilbert Meriel, withPerez adding a third before the half hour wasup.

It was not all one way traffic, with Tahiti’sonly professional, Marama Vahirua, testingUruguay keeper Martin with a 25 yard strike.Steevy Chong Hue was then unlucky not tocapitalise on a solo run through theUruguayan defence.

In first half stoppage time Hernandezbagged his third, picking up a pass from InterMilan’s Walter Gargano to foil Meriel.

There was drama after the restart, whenAndres Scotti’s penalty was saved by Meriel.Scotti was then sent off after the defenderpicked up a second booking.

Tahiti also went down to ten men whenTeheivarii Wagemann picked up his secondyellow on the hour mark - a minute laterLodeiro made it 5-0.

Hernandez got his fourth from the penal-ty spot as Suarez came on for GastonRamirez with 20 minutes left to bolsterUruguay’s attack and finish off the rout witha late double.— AFP

Uruguay rout Tahiti,face Brazil in semis

FORTALEZA: Spain’s defender Jordi Alba celebratesafter scoring against Nigeria during their FIFAConfederations Cup Brazil 2013 Group B footballmatch. — AFP

FORTALEZA: Spain set up a Confederations Cupsemi-final reunion with Euro 2012 final victimsItaly after beating Nigeria 3-0 on a steamy after-noon in Fortaleza yesterday to secure top spot inGroup B.

Vicente del Bosque’s side needed just a pointto confirm a place in the last four, but they madedoubly sure thanks to a fine brace of goals fromJordi Alba and a 62nd-minute header by substi-tute Fernando Torres. The world and Europeanchampions will now face Italy, who they crushed4-0 in last year’s Euro 2012 final, in the secondsemi-final in Fortaleza on Thursday, a day afterBrazil meet Uruguay in Belo Horizonte. Nigeriawere ultimately left to rue last Thursday’s dam-aging 2-1 defeat by Uruguay, having begun theirConfederations Cup campaign with a breezy 6-1thrashing of Tahiti.

It was the teams’ first meeting since Nigeriabeat Spain 3-2 in the group phase of the 1998World Cup, and if the world champions were outfor revenge, they were quick to draw first bloodat Estadio Castelao. There were three minutes onthe clock when Andres Iniesta sprayed a passwide to Barcelona team-mate Alba, and the left-back weaved around three challenges beforestroking a low shot past Vincent Enyeama.

Nigeria looked set for an afternoon of toilamid stifling humidity inside the stadium, but

despite losing Kenneth Omeruo to injury in the11th minute, they took the fight to Spain.

Brown Ideye and Joseph Akpala spurnedhalf-chances, while Spain goalkeeper VictorValdes did superbly to tip a snapshot from therecalled Sunday Mba around the post.

Despite several slick interchanges, theAfrican champions’ composure repeatedly letthem down whenever they penetrated theSpanish area, but Spain were not without blamein that department either.

Roberto Soldado twice shot straight atEnyeama when clean through on goal, whileCesc Fabregas conspired to hit the post fromonly eight yards after being picked out bySoldado’s sweeping low cross.

Ideye should have drawn Nigeria level earlyin the second half, but although Ahmed Musa’slow centre presented him with an open goal theback post, he miscued and was unable to dis-patch a shot. Spain introduced David Silva andTorres from the bench and within minutes ofcoming on the Chelsea striker made it 2-0, fling-ing himself at Pedro Rodriguez’s left-wing crossto score with a glorious flying header.

Having scored four times in the record-break-ing 10-0 rout of Tahiti earlier this week, Torres isnow the tournament’s leading scorer with fivegoals. — AFP

Spain book Italy date in Confed Cup semis

BusinessMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

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France, Qatar end dispute with new fund Hollande defends ‘conditional’ Qatar investments

DUBAI: Dubai’s bourse suffered its largest one-day dropin 15 months yesterday, while other Gulf markets weremixed as a lack of positive catalysts spurred investors tocash in early-year gains. Trading volumes thinned in atypical summer lull.

The main Dubai index fell 2.6 percent to 2,300points, a four-week low, in its biggest one-day loss sinceMarch 2012. The drop triggered a bearish right triangleformed by the highs and lows since early June, andpointing down to near the 2,100-point area. However,traders generally blamed profit-taking after this year’sgains of more than 40 percent, rather than any funda-mental worsening of Dubai’s outlook, and did not thinkthe drop indicated Dubai would become dominated bythe bearishness engulfing many other emerging mar-kets. Because of currency pegs and high oil prices,Dubai and other Gulf markets appear well-protectedfrom the US interest rate rises which are hurting othermarkets.

“The market is slowing down - it’s the end of thequarter and summer is here,” said Mohab Maher, seniormanager of the institutional desk at MENA Corp.Trading volume fell to 200 million shares; turnover usu-ally falls after May as traders and investors take holidaysto escape the summer heat. The index is still up 42 per-cent year-to-date.

Builder Arabtec lost 5.3 percent. After the close, thecompany said it was extending the period for its $650million rights issue, due to end yesterday, to July 4 toallow investors outside the United Arab Emirates to buyinto it. The company said the extension was at therequest of shareholders. Earlier, a source familiar withthe plan had told Reuters on condition of anonymitythat the rights issue period was expected to be extend-ed after the entire amount was not taken up by share-holders. Abu Dhabi’s benchmark fell 1.9 percent, itsbiggest daily drop this year.

Analysts expect Gulf markets to be lacklustre in com-ing weeks, partly because of uncertainty before second-quarter earnings announcements. Saudi Arabia kicks offits earnings season in mid-July, while UAE companieswill mostly report from early August onwards. In SaudiArabia, banks helped lift the bourse after two flat trad-ing sessions; the benchmark climbed 0.5 percent. Banksrose after official data showed lending to the privatesector in May rose 16.5 percent, the fastest clip sinceFebruary 2009, after a 16.0 percent increase in the previ-ous month.

Firass Yaish, business development manager at OneFinancial Market, said the lending growth figures hadprovided only a short-term stimulus.

“Even though there was a pick-up in lending, the pic-ture will only be brighter for the banks when the inter-est rates are raised, enhancing the banks’ profit marginsand potential growth,” he said. Shares in Riyad Bankrose 1.4 percent. The firm said it would distribute first-half dividends of 975 million riyals ($260 million) or 0.65riyals a share. Petrochemical shares also gained withthe sector’s measure adding 0.5 percent.—Reuters

MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS

Dubai stocks plungeGulf markets mixed

DOHA: Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, chairman of the Qatari Chamber of Commerce and Industry (from left), Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, French President FrancoisHollande, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani, chairman of the Qatari Businessmen Association, and Yves-Thibault de Silguy, vice chairman of MEDEF International, attend the Qatari-French Business Forum in Doha yesterday.—AP

DOHA: France and Qatar launched a mixedFranco-Qatari fund yesterday to invest 300million euros in small and medium-sizedFrench companies, in a bid to quash con-cerns raised by a previous Qatari plan toinvest specifically in depressed French sub-urbs.

Business ties between cash-strappedFrance and gas-rich Qatar have deepenedin the past five years as the euro-zone’s sec-ond biggest economy behind Germany hasovercome instincts for economic patriotismto welcome inward investment in areasranging from sports to real estate and infra-structure. But a plan for Qatar to pump 50million euros into businesses in the sub-urbs had proved divisive, when they werefirst floated, with critics concerned that theGulf state might exercise too much influ-ence and prompting former presidentNicolas Sarkozy to put them on hold untilafter the May 2012 election.

The new Socialist government, facingrising unemployment and stalled economicgrowth, then came up with a compromisefor a mixed Qatari-French fund aimed atsmall and medium-sized businesses and amemorandum of understanding wassigned in November 2012.

“We do not refuse Qatari investments inFrance but we say there are conditions tomeet, areas to focus on and rules toexplain,” Hollande said during a visit toQatar. “I said that it was best to create ajoint investment fund with Qatari andFrench funds to help small- and medium-sized companies,” he added. The new fundwould not target specific geographicalareas in France nor specific company pro-files but will also be available for compa-nies in “our suburbs,” Hollande said.

The fund will be operational from July,said Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the head of Frenchstate-owned bank Caisse de Depots, whichis co-shareholder of the fund with Qatar’ssovereign fund Qatar Holding LLC. Therewas little reaction when Qatar boughtminority stakes in French infrastructurefirm Veolia and builder Vinci , while sportsfans cheered the purchase of football clubParis St. Germain by its sovereign wealthfund. The loudest criticism to the idea of aQatari fund for French suburbs came fromfar-right leader Marine Le Pen, who hadalleged that Qatar was only investing inareas heavily populated by immigrants tospread Islamic ideas among Muslim youths.

However, left-wing politicians and com-mentators in newspapers and on televisionalso said that France should be wary ofsigning deals with a monarchy that sharedfew of its ideas about democracy and couldbe seeking to buy influence due to France’sseat on the United Nations SecurityCouncil.

French President Francois Hollande saidyesterday that his country does not rejectQatari investments, but stressed that thereare certain “conditions” and “rules”, during avisit to the gas-rich Gulf state. “We do notreject Qatari investments in France but weare saying that there are conditions thatmust be respected... and rules that must beunderstood,” said Hollande, who arrived inDoha on Saturday.

He made the comments to reporters inthe sidelines of a visit to a large buildingsite run by Bouygues, a French industrialgroup. Qatar has invested around 12 billioneuros ($16 billion) in France during the pastfive years, mainly in properties, hotels andbig firms, sparking controversy.

Qatari investors have bought Paris Saint-Germain football club and acquired threepercent of energy giant Total as well asstakes in building firm Vinci and in mediagroup Lagardere.

“It’s in the interest of France to be pres-ent in this region and to make it under-stood that it can attract investments, but Isay this under certain conditions,” headded.

Qatar had postponed launching a fundfor entrepreneurs from France’s deprivedsuburbs until after the presidential electionlast May to prevent it becoming a politicalfootball. The project remains frozen. Losingfar-right candidate Marine Le Pen attackedQatar for investing in what she said were

mainly Muslim areas of French cities andsaid unnamed foreign countries wanted todevelop Islamic fundamentalism in France.The investment was worth 50 million euros.But yesterday, Hollande said that “this iswhat was announced before my election. Iwould say what’s best is to create a jointFrench-Qatari investment fund.” The 300-million-euro fund is aimed at helping medi-um and small companies “in our neighbor-hoods,” said Hollande. “Qatari investmentsare welcome and could cover all fields,” henoted, but the “priority is for industry andservices,” he told the Franco-QatariEconomic Forum. “Your investments mustbe made in cooperation with us... in thearea we choose,” he told the Qataris. —AFP

Finance minister George Osborne

African palm oil makers hit back at ‘smear campaign’ABIDJAN: African palm oil producers are hit-ting back at what they say is a “smear cam-paign” against them by environmentalists andhealth activists that risks ruining their indus-try. Countering their increasingly vocal criticswas the main aim of producers attending thefirst-ever African Palm Oil Congress, hostedby Ivory Coast’s government in the economiccapital Abidjan last week.

“For some time, the aggressive attacksagainst palm oil have been multiplying andthey are degrading (the sector’s) image,”Christophe Koreki, president of the Inter-pro-fessional Palm Oil Association (AIPH) told del-egates. “The smear campaign accuses palmoil of destroying the environment or causingcardiovascular disease,” he said.

Fires currently burning in Indonesia, thathave cloaked Singapore in record levels ofsmog, have brought more negative publicityfor the big palm oil companies-Indonesian,Singaporean and Malaysian-which deforest

vast swathes of Sumatra. The companies havebeen accused of starting fires to clear landthrough the practice of slash-and-burn,which is illegal but still frequently usedbecause it is the quickest and cheapest wayof preparing land for plantations.

Ivory Coast, one of West Africa’s top pro-ducers of the oil, joined forces with the AIPHto organize the congress, which includedindustry representatives from top globalpalm oil power, Indonesia. According to fig-ures released at the conference, the industryin Ivory Coast directly employs an estimated200,000 people, with two million moredependent in one way or another on theindustry-adding up to about 10 percent ofthe population.

Last year, Ivorian production reached450,000 tons, representing about three per-cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Palmoil producers argue that their product, whichis widely used as biofuel and in processed

foods and cosmetics, helps fight food insecu-rity and contributes to development due toits versatility, relatively high oil yields, andeconomic importance to local communities.

But critics say it leads to deforestation,threatening rare species such as orangutansand rhinos, and displaces communitieswhose homes are destroyed to make way forthe plantations. Forest clearing also adds tocarbon dioxide emissions that cause climatechange. Groups like Greenpeace have calledthe cost to the environment “devastating”.

Some health experts say palm oil is loadedwith saturated fats and that excessive con-sumption could be linked to certain forms ofheart disease. To protect their livelihood, par-ticipants of the Abidjan congress adopted adeclaration vowing to defend palm oil-in par-ticular by fighting against the derogatory“Palm oil free” labelling of certain productsthat has resulted from a rise in ethical con-sumerism in the West. And the battle has

already begun. In December, Ivory Coast’spalm oil industry successfully sued Frenchretail chain Systeme U after the group stagedan aggressive advertising campaign encour-aging consumers to stay clear of palm oil dueto its effects on the environment.

The AIPH won the lawsuit after arguingthat the campaign lacked credible ecologicaldata and scientific analysis.

Late last year the palm oil industry alsonarrowly escaped what could have become amajor set-back after a French senator sug-gested slapping a 300-percent tax increaseon palm oil. The amendment was later reject-ed in parliament.

As analysts predict that palm oil produc-tion will soar in the coming years, many envi-ronmentalists are encouraging sustainablyproduced oil which adheres to criteria set bythe Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil(RSPO) to achieve its sought-after certifica-tion, launched in 2004.—AFP

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JUNE 24, 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 2.910Indian Rupees 4.810Pakistani Rupees 2.876Srilankan Rupees 2.207Nepali Rupees 2.990Singapore Dollar 225.000Hongkong Dollar 36.724Bangladesh Taka 3.652Philippine Peso 6.500Thai Baht 9.144Malaysian ringgit 94.271Irani Riyal 0.271

Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 284.900Euro 377.250Pound Sterling 442.150Canadian Dollar 275.100Japanese Yen 2.950Indian Rupee 4.800Egyptian Pound 40.075Sri Lankan Rupee 2.209Bangladesh Taka 3.658Philippines Peso 6.490Pakistan Rupee 2.875Bahraini Dinar 758.650UAE Dirham 77.500Saudi Riyal 76.050*Rates are subject to change

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.4333862 0.4423862Czech Korune 0.0066804 0.0186804Danish Krone 0.0465862 0.0515862Euro 0.3699962 0.3774962Norwegian Krone 0.0436254 0.0488254Scottish Pound 0.4307440 0.4382440Swedish Krona 0.0395474 0.0445474Swiss Franc 0.3009076 0.3079076

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.2534400 0.2654400New Zealand Dollar 0.2137168 0.2237168Uganda Shilling 0.0001119 0.0001119

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.2663205 0.2753205Colombian Peso 0.0001452 0.0001632US Dollars 0.2831500 0.2853000

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.0036301 0.0036851Cape Vrde Escudo 0.0031651 0.0033951Chinese Yuan 0.0455360 0.0505360Eritrea-Nakfa 0.0164867 0.0195867

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 273.98 274.000Canadian Dollar 282.09 282.000Swiss Franc 313.30 312.000Euro 383.66 380.000US Dollar 283.40 284.500Sterling Pound 447.72 448.500Japanese Yen 3.05 3.300Bangladesh Taka 3.655 3.670Indian Rupee 4.828 5.050Sri Lankan Rupee 2.206 2.550Nepali Rupee 3.026 3.250Pakistani Rupee 2.877 2.900UAE Dirhams 77.23 78.000Bahraini Dinar 754.29 753.000Egyptian Pound 39.91 38.800Jordanian Dinar 403.34 410.000Omani Riyal 737.02 748.000Qatari Riyal 78.26 79.500Saudi Riyal 75.70 76.000

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

Guinea Franc 0.0000443 0.0000503Hg Kong Dollar 0.0342247 0.0373247Indian Rupee 0.0047508 0.0048158Indonesian Rupiah 0.0000237 0.0000289Jamaican Dollars 0.0028506 0.0038508Japanese Yen 0.0028410 0.0030210Kenyan Shilling 0.0032714 0.0035014Malaysian Ringgit 0.0842790 0.0912790Nepalese Rupee 0.0028596 0.0030596Pakistan Rupee 0.0028584 0.0028984Philippine Peso 0.0060597 0.0065297Sierra Leone 0.0000729 0.0000759Singapore Dollar 0.2200755 0.2260755Sri Lankan Rupee 0.0021720 0.0022140Thai Baht 0.0087723 0.0093723

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.7503375 0.7588375Egyptian Pound 0.0381014 0.0401314Ethiopeanbirr 0.0127898 0.0192898Ghanaian Cedi 0.1450613 0.1468513Iranian Riyal 0.0000793 0.0000798Iraqi Dinar 0.0001778 0.0002378Jordanian Dinar 0.3968289 0.4043289Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 1.0000000Lebanese Pound 0.0001750 0.0001950Moroccan Dirhams 0.0222390 0.0462390Nigerian Naira 0.0012130 0.0018480Omani Riyal 0.7300286 0.7410286Qatar Riyal 0.0777095 0.0784925Saudi 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

Irani Riyal 0.273

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 75.990Qatari Riyal 78.299Omani Riyal 740.160Bahraini Dinar 756.880UAE Dirham 77.605

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 39.200Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.048Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.329Tunisian Dinar 175.400Jordanian Dinar 402.420Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.912Syrian Lier 3.096Morocco Dirham 34.319

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 284.850Euro 378.000Sterling Pound 443.230Canadian dollar 275.220Turkish lira 147.100Swiss Franc 308.110Australian Dollar 265.480US Dollar Buying 283.650

GOLD20 Gram 248.00010 Gram 125.5005 Gram 65.000

ABU DHABI: Investment firm Dubai Group hassold its credit card business to Abu Dhabi lenderFirst Gulf Bank (FGB) for $164 million, the latestasset disposal by the debt-laden firm as itrestructures $10 billion in debt. A unit of DubaiHolding, the investment arm of the ruler SheikhMohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, DubaiGroup has been in talks with bank creditors fornearly three years, since the global credit crunchsavaged its portfolio of assets.

In a statement on Sunday, FGB, the secondlargest bank in the United Arab Emirates by mar-ket capitalization, said it agreed to buy DubaiFirst, which specializes in liability and credit cardproducts, from the investment firm for 601 mil-lion dirhams.

The Dubai First acquisition will help FGBexpand its customer base in the UAE, the lendersaid in a statement. Dubai First has a 4.5 percentshare of the UAE’s credit card market and has464 employees, the statement said. Its latestaudited accounts showed gross assets of 700million dirhams, FGB said.

The sale is part of Dubai Group’s efforts to cutdown its debt pile, most of which was accumu-lated during the boom years of the mid-2000s.

“The sale is a strategic decision for DubaiGroup and is part of our stated plan to sell downassets, in order to support our broader ongoingrestructuring process,” Fadel al-Ali, Dubai Group’schief executive, said in the statement. DubaiGroup’s assets are worth just a fifth of its $10 bil-

lion of debt, sources involved in its restructuringsaid in June. It has a portfolio of mainly financialservices assets.

The firm has been selling down some of itssmaller assets in the restructuring. But it hassome major assets, such as its stake in Oman’sBank Muscat, which is secured against debt heldby France’s Natixis. Shares in Malaysia’s BankIslam are pledged against a $330-million loanfacility.

FGB is among Gulf Arab banks seeking toexpand its regional footprint and looking foracquisition opportunities. In May, it hired SimonPenney, the former chief executive of Royal Bankof Scotland’s Middle East and Africa business, tohead its wholesale banking business. - Reuters

DUBAI: With road accidents in the regionkilling 17 to 22 people per 100,000 of popu-lation every year, Middle East governmentsmust work urgently to adopt a multi-dimensional Road Safety Strategy - a holis-tic framework that encompasses all aspectsof the road safety value chain

According to the World Bank, road crash-es kill 1.2 million people and cripple orinjure more than 10 million others everyyear. In fact, at current rates, traffic acci-dents will become the fifth leading cause ofdeath globally by 2030, up from 10th placein 2010. And, in the Middle East and North

Africa (MENA) region, the figures are partic-ularly alarming; traffic accidents killbetween 17 to 22 people per 100,000 ofpopulation every year, compared with anOECD average of 6.2 per 100,000. In linewith this, Management consulting firmBooz & Company has found that, in order toreduce this high rate of traffic accidents,MENA governments must-imperatively-adopt a holistic approach to road safety.

ShortcomingsToday, governments tend to structure

responses to traffic collisions on theHaddon Matrix- a commonly used para-digm in the injury prevention field. In effect,the Haddon Matrix covers various phasesrelated to traffic accidents, including pre-crash, crash, and post-crash. In the MENAregion, however, each element of the Matrixhas its shortcomings.

l Pre-crash: Most investments and inter-ventions related to traffic accidents aredirected at crash prevention. “Road authori-ties have to apply and comply with globalroad design guidelines; and, in parallel, traf-fic authorities must enforce adequate speedlimits and regulate road user behavior,” saidDr Ulrich Koegler, a Senior Advisor withBooz & Company. “The truth is, both educa-tion and awareness can have a significantimpact in reducing crashes. In many MENAcountries, over 70 percent of accidentsresult from driver error or negligence,sometimes due to inadequate driver educa-tion”, he added. Vehicle standards also playa major role in preventing accidents giventhe significance of lighting, braking, andhandling, along with other active and pas-sive safety systems. This is yet another pri-mary concern in the region.

l Crash: This phase centers on prevent-ing injury during a crash using human andvehicle elements, such as restraints-in theform of safety belts and airbags- and vehicletechnologies, including impact bars and

increasingly digital technologies. More carsin the MENA region need to have these sys-tems installed, as this can help foster safedriving practices and decrease the numberof crashes.

l Post-crash: The main focus in thisphase is sustaining life through rapid andeffective treatment of injuries. Most of theregion has insufficient medical coverage,weak insurance systems, poorly designedand equipped emergency services, and alack of qualified paramedics. “In some MENAcountries, over 80 percent of deaths occurbefore the casualty reaches the hospital,compared with averages of 50 to 60 percentin North America and Western Europe,” saidKoegler. “Emergency response-from call todispatch to the quality and equipment ofambulatory care -is important to ensure thatthe emergency services can reach accidentsand transport and treat casualties to hospi-tals effectively and expeditiously.”

Koegler also added: “The root of theproblem in the Middle East is the lack of aunified vision among concerned ministriesand authorities, leading to insufficient coor-dination and ineffective interventions.Governments and other stakeholders - suchas the private sector and civil society - con-duct interventions without any clear indi-vidual ownership or accountability and withminimal, or poorly defined, communityinvolvement.”

Road safety strategyAccording to Booz & Company, Middle

East governments must implement a holis-tic Road Safety approach so as to ensure asignificant reduction in traffic accidents.This strategy rests on six pillars:

1. Urban and Transport Planning dealswith basics such as safety considerationsand the impact of public transportationduring the design of urban communities.

2. Roads and Infrastructure includes thedesign, construction, operation, and main-tenance of roads, bridges, and tunnels tothe highest standards for road safety.

3. Traffic Management regulates roaduser behavior, road network management,and traffic regulations - functions typicallyexercised by interior ministries.

4. Vehicles involves adopting and imple-menting policies to ensure high standardsfor vehicle quality and performance -including active passive safety systems. Theongoing invention of more and betteractive and passive safety systems even intosmall cars by the automobile industrymakes significant improvements feasible. Tobenefit from those, it is important that oldercars are made obsolescent. Further, theadvent of connected or semiautonomouscars will enhance safety.

5. Road User Behavior involves civil soci-ety, which can use the media to raise aware-ness of road safety, and provide safe drivingand first aid training programs. Further, traf-fic safety education needs to start at thekindergarten level and needs to be an inte-gral part of all curriculae of schools and uni-versities

6. Emergency and Medical Servicessaves lives and treats serious injuries byimproving the coverage, speed, quality, andeffectiveness of emergency services.

Subsequently, this strategy requires fourcross-functional enablers that span the pil-lars and ensure that the various compo-nents of the road safety system have thenecessary resources and tools. Theseenablers include:

Institutional and Regulatory streamlinetraffic safety governance and align regula-tions with the sector strategy.

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait heldthe Al-Najma account draw yetserday. Thedraw was held under the supervision of theMinistry of Commerce & Industry repre-sented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani.

The winner of the mega draw :-Anila Saaqib KD 100,000.

The winners of the Al Najma dailydraw are:-

Hatem Shaber Pahai Rafat — KD 7000, Ahmad Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-

Faraj— KD 7000, Saleema Abdulkareem Jaber— KD 7000, Ibram Saber Ishaq Philips— KD 7000, Mohammed Al-Morsi Mohammed

Saeed— KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwaitannounces the biggest daily draw inKuwait with the launch of the new Najma

account. Customers of the bank can nowenjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is thehighest in the country and another 4 megaprizes during the year worth KD 100,000each on different occasions: The NationalDay, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on the 19thof June which is the date of the bank’sestablishment.

With a minimum balance of KD500, cus-tomers will be eligible for the daily drawprovided that the money is in the accountone week prior to the daily draw or 2months prior to the mega draw. In addi-tion, for each KD25 a customer can get onechance 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.

DUBAI: Dubai builder Arabtec, part-owned by Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar,has extended the subscription period forits $650 million rights share issue, thecompany said in a statement yesterday.

The closing date for subscriptions hasbeen extended to July 4 from Sunday,two weeks after its launch on June 9.Arabtec, builder of Dubai’s famous palmislands, has been on an aggressive pushfor growth after it replaced its chief exec-utive earlier this year in a shake-up ledby Aabar, its largest shareholder, whichhas been tightening its grip on thegroup.

The company is selling 1.57 billionnew shares at a price of 1.5 dirhams ashare as part of a five-year expansionplan. The plan includes a further capitalincrease of $650 million by the end of2014 if required.

The builder said the extension was

requested by shareholders and to give anopportunity to shareholders outside theUnited Arab Emirates to participate.

However, one source familiar with thematter had said earlier on Sunday thatthe subscription period was expected tobe extended after the entire amount wasnot taken up by shareholders.

The company has won a series of con-tracts under the new management thisyear amounting to 13 billion dirhams($3.5 billion) so far, mainly in the oil-richemirate of Abu Dhabi where Aabar isbased.

Arabtec shares closed down 5.3 per-cent at 2.15 dirhams on the Dubai bourseyetserday.

Bank of America Merril Lynch andNational Bank of Abu Dhabi are arrang-ing the rights issue, according toInternational Financing Review (IFR), aunit of Thomson Reuters. - Reuters

Dubai Group sells credit card business to FGB

First Gulf Bank sees deal adding to customer base

The key to curbing ME’srate of traffic accidents

A holistic road safety strategy

Ulrich Koegler

DUBAI: Dubai Holding, the conglomerate ownedby the ruler of Dubai, has hired Citigroup to adviseon a potential sale of its remaining 26 percent stakein mobile telephone retailer Axiom Telecom, threesources aware of the plan said. The stake is held byDubai Holding unit Emirates InternationalTelecommunications LLC (EIT), but the US lenderwas hired by the holding company, which is takingthe lead in the process, the sources said, speakingon condition of anonymity as the matter is not pub-lic.

An EIT spokesperson said: “Like any investmentcompany, EIT is always evaluating exit options thatare in line with its investment strategy.” It added,“EIT continues to be committed to investing withinthe communications sector and to actively manag-ing its portfolio companies to drive value creation.”

EIT did not elaborate, and Citigroup declined tocomment.

A recovery in the real estate sector is aiding arevival of economic growth in Dubai after the emi-rate’s 2009-2010 corporate debt crisis, but it has yetto make much progress in selling some of its state-linked assets, the main means of repaying its debtpile.

Dubai Holding is among the matrix of firmswhich were badly hit by the crisis; many of its unitshave had to hold talks with banks to extend liabili-ties and restructure debt.

Sources have previously told Reuters that DubaiHolding was considering selling its remaining stakein Axiom, adding that a sale would likely raise about$300 million for the conglomerate.

Dubai-based Axiom, set up in 1997 by Faisal Al-Bannai, employs over 1,500 people and has over500 outlets across the United Arab Emirates, SaudiArabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Britain andIndia, according to its website. Axiom sold a 35 per-cent stake in itself to Qatar’s Mannai Corp for anundisclosed amount in 2011 after deciding againsta share listing. EIT sold a 14 percent stake in Axiomat that time.

“There is a chance that Mannai may furtherincrease their stake in Axiom and take a controllingstake. However, it’s a good business and there willbe other interested parties who want to cash in onthe retail boom in the region,” one banking sourcesaid. A Mannai spokesman was not immediatelyavailable to comment. EIT is seeking to sell its 35percent stake in state-owned Tunisie Telecom,which it bought for $2.25 billion in 2006, theTunisian government said on Friday. — Reuters

Dubai Holding unit hires Citi for

Axiom stake sale

Al-Tijari announces mega draw winner

Arabtec extends $650mshare offer period


DUBAI: BPG Maxus, a member of GroupM and WPP worldwide network, yester-day announced that it has signed upwith Sterling Parfums, one of the leadingfragrance brands offering a wide rangeof cosmetics and Oriental fragrances,and Musafir.com - UAE’s first premium-experience travel website, to handletheir media planning and buyingrequirements.

The contracts came into effect imme-diately, and the first media engagementshave already taken off for both Sterlingand Musafir.com.

Sterling Parfums, which has createdan enviable reputation with brands likeARMAF and ESTIARA, reiterated that thedecision to sign up BPG Maxus wasaimed at enhancing awareness and visi-bility of its brands through media.

Amit Vardhan at Sterling Parfums,said: “Sterling is proud of its associationwith BPG Maxus and we signed themafter due diligence, considering theircredentials, strength and expertise as

regional media house and their excep-tional service through a friendly dedicat-ed team. We were looking for an innova-tive and cost-effective media partner inthe region, especially in our competitivelandscape and BPG Maxus was the per-fect solution for this.”

Musafir.com, part of Universal Travel &Tourism, was set up in 2007 and over the

last six years, the company has grownexponentially and currently has over 10branches in the UAE and India. The com-pany provides travellers with a complete

travel planning experience, with theoption to choose from 270-plus full serv-ice and low cost airlines and rooms inover 75,000 properties across the globe.The company had recently announcedrenowned Cricket Icon Sachin Tendulkaras its Brand Ambassador and a stake-holder. Sachin Gadoya, ManagingDirector of Musafir.com, said: “Since our

inception in 2007, we have alwaysstrived to work with the best partnersand aspire for the extraordinary. Ourdecision to award the media business to

BPG Maxus was based on a strong com-bination of factors including strategicplanning, digital acumen, team strengthand buying efficiencies. We are lookingforward to leverage this partnership withBPG Maxus to offer the best experienceto our customers.” In his comments,Satish Mayya, CEO of BPG Maxus, said:“We are excited to handle the mediaplanning and buying business of SterlingParfums and Musafir.com, which are verystrategic wins for BPG Maxus. These winswill largely contribute to the continuousexpansion of our operations across theMENA region. Our efforts are centeredon leveraging our expertise in the regioninto focused and effective media strate-gies for our partners.”

Sterling Parfums, one of the leadingfragrance brands, was created in 1998 toprovide a diverse range of cosmetics, ori-ental fragrances, Oud, Bakhoor and per-fumes. Since then, Sterling Parfums hasbuilt an enviable reputation as one ofthe largest and leading companies in the

Middle East supplying its products glob-ally. Sterling Parfums brands like ARMAFand ESTIARA has built a very strong iden-tity across several countries in a veryshort span of time. Sterling Parfums alsooffers diverse range of products featur-ing world-renowned icons as DC Comics’Batman, Superman, and the belovedLooney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, includingTom & Jerry and other Warner Bros. char-acters. Operating from its high-techpremises in Dubai Investment Park,Sterling Parfums has become the regionsspecialist in contract manufacturing andown branded products across the beau-ty and personal care industry.

The word Musafir means ‘traveler’ inboth Hindi and Arabic. Established in2007, the site is the brainchild of SheikhMohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani,Sachin Gadoya and Albert Dias.Musafir.com, headquartered in Sharjah,now operates from 10 offices acrossIndia and the UAE with 8 new locationsin the pipeline.

Sterling Parfums & Musafir.com sign upBPG Maxus for media planning, buying

ADDIS ABABA: When TadiwosBelete moved to Ethiopia from theUnited States a decade ago toopen a luxury spa, his relativesthought he was crazy. He built anoffice block on a crumbling con-gested thoroughfare in the centreof Addis Ababa, where there werefew other businesses and seem-ingly few opportunities for a suc-cessful entrepreneur.

Now from his fourth floor officeoverlook ing the newly-refur-bished, six-lane Bole Road, todaycrammed with cafes, hotels andshopping centres-a s ign ofEthiopia’s thriving economy-Tadiwos recalls almost despairingof finding other businesses to rentspace in his office block.

“I remember, we were almostpraying whether we could getsomeone to rent this building,”Tadiwos said. “It’s amazing, I neverbelieved it would grow this much,but it’s happened,” he added, look-ing down at the busy street below.

Tadiwos is part of a burgeoningdiaspora community returning toEthiopia to invest in its boomingeconomy. Tadiwos’ business hasblossomed, along with his BostonDay Spa, he has opened a restau-rant and a wine bar in AddisAbaba, along with two luxur yresorts outside the capital.

He employs 1,500 people, andgoes out of his way to useEthiopian materials and productsthroughout his business empire.For him, Ethiopia offered opportu-nities that did not exist in Boston,where he already owned a suc-cessful spa business.

He said he was drawn back notonly because he thought he couldmake a l iving here, but alsobecause he wanted to take part inEthiopia’s development.

“The profitability is here, youcan see it, you can feel it, you cantouch it. But as well ... as a humanbeing you can make a differencehere,” he said. With an estimatedfour million diaspora living over-seas, almost one in ever y 20Ethiopians either lives outside the

countr y or has returned homerecently. Most of them f ledEthiopia’s military regime in the1970s to sett le in the UnitedStates. Today, many are leavingflailing economies in the West totake advantage of Ethiopia’s rapidgrowth.

The economy here is growingat an annual rate of 8.5 percent,and was ranked the twelfth fastestgrowing economy in the world in2012 by the World Bank. LikeTadiwos, most returnees are

involved in the ser vice sector,though investments in agricultureand real estate are also growingfast.

Returning diaspora offer hardcash investments, but also invalu-able skills, education and experi-ence acquired in the West. Buttheir influence is not only eco-nomic, according to ShantaDevarajan, head of the Afr icaregion at the World Bank. “ Thediaspora might bring strength-ened governance to African soci-eties. These are people who havebeen outside the system and areable to observe it from afar, and

that might actually strengthengovernment that we need so bad-ly,” he said.

Ethiopia’s main pull seems tobe the drying up economic possi-bilities in recession-hit Westerncountries. “It’s the opportunitieshere, in many respects it’s beyondlow hanging fruit, it’s so obvious,”said Zemedeneh Negatu, a man-aging partner at Ernst and Young.Zemedeneh, who returned toEthiopia after 14 years abroad,said the payback is enormous. “It’s

a combination of the financialreward, but also these touchy-feely, fuzzy kind of things. You canquantify the contribution youmake here, definitely it’s measura-ble,” he said.

Though statistics are not avail-able, Zemedeneh said the numberof successful businesses estab-lished by returnees has grown inrecent years, which builds confi-dence among other diasporaEthiopians contemplating a moveback . But although returningEthiopians have an advantageover foreign investors such as theIndian or Chinese who have limit-

ed local knowledge and languageskills-the transition after yearsaway is not always easy. Unreliabletelecommunications, underdevel-oped infrastructure and cripplingbureaucracy are major challenges.Access to finance and foreign cur-rency remains limited.

Ethiopia ranks 127 out of 185countries in World Bank’s DoingBusiness report, an index on theease of conducting business.“Ethiopia’s business environment,especial ly in the area of tradelogistics, is deteriorating com-pared to other countries,” said LarsMoller, lead economist at theWorld Bank in Ethiopia. “If policy-makers could focus on removingthe red tape of doing businessthat would be important to makesure that they reap the full bene-fits of returning diaspora,” Molleradded. For Addis Alemeyahou,returning diaspora like him havehelp replace reliance on foreignaid, a key pi l lar in Ethiopia’snational economic plan.

“Real sustainable development,the essence of it is basically pri-vate sector development, i t ’sinvestment,” he said, sitting in anupmarket cupcake shop, a popularhangout among returnees locatedin a fast developing neighbour-hood in Addis Ababa. He said thevast majority of diaspora whohave come back are starting busi-nesses and creating jobs. “They’recreating industries that are grow-ing, and I think that ’s fuell ingeverything else,” he said.

Addis returned to his mothercountry after 12 years in NorthAmerica to start his own consult-ing f irm. He said when he leftWashington DC, people were waryabout his move, but now themajority of Ethiopians he knewthere have moved back home.

Many, Zemedeneh amongthem, see the trend continuing. “Iam very positive that the diasporawill be a very significant player inthe Ethiopian economy, I don’tthink there’s any question aboutit,” Zemedeneh said. —AFP

Ethiopian Diaspora, back home to boost economy

The story of burgeoning Diaspora community

ADDIS ABABA: Boston Day Spa owner Tadiwos Belete poses in AddisAbaba. Tadiwos Belete moved to Ethiopia ten years ago from the USand said he “can barely believe the building boom he has seen in thecity in the last decade”. — AFP

By Hayder Tawfik

KUWAIT: The recent selloff in bondsand other fixed income securities hasbeen a big shock to most bondinvestors who have been pouring bil-lions of dollars into the market over thelast 5 years and to be precise since thestart of the financial crisis back in 2008.At the same time billions of dollarswere taken out of the stock marketslooking for safe haven in the bondmarkets. I have been saying for a whilethat the historical low yields offered onbonds were just a time bomb waitingto explode. No financial instrumentsare without risks including interestrate. A bond is a security issued by aborrower that can be a government,quasi government, international insti-tutions and a company. In most cases ithas a fixed maturity and a fixedcoupon i.e. interest rate. It pays thefixed interest rate either monthly, quar-terly or annually. It has a credit ratingapplied to it. A triple AAA rated bond isguaranteed the capital and the interestrate payments throughout its life time.The price of the bond moves depend-ing on demand and supply and themovement in short or long term inter-est rates. These kinds of bonds are forsure guaranteed so even its price canfluctuate but the capital and thecoupon payments are guaranteed.

Short term interest rates in the G7countries ranges from 0.25 to around0.75 percent. These are the lowest ratesever. The selloff in the bond marketwas based on comments made by theFederal Reserve chairman, BenBernanke about the possibility of cut-ting down on the monthly purchasesof bonds. Investors reacted violently tothe news and sold off bonds aggres-sively. I think this does not mean thatrates will start going up soon. On thecontrary, I believe rates could stay lowfor a long time to come. This is purelybased on that the rate of inflation islow and could even go lower. Theselow rates will not stay low forever andinvestors should be very careful thatthe risks are there and when rates startmoving higher bond prices get sold offas it has happened in the last few days.

How does a bond price behavewhen rates are rising?

In general, a rise in interest rate isnot good for the bond price. Simply,when rates go up bond price go down.However, not all bond prices go downin the same magnitude. The totalreturn for bonds with different maturi-ties and different coupons can varywidely. To lessen the loss impact onbond when rates rising, investorsshould watch out for two very impor-tant metrics:

• Bond Duration: measure of abond’s price sensitivity to changes ininterest rates. This should not be con-fused with the maturity of the bond.

• Credit spread: the amount of extrayield a bond pays compared with agovernment bond with similar charac-teristics i.e. maturity, credit rating,coupon, currency, size of the issue (liq-uidity), and market risk.

Bonds with short maturity tend tohave a shorter duration and less sensi-tive to any movement in interest ratesthan bonds with long duration.Investors can buy bonds with maturi-ties of few days to 30 years. When ratesmove higher or when there is any hintof rising rates, long duration bonds getcorrected far more than bonds withshort duration i.e. up to 2 years. Also,bonds that are classified as junk bondsI e that are not investment grade getthe hardest hit when rates rising.Usually these junk bonds pay a muchhigher interest ie coupon than goodquality bonds and that is to attractinvestors. At times when global econo-my is very strong high yielding bonds(junk bonds) tend to do very well if theissuer’s business is growing strongly inline with the general economy.

Recommended strategies Here, diversification can work well. If

interest income is important to theinvestor then always buy good qualitybonds and hold on to them till maturi-ty while you collecting the couponsand have your capital repaid at thematurity of the bond. If an investor hasa short term perspective, then invest-ing in a shorter duration with highercredit quality may help reduce theimpact of rising rates. Sometimes,investing in a mix of short maturity,long maturity and some high yieldingbonds that in total gives the investors ashort duration could lessen the impactof rising rates too. Investor should alsomaintain diversification at all times andin particular rates rising.

Very high quality bonds such as USTreasury, UK Gilts, JapaneseGovernment bonds and GermanGovernment bonds are classified astop quality bonds and have low corre-lation with stock market movements.Investing in bonds as a mean of diver-sification in a portfolio of assets or in abalanced portfolio can reduce thevolatility of the portfolio. That isbecause prices of different types ofbonds can move inversely with stockprices or some other assets. So, whenthere is an expectation of rising ratesas it is the case now, bond will lagstocks and will underperform butwhen rates are falling like they didback in 2008 than they will help sus-tain good investment returns for adiversified portfolio. Don’t forget eventhough the price of the bond can godown the issuer will continue payingthe coupon assuming they do notdefault. In a falling interest rates envi-ronment investors should avoid invest-ing in bonds that are callable by theissuer or Floating Rate Notes thatadjust the interest payment in line withfalling short term interest rates.Investing in Floating Rate Notes isgood when rates are rising. Also, bondinvestors could look for other incomeoptions. For instance, real estate invest-ment that pays fixed income on amonthly basis and its income can onlybe adjusted upwards in line with infla-tion on annual basis. These kinds ofinvestments give the investors goodincome and potential capital gainswhen the investments are sold.

Whenever there is an expectation ofa change on the directions of interestrates, asset classes react differently andin different magnitude. However, someasset classes could benefit more thanthe others. What is very important forinvestors is to understand why the shiftin interest rates and what causing theshift to happen. Once the reasons areunderstood then investors shouldposition themselves inthose assets thatwill benefit the most in the change inrates or in the case of equity investorsthey should look for those sectors thatare ready to move higher because ofthe change in interest rates environ-ment.

-Hayder Tawfik - Executive VicePresident of Asset Management, atDimah Capital- [email protected]

Prudent investment strategies when

interest rates rise

NEW YORK: It’s really not so bad. Sure, thestock market is down nearly 5 percent sinceMay 21, the day before the Federal Reservefirst said it could begin pulling back its eco-nomic stimulus.

Yet taking a step back, the selloff couldultimately represent nothing more than ahiccup. The market is in the midst of a bullrun that began in March 2009, and it hasendured sharper declines several timessince the rally began. Every time, stockshave recovered.

Investors have reason to feel confidentstocks can bounce back yet again. Theeconomy is gradually improving and corpo-rate earnings are setting records. Those fac-tors drive stocks higher. “It’s just a bumpalong the road and these levels represent abuying opportunity,” said Peter Cardillo,Chief Market Economist at Rockwell GlobalCapital. “By the end of the year we will bemuch higher.” The 4.6 percent selloff fromthe S&P 500’s May 21 record close of1,669.16 doesn’t even qualify as a pullback -defined as a slump from peak to trough of 5percent to 9 percent. Since bottoming outat a low of 676.53 after the financial crisis,the S&P 500 index has climbed 135 percent.During that stretch it had six pullbacks andtwo corrections - losses of 10 percent orgreater. The index has yet to slip into a bearmarket, a drop of 20 percent or more.

The first big wobble in the rally startedApril 23, 2010, when concerns about theEuropean debt crisis unsettled investors. ByJuly 2, the S&P 500 index had fallen 194.70

points, or 15.9 percent, to 1,022.58. The nextbig interruption to the stock market’s risecame a year later when the index fell by245.79 points, or 18.3 percent, between July22 and October 3, 2011. The catalyst was atussle between US lawmakers inWashington over extending the debt ceil-ing. The fight threatened to push the USinto default. Investors dumped stocks.

The most recent slump came in the run-up to the November presidential election,when investors worried about the threat offiscal stalemate and the potential for politi-cal gridlock in Washington.

But once investors ultimately learned tolive with the discord in Washington, themarket resumed its upward surge, climbingalmost without interruption to its mostrecent peak last month. Between Nov. 15and May 21, the S&P 500 index gained 316points, or 23 percent.

“If you look at the grand scale of wherewe’ve come this year, this really is a hiccup,”said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategistat TD Ameritrade of this week’s selloff.Typically, a pullback in stocks lasts aboutone month from peak to trough, said SamStovall, chief equity strategist at S&P CapitalIQ, who has studied the S&P 500 going backto 1946. The stock market then takes abouttwo months to recoup its losses. That sug-gests that a buy-and-hold strategy and awillingness to sit out rough patches favorlong-term investors. “History usually saysthat you’re much better off buying thanbailing,” Stovall said. —AP

Bumps in the stock market’s bull run

ROME: Italy will delay for at least three months a risein sales tax which was due to take effect in July andthe government aims to cancel the rise altogether,deputy Economy Minister Stefano Fassina said in anewspaper interview yesterday.

The scheduled 1 percentage point rise in the mainrate of value-added tax (VAT ) to 22 percent hasbecome a major focus of tension for Enrico Letta’scoalition government. Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-rightPeople of Freedom party, which Letta depends on forhis majority, has demanded that the increase be can-celled, but Letta has hesitated because of the impacton Italy’s strained public finances.

“I think a delay is inevitable,” Fassina told LaStampa and he predicted “the most likely outcome”would be for the increase to first be delayed untilOctober, when the government presents its budgetfor next year, and then scrapped altogether.

The cancellation would cost around 4 billion euros($5.3 billion) per year which would have to be foundthrough other tax hikes or spending cuts if Italy is tomeet its goal of holding the budget deficit below theEuropean Union’s limit of 3 percent of output.Fassina, who comes from Letta’s centre-leftDemocratic Party, said the government was dis-cussing possible ways of finding the money but asolution had still not been found.

On Saturday Il Giornale newspaper, which isowned by Berlusconi’s brother, said in a headline onits front page that the government would fall unlessLetta cancelled the sales tax increase. — Reuters

Italy to delay VAT sales tax hike: Official


LONDON: US-based coffee giant Starbucks said yesterday it had paid £5 millionin British corporation tax and will pay another £15 million by next year after fac-ing a backlash from lawmakers and customers over non-payment.

The move comes despite Starbucks claiming that it remained unprofitable inBritain, and that it was looking at closing its struggling stores in the country.Corporation tax is levied on a company’s profits and currently stands at a rate of23 percent in Britain. The announcement comes after leaders of the G8 majoreconomies last week struck a deal to fight corporate tax avoidance, which whilenot illegal, robs government coffers of sizeable income at a time of deep cuts topublic spending.

Yesterday’s statement confirms an announcement by Starbucks lastDecember that it intended to pay £10 million ($15.4 million, 11.8 million euros)in British corporation tax both this year and in 2014. The last time Starbuckspaid such tax in Britain was in 2008.

“Six months ago, we felt that our customers should not have to wait for us tobecome profitable before we started paying UK corporation tax,” Starbucks said.“We listened to our customers in December and so decided to forgo certaindeductions which would make us liable to pay £10 million in corporation taxthis year and a further £10 million in 2014. — AFP

Starbucks pays British corporation tax

NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORTKUWAIT: Known to be the most dovish manin the world, in the last FOMC press confer-ence, Ben Bernanke acknowledged thatdownside risks have diminished in the USand there is further improvement in thelabor market. The Fed’s economic projec-tions showed growth in-line to slightly high-er and a lower jobless rate forecast. Marketstook these comments as a signal that withthis kind of improvements, there is no waythat the Fed could continue the largestaccommodation program the world hasever known. Automatically, selling pressurestarted to hit every single market with thebond market coming under consistent andintense pressure.

While it started with the bond market,the movement translated into Dollarstrength across the board with emergingmarkets coming under intense pressurewhether from equity to bond and currencymarkets.

In summary, the main message from theFed speech this week was a change in toneto portray a hawkish Fed, as the entiredebate shifted from the timing of QE taper-ing to the timing of QE exit. In addition,while the FOMC statement continues tohighlight the potential for QE to be adjustedup or down, the Chairman’s press confer-ence was all about expectations of a QEwind-down. On the foreign exchange side,currencies closed the week with a strongerDollar across the board with the main vic-tims emerging markets currencies.

After falling all week up to Wednesdaynight, the dollar index received a boost fromthe Fed meeting to close the week at thehigh of 82.50. The euro was very well sup-ported at the beginning of the week, reach-ing a high over 1.3400 levels; however, thecurrency ran out of steam and broke downafter the FOMC meeting to close the week at1.3122 following a stronger USD against allthe majors.

The sterling pound held firm at the1.5600 levels, helped by an unwinding ofSterling funded carry trades; however, thereaction was fairly muted. After reaching ahigh of 1.5752 on Monday, the Pound endedthe week at 1.5419.

The Japanese yen dropped by over 4 per-cent during the week on stronger USD andon comments from Japan central Bank gov-ernor that uncertainty surrounding Japan’seconomy remained high; however, thecountry’s exports have started to pick upwith support from the currency moves. TheYen closed the week with 10 points shy of98.00. In the commodity complex, Goldprices tumbled again mainly on continuingunwind of carry trades and a hawkishFederal Reserve. As confusion over the Fedpolicy continues, investors are attempting toprice a potential exit of QE from the Fed.Gold prices closed the week below the$1,300 level.

After getting support from the politicalturmoil in the Middle East, oil prices suc-cumbed to the global selling pressure andended the week at $95.60.

The FOMC meeting The Chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke,

tried to provide some comfort to the bondmarket but the hope lasted only secondsinto his speech, as 10 years yield movedfrom 2.18 percent to over 2.42 percent bythe end of the week. The FOMC statementnoted downside economic risk had dimin-ished and labor market showed furtherimprovement in the economy. Investorstook these signs as the Fed could be prepar-ing for tapering in the second part of theyear but Bernanke tried to limit the impactby suggesting tapering would not be overuntil mid 2014.

Bernanke downplayed the triggers onhitting economic targets. “The economicconditions we have set out as preceding anyfuture rate increase are thresholds, not trig-gers.” In addition, “increases in the target forthe federal funds rate, once they begin, arelikely to be gradual”.

The market ignored these comments ashe added that if the economy performedmore strongly, the pace of the taper couldbecome more aggressive. According to ana-lysts, under the Fed’s scenario, the rate ofpurchases would change from $85 billionlater this year to zero by mid-year 2014.

The latest US Empire Manufacturing sur-vey came much stronger than expected andthe national association of Homebuildersnumbers impressed markets, as it seemsthat homebuyers were insensitive to apotential increase of interest rates. Theheadline component of the NY Empire sur-vey was as mentioned stronger +7.8 vs. -1.4previously. However, the underlying detailsshowed a broad-based deterioration. Asidefrom the inflation components, every under-lying component deteriorated, includingnew orders, shipments, unfilled orders,delivery times, inventories, employment andthe average workweek. On the other hand,the general business conditions in the sur-vey indicated that conditions had improvedmodestly.

Housing Starts statistics were also outthis week. while the number soared, it failedto match the excitement rising 6.8 percentin the month to 914k following a -14.8 per-cent decline previously, which appeared tobe due to unfavorable weather in thatmonth. Still May starts are up 29 percentfrom year earlier levels. Housing permitsdeclined -3.1 percent in May (to 974k), butthis followed a 12.9 percent increase in April.

Europe & UKMarkets continue ignoring all European

headlines as all attention is turned to theeconomic situation in the US and China.Indeed, headlines coming out of Europe thisweek, whether about Cyprus protestingtheir package or Greece being late on the

Troika commitments, were ignored and theeuro continued to be well sustained whencompared to the other currencies. Indeed, ina letter addressed to euro zone leaders,Cyprus’ president has asked for a completerevamp of his country Ä10 billion bailoutpackage and warned that Nicosia may notbe able to meet the rescue’s current termsbecause it has harmed the country’s econo-my and banking system even more thanexpected. Also, reports that the IMF maysuspend aid payments to Greece unless thebailout hole is plugged, did not get any trac-tion from the market.

The Greek bailout, Cyprus restructuringof its banking system along the refusal ofthe ECB to embark into unconventionalmonetary policies signaled that all Eurofunded carry trades should be unwoundedand gave a boost for the currency against allits peers. As LTRO repayment continue to beaggressively priced in, we do not believe thisevent would materialize and we believemarkets are poised to be disappointed asEurope is still behind the US in term of eco-nomic recovery with a weak un-unifiedbanking system.

As global markets were shocked by apotential end of the cheap money syn-drome, the euro has been supported on theback of the deleveraging/unwind of carrytrade. Hence, we do not believe that theEuro performance as of late is to be taken fora fundamental shift rather than just traderspositioning of portfolios. Europe’s problemsare far from being solved, and interest ratesyields in the peripheral countries havemoved too aggressively into a recoveryshape with Spain and Italy yielding 4.56 per-cent and 4.27 percent.

UK retail sales After a negative second quarter, the third

quarter represents the beginning of a newera in the UK’s monetary policymaking.Mervin King leaves at a time when thefuture looks a little brighter after better thanexpected PMIs and industrial productionsthis week, albeit still very uncertain. The low-er inflation continues to ease constraints onthe BoE to deliver more QE.

In addition, the recent performance ofthe UK economy is not a fundamental shift,as Europe’s problem are far from beingsolved, and the UK is about to enter intounchartered territories with a new Centralbanker with a different philosophy than thepredecessor.

On the data side, retail sales bounced thisweek by 2.1 percent in May on increasespending on an increase in food store sales,the biggest driver of the headline volumegrowth month on month.

Additionally, the UK service Sector PMIbeat expectations coming at 54.9 comparedto analysts forecast of 52.9.

AsiaAfter an extremely volatile week whether

over the equity, bond or the currency mar-kets, the Japanese yen lost around 4 percentafter Bernanke Speech. In a continued effortto calm markets and reduce volatility toavoid derailing a weak Japanese recovery, inhis latest speech, Japan’s central bank gover-nor Kuroda acknowledged that Japan’seconomy have picked up, exports havestarted increasing due to the currencymovement, and markets have been some-what unstable since late May, however werelikely to stabilize over time. He also notedthe will to adjust the monetary policy asneeded, looking at both upside and down-side risks to Japan’s economy and prices.

In addition, during the last meeting ofthe BOJ, policy makers refrained fromexpanding their tools to address bond-mar-ket volatility, sticking with an April plan todouble the monetary base, left the dooropen to future changes though, saying thatit will “make adjustments as needed.”

After the large pressure exerted by theFed speech on Wednesday, China’s CentralBank injected funds to alleviate a cashcrunch experienced by some local banks.Indeed, the PBOC used reverse-repurchaseagreements to inject funds into selectedbanks, however not across the board.According to analysts, if any injections weremade, they were likely explicitly targeted atspecific banks facing liquidity problems.

The continuation of the Chinese slowgrowth combined with the Fed potentialunwinding of QE, have not helped emergingmarkets lately.

Growth dropped to 7.7 percent in thefirst quarter of the year, and many econo-mists expect it to fall further in the secondquarter. Chinese policy makers respondedto a similar slowdown last year by cuttinginterest rates and speeding up infrastructureprojects, however, it could be more prob-lematic this time.

Commodities The price of Gold broke through a num-

ber of key technical levels this week and thisexacerbated the move down. Demand fromphysical players on this price break wasstrong, but not enough to stem the lossesfrom financial selling. The sell-off was alsonot contained to the just the gold market assilver fell also 8.5 percent.

Oil prices drop Oil prices fell sharply amid commodity

liquidation this week. A higher USD andweaker-than-expected China FlashManufacturing PMI reading this week pres-sured markets. As US equities fell this weekand the USD rallied, this provided a tripleheadwind for oil.

KuwaitKuwaiti dinar at 0.28465The USDKWD opened at 0.28465 yester-

day morning.

Fed shakes markets as party ends


The global Smartphone ‘war’ hasmade mobile devices one of themost rapidly-changing industries

in the world in the past few years, withtechnological innovations, pricing andmarketing strategies playing a part in afiercely contested arena involving asmall handful of industry players andtheir respective operating systems. Asthe competition continues to heat up,companies are working harder at find-ing product differentiators to stand outfrom their competitive set.

Nokia revolutionized the industrywhen it launched its ‘Lumia’ range ofSmartphones that runs Windows 8Operating System from Microsoft in2012. The range has allowed Nokia toshowcase its product differentiatorsranging from its industry-leading imag-ing and navigation technology to itssleek design and user-friendly function-ality. And to keep innovating, Nokia late-ly introduced the Nokia Lumia 925, thedevice which comes in a metal designand showcases the latest PureView cam-era innovation, new features and thirdparty applications coming to the Nokia

Lumia range.The Nokia Lumia 925 includes the

most advanced lens technology andnext generation imaging software tocapture clearer, sharper pictures andvideo, including the best low lightimages. The Nokia Lumia 925 alsointroduces the new Nokia Smart

Camera mode, coming as an update toall Lumia Windows Phone 8 smart-phones. Nokia Smart Camera offers aneasy way to capture ten images at onceand edit the pictures with options likeBest Shot, Action Shot, and MotionFocus for creating the perfect high qual-ity image. Below are some of theSmartphone’s features that make NokiaLumia the leading innovator in today’sSmartphone industry:

NavigationGeographic navigation is among the

most important applications forSmartphone users. A survey carried outby IDG shows that 80 percent of smart-phone users use navigation apps ontheir phones, making it an importantfeature for them and turning theirphones from tools to make and receivephone calls to smart devices that pro-vide a host of useful services for usersduring movement. Among these servic-es are maps based on GPS technology,which show the user a map their currentlocation and are automatically updatedas the user heads to any destination

Nokia develops “HERE” map contentby gathering complex data at a rate of1.3 million points per second. Specialcars roam the streets and commerciallocations specifically for that purpose, incooperation with 80 thousand datasources (such as governments andexperts). Four out of five cars around theworld (which support navigation sys-tems) use the “HERE” map content pro-vided by Nokia. The companies whichpartnered with Nokia to provide thesemaps are: BMW, Porsche, Microsoft,Yahoo, Garmin, MapQuest, OnStar, andT-Mobile.

HERE DriveWith Nokia “HERE” Drive, which gives

directions while driving on Lumia smart-phones, it is easy to display 3D or 2Dmaps as desired, change map colors inaccordance with time (night or day), dis-play key locations on the map, informusers about speed limits, and changeunits (metric, British or American sys-tems), as well as a digital compass,zooming and displaying details aroundthe user. The app provides audio direc-tion in 104 countries, using more than50 languages.

Nokia “HERE” TransitNokia “HERE” Transit helps users plan

for their journey by using metro stationsin countries that provide this means(Dubai is one of those more than 500cities), by entering a starting point andend point. The app then displays a planincluding the trains that the user shouldride, as well as their arrival and depar-ture times. The app tells the user thetime and distance needed on foot toarrive at the station, duration of thejourney, how to get to the next stop andtake another bus until arrival at thedesired stop, and the overall duration ofthe journey.

Map ApplicationsUsers can choose their destination

and ask for directions from the mappingsystem integrated in their phone, as wellas choose the means of transport,whether on foot or by car, or even bymetro in countries providing this meansof transport. The system then calculatesthe easiest and fastest routes in mereseconds, and begins showing the direc-tions and voicing them out if the userchose that feature. The user can benefitfrom these maps to discover citiesworldwide and get to know the vacationdestination beforehand, as well as savethe places they want to visit on theirphone.

“HERE” City LensNokia fitted its new phones with

“HERE” City Lens, an app that pro-vides intuitive interaction with theworld around the user, made pos-sible by pointing the phone’scamera at any zone in the cityand a list of the restaurants,shops, and other land-marks is shown directlyabove the roof of thebuilding on thescreen. By simplepointing of thecamera and findingthe nearest restau-rant, the user can tap onthe restaurant’s name to knowmore about it. If the user liked therestaurant, they can simply contact itfrom the details menu to make a reser-vation before visiting.

Nokia MusicNokia’s free music streaming service

allows consumers to enjoy latest curatedplaylists from more than 22 milliontracks. Nokia Music enables Nokia Lumiaowners to freely discover and enjoyoffline music in a simple and delightfulway.

Completely advertisement-free, andrequiring no registration or subscription,Nokia Music lets consumers immersethemselves in the dulcet tones of theirfavorite artists without being disrupted.For maximum convenience, Nokia Musicplaylists can also be enjoyed offline soconsumers can listen to their favoriteplaylists anytime, anywhere - perfect fora long flight, journey to work or evenduring a metro train ride in Dubai.

Nokia Lumia owners can downloadthe Nokia Music app for free from theWindows Phone Store and can also buytheir favorite music from the NokiaMusic Ala Carte store, where they canget the freshest music, best quality andbiggest library of over 22 Million tracksfor local and international music.

Consumers can stream music from asuite of over 150 exclusive playlists thatare curated and kept up-to-date. Theplaylists span a wide spectrum of musi-cal genres from Khaleeji, Arabic,Bollywood and International. Partneringlabels include a variety of internationalrenowned names such as Universal,Sony and EMI. The Nokia Music servicealso includes many local Arabic labelssuch as Meloday, Mazzika and Qanawatalong with Bollywood’s T-series, Yash Raj,and Eros.

Consumers can also create their ownpersonal soundtrack by selecting theNokia Music ‘Create’ function that gener-

ates a playlist based on, and inspired by,the artists they love. Consumers in theUAE can enjoy Nokia Music artists’ rang-ing from the legendary Mohamed Abdo,Rashed Al Majed, Abdul MajeedAbdullah, Nancy Ajram, Myriam Fares,George Wassouf and many more.

ImagingThe Lumia range has some of the

most developed Smartphone technolo-gies in imaging, utilizing Nokia’s innova-tive PureView technology to offer the

clearest images a smartphone can deliv-er. These options are not only restrictedto the top-of the-range Nokia Lumia 920either. The recently-launched NokiaLumia 720 delivers a high end cameraperformance at a mid-range price point.

A large f/1.9 aperture and exclusive CarlZeiss optics are designed to deliverbright, clear pictures day and night,while the HD-quality, wide-angle front-facing camera makes taking pictureswith friends and video calling moreenjoyable. The Lumia 720 also packsNokia’s best front-facing camera, whichis sure to be popular for the region’sgrowing phenomenon of self-portraits.

Low Light PhotographyUsing advanced floating lens tech-

nology, the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 isable to take in five times more light thancompeting smartphones without usingflash, making it possible to capture clear,bright pictures and video indoors aswell as night time shots.

How does this work? The advancedfloating lens technology reacts to theminute movements in your hand to bal-ance the lens, so the shutter can stayopen longer, and more light meansbrighter, clearer images without flash.Nokia has also adopted a massive f/2.0aperture - in layman’s terms, it lets inmore light from the start when you’reusing it indoors. Both these measuresmean a lower sensor size is needed in

order to get great results when you’reworking in low light.

Smart ShootUsing innovations from Nokia’s pho-

tography wizards, Smart Shoot lensallows users to do two key functions -change faces and remove unwantedobjects. There’s nothing worse than tak-ing a group photo with friends and real-izing that out of the three people in theframe, one had their eyes shut when thecamera snapped the photo or that oneperson was looking slightly off to theleft. When you take a photo using SmartShoot, you’re actually taking a sequenceof photos.

Smart Shoot also allows you to takeaway moving, un-wanted objects inyour photos such as a passerby or per-son on the perimeter of the shot thatspoils the photo. With this objectremoval feature, you can select the bestshot and precise moment from a rangeof alternatives. Smart Shoot automati-cally suggests objects to be removedfrom the image and all you need to do isconfirm the removal to create the per-fect shot.

CinemagraphAnimated photos - a single photo

that has motion and can show asequence of photos in succession areinteresting and generally found on theInternet. These are often developed bycreative graphic designers. With theCinemagraph lens Lumia owners cannow create a magical blend of photoand movie-like animation, creating pho-tos that are alive with feeling throughimagery.

Once selected from the cameramenu, Cinemagraph lets users snap aphoto and generate 15 frame-per-sec-ond file. The Cinemagraph gives on-screen step-by-step instructions to getone started and even allows the users tofine tune and optimize your photo -such as choosing which parts of thephoto one wants to be animated.

You can also use the Panorama Lensand Creative Studio to add your profes-sional effects by easy and versatile edit-ing of your pictures, add effects to pic-tures or use filters to make them lookvisually stunning and improve the quali-ty of the image by letting you adjust col-or, brightness, vibrancy and detail. Italso helps you remove red-eyes, cropand rotate pictures.

BlinkBLINK is designed to snap photos

both before and after the user has start-ed shooting, ensuring that the user doesnot miss important moments, and thatthe wanted shot is among snapped pho-tos. Blink comes with advanced imagestabilization technology aimed atremoving camera shake so that userscould focus on the part of the scene thatinterests them the most.

• Nokia Lumia smartphones are the only smartphones that offer “offline” turn by turn navigation • With Nokia Music, best quality and biggest library of over 22 million songs a click away• The only smartphones with built-in wireless charging technology• Nokia Lumia smartphones are the first to bring the optical image stabilization

taking innovation to new heights

The evolutionof the mobile apps: Making smartphones smarter

Downloading applica-tions is the mostpopular data usage

activity for smartphoneusers1, and with 22 millionsmartphones and tabletsacross the MENA region2,it’s easy to understand whythe mobile apps market hasbecome the next battleground for industry players.

Expect the battle to heatup as industry expertsexpect application down-loads to reach nearly 48 bil-lion by 20153 driven by theincreasing penetration of

connected mobile devices and the growing availability ofmobile data access throughout the region. According to recentsurvey created by Vision Mobile titled ‘Developer economics2013’, 86 percent of developers target smartphones v/s tabletsand 49 percent of developers build apps they want to use them-selves, but end up generating revenue - signaling the rise of abooming app economy. The Windows Phone platform alone hasover 200, 000 registered app developers.

The potential of applications has not been lost on govern-ments either. Here in the UAE, where there are 14 million mobilesubscribers, an average of two per person, Sheikh Mohammedbin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of theUAE and Ruler of Dubai recently announced the launch of ‘SmartGovernment’, and initiative that aims to ensure that governmentservices will be delivered via mobile phones as part of his visionto provide services to people wherever they are and at any time

With Nokia, Microsoft has made promising strides within theWindows 8 platform - 48 out of the 50 most downloaded appsfrom the Windows Phone store (Marketplace) are available on itsLumia range of smartphones. Not only that, when it comes tofree apps, Nokia offers more value than any smartphone manu-facturer. Not only do Lumia smartphone users have access to allthe apps in the Windows Phone Store; they can get also get theirhands on some innovative exclusive Nokia Lumia apps focusingon experiences including Navigation, Imaging and Music.

These three factors form the crux of Nokia’s differentiatingstrengths within the Smartphone market, as the brand has unri-valled expertise and technology in each of them, through itsinnovative Nokia Maps (HERE technology), Pureview Imagingtechnology and Nokia Music, the biggest library of over 22Million tracks for local and international music.

Encouraged by this trend, Nokia has been working continu-ously with developers to deliver the best apps to its Lumiaphones users. This has included initiatives focusing on grassrootsdevelopment of the ecosystem itself such as Nokia andMicrosoft’s debut regional Midnight Developer App Challengecontest, where five university teams from Tunisia, Kenya,Pakistan, UAE, won prizes and received technical trainingthrough webinars for their innovative app creations after receiv-ing advanced technical training and coding sessions with Nokiaand Microsoft software experts over a period of four months.

The Windows Phone ecosystem continues to grow at anamazing rate. With more than 145,000+ apps and games, theplatform is growing by the hundreds every day.

Nokia wireless charging Fatboyrecharge pillow DT-901 with NokiaLumia 920

JBL PlayUp PortableWireless Speaker for

Nokia with NokiaLumia 920

Nokia 920

Lumia 720

Nokia 925


DUBAI: Ford Motor Company’s ultra-fuel efficient and spirited 1.0-litreEcoBoost petrol engine yesterdaywas named 2013 InternationalEngine of the Year, marking the sec-ond straight year Ford’s acclaimedthree-cylinder engine has capturedthe award.

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost - whichcombines direct fuel injection, tur-bocharging and variable valve tim-ing to lower fuel consumption with-out sacrificing power - received thehighest score in the history of theawards. The engine also won the“Best Engine Under 1.0-litre” catego-ry at the annual awards presented byEngine Technology Internationalmagazine.

Ford also confirmed plans to dou-ble production of the engine at itsCologne (Germany) Engine Plant tomore than 1,000 engines a day frommid-August to meet demand.

“With a technology as mature asthe internal combustion engine, it’svery rare to achieve a true break-through, but that is exactly what theteam accomplished with thisengine,” said Joe Bakaj, Ford vicepresident, Global Powertrain. “You

have to drive it to believe a smallthree-cylinder engine can deliversuch performance and fuel econo-my.”

A panel of 87 automotive journal-ists from 35 countries around theworld judged the awards on drivabil-ity, performance, economy, refine-ment and the successful applicationof advanced engine technology.Ford is one of three car makers torecord back-to-back victories in the15-year history of the awards. TheFord 1.0-litre EcoBoost also has wonthe International Paul Pietsch Award2013 for technological innovation atGerman magazine Auto Motor undSport Best Cars Awards and theDewar Trophy from the RoyalAutomobile Club in Great Britain, aBreakthrough Award from PopularMechanics magazine in the US.“Who’d have believed it? A 1.0-litreengine that has it all, powerful, fuelefficient, clean and lightweight,” saidPeter Lyon, UK juror and freelancejournalist. “This is a masterpiece.” The1.0-litre EcoBoost was designed atFord’s research and developmentcentres in Aachen and Merkenich,Germany, and Dunton, U.K., and is

built in Cologne and Craiova,Romania.

Dean Slavnich, co-chairman ofthe 15th International Engine of theYear awards and editor of EngineTechnology International Magazine,said: “Baby EcoBoost - Ford’s first-ever three-cylinder design - is stillthe engine to beat across the board.It’s economical in real-world condi-tions while the compact turbo helpsensure that the entire package canpower larger vehicles like the GrandC-MAX with ease.”

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine iscurrently offered in small cars suchas Fiesta and B-MAX and compactofferings including Focus, C-MAXand Grand C-MAX. In the near futureit will power larger cars including thenew Ford Mondeo. It also will beoffered in Transit Connect andTransit Courier commercial vehiclesand Tourneo Connect and TourneoCourier people movers.

The engine is being rolled outthroughout the world. It is now avail-able for customers buying the newEcoSport in India and China and laterthis year will be offered with Fiesta inNorth America.

Small enough to fit in the over-head luggage compartment of anairplane, the engine delivers best inclass petrol fuel economy for Europein such vehicles as Fiesta, Focus, C-MAX and Grand C-MAX. Ford’sCologne and Craiova Engine Plantswere upgraded to facilitate 1.0-litreEcoBoost production and intro-duced advanced manufacturingtechniques that reduce the volumeof coolant required when machiningaluminum engine parts to just fivemillilitres per component from twolitres previously, contributing to areduced environmental footprintfrom manufacturing.

New “cold testing” technologywas also introduced, allowingengines to be tested without beingstarted - reducing fuel usage andCO2 emissions from the process by66 per cent. All remaining energyrequired to run the Cologne plantcomes from renewable sources,including three hydro-power plantsin Norway and Sweden. Ford ofEurope plans to triple annual pro-duction of vehicles equipped withfuel-efficient EcoBoost petrolengines to approximately 480,000 by

2015, from 141,000 in 2011. Thecompany projects that more than300,000 of those vehicles will beequipped with the 1.0-litre EcoBoost.In the first quarter of 2013 in Europe,

the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engineaccounted for 42 per cent of ordersin B-MAX, 30 per cent in Focus and24 per cent in Fiesta across Ford’s 19traditional European markets.

Ford wins ‘International Engine of Year’ for second yearAutomaker announces increase in 1.0-Litre EcoBoost production

KUWAIT: The Protges campaign for registrationhas ended in success - the mentorship programthat provides young people with opportunitiesto learn life and leadership skills have begun theprocess to select the 25 young people agedbetween 16 and 24 to take part in the program.

Program manager, Shamlan Al-Baharexplained the selection process: “We look forexceptional young people with ambition andpassion. Once we receive an application, weinvite each applicant to our office for an inter-view. First they fll out a brief personality test andthen they face a panel of our mentors. They areasked carefully designed questions that showtheir personality and morals. When we seesomething special in the first interview, we invitethem back for a second interview. Each appli-cant receives a score and only once we’ve meteach and every applicant will we be able toselect the 25 Generation 3 Proteges. “

Al-Bahar wishes to thank all sponsors for theircontribution to the campaign: “Many thanks toThe Proteges strategic partner KIPCO and theirgroup of participating companies: Burgan Bank,KAMCO, United Real Estate, QurainPetrochemical Industries Company, GulfInsurance Group, United Networks, KuwaitHotels Company and the American University ofKuwait. With their help, Generation 3 is shapingup to be the best yet.”

He added: “We also wish to thank our plat-inum sponsors Abyat, Ali Alghanim & SonsAutomotive Company, and Al-Anba newspaper.We would also like to thank Al-Rai, our localmedia partner and our bronze sponsor, IFAConsulting Services. Because of their contribu-tions and support, we will be able to create atruly life-changing experience for 25 young peo-ple.”

The selected applicants for The Proteges,Generation 3 will be announced on July 1, 2013.The program will start in the second week of

August and continue for 4 weeks. For the latestnews and information about the program, followus on Twitter: the_ proteges and Instagram:

TheProteges or visit www.theproteges.orgFounded in 2010, The Proteges is a program

designed to positively infuence the youth ofKuwait, through an inclusive program that com-bines travel, lectures, group activities, chal-lenges, games and fun. Guided by a team ofmentors, The Proteges are encouraged to dis-cover their passions and given the tools to helpthem excel in their future careers and contributepositively to society.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)announced the first six winners of up to KD10,000 in cash prizes in its summer cam-paign. NBK Summer Campaign offers cus-tomers the chance to win an astonishingAzimut 40 Flybridge Yacht as a grand prizeat the end of the campaign as well as up toKD 180,000 in cash prizes during the cam-paign.

Wael Majed Al-Nemer, Athar Hamad Al-Saleh, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz Saad, MazyadRaja Al-Baloud, Abeer Ibraheem Al-Rushoud and Rulla Qais Al-Nusif each woncash prizes up to KD 10,000 in the firstdraw.

NBK Cardholders still have the chance toparticipate in the promotion and earnunlimited chances in the last two drawsthroughout the summer until 15September 2013. In addition to the grandprize for the Azimut 40 Yacht, 18 winners

spread in to three draws will be reimbursedfor all their spending using NBK Cards up toKD 10,000 each.

For every cumulative KD 20 spent inKuwait with NBK Credit or Prepaid Cards,Cardholders will earn a chance to enter thedraws. Cardholders will triple their chancesby using their NBK Credit, Prepaid andDebit Card abroad or by shopping on inter-national sites.

NBK Cards are accepted worldwide andare the safest, most convenient andrewarding way to pay. For more informa-tion log onto nbk.com or contact HalaWatani on 1801801.

The Azimut 40 Flybridge is one of themost luxurious yachts designed by Azimut-Benetti, the world renowned yacht manu-facturers, combining elegance and com-fort. Seas & Deserts Group is the exclusiveAzimut Yachts dealer in Kuwait.

NBK announces first 6 winners to win up to KD 10,000 cash prizes

Selection process begins for Proteges powered by KIPCO

Shamlan Al-Bahar

KUWAIT: Warba Bank, the most recently opened Shariacompliant Kuwaiti Bank, yesterday announced theappointment of Iyad Al-Busairi as BranchesDepartment Manager. Al-Busairi comes toWarba with more than 14 years of specializedexperience in managing banking branches,and has a deep knowledge of the Islamicbanking market in Kuwait. He will lead andsupervise business operations in all WarbaBank branches. Prior to joining Warba, Al-Busairi held many senior positions, mostprominently a Branch Manager at KuwaitFinance House (KFH) from 1996 to 2010, dur-ing which he trained more than 350 bankemployees. He then spent two years as theChief Executive Officer of Mashaer Group- Hajand Umrah.

The appointment of Iyad Al-Busairi as BranchesDepartment Manager will support the business strategyundertaken by the bank since incorporation, which focuson employing the most highly qualified people in order toredefine the Islamic banking sector in Kuwait over thecoming years. Al-Busairi’s experience and skills will con-tribute significantly towards the growth and development

of the bank’s branch network, and the achievement of theobjective of becoming one of Kuwait’s leading financial

Islamic institutions. Commenting on hisappointment, Iyad Al-Busairi said: “I am verypleased to join Warba Bank and looking for-ward to helping the bank accomplish its ambi-tious goals. Warba Bank has a strong presenceand a great track record of successes, and weare determined to enhance the bank’s positionand increase future achievements”.

Kuwaitization at the management level ofWarba Bank has crossed the 75 percent mark,demonstrating the commitment of the bank toutilize the leadership qualities of Kuwaitis. Thishigh figure has been achieved despite a num-ber of challenges.

Due to a lack of Kuwaiti recruits in some sec-tors, the bank provided training to young Nationals withhigh qualifications, which enabled the bank to achieveKuwaitization of 98 percent in some departments, includ-ing Corporate, Retail and HR. Reflecting Warba’s commit-ment to employ local expertise and talent, the bank hasachieved overall Kuwaitization across its entire operationsof more than 60 percent.

MAKKAH: Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide, Inc has signed an agree-ment with Jabal Omar DevelopmentCompany to open three new hotels inthe Holy City of Makkah. As part of theJabal Omar Development project,Starwood will add 1,496 rooms to thecity under the company’s Sheraton,Westin and Four Points by Sheratonbrands when the hotels open in 2015.Starwood currently operates 10 prop-erties in Saudi Arabia, the secondlargest market for the company in theMiddle East behind the UAE.

“We are delighted to work withJabal Omar Development Company aswe introduce the Sheraton, Westin andFour Points by Sheraton brands to theholy city of Makkah,” said Michael Wale,President, Starwood Hotels & Resorts,Europe, Africa and Middle East. “Asbusiness travel and religious tourismcontinue to expand in Saudi Arabia, webelieve the time is right to expand ourportfolio in the country.”

Abdul Rahman Abdul Qadir Fakieh,chairman of the board for Jabal OmarDevelopment Company commented,“We are excited to partner withStarwood to bring three of their world-class brands to Makkah. We believe theaddition of these hotels is in line withthe goal of the Jabal OmarDevelopment to improve and urbanizethe central area surrounding Al Haramand provide much needed facilitiesand accommodations for pilgrims.” Al-Haram, the Jabal Omar Development,is a 230,000 square meter mixed-usedevelopment in Makkah comprised of38 high-rise buildings. With 26 hotelsand over 11,000 rooms, the complex isone of the largest hotel developmentsin the world.

Sheraton Makkah HotelWith a long history in the Middle

East, spanning more than 50 years, theSheraton brand continues to be one of

the most sought-after hotel brands inthe region. Offering a warm and livelyambience, the Sheraton Makkah Hotelwill boast 532 guest rooms and suitesfeaturing the all-white Sheraton SweetSleeper(r) Bed. The hotel will also fea-ture five food and beverage venues,including two large buffet restaurantsto suit the schedules of guests.

Other signature offerings at theSheraton Makkah Hotel include theSheraton Club Lounge andLink@Sheraton experienced withMicrosoft in the lobby, a unique socialand communications hub deliveringthe technology guests expect andrequire while on the road. SheratonFitness Programmed by CorePerformance will feature separate gymequipment and training facilities. Thehotel will also offer over 185 squaremeters (2,000 square feet) of meetingand event space.

Westin Makkah HotelOffering a tranquil and relaxing

atmosphere, Westin Makkah will fea-ture 513 guest rooms and suites outfit-ted with the renowned WestinHeavenly Bed and the Heavenly Bath.Westin Makkah will offer two large buf-fet restaurants for guests, as well as aspecialty restaurant and two lounges.Signature experiences such as theHeavenly Spa by Westin and theWestinWORKOUT, offering fitness facili-ties with state-of-the-art equipment,will help create a revitalizing stay forguests. The hotel will also offer morethan 232 square meters (2,500 squarefeet) of ultra-modern meeting andfunction space.

Four Points by Sheraton Makkah Hotel

With more than 170 hotels aroundthe world, the Four Points by Sheratonbrand has solidified its place asStarwood’s third largest brand with the

second-biggest global pipeline. With amodern design and an uncomplicatedfriendly approach to hospitality andservice, Four Points by SheratonMakkah will offer guests a compellingblend of comfort, style and affordabili-ty. Four Points by Sheraton Makkahwill feature 451 comfortable guestrooms, an all-day dining restaurant, alounge, a business center and over 92square meters (1,000 square feet) ofmeeting and event space.

Starwood in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia

“This landmark project, featuringthree of our lifestyle brands, marks animportant milestone for Starwood inthe Middle East,” said Bart Carnahan,Senior Vice President Acquisitions &Development, Starwood Hotels &Resorts, Europe, Africa and Middle East.“With eight hotels in the pipeline in thenext three years, we are set to nearlydouble our portfolio in the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia.”

Starwood currently operates 10hotels in Saudi Arabia under theSheraton and Le Meridien brands. Thisincludes two Le Meridien hotels inMakkah, Sheraton Riyadh Hotels &Towers, Le Meridien Medina, as well ashotels in the cities of Al Khobar, Taifand Dammam. Most recently,Starwood opened Four Points bySheraton Riyadh Khaldia and the com-pany will open the Sheraton MedinaHotel and Four Points by SheratonMedina Hotel later this year. With thesigning of three new developments inMakkah, Starwood now has over 3,000rooms in its Saudi Arabia pipeline.Starwood operates close to 50 hotelsand resorts across the Middle Eastunder eight of the company’s nine dis-tinct lifestyle brands including: TheLuxury Collection, St. Regis, Sheraton,Westin, W Hotels, Le Meridien, FourPoints by Sheraton and Aloft.

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names ofthe five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each takinghome a prize of KD 5,000.

The lucky winners for the daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5000 each, and they are:

1. Abdulmohsen Khaled AbdulmohsenAlbahar2. Sarkis Enjian3. Ahmd Jehad Abdulrahman Al-Yousef4. Hussien Abdul-Kareem Abdulla Ramadan5. Mohammad Hussain Mohammad Hussain Al-FailyWith its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account

has become more convenient, easier, and faster for cus-tomers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible toenter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account.Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalentonly to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter

the draw stands at KD 10. The newly designed Yawmiaccount has been launched to provide a highly innovativeoffering along with a higher frequency and incentive of win-ning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well under-stood product, where its popularity can be seen from thenumber of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmiaccount and/or increase their deposit to maximize theirchances to becoming a daily winner. The more customersdeposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning thedraw. Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers areurged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receiveall the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080where customer service representatives will be delighted toassist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of thebank’s products and services. Customers can also log on toBurgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

Warba Bank appoints Iyad Al Busairi as Branches Dept Manager

Burgan Bank announces daily winners of Yawmi account

Starwood Hotels & Resorts expands presence in Saudi

Iyad Dawood Al-Bousairi

t e c h n o l o g yMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

WASHINGTON: So far, the idea of hackinginto medical devices has been limited tofiction and hacker demonstrations. But USregulators and security experts say thethreat is real: malicious actors can gainaccess to devices ranging from pacemak-ers to insulin pumps, with potentially fatalresults. The US Food and DrugAdministration this month warned manu-facturers to step up their vigilance, sayingit has learned of “cybersecurity vulnerabili-ties and incidents that could directlyimpact medical devices or hospital net-work operations.”

Officials say they know of no deliberatehacking of medical devices. But on the tel-evision drama “Homeland,” the vice presi-dent of the United States is assassinatedby hackers who gain access to his pace-maker and deliver a fatal electric shock.“The good news is that we are not awareof any incidents in the real world. But thebad news there is no science behind look-

ing for it,” said Kevin Fu, a University ofMichigan professor of computer sciencespecializing in health security. “It takes justa blink of the eye for malware to get in.”

Fu co-authored a 2008 research paperhighlighting the risks of implantabledevices like cardiac defibrillators, whichcould be reprogrammed by hackers whoget into system’s wireless network. “Myopinion is that the greater risk is from mal-ware that accidentally gets into a devicerather than the attacks in fictionalizedprograms,” Fu said. “Malware will oftenslow down a computer, and when youslow down a medical device it no longergives the integrity needed to perform as itshould.”

Barnaby Jack at the security firmIOActive, said the “Homeland” scenariowas “fairly realistic,” and that he woulddemonstrate a similar attack at an upcom-ing hacker gathering. “In ‘Homeland,’ theyrequired a serial number, my demonstra-

tion doesn’t,” he said. Jack has beenresearching implantable medical devicessuch as pacemakers and defibrillatorsfrom a major manufacturer, and said hehas found the devices “to be particularlyvulnerable.” He said that from a range of10 to 15 m, “I can retrieve the credentialsneeded to interrogate the individualimplants remotely.”

In another publicized incident, securityspecialist Jay Radcliffe, who is diabetic,demonstrated in 2011 the potential tohack into an insulin pump to changedosage levels. Security specialists say thatin addition to implanted devices, hospitalequipment such as monitoring systems,scanners and radiation equipment areconnected to networks which could havelax security, creating similar security holes.Some heart and drug monitoring systemsuse open Wi-Fi connections that can behacked. “The vast majority of medicaldevices in hospitals I’ve been to use

Windows XP or Windows 95. These areextremely vulnerable to computer mal-ware,” Fu said.

Attacks or insertion of malware couldaffect things like radiation therapy, ordevices which mix nutrients for intra-venous delivery, he said. Medical devicesand equipment may have passwords, butthese can be hacked as well, as shown in arecent report by the security firm Cylance,which obtained passwords to 300 differ-ent devices. “We could have reported1,000 different backdoor passwords, wecould have even gone all the way to10,000,” said a blog post from Cylance’sBilly Rios and Terry McCorkle. “We stoppedat 300 because we felt 300 was sufficientto get our point across.”

This finding prompted a warning fromthe Department of Homeland Security’sCyber Emergency Response Team forindustrial systems, which said securityshould be stepped up for surgical devices,

ventilators, drug infusion pumps and oth-er equipment. A number of computersecurity firms are working to help theindustry, but Fu said these solutions areoften the equivalent of a Band-Aid. “Mostcybersecurity problems can be tracedback to the design,” he said. “I have doubtsthat a strategy just based on antivirus orfirewalls can be effective.”

Experts say that despite all the risks,people still are better off with than with-out these devices. “The chance of a target-ed malicious attack against someone’smedical device is extremely low, and thelast thing we want is for people to losefaith in these life saving devices,” Jack said.“We think that any risk, no matter howlow, still needs to be eliminated. We hopeby raising awareness of these issues andbringing the threats to the attention ofthe manufacturers, that they can takesteps to improve the security of thesedevices.” — AFP

New frontier for cybersecurity: Your body

NEW YORK: After more than seven years and amove 4,500 km across the country, ChristopherJones thought he’d left behind reminders of thearrest that capped a bitter break-up. That was,until he searched the Internet last month andcame face-to-face with his 2006 police mugshot. The information below the photo, one ofmillions posted on commercial websitemugshots.com, did not mention that the apart-ment Jones was arrested for burglarizing wasthe one he’d recently moved out of, or thatFlorida prosecutors decided shortly afterward todrop the case. But, otherwise, the digital mediaartist’s run-in with the law was there for anyone,anywhere, to see. And if he wanted to erase theevidence, says Jones, now a resident ofLivermore, California, the site’s operator told himit would cost $399.

Jones said he was angered by the terms ofthe offer, but no more so than scores of otherpeople across the country discovering that pastarrests - many for charges eventually dismissedor that resulted in convictions later expunged -make them part of an unwilling, but potentiallyenormous customer base for a fast-proliferatingnumber of mug shot websites. With a businessmodel built on the strengths of technology, theweaknesses of human nature and the reach ofthe First Amendment, the sites are proving thatin the Internet age, old assumptions about peo-ple’s ability to put the past behind them nolonger apply.

The sites, some charging fees exceeding$1,000 to “unpublish” records of multiple arrests,have prompted lawsuits in Ohio andPennsylvania by people whose mug shots theyposted for a global audience. They have alsosparked efforts by legislators in Georgia andUtah to pass laws making it easier to removearrest photos from the sites without charge orotherwise curb the sites. But site operators andcritics agree that efforts to rein them in treads onuncertain legal ground, made more complicatedbecause some sites hide their ownership andlocation and purport to operate from outsidethe US.

“The First Amendment gives people the rightto do this,” said Marc G Epstein, an attorney inHallandale, Florida who said he represents theoperator of mugshots.com, which lists anaddress on the Caribbean island of Nevis. “I don’tthink there was ever a First Amendment thatcontemplated the permutations of communica-tion that we have now.”

Operators of some sites say they’re perform-ing a public service, even as they seek profit. “Iabsolutely believe that a parent, for instance, hasa right to know if their kid’s coach has beenarrested... I think the public has a right to knowthat and I feel they have a right to know thateasily, accessibly and not having to go to acourthouse,” said Arthur D’Antonio III, CEO ofjustmugshots.com, a Nevada-based site thatstarted in early 2012 and now claims a databaseof more than 10 million arrest photos.

But critics are skeptical. “I can’t find any pub-lic interest that’s served if you are willing to takeit (a mug shot) down if I give you $500. Thenwhat public interest are you serving?,” said RogerBruce, a state representative from the Atlantaarea who authored a law, set to take effect July1, requiring sites to remove photos free for thosearrested in Georgia if they can show that chargeshave since been dismissed.

Scott Ciolek, a Toledo lawyer who last yearbrought suit against four sites on behalf of twoOhioans dismayed to find their arrest photosonline, said the mug shot publishers are takingadvantage of people’s embarrassment to unfair-ly squeeze them for profit. “The individuals whoare victims of these extortions want as littleattention on them as possible, if you know whatI’m saying,” Ciolek said.

The mug shot sites are just the latest venturesharnessing the Internet to aggregate informa-tion that previously would have taken consider-able time, trouble or expense for ordinary peo-ple to uncover. That power underlies sites likeancestry.com, which compiles genealogicalinformation including birth and death certifi-cates, census and immigration records and otherpublic documents in a forum that makes it mucheasier than previously possible for Americans totrace their family roots.

Arrest records are also widely considered tobe public information and have long been col-lected by reporters making the rounds of policestations and courthouses. But before the adventof the web, an arrest on a charge of, say, disor-derly conduct might have been printed in a localnewspaper’s police blotter and then mostlybeen forgotten. The mug shot sites’ operatorsuse “web-scraping” programs to easily collectinformation from scores of police websites - andas a Texas lawsuit filed by one site operatoragainst another shows, sometimes even to

snatch those same photos from competitors.What used to be strictly local is now global, anda new tension results: Release of informationwidely regarded as necessarily public is, inaggregated form, viewed as potentially violatingprivacy.

“Certainly the world has changed in terms ofthe accessibility of historical information,” saidJeff Hermes, director of the Digital Media LawProject at Harvard University’s Berkman Centerfor Internet & Society. “My concern is that effortsto create a so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ runthe risk of becoming laws that allow individualsto edit history, and that’s dangerous, especially ifit winds up being applied to public governmen-tal records.”

But some of those whose photos have turnedup on the sites say charging people to erase the

evidence of an arrest is abusive. Phillip Kaplan,one of the two people who brought the Ohiolawsuit, said he thought he had moved past theembarrassment of June 2011 when police,responding to complaints of a loud porchfrontparty he was attending during the city’s OldWest End festival, charged him with failure todisperse. Kaplan, who is 35, said he declined anoffer by prosecutors to plead guilty to a lessercharge, and eventually the case was dismissed.

In the meantime, though, Kaplan walked intoa convenience store to find his mug shot on thecover of the weekly Buckeyes Behind Bars,alongside the headline “Hot Summer for SexOffenders”. The publication says on its websitethat it charges $59 to those who’ve been arrest-ed and want to avoid having their photo printed.Soon after, friends told him his mug shot waspublished on some of the online sites and laterhe was asked about the arrest during a job inter-view. Kaplan said he understands the value tothe public of publishing arrest photos, particu-larly for sexual predators. “That makes sense,” hesaid, but not for lesser charges. “I mean, shouldthere be a jaywalkers’ directory?”

Jones, whose April 2006 arrest by sheriff ’sdeputies near Orlando, Florida, turned up online,said he suspects the availability of his mug shotmight be affecting his search for employment.“I’ve been putting out so many resumes andpeople’s reactions are just funny. They’re reallyexcited, they’ve seen my resume somewhereand then all of a sudden it’s like I have an infec-tious disease,” said Jones, who is 34 and now acollege student in California.

The lawsuit filed on Kaplan’s behalf, though,does not go after the websites for posting thephotos. Instead, it accuses the sites of violating

Ohio’s publicity rights law by wrongfully usingpeople’s images for commercial purposes.Ciolek, the lawyer, said he’s fielded more than 20calls a day from people interested in joining thesuit since filing it last December.

A separate suit by a Sicklerville, New Jersey,man, Daryoush Taha, filed in US District Court inPhiladelphia in December, charges that officialsin Bucks County, Pennsylvania, failed to removea 1998 mug shot taken after police intervened ina parking lot dispute between Taha and his girl-friend. Taha accepted placement into a programcalled Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition andafter completing community service in 2000 hisrecord was automatically expunged. But hisphoto remained on the jail website and in 2011was republished by mugshots.com.

“Listen, the whole purpose behind havingyour records expunged is to give you a secondopportunity when you make a mistake,” saidAlan Denenberg, the lawyer for Taha in the suitagainst police, other agencies and the website.But Denenberg said that while he had servedthe suit on a Delaware firm that registeredmugshots.com as a limited liability corporationin the state, he has no idea who owns the web-site or where it operates.

The mugshots.com site says it is owned byOpenbare Dienst Internationale LLC - a namewhose first two words are Dutch for “public serv-ice” - and lists an address in Nevis that belongsto a different corporate registration agent.People who want to remove their arrest photosare directed to a link for a partner, UnpublishLLC, which lists the address of yet another regis-tration agent, in the south American country ofBelize. A phone number for Unpublish, listed onits Internet domain paperwork, rings to a fourthregistry agent, also in Belize.

Epstein, who says he handles some publicrelations functions for the site as well as provid-ing legal counsel, would not provide details ofits ownership or location and a message left forthe operator with one of the Belize agents wasnot returned. “We know we’re going to be talkeddown. We understand it. Nobody likes metermaids, nobody likes traffic tickets and nobodylikes mug shots, but we operate legally and inthe realm of what we do, totally accurately,”Epstein said. A competitor, mugshotsworld.com,lists an address in Russia, with a number on itsregistration paperwork that rings to a faxmachine. D’Antonio, who said he started just-mugshots.com while working as chief technolo-gy officer of a Minneapolis web marketing com-pany and recently relocated to a Nevada city hewould not identify, was otherwise forthcoming.He said he started the site after a friend asked forhelp manipulating web searches to “push down”a mug shot from his arrest on an alcohol-relatedcharge. D’Antonio said that, in the process ofdoing so, he looked into the law covering mugshots, discovered they were public informationand realized that, with his computer skills, thatpresented a business opportunity.

But he acknowledges that publishing thephotos and charging people to take them downcontradicts the sentiment of helping his friend.He said he has tried to act responsibly by remov-ing photos at no cost for those who can show allcharges have been dismissed, they were foundnot guilty, were under 18 at the time or for thosewho have since died. “Then it becomes a balanc-ing act and it’s a very, very tough line to walkand one that we absolutely take very seriously,but there’s very little black and white to it,”D’Antonio said. He said he expects the businessof aggregating and publishing largely over-looked public records to evolve rapidly, andthinks eventually his company could partnerwith local governments, doing work now han-dled by the agencies while offering them a newsource of revenue.

Some of the mug shot sites list numerousaffiliated sites, often breaking down arrests bystate. Bruce, the Georgia legislator, said calls tonumbers listed on some sites were answered bywhat sounded like the same person, promptingconcerns that a payment to erase a photo fromone site might prompt the same photo to turnup on another. But Epstein, the Florida lawyer,said the site he represents is “not Whackamole-y.You don’t hit the head down in one portion ofthe arcade game and it pops up somewhereelse. That’s not our model at all.”

The new Georgia law attempts to curb thefor-profit mug shot sites, requiring them toremove photos at no charge for those who werearrested in the state and can prove charges aredismissed, an idea that site operator D’Antoniosaid he supports. But the legislator acknowl-edges the law’s protections are limited in scopeand its effectiveness will become clear onlywhen it is tested in court. Some of those whosearrest photos have turned up online, though, seelittle recourse for their frustration. —AP

SAN JOSE, California: When high schoolfootball coach Kevin Bella needs an intense,heart-to-heart with a player, he goes homeand sits on his couch. That’s because Bella,who is deaf, communicates with his hearingplayers most clearly with a new technologythat brings a live sign language interpreterto his television screen. The player, on aphone elsewhere, hears the interpreter givevoice to Bella’s signs. “It’s a huge improve-ment over typing messages back and forth,”said Bella, a defensive coordinator at MissionSan Jose High School in Fremont, Calif. “Thisallows me to work with hearing players,because there’s a lot in my language thathas to do with expressions. The meaning islost if sign language is reduced to writtentext.”

Bella is among a rising number of dis-abled people who are increasingly able tofind and keep jobs, as well as engage morebroadly in their communities, because ofnew technologies specifically aimed at help-ing them better communicate or completetasks. The past few years have seen a num-ber of technological breakthroughs target-ing disabled consumers. Apple, for example,is incorporating technologies such as voicerecognition and screen readers, which cansynthesize text into speech, into all of theirproducts, rather than offering them as add-ons.

Applications such as GoTalk NOW andTapSpeak Sequence allow users to combinetext, pictures and symbols with audio pro-grams that put voice to thoughts and ideas.Someone who can’t speak clearly can toucha picture of a hand, then a book, and thetablet will say: “Please pass me the book.”Blind people can take notes using voice-recognition programs, and listen to emailsor “read” a website with screen readers.People with attention deficit disorder canuse apps that remind them to stay focusedby announcing appointments with lightsand sounds. And those with spinal cordinjuries share tips on forums such as appare-lyzed.com for how to go hands-free on digi-tal tablets using mouth sticks like thosemounted on wheelchairs. “High-techadvances are starting to help level the play-ing field, opening the door for so many peo-ple,” said Therese Willkomm of the Instituteon Disability at the University of NewHampshire.

Kathleen Martinez, an assistant secretaryat the US Department of Labor overseeingdisability employment policy, said theseadvances have translated into higher num-bers of disabled people being able to landjobs. “In the professional careers, technologyhas helped increase the employment rateimmensely. It’s actually allowed us to partici-pate in office careers more than ever before,”said Martinez, who has been blind sincebirth.

The unemployment rate last year was13.4 percent for the 28 million Americanswho are deaf, blind or have serious physical,mental or emotional conditions, comparedwith a 7.9 percent rate for people without

disabilities. But a Labor Department surveyreleased earlier this month showed that thenumber of employed disabled adultsjumped close to 4 percent over the past twoyears, more than the 3 percent gains amongnondisabled people.

Meanwhile, unemployment rates amongthe disabled dropped 1.6 points in a year, abigger decrease than what was seen amongable-bodied workers. Another factor in theincreasing job rates is that baby boomersare retiring later, and today half of the peo-ple working over age 65 have a disability,said John D Kemp, president of the disabilityadvocate nonprofit The Viscardi Center.“Many people have aged into a disabilityand are in denial,” said Kemp. “But they can’thear as well, can’t see as well, and they’reusing an immense number of assistivedevices aimed at retaining valued employ-ees.”

The technological advances are a hugeupgrade over older, disability-specific clunkydevices. Swedish firm Tobii, for example, hasdeveloped eye-tracking programs thatmake it possible for people who can’t usetheir hands to navigate on computers.Instead of moving a mouse, users look into abox that uses a camera and infrared light totrack what they’re looking at when theyblink, triggering a cursor to move. AndGoogle Glass - a tiny eyeglasses-mounteddevice capable of shooting photos, filmingvideo and surfing the Internet - has a built-incamera and voice-command capability,meaning disabled wearers could read whatpeople are saying to them or control wheel-chairs with their gaze or voices. The US mar-ket for assistive technologies is projected togrow from $39.5 billion in 2010 to $55 bil-lion in 2016, according to analysts at marketforecasters BCC Research. And in the pastfew years, large high-tech firms, includingFacebook, have added teams focused exclu-sively on how disabled clients can use theirproducts. “Most organizations want to bringtheir technology and experiences to asmany people as possible, so it makes senseto address this,” said Jeffrey Wieland, whobecame Facebook’s project manager ofaccessibility a year ago. The company haseven brought visually impaired users to itscampus in Menlo Park, California, to workwith accessibility engineers.

Earlier this month, Rocklin, California-based Purple Communications nationallyrolled out a new, upgraded videophone thatallows deaf people to communicate usingVideo Relay Service on high-definition tele-visions. A live sign language interpreterworks remotely to convey messages in real-time via video and audio feeds that transmitinto landline phones, cellphones or tablets.This is Bella’s system, which includes fea-tures such as lights that flash when some-one calls him. Bella, who was born deaf andwhose mother and father are both deaf,remembers as a child his parents having togo to a neighbor’s house with a note toaccomplish tasks such as making a doctor’sappointment. —AFP

DUBAI: RSA, The Security Division ofEMC, has introduced the next iteration ofRSA Silver Tail web threat detection solu-tion designed to help organizations bet-ter visualize website activity in order toidentify normal behavior from that of thepotentially malicious. With the ability toquickly separate the activities of friendfrom foe, security and fraud teams caninvestigate and mitigate web session andmobile applications threats in real time.

Designed to ensure that organizationshave the tools to identify more threatsfaster and investigate them much moreefficiently, the RSA Silver Tail solutionadds new one-click incident manage-ment capabilities and an intelligent userinterface to help organizations gain bet-ter visibility into activities on their web-site across millions of concurrent userweb sessions. Additionally, withStreaming Analytics and click-by-clickthreat scoring, RSA Silver Tail 4.0 technol-ogy is built to leverage the power of BigData to identify threats, malicious trafficand revealing behavior trends that couldnot otherwise be detected by analyzingthe details of web session logs alone. Asa result, organizations may be able toexperience a reduction in both direct andindirect costs associated with fraud, secu-rity and other disruptive uses of websitesincluding account takeover, passwordguessing, distributed denial-of-service,

site scraping and business logic abusessuch as exploitation of shopping cartfunctionality or online rebates.

The new features of the RSA Silver Tail solution include:

l Streaming Analytics - RSA Silver Tailtechnology is designed to offer click-by-click threat scoring that supports moreintelligent, risk-based behavioral threatdiscovery and results in faster detectionand mitigation of web threats.Streaming Analytics is engineered toemploy proprietary in-memory analyticstechnology for real-time detection of thelatest generation of complex attacks onweb sites.

l Incidents Functionality - Designed toboth allow for faster and easier threatdetection and provide additional contextto help teams understand the causes ofthe threat for a more efficient investiga-tion.

l Intelligent User Interface - Built toadapt to the way security and fraudteams work. The new UI is designed tobring in Big Data visualization capabili-ties that include highly interactive fea-tures to help simplify and prioritize threatdetection and investigation. Prioritizedlists of suspicious IPs, users, web pageand web session data helps allows inves-tigators to quickly identify and investi-gate threats.

Don’t want mug shot online? Then pay up

Arrest records considered to be public information

High-tech gains getting disabled into workforce

RSA enlists real-time big data analytics

Christopher Jones

Phillip Kaplan

PHOENIX: (Left) An uninsured patient, who asked not to be identified, waits for the doctor at Wesley health Center in downtown.(Right) Dr Stephanie Briney listens to a heartbeat of an unidentified 5-year-old, uninsured patient.—AP photos

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

NEW YORK: In this photo provided by Katrin Amunts, Karl Zilles, Alan C Evans,researchers use a microtome to cut sections from a brain preserved in paraffinwax into slivers 20-micrometers thick, resulting in over 7,400 slices.—AP

JAKARTA: Fires in Indonesia that havecloaked Singapore in record levels of smoghighlight the continued failure of efforts toprevent illegal slash-and-burn land clearancein a country with a history of chaotic forestmanagement, activists say. The blazes on hun-dreds of hectares (acres) of carbon-rich peat-land on Sumatra Island have sent vast palls ofacrid smoke drifting over Singapore, shroud-ing residential blocks and downtown sky-scrapers. While forest and peat blazes causedby illegal slash-and-burn clearances inIndonesia are an annual problem in the dryseason and frequently cloud Singapore’s skies,this year the levels of haze have hit recordhighs.

Singapore has been badly affected due to acombination of factors-the blazes are cen-tered in Riau province, just west of the island,they are underground in peatland and there-fore hard to extinguish, and the wind is blow-ing the smoke over the city-state. The acridsmoke began enveloping Singapore earlierthis week, but there was a glimmer of hopefor residents on Saturday as the thick smoggave way to a spell of blue skies and smoke-free air. The crisis has brought more negativepublicity for big palm oil companiesIndonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian-which deforest vast swathes of Sumatra,although the companies insist they have strict“no burn” policies.

They have been accused of starting manyof the fires to clear land through the practiceof slash-and-burn, which is illegal but still fre-quently used because it is the quickest andcheapest way of preparing land for planta-tions. Clearing land with fires is far cheaperthan using bulldozers or excavators. Whileenvironmental groups have been leading thecharge against the companies, they say suchproblems would not occur so frequently ifIndonesia properly enforced laws that banslash-and-burn clearances.

Legislation has not been properly imple-mented due to gaps in capacity, such as a lackof field officers, said Anwar Purwoto, forestprogram director for WWF Indonesia. “Weneed high political commitment followed bypolitical will from central down to local gov-ernment,” he told AFP. An Lambrechts, a forestcampaigner with Greenpeace, added: “Thecauses that underlie these fires are agricul-

ture, expansion and expansion of plantations.”But she said it was down to the government“to impose its own legislation much morestrongly-these fires are illegal”.

However, senior forestry ministry officialHadi Daryanto told AFP stopping such fireswas “not simply about law enforcement”. “Wecannot determine whether this is related toeconomic, social, environmental or politicalproblems,” he said, pointing to the fact that itwas not simply big companies setting vastswathes of virgin forest alight to turn a quickprofit, but that small landowners were alsosetting fires. WWF’s Purwoto said many of thefire hotspots in Riau were actually on landowned by local communities rather than bigcompanies.

“Both communities and private companiesshould be responsible for addressing the

problem,” he said. The failure to tackle slash-and-burn clearances is part of a bigger pictureof the notoriously difficult challengeIndonesia faces in trying to protect itsswathes of rainforest. The vast archipelagosprawls over more than 17,000 islands, andpower is heavily decentralized, making landmanagement very chaotic. While the govern-ment has made progress, notably with a

moratorium on new permits for logging pri-mary forest, it is still difficult to keep track ofwhat is happening on the ground and whomight be breaking the rules.

The corruption that is endemic inIndonesia is also present when it comes to theforestry sector and the granting of conces-sions. A stark illustration that points to prob-lems in Riau itself is the fact that theprovince’s governor has been arrested by cor-ruption investigators-and one of the allega-tions he faces relates to the issuance of log-ging permits. Some companies that havebeen accused, such as Asia Pulp and Paper(APP), have insisted they do not carry outslash-and-burn clearances.

“We do not practice, and highly condemnthe slash and burn activity for its detrimentalimpact to the environment and the rain-

forests,” the company said in a statement.While activists believe the government needsto enforce existing laws more strongly, eventhey recognize the difficulties for an emergingcountry such as Indonesia.”Indonesia is ayoung democracy, so it is in the process offinding out how decentralization can work inthe best possible way,” said Greenpeace’sLambrechts.—AFP

Indonesia fires highlightfailure to tackle slash-and-burn

NEW YORK: Look up in the sky for asuper sight: the biggest and brightest fullmoon of the year. The so-called super-moon appeared 14 percent larger thannormal early yesterday as our celestialneighbor swings closer to Earth.

Some viewers may think the super-

moon looks more dazzling, but it’s actu-ally an optical illusion. The moon loomslarger on the horizon next to trees andbuildings. The moon will come within222,000 miles of Earth and turn fullaround 7:30 am EDT, making it the besttime to view.—AP

Supermoon loomsbright in night sky

SINGAPORE: Elderly women display their N95 face mask after collecting at the com-munity centre for the low income.—AFP

FLORIDA: (Left) A super moon sets behind the top of one of the minarets atthe University of Tampa yesterday, in Tampa. (Right) A statue of the AngelMoroni on top a Latter-day Saints temple is silhouetted against the risingmoon Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Kansas City.—AP

BEIJING: A rare giant panda has given birthto twins in China, the first pair of theendangered species born in the world thisyear, conservation workers told state mediayesterday. They were born to a pandanamed Haizi at the Wolong Nature Reservein China’s southwest Sichuan province onSaturday evening, according to the Xinhuanews agency. The first cub arrived at 4:54pm (0954 GMT) and the second 10 minuteslater, said workers at the ChinaConservation and Research Centre for theGiant Panda on the reserve.

The mother is still holding the first cub

in her arms so staff has been unable toweigh it or determine its gender. But theysaid it should be healthy, given its size andthe sounds it has been making. The secondcub is a female and weighs 79.2 grams (justunder three ounces), the staff said, accord-ing to Xinhua.

Haizi became pregnant after matingwith males Bai Yang and Yi Bao in Marchmost giant pandas are not good breederswhen in captivity. Fewer than 1,600 pandasremain in the wild, mainly in Sichuan, witharound 300 in captivity around the world,the majority in China.—AFP

Giant panda gives birth to twins in China

PHOENIX: President Barack Obamahas championed two sweepingpolicy changes that could trans-form how people live in the UnitedStates: affordable health care for alland a path to citizenship for the 11million immigrants illegally in thecountry. But many immigrants willhave to wait more than a decade toqualify for health care benefitsunder the proposed immigrationoverhaul being debated byCongress, ensuring a huge swath ofpeople will remain uninsured as thecenterpiece of Obama’s health carelaw launches next year. Lawmakerspushing the immigration bill saidadding more recipients to analready costly benefit would makeit unaffordable.

Health care analysts and immi-gration proponents argue thatdenying coverage will saddle localgovernments with the burden ofuninsured immigrants. They alsofear a crisis down the road as immi-grants become eligible for cover-age, but are older, sicker andrequire more expensive care. Thoseplaced on provisional status wouldbecome the nation’s second-largestpopulation of uninsured, or about25 percent, according to a 2012study by the Urban Institute. “Allhealth research shows that the old-er you get, the sicker you become,so these people will be sicker andwill be more expensive on the sys-tem,” said Matthew O’Brien, whoruns a health clinic for immigrantsin Philadelphia and researcheshealth trends at Temple University.

The Affordable Care Act willmake health insurance accessiblefor millions of uninsured peoplestarting in January through taxpay-er-subsidized private policies formiddle-class families and expand-ed access to Medicaid, the programfor low-income people funded byfederal and state dollars. The pro-

posed immigration overhaul explic-itly states immigrants cannotreceive Medicaid or receive thehealth subsidies for more than adecade after they qualify for legalstatus, and only after certain finan-cial and security requirements havebeen met. Immigrants with provi-sional status may obtain insurancethrough employers, but many areunskilled and undereducated, andtend to work low-wage jobs atsmall businesses that don’t have toprovide the benefit under thehealth care law.

Immigrants illegally in the coun-try also can access communityhealth centers, but the officials whorun those clinics said they are over-whelmed by the demand. “We can’thelp everybody,” said Bethy Mathis,executive director of WesleyCommunity Center in Phoenix. Theclinic serves 7,000 patients a yearwho seek everything from vaccina-tions and relief from minor medicalproblems to care for long-termhealth conditions such as diabetes.Debate over whether immigrantsillegally in the country should beeligible for federal benefits nearlysank Obama’s health care reformbefore it was passed by Congress in2010. For lawmakers pushing immi-gration reform, there was no ques-tion that immigrants would contin-ue to be excluded.

“That’s one of the privileges ofcitizenship,” said Republican SenJohn McCain, one of the so-calledGang of Eight pushing the immi-gration bill, during a conferencecall with reporters. “That’s just whatit is. I don’t know why we wouldwant to provide Obamacare tosomeone who is not a citizen of thiscountry.” The issue has receivedmore attention in recent weeks.Some House Republicans havethreatened to kill the immigrationbill unless immigrants are required

to pay for all their health care costseven after they gain legal status.Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer,meanwhile, said she wants the gov-ernment to distribute at least $250million to state and local govern-ments because they are the oneswho will feel the financial pain ofimmigrants being left out of thehealth care law.

Pregnant women, children, sen-iors and the disabled are eligible foremergency Medicaid servicesregardless of their immigration sta-tus. The politics behind the bill offerlittle solace to immigrant familiesstruggling with growing medicalbills. Isabel Castillo came to the USillegally with her parents when shewas a child. She’s now 28 and hasnot gone for an annual physicalexam since 2007.

Every pain triggers debate overwhether it’s worth a medical visit ornot. “You are like, ‘God, should I go,should I wait? The bill is going to beso high,’” Castillo said. “You just waituntil you can’t tolerate the painanymore and then you go to theemergency room.”

Immigrants who are US citizensare also affected by the limits onhealth care access if they providefor family members here illegally.High school student JacquelineGarcia of Phoenix works two jobs tosupport her 13-year-old brotherand 52-year-old grandmother, whohas severe diabetes. The woman’smobility is limited, her vision andmemory are fading and she some-times suffers from seizures. Thechildren were born in the UnitedStates and are being raised by thegrandmother, who does not havelawful status and as a result doesnot qualify for Medicaid.

“Every time she gets sick, I haveto take her to the doctor. It’s reallyexpensive,” Garcia said. “What if mygrandmother doesn’t make it for

the 10 years? I mean, I am alwaysgoing to be struggling. That’s toolong.” Opponents said they under-stand the concerns of immigrantsnot getting health care, but itbecomes an issue of the addedexpense. “We aren’t saying peopleshouldn’t get health care. The ques-tion is who is going to pay for it?”said Ira Mehlman, spokesman forthe Federation for AmericanImmigration Reform, a nationalgroup that opposes the immigra-tion overhaul. “They would all beon Medicaid or heavily subsidizedin some other way.”

Critics of the decision said immi-grants are eager to pay for afford-able health care insurance andalready support federal benefits bypaying sales and income taxes.They note that adults unable toovercome health emergencies areless likely to contribute to the work-force and society. “The risk of thembeing uninsured if they are in thecountry illegally is the same risk ofanyone else in the country notbeing insured,” said StephenZuckerman, a health economist forthe Urban Institute. “It ’s alwaysmore expensive to treat people at amore advanced stage of disease.”

In North Carolina, JessicaSanchez-Rodriguez said she hasundergone a series of surgeries andmedicines to treat her spina bifida,a developmental congenital disor-der, and an ailment that leads tobrain swelling. Her parents broughther illegally from Mexico when shewas 11 months old.

As a minor, she received subsi-dized medical care, but she was cutoff when she turned 18 in February.Her family is trying to raise moneyfor a $55,000 surgery to connect acatheter to her bladder. “It’s terri-ble,” Sanchez-Rodriguez said. “Ihave to go to school with thesepains.”—AP

Some immigrants excludedfrom health care overhaul

NEW YORK: Scientists have a new brainatlas to help them study their favoriteorgan. It ’s a digital, three-dimensionalmodel called “BigBrain.” Its resolution is fin-er than a human hair, so it can reveal clus-ters of brain cells and even some large indi-vidual cells. It is being made available toscientists around the world. To make theatlas, researchers sliced a cadaver brainfrom a 65-year-old woman into 7,400 thinsections, stained them to reveal tiny fea-tures, and photographed each one. Thenthey used computers to combine the datainto a 3-D digital model.

The idea of thin-slicing a brain to studyits anatomy is not new. In fact, complete

bodies of a man and a woman were slicedand photographed about 20 years ago tocreate an anatomy reference called theVisible Human Project. For the new brain-mapping project, the researchers chose thewoman’s brain for no special reason otherthan it was basically healthy, said KatrinAmunts of Heinrich Heine UniversityDuesseldorf in Germany.

She is lead author of a report on theatlas published Thursday in the journalScience. Scientists have begun mappingdata from other brain studies onto the newmodel to gain new insights, said seniorauthor Karl Zilles of the Juelich AachenResearch Alliance in Juelich, Germany.—AP

ATLANTA: People with serious egg aller-gies may no longer have to worry about flushots. A federal advisory panel on Thursdaysaid a new vaccine that’s made withouteggs is an option for adults with severeallergies. Current flu shots are made fromviruses grown in eggs and could triggerallergic reactions in some cases.

The new Flublok vaccine is made with

cell technology, which is used for otherkinds of vaccines. It was licensed in Januaryby Protein Sciences Corp. Officials don’tknow how many Americans skip flu shotsbecause they’re allergic to eggs. About 1 in66 children have egg allergies, thoughmost kids outgrow them. The new vaccineis not an option for kids. So far it’s licensedonly for adults ages 18 to 49.—AP

Severe egg allergy? There’snow a flu shot for you

BEIJING: Three Chinese astronauts on thecountry’s longest manned space mission yes-terday succeeded in manually docking theirspacecraft with a module orbiting Earth, statemedia said. Docking techniques are a crucialelement of China’s space program, whichaims to build a station orbiting the planet by2020. The Shenzhou-10 — “Divine Vessel”-was piloted by mission commander NieHaisheng, assisted by astronauts ZhangXiaoguang and Wang Yaping, China’s secondwoman in space, according to the Xinhuanews agency. An automated docking wasalready successfully completed with theTiangong-1 . “Heavenly Palace”-module twodays after the spacecraft was launched on

June 11 from the Gobi Desert, enabling thecrew to board. The astronauts-who will carryout medical and space technology experi-ments as part of the mission-manually sepa-rated the Shenzhou-10 yesterday morning inorder to perform the new manoeuvre. Theywill spend 15 days in orbit as part of a multi-billion-dollar space program seen by Beijingas a symbol of its growing global stature andtechnical expertise.

China first sent a human into space in2003 and its capabilities still lag behind theUnited States and Russia. It carried out its firstdocking using an unmanned spacecraft inNovember 2011, and completed a manualdocking last year.—AFP

Chinese astronauts manually dock spacecraft

Digital 3-D atlas of brainreveals tiny details

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

LOS ANGELES: A decade ago, theRosebud Sioux Indians in South Dakotawere paying people to catch and shootwild dogs. Dogs that weren’t caughtwere covered in mange and parasites.Some froze. Some starved. In packs, theysurvived by eating each other. And dogbites were 20 times worse than thenational average. Because animals aresuch an important part of Indian historyand culture, tribal leaders called spayand neuter expert Ruth Steinberger. Inthe next eight years, they workedtogether to sterilize 7,000 dogs, moving1,500 of them to other parts of Americafor adoption.

Many US tribes still rely on roundupsto manage dog overpopulation, but twotribes in the West are going to take partin an experiment this fall using shots ofa different kind. Veterinarians plan tocatch and inject 300 wild female dogswith a birth control vaccine that hasworked on white-tailed deer, wild hors-es, wallabies and ferrets. The two-yeartest using the government vaccineGonaCon is scheduled to begin inSeptember on two isolated Indian reser-vations in the West, said Steinberger, theproject manager. Reservation officialsasked not to be identified until the studyis further along.

The $60,000 contraceptive study willbe conducted by the US Department ofAgriculture’s National Wildlife ResearchCenter and Spay First, Steinberger’sOklahoma-based organization working

to reduce dog overpopulation in chroni-cally poor places around the world.Right now, the dogs are getting scrapsfrom people who don’t want to seethem die - but the litters keep coming.Steinberger, 56, said she learned a longtime ago she could do more to help ani-mals by preventing litters rather thanrescuing them. Her work at Rosebud isgenerally considered a textbook exam-ple for ending overpopulation.

“The reservation is a better place. ...This is easier to explain in Lakota than inEnglish, but dogs are a part of our lives.They have been in the past, and they willbe in the future. To be able to take careof them is so important,” explained BelvaBlack Lance, a Rosebud Sioux communi-ty advocate who helps with the dog pro-gram. In the GonaCon test, dogs will becaught, microchipped, tattooed, col-lared, injected and released, she said.After a year, researchers will round up asmany as they can and do blood tests tomeasure reaction to the vaccine,Steinberger said.

The hardest part of the study mightbe that roundup, said Dr. Jeffrey Young,founder of Planned Pethood Plus, anoth-er group working globally to end animaloverpopulation. He is not involved in thestudy, but has worked with Steinbergeron other projects and is familiar withgovernment-made GonaCon.

“A lot of the animals will die, disap-pear, get shot, poisoned or hit by a car,”he explained. “Dogs on reservations

have a higher death rate than normaldogs in society,” he said, noting that wilddogs in poor areas live an average 3.2years. The average American dog lives10 to 12 years, varying by breed andsize. Depending on who’s counting,there are more than half a billion feraldogs around the world, Steinberger andYoung said.

There are an estimated 6 million feraldogs in the United States, Steinbergeradded. Tens of thousands of people dieof rabies in developing nations eachyear - and 95 percent of the cases arecaused by dog bites, she said. Spay andneuter surgeries are out of the questionin such regions so researchers have beenlooking for a fast, effective and humanevaccine. The perfect blend would be acombination of sterilization and rabiesvaccines, Young said.

“It would be a major game changer,”Young said. Rabies kills up to 40,000people a year in India alone. If he had hisway, Young would forego the tests. “It’sbeen tested. They need to get it outthere. It should be spread around likecandy in India and Mexico,” he said.GonaCon has worked as long as six yearsin some of the wild animals tested.Booster shots were given to others toextend sterilization, Steinberger said. Itwas never tested on a large number ofdogs because no one stepped up to footthe bill. Petco Foundation donatedabout half the money for the study.

“Animals are the reason Petco is in

business. We are always looking for waysto make their lives better and help withthe tragedy of overpopulation,” saidfoundation executive director Paul Jolly.Steinberger brought together the tribes,researchers, donors and volunteers.GonaCon can’t be used on domesticpets, Steinberger emphasized. The Foodand Drug Administration would require

about a decade of testing and thatwould cost between $16 million and $20million, Young said. Young, who oper-ates a low-cost clinic in Denver, has per-formed over 165,000 (mostly spay andneuter) surgeries, more than anyoneelse on the planet, he said. “I would lovefor something to put me out of thatbusiness,” he said.—AP

Dog birth control shots could limit populations

COLOMBO: A minority Sri Lankan Tamil poses with a placard as others par-ticipate in a demonstration against tobacco and alcohol in the capitalColombo yesterday. The protest coincided with a key Buddhist holidaywhich marks the introduction of Buddhism to the island centuries ago.—AFP

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W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

Announcement

Issue of online visa by Indian embassy

Foreigners requiring visas for India need toapply it online from 16th June 2013. Applicantsmay log on to the Public portal at www.indian-

visaonline.gov.in. After successful online submis-sion, the hard copy, so generated, has to be signedby the applicant and submitted with supportingdocuments in accordance with the type of visa alongwith the applicable fee in cash at any of the two out-source centres at Sharq or Fahaheel. It is essentialthat applicants fill in their personal details as exactlyavailable in their passports. Mismatch of any of thepersonal details would lead to non-acceptance ofthe application. Fees once paid are non-refundable.All children would have to obtain separate visa ontheir respective passports.

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 program

Monday: ** 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

IMAX

KNES celebrates pre-school graduation and KG concert

The very little ones from Kuwait National English School Pre-school and foundation stage one (KG) performed demonstrating a lot of artistic talent in front of theirenthusiastic parents. Spirit, songs, dances were there to make the graduation of the youngest pupils at Kuwait National English School a big success!Congratulations to parents and staff!

Poetry Associationholds special meeting

‘Valaikuda Vaanam Paddi Poet Association’ held itsmonthly meeting on June 14 at Saravana BhavanRestaurant. On this occasion, Saravana Bhavan

Director Anandi Natarajan’s birthday was also celebrated. Theprogram was very well organized by Pattukottai Sathya. Theguest of honor was Anandhi Natarajan. Raman Ponni and SRamesh, Rajesh, Sivashankar, Kavesai Sagar, Ravana,Kallaimani, Vijayasagar and Sathya recited poems. SingersRani Mohan, Chellamal, Kengeshwaran and Sathiya also ren-dered melodious songs. Santhakumar and Madurai Madhi,the members of Yoga Association, delivered a thought-pro-voking speech. Raja, Tamil Selvan, Barathi and Arun alsospoke on the occasion. Thathuvamasi and Eishwari speciallyflew from India to grace the occasion. The event concluded asSenpummaria Sethu and various other guests conveyed theirbest wishes to Anandhi Natarajan on his birthday.

The Graphic Design Department at the AmericanUniversity of Kuwait cordially invites you to attenda special lecture and exhibition entitled ‘Jorge

Montero in Kuwait’, which will be presented by VisitingProfessor Jorge Montero and will take place on June 24,2013, from 2-3pm in the AUK auditorium.

Professor Montero is the 2013 Summer VisitingProfessor for AUK’s Art and Graphic Design Department.He is a Venezuelan artist, illustrator and graphic design-er from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)where he has been a professor for 10 years. He is also aneditorial cartoonist in both Venezuela and the UnitedStates, and has been a guest lecturer in China, Germany,South Africa, the Czech Republic, Spain, Cuba, ElSalvador and Venezuela. He exhibits his “VenezuelanAbstract Expressionist” work around the world.

During the exhibition, Professor Montero will discusshis work, techniques and experiences in the field of artand graphic design. His work will be on display in theauditorium, as will the work of some of his most accom-plished design students. The public is also invited toattend the lecture and the exhibition.

Visiting Prof JorgeMontero to lectureand exhibit at AUK

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 24, 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]

The Kuwait Kerala MuslimAssociation (KKMA), the largestorganization of Indian nationals

living in Kuwait, held a special publicawareness seminar on ‘defensive drivingawareness (DDA)’ on June 21 at IndianCommunity School. The seminar wasconducted under the guidance ofMinistry of Interior in association withAmerican Society of Safety Engineers(ASSE) Kuwait Chapter.

After the formal introduction by com-peer of the evening SM Basheer, theprogram started with recitation ofQuran. The guests of the evening IndianAmbassador Satish C Mehta, LieutenantColonel Harbi Abdulla Al-Shumiaan,Lieutenant Colonel Nawaf Al-Hayyan,Chief Area Commander AbdullaBahman, Public Prosecutor Hussein AbuShalfa, Captain Abdul Mohsen Ali,Abdullah Al-Otaibi- In-charge of SalmiyaTraffic Department, Fadel Al-Ali-Chairman ASSE Kuwait Chapter,Vasudevan N, President ASSE KuwaitChapter, Prakash Nair, Farhad Kjan,Ashok Kalra and other dignitaries wereinvited to the dais and honored withbouquets.

After the welcome speech by KKMAPresident Abdul FatahThayyil, KKMAChairman Sageer Trikaripur deliveredthe opening remarks. AmbassadorMehta launched the program symboli-cally by operating a remote control tostart the presentation. He also spokeregarding the present crackdown onillegal’s and the support of Kuwait gov-

ernment and Indian embassy to Indiansthrough help lines. A memento wasreceived by Lieutenant Colonel NawafAl-Hayyan on behalf of Major GeneralAbdul Fattah Al Ali. He also released safedriver pledge tag which was distributedto the audience.

After the felicitation speech by FadelAl Ali, a presentation on ‘Road Safety’was presented by Vasudevan N-President ASSE Kuwait Chapter.Presentation on ‘Traffic Awareness’ byLieutenant Colonel Harbi Abdulla AlShumiaan really brought confidence inaudience which had a vast informationon eligibility for driving license, trafficrules and morals, movement rules,

crossovers and passing priorities, trafficoffences and penalties. He thanked theIndian community in Kuwait as they arevery good followers of traffic rules andvery good in using Kuwait roads. Heasked everyone to respect traffic rulesand to be safe. He mentioned thatKuwait government welcomes any num-ber of expatriates provided they enterlegally and respect the rules of Kuwait.He said Kuwait respects expatriates asthey helped to build Kuwait. He alsoasked not to respond to any rumors andto contact concerned authorities inembassy or traffic department in case ofwrong identification of offenses.

A question and answer session led by

Lieutenant Colonel Harbi Abdulla Al-Shumiaan and Lieutenant ColonelNawaf Al-Hayyan was responded by ahuge number of questions which indi-cated the success of seminar.

Mementoes were awarded to ASSEand their trainers Farhad Kjan andPrakash Nair. The program came to anend with vote of thanks by HamzaPayannur- organizing secretary ofKKMA. Earlier in the day Defensive driv-ing Awareness training for drivers wasconducted which was attended byabout 220 drivers who were also award-ed certificates. The program was wellcompeered by SM Basheer.

KKMA seminar clears doubts on traffic rules

ME’s firstWACS master

chef launches‘100 Lahma’

Fatafeat TV celebrity and Meat & LivestockAustralia MENA’s corporate chef Tarek Ibrahimis the first Arab chef to be nominated and

receive the coveted status of Master Chef from theWorld Association of Chef Societies (WACS). The titleof Master Chef is given to professional chefs who cre-ate innovative dishes of exceptional quality, pushboundaries with creative concepts and hold a repu-tation for culinary excellence.

Chef Tarek comments:“There are very few chefs who gain Master Chef

status and it’s such a fantastic honour to receive thisaccreditation as an Arab chef and gain internationalrecognition for my cuisine. I hope to inspire the newgeneration of professional Arab chefs to go on togreater achievements and with my new show ‘100Lahma’ on Fatafeat TV impart my experience andknowledge to give home cooks more confidence inthe kitchen.”

Chef Tarek’s new Fatafeat TV show ‘100 Lahma’(100 Meat) showcases the very best of lamb and beefdishes and will have English subtitles. The show cov-ers 100 delicious and nutritious halal meat recipesincluding culinary delights such as roast shoulder oflamb with garlic, beef wellington and Moroccanlamb tagine. The first show will air at 13:00 (KSA) onthe 24th June and will run for 60 days. ‘100 Lahma’will run three times per day and highlights includechef Tarek’s lessons on preparation, use of differentcuts and halal integrity.

Leading hotel group MarriottInternational and AmericanExpress Middle East have joint-

ly announced the launch of a sum-mer promotion campaign thatoffers American ExpressCardmembers exclusive benefits at88 Marriott properties across theMiddle East, Africa, Europe and AsiaMarriott throughout the duration ofthe summer.

Under the terms of the cam-paign, American ExpressCardmembers wishing to exploretourist destinations across theMiddle East, Africa, Asia and Europewill be eligible for three nights stayfor the price of two, at any Marriotthotel participating in the promo-tion. Additionally, Cardmemberscan avail complimentary and unlim-ited internet access, 20 percent offon hotel food and beverages, andcomplimentary food for childrenunder 12. The promotion also offerscomplementary access to pools andgym facilities as well as savings of20 percent on spa treatments ormassages.

The three-month ‘Be Free withMarriott and American Express’campaign runs from June 14 toSeptember 13, 2013, and is availableon bookings made with all

American Express Cards, includingConsumer and Corporate Cardsacross the global network.

“American Express Middle East iscommitted to providing outstand-ing service, benefits and worldwidecustomer care to our Cardmembers,and the brand has become synony-mous with travel, rewards andaccess,” said Usman Arif - VP,MerchantPartnership, AmericanExpress.”Our 2013 SummerPromotion is an extension of thisethos, and will enable manyCardmembers across the MiddleEast to get more from their holiday,whether they stay in the region orventure further afield. We arepleased to partner with MarriottInternational this summer to offerCardmembers exclusive benefitsthat not only enrich their lifestylesbut also showcase AmericanExpress cards as a preferred pay-ment option.”

Mark Satterfield, Chief OperatingOfficer, Marriott InternationalMiddle East & Africa, commentedtoday, “Marriott customers aresavvy, enjoy luxury and appreciategreat value. We have 43 propertiesin the region, and our businesscould never succeed without thethousands of loyal customers we

regularly welcome back to ourhotels across the Middle East andAfrica. We continuously look foropportunities to allow our guestscontinued enjoyment of our worldclass locations, food, beverages andservice for a little less. We aredelighted to be working withAmerican Express Middle East to dojust that.”

The summer promotion willenable American Express MiddleEast Cardmembers to avail theguest and hospitality facilities at atotal of 88 hotels from MarriottInternational’s portfolio of discern-ing brands including, JW MarriottHotels, Renaissance Hotels, MarriottHotels & Resorts, Courtyard byMarriott, Residence Inn by Marriottand Marriott Executive Apartments.Located across the UAE, Jordan,Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrainand Oman, 23 of these hotels arelocated in the Middle East, and willencourage inbound travellers to theregion. Others include seven inAfrica - Egypt and Algeria; 45 in Asia- Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou andShanghai in China and Hong Kong;and 13 in Europe - Belgium, France,Portugal (Lisbon) and Greece(Athens).

Marriott International teams up withAmerican Express Middle East this summer

T V PR O G R A M SMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

ARCTIC BLAST OSN ACTION HD

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN ON OSN MOVIES HD

14:35 Border Security15:05 Auction Hunters15:30 Auction Kings16:00 Robson Green’s ExtremeFishing Challenge16:55 Heroes Of Hell’s Highway17:50 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 Divers01:10 Alaska: The Last Frontier

14:50 Delta Divers15:45 Reign Of The Dinosaurs16:40 Great Planes17:35 Mystery Cars18:00 Mystery Cars18:25 I Shouldn’t Be Alive19:20 Empire20:10 Living With The Kombai Tribe21:05 What The Ancients Knew22:00 Empire22:55 Legend Detectives23:50 Most Evil00:45 Mystery Cars01:10 Mystery Cars01:35 Empire

14:20 Kitchen Chemistry14:45 Kitchen Chemistry15:10 Thunder Races16:00 Nextworld16:55 Mega World17:45 Alien Storms18:35 The Gadget Show19:00 How Tech Works19:30 X-Machines20:20 Mega World21:10 Food Factory21:35 Food Factory22:00 X-Machines22:50 Stuck With Hackett23:15 Stuck With Hackett23:40 Food Factory00:05 Food Factory00:30 How Do They Do It?01:00 Mega World01:50 Stuck With Hackett

14:00 Pawn Stars14:30 Pawn Stars15:00 Pawn Stars15:30 Pawn Stars16:00 Pawn Stars16:30 Pawn Stars17:00 Pawn Stars17:30 Pawn Stars18:00 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?19:00 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 Guy02:00 Louie02:30 Girls

05:15 A Kind Of Magic05:35 A Kind Of Magic06:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse06:30 Doc McStuffins06:45 A.N.T. Farm07:10 A.N.T. Farm07:35 Jessie07:55 Jessie08:20 Shake It Up08:45 Shake It Up09:05 Austin And Ally09:30 Austin And Ally09:55 Good Luck Charlie10:15 Radio Rebel11:40 Prankstars11:50 Jessie12:15 Austin And Ally12:35 Austin And Ally13:00 Shake It Up13:25 Shake It Up13:45 The Adventures Of DisneyFairies14:10 The Adventures Of DisneyFairies14:35 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 Gravity Falls18:55 Gravity Falls19:20 A.N.T Farm19:40 A.N.T Farm20:05 A.N.T. Farm

20:30 Shake It Up20:50 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 Montana Forever00:20 Hannah Montana Forever00:45 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 Ice Loves Coco18:00 E! News19:00 THS20:00 Married To Jonas20:30 Married To Jonas21:00 Playing With Fire22:00 Playing With Fire23:00 E!es23:30 E!es00:00 Scouted00:55 Style Star01:25 E!es

03:45 Vacation Vacation Vacation04:05 Bargain Hunt04:55 Design Rules05:20 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 Vacation Vacation Vacation12:25 Come Dine With Me13:15 Bargain Hunt14:00 Cash In The Attic14:45 Antiques Roadshow15:40 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition17:00 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent17:55 Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery18:25 Planet Cake18:55 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 Store11:10 Charly’s Cake Angels11:35 Unique Sweets12:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes

12:50 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 Blackthorn-PG1505:00 Mary & Martha-PG1507:00 Rising Stars-PG1509:00 Judy Moody And The NotBummer Summer-PG11:00 Mary & Martha-PG1513:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG15:00 Flower Girl-PG1517:00 Judy Moody And The NotBummer Summer-PG19:00 My Week With Marilyn-PG1521:00 Harry Potter And The DeathlyHallows Pt.2-PG1523:15 A Dangerous Method-1801:00 The Debt-18

09:00 33 Postcards-PG1511:00 The Lucky One-PG1513:00 Ties That Bind-PG1515:00 Planet Ocean-PG1517:00 A Fall From Grace-PG1519:00 Return-PG1521:00 Violet & Daisy-1823:00 Werewolf: The Beast AmongUs-1801:00 A Fall From Grace-PG15

00:00 International Rugby Union02:00 Trans World Sport03:00 AFL Premiership05:30 ICC Cricket 36006:00 Futbol Mundial06:30 Total Rugby07:00 Golfing World08:00 Trans World Sport09:00 World Cup Of Pool10:00 World Cup Of Pool11:00 IRB Junior WorldChampionship13:00 IRB Junior WorldChampionship15:00 Golfing World16:00 AFL Premiership18:30 Futbol Mundial19:00 World Cup Of Pool20:00 Champions Tour22:00 Trans World Sport23:00 Golfing World

04:00 The New Daughter-PG1506:00 True Justice: Violence OfAction-PG1508:00 Arctic Blast-PG1510:00 Batman: The Dark KnightReturns Part One-PG1512:00 True Justice: Angel Of Death-PG1514:00 Arctic Blast-PG1516:00 Burden Of Evil-PG1518:00 True Justice: Angel Of Death-PG1520:00 Imago Mortis-PG1522:00 Piranha 3DD-R00:00 End Of Days-1802:15 Imago Mortis-PG15

08:00 Monte Carlo-PG1510:00 Lying To Be Perfect-PG1512:00 Ernest Goes To Jail-PG1514:00 Raising Arizona-PG1516:00 Lying To Be Perfect-PG1518:00 Beethoven-FAM20:00 Superbad-1822:00 Slums Of Beverly Hills-1800:00 The Angel’s Share-PG1502:00 Superbad-18

09:00 Paws-PG10:45 The Evening Star-PG1513:00 Mutum-PG1515:00 Paws-PG16:45 A Kiss At Midnight-PG1518:30 Moneyball-PG1520:45 Biutiful-1823:15 Schindler’s List-1801:30 Dead Again-PG15

01:00 ICC Cricket 36001:30 PGA European Tour06:00 Trans World Sport07:00 NRL Premiership09:00 IRB Junior WorldChampionship11:00 Trans World Sport12:00 Live NRL Premiership14:00 ICC Cricket 36014:30 British & Irish Lions16:30 IRB Junior WorldChampionship18:30 NRL Premiership20:30 Futbol Mundial21:00 ICC Cricket 36021:45 Live Super League

04:00 A View From Here-PG1506:00 According To Greta-PG1508:00 Brave-PG10:00 A Better Life-PG1512:00 Men In Black 3-PG14:00 Deadly Hope-PG1516:00 Brave-PG18:00 The Big Year-PG20:00 The Ides Of March-PG1522:00 Prometheus-PG1500:15 A Better Life-PG1502:00 Brave-PG

01:00 UFC04:00 WWE Experience05:00 NHL07:00 WWE Bottom Line08:00 WWE Experience09:00 Ping Pong World10:00 US Bass Fishing11:00 NHL13:00 Mass Participation14:00 Motor Sports 201314:30 Motor Sports 201315:30 WWE Smackdown17:30 Mobil 1 The Grid18:00 UAE National Race Day Series19:00 UFC Prelims21:00 UFC

Two years ago this weekend, Philippine-bornjournalist Jose Antonio Vargas came out pub-licly in the New York Times as an undocument-

ed American, a term he prefers to the loaded phrase“illegal immigrant.” He was 12 years old in 1993when his young mother put him on a flight inManila to be raised by his grandparents inCalifornia, in the hope he could live the Americandream to the fullest. What happened since thatTimes essay is the subject of “Documented,” written,produced and directed by Vargas, 32, which got itsworld premiere Friday at the American FilmInstitute’s AFI Docs festival.

“I’m still undocumented,” said Vargas, whoshared a Pulitzer prize for breaking news when hewas a reporter at the Washington Post, where onlyone trusted editor knew of his 24-7 dread of gettingcaught and deported. “I’m a reporter at heart. I goby facts. But at the same time, I also live this,” hetold AFP in a telephone interview Friday. “It’s beenvery interesting going around the country, talkingto people who think they know what this (debate)is about, but really don’t. Our lives are up againsttremendous amounts of misinformation and a lot ofignorance.”

The timing of “Documented” couldn’t be betterfor the outgoing and outspoken Vargas, a regularguest on TV news and talk shows who also runs awebsite, DefineAmerican.com, which tackles immi-gration issues.

Congress is grappling with root-and-branch leg-islation that would beef up security along the vastUS-Mexican border in return for the regularizationof the status of what American bureaucrats oftencall “illegal aliens.”

At the same time, President Barack Obama’sadministration has been deporting illegal immi-grants at a furious pace: nearly 1.59 million duringhis first four years in office alone, according to theUS Department of Homeland Security. Many of the11 million undocumented persons in the UnitedStates-including 1.3 million from Asia, 800,000 fromSouth America and 300,000 from Europe-have fin-

gers crossed for the best-case outcome: full US citi-zenship.

More than two years in the making,“Documented” was originally supposed to focus onthe youthful citizenship activists known asDREAMers, but it grew to cover Vargas’s own adven-tures taking his story to average Americans. In aMichael Moore moment at a Mitt Romney presiden-tial campaign event in Iowa, Vargas turns up with asign declaring his undocumented status to theRepublican hopeful’s hardcore conservative fans.One white middle-aged couple boasts how theirdaughter-in-law had legally immigrated fromBritain-adding, with no sign of irony, how a helpfulUS senator greased the notoriously long and com-plicated process.

But the emotional highlight comes whenVargas goes on Skype to reconnect with his mother,Emelie Salinas, who lives outside Manila. Together,over a dodgy Internet connection, they discuss hisplight and how it came to be. For now, Vargas can-not go to the Philippines to visit her because he hasno US passport-and thus no guarantee he will beallowed back into the country where he has builthis life and made his name. She, in turn, cannottravel to the United States to see him, because get-ting a tourist visa is next to impossible for Filipinosand others from developing countries. She hasalready tried and been denied.

“Can you imagine?” Vargas told AFP. “I haveseen more of my mother in three months editingthis film than I have in 20 years.” In the long run,Vargas-who got a standing ovation at Friday’s pre-miere from friends, relatives and former Post col-leagues-hopes “Documented” can help reshape adebate that dwells obsessively on border security. “Iwould argue that immigration is the most contro-versial, yet least understood issue in America,” hesaid. “The question I (often) get asked is, ‘Why don’tyou just make yourself legal?’ There isn’t a processfor somebody like me to get legal. People don’tunderstand the process and the issue is so com-plex.” — AFP

Film reveals life in US for undocumented immigrants

00:00 Trans World Sport01:00 NRL Premiership03:00 IRB Junior Championship

05:00 IRB Junior Championship07:00 PGA Tour 12:00 Live Champions Tour14:00 Trans World Sport15:00 Super League17:00 Futbol Mundial17:30 ICC Cricket 36018:00 PGA Tour Highlights19:00 PGA European TourHighlights20:00 AFL Premiership Highlights21:00 British and Irish Lions Tour23:00 Futbol Mundial23:30 ICC Cricket 360

Steve Carell, a cast member in “Despicable Me 2,” poses alongside minion characters from the film at the Americanpremiere of the film at Universal Citywalk on Saturday in Universal City, Calif. — AP

ClassifiedsMONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

SHARQIA-1

WORLD WAR Z (DIG) 1:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 3:45 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 6:15 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 8:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 10:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2

THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 12:45 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 2:30 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 4:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 7:00 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 9:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG-3D) 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3

TATTAH (DIG) 2:00 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 4:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 9:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-1

MAN OF STEEL (DIG) 1:30 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 4:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 7:00 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 9:30 PM

MUHALAB-2

WORLD WAR Z (DIG) 1:30 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 3:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 5:45 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 8:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-3

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 1:00 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 3:30 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 5:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 9:45 PM

FANAR-1

WORLD WAR Z (DIG) 12:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 3:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 5:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 8:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 10:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 1:00 AM

FANAR-2

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG) 1:00 PM

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG) 3:15 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG) 5:30 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 7:45 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 10:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:45 AM

FANAR-3

LAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 1:45 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 3:45 PMNOW YOU SEE ME (DIG) 5:45 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 8:00 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 10:00 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 12:05 AM

MARINA-1

LAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 1:30 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 3:30 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 6:00 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 8:00 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 10:30 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 12:45 AM

MARINA-2

WORLD WAR Z (DIG) 12:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 2:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 5:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 7:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 10:00 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 12:15 AMNO SUN+ TUE+WED

MARINA-3

THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 1:30 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 1:15 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 3:30 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 5:15 PMTATTAH (DIG) 7:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 9:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1

LAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 1:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 3:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 5:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 7:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 9:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 11:15 PMLAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) 1:15 AM

AVENUES-2

SCENARIO (DIG) 2:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 4:45 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 7:15 PM

SCENARIO (DIG) 9:45 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 12:15 AM

AVENUES-3

WORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 1:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 4:15 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 6:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 9:15 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 11:45 PM

360º- 1

WORLD WAR Z (DIG) 12:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 3:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 5:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 8:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 10:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG) 1:00 AM

360º- 2

SCENARIO (DIG) 1:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 3:45 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 6:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 8:45 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 11:15 PM

360º- 3

THE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 1:00 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 3:00 PMTHE LEGEND OF SARILA (DIG-3D) 5:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 7:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 9:30 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.1

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 1:15 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 3:30 PMMONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 5:45 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 8:00 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 10:15 PMWORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.2

TATTAH (DIG) 12:45 PMTATTAH (DIG) 3:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 5:15 PMSCENARIO (DIG) 7:30 PMTATTAH (DIG) 10:00 PMTATTAH (DIG) 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.3

MAN OF STEEL (DIG) 1:00 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 3:45 PMMAN OF STEEL (DIG) 6:30 PM

Kuwait KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (20/06/2013 TO 26/06/2013)

TUITION

Fajr: 03:14

Shorook 04:50

Duhr: 11:50

Asr: 15:24

Maghrib: 18:51

Isha: 20:23

Prayer timings

No: 15849

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Monday 24/6/2013

Airlines Flt Route Time QTR 148 DOHA 00:05RJA 644 AMMAN 00:30JZR 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 02:50QTR 6130 DOHA 01:50FDB 67 DUBAI 03:10RJA 642 AMMAN 03:10RBG 555 ALEXANDRIA 03:15MSR 612 CAIRO 03:15QTR 138 DOHA 03:30THY 770 ISTANBUL 04:35DHX 170 BAHRAIN 05:10FDB 69 DUBAI 05:50BAW 157 LONDON 06:30KAC 206 ISLAMABAD 07:25KAC 412 MANILA 06:15JZR 555 ALEXANDRIA 06:20JZR 1541 CAIRO 06:25JZR 529 ASSIUT 06:40FDB 53 DUBAI 07:45UAE 855 DUBAI 08:25ABY 125 SHARJAH 08:50QTR 132 DOHA 09:00FDB 55 DUBAI 09:15ETD 301 ABU DHABI 09:30IRA 3407 MASHAD 10:35GFA 213 BAHRAIN 10:40IRC 6521 LAMERD 10:50MEA 404 BEIRUT 10:55MSC 403 ASSIUT 11:30UAE 871 DUBAI 12:45MSR 610 CAIRO 13:00KNE 480 TAIF 13:20QTR 140 DOHA 13:45FDB 57 DUBAI 13:50MPH 93 AMSTERDAM 13:55MEA 406 BEIRUT 09:45KAC 344 CHENNAI 09:35KAC 284 DHAKA 08:15KAC 302 MUMBAI 07:50KAC 352 COCHIN 09:55KAC 672 DUBAI 13:40JZR 1543 CAIRO 08:20JZR 503 LUXOR 07:40JZR 561 SOHAG 12:00JZR 241 AMMAN 12:35JZR 165 DUBAI 11:35SVA 500 JEDDAH 14:30KNE 472 JEDDAH 14:35

OMA 645 MUSCAT 14:40RJA 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 19:35FDB 61 DUBAI 20:00OMA 647 MUSCAT 20:00ABY 129 SHARJAH 20:05MEA 402 BEIRUT 20:15MSR 618 ALEXANDRIA 20:30AXB 489 COCHIN 20:35MSC 401 ALEXANDRIA 21:00ALK 229 COLOMBO 21:10UAE 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 22:55FDB 8053 DUBAI 21:30KAC 118 NEW YORK 16:00KAC 788 JEDDAH 15:00KAC 786 JEDDAH 18:30KAC 742 DAMMAM 19:30KAC 542 CAIRO 18:15KAC 546 ALEXANDRIA 14:15KAC 804 CAIRO 16:40KAC 104 LONDON 18:45KAC 674 DUBAI 19:25KAC 774 RIYADH 19:25KAC 618 DOHA 19:10JZR 535 CAIRO 16:10JZR 777 JEDDAH 17:50JZR 177 DUBAI 17:30JZR 189 DUBAI 20:10JZR 239 AMMAN 22:30JZR 185 DUBAI 22:40DLH 636 FRANKFURT 23:10PIA 205 LAHORE 23:15JAI 574 MUMBAI 23:20MSR 614 CAIRO 23:30KLM 411 AMSTERDAM 23:40THY 772 ISTANBUL 23:45JZR 135 BAHRAIN 23:00

Departure Flights on Monday 24/6/2013

Airlines Flt Route Time

AIC 982 AHMEDABAD 00:05JAI 573 MUMBAI 00:20UAL 981 WASHINGTON 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 02:45RJA 645 AMMAN 03:05AFG 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 07:00THY 771 ISTANBUL 07:10JZR 240 AMMAN 07:10KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 07:20JZR 164 DUBAI 07:25BAW 156 LONDON 08:25FDB 54 DUBAI 08:25JZR 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 10:00KAC 803 CAIRO 10:05ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:15MEA 407 BEIRUT 10:45GFA 214 BAHRAIN 11:25KAC 541 CAIRO 11:30IRA 3406 MASHHAD 11:35KAC 165 ROME 11:45IRC 6522 LAMERD 11:50MEA 405 BEIRUT 11:55JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:25KAC 103 LONDON 12:30MSC 406 SOHAG 12:30KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:00JZR 176 DUBAI 13:20MSR 611 CAIRO 14:00KNE 481 TAIF 14:10

UAE 872 DUBAI 14:15FDB 58 DUBAI 14:30QTR 141 DOHA 14:55KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05MPH 93 AL MAKTOUM 15:25KNE 473 JEDDAH 15:30OMA 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 18:40NIA 252 ALEXANDRIA 19:00QTR 145 DOHA 19:25FDB 64 DUBAI 19:35GFA 220 BAHRAIN 19:50JZR 134 BAHRAIN 20:05MSC 404 ASSIUT 20:15KAC 283 DHAKA 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

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24-6-2013

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Eshfak EsmailbhaiHuseiny, holder of passportNo. H2611280 havechanged my name toMustafa EsmailbhaiHuseiny. (C 4445)

24-6-2013

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ARIESYou appear perhaps more charming and refined than usual today.

Intuitive insights are important for you at this time. Dive in and try your hand at whatev-er challenges your imagination. Any attempt to avoid confronting life at the personallevel is bound to frustration. Your goals and ambitions may lead you to ignore questionsof vulnerability. You can win an adversary over to your way of thinking, through logicand understanding. After you first reach out your hand to help others—it becomes fun.This may encourage you to pour a lot of energy into those around you. Do not go toofast too soon, you could become exhausted and lose interest. Your home and surround-

ings reflect your desire to have a well-run life. Tonight is for romance.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

You may decide to gather and update picture albums, club news, sal-vaging and preserving what is good and healthy in your experience. You begin to caremore for your health and nutrition. The idea here is that you are able to analyze yourexperiences and keep those things that are pure. You respond to the needs of otherstoday and are quick to jump in where others never even see that help is needed. You arecommitted to join in the process of making things work. Relationships are so importantto you that you do not see any difficulty that cannot be helped or made better. Marriageis a meaningful contract to you and tonight there is a celebration with old friends whohave long-lasting marriages. You are rewarded for your caring ways.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Your most basic quality has to do with the very real love and compassionyou radiate. Your sense of value and sheer appreciation for life are com-

municated to all who come to know you. Beyond whatever external considerations maybe present, you exude a contagious thankfulness and fondness for things and people.Your family becomes all-important to you and the networking between loved ones andthe support you give each other are things you may devote much time to on days likethis. These loving qualities are experienced as a very real good. You may have a tenden-cy to avoid sensitive subjects, but you would be wise to give an ear to someone’s com-plaint today. Understanding through another viewpoint is very important.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

There is the possibility of new visions or sudden insights into your self-image or into your ideals and dreams. Keeping a dream diary may bring

some interesting insights. This is a time to reshape and renew your philosophy or reli-gion, during which your imagination can be at full tilt. There are breakthroughs in com-passion and communion. This could be a good time for intense soul-searching, duringwhich you examine your ideals and goals with an eye to separating the wheat from thechaff. You could take an interest in world unity and a more communal type of existence.There is a search for pure ideals and pure vision. Relationships get a boost this evening,whether they are business, personal or social.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your natural ability to grasp spiritual and visionary matters comes intoplay at this time. You can perform with the imagination and metaphysical thoughts as oth-ers work with durable things. This is because you understand what is behind and connect-ing things. Much of your own self-image is wrapped up with your ability to work withimages—dreams and the imagination. You may even enjoy teaching music or philosophy.You could be guiding young people today. Your feelings are expressed through youraction and reaction to others and life—build upon the positive. Your intuition is strongand can guide you accurately in making forecasts or decisions. There may be a desire to

change your physical makeup—muscle toning, etc. Consider walking or sports.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

A strong devotional nature becomes apparent to anyone who takes timeto know the real you. Today is a great time to be with friends and loved ones. Your posi-tive attitude lets you get right to the point, but you display little patience with thosewho are not organized; careful. Be patient with young people just now. You have plentyof enthusiasm and warm up to things and people quickly. You have an inner self-confi-dence that burns with its own light. You enjoy an overall improvement in health andattitude today. Daily meditation can help you maintain this balance and energy. If youhave not learned any particular meditation technique, it may be a wise move to findone soon—it can be beneficial for your peace of mind and healthy body.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

You are very conservative when it comes to your personal appearanceand communications with others. However, once you are motivated you

could communicate with anyone. You tend to know your subject matter and can bringyour ideas to others in a language that will work on many levels. You probably do notwaste words. Your spiritual group may call upon you to speak to others. You have theability to ground and make spiritual ideas a practical matter, bringing them down toearth and into everyday life. You have great discipline when it comes to working withspirituality and unity. You grasp the principles that bind things together; you are adown-to-earth type of person with a high degree of motivation when it comes to givingand to personal sacrifice.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You have great discipline when it comes to working with spirituality andunity—whatever binds or links all of us together. You would be able to teach and showothers these realms. This is a time when you can expect a little boost, some sort of extrasupport or recognition from those around you. You may feel that you are in touch and inharmony with others; the lines of communication are open now and the support youneed is there. Others may find you especially witty and a bit eccentric this afternoon.You may have insights or breakthroughs regarding your living situation or life circum-stances. You may want to decorate or paint. Others value you for your independence

and unique qualities. You may appear very at ease and relaxed.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

The morning could be a time when everything around you seems to bechanging. You may feel challenged by others, or by circumstances.

Working through problems acted out with others or combining group ideas for a solu-tion may be the order of the morning. Discussing whatever changes need to be madenow will help improve situations and allow others input. It may be time to create somenew traditions. Family ties are stronger where there are rituals or social events to lookforward to and plan. Also you will create ways to set aside special times for visiting witheach member of your family. This is the time to make room for listening. This is a reward-

ing day; friends are more open and family members seem to draw closer.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Take a little trip, or get outside today. You may want to break that routineand try something new or different right now. You may discover insights

into day-to-day problems that will be of great value later. You are very much a creatureof habit and habitat. An encircling network of friends and relationships is crucial to yoursuccess or lack thereof. You are nourished in great measure by the atmosphere and con-ditions you are able to set up for yourself. You are most satisfied today as you accom-plish your chores and improve your surroundings, perhaps by cleaning or working withplants and perhaps, animals. The good life—all that is fine and luxurious—may be whatyou value just now. You enjoy making your own way.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Decisions made now may have to be rethought later; take your time withwhat you think is the answer to whatever question may arise at this time. You are aheavy-duty thinker and serious student—now, however, is time for a break—fun! Thismay mean a family or neighborhood get-together or simply a walk in the park with aloved one. You pour a lot of energy into those around you. Your home and surroundingsreflect this as well. When it comes to teaching or coaching, you are a natural. An activesocial life is beginning for you now. You will soon find that all those volunteer hours, aswell as your help with young people, create the desire for others to express their appre-

ciation. This may happen through dinners, presentations or a phone call.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

You may have some interesting conversations with someone that has afirm political viewpoint. You experience life mostly through your emotions and how youfeel about someone or something. Your intuition is strong, however, and can guide youaccurately as you make decisions. Your sensitivity makes you retreat from aggressivetypes. You know and understand more than you let on and others may experiencegrowth through simply answering your penetrating questions or by asking you ques-tions. There is obviously a great gift for sensing the truth of any matter. You find goodresults with children when you help them to see the importance of structure andresponsibilities. Good communication can be enjoyed with all.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 230

ACROSS1. (informal) Informed about the latesttrends.4. Scale insects.12. Give a nickname to.15. Goddess of criminal rashness and its pun-ishment.16. Consisting of or covered with oil.17. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.18. A nucleic acid consisting of large mole-cules shaped like a double helix.19. (medicine) Of or relating to abnormalneuromuscular activity characterized by rap-idly alternating muscle contraction and relax-ation.20. An analytic or interpretive literary compo-sition.22. Tree of the West Indies and northernSouth America bearing succulent edibleorange-sized fruit.24. Small buffalo of the Celebes having smallstraight horns.25. A Loloish language.28. According to the Old Testament he was apagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel(9th century BC).31. A compartment in front of a motor vehi-cle where driver sits.32. A member of a North American Indianpeople of the Klamath river valley in north-ern California.36. A member of an agricultural people ofsouthern India.37. A highly unstable radioactive element(the heaviest of the halogen series).40. Type genus of the Ranidae.41. Any of various strong liquors distilledfrom the fermented sap of toddy palms orfrom fermented molasses.42. United States writer of poems and playsabout racial conflict (born in 1934).45. Sweet pulpy tropical fruit with thick scalyrind and shiny black seeds.46. An informal term for a father.48. (especially of promises or contracts) Notviolated or disregarded.50. The portion of the vertebrate nervoussystem consisting of the brain and spinalcord.51. A colorless and odorless inert gas.54. The condition of having no arms.56. A colorless odorless gaseous elementthat give a red glow in a vacuum tube.57. The Uralic language spoken by theYeniseian people.59. An officer who acts as military assistant toa more senior officer.60. A silvery malleable metallic element thatresists corrosion.62. (informal) Of the highest quality.64. Alternatively, a member of the familyNymphaeaceae.71. Of or relating to Oman or its people.72. Any of several plants of the genusAchillea native to Europe and having smallwhite flowers in flat-topped flower heads.74. A potent estrogen used in medicine andin feed for livestock and poultry.75. A town in southeastern New Mexico onthe Pecos River near the Mexican border.78. The bureau of the Treasury Departmentresponsible for tax collections.79. Used of a single unit or thing.80. Loss of hair (especially on the head) orwool or feathers.81. Towards the side away from the wind.

DOWN1. A pilgrimage to Mecca.2. An inactive volcano in Sicily.3. Small beads made from polished shellsand formerly used as money by nativeAmericans.4. A South American shrub whose leaves arechewed by natives of the Andes.5. A slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiablesubstance not miscible with water.6. A waste pipe that carries away sewage orsurface water.7. Of a vivid red to reddish-orange color.8. The craniometric point that is the mostprominent point at the back of the head (atthe occipital protuberance).9. A period of 10 years.10. A very poisonous metallic element thathas three allotropic forms.11. The compass point midway between eastand southeast.12. A piece of furniture with a writing surfaceand usually drawers or other compartments.13. A state in the western United States.14. Common Indian weaverbird.21. A winged often one-seed indehiscentfruit as of the ash or elm or maple.23. A member of a Turkic people ofUzbekistan and neighboring areas.26. Someone who works (or provides work-ers) during a strike.27. A monarchy in northwestern Europeoccupying most of the British Isles.29. The capital and largest city of Zimbabwe.30. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.33. Farm consisting of a large tract of landalong with facilities needed to raise livestock(especially cattle).34. Genus of European subshrubs or herbshaving pink or purple or yellow solitary orclustered flowers.35. A resident of Kansas.38. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.39. An island (part of Campania) in the Bay ofNaples in southern Italy.43. The sister of your father or mother.44. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked ona skewer usually with vegetables.47. Low stingless nettle of Central and SouthAmerica having velvety brownish-greentoothed leaves and clusters of small greenflowers.49. Freetail bats.52. Argentine soldier who became presidentof Argentina (1895-1974).53. English writer and a central member ofthe Fabian Society (1858-1943).55. Of or like a cecum.58. A state in north central United States.61. Lower in esteem.63. (Sumerian) God of the air and king of theSumerian gods.65. A primeval personification of air andbreath.66. A rounded thickly curled hairdo.67. Tear down so as to make flat with theground.68. Of or relating to or characteristic ofThailand of its people.69. Wrap us in a cerecloth, as of a corpse.70. Freedom from difficulty or hardship oreffort.73. Counting the number of white and redblood cells and the number of platelets in 1cubic millimeter of blood.76. A silvery ductile metallic element foundprimarily in bauxite.77. A long-playing phonograph record.

Yesterday’s Solution



Word Search

34s ta rs

Daily SuDoku

informat ionMONDAY, JUNE 24, 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

Ophthalmologists

Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444

Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222

Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171

Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999

Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700

Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223

Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)

Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510

Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660

Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478

Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996

Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988

Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General Practitioners

Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123

Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312

Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920

Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465

Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528

Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781

Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

Urologists

Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534

Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955

Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660

Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120

Dr. 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

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272

Dr. Salem soso 22618787

General Surgeons

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Paediatricians

Dr. Khaled Hamadi 25665898

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard 25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar 22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof 25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare 23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar,

FRCS (Canada) 25655535

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer 22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan 22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash 22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan 25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari 25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 25345875

Gastrologists

Dr. Sami Aman 22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali 22633135

Endocrinologist

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924

Physiotherapists & VD

Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart

DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid

MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC

Assistant Professor Of Medicine

Head, Division of Cardiology

Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555

MD, PH.D, FACC

Inaya German Medical Center

Te: 2575077

Fax: 25723123

Soor Center

Tel: 2290-1677

Fax: 2290 1688

[email protected]

www.soorcenter.com

Psychologists

/Psychotherapists

PRIVATE CLINICS

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677

Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kaizen center

25716707

Afghanistan 0093Albania 00355Algeria 00213Andorra 00376Angola 00244Anguilla 001264Antiga 001268Argentina 0054Armenia 00374Australia 0061Austria 0043Bahamas 001242Bahrain 00973Bangladesh 00880Barbados 001246Belarus 00375Belgium 0032Belize 00501Benin 00229Bermuda 001441Bhutan 00975Bolivia 00591Bosnia 00387Botswana 00267Brazil 0055Brunei 00673Bulgaria 00359Burkina 00226Burundi 00257Cambodia 00855Cameroon 00237Canada 001Cape Verde 00238Cayman Islands 001345Central African 00236Chad 00235Chile 0056China 0086Colombia 0057Comoros 00269Congo 00242Cook Islands 00682Costa Rica 00506Croatia 00385Cuba 0053Cyprus 00357Cyprus (Northern) 0090392Czech Republic 00420Denmark 0045Diego Garcia 00246Djibouti 00253Dominica 001767Dominican Republic 001809Ecuador 00593Egypt 0020El Salvador 00503England (UK) 0044Equatorial Guinea 00240Eritrea 00291Estonia 00372Ethiopia 00251Falkland Islands 00500Faroe Islands 00298Fiji 00679Finland 00358France 0033French Guiana 00594French Polynesia 00689Gabon 00241Gambia 00220Georgia 00995Germany 0049Ghana 00233Gibraltar 00350Greece 0030Greenland 00299Grenada 001473Guadeloupe 00590Guam 001671Guatemala 00502Guinea 00224Guyana 00592Haiti 00509Holland (Netherlands) 0031Honduras 00504Hong Kong 00852Hungary 0036Ibiza (Spain) 0034Iceland 00354India 0091Indian Ocean 00873Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098Iraq 00964Ireland 00353Italy 0039Ivory Coast 00225Jamaica 001876Japan 0081Jordan 00962Kazakhstan 007Kenya 00254Kiribati 00686Kuwait 00965Kyrgyzstan 00996Laos 00856Latvia 00371Lebanon 00961Liberia 00231Libya 00218Lithuania 00370Luxembourg 00352Macau 00853Macedonia 00389Madagascar 00261Majorca 0034Malawi 00265Malaysia 0060Maldives 00960Mali 00223Malta 00356Marshall Islands 00692Martinique 00596Mauritania 00222Mauritius 00230Mayotte 00269Mexico 0052Micronesia 00691Moldova 00373Monaco 00377Mongolia 00976Montserrat 001664Morocco 00212Mozambique 00258Myanmar (Burma) 0095Namibia 00264Nepal 00977Netherlands (Holland)0031Netherlands Antilles 00599New Caledonia 00687New Zealand 0064Nicaragua 00505Nigar 00227Nigeria 00234Niue 00683Norfolk Island 00672Northern Ireland (UK)0044North Korea 00850Norway 0047Oman 00968Pakistan 0092Palau 00680Panama 00507Papua New Guinea 00675Paraguay 00595Peru 0051Philippines 0063Poland 0048Portugal 00351Puerto Rico 001787Qatar 00974Romania 0040Russian Federation 007Rwanda 00250Saint Helena 00290Saint Kitts 001869Saint Lucia 001758Saint Pierre 00508Saint Vincent 001784Samoa US 00684Samoa West 00685San Marino 00378Sao Tone 00239Saudi Arabia 00966Scotland (UK) 0044Senegal 00221Seychelles 00284Sierra Leone 00232Singapore 0065Slovakia 00421Slovenia 00386Solomon Islands 00677

INTERNATIONAL

CALLS


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TrussardiSpring-Summer2014 Menswearcollection

Models wear creations ofVivienne Westwood men’s Spring-Summer2014 collection, part ofthe Milan Fashion Week,unveiled in Milan, Italy,yesterday. —AP/AFP pho-tos


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Models display creationsas part of Bottega VenetaSpring-Summer 2014Menswear collection yes-terday during the fashionweek in Milan.


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Law student Aminata Kande stepped outin a $25 blue wax print dress to watchlanky models storm a makeshift runway

wearing pieces that cost ten times thatamount. Dakar Fashion Week, an 11-year-oldinstitution birthed in the posh hotels of thisWest African culture hub, took its act toGuediawaye, one of the most downtroddenneighborhoods of this seafacing capital. Whileorganizer Adama Ndiaye affectionatelydescribed the area as “the ‘hood,” the northernsuburb has repeatedly been the scene of vio-lent riots over problems ranging from powercuts to seasonal flooding in this nation thatconsistently ranks in the bottom tier on globaldevelopment reports.

The show was part of a six-day event fea-turing 18 designers, seven from Senegal andothers from as far away as Germany and Brazil.Shows were scheduled to be held in three dif-ferent locations throughout Dakar. Ndiaye saidshe hoped staging a show in a working-classsuburb would make high fashion as accessibleto students like Kande as it is for the wealthy.“It is very important to show that beautifulthings are not only for rich people,” saidNdiaye, who shows under the name AdamaParis. She said that the clothes she displayedin Guediawaye were of the same quality —and cost — as those that were to be featuredlater in the weekend at a luxury seaside hotel.

“I want this neighborhood to see what wehave, and if it’s a gown for 1,000 euros, thenwho cares? You don’t have to be rich to likeDior,” she said while prepping the staging areabehind the runway, which was assembled on asandy clearing normally used as a market-

place. But a show in the suburbs is not exactlylike a show downtown. Senegalese designerRamsen, who specializes in dark, loose dressesadorned with foot-long feathers and otherunusual accents, said she left some of herpricier pieces at home both to accommodatethe crowd and to protect her more delicatecreations.

“This is the suburbs, so people don’t havethe same financial means,” she said. “Also, asyou can see, there is a lot of sand out here.”The runway scene was also far rowdier thanshows in the capital, Dakar. Thousands ofSenegalese, who don’t necessarily work infashion, were vocal about their opinions. Theycheered lustily at a leggy model wearing hotpink shorts by German designer KathrinHuschka, and dozens of men jostled for betterviews from parked minivans on a road over-looking the runway. The loudest reactionswere reserved for the more famous models,especially actress Diarra Thiam, who wasgreeted to rapturous chants of her nickname,“Lissa.”

The presenter later brought her out toblow kisses to the crowd, which nearly top-pled the control barrier on one side of the T-shaped runway. For designer Tapha Fall, theshow was a kind of homecoming. As a boygrowing up in Guediawaye, he developed alove for clothes while helping out his father, atailor. He said the decision to stage a show in

the suburb would expose residents to globaltrends they might not otherwise encounter.“The people here already have their own style-urban, a mix of American and French,” he said.“But now they will see what’s going on in therest of the world.”

But Yannick Minko, an assistant toLebanese designer Enzo Itzaky, said designerscould look to Guediawaye for inspiration.“Style begins in the street,” he said. “You lookat designers in America, they are getting theirinspiration from the Bronx, from Brooklyn. Sowhy can’t it be the same here in Senegal?”After the show, law student Kande suggestedthat inspiration might come full circle. Thoughmany of the items were outside her budget,

she said she had snapped a few photos ofdresses she might want to wear. And as iscommon in Dakar, she said she planned totake advantage of cheap labor to add someapproximations of the outfits to her wardrobe.“I’ll see if maybe my tailor can make them,” shesaid. — AP

DakarFashion Week targets city’s working class

Models weardesigns by ElieKuame ofLebanon andIvory Coast asthey wait to walkthe runway atHotel desAlmadies, inDakar, Senegal,Saturday.—AP photos

Models wear designs by Evgheni Hudorojcov of Moldova.

Models wear designs by EvgheniHudorojcov of Moldova.

Designer Meryem Boussikouk, center right, of Morocco, walks with models wearing hercreations.

Models wear creations by Senegalesedesigner Mame Fagueye Ba.


l if e s t y l eT R A V E L

UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization) is currently holding its37th annual session in Phnom Penh. Yesterday it

completed an update of new sites to be added the WorldHeritage List.

Below are the main decisions: Mount Etna (Italy)The tallest active volcano on the European continent at

3,300 meters (10,900 feet).Mount Fuji (Japan)Fujisan, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 meters

(12,460 feet), is one of the country’s most recognizablesights and an object of pilgrimage and artistic inspiration.

Agadez (Niger)The 15th century town of Agadez was a crossroads for

the trans-Saharan caravan trade. It is home to the tallestminaret ever built out of mudbrick.

El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar BiosphereReserve (Mexico)

Inhospitable desert area home to more than 540 speciesof plants, 44 mammals, more than 200 species of birds andover 40 reptiles.

Tajikistan National ParkSpanning 2.5 million hectares (6.1 million acres) the area

is home to vast glaciers, high plateau and rugged mountainpeaks as well as rare birds and mammals including thesnow leopard.

Terraced rice fields of Honghe Hani (China) Spectacular terraces running down mountain slopes and

marking 1,300 years of rice cultivation.Xinjiang Tianshan (China)Part of one of the world’s largest mountain range

Xinjiang Tianshan is renowned for its scenic beauty fromsoaring snow-capped peaks to sand dune-studded deserts.

Namib Sand Sea (Namibia)A vast coastal desert area of sand dunes whose only

water source is uniquely delivered by fog, sustainingendemic flora and fauna.

Hill Forts of Rajasthan (India)Six hill forts in the northwestern India recognized as the

best surviving examples of the palaces of the Rajputprinces who ruled Rajasthan for 1,000 years.

Monuments of Kaesong (North Korea)A dozen monuments including tombs, fortress walls and

a 700-year-old school at the medieval city of Kaesong-thebase of Koryo dynasty which ruled a unified Korea from918-1392.

Medici Villas and Gardens (Italy)Constructed outside Florence, the villas and their gar-

dens were commissioned by the Medicis, a Tuscan bankingdynasty instrumental in the politics and culture ofRenaissance-era Italy.

Wooden tserkvas (churches) in the Carpathian moun-tains (Poland and Ukraine)

Sixteen wooden structures UNESCO says are “outstand-ing examples of the once widespread Orthodox ecclesiasti-cal timber building tradition in the Slavic countries.”

Red Bay Basque Whaling Station (Canada)A sixteenth century Arctic maritime base for Basque

whalers with ovens, living quarters and underwater shipwrecks.

The following were classed as “in danger” heritagesites by UNESCO:

All six of Syria’s World Heritage Sites because ofongoing civil war: the ancient cities of Damascus, Bosraand Aleppo, the oasis of Palmyra, the castles of Crac desChevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din-which counts as one site-and the ancient villages of northern Syria.

East Rennell area of the Solomon Islands, the largestraised coral atoll in the world endangered by logging.

Taken off the “in danger” list: Iran’s ancient citadel ofBam, almost completely destroyed by a major earthquakein 2003, was removed from the UNESCO list of “WorldHeritage in Danger.” —AFP

Ahaven of peace in the sea of concrete that isthe Gaza Strip, the crumbling remains ofthe Holy Land’s oldest monastery are in

danger of disappearing for lack of funds to pre-serve them. Saint Hilarion, which is located at asite called Tel Umm al-Amr, draws its name fromthe fourth century hermit who came from south-ern Gaza and is considered to be the father ofPalestinian monasticism. Its life close to theMediterranean shore spanned more than fourcenturies from the late Roman Empire to theUmayyad period. Abandoned after an earthquake

in the seventh century, it was uncovered by localarchaeologists in 1999.

But today, “it’s a complete mess-archaeologi-cally, scientifically and on a human level,” lamentsRene Elter, a researcher at the Ecole Biblique, aFrench academic institution in Jerusalem, who isresponsible for trying preserve the site. “We haveto save Saint Hilarion,” Elter told AFP. “The situationis critical and we risk losing the site. It is impera-tive that something is done quickly; otherwise itwill be lost, lost forever.” Just over a year ago, thePalestinians submitted Saint Hilarion to be includ-

ed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, the UNcultural organization. The World MonumentsFund, a New York-based group dedicated to pre-serving the world’s architectural heritage, last yearput it on its Watch list. This is includes sites aroundthe globe at risk from the forces of nature as wellas social, political, and economic change. Butthere isn’t enough money to do the job. Elterbelieves the cost of saving the site, located nearthe Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, wouldbe a mere $2 million (1.5 million euros) over threeyears, with an immediate investment of $200,000needed before next winter’s rains arrive.

So far, France has been the largest donor to

the preservation efforts, giving 110,000 euros($146,000) since 2010. UNESCO has contributedanother $35,000. “All the emergency safeguardsthat we’ve put in place-corrugated iron fences,supports, sandbags-are working but they are onlytemporary.

And within a year, if we don’t do anything, theworst is yet to come,” Elter said. The decayingremains cover 15,000 square meters (161,000square feet), and the surrounding site stretchesacross 10 hectares (25 acres). Situated amongundulating sand dunes, the southern part of thecomplex includes a church and large crypt, achapel, several baptismal fonts, living quarters

and a refectory for the monks. In the northernsector, there is an inn and bathing pools for thepilgrims who once visited.

‘Our ancestors left us a site to preserve’Today, many of the sandbags that support the

monastery’s crumbling foundations are disinte-grating because of the humidity. A blisteringly hotsummer last year was followed by a very wet win-ter, which has left deep furrows in the soil.Although there is a French stonemason whocould do the necessary work to shore up walls indanger of collapsing, there are no funds to fly himover. “The grass is beginning to destroy the mosa-ic floor,” said Fadel al-Utol, a young Gazan archae-ologist who looks after the site for the French-Palestinian preservation project.

“I need workers and weed killer to get rid of allthis grass, I need to change 2,000 sandbags and Ineed wood to reinforce the platforms for visitors,”he complains. The team of workers who maintainthe site have been underpaid for months. Andwith no night watchmen, there are fears the sitecould be looted or damaged.

Meanwhile, it is used for training Palestinianexperts who will be responsible for managing thearchaeological sites and restoration of Gaza in 10or 15 years time.

“We have a team there who are ready to work,who are able to manage this heritage,” he says.Every day, Utol takes groups of school childrenand students around the site, which had a record1,880 visitors in March. He explains to them aboutthe baptistry, the Romans, the pre-ByzantineChristians and the Ummayads in what is a uniqueeducational experience in Gaza. —AFP

Gaza fights to save Holy Land’s oldest monastery

Photos show Palestinian workers cleaning a section of the archaeological site of the Saint Hilarion Monastery.

Photo shows Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 meters(12,460 feet), and Lake Kawaguchi in Fujikawaguchiko, southernYamanashi prefecture. — AFP photos

Picture shows the Roman ruins of Palmyra, 220 kms northeast of the Syriancapital Damascus.

A file photo shows lava spewing from a crater of Mount Etna volcano onthe Italian island of Sicily.

A file picture taken in Agadez shows a boy walking past the Agadezmosque.

A file picture shows an aerial view of the city of Agadez in Niger. This file picture shows a general view of traditional housing in the old cityquarter of Kaesong, a North Korean city close to the border with South Korea.

List of new UNESCO world heritage sites

Photo shows the archeological site of the Saint Hilarion Monastery.

A picture shows a mosaic belonging to the archeological site of the Saint HilarionMonasteryone of the largest Christian monasteries in the Middle East, in Tel Umm al-Amrclose to Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. — AFP photos

39Gaza fights to save Holy Land’s oldestmonastery


In this Saturday photo released by the MBC Group, singer Mohammed Assaf, prays after receiving the Arab Idol award in Beirut, Lebanon. (Inset) Palestinian contestant Mohammed Assaf receives histrophy from Lebanese singer Assi Al-Hallani after winning the ‘Arab Idol’. — AP/AFP photos

Tens of thousands of jubilant Palestinianscelebrated into the early hours of yester-day after a 23-year-old Gazan singer won

the popular Arab Idol talent show that hascaptivated millions across the Middle Eastsince March. The meteoric rise of Gaza’sMohammed Assaf to snatch the top prize inthe pan-Arab singing contest sparked anunprecedented outpouring of joy across theWest Bank and the Gaza Strip, unifying anoften divided public.

Assaf’s victory in the finals, held in Beirutand screened live on television across the Arabworld, marked the first such success for aPalestinian entertainer. “Mohammed Assaf isthe Arab Idol!” declared the presenter of theshow which is modeled on the British hit showPop Idol, as confetti rained down on the cheer-ing audience. The handsome, tuxedo-clad

singer immediately dedicated his win to “thePalestinian people, who have been sufferingfor more than 60 years from (the Israeli) occu-pation”. He wins a professional recording con-tract and a car, a 2013 Chevrolet Camaro.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbascrowned him a national goodwill ambassador,and the UN agency for Palestinian refugeesnamed him their UNRWA Youth Ambassador.Since the contest began in March, Assaf hasearned himself an army of followers who havebeen glued to the big screens in cafÈs andrestaurants across the territories, listeningenraptured as his powerful voice propelledhim further and further ahead in the weeklysing-off. As his name was read out, his mother- wearing a traditional Palestinian embroi-dered dress, her shoulders wrapped in theblack, green, white and red of the national flag- burst into tears of joy.

Spontaneous celebrations broke out acrossGaza and in the West Bank, where tens ofthousands took to the streets, cheering anddancing, car radios blasting the traditionalPalestinian song which propelled him to victo-ry as people handed out sweets to passers by.And yesterday, a Ramallah-based public rela-tions firm announced plans to host Assaf for aconcert and celebration party in early July.News of his victory was splashed across yester-day’s front pages with many making a play onwords linked to a remark by one of the judgeswho described him as “the best rocket” to havecome out of Gaza - “a rocket of peace, not war”.

“‘The rocket hit the target and brought joyto the Palestinians,” said Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,while the rival Al-Ayyam went with: “Assaf - thePalestinians’ art rocket.” And inside the papers,giant full-page adds taken out by the Bank ofPalestine and mobile phone provider Jawaalcongratulated him on his win. After the final

sing-off, which pitted Assaf against a youngwoman from Syria and an Egyptian, the entirePalestinian nation was on tenterhooks, waitingfor the result after millions texted their vote tothe pan-Arab MBC channel. Across the WestBank and Gaza, streets were jammed with asea of smiling faces, and the joyful honking ofcar horns as people reveled in the rare atmos-phere of celebration.

“The mood is indescribable. Everyone is cel-ebrating. Thank you, Mohammed Assaf, forbringing joy to our hearts!” said Gaza residentMohammad Dahman. “We haven’t felt this joyin a long time!” Celebrations also erupted inannexed east Jerusalem, but soured as youngPalestinians clashed with Israeli police, result-ing in several arrests. In northern Lebanon,Palestinian refugees in the Beddawi camp firedinto the air and honked car horns to celebrate,while major partying also took place in thesouthern city of Sidon, an AFP correspondentsaid.

Born in Misrata, Libya, Assaf grew up inthe Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza, one ofthe world’s poorest and most densely-popu-lated areas which has been subjected to a

tight Israeli blockade since 2006. Gaza’sIslamist Hamas rulers disapprove of showssuch as Arab Idol, which are considered to beun-Islamic, but they have not clamped downon support for the contest.

“All Palestinians share in his success.Mohammed’s music is a universal languageand speaks to all of us,” said UNRWA chief

Filippo Grandi. “How fantastic that a Palestinerefugee from Gaza should bring us all togetherin this way.” There were even congratulationsfrom Israel, with the army’s Arabic spokesmanAvichai Adraee hailing his victory on Twitter.And the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper alsohailed his success saying: “A Palestinian hero isborn.” — AFP

Palestinian joy as Gaza singer wins Arab Idol

Mohammed Assaf, second right, receives the Arab Idol award in Beirut, Lebanon.

Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf cele-brates with his national flag.

Palestinian contestant Mohammed Assaf(top) cries of joy.

The family and friends of Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf celebrate after he won thefinal of the Arab Idol competition in Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip. People celebrate Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf winning ‘Arab Idol’ in Gaza city.

Oppn ex-MPs to boycott polls, Awazem to take part

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