ETHIOPIAN STRONGMAN MELES dIES IN ... - Kuwait Times

SUBSCRIPTION
Pressure on US
congressman
grows after
rape remark
9 10
40 PAGES NO: 15545 150 FILS
Romania court
puts president
Basescu back
in office
Deputy takes over as acting prime minister
conspiracy theories
The nation
deserves an
explanation
By Badrya Darwish
badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net
MP Waleed Tabtabaei dropped a bombshell
on Kuwait just a day before Eid. I
don’t know if he meant it as an Eid greeting
for all of us after a long hot month of
Ramadan. Or maybe he meant it as a joke or
something else that I am not familiar with. I find it
bizarre if he meant it as a joke. If he meant it as a
greeting, it lacks the sense of humour. It is a totally
different issue altogether if he meant it seriously.
The honorable gentleman Tabtabaei claimed
that “am army reserve unit of Shiites is currently
buying weapons from Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and
waiting for zero hour”. He claimed that their storage
place is in a flat in Hawally. He also said that
another store area is in a remote part of Kabd
which is usually used for sheep breeding and
farming.
The MP said that he provided documents to
the secret police of the Ministry of Interior regarding
his information. My question is: Why did he
speak a day before Eid if he had such dangerous
information which harms national security? Why
was he waiting for Eid to drop the bomb on us?
To believe him or not is another question. If he
seriously had such documents that concern our
national security, it was not wise to publicize it
widely the way he did it. He should have immediately
gone to the authorities and let them handle
it. If he claims that the police failed to do anything,
how would he know that? Maybe they are
looking at the matter in their own way.
On the other hand, let’s leave Tabtabaei and his
allegations alone, whether wrong or right. What
about the Ministry of Interior? When an MP opens
such serious claims, why we did not hear anything
from the ministry - either commenting on it, denying
it or saying that they are pursuing it. The complete
silence from the ministry is unhealthy. A government
spokesman could have easily appeared
on public media to comment and elaborate on the
topic. Another reason could be that the ministry
thinks it is a trivial matter or that they take
Tabtabaei lightly. Whatever the reason, the nation
deserves an explanation. Do not tell me that the
Eid holidays stopped you from doing that.
MANILA: The Philippines was in mourning
yesterday after divers recovered the
body of one of its most influential politicians,
who died when a plane carrying
him and three others crashed into the
sea. Interior Secretary Jesse
Robredo’s body was found
55 m under water near the
coast of the island of
Masbate, where the plane
went down on Saturday,
Transportation and
Communications Secretary
Mar Roxas said. Divers battled
strong currents to
reach the wreck of the
twin-engine Piper Seneca,
which was lying overturned
and broken into pieces on the
seabed, about 800 m from the shore.
Robredo’s body was brought up yesterday
morning.
The 54-year-old, a father of three
daughters, was a popular and well-liked
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 SHAWWAL 4, 1433 AH www.kuwaittimes.net
BEIRUT: Russia warned the West
yesterday against unilateral
action on Syria, a day after US
President Barack Obama threatened
“enormous consequences” if
his Syrian counterpart used
chemical or biological arms or
even moved them in a menacing
way. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, speaking after
meeting China’s top diplomat,
said Moscow and Beijing were
committed to “the need to strictly
adhere to the norms of international
law ... and not to allow their
violation”. The remarks were a
reminder of the divisions hampering
efforts to end the 17month
old conflict that increasingly
sets a mainly Sunni Muslim
opposition against President
Bashar Al-Assad’s Alawite minority.
The United Nations says more
than 18,000 people have been
killed in a war which is affecting
neighbouring states.
In Lebanon, at least five people
were killed in sectarian violence
linked to the Syria conflict,
and Turkey, an opponent of
Assad, investigated possible
Syrian involvement in a car bomb
that killed nine people on
Monday. Russia and China have
opposed military intervention in
Syria throughout the revolt. They
have vetoed three UN Security
Council resolutions backed by
Western and Arab states that
would have put more pressure on
Damascus to end the violence.
After meeting Lavrov in
Moscow, Syrian Deputy Prime
Minister Qadri Jamil said Obama’s
talk of action against Syria was
media fodder. He said the West
was seeking an excuse to intervene,
likening the focus on Syria’s
chemical weapons with the runup
to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by
US-led forces and the focus on
what proved to be groundless
suspicions that Saddam Hussein
was concealing weapons of mass
destruction. “Direct military intervention
in Syria is impossible
because whoever thinks about
Continued on Page 13
Holograms
present celebs
with
40
new
afterlife issues
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: A file picture taken on June 29, 2008 shows Ethiopian Prime Minister and
Chairman of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Meles Zenawi reacting to a question while
talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 9th Summit of the African Peer Review Forum (APRF). Meles has
died in hospital abroad, the government said yesterday. — AFP
Kuwaiti
jet skier
wins
19
three
events in US
Ethiopian strongman
Meles dies in Brussels
Divers recover body of
top Philippines minister
Jesse Robredo
Max 47º
Min 30º
High Tide
02:37 & 14:56
Low Tide
08:43 & 20:41
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,
a regional strongman in the volatile Horn of Africa who
ruled with an iron fist for over two decades, has died in
hospital in Brussels after a long illness, officials said yesterday.
Meles, a former rebel who came to power in
1991 after toppling the bloody dictatorship of Mengistu
Haile Mariam, set Ethiopia on a path of rapid growth
and played a key role in mediating regional conflicts,
but also drew criticism for cracking down on opponents
and curtailing human rights.
The 57-year-old - a key Western ally in a region home
to Al-Qaeda-linked groups - had not been seen in public
since the G20 summit in Mexico in June. European
Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said Meles had
died in Brussels, but the Ethiopian government said
only that he had died abroad. “Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi passed away yesterday evening at around midnight,”
said government spokesman Bereket Simon,
adding he had been “struggling to be healthy in the last
year”. “He had been recuperating well, but suddenly
something happened and he had to be rushed to the
ICU (intensive care unit) and they couldn’t keep him
alive,” he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, 47,
who has also been foreign minister since 2010, will take
over interim power, Bereket said. Unlike many core
members of the ruling party, Hailemariam does not hail
from the far north of the country but from the Southern
Nation, Nationalities and People’s Region, the most
populous of Ethiopia’s nine ethnic regions. World leaders
offered high praise for Meles - British Prime Minister
David Cameron hailed him as “an inspirational
spokesman for Africa” - but rights groups said his death
offered a chance to end a brutal crackdown on basic
freedoms.
Meles was regularly singled out as one of the continent’s
worst human rights predators, and Amnesty
Continued on Page 13
Russia warns West after US threats
Syria ‘ready to discuss’ Assad exit • 5 killed in Lebanon • Japanese reporter shot dead
statesman widely considered to be incorruptible,
in a country where graft is
endemic and politicians often distrusted.
The dramatic search-and-rescue efforts
had gripped the Catholic nation of nearly
100 million people, with
hundreds joining prayer
vigils and longtime friend
President Benigno Aquino
going to Masbate initially
to help.
Aquino returned to the
central island yesterday to
fetch Robredo’s flagdraped
casket, which he
then delivered aboard a
military airplane to the
grieving family in their
hometown of Naga in the eastern
Philippines. “He is a very big loss to the
cabinet and to the entire nation,” an
emotional presidential spokeswoman,
Abigail Valte, told reporters at a church in
Continued on Page 13
Giving babies
antibiotics can
lead to obesity
CHICAGO: Giving babies antibiotics before the age
of six months could cause them to be chubby children,
according to a study published yesterday. “We
typically consider obesity an epidemic grounded in
unhealthy diet and exercise, yet increasingly studies
suggest it’s more complicated,” said co-author
Leonardo Trasande of the New York University
School of Medicine. “Microbes in our intestines may
play critical roles in how we absorb calories, and
exposure to antibiotics, especially early in life, may
kill off healthy bacteria that influence how we
absorb nutrients into our bodies, and would otherwise
keep us lean.”
The study adds to a growing body of research
warning of the potential dangers of antibiotics,
especially for children. Preliminary studies have
linked changes in the trillions of microbial cells in
our bodies to obesity, inflammatory bowel disease,
asthma and other conditions. However, direct causal
proof has not yet been found.
Continued on Page 13
Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) shoot at advancing government
troops in the Al-Jadeida neighbourhood in the Old City of
Aleppo yesterday. (Inset) This May 7, 2004 photo shows slain
Japanese journalist Mika Yamamoto in Tokyo. — AFP/AP
Iran unveils new missile,
starts air defence site
DUBAI: Iran unveiled yesterday what it
said was an upgraded short-range missile
and said it would build a new air
defence site, in what appeared to be an
attempt to show its readiness against
any Israeli attack. President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and Defence Minister
Ahmad Vahidi attended a ceremony at
which officials unveiled the fourth-generation
Fateh 110 short-range missile,
with a range of about 300 km, and other
upgraded hardware. Ahmadinejad said
Iran’s military upgrades were purely for
defensive purposes and should not be
taken as a threat, but said they would
dissuade world powers from imposing
their will on Iran. “Defensive advances
are meant to defend human integrity,
and are not meant to be offensive moves
toward others,” Ahmadinejad said,
according to Mehr news agency. “I have
no doubt that our defensive capabilities
can stand up to bullying and put a halt to
their plans.”
Separately, Iran announced the start
of construction on an air defence site, to
be built in the south of the country
about 210 km from its uranium enrichment
facility in Isfahan, officials said. The
200-hectare air defence installation in
the Abadeh area would be the largest in
that part of the country and will be built
by Khatam al-Anbia, the engineering arm
of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, and will eventually employ 6,000
people, Fars reported. “If (the enemy)
ever has the intent of attacking this soil,
we will make the...Gulf their grave,”
Abadeh’s governor, Mohammad Javad
Askari, was quoted as saying at a ceremony
marking the start of construction
at the site.
Israel, believed to be the only atomic
power in the Middle East, views Iran’s
nuclear programme as an existential
threat, citing Iranian threats to destroy
the Jewish state.
Continued on Page 13

2 LOCAL
News
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Opposition groups plan large-scale protests
Moves to set up tents at Iradah Square
By A. Saleh
KUWAIT: Two opposition groups agreed
to expand planned demonstrations into
a sit-in at the Iradah Square followed by
a march to the parliament building,
instead of ending the gathering following
the speeches. This was disclosed by
sources close to the Majority Bloc; a
coalition of oppositionists who dominated
the majority of seats in the annulled
2012 parliament. Speaking on the condition
of anonymity, the sources indicated
that the Popular Action Bloc and
Development and Reform Bloc (both
members of the parent Majority Bloc)
plan to carry out high-level protests “to
express as much level of objection as
possible” to the Cabinet’s decision to
refer the electoral law to the constitutional
court.
Sources also claimed that the bloc
reportedly plans to set up tents at Iradah
Square for protestors to sleep in following
the demonstration, in violation of
Kuwait Municipality regulations. The
bloc also intends to stage protests at
Safat Square, where police ban gatherings
in order to protect the surrounding
commercial area.
In other news, the number of citizens
who signed the Majority Bloc’s petition
against the referral decision reached a
mere 7000, a far cry from the estimated
25 thousand announced during
Ramadan. According to sources with
knowledge about the issue, confusion
was created by “repeated names of people
who registered both on the petition
and on the online petition through different
websites”.
The bloc is still expected to stress the
importance of the 25 thousand signatures
number in the future, said the
sources, who also spoke on the condition
of anonymity.
Officer accused
Controversial figure and member of
the annulled 2012 parliament,
Mohammad Al-Juwaihel, accused a
police officer of stealing his pen and
three cigarette packs during his detention.
Al-Juwaihel was being held on
charges of insulting the Mutairi tribe on
Twitter. Al-Juwaihel, who was released
on KD100 bail before the Eid Al-Fitr holiday,
further indicated in direct statements
to Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad
Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah that the same office
“was previously charged with stealing
KD1 million from an expatriate resident
in Kuwait”.
Economic recommendations
The cabinet is set to meet after the
Eid Al-Fitr holiday with members of the
state’s economic advisory committee in
order to discuss the process of enacting
recommendations by the committee for
resolving economic problems in Kuwait.
“The meeting aims to shift the focus
of attention to the committee’s recommendations
and work for their execution,
instead of them being shelved”,
said knowledge sources. There were also
indications that the government “plans
to come up with a schedule with timelines
to finish executing the recommendations,
and work to come up with necessary
regulations to fulfill certain recommendations
that require new legislation”.
The government plans to start
with the privatization program, as per
recommendations of the committee
that was formed by HH the Amir Sheikh
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to improve
the state’s economy, according to
sources.
Central Agency’s confusion
The government rejected rumors
which hinted that the head of the
Central Agency for Illegal Residents,
Salah Al-Fadhalah, could soon be ousted
or have his powers limited. These
rumors are a result of the decision to
appoint Sheikh Khalid Mubarak Al-
Ahmad Al-Sabah as secretary general of
the agency.
“It appears that some people are not
aware of the agency’s administrative formation,
and thus believe that appointing
Sheikh Khalid as secretary general is
a step to limit Al-Fadhalah’s work. On
the contrary, it aims to support him and
finalize the agency’s work as per the
five-year time limit”, said insiders.
The sources explained that while Al-
Fhadalah is the CEO and Deputy
Chairman of the board of the agency,
the chairmanship belongs to Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah.
Iran’s compromise
Gulf Cooperation Council states
reportedly rejected a settlement that
would see an Iraqi candidate appointed
as OPEC’s secretary general, and instead
insisted on nominating a Saudi candidate
to the vacant post.
A successor for outgoing secretary
general Abdullah Al-Badri from Libya
was supposed to be selected this month,
but was delayed until October after
member states failed to reach a unanimous
decision from a list of candidates
that included Saudi Arabi’s envoy Majid
Al-Munaif, former Iraqi oil minister
Thamer Al-Ghadhban and former Iranian
oil minister Ghulam Hussain Nazri.
According to sources, Iran “completely
rejects Al-Munaif’s appointment” but
agrees to appoint Al-Ghadhban as a
compromise, while the GCC states insist
on backing their Saudi candidate.
Sources added that Ecuador, which
also proposed a candidate for the post,
reportedly suggested that the post be
filled through voting, which is considered
a ‘last resort’ for the member states,
who prefer a unanimous choice for the
secretary general’s post.
Iraqi panel
The foreign relations committee in
the Iraqi Parliament plans to discuss the
current state of relations between Iraq
and Kuwait, and what has so far been
achieved regarding pending issues
between the two countries. These
issues, as well as many others, will be
discussed during a meeting with Iraq’s
Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari,
according to a recent statement
released by the panel .
Iraqi authorities have recently formed
the ‘Foreign Policies Committee’, which
includes the Foreign, Finance, Defense,
Oil, and Planning Ministers. The committee
also includes the National Security
Advisor, Intelligence Chief, the Cabinet’s
legal advisor, as well as the head of the
parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
The committee is headed by Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and seeks coordination
between ministries regarding
foreign policy in order to unify the
state’s foreign speech.
Um Al-Haiman maintenance
The Environmental Public Authority
will begin carrying out “environmental
maintenance operations” at electrical
transformers in the Um Al-Haiman area
before the end of the year, said sources,
who also indicated that a meeting with
specialized companies will be held at
the EPA’s building Sunday to explain the
goals behind the project.
“The project is part of a study of the
environmental effects for the area’s
transformers, and is expected to be carried
out in November”, said the sources.
KAC health insurance
The Kuwait Airways Corporation will
launch a new health insurance system
for its Kuwaiti employees next January.
The new system will provide better
services and addresses various topics
earlier brought up by staff.
The KAC has reportedly begun coordinating
with the Central Tenders
Committee on the project’s tender, with
September 3rd being the likely date as
the final day for receiving offers.
In other news, the Central Tenders
Committee rejected a request from the
Ministry of Education, which asked to
increase the budget allocated for buying
new air conditioning units for schools as
part of preparations for the next school
year. According to sources with knowledge
of the issue, the MOE asked for an
additional 600 units, costing at least
KD100 thousand, which is an increase of
20% from the current budget. The CTC
rejected the request on the grounds that
it causes a “waste of public funds”.
Separately, Zakat House put out a
tender for a project in which they plan
to install large screens on top of its
buildings, broadcasting ads about their
activities starting in October.
Opposition activist banned from entering Saudi Arabia
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti political activist
Abbas Al-Shaaby was banned from
entering Saudi Arabia where he
planned to attend the Umrah pilgrimage,
for reasons that are still unknown.
“I love the Kingdom and often speak
about the achievements they have
made in construction and other fields,
while only criticizing the political situation
in Kuwait”, said Al-Shaabi, a
staunch supporter of the opposition,
whose name is often paralleled with
the Popular Action Bloc and its leaders,
Ahmad Al-Saadoun and spokesman
Musallam Al-Barrak.
Al-Shaaby had reportedly passed
through the Western Al-Salmi border
checkpoint with a friend before they
were stopped at the Al-Rega’ei checkpoint
on the Saudi side of the border. It
was there that he was told by a Saudi
officer that his name is on a list of individuals
banned from entering Saudi
Arabia, as per orders of the Kingdom’s
Ministry of Interior.
Meanwhile, member of the annulled
2012 parliament, Nabeel Al-Fhadel,
commented on the topic by questioning
whether Al-Barrak will complain to
human right organizations regarding
his being banned, then suggesting
that “maybe heroics stop at Saudi
Arabia’s borders?”
In other news, member of the
annulled 2012 parliament, Adel Al-
Dhamkhi, said that the annulment did
not occur because of a procedural
error, as previously reported, but “it’s
clear that there are attempts to change
the parliament’s formation and tamper
with the electoral constituencies”.
Al-Dhamkhi, member of the
Majority Bloc (a coalition of oppositionists
who dominated the majority of
seats in the annulled 2012 parliament),
further described a protest to be held
by the oppositionist Nahj group on
August 27th. In a statement, he pro-
KUWAIT: Firefighters in action in Amghara and Hawally.
in brief
Obesity increasing
KUWAIT: Latest health statistics indicate an
increasing rise in the rate of obesity among
Kuwaitis, noting that the treatment of this phenomenon
and its accompanying diseases are
being paid for out of the monthly incomes of
citizens. Unofficial figures indicate that the cost
of dealing with obesity reached over 10% of
monthly incomes of those who are suffering
from it. Both official and unofficial statistics
point to concerns about ordinary citizens, with
one such statistic indicating that 88% of
Kuwaitis have a serious weight problem.
No charity violations
KUWAIT: An official source at the Social Affairs
Ministry said that there were no violations during
the holy month of Ramadan in collecting
donations. He said the violations that were
recorded were for persons who do not have
relations with an NGO, noting they used the
names of NGOs without their knowledge and
have since been referred to concerned authorities.
The source said there were several violations
by the charity “Mabarrahs”, as some of
them collected donations on behalf of foreign
parties without justification. Mabarrahs was
also cited for publishing newspaper ads to collect
donations without receiving necessary
approval. Meanwhile, Secretary General of the
Social Reform Society Dr Adballah Al-Aqiqee
said society has complied with the Ministry of
Social Affairs laws, adding that there were no
violations by the public during the holy month
of Ramadan in regards to collecting donations.
Retirement incentives
KUWAIT: A high ranking police source said
“military authorities did not receive any indication
in regards to extending the retirement
incentives beyond the end of December 2012.”
The source further said that the four party committee
may approve financial incentives for
high ranking officers, allowing them to continue
in service to take advantage of their experience
“in a way that does not affect the security
situation”. The source said that there is no
doubt that the security leadership, which enjoy
vast experience, will add a great deal to the
security and military abilities of the state, and to
do away with such leadership may have negative
effects. Meanwhile, the source said that
several Interior Ministry officers applied for
retirement and their applications were
approved.
30 years in service
KUWAIT: An official source at the Social
Affairs and Labor Ministry said that the
Ministry put the issue of those who spent 30
years in service on its priority list, adding that
Minister Salem Al-Athaina will consider the
issue when he returns from his leave at the
beginning of September. At that time, the
decision will be made to either send them
into retirement or appoint them to become
undersecretaries. The source said that the
number of those who will be considered from
various departments totals 50.
Fire breaks out in Amghara
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: Fire was reported in Amghara yesterday
with Amghara Temporary Fire Center and the Jahra
Professional Fire Center immediately responding to
the call. As firemen arrived they found the fire was
in an area of some 4000 square meters, which also
contained timber. The speed of the wind caused
the fire to spread further, resulting in another 6 fire
centers being called for support and fire control.
Fighting operations were led by acting Fire
Department Director Brig. Yousuf Al-Ansari, Deputy
Director Brig. Khalid Al-Mikrad and Jahra Fire
Director Col. Mohammed Al-Shatti. Additionally, the
Minister of Electricity and Water Abdul Aziz Al-
Ibrahim was on the scene and offered help in ending
the continuous fires breaking out at the
Amghara scrap. Further, Minister of Information
Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdulah made several calls
with fire department directors to follow up on fire
fighting operations. The Fire Department General
Director stated that 16 fire centers fought the fire,
which was brought under control at 6:30 am.
Medical emergency and national guards, KOC firemen,
the Ministry of Interior, Kuwait municipality
and the Army were available at all times and coordinated
activities with firemen.
Apartment fire
Fire broke out in an apartment in Hawally on the
7th floor of a 10-floor building. Knowing that another
fire had been put out in the same apartment two
days earlier, Hawally firemen, Salmiya firemen and
the Technical Rescue Center responded to the
report. As firemen arrived, they evacuated the building,
while other teams fought the fire, which they
brought under control very quickly and without
casualties. Investigators are looking into the possible
causes of the fire. Major Mohammad Saleh Al Khader
emphasized that precautionary measures should be
taken, such as installing smoke detectors and fire
extinguishers and to not store anything near emergency
exits, as they become obstacles for firemen.
Hawally fire
Fire broke out Tuesday morning in Hawally,
resulting in the destruction of more than 13 vehicles
and a number of trees. Fire also spread to
neighboring houses. The cause of the fire is still
unknown, but investigations are currently underway.
The fire was brought under control without
any causalities.
claimed the protests as “the beginning
of the public protest movement that
features the majority of political
groups and civil society institutions,
after it was revealed that the procedural
error excuse is only being used as a
reason to change the parliament’s formation
after the Cabinet did not
approve the 2012 parliament’s formation”.
Al-Dhamkhi further indicated that
the Majority Bloc plans to coordinate
with Nahj regarding the demonstration
“with a meeting expected [today
or tomorrow] to discuss the gathering’s
program”.

By Ben Garcia
KUWAIT: The seat of the Roman Catholic
Church Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia
will be transferred to Bahrain and not the
Vatican Embassy, according to Archbishop
Camillo Ballin, answering queries from the
Kuwait Times through an email. “It is the local
Bishop (myself) who is going to transfer to
Bahrain, not the mission of the Vatican
(Embassy), which will remain in Kuwait. I also
want to keep my residence in Kuwait, where
we have 350,000 Catholics and four parishes,
so I will be with you there very often,” he said.
Last week it was reported in many local dailies
that the Vatican Embassy to Kuwait would be
transferred to Bahrain for a variety of reasons.
“Bahrain is more central among the four
countries in the region (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia) of which I am in charge; so,
for geographical reasons, we talked about it
and decided to transfer the Bishop House
from Kuwait to Bahrain,” he added.
Asked if the decision to transfer was somehow
connected to the continuing refusal of
the Kuwaiti government to provide additional
land and the so-called ‘lack’ of real religious
freedom in the country, Ballin said, “This decision
has nothing to do with the refusal to
receive land for a new Catholic Church, which
only happened around three months ago.
This decision had already been made in
January 2012 on the occasion of the meeting
of all the priests. The previous Bishop was also
consulted and all the priests were of the
mindset that the Bishop should be in Bahrain.
This happened a long time before the strange
Archbishop Camillo Ballin
stand taken by some parliamentarians in the
Kuwaiti Parliament,” he explained.
The transfer of the Vicariate will be completed
in a year’s time, according to Ballin.
LOCAL
Vatican Embassy will stay
in Kuwait: Bishop Ballin
Bishop House to be transferred to Bahrain
With regard to the Church of Bahrain and
whether the church in Bahrain has existed for
a considerable period of time, Ballin noted,
“There is already a church in Manama from a
long time back. It is the first Catholic Church
in the Gulf, built in 1939. But we are in need of
another church for the large number of faithful
(the ancient church can seat only around
100 people). There are in Bahrain between
100,000 and 140,000 Catholics. With a church
for only 100 people , you can understand the
need for another church.”
Bishop Ballin also confirmed that there are
Bahraini citizens who are Christians and even
Jews. “Bahrain is open to give citizenship,
under some conditions.” The new church will
reportedly be constructed in Awali on a 9,000
square meter plot of land donated in May by
His Majesty the King. It will include the transfer
of the official residence of the Bishop and
the seat of the Vicariate of Northern Arabia.
The Vicariate looks after the spiritual wellbeing
of over two million Roman Catholics in
the GCC area.
The decision came after careful evaluations
and considerations regarding Bahrain as the
new center for Catholicism in the GCC. The
conclusion was that due to Bahrain’s central
locale, fewer visa restrictions, and, most
importantly, the Kingdom’s openness and tolerance
towards religion, Bahrain would greatly
facilitate the work of the church, including
its officials.
KUWAIT: Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Kuwait, Dr Abdul-Aziz Al-Fayez, hosted a luncheon on the first day of Eid Al-
Fitr, attended by embassy staff and a number of Saudi residents in Kuwait, in addition to Kuwaiti personalities and media representatives.
— Photos by Joseph Shagra
Increase in
number of
travellers
KUWAIT: Observers of the
travel and tourism sector
noted an increase in the
number of travelers during
the Eid holidays, causing
airline earnings to reach KD
16.6 million during the past
five days. As of Wednesday,
August 15, until the 1st day
of Eid, airlines reported
their aircraft being fully
booked at 100% capacity
to all destinations, which
also came at a time of
increased ticket prices,
which jumped gradually
from an average of KD 110
to KD 240 before Eid due to
the high demand.
Further, Dubai received
the largest share of bookings
during those high
demand days. Observers
noted that the number of
travelers passing through
the airport reached 98,000
passengers, who spent KD
53 million on external
tourism during the Eid
vacation.
Also, 564 commercial
flights were scheduled during
the past five days,
which included 39 additional
flights due to the holiday
demand. The average
number of aircraft leaving
Kuwait Airport was 114
flights daily during this five
day period, with the exception
of Eid night and the
last day of Ramadan, which
reached 124 flights.
At the Salmi border,
about 13,000 passengers
moved through that checkpoint
(arrivals and departures)
during a 48 hour period.
The border checkpoint
saw backups on the 1st day
of Eid, though all officials
were on duty to meet the
surge of travelers.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
ULAANBAATAR: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
arrives in Mongolia on a private visit. HH the Amir is accompanied by Deputy
Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
MPs damage national
unity via Twitter
KUWAIT: Authorities are reportedly
struggling to take actions “with limited
repercussions” regarding two Twitter
accounts carrying false names that refer
to two members in the annulled 2012
parliament. According to an anonymous
source, the accounts in question frequently
post messages, “which discuss
controversial subjects that damage
national unity”.
“The accounts have been operating
for two years to instigate sectarian tensions
in order to serve electoral agendas,
in addition to making blatant insults to
sectors and individuals in society, as well
as fueling hate within Kuwaiti society”,
said a senior security official in an Al-Rai
report published yesterday.
The two accounts, each of which have
more than ten thousand followers, are
reportedly “being fully monitored” by
state security authorities, said the
source.
Furthermore, the source noted that
the two accounts are often operated
KUWAIT: The Traffic Department continued
their campaign on the 2nd day of
Eid as the Hawally Traffic Department
issued 280 citations. The breakdown of
the citations included 100 direct citations,
19 indirect citations, 81 citations at
Ras Al-Ard Cafe, 20 citations at Salwa
road, 6 citations for neglected vehicles
and another 54 various citations.
The Traffic Department urges drivers
to abide by traffic regulations for their
own safety and the safety of others. They
also cautioned against reckless driving
due to the damage it can inflict upon
public and private property when accidents
occur. The Traffic Department car-
from outside Kuwait; from Morocco and
Dubai, for example. “The issue will be
urgently referred to the Cabinet after the
Eid Al-Fitr holiday to take appropriate
action... Especially seeing that the two
MPs use sectarian tensions to feed support
at the expense of social unity”, the
source said.
Meanwhile, the source noted that
security authorities have “all information
regarding the group that the two MPs
use for help, in addition to the type of
devices and points that coordinate with
them”, adding that “all evidence proves
that they are involved in the operation”.
“We are waiting for instructions from
the Cabinet to start taking steps through
which we plan to reveal with evidence
the involvement of this group in such
regrettable practices”, said the source.
He added that coordination is also
ongoing with foreign security authorities
“especially because the two MPs
often criticize Kuwait’s foreign policy
and offend other countries”.
Stiff warning to drivers
ried out several traffic campaigns in the
six governorates during the weekend
holiday, resulting in 5107 citations and
the detention of 136 vehicles. Further,
1098 citations were recorded at the
Capital Governate, with 10 vehicles
being detained, while 546 citations were
recorded at Farwaniya governorate and 3
cars detained.
The Hawally Governorate’s share
reached 1361 citations and 45 cars
detained, while the Ahmadi governorate
netted 614 citations and 3 cars detained.
At Mubarak Al-Kabeer, 253 citations were
recorded and 13 cars detained, while Al-
Jahra logged 556 citations.

T he
The Kuwaiti
investigation
N ASA’s
Snakes and
Ladders
in my view
By Labeed Abdal
labeed@kuwaittimes.net
board game Snakes and Ladders was created
in the 16th century, coming from within the
Indian culture. It was meant to represent the
journey of life through crossing the squares, having
good luck with virtues through climbing ladders, and
avoiding vices represented by snakes.
The game attempts to show the effects of karma
and kama, or desire and destiny. Even today, this
ancient and classic game requires persistence and
luck when making the journey from the lower squares
to the top.
The big changes taking place in the Arab world, in
what has been dubbed the Arab Spring, bears no
resemblance to a natural spring. On the contrary, our
spring produces mass killings, torture and bloodshed.
Many observers have noticed the radical changes
happening in this new Arab world order and the many
other factors found in the old Syckes - Picot agreement:
namely, the transformation and the new influence
of a bi-polarity.
There are still, however, many questions about the
new leaders and how much they are going to listen to
people after they have overthrown their old dictator
rulers.
I am sure they expect another good ladder to
climb, taking them to hope and change for the better,
not another radical or corrupt new house of snakes.
Undoubtedly, the spring should not be stolen from
the young protesters who made it for the people.
Yet, at the same time I continue to watch and hear
more decisions taking place that only mean more
restrictions on liberties, freedoms and the right of
expression.
kuwait digest
By Dr Terki Al-Azmi
Curiosity Rover registered temperatures
over zero degrees celsius at the Gale Crater, as
its current mission on Mars continues.
Advanced countries are racing to explore the possibility
of life on the red planet after discovering most of
the secrets about planet Earth within the political,
economic and social fields.
In Kuwait, however, we need our own Kuwaiti
probe that can carry out ideological, strategic, social
and psychiatric analysis in order to understand the
secrets of a country smaller than the American state
of New Jersey!
A Kuwaiti probe could help us understand the
truth behind Ahmad Al-Saadoun’s tweet about the
government, saying that “no matter what the Cabinet’s
formation might be, it might become part of a
play operated by hidden individuals, or a place to ruin
A Kuwaiti probe could help us
understand the truth behind Ahmad
Al-Saadoun’s tweet about the government,
saying that “no matter
what the cabinet’s formation might
be, it might become part of a play
operated by hidden individuals, or a
place to ruin political careers of
some hard working ministers”.
political careers of some hard working ministers”. A
Kuwaiti probe could help solve the mystery about the
weapons that MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei mentioned,
as well as other mysteries surrounding statements
from Khalid Al-Sultan, Abdullah Al-Turaiji, Jamaan Al-
Harbash and others.
Reading statements of MPs and political activists
gives the idea that there are people in Kuwait who
want political groups to continue fighting. When
some of the topics discussed are unacceptable, it is
only natural that we fail to take the next step forward
because we lack the wise men who refuse to follow
these out of line proclamations.
In order to end the continuous case of political
chaos, we need a Kuwaiti probe to discover the reasons
behind the deterioration in the social, political,
economic, security and services fields.
We don’t, however, need a probe that tells us how
much the ‘temperature’ of the political scene has
reached, for we have far-surpassed the record-highs
discovered on Mars. What we need are rational minds.
The local scene has become a breeding ground for
sick minds that aim to eradicate social concepts and
complicate the political situation, leaving us struggling
with in-fighting and chaos, while becoming
increasingly concerned that a day will come in which
unwise individuals will be sought for advice.
The search for a Kuwaiti probe must start by examining
recent MP’s statements, certain individuals’ orientations,
in addition to improving the government’s
team of advisors - in order to insure that it consists
completely of wise men.—Al-Rai
4 LOCAL
‘Everything beautiful’
I saw
an advertisement campaign on TV about a
financial establishment that offers young men
loans which will allow them to open their own
small business, enabling them to work in the profession
they like. The ads were nice and produced skillfully
with good taste.
The ads gave an example of a young man who is
working in a shop that sells various products, when
a man gives him an item for wrapping. We see the
man wrapping the bag in a certain way then throwing
it in the air like pastry makers do, as an indication
that this young man is not working in his natural
place; his natural place being a pastry store.
Another ad showed a security man checking a
person who goes through an electronic gate that
sounded its alarm... we see the security man not
being satisfied with searching the man, instead tidying
up his clothes in a way that indicates he was a
tailor or dreams of
working as a clothes
designer. The ad
continues by stating
that each person can
work in the profession
he likes without
having to comply
with market circumstances,
and without
having to sacrifice
their dreams and
ambitions for the
sake of making a living.
I thought about
the ad and wondered:
Is it possible
for each person in
our society to work in the profession he wants, if the
material obstacles are removed? I found out that to
answer yes would not be the right answer, because
there are many societal obstacles in the way of people
trying to fulfill their dreams.
For example, where is the father who agrees to
let his son complete a certain amount of school to
be able to work in a carpenter’s shop, as he wishes?
If the father was rich and well to do, he would look
at his son as crazy and as wanting to take the family
down socially. Likewise, if he was from a poor family,
his father would also consider him crazy because he
T here
kuwait digest
By Osama Ghareeb
seeks to elevate his social status and take his family
up with him by becoming an engineer or a doctor.
Further, if a girl with a high GPA was courageous
enough to express her love of the nursing profession
and her wish to become a nurse, for example,
the entire world would oppose her and her family
would not allow her to do this as they would probably
view her request as a defect in her thinking!
The ability of society to kill the dreams of young
men to choose a profession is not easy, like saying
that a mechanic cannot marry the daughter from a
wealthy family. In fact, while doing this, the parents
rely on a societal status that was produced by
oppressive states and dictatorships that instilled the
idea of class, status, and entitlement to those born
into the ‘right’ families..
We can notice that policemen in developing
countries can harm and violate the rights of those
not in the upper classes
without much fear
or retribution. This
makes the average
worker in these countries
think twice about
making certain decisions
out of fear of
being harmed by
those choices.
The truth is that
people in democratic
countries, who respect
human beings and
care for human rights,
regardless of their
gender, religion and
profession, are more
free to choose. In these countries a person can be
whatever he wants without losing his right to be
respected, make a living, experience love and get
married.
I will not forget one of my Canadian friends who
was my neighbor in Montreal. I knew this man as a
postman using a bicycle, and he astonished me
when he told me that he was a pilot for Air Canada,
but left that job, because he likes to ride bicycles
and deliver mail! Democracy is beautiful, forgiveness
is beautiful, life is beautiful- but our rulers are
not so! — Al-Watan
The main problem
has been much said about the terrible statements
made by Mr. Khalid Al-Sultan and Mr.
Waleed Al-Tabtabaei about Shiites in Kuwait,
(which Shiite citizens saw as targeting their loyalty to
the country), in addition to statements of Faraj Al-
Khadhri, Secretary General of the so-called ‘Thawabet
Al-Shii’a’ (Principles of the Shiites) group, in which he
mentioned “an army of Kuwaiti Shiites ready to defend
the ruling system in Kuwait”.
These statements,
however, do not matter
to me or bother
me, in essence. What
is truly important and
disturbing is the
social, political and
cultural context that
all this happens in.
I am not bothered
by these statements
because there is no
society in the world
that lacks fundamentalists
and extremists
who blame people
The ability of society to kill the dreams
of young men to choose a profession is
not easy, like saying that a mechanic cannot
marry the daughter from a wealthy
family. In fact, while doing this, the parents
rely on a societal status that was
produced by oppressive states and dictatorships
that instilled the idea of class,
status, and entitlement to those born
into the ‘right’ families.
It goes without saying that the
Kuwaiti context is different from that.
If we want to be honest with ourselves,
we must admit that our society has for
a while been leaning towards sectarian
and religious fundamentalism. In
fact, we are one of the most extremistfilled
and fundamentalist countries in
the region on cultural, social and religious
levels.
with a different religious belief, race or ethnic background
for all of their problems. This is a common feature
in advanced and underdeveloped countries alike.
The right wing parties in France and Holland are
examples of that. However, what makes Western societies
immune to the catastrophic effects of conflicts of
this kind are two things: first is the presence of a cultural,
social and political context that generally shuns
kuwait digest
By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari
extremist views. Second is the presence of a legislative
and legal environment prohibiting discrimination and
hate speech, which include serious penalties, including
heavy fines and lengthy jail terms; making fundamentalists
think twice before spewing their evil to the public.
It goes without saying that the Kuwaiti context is different
from that . If we want to be honest with ourselves,
we must admit that our society has for a while been
leaning towards sectarian and religious fundamentalism.
In fact, we are one of the
most extremist-filled and
fundamentalist countries in
the region on cultural, social
and religious levels. The
problem, as I said before,
isn’t in the statements made
by the gentlemen mentioned
above.
Rather, it is the environment
that embraces and is
thirsty for sectarian instigations,
while at the same time
lacking regulations that
strictly criminalize these
practices. I know that I’m
going to be criticized heavily for this, but I’m going to
say it loud and clear: criticizing extremism from both
sides doesn’t mean that I see both sides at the same level
of fault.
Minorities usually resort to extremism as a result of
the majority’s extreme behavior, which makes them feel
threatened. This is common sense in the political and
social context. —Al-Rai
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
When you speak,
do people
hear you?
A graduate
Wonderful world
of politicians
T he
kuwait’s my business
By John P Hayes
local@kuwaittimes.net
student who worked in a service business
complained during a business communications
class that she was having a problem with an
employee. “He just doesn’t have any fire in his belly,” she
told me. “I want him to sell more products. I have shown
him how to sell. I train him every day. Still, no results. He’s
a nice man, but I told him that I don’t care now what he
does. He’s either stupid or lazy, and if he doesn’t sell more
I am going to fire him. . . . What do you suggest?”
I asked the student, “Do you understand why he does
what he does?”
“No!” she glared at me. “I tell him what to do, but he
doesn’t do it.”
“Have you ever considered changing the way you talk
to him?” I asked.
“Why would I do that? I tell him to do what I do. That’s
how I make so many sales. Why can’t he do that, too?”
“Maybe because he can’t hear you,” I suggested.
“He’s not deaf,” she said, to the amusement of the class.
“No, he’s not. But he’s tuned you out,” I explained,
“because he doesn’t like the way you talk to him. If he had
your type of personality he might respond more to your
liking. But he has his own personality, and until you honor
it, he can’t hear you.”
Since business success depends on successful relationships
among people, it’s important to know why people
do what they do. Or, in my student’s case, don’t do.
Each of us cultivates and projects a unique personality.
It’s sort of like DNA. We’re born with some elements of our
personality and the rest of it is cultivated over time. How
we use our personality to interact with other people controls,
to a degree, the way people respond to us. If you’re
not aware of how your personality impacts other people,
you may struggle to cultivate satisfying relationships,
whether with employees, family, or friends.
“Talk your employee’s language,” I told my student.
“Your personality is bold and decisive. Based on your
description of him, his personality is less aggressive. You
cannot train him successfully until he hears you, and he
cannot hear you until you speak to him in a way that he
accepts and understands. You have to talk his language. If
you’re not going to change the way you talk to him, do
him a favor and fire him.”
“I don’t know how to talk his language,” she complained.
“Then fire him,” I concluded.
She didn’t like my answer.
“And before you hire someone again,” I continued,
“learn about personality styles. The problem you’re
encountering isn’t the training, the product, or the
employee. The problem is the personality clash.”
Next week I’ll explain more about how personalities
impact businesses and relationships, and how to use your
personality to your benefit.
Dr. John P. Hayes is a marketing professor at Gulf
University for Science & Technology. Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com
or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.
kuwait digest
By Thaar Al-Rashidi
world of politics has nothing to do with our daily lives.
Politicians are not concerned about the details of our lives
as citizens, except by how much they benefit from that.
For example, the politician does not talk about salary increases
or price increases or traffic jams or equal opportunities, except
in terms of how much he benefits from these during his election
campaigns in order to get as many votes as possible from
those who believe his promises and, in that, he guarantees
himself a seat in the parliament.
Once he is in the parliament he enters the world of politics
and closes the door behind him, leaving us with the hope that
he fulfills his promise, though none of the promises have been
fulfilled. Neither the problems of loans have been solved, nor
the housing queue has been reduced, which currently has
passed 100,000 applications awaiting action. Unemployment
has not been solved, university education is still not moving
forward and there has not been a single hospital built in 30
years. Some of our politicians are in ivory tower and know
nothing about us and what worries the people or their needs.
They do not need university education for their children, and
they do not need to pay car installments or to lease houses.
They do not know what it means to look for someone who can
lend you KD 2,000, and they don’t need to find someone who
can advance a hospital appointment for a surgery. As those
things are not their worries and not their priorities, you find
them discussing the constitutional monarchy in boring details
and theories, which we do not understand and we don’t want.
We, the citizens, have totally different priorities from our MPs’
priorities.
They talk about the justice of constituencies and we, the citizens,
are looking for the justice of hospital appointments,
which takes years, and we look for the justice of distributing
housing, which lasts for a decade or two, and they talk bitterly
about influencing wars while we want someone to fight price
increases. They talk about constitutional amendments, and the
use of the determination yard, while our concerns are that our
sons find a responsible job in a reasonable time.
Our cares and worries are not the same as our MPs’ worries,
neither the 2009 council (the dead and alive council) nor the
2012 council (the live one which was killed last June). Their
political concerns have nothing to do with our daily wars,
which we fight every day with the high prices, traffic jams, and
no application of the law. Either the MPs concern themselves
with the public’s concern and be part of them or let them leave
forever, as we don’t need them and we do not need a government
that does not share our feelings. Let all leave, as there are
those who might be much better. The country does not
depend upon a number of persons who run the country and
whose interests and priorities are not our priorities. — Al-Anba

KUWAIT: The Embassy of Bangladesh hosted a reception over the
weekend to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, attended by members of the
Bangladeshi community in Kuwait, in addition to ambassadors
and other guests.—Photos by Joseph Shagra
Khairan resort: an ideal
destination for families
KUWAIT: During public holidays like Eid
Al-Fitr, reserving for a few nights at the
exciting beach resort of Khairan, located on
the south coast of Kuwait, is a daunting
task. Built by the state-founded Touristic
Enterprises Company in 1987, the resort is
known for its 1,900 m-long serene beach
and lush open green spaces, making it an
ideal family destination in Kuwait’s hot
desert climate.
The resort contains a total of 236 villas
and lodges, fully equipped with five-star
luxury amenities and seaviews.
“In the last 10 years I have had to book
six months in advance,” says father of five
Sulaiman Al-Ali, “as the resort gets quite
busy during the summer holiday period.”
Al-Ali adds that he usually likes to spend
a whole week in the resort during any giv-
en holiday period. Khairan was described
as the ideal and possibly sole holiday destination
for the Al-Enezi family.
Aminah Al-Enezi, a mother of two, said
that prices were very reasonable when
compared to other private resorts in the
country which have even smaller spaces.
Her children take full use of the youth
club, hosted by the resort, which includes
fun and games, cartoon screenings and an
art class. For the slightly older crowd, highschool
student Hamid Karam spends most
of his time at the indoor arena, which
includes games like table tennis, pool,
bowling and an arcade. The resort also
hosts a dual-pool swimming complex and a
deep-sea diving centre and Karam added
that he has the opportunity to practice his
two best-loved hobbies. — KUNA
400 students participate in
NBK Internship Program
KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
concluded its 2012 Summer Internship
Program for high school and college students.
More than 400 students participated
in the Summer Internship Program of 2012.
Students participated in field activities
including visits to the NBK Hospital and
other public and private institutions.
Talal Al-Turki, NBK Public Relations
Officer said that NBK views the Summer
Internship Program as an extension of
NBK’s education outreach services. “This
program is a demonstration of NBK’s longstanding
social involvement and commitment
towards providing Kuwait’s younger
generation with appropriate opportunities
to experience firsthand the banking profes-
sion.” The five-hour daily sessions featured
a mixture of theoretical and practical training
dedicated to providing the interns with
valuable knowledge on a variety of subjects
including team work, creative thinking,
means of self expression and modern
banking procedures, in addition to providing
interns with greater exposure to daily
banking practices and norms,” Al-Turki
added.
The 2012 Summer Internship Program
follows several successful years of NBK
Summer Internship Programs. NBK regularly
organizes and designs events and packages
for the youth of the country to familiarize
them with the world of banking and
make them responsible citizens.
local
KUWAIT: The latest Middle East and
North Africa Consumer Confidence
Index Survey, conducted by
Bayt.com and YouGov, a research and
consulting organisation, shows that
expectations for the year to come are
high across the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) region. In
Kuwait, respondents forecast a better
financial climate and economy, with
improved business conditions and
more jobs available.
In general across the MENA
region, feelings for respondents’ personal
situations at the present time
are neutral. Only 28percent claim
that their financial situation is better
than last year, compared to 65percent
who state that it has either
remained the same or declined.
National economies are considered
to be worse than last year,according
to 33percent of respondents.
Consumer behaviour (41percent of
respondents say that now is a ‘bad
time to buy’) is likely impacting business
conditions which are neutral to
bad, as stated by 65percent.
In terms of employment, almost
half of the respondents (49percent)
claim that there are ‘very few jobs
available’. Six out of ten say that
their company has either the same
or fewer employees than this time
12 months ago, and two thirds
(65percent) believe that their
salaries have not kept pace with the
cost of living. However, respondents
appear to be optimistic for
the upcoming year. The majority
believe that their personal financial
situation (51percent), country’s
economy (44percent), business conditions
(49percent) and employment
conditions (35percent) will
improve.
“Retaining a positive outlook for
the year to come will be pivotal to
the region’s success. Conditions may
not be considered to be entirely
favourable at the present time, but
there are plenty of signs that the
months to come will prove beneficial
for all,” said Suhail Masri, Vice
President of Sales, Bayt.com.
“Bayt.com gathers vital information
from pertinent cross-sections of
MENA society, to provide in-depth
insights into the feelings, behaviour
and trends happening in recruitment
and business around the region.”
Satisfaction with career prospects
in the region at present is low,
according to 39percent of respondents,
while 38percent state that it is
‘neutral’. Three quarters of respondents
(74percent) also claim that the
prospect for career growth in their
current organisation is neutral to low.
Job security is seen to be an issue by
67percent, with only one in four
(27percent) claiming their job security
is ‘high’, and satisfaction with compensation
is neutral to low, according
to 84percent.
With regards to employment,
24percent of companies expect to
increase employees in the coming
three months. A further 61percent
are either neutral or pessimistic
about growth potential vis-a-vis the
number of employees in their organization.
The sentiment towards
keeping up with staffing requirements
is neutral, according to four
out of ten respondents (37percent),
however19percent cite optimism.
The outlook for inflation is negative,
with 38percent believing there
will be a rise in the cost of living.
Similarly, 36percent believe the
cost of real estate is still creating a
feeling of negativity across the
region. In the next 12 months,of
respondents are planning to purchase
a vehicle. Of these, 51percent
will buy new. Moreover, one in five
(21percent) are considering invest-
ing in property, with 65percent of
them planning to buy new.
The five most popular consumer
purchases in the next six months will
be desktop or laptop computers
(25percent); furniture (20percent);
LCD or plasma television (18percent);
air conditioners (16percent)
and digital cameras (13percent).
“Consumer habits have remained
somewhat stable in the past year,
with the same five product categories
continually topping the list.
Computers are always a favourite
purchase across the board, and technology
in general seems to consistently
be the best-selling consumer
goods category,” said Sundip Chahal,
CEO, YouGov.
Respondents from Kuwait feel
that their current personal financial
situation has mostly remained the
same (38percent). Feelings towards
the country’s economy are mostly
neutral (38percent), and it is considered
to be a neutral time to buy
according to 47percent. In line with
this, 67percent of respondents state
that business conditions are neutral
to bad, and 74percent state that
there are ‘not many’ or ‘very few’ jobs
available.
While a third (33percent) of
Kuwait respondents believe that
there are more employees in their
company now than there were at
this time last year; 31percent claim
that there are fewer. The majority
(66percent) state that their salary has
not kept pace with the cost of living.
For the year to come, expectations
are high, as ever. More than
half (52percent) believe that their
personal financial situation will
improve. Also expected to improve
are the country’s economy (44percent),
business conditions (44percent)
and employment conditions,
as stated by 32percent. Job satisfac-
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Kuwait employment conditions
expected to improve next year
Bayt.com and YouGov survey
tion in Kuwait is considered to be
mostly neutral to low, with only
15percent believing that the career
prospects in their current job are
high, while 31percent state that the
opportunities for career growth are
low. The majority (70percent) claim
neutral to low satisfaction with their
job security, and almost half (45percent)
are unhappy with their current
compensation.
Over 29percent of Kuwait respondents
anticipate an increase in the
number of employees at their current
company in the coming three
months, with 36percent being ‘neutral’
with the prospect of keeping up
with staffing requirements.
Respondents anticipate a mostly
neutral-to-negative impact vis-a-vis
the cost of living (according to
51percent); they also believe that
accommodation costs will rise (stated
by 33percent).
In the next 12 months, 30percent
of Kuwait respondents are considering
purchasing a vehicle; of these,
44percent will buy new. Within the
same timeframe, 26percent will consider
buying property, 67percent of
whom will purchase a new property.
The three most popular consumer
purchases for the next six
months will be furniture (24percent);
LCD or plasma televisions
(23percent) and desktop or laptop
(21percent). Data for the quarterly
Bayt.com Consumer Confidence
Index survey (August 2012) was
collected online from July 16 to
August 1, 2012, with 7,421 respondents
aged over 18 years, covering
GCC Arab, North African, Levant,
Western Expatriate and Asian
nationalities. Countries who participated
are UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria,
Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia and Pakistan.

KUWAIT: A groom on the way to his wedding
reception was killed when a stray bullet fired
from his friend’s pistol struck his heart. Police
received a call reporting that the groom had
been shot while heading to a hall to receive
well wishers. The killing reportedly took place
when a bullet was fired from a gun held by his
friend, who was sitting behind him. The friend
told police that he was getting ready to celebrate
his friend’s arrival at the hall, when a
bullet fired accidentally. Investigations are
underway.
Drug overdose
A 19-year- old citizen was found dead in his
car behind a gas station in Maidan Hawally
due to a drug overdose. A passerby noticed
the driver of the car leaning on the steering
wheel, so he contacted the police. Criminal
investigators arrived at the scene and the
body was turned over to the coroner.
Investigations led to an Egyptian who was
with the citizen while taking the drugs that
led to the fatal overdose.
Asian stabbed
An Asian expat was stabbed in the
abdomen and killed in the Nugra area while
another was admitted to the ICU with a chest
wound, having also been stabbed by the
same culprit. The stabbings took place during
a gambling dispute. So far, the suspect and 16
others have been arrested. The stabbing took
place in a Nugra area flat when a dispute
broke out amongst the gamblers, leading one
man to pull out a knife and attack two men
before escaping. Both victims were brought
to a hospital where one died and the other
was admitted to the ICU. Hawally detectives,
on the orders of Col Abdelrahman Al-Suhail,
were able to arrest the suspect, and recover
the murder weapon, as well as detain 16 other
witnesses.
Jahra arrest
A Jahra police patrol noticed a car parked
next to a mosque in Taima area, and since Fajr
prayers had ended one hour earlier, policemen
approached the car to investigate. Inside
the car they saw two men drinking alcohol.
One suspect fled the scene and the other was
arrested. The arrested man was sent to concerned
authorities while the man who fled is
being sought for questioning.
Father assaulted
Hawally detectives arrested a young man
who severely beat his sisters and father in
south Surra, and causing his father to lose
consciousness. The father has been admitted
to a hospital ICU. The suspect was kept in custody
for further investigation as he refused to
reveal his motives behind the attack. Police
said following the attack the suspect had
escaped. A security source, however, said that
detectives traced the suspect’s movement
through his mobile phone until his arrest in
the Salmiya area. The suspect will remain in
custody until his father awakes from his coma.
Drunk driver
“It is Eid time, let us have some fun!” were
the words of a drunk driver recently arrested
by police. A security source said the suspect
was driving erratically on the Sixth Ring
Road, and when a patrol car stopped him
police discovered he was drunk with an
imported liquor bottle in his car. When police
asked him about it he said “It is Eid time, let’s
have some fun!” Police also discovered that
the suspect is wanted for attempted kidnapping
and forgery. He was sent for questioning
to the criminal detectives department.
Indecent act
A young man committed an indecent act
towards a woman in front of her four children
before escaping, prompting her to file a complaint
at Maidan Hawally police station.
Street fight
Police were informed that four men were
fighting with knives and sticks after exchanging
words. Police raced to the scene and
arrested all four suspects before they had the
chance to seriously harm each other. One of
the men suffered a superficial wound to his
shoulder and was taken to Sabah hospital for
LOCAL
Groom shot dead at
wedding celebration
KUWAIT: Gulf Cooperation Council has
maintained its strong demand for Chinese
goods as Kuwait for example absorbed
more of them in June by an increase of
20.5%, said a report by the Kuwait China
Investment Co (KCIC).
Chinese exports to the GCC were growing
at 30.5% YoY in June, slightly softening
from May figures of 32.5% YoY, said the
report.
Among the GCC countries, Chinese
exports to Qatar decelerated most, from
44.7% YoY in May to 12.7% YoY in June,
while Chinese exports to Kuwait have
accelerated in June to 20.5% YoY, from
12.9% YoY in the previous month. Thus,
China is still benefiting from the strong
demand coming from the GCC.
In times of global economic distress,
asset prices generally fall with economic
activity. For instance, in the last financial
crisis in 2008, real estate prices in the US
Youth found dead in car
lost substantial value and crude oil Brent
prices fell from above $140 to less than
$40, said the report.
In such cases, economies that depend
on their oil revenues, such as OPEC
(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries) and GCC members, dip as well.
However, oil prices have been steadily
high during the current economic backdrop;
initially due to the Arab Spring, and
more recently due to increasing expectations
of a coordinated stimulus from central
banks and governments around the
world.
The high oil prices have benefited oil
exporters, namely Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait. And while the Chinese export
industry did weaken, increasing investments
and infrastructure schemes have
required large amounts of oil, maintaining
a stable market for GCC oil exports.
Consequently, Kuwait and other GCC
treatment, then brought back to the police
station for questioning. All four men were
charged with attempted murder and will be
brought to juvenile detectives.
American dead
The body of an American expat in his sixties
was brought to the coroner to determine
the cause of death. The coroner suspects the
death is due to natural causes. A colleague of
the deceased American had reported him
absent from work, so police went to his residence.
His car was under the building and
the door was locked from inside, so a warrant
was obtained. Police entered to find the
American dead inside his Mahboula apartment.
Family disappears
A citizen accused his Arab wife of kidnapping
his two sons and taking them to her
country. The citizen told Abu Halaifa police
that he was surprised by the disappearance of
his wife and two sons, but then a friend of his
working at the airport told him that she left
for her home country with the two children.
Rape victim
Ahmadi detectives are looking for an
unknown person who kidnapped a Filipina
expat, raped her, then left her in an uninhabited
area. The victim told police that she was
late leaving work during the last day of holy
Ramadan due to the large number of customers.
She stated that she finished her work
at 2 am, and while waiting for a taxi under
the saloon, a man stopped and offered her a
ride, which she refused. The man said he
knew her and that he was the husband of a
customer, so “I got into the car after waiting
more than 15 minutes for the taxi. I was surprised
when he took me to an open area
where he raped me and left me there.” After
reaching the street, a man took the woman to
the police station, where police took the testimony
of both the man who found her and
the woman. The man reported he saw the
woman with torn clothes in the Mina
Abdullah area.
nations continue to enjoy an ongoing
buoyant source of income, keeping their
economies afloat. This subsequently
increases domestic demand, partly
through government incentives, which
translates into stronger demand for external
goods, among them Chinese exports,
said the report.
Ties between Kuwait and China have
been robust; for instance, 10% of Kuwait’s
imports come from China and about 5% of
China’s petroleum imports come from
Kuwait alone, benefiting both parties
despite the current economic slowdown.
On one hand, China gains by exporting
goods to Kuwait at a time when other
trade partners, such as the US and the euro
zone, are witnessing an economic slowdown.
On the other hand, Kuwait enjoys a stable
source of demand from China for its oil.
The GCC members have been resilient
KUWAIT: Oil and Awqaf Minister Hani
Abdelaziz Hussein Al-Tarkeet has said the
current situation does not require OPEC to
take any new steps during its December
meeting, adding that current policies will
continue under the current prices. He noted
that there had been calls for an emergency
meeting when prices dropped, but
the meeting did not take place. Further,
Al-Tarkeet expressed optimism about the
oil market and prices due to the positive
expectations, especially with the greater
than expected improvement of the
American economy, in addition to expec-
against the global economic slowdown,
with Kuwait increasing its demand for
Chinese products in June.
The country’s main imports are vehicles,
machinery and raw materials used for construction;
and increasing imports from
China suggest Kuwait’s domestic activity
picked up. As long as oil prices remain
above $80 this year, Kuwait and other
Chinese oil-exporting partners will continue
to enjoy solid growth. High oil exports
and improving domestic demand in
Kuwait are expected to maintain a firm level
of growth.
Money supply accelerated and credit
growth picked up to 5% YoY in June, the
highest in more than two years, propelling
domestic consumption, said the report.
There are concerns that the issues in
developed nations will remain unresolved
beyond this year, which would lead to
countries such as China and the GCC mem-
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
KUWAIT: The Embassy of Brunei hosted a reception to celebrate the Eid Al-Fitr,
attended by members of Brunei community in Kuwait, in addition to ambassadors
and other guests. — Photos by Joseph Shagra
Minister expresses
optimism about oil market
tations that the European economy will
not face the kind of shock the euro has.
He noted that current oil prices are
fluctuating, while the encouraging news
about the American economic data, and
the encouraging initiatives from the
German bank to support the euro, caused
a rise in prices, adding that the market is
well balanced. He said if there was some
relief in the Iranian crisis, there would be a
surplus, and even if prices were high, it is
not necessary for them to continue as
such because supply and demand might
then affect prices negatively.
Increase in Chinese exports to Kuwait
bers losing key economic partners in the
West, such as the US and the euro zone, in
the short term. However, Kuwait and
China’s domestic sectors are well positioned
for any downturn, as their focus
gradually shifts to infrastructure investments.
KCIC is an investment company
founded by an Amiri Decree with a capital
of KD 80 million and a mandate to invest in
domestic demand-driven sectors in Asia,
namely energy, real estate, healthcare,
infrastructure, and financial services.
The publicly-listed company employs a
team of Asia specialists and currently manages
assets in excess of USD 260 million.
Key shareholders include the Kuwait
Investment Authority (Kuwait’s Sovereign
Wealth Fund), National Investment
Company (one of the leading investment
banks in the Middle East), and Al Ghanim
Industries (one of the largest conglomerates
in the Middle East). — KUNA
KUWAIT: Thousands of visitors celebrated Eid Al-Fitr at the Entertainment City which remained opened between 4 pm and 1:30 am everyday during the holiday, featuring a special program that included competitions for
people of all ages. The event also featured the reinstatement of the rollercoaster ride, and the opening of the arcade hall that includes pool, bowling and others.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Indian opposition targets PM over ‘coalgate’
Page 11
Syrian war empowers
long-oppressed Kurds
3 religions meet in Paris prayer space
BUSSY-SAINT-GEORGES: Chief Abbess Manchen Shih
gazed through a first-floor window of her vast wood and
concrete temple as shaven-headed nuns in mustard robes
prepared for midday prayers, cooking rice as an offering to
the Buddha. “Look! You can see the mosque and the Laotian
temple,” she said, gesturing at two half-finished buildings rising
from a weed-ridden site in Bussy-Saint-Georges, 30 km
east of Paris.
Like many of the new towns that have sprung up since
the 1960s to ease urban overcrowding, more than half of
Bussy’s 25,000 residents are immigrants. Local mayor
Hugues Rondeau says around 40 percent of the town’s population
is Asian. With France - a secular nation with a long
Roman Catholic history - battling to come to terms with its
increasingly multicultural identity, Rondeau believes Bussy
can set an example. Worried by a dearth of prayer space for
non-Catholics, he is breaking new ground by placing a synagogue,
a mosque and two Buddhist temples side by side in a
bid to tear down barriers between the faiths. Bussy already
has a Catholic church.
“My concern was that if we don’t provide some better
organization for the religions, we could end up with anarchy
and people praying in the streets,” Rondeau, a practicing
Catholic said. France, a nation of 60 million people, is home
to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish minorities, estimated
at about 5 million and half a million respectively. They rub
shoulders with about one million Buddhists, many of them
immigrants from France’s former east Asian colonies. That
has led to tensions. More than 100 anti-Muslim attacks and
as many as 400 anti-Jewish acts are reported each year,
ranging from threats and desecration of graveyards to violence.
The shooting of three Jewish children and four adults by
23-year-old Mohamed Merah in March - France’s first domestic
Al-Qaeda-inspired killings - has prompted calls for more
inter-faith dialogue. While Bussy has no history of violence,
Rondeau fears it may not be immune and he recognizes that
the project - where the mosque and the synagogue directly
face each other - is a gamble. “If tomorrow the rabbi assassinates
the imam, or vice-versa, because of tensions in the
Middle East, I would certainly be responsible. But I would
also be responsible if they decide to hold peaceful talks
together,” the centre-right mayor said.
LACK OF PRAYER SPACES
It is a first in France where a strict 1905 law on the separation
of church and state has made public officials reluctant
to intervene in religious affairs. Rondeau emphasizes that,
while he asked public authorities to reserve a plot of land
close to the city centre for the site, construction is entirely
funded by religious communities, which have enthusiastically
embraced the scheme. Abbess Shih’s box-shaped temple,
the European headquarters of the Taiwan-based Fo Guang
Shan Buddhist order, opened in July. A Laotian temple and a
green-and-beige mosque should be ready by December
with the synagogue due to complete the space in 2014. “Our
Grand Master asks us to be in harmony with ourselves, with
others, with society and with the world so I think it’s good
that we’re all neighbors,” says Shih.
Islamic leaders hope the project can foster harmony after
tensions flared in September when the previous conservative
government banned street prayers. The sight of hundreds
of Muslims worshipping in the streets of northern
Paris had stirred unease in a country where public displays
of faith are frowned up - prompting far-right National Front
leader Marine Le Pen to brand it an “invasion” - but Muslims
complain there are not enough mosques. “This is a great initiative,”
Abdallah Zekri, president of the Observatory against
Islamophobia within the French Muslim Council. “It could
reinforce the spirit of living together and allow moments to
be shared. I see that as positive.”
Rondeau says Bussy’s immigrant population makes it the
perfect laboratory for promoting interreligious relations but
he admits that many local people remain opposed. “It’s not
always easy, considering the image of Islam in Europe, and
especially in France”, he said. “It’s always hard for people to
understand that the cultural and even ethnic landscape of
Europe is changing.” According to Mehdi, a 23-year-old delivery
man who lives in Bussy, the town was flooded with
anonymous tracts opposing the mosque. “Muslims have
been labeled for a long time,” he said. “This project won’t
change it but at least we’ll pray in better conditions.”
Many French people are openly alarmed by the changing
identity of their country. The National Front won 18 percent
of the vote in April’s presidential first-round election, drawing
on frustration at high unemployment and immigration.
Some Bussy residents voiced fears that supporting minority
religions could foster the growth of ghettos in the town. “It’s
very democratic but I don’t want people to be ostentatious
and start walking around town wearing djellabas”, said
David Moreau, a 41-year-old Christian, smoking a cigarette
while taking a break from his insurance job. “I don’t walk
around with a cross around my neck.”
SYMBOLIC MINARET
To defuse concerns, Rondeau asked each community to
build contemporary structures that would not look out of
place in the new town. The mosque was, for instance,
designed with a symbolic minaret discreetly attached to the
main building. He hopes the site will eventually feature an
Armenian cultural centre, a Chinese evangelical church,
classrooms and libraries where people can learn about the
different faiths. Every religious building will have its own cultural
area. Visitors to the Taiwanese Buddhist temple will be
able to learn Mandarin or attend a tea ceremony while the
mosque will offer classes in Muslim civilization and Arabic.
One lawmaker for France’s conservative UMP opposition
party, which banned the wearing of full-face veils while in
office, questioned the scheme’s usefulness. “This project
seems laudable but rather utopian,” said Jacques Myard, an
outspoken supporter of the veil ban. “Geographical proximity
will not create intellectual closeness so it’s largely illusory.”
For Odon Vallet, an historian of religion, there is little chance
that putting religions side by side will automatically favor a
dialogue that is already in retreat due to the economic crisis
and rising unemployment. Some residents were more pessimistic,
fearing that proximity could create tensions. “At first,
I thought it was fun”, said Claude Tshilombo, a 42-year-old
nurse. “But now, I think it’s a time bomb.”—Reuters
Synagogue, mosque, temples lie side by side
MONTPELLIER: Children cool off a fountain in Montpellier, southern France, as the city swelters under a summer heatwave. — AFP
News
in brief
US seizes $150 million
NEW YORK: US authorities said that they had seized
$150 million from a Lebanese bank suspected of
being at the heart of international money-laundering
schemes linked to the Lebanese Shiite group
Hezbollah. In February 2011, the US Treasury department
designated the Lebanese Canadian Bank as a
“primary money-laundering concern.” The privately
owned bank was subsequently merged with the
Lebanese subsidiary of Societe Generale. Federal
prosecutors in Manhattan and the US Drug
Enforcement Administration accused bank officials
of knowingly participating in a scheme in which
money from various individuals and companies in
Beirut was sent from Lebanon to purchase used cars
in the United States.
Iran, Egypt to restore ties
CAIRO: Iran and Egypt are moving towards restoring
diplomatic relations which were severed more than
three decades ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar
Salehi said in an interview published yesterday.
Salehi said in comments reported in Egypt’s staterun
Al-Ahram newspaper that Tehran was keen on
establishing relations of “friendship and brotherhood”
with Cairo. “Egypt is the cornerstone of the
region and has a special stature in the Arab and
Muslim countries... and we want relations of friendship
and brotherhood with it,” Salehi said, adding
that Tehran hoped to restore “normal” relations with
Cairo. “We will pursue this path and restoration of
relations depends only on protocol measures.” Salehi
said Egypt’s “revolution opened a new chapter in
Egypt’s relations with the outside world,” adding that
the Islamic republic welcomes Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi attending a Non-Aligned
Movement summit later this month in Tehran.
Largest family reunion
KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 700 descendants of the
founder of a village in northern Malaysia gathered in
what is believed to be the largest family reunion for
the Muslim Eid Al-Fitr celebration in the country.
Family head Syeikh Alauddin Syeikh Abu Bakar said
yesterday the gathering brought together about 683
people from 100 families descended from Kampung
Paya Pahlawan’s (Warrior’s Swamp Village) founder
Tok Nai Din. “We only know that he came from
Thailand in 1792 and his tomb is in Paya Pahlawan.
He may have been involved in the 1821 war with
Siam,” he said, referring to the Siamese kingdom’s
conquest of the state of Kedah. The village no longer
exists, having been converted into a cattle farm, and
the gathering took place 20 kilometers away in Alor
Setar, the state capital of Kedah.
Militants blow up pipeline
ADEN: Suspected Al-Qaeda militants yesterday
blew up a pipeline pumping liquefied gas to
Yemen’s southern Balhaf export terminal, causing a
complete halt in operations, security officials said.
The gunmen blew up the gas pipeline “at Station 5,
in the village of Zahira, in the Shabwa province,” said
provincial security chief brigadier-general Ahmed
Omeir. He said the attack took place around 1:00 am
yesterday. Another security official accused Al-
Qaeda militants, who remain active in the region, of
being behind the attack.
Page 8

INTERNATIONAL
As Syria burns, black humor thrives
TRIPOLI: Black smoke rises from a burned shop that was attacked during clashes
that erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the
northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon yesterday. — AP
BEIRUT: Faced with a bloody conflict that
has gripped their country for the past 17
months, many Syrians have opted for humor
as a weapon to mock both Bashar Al-Assad’s
regime and their own daily struggles. “Dear
defectors, the Syrian revolution is taking
place in Syria, not in Turkey,” read banners at
several protests, mocking defectors who
have chosen to keep their distance from the
battlefield after fleeing north across the border.
And the defection to Paris of the regime’s
former golden boy, Manaf Tlass, prompted
protesters in Kfar Nabal village in northwest
Idlib province-who have become well-known
for their witty slogans-to raise a banner reading:
“The Charles de Gaulle Brigade led by
Brigadier General Manaf Tlass has seized control
of the Champs Elysees!” The state of the
opposition, destruction caused by the ongoing
battle between Assad’s forces and rebels,
unemployment, falling incomes, a lack of daily
necessities, local peculiarities, defections...
all are now fair game for increasingly dark
Syrian jokes.
Residents of Homs, often mocked by the
rest of the country for their so-called naivety
and lack of intellect, won plaudits nationwide
for their resolve against regime forces when
their town was hammered by the Syrian
army, to the point that their city was nicknamed
the “Capital of the Revolution.” But, so
the joke goes, their supposed naivety was a
problem for authorities because whenever
they imposed a curfew, residents would flock
onto the streets to check it out.
Or: In Homs city, a resident plays with a
rocket. When his friend warns him to be careful
because it might go off, he reassures him
there’s nothing to worry about because the
army will simply fire some more. Other jokes
play on Homs’s reputation as a particularly
conservative city: A couple from Homs
decide to visit Aleppo, Syria’s commercial
capital, before it became the site of brutal
battles between rebels and the regime. They
walk through Aleppo’s streets and after two
hours without hearing any explosions or seeing
any demonstrations, the husband tells
the wife: “You can take off your veil now,
there mustn’t be any men here.”
More than anything else, defections have
become a firm favorite of rebel humor. One
joke goes that Assad has demanded that his
Sunni vice-president Faruq Al-Shara, the subject
of defection rumors, sleep with him in
the same room so he cannot escape, forcing
Syrian war empowers
long-oppressed Kurds
BEIRUT: Last month, while the world’s attention
was focused on battles raging in Syria’s
two largest cities, a quiet transformation was
taking place in the country’s oil-rich northeast
where about 2 million minority Kurds
live. In mid-July, regime forces began pulling
back from several towns and villages near the
Turkish border. They ceded de facto control to
armed Kurdish fighters who have since set up
checkpoints, hoisted Kurdish flags, and began
exercising a degree of autonomy unheard of
before. It is an extraordinary development for
a community that has long been oppressed
and discriminated against by the Assad
regime, one that threatens to upset a
decades-long geopolitical balance involving
Syria, Turkey and Iraq, and challenge old
regional alliances. “The Kurds are emerging as
one of the major winners of the crisis in Syria,”
said Fawaz A Gerges, director of the Middle
East Center at the London School of
Economics. “They have begun laying the
foundation for an autonomous region like
their counterparts in Iraq. It’s a dream-like situation
for them.”
Kurds see their chance to win the kind of
autonomy that their ethnic brothers enjoy in
Iraq. But this raises alarm bells for Turkey, one
of the key state backers of the rebels trying to
overthrow President Bashar Assad and a
country where Kurdish rebels have been
fighting a violent struggle for self-rule for the
last 28 years. Turkey is increasingly worried
that the chaos in Syria will open up a new
base for Kurdish rebels to press their struggle
for self-rule. The government in Ankara has
warned it would “not tolerate” any rebel
threats from Syrian territory and has staged a
number of military drills across the border to
put a fine point on it.
The tensions feed myriad concerns that
Syria’s civil war could spill across borders into
a wider regional conflagration. Turkey has
emerged as one of the most vociferous critics
of the Assad regime and serves as a base for
generals of the Free Syrian Army rebel group
and the Syrian National Council opposition
group. In relinquishing border areas to
Kurdish fighters, the Syrian regime may have
had a dual motive - diverting forces from
there to shore up overstretched troops fighting
in the northern commercial hub of
Aleppo and other parts of the country as well
as sending a warning to Turkey.
“With the Syrian government’s control
over northern parts of the country diminishing
... Ankara’s primary concern is that the
Syrian Kurds may seek to establish an
autonomous state in the region,” an August
security briefing by British based risk analysis
firm Maplecroft said. Already, large parts of
northern Syria, including a long stretch of the
border with Turkey, have fallen under rebel
control. In addition to that, the Assad regime
has suffered a series of setbacks over the past
month that point to a loosening of its grip on
Kurds emerging as one of the winners
the country.
The regime forces pulled back from the
Kurdish areas along the border last month
shortly after rebels struck in the capital
Damascus with unprecedented attacks and a
bombing that killed four of Assad’s top security
aides. There has also been a steady stream
of high-level defections by government officials,
diplomats and generals, though Assad’s
inner circle and military have largely kept
their cohesive stance behind him. And the
regime has been unable to fully subdue rebel
challenges in the two major cities, Damascus
and Aleppo.
At the same time, Syria’s civil war has
increasingly taken on deeply sectarian undertones,
pitting Assad and his Alawite minority -
an offshoot of Shiite Islam - against an opposition
dominated by majority Sunni Muslims.
Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
and make up around 10 to 15 percent of the
country’s 23 million people. Most of them live
in the northeaster Hasakeh province near the
border with Turkey. Large neighborhoods of
Damascus and Aleppo also are Kurdish-dominated.
Kurds have long complained of neglect
and discrimination. Assad’s government for
years argued they are not Syrians, but Kurds
who fled from Iraq or neighboring Turkey.
With the uprising, both the Syrian government
and opposition forces began reaching
out to the long-marginalized minority whose
support could tip the balance in the conflict.
Early on in the revolt, Assad ceded ground on
a major Kurdish demand, granting citizenship
to some 200,000 members of the ethnic
minority who were registered as aliens
before. Mindful of provoking the Kurds, security
forces have refrained from using deadly
force to put down protests in Kurdish regions.
The opposition has courted the Kurds,
staging demonstrations under Kurdish names
in hopes of rallying the community against
Assad. In June, Abdelbaset Sieda, a Kurd, was
elected as head of the Syrian National
Council. The Kurds in turn took part in the
anti-Assad protests staged every Friday, but
carried their own flags and chanted their own
slogans. In this way, they distanced themselves
from the Turkey-backed, Sunni-domi-
MAREA: A fighter from the Free Syrian Army fires rounds into the air yesterday, during
the funeral of 17-year old Ahmed Hamoudi, who allegedly died during a fighter jet attack
on the northern Syrian city of Marea. At least 24 people were reported killed nationwide
as the regime pressed its onslaught on rebel areas a day after US President Barack
Obama warned Damascus over its chemical weapons arsenal.—AFP
nated opposition movement, fearing they
would not fare much better if the rebels came
to power.
Last month, villagers say, Syrian security
forces simply abandoned posts in several border
towns and villages outside Qamishli
including Amouda, Dirbasiyeh, Al-Malkia - as
well as Ayn El-Arab and Afrin north of the city
of Aleppo. The government forces were
quickly replaced by Kurdish fighters from the
Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD. The
group is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK, rebels fighting for autonomy in
the Kurdish-dominated southeast region of
Turkey. The PKK maintains bases in northern
Iraq from where they launch hit-and-run
attacks on Turkish targets. “The regime is
sending messages to Turkey through the
PYD,” said Mustafa Osso, a Kurdish lawyer and
activist in the city of Qamishli. “The main message
is that the Syrian regime has the capacity
to spread chaos in the region.”
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization
by the United States and the
European Union and has long been suspected
of having close ties with Assad’s Baathist
regime. If Kurds in Syria seek greater autonomy,
this in turn could trigger a strong separatist
drive from Turkey’s Kurds in the east
and south-east of the country, a potential
crisis for the government in Ankara. Gerges
called the regime pullout a win-win situation
for the Syrian regime. “They know they cannot
take on the Kurdish community and they
realized that they have common interests
with the PYD because the common enemy
for both of them is Turkey,” Gerges said. PYD
officials deny they are affiliated with the PKK
or that they coordinate with the Syrian
regime. They say they will not allow Syrian
authorities to return to the areas they relinquished
- but nor will they allow Syrian rebel
fighters to enter their areas. It is a unique
opportunity for the Kurdish community in
Syria, and residents say a politicization
process has already started. For the first
time, Kurdish flags have replaced Syrian
flags in towns and villages near the border
areas. Cultural centers have sprung up and
some people have begun taking up classes
in the Kurdish language, which was forbidden
by Assad. Kurdish parties also are beginning
to build networks with their Kurdish
counterparts in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The president of Iraq’s autonomous
Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, confirmed
last month that Syrian Kurds had received
training in Iraqi Kurdistan although he said
they had not taken part in fighting in Syria.
Also last month, Barzani brokered an agreement
between rival Kurdish factions PYD and
the Kurdish National Council, the main
Kurdish umbrella group, to control the vacated
areas together. Osso says the reports of
Kurdish empowerment and growing autonomy
are exaggerated, adding that Syrian forces
may return at any minute. “But what is sure is
that there will be no going back to the previous
era of subordination and oppression,”
Osso said.
Although every Kurd aspires for statehood,
Syria’s Kurds say their goal is rather to
become more autonomous. They realize they
are not even a majority in the areas where
they live, where they coexist with ethnic Arab
Muslims and Christians. The presence of oil
wells in the fertile region may also be a cause
of future friction with the Arabs in the region.
“A separate state is every Kurdish person’s
dream,” said Siro Issa, a 24-year-old activist
and singer, from the town of Amouda. “But
we realize the difficulties. “All we want is our
rights, nothing more.”— AP
Traders eke out living as Syria fighting rages
ALEPPO: A Syrian army fighter jet sweeps low over
buildings near Aleppo’s Shaar roundabout, but Ahmed
Shamta doesn’t give it a second glance-he’s busy closing
a sale on a pair of plastic sandals. “I can’t give them
to you for 150 (Syrian pounds), the price has gone up,
they’re 250 now,” he tells a customer, who examines the
sandals closer, weighing whether to make the purchase.
Around them, residents are looking up into the sky,
tracking the progress of the plane as it arcs up and down,
distinct thuds emanating from nearby neighborhoods as
it fires on the houses below. But under the highway overpass
where Shamta and a handful of other merchants ply
their trade, the bid to make a sale continues. In the end,
the customer agrees the price, and walks off with a shiny
chestnut pair of fake leather sandals, stepping off past
the crowd of gawking men and children. Across from
Shamta, a rebel commander is shouting orders, dispatching
fighters to the neighborhoods being targeted by the
plane, cheering on men as they head off in a pick-up
truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun.
It might not be a dream sales spot, but there’s still
money to be made, even as the fight between Syrian
state troops and rebel fighters engulfs parts of Aleppo.
On one side of the flyover, a cluster of white minibuses
wait to pick up residents, and on the street several shops
are open, despite the clear danger on the ground and
from the skies. Shamta brushes off the risks. “I’ve been
selling shoes here my whole life,” says Shamta. “It’s all I
know.” “I come here every day, whether or not there’s
fighting, I have to provide for my children,” the 48-yearold
says, his tanned face creasing into a smile as he presents
two of his sons.
Since the fighting started, Shamta has raised his
prices, but only, he says, because the wholesaler he goes
to every two or three days, has upped his prices too. Now
the shoes start at 250 Syrian pounds ($3.81, 3.09 euros)
and go up to twice that. If he’s lucky, he earns between
4,000 and 6,000 Syrian pounds a day. At a nearby stall,
Mohamed Hamza is waging a furious but futile battle to
keep hundreds of flies from crawling over his wares, piles
of ripe green grapes. “It’s hard, of course, to work like this,
to work in a war, but if we don’t work, we don’t eat,” he
says, transferring bunches from their crates to the stall.
“There are still people here, and they need to eat, so
they come and they buy, even in the middle of the war,
even when there’s fighting.”
Hamza started working as fruit seller at 13, and has
followed the same routine for years, heading to the Souk
Al-Hal wholesale area each day and buying whatever fruit
is ripe for resale in Aleppo’s Shaar district. Across the
road, behind a stall selling keys and locks, 19-year-old
Anwar Eskayf sweats as he heaves olives into buckets
where they can be scrutinized by customers. There are
hard, bright green ones, glistening with oil, and light
brown ones that sit next to a tub containing a spicy mix
of sliced olives and fiery peppers.
He heaves a red crate from the shop floor and tips it,
letting wrinkled black olives tumble out into a white
bucket up front, then rakes through them to remove a
few stray leaves and coat the olives in oil. “I’m like anyone
else in the world, I have to work to live, even though I
might die to do it,” he says, scooping a customer’s selection
into a bag. “Whoever is going to die is going to die,
it’s fate,” he shrugs. While others have fled the city, 19year-old
Eskayf has no plans to leave. “Aleppo is where
I’m from, I don’t have anywhere else to go. I open the
shop every day in the morning, and I close it every day in
the evening. I’m not going anywhere.”— AFP
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
the president’s wife Asma to move to the
couch. Another depicts Assad standing in
front of a sign listing all of the security services
and ministries he has decided to take
charge of, with the president saying: “At least
I don’t have to worry now about any ministers
defecting.” And one cartoon depicts a
new minister being sworn in by Assad, with
the official saying: “I pledge not to defect.”
The recent defection to Jordan of Riad Hijab,
prime minister at the time, sparked jokes that
Jordanian authorities now have the following
signs at border crossings: Jordanians, Arabs,
Foreigners, Diplomats, and Deserting Syrian
Officials.
Increasing deprivation has also been a
source of humor. One joke has it that Syrians
were convinced they would win a gold
medal at the recent 2012 Olympics in
London if one of the events had been climbing
a staircase with a gas cylinder. Another
goes that a man returns home with a live
chicken for dinner. But, his wife tells him, the
family no longer has a knife to slaughter the
bird, nor do they have gas to cook it with.
Upon hearing the news, the chicken begins
clucking: “Long live Bashar! Long live
Bashar!”— AFP
MOGADISHU: Newly elected members of parliament put
their hands on the Quran to take oath, during the swearing
in ceremony for members of Somalia’s first parliament
in twenty years, at Aden Abdulle International Airport in
the Somali capital. — AP
Somali MPs
sworn in
MOGADISHU: Somalia swore in its new parliament in a historic ceremony
Monday policed by African Union troops, as the war-torn
nation tries once more to end two decades of conflict. The swearing-in,
held on the tarmac of the capital’s airport, was the culmination
of a UN-backed process in which lawmakers were chosen by a
group of 135 traditional elders. It brought an official end to
Somalia’s transitional government after eight years of political
infighting and rampant corruption. However, the election of a new
president was delayed. Lawmakers said the process would begin in
a “few days”, with multiple candidates vying in a fierce race to unseat
incumbent President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “The MPs are
very happy to be sworn in at home,” said new lawmaker Siyad Shire
Mohamoud. Transitional government deputies had previously
undergone the ceremony abroad because of the abysmal security
situation. “My desire is to change the current messy political landscape
to a better one,” Mohamoud said.
In Washington, the White House warned that it would not tolerate
any obstruction of war-torn Somalia’s political process, hailing
the swearing-in of the new parliament as an “important milestone”
for the nation. “All parties must work in a fair and transparent manner
and will be held accountable for any failure to do so,” White
House spokesman Jay Carney said, pledging US support in efforts
“to achieve a better future for the people of Somalia.” “We look forward
to parliament expeditiously completing all remaining tasks,”
the White House press secretary said.
Somalia has not had a stable central government since the 1991
ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of
bloody civil war and decades of chaos. Lawmakers said the usual
parliament building was too dangerous to hold their first symbolic
meeting for fear of attack by the country’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab
insurgents. After the parliament’s interim speaker Musa Hassan
Abdallah appealed for a “safe haven”, the session was moved to the
heavily fortified airport zone, adjoining the base for the nearly
17,000-strong AU force that has propped up the Western-backed
transitional leadership against attacks by the Shebab.
“Somalis have been through over 20 years of chaos ... people are
ready for a new day in Somalia,” said Hussein Arab Isse, a lawmaker
and defense minister in the previous government. Local media said
211 of 275 lawmakers had so far been named by a “technical selection
committee” from a list prepared by clan elders, with others
pending due to inter-clan arguments. Others were rejected for failing
to meet requirements, including that they be innocent of atrocities
committed during the civil war.
Peter de Clercq, deputy head of the UN in Somalia, told Al-
Jazeera the full parliament would be ready in the “next week or so”.
Bitter arguments for top posts-Despite delays, the process of forming
a new government was hailed as an “unprecedented opportunity
for greater peace and stability” in a joint statement by the UN, AU,
United States and European Union issued Sunday. “The conclusion
of the transition should mark the beginning of more representative
government in Somalia,” added the statement, also signed by
Norway, Turkey and East Africa’s main diplomatic body IGAD,
among others. However, analysts have taken a far gloomier outlook
on the process, suggesting it offers little but a reshuffling of positions.
“The current political process has been as undemocratic as
the one it seeks to replace, with unprecedented levels of political
interference, corruption and intimidation,” the International Crisis
Group think tank said Monday.
Bitter arguments have begun between challengers for the top
posts-divided along Somalia’s notoriously fractious clan lines-while
many are also reported to oppose the selection of women, who are
supposed to hold 30 percent of parliament seats. The international
statement made clear lawmakers must change their behavior from
the actions of the previous parliament. —AFP

FAYETTEVILLE: They call it “rahowa”
short for racial holy war - and they are
preparing for it by joining the ranks of
the world’s fiercest fighting machine,
the US military. White supremacists,
neo-Nazis and skinhead groups
encourage followers to enlist in the
Army and Marine Corps to acquire the
skills to overthrow what some call the
ZOG - the Zionist Occupation
Government. Get in, get trained and
get out to brace for the coming race
war. If this scenario seems like fantasy
or bluster, civil rights organizations
take it as deadly serious, especially given
recent events. Former US Army soldier
Wade Page opened fire with a
9mm handgun at a Sikh temple in
Wisconsin on Aug 5, murdering six
people and critically wounding three
before killing himself during a
shootout with police. The US Defense
Department as well has stepped up
efforts to purge violent racists from its
ranks, earning praise from organizations
such as the Southern Poverty Law
Center, which has tracked and exposed
hate groups since the 1970s.
Page, who was 40, was well known
in the white supremacist music scene.
In the early 2000s he told academic
researcher Pete Simi that he became a
neo-Nazi after joining the military in
1992. Fred Lucas, who served with him,
said Page openly espoused his racist
views until 1998, when he was demoted
from sergeant to specialist, discharged
and barred from re-enlistment.
While at Fort Bragg, in North
Carolina, Page told Simi, he made the
acquaintance of James Burmeister, a
skinhead paratrooper who in 1995
killed a black Fayetteville couple in a
racially motivated shooting. Burmeister
was sentenced to life in prison and
died in 2007.
No one knows how many white
supremacists have served since then. A
2008 report commissioned by the
Justice Department found half of all
right-wing extremists in the United
States had military experience. “We
don’t really think this is a huge problem,
at Bragg, and across the Army,”
said Colonel Kevin Arata, a spokesman
for Fort Bragg. “In my 26 years in the
Army, I’ve never seen it,” the former
company commander said. Experts
have identified the presence of street
gang members as a more widespread
problem. Even so, the Pentagon has
launched three major pushes in recent
decades to crack down on racist
extremists. The first directive was
issued in 1986, when Defense
Secretary Casper Weinberger ordered
military personnel to reject supremacist
organizations.
That failed to stop former Marine TJ
Leyden, with two-inch SS bolts tat-
INTERNATIONAL
US Army battling racists within its own ranks
SAN FRANCISCO DE YARE: Relatives of an inmate cry while waiting for information
outside Yare I prison in San Francisco de Yare, Venezuela. — AP
Venezuela’s prison
riot leaves 25 dead
CARACAS: Twenty-five people were
killed during a prison riot and dozens
were wounded when two groups of
inmates waged a gunbattle inside the
penitentiary while hundreds of relatives
were visiting, Venezuelan officials said
Monday. The violence erupted at Yare I
prison south of Caracas on Sunday, and
at least one of those slain was a relative
of an inmate, said Iris Varela, the government’s
prisons minister.
It was the latest and one of the deadliest
in a series of bloody clashes that
have flared in Venezuela’s overcrowded
prisons and become a major problem for
President Hugo Chavez’s government.
Varela told state television Monday afternoon
that 17 of the 25 dead had been
identified so far. She said some of them
had been shot in the head. Forty-three
other people were wounded, including
29 inmates and 14 visiting relatives,
Varela said. About 980 women who were
at the prison to see inmates when the
fighting broke out were still inside, she
said.
Armed inmates still held control of the
prison Monday night, and some of the
relatives stayed inside due to fears about
how security forces outside would react,
said Humberto Prado, an activist and
director of the watchdog group
Venezuelan Prisons Observatory. Varela
indicated the situation had stabilized
Monday and said authorities planned to
talk with inmates “to try to impose order
there.” Varela said the riot apparently
began when a gun went off while armed
inmates were talking in a workshop and
administrative area. She said those
behind the killings “are going to have to
answer for this.”
Carlos Nieto, an activist who monitors
human rights in Venezuelan prisons, said
the gunbattle lasted about four hours
and involved groups fighting for control.
Yajaira Morroy, the mother of a 27-yearold
inmate at the prison, said her son suffered
a gunshot wound in a leg and had
been trying to help a relative of another
inmate who was wounded and then
died. She said her son managed to reach
a guard post and was taken to a hospital.
Morroy said during a telephone interview
that the situation inside the prison
had calmed and that some relatives who
had been stranded inside were able to
come out. — AP
Arizona and attorneys
spar over police stops
PHOENIX: A federal judge in Phoenix
will begin considering whether
Arizona’s tough “show me your papers”
immigration law can go into effect, as
the state grapples with hundreds of
thousands of illegal immigrants. At the
same time, District Court Judge Susan
Bolton’s hearing marks a fresh bid by
immigration rights advocates to halt
provisions of the Arizona law, already
partially upheld by the US Supreme
Court, that requires police to check the
immigration status of people they stop
and suspect are in the country illegally.
Attorneys for the ACLU and several
immigration groups have asked Judge
Bolton to temporarily block the law
until she can consider fresh arguments
against it that differ from those presented
to the high court. The immigration
rights advocates say the law
would discriminate against Latinos
and, by having police hold people
while their immigration status is verified,
would violate constitutional protections
against unreasonable search
and seizure. “We have a good deal of
evidence that the law would have a
disparate impact on Latinos and
Mexicans in particular, and that the law
was enacted out of a discriminatory
intent,” said Linton Joaquin, general
counsel for the National Immigration
Law Center, one of the groups leading
the court challenge. Arizona
Republican Governor Jan Brewer, a
major White House foe in the battle
over illegal immigration, signed a
broad crackdown into law in 2010,
complaining that the federal government
failed to secure the state’s border
with Mexico. An estimated 360,000 illegal
immigrants live in Arizona. The
Obama administration challenged that
law in court, saying the Constitution
gives the federal government sole
authority over immigration policy.
In a split ruling issued in June, the
Supreme Court struck down rules that
would have required immigrants to carry
immigration papers at all times, banned
illegal immigrants from soliciting work in
public places, and allowed police to
arrest them without warrants if they
were suspected of committing crimes
warranting deportation. — Reuters
tooed above his collar, from serving
from 1988 to 1991 while openly supporting
neo-Nazi causes. A member of
the Hammerskin Nation, a skinhead
group, he said he hung a swastika from
his locker, taking it down only when his
commander politely asked him to
ahead of inspections by the commanding
general. “I went into the Marine
Corps for one specific reason: I would
learn how shoot,” Leyden said. “I also
learned how to use C-4 (explosives),
blow things up. I took all my military
skills and said I could use these to train
other people,” said Leyden, 46, who has
since renounced the white power
movement and is a consultant for the
anti-Nazi Simon Wiesenthal Center.
RATTLED BY OKLAHOMA BLAST
In 1995, eight months before the
Fort Bragg murders, two former Army
soldiers bombed the Oklahoma City
federal building, killing 168 people.
With a growing awareness of the
spreading militia movement, the
Pentagon in 1996 banned military personnel
from participating in supremacist
causes and authorized commanders
to cashier personnel for rallying,
recruiting or training racists. “What’s
scary about Page is that he served in
the 1990s when putatively this was
being treated quite seriously by the
military. There’s plenty of other Pages
WASHINGTON: Senior Republicans have
urged Congressman Todd Akin to quit the US
Senate race in Missouri over his inflammatory
remarks about rape that distracted from the
party’s nomination next week of Mitt Romney
for US president. Akin was widely criticized for
saying in a television interview Sunday that
women have biological defenses to prevent
pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape,” making
legal abortion unnecessary.
As pressure built on Akin, Republicans cut
off cash for his campaign, which had looked
like a relatively easy victory against
Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill.
President Barack Obama called Akin’s remarks
offensive in a rare appearance in the White
House briefing room, compounding the
Republicans’ discomfort. The furor pushed the
campaign debate squarely onto social issues
and away from jobs, which Romney has tried
to keep at the center of his bid to win the Nov
6 presidential election.
Akin’s remarks complicated Republican
efforts to capture the four Democratic seats
they need ensure a majority in the 100-member
Senate. US Senator John Cornyn, chairman
of the influential committee that raises
money for Republican Senate candidates,
called Akin’s comments “indefensible.” The
committee will withhold $5 million in planned
spending on TV advertising in Missouri if Akin
does not step aside, a committee official said.
“I recognize that this is a difficult time for him,
but over the next 24 hours, congressman Akin
should carefully consider what is best for him,
his family, the Republican Party, and the values
that he cares about and has fought for
throughout his career in public service,”
Cornyn said.
Reince Priebus, the Republican Party’s
national chairman, was asked on CNN
whether Akin should drop out of the Senate
race. “If it was me, I would step aside and let
someone else run for that office,” he said.
Priebus condemned Akin for a “bizarre statement”
that is “biologically stupid,” and said he
would prefer that Akin not attend the
Republican National Convention. Democrats
used the Akin remarks as evidence that
Republicans are waging a “war on women,”
largely over birth control. “Rape is rape,”
Obama said. Akin’s comments underscore
“why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians,
a majority of whom are men, making health
who served during the war on terror,
and we don’t know what they’re going
to be doing over the next decade or so,”
said Matt Kennard, author of the forthcoming
book “Irregular Army: How the
US Military Recruited Neo-Nazis, Gang
Members and Criminals to Fight the
War on Terror.” Kennard argues the US
military was so desperate for troops
while fighting simultaneous wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan that it allowed
extremists, felons and gang members
into the armed forces.
The military can grant a “moral waiver”
to allow a convicted criminal or otherwise
ineligible person into the armed
forces, and the percentage of recruits
granted such waivers grew from 16.7
percent in 2003 to 19.6 percent in
2006, according to Pentagon data
obtained by the Palm Center in a 2007
Freedom of Information Act request.
But the Pentagon says no waiver exists
for participation in extremist organizations.
“Our standards have not
changed; participation in extremist
activities has never been tolerated and
is punishable under the Uniformed
Code of Military Justice,” said Eileen
Lainez, a Defense Department spokeswoman.
The Pentagon’s third directive
against white supremacists was issued
in 2009 after a Department of
Homeland Security report expressed
care decisions on behalf of women,” he said.
Akin, a Tea Party-backed conservative who
opposes abortion, said in the interview that
the need for abortions in the case of rape was
“a particularly tough ethical question.”
‘LEGITIMATE RAPE’
“It seems to me, from what I understand
from doctors, that is really rare,” Akin said of
Congressman Todd Akin
pregnancy caused by rape. “If it’s a legitimate
rape, the female body has ways to try to shut
that whole thing down,” Akin said. Romney,
who polls show trails Obama with women
voters, called Akin’s comments “insulting,
inexcusable, and, frankly wrong” in an interview
with the National Review online. The
controversy took the spotlight away from
Republican Party preparations for the coronation
of Romney as its nominee at the national
convention next week in Tampa.
The firestorm over Akin’s remarks erupted as
another Republican lawmaker, freshman congressman
Kevin Yoder, came under fire for
swimming naked in Israel’s Sea of Galilee during
an August 2011 trip with other members of
Congress. Both events featured prominently on
the national television news broadcasts. Akin
said Monday he misspoke. He apologized but
said he had no plans to drop out of the Senate
race. “The good people of Missouri nominated
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
concern that right-wing extremists
were recruiting veterans returning
from wars overseas. The Pentagon’s
2009 instruction, updated in February
2012, directs commanders to remain
alert for signs of racist activity and to
intervene when they see it. It bans soldiers
from blogging or chatting on
racist websites while on duty. “This is
the best we’ve ever seen,” said Heidi
Beirich, leader of the Southern Poverty
Law Center’s intelligence project, referring
to the Pentagon’s attitute. “It was
really disheartening under the Bush
administration how lightly they took it,
so this is a major advance.”
THE TATTOO MATRIX
The Army showed Reuters a onehour
presentation it says was designed
to educate soldiers and Army leaders
about its extremism policy and how to
respond, including to white supremacy
groups. Penalties for extremist ideology
may include being removed from
the military, having security clearances
yanked or being demoted. “The standard
hateful message has not been
replaced, just packaged differently with
issues like freedom of speech, anti-gun
control themes, tax reform and oppression,”
the presentation says, noting that
recruitment may be difficult to detect,
occurring quietly “in bars and break
areas” on bases. — Reuters
Republicans push Akin
to quit US Senate race
Akin says pregnancy in ‘legitimate rape’ cases rare
TOPEKA: A Kansas congressman’s
10-second naked plunge into the
sea where the Bible says Jesus
walked on water prompted
apologies Monday from him,
head-shaking from other
Republicans and the kind of international
attention that no politician
wants. Rep Kevin Yoder is all
but certain to keep his seat
despite any embarrassment arising
from last year’s incident in
Israel because Democrats haven’t
fielded a candidate against him.
But the freshman Republican
acknowledged many of his constituents
are wondering what he
was thinking when he took his
“spontaneous” skinny dip in the
Sea of Galilee in August 2011.
Other lawmakers on the trip also
went into the water at what’s
considered a holy site for many
Christians, and Yoder said their
actions earned them a rebuke
from House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor. But Politico reported
Sunday that Yoder was the only
one who wore no clothes.
“It’s certainly not an incident
that I’m proud of,” Yoder said. “It is
something that was obviously a
mistake on my part, and I want
folks in the district to know that
I’m apologetic for it.” The tabloid
press in Britain and the US
pounced on the story, with the
New York Daily News blaring
online, “NUDES FLASH!” and
describing Yoder as a “skinny-dipping
pol.” Republican presidential
nominee Mitt Romney and his
running mate, Wisconsin Rep Paul
Ryan, criticized Yoder’s behavior
me and I’m not a quitter. My belief is we’re
going to take this one forward, and by the
grace of God, we’re going to win this race,” he
told The Mike Huckabee Show, a radio program
hosted by the former Arkansas governor, a
favorite of religious conservatives.
Akin was a no-show on CNN’s “Piers Morgan”
prime-time program Monday night. The host
said media consultant Rex Elsass accepted an
invitation for Akin to appear, then canceled at
the last minute. “We had his opponent,
Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, booked
earlier, and she canceled,” said Morgan. “And
then we booked congressman Akin to tell his
story himself... now we have an empty chair.”
“Why he would say yes and then no, we can
only speculate,” he added. American
Crossroads, a pro-Republican outside funding
group linked to strategist Karl Rove, said it was
pulling its advertising from the Missouri race.
The group said it has already spent $5.4 million
in Missouri. Mitch McConnell, the top
Republican in the US Senate, also said Akin
should consider leaving the race.
Akin has until evening to withdraw without
a court order, or until Sept 25 if he produces a
court order to take his name off the ballot. If he
did step aside, the Missouri Republican committee
would nominate a new candidate to run
for the Senate.
That candidate would not have to be one of
his two primary opponents. Besides distancing
itself from Akin, Romney’s campaign said a
Romney administration would not oppose
abortion in case of rape. That would be a
departure from the position of his vice presidential
pick, US Representative Paul Ryan, who
has proposed legislation that would outlaw
abortion with no exception for rape.
Ryan co-sponsored a bill with Akin in the
House of Representatives that would have
changed the legal definition of rape to “forcible
rape” to narrow access to federal funding for
abortions. Critics said the measure could
exempt victims of statutory rape. McCaskill is
one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats
in a state that has shifted to the right since she
was elected in 2006.
Recent polls had shown Akin with a 10point
lead over her. Akin, a six-term congressman
from the St Louis suburbs, won the
Republican nomination to oppose McCaskill
just two weeks ago after a hard-fought threeway
primary race. —Reuters
Nude dip in Holy Sea puts Rep in spotlight
KANSAS: US Rep Kevin Yoder, R-Kan, apologizes to his constituents
on the air during the “Up To Date” radio show on KCUR-
FM in Kansas City, Mo. —AP
during an interview with a New
Hampshire television station. “I
think it’s reprehensible,” Romney
told WMUR-TV. “I think it’s another
terrible mistake by individuals.”
Kansas Democratic Party
Chairwoman Joan Wagnon called
Yoder’s behavior “inexcusable”
and said if the incident had
occurred in Kansas, he would be
forced to resign. She later issued
a statement calling for him to
step down. “I’m astonished these
people think they can go on
these junkets like this and no one
will know what they do,” Wagnon
said. Kansas Republican chairwoman
Amanda Adkins, citing
the 36-year-old congressman’s
repeated apologies, said the incident
shouldn’t overshadow his
work representing a district centered
on the state’s portion of the
Kansas City metropolitan area.
Another Kansas Republican,
US Sen Jerry Moran said, he
believed “something stupid
occurred, and I think from time to

FRESNO: Federal regulators shut
down a Central California slaughterhouse
Monday after receiving undercover
video showing dairy cows -
some unable to walk - being repeatedly
shocked and shot before being
slaughtered. Officials with the US
Department of Agriculture, which
inspects meat facilities, suspended
operations at Central Valley Meat Co in
Hanford, Calif, which slaughters cows
when they lose their value as milk producers.
The USDA received hours of videotape
Friday from Compassion Over
Killing, an animal welfare group, which
said its undercover investigator was
employed by the slaughterhouse and
made the video over a two-week period
in June. “USDA considers inhumane
treatment of animals at slaughter facilities
to be unacceptable and is conducting
a thorough investigation into
these allegations,” said Justin DeJong,
spokesman for the Food Safety
Inspection Service. Four minutes of
excerpts the animal welfare group
provided to The Associated Press
showed cows being prepared for
slaughter. One worker appears to be
suffocating a cow by standing on its
muzzle after a gun that injects a bolt
into the animal’s head had failed to
render it unconscious.
In another clip, a cow is still conscious
and flailing as a conveyor lifts it
by one leg for transport to an area
where the animals’ throats are slit for
blood draining. “The horror caught on
camera is sickening,” said Erica Meier,
executive director of Compassion Over
Killing, based in Washington, DC. “It’s
alarming that this is not only a USDAinspected
facility but a supplier to the
USDA.” Online USDA records show the
company has contracted to sell
ground beef to USDA food programs.
Within hours of seeing the video,
the USDA’s Office of Inspector General
sent investigators who found evidence
INTERNATIONAL
Fed closes slaughterhouse after abuse video
BUCHAREST: Romania’s President Traian Basescu laughs during the final electoral
rally in Bucharest in this file photo. — AP
Romanian court rules
to reinstate president
BUCHAREST: Romania’s Constitutional
Court struck down yesterday a referendum
to impeach President Traian
Basescu, thwarting a drive by the country’s
leftist government to oust its chief
political opponent just months before a
parliamentary election. Two decades
after the overthrow of communist dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu, the battle pitting
Basescu against Prime Minister Victor
Ponta could now intensify in coming
months just as one of the European
Union’s poorest states faces tough austerity
demands from international
lenders.
The court, as expected, ruled that a
July 29 referendum called by the government
to remove the political veteran
Basescu was invalid because turnout fell
short of the required 50 percent of the
electorate. “We stated that the referendum
quorum condition was not met,”
Chief judge Augustin Zegrean told
reporters, and said the court gave its ruling
“with a legal majority of 6-3” - a level
which Ponta said previously he would
respect. Asked if Basescu could now
return to power after a suspension by
parliament - which needed to be confirmed
in the referendum to take effect -
Zegrean said “Yes”.
The crisis has stalled policymaking,
sent the leu currency to record lows last
month and angered the European Union,
which accused Ponta of undermining the
rule of law and intimidating judges in the
country that has long been criticized for
corruption and weak justice. It shed light
on weaknesses in Romania’s institutional
set-up, a wider problem in former communist
EU member states as shown in
Hungary earlier this year where Prime
Minister Viktor Orban clashed with the
EU over constitutional changes.
Basescu should now return to office,
pending rubber-stamping of the court
decision by parliament. Ponta has said he
would respect a 6-3 court ruling, after
arguing earlier that updated voting lists
should show that the referendum was
valid. Although the court ruling avoids
the risk of an extra election and a
European Union challege to any
impeachment, political tensions are likely
to prevail ahead of the November parliamentary
election, which are likely to
be won by Ponta’s USL coalition. Basescu
has the power to appoint prime ministers.
“Basescu’s political survival would
suggest that tension with Prime Minister
Victor Ponta will continue, with the
potential for a renewed escalation later
on in the year,” said Otilia Simkova, an
analyst at Eurasia group. The country
needs to focus on austerity policies to
keep a 5 billion euro IMF stand-by agreement
on track.—Reuters
of “egregious inhumane handling and
treatment of livestock.” “FSIS suspended
operations at the facility and is prepared
to take further action as warranted
by the investigation,” DeJong
said. The USDA had at least two
inspectors stationed at the site, and
federal officials, when asked whether
there was evidence the inspectors
had neglected their duties, said the
investigation is ongoing. Central
Valley Meat Co, owned by Brian and
Lawrence Coelho, declined to comment
on the video, saying company
officials had not seen it.
“We were extremely disturbed to
be informed by the USDA that... our
plant could not operate based upon a
videotape that was provided to the
Department by a third party group
that alleged inhumane treatment of
animals on our property,” said a company
statement.
Brian Coelho added, “Our company
seeks not just to meet federal humane
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian strongman Meles
Zenawi led one of Africa’s most populous
nations for more than two decades, steering it
along the path of economic growth while
clamping down on dissent. A towering figure
in Africa’s political landscape, Prime Minister
Meles died late on Monday aged 57 at an
overseas hospital where he had been recovering
from an undisclosed illness for two
months, state-run television said yesterday.
He was born Legesse Zenawi in 1955 in
Adwa, the site of Ethiopia’s most celebrated
victory against colonial invaders Italy in 1896.
He took the nom-de-guerre Meles as a tribute
to Meles Tekle, a young activist killed by the
government. But the time Colonel Mengistu
Haile Mariam, the head of the Communist junta
that ruled the country from 1974 to 1987,
launched his Red Terror purge in 1977, Meles
had ditched his medical studies and was
fighting in the bush.
He was a rising figure in the Tigrayan
People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that he
helped found as a 20-year-old, which then
aligned with other groups to form the
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPRDF) coalition. The EPRDF entered
Addis Ababa in 1991, much to the amazement
of the locals. Meles led the country first as
transitional president and later, after poorly
contested elections in 1995, as prime minister
of the renamed Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia, winning renewed mandates in
2005 and 2010 in polls that rights groups said
were rife with violations.
GROWTH AND CRACKDOWN
The West welcomed Africa’s youngest
leader enthusiastically, grateful for his overthrow
of a communist regime and impressed
with his urbane manner. It also came to value
him for the central role his country - home to
one of Africa’s biggest armies - played in
regional and continental security. Former US
President Bill Clinton said Meles was part of a
“new generation” of African leaders and he
was invited to join then British Prime Minister
Tony Blair’s crusading Commission for Africa.
At home, the EPRDF set about trying to pull
Ethiopia out of poverty, pledging to drive
growth and improve the lives of peasant
farmers. It introduced a system of ethnic federalism,
opening regional parliaments and
giving Ethiopia’s main ethnic groups the
chance to govern the areas in which they
dominate.
handling regulations, but exceed
them.” Meier said pay stubs confirm
the undercover operative’s stint working
at the slaughterhouse.
The videos show workers pulling
downed cows by their tails and kicking
them in an apparent attempt to
get them to stand and walk to slaughter.
Others shoot downed cows in the
head over and over as the cows thrash
on the ground. In one instance, the
video shows workers trying to get cattle
to back out of a chute while
repeatedly spraying them with water
and shocking them.
Veterinarians specializing in
humane handling were a part of the
USDA’s rapid initial inspection that led
to the shutdown at Central Valley
Meat Co. The USDA told plant officials
Sunday that it was withholding
inspection marks and “immediately
suspending the assignment of inspectors
at the facility.” “It’s a good sign
that the USDA is taking this seriously,
Under Meles’ leadership, the Horn of Africa
country also embarked on a mass of energy
and infrastructure projects, while hospitals
and schools throughout the country have
surged ten-fold. Officials expect economic
growth of 11 percent for the 2011/2012 fiscal
year that ended in June, thanks to rising agricultural
output, the seventh consecutive fiscal
year of growth. However, inflation remains
stubbornly high, hitting 20 percent in July.
Meles forged close business ties with India
and Turkey as well as Asian powerhouse
China, which footed the $200 million bill for
the sprawling, new headquarters of the
African Union. The former rebel has made key
contributions to regional security, twice sending
troops into Somalia to battle Islamist
rebels, while Ethiopian peacekeepers have
been deployed in several African hotspots
such as Sudan’s Darfur and Abyei regions. But
Meles’ record of solid economic growth,
poverty reduction and closer ties to the West
has been colored by a firm crackdown on dissent.
Following the disputed polls of 2005,
Ethiopia rounded up almost the entire leadership
of an opposition group that won an
unprecedented number of seats in parliament
and jailed them for life for treason.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
but I want to see what comes next,”
said Meier, adding the video will be
posted on the organization’s website
yesterday. “The footage clearly speaks
for itself, but this is not an isolated
incident. Investigation after investigation
of these places is revealing cruelty.”
The case is reminiscent of a 2008
undercover operation by the Humane
Society of the United States at the
Hallmark slaughter plant in Chino,
Calif., that led to the largest-ever recall
of beef and the conviction of two
people found to have treated the
cows cruelly. In that case, video
showed downed cows being prodded
with a folk lift. Earlier this year, USDA
tests on a dairy cow carcass at a
Hanford rendering plant transfer facility
showed it was infected with mad
cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy. Hanford is in the
heart of the Central Valley dairy
region where there are 1.6 million
dairy cows. — AP
Meles leaves behind less
tolerant, richer Ethiopia
Zenawi rose from fighter to towering political figure
LONDON: Living on takeaway
meals in a small room with a
treadmill to burn off frustrated
energy and a vitamin D lamp to
make up for a lack of sunlight,
Julian Assange has the one material
thing he values most: a computer
with an Internet connection.
The WikiLeaks founder took
refuge nine weeks ago at
Ecuador’s embassy in London to
avoid being extradited to
Sweden, where he is wanted for
questioning over alleged rape.
Having feared jail, he now finds
himself living like a prisoner. Yet
British friend and supporter
Vaughan Smith, who hosted
Assange at his country mansion
for a year during his failed legal
battle against extradition, said
the Australian was in good spirits
and enjoying the virtual freedom
of his computer.
“He seemed to be bearing up
fine. The key to understanding
Assange is that if he’s got a computer
he’s normally happy,” Smith
told Reuters after he visited the
embassy, housed on one floor of
a red-brick apartment block in
affluent Knightsbridge. “The
thing that concerns him most is
the possibility he won’t be able to
work properly - and that’s why he
seems less keen on prison cells
than on embassies.” On Sunday,
In 2009 followed an anti-terror law, under
which more than one hundred opposition figures
have been arrested. The government
insists it is tackling rebel groups that have
links with al Qaeda and arch-foe Eritrea. More
than 10 journalists have also been charged
under the law, according to the Committee to
Protest Journalists. The group says Ethiopia is
close to replacing Eritrea as the African country
with the highest number of journalists
behind bars. Two Swedish journalists were
jailed for 11 years on charges of entering the
country illegally and aiding a rebel group.
Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner of
ADDIS ABABA: A file photo shows the then-leader of the Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Meles Zenawi, escorted by EPRDF bodyguards
upon his arrival in Addis Ababa after his group seized the capital. — AFP
the world had its first glimpse of
Assange since June 19, when he
slipped into the embassy. Last
week, Ecuador, led by leftist president
Rafael Correa, granted
Assange asylum - but Britain still
plans to arrest him if he tries to
leave.
Appearing on a narrow balcony
to berate the United States
over what he called its “witch
hunt” against his anti-secrecy
website, the 41-year-old former
computer hacker was in the full
glare of the world’s media for 10
minutes. His distinctive whiteblond
hair now trimmed short, he
wore a neatly pressed shirt and
tie and appeared in good health,
if rather tired. His speech delivered,
he paused to survey cheering
supporters, busy journalists
and stern London police on the
street below, before retreating to
his private world within.
Smith said Assange was sleeping
and working in a single small
room that looked like someone’s
office hastily converted into living
quarters. He had started out with
an air mattress but that had now
been replaced by a real bed. “It’s a
small room. It has a window, but I
wouldn’t describe it as airy. I
didn’t see any kitchen facilities,
though I understand he has
access to a microwave. He has
access to a shower. A supporter
Human Rights, has slammed the verdicts, saying
journalists, human rights defenders and
critics were facing a “climate of intimidation”.
Meles responded with trademark defiance,
labelling the duo as “messengers boys of terror
groups”.
During the Group of Eight summit in
Chicago last May, Meles was interrupted soon
after he started to speak: “You are a dictator!
You have committed crimes against humanity!”
a member of the audience said. The bald,
bespectacled strongman, visibly shocked at
first, tried to continue talking before staring
down, stony-faced. — Reuters
Assange asylum seen
as travesty of justice Assange’s embassy life cramped but connected
STOCKHOLM: While WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange battles to stay in Britain,
Sweden is incensed he has belittled one
of the world’s most respected justice systems
and questioned a nation famed for
welcoming - not extraditing - political
refugees. Assange, hiding from arrest in
the Ecuadorean embassy where he has
been granted diplomatic asylum, says he
fears the United States will try to extradite
him if he goes to Sweden for questioning
over allegations of rape and sexual
molestation.
Assange’s speech from the embassy
balcony on Sunday focused on what he
saw as his persecution by the United
States, but did not mention the rape allegations.
Assange’s accusations have infuriated
many in Sweden, who say the stories
of two women who made the sex
crime allegations have played second
fiddle to unwarranted theories of a USled
conspiracy to extradite him with the
help of allies in Europe. “Assange has
evolved into a megalomaniac rhetorician,
who seems to have very little contact
left with reality,” Sweden’s Svenska
Dagbladet daily said after his embassy
balcony speech.
Another newspaper, Dagens Nyheter,
said the legal process had to be followed
through and defended Sweden as a
nation that upheld the “rule of law”. After
Ecuador granted Assange asylum,
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt
wrote: “Our firm legal and constitutional
system guarantees the rights of each and
everyone. We firmly reject any accusations
to the contrary.” Along with other
Nordic countries, Sweden sees itself as a
legal safe haven and it has welcomed
thousands of leftist refugees from dictatorships
in Latin America in the 1970s to
Iraqis fleeing the US-led invasion and war
after 2003. The World Justice Project’s
Rule of Law Index 2011 report ranked
Sweden first of 66 nations on fundamental
legal rights.
THE RAPE CASE
That does not mean the rape accusations
have not been criticized. Assange
faces questioning over incidents with
two women that involved a degree of
consensual sex and other acts some critics
say would not be called rape in other
countries. Evan well-known feminist
Naomi Wolf criticized the international
judicial hunt for Assange, writing that
she personally knew “1.3 million guys”
with similar complaints made against
them by women.
A first prosecutor opened an investigation
in 2010 on allegations of rape
after two women with whom Assange
had sex reported him to the police, only
to drop the rape accusation and pursue
less serious allegations. Then a more senior
prosecutor reopened the rape case a
couple of weeks later - giving fodder to
Assange’s supporters who see a conspiracy
against him. — Reuters
LONDON: Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange put up
posters and placards outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
yesterday. — AP
gave him a running machine,”
said Smith. He declined to say
what the window overlooked
because he did not wish to identify
the room to outsiders. Those
embassy windows which are visible
from the street have had curtains
drawn all the time since
Assange moved in.
‘HE CAN DO WHAT HE NEEDS’
“It’s pretty tight. He’s divided
the room up with a bookcase into
a sleeping part and a non-sleeping
part,” said Smith. “The key
thing is he can work. He can hold
meetings, he can invite some people
in. He can do what he needs
to do.” Ecuador granted him asylum
on the grounds that Assange
might be sent from Sweden to the
United States to face WikiLeaksrelated
charges. Britain will not let
him go to Ecuador from the
embassy because its courts ruled
he should be sent to Stockholm.
Assange’s mother Christine,
speaking by telephone from
Australia, told Reuters she had
received personal assurances
from Ecuadorean Foreign Minister
Ricardo Patino that her son would
be made as comfortable as possible
during his stay. “As far as the
embassy staff go, they have been
wonderful. —Reuters

Rising Afghan insider attacks imperil US strategy
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama
has declared he is sticking to his war strategy
of using US troops to advise and mentor
Afghan forces, even as a suddenly
growing number of Americans are being
gunned down by the very Afghans they
are training to take on insurgents. In just
the past 10 days, Afghan forces have
attacked their coalition partners seven
times, killing nine Americans. For the year
there have been 32 such incidents, killing
40, compared to 21 attacks killing 35
troops in all of 2011.
“We are deeply concerned about this,
from top to bottom,” Obama told a White
House news conference. But he said the
best approach, with the fewest number of
deaths in the long run, would be to stick
to the plan for shifting security responsibilities
to the Afghans. “We are transitioning
to Afghan security, and for us to train
them effectively we are in much closer
contact - our troops are in much closer
contact with Afghan troops on an ongoing
basis,” Obama said. “Part of what we’ve
got to do is to make sure that this model
works but it doesn’t make our guys more
vulnerable.”
That vulnerability, however, has been
exposed in a strikingly deadly way in
recent days. US officials offer two main
theories for why Afghan security forces are
turning their weapons on Western partners:
infiltration by the Taleban and a US-
Afghan culture clash. Both of those root
causes suggest that the problem may get
worse as American and other coalition
forces shift further into an adviser/mentor
role. And that, in turn, raises questions
about US ability to train and shape the
Afghans into a force that can stand up to
the Taleban insurgency after foreign forces
end their combat role in 2014.
Jacqueline L Hazelton, a visiting assistant
professor at the University of
Rochester, who has extensively studied
counterinsurgency strategy, sees the
attacks stemming from a combination of
Afghan resistance and resentment. “As disturbing
as the attacks are as a Taleban tactic,
the broader popular anger revealed -
among those the mission is supposed to
be most closely allied with and most
directly useful to - is even more dangerous
for the longer term and reveals a greater
rot within,” Hazelton said in an email
exchange.
As recently as last week, Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta called such attacks
“sporadic” and a sign of Taleban desperation.
But as the assaults continued
through the week, he consulted with his
top commander in Kabul and then on
Saturday called Afghan President Hamid
Karzai to express concern. Obama said
Monday he would do the same. “We’ve
got to make sure we’re on top of this,”
Obama said. Obama’s Republican election
rival, Mitt Romney, said Monday that the
US goal ought to be to “transition from our
military to their military as soon as possible,”
in a way that prevents Afghanistan
from collapsing and reverting to being a
launching pad for terrorist attacks on the
US.
Obama said he discussed the problem
Monday with the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen Martin Dempsey,
who was already in Kabul to talk to
American and Afghan officials about how
to halt the killings. Dempsey said upon his
arrival in Kabul that it was important for
Karzai and other top government officials
to publicly denounce the insider killings,
according a Pentagon account of his
remarks. Dempsey also said efforts that
began a year ago to improve the vetting
of Afghan recruits have yet to solve the
problem.
Olga Oliker, an analyst at the Rand
Corp who studies Afghan security forces,
said the checks are inevitably spotty,
NEW DELHI: Greenpeace activists dressed as coal miners lie on the ground
during a protest against the coal scam near Parliament in New Delhi yesterday.
—AFP
No-bid coal scandal
blackens India govt
Opposition urges Indian PM to resign
NEW DELHI: Angry opposition lawmakers
shouted and crowded aisles in
India’s parliament yesterday to demand
the prime minister resign after an audit
found the government lost huge sums
of money by selling coal fields without
competitive bidding. Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers and
other opposition leaders targeted
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
because he was running the coal ministry
during the 2004 sale. The auditor’s
report exonerated Singh, but it estimated
that private companies got a
windfall profit of $34 billion because of
the low prices they paid for the coal
fields. Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Pawan Bansal said Singh wasn’t going
to resign. The two houses were
adjourned for the day after the opposition
blocked proceedings.
Singh later said the government was
ready for any debate in parliament. “We
can give satisfactory answers to all
issues being raised,” the Press Trust of
India news agency quoted Singh as
saying. Singh’s government has been
floundering under a crush of scams
and corruption accusations over the
past year and has been unable to push
through crucial economic reforms. A
raft of scandals have surfaced, such as
corruption charges made against ministers
and senior officials over the hosting
of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
and an earlier audit that found India’s
treasury lost billions of dollars through
the government’s haphazard sale of
cellphone spectrum.
The latest report by the Comptroller
and Auditor General said last week the
allocations of coal fields were made on
the recommendation of state governments
and exonerated Prime Minister
Singh. Gurudas Dasgupta, a Communist
Party of India leader, said the ministry
was under Singh’s charge and he should
accept responsibility. “I leave the question
of Singh’s resignation to his conscience.”
Yashwant Sinha, a Bharatiya
Janata Party leader, said his party could
not overlook such a huge loss to the
exchequer. “Nothing short of the prime
minister’s resignation will satisfy us.”
The audit revealed that 142 coal
fields were sold after July 2004 to private
and state-run companies. Some of
the coalfields bought by private companies
in 2004 did not begin production
till 2011, while some companies
later made enormous profits by selling
the mines. The report criticized the
sales procedure and said the allocation
of coal fields “lacked transparency and
objectivity.” Last week, Coal Minister
Sriprakash Jaiswal defended the government’s
strategy of handing out coalfields
to companies without resorting
to an auction process by saying the
policies were suited to the time when
they were adopted. He also disagreed
with the CAG’s estimate of losses, saying
these were unexplored coalfields.
OPPOSITION TARGETS PM
India’s opposition yesterday targeted
Singh over a report by the state
auditor which highlighted massive
losses caused by his government giving
away coal blocks. Protests by members
of the main opposition Bhartiya
Janata Party (BJP), who again pushed
their long-standing demand for Singh
to step down, forced an adjournment
of proceedings in the national parliament.
“The PM is culpable for the delay
in introducing transparent auctions,”
said Ravi Shankar Prasad, the deputy
leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha or
the upper house.
The report by the Comptroller and
Auditor General (CAG) on Friday said
private companies had made windfall
gains of about $33.4 billion since 2004
after being given mining rights via a
process that “lacked transparency and
objectivity”. The government had
known of the huge profits for private
operators, but had failed to introduce
an open bidding process that would
have brought in revenue for the
national exchequer, the CAG said.
Singh, whose reputation has been sullied
by a string of scandals in his
administration, was in charge of the
coal ministry from 2004 to 2009 and
has been personally implicated in the
mismanagement. —Agencies
11
international
which makes training even more difficult.
“It’s Afghanistan,” she said. “You just don’t
have the kinds of records that will give you
a strong confidence in a vetting process.”
And as long as the threat persists it will
affect the US training mission, she said. “If
our training efforts take a step back, if our
folks are not comfortable genuinely partnering
with the Afghans, we’ll have even
less insight into what they can do,” she
said Monday. “We’ll have even less awareness
of when it’s appropriate to leave, and
we’ll be playing even more of a craps
game when we withdraw than we are
now.”
Most US combat troops are scheduled
to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Panetta’s spokesman, George Little,
described him as “deeply disturbed” by the
attacks, including the latest on Sunday in
which a US soldier was shot to death
when two Afghan police officers suddenly
LASHKAR GAH: Afghans look at a pool of blood at the scene of an explosion
at a cemetery in Lashkar Gah southwest of Kabul. A bomb hidden
in the cemetery exploded as a police official and his family were visiting
the grave of a relative, killing the official and his brother. —AP
KABUL: Insurgents fired rockets
into an American base in
Afghanistan and damaged the
parked plane of the visiting chairman
of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,
the US-led military coalition said
yesterday. The general was safe in
his quarters at the time but had to
take another aircraft out of the
country. The rocket strike that hit
the C-17 military transport plane of
US Army Gen Martin Dempsey was
yet another propaganda coup for
the Taleban after they claimed to
have shot down a US helicopter
last week.
It also followed a string of disturbing
killings of US military trainers
by their Afghan partners or militants
dressed in Afghan uniform.
Such attacks killed 10 Americans in
the last two weeks alone. Taleban
spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid
claimed responsibility for the
attack, which took place late
Monday night at the Bagram Air
Field outside Kabul, saying
Dempsey’s plane was targeted by
insurgents “using exact information”
about where it would be. Two
maintenance workers were slightly
injured by shrapnel from the two
rockets fired into, coalition
spokesman Jamie Graybeal said.
Dempsey “was nowhere near”
the plane when the rockets hit near
where the aircraft was parked, the
spokesman added. Dempsey finished
his mission in Afghanistan
and had left on a different plane,
said Graybeal. A helicopter on the
base was also damaged in the
attack, according to NATO.
“Because there was some damage
to the exterior of the aircraft, Gen
Dempsey left Afghanistan on a different
C-17,” Pentagon spokeswoman
Maj Cathy Wilkinson.
Graybeal cast doubt on the idea
that Dempsey’s plane may have
been hit by any precision attack. He
said that insurgent rocket and mortar
attacks are “not infrequent” at
Bagram and that such fire most
often comes from so far away that
opened fire inside a police station in
southern Kandahar province. The victim
was a member of a US military advisory
team that had been working with the
Afghan police inside their station in Spin
Boldak district.
Those advisory teams are growing in
number and importance to the US strategy
for getting Afghan soldiers and police
prepared to take over the fight against
it’s virtually impossible to hit specific
targets. Wilkinson also said it was
unlikely the attack was aimed
specifically at Dempsey’s plane.
“Indirect fire at Bagram is not
unusual, so we don’t believe his aircraft
was targeted.”
Bagram is a sprawling complex
about an hour’s drive north of
Kabul that usually serves as the first
point of entrance for US officials
visiting the country. It is the hub for
military operations in the east of
the country and the largest US
base in Afghanistan. Dempsey was
in Afghanistan to discuss the state
of the war after a particularly deadly
few weeks for Americans in the
more than 10-year-old war as international
forces begin drawing
down. He and the chief of US
Central Command, Marine Gen
James R Mattis, met with NATO and
US Afghan commander Gen John
Allen in Kabul and also with a number
of senior Afghan and coalition
leaders.
Among the topics was the escalating
number of “insider attacks” in
which Afghan police or soldiers or
militants dressed in Afghan uniform
turn their guns on coalition
military trainers. Once an anomaly,
such attacks have been climbing in
recent months. There have been 32
such attacks so far this year, up
from 21 for all of 2011, according to
NATO.
Taleban supreme leader Mullah
Mohammad Omar last week said
the insider killings were the result
of an insurgent campaign of infiltration,
though NATO has said it’s
too early to tell if the attacks were
related to the insurgency of caused
by personal disputes turned deadly.
The Taleban also claimed to have
shot down a US military helicopter
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
the insurgency. For months US officials
have emphasized that insider attacks are
rarely perpetrated by Taleban infiltrators.
Rather, the killings are usually the work of
Afghan troops who hold a grudge
against their US or allied partner. The
intended implication of that analysis is
that the problem could be managed by
more closely checking the backgrounds
and personal circumstances of Afghans
who are recruited into the police and
army.
Either way, analysts say the willingness
of even a small fraction of Afghan
forces to turn on their partners is troubling.
Asked about the problem in an
Associated Press interview a week ago,
Panetta cast it as a sign of the Taleban’s
desperation, and he said he had been
assured by US commanders that the
attacks were only “sporadic.” The next day,
however, Panetta told a Pentagon news
conference that he had conferred with
Marine Gen. John Allen, the top US commander
in Afghanistan, and discussed
with him a variety of measures designed
to stem the attacks. These include stepping
up counterintelligence efforts to
identify potential attackers before they
strike.
As of last week US troops in Afghanistan
are under orders to carry loaded weapons
at all times, even when on their bases, to
enable them to respond more quickly if
they spot an Afghan soldier preparing to
attack them. The issue has drawn little
attention in Congress, although Rep Frank
Wolf, R-Va, last week challenged Dempsey’s
assertion that Afghan security forces are
making progress toward fending for themselves.
“With all due respect,” Wolf wrote in a
letter last week to Panetta, citing
Dempsey’s assertion, “how can you state
that Afghan security forces are making
‘steady progress’ when they continue to
gun down our forces?”—AP
Afghan militants attack
US military chief’s plane
Rocket strike hit Dempsey’s C-17
NEW DELHI: India has demanded social networking
websites take down provocative messages and
blocked some online content after anonymous
threats sparked an exodus of migrants from southern
cities. Tens of thousands of workers and students
from the remote northeast region returned
home last week from Bangalore, Mumbai and other
cities fearing attacks from Muslims in reprisal for
recent ethnic clashes in the state of Assam.
The Indian government has said many of the
Internet posts, fake video clips and phone messages
spreading rumors of plans to target
migrants were sent from arch-rival Pakistan. The
Ministry of Communications said late Monday that
an order had been issued on August 17 but that
“such inflammatory and harmful content continued
to appear on the social networking sites”. It
that crashed during a firefight with
insurgents in a remote area of
southern Afghanistan on Thursday,
killing seven Americans and four
Afghans on board in one of the
deadliest air disasters of the war.
US officials, however, said initial
reports were that enemy fire was
KABUL: Gen Martin E Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (left) prepares to board a
CH-47 at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. —AP
added the government was meeting with representatives
of the sites to curb the content, and it
stressed that “a lot more and quicker action is
expected from them to address such a sensitive
issue”.
Google issued a statement on Tuesday saying
any content intended to incite violence was
already prohibited on its products, including
YouTube videos. “We understand the gravity of the
situation... and continue to work closely with relevant
authorities,” it said in response to the government’s
demands. Officials declined to name which
other sites were affected, while Twitter and
Facebook were not immediately available for comment.
The government also said 245 web pages
had been blocked, declining to give further details.
Asked whether social networking sites were being
not involved in the crash.
Yesterday’s insurgent attack was
the second this year to come
uncomfortably close to a high-level
US official visiting Afghanistan. In
March, an attacker tried to ram a
car into a delegation waiting to
greet US Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta at Bastion Air Field in
southern Afghanistan as his C-17
taxied toward the landing ramp. US
defense officials said Panetta was
never in any danger, but if the
attacker had waited just a few
more minutes, Panetta’s plane
would have been at the ramp.—AP
India cracks down on Internet amid exodus
used to whip up ethnic tension, Home Minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters: “We have got
sufficient evidence. The whole process is in investigation
mode.”
Local media reports estimated that over 35,000
people fled cities including Bangalore and
Mumbai over the last week, packing special trains
arranged to carry panicked students and workers
back to the northeast. Weeks of clashes in Assam
between members of the Bodo tribal community
and Muslims have claimed at least 80 lives and displaced
more than 400,000 people. The government
says it is willing to share proof that much of
the inflammatory Internet activity originated from
Muslim-majority Pakistan. Bulk text messages have
been temporarily banned in India to halt the
spread of threats and rumors of reprisals. —AFP

BEIJING: Leftist supporters of China’s
toppled politician Bo Xilai are digging in
for an unusually defiant defense of their
hero, arguing that he and his wife are
victims of a plot that has opened a dangerous
schism between them and the
Communist Party. A Chinese court handed
Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, a suspended
death sentence on Monday after finding
her guilty of murdering a British businessman,
Neil Heywood. But no amount
of propaganda about Gu’s misdeeds
appears likely to persuade Bo’s supporters
that the case was anything but a conspiracy
to derail him and discredit his
mix of populist economic pledges and
Mao Zedong-inspired socialist revivalism.
The party’s far-leftists have openly
accused top leaders of plotting to oust
Bo, and even circulated by email and
online an extraordinary petition calling
for the impeachment of Premier Wen
Jiabao. Its reported signatories included
two retired senior officials, although this
could not be independently confirmed.
“At least for now, I believe there are too
many doubtful points about the case,”
said Han Deqiang, an academic in
Beijing, who has been one of ardent
defenders of Bo’s policies in Chongqing,
the southwestern city that Bo made into
a display case of populist policies and
traditional socialist culture.
“I believe that this whole incident was
intended to eradicate Bo Xilai’s
Chongqing model,” said Han, who teaches
at the Beihang University School of
business management. “They have
destroyed a ray of hope for the Chinese
Communist Party.” Bo has been held at
an unknown location away from the
public since he was ousted in March,
accused of unspecified violations of party
discipline, possibly including corruption
and abuse of power. There has been
no official word on how the party leadership
will handle those accusations and
whether he will face trial. But Bo’s political
career, at least, seems over.
The uproar over Bo shows that, as the
Communist Party weaves between market
reforms and state controls, it faces
dissent not only from liberals, but also
from fervent leftists who see the party as
enslaved by capitalist interests. Often
seen as the party’s attack dogs against
dissidents and Western critics, these farleftists
threaten to open a new front of
troublesome opposition, wielding the
banner of Bo against the establishment.
If Beijing deals harshly with Bo, it risks
deepening the divisions; if it treats him
leniently, it risks being seen to vindicate
Bo and his left-leaning agenda.
“Originally, the leftists were to some
extent ideologically accommodated by
the political centre, and seen as a political
tool to counter right-wing forces,”
said Xiao Gongqin, a historian at
Shanghai Normal University who writes
about politics. “But now they feel disenchanted
in the system. “They think their
chances to realise their leftist egalitarian
ideals inside the system through someone
like Bo have faltered, even been lost,
and so they’re becoming a force outside
the system,” he said in a telephone interview.
If China’s economy deteriorates
and social strife deepens, far-left pop-
INTERNATIONAL
China’s leftists dig in for fight over Bo Xilai
BISHKEK: A Kyrgyz Muslim boy lies before a prayer during Eid Al-Fitr celebration
at a square in central Bishkek. — AFP
Kyrgyz forces kill fugitive
border guard after attack
BISHKEK: Security forces in Kyrgyzstan yesterday
killed a fugitive border guard suspected
of murdering five people in a shooting
spree at a remote frontier post, the
Central Asian country’s border guard service
said. Border guards and police cornered
the lone gunman in a mountain gorge near
the border with Kazakhstan, a day after he
fled the scene of the attack in a stolen vehicle.
He was shot after putting up armed
resistance, the service said.
President Almazbek Atambayev ordered
an investigation into the attack in which
the gunman, named as Balbai Kulbarak
uulu, is suspected of shooting the border
post commander, three other servicemen
and the wife of a serviceman. “It’s evident
the leadership of the border guard service
has not taken serious measures to improve
the atmosphere among its servicemen,”
Atambayev said during a meeting of security
staff.
The former Soviet republic’s border
guard service, a division of the State
Committee for National Security, successor
to the KGB, has not said why the accused
guard might have embarked upon such a
killing spree. It said an investigation was
under way. Three guards managed to
escape after hearing shots. Military analyst
and retired army Colonel Toktogul
Kachkeyev said hazing, the humiliating bullying
of younger servicemen, was a possible
trigger for the attack.
Widespread in the Soviet military, it has
survived despite reforms in post-Soviet
forces. “The means have not been created
to educate servicemen. The army has
turned into a farce,” Kachkeyev said. In
neighboring Kazakhstan, prosecutors identified
hazing as the possible cause of a massacre
in late May at a post near its frontier
with China. Fourteen border guards and a
herder were shot dead and the border post
set on fire. The single surviving border
guard admitted to the killings, though later
withdrew his confession. He remains in custody.—Reuters
NASA Curiosity rover to
measure ‘Marsquakes’
WASHINGTON: Just 10 days after NASA’s
Curiosity rover sent back its first color photos
of the Martian landscape, the US space
agency said Monday it wants in 2016 to take
a better look at what’s happening beneath
the Red Planet’s surface. “Does Mars have
fault lines like the Earth does? How extensive
are those? What kinds of ‘marsquakes’ are
there?” These, NASA official Lindley Johnson
told reporters on a conference call, are some
of the important questions the project hopes
to answer.
The InSight mission, which aims to launch
in March 2016, will send a device to Earth’s
next-door neighbor to measure seismic activity
and a subsurface heat probe to measure
the flow of heat from the interior. “Seismology
is the standard method by which we’ve
learned to understand the interior of the
Earth,” explained John Grunsfeld, associate
administrator for the Science Mission
Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “And we
have no such knowledge for Mars.”
InSight was selected from a pool of three
finalists to be sponsored by the low-budget
Discovery series. The other two-one to
explore a comet and another to take a closer
look at Saturn moon Titan-were equally compelling,
Grunsfeld said. “All of these missions
had top science,” he said, adding that the proposals
also all seemed equally realistic, in
terms of their ability to actually get answers.
But InSight won out because it seemed the
most likely to come in on schedule and on
budget, under the $425 million cap set for the
projects. That cap does not include the cost of
the launch vehicle. Insight saved money by
adopting a seismic monitor developed by the
French space agency and a heat-flow probe
developed by the German aerospace center.
The project also incorporated into its design
“proven systems” from NASA’s highly successful
Phoenix lander mission, which helped
convince the selection committee it was a
low-risk endeavor. James Green, director of
NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said they
anticipate it will take six months for InSight to
reach Mars, and then a full Martian yearabout
680 Earth days-to gather the data it is
looking for. Grunsfeld added that because the
device is intended to land in the relatively
benign equatorial region of the planet, the
device may continue to provide data beyond
that first year. Unlike an earlier NASA attempt
to measure seismic activity that placed the
device on the legs of the lander, leading to
interference from wind, the agency said
InSight plans to use a robotic arm to pull the
seismometer package from the platform and
place it on the ground. The final budget for
the project, the 12th to get sponsorship
under Discovery, will be set after a confirmation
review next year.
The Discovery series is separate from other
Mars-specific programming at NASA, and the
agency said this project was chosen on its
own merits and with no relation to the ongoing
Curiosity mission. As for Curiosity, NASA
announced Monday that the Mars rover
flexed its robotic arm for the first time since
before its launch in November. “We have had
to sit tight for the first two weeks since landing,
while other parts of the rover were
checked out, so to see the arm extended ... is
a huge moment for us,” NASA engineer Matt
Robinson said in a statement. Curiosity has
also fired its laser to zap a martian rock called
Coronation, NASA said Sunday.— AFP
ulists appealing to nostalgia for Mao’s
era could win a wider audience among
disenchanted citizens, Xiao says in his
new book, “Beyond Left and Right
Radicalism”. Conspiracy theories circulating
around China about Gu’s trial include
allegations that the heavy-set, puffyfaced
woman who stood in the dock was
not her, but a submissive stand-in. Less
extreme critics say the prosecution’s case
against Gu was implausible and riddled
with contradictions.
The campaign of online articles and
petitions to defend Bo and attack his
foes, especially Premier Wen and
President Hu Jintao, has exposed the
extent to which this scandal differs from
past oustings of contentious leaders,
which drew scant dissent. This time the
opposition is open and ideological,
despite widespread Internet censorship.
“Hu and Wen had to expend all their
HEFEI: Gu Kailai (center in front) the wife of disgraced politician Bo Xilai, listens
to the verdict during her trial at Hefei Intermediate People’s Court in
the eastern Chinese city of Hefei. — AP
OXFORD: When Cesar Conda was a Republican
staff director on the US Senate’s small business
committee in 1991, he often was badgered with
questions on economic theory by Paul Ryan, then a
21-year-old intern.
Ryan, now the Republican candidate for vice
president, “worked in the mail room and would
constantly pop his head into my office to ask questions
about supply-side economics,” Conda said. “I
had a lot of work to do, so I gave him a couple of
books to keep him busy.”
Conda, now chief of staff for conservative
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, lent Ryan Jude
Wanniski’s “The Way the World Works” (1978), which
Conda called “the Bible” for the 1981 Kemp-Roth
tax cut that lowered the top US income tax rate to
50 percent from 70 percent. Conda also lent Ryan
George Gilder’s “Wealth and Poverty” (1981), which
Conda says was a guide for President Ronald
Reagan’s supply-side economic policies of lowering
taxes, slowing government growth and reducing
regulation.
Ryan soon returned the Wanniski book, but
Conda did not retrieve “Wealth and Poverty” until
2008, when he saw it in Ryan’s Capitol Hill office. By
then, Ryan was a five-term congressman from
Wisconsin and the top Republican on the US House
budget committee. “The margins were full of
notes,” added Conda, an economic adviser to the
2008 presidential campaign of Republican Mitt
Romney, whom Conda introduced to Ryan in 2007.
Those who have known Ryan since the early
1990s describe a young man with a clear idea of his
own political and economic philosophy. Ryan
spent his formative years strengthening his grasp
of supply-side economic theory. Democratic opponents
say that Ryan’s austere budget plan- which
would carve into social programs that protect the
poor such as food stamps and Medicaid health
insurance-is uncompromisingly cruel and based on
an ideology of tax cuts and reduced regulation
that, under former President George W Bush,
caused America’s current economic woes.
Ryan and other Republicans reject that portrayal
of the budget and its author. Those in what
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback calls Ryan’s
“band of brothers” - like-minded Republican politicians
and strategists from Reagan’s tenure in the
1980s and Ryan’s formative years in Washington in
the 1990s-say that while Ryan is committed to supply-side
economics, he is capable of compromise
on economic issues. That would make Ryan more
like Reagan than today’s Republican hard-liners,
political credibility to push through this
case against Gu,” said one comment yesterday
on www.redchinacn.net, a far-left
website that has issued a torrent of commentary
over the case. “But once this
credit is used, it’s gone. Going forward,
who view Reagan as a conservative icon but typically
reject the former president’s penchant for
compromising with Democrats.
Some recall conversations with Ryan in 2008
before Congress’ votes to create the Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP), the controversial bank
bailout that cost taxpayers more than $400 billion.
Ryan looked beyond his opposition to TARP
because he realized the alternative was to subject
America to an economic depression, these Ryan
fans and supply-siders said. “Paul is an eager, happy
warrior on the battlefield of ideas,” said Vin Weber, a
former Minnesota congressman who was a codirector
of the now-defunct conservative think
tank Empower America, where Ryan worked in the
1990s. “He has strong beliefs, but he’s driven by
data. Paul knew without TARP in 2008 we would
descend into another Great Depression, and I still
think he did the right thing by voting for it.”
‘VISION QUEST’
During a 2009 commencement speech he gave
at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated
in 1992, Ryan referred to having had a “difficult”
time in high school after his father’s death. He
also mentioned an economics professor, Rich Hart.
“He provided me with much more than just an
education in economics,” Ryan said. “He provided a
vision quest in my mind to improve the economy
of our nation.” Hart, whose “intellectual hero” is
economist Milton Friedman, had long conversations
with Ryan and gave him a copy of Friedman’s
“Capitalism and Freedom.”
Hart said he often has given students Ayn
Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” a novel about a rebellion
by citizens against high taxes and government regulation
that Ryan has said had a great influence on
him. Hart said Ryan already had read the book by
the time Hart taught him. “When Paul Ryan arrived
at Miami he already had an economic and political
philosophy,” Hart said. “He spent his time here refining
and strengthening it.” When Ryan went to
Oxford in 2009, Hart says he tried to persuade his
former student to run for president. He recalls Ryan
saying no, that he did not want to leave his three
young children to campaign for two years.
‘MATURE BEYOND HIS YEARS’
While at Miami, Ryan interned for Republican
US Senator Bob Kasten of Wisconsin and for the
Senate small business committee. Kasten said he
offered Ryan a job after he graduated in 1992 and
that Ryan “was always mature beyond his years.”
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
China won’t be able to avoid chaos.”
Such opposition is a symptom of the
difficulties the Communist Party will
have in enforcing conformity as it navigates
a once-in-a-decade power transfer
and faces contentious choices about the
direction of the economy. “In Chinese
politics today, leaders have to look not
just at their superiors, but also at the
ordinary people,” said Sima Nan, a wellknown
defender of Bo’s policies who
makes a living appearing on television
entertainment shows. “Bo Xilai can’t be
shut away like Yang Baibing was,
because now is the era of the Internet,
and so controlling opinion is so much
more difficult,” said Sima, referring to an
ambitious Chinese general ousted in
1993.
Leftist supporters say the effort to
bury Bo in disgrace has instead created
a charismatic figurehead for them, a
defender of Mao-inspired virtues
threatened by economic liberalization
and Western-inspired ideological heresies.
“Before we were just scholars, but
now we have a political leader recognized
by people both inside and outside
the system,” said Han, the Beijing academic.
A former minister of commerce
who favored sharp business suits and
expensive-looking ties, Bo, 63, appears
to be an unusual pin-up for followers of
old-time socialist virtues. But after being
moved in 2007 to run the southwestern
municipality of Chongqing, Bo turned it
into a heavily publicized showcase for
policies that his backers said served as a
model of growth that spread wealth to
all.—Reuters
Ryan’s economic thinking is
more Reagan than Tea Party
Supporters cite ability to compromise
MARYLAND: A supporter of the GOP presidential
ticket of former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney
holds a sign in Potomac, Maryland. — AFP
WASHINGTON: The Republican Party and
presidential candidate Mitt Romney have
almost $60 million more in the bank than
President Barack Obama and his Democratic
Party but campaign finance experts say it is
too soon to assume that means a political
advantage in November. The Obama and
Romney campaigns are vying to become the
most successful fundraising operations in US
history, with help from their national parties.
In July, Romney raised $101 million for his
campaign and the party, outpacing Obama
for the third month in a row. Obama and the
Democrats hauled in $75 million.
Romney, the Republican National
Committee and the Victory Fund they use
jointly said they had $186 million left in cash
on hand at the end of July. Disclosures filed
on Monday showed Obama, the Democratic
National Committee and their own joint
funds having a total of $127 million left in
cash on hand. That money is an important
gauge of firepower saved up for future advertising
or investments in hiring, offices and
events. It has prompted a flurry of fundraising
emails from Obama whose campaign spends
at a faster clip than Romney to maintain its
vast network of staff and field offices - urging
donors to give because they expect Romney
But Kasten recalled a moment of youthful longing
by Ryan. When Ryan got the job offer, he said he
wanted to take a year off to be a ski instructor in
Colorado. Ryan’s mother, Elizabeth, insisted he
seize the chance to work in Washington.
After Kasten lost to Democrat Russ Feingold in
the 1992 election, Ryan joined Empower America,
where he helped former congressman Jack Kemp,
the co-author of the 1981 tax cut and Empower
America’s co-director for economic policy. Founded
after Democrat Bill Clinton won the 1992 presidential
election, Empower America was intended to
compete with Democrats “on the battlefield of
ideas,” Weber said. The think tank featured economists
such as Arthur Laffer, one of Reagan’s economic
advisers. Empower America later merged
with Citizens for a Sound Economy, which later
split into FreedomWorks and Americans for
Prosperity, the latter of which has backing from oil
and gas billionaire brothers Charles and David
Koch.
Ryan was very close to Kemp, who briefly
sought the 1988 Republican presidential nomination
and was Bob Dole’s vice presidential running
mate in 1996. Weber said that Kemp, who died in
2009, “was the great hope for many of us after
Reagan because for conservatives of my ilk he best
embodied Reagan’s policies. “After Kemp, Paul Ryan
emerged as our next great hope,” he added. Some
have portrayed Kemp as a second father to Ryan,
but Kasten says that is not quite accurate. Kasten
said Ryan has had several brother-type relationships
with like-minded conservatives such as
Kasten, “based on mutual respect and love.”
‘HE’S VERY SHARP’
Conda introduced Ryan to Romney in Ryan’s
office January 2007. What was supposed to be a
courtesy meeting quickly became something
more. “Before long they were talking about entitlement
reform and marginal income taxes,” he said.
“Afterwards, Romney said to me, ‘I like him; he’s
very sharp.’ “Apart from sharing an apparent affinity
for tax and economic theory, some who know Ryan
say he and Romney are both compromisers. “There
are some people who can be a committed conservative
and agree with all the ideas, but still be an
individual,” said Linda Killian, a journalist who chatted
with Ryan several times in the mid-1990s for
her book “The Freshmen: What Happened to the
Republican Revolution?”-an account of the two
years after Republicans took control of Congress
for the first time in four decades in 1994. —Reuters
Romney, Obama
battl for cash
to far out-raise the president.
But those grand totals may be too broad
of a measure to foretell a candidate’s future
financial advantage, experts say. “Romney is
ahead when you combine it all together but
some of his money is going to be less efficient,”
said Michael Malbin, who runs the nonpartisan
Campaign Finance Institute. “Obama
is way ahead in the most flexible pile.” The
most flexible cash belongs to campaigns,
analysts said, because it allows for spur-ofthe-moment
investments, for example, to
instantly rebut the opponent’s latest attack.
Parties, while vowing to spend every dime
on their presidential candidate, do provide
key support when it comes to mobilizing voters
and grass-roots outreach but this year
they have a $21.7 million cap on how much
they can coordinate with campaigns. That
limits, most importantly, their capacity for
advertising, Malbin said, a crucial way to
reach voters. The RNC has been out-raising
the DNC. It brought in $37.7 million in July,
compared to the DNC’s $8.8 million, according
to their Monday filings with the Federal
Election Commission. At the end of the
month, the RNC had $88.8 million left in cash
on hand and the DNC had $15.4 million, FEC
filings showed.—Reuters

Divers recover body of top Philippines...
Continued from Page 1
Manila where a mass for Robredo was held.
Jose Fabian Cadiz, a vice mayor of a suburban Manila
district and a close Robredo friend, said people in Naga
were feeling a deep sense of loss. “He was a very good
man and an even greater public servant. He will be very
missed,” Cadiz told AFP by phone from Robredo’s home,
where he was comforting the politician’s wife and daughters
- aged 12, 18 and 24. Flags in all government offices
flew at half mast, while the Australian, British and US governments
extended sympathies to the Philippines.
Aquino’s office said it planned a state funeral.
Robredo was flying to Naga from the central
Philippines, where he was on an official trip, when the
plane developed engine trouble, fell short of the runway
Continued from Page 1
There has been an upsurge in rhetoric from Israeli politicians
this month suggesting Israel might attack Iran’s
nuclear facilities ahead of the US presidential election in
November. Iran, which denies trying to develop a nuclear
bomb, says it could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region if it
comes under attack. It has also threatened to block the Strait
of Hormuz, the neck of the Gulf through which 40 percent of
the world’s sea-borne oil exports pass. Such a move would
probably invite a military response from the United States.
Paul Beaver, a London-based defence analyst, said yesterday’s
moves appear to be geared at showing the world Iran
is prepared for an attack on its nuclear facilities, and said Iran
had been able to upgrade air defence systems dating from
before the 1979 Islamic revolution with Russian and perhaps
Chinese equipment. “We have seen 20 years of development
of the Iranian air defence system,” Beaver told Reuters. “I
believe that Iran is a very hard nut to crack.”
Iran is also locked in a years-long dispute with Russia over
the high-precision S-300 air defence system, which Moscow
has refused to deliver to Tehran in order to comply with
expanded UN sanctions passed in 2010. Iran said earlier this
month that it had successfully test-fired the new Fateh-110
model and that it was equipped with a more accurate guidance
system. “This missile is one of the most precise and
Continued from Page 1
This was the first study analyzing the relationship
between antibiotic use and body mass starting in infancy.
The researchers evaluated the use of antibiotics
among 11,532 children born in Britain’s Avon region in
1991 and 1992 who are participating in a long-term
study on their health and development.
They found that children treated with antibiotics in
the first five months of their life weighed more for their
height than those who were not exposed. The difference
was small between the ages of 10 to 20 months,
but by 38 months of age, children exposed to antibiotics
had a 22 percent greater likelihood of being overweight.
Timing appeared to matter - children who
Ethiopian strongman Meles dies in Brussels
Continued from Page 1
International called on new leaders
to end his government’s “everincreasing
repression”. Human Rights
Watch called for the next administration
to repeal a much-criticised 2009
anti-terrorism law, under which multiple
opposition figures and journalists,
including two Swedes, have
been jailed for lengthy terms.
Ethiopia has declared a state of
national mourning, but has not fixed
a date for a funeral, said Bereket,
adding that “everything is stable” in
the country.
Diplomats and analysts in Addis
Ababa say it has not been clear how
the government has been run since
Meles was reported to have been
hospitalised in June. Kenyan Prime
Minister Raila Odinga told the BBC
that Meles had been “a great leader”
but said he also “fears for the stability
of Ethiopia upon his death”. “The
Ethiopian state is very fragile,” he said.
“I don’t know if they have sufficiently
prepared for his succession.”
Ethiopia faces several internal
threats, including the rebel Ogaden
National Liberation Front, fighting for
greater autonomy in the south-eastern
ethnic Somali region. They said
they hoped Meles’s death “may usher
(in) a new era of stability and peace”.
Meles was credited with Ethiopia’s
economic boom in the past decade,
with economic growth shooting from
3.8 percent in the 1990s to 10 percent
in 2010. On paper, his government
fostered a policy of ethnic federalism,
devolving significant powers
to regional, ethnically based authorities,
but central control remains firmly
in the hands of the ruling party. His
death also leaves a major power gap
in the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopia
playing a key role in the fortunes of
many of its neighbours.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia
and plunged into the sea. Robredo’s aide, one of the four
people on board, survived the crash with non-life threatening
injuries after hauling himself out of the plane as it
was about to sink. Fishermen plucked him out of the
water. But the two pilots - Filipino Jessup Bahinting and
Nepalese Kshitiz Chand -died and divers had not yet been
able to recover their bodies from the sunken fuselage.
Roxas said a volunteer British diver led the rescue team
to the wreckage. The diver described the plane as broken
into “three big chunks” with the three bodies intact inside
the fuselage, according to Roxas. As interior secretary,
Robredo was in control of the country’s 143,000-strong
police force. Robredo was in charge of efforts to tackle
police corruption, part of a much-publicised anti-graft
program Aquino has been implementing across all sectors
of society since coming to power in 2010. — AFP
Iran unveils new missile, starts air defence...
advanced land-to-land ballistic missiles using solid fuel,”
Vahidi was quoted as saying by Fars.
In July, Iran said it had successfully test-fired mediumrange
missiles capable of hitting Israel, and tested dozens of
missiles aimed at simulated air bases. It also presented a
more powerful, 5,000-horsepower sea-borne engine, the
Bonyan-4, Fars quoted Vahidi as saying. A previous version
had 1,000 horsepower, the Iranian Students’ News Agency
(ISNA) said.
Military experts have cast doubt on Iran’s claims of
weapons advances, especially its assertions about its missile
program, saying Tehran often exaggerates its capabilities.
“The Fateh-110 has a crude guidance and control system
that operates during the missile’s ascent” rather than during
final descent, said Michael Elleman, senior fellow for missile
defence at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“The Fateh-110 appears to lack the subsystems needed to
effect terminal steering,” he said in an email.
Iran yesterday also presented Armita, an “airborne laboratory”
to help test aircraft launch systems and oxygen generation
and train fighter pilots, Fars reported. Vahidi said it was
named after the daughter of Dariush Rezaeinejad, an Iranian
scientist who was shot dead last year. Iran believes agents
working with foreign intelligence services including the
American CIA and Israel’s Mossad are behind the assassinations
of several of its nuclear scientists. — Reuters
Giving babies antibiotics can lead to obesity
received antibiotics from the ages of six to 14 months
did not have a significantly higher body mass later in
childhood, the study revealed. And although children
exposed to antibiotics at 15 to 23 months had slightly
higher body mass indices by age seven, there was no
significant increase in their likelihood of being overweight
or obese.
“For many years now, farmers have known that
antibiotics are great at producing heavier cows for market,”
co-author Jan Blustein, also of NYU, said in a press
release. “While we need more research to confirm our
findings, this carefully conducted study suggests that
antibiotics influence weight gain in humans, and especially
children too.” The study was published in the
International Journal of Obesity. — AFP
for a second time last year - after a
US-backed invasion in 2006 - and
Ethiopia is supporting the fight
against Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked
Shebab. The Shebab said they were
celebrating the “uplifting news” yesterday.
Meles’s death could also
potentially see changes in the relationship
with arch-foe Eritrea, which
split from Ethiopia in 1993 before the
two spiralled into a bitter 1998-2000
border war in which tens of thousands
died. A peace deal led to a
tense standoff, with Meles refusing to
pull troops from the border town of
Badme, even after an international
court ruled the town belonged to
Eritrea. The town has been the source
of festering discontent between the
two nations ever since. Asmara has so
far made no comment on his death.
Meles also played a key role in brokering
peace efforts between newly
independent South Sudan and its
former civil war foe Sudan.
NEWS
Russia warns West after US threats
Continued from Page 1
it ... is heading towards a confrontation
wider than Syria’s borders,”
he told a news conference.
Jamil held out the prospect that
embattled Assad could leave power
as part of a negotiated settlement
to the increasingly ferocious conflict.
“As far as his resignation goes -
making the resignation itself a condition
for holding dialogue means
that you will never be able to reach
this dialogue,” he said after talks in
Moscow. But he added: “Any problems
can be discussed during negotiations.
We are even ready to discuss
this issue.” According to political
sources in Damascus, Jamil was
sent to Moscow to discuss a possible
plan for presidential elections in
Syria in which all candidates would
be allowed to stand, including
Assad. The exiled opposition
umbrella group the Syrian National
Council said it was studying the formation
of a transitional government,
but did not elaborate on
whether it could include regime figures.
In one of the latest battle zones,
troops and tanks overran the
Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya
yesterday, the second day of an
offensive to regain control of the
area. Activists said Assad’s forces
had killed at least 70 people in
Mouadamiya since Monday. They
included some two dozen men who
had been executed and 16 people
killed in a helicopter gunship attack
on a funeral for victims of Monday’s
violence. “The mourners set off with
19 bodies and came back with 35,”
Hayat, one of the activists said from
the suburb.
Another resident, speaking to
Reuters by telephone, said he had
counted the bodies of some two
dozen men who had been executed.
“They were not killed by bombardment,
their hands were tied
and they were burnt and killed by
knives,” he said. Bodies were found
in basements and looted premises,
activists said. State-imposed curbs
on media made it impossible to verify
the reports of the violence,
which followed another bloody day
on Monday, when about 200 people
were killed across the country,
according to the opposition Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
An opposition group said Syria’s
air force had redeployed 30 Sukhoi
fighter-bomber jets closer to cities
where the army is battling to crush
rebels in the north and east of the
country. The Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-
22 planes, which can drop 400 kg
bombs, flew from the Dumair and
Sim air bases north and east of
Damascus on Monday to bases in
the city of Hama Tabaqa and Deir
al-Zor, a senior official in the Higher
Leadership Council for the Syrian
Revolution said. “This type of
Sukhoi is more geared to bombing
missions than aerial combat. They
are now within a more manageable
range to hit the cities of Aleppo,
Homs and Deir al-Zor and areas in
Idlib province,” Mohammad Mroueh
told Reuters from Amman.
The United States and its allies
have shown little appetite for intervention
to halt the bloodshed
along the lines of last year’s NATO
campaign that helped topple
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. But
Obama used some of his strongest
language yet on Monday to warn
Assad not to use unconventional
weapons. “We have been very clear
to the Assad regime, but also to
other players on the ground, that a
red line for us is (if) we start seeing
a whole bunch of chemical
weapons moving around or being
utilised,” he said. “That would
change my calculus.”
Syria last month acknowledged
for the first time that it had chemical
or biological weapons and said
it could use them if foreign countries
attacked it. “We cannot have a
situation where chemical or biological
weapons are falling into the
hands of the wrong people,” Obama
said, perhaps referring to Lebanon’s
Shiite Hezbollah group, an Iranianbacked
ally of Assad, or to Islamist
militants. The US-based Global
Security website says there are four
suspected chemical weapons sites
in Syria producing the nerve agents
VX, sarin and tabun. It does not cite
its sources. Israel, still formally at
war with Syria, has also debated
whether to attack the unconventional
arms sites which it views as
the gravest peril from the conflict
next door.
Obama has been reluctant to
embroil the United States in another
war in the Middle East and refuses
to arm Syrian rebels, partly for
fear that some of those fighting the
Iranian-backed president are
Islamist radicals equally hostile to
the West. Rebels have seized
swathes of territory in northern
Syria near Turkey, which now hosts
70,000 Syrian refugees and which
has suggested that the United
Nations might need to create a “safe
zone” in Syria if that total topped
10,000. But setting up a safe haven
would require imposing a no-fly
zone, an idea which U.S. Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta said last
week was not a “front-burner” issue
for Washington.
The Alawite-Sunni sectarian fault
line flared in neighbouring
Lebanon, where at least five people
were killed, including a child, and
43 wounded in clashes between
pro- and anti-Damascus regime
supporters, security and army officials
said. Two people were killed in
Bab el-Tebbaneh, the mainly Sunni
district of the northern port of
Tripoli, and three died in the largely
Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen in the
city, a security official said, updating
an earlier toll. Ten soldiers were
wounded as well as 33 civilians,
both Sunni and Alawite, officials
said, while a 13-year-old boy was
among those killed. “The clashes
are continuing,” an army
spokesman said in the early
evening, while the military said in a
statement that soldiers were “chasing
gunmen and have seized a
quantity of guns, bombs and
ammunition.”
The fighting erupted late on
Monday in Tripoli, home to a Sunni
community hostile to the regime of
Assad, and a community of
Alawites. The clashes come days
after a wave of kidnappings targeting
Syrians in Lebanon, which lived
under three decades of Syrian
hegemony and remains deeply
divided between supporters and
opponents of Damascus.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati
warned against the “absurd battle”
rocking his hometown, Lebanon’s
second largest city. “We have
repeatedly warned against being
drawn into this blaze that has
spread around Lebanon,” he said of
the violence in Syria. “But it is clear
that several parties wanted to push
Lebanon into the conflict.” The violence
was centred around the aptly
named Syria Street, the symbolic
“dividing line” between the rival
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
GAZA CITY: Palestinians enjoy a ride in an
amusement park on the third day of Eid
al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting holy
month of Ramadan yesterday. — AFP
Tripoli districts of Bab el-Tebbaneh
and Jabal Mohsen. Fires blazed in
several buildings of the rival areas,
where civilians evacuated their
homes, an AFP correspondent said.
Meanwhile, a veteran Japanese
war reporter died after she was
shot in the neck when coming
under fire from up to 15 apparently
pro-government troops in Syria’s
second city, a colleague said yesterday.
Mika Yamamoto was covering
the anti-regime movement in
Aleppo, her long-time colleague
Kazutaka Sato told Japanese broadcasters.
The death of the 45-yearold
takes to four the number of foreign
journalists who have lost their
lives in the country since the uprising
began against the regime of
Assad in March 2011. Yamamoto is
the first of them to die in Aleppo,
with the other three - two French
men and an American woman -
killed in Homs. Her death was confirmed
by Japan’s foreign ministry.
Sato, a colleague from the small
but respected Japan Press, said he
and Yamamoto had been with antiregime
forces when they were shot
at on Monday by what appeared to
be government soldiers. “We saw a
group of 10 to 15 troops ahead on
the right, who were walking in double
file,” he told national broadcaster
NHK. “When they started shooting,
I dashed towards my left,
where I saw a Free Syrian Army soldier.”
Sato, who also worked with
Yamamoto in Iraq, told NTV: “The
one at the front (of the group of
troops) was wearing a helmet and I
immediately thought they were
government troops. “I think I told
her to run. At that moment, they
started shooting. We all ran and
scattered. After that, I couldn’t see
Yamamoto and was told to go to
hospital. I found Yamamoto’s body
there.” Sato was told by a hospital
official that Yamamoto was already
dead when she arrived, NHK said.
The TBS network cited Sato as saying
she had been shot in the neck.
Yamamoto was a known face on
Japanese television, who came to
prominence after surviving a US
tank shelling on the Palestine Hotel
in Baghdad in 2003 in which two
journalists, one from Reuters and
one from a Spanish broadcaster,
were killed. The dead woman’s
father, retired journalist Koji
Yamamoto, said reports of her
death were “too much to bear”.
“She was always talking about tragic
people who were caught in conflicts,
human lives and world peace.
She was more than I was... she is a
wonderful reporter and daughter,”
he told Jiji Press.
Abu Rashid, commander of the
Liwa Asifat Al-Shamal, one of the
groups that make up the opposition
Free Syrian Army, told an AFP
reporter near Aleppo the dead
journalist had been “targeted by
regime forces”. He said his men had
transported the body to nearby
Turkey through the Bab al-Salam
crossing. “If the international community
doesn’t move to help the
Syrian people, they have to react to
the spilling of their citizens’ blood
on Syrian territory,” he said. “We
want a sincere position from the
international community, a real
position, not just words.” Three other
journalists were also reportedly
missing, two of them from a USfunded
Arabic language broadcaster.
It was not clear if their disappearance
was linked to Yamamoto’s
death. — Agencies

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT
DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF
ESTABLISHED 1961
Founder and Publisher
YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN
Editor-in-Chief
ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN
EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432
ADVERTISING : 24835616/7
FAX : 24835620/1
CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163
ACCOUNTS : 24835619
COMMERCIAL : 24835618
P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.
E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net
Website: www.kuwaittimes.net
Issues
Island disputes
show malaise
T okyo’s
By Jacques Lhuillery
seeming fixation with squabbles over the outposts
of its former empire are symptomatic of a foreign
policy drift as Japan struggles to find its place in
the 21st century, analysts say. In a little over a month, three
long-running territorial disputes have flared up. Russian
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev inflicted the first wound
in early July with a visit to the Kurils, off the coast of
Hokkaido, seized by the Soviet Union in the last days of
World War II. “I do not care,” Medvedev told reporters when
asked what he thought about Tokyo’s “extreme regret” over
his trip to what Japan calls the Northern Territories.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak sent relations
plunging when he flew to Dokdo, islets in the Sea of Japan
(East Sea) that Tokyo calls Takeshima. And last week Tokyo
deported 14 pro-Beijing activists who had sailed to a chain
of islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China,
the most bitter of its territorial scraps. Japanese nationalists
hit back with their own landing on Sunday. Each incident
was deeply felt in Tokyo, where a directionless government,
destabilised by domestic rows over nuclear power and consumption
tax, is stumbling towards a seemingly inevitable
election in the autumn.
All the disputed islands harbour valuable resources -
petrochemical, mineral or fishery - but they are also strategically
valuable in a part of the world keenly aware of the
rising power of China. “Senkaku is a window on the continent,”
said Hideshi Takesada, a Japanese professor of Asian
Studies at Yonsei University in South Korea. “If Japan lost
Senkaku, it would lose a significant portion of its frontline
defence. “Moreover, a weak-kneed response will lead to
similar results in other fields. China, for instance, may gain
the upper hand in patent fights and other bilateral and
regional disputes.” Issues linked to Japan’s early 20th century
expansionism, when it conquered large swathes of east
Asia, often brutally, arouse particularly strong feelings in the
region, said Takashi Terada of Doshisha University in Kyoto.
“Europe has more or less sorted out the legacy of the Cold
War, but it is still visible in Asia. A lot of territorial disputes
have remained unresolved,” he said. Indeed, Japan has never
signed a peace treaty with Russia to formally end World
War II because of the disagreement over the Kurils. But
Japan’s inability to head off these fights or to put an end to
them when they surface is, says Terada, a function of its listless
domestic politics, which has left the country exposed
on the global stage. He says the inexperience of the
Democratic Party of Japan, which came to power in 2009
after five decades of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal
Democratic Party, is a problem, with key figures enjoying
few of the personal cross-border links their predecessors
developed over long periods in office.
The frequent changes at the top of government -
Yoshihiko Noda is Japan’s sixth premier in as many yearsare
destabilising, and give the impression Japan cannot hit
back, he said. China’s economic rise and Japan’s stagnation
have also altered the regional balance. “Neighbouring
countries used to need Japan’s financial and technological
cooperation,” he said. “In exchange for that, they would tone
down their diplomatic stance.” The deterioration of Japan’s
relationship with the United States, with recent Tokyo
administrations appearing lukewarm on ties with the country’s
most important security ally, have also given neighbours
a way in.
“While Japan was firmly protected under its security
alliance with the United States, it did not have to be so serious
about territorial issues. “But Japan’s recent unfavourable
relations with the United States are allowing China and
South Korea to gain the upper hand.” But Tetsuro Kato of
Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University warned Tokyo cannot simply
go scurrying back to Washington. This is partly because
the US has no interest in getting its hands dirty in territorial
battles where whatever it does risks damaging its own
interests, he said, but also because the balance of world
power has shifted. “With the growth of China, Japan can no
longer depend only on the United States,” he said.
And with demands at home for something to be done,
politicians could find themselves increasingly bounced into
making the kind of statements Noda made last month
when he said Japan could send in the military to defend the
Senkakus. Thomas Berger, associate professor of
International Relations at Boston University, said in the
short term there would be no actual military conflict.
“However, the growing embitterment of public sentiment
in the region over territorial disputes is a source of real concern,”
he said. “The possibility of a clash cannot be ruled out,
and a regional arms race is already well under way.”— AFP
All articles appearing on these pages
are the personal opinion of the writers.
Kuwait Times takes no responsibility
for views expressed therein. Kuwait
Times invites readers to voice their
opinions. Please send submissions via
email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or
via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat,
Kuwait. The editor reserves the right
to edit any submission as necessary.
By Nita Bhalla
T he
anonymous text message on Bhumidhar Das’ mobile phone
was chilling: “Muslims will attack and kill our people after
Ramadan. Return home.” Within hours, Das, a Hindu working at a
car factory in the city of Pune, joined tens of thousands of fellow
migrant workers returning to hometowns in the remote northeast
after getting or hearing of similar messages. Nearly 80 people have
been killed and 400,000 displaced in fighting between Muslims and
mostly Hindu Bodo tribesmen in northeastern Assam state in recent
weeks. The mass flight was sparked by rumours that Muslims, a big
minority in predominantly Hindu India, were seeking revenge for the
Assam violence.
Normally, there is little fallout in the rest of India from bouts of violence
in Assam, which borders Bangladesh and is one of seven states
connected to the main bulk of the country by a ‘chicken neck’ of land.
This time, however, the grisly scenes unfolding in the far-flung northeast
may fan communal politics in a country where simmering tensions
between Hindus and Muslims have often been exploited for
electoral gain.
As India heads for national elections in 2014 amid a sharp slowdown
in growth, religious politics, along with a loss of jobs and
wealth, could be a key issue. “The conflict in Assam is getting communalised,”
said Zoya Hasan, a political scientist at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal
Nehru University and former member of the National Commission for
Minorities. “Rightwing nationalist parties are cashing in on this by calling
Assam’s Muslims ‘foreigners’ and ‘illegal Bangladeshi migrants’ who
threaten the fabric of Indian society. They are not going to let this go
so easily, especially with elections coming up and will try to make this
a Hindu-Muslim issue.”
The state and other parts of the northeast are home to hundreds
of tribes and ethnic groups. Violence usually stems from tribal rivalries,
anger against Muslim settlers from Bangladesh or from insurgencies.
While religion-driven politics has taken a backseat in the last decade
of India’s economic boom, there are signs Muslim discontent over the
violence is spreading. While parties across the political spectrum have
condemned the recent bloodshed in Assam, divisive rhetoric has
come from all sides.
In India’s financial capital, Mumbai, massive protests by Muslims
against events in Assam turned violent earlier this month, killing two
people and wounding dozens. In Pune, the city where Das was working,
students from the northeast were beaten. Unrest has also been
reported in Lucknow and Allahabad in the north. Rumours of Muslim
retaliation at the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week have
swirled, with threats of attacks on northeast Indians carried on social
media and phone text messages.
As a result, more than 30,000 migrants from the northeast working
in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad
rushed in terror back to their homes. How safe they will be there is
open to question - two of those fleeing were killed and nine were
injured on Sunday after they were pushed from a moving train. The
14 opinion
Interior Ministry said on Saturday most of the text messages and website
images originated in Pakistan, an Islamic state and India’s archrival.
Islamabad rejected the suggestion as “baseless and unfounded”.
Massacres
In Assam, conflict between Bodo tribes and Muslims is not new.
Decades of feuding over land rights and political power has often
erupted into blood-letting, the worst of which was in 1983 when nearly
3,000 people were massacred. Bodos say Muslims are illegal settlers
from neighbouring Bangladesh who take their land, reducing them to
a minority. They point to a surge in the Muslim population, which is
now better organised politically under influential leaders such as
Badruddin Ajmal, whose party is the main opposition in the state of
tea plantations and oilfields.
Muslims say they are not illegal immigrants and that they are
being marginalised by Bodos, who are economically and politically
stronger. Over time, India’s two main political parties - the secular
Congress, which rules the state as well as in New Delhi, and the main
opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - have
sought to benefit from conflict. The BJP has often been accused of
fomenting Hindu-Muslim violence. It supports the Bodos’ claims and
accuses Congress of allowing illegal immigration for electoral gains.
“The Congress Party... does not have to import illegal immigrants to
increase its vote bank,” Arun Jaitley, a senior BJP leader told parliament.
“The government must stop this illegal immigration, the entire
border must be fenced, the detection and deportation (of illegal
migrants) must begin forthwith.” Congress says most Muslims in
Assam are Indian citizens.
In Assam’s squalid displacement camps, hundreds of thousands
of Bodos and Muslims languish, too fearful to return home after seeing
their villages razed, possessions looted or neighbours shot or
hacked to death. Weeks after clashes broke out, convoys of paramilitary
trucks still drive through the main roads in this lush rice-growing
region. A night curfew remains in place.
Identity Politics
Fathoming what happened in Assam is critical for India, whose
history is scarred with episodes of slaughter by citizens divided by
ethnicity and religion. Centuries of rule by medieval Muslim invaders
drove a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, a suspicion that has
only grown since the bloody birth of Pakistan, which was carved
from Muslim-majority areas of India in 1947. Up to one million people
were killed in Hindu-Muslim violence when Pakistan was created,
which many Indians still refer to as “Partition”.
About 170 million Muslims live in India. Many are disenchanted,
their alienation partly fueled by the demolition of the 16th-century
Babri mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992 and communal riots in
Gujarat state in 2002, when around 2,500 people, mostly Muslims,
were hacked and burnt to death. The BJP rose to prominence in the
early 1990s on the back of a Hindu revivalist movement. Its leaders
led the demolition of the Babri Mosque. “The BJP is known to play up
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Clashes expose India’s communal divide
the communal issue on a much larger scale than Congress. They have
an upper caste Hindu agenda,” said Asghar Ali Engineer, chairman of
the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.
This has not automatically translated into Muslim support for
Congress, which had enjoyed the Muslim vote in the years after independence
from Britain. Congress has often been accused of failing to
protect Muslims, and a substantial portion of that vote has waned,
going to new regional parties instead. The Gujarat riots, however, saw
the tide turn again in favour of Congress in the 2004 elections, as
Muslims saw the party as the only one capable of stopping the BJP
and its “Hindutva” or Hindu nationalist agenda.
Making up about 14 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people, Muslims
are the biggest minority group. Their vote is critical in key swing
states such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the north, West
Bengal in the east and Kerala in the south. With a large chunk of middle
class moderate Hindus put off by the Gujarat riots, the BJP has
tried to reinvent itself - balancing the need for a softer Hindutva
plank with a broader agenda of development and good governance.
Its leaders such as Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, under
whose watch the 2002 riots took place, have in recent years adopted
a softer line as they jostle to become the party’s prime ministerial
candidate in the 2014 elections.
Assam Impact
Just how the Assam violence is dealt with could be a deciding factor
in votes in certain states. “Incidents such as what we have witnessed
in Assam are read very keenly by the Indian voter. He watches
how things are managed or, in this case, mismanaged and exploited,”
said M J Akbar, editorial director of India Today magazine. There is
likely to be a return to anti-Muslim rhetoric and issues such as illegal
migration as right-wing parties struggle to form vote-winning policies
with an electorate fed up with an opposition that is seen as keener
to bash the government than work with it as the economy slows
sharply. For Congress, the issue will be much more complicated, analysts
said. The party will have to consolidate Muslim votes won in the
last elections in 2009, while at the same time reassure moderate
Hindus who have been angered by the handling of the Assam violence.
“The way this violence took place, the killings and the massive
displacement as well as the exodus of northeast people, is likely to
lead to more polarisation between Hindu and Muslims,” said
Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, political scientist at Kolkata’s
Rabindra Bharati University.
On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told migrants from
the northeast they were safe, while adding that India’s “communal
harmony” was at stake. Many from the northeast say they need more
than just words of reassurance. Two trains from Bangalore packed
with around 4,000 people arrived in Guwahati, Assam’s main city,
over the weekend. “I have left due to fear. My job is important, but my
life and that of my family is more precious,” said security guard Binod
Boro, 30, who got down from a train onto an overcrowded platform,
followed by his wife and their two-year-old daughter. —Reuters
Afghan peace hopes may rest on Taleban captive
By Matthew Green
In the cloistered circles of the Taleban high command,
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had no
equal. As military chief of the hardline Islamic
movement that once ruled Afghanistan and was
ousted by a US-led alliance, he oversaw the campaign
of ambushes and roadside bombings that
proved his fighters could threaten the most
advanced armies. When the talismanic leader was
caught in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010, some
Afghan officials hoped the magnetism he forged in
war would persuade his former comrades to start
talking peace. Indeed, news that Islamabad had
allowed Afghan officials to visit Baradar two
months ago sparked speculation in both countries
of the prospects for a settlement.
Instead, Pakistan’s refusal to hand him over to
Afghanistan symbolises one of the biggest obstacles
to negotiations: a legacy of bone-deep suspicion
dividing the neighbours. Afghanistan fears
that Pakistan is only pretending to support dialogue
while its intelligence agencies harbour
Taleban leaders to project influence across their
shared frontier. Any move to repatriate Baradar
would raise Afghan hopes that Pakistan is willing to
play a genuinely constructive role and open the
door to other prominent insurgents.
“Releasing Mullah Baradar would encourage
other Taleban leaders to embrace reconciliation,”
Ismail Qasemyar, an adviser to Afghanistan’s High
Peace Council, told Reuters. “It would be a huge
symbolic step.” Members of the council, who are
charged with reaching out to insurgents, aim to visit
Islamabad in the next few weeks to make a fresh
plea for Pakistan to allow Baradar to return to Kabul
as a guest of the Afghan government.
With the United States and its allies due to withdraw
the bulk of their combat forces by the end of
2014, pressure is mounting on President Hamid
Karzai to start meaningful negotiations with the
Taleban and prevent violence spiralling. But there is
no guarantee Pakistan will agree to release Baradar,
or that he retains enough influence to play a deci-
sive role. “We are fully cooperating with
Afghanistan in whatever they are asking for the
peace process,” Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman
Malik said in a recent interview. “For developing
peace in Afghanistan, we are giving every kind of
help. We have given access.” He did not comment
further on the subject.
The Afghan government believes Baradar is
more amenable to dialogue than many of his comrades.
In the months before his arrest, Baradar
authorised contacts with United Nations representatives
to explore the possibility of dialogue,
according to former UN and Taleban officials.
Afghan officials believe Pakistan detained him as
part of a broader strategy to retain a veto over any
eventual settlement in Afghanistan. More cautious
voices argue that negotiations will only work if
Karzai broadens his strategy of lobbying prominent
insurgents to defect into a wider process to address
the roots of Afghanistan’s conflict. Pakistan, for its
part, will have to radically rethink the terms of its
long-standing relationship with the Taleban before
it can consider meeting Afghan demands.
Hard Work
Taleban folklore has it that Baradar was present
on the day in 1994 when Mullah Mohammed
Omar, the Taleban’s leader, launched his campaign
to cleanse Afghanistan of rapacious warlords by
hanging one particularly loathsome militia chief
from the barrel of a tank. Their friendship bolstered
Baradar’s stature during the Taleban’s march on
Kabul and its 1996-2001 reign. The Taleban government
collapsed after the United States and its allies
attacked Afghanistan for harbouring Al-Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden, the architect of the Sept
11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Baradar would later emerge as Mullah Omar’s
second-in-command, translating spiritual guidance
into orders as the Taleban insurgency gathered
strength. Mullah Omar bestowed him with the
nom de guerre “Baradar”, which means “brother”.
Although a ruthless fighter, Baradar had a knack for
forging compromise, another trait that appeals to
mediators. Baradar was captured in early 2010 in
the Pakistani port city of Karachi in a joint operation
between Pakistani intelligence officers and the CIA.
Some argue that more than two years in detention
have eroded his sway over an evolving insurgency.
The Haqqani network, which has used
havens in Pakistan to launch attacks on Kabul, is
showing signs of growing independence from the
Taleban hierarchy. And a blistering campaign of US
night raids on Taleban commanders has weakened
Mullah Omar’s chain of command. What does seem
certain is that Baradar’s return would give Karzai’s
outreach more credibility among Pashtuns, the
community that dominates southern and eastern
Afghanistan, where the insurgency is strongest. The
captive’s mystique is burnished by his status as the
highest-ranking Taleban commander to hail from
the Popalzai, the same Pashtun sub-group as
Karzai. “If Mullah Baradar joins the government, 80
percent of the problem with the Taleban will be
solved,” said Haji Obaidullah Barakzai, a lawmaker
from Uruzgan, the southern province where
Baradar was born.
Kabul’s Suspicions
Baradar’s capture after he authorised his followers
to contact UN officials has sharpened Kabul’s
suspicions that Pakistan’s military is intent on using
its leverage over the insurgents to shape any future
settlement. Pakistan’s security establishment
backed the Taleban’s rise in the mid-1990s as part
of its policy of sponsoring Islamist militants as proxies
in a struggle with nuclear rival India. Pakistan
joined the US war on terror in 2001 and backed the
attack on its former allies in power in Kabul, but, at
the same time, maintained unofficial links with the
Taleban. Many of its fighters are based in the border
regions, where Pakistan’s own Pashtun community
lives. Some Western diplomats in Islamabad believe
Pakistan’s generals are reviewing their relationship
with their increasingly troublesome assets. Many of
their home-grown militant groups have turned on
their former masters. An embarrassing raid on an
airbase outside Islamabad on Thursday was only
the latest display of the threat they pose. For now,
Pakistan has chosen to hedge. The military has
made some moves to facilitate dialogue while
avoiding irreversible steps that might diminish its
sway over the insurgents. For example, Pakistani
intelligence allowed Taleban envoys to travel to
Qatar for talks with US officials late last year. Hopes
that the discussions would lead to a confidencebuilding
prisoner exchange have, however, yet to
materialise.
Some Afghans detected a further shift in
February, interpreting a Pakistani pledge to support
dialogue as the country’s first admission that it had
sheltered the Taleban. That was followed by the
decision to allow Afghan officials to meet Baradar
in detention. Repatriating Baradar would require a
much bigger leap of faith. Although Pakistan’s relations
with the Taleban are poisoned by mistrust, the
army will be loathe to sacrifice control as long as
Afghanistan’s future remains uncertain. “The question
is what the Afghan groups who are currently
enjoying the patronage of NATO will do after the
withdrawal,” said a Pakistani official with experience
in Afghanistan. “Are the current crop of Afghan
leaders simply going to melt away?”
Strategy Under Fire
While Afghan officials portray Pakistan as a
recalcitrant partner, Karzai’s lack of a coherent strategy
may be an even bigger problem. The Afghan
government has focused on luring individual
Taleban leaders to abandon the insurgency, rather
than laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive
peace process that might satisfy the country’s
many constituencies. “It’s not enough just to
bring former Taleban commanders to Kabul,” said
Haji Mangal Hussain, a former adviser to Karzai.
“The most important factor for bringing peace is to
improve the quality of the Afghan government.”
With Karzai due to step down at elections due
by 2014, and his administration steeped in allegations
of nepotism, warlordism and corruption,
many fear he lacks the legitimacy to serve as guarantor
for a viable power-sharing deal. — Reuters

Song ready to battle
for his Barcelona slot
BARCELONA: Alex Song knows he must fight for his place in Barcelona’s team
after joining in a big-money transfer from Arsenal, the Cameroon midfielder
said yesterday.
The 24-year-old signed a five-year deal at the weekend after moving for a
fee of 19 million euros ($23.45 million). “I am coming to the best team in the
world and I am delighted to be a Barcelona player,” Song told a news conference.
“I know I have joined a team of stars and I will have to fight for my place.
“It is a great challenge and I know I have a lot to learn. When the coach (Tito
Vilanova) thinks I am ready that’s when I’ll play.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I thank
Arsenal and (coach) Arsene Wenger for allowing
me to be here.” Barcelona sports director
Andoni Zubizarreta said the club were attracted
to Song by his versatility. “We decided to
sign a midfielder that could play as a centre
back after the exit of Seydou Keita,” he said.
“Song was the first name on the list.
“He is a player who is good in the air, is
physically powerful and tactically astute.”
Song said he was willing to play anywhere for
a Barca team that has won 14 titles including
three La Liga and two Champions
League trophies in the last four seasons.
—Reuters
CHICAGO: White Sox’s Alexei Ramirez hits a two-run home run off New York
Yankees relief pitcher Boone Logan during the seventh inning. —AP
White Sox defeat Yankees
CHICAGO: Chicago’s Alexei Ramirez hit
a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh
inning as the White Sox beat the
New York Yankees 9-6 in Monday’s
opening game of a three-game series
between American League divisional
leaders.
Ramirez connected with two outs in
the seventh off Boone Logan (4-2), and
Adam Dunn added his major leagueleading
36th homer of the season in the
eighth as the White Sox ended a run of
three straight defeats. Brett Myers (2-1)
got the win by pitching two-thirds of an
inning.
New York’s Derek Jeter homered and
had four hits, tying Eddie Murray for
11th place on the career list (3,255). He
also took over 13th place on the runs
scored list (1,845), passing Craig Biggio.
Rangers 5, Orioles 1
In Arlington, Texas, Ryan Dempster
pitched eight innings, his longest outing
in more than two months and his
best since being traded to Texas, as the
AL West-leading Rangers beat
Baltimore.
Dempster (7-6) retired the last 11
batters he faced. He allowed one run.
David Murphy had two RBI singles for
the Rangers, who opened a 10-game
homestand. All nine Texas starters had
a hit.
Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (5-3),
who had won his previous three decisions,
gave up four runs in five innings.
Rays 5, Royals 1
In St. Petersburg, Jeremy Hellickson
pitched seven innings for his first home
win in three months as Tampa Bay
American League
Eastern Division
W L PCT GB
NY Yankees 72 50 .590 -
Tampa Bay 68 54 .557 4
Baltimore 66 56 .541 6
Boston 59 63 .484 13
Toronto 56 65 .463 15.5
Central Division
Chicago White Sox 66 55 .545 -
Detroit 64 57 .529 2
Kansas City 54 67 .446 12
Cleveland 54 68 .443 12.5
Minnesota 51 70 .421 15
Western Division
Texas 71 50 .587 -
Oakland 65 56 .537 6
LA Angels 62 60 .508 9.5
Seattle 59 64 .480 13
MLB results/standings
downed Kansas City.
Hellickson (8-8) allowed one run in
ending a stretch of seven consecutive
home winless starts. The Rays went
ahead 4-1 in the fourth on Jose
Labaton’s RBI single and a run-scoring
double from Desmond Jennings off Will
Smith (4-5).
Twins 7, Athletics 2
In Oakland, Josh Willingham drove in
two runs against his former team and
Joe Mauer hit a two-run single as
Minnesota snapped Oakland’s fivegame
home winning streak.
Brian Duensing (3-8) struck out seven
and walked one in six innings to
help the Twins bounce back from a
three-game weekend sweep at Seattle
that began a 10-game road trip.
A’s starter Brandon McCarthy (6-5)
surrendered three straight hits in the
first, including Willingham’s RBI double.
McCarthy was knocked out after 3 1-3
innings, having allowed a season-high
six runs.
Mariners 5, Indians 3
In Seattle, Michael Saunders hit two
two-run home runs to help Seattle to its
sixth straight victory, defeating
Cleveland. The Mariners have won 13 of
their past 14 games at Safeco Field. It’s
the best home stretch over 14 games in
club history. Seattle’s Charlie Furbush (5-
2) earned the victory in relief of starter
Kevin Millwood. The Indians loaded the
bases in the ninth but Jason Kipnis
ground into a double play to end it. Joe
Smith (7-4) took the loss in relief as
Cleveland suffered a sixth straight
defeat. —AP
Washington 5, Atlanta 4 (13 innings); Philadelphia 12, Cincinnati 5; Tampa Bay 5, Kansas
City 1; Colorado 3, NY Mets 1; Texas 5, Baltimore 1; Milwaukee 9, Chicago Cubs 5;
Chicago White Sox 9, NY Yankees 6; Miami 12, Arizona 3; Minnesota 7, Oakland 2; San
Diego 3, Pittsburgh 1; Seattle 5, Cleveland 3; San Francisco 2, LA Dodgers 1.
National League
Eastern Division
Washington 76 46 .623 -
Atlanta 70 52 .574 6
Philadelphia 57 65 .467 19
NY Mets 57 65 .467 19
Miami 56 67 .455 20.5
Central Division
Cincinnati 74 49 .602 -
Pittsburgh 67 55 .549 6.5
St. Louis 65 56 .537 8
Milwaukee 55 66 .455 18
Chicago Cubs 47 74 .388 26
Houston 39 83 .320 34.5
Western Division
San Francisco 67 55 .549 -
LA Dodgers 67 56 .545 0.5
Arizona 62 60 .508 5
San Diego 54 70 .435 14
Colorado 47 73 .392 19
sports
All-female crew to contest
next Volvo Ocean Race
STOCKHOLM: An all-women’s crew will contest offshore sailing’s
Volvo Ocean Race in 2014-15, the new team’s Swedish backers
announced yesterday. They will be the first team of women to take
on the 39,000-nautical mile race since 2001-02.
The 10-strong, international lineup will be chosen over the next
year and are backed by SCA, a Sweden-based multinational maker
of hygiene products.
The first all-female team to enter the race was Maiden, skippered
by Tracy Edwards in 1989-90. The last was Amer Sports Too.
“It’s been too long,” Volvo Ocean Race chief executive Knut
Frostad said. “There’s 50 percent of the population there we
haven’t been representing so this is a great day for the race.”
The team are the first to enter the 12th edition of the race which
is run every three years and began life as the Whitbread Round the
World Race in 1973. The most recent edition was completed in July
with victory for French team Groupama.
The 2014-15 race will be contested in new one-design, 65-foot
boats which organisers said in June was a way of bringing down
costs to enter and putting less of an emphasis on physical strength,
effectively reopening the race to women sailors. —Reuters
WASHINGTON: Washington’s
Chad Tracy hit a game-ending
single in the 13th inning to give
the Nationals a 5-4 win over
Atlanta on Monday, extending
their lead over the Braves in the
National League East division to
six games.
Ian Desmond led off the 13th
with an infield single off Cristhian
Martinez (5-3) before Danny
Espinosa’s attempted bunt led to
a forceout. Kurt Suzuki then hit a
slow roller for an infield hit, allowing
Espinosa to take third.
With the infield in, Tracy hit
the ball to Braves second baseman
Dan Uggla, who had to
choose between trying to get
Espinosa at the plate or attempting
to turn a double play, but
instead fumbled, and Espinosa
dashed home. Craig Stammen (6-
1) pitched two hitless innings for
the win.
Giants 2, Dodgers 1
In Los Angeles, Madison
Bumgarner pitched eight scoreless
innings as San Francisco
edged Los Angeles to reclaim the
NL West lead by half a game.
Bumgarner pitched his second
scoreless outing of the season for
the Giants, who leapfrogged the
Dodgers in a division race that
has seen the rivals frequently
swap leads.
Bumgarner (14-7) struck out
10 and walked none. Javier Lopez
got the final out to claim the
save. Pablo Sandoval drove in
both San Francisco runs. Dodgers
starter Clayton Kershaw (11-7)
gave up six hits in eight innings.
Phillies 12, Reds 5
In Philadelphia, John Mayberry
Jr. hit a two-run homer and Ryan
Howard and Erik Kratz had solo
shots to power Philadelphia past
Cincinnati. Domonic Brown hit a
go-ahead two-run double off
Mike Leake (5-8) in the Phillies’
four-run fifth inning.
Phildelphia starter Roy
Halladay (7-7) wasn’t sharp,
allowing five runs in seven
innings, but the offense bailed
him out and he recorded the win.
The Phillies have won 12 of 13
against the Reds, dating to 2010.
This was their first meeting this
season.
Padres 3, Pirates 1
In San Diego, Edinson Volquez
struck out 10 to steer San Diego
past Pittsburgh. Volquez (8-9),
who had a dismal 13,83 ERA over
his previous four starts, turned his
form around and allowed just
one run.
San Diego has won 16 of its
past 19 against the Pirates, but
Pittsburgh remained half a game
ahead of the Dodgers for the final
wild-card berth.
Marlins 12, D’backs 3
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
No place for Pietersen
in limited-overs squad
LONDON: Kevin Pietersen’s rapid fall from grace in international cricket was
completed yesterday when the controversial batsman was left out of the
England squads for the Twenty20 World Cup and a one-day series against
South Africa. Last week, the 32-year-old Pietersen was dropped for the third
and final test against South Africa at Lord’s after admitting to sending
“provocative” text messages to opposing players.
England slipped to a 51-run defeat in the match to lose the series 2-0 and
concede the number one test ranking to their opponents
in the process.
National selector Geoff Miller explained
Pietersen’s international future “was still
being determined” so it was always unlikely
the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
were going to select him for the upcoming
limited overs events.
“Kevin Pietersen’s future involvement is
still being determined and he was therefore
not considered for selection in either squad,”
Miller said as the squads were announced.
The squad to face South Africa for the five
one-day internationals also sees Twenty20 captain
Stuart Broad rested ahead the Twenty20
World Cup in Sri Lanka in September and
October. —Reuters
Nationals edge Braves
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT: Christopher
Koeiman drove in two runs with a tying sacrifice
fly, and Mychellon Jansen hit a tiebreaking
solo homer as Willemstad, Curacao beat
Vancouver, British Columbia 4-3 on Monday to
advance at the Little League World Series.
Trailing 3-1 entering the fifth, Curacao had
runners on second and third when Koeiman
hit a fly ball to left with one out. Carter Kada-
Wong fell backward to make the catch, but
both runners had enough time to score.
Jansen then homered to give Curacao the lead
for good.
Cole Dalla-Zanna was the hard-luck loser
for eliminated Canada, striking out nine.
Canada took a 3-1 lead in the fourth when
Noah Hanson-Stafford came off the bench to
hit a two-run homer.
Mexico 4, Taiwan 3
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico scored three runs in
the third inning to take the lead and went on
to a victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Mexico loaded the bases after tying it at 2-
2on an error. In the next at-bat, Taiwan’s
catcher tried to run back a runner who had
strayed off first, but the ball slipped from his
hand on a fake throw and dribbled into right
field. Two runs scored to give Mexico a 4-2
lead. Chen Chun-hsiao hit an RBI single in the
fourth, but Mexico center fielder Fernando
Benavides cut down the potential tying run at
the plate. Taiwan’s Lee Cheng-feng Lee struck
out 10 in a complete-game loss
Nebraska 17, Germany 1
Kearney, Nebraska earned the state’s firstever
win at the Little League World Series and
set a tournament record with a 15-run second
inning in a win over beat Germany’s Ramstein
Air Base.
Thirteen-year-old Jared Wegner went 3 for
4 with a homer and five RBIs in the game
In Phoenix, Giancarlo Stanton
homered twice, including the first
of back-to-back long shots during
Miami’s nine-run fourth inning,
which set up the win over
Arizona.
Miami’s 10 hits in the fourth
matched a franchise record set
last year, and the 12 runs and 20
hits were season highs. Marlins
starter Mark Buehrle (11-11) took
the win, allowing two runs over
seven innings. Arizona’s Joe
Saunders (6-10) gave up nine
runs in just 3 2-3 innings.
Rockies 3, Mets 1
In New York, Tyler Colvin hit a
tying homer in the fifth inning,
then made a diving play in the
eighth to help Colorado beat New
York.
Colvin notched his first home
run in 105 at-bats, then in the
eighth he made a lunging stop on
a sharp grounder with the bases
loaded, and his toss to first base
just beat the batter to the bag. The
Mets were unhappy with the call,
with manager Terry Collins having
a prolonged argument with the
first base umpire. Rex Brothers (7-2)
got the win, and Josh Edgin (1-1)
was charged with the loss.
Brewers 9, Cubs 5
In Milwaukee, Jonathan Lucroy
hit two home runs and the Brewers
WASHINGTON: Nationals’ Chad Tracy hits an RBI to score the winning run during the 13th
inning of a baseball game with the Atlanta Braves. —AP
delayed by rain and played under sometimes
sloppy conditions.
Both teams had fun in the dugouts during
the delay, where Nebraska second baseman
Matt Masker, 13, showed off his dance moves
to the hip-hop song “Teach Me How to Dougie”
by Cali Swag District. “They also wanted to go
out on the tarp and do some sliding,” manager
Brad Wegner said. “All fun all the time.”
Connecticut 4, Indiana 0
Will Lucas threw a no-hitter to lead
Fairfield, Connecticut past New Castle,
Indiana. The 12-year-old right-hander
struck out 13 and also had a two-run single
in the fifth. When it was over, he fell
to the ground as his teammates piled on
top of him near the mound. Matt Kubel
homered for Connecticut, which will play
scored eight runs in the fifth inning
to rally past Chicago. The Brewers
sent 11 batters to the plate and
recorded seven hits in their biggest
inning for two years. Milwaukee’s
Mark Rogers (1-1) claimed his first
major league victory in seven
career starts, including five this season.
He allowed three five hits in
five innings. Justin Germano (2-3)
yielded seven runs in 4 2-3 innings
Curacao advances at LLWS
California in a rematch on Tuesday night.
Connecticut lost the first matchup 6-4 last
week.
California 5, New Jersey 4
Danny Marzo hit a game-winning homer
in the eighth inning as Petaluma, California
beat Parsippany, New Jersey. The 12-yearold
Marzo drove an 0-1 pitch to the grassy
PASEDENA: Kearney, Nebraska’s Matt Masker (left) is tagged out attempting to steal home
on a wild pitch by Ramstein, Germany pitcher Justin Wilson (24) in the first inning. —AP
hill beyond the right-field wall, setting off
a wild celebration after California blew a
two-run lead.
Marzo was mobbed by giddy teammates
who charged out to the plate as
soon he hit the ball. New Jersey pushed
across two runs in the sixth to tie it at 4.
Emil Matti homered and David Ton had an
RBI single. —AP

ATLANTA: Let’s all welcome Augusta
National to the 21st century. And don’t
stop there. Hey, British Open, you’re on
the clock now.
The home of the Masters is opening
its doors to women members, a move so
momentous they actually acknowledged
it happened. You see, the gentlemen
in green - and I guess we’ll have to
start saying the ladies in green, too - normally
spend about as much time talking
about the inner workings of their club as
they do about the zillions of dollars they
rake in every year on golf’s first major
championship. Former Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina
financier Darla Moore were invited to
join what was once the nation’s most
exclusive fraternity. While no keg party
was planned, club chairman Billy Payne
did release a statement Monday calling
it a “joyous occasion,” which of course
raised the question: What took ‘em so
long?
“It’s about (expletive) time,” said
Alison Piepmeier, director of the
Women’s and Gender Studies Program at
the College of Charleston in South
Carolina. “We have come so far in terms
of just basic equality. To still have a
major sports institution that thought it
was appropriate and acceptable to
exclude women was just anachronistic. It
was ridiculous. I’m glad they finally
decided that was the case.” There’s more
work to be done.
On the other side of the Atlantic,
where this quirky little game actually
started and the sport’s oldest major
championship is held every summer,
they’ve got their own gender issues.
The next British Open will be at
Muirfield, which is men only. The resistance
to women is epitomized by a tale
passed down through the years - who
knows if it’s actually true or not - that
there was once a break-in at the clubhouse,
but they wouldn’t let the police
inside because a female officer showed
up to investigate. Chuckle, chuckle. Only
one problem. This is no laughing matter.
Not anymore.
It’s been a decade since Martha Burk
first brought up the issue of male-only
membership at Augusta National
(though, admittedly, her efforts were
received largely with a collective yawn
and a pithy quote from former chairman
Hootie Johnson). But at least the club
took this landmark step before we
ATLANTA: Andy Roddick returns a shot during the final match against Gilles Muller at
the Atlanta Open tennis tournament.—AP
WINSTON-SALEM: Andy Roddick ground
out a straight-set victory over James Blake
on Monday night in the second round of
the Winston-Salem Open.
Roddick, the tournament’s fifth seed,
overcame a shaky start to beat Blake 7-6 (8-
6), 7-6 (8-6) in the final hard-court tournament
before the U.S. Open.
In other second-round matches,
Belgium’s David Goffin upset 10th-seeded
Viktor Troicki of Serbia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, while
the match between seventh-seeded Sam
Querrey and Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo
was suspended by rain. It will be resumed
Tuesday, with Querrey having won the first
set 6-3. “I’ve rarely been unhappy walking
off the court with any win,” said Roddick, a
former world No. 1 and U.S. Open champion
who has battled injuries the past two years.
“I was fortunate to get through the first
set, because (Blake) came out of the gates
pretty hot. The second set I played well. I’ve
been lucky a lot in my career. I’m good at
winning those type of matches where it
doesn’t look that great all the time.”
Roddick had 11 aces, but had to overcome
an early break to force a tiebreaker in
the first set. He then got a break in the second
set to force another tiebreaker and
sports
British now on clock in men-only debate
Roddick tops Blake
improve to 9-3 against Blake.
In first-round matches, Lukasz Kubot of
Poland defeated Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-
1, 2-6, 6-2; Michael McClure downed
Columbia’s Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-4;
Germany’s Benjamin Becker beat Japan’s
Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Sergiy Stakhovsky
of the Ukraine downed Gilles Muller of
Luxembourg 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.
Also, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia beat
Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 7-5; Robin
Haase of The Netherlands defeated Russia’s
Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-3; Donald Young
downed Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 4-6, 6-
3, 6-2; Slovakia’s Martin Klizan beat France’s
Benoit Paire; Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun downed
Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); and
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci advanced when
Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis withdrew in the
second set because of an injury.
Roddick, Querrey and Troicki were the
only top seeds in action Monday, with the
rest opening play late yesterday. Among
them will be third-seeded John Isner, the
tournament’s defending champion; topseeded
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, No. 2
seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic
and fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of
the Ukraine.—AP
TUNIS: A Tunisian soldier shakes hands with Olympic champion, swimmer Oussama
Mellouli (right) in Tunis. Oussama Mellouli won the men’s 10km swimming marathon
during the London 2012 Olympic Games and became the first man in Olympic history
to win gold medals in both pool and open water races. Mellouli also came third in
the 1500m freestyle.—AFP
marked an entire century of women having
the right to vote in this country.
Now, finally, women also have the
right to wear one of the world’s most
hideous fashion statements. More
important, they’ve gained a tee time as
full-fledged members at perhaps the
most prominent old boy’s club in the
world.
“It’s a milestone for women in business,”
a giddy Burk said Monday. “This is,
after all, the Fortune 500. It is the titans
of business that are members of the
club. The example they give affects what
people accept as normal, and it affects
what people accept as right.”
For some reason, the fight for gender
equality in golf has never been viewed
with the same urgency as the quest for
racial equity. Augusta National quietly
added African-American members way
back in 1990, shortly after someone
noticed the PGA Championship was
being held at a club (Shoal Creek in
Alabama) that didn’t allow blacks, setting
off a justifiable firestorm of protests.
Having never paid much attention to
the racial issue before, the powers-thatbe
suddenly reacted with what might be
described as self-serving outrage.
GREENSBORO: Donald Ross - or,
more specifically, his course at
Sedgefield - got the better of
Sergio Garcia down the stretch
once before. Not this time.
Garcia held on to claim a twostroke
win Monday in the waterlogged
Wyndham Championship
for his first PGA Tour victory in
four years. He finished with a 66
to wind up at 18-under 262, claim
$936,000 in prize money and,
perhaps, vindicate himself for his
meltdown here 2009.
Back then, his three-shot lead
midway through his final round
slipped away, and he missed out
on a playoff when his bunker shot
stopped within an inch of the
cup. Yet he insists he didn’t come
back to Sedgefield Country Club
thinking the course owed him
one.
“That year, I was pretty much
in control and I lost it myself,”
Garcia said. “The course didn’t do
anything wrong to me.”
Tim Clark was at 16 under following
his 67 in the final tour
event before the playoffs, and
Bud Cauley finished 15 under
after his 68.
Garcia led both after the third
round and when the fourth round
was held up overnight due to a
persistent downpour.
He had three straight lateround
birdies after a bogey
briefly dropped him into a tie for
the lead, and cruised to his eighth
career PGA victory and first since
the 2008 Players Championship.
He began the decisive surge
on the par-4 No. 13, plopping his
chip roughly a foot from the flagstick
and tapping it in for birdie.
He added another birdie on
No. 15 - a pretty chip from a
greenside bunker left him with a
5-foot putt - and followed that
with another birdie on the par-3
16th after his tee shot stopped
within 2 feet of the stick. He
added a birdie on No. 17 to move
to 19 under, leaving his bogey on
the final hole inconsequential.
His strong finish can only help
his Ryder Cup candidacy. The 10
Sincere or not, it was decreed that no
club with discriminatory membership
policies could host a tournament.
Shoal Creek didn’t get another
nationally recognized event - the 2008
U.S. Junior Amateur - until it let in blacks
and other minorities as members.
But when Burk pointed out that hallowed
venues such as Augusta National
didn’t have any female members, there
was no rush to judgment from the PGA
Tour or the U.S. Golf Association. There
were a handful of vocal critics in the
media, but the male-dominated industry
largely stayed quiet, as though it was
hoping the whole thing would just go
away. When Burk held a rally during the
2003 Masters, only about 30 supporters
showed up.
No one, it seemed, gave a hoot about
a man named Hootie saying his club
might admit women someday, “but not
at the point of a bayonet.”
A personal aside is in order: For some
reason, the ire I felt over Shoal Creek
never rose to the same level with Burk’s
cause. I remember asking myself why,
and couldn’t really provide an answer.
Maybe I had just become so conditioned
to looking at the world through male-
automatic qualifiers will be set
following the Johnny Walker
Invitational with European captain
Jose Maria Olazabal then
making two picks. “We’ll see
when the team comes out, but I
think my chances are a little better
now,” Garcia said.
Nicolas Colsaerts - whose 66
left him at 13 under - wants a
spot, too. “When you play rounds
like these and you commit to
tournaments and you get yourself
in position like this and make
the most of it, it just shows how
much you want it,” Colsaerts said.
In addition to the quests by
players on both sides for Ryder
Cup selections, much of the focus
- as it always is at the tour’s annual
late-season stop in central
North Carolina - was on the chase
to make the FedEx Cup playoffs,
which begin in a few days at The
Barclays.
But everything wound up tak-
ing a back seat to the weather, as
heavy rains dumped more than 2
inches of water on the course
Sunday.
The final round was halted at
roughly 3 p.m. with 38 players
still on the course and seven players
within three shots of Garcia.
The decision came 21/2 hours later
to hold off until Monday morning
- the first Monday finish in
Greensboro since 1983.
Clark, a South African and local
favorite who played at North
Carolina State, matched Garcia at
15 under with a birdie on his third
hole of the day, the par-4 No. 8.
Garcia moved to 16 under with a
birdie on the par-4 No. 11, but he
gave that stroke back with a
bogey on the next hole after
missing a 10-foot putt for par.
Moments later, Chad Campbell
joined them atop the leaderboard
after his third consecutive
birdie came on the 17th. Then
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
colored glasses that I couldn’t see the
harm it was doing.
“I don’t think there’s an easy answer,”
Piepmeier said. “Is it something about
gender separation that feels less threatening,
that feels less hostile than racial
separation? I don’t know.” Well, no more.
Muirfield is less than 11 months away,
and there should be a loud and clear
demand that the club open its doors to
women if it’s going to host the Open.
Ditto for two others in the British rotation
- Troon and Royal St. George’s - that
hang a men-only sign outside the clubhouse.
We don’t want to hear any talk about
a private club having the right to decide
who becomes a member and who doesn’t.
Of course, they have that right. But
when they use it to exclude a specific
group, they also should forfeit the right
to host a major championship. Heck,
even a minor tournament.
None of this will change the world, of
course. There are still far too many
women who are denied basic rights, far
too many who get paid less for doing
the same job as men, far too many who
are denied their rightful place in the
boardroom. —AP
Garcia wins at rainy Wyndham
LINZ: Olympic champion Felix Sanchez of the
Dominican Republic won the 400-meter hurdles
at the Gugl Games on Monday, three
days after he was beaten at the Diamond
League meeting in Stockholm.
Kirani James of Grenada won the 400
meters in his first race since winning at the
London Games two weeks ago. Sanchez led
the field from the start and finished in 48.13
to defeat Leford Green of Jamaica, who timed
48.89 in second place. Michael Tinsley of the
United States, who beat Sanchez on Friday,
took third in 49.49.
“Before Stockholm, I had too much traveling
and too much parties,” Sanchez said. “I
took some rest the last two days and felt pretty
well again today.”
Sanchez grabbed a national flag and ran a
lap of honor - just as he did in London. “There
is more about athletics than just start and finish,”
Sanchez said. “You have to give the fans
what they want.”
Jonathan Borlee of Belgium led the 400meter
race before Jones overtook him in the
final 100 meters to finish in 44.46 seconds and
beat Borlee by 0.64. Calvin Smith of the
United States was 0.88 back in third.
“If you come back from an emotional roller
coaster like in London, you have to find your
consistency again,” James said. Doubleamputee
runner Oscar Pistorius of South
Africa was sixth in 46.91 seconds.
“I was a bit tired coming here,” said
Pistorius, who is preparing for his return to
London for the Paralympics. “I didn’t feel
super but the atmosphere was great.”
Nickel Ashmeade led a Jamaican sweep of
the 100 after pre-race favorite Justin Gatlin
GREENSBORO: Sergio Garcia, of Spain, kisses the Sam Snead Cup after winning the rain delayed Wyndham
Championship golf tournament.—AP
pulled out hours before the start. The
American bronze medalist from the London
Games suffered from a food poisoning.
Ashmeade clocked 10.03 seconds to beat
Michael Frater by 0.10 and Jason Young by
0.12.
Fellow Jamaican Samantha Henry-
Robinson, who won silver at the 4x100 relay in
London, won the women’s 100 in 11.15. She
Garcia made his big move.
“It was going to be tough to
catch (Garcia), the way he finished,”
said Clark, who moved to
54th on the points list after not
even being in the playoff picture
a few weeks ago. This was his
fourth top-15 finish since late
June.
Among the playoff hopefuls,
Heath Slocum was the only one
to start outside the top 125 and
play his way into The Barclays. His
final-round 71 left him at 7 under
for the tournament and pushed
him to No. 124. “Every little point
helps, every little dollar helps,”
Slocum said.
Jason Dufner could have taken
over the top spot on the points
list with a win, but he finished five
strokes back and wound up
leapfrogging Rory McIlroy for No.
2 behind Tiger Woods. He came in
at No. 3, the highest-ranked player
in the field.—AP
Sanchez and James triumph in Austria
edged second-place Gloria Asumnu of Nigeria
by 0.04, and Laverne Jones-Ferrette of the US
Virgin Islands came third in 11.24.
American athletes dominated the 100 hurdles,
taking the first four places. Ginnie
Crawford won in 12.68 seconds, ahead of
Queen Harrison in 12.77 and Olympic bronze
medalist Kellie Wells in 12.83. Loreal Smith
was fourth in 12.94.—AP
Felix Sanchez

MUMBAI: India finally confront the
tricky transition problem that has been
on the horizon for quite some time
when they launch the two-Test series
against New Zealand this week.
The Indians lost eight consecutive
away tests in England and Australia last
year to relinquish the world number
one status and will be without two batting
stalwarts in Hyderabad on the
opening day tomorrow.
The 4-0 drubbing they received in
both series prompted the experienced
Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman to hang
up their boots and pave the way for the
next generation. Sachin Tendulkar, 39, is
the only surviving member of the
famed batting trio and it will now be up
to the young players to make an
impression. “You cannot really replace
Rahul or Laxman,” New Zealand captain
Ross Taylor told reporters. “They are two
greats of Indian cricket.”Cheteshwar
Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are the most
likely candidates to fill the void
sports
Judge dismisses Armstrong’s case against USADA
NEW YORK: A federal judge in Austin,
Texas, threw out Lance Armstrong’s
lawsuit against the US Anti-Doping
Agency on Monday, a decision that
allows the agency’s drug case against
the seven-time Tour de France winner
to move ahead.
Armstrong, who repeatedly has
denied doping, claimed in his lawsuit
that USADA lacked jurisdiction and its
arbitration process violates his constitutional
rights. US District Judge Sam
Sparks dismissed the lawsuit as speculative.
“With respect to Armstrong’s due
process challenges, the court agrees
they are without merit,” Sparks wrote
in a 30-page order. “Alternatively, even
if the court has jurisdiction over
Armstrong’s remaining claims, the
court finds they are best resolved
through the well-established system
of international arbitration, by those
with expertise in the field, rather than
by the unilateral edict of a single
nation’s courts.” Armstrong can try to
overturn Sparks’ decision by going to
the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in
New Orleans. He also can agree to proceed
with USADA’s arbitration or
accept its sanctions.
In a governing body turf war, the
International Cycling Union (UCI) says
it has jurisdiction in the Armstrong
SPAIN: Simon Clarke from Australia, celebrates after
winning the fourth stage of the Spanish Vuelta
cycling race that finish in Valdezcaray Ski Station,
northern Spain. —AP
Australia’s Clarke
clinches Tour of
Spain fourth stage
SPAIN: Australia’s Simon Clarke won the mountainous
fourth stage of the Tour of Spain yesterday but Spain’s
Joaquin Rodriguez took the overall leader’s red jersey.
Rodriguez took the lead from Spain’s Alejandro
Valverde, who was caught up in a crash involving several
cyclists about two hours from the finish line that
caused him to drop out of the top ten.
Clarke edged ahead of Germany’s Tony Martin in a
sprint finish at the end of the 160.6-kilometre (99-mile)
course between Barakaldo and the Estacion de
Valdezcaray ski resort, which ended in the second summit
finish of the race. Kazakhstan’s Assan Bazayev finished
in third place.
The 21-stage race finishes on September 9 in Madrid.
The Vuelta is one of cycling’s three ‘major tours’ along
with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.
On Monday, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde narrowly
won the mountainous third stage of the Tour of Spain
and took the overall leader’s red jersey in a tough battle
in the Basque country. Movistar’s Valverde, 32, crossed
the finishing line in Eibar just centimetres ahead of fellow
Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) after a 155kilometre
ride from the vineyards of Faustino V in Oyon.
In the race’s first real work-out for the climbers, Briton
Christopher Froome, runner-up in the Tour de France,
took third place just ahead of Spaniard Alberto
Contador, back from a hotly contested doping ban.
Saxobank’s Contador, racing before his home crowd,
needs a victory to turn the page on a two-year backdated
doping ban imposed on February 6 after he tested
positive for traces of the banned substance clenbuterol.
Contador has not swayed from his defence that
his positive test was caused by a contaminated steak he
ate on the eve of the test.
But the 29-year-old two-time Tour de France winner,
who was stripped of the third win in 2010, along with
his Tour of Italy title of 2011, faces severe competition
here, not only from Froome but also from Dutchman
Bauke Mollema, with Rabobank, and the new leader,
Valverde. Valverde praised runner-up ‘Purito’ Rodriguez,
saying he could easily have won the stage. “Purito
deserved to win as much as I did,” he said. “He gave me a
bit of a scare but at the end he got a bit confident and I
passed him.” The third stage, which presented riders
with four ascents including a category 1 climb to Arrate
just ahead of the finish, began with a breakway group
that quickly grew to eight riders.
The early leaders, including Belgian Philippe Gilbert
(BMC), managed to put more than four minutes
between themselves and the peloton at one point, with
the temperature hitting 38 degrees Celsius (100
Fahrenheit) in the mid-afternoon.
But their lead was whittled down to just seconds
some 10 km from the finish, and then the fight began in
earnest with the four top finishers battling it out for the
lead and crossing the line in the same second after
three hours, 49 minutes and 37 seconds.
Contador made repeated attacks on the lead in the
final kilometres but failed to squeeze out Valverde, who
snatched the red jersey from compatriot and Movistar
team-mate Jonathan Castroviejo. Valverde said he and
Castroviejo were satisfied with their performance so far.
“We are happy. We have kept the leadership-the person
has changed but we have kept it in the team,” he
said, before warning that there was a long way to go.
“Anything can happen on the first day in the mountains,”
he said. “These days of heat can take it out of you.
Arriving in Madrid with the red jersey is very difficult
becasue your rivals are very strong.” Dutchman Pim
Ligthart of Team Vacansoleil-DCM won the ‘King of the
Mountains’ polka dot jersey as best climber of the
stage.—AFP
matter, not USADA. USADA could be
challenged before the Court of
Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
Armstrong was still considering his
options.
“On balance, the court finds the
USADA arbitration rules, which largely
follow those of the American
Arbitration Association, are sufficiently
robust to satisfy the requirements of
due process,” Sparks wrote. “This court
declines to assume either the pool of
potential arbitrators, or the ultimate
arbitral panel itself, will be unwilling or
unable to render a conscientious decision
based on the evidence before it.
Further, Armstrong has ample appellate
avenues open to him.”
He cited a 2001 decision by the 7th
Circuit in Slaney vs. the International
Amateur Athletic Association, an
attempt by runner Mary Decker Slaney
to overturn an arbitration panel’s decision
that she committed a doping
offense.
“Federal courts should not interfere
with an amateur sports organization’s
disciplinary procedures unless the
organization shows wanton disregard
for its rules,” Sparks said. “To hold otherwise
would be to turn federal judges
into referees for a game in which they
have no place, and about which they
know little.” Sparks also cautioned that
LONDON: South Africa has dethroned
England as the world’s top-ranked test
side after winning the third test by 51
runs Monday on an electrifying final day
at Lord’s.
Man-of-the-match Vernon Philander
took 5-30 as the Proteas dismissed
England for 294 on day five to secure a 2-
0 series win and with it the mace the ICC
awards the world’s top-ranked team - but
only after an exhilarating fight from
England’s lower order.
Needing 346 to win, the hosts made a
disastrous start, but defiant innings from
Jonathan Trott (63) and Jonny Bairstow
(54) kept England’s hopes alive.
Matt Prior and Graeme Swann then
put on 74 from 66 balls before Swann
was run out for 41. Prior was caught off a
no ball before he fell to Philander for 73
and Philander removed Steven Finn with
his next ball to complete a thrilling win.
“For us to beat England at home is
one of the greatest achievements of my
career and I’m proud of each one of my
guys,” South Africa captain Graeme Smith
said. His England counterpart Andrew
Smith credited the tourists’ play.
“They’ve definitely played the better
cricket over the three tests,” Strauss said.
“It was a fantastic effort from our players
but South Africa were just too good and
they deserve a lot of credit. They’ve outplayed
us over the series.” England
looked like losing meekly when Ian Bell
and James Taylor both went in the first
hour. Bell fell to a juggled catch by Smith
at second slip when he tried to drive
Philander and when Taylor was run out
for 4 it seemed to sound a death knell for
England. Trott flicked Steyn toward the
mid-on boundary, and the batsmen had
both turned for a fourth run when Trott
stopped in his tracks.
With Taylor already committed, Steyn
gathered Hashim Amla’s return throw
and calmly threw the ball for wicketkeeper
AB de Villiers to run Taylor out by
several feet.
England continued to live dangerously.
Trott was nearly caught by a diving
Jacques Rudolph and Bairstow survived a
referral for lbw from Morne Morkel.
Yet Bairstow made the most of the
reprieve to bat with style and aggression,
reaching his 50 in the 42nd over when he
flicked Philander to the fine leg boundary.
When Bairstow was bowled by Imran
Tahir in the next over, the bowler was so
ecstatic he sprinted toward the South
Africa balcony and celebrated by pumping
his fist wildly. Trott then departed in
“the deficiency of USADA’s charging
document is of serious constitutional
concern.”
“Indeed, but for two facts, the court
might be inclined to find USADA’s
charging letter was a violation of due
process and to enjoin USADA from
proceeding thereunder,” he said. “First,
it would likely be of no practical effect:
USADA could easily issue a more
detailed charging letter, at which
point Armstrong would presumably
once again file suit, and the parties
would be back in this exact position
some time later, only poorer for their
legal fees. Second, and more important,
USADA’s counsel represented to
the court that Armstrong will, in fact,
receive detailed disclosures regarding
USADA’s claims against him at a time
reasonably before arbitration.”
Almost predicting there will be
more legal battles in different venues,
Sparks found “there are troubling
aspects of this case, not least of which
is USADA’ s apparent single-minded
determination to force Armstrong to
arbitrate the charges against him, in
direct conflict with UCI’s equally evident
desire not to proceed against
him.” “Unfortunately, the appearance
of conflict on the part of both organizations
creates doubt the charges
against Armstrong would receive fair
the 47th to a spectacular diving catch by
Jacques Kallis after edging Steyn’s first
ball after lunch, but England refused to
capitulate.
Broad smashed Steyn for six over midwicket,
but his risky innings ended when
he was caught by Amla at fine leg,
although he was reluctant to leave the
crease and only did so after a video
review confirmed Steyn hadn’t bowled a
no-ball. At the start of the evening session
the Proteas were still strong
favorites, but the partnership between
Prior and Swann ignited the crowd.
Swann hit Tahir over deep midwicket
for six to reduce the target to exactly 100
and in an over that went for 15 runs Prior
reverse swept successive Tahir deliveries
to bring up his 50. When Swann swept
Kallis for six in the next over it brought
up the 50 partnership, before Prior drove
Morkel inches past Steyn’s hand at mid
off. The target was down to 64 when
Swann was run out for 41 chasing a single,
Tahir smartly whipping Rudolph’s
throw on to the stumps.
With the new ball imminent in the
79th over, Prior, then on 67, was caught
by Duminy and nearly back in the pavilion
when the video replay confirmed
Morkel had bowled a no ball, to a raucous
cheer from the usually staid Lord’s
crowd. Instead of taking the new ball
Smith persisted with Tahir and the third
ball of the 80th over saw Prior again
reprieved by the third umpire, surviving
a stumping chance by the smallest possible
margin. Prior’s luck finally ran out in
the 83rd over when he edged Philander
to Smith at first slip and South Africa
concluded an unexpectedly fraught victory
when Philander had Finn caught in
the slips by Kallis for a golden duck.
“It almost hurts more to have got that
close,” Prior said. “At that stage I thought
maybe it was just my day, but it wasn’t to
be.” Smith admitted he was worried.
“They came in and played some
incredible shots,” he said. “Out of the
rough, reverse sweeps, slogs over long
on. I’ve never seen Graeme Swann play
so many great cricket shots and I have to
give credit to Matt Prior, but we just
needed to say to ourselves to keep doing
the right things and get ourselves to that
new ball.”
The words “We Miss U Bouch” were
scrawled on Smith’s shirt and he confirmed
this was a tribute to wicketkeeper
Mark Boucher, who was forced to retire
from test cricket after suffering an eye
injury during a warm-up game.
although Subramaniam Badrinath is
waiting in the wings as well.
India, ranked fifth in the world, also
consideration in either forum,” Sparks
said. “The issue is further complicated
by USA Cycling’s late-breaking show
of support for UCI, and apparent
opposition to USADA’s proceeding - a
wrinkle which does not change the
court’s legal analysis, but only confirms
that these matters should be
resolved internally, by the parties
most affected, rather than by edict of
this court.”
Sparks had no desire to intervene
in the fight between cycling and drugtesting
authorities in a case that cites
offenses going back 14 years.
“As mystifying as USADA’s election
to proceed at this date and in this
manner may be, it is equally perplexing
that these three national and
“It was a tribute from the team,”
Smith said. “It was meant to be his
150th test. He’s been an integral part of
need to find two dependable slip fielders
in the absence of Dravid and
Laxman. Eighth-ranked New Zealand
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
international bodies are apparently
unable to work together to accomplish
their shared goal - the regulation
and promotion of cycling,” Sparks said.
“However, if these bodies wish to
damage the image of their sport
through bitter infighting, they will
have to do so without the involvement
of the United States courts.”
USADA says Armstrong took
steroids and blood boosters to win the
Tour de France every year from 1999
to 2005. Penalties could include a lifetime
ban from cycling and loss of his
titles. USADA has said former teammates
of Armstrong will testify that his
teams had a long-running doping program.
“The rules in place have protected
the rights of athletes for over a decade
in every case USADA has adjudicated,”
USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a
statement, “and we look forward to a
timely, public arbitration hearing in
this case, should Mr. Armstrong
choose, where the evidence can be
presented, witness testimony will be
given under oath and subject to cross
examination, and an independent
panel of arbitrators will determine the
outcome of the case.” Tim Herman, a
lawyer for Armstrong, was pleased
Sparks was concerned about USADA’s
motives. —AP
South Africa dethrone England
South Africa 1st Innings 309 (JP Duminy
61, V Philander 61; S Finn 4-75, J Anderson
3-76)
England 1st Innings 315 (J Bairstow 95, I
Bell 58; M Morkel 4-80, D Steyn
4-94)
South Africa 2nd Innings 351 (H Amla
121; S Finn 4-74)
England 2nd Innings (overnight: 16-2)
A. Strauss lbw b Philander 1
A. Cook lbw b Philander 3
J. Trott c Kallis b Steyn 63
I. Bell c Smith b Philander 4
J. Taylor run out (Amla/Steyn/de Villiers) 4
J. Bairstow b Imran Tahir 54
M. Prior c Smith b Philander 73
S. Broad c Amla b Kallis 37
G. Swann run out (Rudolph/Imran Tahir) 41
J. Anderson not out 4
S. Finn c Kallis b Philander 0
Extras (b7, w2, nb1) 10
SCOREBOARD
the Proteas family for so long and it was
something as a team we felt we wanted
to do.” —AP
LONDON: Final scoreboard on the fifth day of the third Test between England and
South Africa at Lord’s yesterday:
Total (all out, 82.5 overs,) 294
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Cook), 2-6 (Strauss), 3-
34 (Bell), 4-45 (Taylor), 5-134 (Bairstow), 6-
146 (Trott), 7-208 (Broad), 8-282 (Swann),
9-294 (Prior), 10-294 (Finn)
Bowling: Morkel 17-3-58-0 (1nb, 2w);
Philander 14.5-4-30-5; Steyn 16-4-61-1;
Kallis 11-2-50-1; Tahir 24-3-88-1.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro
Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB
de Villiers (wkt), Jacques Rudolph, JP
Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn,
Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
Result: South Africa won by 51 runs
Series: South Africa win three-match
series 2-0
Man-of-the-match: Vernon Philander
(RSA)
England man-of-the-series: Matt Prior
South Africa man-of-the-series: Hashim
Amla
Preview
India to test new batting order against N Zealand
HYDERABAD: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (left) and New
Zealand captain Ross Taylor (right) unveil the trophy for their Test and T20
cricket series. At center is Bharati Airtel CEO Sharlin Thayil. —AP
LONDON: South Africa’s Graeme Smith poses with the International Cricket
Council Mace at Lord’s cricket ground. —AP
are still smarting from a 2-0 test defeat
in West Indies.
The Black Caps have never won a
series in India and their problems have
been compounded by the absence of
Daniel Vettori, their most capped test
cricketer. The all-rounder has been
ruled out by injury and New Zealand
will miss the spinner’s experience on
the low and slow surfaces of India.
“We certainly would like to put some
good plans in place and be positive
about the way we look to play,” Taylor
said. “India is a familiar place for a lot of
us. We have played well here and are
looking forward to the contest.”
Despite their poor overseas form,
India have a formidable record at home.
“India are always tough in their home
conditions. Whether they play north or
down south they play very well,” Taylor
said. “We should be careful about the
reverse swing and the spinners. We
have to learn quickly through the
series.” —Reuters

SPORTS
Soros reveals stake in Manchester United
NEW YORK: Billionaire money manager
George Soros reported a nearly 2 percent
stake in Manchester United Plc on Monday,
in one of the first revelations of investors in
the British soccer club’s controversial initial
public offering earlier this month.
The veteran investor’s eponymous
hedge fund, Soros Fund Management LLC,
owns 7.85 percent of Manchester United’s
Class A shares, or about 1.9 percent of the
entire club, according to a filing with the
US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Manchester United, which went public
on Aug. 9, priced below its expected range
amid broad skepticism about the valuation
the club’s owners wanted. It also made the
identity of the eventual shareholders a
matter of particular interest for other institutional
investors.
The club is owned by the Glazer family,
which has interests ranging from shopping
malls to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football
team.
Soros is one of the closely watched
investors in the $2 trillion hedge fund
industry, and oversees about $25 billion in
assets, even after returning money to outside
investors and converting his fund into
a family office last summer. The firm now
mainly manages money for Soros, his family
and his foundation. This is not the first
time that the 82-year-old money manager
has taken interest in a soccer club. In 2008,
the billionaire eyed a takeover of Italian
club AS Roma as the team struggled with
debt issues but later decided against it.
Soros was likely drawn to Manchester
United because of the team’s lucrative
media rights deals, said Philip Hall, a partner
at New York-based investment bank
Inner Circle Sports which has advised on
high-profile English Premier League
takeovers including Fenway Sports Group’s
acquisition of Liverpool. “This could be a
play by Soros on the strength of
Manchester United’s brand and the English
Top clubs lick wounds
as Bundesliga looms
BERLIN: With the Bundesliga set to celebrate
its 50th year when the new season
starts Friday, six of Germany’s top teams go
into the new campaign licking their
wounds following first-round German Cup
defeats. The Bundesliga celebrates its halfcentury
on Friday when defending champions
Borussia Dortmund host Werder
Bremen.
But when the first round of German Cup
fixtures took place over the weekend and
Monday, Hamburg, Werder Bremen,
Hoffenheim, Nuremberg as well as newly
promoted Greuther Fuerth and Eintracht
Frankfurt suffered shock defeats.
The biggest upset came in the capital
where Hoffenheim were routed 4-0 by
fourth-division Berliner AK 07 on Saturday,
the same day third-division Kickers
Offenbach beat Fuerth 2-0.
The Bundesliga’s weekend of red faces
continued Sunday as third-division
Preussen Muenster saw off Werder Bremen
4-2 after extra-time while second division
Erzgebirge Aue enjoyed a 3-0 hammering
of Eintracht Frankfurt.
The upsets kept coming as Hamburg
crashed 4-2 at third-division Karlsruhe,
while Nuremberg lost 3-2 after extra-time
at fourth-division TSV Havelse near
Hanover.
ROME: Italian Federal Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi (center right) is escorted
by a police officer as he arrives at the disciplinary commission of the
Italian Football League at the Federal Court of Justice in central Rome.
Conte was on August 10 banned for 10 months by a disciplinary commission
investigating the “Calcioscommesse” match-fixing scandal.—AFP
GENEVA: UEFA acknowledged Monday that its
showpiece international competition had been
corrupted, as it confirmed a 10-year ban of Malta
player Kevin Sammut for helping to fix a 2008
European Championship qualifying match.
Sammut was found guilty of “breaching
UEFA’s principles of integrity and sportsmanship”
relating to manipulating results, the governing
body of European football said in a statement.
UEFA did not specify exactly how Sammut
was involved in fixing Malta’s 4-0 loss away to
Norway in June 2007. Sammut, who has played
37 matches for Malta since making his debut in
2005, has denied any involvement in fixing
matches. He is currently under contract with
club side Valletta, which represented Malta in
the qualifying rounds of UEFA’s Champions
League last month.
The 31-year-old midfielder and two other
players were charged by UEFA using evidence
gathered by the Malta Football Association. It
investigated an allegation made last year by a
Croatian crime syndicate member during a
match-fixing criminal trial in Bochum, Germany.
UEFA cleared Sammut’s teammates, Kenneth
Scicluna and Stephen Wellman, because “the
findings of the disciplinary inspector are insufficient
to take any disciplinary action against
them.” At a news conference Monday, Malta FA
President Norman Darmanin Demajo said there
was “overwhelming evidence” of a fix involving
players and an organized crime gang.
“Match-fixing is a clandestine activity organized
by criminals - a reality we must also face in
Malta,” Darmanin Demajo was quoted as saying
by the Malta Today website. However, the Malta
football chief said his organization would not
publish details from its dossier on the case.
Sammut’s ban prohibits him from “any footballrelated
activity.” UEFA will ask football’s world
governing body FIFA to extend the punishment
globally. Sammut can challenge the sanction at
UEFA’s appeals panel, and then the Court of
Arbitration for Sport - though without the support
of his national federation.
There were no such problems for
defending champions Borussia Dortmund
who won 3-0 at Bremen-based FC
Oberneuland on Saturday, while Bayern
Munich, who lost May’s final to Dortmund
in Berlin, enjoyed a 4-0 win at second-division
Jahn Regensburg on Monday night. A
first-round exit is not only embarrassing, it
has financial implications in lost revenue.
“Financially, we now have a completely
new situation, because we expected to get
into the second round,” admitted Bremen’s
director of sport Klaus Allofs. “The funds are
no longer available so we have to look at
what is realistic.”
Bremen are reported to have cooled
their interest in FC Brugge’s Nigeria striker
striker Joseph Akpala because of the financial
implications of their defeat.
Having fallen short in their projected
target of reaching the third round,
Hamburg expect to lose out on 1.4 million
euros ($1.74 million) in revenue following
their defeat at Karlsruhe.
An early exit can also rob a team of precious
confidence before the league begins.
“What makes me very concerned is the
body language of some of my players. I didn’t
like that,” said Nuremberg coach Dieter
Hecking, after his team’s dismal defeat at
Havelse.—AFP
Malta player banned for
10 years for Euro 2008 fix
“He will decide, it is his case,” MFA general
secretary Joe Gauci told The Associated Press by
telephone. The Malta case was based on allegations
made by Marijo Cvrtak, a leading member
of a Croatian gang headed by convicted matchfixer
Ante Sapina.
Cvrtak claimed in the Bochum court that he
met three Malta players in their Oslo hotel
before the Euro 2008 qualifier who would
arrange the fix.
UEFA declined to comment on reports in
Malta that Cvrtak attended Sammut’s disciplinary
hearing held last Friday in Nyon,
Switzerland. In the match, Sammut was substituted
at halftime when Malta trailed 1-0. Norway
scored three late goals, boosting payouts on
potential wagers placed on how many goals
would be scored and the margin of Malta’s
defeat. The MFA also identified Scicluna and
Wellman, who both played the full 90 minutes in
Oslo, as being involved in the case.
Malta finished last in its Euro 2008 qualifying
group. Norway placed third and failed to
advance to the tournament, which was played
in Switzerland and Austria.
In court, Sapina and Cvrtak were said to have
made millions in profit by bribing referees, players
and officials to help manipulate matches and
results. Most wagers were placed in Asian betting
markets.
The gang claimed to have manipulated a
2010 World Cup qualifier between Liechtenstein
and Finland in September 2009. A Bosnian referee
was paid Ä40,000 ($52,000) to ensure two
goals would be scored in the second half.
The match was scoreless at half time and
ended 1-1, with one goal scored from a penalty
awarded by the referee, who has since been suspended
from football for life. Sapina was convicted
on 22 counts of fraud and attempted
fraud, while Cvrtak was found guilty on 26
counts of fraud and attempted fraud. Both were
sentenced to 5 1/2 years in jail, though their
prison terms were reduced because of time
served in custody awaiting trial.—AP
Premier League’s growing media rights,”
Hall said. “The domestic rights are set to
increase 70 percent for the ‘13/’14 season
and the international media rights, set to
be announced in late October or early
November, are also expected to come in at
a very robust uplift.”
Soros Fund Management did not
immediately return a request for comment.
Soros’ filing came after Manchester United
lost its Premier League season opener on
Monday against Everton. But the team said
last week it had signed star striker Robin
Van Persie from Arsenal.
Shares of Manchester United closed
down 2.7 percent at $13.06 on Monday,
after hitting a new low of $12.91 earlier in
the day. They priced at $14 per share in the
IPO.
Manchester’s offering on the New York
Stock Exchange raised just over $233 million.
Only the Class A shares were offered
in the IPO. Soros Fund Management
bought 3,114,588 Class A shares in the
team, according to the regulatory filing.
The Class A shares carry one vote each,
compared with 10 votes for every Class B
share.
The Glazers, who purchased
Manchester United for 790 million pounds
($1.2 billion) in 2005 in a highly levered
deal, have kept control of the club after the
IPO. Manchester United fans have criticized
the Glazers for over-levering the
once debt-free team. The club’s debt load
stood at over 437 million pounds ($682
million) as of June 30.
“This seems like a vanity purchase. The
stock was pitched to a lot of high net
worth accounts and a lot of those people
were interested in the stock for the same
reason,” said Sam Hamadeh, CEO of
research firm PrivCo. “We don’t believe
Manchester United’s shares are worth any
more than mid-single digits and there
doesn’t seem to be any justification for
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
what could eventually drive shares up.”
Manchester United is not the only company
struggling to boost its share price
after a public offering, which has caught
Soros’s attention. A recent quarterly regulatory
filing revealed that he had bet on
social networking giant Facebook Inc in
the second quarter, which on Monday hit a
new low of $18.75, more than 50 percent
below the price they were issued at in May.
However, the stock did end the day 2.3
percent higher at $19.48. Besides investing
in headline-grabbing corporate stocks, it
has been a busy summer for Soros, who
recently announced his engagement to
girlfriend Tamiko Bolton in Southampton.
It will be Soros’ third marriage and the second
for his 40-year-old fiance. The veteran
investor rose to fame and fortune two
decades ago on a now-historic trade, in
which he successfully bet on the devaluation
of the British pound and made $1 billion
in the process.—Reuters
SPAIN: UC Sampdoria pose with the Joan Gamper Trophy after defeating FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou.—AP
Vilanova and Mourinho go
eye-to-eye in Super Cup
MADRID: Tito Vilanova was still Pep Guardiola’s
Barcelona assistant when he hit the headlines
last August after Real Madrid coach Jose
Mourinho jabbed him in the eye during a touchline
scuffle in the Spanish Super Cup.
Twelve months on he has replaced his good
friend in the Barca hot seat and returns to face
his tormentor this time as coach in the first leg of
the 2012 edition at the Nou Camp tomorrow
(2030 GMT). Holders Barca arrive as King’s Cup
winners and it is a first chance to measure up
Vilanova’s side against the league champions,
with tensions between the Spanish giants eased
since last year’s low point. A mass brawl
between players at the end of the 2011 second
leg resulted in three red cards while television
images of Mourinho’s attack on Vilanova led to
harsh recriminations.
Mourinho was eventually given a two-match
Super Cup ban, and Vilanova one game for his
retaliatory gesture, but both punishments have
since been lifted by federation president Angel
Maria Villar. Mourinho, who had refused to apologise
to anyone but Madrid fans for his actions,
calmed the waters earlier this month by saying
he was wrong.
LONDON: Real Madrid manager Jose
Mourinho admits he remains keen to
return to the English Premier League-as
long as clubs interested in hiring him roll
out the red carpet.
Mourinho has signed a new contract
keeping him at Real until 2016 after
masterminding the club’s Spanish title
triumph last season.
But the self-styled “Special One”, who
remains a cult hero in England after his
three-year reign at Chelsea, never misses
a chance to remind the football world of
his worth.
Whenever a managerial vacancy
comes up at a big Premier League club,
Mourinho is linked with the job and he
remains the favorite to succeed Alex
Ferguson at Manchester United or
Roberto Mancini at Manchester City.
A return to Chelsea is less likely given
the manner of his sacking in 2007 and
owner Roman Abramovich’s continued
interest in former Barcelona coach Pep
Guardiola.
But Mourinho says he would consider
any offer-if the club in question show
him enough love and respect. Asked if a
return to Stamford Bridge was possible,
Mourinho told BBC radio on Monday: “I
will go where people really want me
and, when that moment arrives, they
show me they really want me.
“But I have to repeat always this: I am
at Real Madrid. I like very much to be. I
want one day to be back in English foot-
Vilanova has also sought to put the incident
behind him as he takes up the baton from
Guardiola who swept up 14 trophies in his four
years at the helm.
Barca made a flying start to their league campaign
with a 5-1 mauling of Real Sociedad on
Sunday, gaining an immediate advantage over
arch-rivals Real Madrid who drew 1-1 at home
against Valencia.
Vilanova’s league debut as coach was made
all the sweeter by striker David Villa’s return from
an eight-month injury layoff due to a broken leg
to score the fifth goal of the night as a substitute.
Spain’s all-time leading scorer is still short
of match fitness and is unlikely to start tomorrow,
a similar scenario facing new signing Alex
Song. One man who will start, though, is the
irrepressible Lionel Messi who netted twice and
had numerous chances to complete a hat-trick.
The World Player of the Year, who scored an
incredible 73 goals in all competitions last season,
has a knack of finding the back of the net
against Real and looked particularly sharp as
Barca produced a high-tempo performance full
of attacking menace.
“The team still has the same philosophy and
Mourinho still keen on
Premier League return
ball, yes. I always said that.”
Mourinho has enjoyed tremendous
success wherever he has managed, winning
the Champions League and UEFA
Cup with underdogs Porto before moving
to Chelsea, where he won the
Premier League title in his first two seasons.
More Champions League success followed
when Mourinho took over at Inter
Milan and he became just the fourth
manager to win the title in four major
European leagues when his Real side
ended Barcelona’s reign as kings of
Spanish football.
The Portuguese coach, whose Real
team were held to a 1-1 draw by
Valencia in their La Liga opener on
Sunday, believes the secret of his success
lies in his ability to immerse himself
in a club in the same manner as a supporter.
“When I go to a club, I wear the
shirt, I feel the shirt like it’s my first one
or my last one,” he said.
“I feel the fans as part of myself. I create
eternal links with fans. “I go to play
against Chelsea and I feel (it), I go to Italy
and I feel (it). I work for the clubs, I work
for the people that trust me and of
course the owners and the directors but
the clubs are the fans. “For me, it’s one of
my qualities. I become immediately one
of them and I feel that I am one of them
with a privileged position to fight for the
club and to try to bring to all of them
happiness.”—AFP
style as with Guardiola,” Messi told Barca TV.
“The dressing room are still hungry for titles. I
want to win everything we play for, like Tito. It’s
tough but we will try.”
Messi’s and Barca’s snappy display contrasted
with that of Real’s and their leading scorer
Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabeu.
Albeit against stronger opposition, Real were
slow to get into their stride while a quiet
Ronaldo failed to fire a single shot on target.
“I am not yet 100 percent but I hope to get
back to top form soon,” said Ronaldo. His
Portuguese international team mate Pepe is a
doubt after suffering a hefty blow to his head in
a collision with Iker Casillas and having spent
Sunday evening in hospital as a precaution having
momentarily lost consciousness.
Mourinho’s men won on their last visit to the
Nou Camp when Ronaldo struck the decider for
a 2-1 La Liga triumph that effectively wrapped
up the title in April.
Although Barca held the edge in the ‘clasicos’
under Guardiola, Real have only lost once under
Mourinho in their last four visits to Catalunya
across all competitions. The return leg is at the
Bernabeu on Aug 29.—Reuters
Jose Mourinho

Mo Farah
Farah leads heavyweight
lineup in Birmingham
LONDON: Britain’s double gold medallist
Mo Farah will lead a glittering cast of 42
London Olympic medal winners, including
16 champions, when he races over
two miles at a Diamond League meeting
in Birmingham on Sunday.
Farah, who won the 5,000 and 10,000
metres at the 2012 Games, broke the
British indoor record for two miles this
year and could this time threaten Steve
Ovett’s outdoor mark of 8:13.51 set in
1978.
Another British gold medallist, Greg
Rutherford, faces Olympic triple jump
champion Christian Taylor of the US in
the long jump. Australia’s Mitchell Watt
and American Will Claye, who were second
and third in the long jump, also
compete.
All three medallists from the 110
metres hurdles - champion Aries Merritt,
runner-up Jason Richardson and Hansle
Parchment — will be in action in
Birmingham.
Perennial rivals and Olympic gold and
silver medallists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
of Jamaica and US sprinter Carmelita
Jeter go head-to-head again in what
should be another keenly contested
women’s 100 metres.—Reuters
Cheating incident
casts shadow over
Scrabble tourney
RALEIGH, North Caolina: An Apex,
North Carolina, teenager’s ejection for
cheating from the National Scrabble
Championship has sparked international
media coverage and buzz throughout
the Internet. Tournament officials said
the 13-year-old forfeited his all-ages
matches last week after being caught
taking a pair of blank tiles before a game.
John D Williams Jr, executive director of
the National Scrabble Association,
declined to name the player because of
his age, but tournament records for the
Apex player and other contestants confirmed
his identity. A family friend speaking
for the 13-year-old’s family said
Monday they would have no comment.
The News & Observer has chosen not to
name the player because of his age.
News that youthful cheating had hit
the family board game turned into
obsessive sport created a stream of
reports on Twitter and multiple websites,
as well as newspaper and television
pieces. They included an article in
Thursday’s New York Times sports section
and mentions on ABC’s “Good
Afternoon America”, CBS News, the
Associated Press’ the Wire roundup, the
online news magazine Slate, and
MSNBC’s “Rock Center”. “It’s unfortunate,”
Williams said. “It overshadowed an
amazing tournament.”
The Wake County teen was a rising
young player in the world of competitive
Scrabble, beating far older opponents. In
a prior national championship, he won
his all-ages division. But his strong previous
performance raised suspicions. The
phenom found himself under greater
scrutiny from some of the 350 players at
last week’s national championship tour-
LONDON: Three men linked to Jordan’s
Paralympic team were arrested in Northern
Ireland following allegations of indecent
assault, British media reported yesterday. It
was not clear if the men were athletes or
supporting members of Jordan’s team.
Jordan’s squad is one of several national
teams training in a sports center in Antrim,
northwest of Belfast, ahead of the
Paralympic Games that start Aug. 29 and
end Sept. 9.
When asked about the BBC and Sky
News reports of the arrests of the three
Jordanians, Northern Irish police said three
men were arrested for questioning in the
Antrim area on Monday “in relation to allegations
of indecent assault.” They did not
identify the men by name or further
nament in Orlando, Florida. He was competing
in division three, the third-highest
of the tournament’s four divisions. It’s a
marathon tournament consisting of 31
matches over five days. After each match,
the 100 Scrabble pieces are placed in the
tile bag.
Before the start of the 24th match last
Tuesday, the teen’s adult opponent
called over the tournament director, who
discovered that the two blank tiles were
not in the bag. Tournament officials say
the 13-year-old was questioned and
admitted to taking the tiles. The blank
tiles are valuable because players can use
them as wild card letters to help form
words.
Williams said this was the first time a
player has been caught cheating at a
national championship. There can be an
incentive to cheat with $10,000 going to
the winner of the top division. If the Apex
teen had won again, he would have
received a $2,000 prize. In addition to
ejecting the teen from the tournament,
Williams said the association will take further
sanctions against him. “It was
embarrassing to me that someone from
North Carolina Scrabble has dishonored
us,” said Bruce Shuman, 71, of
Wilmington, North Carolina, who participated
in the national tournament. “But
I’m prepared to cut him some slack. He’s
13.” Shuman described the teen as a
“nice kid” who should have relied on his
already high natural intelligence. At last
week’s award ceremony, Arthur Moore,
the Florida player who caught the
teenager, received a standing ovation.
“He’s a complete hero,” Shuman said of
Moore. “Someone had to expose the
child before he did it again.” —MCT
Jaguars reach deal to play
four games at Wembley
NEW YORK: The Jacksonville Jaguars have
reached a deal to play an annual regular season
game at London’s Wembley Stadium
over a four-year period starting next year, the
National Football League (NFL) said yesterday.
In an effort to grow the team globally,
Jaguars owner Shad Khan said his team will
play a total of four games in London, one
each year between 2013 and 2016, as part of
the NFL’s International Series.
“We want to create an identity, a bold
ambitious franchise that is aggressive, forward
thinking on the field and away from the
field,” Khan, who bought the Jaguars late last
year, said at a news conference alongside NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“And we want to be the kind of franchise
that players want to belong to, sponsors want
to be a part of, Jacksonville is proud of and
fans all over really want to embrace.”
The NFL, which also said it is close to final-
ising terms on a second game in Britain next
year, will announce the date and opponent
for the Jaguars’ 2013 game in the coming
months.
The Jaguars have struggled to fill their
roughly 67,000-seat home stadium at times
and are one of the NFL’s weaker franchises,
having not posted a winning season since the
2007 campaign.
While regular season NFL games have
been played at Wembley Stadium every
year since 2007, the Jaguars are the only
team committed to playing ‘home’ matches
at the 90,000-seat venue on an annual
basis. The decision fills a void in the NFL’s
London schedule left by the St. Louis
Rams, who last week withdrew their commitment
to play games at Wembley
Stadium in 2013 and 2014, citing a need to
focus on their lease negotiations and ease
fan discontent. — Reuters
Three men linked to Jordan’s
Paralympic squad arrested
explain the circumstances.
Police said yesterday that the men were
aged 23, 35 and 36. The men were being
held but none have been charged.
A Jordanian sports official confirmed
that three team members have been
arrested, but declined to provide any
details. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized
to comment while Northern Irish police
were still investigating.
Jordan sent a 19-strong delegation to
the Paralympics. Its National Paralympic
Committee was not immediately available
to comment. The organizing committee of
the London Games declined to comment
because the case was under police investigation.—AP
19 SPORTS
MADRID: Riki and Nelson Oliveira helped
Deportivo Coruna celebrate their return to La
Liga in style with a 2-0 home win over
Osasuna in their opening game of the new
season on Monday.
Another promoted club, Real Valladolid,
also started with a victory, winning 1-0 at Real
Zaragoza, while Rayo Vallecano beat Granada
by the same scoreline thanks to a dramatic
95th-minute freekick from Roberto
Trashorras.
Depor’s Riki cut in off the right flank and
beat Osasuna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez
at his near post in the 53rd minute, making up
for a penalty miss just before the break when
he fired against the post. Jose Luis Oltra’s side,
who had made most of the running at a festive
Estadio Riazor after a year in the second
division, were penned back in their penalty
area in time added on before Portugal forward
Oliveira broke away to lob the ball over
Fernandez for their second.
Along with Valencia, Depor are one of only
two teams to have denied Real Madrid and
Barcelona the Spanish league title in the last
16 years, and were regulars in European competition
before sliding to relegation in 2011.
The win put them third in the standings,
behind leaders Barca, who thrashed Real
Sociedad 5-1 at home on Sunday, and Real
Betis, who overcome Athletic Bilbao 5-3 in an
eight-goal thriller at San Mames.
“We aren’t going to get carried away with
ourselves. The objective remains the same,”
Oltra told a news conference in reference to
their stated aim of securing their top-flight
future. “The important thing is we have
achieved a good result and started well. It is
going to be a long and difficult year.”
Valladolid were the brighter side at the
Romareda and Oscar stabbed them in front
from close range after helping set up the
move just before the break.
Zaragoza goalkeeper Roberto kept the
hosts in the game tipping a Victor Perez
penalty on to the post in the 67th minute and
joined his side in attack in the frantic finale,
but to no avail.
It was a case of deja vu in Vallecas as Rayo
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Deportivo beat Osasuna at home
PARIS: Held by modest Lorient and Ajaccio
in their first two matches, Paris Saint-
Germain have started the season in a way
that scarcely reflects the huge close-season
investment that made them favorites for
the Ligue 1 title.
After a 2-2 draw at home to Lorient on
the opening day, PSG drew 0-0 at Ajaccio
on Sunday and questions are already starting
to be asked about their capacity to cope
with the huge level of expectation that
their spending has generated.
With Ezequiel Lavezzi sent off for a dangerous
foul on Ajaccio’s Andre and coach
Carlo Ancelotti sent from the dug-out for
kicking a water bottle onto the pitch, PSG
appeared to lose their cool in Corsica on
Sunday night.
Their status means they will face
extremely motivated opponents at every
turn and with victory expected in every
match due to the strength of their squad,
the club are already experiencing the
downside of being the team that everyone
wants to beat.
“It won’t be easy,” said midfielder Blaise
Matuidi. “Everyone sees us as champions
but the truth is on the pitch. They’ll be waiting
for us everywhere and every team will
give 100 or 120 percent against us.”
Ancelotti lamented what he saw as
“complacency” from his team against
Ajaccio and with PSG’s Qatari owners
expecting to win the Ligue 1 title this season,
the club’s players cannot afford to take
their feet off the gas.
PSG may have been without Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta and
Mohamed Sissoko on Sunday but it is an
excuse that only stretches so far.
Nursing a foot injury, Ibrahimovic may
not be ready in time for Sunday’s visit of
Bordeaux but it is already clear that PSG are
a very different team when the Swede is
named in the starting line-up.
The return to a striker-less 4-3-3 system
against Ajaccio was not a triumph and
either Lavezzi, Nene or Jeremy Menez will
probably have to make room when
Ibrahimovic returns. Nene has made a solid
start to the season despite uncertainty over
his future at the club but Lavezzi has failed
to impress since arriving from Napoli and
could now miss more than one game due
to suspension.
PSG are particularly blessed with talent
in midfield but Javier Pastore’s performance
in a withdrawn role against Ajaccio was not
Nelson Oliveira
Vallecano snatched all the points against
Granada when Trashorras struck a superb
freekick into the top corner in added time.
Rayo won by the same 1-0 scoreline in
front of their own fans on the final day of last
season against Granada, when Raul Tamudo
also netted in time added on to save them
from relegation and send Villarreal down
instead.—Reuters
Winless PSG still
awaiting take-off
Kuwaiti jet skier wins
three events in US
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Yamaha jet-skier
Abdullah Al-Fadhel took first place in
Moto one of the Pro-AM Runabout
Limited in the US UWP-IJSBA Watercross
National Tour yesterday, to add to another
two classes he earlier won during the
event. Al-Fadhel clinched the result amid
participation in round eight of the event
held in Charleston, West Virginia yesterday.
The achievement comes after much
hard work, good preparation on the part
of the jet skier, his brother, his assistant
Al-Fadhel Mohammed told KUNA over
the phone.
The result has caused much delight
and the duo congratulated the Kuwaiti
leadership and people on the occasion.
Government sponsorship of the team,
namely from Kuwait Airways, was also
hailed by the Kuwaitis. —KUNA
convincing. Ancelotti believes that Motta’s
return from a thigh problem with help to
improve “the quality of the team”, while 19year-old
Italian Marco Verratti has
impressed each time he has played and
looks ready for a starting role already.
Thiago Silva is still to make his debut,
having only recently returned from Olympic
duty with Brazil but his integration into the
starting XI will push either Alex or
Mamadou Sakho onto the bench.
Whilst there is no need to panic after
only two games, victory over Bordeaux on
Sunday would help to dissipate some of the
doubts at a time when PSG’s schedule is set
to get heavier.
However, Bordeaux have a good record
at Parc des Princes, having picked up at
least a point there in four of their last six visits
and PSG’s following assignment is a trip
to Lille, who look destined to be their
biggest rivals for the title. After a home
game with Toulouse, it will already be time
for PSG to start thinking about the
Champions League.
They would prefer to embark on their
European campaign in a better position
than 12th place, which is where they reluctantly
find themselves at present.—AFP
Spurs sign
Adebayor
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur have signed striker
Emmanuel Adebayor from Premier League champions
Manchester City on a permanent deal, the
London club said yesterday.
The Togo international scored 18 goals in 37
appearances for Spurs last season on loan at White
Hart Lane. The clubs were reported by British media
to have agreed a deal last month for the 28-year-old,
who had been earning about 170,000 pounds
($268,300) a week at City.
No financial details of the transfer fee were available
but media reports put its value at five million
pounds. Adebayor joined Tottenham’s north London
rivals Arsenal from Monaco in early 2006 and moved
to City in 2009 in the first wave of big-money signings
by the Manchester club’s Qatari owners.
But he fell out of favour when Roberto Mancini
replaced Mark Hughes as City manager. He had a
loan spell at Real Madrid in early 2011 before joining
Tottenham for the 2011-12 campaign.
“I am pleased to be signing for Spurs on a permanent
basis after finally agreeing my departure with
Manchester City,” Adebayor told the club website
(www.tottenhamhotspur.com): “It may have taken
longer than expected but I am delighted to be back
at Tottenham. I really enjoyed my time here last season
and I am hoping we can achieve great things
together again.”—Reuters
Match on TV
(Local Timings)
English Premier League
Chelsea v Reading 21:45
Abu Dhabi Sports HD3
Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5

Roddick tops
16
Blake
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
South Africa
dethrone
17
England
Malta player banned for 10 years for Euro 2008 fix Page 18
LONDON: Manchester United’s English forward Wayne Rooney (right) fires wide past Everton’s French defender Sylvain Distin during the English Premier League football match.—AFP
Everton stun United in league opener
Man United 0
Everton 1
LONDON: Everton stunned Manchester
United 1-0 thanks to a bullet header in the
second half by Marouane Fellaini after
both teams got their Premier League campaigns
underway on Monday. The Belgian
international, who hit the post in the first
half with a close range shot and tormented
United’s defence throughout with his
height, nodded in from a corner on 57
minutes.
The home side had enjoyed the better
of the opening exchanges and, as the
game developed, created the majority of
chances in front of a noisy Goodison Park
crowd. United goalkeeper David De Gea
had done well in the first half to keep the
home side at bay by producing a string of
first rate saves, most notably to deny
Steven Pienaar’s curling right-foot shot on
the half-hour mark. Wayne Rooney had a
decent chance at the other end, only to
direct his shot straight at Tim Howard.
However, with Fellaini working hard in the
midfield, making his presence felt and
linking up well with the Everton strikers,
the home side always looked the more
likely to break the deadlock.
The Belgian rose above Michael Carrick
to get on the end of Leighton Baines’ corner
and power in his header into the corner
of De Gea’s goal.
Tom Cleverley’s shot on 67 minutes
was cleared off the line and the visitors
then introduced new signing and league
player of the 2011/12 season Robin van
Persie, bought from rivals Arsenal last
week. However, his debut did not affect
the result.
With Phil Jagielka in fine form, clearing
Cleverley’s 67th-minute shot off the line,
the Everton defence held firm, frustrating
Manchester United and taking a deserved
three points.
Jagielka told Sky Sports he was
delighted with the result and hoped it
Eagles soar over Patriots
FOXBOROUGH: Eagles coach Andy
Reid figures Michael Vick will be ready
for the regular season even if he misses
Philadelphia’s two remaining exhibition
games. At least he wouldn’t get
hurt again. For his second consecutive
game, Philadelphia’s star quarterback
lasted just six plays then went for Xrays,
this time on his ribs. They were
negative, just as they were on his left
thumb 11 days earlier.
“I’d probably like to see him play a
little bit more, but he’s got enough
experience,” Reid said after the Eagles
beat the New England Patriots 27-17
on Monday night. “We’re not talking
about a rookie, so I think he’d be OK.”
Vick doesn’t have much time to get
over his soreness. Philadelphia plays
Friday night at the Cleveland Browns.
“I’m not that concerned, other than he’s
hurt,” Reid said. “I want to make sure he
heals up and get him back in there.
Hopefully, he doesn’t get hurt again.”
Vick was knocked down by linebacker
Jermaine Cunningham after
heaving a long pass in the first quarter.
In a 24-23 win over the Pittsburgh
Steelers on Aug. 9, he smacked his
thumb on the helmet of center Jason
Kelce. In both games, rookie Nick Foles
came off the bench to throw two
touchdown passes. Last year’s No. 2
quarterback, Mike Kafka, missed
Monday night’s game with a hand
injury. Trent Edwards also played
against the Patriots.
Foles, a third-round draft pick from
Arizona, finished 18 for 28 for 217 yards
and touchdown passes to Clay Harbor
of 1 and 3 yards. “He did a great job,”
running back LeSean McCoy said. “In
the huddle he demanded respect. He
put everybody in the right places at the
right times.”
Tom Brady sat out the game for the
Patriots (No. 2 in the AP Pro32). The
New England quarterback figures to
play Friday night in the team’s third
preseason game, at the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. Other healthy starters,
including wide receivers Wes Welker
and Brandon Lloyd, tight ends Rob
Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez,
defensive lineman Vince Wilfork and
linebacker Jerod Mayo, were held out
of the game. That gave players trying
to make the team more time on the
field. “We got to look at a lot of players,”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, “evaluate
them against a good football team.”
One of them was Cunningham, a
disappointment since being drafted in
the second round in 2010. But he made
an early impact when he hit Vick with
about nine minutes gone in the game.
“That is just football,” Cunningham said,
“going out there and getting the person
with the ball.”
Vick went 1 for 3 for 5 yards with
one run for another 5 yards. After
Cunningham drove his helmet into
Vick’s left side, the quarterback went
down, got up slowly then knelt on one
knee. He was checked by medical personnel
before going to the sideline
under his own power.
“Mike’s tough,” McCoy said. “I kind
of figured it would be all right, even
though he took kind of a big blow.” The
Eagles (No. 8) also have just three days
between games. Vick had been
expected to play at least a half on
Monday night. McCoy scored on a 1yard
run and Alex Henery kicked a 42yard
field goal to give the Eagles a 24-
17 lead with 33 seconds left in the
third quarter, and a 21-yarder that
capped the scoring with 2:00 remaining.
For the Patriots (1-1), third-stringer
Ryan Mallett completed 10 of 20 passes
for 105 yards, including a 7-yard
scoring pass to Alex Silvestro. Brian
Hoyer was just 5 for 17 for 55 yards.
“Ryan’s a very confident player, both
him and Brian,” wide receiver Deion
Branch said, “but it’s hard for them
because they have to play behind Tom
could serve as a platform for the team to
build on.
“We always knew it was going to be
hard,” the England defender said. “We
scored a great goal and that gave us
something to hang on to. “It’s fantastic to
start a season with a win rather than the
doom and gloom we usually start with.
“If we can build on this, get another
point or three away at (Aston) Villa, then it
will be a fantastic start for us.” “Manchester
United are a great club, everybody was
motivated,” Fellaini said. “I tried to score
and I think it’s good for me” Everton travel
to Villa on Saturday afternoon, with
Manchester United hosting Fulham.
Meanwhile, new Everton signing Kevin
Mirallas revealed yesterday that he turned
FOXBOROUGH: New England Patriots linebacker Jermaine Cunningham (96)
drops Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) to the field on a hard
hit during the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game.—AP
Brady.” Stephen Gostkowski kicked
field goals of 51, 35 and 55 yards for
the Patriots, who have scored just two
preseason touchdowns. Vick’s departure
didn’t change much for the
Patriots despite his scrambling ability,
defensive end Chandler Jones said. “It’s
the same offensive scheme they’re
running,” he said. Vick wasn’t the only
first-stringer knocked out of the game.
Philadelphia cornerback Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie and New England
safety Patrick Chung went out in the
first half with shoulder injuries. The
Patriots led 11-0 after Silvestro’s touchdown
1:16 into the second quarter and
a two-point conversion run by Shane
Vereen. —AP
down the chance to move to Arsenal after
Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger failed
to guarantee him enough time on the
pitch.
The Belgian international striker, who
was signed from Greek champions
Olympiakos for £6 million ($9.5m) last
week, added that he took advice from
national team colleague Marouane
Fellaini before opting to sign on at
Goodison Park.
“Discussions were at quite an
advanced stage with Arsenal but it was
always clear it would be totally down to
me to make the decision,” said the 24year-old.
“I was convinced that what was
important for me at this stage of my
career, embarking on a new league, is to
LONDON: Eden Hazard insists there is more
to come after his sparkling Premier League
debut - but is adamant he has no concerns
about handling the physical nature of English
football.
The Chelsea playmaker, 21, wasted no
time making his mark following his £32 million
summer move from Lille, setting up two
goals inside seven minutes of his side’s
league opener at Wigan.
Hazard’s contribution ensured Roberto Di
Matteo’s side got off to a winning start and
they will attempt to build on that success
when Reading visit Stamford Bridge today.
His eye-catching efforts also made him
the target for some heavy challenges, but the
Belgium international was quick to dismiss
the attention he received. He said: “I already
had a taste of these kind of tackles in the
Community Shield.
“I was kicked quite a bit in the first half
against Wigan but, in France, it was already
like that for me. “I wasn’t aware I was the most
fouled player in the match, I wasn’t counting
them.” Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar are
expected to contest the positions in support
of the main striker Fernando Torres and the
Belgian believes it will take time to properly
bed in.
He added: “There are still a lot of things I
can do better. I lost a lot of balls in the second
half, but I contributed what was asked of me. I
was asked to be decisive and I was, with the
penalty and an assist.” “I started as the number
10 and then afterwards with Mata, we
tried to interchange positions rather than
get plenty of time on the field. “I had a
possibility of playing more games and
longer periods with Everton.” On Fellaini’s
influence he said: “Marouane being here
was also decisive in making my decision
also.
“We had a couple of phone conversations
and it definitely influenced my decision.
“He convinced me the club was an
ideal fit for me and hopefully it is a place
where I can exploit my talents and grow
as a player and perform well.”
Mirallas, who signed a four-year deal
on Sunday, was presented to the
Goodison Park crowd before Monday
night’s 1-0 victory over Manchester
United in which Fellaini netted the winning
goal.—AFP
Preview
Chelsea recruit Hazard
promises more to come
stay in the same place and I think we worked
rather well.
“Oscar has just arrived and we haven’t had
the time to work together. We have only had
one training session so far but, little by little,
we should get things to where they should
be.” Drawing the best from his new players is
one of the challenges confronting Di Matteo
but defender Branislav Ivanovic is convinced
the arrival of the new players can boost the
club’s title challenge.
The Serbia international said: “Do the new
players excite everyone? Yes, of course.
“You have to have a big and good enough
squad and that is what we have. “The new
players are great. During the pre-season, they
have shown they have fantastic quality and
we have changed a lot as a team because all
of them are so creative.
“They have given us the pace we needed.
They are great players and every team needs
this kind of quality.” Oscar could make his full
debut following his substitute appearance at
Wigan while fellow Brazilian Ramires comes
back into contention after illness.
Chelsea will be expected to maintain their
100 percent start against newly promoted
Reading who started the campaign with a
home draw against Stoke City on the opening
day.
Brian McDermott’s side emerged as the
surprise winners of the Championship last
season and, after finding their feet against
Stoke, keeper Adam Federici insists they
won’t be overawed by the prospect of facing
the Champions League winners.—AFP

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
UAE banks profit from
Europeans’ retreat
Best Buy Q2 profit drops
90%, misses estimates
Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions
Page 22
Maruti restarts
riot-hit car plant
NEW YORK: The Apple share price is shown on a stock ticker at the Nasdaq MarketSite, yesterday in New York. Major stock indexes inched above four-year closing highs in early trading yesterday. On Monday, Apple’s surging stock
propelled the company’s value to $624 billion, the world’s highest, ever. — AP
ECB optimism lifts shares, euro
Wall Street hits 4-year high
NEW YORK: Global stocks rose to 3-1/2
month highs yesterday and the euro
jumped to a seven-week peak against the
US dollar on hopes the European Central
Bank will soon start buying Spanish and
Italian bonds to contain the debt crisis.
Spanish borrowing costs fell and
Portuguese government bond yields
declined to levels seen before Lisbon
agreed to a bailout deal in May, 2011, with
traders citing media reports that the ECB
was drawing up detailed plans about bondbuying.
The perception of declining risks from
the euro crisis has been a major factor
behind recent equities gains. Wall Street
stocks earlier climbed to four-year highs
before surrendering gains to trade little
changed on the day.
Uncertainty remained high and investors
were concerned the ECB’s condition that
troubled countries ask for help from the
euro zone’s rescue funds before turning to
the central bank may mean that the Spanish
crisis could get worse before it gets better.
Still, optimism over eventual ECB action
boosted sentiment.
“The market has moved to the belief that
(the ECB) is going to do whatever it takes,”
said William Larkin, fixed income portfolio
manager at Cabot Money Management in
Salem, Massachusetts.
Britain’s The Daily Telegraph yesterday
supported a weekend German report that
the ECB planned to put a hard cap on
Spanish and Italian bond yields.
An ECB spokeswoman, asked about the
Telegraph story, referred to the ECB’s statement
on Monday, when it said it was misleading
to report on policy decisions that
had not been taken.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial
average was down 0.70 point, or 0.01 percent,
at 13,270.94. The Standard & Poor’s
500 Index was up 1.94 points, or 0.14 percent,
at 1,420.07. The Nasdaq Composite
Index was up 1.78 points, or 0.06 percent, at
3,077.99.
The S&P 500 has risen more than 3 percent
so far in August. Volume has been
light as investors wait for central banks’
meetings next month, where policymakers
are expected to take action to ease Europe’s
debt crisis and boost the economy.
“I am looking for new highs in the major
indexes,” said Wayne Kaufman, chief market
analyst at John Thomas Financial in New
York. “Overall there is no one major negative
that’s out there right now that people are
scared of.”
The MSCI global share index rose 0.6 percent
to 327.31 after hitting its highest level
since early May. European shares were up
0.4 percent.
Yields at a Spanish short-term debt auction
dived yesterday, while Europe’s VSTOXX
volatility index hit a one-month low, signaling
a steady rise in investors’ appetite for
risk.
Spanish 10-year bond yields fell 11 basis
points to 6.22 percent, with shorter-dated
yields down as much 16 bps. Italian bond
S&P 500 touches highest
level since May 2008
NEW YORK: The Standard & Poor’s
500 index touched its highest point
in more than four years yesterday,
but an early rally faded on Wall
Street, and stocks were flat by early
afternoon.
The S&P was up two points at
1,420 just after noon EDT (1600
GMT), with financial stocks rising
the most. Earlier in the day, the S&P
rose as high as 1,426, its highest
level since May 19, 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average
was down five points at 13,266,
and the Nasdaq composite index
was unchanged at 3,076. Sean
Clark, chief investment officer at
Clark Capital Management Group,
an investment advisory firm, said
there was not a lot of news driving
the market. Trading volume has
been light with much of Wall Street
on vacation.
Clark said that part of the explanation
for the stock market’s steady
climb this month is that some money
managers are afraid of missing a
good thing. “A lot of fund managers
have underperformed this year,
and I think they’re feeling pressure,”
he said. “There may have been
some panic buying over the last
couple of weeks.”
Facebook’s stock sank 3 percent
after one of its earliest backers, venture
capitalist Peter Thiel, sold the
bulk of his stake in the social network.
Last week was the first time
some insiders could sell their
shares.
Yesterday, Facebook stock lost
51 cents to $19.50. Facebook went
public in May at almost twice that
price, $38. Best Buy fell 3 percent,
the biggest loss in the S&P 500. The
country’s largest consumer electronics
retailer reported a 90 percent
drop in net income during the
second quarter, dragged down by
restructuring charges and weak
sales.
The chain is waging a public
fight with its former chairman and
co-founder Richard Schulze, who
wants to take the company private.
Best Buy’s stock dropped 43 cents
to $17.71 and has lost 13 percent
this week.
Major European markets edged
up amid hints of progress in calming
the region’s debt crisis. Spain
managed to raise $5.4 billion from
bond investors at sharply lower
interest rates than at the last such
auction.
Markets have been relatively
calm this month, and volumes have
thinned with fewer people on trading
desks. Monday was one of the
quietest days of the year, with 2.7
billion shares traded on the New
York Stock Exchange. In contrast,
daily volume averaged 3.8 billion
three months ago, and that was
considered light.
Among other stocks making
moves: Urban Outfitters jumped 17
percent. The clothing retailer
reported earnings late Monday that
beat analysts’ forecasts, thanks to
stronger sales. The stock surged
$5.43 to $36.71.
Barnes & Noble posted a smaller
quarterly loss, helped by sales and
e-books and surging sales of the
“Fifty Shades of Grey” book. The
largest traditional bookstore chain
rose 4 cents to $12.37. — AP
yields also dropped.
Portuguese 10-year yields were last 21
basis points lower on the day at 9.48 percent,
the lowest level since April 20.
Portugal’s original request for a bailout was
on April 6, 2011 and the deal was
announced on May 3 of last year.
Financial markets have been on a red-hot
run on hopes that the new urgency in
Europe to overcome the 2-1/2-year debt crisis
may allow Greece to remain in the euro
zone and keep the 17-member bloc from
unravel ling.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
will meet German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, French President Francois Hollande
and Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker in
the coming days to try to secure more help
from the European Union, International
Monetary Fund and ECB, even though
Greece has fallen behind on its debt-cut targets.
Samaras is expected to lobby for a
two-year extension of austerity measures to
soften their impact, though he is unlikely to
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
win major concessions.
The euro rallied 1 percent to $1.2468,
while the dollar was little changed at 79.41
yen.
US Treasury debt prices fell. Benchmark
yields have generally been rising since hitting
a record low of 1.38 percent in late July.
Ten-year notes were last trading 11/32 lower
in price to yield 1.847 percent, up from
1.81 percent late Monday.
Brent crude oil rose $1.10 to $114.80 a
barrel and has jumped from below $90 at
the end of June, propelled by maintenance
in the North Sea and increased fear of military
conflict between Iran and Israel.
US crude added $1.11 to $97.08 per
barrel. Gold rallied to a 3-1/2 month high
as the US dollar weakened, while platinum
hovered just below a two-month peak hit
in the previous session as concerns over
supply from top producer South Africa
festered. Spot gold hit a high of $1,641.20
an ounce and was last at $1,637.56 an
ounce. — Reuters
BUENOS AIRES: A Cartier store (R) on a corner of Alvear avenue at Recoleta, one of
the wealthiest neigborhoods in Buenos Aires, on August 9, 2012. Cartier announced
that on October 31 will close its store in Buenos Aires, because as other international
brands, is having problems to import merchandises due to the strict money
exchange control enforced by the government of President Cristina Kirchner. — AFP

UAE banks profit from
Europeans’ retreat
Local banks’ loan growth far outpaces market
DUBAI: Banks in the United Arab
Emirates are filling the gap left by
European institutions pulling back
from the country’s loan market - a
trend that benefits local lenders even
as margins face pressure and regulation
weighs on growth.
Lending in the UAE, the second
biggest Arab economy, grew just 1.8
percent in June from the end of
December, according to central bank
data. But most local banks reported
loan growth that exceeded the market
rate. Six of the eight largest local
banks by stock market capitalisation
did so, led by First Gulf Bank with a 6
percent rise and Mashreq, up 5.1 percent.
Even smaller local banks appear
to be profiting from the pullback by
European banks, which are becoming
more conservative globally
because of financial pressures at
home. “With the global crisis in the
euro zone, some banks are focused
on their home markets and we have
been able to move under the radar
and take market share,” Paul
Trowbridge, chief executive of
United Arab Bank, the 12th largest
local bank, told a news conference in
July. International banks do not
reveal how much they lend into the
UAE and some non-European
lenders, most notably Citi, HSBC and
Standard Chartered, continue to play
significant roles in the country’s loan
market.
European banks have not completely
withdrawn either, especially if
they can lend in euros, as shown by
EXCHANGE RATES
Commercial Bank of Kuwait
US Dollar/KD .2740000 .2855000
GB Pound/KD .4390000 .4340000
Euro .3450000 .3620000
Swiss francs .2870000 .2960000
Canadian Dollar .2820000 .2920000
Australian DLR .2940000 .3030000
Indian rupees .0040000 .0065000
Sri Lanka Rupee .0020000 .00350000
UAE dirhams .0763950 .0771600
Bahraini dinars .7442710 .7517510
Jordanian dinar .3860000 .4060000
Saudi riyals .0720000 .0780000
Omani riyals .7296250 .7369580
Egyptian pounds .0430000 .0510000
CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES
US Dollar/KD .2812500 .2833500
GB Pound/KD .4415060 .4448030
Euro .3474840 .3500790
Swiss francs .2893520 .2915120
Canadian dollars .2835180 .2856350
Danish Kroner .0466900 .0470390
Swedish Kroner .0421540 .0424690
Australian dlr .2960020 .2982120
Hong Kong dlr .0362590 .0365290
Singapore dlr .2258310 .2275170
Japanese yen .0035800 .0036070
Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0051170
Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0021330
Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0030110
Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034900
UAE dirhams .0766040 .0771750
Bahraini dinars .7463180 .7518910
Jordanian dinar .0000000 .4007780
Saudi Riyal/KD .0750200 .0755800
Omani riyals .7308040 .7362610
Philippine Peso .0000000 .0068040
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.
ASIAN COUNTRIES
Japanese Yen 3.553
Indian Rupees 5.072
Pakistani Rupees 3.053
Srilankan Rupees 2.141
Nepali Rupees 3.173
Singapore Dollar 220.090
Hongkong Dollar 36.173
Bangladesh Taka 3.425
Philippine Peso 6.439
Thai Baht 8.876
Malaysian Ringgit 89.338
BNP Paribas’ role in an $850 million
facility for Abu Dhabi’s International
Petroleum Investment Company.
“The attitude we’ve taken is, for
the clients who we have strong,
longstanding relationships with, we
will continue to support them and
that continues to be the case,” said a
banker at one French lender, adding
that targeting resources at certain
borrowers was a fact of life for all
banks in the current uncertain global
environment.
However, the composition of
bank groups on loans to UAE entities
shows a trend of greater local participation.
Just two or three years ago,
large deals such as July’s $1.75 billion
loan for Dubai Duty Free would have
been led by global names. But of the
six banks at the top of that deal, four
were local.
Local banks have also been at the
forefront in refinancing bond maturities
for UAE entities, in particular
obligations that were early this year
seen as potentially difficult, such as
those for DIFC Investments and Jebel
Ali Free Zone. And on loans linked to
projects, traditionally dominated by
European names, it is local banks
which are now stumping up cash.
The 4 billion dirham ($1.1 billion)
financing package for the construction
of Abu Dhabi airport’s new terminal
is backed by four UAE banks
and one from Jordan. The rise in
lending by local banks suggests that
so far at least, fears that a pullback by
European banks would create a
shortage of funding and hurt the
GCC COUNTRIES
Saudi Riyal 74.883
Qatari Riyal 77.158
Omani Riyal 729.380
Bahraini Dinar 745.850
UAE Dirham 76.464
ARAB COUNTRIES
Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.250
Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.466
Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.309
Tunisian Dinar 176.65
Jordanian Dinar 396.190
Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.884
Syrian Lier 4.899
Morocco Dirham 32.64
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES
US Dollar Transfer 280.700
Euro 354.52
Sterling Pound 441.820
Canadian dollar 274.79
Turkish lire 152.400
Swiss Franc 295.01
US Dollar Buying 279.500
GOLD
20 Gram 293.000
10 Gram 148.000
5 Gram 75.250
UAE economy are overblown.
According to a March report by
Moody’s Investors Service, quoting
Bank for International Settlements
data, a funding gap could emerge
because European bank lending
extended to the UAE as of
September 2011 was worth 25 percent
of the country’s total 2011 GDP
of $358 billion.
In addition to cutting back new
lending commitments, European
banks have been selling off parts of
their regional loan books to raise
money and reduce their risk-weighted
assets. So some of the local banks’
lending growth is due to purchases
of loans in the secondary market
rather than new facilities for local
borrowers. However, a significant
amount of the growth appears to be
organic.
“We’re not going to meet targets
by going out and buying loans from
retreating banks because there is no
relationship traction to that,” Michael
Tomalin, chief executive of National
Bank of Abu Dhabi, which posted
loan growth of 2.1 percent in the first
half, told a July analysts call.
Investors have responded positively
to local banks’ performance.
FGB’s share price was up 17.5 percent
in the month to Aug. 15, with
Union National Bank gaining 14.8
percent and Emirates NBD up 14.1
percent. All indicators of the health
of the local banking sector have
improved, said Julian Bruce, director
of institutional equity sales at EFG-
Hermes. — Reuters
YANGON: This picture taken on August 20, 2012 shows Myanmar people walking near a display of shoes on
sale on the side of a road in Yangon. Strong economic growth could lift Myanmar to the rank of middle
income nation by 2030 if the formerly army-ruled country overcomes a host of reform challenges, the Asian
Development Bank said yesterday. — AFP
Bahrain Exchange Company
COUNTRY SELL CASH SELL DRAFT
Australian dollar 300.800 299.300
Bahraini dinar 751.680 751.680
Bangladeshi taka 3.720 3.451
Canadian dollar 287.900 286.400
Cyprus pound 555.100
Czek koruna 46.000
Danish krone 47.900
Deutsche Mark 167.800 228.500
Egyptian pound 46.870 46.552
Euro Cash 353.500 352.000
Hongkong dollar 37.140 36.990
Indian rupees 5.320 5.070
Indonesia 0.032 0.031
Iranian tuman 0.161
Iraqi dinar 0.237
Japanese yen 3.710
Jordanian dinar 400.540 400.510
Lebanese pound 0.191 0.190
Malaysian ringgit 93.290 93.290
Morocco dirham 44.600
Nepalese Rupees 4.340 3.200
New Zealand dollar 232.400 230.900
Nigeria 1.831
22
BUSINESS
By –
T he
markets are generally quiet this time of
year, even more so this August, as investors
await key events over the coming weeks which
can set the agenda and direction for the remainder
of the year. The annual economic policy symposium
at Jackson Hole at the end of August is one such
event. This two-day meeting has been used in the
past by the US Fed chairman to announce important
decisions, such as QE2 back in August 2010. In
September we have an ECB meeting,
the German Constitutional Court making
its ruling on the legality of the
Eurozone’s permanent bailout fund
and the Dutch election.
The S&P 500 almost reached a multiyear
high, while multi-month highs
were seen elsewhere as worries about
the Eurozone debt crisis and the global
economic slowdown receded. Markets
are clearly pinning their hopes on supportive
news coming from the abovementioned
events. The US economy,in
particular, has stood out from the rest, with some
early signs that the economy is beginning to recover
from its mid-cycle slowdown, just like we saw in
2011.
Commodity markets had a quiet week, trading a
bit softer following weakness in agriculture, in particular
coffee, along with industrial metals, especially
aluminium which reached a three-year low.
Platinum rallied as production by the third largest
platinum producer in South Africa was halted, after
a strike among mine workers turned into a massacre.
The price of Brent crude continued to rally, reaching
the highest level in more than three months
with worries about an Israeli airstrike on Iran adding
support at a time when supplies from the North Sea
are well below production levels from previous
years and Iranian sanctions arefurther reducingavailability.
The tightness in the spot market from
lower levels of supply was witnessed this week during
the monthly roll-over in the Brent crude futures
market. The premium of the expiring September
contract over the new front month of October
moved above 2 dollars per barrel, the highest level
between the two front futures contracts since the
Libyan war in Q1 2011 left refineries scrambling for
supplies.
As a result of this rise, consumers in Europe and
other regions, with relative weak currencies versus
the dollar, have seen the price of oil move up close
to the record highs seen in March. Speculators have
begun to increase the number of long positions following
the April to June blowout that left many suffering
heavy losses. Many have increasingly been
questioning the validity of such a strong recovery
in oil prices, given the lack of recovery in the global
economic activity. It also raises the question of
whether Brent crude can hold onto its newly-found
status as a global benchmark, considering that only
a small percentage of global oil actually originates
from the North Sea.
There is no doubt that much of the rally from the
June lows has been triggered by the embargo on
Iranian oil exports. This will worry politicians in the
countries that introduced these sanctions and
which are now left with near-record high oil prices
at a time of weak economic activity. A move to
release oil from strategic reserves in order to calm
the markets may now be considered once again
and would involve the US and potentially other
members of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
such as UK, France and Germany. Having recovered
more than 65 percent of the Q2 sell-off, Brent
Norwegian krone 48.900
Omani Riyal 734.190 734.010
Pakistani rupees 3.080 2.993
Philippine peso 6.980 6.740
Qatari riyal 78.180 77.750
Saudi riyal 75.470 75.470
Singapore dollar 228.450 228.450
South Africa 36.490 36.490
Sri Lankan rupees 2.692 2.137
Sterling pound 447.600 445.600
Swedish krona 43.300
Swiss franc 294.000 292.500
Syrian pound 4.400 4.400
Thai bhat 9.280 9.180
Tunisian dollar 198.263
UAE dirham 77.060 76.960
U.S. dollars 283.000 282.600
Yemeni Riyal 1.380
GOLD
10 Tola 1,698.560
TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE
Sterling Pound 445.600
US Dollar 282.600
UAE Exchange Centre WLL
COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH
Australian Dollar 301.61 311.000
Canadian Dollar 291.50 290.000
Swiss Franc 297.09 298.000
Euro 354.54 355.000
US Dollar 282.65 285.000
Sterling Pound 449.32 450.000
Japanese Yen 3.64 3.630
Bangladesh Taka 3.468 3.500
Indian Rupee 5.093 5.300
Sri Lankan Rupee 2.142 2.350
Nepali Rupee 3.191 3.650
Pakistani Rupee 3.000 3.150
UAE Dirhams 77.02 77.450
Bahraini Dinar 752.60 750.000
Egyptian Pound 46.57 47.700
Jordanian Dinar 402.68 399.000
Omani Riyal 735.62 736.000
Qatari Riyal 78.05 78.000
Saudi Riyal 75.58 75.800
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd
Rate for Transfer Selling Rate
US Dollar 282.600
Canadian Dollar 288.830
Sterling Pound 443.975
Euro 348.970
Swiss Frank 290.575
Bahrain Dinar 748.180
UAE Dirhams 76.920
Qatari Riyals 77.570
Saudi Riyals 75.325
Jordanian Dinar 398.365
Egyptian Pound 46.498
Sri Lankan Rupees 2.138
Indian Rupees 5.081
Pakistani Rupees 3.002
Bangladesh Taka 3.454
Philippines Pesso 6.702
Cyprus pound 693.220
Japanese Yen 4.580
Thai Bhat 9.060
Syrian Pound 4.385
Nepalese Rupees 3.285
Malaysian Ringgit 90.285
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Platinum spikes on strike massacre
Ole S Hansen
crude is currently overbought and should, if no
additional geo-political worries emerge, run into
some profit-taking from holders of long positions
well ahead of resistance at 116.5. Support can be
found at the 200-day moving average at 111.30,
which coincides with trend line support from the
June low.
The white metal has been underperforming
gold for more than a month and has during that
time been struggling to stay above key support at
1,380 USD/ounce. That was until Thursday, when a
six-day strike at a Lonmin’s Marikana
mine in South Africa - which had
already led to several deaths - escalated
into a massacre after police killed 35
striking workers. Lonmin Plc, the world’s
third biggest platinum producer, operates
the mining complex, and it quickly
closed down production. This has raised
speculation that the expected production
surplus could be reduced should
other major operations in South Africa
be infected. South Africa accounts for
more than 60 percent of all global platinum
production.
The platinum price has rallied four percent over
the last week and is set for its first weekly gain since
June, while the multiyear high discount level to
gold has shrunk by more than four percent in a
matter of days. The move in platinum seems to
have lifted the whole sector, with both silver and
gold recovering after reduced hopes for QE3 earlier
in the week saw some selling of both metals. Gold
is back above 1600 and once again has its sights on
critical resistance at 1625 followed by 1640. A break
of the latter is required in order to establish
momentum and attract speculative investors, such
as hedge funds, back into gold following months of
reduced involvement from these important drivers
of gold.
Both Arabica and Robusta coffee fell sharply this
week, with the high quality variety falling nine days
in a row in its longest slump since 2010. Dry and
favourable weather conditions in Brazil, the world’s
largest producer, has seen its harvest gathering
pace following a difficult start in June when rain
reduced the pace and quality. Since then pickings
have been gathering pace,thereby increasing available
supplies to the market. Further price weakness
also came from a US report which showed that
stocks of Green Coffeehad risen to the highest
since September 2009.
The speculative community had closed their net
long positions before the most recent onslaught.
This should provide some support, especially as we
approach the June lows at 154 cents per pound on
ICE Arabica coffee. Following the US government
report recently confirming the dramatic impact on
US grain production following the worst US
drought in decades, the price on the three key
crops have lost their upside momentum but stabilized
near the highs. Attention has now turned
towards the upcoming harvest and for any signs of
reduced demand following the strong rally into
August. Wheat in both Paris and Chicago is being
supported on speculation that much reduced
exports from Russia will increase export demand
from other regions. Soybeans yield and production
levels may still manage to improve, as rain has been
forecast for the US Midwest next week. Any
improvement in weather will be too late for corn, as
the harvest is approaching fast. Talks about reducing
the ethanol mandate could reduce the amount
of corn going towards fuel and help lower prices,
but for now prices are being supported, despite
reduced momentum, by the continued expectations
for tight global supplies.
Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.
Currency Rate per 1000 (Tran)
US Dollar 282.600
Pak Rupees 2.994
Indian Rupees 5.098
Sri Lankan Rupees 2.145
Bangladesh Taka 3.464
Philippines Peso 6.750
UAE Dirhams 77.045
Saudi Riyals 75.515
Bahraini Dinars 751.300
Egyptian Pounds 46.565
Pound Sterling 448.900
Indonesian Rupiah 2.990
Yemeni Riyal 1.550
Euro 355.200
Canadian Dollars 290.600
Nepali rupee 3.200
Al Mulla Exchange
Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)
US Dollar 283.000
Euro 353.500
Pound Sterling 447.500
Canadian Dollar 288.300
Japanese Yen 3.590
Indian Rupee 5.098
Egyptian Pound 46.575
Sri Lankan Rupee 2.140
Bangladesh Taka 3.460
Philippines Peso 6.686
Pakistan Rupee 2.995
Bahraini Dinar 752.750
UAE Dirham 77.030
Saudi Riyal 75.560
*Rates are subject to change

BERLIN: After their holidays spent
soaking up the August sun, Europe’s
political leaders are bracing themselves
for storm clouds this fall.
The latest economic figures show
that Europe is edging closer to recession,
dragged down by the crippling
debt problems of the 17 countries that
use the euro.
These debt troubles have tormented
the eurozone for close to three
years and so far have defied leaders’
efforts to fix them. And the longer
they take to resolve, the bigger they
get. Leaders from France, Germany
and Greece all meet later on this week
in the latest round of shuttle diplomacy
to attempt to put a lid on the eurozone’s
debt crisis.
Six eurozone countries - Greece,
Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal and
Malta - are already in recession and
others look feeble. Europe’s stumbling
economy is hurting recovery in other
parts of the world. The European
Union recorded a gross domestic
product last year of $15.5 trillion -
slightly more than the U.S.’s output. It
is also a major source of sales for the
world’s leading companies. Any further
economic problems would be felt
in order books back in the U.S. and
China. Forty percent of McDonald’s
global revenue comes from Europe -
more than it generates in the U.S. The
company reported a 0.6 percent
slump in meals served in Europe last
month. Ford Motor Co. warned last
week that auto industry sales in the
region through July were the lowest in
17 years.
The eurozone has already provided
billion in loans and financial aid to
keep Greece, Ireland and Portugal
from defaulting on their debts. And
now markets are worried that recession-hit
Spain and Italy could soon be
asking for assistance. Meanwhile, public
anger over austerity measures and
unemployment is spreading, and a key
court ruling on the eurozone’s crucial
new bailout fund is due in Germany.
“September is going to be extremely
busy,” said Antonio Barroso, an analyst
with the Eurasia Group political
risk consultancy. “The potential for
negative news is definitely there.”
Here are some of the key events
anticipated in the coming months that
could alter the temperature and the
tempo of Europe’s financial crisis:
Greece is in its fifth year of recession.
The economy is likely to contract
another 7 percent this year, and
unemployment is nearing 24 percent.
Debt inspectors from the organizations
that oversee Greece’s bailout
program - the “troika” of the
International Monetary Fund,
European Union and European Central
Bank - are set to return to Athens in
early September to finalize yet another
round of austerity measures.
Greece has been kept afloat by
bailouts from its European partners
and the IMF since May 2010, after it
found it impossible to pay off its debts
on its own. The rescue loans came in
exchange for harsh austerity measures
and reforms to its public sector. The
country’s debt stands at more than
euro300 billion ($369 billion), and the
economy is struggling through a fifth
year of recession with unemployment
at above 23 percent.
But the cash lifeline has been dis-
BUSINESS
Europe’s leaders face post-holiday blues
Non-oil growth
in UAE at 3-4%
NBK GCC Brief
KUWAIT: Non-oil growth is likely to continue
at a below-trend pace of 3-4% for
the next couple of years. Data for 1Q
2012 ñ including on credit, real estate
transactions and the PMI survey of private
sector firms ñ were positive. But
these may overstate the underlying pace
of improvement. Activity is typically
stronger early in the year before easing
back in the summer. Although gradually
recovering, the economy will be held
back by concerns over the restructuring
and refinancing of Dubai Inc. debt, and
ongoing fiscal consolidation. With its
strong trade and transport links, the UAE
is also more heavily exposed than its
neighbors to any global economic turmoil.
IMF estimates suggest that UAE government-related
entities (GREs) still have
some $185 billion (51% of GDP) of debt
outstanding, with repayments and
redemptions of $25-30 billion (7-8% of
GDP) due in each of the next 3 years. This
heavy financing schedule leaves GREs
reliant upon favorable capital market
conditions and decent economic growth
to shore-up cash flows and asset values.
Given the uncertain global outlook,
these are not guaranteed. Even if the
world economy avoids a big downturn,
continued consolidation and deleveraging
at GREs is likely to remain a drag on
UAE growth for the foreseeable future.
Under our base case, hydrocarbon
sector output is forecast to rise 3% in
2012 and level-off in 2013, as oil prices
remain close to $100 per barrel and Gulf
OPEC members seek to guard against
potential supply disruptions elsewhere.
This will leave crude oil output close to
its maximum potential of 2.7 million barrels
per day (bpd), though capacity is
scheduled to rise to 3.5 million bpd over
the next few years. Overall real GDP
growth is seen at 3.3% this year, down
from 4.9% in 2011.
Inflation will likely remain amongst
the lowest in the region. Consumer price
inflation has been below 1% since mid-
2011, and averaged 0.7% in the first 4
months of 2012. Excluding food, inflation
would have been negative, at -0.6%, for
the same period in 2012. The rate of
decline in housing rents has recently
shown signs of bottoming out, but with
the oversupply in residential property
expected to persist, a rebound in rents
looks unlikely. Moderate economic
growth, weak credit conditions growth
and softer global food prices should see
inflation average 2.0% or below this year
and next.
Government spending is estimated to
have increased 19% in 2011 thanks partly
to higher loans and equity outlays ñ
likely linked to the Abu Dhabi governmentís
assistance to local corporates.
Nevertheless, with oil prices and production
high, the budget balance improved,
registering its first surplus for 3 years at
3% of GDP. Slightly larger surpluses are
seen this year and next, as bailout
expenses decline and the authorities
seek to rationalize current and project
spending where possible. Meanwhile,
the slight dip in oil prices combined with
rising imports could see the current
account surplus shrink from 7% of GDP
this year to 2% of GDP in 2013.
LISBON: A picture taken on August 9, 2012 shows Beatriz Mota, a 30 year old,
unemployed woman passing clothes on offer by a non-governmental organisation
(NGO) called Dress for Success in Lisbon. With unemployment at a record 15 percent
and rising, more and more Portuguese are turning to support groups to help
them navigate their frightening — and indefinite — period of joblessness. — AFP
rupted by months of political instability-
that were resolved, for now, after
two national elections - during which
the austerity and reform process
lagged severely.
As a result, the next ?31 billion
installment, if approved by bailout
creditors following a review of the
country’s finances, has been delayed
until next month at the earliest.To
qualify for that payment, Greece’s
eight-week-old coalition government
must identify by the end of the month
a new round of budget cuts worth
euro11.5 billion for 2013 and 2014.
Officials have said this is likely to
include additional cuts in pensions
and the initial sums paid out on retirement.
Greece has also promised to
reduce its 750,000-strong workforce in
the civil service and the broader public
sector by 150,000 by the end of
2015. Many in the country are worried
that the continuing decline in living
standards could result in a repeat of
violent streets protests witnessed in
recent years.
If the troika finds Greece is not
sticking to the terms of the bailout
agreement, it could hold off vital funding,
forcing the country into a chaotic
default on its debt. This could push
the country out of the eurozone, further
destabilizing the region.
Europe’s finance ministers meet
Sept. 14 and 15 in Cyprus to discuss
Greece and its prospects.
The first batches of a loan worth up
to euro100 billion for Spain’s debtstressed
banks are due to be sent to
Madrid from the other 16 eurozone
countries in the coming weeks, bringing
some short-term relief for a coun-
NEW YORK: Best Buy Co., the largest US consumer
electronics chain, is reporting a 90 percent
drop in net income during the second
quarter, dragged down by restructuring
charges and weak sales.
The poor report was announced a day after
Best Buy name Hubert Joly, former CEO of the
Carlson travel company as its new CEO and
president. The chain is also waging a public
fight with its former chairman and co-founder
Richard Schulze, who wants to take the company
private.
The company also said it is halting stock
buybacks for fiscal 2013 during the CEO transition.
Shares of Best Buy fell almost 10 percent,
or $1.76 to $16.40 on the news, following
a 10 percent decline the day before on
disappointment over Best Buy’s CEO choice.
The electronics chain said yesterday that it
earned $12 million, or 4 cents per share, in the
quarter ended Aug. 4. That compares with
$128 million, or 34 cents per share. Revenue
declined nearly 3 percent to $10.55 billion.
Adjusted earnings were 20 cents per share.
Analysts had expected 31 cents per share on
revenue of $10.65 billion. Revenue at stores
open at least 14 months fell 3.2 percent for
the entire business, including a
1.6 percent drop in its domestic business
and an 8.2 percent decline in its international
division. The measure is a key indicator of a
retailer’s health. Analysts had expected a 2.6
percent decline for the total business.
Best Buy said that US sales growth in
tablets, mobile phones, appliances and ereaders
helped offset declines in gaming, digital
imaging, televisions and notebook computers.
The company said the international
business was dragged down by lower revenue
in China, Canada and increased competition
in Europe.
Best Buy is hoping that Joly can turn
around the company and bring stability that
has been badly lacking. Joly, who is French
and is expected to take over as CEO in early
September when his visa is secured, succeeds
Mike Mikan, a board member who has served
as interim CEO since former CEO Brian Dunn
resigned. Dunn left in April amid a company
investigation into an “improper relationship”
with a 29-year-old female employee.
Schulze resigned as chairman a month later
after the probe found that he knew about
the relationship and failed to alert the board
or human resources. Best Buy has struggled
with weak sales since the middle of the recession
as its big-box stores have become out-
try battling to avoid a full-blown
bailout. Spanish banks are sitting on
an estimated euro200 billion in toxic
assets following the collapse of the
country’s real estate boom. The government
is set to approve Aug. 24 a
new law creating a “bad bank” which
will pool the toxic assets. The results of
a comprehensive audit of the Spanish
banking sector are expected next
month.
While those steps may help alleviate
the financial sector’s immediate
problems, Spain - whose economy is
five times larger than Greece’s - is
broadly expected in the coming
months to become the fifth eurozone
member to need a bailout.
On top of the problems with the
banks, some of Spain’s regional governments
have overspent and are
turning to the federal authorities for
help. Some estimates put the regions’
combined debt at euro140 billion. The
country is in a double-dip recession
and unemployment is at nearly 25
percent. There have also been public
protests at the government’s euro65
billion package of tax hikes and
spending cuts.The country is finding
fewer and fewer buyers for its debt,
with investors charging the country
increasingly higher rates so that it
can borrow the money it needs to
keep the economy and public services
working. Earlier this month, European
Central Bank President Mario Draghi
said the ECB was ready to unleash its
financial might and buy government
bonds to help drive down borrowing
costs in debt-ridden countries such as
Spain - on the condition that governments
approach the eurozone’s emer-
dated. It’s also contending with changing
buyer habits. The stores, which shoppers once
flocked to for low-priced music, movies and
electronics, are becoming unprofitable as customers
increasingly use them to browse for
electronics, but then buy them cheaper elsewhere.
Best Buy has seen annual declines in revenue
at stores open at least a year for two of
the last three years. It posted a 1.8 percent
drop in the latest fiscal year that ended March
3, a modest 0.6 percent gain in fiscal 2011 and
a 1.3 percent decline in fiscal 2010.
Before the scandal with Dunn, the company
begun to address its problems. In March, it
announced a major restructuring that
includes closing 50 stores, cutting 400 corporate
jobs and trimming $800 million in costs.
Since then, interim CEO Mikan has been
making strong statements about how he
plans to restructure the company, focusing on
services and revamping stores. In early July,
Best Buy said it would lay off 600 staffers in its
Geek Squad technical support division and
1,800 other store workers. The company also
has been shrinking store size and focusing on
its more-profitable products such as mobile
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
gency bailout funds for assistance first.
Mariano Rajoy’s government has so
far tried hard to avoid the political
indignity of asking for financial help,
which usually implies surrendering
some degree of sovereignty over a
country’s financial affairs. However,
two weeks ago Rajoy edged closer to
asking for a bailout when he told
reporters that he would consider asking
for aid for his country only once
the ECB has fleshed out its crisis-fighting
plans for buying government
bonds.
Draghi has said the ECB’s plans for
helping out governments would be
announced in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel is to visit Madrid on
Sept. 6. Mario Monti is in a race
against the clock. Italy’s unelected
premier and his technocratic government,
appointed by Parliament last
November to put the eurozone’s thirdlargest
economy back on a path to fiscal
health, have until next spring to
conclude their task. Elections are
scheduled for the first half of the year -
most likely, April - after which Monti’s
team hands over power to the new
government. After a short period of
calm at the beginning of the year -
when Monti took over and the ECB
flooded the market with euro1 trillion
in cheap loans that banks used to buy
government debt - Italian borrowing
rates have been climbing amid market
uncertainty about the wider eurozone
and Italy’s high debt load. The ECB and
Draghi also had Italy in mind when
they were drawing up plans to help
bring down countries’ borrowing
costs.
Best Buy 2Q profit drops
90%, misses estimates
To halt stock buybacks for fiscal 2013
LISBON: With unemployment at
a record 15 percent and rising,
more and more Portuguese are
turning to support groups to help
them navigate their frighteningand
indefinite-period of joblessness.
“Here, I can share my sorrows
without feeling judged,” Ana
Sofia, a young teacher who has
been out of work for almost a
year, said at recent support group
meeting hosted by a Jesuit group
in the capital Lisbon.
Like other European Union
nations including Greece, Spain
and Italy, Portugal is struggling
against a double-whammy of
government spending cuts and
phones. But analysts - and investors - have
been impatient. Analysts say some of these
changes are too late. They also say that Best
Buy needs to close more of its big-box stores,
which no longer are necessary since people
DANVERS: In this Thursday, June 21, 2012, file photo, customers walk in and out of Best
Buy in Danvers, Mass. Best Buy Co. is reporting Monday, a 90 percent drop in net income
during the second quarter, dragged down by restructuring charges and weak sales. The
company also withdrew its earnings guidance for the year. — AP
mass layoffs as it tries to tame its
debt crisis.
“My family and friends are still
working, so I don’t feel comfortable
talking with them about my
problems,” added Ana Sofia who,
like several members of her
group, asked her full name not be
used because of the sensitive
nature of the topic.
The Catholic organisation first
created a job-seeker support
group in April, with the aim of
getting another 15 or 20 off the
ground by the end of the year.
After just a few months, 18 are up
and running. The stated goal is to
create “trusting relationships to
cross the desert together” and
the dozen or so group members
are encouraged to share experiences.
“It’s mostly about mental
support to counter isolation and
depression,” said meeting leader
Cristina Cortes, who quit her job
in financial world to focus on psychology
and life-coaching.
Unemployment in Portugal,
which is carrying out austerity
policies under a 78-billion-euro
European Union-International
Monetary Fund bailout, rose to a
record 15 percent in the second
quarter, meaning 830,000 people
are now looking for work, compared
to 440,000 at the end of
have shifted from buying big computers and
TVs to snapping up smaller items like tablets
and mobile phones.
Wall Street has been equally unforgiving of
Best Buy’s timing. Best Buy shares have lost
nearly 70 percent of their value since their
pre-recession peak of $56.66 in May 2006.
One of the most vocal critics of the company
in recent months has been the company’s cofounder.
Earlier this month, Schulze, who has
a 20 percent stake in the company, made a
takeover offer for the chain, offering $24 to
$26 per share.
Best Buy had said it was considering the
offer, which values the company at $8.84 billion.
Schulze said Thursday that he was committed
to his offer for the electronics retailer
and has heard from a number of private equity
firms prepared to make “significant commitments.”
But Best Buy and Schulze went
back and forth in public announcements over
the weekend. — AP
Portugal’s unemployed seek support from each other
2008. The Portuguese government
has removed job protection
rules. This could result in unemployment
rising higher still, but
the measure is aimed at eventually
improving competitiveness.
Young people have been hit
especially hard, with unemployment
at 35.5 percent for those
aged 15 to 24. “Very difficult
times”-In the rundown Setubal
neighbourhood, some 50 kilometres
(30 miles) south of Lisbon, a
group organised by the Agir Hoje
(Act Today) foundation meets
weekly to offer tips on updating
professional resumes and setting
out realistic objectives. — AFP

24 business
Low demand, high cost: Platinum industry in for tough times
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s deadly
platinum mine strike exposed deeprooted
labour troubles in an industry
already buckling under soaring production
costs and depressed demand for
the metal. The illegal strike that started
on August 10 left 10 dead in battles
between members of different unions at
Lonmin’s Marikana mine outside
Johannesburg. Police were called in, and
gunned down 34 protesters Thursday.
The killings horrified the country and
brought back memories of apartheid
brutality, but analysts said the Lonmin
mine incident was a culmination of troubles
in the platinum mines, the largest
employer in the mining sector.
South Africa sits on more than 80 percent
of the world’s platinum deposits
and is responsible for three-quarters of
global production of the metal, mostly
used in catalytic converters to cut auto
pollution and in jewelry. “The platinum
industry has struggled since the beginning
of the economic crisis in 2008,” said
Alex Benkenstein, senior researcher at
the South African Institute of
International Affairs.
“Even before the events at Marikana
we saw signs of an industry in trouble,
with earlier strikes at Impala Platinum
and Aquarius Platinum, and Royal
Bafokeng Platinum announcing a 60
percent drop in first-half earnings for
2012.”
At least three people died in the
Aquarius violence, also linked to the
same union feud earlier this year. About
a month ago, Anglo American Platinum
was hit with a weeklong work stoppage.
All of the strikes have been staged by
rock drill operators-the men who go
hundreds of metres (yards) underground
to break up the ore-bearing rocks in
N Koreans talk shop with
foreigners at trade fair
RASON: Fleets of shiny minivans, Chinesemade
bulldozers and dump trucks festooned
with red ribbons fill the plaza while toys,
clothes and even probiotics digestive capsules
are displayed inside an exhibition hall.
Walking past the booths and examining
the goods are Chinese, North Koreans and
even some Europeans, who are exchanging
business cards and sharing lively conversations
- North Korea is once again hosting an
international trade fair, which opened
Monday in Rason in the far northeast, a city
seeking to sell itself as friendly to foreigners
and a potential hub for international transportation,
trade and tourism.
It’s a scene not common in the rest of
North Korea, where most business is state-run
and interaction between foreigners and locals
is strictly monitored. The trade fair is an indication
of how keen the insular nation is to
attract foreign investment needed to spur its
listless economy. Pyongyang has not publicly
released detailed economic data for decades,
but has made building the economy a focus
of government policy since 2009. Rason, however,
is one of North Korea’s newly revamped
special economic zones, governed by a separate
set of laws and rules giving local officials
more autonomy, and easier to access from the
Chinese city of Yanji than from the North
Korea capital of Pyongyang.
With its economy languishing in sharp
contrast to the booming market economies of
its neighbors in Northeast Asia, Pyongyang
has turned in recent years to China to provide
trade, investment and knowhow in exchange
for access to its minerals and labor.
Last week, Jang Song Thaek, uncle of
North Korea’s new leader, forged deals with
China on accelerating joint development of
North Korea’s special economic zones, including
Rason and Hwanggumphyong Island,
according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
Details were not available. “The timing (of
Jang’s visit) has got to be to try to make
Chinese investors who are coming or thinking
of coming (to Rason) feel more comfortable
about the agreements they are about to or are
considering signing,” said Andray Abrahamian,
executive director of Choson Exchange, a
Singapore -based nonprofit group that has
provided business and legal training for North
Korean government officials.
Doing business in North Korea, even as
Pyongyang seeks to draw in foreign investment,
remains a challenge. Travel to North
Korea is carefully regulated, with foreigners
requiring invitation letters from North Korean
agencies or joining sanctioned tour groups.
All interaction with locals is monitored. Use of
personal cell phones, Internet access and
transportation - basics for conducting business
anywhere else in the world - require
authorization. Even with their own cell
phones, foreigners often cannot phone their
local staff due to restrictions governing communication
between North Koreans and outsiders.
Rules in Rason were loosened to make it
easier for foreign businesses to set up shop,
particularly regarding visas and entry. Yong
Nam, vice-director of the economic cooperation
department of the Rason City People’s
Committee, said laws also were amended in
December to protect foreign investors’ property.
Still, though changes were made to the
legal code and transport from China has
improved, Rason officials must ensure steady
electricity, broadband Internet, an international
banking system and cellphone service for
foreigners, Abrahamian said.
Earlier this month, a Chinese firm, the
Xiyang Group, warned other companies
against investing in North Korea, calling its
four-year experience trying to tap into North
Korea’s mining industry “a nightmare.”
Xiyang said it invested $37.1 million to set
up a joint venture to build a mining facility,
and sent 100 workers to North Korea last year.
However, North Korean officials demanded
changes after the contract was signed, and
when Xiyang refused, they cut off utilities to
the plant and deported the workers, it said in
a blog post.
A project manager who asked to be identified
only by his surname, Wu, confirmed the
post yesterday.
On the other hand, the Yatai Group, a conglomerate
based in China’s Jilin Province,
announced last week that it signed a 50-year
contract with Rason officials to build a sprawling
complex around Unsang Harbor to produce
cement, concrete, mortar.
Rason, which encompasses the cities of
Rajin and Sonbong, sits in the far northeastern
tip of North Korea, with Russia on one side
and China on the other. It was earmarked in
1991 as a special economic zone, with officials
seeing promise in building factories for manufacturing
and expanding the Rajin port for
shipping. However, little was done to develop
Rason until North Korean authorities amended
laws in 2010 to give the region some
autonomy from Pyongyang, drafted new laws
last year to make it easier for foreigners to
conduct business and signed a pact with
China to jointly develop the zone.
Abrahamian said Rason officials told him
last year that 80 percent of decisions are made
locally, 20 percent in Pyongyang, with North
Korean firms given the latitude to negotiate
and conclude deals with foreign partners on
their own before seeking final approval from
the government.
A joint economic zone was set up in 2004
in the city of Kaesong near the Demilitarized
Zone to do business with South Korean firms.
Seoul was a main trading partner for North
Korea until the South Korean government forbade
nearly all exchanges in 2010 following
the deadly sinking of a ship that Seoul blames
on Pyongyang. About 120 South Korean firms
still operate in Kaesong.
There are signs of progress in construction
in Rason, including a paved road from the
Chinese city of Yanji. Railway lines linking
Rason to Russia and power substations are
under construction, while piers are being
rebuilt and expanded.
A model of the future Rason International
Commercial Trade Center showed rows of
modern buildings, sparkling with lights, cars
parked under street lamps along tree-lined
streets. But Rason has a long way to go,
including providing such basics as international
banking, Internet and even a reliable
power supply.
“I’d like to see some concrete evidence of
the deals to provide electricity from the
Chinese side of the border,” said Abrahamian,
who spoke from Yanji on Sunday before heading
to Rason. “They still apparently have power
outages with some regularity. Getting a
secure and steady supply of electricity is obviously
huge.”
Some 110 companies from 11 countries
have booths at the four-day event, Rason’s
second international trade fair, organizers told
The Associated Press. Chinese companies
dominate the exhibition hall. —AP
RASON: In this Monday, Aug 20, 2012 photo, piers No. 1 and 2 of
Rajin port are under construction in Rason, North Korea. The port of
Rajin and the neighboring city of Sonbong together comprise the
Rason special economic zone being developed with help from foreign
investment, particularly from China. Rason was host this week
to the zone’s second international trade fair. — AP
search of the nuggets of the white mineral.
“Theirs is the most dangerous job in
the mining industry. They go down carrying
25 kilogrammes of drilling equipment,”
said John Cope, director of Bench
Marks Foundation, a church-based
group that studies working and living
conditions of the mainly migrant miners.
He said of the workers’ living conditions
and wages: “We find them to be
atrocious. We had warned there would
be uprisings and violent protests.” The
striking workers at the Marikana mine
were demanding a tripling of their
wages from the current 4,000 rand (400
euros, $486) a month.
The dip in the global economy has
not helped the platinum sector whose
largest clients, automakers, are battling
reduced demand. New vehicle registrations
in the EU are down about one
KUWAIT: The dollar started the week with a mixed
performance against most of its counterparts.
However, the greenback gained momentum as
news from the euro-zone debt crisis drove
investors to dump risky assets. The dollar lost that
momentum as US economic data disappointed the
market and spurred expectations of QE3.
Additionally, German Chancellor Merkel showed
support for the ECB plan to buy sovereign debt to
ease borrowing costs on troubled countries such as
Spain and Italy fuelling confidence in the markets
and pushing investors to buy riskier assets.
The euro started the week with a strong footing,
as Italy successfully sold 8 billion euro’s of 1-year
bills. The euro then continued to gain against the
greenback to reach a high of 1.2385 amid a number
of better-than-expected economic data from
the region. The single currency then dropped to
1.2254 amid news that Greek Prime Minister
Samaras is set to meet with Luxemburg Prime
Minister Juncker, German chancellor Merkel and
French president Hollande to persuade euro-zone
leaders to extend the time of austerity from two
years to four years to 2016. However, the euro
surged amid comments from Merkel which stated
that last month’s declaration by the European
Central Bank President Mario Draghi that he would
do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro were
“completely in line” with the approach taken by
european leaders. The currency reached a high of
1.2381 amid the news. The Euro closed the week at
1.2335
The Sterling pound started the week at the
1.5670 level. The currency hen range traded
against the dollar between 1.5650 and 1.5700. On
Thursday, the pound broke major levels and
reached a high of 1.5744 amid a better than
expected retail sales figure. Cable closed the week
at 1.5688. The Yen lost momentum across the
board as the market shifted to riskier trades. Last
week the Euro hit a six-week high against the yen
amid comments from German Chancellor Angela
Merkel that strengthened expectations of more
actions to stem Europe’s debt crisis. Additionally,
the greenback rose to a five-week high against the
yen, supported by a recent rise in US government
bond yields. The USDJPY opened the week at
78.20, reached a high of 79.57 on Friday, and finally
closed the week at 79.54.
Jobless claims stabilizing
The number of Americans applying for unemployment
benefits has slightly changed last week,
bringing the average over the past month to the
lowest level since late March, a sign that the labor
market has stabilized after employment picked up
in July. Jobless claims climbed by 2,000 to 366,000.
Employers may be limiting firings as the pace of
quarter compared to June 2010, according
to statistics from BNP Paribas.
The depressed demand has seen
prices come down from a high of nearly
$2,000 an ounce about a year ago to
around $1,400. A surge in production
costs, energy top among them, mean
wage demands take a second priority.
Electricity costs in South Africa have
nearly doubled since 2010, as the
national utility Eskom seeks to finance a
huge expansion of the power supply.
“Companies are squeezed between
rising production costs and lowered
demand, particularly the slump in the
automotive industry which accounts for
almost half of the platinum market,” said
Benkenstein.
While rivalry between the National
Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the
upstart Associated Mineworkers and
Construction Union (AMCU) appears to
NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT
sales demands keeping current staff levels, which
will probably strengthen consumer spending. A
pickup in demand and an agreement to avert the
fiscal cliff of tax increases and government spending
cuts following the presidential election will
probably be needed to induce an increase in hiring.
Retail sales increase
Retail Sales in the US rose more than expected
in July, reflecting broad-based gains that ease concerns
that elevated unemployment will cause consumers
to cut back. Sales rose by 0.8percent, the
biggest since February and first gain in four
months, followed a 0.7percent decrease in June.
Economists expected a rise of 0.3percent.
Improved sales at merchants indicate American
households are looking beyond the global economic
slowdown as hiring improves. At the same
time, the elevated unemployment level is keeping
consumer spending from surging, consistent with
the Federal Reserve’s view that economic growth
will “remain moderate over coming quarters.”
Inflation
US consumer prices were unchanged in July, as
lower energy prices offset gains in food and other
items. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped
from 0.2percent to 0.0percent. Meanwhile, the core
consumer price index, which excludes the volatile
categories of food and energy, rose 0.1percent.
Housing in the US
Housing Starts in the US fell in July, while the
number of building permits jumped to the highest
level in four years, indicating that the industry will
keep improving in the second half of the year. Starts
fell 1.1percent to a 746,000 annual rate from June’s
754,000 pace. Building permits, a measure for future
construction, rose to an 812,000 pace, the most
since August 2008. A drop in prices combined with
record low mortgage rates is helping support the
housing market.
Manufacturing continuing to disappoint
Factory activity in the US mid-Atlantic region
shrank in August for the fourth month in a row,
while the pace of contraction eased as new orders
improved moderately. The Philadelphia Federal
Reserve Bank said its business activity index rose
to -7.1 from -12.9 in July, shy of economists’ expectations
for -5. Any reading below zero indicates
contraction in the region’s manufacturing. The survey
covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania,
southern New Jersey and Delaware.
German ZEW Index Drops Unexpectedly
German analyst and investor sentiment
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
have led to the escalation of the unrest
at Marikana, deep-seated frustrations
have fed into the workers disillusionment.
“Marikana has provided a shocking
image of the stakes involved in managing
conflict within the mining sector,”
said Benkenstein. In the platinum industry
“social tensions seem to be spiralling
out of control. The social situation will
also make it more difficult for companies
to make production cuts in the coming
months,” said BNP Paribas Corporate and
Investment Banking’s Anne-Laure
Tremblay. Lonmin said it has lost 15,000
ounces of production due to the strike,
meaning it won’t meet its annual target
of 750,000 ounces. The unrest at
Marikana has given a temporary boost
the price of the metal which gained six
percent since the police shootings on
August 16. — AFP
Global markets get boost
by comments from Merkel
UNITED NATIONS: With international
sanctions squeezing Iran, the Islamic
Republic is seeking to expand its
banking foothold in the Caucasus
nation of Armenia to make up for difficulties
in countries it used to rely on
to do business, according to diplomats
and documents.
Iran’s growing interest in its neighbor
Armenia, a mountainous, landlocked
country of about 3.3 million
people, comes at a time of rising
international isolation for Tehran and
increasing scrutiny by Western governments
and intelligence agencies
of Iranian banking ties worldwide as
they attempt to stifle the country’s
nuclear program.
The most recent example is British
bank Standard Chartered , which has
been in the spotlight due to US
charges that it hid from US regulators
and shareholders some $250 billion
of transactions tied to Iran.
An expanded local-currency
foothold in a neighbor like Armenia,
a former Soviet republic which has
close trade ties to Iran and is working
hard to forge closer links to the
European Union, could make it easier
for Tehran to obfuscate payments to
and from foreign clients and deceive
Western intelligence agencies trying
to prevent it from expanding its
nuclear and missile programs.
Armenian officials denied illicit
banking links to Iran. While the four
rounds of UN sanctions remain limited,
with only two Iran banks blacklisted
by the Security Council, the
United States and European Union
have implemented much tougher
restrictions, sanctioning dozens of
banks and other firms and making it
increasingly difficult for Tehran to
conduct business in US dollars and
euros. A UN panel of experts that
monitors compliance with the sanctions
against Tehran recently submitted
a report to the UN Security
Council’s Iran sanctions committee
that concluded Iran was constantly
searching for ways to skirt restrictions
on its banking sector.
“One state bordering Iran
informed the Panel of requests from
Iran to open new financial institutions,”
the report said. “The requests
were not pursued apparently
because of that country’s burdensome
legislation.”
Several UN diplomats familiar
with the panel’s work confirmed that
the unnamed state was Armenia,
where Iran already has banking ties.
Despite Armenia’s denials of illegal
banking arrangements, Iran has not
given up trying to expand in the
country, the diplomats said, and US
officials have repeatedly cautioned
Armenian colleagues to tighten
financial controls.
Iran’s trade with Armenia, including
an oil pipeline that Armenian
news reports say should be finished
in 2014, requires some form of crossborder
banking. Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that
dropped for a fourth straight month in August,
undercutting even the lowest market expectation.
The ZEW economic monthly poll of economic sentiment
slid to -25.5 from -19.6 in July. The forecasts
in the poll had ranged from -10.0 to -25.0. The
report also stated that the “decline in August signals
that financial market experts still expect the
German economy to cool down throughout the
next six months. Especially export-oriented sectors
may be affected.”
German growth misses expectations
German economic growth slowed less than
expected in the second quarter as exports and
household spending helped to fend off the sovereign
debt crisis. Gross domestic product rose
0.3percent from the first quarter, when it gained
0.5percent, meanwhile economists predicted a
0.2percent increase.
Higher Consumer Prices
UK inflation unexpectedly accelerated in July
for the first time in four months. Airfares
increased and there was some unwinding of early
summer discounting by clothing stores.
Consumer prices rose 2.6percent from a year
earlier, compared with 2.4percent in June.
BoE policy makers show
interest in additional QE
Some Bank of England policymakers were
tempted to step up the central bank’s monetary
stimulus program this month, just a month after
agreeing to a 50 billion pound increase in asset
purchases, as minutes of their August 1 meeting
showed. All nine members of the MPC voted to
maintain the BoE’s asset purchase target at the
375 billion pound level agreed in July, but for
some policymakers this decision was “finely balanced”
and there was a good case for more. This
view contrasts with the message from BoE
Governor Meryvn King last week, who said there
was no urgent need to print more money
beyond what it had already announced.
However, the minutes show that the majority of
the MPC appeared to share King’s view.
Japanese Growth Disappoints
Japan’s economic growth slowed more than
expected in the second quarter as exports and
consumer spending weakened, undermining
the nation’s recovery since last year’s earthquake.
Gross domestic product rose an annualized
1.4percent in the three months through
June, compared with a revised 5.5percent
expansion in the first quarter.
Iran looks to Armenia to skirt bank sanctions
Iran’s annual trade with Armenia is
around $1 billion, according to
Iranian news reports.
Engaging in transactions with
Iranian banks is not a violation of
international sanctions as long as it is
not linked to Iran’s nuclear or missile
programs or companies or individuals
under US, EU or UN sanctions.
Iran insists its nuclear program is
peaceful and refuses to shut it down.
It says the sanctions are illegal. But
Washington has made clear to governments
around the world that
trading with Iranian firms that are
sanctioned by the United States
could lead to a US blacklisting. A
Western intelligence report shown to
Reuters, and dated May 2012, said
that Iran was searching for “convenient”
locations to develop alternative
banking relationships away from
spy agencies and other international
monitoring bodies. It said an
expanded presence in Armenia was
one of Iran’s goals.— Reuters

BUSINESS
Japan’s Sharp may sell China, Mexico plants
TOKYO: Japan’s embattled Sharp is considering selling
television assembly plants in China and Mexico
and shedding 3,000 jobs, boosting the number of
planned payroll cuts to 8,000, reports said yesterday.
Sharp is mulling the sale of the two factories as
part of talks with Taiwanese partner Hon Hai Precision
Industry, Dow Jones Newswires and the Yomiuri
newspaper reported. Sharp could sell the factories to
Hon Hai, or to Sharp Display Products, the Japanese
company’s joint venture with Hon Hai chairman Terry
Gou, Dow Jones quoted a source as saying.
HANOI: This picture taken on February 16, 2012 shows Nguyen Duc
Kien speaking at a soccer event in Hanoi. Vietnam police have arrested
Kien, a top banking tycoon on suspicion of illegal business activities,
the government said yesterday, sending ripples through financial
markets in the communist state. — AFP
Vietnam bank mogul’s
arrest spooks investors
HANOI: Vietnam said yesterday it
had arrested a top banking tycoon
for illegal business activities, sending
ripples through financial markets as
the central bank urged the public
not to panic.
Nguyen Duc Kien, 48, a shareholder
in some of Vietnam’s largest
financial institutions, was taken into
custody late Monday after police
raided his Hanoi home and seized
documents. “Kien was arrested for
illegal business activities,” according
to an announcement posted on the
government’s official website.
Multi-millionaire Kien is a founder
of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), one
of the largest banks in Vietnam,
which counts global banking giant
Standard Chartered as one of its
“strategic partners”. His arrest sent
“shockwaves across the country”,
according to the state-run Tuoi Tre
newspaper. It also triggered fears of
a bank run which could hurt a banking
sector struggling with toxic
debts, falling profitability and liquidity
problems owing to credit tightening
by the authorities aimed at taming
inflation.
The governor of the State Bank of
Vietnam, Nguyen Van Binh, said
Tuesday that he was aware of the
risk of a fallout from Kien’s arrest and
that the central bank stood ready to
intervene. “To ensure the safety of
the whole system, the State Bank of
Vietnam has measures available to
ensure liquidity for ACB and other
banks if there is a mass withdrawal
(of money from banks)”, he said in a
televised speech.
Binh said the arrest was not related
to the ACB, but concerned accusations
of wrongdoing at three
smaller financial companies where
Kien is chairman. Several ACB
branches in the capital Hanoi visited
by AFP yesterday appeared normal
with no signs of mass withdrawals
by panicked customers.
ACB issued a statement yesterday
saying Kien’s arrest would not
impact its performance, even as its
share price slumped on the Hanoi
Stock Exchange. Bank spokesman
Nguyen Thanh Toai described the
arrest as “a personal issue”.
“The detention of Kien is the
decision of the authorities so it does
not affect the normal operation of
the bank,” Toai said, adding that Kien
held less than five percent of shares
in the group.
ACB’s share price plunged almost
seven percent to 24,100 Vietnam
dong ($1) by the close yesterday on
the Hanoi Stock Exchange, dragging
down the wider market. The benchmark
HNX index ended down 3.7
points or 5.24 percent. Kien is said to
hold shares in ACB, Sacombank,
Eximbank, VietBank and others and
was reportedly involved in drafting
the country’s new bank reforms.
Eximbank and Sacombank were
quick to stress that Kien was not a
major shareholder in their institutions,
according to media reports.
The banker rose to public prominence
as a vocal critic of corruption
in Vietnamese football, using his role
as chairman of Hanoi Football Club
to sound off against Vietnam’s
Football Federation.
His arrest comes as the communist
party broadens an anti-corruption
drive launched last month, said
Vietnam expert Carl Thayer, emeritus
professor at the University of New
South Wales in Australia. The ruling
party wants to demonstrate that it is
tackling high-level corruption, he
told AFP, adding “the atmosphere for
some reason is just right for going
after big fish”.
Kien’s arrest may also signal deep
political infighting among the country’s
elite-a sign of a “subterranean
battle” between rival factions
aligned to the prime minister and
the president, he said.
Some of the elite may be concerned
that Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung has amassed too much
power “and needs to be pulled back
in a peg,” he said. If so, this could
explain the attack on Kien - who is
seen as being aligned with Prime
Minister Dung and is the subject of
speculation on blogs over his business
dealings with Dung’s daughter,
Thayer added. — AFP
WASHINGTON: A watchdog agency for the accounting
industry says it’s found numerous flaws in how some
firms audited securities brokerages. The five-month
inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board covered a sample of 23 audits of brokerages done
by 10 accounting firms. The inspection found deficiencies
in all 23 audits, the board said in a report Monday.
The report covered the board’s first such inspection.
The auditing firms’ lapses included a failure to adequately
verify how much financial cushion the brokerages
held against potential losses and the accuracy of
revenue figures the brokerages provided. The report didn’t
name the auditing firms or the brokerages whose
audits were reviewed. But the brokerages whose audits
were inspected are a small slice of the 4,400 or so brokerage
firms registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission that serve individual and institutional
investors.
The board said its inspection results show that some
auditors weren’t properly fulfilling their duty to provide
an independent check on the brokerages. “Even with
The Chinese factory has about 1,500 workers,
while the Mexican plant has another 1,500, according
to Sharp. Both factories assemble large-screen TV sets.
Sharp would not confirm the report, only saying it
was cooperating with Hon Hai on the business of
large liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
“Regarding production of LCD TVs we are exploring
what to do for the best in the overall cooperation,”
the Japanese company said in a statement. The jobs
Sharp could shed would bring the number of payroll
cuts at the group to 8,000, or about 15 percent of its
HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares dipped yesterday as
uncertainty about the euro-zone weighed on benchmark
heavyweight HSBC Holdings, but food firms and
retailers gained on encouraging earnings results and
reports of possible steps to boost consumer spending.
The reports of further consumer sentiment steps
as well as other media reports of more planned fiscal
stimulus by regional governments helped put mainland
Chinese markets on track for their best showing
in more than a week in improved volumes. Chinese
food and beverage giant Tingyi Holdings was among
those finding favour, extending gains after its firsthalf
gross margin rose, helping trigger broker
upgrades yesterday.
“Companies like Tingyi are the ones that have seen
high growth rates in the past, but like China, are slowing
down. Investors will have to get used to their
slower rates of growth, but they still offer some
defensive cover,” said Edward Huang, an equity analyst
with Haitong International Securities.
The Hang Seng Index was down 0.1 percent at
20,078.3 by midday-above the 20,000 level it has
managed to keep for all but one day since Aug 6.
Shares of HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank,
shed 0.9 percent amid uncertainty whether European
Central Bank will intervene after it moved to squash
speculation about the shape its planned bond-buying
programme will take.
The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings
in Hong Kong rose 0.4 percent. The CSI300 Index
of the top Shanghai and Shenzhen listings was up 0.9
percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained
0.6 percent.
Tingyi jumped 5.5 percent to HK$22 after earlier
testing a 4-1/2 month high. Before Monday, Tingyi
was down more than 18 percent on the year but is
now down 6.8 percent, compared to the 8.9 percent
gain on the Hang Seng Index.
global workforce, including 5,000 workers the company
has earlier said should go.
Sharp said this month it would cut 5,000 jobs by
March as it reported a April-June loss and said it
would remain in the red for the rest of the year amid
losses at its struggling TV business. The company,
which has seen its mainstay television, LCD and solar
panel products struggle, said the job reductions were
part of a bid to cut fixed costs by 100 billion yen to
help its dented balance sheet. Earlier this year Sharp
announced a tie-up with Hon Hai Precision in a bid to
Deutsche Bank analysts upgraded the stock from
“hold” to “buy” while increasing their target price by
16 percent from HK$20.60 to HK$23.90. “(Tingyi’s
earnings) turnaround was driven by low input costs
and, more importantly, market share gains,” they said
in a report dated Aug 21, while adding this is the first
time Tingyi has held the biggest market share in noodles,
tea, water and juice sectors.
Shenzhen-listed alcohol producer Wuliangye rose
2.1 percent, on track for a second-straight day of
gains after posting a 50 percent increase in first half
net profit late on Sunday, largely in line with expectations.
Wuliangye’s results lifted larger sector rival,
Shanghai-listed Kweichow Moutai. It rose 2.3 percent
and was the top boost to both onshore Chinese
benchmark indices. Both stocks have outperformed
this year although the sector was hit after Moutai
posted underwhelming first half earnings this month.
Moutai is up 23 percent this year, while Wuliangye is
up 8.5 percent, compared to a 1 percent loss for the
CSI300 Index.
Belle International inched down 0.4 percent ahead
of its first-half earnings later in the day. It is up 9.9 percent
this year and is currently trading at 19 times forward
12-month earnings, a 15 percent discount to its
historical median, according to Thomson Reuters
StarMine.
Three out of 32 analysts have revised their full year
earnings-per-share estimates for the company by an
average of 13.8 percent in the last 30 days, according
to StarMine. The Economic Information Daily newspaper
reported China’s commerce and industry ministries,
among others, may issue new policies to bolster
domestic consumption later this year.
Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd lost 0.6 percent
ahead of its first-half earnings. During the midday
trading break, China’s top offshore oil producer posted
a 19 percent fall in first half net profit.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
turn around its business, aiming for improved efficiency.
The Taiwanese firm, better known as Foxconn,
which assembles Apple products in China, including
the iPad and iPhone, agreed to take a 10 percent stake
in Sharp for about $800 million.
With Sharp shares diving to a near 40-year low this
month, the Taiwanese giant was aiming for a bigger
equity stake now, according to recent media reports.
Shares in Sharp were down 0.57 percent at 173 yen in
yesterday’s afternoon trade, against a 38-year low of
164 yen hit on August on 15. — AFP
Hong Kong shares inch lower,
consumer names lift China
CNOOC slips, posts 19% fall in H1 net profit
NEW DELHI: A factory owned by India’s largest carmaker,
Maruti Suzuki, reopened yesterday, more
than a month after a riot by workers killed a company
manager and injured dozens. Around 500 police
and security personnel stood guard as workers lined
up to enter Maruti’s plant in Manesar, a southwestern
suburb of New Delhi.
The plant will produce 150 cars a day - less than
10 percent of its capacity, S Y Siddique, a senior
Maruti official, told reporters. The July 18 riot was
sparked by a labor dispute that ended with workers
attacking managers and setting part of the plant on
fire. The company fired 500 workers accused of
spearheading the violence.
Analysts say the shutdown was costing the company
1 billion rupees ($18 million) a day and eroding
its market share. Maruti Suzuki, a subsidiary of
Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, has two car assembly
plants in India.
Officials say production will be gradually stepped
up at the plant, which has an annual capacity of
550,000 cars. The conflict between the workers and
management stems from the wide gap in the
salaries of contract workers, who reportedly earn
6,000 rupees ($107) a month, and permanent workers,
who take home three times as much.
Last week, top company officials announced that
it would scrap the practice of hiring contract workers
and that the workers currently on temporary contracts
would be made permanent. It would begin
the process of hiring new workers on a permanent
basis on Sept 2.
The violence at the factory - along with slowing
economic growth, lagging reforms and a power failure
last month that cut electricity to half the country
- have damaged India’s efforts to attract major foreign
investment. — AP
this small group of audits inspected thus far, the results
are disturbing,” board member Jeanette Franzel, a former
managing director of the Government Accountability
Office, the auditing agency for the federal government,
said in a statement.
The other members of the five-member accounting
board are a former SEC general counsel, a former
accounting firm executive, a lawyer and a former Senate
aide. Lynn Turner, a former SEC chief accountant, called
the frequency of deficiencies discovered by the inspection
“mind boggling.” He said it was especially striking
coming after Bernard Madoff’s massive investment
fraud, which raised pointed questions about the role of
brokerage firms’ auditors.
“Hopefully other audit firms learn quickly from this
inspection report and learn how to, and do in fact, perform
audits as they should be performed,” Turner said in
an emailed message. Congress created the oversight
board in 2002 to replace the accounting industry’s own
regulators in response to the wave of business scandals
that began with Enron Corp. The board has subpoena
power and authority to discipline accountants. Its operations
are funded by fees on public companies, which pay
according to their size.
The board has been inspecting accounting firms’
audits of public companies since it started operations in
2003. In February, it fined a major accounting firm, Ernst
& Young, $2 million for alleged lapses in three audits of
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. It was the largest fine the
board has levied.
The financial regulatory law enacted in 2010 expanded
the board’s authority to include inspecting audits of
securities brokerage firms. Some of the flaws the board
revealed Monday relate to brokerages’ protection of customer
money. For example, some securities brokerages
are required to maintain a reserve account for customers’
funds. In all 14 audits of brokerages that claimed
an exemption from that requirement, the accounting
firms didn’t properly verify that the brokerages were
entitled to the exemption, the inspection found.
And in two of the nine audits involving brokerages
that were required to maintain such accounts, the audit-
It is up 13.8 percent this year and is currently trading
at 8.4 times forward 12-month earnings, a 20 percent
discount to its historical median, according to
Thomson Reuters StarMine. Ten out of 33 analysts
downgraded their earnings-per-share estimates for
the company by an average of 6.1 percent in the last
30 days, according to StarMine. China Coal Energy Co
Ltd, another company expected to post earnings later
in the day, shed 1.5 percent. It is now down 14 percent
this year. — Reuters
HONG KONG: Chairman of CNOOC Ltd Wang Yilin,
speaks at the company’s interim result announcement
in Hong Kong, yesterday. CNOOC Ltd.— AP
Maruti restarts riot-hit car plant
MANESAR: Indian policemen stand guard at the main gate of the Maruti Suzuki Production Facility in
Manesar, about 56 kms from New Delhi yesterday. — AFP
Inspection finds flaws in audits of 23 brokerages
ing firms failed to verify that the accounts were designated
for customer use only.
The board says the flaws it found don’t necessarily
mean that the brokerages hadn’t properly safeguarded
customers’ money. But the results show that the auditors
weren’t following standards for monitoring brokerages’
compliance with federal rules, it said.
The inspection found that one accounting firm failed
in two audits to maintain its independence from the
brokerage firm it audited, in violation of SEC rules. The
firm breached its independence by helping the brokerage
prepare the financial statements it audited, the
report said.
The accounting board’s inspectors discussed the deficiencies
they found with the accounting firms but took
no disciplinary actions. If the board determines in future
inspections that a firm failed to take appropriate action,
it may be grounds for a disciplinary sanction, board
spokeswoman Colleen Brennan said. She said the board
may report to the SEC and other regulators information
on possible violations of law by brokerage firms. —AP

26 BUSINESS
Crowne Plaza Doha - The Business Park was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani.
DOHA: Trans Orient Establishment and IHG
celebrated the opening of Crowne Plaza Doha
- The Business Park yesterday by welcoming
its first guest, and hotel owner, Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Abdullah Al
Thani. Sheikh Mohammed checked into the
hotel after being welcomed at a ceremony
attended by the hotel’s employees and representatives
from the owning company and
construction sub-contractor.
The hotel, the first in the region to launch
under the new Crowne Plaza branding, is
located in the heart of Doha’s banking district.
Just two kilometres from Doha International
Airport, it is part of the new Business Park area
in Doha and features 378-rooms, including
288 hotel rooms and suites and 90 one to two
bedroom resident suites. Commenting on the
opening Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin
Abdullah Al Thani said “I’m delighted to be the
first guest here at Crowne Plaza Doha - The
Business Park. Our vision was to develop a
hotel that would offer unparalleled meeting
and conference facilities and exciting new
restaurants for the booming Doha market.
This hotel does exactly that and under IHG’s
management we’re certain it will be a success.”
Crowne Plaza - The Business Park is set
to appeal to international visitors and Qatari
residents alike. With eight meeting rooms, and
an executive boardroom all equipped with
the latest in technologies allowing you to be
video conferencing your meeting to the event
centre and a variety of well-equipped facili-
ties and ergonomically-designed beds promising
a great night’s rest, the hotel is designed
to meet both business and leisure travellers’
every need.
The hotel offers six food and beverage outlets:
Rodizio, Brazilian Churrascaria ; Misturado,
the Brazilian lounge; Aramede, a
Mediterranean all-day dining restaurant;
STUTTGART: In yet another
major order for Mercedes-Benz
Trucks, Iraq’s State Company for
Automotive Industry (SCAI)
recently purchased 250 trucks
to assist in reconstruction
efforts in the country. The last of
the ordered vehicles were delivered
to SCAI just a few days ago.
“We’re very pleased to help
with the reconstruction of Iraq
by supplying 250 Mercedes-
Benz Actros trucks to SCAI,” says
Hubertus Troska, Head of
Mercedes-Benz Trucks. “Our
vehicles are perfect for use in
rough terrain, where they clearly
demonstrate their quality and
reliability.”
This was the first time that
Mercedes-Benz Trucks has sup-
Savor, an elegant lounge; Liquidity, the lively
pool-side lounge; as well as the refined
Crowne Plaza Club Lounge. Guests can also
enjoy a rooftop swimming pool, fitness centre
and spa. The hotel’s iconic glass-domed
meeting venue, The Event Centre, is situated
in the middle of the park complex and contains
two state-of-the-art ballrooms. Ideal for
plied vehicles to SCAI. The contract
between Daimler and SCAI,
which covers the delivery of
Mercedes-Benz trucks to Iraq,
represented a clear commitment
to the country’s recon-
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
First Crowne Plaza Hotel in Qatar opens its doors to guests
Joyalukkas jewellery opens
latest showroom in Shimoga
T he
world’s favorite jeweler,
Joyalukkas, opened the largest jewelry
showroom in Shimoga, the cultural
capital of Karnataka, on 18th August,
2012. Joyalukkas Group is a multi-billion
dollar global conglomerate and its rapidly
expanding jewelry retail chain is one of
the world’s largest, with presence across
nine countries that include Singapore, UK,
UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar,
Oman and India. The Joyalukkas showroom
in Shimoga, located on Balaraj Urs
Road, was inaugurated by Sri BY
Raghavendra, Hon. Member of
Parliament, Shimoga. Renowned actress
Ramya graced the occasion by her presence
as the celebrity guest. The grand
inaugural function was attended by many
local VIP’s and dignitaries of Shimoga.
“Opening our jewelry showroom in
Shimoga, the cultural capital of
Karnataka means a lot to us. We have
opened the largest jewelry showroom in
Shimoga and through this showroom we
also plan to serve Bhadravathi, which is
considered as the twin city of Shimoga.
Our large format showroom, like all
Joyalukkas showrooms, offers the best
mix of choice, value, convenience and
service to residents here. This showroom
has been designed in the signature
Joyalukkas style to give an international
standard of jewelry shopping to this
great city. We promise the residents here
a delightful and refreshing experience in
jewelry shopping, said Joy Alukkas,
Chairman & MD of Joyalukkas Group.
Joyalukkas showroom offers ample parking
space and a massive 20,000 sq. foot
of shopping area.
The showroom features the widest
range of collections in gold, diamond,
precious stone, platinum, pearl and sliver.
The mix of jewelry offered are the
largest choice of traditional and contemporary
jewelry designs to meet all the
needs of jewelry lovers.
Celebrity and renowned actress Ramya
said “It’s an honor to get the opportunity
to be part of the inauguration of the
Joyalukkas showroom in Shimoga.
Joyalukkas is world’s favourite jeweler and
I feel privileged to be part of this grand
occasion. I love the great choice and
designs that Joyalukkas offers and am
sure every jewelery lover will find shopping
at Joyalukkas a great experience.”
Joyalukkas is committed to offering
the best prices on the over one million
choices of jewelry designs it offers at its
showrooms. The global jewelery retail
chain has also recently announced for
the first time in the world, the unique
concept called ‘Clear Price Tag’ (CPT) to
ensure 100 percent transparency on its
pricing of jewelry. The Joyalukkas CPT
ensures the best value on jewelery and is
the most reliable gold price indicator to
ensure customers enjoy the best price at
all times.
“We have recently introduced the concept
of ‘Clear Price Tags’ (CPT) to ensure our
customers always get the best price possible
on jewelry purchased at Joyalukkas. We
are committed 100 percent to our customers
and we understand transparency in
pricing is one of the key factors to satisfying
them. My vision for our jewelry business
is to ‘ornament the world’ and we plan
to relentlessly pursue this by offering the
best mix of Price, Choice, Convenience and
Service,” added Mr. Joy Alukkas. The
Joyalukkas Shimoga jewelry showroom
has a grand design with convenient interiors
and the best mix of jewelry collections
from around the world.
Joyalukkas is the first and only ISO
14001: 2004 & ISO 9001: 2008 certified
jewelry retail chain, which also ensures
and adheres to quality standards like the
BIS Hallmark for gold jewelry, IGI certification
for Diamond jewelry and PGI certification
for Platinum jewelry to ensure the
customers trust, assurance and total peace
of mind. Other unique features of
Joyalukkas jewelry include consumer
friendly value added schemes like ‘Easy
Gold schemes, Joyalukkas Golden
Rewards Card and 100 percent buy back
guarantee and more.
Joyalukkas is a global jewelry retail
chain, which has also been recognised
with many awards and accolades for its
exceptional standards in jewelry retailing.
Its popular Chennai showroom has been
recognised by the Limca Book of records
for being the largest jewelry showroom in
the world. Joyalukkas Bengaluru showroom
was also recently awarded the ‘Best
Single Store of the Year’ by the ‘All India
Gem and Jewellery Trade Federation’.
Joyalukkas has also received the prestigious
‘Superbrand’ status, 3 years in a row
in the UAE.
More than 70,000 followed NBK
on social media during Ramadan
KUWAIT: More than 70,000 fans followed
the National Bank of Kuwait
(NBK) on social media during the holy
month of Ramadan.
“NBK has launched a special social
media program for Ramadan as a way
of rewarding our fans and encouraging
the spirit of the holy month of
Ramadan,” said NBK Public Relations
Officer Badria Al Reshaid.
Al Reshaid noted that NBK has
seen a jump in the number of fans
since the start of Ramadan. More than
70,000 fans are now following NBK on
our various social media channels
including Facebook, Twitter, You Tube
and Instagram.
“NBK greatly values the role social
media channels play in Kuwait and
utilizes them as an important mean of
keeping in touch with NBK customers
and their concerns. We answer their
questions on Facebook and Twitter
and post the latest news, promotions
and services. In other words, we listen
to what people are saying online,” Al
Reshaid explained.
NBK is keen to support customers
through all channels and views social
media networks as important aspects
for supporting the lifestyle and banking
habits of NBK clients. For more
information regarding banking transactions,
events and competitions
check out National Bank of Kuwait
official facebook page NBK - Official
Page or follow NBK on Twitter
@NBKPage, and on Instagram
@NBKPage
large-scale conferences, the versatile and stylish
ballrooms are set to become a top venue
for weddings. Owned by the Trans Orient
Establishment, Crowne Plaza - The Business
Park was signed in 2008 and began construction
in mid-2009. The hotel team are led by
General Manager Savino Leone.
“We congratulate Trans Orient
Establishment on the opening of Crowne
Plaza Doha - The Business Park. We’re very
proud to manage this unique hotel, which is a
fantastic example of the Crowne Plaza brand.
The team here have work around the clock to
ensure we are ready to welcome His
Excellency as our first guest and we now look
forward to welcoming many more guests to
their new home in Doha,” said Pascal Gauvin,
Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East and
Africa, IHG
IHG has 390 Crowne Plaza hotels across the
globe with 22 in the Middle East and Africa
specifically. The company has another 130
Crowne Plaza hotels in the development
pipeline due to open over the next three to
five years, seven of which will open in the
region.
Badria Al Reshaid NBK
Public Relations Officer
250 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks to Iraq
DUBAI: Xerox Emirates with the support of
Avis Al Otaiba Bus Transportation Service and
Corporate Connection, all of whom are member
of the Mohamed Hareb Al Otaiba Group
Companies, alongside with The Make-A-Wish
Foundation(r) UAE, granted the wishes of 11
children with the “Make a Difference” campaign
which ran throughout the holy month
of Ramadan.
The heart-giving days included donations
from Xerox Emirates, the company and its
employees, which were presented at the
Thalassemia Centre in Latifa Hospital, the
Leukemia Centre at Dubai Hospital as well as
The Make-A-Wish Foundation Office in Abu
Dhabi on the 12th, 13th and 14th of August.
A total of 7 children with life threatening
medical conditions had their dreams come
true as they received the gifts they had
wished for, for as long as they could remember.
The other 4 children will receive their gifts
within the upcoming months as they were
unable to attend the heart-giving days.
The children enjoyed face painting and
struction efforts when it was
signed in Baghdad in February
2010. The delivery of the 250
Actros trucks marks a further
important step toward this goal.
The 250 Actros were manufactured
at the Mercedes-Benz
plant in Worth and delivered to
Iraq as complete vehicles. SCAI
is equipping the trucks onsite
with equipment for various construction
applications. The order
can be broken down as follows:
100 Actros 3331K dump truck
chassis and 150 Actros 3340S
tractors for carrying water and
fuel tanks or similar semitrailers.
All of the vehicles are equipped
with powerful Euro II V6 engines
and a heavy-duty 16-speed
transmission.
Wishes come true for children at
Latifa Hospital, Dubai Hospital
balloon twisting while they anxiously waited
for their surprise....
Excitement built up as the children tore off
the gift wrappers and realized their wishes are
now a reality, each child had received the gift
they had asked for. A total of, 4 iPads, 2
iPhones, a pink laptop, a purple laptop, Ferrari
world tickets and a one night stay in Yas
Viceroy Abu Dhabi as well as 2 shopping
spree vouchers from Toys R Us, in addition to
extra goodie bags from The Toy Store were
handed out to the delighted children.

27
TECHNOLOGY
Tough times ahead for Facebook
WASHINGTON: If you bought
Facebook shares in the May IPO and
held onto them, by Monday morning
you would have lost more than half
your investment-and not see any
encouraging signs of making your
money back.
Three months after the largest tech
share issue ever on US markets,
Facebook fell to a new low below $19 a
share, compared to the $38 underwriters
charged for the 421 million shares
they sold. Although the stock bounced
back to close at $20.01, IPO investors
were still holding huge losses with,
analysts said, not much hope of a quick
reversal. Some key investors were still
cashing out-on Thursday and Friday,
billionaire Peter Thiel, who invested in
Facebook first in 2004, sold off nearly
80 percent of his huge holding, according
to a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission Monday.
Thiel’s average price for 20.6 million
shares was $19.73 — still a handsome
profit for such an early backer of the
website, but not a demonstration of
confidence in the company’s potential
to rebound.
Facebook raised $16 billion when it
went public on May 18, giving it a
nominal market value of a stunning
$104 billion and raising hopes of a new
dotcom boom on US markets.
The company’s business promise
was huge: marketing access to the 900
million users of the world’s leading
social network and data about them
that marketers prize.
But analysts said that the large number
of shares sold, the high IPO price,
and the overall skittishness of investors
in a soft overall economy, have undermined
market support for the company.
“They just put way too many stocks
out at once... before the market was
MILWAUKEE: This photo combo shows, (from left) entertainer Justin Bieber,
an iPhone, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. This year’s Beloit
College Mindset List, a nonscientific compilation, is meant to remind teachers
that college freshmen, born mostly in 1994, see the world in a much different
way. —AP
Listen to radios? Watch
TVs? Not for Class of ‘16
MILWAUKEE: Remember when suitcases
had to be carried instead of
rolled? Or when an airline ticket was
a booklet of pages separated by carbon
paper? Maybe you remember
when Lou Gehrig held the Major
League record for consecutive baseball
games played.
This year’s college freshmen don’t.
They never lived in a world where
Kurt Cobain was alive or an NFL team
played its home games in Los
Angeles. The Class of 2016 has no
need for radios, watches television
everywhere except on actual TV sets
and is addicted to “electronic narcotics.”
These are among the 75 references
on this year’s Beloit College Mindset
List, a nonscientific compilation is
meant to remind teachers that col-
MILWAUKEE: In this Oct. 22, 2010 file
photo, student textbooks for rent sit
on the shelves at the City College
Bookstore in New York. —AP
lege freshmen, born mostly in 1994,
see the world in a much different
way.
The students are also accustomed
to seeing women in position of leadership.
They were born at a time
when Madeline Albright was serving
as the first female US secretary of
state, and women have held the position
for most of their lives.
And the old Hollywood stereotype
of ditzy blonde women has given
way to one of “dumb and dumber
males,” according to the list.
“In general, there was always the
complaint that it was too slow for
women to get to positions of responsibility,”
said Ron Nief, one of the two
Beloit College officials who compiles
the list. “Now the question is, ‘What
took so long?’”
The compilation, released Tuesday,
has been assembled every year since
1998 by Nief and Tom McBride, officials
at the private school in southeastern
Wisconsin. Over the years it
has evolved into a national phenomenon,
a cultural touchstone that
entertains even as it makes people
wonder where the years have gone.
The lists have begun attracting
attention from government agencies,
athletic organizations and other
groups that want to know how the
younger generation thinks. Nief and
McBride will be sharing their insights
with employees of NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md., in October.
The new generation gets a lot of
its news from Jon Stewart’s “The
Daily Show.” But if they miss an
episode, they can always get instant
news from YouTube (No. 5 on the
list).
Here are some other items to
make you feel old: These teens
weren’t born when “Pulp Fiction”
came out. Instead of asking who shot
JR, they wanted to know who shot
Montgomery Burns. And to them,
“Twilight Zone” is about vampires,
not Rod Serling.
But Thorin Blitz, 18, disagreed with
that item. He said it’s 13-year-old
girls who watch “Twilight.” “I’ve seen
quite a few ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes,”
said the incoming freshman from
Charleston, Ill. “Most of us know what
that is.”
Similar list items have drawn criticism
in previous years. Some teens
were insulted by the insinuation that
they had no knowledge of events
that happened before they were
born, as if they had never studied
history. So Nief and McBride have
softened the tone, replacing “They
don’t know about...” with “They never
experienced...”
The theme of last year’s list was
how wired the incoming class was.
This year’s class includes students
who might be bitter at the previous
generation, Nief said. While their elders
went to college in good times
and had jobs waiting for them, these
students grew up watching their parents
worry about unemployment and
foreclosures.
That sentiment was captured in
item No. 16, which notes unemployment
has risen 2 percent in their lifetimes.
But they also live in an era of
potential. Gene therapy has always
been available, and they don’t waste
time with outdated technologies like
radios and point-and-shoot cameras.
They’re also less likely to identify
with a specific religion. McBride noted
that many church denominations
have been losing members, while
membership is up at nondenominational
churches. “When I teach
Shakespeare or Milton there are a lot
of biblical allusions, and I have to
explain them all,” said McBride, an
English professor. —AP
ready to absorb so many shares,” said
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities.
The price struggled around the $30
range in the weeks after the issue, with
the underwriters undergoing a beating
and lawsuits for allegedly having privately
lowered their earnings forecasts
for the company days before the IPO.
The shares then fell to the low-$20s
range at the end of July when
Facebook issued an uninspiring quarterly
earnings report. And last Thursday
the price plummeted when a ban on
pre-IPO investors such as Thiel selling
their shares was lifted-many apparently
sold. That lockup applied only to 270
million shares. Another 1.2 billion
shares, those controlled by Facebook
employees, will be freed from lockup
on November 14.
While undoubtedly Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg and other
top figures will hold on to most of their
SAN FRANCISCO: After three weeks of listening
to technology experts, patent professionals
and company executives debate the complicated
legal claims of Apple Corp. and
Samsung Electronics Co., a jury of nine men
and women are set to decide one of the
biggest technology disputes in history. Apple
is demanding Samsung pay it $2.5 billion and
pull its most popular smartphones and computer
tablets from the US market after accusing
the South Korean company of “ripping
off” its iPhone and iPad technology. Samsung,
in turn, is demanding Apple pay it $399 million
for allegedly using Samsung’s technology
without proper payments in making the iconic
iPhone and iPad.
Apple’s damage demands, if awarded,
would represent the largest patent verdict in
the US An appeals court last year overturned
the largest award to date, a $1.8 billion judgment
against pharmaceutical company
Abbott Laboratories.
Apple and Samsung are the top-selling
smartphone makers and combined account
for more than half of global smartphone sales.
Barring a last-minute settlement, jurors are
scheduled to hear the dueling companies’
lawyers deliver closing arguments Tuesday in
the San Jose federal courtroom of Judge Lucy
Koh and they could begin deliberating late
that afternoon, or more likely, Wednesday
morning.
From the beginning, legal experts and Wall
Street analysts have viewed Samsung as the
underdog. To begin with, Apple’s headquar-
shares, anything added to market liquidity
is, at this point, downward pressure
on the price.
Analysts are debating whether the
stock is now a bargain based on
Facebook’s earnings potential.
“Over the long term, the trade is
about the fundamentals of the business,
and the fundamentals remain
very positive,” Pachter told AFP. He
called the problem of a share oversupply
“just noise”.
Social media expert Lou Kerner also
downplayed the selling pressure.
“We remain very positive,” he said.
“Facebook will figure how to monetize
mobile, the dollars will find their way.”
New York University finance professsor
Aswath Damodaran was more
skeptical. After Facebook’s quarterly
earnings report, he cut his original $27
a share “intrinsic value” estimate to
below $24. “The earnings report was a
ters is a mere 10 miles from the courthouse
and the jurors were picked from the heart of
Silicon Valley where the company’s late
founder Steve Jobs is a revered technological
pioneer.
And while the legal and technological
issues may be complex, patent expert
Alexander I Poltorak says the case will likely
boil down to whether jurors believe
Samsung’s products at issue look and feel
almost identical to Apple’s iPhone and iPad.
“Most jurors will probably say they look
alike,” said Poltorak, who is chief executive of
General Patent Corp. The judge appears to
agree.
The judge in June called Samsung’s Galaxy
10.1 tablet computer “virtually indistinguishable”
from Apple’s iPad and banned its sale in
the United States until the resolution of the
case. “There was some evidence that Samsung
altered its design to make its product look
more like Apple’s,” the judge found two
months before the trial started.
To overcome that hurdle, Samsung’s battalion
of lawyers has been arguing that many of
Apple’s claims of innovation are either obvious
ideas or were actually stolen ideas from
Sony Corp. and others. Experts called that line
of argument a high-risk strategy because of
Apple’s reputation as an innovator.
“Saying Apple is a copyist is going be a
hard sell,” said Ellen Brickman, a New Yorkbased
jury and trial consultant. “Apple
changed the world when it came to computers.
Apple changed the world when it came to
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
disappointment to markets, revealing
less revenue growth than anticipated
and an operating loss.”
But at $19, he still is not sure of the
investment’s merit, given the potential
overhang of sellers.
“Facebook remains a company with
vast potential (their user base has not
shrunk), no clear business plan (is it
going to be advertising, product sales
or something else) and poor corporate
governance,” he wrote on his blog
Musings on Markets. “Eventually, the
‘intrinsic’ truths will emerge, but it may
be a long time coming.”
Another longtime bear on the stock,
Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities
Research, retains deep doubts even at
$19 a share. “Facebook doesn’t have
the technology to monetize social
actions,” he said. “With what we
know right now, the price should be
in the low teens.” —AFP
Epic patent trial over iPhone
technology wraps up in US
Apple, Samsung lock horns
Yap.TV tunes
Internet Age viewing
for the world
SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco startup Yap.TV yesterday
went international with a hit service that helps
people mine gems from junk in the growing mountain
of shows, films and videos.
Versions of Yap.TV software released in the United
States early last year for Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod
touch devices have been customized for 19 more
countries and in four languages other than English.
Applications for smartphones or tablets powered
by Android software were in the works and expected
to be ready in a matter of months.
Yap.TV lets show watchers engage in real time on
Twitter, Facebook or the firm’s own social network,
essentially tapping into friends or others with similar
interests to find programs or films likely to please.
Yap.TV blended input from friends and show fans
with programming data to enable users to not only
have conversations around shows they like but to be
directed to new options by viewers with similar interests.
“It starts with discovery, which is why a guide
became such a big part of this,” Yap.TV co-founder
Shawn Patrick said. “No one has ever created a worldwide
social television guide,” he continued. “We are
the new front-end to TV.”
Yap.TV mated the television program guide with
the Twitter stream, Facebook and other social networks
to let people see what shows people are talking
about and join in the conversation along with the
viewing.
Yap.TV backers include Javelin Venture Partners
and Blumberg Capital, and Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniak is an advisor to the startup. Patrick, 44, spoke
of being enthralled by the Kwai Chang Caine character
in the US television series “Kung Fu” as a young
boy and imagining as a child that he would grow up
to become “Batman.”
“Media content is escapism; these stories are powerful
talismans,” Patrick said. “We bring people together
around the content they love.” “We want people to
get shows they want without having to dumbly navigate
through 900 channels,” he continued. “It is a
nightmare menu with no way to know what is
garbage without insight-that is where social media
comes in.”
More than 600,000 people have taken to using
Yap.TV since it launched early last year and the website
has gotten visits from every country except two in
Africa. “Nearly everybody on this rock invests time
consumer television content,” Patrick said. “This creates
a better way.” The list of countries where free
Yap.TV applications are available includes Brazil,
Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy. —AFP
LONDON: A reader uses her Nook e-book.
NEW YORK: Barnes & Noble yesterday
announced it will release Nook tablets in
Britain in the first move by the world’s
largest book seller to sell the e-readers
outside the United States.
Nook tablets and digital content will
become available in October at a new
online shop at nook.co.uk.
“We are proud to be able to offer our
top-rated line of Nook reading devices
and our award-winning digital bookstore
to the discerning and highly educated
consumers in the UK,” said Barnes &
Noble chief executive William Lynch.
“We’re confident our award-winning
technology, combined with our expansive
content - including books, children’s
books, magazines, apps, movies and
phones. The fact that the iPhone and iPad are
so popular shows people believe the products
must be innovative. When you think of tech,
you just don’t think of Samsung.”
Finally, Brickman and others argue that a
foreign rival accused of stealing from a popular
US company like Apple during the tough
economic climate faces an uphill battle with a
“hometown” jury.
General Patent’s Poltorak said a verdict in
Apple’s favor would cost Samsung “a lot of
money,” but wouldn’t dramatically disrupt the
smartphone markets. He predicted that
Samsung engineers would quickly redesign
the company’s smartphone and computer
tablets to compete with Apple if the
Cupertino-based company won its lawsuit.
Apple lawyers argue there is almost no difference
between Samsung’s products and
Apple’s and presented Samsung’s internal
documents they say show it copied Apple’s
designs. Samsung lawyers countered that several
other companies and inventors had previously
developed much of the Apple technology
at issue.
The US trial is just the latest skirmish
between the two over product designs. The
two companies have been fighting in courts
in Australia, the United Kingdom and
Germany.
The case is one of some 50 lawsuits among
myriad telecommunications companies jockeying
for position in the burgeoning $219 billion
market for smartphones and computer
tablets. —AP
Barnes & Noble takes Nook
e-reader to Britain
NEW YORK: OnLive, the video game
streaming startup that was full of promise
when it was unveiled three years ago,
has reorganized its business and cut
roughly half of its staff amid financial difficulties.
But it says it will continue to
operate under the same name and customers
should not see a change in their
service.
Analysts said OnLive was spending
too much money and didn’t have
more - will bring UK customers the
option they’ve been waiting for.”
Barnes & Noble said that it would start
by focusing on e-reader offerings including
digital books, magazines and newspapers.
Pricing details were not disclosed.
The company last week cut prices
in the US to $179 and $199 for a Nook
Tablet with 16 gigabytes or 32 gigabyte
of memory, respectively. The price of a
Nook Color was trimmed to $149.
The moves came as people snapped
up recently-launched Google Nexus 7
tablets and rumors heightened that
Apple next month will release a “mini”
iPad with a seven-inch screen that would
go head-to-head with Nook, Kindle and
Nexus 7. —AFP
OnLive game streaming
company says it will live on
enough paying users.
Late last week, OnLive went through a
complex bankruptcy alternative. The
process, called “assignment for the benefit
of creditors,” allows it to continue
operating its service. But employee stock
options and investments from outsiders
became worthless. HTC Corp., the
Taiwanese mobile phone maker, said it
expects to book a loss of about $40 million
for its investment in OnLive. —AP

JAKARTA: In this picture taken on August 14, 2012, Indonesian Muslims
buy sweets and food for breaking fast at a roadside food stall.
Nearly half of US doctors
struggle with burnout
HEALTH&SCIENCE
JAKARTA: As Indonesia shifts from a month of
fasting during Ramadan to a week-long eating
binge for the Eid Al-Fitr Muslim holiday, doctors
are braced for an annual spike in complaints of
rapid weight gain. Millions in the world’s most
populous Muslim nation typically mark the end
of the Ramadan fasting month visiting families
and relatives, in reunions where traditional
foods rich in sugars and fats take centre stage.
While there is no conclusive study linking
festive bingeing with weight gain, doctors say
many more patients knock on their doors after
non-stop gorging on delicacies such as beef
rendang (spicy stew) and chicken opor
(coconut curry). Muslims around the world fast
from dawn to dusk during Ramadan to fulfil
one of the five pillars of their faith. The body’s
metabolism slows down to conserve energy
during fasting and continues to do so even
after the period is over, doctors say. “People
tend to eat with a vengeance during Eid,” said
nutritionist Martalena Purba, head of the
Indonesia Dietetic Association.
“After a month depriving themselves of
food, they consume all fatty dishes in unusually
huge portions to the point that their blood
sugar levels go haywire, their cholesterol level
rises and they put on weight,” she told AFP,
adding that she usually has a 40 percent rise in
clients after the holidays. Indonesia is
Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with a population
of 240 million, and with increased affluence
it is facing a growing obesity problem,
especially in urban areas such as Jakarta.
According to health ministry figures, 21.7 percent
of over-18s had a body mass index (BMI)
greater than 27 in 2010, making them overweight
at least.
Obesity among children below five years old
stood at 14 percent in 2010, up from 12.2 percent
in 2007, the statistics show. ‘The weight
gain is worth it’-During the Eid Al-Fitr holiday,
which began Sunday in Indonesia, Jakartans
look forward to enjoying the hearty spread
with their loved ones. Housewife Ali Hayar, 50,
said she planned to buy five kilograms of beef
and three kilograms of tripe to make rendang
for her family and visitors, a shift from the usual
tofu and tempe soya bean cakes. “We usually
visit the homes of four to five relatives a day,
where we eat rice dumplings, curries, cookies,
sugary drinks as we chat and joke with one
another,” she said.
“By the end of the week, my weight usually
goes up two kilograms. My clothes feel tighter,
especially around the waist. It’s hard to resist
JAKARTA: Indonesian Muslims buy sweets and food for breaking fast.—AFP photos
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
After Ramadan fast, Indonesians ‘eat with a vengeance’
Early heart death raises
disease risk for family
MILWAUKEE: Paul Ryan works out and
watches his diet, but a new study
shows that clean living can only go so
far to help people like the vice presidential
candidate overcome a strong
family history of heart disease. The
study of 4 million people - the largest
ever on heart risks that run in families -
found that having a close relative die
young of cardiovascular disease doubles
a person’s odds of developing it by
age 50. This risk was independent of
other factors like high cholesterol, high
blood pressure and diabetes, and was
even higher if more than one close
family member had died young.
Ryan has said his father, grandfather
and great-grandfather all died of heart
attacks in their 50s, and the 42-yearold
Wisconsin congressman has cited
that as the reason for his devotion to
exercise. “I’d sure like to see him in my
clinic,” said Dr Patrick McBride, a preventive
cardiology specialist at the
University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Heart attacks can result from genetic
factors, an abnormal heart rhythm or a
heart muscle problem - not just
clogged arteries from poor health
habits, said McBride, who had no role
in this study but has published other
work on the topic.
“What’s important for anybody with
that kind of story is that they sit down
with their physician and get a very
thorough, detailed family history and
try to identify what factors may be
present in the family - not just on their
own think they can fix their problem,”
McBride said. “Exercise alone won’t
obviate this risk.” It’s not known if Ryan
has had such an evaluation, although
McBride noted that as a congressman,
Ryan has excellent insurance and
access to care. A Mitt Romney campaign
spokesman said Ryan was not
available for an interview on his health,
and did not answer questions about
whether Ryan is taking medicines for
heart risk factors such as high cholesterol
or high blood pressure. In an
email message, the spokesman,
Brendan Buck, said Ryan has never
smoked, “works out five times a week,
eats healthy, gets regular checkups,
avoids sweets and limits alcohol consumption.”
The Wisconsin congressman
joked “my veins run with cheese” when
he was named Romney’s running
mate, but it is clear that he takes the
health of his arteries seriously. NBC
News correspondent Luke Russert
recently described a January 2010 conversation
when Ryan asked about
Russert’s father, “Meet the Press” moderator
Tim Russert, who died of heart
disease at age 58 in 2008.
Ryan urged Luke Russert to increase
the cardiovascular level of his workouts
and commiserated about the bad
aftertaste of fish oil supplements,
NEW YORK: Job burnout strikes doctors more
often than it does other employed people in
the United States, according to a national survey
that included more than 7,000 doctors.
More than four in 10 US physicians said they
were emotionally exhausted or felt a high
degree of cynicism, or “depersonalization,”
toward their patients, said researchers whose
findings appeared in the Archives of Internal
Medicine. “The high rate of burnout has consequences
not only for the individual physicians,
but also for the patients they are caring
for,” said Tait Shanafelt of the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota, who led the research.
Previous studies have shown that burned-out
doctors are more prone to thinking about suicide
and to making medical errors than their
peers, Shanafelt added.
The survey included nearly 7,300 doctors
who filled in questionnaires about their worklife
balance in 2011. Thirty-eight percent had
high emotional exhaustion scores, which is
akin to losing enthusiasm for their job,
according to Shanafelt. Thirty percent had
high depersonalization scores, which translates
into viewing patients more like objects
than human beings, and 46 percent had at
least one of the two symptoms. Burnout was
most common among doctors at the “frontline
of care,” such as those working in emergency
rooms or in family medicine.
Dermatologists and preventive care special-
which some people take to try to ward
off heart disease, the younger Russert
wrote on an NBC blog. Ryan’s family
history of heart disease “is dramatic,”
and his efforts to modify whatever risks
he can control is “very wise,” said the
leader of the new study, Dr Mattis
Ranthe, a scientist at the Danish
Ministry of Health. The study involved
4 million people from Denmark, which
has detailed medical registries on families
dating to 1949 because of universal
health care. Researchers zeroed in
on people who had developed cardiovascular
disease, such as clogged arteries,
heart failure, a rhythm problem or
trouble with a valve, by age 50.
The chance of this was roughly doubled
if someone had a close relative - a
parent, sibling or child - who died of
cardiovascular disease before age 60.
Losing two or more close relatives to
cardiovascular disease by age 60 more
than tripled the odds that someone
would develop it before age 50. Having
a less-immediate family member, such
as a grandparent, die young of cardiovascular
disease also modestly
increased a person’s risk of early-onset
heart disease - by 19 percent. As the
number of early deaths in a family rose
and the age at which they died fell, a
person’s risk of early heart disease rose
up to 10-fold, researchers found.
The Danish Heart Foundation paid
for the study, which was published
Monday in the Journal of the American
College of Cardiology. Dr Svati Shah,
medical director of Duke University’s
adult cardiovascular genetics clinic,
noted that researchers saw a strong
risk from family history even after taking
into account traditional heart hazards
such as high cholesterol and high
blood pressure. “It’s very important to
modify those,” she said, but “for certain
individuals, there may be a genetic
predisposition independent of those
risk factors.”
One big weakness of the study: It
had no information on smoking habits.
McBride said smoking a pack a day
leads to about the same risk as having
two family members die early of heart
disease. Doctors and the American
Heart Association offer these tips to
anyone with a family history of heart
disease: Learn all you can about the circumstances
around a close family
member’s death, such as the age when
they developed cardiovascular disease
and any risk factors such as smoking or
obesity. Be aware of symptoms of
heart disease or stroke, and see a doctor
if you have any. Make sure other
family members and your doctors are
aware of your family history. Live right:
Get active, control cholesterol, eat better,
manage blood pressure, lose
weight, reduce blood sugar and stop
smoking.— AP
ists were less affected.
The researchers compared physicians with
a random sample of 3,400 employed people
who were not doctors. Based on a modified
version of the original questionnaire, 38 percent
of the doctors had burnout symptoms
against 28 percent of the rest. “The study
advances our knowledge by, for the first time,
comparing to the general population and
showing that physicians are at higher risk of
burnout,” said James Wright, chief surgeon at
The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. “It’s
very clear that when physicians are becoming
burned-out it begins to affect their relationships
with other healthcare workers and with
patient families.”
The new results come with some uncertainty,
because only about a quarter of the
doctors who received an invitation to participate
completed the survey. It’s not clear why
burnout strikes so many doctors, Shanafelt
said, noting that excessive workloads are only
part of the equation. Other possible reasons
include too much paperwork, loss of professional
autonomy and a higher patient load to
make up for declining reimbursement rates.
“There is a sense that the volume of patients
that need to be seen is increasing and it’s taking
away some of the time needed to build a
relationship and give the best care possible,”
Shanafelt said. “That starts to build cynicism, I
think.”—Reuters
NEW YORK: People with psoriasis who take
powerful biologic drugs such as Amgen’s Enbrel
and Abbott Laboratories’ Humira were less likely
to have a heart attack than those who were only
treated with topical ointments, US researchers
said on Monday. Those medications work by
blocking the activity of tumor necrosis factor or
TNF, which causes inflammation, and taking the
drugs may lower inflammation throughout the
body, reducing heart risks as well as psoriasis
symptoms, the team wrote in the Archives of
Dermatology. TNF blockers are known as biologic
drugs because they mimic the effects of
substances made naturally by the immune system.
Although psoriasis patients in the study
who took TNF blockers had the fewest heart
attacks, other common psoriasis treatments,
such as cyclosporine, methotrexate and light
therapy, were also linked with a lower risk of
heart disease compared to those who do nothing
or simply used ointments, the team found.
The itchy, painful skin plaques of psoriasis are
thought to be caused by an inflammatory
response initiated by the body’s immune system.
“It does suggest that the chronic inflammatory
state of psoriasis likely plays a role in heart
disease,” said Dr Robert Kirsner, head of dermatology
at the University of Miami Hospital in
Florida, who was not involved in the research.
The National Institutes of Health estimate that
more than three percent of US adults have psoriasis.
Previous studies have shown that patients
with psoriasis have a higher risk of heart attack
or stroke. For the new study, Dr Jashin Wu of
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
and colleagues analyzed data on the treatment
and diagnoses of nearly 9,000 psoriasis patients
in their health system between 2004 and 2010.
That included about 1,700 patients treated with
a TNF blocker for at least a couple of months,
2,100 who were prescribed other psoriasis
drugs or had light therapy and another 5,100
who only got topical treatments like ointments.
Over an average of four years, people who
got either group of treatments were about half
as likely to have a heart attack as the ointmentonly
group. Overall, three out of 1,000 patients
on a TNF blocker had a heart attack each year of
the study, compared to four out of 1,000 on other
drugs or light therapy and close to seven out
of 1,000 who were treated with topical ointments.
Wu and his colleagues said aggressive
treatment of inflammation likely leads to a
reduction in inflammation-related heart risks,
and thus fewer patients suffering heart attacks.
“We can’t say definitely (psoriasis drugs) will
temptation when the food is all laid out in front
of you,” she said. Weight control specialist Grace
Judio-Kahl said she sees around 1,200 patients
seeking weight-loss treatments after the Eid
festivities, some 200 more than in other
months, she said. “If people overeat they are
more likely to gain weight,” she said. “It’s
because the body expects to be starved again.”
In a country where herbal healing is part of
everyday culture, some Indonesians are turning
to traditional medicine, supposedly slimming
teas and appetite-suppressant pills to keep
their weight in check.
Anwar Suhadi, a vendor of acai berry supplements,
said he has sold 30 packs of what he
claimed to be “natural appetite-suppressant”
before the Eid holidays, about 50 percent more
than in previous months. “Sales always go up
during Ramadan. Buyers tell me they tend to
overeat and become fat during the Eid celebrations,
so they hope the pills will give them a
helping hand,” he added. But this Eid, many
Indonesians are content to throw their waistlines
to the wind. “Eid is not Eid without beef
rendang and chicken opor,” said 40-year-old
teacher Suparmin. “The weight gain is worth it.
I will just run and cycle more the following
month to burn my fats away.”— AFP
Psoriasis treatments tied
to fewer heart attacks
Patients who used ointments had more heart attacks
WASHINGTON: The long-discredited notion that
rape victims cannot become pregnant - a claim
that pushed Republicans to repudiate one of their
own US Senate candidates on Monday - dates
back centuries to when human reproduction was
hardly understood. But the medieval theory has
surfaced in 21st century political discourse as a
result of the US abortion wars.
Writers from the Middle Ages and modern
politicians alike have based their arguments on
the idea that a trauma of the magnitude of rape
can shut down the body’s reproductive system.
The combination of misunderstanding and cherry-picked
science even led some to conclude that
a woman who says she was raped yet becomes
pregnant must have been lying about the attack.
Modern proponents of the claim repeat it despite
empirical research showing that rape victims are
at least as likely to become pregnant as women
who have consensual sex, and possibly more likely.
Representative Todd Akin, the Republican candidate
for the US Senate in Missouri, spurred new
outrage on the subject when he told a St Louis
television station he does not support abortion
for rape victims because “if it’s a legitimate rape,
the female body has ways to try to shut that
whole thing down.” Akin, a member of the House
science committee, apologized on Monday for his
statement, calling it “ill conceived” and “wrong.”
Senior Republicans scrambled to distance themselves
from the comments a week before the party
holds its presidential nominating convention in
Florida.
The claim that rape is unlikely to lead to a
pregnancy has “no biological plausibility,” said Dr
Barbara Levy, vice president for health policy at
the American Congress of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists. The claim is “not grounded in any
physiology or scientifically valid data.” Akin is not
alone in his view about rape and pregnancy, however.
It dates at least to medieval times, when a
13th century English legal tome called Fleta
asserted that pregnancy was prima facie evidence
against a charge of rape, “for without a woman’s
consent she could not conceive.”
A 19th century book, “Elements of Medical
Jurisprudence” by Samuel Farr, said that conception
is unlikely “without an excitation of lust, or
the enjoyment of pleasure in the venereal act.”
That reflected the common notion that pregnancy
requires a woman, like a man, to reach orgasm
during intercourse. Both early references were
noted by The Guardian newspaper in a blog post
on Monday. In fact, “human... female orgasm is
not necessary for conception,” explained a 1995
paper in the journal Animal Behavior, one of many
studies reaching the same conclusion.
THE STRESS FACTOR
In more modern times, the rape-pregnancy
claim seems to have been linked to the fact that
stress can decrease fertility. “Mental stress can
temporarily alter the functioning of your hypothalamus
- an area of your brain that controls the
hormones that regulate your menstrual cycle,”
explains the Mayo Clinic in a publication about
infertility. “Ovulation and menstruation may stop
as a result.” But the stress that reduces fertility is
the chronic kind that occurs over months or years,
not the acute trauma of a rape.
“A woman who is raped at a vulnerable time in
her menstrual cycle is as likely to conceive and
retain a pregnancy as a woman who was voluntarily
attempting pregnancy,” said ACOG’s Levy.
“There’s absolutely no validity to any sort of theory
that the trauma related to rape - or to any thing
else for that matter - would shut down ovulation
that has already begun.” Physicians and
researchers had long thought that conception
occurs when sperm encounter an already-waiting
egg. Recent research has shown that in fact sperm
do the waiting, remaining in the woman’s uterus
cause a reduction in heart attacks, but certainly
it’s a clue,” Wu said, who has received research
grants from companies that make TNF blockers,
although those companies were not involved in
the current study. The team said the study was
limited in that it lacked information on the
severity of the patients’ psoriasis and on
whether the patients were taking other heartrelated
medications. One consideration that
may hold some patients back from certain psoriasis
treatments is the price: brand-name TNF
inhibitors can cost $15,000 per year or more,
while drugs like methotrexate run closer to
$1,000 per year. TNF inhibitors can have side
effects like an increased risk of infection, and
other psoriasis drugs may affect the liver or kidneys.
Kirsner said the new findings suggest that
getting treatment for psoriasis in general is
more important than what specific drugs
patients are prescribed.
Still, “there is a cost of not treating psoriasis,”
Kirsner said. “That cost is likely a higher risk of
vascular disease.” Wu said people with psoriasis
should discuss their heart risk with their primary
care doctor. “If they’re kind of wavering whether
they want systemic treatment versus topical
treatment, maybe this will help tip them toward
... more intensive treatment,” he said.— Reuters
Rape trauma as barrier to
pregnancy has no ‘basis’
Raped victims may be more likely to get pregnant
or fallopian tubes until an egg is released from
the ovaries.
Although the trauma of rape might impair a
woman’s fertility months or years later, said Levy,
“you’re not going to interrupt something (like the
release of an egg) that’s already started.”
Numerous studies support that. In a 1996 study in
the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology,
researchers surveyed 4,008 American women for
three years. Among women in their prime reproductive
years, 12 to 45, 5 percent of rapes resulted
in pregnancy, mostly among adolescents. Onethird
“did not discover they were pregnant until
they had already entered the second trimester,”
the researchers found, concluding that “raperelated
pregnancy occurs with significant frequency.”
It may occur with greater frequency than
after consensual sex. Indeed, evolutionary psychologists
- who seek to explain human behavior
by imagining what actions might have helped our
ancient ancestors survive and reproduce - say the
reason rape has been so endemic throughout history
is precisely because it often leads to pregnancy:
men who commit that crime, goes the
argument, were more likely to have progeny,
passing along their “rape genes” to the next generation.
While the explanation for rape has been
discredited, the fact that rape often leads to pregnancy
has not been. In a 2003 study in the journal
Human Nature, researchers found that 6.4 percent
of rapes in the hundreds of women they surveyed
caused pregnancy; that compares to a rate roughly
half that with consensual intercourse. In
Mexico, rape crisis centers have reported that
some 15 percent of rapes cause pregnancy. The
rate may be high because rape victims are less
likely to be using contraception at the time of the
crime than are women in a relationship, who can
also choose to forego sex during fertile periods in
their reproductive cycle if they do not want to
conceive.— Reuters

Korean coffee craze
may be hit by curbs
SEOUL: These days, a stroll on the
streets of southern Seoul is just as likely
to bring the fragrance of fresh-brewed
coffee as that of kimchi or more traditional
Korean foods. Nearly one in every
two buildings boasts a coffee shop,
from Starbucks to local brands such as
Caffe Bene and Angel-in-us Coffee.
Despite the existence of shops a mere
70 meters apart, it can still be hard to
find a seat on some evenings even
though a cup can cost more than a
meal.
In short, South Korea, home to the
world’s third largest number of
Starbucks stores after the United States
and Japan, has become a major battleground
for coffee chains - so much so
that government restrictions may lie
ahead. “There are few places where I can
meet my friends comfortably.
So I go to coffee shops,” said Ko Sunbee,
a high school teacher in Seoul.
Though coffee was once a luxury drink,
the market in South Korea has grown at
a dizzying rate. The number of coffee
shops jumped nearly ten-fold to 12,381
during the five years from 2006 to 2011.
South Korean adults consumed an
average 338 cups of coffee last year, and
coffee imports jumped 44 percent to
130,000 tons over the past four years,
said the Korea Customs service. The value
of the market overall has climbed 17
times to 2.48 trillion Korean won ($2.19
billion) during the same time, according
to a think tank affiliated with KB
Financial Group. The spark was lit by
Starbucks, which entered the market in
1999, analysts said. “Without Starbucks,
there would be no coffee boom here,”
said Lee Taek-gwang, a culture commentator
and professor at Kyung-hee
University in Seoul. “Starbucks is the
symbol of US culture and gained widespread
popularity among young
Koreans who admire it.” The number of
Starbucks stores more than doubled to
367 over the past five years. The compa-
ny said last year that it plans to raise
that number to 700 by 2016.
Espressos, lattes in demand
The market for espressos and lattes
turned out to be big enough to help
boost the fortunes of other coffee chains
and individual shops. “I am very grateful
to Starbucks,” said Yeo Seon-koo, who
runs Yeondoo, a coffee shop known to
aficionados for the quality of its brew
and its beans. “Koreans were previously
used to spending 300 won for a cup of
coffee, but Starbucks has made them
willing to pay nearly 5,000 won, whether
they like it or not.”
Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, in fact,
now has so many coffee shops that regulators
are considering whether or not to
impose a “distance” between new franchises
to protect them from cut-throat
competition. “A franchise operator
allows one store to open very close to
another under the same brand, which
reduces sales at the existing store significantly.
This puts a lot of damage on the
existing store,” said an official at the
antitrust watchdog Fair Trade
Commission. The FTC will start talks with
coffee franchise operators on whether to
impose distance and other rules, with
the aim of announcing guidelines by
September. It took a similar step in April
with bakeries, mandating that there can
be no more than one franchise shop
every 500 meters when opening a new
store. The move came amid criticism of
bakeries linked to large industrial conglomerates,
which critics said were hurting
smaller-scale outlets. But whatever
the result, the coffee fever is unlikely to
cool any time soon. Yeo, of Yeondoo, said
that while the metropolitan Seoul market
for coffee franchises is currently saturated,
coffee consumption remains low
compared to the national income level,
meaning further growth is still possible.
“The market is still at an early mature
stage here,” he said. — Reuters
HEALTH&SCIENCE
JOHANNESBURG: Global wildlife
monitoring network TRAFFIC
warned yesterday that 515 rhinos
could perish by the end of the
year if no action is taken to stem
the illicit trade in rhino horns. In
its latest report, the agency said
that with a total of 281 animals
killed as of July, there was a “predicted
loss of 515 by year end if
current poaching rates continue”.
South Africa, home to about three
quarters of Africa’s 20,000 or so
white rhinos and 4,800 critically
endangered black rhinos, has in
recent years witnessed an
unprecedented spike in sophisticated,
violent and organized rhino-related
criminal activities. Last
year 448 rhinos were killed compared
to 13 animals in 2007.
South Africa has lately scaled
up its fight against illegal poaching
and trade in rhinos horns,
arresting 176 suspects so far this
year, more than the 165 arrested
in the 12 months of 2010. “It
seems this year that efforts are
beginning to pay off. We have
seen a great increase in arrests.
We are also beginning to see
some significant sentencing,” said
Jo Shaw, co-author of the report.
But she warned that even with
the successful stories of high-value
arrests the criminal syndicates
appeared generally to be a step
ahead-better equipped, well
funded. “As anti-poaching security
levels are stepped up, the poaching
gangs become more aggressive
and increasingly sophisticated,”
she said.
The report named Vietnam as
the worst offender fuelling the
trade in the black market for rhino
horns. “The bottom line is that we
are not close to ending this crisis
yet, we are probably going to get
record numbers this year,” warned
the report’s co-author Tom
Milliken, who is also an expert on
rhinos at TRAFFIC. The grounded
horn, which is believed by some
to cure cancers, has taken on a
new use and is now being pushed
as a recreational drug mixed with
drinks at elite “rhino wine associations”
parties in the belief that it
cures hangover. The report says
the only way to end illegal rhino
hunting is to cut off the demand,
by pushing Vietnam to boldly
show commitment and decisively
enforce laws that prohibit trade in
the horns.
It was revealed at the launch of
the report that South Africa and
Vietnam are set to sign a land-
mark deal to help stem rhino
poaching and the illicit trade in
rhino horns. “I think the heat is
clearly on Vietnam. I think we are
going to see some changes. The
good news today is that the MOU
with South Africa is about to be
signed,” said Milliken. The network
did not give details of the memorandum
of understanding, but it
is believed to centre on law
enforcement. Vietnam’s deputy
foreign affairs minister Le Loung
Minh was last week in South
Africa where he held talks over
illegal wildlife hunting, trade and
trafficking with his counterpart
Ebrahim Ebrahim.
There were some “serious
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
515 rhinos could perish
this year, TRAFFIC warns
shortcomings” and not so great
coordination in South Africa’s
response to rhino crime, “but the
will to do right is with us”, said
Mavuso Msimang, an expert on
rhinos in South Africa’s department
of environmental affairs.
Rhino crimes are receiving heavier
sentences and there is now a
dedicated prosecutor to handle
such crimes. The report, titled The
South African-Vietnam Rhino
Trade Nexus, also pointed at a
worrying development where
game ranch operators and custodians
of rhinos have been roped
into the crime syndicates to
become “rhino horn dealers of
some description”.— AFP
GERMANY: A rhinoceros has a cloverleaf in its mouth at the “Zoologischer Garten” zoo in
Berlin.—AFP

30
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

31
WHAT’S ON
KUWAIT: Al-Liwan Mall in Al-Agailah celebrated Eid Al-Fitr with a ceremony
featuring various activities enjoyed by visitors of all ages.
—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh
Embassy
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Information
EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA
The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not
have a visa or immigration department. All
processing of visas and immigration matters
in conducted by The Australian Consulate-
General in Dubai. Email:
info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS)
immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel:
+971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa
Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In
Kuwait applications can be lodged at the
Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-
Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem
Street, opposite the 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 can apply for tourist visas online
at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE
The Embassy of Argentina requests all
Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to
our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in
order to register or update contact information.
The embassy encourages all citizens to do so,
including the ones who have already registered in
person at the embassy. The registration process
helps the Argentinean Government to contact and
assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any
emergency.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF BRITAIN
Consular section at the British Embassy
will be starting an online appointment
booking system for our consular customers
from Sunday, 01 July 2012. All information
including how to make an appointment is
now available on the embassy website. In addition,
there is also a “Consular Appointment
System” option under Quick links on the right
hand side on the homepage, which should take
you to the “Consular online booking appointment
system” main page.
Please be aware that from 01 July 2012, we will
no longer accept walk-in customers for legalisation,
notarial services and certificates (birth,
death and marriages). If you have problems
accessing the system or need to make an
appointment for non-notarial consular issues or
have a consular emergency, please call 2259
4355/7/8 or email us on consularenquirieskuwait@fco.gov.uk.
If you require consular
assistance out of office hours (working hours:
0730-l430 hrs), please contact the Embassy on
2259 4320.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF CANADA
The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24,
Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please
visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The
Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to
15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is
closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break.
Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided
from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through
Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy will be closed
on Sunday and Monday 19 and 20 August 2012 on
the occasion of Aid Al Fitr. The Embassy will resume
its duties on Tuesday 21 August 2012. The
Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and
immigration services to residents of Kuwait.
Individuals who are interested in visiting, working
or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the
website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at
www.UAE.gc.ca.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF KENYA
The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya
wishes to inform Kenyan residents
throughout Kuwait and the general public
that with effect from June 1, 2012 the Embassy
has moved from its current location to a new
location in Surra Block 1, Street 8, Villa 303.
Please note that the new telephone and fax
numbers will be communicated as soon as possible.
For enquiries you can contact Consular
Section on mobile 90935162 or 97527306.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF MEXICO
The Embassy of Mexico is pleased to inform that it
is located in CLIFFS Complex, Villa 6, Salmiya,
block 9, Baghdad street, Jadda Lane 7. The working
hours for consular issues are from 9:00 to
12:00 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed
from 14:00 to 15:00 hours for lunch break. The Embassy of
Mexico kindly requests all Mexicans citizens in Kuwait to
proceed to the e-mail: embkuwait@sre.gob.mx in order to
register or update contact information. Other consultations
or/and appointments could be done by telephone
or fax: (+965) 2573 1952
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF MYANMAR
Embassy of the Republic of the Union of
Myanmar would like to inform the general
public that the Embassy has moved its office
to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-
Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes
to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to
Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new
location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749,
e-mail:myankuwait11@gmai1.com
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF NIGERIA
The Nigerian embassy has its new office in
Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For
enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.
Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
EMBASSY OF UKRAINE
We’d like to inform you that in response
to the increasing number of our citizens
who work in the state and the need for
24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency
the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of
Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number”
- (+ 965) 972-79-206.

00:45 I’m Alive
01:40 Untamed & Uncut
02:35 Animal Airport
03:00 Animal Airport
03:30 Wildlife SOS
04:25 Wildest Africa
05:20 Monkey Life
05:45 Snake Crusader With Bruce
George
06:10 Wild Animal Orphans
06:35 Wild Animal Orphans
07:00 Karina: Wild On Safari
07:25 Corwin’s Quest
08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild
08:40 Breed All About It
09:10 Growing Up...
10:05 Wildest Africa
11:00 Wildlife SOS
11:25 Orangutan Island
11:55 Animal Cops Houston
12:50 RSPCA: Have You Got What It
Takes?
13:15 RSPCA: Have You Got What It
Takes?
13:45 Animal Precinct
14:40 Wildest Africa
15:30 Karina: Wild On Safari
16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild
16:30 The Really Wild Show
16:55 The Really Wild Show
17:25 Your Very First Puppy
18:20 Dogs 101
19:15 Wildlife SOS
19:40 Orangutan Island
20:10 Monkey Life
20:35 Snake Crusader With Bruce
George
21:05 Wildest Africa
22:00 Wildest Latin America
22:55 Galapagos
23:50 Animal Cops Houston
00:20 Come Dine With Me
01:10 Holmes On Homes
01:55 Holmes On Homes
02:45 Saturday Kitchen
03:10 Saturday Kitchen
03:35 Saturday Kitchen
04:05 MasterChef
04:30 Living In The Sun
05:15 Living In The Sun
06:00 MasterChef
06:30 Saturday Kitchen
07:00 Saturday Kitchen
07:25 MasterChef Australia
08:10 MasterChef Australia
08:35 10 Years Younger
09:25 Bargain Hunt
10:10 Antiques Roadshow
11:05 Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition
12:25 10 Years Younger
13:15 What Not To Wear
14:05 What Not To Wear
14:55 Antiques Roadshow
15:50 Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition
17:10 Come Dine With Me
18:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen
Secrets
18:25 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again
18:50 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey
19:15 Come Dine With Me
20:05 Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition
21:25 Antiques Roadshow
22:15 Bargain Hunt
23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition
23:40 Holmes On Homes
00:00 BBC World News America
00:30 BBC World News America
01:00 Newsday
01:30 Asia Business Report
01:45 Sport Today
02:00 Newsday
02:30 Asia Business Report
02:45 Sport Today
03:00 Newsday
03:30 Asia Business Report
03:45 Sport Today
04:00 BBC World News
04:30 Asia Business Report
04:45 Sport Today
05:00 BBC World News
05:30 Asia Business Report
05:45 Sport Today
06:00 BBC World News
06:30 Hardtalk
07:00 BBC World News
07:30 World Business Report
07:45 BBC World News
08:00 BBC World News
08:30 World Business Report
08:45 BBC World News
09:00 BBC World News
09:30 World Business Report
09:45 BBC World News
10:00 BBC World News
10:30 World Business Report
10:45 BBC World News
11:00 BBC World News
11:30 Hardtalk
12:00 BBC World News
12:30 World Business Report
12:45 BBC World News
13:00 BBC World News
13:30 BBC World News
14:00 GMT With George Alagiah
14:30 GMT With George Alagiah
15:00 BBC World News
15:30 World Business Report
15:45 Sport Today
16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain
16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain
17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain
17:30 World Business Report
17:45 Sport Today
18:00 BBC World News
18:30 Hardtalk
19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing
19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing
20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing
20:30 BBC Focus On Africa
21:00 World News Today With
Zeinab Badawi
21:30 World News Today With
Zeinab Badawi
22:00 World News Today With
Zeinab Badawi
22:30 World Business Report
22:45 Sport Today
23:00 Business Edition With Tanya
Beckett
23:30 Hardtalk
00:10 Puppy In My Pocket
00:35 Tom & Jerry Kids
01:00 Scooby Doo Where Are You!
01:25 The Flintstones
01:50 Pink Panther And Pals
02:15 Looney Tunes
02:40 Popeye Classics
03:00 Dexter’s Laboratory
03:25 Tom & Jerry
03:50 Looney Tunes
04:15 The Scooby Doo Show
04:40 Johnny Bravo
05:00 The Flintstones
05:25 The Jetsons
05:50 Wacky Races
06:00 The Garfield Show
06:15 Tom & Jerry Kids
06:30 Bananas In Pyjamas
06:55 Baby Looney Tunes
07:20 Gerald McBoing Boing
07:45 Ha Ha Hairies
08:00 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
08:25 The Garfield Show
08:50 Johnny Bravo
09:15 Dexter’s Laboratory
09:40 Pink Panther And Pals
10:05 The Scooby Doo Show
10:30 Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-
Doo
10:55 Dastardly And Muttley
11:15 The Flintstones
11:40 Wacky Races
12:00 Jelly Jamm
12:15 Baby Looney Tunes
12:40 Ha Ha Hairies
12:55 Gerald McBoing Boing
13:20 Bananas In Pyjamas
13:35 Puppy In My Pocket
14:00 Looney Tunes
14:50 Scooby Doo Where Are You!
15:15 Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-
Doo
LEGENDARY ON OSN ACTION HD
15:40 Dastardly And Muttley
16:00 Tom & Jerry
16:15 Tom & Jerry
16:40 Pink Panther And Pals
17:05 Pink Panther And Pals
17:30 The Garfield Show
17:55 The Garfield Show
18:10 Johnny Bravo
18:35 Dexter’s Laboratory
19:00 Jelly Jamm
19:15 Baby Looney Tunes
19:40 Ha Ha Hairies
19:55 Gerald McBoing Boing
20:20 Bananas In Pyjamas
20:35 Dexter’s Laboratory
21:00 Johnny Bravo
21:25 Pink Panther And Pals
21:50 Tom & Jerry
22:15 The Garfield Show
22:40 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
23:05 Popeye
23:20 The Jetsons
23:45 Duck Dodgers
00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia
00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia
01:20 Powerpuff Girls
02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog
03:00 The Amazing World Of
Gumball
03:25 Ben 10
03:50 Adventure Time
04:15 Powerpuff Girls
04:40 Generator Rex
05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
05:55 Angelo Rules
06:00 The Marvelous
Misadventures...
06:25 Casper’s Scare School
07:00 The Amazing World Of
Gumball
07:15 Adventure Time
07:40 Johnny Test
08:05 Grim Adventures Of...
08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog
09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
10:10 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu
10:35 Powerpuff Girls
11:25 Chowder
12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy
13:05 Ben 10
13:30 Sym-Bionic Titan
13:55 Foster’s Home For...
14:20 Foster’s Home For...
14:45 Angelo Rules
15:35 Powerpuff Girls
16:25 The Amazing World Of
Gumball
16:40 Johnny Test
17:00 Level Up
17:30 Regular Show
17:55 Green Lantern: The Animated
Series
18:20 Batman: The Brave And The
Bold
18:45 Young Justice
19:10 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge
19:35 Adventure Time
20:00 Ben 10
20:25 Ben 10
20:50 Ben 10
21:15 Grim Adventures Of...
22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door
22:50 Ben 10
23:15 Ben 10
23:40 Chowder
00:00 Amanpour
00:30 World Sport
01:00 Piers Morgan Tonight
02:00 World Report
03:00 Anderson Cooper 360
04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight
05:00 Quest Means Business
06:00 The Situation Room
07:00 World Sport
07:30 News Special
08:00 World Report
09:00 World Report
10:00 World Sport
10:30 Inside Africa
11:00 World Business Today
12:00 Amanpour
12:30 Leading Women
TV PROGRAMS
12:45 Future Cities
13:00 World One
14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight
15:00 News Stream
16:00 World Business Today
17:00 International Desk
18:00 Global Exchange
19:00 World Sport
19:30 Leading Women
19:45 Future Cities
20:00 International Desk
21:00 Quest Means Business
22:00 Amanpour
22:30 CNN Newscenter
23:00 Connect The World With
Becky Anderson
00:15 The World’s Strangest UFO
Stories
01:10 I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks
01:35 Daredevils
02:30 Finding Bigfoot
03:25 Moonshiners
04:20 The World’s Strangest UFO
Stories
05:15 How Do They Do It?
05:40 How It’s Made
06:05 American Loggers
07:00 American Chopper
07:50 Mythbusters
08:45 Ultimate Survival
09:40 Border Security
10:05 Dirty Money
10:30 How Do They Do It?
10:55 How It’s Made
11:25 Stan Lee’s Superhumans
12:20 Mythbusters
13:15 Mythbusters
14:10 Border Security
14:35 Dirty Money
15:05 Ultimate Survival
16:00 American Chopper
16:55 Fifth Gear
17:20 American Loggers
18:15 Mythbusters
19:10 How Do They Do It?
19:40 How It’s Made
20:05 Border Security
20:35 Dirty Money
21:00 The Gadget Show
21:30 Stan Lee’s Superhumans
22:25 Mythbusters
23:20 Mythbusters
00:35 Kings Of Construction
01:25 Perfect Disaster
02:15 Stuck With Hackett
02:40 Stuck With Hackett
03:05 The Gadget Show
03:35 Scrapheap Challenge
04:25 Through The Wormhole With
Morgan Freeman
05:15 Kings Of Construction
06:05 Perfect Disaster
07:00 Catch It Keep It
07:50 Head Rush
07:53 Weird Connections
08:20 Sci-Fi Science
08:50 Sport Science
09:40 Scrapheap Challenge
10:30 Prophets Of Science Fiction
11:20 Prophets Of Science Fiction
12:10 Prophets Of Science Fiction
13:00 Prophets Of Science Fiction
13:50 Prophets Of Science Fiction
14:45 Prophets Of Science Fiction
15:35 The Gadget Show
16:00 Head Rush
16:03 Weird Connections
16:30 Sci-Fi Science
17:00 What’s That About?
17:50 Sport Science
18:40 Through The Wormhole With
Morgan Freeman
19:30 Through The Wormhole With
Morgan Freeman
20:20 Meteorite Men
21:10 The Gadget Show
21:35 The Gadget Show
22:00 Through The Wormhole With
Morgan Freeman
22:50 Meteorite Men
23:40 Sport Science
00:55 Style Star
01:25 Beauty Queens Gone Wrong
03:15 Behind The Scenes
03:40 Extreme Close-Up
04:10 Sexiest
05:05 THS
06:00 THS
07:50 Behind The Scenes
08:20 E! News
09:15 Giuliana & Bill
10:15 THS
12:05 E! News
13:05 Khloe And Lamar
13:35 Khloe And Lamar
14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New
York
14:30 Kourtney & Kim Take New
York
15:00 Style Star
15:30 THS
16:25 Behind The Scenes
16:55 Mrs. Eastwood And Company
17:25 Mrs. Eastwood And Company
17:55 E! News
18:55 E!es
19:55 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
20:55 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
21:55 Mrs. Eastwood And Company
22:25 E! News
23:25 Chelsea Lately
23:55 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
00:30 The Haunted
01:20 Crime Scene Psychics
02:05 Fatal Encounters
02:55 Killer Kids
03:45 Extreme Forensics
04:30 The Haunted
05:20 Crime Scene Psychics
06:10 Disappeared
07:00 Forensic Detectives
07:50 Undercover
08:40 Mystery ER
09:30 Real Emergency Calls
09:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?
10:20 On The Case With Paula Zahn
11:10 Disappeared
12:00 Street Patrol
12:25 Street Patrol
12:50 Undercover
13:40 Mystery ER
14:30 Real Emergency Calls
14:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?
15:20 On The Case With Paula Zahn
16:10 Disappeared
17:00 Forensic Detectives
17:50 Undercover
18:40 Real Emergency Calls
19:05 Mystery ER
19:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?
20:20 On The Case With Paula Zahn
21:10 Disappeared
22:00 Australian Families Of Crime
22:50 American Greed
23:40 Dr G: Medical Examiner
00:00 Nomads
01:00 Travel Madness
01:30 Travel Madness
02:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
02:30 One Man & His Campervan
03:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
03:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
04:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
05:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
05:30 The Best Job In The World
06:00 Nomads
07:00 Travel Madness
07:30 Travel Madness
08:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
08:30 One Man & His Campervan
09:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
09:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
10:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
11:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
11:30 The Best Job In The World
12:00 Nomads
13:00 Travel Madness
13:30 Travel Madness
14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
14:30 One Man & His Campervan
15:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
15:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
16:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
17:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
17:30 The Best Job In The World
18:00 Nomads
19:00 Danger Beach
19:30 Danger Beach
20:00 Kimchi Chronicles
20:30 Kimchi Chronicles
21:00 One Man & His Campervan
21:30 One Man & His Campervan
22:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less
Travelled
23:00 Bondi Rescue
23:30 Bondi Rescue
00:00 Nomads
01:00 Travel Madness
01:30 Travel Madness
02:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
02:30 One Man & His Campervan
03:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
03:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
04:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
05:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
05:30 The Best Job In The World
06:00 Nomads
07:00 Travel Madness
07:30 Travel Madness
08:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
08:30 One Man & His Campervan
09:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
09:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
10:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
11:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
11:30 The Best Job In The World
12:00 Nomads
13:00 Travel Madness
13:30 Travel Madness
14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The
Planet
14:30 One Man & His Campervan
15:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
15:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1
16:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan
17:00 Deadliest Journeys 2
17:30 The Best Job In The World
18:00 Nomads
19:00 Danger Beach
19:30 Danger Beach
20:00 Kimchi Chronicles
20:30 Kimchi Chronicles
21:00 One Man & His Campervan
21:30 One Man & His Campervan
22:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less
Travelled
23:00 Bondi Rescue
23:30 Bondi Rescue
00:00 World’s Toughest Fixes
01:00 The Known Universe
02:00 Mega Factories
03:00 Megacities
04:00 Blowdown
05:00 Lions Behaving Badly
06:00 Adventure Wanted
07:00 Naked Science
08:00 World’s Toughest Fixes
09:00 The Known Universe
10:00 Mega Factories
11:00 World’s Toughest Fixes
12:00 Blowdown
13:00 Insect Wars
14:00 Adventure Wanted
15:00 Naked Science
16:00 World’s Toughest Fixes
17:00 The Known Universe
18:00 Mega Factories
19:00 Megacities
20:00 Monster Moves
21:00 Prehistoric Predators
22:00 Untamed Americas
23:00 Naked Science
00:00 Hunter Hunted
01:00 Monster Fish
01:55 Kingdom Of The Forest
02:50 Caught In The Act
03:45 Amazonia’s Giant Jaws
04:40 Great Migrations
05:35 Built For The Kill
06:30 Kingdom Of The Forest
07:25 Caught In The Act
08:20 Amazonia’s Giant Jaws
09:15 World’s Weirdest
10:10 American Buffalo: Battling
Back
11:05 The Invaders
12:00 Monster Fish
13:00 Underwater Oasis
14:00 Caught In The Act
15:00 Crocodile King
16:00 Humpbacks: Cracking The
Code
17:00 Hunt for the Giant Squid
18:00 The Invaders
19:00 Kingdom Of The Forest
20:00 Caught In The Act
21:00 Amazonia’s Giant Jaws
22:00 World’s Weirdest
23:00 American Buffalo: Battling
Back
00:00 Child’s Play 2-18
02:00 Dangerous Flowers-PG15
04:00 Ronin-18
06:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within-PG
07:45 Legendary-PG15
09:45 Spartacus-PG15
13:00 Hackers-PG15
14:45 Legendary-PG15
16:45 Last Breath-PG15
18:15 Hackers-PG15
20:00 Sanctum-18
22:00 Reykjavik: Whale Watching
Massacre-18
01:00 West Is West-PG15
03:00 Super 8-PG15
05:00 Glorious 39-PG15
07:15 16 To Life-PG15
09:00 West Is West-PG15
11:00 Super 8-PG15
13:00 Yogi Bear-FAM
15:00 The Borrowers-PG
17:00 Africa United-PG15
19:00 Due Date-PG15
21:00 The Last Exorcism-PG15
23:00 Shrink-18
00:30 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
01:00 The Colbert Report
01:30 Friends
02:00 Friends
02:30 Seinfeld
03:00 Bent
03:30 Perfect Couples
04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay
Leno
05:30 Weird Science
06:00 Friends
06:30 Samantha Who?
07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
08:30 Bent
09:00 Weird Science
09:30 The Cleveland Show
10:00 The Office
10:30 Samantha Who?
11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay
Leno
12:00 Friends
12:30 Friends
13:00 Weird Science
13:30 Samantha Who?
14:00 Perfect Couples
14:30 The Office
15:00 The Cleveland Show
15:30 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
16:00 The Colbert Report
16:30 Friends
17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
18:00 Bent
18:30 Community
19:00 Parks And Recreation
19:30 Parks And Recreation
20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay
Leno
21:00 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
21:30 The Colbert Report
22:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne
23:00 Seinfeld
23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
00:00 Royal Pains
01:00 House
02:00 Perception
03:00 White Collar
04:00 Desperate Housewives
05:00 Good Morning America
07:00 The Practice
08:00 Emmerdale
08:30 Coronation Street
09:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
10:00 Desperate Housewives
11:00 The View
12:00 Royal Pains
13:00 White Collar
14:00 Live Good Morning America
16:00 The Practice
DUE DATE ON OSN CINEMA
17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
18:00 Emmerdale
18:30 Coronation Street
19:00 Bunheads
20:00 Grimm
21:00 Alphas
22:00 Supernatural
23:00 Desperate Housewives
00:00 Once Upon A Time
01:00 Perception
02:00 Grey’s Anatomy
03:00 White Collar
04:00 Royal Pains
05:00 Grey’s Anatomy
06:00 Once Upon A Time
07:00 Emmerdale
07:30 Coronation Street
08:00 Once Upon A Time
09:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
10:00 White Collar
11:00 House
12:00 Emmerdale
12:30 Coronation Street
13:00 Once Upon A Time
13:45 Once Upon A Time
14:30 Once Upon A Time
15:15 Once Upon A Time
16:00 Once Upon A Time
16:45 Once Upon A Time
17:30 Once Upon A Time
18:15 Once Upon A Time
19:00 Bunheads
20:00 Grimm
21:00 Alphas
22:00 Supernatural
23:00 Grey’s Anatomy
01:00 RoboCop-PG15
03:00 Ronin-18
05:00 Men In Black-PG15
07:00 True Justice: Street Wars-PG15
09:00 Hurricane Season-PG15
11:00 Men In Black-PG15
13:00 Rocky III-PG15
15:00 Hurricane Season-PG15
17:00 So Close-PG15
19:00 RoboCop 2-PG15
21:00 From Within-PG15
23:00 Wake Wood-PG15
00:00 Cemetery Junction-PG15
02:00 Flubber-PG
04:00 Kuffs-PG
06:00 Fat Albert-PG
08:00 Flubber-PG
10:00 Mean Girls 2-PG15
12:00 For Richer Or Poorer-PG
14:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG
16:00 Mean Girls 2-PG15
18:00 The Joneses-PG15
20:00 Dodgeball: A True Underdog
Story-PG15
22:00 American Virgin-18
01:00 Divorces!-PG15
03:00 Country Strong-PG15
05:00 Best Laid Plans-PG15
07:00 Chasing 3000-PG15
09:00 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15
10:30 The Girl In The Park-PG15
12:30 Waiting For Superman-PG15
14:30 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15
16:00 Les Miserables 25th
Anniversary-PG15
19:00 Return To Paradise-PG15
21:00 Indecent Proposal-18
23:00 Of Gods And Men-18
01:00 Pieces Of April-PG15
03:00 The Horse Whisperer-PG15
05:45 Adventures Of A Teenage
Dragonslayer-PG
07:15 The Chaperone-PG15
09:00 Wall Street: Money Never
Sleeps-PG15
11:15 Captain America: The First
Avenger-PG15
13:30 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire &
Ice-PG15
15:00 Just Wright-PG15
16:45 Wall Street: Money Never
Sleeps-PG15
19:00 Every Jack Has A Jill-PG15
21:00 The Last Exorcism-PG15
23:00 Love And Other Drugs-R
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
00:00 Toyz Goin’ Wild-PG
02:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG
04:15 Legend Of Sleeping Beauty-
PG
06:00 The Smurfs-PG
08:00 Pocahontas & The Spider
Woman-PG
10:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM
12:00 Legend Of Sleeping Beauty-
PG
14:00 Snow Dogs-PG
16:00 The Fantastic Adventure Of
The Ugly Duckling-FAM
18:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM
20:00 Cars 2-FAM
22:00 Snow Dogs-PG
00:00 Premier League Snooker
03:30 Futbol Mundial
04:00 Olympic Men’s Boxing
07:00 Olympic Highlights
08:00 Olympic Highlights
09:00 Senior European Tour
Highlights
10:00 The Rugby Championship
12:00 Trans World Sport
13:00 Olympic Highlights
14:00 Olympic Highlights
15:00 Futbol Mundial
15:30 AFL Premiership
18:00 Super Rugby Highlights
19:00 Olympic Women’s Football
21:00 Olympic Highlights
22:00 Olympic Highlights
23:00 Trans World Sport
00:00 WWE Experience
01:00 Super Rugby Highlights
02:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
03:00 NRL Premiership
05:00 Super League
07:00 AFL Premiership
09:30 Trans World Sport
10:30 Super League
12:30 The Rugby Championship
14:30 This Week in WWE
15:00 NRL Premiership
17:00 Trans World Sport
18:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
19:00 WWE Vintage Collection
20:00 WWE SmackDown
22:00 Trans World Sport
23:00 AFL Premiership
01:00 NRL Full Time
01:30 AFL Highlights
02:30 City Centre Races
04:30 City Centre Races
05:00 NRL Full Time
05:30 Futbol Mundial
06:00 World Match Racing Tour
Highlights
07:00 Golfing World
08:00 NRL Premiership
10:00 Adventure Sports
12:00 Adventure Sports
12:30 Futbol Mundial
13:00 Golfing World
14:00 NRL Full Time
14:30 AFL Highlights
15:30 World Match Racing Tour
Highlights
16:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights
18:00 Premier League Snooker
21:30 European Tour Weekly
22:00 Golfing World
23:00 NRL Full Time
23:30 City Centre Races
01:00 Prizefighter
04:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
05:00 UFC Unleashed
06:00 UFC Unleashed
07:00 WWE Vintage Collection
08:00 WWE NXT
09:00 NHL
11:00 V8 Supercars
12:00 Mobil 1 The Grid
12:30 This Week in WWE
13:00 WWE SmackDown
15:00 WWE Vintage Collection
16:00 Mobil 1 The Grid
16:30 V8 Supercars
18:30 V8 Supercars
19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
20:00 UFC
22:00 V8 Supercars
23:00 NHL

Classifieds
Arrival Flights on Wednesday 22/8/2012
Airlines Flt Route Time
JZR 185 DUBAI 0:15
QTR 148 DOHA 0:20
JZR 267 BEIRUT 0:50
ETH 620 ADDIS ABABA 1:45
RJA 642 AMMAN 2:10
GFA 211 BAHRAIN 2:20
UAE 853 DUBAI 2:25
ETD 305 ABU DHABI 2:30
THY 768 ISTANBUL 2:50
FDB 67 DUBAI 3:10
MSR 612 CAIRO 3:20
QTR 138 DOHA 3:25
ALK 549 COLOMBO 4:05
KAC 544 CAIRO 4:10
THY 770 ISTANBUL 4:35
JZR 1541 CAIRO 4:55
DHX 170 BAHRAIN 5:00
JZR 555 ALEXANDRIA 6:00
KAC 412 MANILA 6:15
BAW 157 LONDON 6:30
JZR 529 ASSIUT 6:40
KAC 206 ISLAMABAD 7:15
KAC 382 DELHI 7:30
KAC 284 DHAKA 7:45
QTR 6130 DOHA 7:45
FDB 53 DUBAI 7:45
KAC 302 MUMBAI 7:50
KAC 352 COCHIN 8:05
KAC 344 CHENNAI 8:20
KAC 362 COLOMBO 8:20
UAE 855 DUBAI 8:25
ABY 125 SHARJAH 8:30
IRC 6793 MASHAD 8:50
QTR 132 DOHA 9:00
FDB 55 DUBAI 9:20
IRA 603 SHIRAZ 9:25
ETD 301 ABU DHABI 9:30
GFA 213 BAHRAIN 10:00
UAE 871 DUBAI 10:45
MEA 404 BEIRUT 10:55
JZR 165 DUBAI 11:05
MSR 606 LUXOR 11:10
IRM 5066 MASHAD 11:55
BAB 436 BAHRAIN 12:05
JZR 561 SOHAG 12:25
KNE 472 JEDDAH 13:20
MSR 610 CAIRO 13:30
KAC 672 DUBAI 13:40
RJA 640 AMMAN 13:40
GFA 219 BAHRAIN 13:40
FDB 57 DUBAI 13:45
JZR 535 CAIRO 14:20
KAC 790 MEDINAH 14:25
QTR 140 DOHA 14:25
SVA 500 JEDDAH 14:30
FDB 8055 DUBAI 14:40
KAC 788 JEDDAH 15:00
JZR 257 BEIRUT 15:00
KAC 546 ALEXANDRIA 15:05
KAC 502 BEIRUT 15:10
QTR 134 DOHA 15:15
JZR 173 DUBAI 15:30
IRC 6791 MASHAD 15:35
KAC 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 16:10
ETD 303 ABU DHABI 16:35
IYE 824 SANAA 16:35
UAE 857 DUBAI 16:55
UAL 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 17:10
GFA 215 BAHRAIN 17:20
SVA 510 RIYADH 17:20
JZR 177 DUBAI 17:30
JZR 777 JEDDAH 17:40
ABY 127 SHARJAH 17:45
KAC 542 CAIRO 18:15
QTR 144 DOHA 18:20
KAC 786 JEDDAH 18:40
KAC 166 PARIS 18:40
BAB 438 BAHRAIN 18:40
KNE 460 MEDINAH 18:45
FDB 63 DUBAI 18:45
MSR 620 ASSIUT 18:55
RBG 3553 ALEXANDRIA 19:05
JZR 787 RIYADH 19:10
KAC 618 DOHA 19:20
KAC 674 DUBAI 19:25
KAC 102 NEW YORK 19:35
JAI 572 MUMBAI 19:35
KAC 774 RIYADH 19:40
AXB 393 KOZHIKODE 19:55
FDB 61 DUBAI 20:00
OMA 647 MUSCAT 20:10
MEA 402 BEIRUT 20:15
QTR 146 DOHA 20:25
GFA 221 BAHRAIN 20:35
KAC 514 TEHRAN 20:55
JZR 481 SABIHA 20:55
ALK 229 COLOMBO 20:55
KLM 417 AMSTERDAM 21:05
JZR 135 BAHRAIN 21:15
UAE 859 DUBAI 21:15
ETD 307 ABU DHABI 21:25
BBC 43 DHAKA 21:25
ABY 129 SHARJAH 21:30
QTR 136 DOHA 21:35
JZR 539 CAIRO 22:10
AIC 975 CHENNAI 22:25
FDB 59 DUBAI 22:30
GFA 217 BAHRAIN 22:35
UAL 981 BAHRAIN 22:40
FDB 8053 DUBAI 22:45
JZR 239 AMMAN 22:55
DLH 636 FRANKFURT 23:10
MSR 614 CAIRO 23:35
THY 772 ISTANBUL 23:40
DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION
Depature Flights on Wednesday 22/8/2012
Airlines Flt Route Time
AIC 982 AHMEDABAD 0:05
ALK 506 COLOMBO 0:15
UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC 0:25
DLH 637 FRANKFURT 0:30
MSR 615 CAIRO 0:35
PIA 206 LAHORE 1:25
THY 773 ISTANBUL 2:15
ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 2:45
THY 769 ISTANBUL 3:40
UAE 854 DUBAI 3:45
FDB 68 DUBAI 3:50
ETD 306 ABU DHABI 4:05
MSR 613 CAIRO 4:20
QTR 139 DOHA 4:50
ALK 550 COLOMBO 4:50
QTR 149 DOHA 5:40
JZR 560 SOHAG 6:00
RJA 643 AMMAN 6:50
JZR 164 DUBAI 6:55
GFA 212 BAHRAIN 7:05
THY 771 ISTANBUL 7:10
JZR 534 CAIRO 7:30
KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 8:10
KAC 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 8:20
BAW 156 LONDON 8:25
FDB 54 DUBAI 8:25
KAC 175 FRANKFURT 8:55
JZR 256 BEIRUT 9:00
ABY 126 SHARJAH 9:05
KAC 117 NEW YORK 9:05
KAC 501 BEIRUT 9:15
QTR 6131 DOHA 9:15
KAC 671 DUBAI 9:20
KAC 787 JEDDAH 9:35
UAE 856 DUBAI 9:40
KAC 789 MADINAH 9:45
QTR 133 DOHA 10:00
FDB 56 DUBAI 10:05
IRC 6794 MASHHAD 10:10
ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:15
IRA 602 SHIRAZ 10:25
GFA 214 BAHRAIN 10:45
JZR 172 DUBAI 11:20
KAC 541 CAIRO 11:30
MEA 405 BEIRUT 11:55
MSR 619 ASSIUT 12:10
JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:15
UAE 872 DUBAI 12:20
KAC 103 LONDON 12:30
BAB 437 BAHRAIN 12:55
KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:10
JZR 480 ISTANBUL 13:15
JZR 176 DUBAI 13:20
IRM 5065 MASHHAD 13:25
KNE 461 MADINAH 14:10
GFA 220 BAHRAIN 14:25
FDB 58 DUBAI 14:25
MSR 611 CAIRO 14:30
RJA 641 AMMAN 14:35
KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05
JZR 538 CAIRO 15:10
FDB 8056 DUBAI 15:20
KAC 617 DOHA 15:45
SVA 503 MADINAH 15:45
JZR 786 RIYADH 15:50
QTR 135 DOHA 16:15
KAC 773 RIYADH 16:25
KAC 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 16:25
IRC 6792 MASHHAD 16:35
ETD 304 ABU DHABI 17:20
JZR 238 AMMAN 17:30
IYE 824 SANAA 17:35
QTR 141 DOHA 17:45
UAE 858 DUBAI 18:05
GFA 216 BAHRAIN 18:20
JZR 134 BAHRAIN 18:20
ABY 128 SHARJAH 18:25
UAL 982 BAHRAIN 18:30
SVA 511 RIYADH 18:35
JZR 266 BEIRUT 18:50
QTR 145 DOHA 19:20
FDB 64 DUBAI 19:25
BAB 439 BAHRAIN 19:30
KNE 477 JEDDAH 19:35
RBG 3554 ALEXANDRIA 19:45
MSR 621 ALEXANDRIA 19:55
JZR 184 DUBAI 20:05
KAC 283 DHAKA 20:15
KAC 361 COLOMBO 20:20
KAC 153 ISTANBUL 20:30
JAI 571 MUMBAI 20:35
FDB 62 DUBAI 20:40
KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 20:50
KAC 351 KOCHI 21:05
OMA 648 MUSCAT 21:10
MEA 403 BEIRUT 21:15
KAC 543 CAIRO 21:30
GFA 222 BAHRAIN 21:35
JZR 502 LUXOR 21:45
DHX 171 BAHRAIN 21:50
ALK 230 COLOMBO 21:55
KLM 417 DAMMAM 22:05
JZR 1540 CAIRO 22:05
ABY 120 SHARJAH 22:10
ETD 308 ABU DHABI 22:20
KAC 381 DELHI 22:20
UAE 860 DUBAI 22:25
QTR 137 DOHA 22:35
KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:40
KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 22:45
JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA 23:00
BBC 44 DHAKA 23:05
AXB 394 KOCHI 23:10
QTR 147 DOHA 23:10
FDB 60 DUBAI 23:15
FDB 8054 DUBAI 23:25
GFA 218 BAHRAIN 23:30
KAC 415 KUALA LUMPUR 23:50
JZR 528 ASSIUT 23:50
Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
ACCOMMODATION
Sharing accommodation
available for non-smoking
Keralites in Mahboula.
Contact: 66725394. (C4107)
22-8-2012
Sharing accommodation
available for non-smoking
Keralites in Mahboula.
Contact: 66725394.
(C4107)
18-8-2012
Sharing accommodation
available for decent bachelor
non smoking, one big
room, Amman street, opposite
to Al Rashid hospital.
Contact: 66232356.
(C 4106)
15-8-2012
Sharing accommodation
available for a bachelor,
with an Indian family at
Salmiya near Edee store.
Contact: 97947562.
(C 4104)
One room available for
sharing separate bath and
sharing kitchen available at
Abbassiya near Indian
Learners School from Sept
1, preferably ladies with a
Keralite family. Mob:
99821508. (C 4105)
14-8-2012
No: 15545
Kuwait Parliament
www.majlesalommah.net
Ministry of Interior
www.moi.gov.kw
Public Authority for Civil Information
www.paci.gov.kw
Kuwait News Agency
www.kuna.net.kw
Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair
www.islam.gov.kw
Ministry of Energy (Oil)
www.moo.gov.kw
Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water)
www.energy.govt.kw
Public Authority for Housing Welfare
www.housing.gov.kw
Ministry of Justice
www.moj.gov.kw
SITUATION VACANT
A Kuwaiti family looks to
hire a driver with a Kuwaiti
license, transferable visa
and good knowledge of
Kuwait areas. Contact:
99401126. (C 4103)
16-8-2012
Ministry of Communications
www.moc.kw
Supreme Council for Planning and Development
www.scpd.gov.kw
112
Prayer timings
Fajr: 03:56
Duhr: 11:51
Asr: 15:26
Maghrib: 18:23
Isha: 19:43
GOVERNMENT WEB SITES
Ministry of Interior
website: www.moi.gov.kw
For labor-related inquiries
and complaints:
Call MSAL hotline 128
The Public Institution for Social Security
www.pifss.gov.kw
Public Authority of Industry
www.pai.gov.kw
Prisoners of War Committee
www.pows.org.kw
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
www.mofa.gov.kw
Kuwait Municipality
www.municipality.gov.kw
Kuwait Electronic Government
www.e.gov.kw
Ministry of Finance
www.mof.gov.kw
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
www.moci.gov.kw
Ministry of Education
www.moe.edu.kw
Ministry of Information
www.moinfo.gov.kw
Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation
www.awqaf.org

CROSSWORD 773
ACROSS
1. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or
minor scale in solmization.
4. Australian physiologist noted for his research on the conduction
of impulses by nerve cells (1903-1997).
10. A health resort near a spring or at the seaside.
13. Gone by.
14. A person's partner in marriage.
15. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for
research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United
States.
16. The sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this).
17. Ancient city is southeastern Italy where Hannibal defeated
the Romans in 216 BC.
18. (in golf) The standard number of strokes set for each hole on
a golf course, or for the entire course.
19. Any of several large deciduous trees with rounded spreading
crowns and smooth gray bark and small sweet edible triangular
nuts enclosed in burs.
21. A favorable omen.
23. (South African) A camp defended by a circular formation of
wagons.
26. Yellow-fever mosquitos.
27. A heavy gray-white metallic element.
29. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.
30. A domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially
the east end of a church.
33. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.
37. A Mid-Atlantic state.
38. The sacred writings of the Christian religion.
40. An associate degree in applied science.
41. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.
44. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.
46. Committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money
for their favorite political candidates.
48. A narcotic that is considered a hard drug.
50. A Dravidian language spoken in southern India.
54. God of wealth and love.
58. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.
59. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to
quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter
and the positron (1902-1984).
62. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North
Africa.
63. Being one more than two.
64. A garment (coat or sweater) that has raglan sleeves.
66. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.
67. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.
68. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form
temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.
69. An informal term for a father.
DOWN
1. Young sheep.
2. American novelist (1909-1955).
3. United States writer and editor (1837-1920).
4. A dry scab formed on the skin following a burn or cauterization
of the skin.
5. An accountant certified by the state.
6. An argument opposed to a proposal.
7. Of or relating to or associated with the moon.
8. (Old Testament) The eldest son of Isaac who would have inherited
the Covenant that God made with Abraham and that
Abraham passed on to Isaac.
9. A plaything that is ridden up and down by children at either
end.
10. Full of flavor.
11. The state prevailing during the absence of war.
12. Extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained
by the owner for his own use.
20. A small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold.
22. Small beads made from polished shells and formerly used as
money by native Americans.
24. Type genus of the Gavidae.
25. The square of a body of any size of type.
28. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a
common policy for the sale of petroleum.
31. By bad luck.
32. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.
34. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into
the Rhine.
35. The cry made by sheep.
36. Inquire about.
39. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.
42. Of or relating to apnea.
43. A decree that prohibits something.
45. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).
47. A genus of Pyralidae.
49. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.
51. The capital of Western Samoa.
52. The length of a straight line passing through the center of a
circle and connecting two points on the circumference.
53. Formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere
between Canis Major and the Southern Cross.
54. A colorless and odorless inert gas.
55. Lacking sufficient water or rainfall.
56. Mentally or physically infirm with age.
57. In bed.
60. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than
beer.
61. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.
65. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.
Yesterday’s Solution
Yesterday’s Solution
34 stars
CALVIN & HOBBES
POOCH CAFE
NON SEQUITUR
ZITS
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM
Yester
To
Word Sleuth
Solution
Aries (March 21-April 19)
STAR TRACK
You may have been hard at work lately. You are wise to develop
new skills, opening opportunities for yourself to advance into a
competitive position. Good for you—this is a successful day in this regard. Partners
and friends give you added support. You may wish to express more self-confidence
during this time. This may take the form of training or leading others, short trips and
visits—or intellectual competition. This could be an interesting day so keep that sense
of humor of yours and do not take things people say during a rush time too seriously.
Continue to develop your power of positive thinking and speech—you will teach others
this skill as well. Laughter this evening is a must and most contagious! Young people
are an inspiration.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
This can be a strange, chaotic morning—another day when
you may be tempted to avoid your responsibilities. Some of the
feelings now are just that . . . feelings and not reality. Rise above the challenge and
think about the here and now. Tomorrow will be a turning point for the better, but
today will take much concentration and determination; you will move forward with
your work. You tend to form close relationships to dynamic authoritative individuals
every year. You may have more dealings with a romantic or business partner, or you
may deal with others closely as a team. As you move into a more outgoing attitude—
you will find time for public relations, marketing and sales. Relax this evening—your
day has been successful.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Creative experiments can be successful today. If you work in
advertising, ideas can be productive. You still must put forth
effort to sway others to your viewpoint, but you are successful. There are plenty
of distractions at this time but you get through each one with polite consideration.
There are many conversations centered on the similarities of some new
movie, the state of the world or unusual sites, etc. You would make an excellent
teacher of philosophy or religion and can enchant all who come to know you.
You would also make a good director, for you like working with mental images.
This afternoon you may find your current appreciation for just about everything
leads you to overspend—careful.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
There is a lot of communication between co-workers today.
Working with others is a positive—although there may be some
feeling that there is something missing when it comes to the completion of a special
project. Define terms, perceive potential and follow through on any hint of there
being delays or cancellations. Your enthusiasm is strong and circumstances this afternoon
can help you to tie up loose ends. You may take a more personal interest in technological
fields, humanitarian fields or in enterprising business ventures today. Travel
and shipments of goods are subject to delay at this time. If you are looking to buy an
expensive car, inspect it carefully first. With patience, you may find just what you want
regarding a vehicle.
Leo (July 23-August 22)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
You may have intuitive insight into business or professional
affairs at this time. You may want to organize or restructure some
new work methods. You may be aware of political and professional power struggles
just now. There could be some drastic and irrevocable changes in your professional
environment. However, this is a most beneficial time for you to secure, concentrate,
change or otherwise find ways in which to make a good, steady income. Be watchful
of the temptation to eat excessively while waiting for someone or because of boredom.
You could gain weight during this time. Place yourself in a position that will give
you opportunities for expression. Relax this evening in fun activities; enjoy puzzles,
card games, dancing, etc.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
The time is favorable for any research or for revealing hidden
factors and inhibitions. It is easy to find what doesn’t work—now
you must find what will work. If there are secret manipulations, or conspiracies, they
can surface where you can gain control. Older people and those in positions of power
tend to give you their approval and trust. This is a great time to be with others and to
work together. Your management and directional abilities are in high focus. You may
feel like being different and trying something new and unusual. You have increased
concentration and perception into the motives of others during this time. Remember,
advice, unless it is personally requested, is not always appreciated—listening is a valuable
activity, particularly at home.
Libra (September 23-October 22)
You may find that early this morning, new plans for the upcoming
weekend may come from an unlikely source. You attach more
importance to friendships and taking part in group activities that are productive.
Making things work and creating harmonious surroundings will be the goals you will
work hard to achieve. This is a good day, filled with some renewed appreciation for all
that is beautiful and fine. Your working environment seems more productive when
you are present. Of course, it could be that because you are present, you notice how
the work is progressing. Today your place of business needs your full attention—this
afternoon you will want to plan some special event to show appreciation for the people
that mean a lot to you.
Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Now is a favorable time for business relating to technology or
entertainment industries or for scientific experiments or intuitive
studies. Your thinking is clear and ideas are easy to find. Writing stories, songs, poems
or working through a business project can be successfully accomplished. There is
insight into all that is new, different and out of the ordinary. Electronics, computers,
communications and telecommunications, etc., could be a big part of your life now.
You are an expert at working with communication technology. This afternoon can be
an enjoyable time of expanding freedom, meeting new friends, travel, learning and
unexpected financial benefits. Changes can emerge this evening, offering you more
freedom and stability.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
Stocks, legal or business papers that have been shoved aside
until a timelier or upbeat time may get your attention this morning.
These difficult-to-understand pieces of paper may turn out to be less difficult than you
thought. You will quickly remove these papers from your corner of the world by tending
to them very quickly. You can concentrate on overcoming these self-destructive
habits, such as procrastination, by allowing a more natural expression of your feelings
and responses. You can reconcile differences with family members. Your family relationships
stabilize during this relative time of happiness and contentment. A specific
individual can be a powerful influence. It is a favorable time to move and improve
your domestic environment.
Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Business moves along quite nicely today. You are just plain
witty this morning—ideas quickly roll off your tongue. This is a
real time for communication—by phone, by letter or in person. Your mind is clear.
Today you have an opportunity to enjoy a period of great mental activity and passion.
You may feel a strong need to communicate and gather ideas, especially
when you are in meetings or conferences. Keep a focus on the subject matter that
is the main interest for today. You could be interested in moving on to other subjects
but a co-worker or some other person needs to understand the main issue
better. Tonight you will enjoy some social activity with friends. Everything works
together to reveal you at your most elegant.
Aquarius (January 20- February 18)
You are making some real progress in the financial part of your
life just now. New ideas and firm budgeting plans make for some
positive results for future plans. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity
to the needs of others just now and are in a good position to communicate concerning
groups and society in general. You may find yourself in a political position—
one of teaching or guiding others. The artful skill of verbal restraint and diplomacy
may be tested. Later today, you could be on the receiving end of instructions. You will
know just what to do and will act without haste or emotion. Time out this evening
may mean a candlelight dinner with your loved one or a good book or a movie to
view at home.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager
and businessperson. You bring a great deal of love to your work,
especially today when it seems that everyone is asking for your input. Your career is
very important to you and you have superb management abilities. You are expert at
guiding a situation to the benefit of all concerned. There is improvement today of
some long-term situation that others left unfinished. This could mean an important
project that took a difficult turn or a person that needed convincing. There are insights
into the status quo as well as insight into ways for you to serve others in the future. If
you are not married, you could begin a relationship in a few days with someone you
have already met. Do not push too much for now.

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
Roudha 22517733
Adhaliya 22517144
Khaldiya 24848075
Keifan 24849807
Shamiya 24848913
Shuwaikh 24814507
Abdullah Salim 22549134
Al-Nuzha 22526804
Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764
Al-Khadissiya 22515088
Dasmah 22532265
Bneid Al-Ghar 22531908
Al-Shaab 22518752
Al-Kibla 22459381
Ayoun Al-Kibla 22451082
Al-Mirqab 22456536
Sharq 22465401
Salmiya 25746401
Jabriya 25316254
Maidan Hawally 25623444
Bayan 25388462
Mishref 25381200
W.Hawally 22630786
Sabah 24810221
Jahra 24770319
New Jahra 24575755
West Jahra 24772608
South Jahra 24775066
North Jahra 24775992
North Jleeb 24311795
Al-Ardhiya 24884079
Firdous 24892674
Al-Omariya 24719048
N.Kheitan 24710044
Fintas 23900322
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
Psychologists
/Psychotherapists
Soor Center
Tel: 2290-1677
Fax: 2290 1688
information
GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE
Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883
Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414
Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558
Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518
Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622
Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184
Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967
Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000
Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201
Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638
Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265
Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075
Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999
Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549
Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559
Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554
Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264
Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581
Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241
STA ATTE
OF KKUWA
AIT
DIRECTORAT
TE GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AVVIATTION
METEOROLOGICAL DEPA DEPARTMENT
BY DAY Y:
BY NIGHT:
WA ARNING
STAATTION
KUWAAIT
CITY
KUWAAIT
AIRPORTT
NUWA AISEEB
WAAFRA
SALMI
ABDALY Y
JAL ALIYA AH
FAAILAKA
AHMADI PORT T
UMM AL-MARADEM
WAARBA
- BUBYA AN
DAY Y
Weednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
DAT TE
PRIVATE CLINICS
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
info@soorcenter.com
www.soorcenter.com
Expected We eather e for the Next 24 Hours
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
Kaizen center
25716707
Teel.:
el.: 161 Ext.: 262 2627 - 2630
Fax: 24348714
WWW.MET.GOV.
.KW
Ve ery ery h hot hot with with light light to to moderate moderate freshening freshening gradually gradually at at times times north north westerly westerly wind, wind, with with speed speed of of 20 20 - - 45
45
km/h causing raising dust over open areas
Relatively Relatively hot hot with with moderate moderate freshening freshening at at times times north north westerly westerly wind, wind, with with speed speed of of 15 15 - - 40 40 km/h km/h causing
causing
raising raising dust dust over over open open areas
areas
22/08
23/08
24/08
25/08
Fajr
Sunrise
Zuhr
Asr
Sunset
Isha
MAX. EXP. .
45 °C
47 °C
48 °C
47 °C
45 °C
48 °C
47 °C
46 °C
44
°C
41 °C
47 °C
PRA RAYYER
TIMES
All times are local time unless otherwise stated.
WEAT THER
very hot
very hot
MIN. REC. SFC. CHART
T
03:56
05:20
34 °C
35 °C
31 °C °C
33 °C
29 °C
31 °C
30 °C
32 °C
37
°C
35 °C
28 °C
very hot + raising dust
very hot + raising dust
11:51
15:26
18:23
19:43
No Current Wa arnin arnings
4 DA DAYYS
FORECAST
T emperatur emperatures
MAX.
47°C
46°C
48°C
48°C
MIN.
29°C
28°C
26°C
27°C
MAX.
Temp.
MIN.
MIN. T
emp.
21/08/2012 0000 UTC
Wind
Direction
NW
NW
NW
NW
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
Wind
Speed
20 - 45 km/h
20 - 45 km/h
15 - 38 km/h
15 - 35 km/h
RECORDED
YESTERDAY Y ATT
KUWA AIT AIRPORT
MAX. RH
MIN. RH
MAX.
Wi ind
TOTA
AL RAIINFA
ALL IN 24 HR.
47 °C
28
°C
14 %
04 %
NW
75 km/h
.09 mm
Consultant Cardiologist
Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555
MD, PH.D, FACC
Inaya German Medical Center
Te: 2575077
Fax: 25723123
William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677
Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Al-Madena 22418714
Al-Shohada’a 22545171
Al-Shuwaikh 24810598
Al-Nuzha 22545171
Sabhan 24742838
Al-Helaly 22434853
Al-Fayhaa 22545051
Al-Farwaniya 24711433
Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983
Al-Fahaheel 23927002
Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983
Ahmadi 23980088
Al-Mangaf 23711183
Al-Shuaiba 23262845
Al-Jahra 25610011
Al-Salmiya 25616368
INTERNATIONAL
CALLS
Afghanistan 0093
Albania 00355
Algeria 00213
Andorra 00376
Angola 00244
Anguilla 001264
Antiga 001268
Argentina 0054
Armenia 00374
Australia 0061
Austria 0043
Bahamas 001242
Bahrain 00973
Bangladesh 00880
Barbados 001246
Belarus 00375
Belgium 0032
Belize 00501
Benin 00229
Bermuda 001441
Bhutan 00975
Bolivia 00591
Bosnia 00387
Botswana 00267
Brazil 0055
Brunei 00673
Bulgaria 00359
Burkina 00226
Burundi 00257
Cambodia 00855
Cameroon 00237
Canada 001
Cape Verde 00238
Cayman Islands 001345
Central African 00236
Chad 00235
Chile 0056
China 0086
Colombia 0057
Comoros 00269
Congo 00242
Cook Islands 00682
Costa Rica 00506
Croatia 00385
Cuba 0053
Cyprus 00357
Cyprus (Northern) 0090392
Czech Republic 00420
Denmark 0045
Diego Garcia 00246
Djibouti 00253
Dominica 001767
Dominican Republic 001809
Ecuador 00593
Egypt 0020
El Salvador 00503
England (UK) 0044
Equatorial Guinea 00240
Eritrea 00291
Estonia 00372
Ethiopia 00251
Falkland Islands 00500
Faroe Islands 00298
Fiji 00679
Finland 00358
France 0033
French Guiana 00594
French Polynesia 00689
Gabon 00241
Gambia 00220
Georgia 00995
Germany 0049
Ghana 00233
Gibraltar 00350
Greece 0030
Greenland 00299
Grenada 001473
Guadeloupe 00590
Guam 001671
Guatemala 00502
Guinea 00224
Guyana 00592
Haiti 00509
Holland (Netherlands) 0031
Honduras 00504
Hong Kong 00852
Hungary 0036
Ibiza (Spain) 0034
Iceland 00354
India 0091
Indian Ocean 00873
Indonesia 0062
Iran 0098
Iraq 00964
Ireland 00353
Italy 0039
Ivory Coast 00225
Jamaica 001876
Japan 0081
Jordan 00962
Kazakhstan 007
Kenya 00254
Kiribati 00686
Kuwait 00965
Kyrgyzstan 00996
Laos 00856
Latvia 00371
Lebanon 00961
Liberia 00231
Libya 00218
Lithuania 00370
Luxembourg 00352
Macau 00853
Macedonia 00389
Madagascar 00261
Majorca 0034
Malawi 00265
Malaysia 0060
Maldives 00960
Mali 00223
Malta 00356
Marshall Islands 00692
Martinique 00596
Mauritania 00222
Mauritius 00230
Mayotte 00269
Mexico 0052
Micronesia 00691
Moldova 00373
Monaco 00377
Mongolia 00976
Montserrat 001664
Morocco 00212
Mozambique 00258
Myanmar (Burma) 0095
Namibia 00264
Nepal 00977
Netherlands (Holland)
0031
Netherlands Antilles 00599
New Caledonia 00687
New Zealand 0064
Nicaragua 00505
Nigar 00227
Nigeria 00234
Niue 00683
Norfolk Island 00672
Northern Ireland (UK)
0044
North Korea 00850
Norway 0047
Oman 00968
Pakistan 0092
Palau 00680
Panama 00507
Papua New Guinea 00675
Paraguay 00595
Peru 0051
Philippines 0063
Poland 0048
Portugal 00351
Puerto Rico 001787
Qatar 00974
Romania 0040
Russian Federation 007
Rwanda 00250
Saint Helena 00290
Saint Kitts 001869
Saint Lucia 001758
Saint Pierre 00508
Saint Vincent 001784
Samoa US 00684
Samoa West 00685
San Marino 00378
Sao Tone 00239
Saudi Arabia 00966
Scotland (UK) 0044
Senegal 00221
Seychelles 00284
Sierra Leone 00232
Singapore 0065
Slovakia 00421
Slovenia 00386
Solomon Islands 00677

A ctor
J Fox to star in TV comedy as dad with Parkinson’s
Michael J Fox, who stepped back from full-time
acting in 2000 to focus on fighting Parkinson’s disease,
will star in a new TV comedy loosely based
on his own life suffering from the illness. NBC
television said on Monday it had ordered a
full 22 episodes of an untitled comedy
series starring the “Spin City” and “Back
to the Future” actor for the fall of
2013. The show will feature Fox as
a husband and father of three
from New York City dealing with
family, career, and challenges
including the degenerative
nervous system disorder,
Parkinson’s disease. “He (Fox)
is utterly relatable, optimistic,
and in a class by himself,
and I have no doubt
that the character he will
create - and the vivid family
characters surrounding him
O’Donnell suffers heart
attack, gets stent
Rosie O’Donnell says she suffered a heart attack last week
and is “lucky to be here.” The 50-year-old comedian
detailed the experience on her blog Monday, saying sudden
nausea, aches and other symptoms pushed her to do an
online search for “women’s heart attack symptoms.” She took a
few aspirin and went to a cardiologist the next day. She says
an artery was 99
percent blocked
and a stent was
inserted.
O’Donnell writes
in a kind of
verse on her
blog. She says:
“Know the
symptoms
ladies/ listen to
the voice inside/
the one we all so
easily ignore.”
The comedian
recently hosted
“The Rosie
Show” on the
Oprah Winfrey
Network. It was
canceled in
36 LIFESTYLE
G o s s i p
- will be both instantly recognizable and hilarious,” NBC
Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement.
Fox, 51, made his name in the 1980s TV comedy
“Family Ties” and as teen adventurer Marty McFly in
the “Back to the Future” movie franchise. He later
starred in TV political comedy “Spin City,”
winning multiple acting awards, but
semi-retired from acting in 2000 as his
symptoms of Parkinson’s worsened
and he focused his efforts on
research for a cure. In recent years,
the Canadian actor has done
voice-over work for movies like
“Stuart Little” and has guest
starred in TV shows like the
comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
and legal drama “The Good
Wife.” Filming for the new sitcom
will begin this year, with
casting for other roles to be
announced later, NBC said.
Obama praises
‘wonderful guy’ Clooney
S ix-time
Swift to perform at VMAs,
US gymnasts to present
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Grammy winner Taylor Swift will perform at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards next month.
But she won’t be the only gold winner in the room. The US Women’s Gymnastics team - better known
as the Fierce Five - will present at the Sept 6 show. Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra
Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber won the women’s team gold medal this month. Douglas,
Maroney and Raisman also won individual medals. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller will also
present awards. Drake and Rihanna lead with five nominations each. They’ll battle Katy Perry,
M.I.A. and Gotye for video of the year. Comedian Kevin Hart will host the VMAs live from the
Staples Center in Los Angeles. Performers include Green Day, Alicia Keys, Pink and One
Direction.
John fears son will face homophobia
Elton John believes his son Zachary’s childhood
is going to be “very difficult”, battling
homophobia and the impact of his father’s
fame, the pop icon said in an interview published
yesterday. The 65-year-old British star and
his Canadian civil partner David Furnish, 49,
became parents on December 25, 2010 to a
child conceived using a donor egg and born via
a surrogate mother. But the singersongwriter
said he was preparing
himself for what would be a
tough time growing up for his
son, who is now 19 months, he
told the weekly British magazine
Radio Times. “At school other children
will say, ‘You don’t have a
mummy’,” John said. “We’ve come a
long way, but there’s still homophobia
and will be until a new generation
of parents don’t instill it in their
children.” He added on his son’s
upbringing: “It’s natural for him. He
calls me ‘Daddy’ and David ‘Papa’.”
John, whose 1997 remake of his 1973
hit “Candle in The Wind” sold 33 million
copies, said the toddler did not yet
have an understanding of his father’s
fame. “When he finds out, he’ll look at
me as if I’m bonkers,” he said. “Being the
child of someone famous is a huge ball
and chain around your ankles. It’s going
to be very difficult.” John explained how
he was trying to give his son a musical
upbringing. “I want music to be a huge part
of his life. I sit him on my lap and he doesn’t
bang the piano,” he said. “He tries to copy me
but he’s not formed enough yet to know what I
do, thank God.” John said that he introduced
Zachary to classical composers Chopin, Mozart
and Beethoven-as well as the children’s song
“Nellie The Elephant”-at a very young age, but
that his son was more interested in football and
cooking.”I won’t push Zachary into anything.
March. W
G eorge Clooney is still a fan of President Obama, and the feeling is
mutual. The president called Clooney “a wonderful guy” and
applauded his politics and character in a joint interview with First
Lady Michelle Obama for Monday’s edition of “Entertainment Tonight.”
“He is a terrific advocate on behalf of the people of Darfur and the people
of Sudan who’ve been brutalized for a long time,” President Obama told
“ET” co-anchor Nancy O’Dell. Their working relationship on
Sudan - and their friendship - started when Obama was a junior
senator and Clooney, “who had traveled there, done documentaries
there and was very well-informed, came to testify in
Congress, and so we got to know each other,” the president said.
As for whether Clooney has POTUS on speed-dial, Obama
demurred, saying the activist actor is conservative when it
comes to his using his line into the White House. “And he’s also
sensitive to the fact that, you know, that if he’s around a lot than
somehow it’ll be tagged as ‘Obama hanging out with
Hollywood stars’ and that’s not who he is,” Obama added. For
her part, the First Lady took a more aesthetic tack on her husband’s
A-list friend, pronouncing him “cute” twice during the sitdown
discussion with O’Dell. Michelle Obama said she’s suspicious
of a “conspiracy” afoot in the Oval Office, as each time
Clooney comes by for a presidential tete-a-tete, the First Lady’s
schedule happens to be booked. “I’m gonna explore that a little
more,” she said. Clooney opened his home in Studio City, Calif.
for a wildly successful Obama fund-raiser on May 10 and will
stump for the president again at two events for American
expats in Geneva, Switzerland on Aug 27. —Agencies
So far, he just loves kicking a ball and watching
people cook,” he said. John also praised
Madonna-despite recently reigniting his spat
with the US singer in an Australian television
interview when he said she looked like a “fairground
stripper” whose career was over.
”Madonna took the
industry by the scruff
of the neck, made opportunities for other
women, like (Lady) Gaga and Katy Perry,” he told
the Radio Times. He said of his own singing
career: “I would (give up) if I felt the voice had
gone, but at 65 it’s getting better and I’m in the
prime of life.” John has sold more than 250 million
records in a career spanning four decades
and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1994.
Brown, Drake sued again over NYC club brawl
Amodel who was injured during a bottle-throwing nightclub brawl between Chris Brown
and Drake sued both singers and the owners of the New York City nightclub on Monday.
Romain Julien, who was sitting at a nearby table during the brawl, suffered a severed tendon
in his right hand during the June 14 melee, according to a lawsuit filed in New York
Supreme Court. Julien also alleged that he endured lacerations from broken glass, cosmetic
deformity and mental distress as a result of the fight. The complaint accused Brown of having a
“hot temper” and inciting the altercation with Drake. The operators of the club Greenhouse and
its basement lounge, W.i.P., are also named in the suit. Julien claimed the operators created a public
nuisance by failing to provide adequate security in the club and serving liquor to intoxicated
patrons. Julien, a model with Re: Quest Model Management is seeking actual and punitive damages.
Representatives for Brown and Drake had no immediate comment. A representative for
Greenhouse and W.i.P. said they will “respond appropriately” after evaluating the lawsuit. Last week,
a company with ties to the club sought to hold Drake and Brown responsible for the melee in a $16
million lawsuit. The suit filed by Entertainment Enterprises Ltd faulted the artists for - at a minimum
- doing nothing to stop the June 14 melee and said it sullied the chic Manhattan nightspot’s name.
The company owns the trademark for Greenhouse. No criminal charges have been filed in the fight,
which left Brown, NBA star Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs and others injured. Police say the
fracas started after members of Drake’s entourage confronted Brown on the dance floor as he was
leaving W.i.P. Drake’s representatives have said he was on his way out and didn’t injure anyone. Both
lawsuits point to news accounts of bad blood between Brown and Drake, both of whom have dated
singer Rihanna.
Judd’s husband loses leg after SD crash
ynonna Judd’s husband
has lost his leg
after a motorcycle
crash in South Dakota. Michael
Scott “Cactus” Moser was riding
a motorcycle on US
Highway 16 in the Black Hills
on Saturday when he crossed
the center line and hit a car. He
was airlifted to a hospital. A
representative for Judd said
Monday that Moser’s leg was
“severed at the scene of the
accident” and that doctors
have amputated his leg above
his knee. Moser has also had
surgery on his hand. Judd is
postponing scheduled concerts
in Canada as a result.
Moser is a resident of Nashville,
Tenn., and the drummer in the
country singer’s band. The
statement says the couple
appreciates the “well-wishes
from family, friends and fans.”

This file photo taken on October 26, 2010 shows British director Tony Scott arriving with
his family on the red carpet for the premiere of the film “Unstoppable” at the Regency
Village Theater in Los Angeles.
Director Tony Scott loved fast cars, riding fast motorcycles
and creating some of the most memorable action
sequences of the past quarter century. He was even
planning a sequel to his hit “Top Gun.” Yet on Sunday, police
removed the director’s body from Los Angeles Harbor hours
after they say he stopped his car on the towering Vincent
Thomas Bridge and jumped. His death stunned friends and
fans and left Hollywood buzzing about what could have
prompted one of the industry’s more successful filmmakers
to take an 18-story leap to his death. An autopsy and notes
he left for loved ones will offer investigators clues, but any
answers that authorities obtain will not be released for several
weeks.
The bridge is a favorite filming location for action directors,
although the 68-year-old Scott apparently never used it
for one of his films. The avid rock climber directed more than
15 movies that included such unforgettable sequences as the
dog fights of “Top Gun” and the raw power of a runaway train
in “Unstoppable.” As a director and producer, Scott worked
with Hollywood’s top actors, including Tom Cruise, Denzel
Washington, Will Smith and Robert Redford, and helped influence
a generation of action buffs. Cruise, who starred in “Top
Gun” and confirmed he was working with Scott on a sequel
earlier this year, said he’d lost a dear friend.
“He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is
immeasurable,” Cruise wrote in a statement. “My deepest sorrow
and thoughts are with his family at this time.” Notes to
loved ones were found in his Scott’s and at another location,
Coroner’s Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said. The death
was being treated as a probable suicide, but a formal determination
could take a month or more as toxicology and tis-
Comedienne Phyllis Diller, the former housewife
whose raucous cackle and jokes about her own
looks made her one of America’s first female
stand-up comedy stars, died in her sleep on Monday at
age 95, her longtime manager said. Diller was found in
File photo shows Prince Frederic von Anhalt and comedian
Phyllis Diller celebrating the 25th wedding anniversary
of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Prince Frederic von An halt at
their home in Los Angeles, California. — AFP
her bed at her home in the affluent Brentwood section
of Los Angeles by her son, Perry, who had come to visit
her, manager Milt Suchin said. “She had a smile on her
face, as you’d expect,” Suchin told Reuters.
Her publicist, Fred Wostbrock, called her “a true pioneer”
and “the first lady of stand-up comedy.” A friend
and fellow comic, Joan Rivers, said on Monday that
Diller cleared a path for a younger generation of female
stand-up artists to trade on their jokes alone. “Phyllis
Diller was the last from an era that insisted a woman
had to look funny in order to be funny,” Rivers said in a
message posted through Twitter. Diller created an
indelible persona with her distinctive braying laugh, a
cigarette holder, teased hair, outlandish costumes and
a fictional lout of a husband she called Fang.
Her act consisted of rapid-fire jokes and one-liners
that often spoofed social pretenses by poking fun at
herself (“I went bathing nude on the beach the other
day; it took me 20 minutes to get arrested”) as well as a
world of invented characters.
In addition to husband Fang - “What would you call
a man with one tooth that was 2 inches long?” - there
was her mother-in-law Moby Dick, her skinny sister-inlaw
Captain Bligh and her neighbor Mrs Clean. Diller
prided herself on keeping her jokes tightly written and
boasted that she held a world record for getting 12
laughs a minute. A late-bloomer by show business
standards, Diller got her start at age 37, making her
debut at San Francisco’s Purple Onion in 1955 as she
broke into the male-dominated comedy circuit. Her
first national exposure came as a contestant on
Groucho Marx’s TV quiz show “You Bet Your Life.”
At that time Diller was a housewife who had raised
five children, as well as a newspaper columnist, publicist
and radio writer. She discovered a flair for stand-up
jokes at school parent-teacher meetings and similar
gatherings and decided to make comedy a career at
the urging of her then-husband, Sherwood Diller. The
couple divorced in 1965 and a second marriage to
singer Warde Donovan ended 10 years later. Diller
gradually adopted the props, zany wardrobe and stage
persona that would become her trademark.
lifestyle
M u s i c & m o v i e s
sue tests are completed. In the meantime, investigators will
look into Scott’s health and whether any other factors contributed
to his death. “The family asks that their privacy is
respected at this time,” said Simon Halls, a spokesman for
Scott and his older brother, Oscar-winning director, Ridley
Scott. The bridge where Scott jumped has appeared in “The
Fast and the Furious,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Charlie’s Angels”
and “To Live and Die in LA.” It has been used in filming 13
times since 2011, according to the California Film
Commission.
Motorist David Silva told the Los Angeles Times that Scott
appeared to hesitate before climbing a fence along the
bridge, and again before leaping. He said fellow motorists at
first thought the director was performing an extreme sports
stunt, but quickly realized he didn’t have a parachute or other
safety equipment. The brothers frequently collaborated on
movies, and their company also produced the successful TV
series “Numb3rs” and “The Good Wife.” CBS, which aired both
shows, said “one of the brightest lights in the industry has
gone out.” Scott, who was born in Great Britain and lived in
Beverly Hills, is survived by his wife, actress Donna Scott, who
appeared in several of her husband’s films, and twin sons. He
had been planning a sequel to “Top Gun,” the movie that
helped propel him to other big-budget films. Scott often said
he got his greatest thrills from filmmaking.
“The biggest edge I live on is directing. That’s the most
scary, dangerous thing you can do in your life,” Scott said in
an interview about his 1995 naval adventure “Crimson Tide.”
“The scariest thing in my life is the first morning of production
on all my movies. It’s the fear of failing, the loss of face
and a sense of guilt that everybody puts their faith in you and
This file photo taken on July 20, 2009 shows British film
director Tony Scott posing in Paris during a photocall to
present his movie “The Taking of Pelham 123”, a remake of
the 1974 version.
From housewife to comic
“If I showed you my opening night photo, I looked
like the woman next door,” Diller once said. “And it took
me a while to realize that people don’t pay to see the
woman next door. They can look at her for nothing.” A
This June 5, 2010 file photo shows US actress Phyllis Diller
attending the 9th Annual Butterfly Ball. — AP
series of TV appearances followed and Diller soon
became an instantly recognized star. She made her
movie debut in 1961 with a small part in Elia Kazan’s
“Splendor in the Grass” and played the title role in a
1970 Broadway production of “Hello Dolly!”
Diller also developed a close friendship with the late
comedy great Bob Hope and co-starred with him in
Phyllis Diller, who died on Monday at age 95,
went from housewife to comedienne in
the1950s, eventually becoming a star and trailblazer
for other female comics. Following are some
reactions to her death.
Don Rickles, in a statement - “Phyllis Diller was
not only a great comedienne but her memorable
teaming with Bob Hope brought female comics to
the forefront. Her life was filled with goodness and
she deserved the respect she received. She will be
missed.”
Barbra Streisand, in a statement - “I adored her.
She was a wondrous spirit who was great to me.”
Joan Rivers, on Twitter - “I’m beyond saddened
by the death of Phyllis Diller. We were friends -
Melissa and I had a wonderful time with her at lunch
just a month ago. The only tragedy is that Phyllis
Diller was the last from an era that insisted a woman
had to look funny in order to be funny.”
Henry Winkler, on Twitter - “PHYLLIS DILLER: a
painter on canvas and in humor of the human condition
MAY REST IN PEACE making GOD laugh.”
Ellen Degeneres, on Twitter - “We lost a comedy
legend today. Phyllis Diller was the queen of the oneliners.
She was a pioneer.”
not coming through.” He was the first of the Scott brothers to
enjoy blockbuster success with “Top Gun,” the top-grossing
film of 1986 at $176 million. Scott teamed with Cruise again
four years later on the hit “Days of Thunder.”
Ridley Scott later surpassed his younger brother’s career in
terms of hits and accolades, earning an Oscar for “Gladiator”
and three best director nominations. Tony Scott never was in
the running for an Oscar, and critics often slammed his
movies for emphasizing style over substance. He said he
gained perspective by mixing things up between film, TV and
commercials. “I like changing the pace of my life, changing
my discipline. It gives me ideas for how to see the world differently,”
Scott said in a 2007 interview. His work impacted a
generation of actors and filmmakers, who praised him after
learning of death. “Shocking and devastating news,” Christian
Slater, who was directed by Scott in the 1993 film “True
Romance,” wrote on Twitter. “He was the best and will be
greatly missed.”
Gene Hackman, who worked with Scott on “Crimson Tide”
and “Enemy of the State,” said the director “was always sensitive
to the needs of an actor. We’ve lost a wonderful, creative
talent.” Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez wrote on Twitter, “Thanks
for the inspiration, advice, encouragement, and the decades
of great entertainment.” Justin Timberlake wrote on the site,
“His movies made growing up more fun for me.” — AP
three movies. She was a frequent guest on his television
shows and accompanied him on a Christmas visit
to US troops in Vietnam.
Another contemporary of Diller, stand-up veteran
Don Rickles, saluted her as a “great comedienne” whose
“memorable teaming with Bob Hope brought female
comics to the forefront.” Ellen DeGeneres tweeted that
Diller was “the queen of the one-liners” and Whoopi
Goldberg called her a “true original.”
Diller, who was an accomplished pianist, built a
career around lampooning her looks but she also spent
a fortune perfecting them. By her count, she had more
than 20 plastic surgeries. Diller, who titled her 2005
autobiography “Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse,”
counted her ability to laugh at herself as one of her
greatest comic assets. In a 2004 interview with Reuters
she said she regarded her audiences as her greatest
teacher.
“I let them laugh with me, at me, which makes the
audience very comfortable,” she said. “I’ve learned
everything from them. You’re a comic and you’re not a
success until you hear laughter.” In later years, she suffered
from heart problems and fractured her pelvis in a
fall but continued to work in clubs and on television
well into her 80s. She provided the voice of an insect in
the 1998 animated movie “A Bug’s Life, appeared in the
2005 comedy documentary “The Aristocrats” and supplied
the voice of Peter’s mother in 2006-2007 episodes
of the cartoon TV series “Family Guy.” Suchin said she
made a guest appearance last year on the daytime drama
“The Bold and the Beautiful.” Diller and her first husband
had five children. — Reuters
Larry King, on Twitter - “I adored Phyllis Diller -
she was a great guest, a terrific lady & certainly one of
the funniest people ever.”
Cher, on Twitter - “Oh! God that makes me sad!
What a shame We loved her in this house! She was
More amazing than i say.”
Marie Osmond, on Twitter - “What a voice. What
a presence. She was an all-out comedian. We will miss
Phyllis Diller.”
Andy Richter, on Twitter - “Lucky enough to work
with Phyllis Diller a few times. Loved her. Sad to hear
she died. A hero of mine.”
Dane Cook, on Twitter - “Phyllis Diller passed
away - age 95. Legend. Inspiration. A funny human
being that brought tons of laughs to this world.”-
Reuters
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
In this Sunday photo, Los Angeles Port Police pull the body of Tony Scott from the water
beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, Calif. — AP/AFP photos
Traffic rolls over the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San
Pedro section of Los Angeles yesterday.
Scott McKenzie, whose 1967 recording
of “San Francisco (Be Sure to
Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” came to
encapsulate the hippie movement, has
died in Los Angeles at the age of 73. A
message on his official website said
McKenzie had been ill with Guillain-Barre
Syndrome, a disease affecting the nervous
system, and died at home on Saturday.
“San Francisco,” written by the late
John Phillips of California band The
Mamas and The Papas, became a worldwide
hit in 1967 and is credited with
bringing thousands of young people to
the city in search of flower power and free
love. McKenzie said on the website that
the song “was not so much about the city
itself, but about an idea. It was more
about the Monterey Pop Festival.”
The singer followed tens of thousands
of young people by dropping out of mainstream
society in the late 1960s and moving
to Virginia for 10 years following his hit
song. In the 1980s and 1990s he joined
The Mamas and the Papas and toured
with them until the group disbanded.
“Scott was in and out of hospital since
2010 after falling ill with Guillain-Barre
Syndrome, a disease affecting the nervous
system,” his website said. “It is thought he
may have had a heart attack in early
August 2012. Staff did not want him to
leave the hospital, but he wanted to be at
home and passed away on 18th August
2012.” — Reuters
Scott McKenzie

On the first day of the Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market, shoppers start the hunt for bargains,
antiques and one-of-a-kind items.
By Stacy Downs
The Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea
Market, in a town with a population of seven,
intrigued me. Each of its twice-a-year, fourday
events turns this blip on the map into a hustling,
bustling center of 500 dealers and more than
75,000 customers. You can’t help but appreciate
those uplifting big numbers in such a small place
during these downtrodden times. Kansas City-area
employees from Hallmark and scrapbook supply
company K & Company talked up the heaps of
rusty, crusty stuff as inspirational. Interior designers,
too, sang Sparks’ praises, saying it’s a primo
source for the interesting and unexpected.
“It’s definitely worth the day trip,” says decorator
Sara Noble of Noble Designs in Olathe, who searches
for treasures for clients and her own home.
Among Noble’s best finds was a wooden bed frame
with a headboard and footboard for $50.
Five times over the past decade, Noble has journeyed
to Sparks, 24 miles north of Atchison, Kan,
and 23 miles west of St Joseph, Mo. The drive is a
pastoral one of green and brown fields and valleys
Antique pieces of Croesus glassware for sale.
that even during achingly dry, hot days feels like an
ocean of possibilities.
So this year the pirate in my soul decided it was
high time to set sail in a sport-utility vehicle. Would
Sparks mark the spot for buried treasure? I was
willing to dig. Brothers Gary and Tom Winters created
the flea market in Sparks 30 years ago because
the town was on the route to other antiques shows
during the spring and on Labor Day weekend. Its
11 miles south of White Cloud, Kan., where native
“Wolf River Bob” Breeze, who acted in Hollywood
Westerns, helped found a flea market.
The Winterses borrowed the idea of street performers
from Silver Dollar City, the Branson amusement
park, to turn the Sparks flea market into an
attraction. Slowly, word got out. Sparks grew into
the dominant flea market in the area because it
lasts longer and is on the beaten path.
Clowning and other street performances have
gone away, but bits of Branson flavor linger, including
folksy “no parkin” signs and hand-painted
vacant houses converted into vendor storefronts,
most noticeably the “Sparks Hotel. Full Up.”
Photographer Tammy Ljungblad and I went
there in May, arriving on a Thursday, a day that
would be less crowded than weekends. Most
important, good stuff just might still be around.
Unique and vintage finds at the Sparks Antiques and Collectibles
Flea Market last May include a mounted bear head, pink pottery
and a wooden decoy.
Letters from an old Scrabble game.
lifestyle
T r a v e l
Prepping for “picking”-the act of searching
through shelves, boxes, rows and mountains of
stuff to find gems-is crucial. Besides toting a bottle
of water and a large market bag or cart, one should
wear comfy shoes, sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat.
And, of course, carry cash. Hand sanitizer is also a
good idea.
“You’re gonna get dirty,” says Fancy Smith, owner
of Cactus Creek home decor store in Weston and
a Sparks shopping veteran. Smith also is co-host of
the radio show “Junk in My Trunk” and was recently
a contestant on the History Channel’s new reality
show “Picked Off.” One of Smith’s favorite Sparks/
White Cloud finds-one of only a handful of things
she won’t sell-is a heart-shaped piece of wood decorated
with daisies and three steer horns.
Smith likes to take her three sons picking with
her, including trips to Sparks. They have fun. Her 9year-old,
Wyatt, collects vintage license plates. “Not
only is it a cheap, enjoyable family activity, kids can
be awesome help,” Smith says. Wyatt found a
cowhide purse when he was 3. His mom loved it.
“Being low to the ground has its definite benefits,”
she says. Smith also sells her picks at
Restoration Emporium in Kansas City’s West
Bottoms. Owner Chrysalyn Huff describes the vibe
of the Sparks flea market as “vintage heaven-y.” She
takes a trailer up to Sparks because it’s one of the
three largest shopping trips of the year for her
store. She likes the upcoming Labor Day weekend
market best because vendors have had all summer
to round up stuff from attics, basements and barns.
“Keep in mind Sparks is a true old-school flea
market,” Huff says. “This is where prices are much
lower than other shows and where you find a lot of
pre-project items that can be repurposed with
paint and some imagination.” Translation: junk. And
right now, junk is the hot thing.
Junk is a symbol of hope. For the sellers of
unwanted figurines and charmingly chipped picture
frames, there’s the golden opportunity of profit.
They’re usually able to sell an object for at least
three times more than they paid for it at a garage
or estate sale.
And buyers might find not just bargains, but an
item that makes their homes different from anyone
else’s. It’s a chance to shine a little. Good junk is
getting harder to find. The Internet and popular
shows like “American Pickers” on the History
Channel have made people savvier about just what
they’re sitting on. Because of this challenge and
the current state of the economy, sellers are a little
less willing to negotiate prices unless it’s a largeticket
item or you’re buying lots of junk.
Here’s the current mantramaking the rounds on
social media: I Hunt It / I Buy It / I Load It / I Haul It /
I Unload It / I Wash It / I Scrub It / I Paint It / I Fix It / I
Price It / I Display It / I Pay Taxes / I Pay Rent / Now
How can you ask me to take any less?
It was raining that early morning in May when I
got my first taste of Sparks. Much of the merchandise
was protected under tarps and hidden under
blankets. Still, the wet weather didn’t keep away
shoppers, who were carrying bags and pulling little
red wagons.
Ljungblad already knew the lay of the land.
She’d made the trip last year with her sister, who
sells antiques in Colorado. Her sister made the trip
back west with a full truck. Ljungblad and I didn’t
divide and conquer the market much because cellphone
reception is spotty at best in Sparks.
Together we walked through a pole barn
packed with dozens of vendors selling hurricane
lamps, old paperbacks and tableware, the ubiquitous
stuff of many antique malls. My treasure
wasn’t there. We explored the Sparks Hotel, where I
picked up but put back a vintage typewriter. I
already have a few of models of the hot hipster collectible.
The junk jackpot was across the street, an old
house packed floor to ceiling with architectural
remnants such as gates, fence posts and even a
kitchen sink. Maybe my treasure was hidden
among the rubble? No.
We took an early lunch break. If you’re looking
for fresh gourmet salad greens, vegetables and
fruit, you need to pack at home. On the menu is
typical fair fare, including freshly squeezed lemonade,
Italian sausages, kettle corn and funnel cakes.
We were lured by the aroma of cast-iron-cooked
fruit cobblers. Near much of the food is a tall, treehouse-type
tower that flea market officials can
climb to make announcements using a PA system.
The seven Sparks residents either help with the flea
market or make themselves scarce.
“It’s really quiet and nice the rest of the year,”
says Debbie Davis, who has lived 30 years in Sparks
with her husband, Roy, who was born here. He
rents space to vendors. “All there is to the town is
just a handful of houses. During the flea market,
cars are lined up and down the highway.” The rain
and gearing up for the larger weekend crowds
meant a busy time for main organizer Ray Tackett,
who lives in Troy, Kan., close to Sparks.
“Year-round I hear from someone about the flea
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Bonnie Jacobson, of Teeter Totter Antiques of Willis, Kansas, made sale tags for the antiques she brought with her
to sell at the Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market.
market every day through calls and emails,” he
says. “Closer to the flea market, they ask what the
weather is going to be like. They ask what we’re
going to have for sale. I never know what we’re
going to have. That’s up to the vendors.”
In May, outdoor vendors sold red, yellow, green
and blue painted wooden footstools from China.
New and old typography-letters and numbers from
board games and store signs-filled bins and buckets;
large pieces leaned against buildings.
“Mantiques” were frequently seen: antlers, a bear’s
head and wooden tackle boxes with chic, wellworn
patina.
Vendors selling a variety of items, including vintage cameras,
line the main street for the White Cloud Flea market
in White Cloud, Kansas. — MCT photos
And along a sideline of crowded booths, I
unearthed my treasure. A Greenwood, Mo, craftsman
fashions farmhouse tables out of salvaged
wood. Long ones with custom features. For
between $400 and $500. But it wasn’t a piece I
could cram into Ljungblad’s SUV. So I made the
hour-and-a half-long trek home empty-handed
except for the contact information for the farmhouse
table craftsman. I think of it as a treasure
map of hope.—MCT
Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market
When: Aug 30-31 and Sept 1-2. Booths open
between 7 and 8 am and close by 6 pm
Where: North Kansas 7 and 240th Road in Sparks,
Kan.
Admission: Free
Parking: Free on the 4-acre parking lot controlled by
the flea market.
Don’t miss: White Cloud, 11 miles north of Sparks. It
contains a flea market with finer antiques and a lookout
point for the Midwest’s “Four Corners”: Kansas, Missouri,
Nebraska and Iowa.-MCT
Longtime vendor Betty
Oestmann, of Tecumseh,
Nebraska, sets up shop
in the ‘Sparks Hotel’ at
the Sparks Antiques and
Collectibles Flea Market
last May.
If you go

Temi Famodu says, “I don’t usually wear hats, because
I’m scared that they won’t look good with my curly hair,
but I was surprised that this one looked OK.”
Abby VanVleet says, ‘This hat reminds me of one that
my grandmother brought me from Russia. The style
reminds me of my heritage. As a student living in
Chicago, it is necessary I find a hat that is practical for
the brutal winter, yet in vogue.’
Carine Roitfeld says Karl Lagerfeld is like “a rock star”. The former
French vogue editor - who was at the helm of the
respected fashion publication for over 10 years - is astonished
by the level of fame the esteemed designer has achieved
and thinks he gets recognized as much as A-list actors and musicians.
Carine - who has styled the last two seasons’ Chanel campaigns
for Karl - said: “Lagerfeld always calls me Mme Roitfeld,
never Carine.
“It’s funny; he’s like a rock star now. You go on the street with
him and it’s like being with J-Lo.” Despite her own “rock and roll”
appearance, Carine insists her behavior is far from glamorous and
she will always put her family first. She added in an interview
with the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I look a bit rock and roll
because of my black eyes, my black clothes and because I am
quite skinny. “But I have always been more of a mummy than an
editor. I speak to my children every day - we are a very compact
family. For me, they are the most important and they know
that.”— Bang Showbiz
Carine Roitfeld
Asmall South Korean bar has been ordered to pay damages to
France-based fashion house Chanel for using its name, a court
spokesman said yesterday. The Seoul Central District Court ordered
the Chanel Business Club located in the southern suburbs of Seoul to pay
10 million won ($8,800) in compensation, he said. The French firm claimed
the bar’s years-long use of “Chanel” in signs and leaflets for its business
had damaged “the distinctiveness and fame” of its registered trademarks.
It said the bar had damaged Chanel’s image by using its trademarks for
services seen as negative. The judgment was made after the bar owner
failed to reply within a legal deadline of 30 days following official notification
of the lawsuit. In a similar case, the Daejeon High Court in 2010 ruled
that a karaoke bar’s use of the name Burberry violated the rights of the
British luxury brand, Yonhap news agency reported.—AFP
Alix Hennen dons a hat from a far more accessible collection
featuring Swanepoel’s signature flair available
in Target stores, priced at $ 20.
This time of year, hats are a practical affair, but that
doesn’t mean they can’t also be stylish. The Albertus
Swanepoel for Target collection will keep your head
warm and chic. The critically acclaimed milliner started his
career as a fashion designer in his native South Africa. After
coming to the United States, he worked as a glove designer
and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in
New York. Now his custom collaborations are showing up
on the runways of Carolina Herrera, Marc Jacobs, Proenza
Schouler and Tommy Hilfiger.
A far more accessible collection featuring Swanepoel’s
signature flair is in Target stores, priced at $20. “They’re just
so visually appealing and wearable,” said Trish Adams,
Target’s senior vice president of apparel and accessories,
citing the faux furs and colors. “It’s an opportunity to buy
an accessory that makes an outfit current.” Swanepoel
spoke to us from his studio in New York.
Q: What was the inspiration behind this collection?
A: Being from South Africa, I try to keep some of my
heritage alive with some leopard-print hats, oversized
flowers and feathers. There’s a hat for every girl to wear, so
there’s a broad spectrum: fedoras, cloches and floppys.
Q: I loved to see the attention to detail, like the linings.
A: When you turn the hat over, you have this fun sort of
thing inside. I like the unexpectedness of a hat. I like over-
lifestyle
F a s h i o n
Centrepoint the popular shopping destination
in Kuwait would like to greet all
its patrons on the festive occasion of Eid
Al-Fitr. An exciting new collection is now available
in stores for you to check out and promises
to completely bowl you over with a wide
variety of styles to choose from.
At “Juniors”, your little ones can too sparkle
and shine with the new Eid collection at
Centrepoint. An entirely new range of shimmering
festive wear that adds a touch of opulence
is surely set to mesmerize your senses.
Juniors have created a colorful selection of
dresses for girls with bold stripes and dots, as
well as floral designs and eye-catching motifs
to suit the latest fashion trends. For boys, a
fresh range of hip t-shirts and checked shorts
are in store.
Perfect for the summer and designed for
comfort, the clothes are in cool cottons. The
girls have an added treat with an eclectic
range of accessories including hoop earrings,
pearl bracelets, metallic bangles, and cute key
chains to adorn their bags. Juniors are delighted
to be a beacon of happiness, with its season-perfect
collection of clothes and accessories
for children. From petite occasion wear
to smart casuals, the entire range showcases
an endless variety of the latest offering for
your little one.
Splash the high street fashion power house
brand at Centrepoint is all set to woo its cus-
Sarah Edwards dons a hat from a far more accessible
collection featuring Swanepoel’s signature flair available
in Target stores, priced at $ 20.
applying things to it, to make it more individual. It’s one of
my trademarks.
Q: What’s your style?
A: For me, it’s really important that hats are recognizable
in shape. When you look at a hat, it has to remind you of
something your father or mother wore. What I did for Target
was take shapes people can relate to, update them and
make them more modern. People must be stricken by a hat.
It’s personal because it’s so close to your face. It’s like a perfume,
a little bit-you really have to bond with your hat.
Q: What are current trends?
A: I think there’s definitely a trend toward a slightly
wider brim. There’s a ‘70s feel. In the Target collection, there
are a few hats with slightly wider brims, so there’s more to
cover up; it keeps you warm. I feel that there’s a thing coming
next year with the (Elsa) Schiaparelli exhibit (at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute) with surrealistic
hats, influenced by Salvador Dali.
Q: Have you been to Minnesota?
A: Yes! I went to Minneapolis a few times during my collaboration
with Target. I didn’t see major snow, but
because I’m from South Africa and even though I’ve been
here 22 years, I get super excited about snow.
Q: What are your tips for finding the perfect hat?
tomer with an exclusive dazzling and crystal
embellished collection for this Eid; keeping in
mind that one would always like to add a
touch of gleam to their wardrobe staples. The
compilation of 27 different styles are available
under one of the most popular brands
2Xtream, Ladies Youth and special collection
Eid scarf’s under ladies accessories .
Available in variety of bold colors’ golden,
red, hot pink and silver the collection also features
embellished tops and quirky designs.
These embellished pieces will be up for grasp;
to add in your wardrobe staple, so make a
dash to your nearest store and enjoy the fun
and festivities of this wonderful season.
Shoe Mart has introduced a unique collection
this season. The collection comes with
great shoes coupled with matching clutches
and accessories. Stilettos and sandals enclosed
in elegant red and pretty pink with statement
brooches and stones to leopard print peep
toes rings out style and sensuality for this festive
season.
To compliment the festive season, one
should look out for the new must-have fashion
accessories, hand bag collections of gorgeous
styles and colors. Completely new to Lifestyle,
the NYX Nail polish collection in 43 delicious
shades comes in almost every imaginable color
is a must- have.
Also enjoy the scent of your favorite fragrance
oil without worrying about burning
candles with lifestyle new electric aroma diffuser
(IRIS) with its special features like
smoothing and healthy air with aromatic mist,
environmental friendly and auto shut off function.
So ride on to any Centrepoint stores and
adorn yourself for Eid.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Nikki Goergen dons a hat from a far more accessible
collection featuring Swanepoel’s signature flair available
in Target stores, priced at $20.—MCT photos
A: For me personally, it’s a law of contrasts. Say you
have a rounder face; I feel you’re better off with a squarish
shape. If you have an upturned nose, you should wear a
downward brim. The hat should cancel out your features.
You should wear a hat with carelessness in a way. You
should wear it in the house and wear it to the deli. Then, if
you feel more comfortable, wear it out. Hats are so great
because you hide behind them, but they’re also a conversation
piece.
Q: Any tips on matching them to outerwear?
A: For me, these hats go with everything. I say this all
the time: Christian LaCroix is one of my favorite designers,
and he said, “A hat is a dot on an I.” It’s an exclamation mark
that finishes off an outfit. — MCT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012
Pioneering
comedienne Phyllis
Diller
37
dies at age 95
Palestinian children enjoy a ride in a park on the second day of Eid Al-Fitr, marking the end of Islam’s fasting holy month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on
August 20, 2012. — AFP
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 12, 2012, Dylan Brown, (left),
founder of The Yard Entertainment, and Philip Atwell, owner of
Geronimo Films, pose with models of the Tupac Shakur hologram
at the Subtractive Studio in Santa Monica, Calif. — AP photo
A video image of
the Tupac Shakur
hologram is displayed
on a computer
monitor.
Video images of the Tupac Shakur hologram are displayed on a
computer monitor.
All-star action romp “The Expendables 2”
opened at the top of the North
American box office, easily dethroning
another sequel, “The Bourne Legacy,” industry
figures showed Monday. “Expendables 2”,
which stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Jet Li as mercenaries,
raked in $28.6 million since its debut on
Friday, according to movie tracker Exhibitor
Relations.
“The Bourne Legacy”-starring Jeremy
Renner as a secret agent threatened by his
employers in the latest installment of the
popular series that had starred Matt Damon
as Jason Bourne-took in $17.1 million for second
place. That kept it ahead of another new
When Tupac Shakur rose from the stage in the
California desert earlier this year, it was not
only a jaw-dropping resurrection, but also
the beginning of a new form of live entertainment.
“Come with me,” the digital Shakur called out, not just
to tens of thousands of screaming fans but seemingly
to other artists. Follow, they will. Elvis Presley’s estate
announced it has authorized holograms of the King
of Rock, Marilyn Monroe’s estate has expressed interest
and there’s no shortage of other beloved stars
whose fans would die to see them perform again.
Advances in digital artistry make it all possible,
presenting celebrity estates with new commercial
and creative opportunities, but also some ethical
quandaries. “I think we’ve scratched the surface with
Tupac,” said Dylan Brown, a filmmaker who along
with director Philip Atwell and effects studio Digital
Domain helped bring the Shakur hologram to life. “If
it’s done tastefully, like Tupac was done tastefully, I
think it could be a wonderful form of entertainment.”
Brown, owner of The Yard Entertainment, and
Atwell, owner of Geronimo Films, had each toyed
with the idea of using holograms in concerts for a
decade, but the technology wasn’t there. Brown, who
works closely with Snoop Dogg and Atwell, who collaborates
with Dr Dre, knew that once they chose
Shakur for the holographic debut, it had to be more
than just a technological marvel.
“We wanted to be really respectful of the family
foremost,” said Atwell. “We just wanted to do something
that wasn’t in bad taste.” Reaction to the Shakur
hologram was huge, with the performance garnering
15 million YouTube hits within 48 hours and winning
a top award at the creative marketing gathering
Cannes Lions. “You start to open up a whole new universe
of legal questions,” said Ed Ulbrich, Chief
Creative Officer of Digital Domain, which is also working
on the Presley holograms. “As such, we have no
intentions of doing anything other than being utterly
respectful of these legends and icons.”
Because it’s two-dimensional, the Shakur performer
isn’t a true hologram, which, by definition, is a
3-D image (Ulbrich notes the technology isn’t quite
there for that). But it’s a vivid digital creation that
audiences are far more accustomed to seeing in
movies - except there is no screen. Brown and Atwell
say part of its challenge was integrating Shakur’s performance
into the larger show featuring Snoop
Dogg, Dr Dre and others.
release, “ParaNorman,” an animated movie
about a boy who can speak with the dead,
which raked in $14.1 million in ticket sales.
Political spoof “The Campaign,” starring Will
Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, fell to fourth
place, with box office receipts of $13.1 million.
“Sparkle”-a Motown-style musical set in the
1960s, featuring the late Whitney Houston in
her final film appearance-opened in fifth
place, with $11.6 million.
“The Dark Knight Rises,” the latest Batman
film, slipped to sixth place, earning $11 million.
The final installment in the trilogy directed
by Christopher Nolan has so far raked in a
total of $410 million. Quirky fantasy-comedy
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green” debuted in
seventh place at $10.8 million. Meryl Streep
and Tommy Lee Jones’s romantic comedy
“Hope Springs,” about a married couple trying
to get back their spark, was in eighth place at
$9.1 million. Rounding out the top 10 were
teen comedy “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog
Days” ($3.8 million) and science-fiction action
remake “Total Recall” ($3.5 million). — AFP
Shakur’s entry and exit had to be carefully
planned to fit into the show, with the creators opting
to have his image burst apart into a cloud of gold
specks. Brown and Atwell said the dissolve seemed
most appropriate. “He has a mystique and that aura
that kind of transcends death even,” Brown said.
Stars wield extensive control over how their
names, voices and images are used after they die
through likeness, trademark and copyright protections,
and now holograms offer them yet another
consideration. Before digital filmmaking, attorney
Laura Zwicker said the question for her clients boiled
down to “Could you use my photograph?” Now, they
have to consider whether they’ll be returned to the
big screen, inserted in commercials or put back on
stage, said Zwicker a strategic wealth planner in the
Los Angeles office of the firm Greenberg Glusker.
Celebrity likeness rights vary around the country,
with stars’ estates in California enjoying 70 years of
protection. Indiana offers 100 years and 16 other
states have laws protecting celebrities’ likenesses,
said Jeremiah Reynolds, an attorney with the firm
Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump and Aldisert. The firm
handles numerous intellectual property issues,
including those related to Michael Jackson’s estate.
While holograms are likely covered by existing
laws, potential legal challenges will likely focus on
whether the performance is protected by the First
Amendment. “You get into very subjective areas
about what is artistic,” Reynolds said.
Marilyn Monroe’s estate threatened legal action
earlier this year against a company claiming it was
working on a digital show using the model-actress’
likeness. The technology for holograms or other digital
performances are intriguing, the estate’s handlers
at Authentic Brands say, but they would only partner
with people who could make a top-notch product.
Brown and Atwell said they felt enormous pressure
to make sure the Shakur performance was worthy
of being an introduction to a new form of live
entertainment. “I also hope that the people who do
follow us do it with the same care and the same
sense of dedication because I would hate to see a
bad version of Marilyn Monroe, a bad version of Elvis
up there,” Brown said.
Brown and Atwell are proud that Shakur is leading
the hologram revolution. “We’re part of the hip hop
generation,” Brown said. “It shows the growth of that
culture, of that business and it says a lot about what
The Recording Academy is
moving its annual live
Grammy Awards nominations
concert special to Music City. The
show will air Dec 5 live on CBS from
Bridgestone Arena. This is the fifth
time The Recording Academy has
held “The Grammy Nominations
Concert Live,” but the first outside
Los Angeles. “There’s probably no
city more renowned as a music center
in America and probably the
world than Nashville, Tennessee.”
said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of
The Recording Academy. “We have
had a great experience with the city
of Nashville as an organization.”
Portnow said he likes his staff to
examine how the Grammys are presented
from time to time. That’s
what led to The Recording
Academy’s nominations out of a
hotel ballroom and onto the concert
stage, and taking a year in Nashville
seemed like a logical next step. “It
made sense to me that we also
review the location and the venues
and just the whole flavor of it,” he
said. The Recording Academy will
reveal nominees in several categories
for the 55th annual Grammy
Awards, to be held Feb 10 in Los
Angeles, during the hour-long special
that will feature a handful of
performances by former Grammy
winners and nominees.
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean called
the event “a perfect fit” in a Tuesday
news release, and Portnow acknowledged
Nashville’s vigorous efforts to
lure such a marquee event to the
city helped land the show. Nashville
has a long history with the
Grammys. It is home to one of The
Recording Academy’s oldest and
most successful chapters. Grammy
winners of all stripes - from Taylor
Swift and Lady Antebellum to The
Black Keys and Kings of Leon
among scores more - call the city
home.
And although the event has likely
been forgotten by most, the
Grammys were once held in
Nashville. Andy Williams hosted the
1973 awards from the Tennessee
Theatre. In the 21st century, city
leaders are building a new convention
center next to the arena and
would like another shot at the big
event. Portnow said he’s open to the
idea of moving the show from Los
Angeles where it has been held
since a 2003 trip to Madison Square
Garden in New York City.—AP
we’ve dedicated part of our lives to.” “There was a
time, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, when people were
waiting for hip hop to disappear,” he said. “Now not
only is hip hop here to stay, even if you die we’ll bring
you back.” — AP
A video image of the Tupac Shakur hologram is
displayed on a computer monitor at the
Subtractive Studio.
Indian Bollywood film
actress Dia Mirza showcases
jewellery designer
Vijay Golecha’s creations
as she walks the ramp
during the second day of
India International
Jewellery Week 2012
(IIJW) in Mumbai on
August 20, 2012. — AFP