JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet yesterday approved therelease of 104 Arab prisoners to help restart peace talkswith the Palestinians and end nearly three years ofdiplomatic stagnation. Thirteen ministers in PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet votedin favour, seven voted against and two abstained, a gov-ernment official said. “The cabinet has authorised theopening of diplomatic talks between Israel and thePalestinians...,” said a statement issued by the primeminister’s office.

Netanyahu had earlier urged divided rightists in hiscabinet to back the prisoner release, and postponed theweekly meeting of ministers by an hour to ensure amajority vote in favour. “This moment is not easy for me,is not easy for the cabinet ministers, and is not easyespecially for the bereaved families, whose feelings Iunderstand,” Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks atthe start of the meeting, referring to families who havelost members in militant attacks. “But there aremoments in which tough decisions must be made forthe good of the nation and this is one of thosemoments.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demand-ed the release of prisoners held since before a 1993interim peace accord took effect. Israel has jailed thou-sands more Palestinians since then, many for carryingout deadly attacks. The prisoner release would allowNetanyahu to sidestep other Palestinian demands, suchas a halt to Jewish settlement expansion and a guaran-tee that negotiations over borders will be based onboundaries from before the 1967 Middle East war, when

Continued on Page 15

SUBSCRIPTIO

N40

PA

GES

NO

: 158

8415

0 FI

LS

Max 46º

Min 30º

High Tide 04:10 & 16:42

Low Tide10:42 & 22:50

Emsak: 03:26Fajer: 03:37Dohr: 11:54Asr: 15:30Maghreb: 18:42Eshaa: 20:098

Brotherhood stays on streets despite killings 10

Malians flock to vote in bid to rebuild broke nation 20

Hamilton savours first win for Mercedes

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013 RAMADAN 20, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

Cabinet resigns, new Assembly meets Aug 6Sectarian radicals dealt a heavy blow, small tribes gain

conspiracy theories

Agenda Kuwait

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

By Badrya Darwish

By B Izzak and Agencies

KUWAIT: The Cabinet yesterday submitted its resigna-tion to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabahfollowing the National Assembly election as requiredunder the Kuwaiti constitution. The announcementcame after the Cabinet held an extraordinary session toassess the outcome of the polls. It also approved anAmiri decree setting Aug 6 as the date for the Assemblyto convene for the first time. The Amir later in the dayissued the decree. Under the constitution, the newAssembly must hold its inaugural session two weeksafter the declaration of results, but the government setan early date to avoid clashing with the Eid Al-Fitr holi-days expected to start on Aug 8. The Assembly is thenexpected to go on summer recess until the end ofOctober.

The Amir is expected to accept the government’s res-ignation soon and then will hold customary consulta-tions ahead of naming the new prime minister whocould be the outgoing premier Sheikh Jaber Al-MubarakAl-Sabah or any other member of the ruling family. Thenew Cabinet must be ready before parliament meets.

In developments related to the election, two candi-dates - speaker of the scrapped Assembly Ali Al-Rashedand his rival for the post Salafist Ali Al-Omair - havealready announced plans to contest the speaker’s post,while reports said liberal MP Marzouk Al-Ghanem is alsoexpected to contest. The government’s votes will play apivotal role in deciding the race. The speaker, deputyspeaker and various Assembly panels will be formed inthe inaugural session.

Continued on Page 15KUWAIT: Outgoing Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah meets HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday. The Cabinet submitted its resignation to the Amir yesterday. — KUNA

Ramadan Kareem

By Hassan T Bwambale

Ibn Hajar - a prominent Muslim scholar - said, “Youshould treat your neighbor well and give him hisrights whether he is a Muslim or non-Muslim, a

devout worshipper of Allah or a wicked person, afriend or foe, beneficial to you or harmful.” (Fath Al-Baari 10/456)

Allah says what can be translated as, “WorshipAllah and join none with Him (in worship); and dogood to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, theneighbor who is near of kin, the neighbor who is astranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer(you meet), and those whom your right hands pos-sess. Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud andboastful.” (4:36)

Treat your neighbor well: Abdullah bin Umar -Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) bonafide companion -narrated that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said,“Archangel Gabriel continued urging me to treatneighbors well until I thought a revelation wouldcome allowing a neighbor to have a share of myinheritance (after I die).” (Collected by Imam Al-Bukhari 10/6014)

Continued on Page 15

Neighbors’ Rights-III

Israel approves release of Palestinian prisoners

GAZA CITY: Mother of Palestinian Fares Baroud, whohas been held in an Israeli prison for 22 years, criesas she holds his picture after hearing news of thepossible release of her son at her house in the Shatirefugee camp yesterday. — AFP

PARIS: Disappointment over the lack of democraticprogress in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya is understand-able, but the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 will taketime to mature, analysts say, warning that the processwill be chaotic. “We have to stop using seasonalmetaphors. We are in a revolutionary process that willtake at least a decade,” says Karim Emile Bitar, anexpert on Arab affairs at the Paris-based Institute ofInternational and Strategic Relations. “And ‘revolution-ary process’ means revolution, counter-revolution,efforts to fix the revolution, and that’s exactly what ishappening,” he added.

In Egypt, the army ousted democratically electedpresident Mohamed Morsi of the MuslimBrotherhood; Tunisia has seen sometimes violentdemonstrations against the Islamist Ennahda govern-ment; while in Libya thousands of protesters rose upSaturday against political parties and Islamistsblamed for the country’s instability. “There are manyapparent similarities among these three countries,”said Denis Bauchard, a researcher at the FrenchInstitute of International Relations. He spoke of a“clash between modernist and Islamic conservativesbut also a resurgence of nostalgia for the old regimes”in Cairo, Tunis and Tripoli. But “in all three cases youhave an evolving process in very different contexts,”Bauchard said.

Jean-Yves Moisseron of the Institute of Researchand Development and editor-in-chief of the magazine

Continued on Page 15

MANAMA: Bahrain’s king urged lawmak-ers yesterday to move ahead with pro-posed harsher measures against escalat-ing attacks by Shiite-led opposition fac-tions, including banning protest gather-ings in the capital, after top governmentofficials joined an emergency parliamentsession to discuss the Gulf nation’s nearly30 months of unrest. It was unclear whatnew steps could emerge more than twoyears after Bahrain lifted temporary mar-tial law-style rule. But the endorsementfor speedy action by the king virtuallyclears the way for tougher codes thatalso could include freezing bankaccounts and stripping citizenship overlinks to violence.

The gathering also underscored thegrowing alarm in Bahrain that the ArabSpring-inspired uprising by the king-dom’s majority Shiites could be driftinginto an even more violent stage. A spateof recent bomb attacks, including a blast

Saturday, has wounded several police-men and suggests that militant groupsare operating with greater autonomy.Bahrain’s main Shiite political blocs havedenounced the attacks, but also com-plain about widespread injuries amongprotesters from security forces usingbirdshot fire and tear gas.

More than 60 people have died inBahrain’s upheaval as Shiites press for agreater political voice in the strategicSunni-ruled kingdom, which is home tothe US Navy’s 5th Fleet. Activists andShiite leaders place the death toll above100. The parliament session alsoappeared prompted by opposition callsfor major protests Aug 14 inspired by thecrowds that helped topple Egypt ’sPresident Mohamed Morsi. Authoritieshave already warned of a tough responseto attempts at organizing large-scalemarches that day.

Continued on Page 15

Bahrain raises alarm over rising violence

MANAMA: Bahraini lawmaker Adel Al-Moawdeh of the Islamic Salafist Al-Asalahbloc and Sawsan Taqawi, an independent, participate in a special session of par-liament convened to discuss how to handle the uprising in the Gulf island king-dom yesterday. — AP

Arab Springwill take time

to flower

Here we come again. Election number 8 isover. I hope that election number 9 will beafter four years. This parliament seems like a

good mix of all groups of society, which is good. Itresembles, in fact, a diverse country like Kuwait.There is a group of hathars (urbanites), tribes anddifferent sects. It is a fair division of parliamentmembers too. It features many young people who, Ihope, will show a lot of enthusiasm and dedicationto serve Kuwait.

The astonishing thing for me is that there areonly two women represented in this parliament. Itis unbelievable how the role of women has beenfading away parliament after parliament. It is ashame! Women in Kuwait did not get their politicalrights to come to Abdullah Al-Salem hall easily. Itwas a long struggle which took place from 1961 till2005. I do not know what happened to women inKuwait!

When women got the right to vote in 2005 andran as candidates in 2006 for the first time, we werehappy to be represented by the four women MPs.After that, women started declining in parliament.Even the performance of the first four MPs was notas expected. We justified it at the time as their lackof experience in the political field. After Saturday’selection, the number of women in parliamentdecreased to two. I congratulate Safa Al-Hashemand Dr Maasouma Al-Mubarak for their victory! Isalute their courage. Dr Maasouma has resistedevery storm and managed to stay afloat. She took alot of blows both as a minister and as an MP. Shestill made it. She has been a hardline activist sincewomen started campaigning for their rights.

What happened to women? Why did they deteri-orate? Why are they going backwards? Are theyinfluenced by their families? Are they influenced bythe political disputes in Kuwait? Did they give upfor this reason? Is it the lack of trust between eachother?

Previous elections showed that not manywomen voted for other women. Is the tribal systemaffecting them because they follow the opinion oftheir family and tribal belonging? Did they fight allthese years just to get their rights on paper andchange the constitution? Did we fight just to have alegal paper saying that we can vote? Did we do itonly as a legality? Did the fight end for us? Is that it?

With two women MPs or no women MPs at all, Iwish this parliament works in the interest of Kuwaitand not for certain individuals as we have seenbefore. I hope there will be no special agendas. Theonly agenda, I hope, will be Kuwait.

FIRST CONSTITUENCY WINNERS

Adnan Sayed Abdulsamad Ahmad Sayed Zahed wasborn in 1950. He holds a BA in political science and econom-ics, worked at the Ministry of Oil and won the membership ofthe National Assembly in 1981, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008and 2009, and the membership of the annulled parliamentsof February and December 2012.

Faisal Saud Saleh Al-Duwaisan was born in 1964. He holdsa high school diploma and worked as an observer at KuwaitRadio and Director for Technical Affairs in the Ministry ofInformation and Director of the Channel 3 of Kuwait TV. Hewas member in the annulled parliaments of February andDecember 2012.

Yusuf Sayed Hassan Sayed Ali Saleh Al-Zalzalah was bornin 1959. He holds a doctorate in statistics, held senior aca-demic posts, is a member of the Kuwaiti Society for HumanRights and the Kuwaiti Journalists Association and won themembership of the National Assembly in 2003 and 2009,and the membership of the annulled Assembly in December2012. He served as minister for Trade and Industry in 2006.

Issa Ahmad Mohammad Hassan Al-Kandari was born in1963. He holds a diploma in the specialty of commercialbanks, works at Kuwait Airways, is a member of KuwaitJournalists Association and Association of Arab Journalistsand a member of the Human Rights Association.Saleh Ahmad Hassan Ashour was born in 1953. He holds a

BA in economics and a diploma of military science and high-er education diploma, served as engineer at the Ministry ofCommunication, is a former Air Force colonel and won themembership of the National Assembly in the 1999, 2003 and2006, 2008 and 2009.

Mubarak Salem Mubarak Nasser Al-Hurais was born in1964. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Kuwait University,worked as a legal researcher in the office of the Central Bankof Kuwait, a governor and attorney in the Fatwa andLegislation Department and head of the development ofLegislation and holds membership in each of the KuwaitLawyers Association, the Arab Bar Association and theInternational Bar Association.

Abdullah Mohammad Abdulrahman Mohsen Al-Turaijiwas born in 1958. He holds a PhD in security management,worked in the Interior Ministry at the rank of colonel, workedin several departments, is a member of Kuwait LawyersAssociation and also won membership of the annulled par-liament of February 2012.

Kamel Mahmoud Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Awadhi wasborn in 1957. He holds a diploma from the Police Collegeand served in several senior posts of the Ministry of Interior.

Mohammad Merwi Malfi Mubarak Al-Hadiyah was bornin 1964. He holds a bachelor of civil engineering and works

as engineer at the Kuwait Municipality, enjoys membershipof the Kuwait Society of Engineers and the American Societyof Engineers.

Maasouma Saleh Mohammad Al-Mubarak was born in1947. She holds a PhD in international relations, and is amember of the Alumni Association, Kuwaiti EconomistsAssociation and the Kuwaiti Journalists Association, servedas Minister of Planning and Minister of State forAdministrative Reform in 2005, Minister of Transport in 2006and Minister of Health in 2007. Won the membership of theNational Assembly in 2009 and the annulled December 2012parliament.

Adnan Abdulsamad Faisal Al-Duwaisan Yusuf Al-Zalzalah Essa Al-Kandari Saleh Ashour Mubarak Al-Hurais Abdullah Al-Turaiji Kamel Al-Awadhi Maasouma Al-MubarakMohammad Al-Hadiyah

SECOND CONSTITUENCY WINNERS

Marzouq Al-Ghanem was was born in 1968 andholds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineer-ing. He held a number of positions, including chair-man of Boubyan Petrochemicals. He was elected MPin 2006, 2008 and 2009 in addition to the annulledFebruary 2012 parliament.

Riyadh Al-Adsani was born in 1976 and has aBachelor’s degree in finance and marketing. He wasemployed at the investments department of KuwaitPetroleum Corporation and was the deputy head ofthe Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) in 2006. Hewas elected in the two annulled 2012 elections.

Rakan Al-Nesf was born in 1980 and has a bache-lor’s degree in finance. An entrepreneur by trade, he

is a board member of the Kuwait defence of publicfunds and a former board member of the KuwaitSociety for Human Rights.

Adel Al-Kharafi was born in 1959 and has a civilengineering bachelor’s degree. Al-Kharafi was elect-ed a member of the annulled December 2012 elec-tions and is a municipal representative in 2005. Hehas since held a number of positions includingPresident of the Paris-based World Federation ofEngineering Organisations and President of theArab Engineers Union. He is also a member of theKuwait Journalists Association and a former memberof the Kuwait Engineers Society.

Ali Al-Rashed was born in 1976 and holds a degree

and a higher diploma in law. He held a number ofpublic positions, and was member of the bureauinvestigating the crime of the ousted Iraqi regime in2000. Al-Rashed became a member of the NationalAssembly in 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2009 in additionto the two parliaments that were annulled inFebruary and December 2012. He was appointedState Minister for Cabinet Affairs in 2011.

Hamad Saif Al-Harshani was born in 1965, has ahigh-school certificate and is a businessman. He waselected in the annulled December 2012 elections.

Ouda Oudha Al-Ruwaiee was born in 1968 andholds a PhD in psychology and chairs thePsychological Guidance unit at Kuwait University

(KU). He is an advisor at the ministry of justice andthe public awqaf endowment. He is a member ofKuwait Human Rights Society and the USPsychology Association.

Khalaf Dmaitheer Al-Enezi was born in 1952 andholds a teaching diploma. He was a member of theNational Council in 1990 and was elected a memberof the National Assembly in 1981, 1985, 1992, 1996,1999, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2009, in addition to theannulled December 2012 elections.

Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran was born in 1962. He hasa PhD in Islamic theology from Glasgow University,a master’s in Islamic culture from Cairo’s supremeIslamic institution of Al-Azhar University and a

bachelor’s in sharia studies from Kuwait University.He is employed in the Ministry of Education’s cur-riculum department and the strategic Islamic stud-ies department in Kuwait’s Basic Education College.He was elected to the annulled December 2012elections.

Khalil Al-Saleh was born in 1958 and has a diplomain civil aviation. He was a member of the annulledDecember 2012 elections. He was an aviationinstructor and held the position of head of theAmir’s fleet. He is also a member of the InternationalFederation of Airline Pilots’ Associations, KuwaitAircraft Engineers and Pilots Associations and theKuwait Airways’ trade union, before being elected tothe annulled parliament of December 2012.

Marzouq Al-Ghanem Riyadh Al-Adsani Rakan Al-Nesf Adel Al-Kharafi Ali Al-Rashed Hamad Al-Harshani Ouda Oudha Al-Ruwaiee Khalaf Dmaitheer Al-Enezi Khalil Al-SalehAbdulrahman Al-Jeeran

THIRD CONSTITUENCY WINNERS

Ali Al-Omair was born in 1958 and holds a PhD inanalytical chemistry and taught at the UAE Universityin 1990 and 1991, at Kuwait University between 1992and 1994, and at the Public Authority for AppliedEducation and Training between 1994 and 1997. Hewas elected MP in 2006, 2008, 2009 and the 2012annulled parliament.

Khalil Abdullah was born in 1965 and holds a PhD incomputer science. He was a professor in KuwaitUniversity and is member of Kuwait Engineers Society.

Faisal Fahad Al-Shaye was born in 1952 and holds a

bachelor in business administration. He was a mem-ber of parliament in 1999 and 2006, chief of the invest-ment office of the Public Institution for Social Security,general manager of Wafra Real Estate Company, secre-tary general of the Al-Qadisiya sporting club.

Roudhan Al-Roudhan was born in 1965 and holds acertificate of the Kuwait Institute for AppliedTechnology. He is a former deputy chairman of theMunicipal Council in 1999-2001 and chairman of thecouncil in 2001-03. He is also former secretary generalof Al-Rawda and Hawally Cooperative Society. He wasa member of the National Assembly in 2008 and 2009.

He was minister of health in January 2009 and minis-ter of state for Cabinet Affairs in May 2009.

Safa Al-Hashem was born in 1964 and holds a mas-ters in business administration. She worked in theMinistry of Higher Education in 1994, then was boardchairperson of Advantage company, and was a mem-ber in the 2012 annulled parliament.

Jamal Hussein Al-Omar was born in 1962 and holdsa masters in business administration. He was a mem-ber of the National Assembly in 2003 and 2006. Heheld several posts in company boards of directors.

Mohammad Nasser Al-Jabri was born in 1974 andholds a bachelor’s degree in information systems, andworks at Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC). He wasformer board chairman of Khaitan CooperativeSociety.

Yaaqoub Al-Sane was born in 1976 and holds a PhDin constitutional law. He works as a lawyer, is a mem-ber of the Arab Bar Union, chairman of human rightscommittee in Kuwait Bar Association, the public fundprotection society and member of the 2012 annulledparliament.

Abdulkareem Abdullah Al-Kandari was born in1981 and holds a PhD in commercial law. He is alawyer and professor at Kuwait University (KU) LawSchool. He is a member of Kuwait LawyersAssociation.

Osama Yusuf Al-Tahous was born in 1979 and holdsa bachelor of education and postgraduate studies ineconomy and planning. He is a teacher and memberof Kuwait Journalists Association.

Ali Al-Omair Khalil Abdullah Faisal Al-Shaye Roudhan Al-Roudhan Safa Al-Hashem Jamal Al-Omar Mohammad Al-Jabri

FOURTH CONSTITUENCY WINNERS

Sultan Al-Shimmiri was born in 1967 and has adiploma in military science. He is currentlyemployed at the Ministry of Defence.

Saad Ali Khanfour Al-Rashidi was born in 1965and has a high-school certificate. He was formerlyemployed at the Interior Ministry and was voted MPin the National Assemblies of 2008 and 2009. Hewas also voted to the two annulled parliaments ofFebruary and December 2012.

Saud Al-Huraiji was born in 1962, holds a bache-lor’s degree and is a member of the crafts labourunion. He was voted to the annulled December2012 parliament.

Majed Al-Mutairi was born in 1960 and has a high-school certificate. He is a former Municipal Councilmember and held the position consecutively for 10years between 1999 and 2009.

Mohammad Tana Al-Enezi was born in 1956 and

has a bachelor’s in law. He is a retired major-generalin the Ministry of Interior.

Askar Al-Enezi was born in 1971 and holds a diplo-ma in management. He is an employee of theCommunication Ministry. He also won a seat in theMunicipal Council in 2005. He was elected MP in2008 and 2009 and was voted to the annulledDecember 2012 parliament.

Mansour Al-Dhifeeri was born in 1975 and is a

dentist and a member of the Kuwait DentalAssociation.

Mubarak Al-Khrainej was born in 1948 and holds ahigh school degree, He worked at the ForeignMinistry as a political attache. He was voted to theannulled December 2012 parliament and was elect-ed MP in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2006 and 2009. He wasalso a member of the National Council of 1990.

Hussein Quwain Al-Mutairi was born in 1968 and

holds a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery.He is a member of the Canadian Board ofOrthopedic Surgeons and is a fellow at the RoyalCollege of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He iscurrently employed as an orthopedic consultantsurgeon at Al-Razi Hospital. He was voted into par-liament as an MP in 2008.

Abdallah Al-Adwani was born in 1964 and is amember of the Kuwait Journalists Association andis a magazine deputy secretary.

Sultan Al-Shimmiri Saad Ali Khanfour Saud Al-Huraiji Majed Al-Mutairi Mohammad Al-Enezi Askar Al-Enezi Mansour Al-Dhifeeri Mubarak Al-Khrainej Hussein Al-Mutairi Abdullah Al-Adwani

Yaaqoub Al-Sane Osama Yusuf Al-TahousAbdulkareem Al-Kandari

FIFTH CONSTITUENCY WINNERS

Abdullah Al-Tamimi was born in 1965 andholds a high-school degree. He works inKuwait Oil Company (KOC), is a member ofKOC’s labor union, and was member of theannulled 2012 parliament.

Madhi Mohammad Al-Hajri was born in1968 and holds a bachelor’s degree in busi-ness administration. He worked in the oil min-istry.

Faisal Al-Kandari was born in 1970 and holds

a master’s degree in business administration.He worked as assistant CEO of Al-Bilad RealEstate Investment company, and was memberof the annulled 2012 parliament.

Talal Al-Sahli was born in 1972 and holds abachelor of law. He works as a lawyer and is amember of the Central Tenders Committee,and deputy secretary general of the Gulfunion of lawyers.

Hamdan Al-Azmi was born in 1968 and holds

a masters in civil law. He worked as a lawyerand legal researcher at the interior ministry.He is a member of Kuwait LawyersAssociation.

Mohammad Hadi Al-Huwaila was born in1971 and holds a PhD in management fromYarmouk University in Jordan. He is a facultymember at Saad Al-Abdullah SecuritySciences College and the Arab OpenUniversity. He was elected MP in 2008 and2009.

Saif Mutlaq Al-Azmi was born in 1973 andholds a diploma in business administration.

Humoud Al-Hamdan was born in 1962 andholds a masters in Islamic sharia. He workedas a schoolteacher and was member ofKuwait Teachers Society.

Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi was born in1959 and holds a bachelor degree in law. Hewas a member in the National Council of

1990, and MP in the parliaments of 1999,2006, 2008, 2009 and the annulled 2012 par-liament.

Ahmad Abdullah Al-Azmi was born in 1971and holds a PhD in Islamic sharia and law. Heworked as director of auditing in the ministryof state for Housing Affairs’ office. He was amember of the annulled 2012 NationalAssembly.

Abdullah Al-Tamimi Madhi Al-Hajri Faisal Al-Kandari Talal Al-Sahli Hamdan Al-Azmi Mohammad Al-Huwaila Saif Al-Azmi Humoud Al-Hamdan Ahmad Al-AzmiSaadoun Hammad

MONDAY, JULY 29, 20132

L O C A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

By Princess Astrid of BelgiumSpecial Representative to the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership

Despite best efforts and tremen-dous progress, malaria contin-ues to infect an estimated 219

million people around the world eachyear. Nearly half of these cases occur inpredominantly Muslim countries.

Malaria kills more than 650,000people each year, of which approxi-mately 560,000 are children under theage of five. In the time it takes you toread this article, roughly 3 more chil-dren will lose their lives to this preventable and treatable dis-ease. These are precious lives lost for lack of a $1 course of anti-malarial treatment or a $7 long-lasting insecticide-treated net.

Malaria disrupts communities and wrecks lives, It keeps chil-dren out of school and parents out of work, It costs govern-ments and societies billions of dollars in healthcare costs andlost productivity, In Africa alone, malaria costs an estimatedminimum of $12 billion in lost productivity each year.

But there is a glimmer of hope. In 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,

appointed his Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, andcalled on us to end deaths from malaria by ensuring universalaccess to malaria prevention and treatment by 2010. The worldresponded tremendously, resulting in an increase in access tolife-saving tools and products that have driven a decrease inmalaria cases in recent years.

Under the strong coordination of the Roll Back Malaria(RBM) Partnership, we’ve seen malaria deaths decline by morethan 25% since 2000. In that same period, 43 malaria endemiccountries worldwide reported declines in malaria cases by50% or more, and many have seen decreases in all-cause childmortality.

Thanks to bold leadership and increased funding, globalmalaria prevention and control efforts have been scaled up,with notable progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where approxi-mately 90 percent of malaria cases occur. Between 2004 and2010, the number of long-lasting insecticidal nets delivered tomalaria-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa increased from6 million to 145 million. Programs to spray the interiors of build-ings with insecticides were also expanded, with 153 millionpeople worldwide and 77 million people in Africa being pro-tected by this intervention during the same period.

Investments in diagnostics and treatment have also beenfruitful. The availability of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) hasmade it possible to improve and expand accurate diagnostictesting for malaria to some of the most remote areas of theworld. For example, the rate of testing in the public sector inAfrica rose from less than 20% in 2005 to 47% in 2011. Globally,12 million patients were reported to have been tested for malar-ia with RDTs in 2011, which accounted for 40% of all case detec-tion in Africa. And the number of artemisinin-based combina-tion therapies (ACTs) - the most effective antimalarials available- procured through both public and private sectors globallyincreased from 11 million in 2005 to 278 million in 2011.

For member states of the Organization of IslamicCooperation (OIC), strong political leadership and support fromthe Global Fund has resulted in more than 55 million insecti-cide-treated nets beingdistributed to OIC communities andmore than 75 million cases of malaria being treated in accor-dance with effective national guidelines.

It is clear that we have the proven and cost-effective tools toprevent, treat and diagnose malaria. We also have a global plan- the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) - and a solid coordinat-ing mechanism in the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, whichtogether provide both a roadmap for success and evidence thatour goals are feasible given the right resources and commit-ment.

But we are at a critical juncture.While global funding for malaria reached unprecedented

levels in 2010, challenging economic times have left an estimat-ed $5 billion annual funding gap through 2020 that places ourprogress in great jeopardy.

Our programs and policies are working, but if we don’t con-tinue to invest in them, we will lose the fragile advances we’vemade and millions will continue to suffer. Now more than ever,we must find creative ways to work together to maximize theeffectiveness of our efforts and identify alternative sources offunding so we can sustain our progress and continue savinglives. Never before has diplomacy and partnership been soimportant.

Investments in malaria prevention and control have beenamong the best investments in global health, resulting in a dra-matic decrease in malaria deaths and illness. We know thatwhen we invest in malaria, the return is high and the cost islow.In the case of Africa, for example, an annual investment ofUS $3.2 billion investment now stands to not only save an esti-mated 3 million lives through 2015, but it could also avert $36billion in lost productivity over the next three years.

Beyond being morally compelling, investing in malaria is asolid economic investment.

Health is the building block of all development, and whenwe invest in malaria, we invest in communities. Recognized asone of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), weknow that investment in malaria also acceleratesprogress inother health and development areas by reducing school absen-teeism, fighting poverty, and improving maternal and childhealth.

In 2012, the UN Secretary-General announced that malariawas among his top priorities for his second mandate. Thisannouncement shows his clear commitment and determinationto defeat this leading killer. I only hope we will respond asenthusiastically as we did in 2008 and make malaria one of ourpriorities as well. To be honest, we can’t afford not to.

As Special Representative to the Roll Back MalariaPartnership, I urge donor countries and political leaders aroundthe world - including members of key groups like the GulfCooperation Council (GCC), OIC and G20 - to make smart invest-ments and help fill thefunding gap for malaria.Every bit of sup-port - whether from nations, officials or individuals - has thepotential to make enormous impact.

The Gulf region has proven to be one committed to the well-being of its global family through generous giving in humani-tarian aid. His Highness the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi hasexemplified true leadership against malaria specifically throughhis investment in the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.Others havefollowed this example, including His Highness the Amir of theState of Kuwait and groups like the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al NahyanFoundation and the Kuwait Fund for Arab EconomicDevelopment. I only hope that such fruitful cooperation cancontinue as we move into the last 1,000 days before the 2015deadline of the MDGs and beyond. Indeed, our work now willforecast what results might lay ahead and will hopefully set usup for greater victory.

The road ahead will be difficult, but if we are able to main-tain our commitment, the reward will be substantial. As wework to defeat malaria, let us do so with bold conviction andcollaboration, working together to identify creative solutions toovercome the challenges threatening the progress we’ve madeso we can help communities around the world to thrive.

Malaria: Solid investment for GCC countries

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Recently a new ministerial decree 3567/2013was issued by the Ministry of Communication thatobliges jet ski and boat operators to obtain licenses.This decree also bans any person from riding a jet ski orboat for any marine activity unless it is registered at thedepartment in charge after fulfilling all conditions andsubmitting the necessary papers including the posses-sion document, insurance policy that covers the periodof the license, customs data and the civil ID.

According to this decree, the department in chargeafter completing the registration process and marinesurvey will issue a certificate or possession documentand the applicant will pay KD 16. The boats and jet skiswill be subject to inspection annually with a KD 6renewal fee. The riders should also carry the originalpossession certificate when operating the boat or jetski.

The part of the decree which received most objec-tions is that persons who are younger than 18 are notallowed to drive a jet ski or boat. These persons shouldbe accompanied by an adult. They should also wear

lifejackets. Furthermore, this decree bans boats and jetskis from approaching public beaches, chalets and pri-vate or public resorts by a distance of less than 300meters. It also bans holding any races without permis-sion. Also, all boats and jet skis should have their regis-tration number visible on both sides.

A part of the decree is related to jet skis only, whichbans them from going farther than two nautical milesfar from the shore. It also bans riding jet skis after sun-set. It’s also not allowed to drive a jet ski recklessly or inway that may endanger others or in way that maycause violations.

Saleh, owner of a jet ski and a boat, thinks that sucha decree was not studied well before being issued. “Theage bit is ironic, as the Kuwait international jet skichampion is only 16 years old. This means that he is notallowed to ride a jet ski according to the new law. I amriding jet skis since I was 14 and I never caused anyaccident or was injured or bothered anybody,” he toldKuwait Times. He also complained against anotherpoint. “The issue of the allowed distances for jet skis ofapproaching the shore and riding short distances onlyis ridiculous. So now we can’t go to any island on jet

skis as they’re farther than two miles? Also, if I’m ridinga jet ski for two or more hours and feel tired and wouldlike to take a short rest, I won’t be able to do so as nowit’s not allowed to approach the beach. I think thosewho agreed on such decrees haven’t ridden jet skisbefore,” added Saleh.

This decree also negatively affects companies sellingjet skis and boats. Ayman, sales agent at Kawasaki,noticed a drop in sales of jet skis after the decree wasissued. “Now we demand a license before registeringthe jet ski, and this is an obstacle for many potentialcustomers who don’t have a license. For this reason, wealso lost many customers who are younger than 18. Ialso think that the strict traffic laws affected our sales ofmotorcycles too as we noticed a drop in sales,” hepointed out. Maziyad from Yamaha said that this decreeaims to ensure general safety but it has positive andnegative sides. “Definitely this decree was issued after astudy and came after certain accidents happened andpeople were injured or even died. On the other hand, ithas had a bad impact on our sales, as the procedure ismore complicated and difficult, so less people will buya jet ski or a boat,” he explained.

New jet ski decree‘not studied well’

Merchants, youths raise objections

KUWAIT: A citizen told police that a per-son he knows along with five othersstopped him in front of Sulaibiya coop-erative and robbed him of KD 3,500, acar purchase receipt and two mobilephones at knifepoint. He said he was sur-prised by the suspect and his friendswalking behind him, who asked to talkon an important topic. He said when hestopped, the suspect came out of the carand placed a knife to his neck, while theothers took his money and otherbelongings before escaping.Investigations are underway.

Smuggling attemptKuwait Airport General Supervisor

Suleiman Al-Fahad sent an Egyptianengineer to the drugs control depart-ment for attempting to smuggle in astick of hashish and a bottle of liquor.

Customs official found the bottle whenhis bag passed through the x-ray system.When they searched him, they found thehashish in his shoes.

Driver beaten upA Pakistani driver who hauled the fur-

niture of a citizen from Mahboula toQurain told police that the citizen beathim and took his vehicle registrationcard after a dispute over the fee. He gavethe details to police who are now inves-tigating.

Murder threatA Canadian expat told Shamiya police

that a person she knows robbed her andthreatened to kill her after taking KD1,500 and her mobile phone. She alsoproduced a medical report stating thatshe had several bruises due to him beat-

ing her. Police investigations found outthat he is a 32-year-old Kuwaiti. When hewas called he did not answer, and thecomplaint was registered and sent to theprosecution.

Sabahiya ‘detective’An unknown person driving an

American-made car stopped an Afghantaxi driver in Sabahiya and claimed hewas a detective and took KD 120 andthree mobile phones. The victim gavepolice the car plate number.Investigations are underway.

Women fightA Syrian woman and a Jordanian

woman had a fight as they came to sup-port their sons who were fighting.Neighbors called police, who are investi-gating.

Nurse insultedA male nurse in Sabah area told

Shuwaikh police that he was insulted bya citizen and his son because he did notallow them to enter the room whileanother patient was there. The nursetold police that while he was working onanother patient, he was surprised by thetwo entering the room in anger andinsulted him verbally in front of others.Police are investigating.

Woman chasedAdan detectives were asked to arrest

a man charged with urging a woman tocommit immoral acts. The man chasedthe divorced citizen asking her to be hisfriend and gave her his phone number.The woman told police that she suspectsher ex-husband sent the man in anattempt to get custody of the children.

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: New Filipino converts toIslam, who are growing rapidlyaccording to the Kuwait PhilippineCultural Center (KPC Center), arestruggling hard to cope with thelong fasting hours. Since Ramadanhas fallen in the middle of summer,the days are longer and the fastingperiod lasts about 16 hours. Barelyfour months after she acceptedIslam, Fatima Abeller feels an enor-mous peace in her mind, especiallyat the time of fasting. “It is my firsttime fasting and yes, I am strug-gling. I wasn’t used to religiouspractices so of course it is veryhard,” she admitted . “But you knowwhat, I feel that I am gaining thisincredible strength and peaceeveryday which I haven’t experi-enced before,” said added.

“I felt uneasy only during the firstfew days, but when you get used toit, it doesn’t affect you at all. Really,if you think of the people who arestruggling in life to just put food ontheir tables, I think you would con-sider fasting too even if you are nota Muslim. It’s good and I feel veryblessed,” Abeller mentioned.

Just like Fatima, Filipina SarahAsis is a new convert to Islam. Sarahis married to an Egyptian, and thisyear is also her first year of fasting.“At first I didn’t want to fast, but myhusband helped me a lot. He saidfasting is good for my health andfor my relationship with Allah, so Itried and it really works,” she said.

Muslims observe by fasting theninth month of the lunar Islamic

calendar when the ArchangelGabriel revealed the Holy Quran toProphet Muhammad (PBUH).Fasting is also one of the five pillarsof Islam. During this month, manyMuslims spend longer time in seclu-sion, which they devote to prayersand charity works.

Abdulaasis Eyas, a FilipinoMuslim, believes that the only wayto survive the long hours fasting isto devote oneself to work. “I justwork hard, so I don’t normallyrealise that I am fasting, that I needwater, that I need food in my stom-ach. In this sense you will never askfor anything the whole day and youwill survive even 24 hours,” he said.He argued that the technique ofsome to sleep the whole dayinstead of working is also accept-able but not advisable. “Because ifyou are fasting, you have to do thesame thing you do in normalmonths, but if you cheat, I don’tknow the reward you can get fromit,” Eyas added.

Muslims are expected to putmore effort in following the teach-ings of Islam and to avoid obsceneand irreligious sights and sounds.Sexual thoughts and activities dur-ing fasting hours are also prohibit-ed. In Kuwait, no restaurants areallowed to open during the day.Expats caught eating or drinking inpublic are usually reprimanded ifnot jailed. Purity of both thoughtand action is important. The fast isintended to be an exacting act ofdeep personal worship in whichMuslims seek a raised level of close-ness to God Almighty.

RAMTHA, Jordan: Kuwait Red CrescentSociety (KRCS) launched an Iftar banquetfor 500 Syrian refugee families dwelling inthe northern region of Jordan, as part of itsIftar project, which was launched at thebeginning of the holy month of Ramadamto serve 15,000 Syrian refugees.

KRCS team that is implementing theproject, in cooperation with the JordanianRed Crescent, set up on Saturday eveningan Iftar banquet for the Syrian refugee fam-ilies in Al-Tarra and Al-Shajara, northernAmman, head of KRCS’ mission in Jordan,Khaled Al-Zaid said.

The 30-day project is implemented inthe five regions of Madaba, Karak, Naiema,Al-Tarra and Al-Shajara, affirmed Al-Zaid.

The project is a part of a package ofhumanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffer-ing of the Syrian people who fled theongoing deadly conflict in their country, headded.

Several Syrian families have expressedtheir gratitude to the State of Kuwait andits humanitarian programs that symbolizethe meaning of compassion between thepeoples, describing the role of KRCS in theholy month of Ramadan as an “outstand-ing” model of charity and aid to the

refugees. KRCS has started the implemen-tation of several humanitarian projects insupport of Jordan’s efforts exerted to helpthe Syrian refugees since the beginning ofRamadan, which include the provision ofEid clothing and Iftar meals. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A fire broke out yesterday in a shed containing ceramic and sanitary ware at the customs authority in Sulaibiya. Firemen succeeded in isolating the firefrom a large number of trailers loaded with cargo. — By Hanan Al-Saadoun

Six-member gang robs citizen

Filipino converts observe long fast with forbearance

KRCS Iftar banquet forSyrian refugees in Jordan

20) The total pebbles for Jamarat is

A) 70 pebbles

B) 70 pebbles for whose are not in hurry toleave and 49 pebbles for those in hurry

C) 49 pebbles

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

L O C A L

KUWAIT: In celebration of the holymonth of Ramadan, VIVA, Kuwait ’sfastest-growing telecom operator, hasheld ghabgas for its employees and forbloggers over two consecutive days, toshare the Ramadan traditional spirit andcelebrate five continuous years ofachievements since the company’sinception.

The event, themed ‘5 years, 2 millionsubscribers’ recognized employeesefforts in bringing VIVA to the position itis in today. The evenings were attendedby VIVA’s Chief Executive Officer, Eng.

Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Badran togeth-er with senior managers from all sectorsand departments, along with the com-pany employees to reinforce relationsand highlight VIVA’s spectacular achieve-ments.

Both the ghabgas commenced with awelcome speech by VIVA’s CEO. Duringthe speech at the employee ghabga, Al-Badran made special reference toemployees’ hard work and dedicationthroughout the years in making VIVA theyoungest, fastest growing telecommuni-cations company in Kuwait.

Al-Badran said: “We have worked tire-lessly to get to where we are today, andyou, our family (employees) have showndedication, commitment and loyalty.This has been reflected on our overalloperations and services offered to thepublic. I am also very proud to add thatour hard work and excellent customerservice have managed to gain our cus-tomers’ trust, and we have now exceed-ed 2 million subscribers in our 5 years ofoperations.” At the blogger ghabga, Al-Badran stressed on the importance ofsocial media channels and the bloggers

in making sure that VIVA stands out inthe increasingly busy social media world.Attendees were welcomed by the CEO,who expressed his gratitude for keepingthe VIVA brand alive on their social net-working sites.

Also attending the bloggers ghabgaas special guests were some of theKuwaiti Golden football team, includingAbdullah Ma’iuf, Mohammad Karam,Saad Al-Houti and Jassim Al-Yaqoub,who have all been a part of changingfootball history for Kuwait. In addition,renowned local band ‘Miami’ along with

local celebrities Maram and YaqoubAbdullah attended the event to sharethe joy of Ramadan.

During both evenings, a short docu-mentary which highlighted VIVA’s mainachievements during the past five yearsand the successful milestone reachedafter the second millionth subscriberjoined the VIVA network.

VIVA is dedicated to holding an annu-al Ramadan Ghabgha for the VIVA family,allowing management and employeesto enjoy the spiritual and social atmos-phere that the Holy month brings with it.

VIVA highlights five years of achievements VIVA celebrates with employees, bloggers at ghabqa

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

L O C A L

Minister of Information hosts ghabqa

KUWAIT: The Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-HmoudAl-Sabah (left) is pictured with Frank Baker, British Ambassador to Kuwait during the ghabqa. The Minister of Information Sheikh Salman with Sheikh Faisal Al-Ahmoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah (right)

The Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information for RadioAffairs Yusef Mustafa with guests at the ghabqa.

Guests with actor Mohammad Al-Mansour at the ghabqa.

Senior officials at the ghabqa. Saudi Arabia ambassador Dr Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al-Fayiz thirdright and US ambassador to Kuwait Matthew Tueller second rightalong with Najla Al Naqqi and other guests at the event.

Cabinet Affairs and Minister of State for Municipal AffairsSheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah (thirdright) with guests at the ghabqa.

Minister Sheikh Salman with KUNA BoardChairman and Director-General Sheikh MubarakAl-Duaij Al-Sabah.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdalla Al-Sabah with Ministerof Information Sheikh Salman

Information Minister Sheikh Salman with RedhaAl-Feeli and the Palestinian ambassador toKuwait Rami Tahboub (right)

L O C A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

From the exhilaration of popular revolution tothe tragedy of on-going conflict, the MiddleEast and North Africa (MENA) region has occu-

pied a prominent place in the headlines. Yet there isanother, often silent, drama that is not receiving theattention it deserves. It is playing out in both richand poor countries, albeit in different forms. A seriesof alarming statistics reveal a deterioration in theoverall health of the people of the region. This trendis aggravated by underfunded public health sys-tems that provide limited and low quality care.

MENA governments commit on average onlyeight percent of their national budgets to health-care. This compares with an average of 17 percent inOECD countries. One significant consequence of thislow spending is that individuals are made to shoul-der the majority of the costs for care. It often forceshouseholds, poorer ones especially, into making thedifficult choice between spending on health or oth-er necessities, such as food and education.

In Yemen, the statistics for malnutrition andstunting have reached emergency proportions.Close to 60 per cent of children are stunted and areat increased risk of death due to malnutrition. Theregion is currently paying a high social cost for thelack of attention paid to public health, and thesecosts will grow ever more severe in the absence ofconcerted action. Obesity is nearing epidemic pro-portions in MENA, with some of the highest rates inthe world.

In Egypt, half of all women are obese and onefifth of all men - landing them in the global top 20for obesity. Among women, Kuwait ranks secondglobally with 55.2 per cent of its female populationconsidered obese. Other Middle Eastern countrieswhich made it to the Global Top 20 for female obesi-ty include the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (42.0 per-cent), Bahrain (37.9 percent), and Jordan (37.9 per-cent). The obesity rates are not much better for men.Within the top 20 countries globally, 29.6 percent ofKuwaiti men are obese followed closely by UAE (24.5percent), Saudi Arabia (23.0 percent), and Bahrain(21.2 percent).

Obesity is closely linked to chronic diseases, suchas diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of deathand disability in the Arab world, while high bloodpressure is the second leading cause (and has beenfor the past 20 years). At the same time, alongsideobesity, there are high levels of child under/malnu-trition and stunting across the region. In Egypt, 30percent of children below five years of age arestunted, while 20 percent of children within thesame age category are obese. The statistics alsoreveal significant regional inequalities, with childrenin rural areas experiencing higher rates of stuntingcompared to urban areas.

In Yemen, the statistics for malnutrition andstunting have reached emergency proportions.Close to 60 per cent of children are stunted and areat increased risk of death due to malnutrition. Othercountries that have a high burden of childunder/malnutrition include Morocco, Iraq, Libya andSyria. While under-nutrition can threaten the lives ofyoung children, it also has long-term effects such asimpaired cognitive development. This can affecteverything from school performance to productivityand earnings in later adult life. Undernourished chil-dren may be particularly sensitive to weight gain asadults, with an increased risk for diabetes and car-diovascular disease.

Turning to young people in the region, andyoung men specifically, their main cause of deathcurrently is road traffic accidents. In one year 35,900young men died due to traffic injuries (2010).Although death due to traffic accidents is the thirdlargest killer in the Arab world - for people of allages - (a total of 73,500people of all ages perishedin 2010) young people are disproportionally affect-ed. Also a large killer of children after their first yearof life, with the 3,950 casualties in 2010, road trafficaccidents are robbing the region of its future gener-ations!

The region is at a critical historical juncture andwith it comes also a window of opportunity to trans-form its health systems - an opportunity to movefrom only treating sickness to instead focus on pre-serving and promoting health. Depression is theleading cause of illness for women in MENA. It isespecially women between the ages of 15 and 49that are affected. In fact, the prevalence of depres-sion among women in MENA is ranked higher thanany other region. While men in MENA are also moreprone to depression, the percentage gap betweenmen and women is higher in MENA than all otherregions, with the exception of Latin America and theCaribbean.

With low government spending on healthcare,households in the middle-income countries mustcover almost 40 percent of all health care coststhemselves. Patients in the low income countrieshave to cover a full 55 percent of healthcare costsout of their own pockets. Unfortunately, many can-not afford these medical expenses so people eitherchose to forgo much needed medical care or faceimpoverishment as a result.

The low public financing for health compromisesboth access and quality of care. Patient experiencesat health facilities across the region are character-ized by long waiting lines, absent providers, lack ofprivacy and informal payments. Satisfaction withexisting health services is very low region-wide. Asone Egyptian woman expressed it: “A public hospitalis where you lose your life...a private one is whereyou lose your money”. In order to address the daunt-ing challenges fair and accountable health systemshave to be developed, according to a new WorldBank strategy for engaging in health in MENA.Fairness - the absence of systematic disparities -could be achieved through prevention and care andthe just distribution of the burden of costs accord-ing to people’s ability to pay. Accountability -responsibility and answerability- would require thatservices are effective, safe, cost-conscious, andpatient-centred. The region is at a critical historicaljuncture and with it comes also a window of oppor-tunity to transform its health systems - an opportu-nity to move from only treating sickness to insteadfocus on preserving and promoting health. There isno time to waste.

Obesity inArab world

In my view

By Amina Semlali

Alarge meeting and conference was led by cur-rent and former ministers and two undersec-retaries only to announce a website dedicat-

ed to youths, the cost of which should not exceedKD 450. The “national efficient site” was inauguratedby the minister of information and state minister foryouth affairs on Monday. After reading the news ofthe press conference, I visited the site and found thatit’s simply a site listing CVs of people searching forjobs and more than half of the names are fake.

The site is very basic and has nothing to do withits long name, which is “base of Kuwaiti efficiencies”.While going through the site, I found that the num-ber of registered persons in it is 125 only. The sur-prise is that 66 names on this list are bogus.

It seems that the site administrator has listedthem to show that the number of participants is high

or those who registered on the site (those 66 per-sons) did not complete registering their records.Although I am with the first possibility, since the sitewas launched only three days ago.

The execution has nothing to do with aim of theproject, regardless of its nobility. It is just anotheremployment website done in a very bad way andfilled with bogus names in order to show officialsthat the site is successful. Of course, most officialshave nothing to do with the Internet and they donot know how websites work. The minister mustlaunch an investigation to find the truth of this siteand what is its cost? Why bogus names have beenused? Who runs it? And then you shall know thetruth.

If fakery is the cornerstone of youth projects,nothing will be achieved and if officials are runningthings for media appearances without achieve-ments, then we shall reach the year 2035 withoutbuilding one hospital. - Al-Anbaa

‘National efficient site’

kuwait digest

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

The elections are over. It was the second held as perthe single vote system since it was amended by anemergency decree. The end of campaigns is also

expected to give us a break from foul language, distrust,vote buying as well as empty and unrealistic promises.

Putting aside the method by which the voting mecha-nism was changed in the electoral law from four votes toone per voter, I would like to putsome questions to those who - outof good intentions or any other rea-sons - believed that the amendmentwas going to end problems thatallegedly increased in the old sys-tem.

Has the single-vote system beenable to eliminate primaries as prom-ised? We found out that not onlyhave primaries remained, butincreased and went deeper into trib-al communities as multiple primarieswere held within sectors of singletribes to nominate their respectivecandidates. Has the single vote sys-tem been able to end sectarianismas planned? After only being notablyfeatured in the first constituency,voting on sectarian bases found an

environment to expand into the majority of constituen-cies after the single vote system was adopted.

Has the single vote system been able to put an end tovote buying as we were continuously told it would? Aswe’ve seen and read in newspapers, the vote buyingproblem increased in this elections and votes were put forsale in larger numbers and for cheaper prices. One last

question: Has the single vote sys-tem help restore national unity? Orhas it caused more social disinte-gration? I am leaving the answer toyou. It is obvious that by taking thesingle vote system’s route, we aredriving Kuwait closer towards theabyss, and accelerating thechances of risks threatening thecountry. Its damage is going tosurpass that of the notorious 25-constituency system - a realitythat we are going to see in thevery near future. Can we payattention to these facts before it istoo late? Or are we going toignore them until we see theinevitable damages before wework - if we had the chance - toprevent them? — Al-Qabas

Has it solved our problems?kuwait digest

By Khalid Al-Awadhi

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

Elections are over!!

Local Spotlight

Another election is over and a new one is soonto come. I know this seems funny, but thetruth is that since 2008, we have seen a differ-

ent Assembly every four to six months. The one in2009 was the longest, but none lasted four years, sowe should not be surprised to see this new Assemblydisappear soon. The problem here is that these short-lived assemblies are creating more trouble than goodbecause these repeated dissolutions are harmful forthe people of Kuwait as well as create confusion overstability and development in this country.

Will this election be the last? I doubt it. We canhope that the Assembly will stay and do well forKuwait. Dreams are one thing but reality is another.We have so many small issues that are left to resolveby themselves and this never happens. Letís bring upa few. I wish for instance to see the ministry of socialaffairs and work provide expat workers with betterservices and protect their rights. This is a wish but Idonít feel that real work is being done every time Isee a protest by workers over their bad accommoda-tion and not getting paid regularly. These are simplehuman needs and I donít wish to see any complaints.

Rents in Kuwait is a big issue, but how many of therich MPs are ready to take on this issue by pressuringthe government to control it. This matter is of impor-tance to both Kuwaitis and expats, as many Kuwaitisdonít have houses of their own, especially newlymarried couples .

On health services, some think they are goodcompared to other countries, but which countries arewe talking about? We need to look at countries thatare successful to be role models and not ones thatare less developed than us. We have not built a newhospital for years although many residential citieshave been built. People get sick and more inhabi-tants means more services are needed includinghealth ones.

This is an obligation for the National Assembly tobring up peopleís needs and the government toimplement them transparently and speedily. The newgovernment will be formed soon, with some old andnew faces. It will not be the last unless real change iseffected as promised by the candidates. Only timewill tell.

Has the single-vote sys-tem been able to elimi-

nate primaries as prom-ised? We found out thatnot only have primariesremained, but increased

and went deeper into trib-al communities as multi-ple primaries were heldwithin sectors of singletribes to nominate theirrespective candidates.

It is just another employ-ment website done in a very

bad way and filled withbogus names in order to

show officials that the site issuccessful. Of course, mostofficials have nothing to do

with the Internet and they donot know how websiteswork. The minister mustlaunch an investigation

to find the truth of this site and what is its cost?

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Brotherhood stays on streets despite killings

Page 8

Cambodia strongman PM’s party claims election win

Page 12

RIO DE JANEIRO: Priests attend the World Youth Day closing Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on the Copacabana beachfront in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday. (Inset) President Dilma Rousseff, from left, Argentina’s President ChristinaFernandez, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, Surinameís President Desire Delano Desi Bouterse, his wife Ingrid, and Uruguay’s Vice President Danilo Astori, attend the the World Youth Day closing Mass in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday. — AP

Pope wraps up historic tripThree million turnout in one of largest papal Masses in Rio

IO DE JANEIRO: An estimated 3 millionpeople poured onto Rio’s Copacabanabeach yesterday for the final Mass ofPope Francis’ historic trip to his homecontinent, cheering the first LatinAmerican pope in one of the biggestturnouts for a papal Mass in recent histo-ry.

Speaking from a white stage andlooking out over the enormous crowd,Francis urged young Catholics to go outand spread their faith “to the fringes ofsociety, even to those who seem farthestaway, most indifferent.”

“The church needs you, your enthusi-asm, your creativity and the joy that is socharacteristic of you!” he said to applausein his final homily of World Youth Day.

Nearly the entire 4 kilometer (2.5mile) crescent of Copacabana’s broadbeach overflowed with flag-waving faith-ful, some of them taking an early morn-ing dip in the Atlantic and others tossingt-shirts, flags and soccer jerseys into thepontiff’s open-sided car as he drove by.Francis worked the crowd, kissing babies,taking a sip of mate tea handed up tohim and catching gifts on the fly.

Even the normally stern-faced Vaticanbodyguards let smiles slip as they joggedalongside Francis’ car, caught up in theenthusiasm of the crowd. The numbersclearly overwhelmed the area’s services:The stench of garbage and human wastehung in Rio’s humid air, and the beachand adjoining chic Atlantic Avenuelooked like an improvised refugee campplunked down in the middle of one ofthe most beautiful cities in the world.Copacabana’s famous mosaic sidewalkswere strewn with trampled cardboard,plastic bags, empty water bottles andcookie wrappers as trash collectors inorange uniforms tried to restore order.

Many of the youngsters on hand for

the Mass spent the night on the beach,an all-night slumber party to end theCatholic youth fest, with pilgrimswrapped in flags and sleeping bags toward off the cold. They danced, prayedand sang - and waited in long lines infront of the armadas of portable bath-rooms along the beachfront.

“We were dying of cold but it wasworth it,” said Lucrecia Grillera, an 18-year-old from Cordoba, Argentina, whereFrancis lived for a time before becomingpope. “It was a tiring day, but it was agreat experience.”

By morning, vendors hawking WorldYouth Day trinkets, T-shirts, hats and flagswere doing brisk business as pilgrimssnapped up souvenirs before headinghome. Jehovah’s Witnesses stood bystands stocked with pamphlets offeringto explain “What does the Bible reallyteach” but they had few takers.

The Vatican said more than 3 millionpeople were on hand for the Mass,based on information from World YouthDay organizers and local authorities whoestimated two-thirds were from outsideRio. That was far higher than the 1 mil-lion at the last World Youth Day inMadrid in 2011 or the 850,000 atToronto’s 2002 concluding Mass.

Only Pope John Paul II’s Mass duringhis 1995 visit to Manila, the capital of thePhilippines, topped Rio’s numbers, withan estimated 5 million people takingpart. Third place among papal Massesnow goes to Rome World Youth Day inthe 2000 Jubilee year, when 2 millionpeople participated. A similar numberattended John Paul’s final Mass inKrakow, his Polish hometown, in 1979,during his first visit to his homeland aspope.

As if recalling that historic Mass,Francis announced on Sunday that the

next World Youth Day would be held inKrakow in 2016. Not all of Sunday’sattendees were paying attention to theMass: Kids posed for random photoswith people holding flags, snoozed andpacked up their makeshift camps.Finding food was a core concern, withlong lines of bedraggled pilgrimssnaking out of cafes and ice cream ven-dors being mobbed by youths starvedfor breakfast.

The presidents of Brazil, Francis’native Argentina, Bolivia and Surinamewere on hand for the Mass, as were thevice presidents of Uruguay and Panama.Receiving a special honor was a coupleFrancis met on Saturday after Mass atRio’s cathedral; they had brought himtheir anencephalic baby daughter to beblessed. Francis invited them to partici-pate in the offertory procession onSunday, at which the father wore a T-shirt that read “Stop abortion.”

After yesterday’s Mass, Francis wasmeeting with the bishops of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, as well asholding a thank-you audience withsome of the 60,000 volunteers whoorganized the youth festival. He wasleaving for Rome later.

“It was such an excellent week, every-body was in such good spirit, you couldjust feel a sense of peace,” said Denise daSilva, a Rio de Janeiro Catholic who wassitting alone on the beach Sunday morn-ing, a Brazilian flag painted on her face. “Ihave never seen something here in Rioso marvelous as what we have just lived.”

Francis has spent the week emphasiz-ing a core message: of the need forCatholics, lay and religious, to shake upthe status quo, get out of their stuffy sac-risties and reach the faithful on the mar-gins of society or risk losing them to rivalchurches.—AP

US House set to vote on tough Iran sanctions bill

WASHINGTON: Lawmakers in the USHouse of Representatives are due tovote on a tough Iran sanctions bill thisweek that seeks to squeeze the IslamicRepublic’s oil exports to a trickle.

The Republican-led House is due tovote on Wednesday on the bill thatseeks to cut Iran’s oil exports by anoth-er 1 million barrels per day within oneyear, congressional aides said.

The bill, expected to pass easily inthe House, would not become lawimmediately as no companion legisla-tion has yet passed in the Senate. TheSenate Banking Committee could con-sider its version of a bill in Septemberand then the legislation would moveto the full chamber for a vote.

If the House acts this week it wouldhighlight a divide between lawmakers

in Congress and the some in PresidentBarack Obama’s administration. Manylawmakers are anxious to appeartough in trying to slow Iran’s disputednuclear program, but Obama’s admin-istration acted last week to partiallyease sanctions on I ran, which lastmonth elected president a relativemoderate, the cleric Hassan Rouhani.

The US Treasury Department lastThursday expanded the list of medicaldevices that can be exported to Iranwithout special permission, as theadministration sought to show sup-port for humanitarian needs in thecountry, which has been hit hard byWestern sanctions.

The State Depar tment has longcautioned that moving too fast inusing sanctions to cut Iran’s oil exports

could harm the economies of US allies.Wendy Sherman, the StateDepartment official leading talks withIran over its nuclear program, told aSenate hearing last month it is not inthe US interest to cause any importereconomy to tank because of strongersanctions.

The House bill’s goal of slashingIran’s oi l expor ts to a tr ick le r isksantagonizing China and India, thebiggest buyers of Iran’s crude, andcould push global oil prices higher.

Some suppor ters in the UnitedStates of stepped-up diplomaticefforts with Tehran worry that passinga House bill before Iran’s elected presi-dent Rouhini takes office on Aug. 3could send the wrong message aheadof nuclear talks.—Reuters

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

NICOSIA: Turkish Cypriots went to thepolls yesterday for a snap electionexpected to be won by the left after thecollapse of the conservative administra-tion of the breakaway north.

Opinion polls predicted that the left-wing Republican Turkish Party (CTP)would comfortably beat the nationalistNational Unity Party (UBP) amid publicanger over its austerity policies when inpower. The UBP government lost a non-confidence vote on June 5 when eight ofits own MPs defected over a privatisationprogramme it said was necessary to hon-

our a 2010 deal with Turkey.Ankara is a key aid donor and the

only government that recognises thebreakaway Turkish Republic of NorthernCyprus. It was unclear whether the CTPwould win an outright majority in the50-seat parliament under the north’sproportional representation system orwould need to find a coalition partneramong the three smaller parties alsocontesting the election.

Polls were due to close at 6 pm (1500GMT) with results expected later yester-day. The new government will have to

cohabit with nationalist president DervisEroglu, whose five-year term does notend until 2015.

Analysts said that a CTP-led govern-ment could prompt an easing of Eroglu’stough stance towards talks on endingthe Mediterranean island’s nearly four-decade-old division. Eroglu met GreekCypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, presi-dent of the island’s internationally recog-nised government, for a UN-hosted get-together in early June but substantivetalks have been on hold for a year.

The CTP was a strong supporter of a

UN-brokered 2004 reunification planthat was backed by Turkish Cypriots butrejected by Greek Cypriots in simultane-ous referendums. The outcome resultedin Cyprus joining the European Unionthat year still a divided island and theTurkish Cypriots being denied the fullbenefits of EU membership.

As a result, the breakaway north hasremained heavily dependent on Turkishaid and the programme of public sectorwage and recruitment freezes and taxhikes that Ankara has demanded inreturn dominated the campaign to the

exclusion of the stuttering reunificationtalks. Anastasiades has ruled out anyresumption of the talks before Octoberas his government pushes throughswingeing austerity measures of its ownthat were demanded by internationalcreditors in return for a 10-billion-euro($13-billion) debt bailout.

Cyprus has been divided into Greek-and Turkish-Cypriot sectors since 1974when Turkish troops invaded its north-ern third in response to a short-livedcoup in Nicosia aimed at uniting theisland with Greece. — AFP

Left tipped to win snap Turkish Cypriot vote

CAIRO: Thousands of supporters ofEgypt’s Muslim Brotherhood stoodtheir ground in Cairo yesterday, sayingthey would not leave the streetsdespite “massacres” by security forceswho shot dozens of them dead.Egypt’s ambulance service said 72people were killed in Saturday’s vio-lence at a Cairo vigil by backers ofdeposed President Mohamed Morsi,triggering global anxiety that theArab world’s most populous countryrisked plunging into the abyss. Morsi’sBrotherhood, which won repeatedelections after the fall of autocratHosni Mubarak in 2011, accuses themilitary of reversing the uprising thatbrought democracy to Egypt anddemands his reinstatement.

“They will not be content until theybring back everything from the era ofthe corrupt, murderous security andintelligence state,” senior Brotherhoodofficial Essam El-Erian said onFacebook. “They’ve stepped up theirefforts to do so by committing mas-sacres never before seen in Egyptianhistory.” And Gehad El-Haddad, aspokesman for the MuslimBrotherhood, said demonstratorswere angry but “hugely defiant” afterSaturday’s deaths. “There are feelingsof agony and anger, but also a verystrong feeling of determination,” hetold AFP. “People are hugely defiant,”he added. “For us, if we die, we meetour creator and we did so for a justcause... Either we die or we succeed.”

The Interior Ministry has rejectedeyewitness accounts that policeopened fire on the crowds and a pub-lic prosecutor has launched a probeinto the violence, investigating 72 sus-pects for an array of crimes includingmurder and blocking streets.Although Cairo was quiet yesterday,violent clashes rattled the Suez Canalcity of Port Said, with a 17-year-oldyouth killed in fighting between thepro- and anti-Morsi camps and a fur-ther 29 people injured, securitysources said.

The violence has deeply polarisedEgypt, with its secular and liberal eliteso far showing little sympathy for theBrotherhood or reservations aboutthe return to power of a militarywhich ruled for 60 years before the2011 uprising. However, in one of thefirst signs of doubt from within theinterim cabinet installed after the mili-tary takeover, Deputy Prime Ministerfor Economic Affairs Ziad Bahaa El-Dinsaid the government must not copythe “oppressive” policies of its foes.“Our position must remain fixed onthe need to provide legal guaranteesnot only for the members of theBrotherhood, but for every Egyptiancitizen. Excessive force is not permit-ted,” El-Din wrote on Facebook.

And in another sign of unease, theTamarud youth protest movement,which mobilised millions of peopleagainst Morsi and has fully backed thearmy, expressed alarm at anannouncement by the interior minis-ter that he was reviving the fearedsecret political police shut down afterMubarak was toppled.

Saturday’s killings took place theday after mass rallies called by military

chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who said hewanted public backing for a crack-down on “terrorism”. The Brotherhoodsaw the demonstrations as an attemptto justify an imminent onslaughtagainst itself. In an apparent endorse-ment of the police, a smiling Sisiturned up at a graduation ceremonyon Sunday broadcast live on state tel-evision, receiving a standing ovationfrom the recruits, all decked out instarched white uniforms. InteriorMinister Mohamed Ibrahim hailedhim as “Egypt’s devoted son”.

The military says it does not wantto retain power and aims to hand overto full civilian rule with a “road map” toparliamentary elections in about sixmonths. But the very public role of Sisias face of the new order has led tospeculation that the next presidentcould again be a military officer, likeall of Egypt’s rulers between 1952 andMorsi’s election last year. Yesterdaymorning army vehicles still surround-ed entrances to the square in north-east Cairo where thousands of MuslimBrotherhood supporters have campedout for a month. Some people usedpictures of the bearded Morsi to wardoff the fierce sun.

“We are right, legitimacy is on ourside and hopefully at the end God willlead us to triumph and we will notgive up,” said Mostafa Ali, 29 from Niledelta town of Mansoura. “On Jan 2011,(former president) Hosni Mubarak wasstrong, but he fell in a peaceful way,”said Khaled Khalil, a sociology profes-sor at the protest. “God willing, Sisi willfall in the same peaceful way,” headded. Authorities have said theywant to clear the activists off thestreets and local residents have com-plained about the camp.

New York-based Human RightsWatch said Saturday’s killings suggest-ed a “shocking willingness” by policeand politicians to ratchet up violenceagainst backers of Morsi. UN humanrights chief Navi Pillay said confronta-tion was “leading to disaster”. “Egyptstands at a crossroads. The future ofthis great country that gave so muchto civilization depends on how its citi-

zens and authorities act over the fol-lowing days and months,” she said in astatement. The United States, whichprovides more than $1 billion a year inmilitary aid to Egypt, urged its MiddleEast ally to pull “back from the brink”,telling the security forces to respectthe right to peaceful protest.

Egypt’s Salafi Nour party, the coun-try’s second-biggest Islamist move-ment which has supported the armyroad map, said Saturday’s bloodshedshowed a political solution was need-ed. “The crisis will not be resolvedwith crowds and counter crowds andneither will it be solved through vio-lence,” party chief Younes Makhyountold Reuters. Close to 300 people havedied in violence since Sisi deposedMorsi. Besides the Cairo bloodshed,some of the worst violence has beenin the lawless Sinai peninsula, whichborders Israel and the PalestinianGaza Strip, where Islamist militantshave targeted government forces onan almost daily basis.

State news agency MENA said yes-terday that 10 “terrorist elements” innorth Sinai had been killed and 20others arrested in security sweepsover the past 48 hours. The apparent

revival of the political secret police is amove that could shake the enthusi-asm of some secularists who haveotherwise seen little to object to in agovernment campaign against theirBrotherhood enemies. Citing “extrem-ist and religious activity and thingslike that”, Interior Minister Ibrahimsaid on Saturday “safety cannot berestored without political security”.

Tamarud campaigners issued astatement rejecting the return of anydepartments tasked with monitoringreligious or political activity, arguingthat the main aim of Egypt’s 2011 rev-olution was “freedom and social jus-tice”. Morsi has been held in armydetention at an undisclosed locationsince he was deposed. Ibrahim said hewould likely be transferred shortly tothe same Cairo prison where Mubarakis now held, after authorities launchedan investigation of him on chargesincluding murder. — Reuters

Brotherhood stays on streets despite killings‘For us, if we die, we meet our creator’

CAIRO: Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood gesture as they stand closeto an image of deposed president Mohamed Morsi at a makeshift brickbarricade erected along Nasr City’s main street, a district of eastern Cairo,yesterday, as supporters of Morsi continue to hold a sit in outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque demanding his reinstatement. — AFP

KIRKUK: A suicide bomber killed nineKurdish policemen in northern Iraqyesterday, while five people died inother attacks, officials said. With the lat-est attacks, violence has killed morethan 730 people in July and over 3,000since the beginning of the year,according to AFP figures based onsecurity and medical sources.

The suicide bomber detonated anexplosives-rigged vehicle near a policeconvoy in the town of Tuz Khurmatu inSalaheddin province, also woundingnine officers, district official ShalalAbdul Baban told AFP.

A doctor and police confirmed thetoll. The town is part of a swathe of

northern territory that Iraqi Kurds wantto incorporate into their three-province autonomous region over thestrong objections of the federal gov-ernment in Baghdad.

Diplomats and officials say the dis-pute is one of the main threats to Iraq’slong-term stability. Security forcesmeanwhile began a major operationon Sunday in Diyala, Salaheddin andKirkuk provinces, aimed at trackingdown those behind bombings andassassinations during the Muslim holymonth of Ramadan, LieutenantGeneral Abdulamir al-Zaidi said. Allthree provinces have been hit by fre-quent attacks, including in recent

weeks. In Baghdad, a magnetic “stickybomb” on a bus killed two people andwounded eight yesterday, while gun-men killed a policeman and woundedtwo others in Samarra, north of thecapital, officials said.

And three attacks in the southernprovince of Basra killed tribal leaderSheikh Issa al-Othman and an employ-ee of the Southern Oil Company, andwounded a civilian and three police-men. Iraq has faced years of attacks bymilitants, but analysts say widespreaddiscontent among members of itsSunni Arab minority that the govern-ment has failed to address has fuelledthe surge this year. — AFP

TEHRAN: Conservative lawmaker Ali Motahari yesterdaycalled for the release of political prisoners in Iran andquestioned the ongoing house arrests of oppositionleaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

A vocal critic of outgoing President MahmoudAhmadinejad, Motahari broached the topic in a state-ment read on the floor of conservative-dominated par-liament, less than a week before moderate president-elect Hassan Rowhani takes office on August 3.

“There are now political prisoners jailed only for criti-cising the government,” said Motahari, according to hispersonal website. “The judiciary chief (Sadeq Larijani)must release them and pay no heed to pressure fromsecurity officials,” he said without elaborating.

Iran rounded up hundreds of pro-reform oppositionfigures, including ex-officials, journalists and activists, aswell as thousands of people who took to the streets inprotest at the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad in2009. The regime used deadly force to stifle the proteststhat eventually turned into anti-government demonstra-tions. Many of those arrested remain in custody, particu-larly in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Motahari on Sunday called on Rowhani to clarify thefate of Mousavi and Karroubi, who have been keptincommunicado under house arrest since February 2011.“The fate of Mr Mousavi and Karroubi must be clarified...the least demand is that they be allowed to defendthemselves,” said Motahari, an ardent supporter of prag-matic ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

“There is hope that the president-elect will resolvethis issue as punishing them and depriving them of theircivil rights, without a court order, is unacceptable basedon logic and sharia” Islamic law, he added.

The fate of Mousavi and Karroubi has attracted globalattention, with Western powers and UN chief Ban Ki-moon urging Tehran to release them and all politicalprisoners. Rowhani, a regime insider, won a surprise vic-tory in the Islamic republic’s June 14 presidential elec-tion, after gaining the support of moderates and margin-alised reformists. A former chief nuclear negotiator, hecampaigned on the promise to resolve Iran’s decade-long dispute with Western powers over its nuclear ambi-tions, and also vowed increased media and personalfreedoms. — AFP

Suicide bomber kills nine police in Iraq

BASRA: Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb explosion in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast ofBaghdad, Iraq, yesterday. The attack comes amid an increase in violence that is raising fears of a return to thewidespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion. Morethan 3,000 have died since April. — AP

Iran MP urges release of political prisoners

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

MOGADISHU: A bomber detonated aminivan laden with explosives outside aTurkish hospital in Somalia’s capital onSaturday, killing at least one person andwounding more than three others, aSomali police officer said.

The bomber also died in the attack atthe Al-Shifa hospital in Mogadishu, saidMohammed Abdi. Al-Shabab insurgentsclaimed responsibility for the attack onTwitter saying they were targeting agroup of Turkish diplomats. The groupsaid the operation was not a suicideattack and that those who carried out

the attack had safely gone back to theirbases. Al-Shabab, which has links withal-Qaida, has been carrying out guerrillaattacks in Somalia since the group wasexpelled from the capital by AfricanUnion troops in August 2011. It has longbeen threatening Turkish workers andaid agencies in Somalia accusing themof spreading secularism in Somalia.

“The Turkish are part of a group ofnations bolstering the apostate regimeand attempting to suppress the estab-lishment of Islamic Shari’ah,” al-Shababsaid on Twitter. The expulsion of al-

Shabab in the capital ended years of dai-ly violence that had caused the rest ofthe world to shun the capital for twodecades. After the ouster of al-Shababthe international community startedtrickling back into Mogadishu, and theUnited Nations began moving its per-sonnel to Somalia from Kenya.

But al-Shabab still holds sway in someparts of rural southern Somalia andretains the ability to stage lethal attackseven in Mogadishu. Last month militantson a suicide mission invaded the UNcompound in Mogadishu with a truck

bomb and then poured inside, killing atleast 13 people before dying in theassault.

Earlier this month a bomb explodedinside the largest market in the Somalicapital, wounding at least five govern-ment soldiers aboard a military vehicle.The bomb was concealed inside a Somalimilitary pick-up truck in Mogadishu’ssprawling Bakara market, Mogadishupolice official Mohamed Hussein said.

The United Nations envoy in Somaliacondemned the attack. Nicholas Kay,head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in

Somalia that began operations lastmonth, offered his condolences to theTurkish government, victims and theirfamilies. “Turkey has been working tire-lessly and bravely to help the Somalipeople over the last few years,” he said ina statement. The US State Departmentmade a similar statement.

“This cowardly act will not shake ourcommitment to continue working forthe brighter, more democratic andprosperous future the people ofSomalia deserve,” spokeswoman JenPsaki said. — AP

Bomber kills 1 in Somali hospital attack

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA: Thedriver of a train that hurtled off therails killing 79 people in Spain facedquestioning by a judge yesterday, asthe pilgrimage city of Santiago deCompostela mourned the dead.

Flowers and candles were placed atthe crash site and at the gates of thecity’s cathedral, a year-round destina-tion for Roman Catholic pilgrims.Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, the 52-

year-old driver, refused to answerpolice questions Friday from his hos-pital bed, and the case was passed tothe courts. Garzon was taken to apolice station on Saturday after beingdischarged from hospital and was dueto appear on Sunday before a judgewho will decide whether to press for-mal charges, court officials said.Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaztold reporters on Saturday thatGarzon Amo faced possible charges ofreckless homicide over Spain’s dead-liest rail accident since 1944.

The train was reported to havebeen travelling at more than twice thespeed limit on a bend when it tore offthe rails on Wednesday and slammedinto a concrete wall. A passenger who

was critically wounded in the crashdied in hospital, health officials saidyesterday, bringing the toll to 79,including eight foreigners.

“We are really feeling the impact.People are praying. I t is a greattragedy,” said Marlen de Francisco, awoman of 70 who sells souvenirs inthe cathedral square. “All day peopleare asking me for note paper so theycan write messages and put them on

the cathedral gates.” A memorial serv-ice is scheduled to be held in Santiagode Compostela today. Forensics policeon Saturday identified the last threevictims, including that of 35-year-oldFrench veterinarian Jean-BaptisteLoirat. “He was a very happy youngfather, adorable, very loving and fami-ly oriented,” his aunt Marie-AnneLoirat told AFP in his hometown ofNantes in western France.

The president of the Spanish railnetwork administrator ADIF, GonzaloFerre, said Garzon had been warnedto start slowing the train “four kilome-tres before the accident happened”.

El Pais newspaper, citing investiga-tion sources, reported that he toldrailway officials by radio that the train

had taken the curve at 190 kilometres(118 miles) an hour-more than doublethe 80 kph speed limit for that sectionof track.

A resident who rushed to the scenesaid in a television interview broad-cast Sunday that the driver told himminutes after the crash he had beenunable to brake. “He said he had tobrake to 80 and couldn’t, that he wasgoing fast,” Evaristo Iglesias, whoalong with another man accompaniedthe driver to a stretch of flat landwhere other injured people werebeing laid out after the accident, toldAntena 3.

“He kept saying ‘I want to die! Iwant to die! I don’t want to see this!”.State railway company Renfe said thedriver had been with the firm for 30years, including 13 years as a driver,and had driven trains past the spot ofthe accident 60 times.

El Mundo newspaper on Sundayprinted extracts from the train’s routeplan, indicating that ahead of thebend the train passed from a stretchof track with a speed limit of 220 kphto one with a limit of 80 kph. Thenewspaper said it was “surprising” thatit was left entirely up to the driverexactly when to brake as the trainentered the curve.

Some media reports describedGarzon Amo as a speed freak whoonce posted a picture on hisFacebook page of a train speedome-ter at 200 kph. Renfe said the train-amodel able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks-had no tech-nical problems and had just passed aninspection on the morning of the acci-dent.

But the secretary general of Spain’strain drivers’ union, Juan Jesus GarciaFraile, told public radio the track wasnot equipped with braking technolo-gy that would slow the train downautomatically if the driver failed to sowhen required. Many of the passen-gers were said to be on their way to afestival in honour of Saint James, theapostle who gave his name toSantiago de Compostela. “As a believ-er, I wonder how Saint James can haveallowed this to happen,” said Pedro, agrey-bearded pilgrim from Cantabriain northern Spain, wearing a cape andusing a walking stick. — AFP

Train driver faces judge as Spain mourns crash victimsWitness: Train driver said he couldn’t brake

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA: A wreckage of a crashed train, prior to beingtransported, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, yesterday. Spain’s interiorminister Jorge Fernandez Diaz says the driver whose speeding traincrashed, killing 78 people, is now being held on suspicion of negligenthomicide. The Spanish train derailed at high speed Wednesday killing 78and injuring dozens more. — AP

ROME: Italy’s Supreme Court meetstomorrow to examine a fraud trialagainst Silvio Berlusconi which couldsee him ousted from politics and risksupsetting the country’s fragile coali-tion government.

The court will rule on whether touphold a tax fraud conviction againstthe former premier and confirm theone-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office, whichwould effectively end his 20-year polit-ical career.

Though Berlusconi’s advancing agemeans he is unlikely to go to jail, the76-year-old billionaire swore in aninterview published yesterday that hewould do rather do time behind bars,if found definitively guilty, than takeadvantage of lenient punishment forthe over 70s.

“I will not go into exile. Nor will Iaccept being entrusted to social serv-ices, like a criminal who has to be reed-ucated,” he said in an interview in thecentre-right Libero daily.

Berlusconi said he would alsorefuse to take advantage of Italy’s poli-cy to let elderly people carry out sen-tences under house arrest. “I amalmost 78 years old and I would havethe right to house arrest, but if theyfind me guilty, if they take on thatresponsibility, I will go to prison,” hesaid. Whether he goes to jail or not,Berlusconi’s banishment from parlia-ment would be a blow to the centre-right. It could also unsettle PrimeMinister Enrico Letta’s centre-left andright coalition, already riven with bick-ering. The trial, which began sevenyears ago, concerns Berlusconi’sMediaset business empire andrevolves around prices of film distribu-

tion rights bought by the companythat were artificially inflated in order toavoid taxes.

The tax scam helped the fraudsterscreate secret overseas accounts andreduce profits to pay fewer taxes inItaly. While prosecutors insist the buckstopped with Berlusconi, the formercruise-ship crooner denies the chargesand says he was too busy with hispolitical career to play any role in deal-ing with issues such as film rights. “Iam quite optimistic, they cannot findme guilty. I was the prime minister (atthe time of the alleged crime), whatcould I possibly have known aboutcontracts for television rights?” he said.Berlusconi’s position as a senatoroffers him some protection, for even ifthe court upholds the guilty verdictagainst him, it will be for the senatorsto vote on whether to deprive him ofhis seat in the upper house. It is notclear how long the Rome court willtake to examine the case. While a rul-ing could come as early as tomorrow,the hearings could also last severaldays. The judges may even postpone

their decision to later in the year. “Ihaven’t slept for a month. I wake up atnight and stare at the ceiling, thinkingabout what they’ve done to me,” saidthe media magnate, who has longaccused left-wing magistrates of hav-ing a personal vendetta against him.Both Berlusconi and Letta have insist-ed that the Mediaset ruling will nothave an effect on the government.Some political analysts however havewarned that the mogul’s loyalists areplotting to pull the plug and force afresh election if it goes against him.But others say the former premierknows the risks of such a move are toohigh; among other things, a withdraw-al of his centre-right People ofFreedom (PDL) party from govern-ment could open the way to analliance between the left and Italy’sFive Star protest movement.

The right would also need timebefore the next general election toestablish its identity, after two decadesunder the showman’s helmsmanship.Whatever the court’s decision, it isunlikely to signal the end ofBerlusconi. Many analysts dismissedhim as a political force after he wasousted from power at the end of 2011,but he staged an impressive come-back for the elections in February,almost stealing victory from a shockedleft, which was later forced to sharepower. Even if he were ousted fromparliament, he may very well bid tostay on as a figurehead for the right.Prime minister briefly in 1994, thenfrom 2001 to 2006 and again from2008 to 2011, Berlusconi’s battles withthe law have marked his public life buthe has repeatedly benefitted fromcriminal statutes of limitation. —AFP

HARARE: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe yester-day warned his main rival Morgan Tsvangirai that he wouldbe arrested if he claimed victory before official results wereannounced in an election this week. In his final campaignrally ahead of a presidential and parliamentary vote onWednesday, Mugabe said his ZANU-PF party was confidentof victory, which would extend his three decades in power.

But he expressed concern that Tsvangirai, who is mak-ing a third run at the presidency, had threatened not towait for official results from the electoral authorities.

Tsvangirai told his own Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC)supporters at the weekend that althoughZANU-PF was trying to rig the elections, he expected anoverwhelming victory and did not have to wait for theZimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). On Sunday,Mugabe dismissed Tsvangirai’s charges of ZANU-PF voterigging as unfounded complaints of a “political cry baby”staring at inevitable defeat, warning him to respect lawsgiving only the ZEC the power to announce results. “I cantell you in advance that if you breach the law and becomea law breaker, the police will arrest you,” he said to cheersfrom thousands of supporters at a stadium in Harare. In2008, the election commission announced presidential

Mugabe warns rival against poll win claim

election results after five weeks, which showed Tsvangiraihad beaten Mugabe but not by enough votes to avoid arun-off. His MDC said ZEC had cooked the figures to keepMugabe in office, and Tsvangirai went on to occupy theprime minister’s post in a power-sharing government.Tsvangirai will address his last major rally today.

Mugabe, 89, is seeking to extend his 33-year hold onpower after leading the former Rhodesia to independencefrom Britain in 1980 and surviving his party’s loss to theMDC. Although both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have beenpredicting that they would win the July 31 contest by hugemargins, political analysts say it could be a tight race inwhich Mugabe’s control of the electoral machinery mightprove the decisive element. On Sunday, the veteranZimbabwean leader - who denies he has been receivingtreatment for prostate cancer in Singapore over the last fewyears - said he deserved re-election to continue a black eco-nomic empowerment drive opposed by the MDC.“Tsvangirai and his MDC are shameless Western puppets,created by the West, funded and controlled by the West,and I urge you to reject them once and for all in these elec-tions,” he said, repeating charges he makes often about hisrivals but which the MDC strongly denies. Mugabe jokinglysaid he would suffer heart failure if the capital Harare, anMDC stronghold in which ZANU-PF won just one of the 29parliamentary seats in the 2008 elections, backed Tsvangiraiagain at the polls. This year’s short election campaign peri-od has been largely free of the violence that has marredprevious polls. But the MDC accuses ZANU-PF of rigging theJuly 31 polls in its favour through a shambolic voters’ regis-ter and a refusal to open up the media to all sides or torestrain security forces from active politics. —Reuters

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe (L) andhis wife Grace (R) greet supporters after his address ata rally in Harare yesterday, ahead of elections on July31. Zimbabweans will choose between veteranPresident Robert Mugabe and long-time rival MorganTsvangirai. — AFP

Italy top court to shape Berlusconi’s political fate

Silvio Berlusconi

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

BELFAST: When US President BarackObama visited Northern Ireland beforethe G8 summit in June, he hailed itsextraordinary progress in the 15 yearssince a peace agreement to end threedecades of what locals call “The Troubles”.

On the other side of Belfast the nextday, a petrol bomb thrown over a fencedividing Protestant from Catholic com-munities exploded next to a four-year-old girl playing in the street - just oneexample of sporadic violence still haunt-ing the British province.

The region of 1.8 million people isstriving to heal a sectarian divide thatmapped onto a deadly political riftbetween “loyalists” supporting the unionwith Britain and “nationalists” seekingunification with the Republic of Irelandto the south.

With more than 3,500 people killedduring 30 years of paramilitary violence,deep-rooted enmity between the com-munities still leads to outbreaks of unrest- the latest around Protestant streetparades that take place every July.

“It’s like an earthquake zone,” saidNaomi Long, a lawmaker in the London

parliament and deputy leader of thenon-sectarian Alliance Party. “You havethese divided communities and they rubalong against each other, and suddenlysomething erupts.”

In Belfast, symbols of the divide areinescapable, from the British flags flyingfrom loyalist houses and the “peace walls”that separate Protestant from Catholicareas, to the hundreds of murals on thehomes of both communities, somedepicting balaclava-clad gunmen.

Hailed by London and internationalpolicymakers as an example of conflictresolution and economic progress,Northern Ireland has made great stridessince the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.But with traditional heavy industry indecline, it remains an economic laggard.

While data does not break out totaloutput for the province, several indica-tors show it trailing the rest of Britain.With 3 percent of the UK’s population,Northern Ireland has its lowest labourproductivity, slowest growth in dispos-able income and largest proportion ofpeople with no qualifications, accordingto statistics office data.

The province gets about 10 billionpounds ($16 billion), half its total publicsector spending, through an annualblock grant from London. About a thirdof the population is employed in thepublic sector, the highest level in the UK.

Peace has brought more investmentin areas such as technology, film makingand tourism thanks to relatively lowlabour costs, though multinationals pre-fer Ireland, where corporation tax is 12.5percent, versus 23 percent in the north.

That has helped bring unemploymentdown to 7.8 percent, about the UK aver-age yet still close to a 15-year high.“Peace is the obvious improvement - forthe first time ever, we have a whole gen-eration who didn’t experience theTroubles,” said Ann McGregor, head ofNorthern Ireland’s Chamber ofCommerce. “We still need to create morejobs.”

The province still carries a psychologi-cal burden from its troubled history, too.It had the highest rate of post-traumaticstress among 30 countries surveyed bythe University of Ulster, at 9 percent, andits health services pay twice as much per

capita for antidepressants as they do inEngland.

For decades the traditional Protestantmarches in July have sparked violentclashes, as Catholics see them as provo-cation when they pass the areas wherethey live. The peace deal has not stoppedthis annual dose of bad publicity for theprovince.

This month, rioters with bare cheststhrew petrol bombs, bottles and fire-works at police, who responded withwater cannon and rubber bullets, afterauthorities stopped Protestant marchersfrom following a traditional route inBelfast. Most of the trouble was awayfrom commercial areas, but images ofriots still hurt business and tourism,which Northern Ireland has sought toboost with a 97 million pound museumat the shipyard that built the Titanic. Itssecond city Londonderry nationalistsscorn the 17th-century addition of theLondon prefix and know it as Derry - isalso hoping for gains from its designa-tion as the 2013 UK City of Culture, ascheme to generate social and economicbenefits through the promotion of cul-

tural events.The business community focuses on

the improvement since 1998, withBelfast’s city centre - once a dead zone -now thriving and the number of foreigninvestment projects jumping 41 percentin the last year. But it remains exasperat-ed by the sporadic sectarian trouble.

“Is this going back to where we were?That’s certainly not the case; these areisolated areas, but it is damaging,” saidNigel Smyth, who heads the local branchof the CBI industry association. “A nega-tive image is a negative image, and peo-ple relate that to Northern Ireland.”

During weeks of violence early thisyear, hotels reported sharp drops inoccupancy rates and retailers a 30 per-cent fall in sales. With marchers nowgathering each Saturday on the edge ofthe nationalist Ardoyne area, butcherMark Maguire reckons it is costing halfhis shop’s weekly business. “Saturday isour busiest day, and there’s no one com-ing in at all,” said Maguire, wearingmatching apron and hat behind the meatcounter. “We open up, but it all just diesaway. I wish they’d stop.” — Reuters

Northern Ireland struggles to heal deep fracture

BAMAKO: Malians voted yesterday for a presi-dent expected to usher in a new dawn of peaceand stability in the first election since a militarycoup upended one of the region’s most stabledemocracies.

Almost seven million voters have a choice of27 candidates to lead the troubled nation from acrisis ignited by the mutiny which allowedIslamists to take control of its vast north beforethey were dislodged by a French-led militaryintervention.

The ballot opened at 8 am (0800 GMT) underheavy security after one of the main armedgroups linked to Al-Qaeda in northern Mali saidSaturday it would “strike” polling stations.

“The polling stations and other voting placesfor what they are calling the elections will be tar-geted by mujahedeen strikes,” the Movement forOneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) saidin a statement carried by neighbouringMauritania’s ANI news agency.

It did not specify what form the attackswould take but the group warned MalianMuslims to “stay away from the polls”. Actingpresident Dionounda Traore called on all candi-dates to respect the outcome after casting hisballot in Bamako, without revealing whom hehad picked.

“I am very satisfied with the general condi-tions in terms of the organisation of the elec-tions. I think that as far as Malians can remem-ber, this is the best-organised election since1960,” he said.

In a polling station at a school in Mali’s capi-tal, hundreds of voters had been queueing formore than an hour to cast their ballots.

“We are tired of bad governance. I’d urge thecandidates to accept the results of our vote,” saidmachine operator Kalifa Traore, 56. Although thethree-week campaign ended Friday withoutmajor incident, it played out in the shadow ofviolence in the north that has raised doubts overMali’s readiness to deliver a safe and credibleelection.

Critics at home and abroad have argued thatMali, under pressure from the international com-munity, is rushing to the polls and risking abotched election that could do more harm thangood. But Louis Michel, the head of theEuropean Union observation mission, sounded anote of optimism Friday, saying conditions hadbeen met for a credible first round.

Much of the worry ahead of the polls hasbeen focused on Kidal, occupied for five monthsby Tuareg separatists until a ceasefire accordallowed the Malian army earlier this month toprovide security.

Clashes between Tuaregs and black Africansin the run-up to the election left four peopledead.

And gunmen thought to be from theNational Movement for the Liberation ofAzawad (MNLA) kidnapped five polling officials200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Kidal.

Voting opened late in many parts of thetown. At one polling station, each voter wasbeing searched by soldiers from the UnitedNation’s peacekeeping mission, which is chargedwith ensuring security yesterday and in themonths after the election.

The ballot is the first since the military mutinyin March last year that toppled democraticallyelected president Amadou Toumani Toure. Theensuing confusion helped the MNLA, MUJAOand other groups allied to Al-Qaeda to seizenorthern Mali.

The UN deployment, which will reach 12,600by the end of the year, allows France to startwithdrawing most of the 4,500 troops it sent toMali in January to stop the Islamists fromadvancing towards Bamako.

Haidara Aichata Cisse, the only woman in therace, goes head-to-head with 26 men, includingpast premiers Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, CheickModibo Diarra, Modibo Sidibe and SoumanaSacko. Keita is seen as the main frontrunner

alongside Soumaila Cisse, a former chairman ofthe Commission of the West African MonetaryUnion.

“Mali will be the real winner. This election willhelp us forget the nightmare. We will have ahead of state elected without ambiguity,” Keitasaid after voting, adding that he felt “confident”of success.

In Gao, northern Mali’s largest city, dozenslined up to vote in a school near IndependenceSquare, which was renamed “Sharia Square” dur-ing the Islamist occupation.

“I hope that with my vote, my candidate iselected and will think about developing myregion, which has long been abandoned,” saidIssoufou Cisse, a 50-year-old in a blue robe andwhite turban after casting his ballot.

Small crowds gathered at two polling stationsin the northern desert town of Timbuktu werealready reporting problems as the electionbegan, however, with many unable to find theirnames on voting lists.

The polling booths in Timbuktu were guard-ed by Malian soldiers, rifles slung over theirshoulders. “I will do everything I can to vote, toelect a president who will save Mali, who willreconcile the north and the south, who will rec-oncile all Malians,” English teacher OumarDiakite said. — AFP

Malians go to polls inwatershed election

Islamist threat lingers despite French-led offensive

KONNA: The presidents of the city’s voting bureaux (no names available) work at a polling sta-tion yesterday in the small city of Konna, northern Mali, where French operation Serval-ledairstrikes against Islamists began in January 2013. Malians defied Islamist death threats tovote yesterday for a president expected to usher in a new dawn of peace and stability in theconflict-scarred nation. — AFP

SYDNEY: Pro-refugee protesters hold placards as they march with a banner throughcentral Sydney yesterday. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday said hemade “absolutely no apology” for his hardline new policy on asylum-seekers underwhich they are sent to Papua New Guinea. — AFP

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister KevinRudd said yesterday he made “absolutelyno apology” for his hardline new policy ofsending asylum-seekers to Papua NewGuinea as hundreds protested in Sydney.

Under the directive, those who pay peo-ple-smugglers to arrive on unauthorisedboats will be sent to the poor Pacific nationfor processing and resettled there-even ifjudged to be genuine refugees.

“On the question of asylum-seekers...we’ve had to adjust our policy over timeand I make absolutely no apology whatso-ever for our current policy settings becausethe world around us has changed,” Ruddtold Channel Ten. Rudd, who was lastmonth reinstalled as prime minister by hisLabor colleagues to help turn around direopinion polls in an election year, had previ-ously softened some of the former conser-vative government’s policies.

But after being reappointed leader, hemoved quickly to announce a radicallyreshaped immigration plan under whichboatpeople could be resettled in PNG, senthome or to a third country-but not toAustralia. The plan has worried the UnitedNations refugee agency, which said Fridaythat conditions at Papua New Guinea’sManus Island facility currently failed ade-quately to protect refugees. “UNHCR istroubled by the current absence of ade-quate protection standards and safeguardsfor asylum-seekers and refugees in PapuaNew Guinea,” it said in its first assessmentof the policy. Hundreds took to the streetsin Sydney to protest the policy Sunday, car-rying placards such as “Let them land, letthem stay”, and at one point sitting at amajor intersection and blocking it.

“Kevin Rudd has gone too far,” said IanRintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition.“And he has misjudged the sentiment of

the Australian community.” Australiaresumed sending asylum-seekers to ManusIsland and the Pacific state of Nauru in 2012to try to deter record numbers arriving byboat, hundreds of whom drowned enroute. Rudd has said the new PNG policywill take some time to deter asylum-seek-ers. Since he announced the change justover a week ago officials have intercepted15 boats carrying some 1,250 people.

“It is the implementation of that policydirection over time, resolutely, which willyield results,” he told Network Ten’s BoltReport. “In the interim, people-smugglerswill test your resolve.”

Asylum-seekers are a sensitive issue inAustralia, and one set to feature promi-nently in the election due this year. AGalaxy poll of more than 1,000 voters pub-lished in The Sunday Telegraph found thatnot only had Labor’s vote improved underRudd, he was also rated as better at han-dling the asylum-seeker issue. Ruddoutscored opposition leader Tony Abbott40 to 38 percent on the asylum-seekerissue in a poll taken after the PNG policyhad been announced and publicised wide-ly by the government. The oppositionleader said he was not worried about thepoll-which put Rudd and Abbott’s partiesat 50:50 — and said the PNG plan was yetto go into action as no new asylum-seekershad been sent to Manus. “He is just not fairdinkum. That’s why, in any contest of willsbetween Mr Rudd and the people-smug-glers, the people-smugglers think they willwin,” Abbott told reporters. But Rudd saidwhile people-smugglers, who make thou-sands of dollars bringing asylum-seekers toAustralia, would test the government’sresolve “we are not for turning”. “Our policyis very clear... you will not be settled inAustralia,” Rudd said. — AFP

Australia resolute on asylum policy

VIENNA: Like many others in Austria’scountryside, a tower bell above thered-tiled rooftops of Wolfpassing vil-lage marks the passing of each hourwith an unspectacular “bong.” But thisbell is unique: It is embossed with aswastika and praise to Adolf Hitler.

And unlike more visible remnantsof the Nazi era, the bell was apparent-ly overlooked by official Austria up tonow. Ensconced in the belfry of an

ancient castle where it was mountedby fans of the Nazi dictator in 1939,the bell has tolled on for nearly 80years. It survived the defeat of Hitler’sGermany, a decade of post-war Sovietoccupation that saw Red Army sol-diers lodge in the castle and morerecent efforts by Austria’s govern-ment to acknowledge the country’scomplicity in crimes of that era andmake amends. Some of those efforts

have focused on identifying relics ofthat time and ensuring they’re eitherremoved or put in historical context.As an example, officials often citegovernment moral and material sup-port for the restoration of theMauthausen concentration camp,where a museum documents atroci-ties for school children and other visi-tors.

The Wolfpassing bell pays homageto Hitler for his 1938 annexation ofAustria, a move supported back thenby the vast majority of the nation’s cit-izens. It describes Hitler as “the unifierand Fuehrer of all Germans” and sayshe freed the “Ostmark” - Nazi jargonfor Austria - “from the yoke of sup-pression by foreign elements andbrought it home into the Great-German Reich.” Local historianJohannes Kammerstaetter says mostvillagers would have known about it.But village mayor Josef Sonnleitnerasserts even the villagers had no clueuntil the first media reports lastmonth on the “Fuehrerglocke,” or“Fuehrer Bell.”

“Nobody cared until all this public-ity,” he said on the telephone. Herefused a request for a longer inter-view, saying he was busy for the nexttwo weeks with haying. In any case,the government’s recent sale of thecastle - with all its historical trappings- has suddenly made the bell an issuebeyond the sleepy village of 1,500people about 100 kilometers (60

miles) west of Vienna.In a country particularly sensitive

about suggestions it has not fullyfaced its Nazi past, officials are scram-bling for explanations of why the bellapparently evaded notice for so long.They also are under pressure to justifya ruling by the government agency incharge of historic monuments that itmust remain part of the castle as partof its heritage- despite the refusal ofthe new owner to say what he plansto do with it.

Propagating Nazi values or prais-ing the era is illegal in Austria.Kammerstaetter, the historian, hasformally asked state prosecutors toexamine whether the government’ssale of the bell is a criminal offence.He says the change of ownershipcould constitute a case of “spreadingNational Socialist ideology” on thepart of the government agency incharge of state-owned propertyRaimund Fastenbauer, a senior officialof Vienna’s Jewish community,invokes other concerns, noting thatother Hitler-era relics like the dicta-tor’s house of birth in the westerntown of Braunau have become amagnet for neo-Nazis. “I think thebest thing would be if the bell disap-peared and was buried somewhere,”he says. For its part, the governmentsays that the sale was legal, alongwith the decision to keep the bell inthe belfry as an integral componentof the castle. —AP

KIEV: A photograher and three membersof the feminist movement Femen knownfor their bare-breasted protests were ille-gally held in police custody overnightafter being abducted by unknownassailants during Vladimir Putin’s visit toUkraine, the group said yesterday.

Police denied the four were snatchedoff the streets of the Ukranian capital Kievin broad daylight Saturday. A policespokesman said they were detainedwhen the topless women with slogansdaubed on their bodies violated ordersby posing for the photographer in a pub-lic place.

The Ukrainian activists are now facingcharges of petty hooliganism, while thephotographer is accused of defyingpolice orders. The four, who are facing afine and up to 15 days in jail, were takento a court for a closed-door hearingtoday. Femen said Oksana Shachko,Oleksandra Shevchenko, Yana Zhdanovaand Dmitry Kostyukov were allegedlybeaten up, bundled into a car and spiritedaway by unknown men ahead of theirplanned protest against Putin’s visit.

Femen calls Putin and RussianOrthodox Patriarch Kirill, who is accompa-nying the leader to Ukraine, the “enemiesof democracy and freedom” and have

heckled both in the past. The group’slawyer Yaroslav Yatsenko said the threeactivists and the photographer were tak-en to a police station after beingsnatched off the street and had to spendthe night in custody.

He said Kostyukov and Shachko werebeaten so badly that they were brieflyhospitalised. “Dmitry was kicked andreceived a head injury,” he said, referringto Kostyukov, who is a former AFP pho-tographer and holds a Russian passport.

Yatsenko said the four had been heldin custody overnight illegally. A Femenactivist who witnessed the attack fromher apartment window said the activistswere emerging from an apartment build-ing when a group of five or six mencharged at them.

“They were wearing civilian clothes,”Yevhenia Kraizman told AFP. The attackfollowed an alleged assault earlierSaturday on the group’s leader AnnaHutsol which she described as a warningby Ukranian special services not to stageany protests during Putin’s two-day visit.

Putin on Saturday joined his Ukrainianhost Viktor Yanukovych for politically sen-sitive celebrations of the 1025th anniver-sary of the arrival of Christianity in Russiaand Ukraine. — AFP

‘Abducted’ Femen activists spend night in police custody

Austrian flap over bell dedicated to Hitler

MAUTHAUSEN: In this May 2, 2013 file picture a visitor looks at a cre-matory of the former Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen duringa press presentation of two new permanent exhibitions at the formercamp in Mauthausen, Austria. The concentration camp was liberatedby US troops on May 5, 1945. Ensconced in the belfry of an ancientcastle in Wolfpassing, Austria, where it was mounted by fans of theNazi dictator in 1939, a bell with sawstika and Adolf Hitler’s name hastolled on for nearly 80 years. — AP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

MICHIGAN: Seat cushions, clothing and other objects line the pavement next to the wreckage of a bus that crashed Saturday, onIndianapolis’ far north side while carrying teenagers returning from a summer camp in Michigan. Three people were killed and26 others were taken to local hospitals following the crash, which occurred when the bus exited an interstate ramp and crashedinto a concrete retaining wall.— AP

HAVANA: In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office through the twit-ter account of Information Minister Ernesto Villegas, Venezuela’s PresidentNicolas Maduro, right, speaks with Cuba’s former President Fidel Castroabout a picture painted by former Venezuela President Hiugo chavez duringtheir meeting at Havana, Cuba, on Saturday. — AP

CHARLOTTE: A system of thunder-storms across western North Carolinastalled on Saturday and dumped about afoot of rain on the area, causing poweroutages and flash floods that swampedhomes and washed out roads andbridges.

There were 18 reports of swift-waterrescues, and one minor injury, said JimDickerson, spokesman for CatawbaCounty Emergency Services. He did not

have details. Hickory Mayor Rudy Wrighturged residents to stay indoors andaway from flooded roads, The CharlotteObserver reported.

“This is a time for all of us to be verycareful and patient,” he said. “ Thecleanup is going to take a while.” Parts ofCatawba and surrounding counties wereunder water Saturday. Catawba Countyofficials said some of the worst flashflooding in decades followed a nearly

stationary weather system that dumped10 inches of rain in about six hours.

Officials closed 65 roads in CatawbaCounty by Saturday afternoon. At leastsix will remain closed for up to threemonths to repair damage, Dickersonsaid. A full damage assessment willbegin, he said.

High Shoals Lake in Catawba Countyrose nearly five feet over a 10-hour span.Officials said high water will move down

the Catawba River later Saturday, possi-bly causing more flooding. The rain hadstopped in the area by late afternoonSaturday. The National Weather Servicesaid the heavy rain will move east acrossthe western piedmont of North Carolinaand northeastern South Carolina.

Several miles of Interstate 85 inCabarrus County was closed for a shorttime due to high water. Traffic moved ata crawl along both I-85 and Interstate 77

north of Charlotte as drivers navigatedwater several inches deep in spots. InLincoln County, there were reports of upto three feet of water covering roads.Duke Energy reported about 5,000 pow-er outages. It is at least the fourth majorflash flooding event in the Charlotteregion in the past month. Highway offi-cials already are working to repair morethan a dozen Charlotte-area roads dam-aged by previous flooding. — AFP

Heavy rains flood homes, roads in North Carolina

INDIANAPOLIS: A bus carrying teenagers homefrom a youth camp in northern Michigan wasjust minutes from its destination when it camespeeding off an Indianapolis interstate, struck aretaining wall and flipped on its side.

Three people were killed and dozens wereinjured Saturday afternoon. Now, investigatorsare working to determine what caused the acci-dent on Interstate 465 after a 365-mile journey -just a mile from the Colonial Hills Baptist Church,where the bus was headed.

At the church, parents were waiting to pickup their children after a weeklong camp filledwith prayer, zip lines and basketball when a buscarrying younger campers pulled in, its passen-gers screaming.

Jeff Leffew, 44, of Fishers, had sent fourdaughters to Camp CoBeAc, near Prudenville,Mich. Only one daughter was on the bus thatpulled into the parking lot, and he raced to thecrash site in northern Indianapolis. What hefound was a surreal scene, with clothing andother items strewn about and windows missingfrom the bus.

“You’re just praying that it’s not as bad as itlooks,” said Leffew, a deacon at the church. Hisdaughters escaped with just bumps and bruises,but others weren’t as fortunate. Indianapolis fireofficials said a husband and wife were dead atthe scene, along with a third person whose agethey didn’t describe. Twenty-six people were tak-

en to area hospitals, and one teenager remainedin critical condition on yesterday.

Indianapolis Public Safety Director Troy Riggscalled the crash a “great tragedy.” “They were notthat far from home. ... That only adds to thetragedy,” Riggs said at the crash scene. He saidthere was no indication that the driver had amedical emergency.

WTHR-TV reported the bus driver told wit-nesses his brakes failed. Indianapolis FireDepartment Lt. Ato McTush said investigatorshad not determined whether the church-ownedbus had mechanical issues.

Witnesses described a horrifying scene.Duane Lloyd told WTHR that he heard a loudnoise behind him as he was traveling near theintersection and saw the crash around 4:15 p.m.- about the time youth pastor Chad Phelps hadtweeted that the group would arrive at thechurch.

“I heard a skid. I looked back. I see this bus inthe air and people falling out of the bus,” Lloydsaid. “I could have gone my whole life withoutseeing that.” He said people approached andtried to help.

“People were literally trying to lift the bus,”Lloyd said. “You just try to do what you can do.”Sasha Sample, 28, told The Indianapolis Starsome victims were lying in the road, while otherswere able to limp to the side.

“Everybody had boils and scrapes on them,”

she said. “People were trying to climb fromunder the bus.” Sample, a nurse, said she bor-rowed a belt to make a tourniquet for the busdriver’s arm but wasn’t able to help the mannext to him, who was already dead.

“I couldn’t do anything for him,” Sample said.“So you triage. You help those you can.” Fire offi-cials said 37 people were on the bus, and theinjured included children and adults. Threeteenagers were still at IU Health MethodistHospital, spokeswoman Sally Winter saidSunday, including one in critical condition. Fiveteenagers remained at the Riley Hospital forChildren at IU Health; a toddler had been treatedand released.

Many of the patients had head, arm and leginjuries, fire officials said. Families of the bus pas-sengers gathered at the church Saturdayevening to comfort each other and pray.

Mayor Greg Ballard described many as“remarkably positive” despite their sorrow, butsaid there will be difficult days ahead.

“Some of the teenagers are hurting prettybad and you can see that in their faces,” he said.Bob Taylor, who retired as the church’s pastorfour years ago, said members of the congrega-tion would come together Sunday and takecomfort in their faith. “Our church family willmeet tomorrow and pray together and singsongs together and just trust the Lord to give hisgrace,” he said. —AP

HIALEAH: The gunman who went on ashooting rampage at a South Floridaapartment complex was described as aquiet man who took his mother to doctorappointments, yet also someone who wasknown for getting into fights and yelling athis mom.

The conflicting portrayals of PedroVargas, 42, emerged as police tried topiece together why he set ablaze theapartment he lived in with his mother andthen killed six people before police fatallyshot him.

As the eight-hour standoff unfolded,horrified residents hunkered down in theirhomes, at times so close to the action thatthey could feel the gunfire or hear negotia-tions between the gunman and police,authorities and witnesses said Saturday.

As the rampaged winded down, Vargas

held two people hostage at gunpoint forup to three hours in their apartment until aSWAT team entered and killed him, policesaid. The hostages were not hurt.

“Nobody seems to know why he actedthe way he acted,” said Lt. Carl Zogby, aspokesman with the Hialeah PoliceDepartment. Detectives were investigatingwhether Vargas had any ongoing disputeswith the building manager, as some resi-dents believed. His mother was not homeat the time of the shootings.

“He was a good son,” said Ester Lazcano,who lived on the same floor as Vargas andhis mother. “He’d take her in the morningto run errands” and to doctor appoint-ments.

Lazcano said she was in the showerwhen she heard the first shots, and thenthere were at least a dozen more. “I felt theshots,” she said.

Miriam Valdes, 70, was in a friend’sapartment two doors down. She said sheheard officers trying to convince Vargas tosurrender.

She said the gunman first asked for hisgirlfriend and then his mother but refusedto cooperate.

Valdes said Vargas was also known as adifficult person who sometimes got intofights and yelled at his mother. “He was avery abusive person,” she said. “He didn’thave any friends there.”

Police were called to the aging, five-sto-ry apartment building in Hialeah, a work-ing class suburb a few miles northwest ofdowntown Miami, on Friday at 6:30 p.m.The first calls reported a fire, but when fire-fighters arrived, they heard shots and noti-fied police, Zogby said.

Vargas, who has no known criminalrecord, set a combustible liquid on fire inhis fourth-floor apartment. Building man-ager Italo Pisciotti, 79, and his wife, CamiraPisciotti, 69, saw smoke and ran to the unit,Zogby said. When they arrived, Vargasopened the door and fired, killing both.

Vargas then went back into his burningapartment and fired 10 to 20 shots from a9mm pistol into the street. One of the bul-lets struck 33-year-old Carlos JavierGavilanes, who was parking his car afterreturning home from work. Zogby said hisbody was found next to his vehicle.

The gunman then kicked his way into athird-floor apartment, where he shot todeath Patricio Simono, 54; his wife MerlyNiebles, 51; and their 17-year-old daugh-ter. Family members said Simono workedat a car wash and Niebles cleaned hotelrooms. Their daughter wanted to be anurse.

Agustin Hernandez, Niebles’ brother-in-law, loaded several old pictures and otheritems from his relative’s apartment in agrocery cart and into his car. One showedhis teenage niece smiling in a red gradua-tion gown. Another pictured his sister-in-law posing in a white dress and pearls.

A binder also from the apartment hadpop artist Justin Beiber’s name on thespine, presumably belonging to theteenage girl, who family members identi-fied as Priscilla Perez. Marcela Chavarri,director of the American Christian School,said the Perez was about to enter her sen-ior year.

“She was a lovely girl,” Chavarri saidthrough tears. “She was always happy andhelping her classmates.” All six people werekilled in a short time span, Zogby said, andit’s possible they were all dead by the timepolice arrived.

Officers and Vargas then engaged in anhours-long shootout and chase, withpolice following the gunman from onefloor to the next.

“He kept running from us as he fired atus and we fired at him,” Zogby said. Severalhours into the ordeal, Vargas forced hisway into a fifth-story unit and held twopeople captive. Sgt. Eddie Rodriguez saidnegotiators and a SWAT team tried talkingwith him from the other side of the door.

Rodriguez said the talks eventually “justfell apart.” Officers stormed the building,fatally shooting the gunman in anexchange of gunfire. Zogby said Vargas stillhad several rounds of ammunition whenhe was killed. “He was ready to fight,”Zogby said.— AP

GALVESTON: Marine archaeologistsmade a thrilling discovery this weekwhile examining a well-preservedshipwreck deep in the Gulf of Mexico- two other sunken vessels that likelywent down with it during an early19th century storm.

Much isn’t known about theships, including the flag or flags theysailed under and the year they sankabout 170 miles southeast ofGalveston. They came to rest 4,363feet, or nearly three-quarters of amile, below the sur face, makingthem the deepest Gulf or NorthAmerican shipwrecks to have beensystematically investigated byarchaeologists, the researchers said.

“What you’re going to see andhear I hope will blow your mind.Because it has ours,” lead investigatorFritz Hanselmann told reporters at aThursday news conference in whichthe team revealed its initial findings.

“We went out with a lot of ques-tions and we returned with evenmore. The big question we’re all ask-ing is: What is the shipwreck? Andthe answer is we still don’t know,”said Hanselmann, a researcher fromTexas State University in San Marcos’Meadows Center for Water and theEnvironment.

During eight days of explorationthat ended Wednesday, the scientistsused remote-controlled machines torecover more than 60 artifacts fromthe initial shipwreck site, includingmusket parts, ceramic cups and dish-es, liquor bottles, clothing and even

a toothbrush. The artifacts, includingchina from Britain, ceramics fromMexico and at least one musket fromCanada, will help researchers deter-mine the ships’ histories,Hanselmann said. “Nationalities, cul-tures, all collide in these shipwrecks.

We hope to return in the futurenext year with more work,” he said.Although they weren’t allowed toretrieve artifacts from the two newsites under the terms of their agree-ment to examine the initial one, theresearchers took thousands of pho-tos and closely examined the wreck-age of all three ships, which came torest within five miles of one another.

Two of the ships were carryingsimilar items, and researchers believethey may have been privateers, orarmed ships that governmentswould hire, Hanselmann said. Thethird vessel was loaded with hidesand large bricks of tallow, suggestingthat it may have been a prize seizedby the privateers.

The artifacts are headed forpreservation work at a Texas A&MUniversity research facility. “For now,there’s lot of conjecture, lots ofhypotheses,” said Jim Delgado, thedirector of the Maritime HeritageProgram for the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration.“We may have answered some ques-tions, but we have a large number ofnew questions. But that’s archaeolo-gy.”

Delgado said the ships likely wentdown during the first two decades of

the 1800s, which was a time of greatupheaval in the Gulf region and inthe New World, in general. “Empireswere falling, Spain was losing its grip,France was sell ing what it has,Mexico becomes independent, Texasindependent, Latin Americabecomes independent and the US isbeginning to make a foothold in theGulf,” he said. “So these wrecks are alltied to that, we are sure.”

It’s likely each ship was carrying50 to 60 men and that none of themsurvived. Among the wreckage weretelescopes and other navigationaltools that survivors likely wouldn’thave left behind if they could havehelped it, the researchers said.

Delgado said the ship the teamset out to examine was armed withsix cannons and may have had twomasts. Undersea images show theoutline of a copper-clad, 84-foot-long by 26-foot-wide wooden hull.

A Shell Oil Co. survey crew noti-fied federal Interior Department offi-cials in 2011 that its sonar haddetected something resembling ashipwreck. It also detected someother material. “Like a medical ultra-sound, interpreting can be difficult,”said Jack Irion, of the federal Bureauof Ocean Energy Management. “Thiscase is the same way. You can’t tell ifit’s an historic shipwreck or just a pileof stuff.”

A year later, a National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration ves-sel examining seafloor habitat andnaturally occurring gas seepage used

a remote-controlled vehicle to brieflyexamine the wreck. Besides deter-mining the ship’s dimensions, theexamination showed it to be undis-turbed and likely from the early 19thcentury. That ship has been dubbedthe “Monterrey Shipwreck,” adoptingthe name Shell had proposed for itsdevelopment site. Researchers haveexamined several other historicallysignificant Gulf shipwrecks in recentyears. In 1995, after a more thandecade-long hunt, Texas HistoricalCommission archaeologists foundone of famed French explorer LaSalle’s vessels in a coastal baybetween Galveston and CorpusChristi. The remains of the LaBelle,which went down in a storm in 1686,have been recovered and are under-going an unusual freeze -dryingtreatment at Texas A&M. The ship isto be reconstructed next year andbecome a centerpiece of the BobBullock Texas State History Museumin Austin. Earlier this year,researchers used special 3-D imageryto map the remains of the USSHatteras, which was the only USNavy ship sunk in the Gulf of Mexicoin combat during the Civil War. The210-foot iron-hulled ship went downin 1863 about 20 miles off theGalveston coast during a run-in witha Confederate raiding vessel.Researchers believe that heavystorms in recent years shifted the seafloor sand and exposed the wreck-age, which rests 57 feet below thesurface. —AP

Team examining Gulf shipwreck finds more

Investigators probeIndianapolis bus crash

Three killed, dozens injured

CARACAS: Venezuelan President NicolasMaduro met aged Cuban leader Fidel Castroin Havana on Saturday, Venezuelan statenews agency AVN reported.

Fidel Castro, who turns 87 next month,rarely appears in public and pictures of thehistoric leftist leader are unusual.

The two men met following celebrationsmarking the 60th anniversary of the captureof the Moncada barracks, the event thatbegan the Cuban revolution.

AVN published four photographs of the

leaders, including one in which Castro isshown with a book about the lateVenezuelan president Hugo Chavez writtenby a Spanish journalist. Castro accepted thebook as a gift from Maduro, AVN said. Chavez,who died on March 5 after a long battle withcancer, considered Castro his political mentor.Since 2002 oil-rich Venezuela has beenshoring up Cuba’s Soviet-style economy bysupplying low-cost oil in exchange for thework of Cuban doctors, technicians andadvisers n Venezuela. —AFP

Maduro, Fidel Castro meet in Havana

Neighbors describe different sides of Florida gunman

This photo released by the HialeahPolice Department shows PedroVargas. Vargas went on a shootingrampage throughout his apartmentbuilding, killing six people beforebeing shot to death by police,Saturday. — AP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

MANILA: Philippine police and troopsyesterday captured a woman who is oneof the country’s most wanted commu-nist guerrillas, officials said. Police saidMaria Loida Magpatoc is the secretary ofthe New People’s Army’s (NPA) Far SouthMindanao Regional Committee, and hasoustanding arrest warrants for homicideand destruction of property.

The 52-year-old guerrilla was arrestedin a joint military-police operation in thecity of Digos on the southern island ofMindanao, local police spokeswomanChief Inspector Elizabeth Jasmin said in astatement.

No other details of the operationwere released. The national policedescribed Magpatoc as one of the coun-

try’s “most wanted” insurgents with areward of 5.6 million pesos ($130,000)offered for her capture.

The NPA is the armed unit of theCommunist Party of the Philippines andhas been waging a Maoist rebellion since1969.

The insurgency, one of Asia’s longest,has left at least 30,000 dead, the militaryhas said. The military estimates therebels now have about 4,000 fighters,down from a peak of roughly 26,000 inthe 1980s.

President Benigno Aquino had beenaiming to end the rebellion before hissix-year term expires in 2016, but thegovernment said in April that peace talkshad collapsed.

The government blamed repeateddemands by the NPA for comrades to bereleased from jail, as well as frequentattacks, for the failure of the talks.Aquino’s chief peace adviser, TeresitaDeles, said Sunday that in the absence ofa ceasefire government forces wouldcontinue their crackdown on the rebels.“Regular law enforcement activities con-tinue against them,” she told AFP.

Since the talks bogged down in April,the rebels have intensified their attacksagainst government targets, leaving atleast 40 civilians, policemen and soldiersdead, according to military figures.

Earlier, a Philippine marine ordnanceexpert was killed and two others werewounded when one of several bombs

they were trying to defuse around ahouse exploded on restive Jolo island inthe country’s south, a military command-er said yesterday.

An ordnance team was deployedSaturday to a house of a village leader inJolo’s Panglima Estino in Sulu provincewhere residents reported finding morethan 10 bombs made from ammoniumnitrate around the residence. Themarines had defused one bomb andwere working on a second one, whichsuddenly exploded, marine Col. JoseCenabre said.

The bombs may have been placedaround the house like booby-traps dueto a clan war involving the village leader,Cenabre said, adding Abu Sayyaf

extremists, who are active in Sulu, appar-ently were not involved.

Due to the explosion, Cenabre said hewithdrew the marines and deployed anair force ordnance team, which defusedtwo more bombs on Sunday. The newteam, however, kept finding morebombs in the vicinity of the house,which had been cleared of its occupants,prompting the military to seek help frompolice, he said.

Such violent clan conflicts, known as“rido,” have long complicated securityworries in the country’s south, which isalready mired in decades-long Muslimrebellions. The explosion was one of twodeadly blasts in the country’s death overthe weekend. —AFP

Leading Philippine woman guerrilla arrested

MINDANAO: This photo taken yesterday shows workers cleaning the pave-ment near a restaurant where a bomb exploded near midnight on July 26 inCagayan de Oro on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. ThePhilippines ordered troops and police on heightened alert yesterday after arestaurant attack killed six in its restive southern region, but said therewere no clues yet to the culprits. —AFP

PHNOM PENH: The ruling party ofstrongman Cambodian premier HunSen claimed victory in yesterday’s elec-tions which were marred by allegationsof widespread irregularities, but it facedrare competition from a resurgent oppo-sition.

Although official results had yet to beannounced, the prime minister’s

Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) said itexpected to win 68 out of the 123 seatsin the lower house. “We can say we’vewon this election,” CPP spokesman KhieuKanharith told AFP.

The CPP had 90 seats in the previousparliament, so if confirmed the resultwould mark the loss of more than 20seats. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rougefighter, has been in power for 28 years.

The opposition decried what itdescribed as the kingdom’s worst everpoll irregularities, including missing voternames and thousands of people who

turned up to find someone else hadused their ballot.

“The situation is more serious than atany previous election,” CambodianNational Rescue Party (CNRP)spokesman Yim Sovann told AFP. Theparty caused brief confusion after claim-ing it had won the polls but it quicklyretracted the statement. It had no imme-

diate response to the ruling party’s dec-laration. Protests broke out at onepolling station in the capital PhnomPenh where a crowd destroyed twopolice cars, military police spokesmanKheng Tito said, as anger erupted overnames missing from the voter list.

Rights groups also expressed con-cern that the ink used to mark voterscould be easily washed off. “It is very diffi-cult to proclaim this a free and fair elec-tion,” said Kol Preap, executive director ofransparency International Cambodia.

“I think the level playing field in the

process didn’t really exist. There has notbeen equal access to the media and theopposition leader was not allowed torun as a candidate.”

The National Election Committeedenied irregularities. Even before pollsopened, the opposition had said a HunSen win would be “worthless” withoutthe participation of its leader Sam Rainsy.

The French-educated former bankerreturned to Cambodia on July 19 fromself-imposed exile after receiving a sur-prise royal pardon for criminal convic-tions which he contends were politicallymotivated. But he was barred from run-ning as a candidate since the authoritiessaid it was too late to add his name tothe electoral register. Rainsy touredpolling stations in Phnom Penh onSunday to “collect more evidence” ofvote irregularities.

He said that if indications pointed toa “plot to rig the election” then “definitely

we will protest”. Local poll monitor theCommittee for Free and Fair Elections inCambodia alleged that up to 1.25 millionpeople who were eligible to cast ballotswere not on voter lists.

About 9.6 million people were regis-tered to vote-more than one third ofwhom were aged under 30. Soon afterpolls opened a smiling Hun Sen kissedhis ballot and dropped it into the box ata polling station at a teacher trainingschool in the town of Ta Khmao near thecapital.

First in line to vote there was 87-year-old Yim Hor Eam who described it as a“historic day”. “I voted for peace for thecountry. If we make a wrong decision,the country will be in danger, will bedestroyed,” he told AFP, without reveal-ing whom he supported.

Hun Sen defected from the KhmerRouge, and oversaw Cambodia’s trans-formation from a nation devastated bytheir “Killing Fields” genocidal era in thelate 1970s to become one of SoutheastAsia’s most vibrant economies.

The 60-year-old premier-who hasvowed to rule until he is 74 — is regularlyaccused of trampling on human rightsand quashing political dissent. Fordecades, Hun Sen’s simple message-thathe and his party liberated Cambodiafrom the Khmer Rouge and ushered indecades of peaceful development-hasbeen enough to guarantee support.

“Hun Sen has been adept at humiliat-ing his political opponents by strippingopposition deputies of their immunityand orchestrating the exile of SamRainsy,” said Cambodia expert CarlThayer, a professor at the University ofNew South Wales in Australia.

But he is “also a genuinely popularfigure”, he added. There were tentativesigns of change as social media allowedthe opposition to reach out to young,urban voters. Thousands of oppositionsupporters had turned out in recentweeks for campaign rallies, chanting“Change!” While the opposition hopesthe election will be a step at leasttowards a shift in power, the premierappears to have other plans. His threeUS-educated sons have been handedtop party or army positions and theyoungest ran in yesterday’s election,fuelling speculation they are beinggroomed to replace him. —AFP

Cambodia strongman PM’s party claims election winOpposition decries kingdom’s worst ever poll

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian polling station officer holds up a ballot paper during counting ofthe General Election in Phnom Penh yesterday. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling par-ty claimed victory in parliamentary elections yesterday, saying it expected to win 68 out of the123 seats in the lower house. — AFP

MANILA: The Philippines ordered troopsand police on heightened alert yesterdayafter a restaurant attack killed six in itsrestive southern region, but said there wereno clues yet to the culprits.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said investi-gators were reconstructing the bomb site togather more clues on Friday night’s attack inCagayan de Oro, a relatively peaceful city inMindanao island, where various rebelgroups and armed gangs operate.

“We are doing everything (to determinethe suspects). We have placed the police inMindanao, the intelligence community andthe army on heightened alert to prevent asimilar attack,” Roxas said over DZBB radio.

Investigators have yet to determine theexplosive used in the attack, which hit abistro packed with at least 100 people. Mostwere doctors and pharmaceutical represen-tatives who had just attended a nationalconvention at a nearby hotel.

Forty-eight others were wounded in theblast, police said. Contrary to earlier reports,Roxas said investigators had not foundshrapnel or metal fragments at the blast site,which would have indicated an explosivedevice made from a mortar bomb.

“According to the doctors who did theautopsy report, there were no shrapnel thatcan be attributed to a grenade explosion,”Roxas said. “It is also not an IED (improvised

explosive device) made from mortar orartillery shell,” he said.

Ordnance experts have found wires anda battery that could have been used as atrigger but not much else. Roxas’s statementsuggested the attack may not have been thework of Muslim militants who operate inother parts of the south and are known touse mortar bombs rigged to a timing device.

Asked whether investigators were lookingat any specific group behind the blast andwhat the motive could be, he said: “If it’s busi-ness rivalry, fighting over land, or terrorismwe could not say yet until we know all thefacts and details.” Cagayan de Oro is abustling city that has been relativelyunscathed by a decades-old Muslim andcommunist insurgency that have plaguedparts of the south in this largely Catholiccountry. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF), the country’s largest Muslim insurgentforce, said yesterday said it had no forcesoperating near Cagayan de Oro and con-demned the attack as un-Islamic. The MILF,which is negotiating a peace deal withManila, was also willing to help track downthe perpetrators if asked by the government,said the group’s vice chairman for politicalaffairs Ghazali Jaafar.

“We have an existing agreement to helpeach other out in interdicting criminal ele-ments,” Jaafar said. —AFP

Philippines on heightened alert after restaurant blast

TATSUNO: Japanese Prime Minister ShinzoAbe could soon hold a summit meetingwith China’s president, Xi Jinping, an advis-er to Abe said yesterday, adding that hehad met senior officials close to theChinese leader on a secret visit to Beijingthis month.

Abe, whose ruling bloc cemented itsgrip on power with a win in upper house ofparliament elections a week ago, called onFriday for an unconditional meetingbetween his country and China as soon aspossible.

Sino-Japanese ties, often fragile, havebeen seriously strained since Septemberwhen a territorial row over tiny islands inthe East China Sea flared. Concern that theconservative Japanese leader wants torecast Japan’s wartime history with a lessapologetic tone has added to the tension.

While Abe’s call last week drew a coolreaction from Beijing, his adviser, IsaoIijima, said Chinese leaders were consider-ing the call and he believed they wouldrespond positively. “I feel they are troubledby it, they are deeply thinking about it,”Iijima told reporters when asked about thesummit call.

“I don’t think it will take that long(before they meet),” he said on the sidelinesof a speech in his hometown in centralJapan. Iijima, who made a surprise visit toNorth Korea in May, declined to identity ofthe people he met in China or give detailsof the discussions he said were held overtwo days in mid-July.

“I went there to ask them what theyreally think,” Iijima said, stressing that thevisit was private. China, in responding toAbe’s call, said its door was always open fortalks but Japan should “stop using empty

slogans about so-called dialogue to glossover disagreements”.

Iijima said his hope for a summitstemmed from the “atmosphere” of hismeetings. He said he did not discuss mat-ters related to North Korea.

On Friday, Japan’s Defence Ministryissued a policy report repeating concernsabout China’s military build-up and itsactivities near the disputed islands.

Iijima also reiterated his belief that lead-ers of Japan and North Korea should hold asummit, and that pressure on North Koreawithout diplomacy would not help Japansolve the issue of citizens kidnapped by thesecretive regime decades ago.

“The door has been closed for the lastten years ... we can’t just apply pressure, wealso should talk,” Iijima said, referring toNorth Korea. “At least the leaders of the twocountries should meet.”

North Korean agents kidnappedJapanese citizens decades ago to help trainspies. Abe owed much of his popularitywhen he first took office in 2006, at thebeginning of a first term in power, to histough stance towards North Korea over theabductees.

Five of the abductees were repatriatedand North Korea has said another eightdied. Japan has been pressing for moreinformation about the eight and others itsays were also kidnapped. It wants any sur-vivors sent home.

Japan started looking into resuming inter-governmental talks with North Korea afterIijima’s surprise visit in May, Japanese mediasaid following the visit. Talks were last held inNovember 2012 but have been haltedbecause of North’s missile launch in Decemberand nuclear test in February. —Reuters

Japan, China could hold summit soon

MANILA: The Philippines plans to relocate major airforce and navy camps to a former US naval basenorthwest of Manila to gain faster access to watersbeing contested by China in the South China Sea,according to the country’s defense chief and a confi-dential government report.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Sundaythat as soon as relocation funds are available thegovernment plans to transfer air force and navalforces and their fleets of aircraft and warships toSubic Bay, which has become a busy free port since

the 1992 departure of the US Navy.“It’s for the protection of our West Philippine Sea,”

Gazmin said from South Korea, where he was on avisit, using the name adopted by the Philippine gov-ernment for the disputed South China Sea.

“We’re looking now for the funding,” he said.Subic Bay is a natural deep harbor that can accom-modate two large warships acquired recently by thePhilippines from the United States, a defense treatyally, he said, especially compared to shallower harborat the naval fleet base at Sangley Point in Cavite

province, south of Manila.The first US Coast Guard cutter was relaunched as

the Philippines’ largest warship in 2011. PresidentBenigno Aquino III will lead ceremonies on Aug. 6 towelcome the second ship at Subic, the Philippinenavy said.

A confidential defense department documentobtained by The Associated Press says Subic’s loca-tion will cut reaction time by fighter aircraft to con-tested South China Sea areas by more than threeminutes compared with flying from Clark airfield,also north of Manila, where some air force planes arebased.

“It will provide the armed forces of the Philippinesstrategic location, direct and shorter access to sup-port West Philippine Sea theater of operations,” thedocument said.

The report said the cost of repairs and improve-ments for an air force base in Subic would be at least5.1 billion pesos ($119 million). It said that compareswith an estimated 11 billion pesos ($256 million) thatit would cost to build a new air force base, becausethe vast Subic complex about 80 kilometers (50miles) west of Manila already has a world-class run-way and aviation facilities.

Relocating about 250 air force officers and mento Subic, along with “increased rotational presence offoreign visiting forces” would bolster business andtrade at the port, the military document said.

Subic’s international airport has been underuti-lized since US courier giant FedEx transferred itslucrative regional hub from Subic to China in 2009,officials said. The Philippines plans to grant visitingUS forces, ships and aircraft temporary access tomore of its military camps to allow for a larger num-ber of joint military exercises than are currentlystaged each year.

A larger US presence could be used for disasterresponse and serve as a deterrent to what Philippineofficials say have been recent aggressive intrusionsby China into its territorials waters. —AP

Manila to move air force, navy near disputed sea

JAKARTA: Indonesians pack a crowded shopping match on the 19th day of the holymonth of Ramadan in Jakarta yesterday. Throughout the month, devout Muslimsmust abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset when they break the fastwith the Iftar meal. —AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

LONDON: Britain confirmed yesterday itbriefly sent troops back to a bloody dis-trict of Helmand Province to assistAfghan forces, raising further questionsabout Afghan readiness to maintainsecurity after NATO forces withdraw.

The Ministry of Defense said 80 Britishmilitary advisers traveled back to Sangindistrict this month to assist 2,000 Afghansoldiers with an eight-day operation toclear Taleban insurgents. More than 100British troops died in Sangin during sev-eral years of operations there, and UKforces handed off control of the district

in 2010. Because the mission involvedsending troops outside of their usualarea of operations, it required specialpermission from Defense SecretaryPhilip Hammond.

The defense ministry downplayed theUK involvement, saying its troops “do onoccasion” operate outside their usualarea in central Helmand.

“Such out of area operations havebeen a long standing element of the UKmission in Afghanistan and are not anindication of a deteriorating security sit-uation in any particular area,” it said in a

statement. “The concept is neither newnor novel.”

It said the advisers from 4th Battalionthe rifles lent tactical support to soldiersfrom the Afghan National Army’s 3/215Brigade, acting “purely in an advisoryrole” for a specific operation to restoresecurity in the area.

The operation was “in line with” Britishforces’ current role of providing training,advice and assistance to Afghan forces,the defense ministry added.

Still, it was the first time since theinternational military coalition handed

over lead responsibility to Afghan forceslast month that foreign troops offered somuch reinforcement.

The Ministry of Defense confirmedthat a number of insurgents were killedin the operation, but was not able tooffer exact figures. The Sunday Timesnewspaper - which first reported theoperation - put the number at 12, andsaid two Afghan soldiers had died.

The newspaper said it had learned ofthe operation earlier this month butagreed at the Ministry of Defense’srequest not to publish any details until

troops were safely back at Camp Bastion,their base in southern Afghanistan’sHelmand Province.

Insurgents have been increasingattacks in Helmand Province, embold-ened by the withdrawal of foreign forcesfrom the area.

By the end of the year, NATO forces inAfghanistan will be halved. At the end of2014, all combat troops will have left andwill be replaced, if approved by theAfghan government, by a much smallerforce that will only train and advise theAfghans. —AP

UK troops briefly return to Afghan district

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will elect a new ceremoni-al head of state tomorrow, replacing the contro-versial Asif Ali Zardari with a successor set tocement Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s hold onpower.

Boycotted by the opposition Pakistan People’sParty, which complained it was not consulted onbringing the election forward from August 6,Sharif’s candidate is certain to win.

Mamnoon Hussain is a businessman, close allyof the premier and a long serving member of themain ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N),and comes from the southern province of Sindh.

His loyalty to Sharif and low-profile will shoreup the prime minister’s authority and providestark contrast to Zardari, considered a sharppolitical operator behind the scenes. Pakistanfaces enormous challenges. A debilitating powercrisis needs to be solved, Taleban violenceremains unchecked and US relations are compli-cated by drone attacks targeting militants.

Supporters say Hussain’s election could beimportant domestically by giving the south somestake in the federal administration, otherwisedominated by Punjab, Sharif’s power base.

The PPP withdrew its candidate Raza Rabbaniafter the Supreme Court accepted a PML-Nrequest to change the date as lawmakers wouldbe busy with pilgrimage and prayer at the end ofRamadan.

Rabbani, a highly respected senator capableof commanding cross-party support, said thenew date would not leave enough time for cam-paigning in the four provincial capitals and inIslamabad.

Pakistani presidents are elected by the mem-bers of four provincial assemblies, and bothhouses of parliament. There are two candidates:Hussain and respected, retired Supreme Courtjudge Wajihuddin Ahmed nominated by thethird largest party of cricket hero Imran Khan.

Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, a covering candidate forthe PML-N, withdrew his nomination papers onSaturday.

“There was no reason for Jhagra to be in therace when Hussain’s nomination papers havebeen accepted,” party spokesman Asim Khan toldAFP. Voting will begin at 10:00 am (0500 GMT)and last until 3:00 pm, with the result expectedto be announced late tomorrow.

Constitutional amendments passed by thelast PPP government mean that the presidency isagain a ceremonial post, a status likely to becemented by the fact that Hussain has little per-sonal clout.

Sharif won a commanding general electionvictory in May, which marked the first time aPakistani civilian government completed a full

term in office and handed over to another at theballot box.

After formally stepping down in September,many expect Zardari to spend significant timeabroad out of concerns for his security and toescape the possibility of legal action for allegedcorruption.

Unpopular and divisive within the PPP,Zardari’s departure will open a new chapter in

the centre-left party, which ran a rudderless gen-eral election campaign earlier this year.

His son, Bilawal, is PPP chairman but tooyoung until September to run for parliament andseen by many observers as a reluctant heir to thelegacy of his assassinated mother, BenazirBhutto.

“There is a crisis of leadership in the party,”political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP. “Bilawal isstill not in a position to handle party affairs. Heneeds his father behind him, but if Zardari is notsettled in Pakistan, he won’t be able to providethat support to Bilawal.”

Zardari was elected after the PPP won an elec-tion victory in 2008 following the murder of hiswife, who served twice as prime minister. Hepresided over a government condemned asinept but was admired for relinquishing powersaccrued to the presidency by military dictatorsand for his nous in keeping his coalition in power.

Askari says tomorrowy’s election will returnPakistan to a strong executive prime minister and

a ceremonial head of state.“Mamnoon Hussain is a political lightweight

and this is the reason Mr Sharif chose him tobecome the next president,” he told AFP. But thelast PPP government had a turbulent relationshipwith Pakistan’s top court and Askari warned thatits boycott could lead to rocky relations with thePML-N.

“Mamnoon Hussain will be elected easily andit will be an easy walkover, but he will start histerm with a strong controversy. “In the long-term it will cause tensions between PPP andPML-N.” —AFP

Pakistan elects new head of state tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani candidate for the upcoming presidential election, MamnoonHussain (R) of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN) and candidate SenatorRaza Rabbani (L) of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) shake hands aftersubmitting their nomination papers at the High Court in Islamabad. —AFP

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (L) sits with Deputy PrimeMinister Anthony Albanese (R), at a federal caucus meeting in Sydney. —AFP

SYDNEY: Australian Prime MinisterKevin Rudd has made a surprise visit totroops serving in Afghanistan, tellingthem that it was time they came home.

Rudd, who the Labor Party reinstalledas leader four weeks ago ahead of thisyear’s election, made the trip Saturdaywith his wife Therese Rein to troops insouthern Uruzgan province.

“On behalf of a grateful Australiannation I am here to say to you, the menand women of the Australian DefenceForce, thank you for a job well done,”Rudd told soldiers at the Tarin Kowt base.

“I say... thank you, and it’s about timewe brought you home.” Rein, the firstwife of an Australian prime minister tovisit a war zone, was briefed on aid workand said she was proud to meet the sol-diers. Australia is preparing to winddown its deployment to Afghanistanafter entering in late 2001, in the wake ofthe September 11 attacks on the UnitedStates.

“When the flag of Australia is broughtdown for the last time a few monthsfrom now, you will have been a part ofhistory,” Rudd told the troops. Canberra

has had some 1,550 in the war-torncountry but the bulk will be broughthome by the end of the year and theTarin Kowt base handed over to Afghanauthorities.

About 300 Australian military person-nel will remain in the country after that,as advisers and trainers based in Kabuland Kandahar. Forty Australian soldiershave died in the conflict, the latest a spe-cial forces soldier who was killed by smallarms fire in June.

One soldier told the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation he was “veryhonoured” that Rudd, who is under pres-sure to call an election, had made thevisit.

“He’s actually taken the time out ofhis very busy schedule to come and dothat for us, it’s fantastic, 100 percent sup-port from Australia... makes you a veryproud Aussie,” he said. Australia has saidit will continue to provide assistance andtraining to Afghan local forces beyond2013 and has left open the possibility ofa continuing role for special forcesbeyond the end of their current missionin 2014. —AFP

Australian PM makes surprise Afghan visit

PYONGYANG: North Korea marked the 60th anniver-sary of the truce that ended the Korean War with a lav-ish and painstakingly choreographed military paradethrough Pyongyang’s main square, a solemn gather-ing led by leader Kim Jong Un at a newly opened warmuseum that features prominently the USS Pueblospy ship captured in 1968 and a fireworks display thatfilled the night sky and drew huge crowds whowatched from along the Pothong river.

This year’s parade, which also included floats andthousands of civilians waving colorful fake flowers,appeared to offer more flash and pageant than newrevelations of the secretive North’s military capabili-ties, though one unit prominently carried kits markedwith the bright yellow nuclear symbol, a reminder ofthe North’s claims that it is preparing itself against anuclear attack by the United States and is developinga nuclear arsenal of its own.

The extravagant assembly of weapons and goose-stepping troops on Saturday was reminiscent of themarches held by the Soviet Union and China at theheight of the Cold War. It is one of the few chances the

world gets to see North Korea’s military up close.Although Pyongyang frequently uses the occasion toreveal new, though not always operational, hardware,there didn’t appear to be any major new weapons inSaturday’s parade.

Overlooking a sea of spectators mobilized in Kim IlSung Square to cheer and wave flags, leader Kim JongUn saluted his troops from a review stand. He wasflanked by senior military officials, the chests of theirolive green and white uniforms laden with medals. Asfighter jets screamed overhead, a relaxed looking Kimsmiled and talked with China’s vice president. Chinafought with North Korea during the war and isPyongyang’s only major ally and a crucial source ofeconomic aid. Kim did not make a speech.

Saturday’s parade marked a holiday the NorthKoreans call “Victory Day in the Fatherland LiberationWar,” although the 1950-53 Korean War ended in atruce and the Korean Peninsula remains technically atwar.

In Washington, President Barack Obama markedthe day with a speech at the Korean War Veterans

Memorial on the National Mall, saying the anniversarymarks the end of the war and the beginning of a longand prosperous peace.

“Here today, we can say with confidence, that warwas no tie, Korea was a victory,” with 50 million SouthKoreans living in freedom and “a vibrant democracy”in stark contrast to dire conditions in the North,Obama said. He said the US-South Korea partnershipremains “a bedrock of stability” throughout the Pacificregion, and gave credit to the US service memberswho fought all those years ago and to the men andwomen currently stationed there.

Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at theInstitute for Peace and Unification Studies at SeoulNational University, said North Korea intended to usethe anniversary to highlight Kim Jong Un’s leadership.

‘ ‘It was a political performance meant to show offthat Kim Jong Un remains powerful and strong,” saidChang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institutefor Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul NationalUniversity.

He said Kim standing side by side China’s vice pres-ident was a reminder of the Cold War when NorthKorea and China stood against South Korea and theUS, he said. It also indicated that North Korea wants todemonstrate its ties with China are on a path to recov-ery, which could send a message to the US.

“The fact that China’s vice president was standingnext to Kim Jong Un could have a symbolic meaning.That North Korea joining hands with China againstSouth Korea, Japan and the US reminds of the ColdWar era. North Korea probably wanted to show offthat its relationship with China is improving,” Changsaid. “It is like telling the US that even if you don’t wantto talk to us, you’ll end up having dialogue with us” asNorth Korea gets close with China.

Kim’s rule, which began in late 2011 after the deathof his father, Kim Jong Il, has been marked by hightensions with Washington and Seoul. He has overseentwo long-range rocket launches and a nuclear testthat drew widespread condemnation and tightenedUN sanctions.

North and South Korea have turned to tentativediplomacy in recent weeks, but March and April sawNorth Korean threats of nuclear war againstWashington and Seoul in response to annual SouthKorean-U.S. military drills and U.N. condemnation ofPyongyang’s February nuclear test, the country’s third.Long-stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talksshow no sign of resuming.

Last year’s parade in Pyongyang, held to com-memorate the April celebrations of the 100th birthday

of the late national founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un’sgrandfather, created a buzz among military watcherswhen the North rolled out a mysterious long-rangemissile known abroad as the KN-08. Most outsideobservers now believe the missiles were mock-ups,but they were carried on mobile launchers thatappeared to have been obtained from China, possiblyagainst U.N. arms trade sanctions.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, President Park Geun-hye vowed not to tolerate provocations from NorthKorea - Seoul says North Korean attacks in 2010 killed50 South Koreans - but she also said Seoul would workon building trust with the North. “I urge North Koreato give up the development of nuclear weapons if thecountry is to start on a path toward true change andprogress,” Park said in a speech.

North Korea is estimated to have a handful ofcrude nuclear bombs, but many analysts don’t think ithas yet mastered the technology needed to build war-heads small enough to fit on long-range missiles.

The North’s parade tradition goes back to thefounding of the country in 1948. Few countries -

including North Korea’s communist models - continueto trot out their military forces in public squares withsuch pomp and pageantry. But Pyongyang has stuckwith them because its leaders believe they are a goodway to show the world those things about the militarythey want to reveal, while at the same time sending apotent message domestically of the power of the rul-ing elite.

“The beauty of a parade is that weapons systemsdon’t actually have to work in order to be impressive -a missile launcher looks good even when the missilewon’t launch,” said David Stone, an expert on theSoviet and Russian militaries at Kansas StateUniversity.

That can be risky, however. Almost as soon as lastyear’s parade was over, military experts around theworld said they thought the stars of the show - thelong-range KN-08 missiles - were mock-ups of adesign that is still being perfected and probablycouldn’t actually fly, despite North Korea’s claims thatit has the capability to strike the United States withnuclear-tipped ICBMs. —AP

N Korea rolls out missiles for war anniversary

BEIJING: A family looks at a Chinese Air Force bomber that participated in the KoreanWar, during a visit to a museum in Beijing yesterday. Chinese state media said in acommentary said that the key to lasting peace on the Korean peninsula is “in thehands of the DPRK (North Korea) and the United States”. —AFP

LAHORE: In this picture taken on Saturday Pakistani Shiite Muslims protest againsttwin bomb attacks in the bazaar in Parachinar at a rally in Lahore. The death toll fromtwin suicide attacks at a busy marketplace in northwest Pakistan has risen to 57, offi-cials said on Saturday. —AFP

Foreign tourists are finding their way backto Greece’s islands and ancient ruins,offering a rare boost to an economy con-

tracting for the sixth year running. Arrivals areon the up again after dismal 2012 figures butdomestic tourism is at a standstill and Greece’ssecond-tier destinations are more desertedthan ever. The Association of Greek tourismenterprises (SETE) this month announced a 10percent rise in foreign arrivals at airports forthe first half of 2013. The Bank of Greece in turnannounced that in the year running up to May2013, tourism revenue had soared 38.5 percentand foreign arrivals 24 percent. It also said thattourism revenue grew 15 percent betweenJanuary and May.

Head of SETE Andreas Andreadis said thatimproved political stability compared to 2012,a drop in prices caused by the economic crisisas well as the cancellation of holidays to Turkeyand Tunisia all contributed to the recovery.“The winter of 2012 and all the protests held inthe country (against austerity measures) hadcaused a great drop in summer bookings.

All the uncertainty with the back-to-backelections in May and June did not help either,”he told AFP. If the upward trend continuesthrough the crucial months of July and August,the number of foreign visitors is expected topass the 17 million mark in 2013, after dippingunder 16 million last year.

Much is at stake, as tourism makes up 17percent of Greece’s GDP, in a country whereunemployment is close to 27 percent. But aninvestigation by the financial crimes unit SDOEconfirmed it would take more than revivedtourist enthusiasm to replenish state coffers. Itfound that about half of the one million hotels,restaurants and beaches inspected over thepast year were dodging tax. In the highly popu-lar islands of Rhodes and Santorini, three quar-ters of the businesses inspected were fined.Germans, Britons, Russians and French make upthe majority of tourists visiting Greece.

Santorini has recently also seen an increasein book ings from Chinese, Japanese andKorean visitors, according to Panagiotis Bletsis,head of the island’s tourism office.

The popular island known for its breathtak-ing views registered the highest increase in for-eign tourist arrivals for June with 27.5 percent.“The most popular destinations are the onesbenefitting the most from this rise, such asMykonos, Rhodes, the Cycladic is lands,”Andreadis said. Other destinations, traditionallyfrequented mostly by Greeks, have a hard timemaking ends meet, he said. “Small hotels androom rentals that are not advertised face diffi-culties,” he said.

In the seaside town of Xylokastro in thePeloponnese, a two-hour drive from Athens,Margarita Theodossiou said she had neverexperienced such a difficult start to the sum-mer season. “We are just left feeling tired,” shesaid, explaining she can barely cover the run-ning costs of her small hotel, Villa Margarita.According to a survey carried out by the coun-try’s consumer institute, 73 percent of Greekswill not go on holiday this summer, up from 69percent last year. The only affordable option formany Greeks was the popular practice of camp-ing in the wild but the government has justdoubled the fine for free campers.— AFP

Issues

Tourism picks up in Greece, but without the Greeks

By Sophie Makris

14A N A L Y S I SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

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Oversold China catches eye of investorsBy Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

Aslowdown in China has hit its finan-cial markets hard this year as fundmanagers cut exposure to the

world’s second largest economy, but someinvestors say it may be time to jump backin. The country’s downturn is being feltaround the world. Energy and materialsstocks have been hit, commodities pricesare lower, and the currencies of China’strading partners, including Australia,Taiwan and South Korea, have tumbled.The index of the leading Shanghai andShenzhen A-shares - the CSI300 - was down11.8 percent this year, while the ShanghaiComposite Index slumped 11.4 percent.Lipper data shows five straight months ofoutflows from China equity-focused funds.

A recent Bank of America-Merrill Lynchsurvey lists a China slowdown as thebiggest worry among big fund managers.On Friday, China’s industry ministry orderedcompanies across 19 industries to closeoutdated capacity by the end ofSeptember. But some investors believe theselloff is nearing an end as officials takesteps to boost demand. “China has becomeone of the cheapest in Asia for an economythat has $6 trillion in national savings and afraction of the debt that developed coun-tries have,” said Joe Portelli, chief invest-ment officer at FMG in Malta, with assets ofabout $200 million invested exclusively inemerging and frontier markets.

Portelli said China’s price-to-earningsmultiple is 10, much lower than the S&P500’s P/E ratio of 15 and the historic P/E

ratio for Chinese stocks in the mid-20s.FMG’s China Fund invests in China’s Ashares listed on the CSI300 index. It is downabout 3.8 percent so far this year. Portelli,whose firm has a three-to-five-year invest-ment horizon, said that if the CSI300 fallsbelow 2,100 points for an extended period,FMG would convert some of its holdingsinto cash. The index closed Friday at 2,224points. “The fact that China isn’t growing atdouble digits is not material for us,” Portellisaid. “We believe our clients should haveexposure to a country that is the secondlargest or has the potential to become thelargest in the world.”

Many investors don’t buy into the fearsof a “hard landing” for China’s economy, ascenario that sees the country’s full-yearGDP growth falling below 6 percent.Societe Generale said 6 percent GDPgrowth is the minimum needed to keep jobgrowth stable and avoid systemic financialrisk. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang suggestedthis year’s official GDP growth target is 7.5percent, and growth below 7 percentwould not be tolerated, so China couldengage in some fiscal expansion thatshould ease “hard landing” fears. “We’recomfortable with China growing between7.0-7.5 percent, and we approve the smallactions taken by the government to targeta more sustainable growth,” said AndrewWilson, the London-based chief executiveof Goldman Sachs Asset ManagementInternational.

However, Goldman, which overseesmore than $500 billion in assets, has takena short position on the Chinese yuan’s non-

deliverable forwards on the expectationthat the currency will soften due to China’sslowdown, Wilson said. Non-deliverableforwards are used by investors to bet oncurrencies such as the yuan in which thegovernment has strict exchange controls.The Chinese yuan last traded at 6.1316against the dollar, up 1.5 percent on theyear. The Chinese government recentlyremoved the floor that previously appliedto lending rates China’s financial institu-tions could offer their customers. It alsourged local governments to spend moremoney to boost growth.

Bill Sung, chief investment officer atAbsolute Asia Asset Management inSingapore, said if economic reforms tomove China to a more consumer-basedeconomy are successful, “China shouldemerge stronger over the longer term.” Thefirm has temporarily lowered its Chinaweighting, mainly due to the higher volatil-ity arising from expectations that theFederal Reserve will reduce its stimulusprogram. So far in 2013, $3.65 billion hasbeen withdrawn from China equity funds,according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuterscompany. The sell-off has driven downChina’s Hong Kong-listed H shares. TheChina Enterprise Index is down 14.7 per-cent in 2013 and was last at 9,757.58points. The index hit a low of 8,640 in lateJune. Chinese H shares are currently trad-ing at a P/E ratio of 8.2, not far from theirtrough of 7.1 hit in the late 1990s and in2008, according to Societe Generale. VivekMisra, the firm’s Asia equity strategist inMumbai, said investors should consider

buying H shares when the HSCE index hitsthe 8,000 level. “At 8,000, the P/E ratiowould be 6.95 in a market where analystsexpect earnings per share to grow at acompounded annual rate of 11 percent thenext three years,” Misra said.

There are bargains as well, with theChinese materials and financials sectorsoversold by about 25 percent and 9 per-cent, respectively, Bank of America MerrillLynch data show. Investors such asAberdeen Asset Management in Aberdeen,Scotland, which has more than $300 billionunder management, remain cautious onChina due to lower corporate profits andtighter credit policies. The firm is usinginvestments in Hong Kong as a way ofremaining exposed to the economy, butwith some protection. Hong Kong is notimmune to China’s downturn, although theHang Seng Index has only lost 3.3 percentthis year.

Nicholas Yeo, Aberdeen’s head of Chinaand Hong Kong equities, said companies inHong Kong have stronger balance sheetsand are more resilient during downturns“compared to the relatively young andinexperienced mainland Chinese compa-nies.” Aberdeen invests 70 percent of itsChina fund in Hong Kong and 30 percent inChina. For the year until July 25, Aberdeen’sGreater China Fund was down 10.5 percent.Over the longer term, however, Yeo was nottoo worried about China, saying, “Slowergrowth is a necessary precondition for aclean-up of the financial system ... and thestate’s financial resources are considerableand can deal with the problem.” —Reuters

US stand on Egypt ‘coup’ may have costsBy Matthew Lee

For decades, foreign armies thatreceived US assistance were onnotice that toppling their freely

elected civilian leaders would mean anaid suspension. After Egypt, that seemsno more, despite a law requiring just thatif Washington determined a coup hadtaken place. The Obama administrationmade a technically legal move to decidenot to decide if the Egyptian military’souster of the country’s first democratical-ly elected president was a “coup”. That’snow created a wide opening to skirt leg-islation intended to support the rule oflaw, good governance and human rightsaround the world - principles longdeemed inviolable American values.

Previous US administrations haveendured criticism for appearing to paythem only lip service. But this new andunprecedented finding sends a confus-ing message that probably will resonatebeyond Egypt to other fragile - and per-haps not so fragile - democracies wheresoldiers are unhappy with ballot boxresults or the policies of their electedcommanders in chief. “The law does notrequire us to make a formal determina-tion ... as to whether a coup took place,and it is not in our national interest tomake such a determination,” StateDepartment spokeswoman Jen Psakisaid Friday. She spoke in the administra-tion’s only on-camera news briefing aday after members of Congress wereinformed privately that the US laws wereno longer necessarily applicable.

That interpretation of the 1961Foreign Assistance Act might come as asurprise to juntas and militaries in Mali,Madagascar, Honduras and Pakistan. Allof them, and others, have coped with US

aid suspensions over the past decade orso because of coups. In each case, therewas a presumption that the UnitedStates would make a coup determination

based on the law, and it did. The lawallows aid to resume only once a demo-cratically elected government is restored.Exceptions have been made before,

notably in the case of Pakistan. Aid toPakistan was suspended in 1999 whenArmy chief Pervez Musharraf oustedthen-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, nowback in the job, in a bloodless coup. Theassistance was restored by an act ofCongress in 2001 for national securityreasons before democracy returned afterthe Sept 11 attacks in the United States.

Psaki would or could not say why theadministration had decided against sucha solution in the case of Egypt, clearly avital American ally in the Middle East. Butsuch a fix would have required a determi-nation that the Egyptian army had oust-ed President Mohamed Morsi in a coup,and that step would have triggered asuspension in the $1.5 billion in aid theUS provides each year. Of that, $1.3 bil-lion goes to the military. Conversely, adetermination that a coup had notoccurred would have flown in the face ofthe uncontested facts that the armyremoved Morsi from power and detainedhim incommunicado in an undisclosedlocation for weeks. There is little to dis-pute in White House, State Departmentand Pentagon pronouncements that thesituation in Egypt is complex and diffi-cult. Amid the bloody violence thaterupted Saturday in Cairo and Alexandria- at least 65 protesters were killed -Secretary of State John Kerry reiteratedthe US call for Egyptian authorities torespect the right of peaceful assemblyand freedom of expression, calling them“essential components of the inclusivedemocratic process they have publiclyembraced”. Yet the administration’s deci-sion to selectively apply what had been ahallmark of US support for democracywould seem to raise questions about itsstated unwavering commitment to thatideal around the globe. — AP

A poster of deposed president Mohamed Morsi with the slogan in Arabicthat reads “No to the overthrow” is seen displayed on a makeshift brick bar-ricade erected along Nasr City’s main street, a district of eastern Cairo, assupporters of Morsi continue to hold a sit in outside Rabaa Al-Adawiyamosque demanding his reinstatement. — AFP

Continued from Page 1

Avoid harming your neighbor: Abu Huraira narratedthat a man informed Prophet Muhammad (peace beupon him) that such and such a woman prays a lot andfasts a lot, but that she hurts and annoys her neighborswith her tongue. He replied, “She will be cast into thehell-fire.” Conversely, the man said that such and such awoman is known for rarely performing optional prayersand fasts. She also gives out pieces of cheese in charityand doesn’t harm or annoy her neighbors. The Prophetreplied, “She will be admitted to Paradise.” (It was ratedby Al-Mundhiri as authentic.)

Some neighbors’ rights: Prophet Muhammad, peacebe upon him, said, “When he asks for your help assisthim, when he requests a loan from you give it to him,when he becomes insolvent come to his aid, and whenhe becomes sick or ill visit him. Moreover, if he has beenblessed with any good news, congratulate him.Conversely, when he is stricken by a calamity, condole,comfort and sympathize with him. Furthermore, do noterect high buildings, skyscrapers for that matter, in sucha way that you would block fresh air from reaching himunless you get permission from him, and if you arecooking some food with a strong aroma, do not taunthim with it unless you are planning to give him some.Also, when you decide to give your neighbor a gift, donot send it with your children who would lord it over hischildren; thus embarrassing them and making themfeel bad.” (At-Targheeb 3/357).

The month of Ramadan trains us to be more gener-

ous to everyone including our neighbors - whetherneighbors at home, at work, or while travelling, to men-tion but a few.

Question: Archangel Gabriel continued urgingProphet Muhammad (PBUH) to treat his neighborswell until the Prophet (PBUH) thought...... a.The neighbor will be given the right to inherit him. b. The neighbor will have more rights than his familymembers. c. The neighbor will receive revelation.

MIONDAY, JULY 29, 2013N E W S

Courtesy TIES Center, a leading non-political NGOpromoting relations between Westerners andMuslims through dialogue, friendship and culturalexchange. For more information. www.tiescenter.net

JULY 29, 2013

Continued from Page 1

Three other MPs - Adnan Abdulsamad, Mohammad Al-Jabriand Kamel Al-Awadhi - have said they will contest the post ofdeputy speaker while the deputy speaker in the scrapped assem-bly MP Mubarak Al-Khrainej is also expected to enter the race.

The results of the Assembly elections, the second in undereight months, appear to have dealt a heavy blow to radicals onboth the Shiite and Sunni sides. Shiite members AbdulhameedDashti, Khaled Al-Shatti and Adnan Al-Mutawa, accused of raisingsectarian issues in the previous house, lost their seats. Khaled Al-Shulaimi and Hammad Al-Dossari, both Sunni radicals andaccused of making sectarian statements, also lost.

This key development has left much more moderate Shiiteand Sunni lawmakers in the new house. But the main losers arethe Shiite minority who were reduced to just eight seats, five ofthem from the first constituency, down from a record 17 in thescrapped Assembly. The Shiite National Islamic Alliance lost threeof its five seats. Liberals won at least two seats in Rakan Al-Nasef, anewcomer, and former MP Faisal Al-Shaye in the third constituen-cy. MP Ghanem is expected to join them to form the core of a lib-eral bloc in the Assembly. They could be joined by Riyadh Al-Adasani and Abdullah Al-Turaiji, who were members of the oppo-sition but decided to run in the election. Sunni Islamists improvedslightly taking about seven seats along with supporters but all ofthem are pro-government Salafists.

The most impressive change however took place in the tribalfourth and fifth constituencies with major tribes - which used tobag most of the seats - sharply curtailed. The Awazem, Kuwait’slargest tribe, managed to win five seats from around seven in thepast. The Mutairis and Rasheedi, who used to win 4-5 seats, man-aged just two each while the Ajmans, which normally won 4-5seats, bagged just one seat. On the contrary, smaller tribes andgroups which normally won no seats under the previous system,managed to win seats this time with comfortable margins. The

Enezi won three seats against 1-2 in the past, Sulaibi bagged twoagainst nothing in the past, and the Kandaris won a seat in thefifth district where they had never won.

Voter turnout was much higher than anticipated. Based on fig-ures by the information ministry, turnout was 52.5 percent com-pared to just under 40 percent in the previous polls, which is arecord low. Kuwait’s average turnout is around 65 percent. Otherkey losers include Nabil Al-Fadhl, Abdullah Mayouf and Ahmad Al-Mulaifi from the third constituency. They also include former MPAbdullah Al-Roumi from the first constituency and Khaled Al-Shulaimi from the fourth.

In a related development, member of the scrapped AssemblyDashti, who came in the 11th spot in the first constituency, said hewill file two petitions against the election to the constitutionalcourt. Former opposition MP Mubarak Al-Waalan branded thenew Assembly as entirely pro-government.

“I think that the main success in this election is the failure ofShiite and Sunni radicals to get re-elected,” director of EtijahatResearch and Studies Centre Talal Al-Kashti said. “The compositionof this parliament is representative of various components of theKuwaiti society. Accordingly, I believe it will be very quiet ... and willcooperate with the government,” said Kashti. “The election resultsare surprising as a number of veterans lost their seats in favour ofyoung MPs. There was a big retreat for controversial figures,” politi-cal analyst Madhi Al-Khamees wrote on his Twitter account. Kashtisaid unlike the previous six parliaments which were dissolved dueto political disputes, “it looks promising this parliament could com-plete its four-year term”.

“The large number of new MPs gives hope that a NationalAssembly with greater popular backing can find a way of improv-ing relations with the government,” said Gulf expert KristianUlrichsen, at the US-based Baker Institute for Public Policy, refer-ring to a 12 percent higher turnout than last time. “The increasedturnout signals that many Kuwaitis are ready to put the recentpast behind them and move forward,” Ulrichsen said.

Cabinet resigns, new Assembly meets Aug 6Neighbors’ Rights-III

Continued from Page 1

Abdul Jalil Khalil, a top official with the main Shiitepolitical group Al Wefaq, criticized yesterday’s emer-gency session and royal endorsement of tougher meas-ures, saying “what came today is a green light to tightenlaws that are incompatible with freedom of expressionand human rights”. On the other side of the politicaldivide, Justice Minister Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa told law-makers that authorities must first quell “terrorism” beforeit can discuss reconciliation, but he stopped short of out-lining any specific measures. Samira Rajab, the informa-tion minister and government spokesman, said Bahrainshould adopt a “zero-tolerance policy” against “violentacts that have affected the social fabric of its society”.

Parliament members, however, pressed governmentofficials to impose tougher punishments and steps tocontrol violence, including banning all protest gather-ings in the capital, Manama, whose Pearl Square was thecenter of the uprising in its early days. Shortly after clear-ing the square of demonstrators in early 2011, wreckingcrews brought down the six-pronged monument thattowered above the area and was one of the city’s mainlandmarks. It is now ringed by razor wire and guardedround the clock.

“The dangerous escalation, which tries to pull thecountry into a whirlpool of insecurity and political ten-sions, should be faced,” said the parliament’s chairman,Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Dhahrani. Nearly all the 80 mem-bers in both chambers of parliament back the Sunnimonarchy. Shiite lawmakers walked out amid the crack-downs against protesters in early 2011.

One lawmaker, Latifa Al-Qaood, urged authorities towield “an iron fist against all traitors”, according to theofficial Bahrain News Agency. Another, Sawsan Taqawi,called for banning any gatherings or rallies “that endan-ger national security” and take more decisions to stripcitizenship from people convicted of “terrorism”. InNovember, Bahrain revoked citizenship for 31 Shiites forroles in the uprising - a move that brought widespreaddenunciations from international human rights groups.

Bahrain courts also have jailed prominent oppositionfigures and others, including some with alleged links toIranian-backed groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.Bahrain and other Gulf states claim Shiite power Iran hasa hand in the protests, but there has been no clear evi-dence presented. Iran denies any direct role in Bahrain’sunrest. Other lawmakers proposed freezing assets forsuspects linked to attacks and ordering blanket curfewsin areas of frequent clashes.

Bahrain raises alarm over rising violenceContinued from Page 1

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and EastJerusalem.

In any future deal, Israel wants to keep several set-tlement blocs and East Jerusalem, which it annexedas part of its capital in a move never recognisedinternationally. Hundreds of protesters from thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)group staged a rally against the resumption of peacetalks in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat ofAbbas’ Palestinian Authority. They clashed withpolice and threw rocks. PFLP activists also demon-strated in Gaza and chanted: “Listen Abbas, our landis not for sale... The cause will never be resolvedexcept by the rifle.”

In an appeal for public support posted on hisFacebook page on Saturday night, Netanyahu saidthe prisoners would be freed in groups only after thenegotiations - set to last at least nine months -begin. The 22-member cabinet also discussed legis-lation that would require a referendum on any state-

hood deal reached with the Palestinians involving awithdrawal from land Israel captured in the 1967war. It will be brought to parliament in coming days.The US-brokered talks, expected to reconvene inWashington as early as tomorrow, broke down in late2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construc-tion in the West Bank, which Palestinians say deniesthem a viable state.

Before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told min-isters from his Likud party that Israel would pay aprice if peace talks did not resume, according to oneofficial who was there. The latest diplomatic pushfollows months of intense shuttle diplomacy by USSecretary of State John Kerry who said a week agothe groundwork had been laid for a breakthrough,while setting no specific date for talks to restart.Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Clubwhich tracks the treatment of Palestinians in Israelijails, warned yesterday there would be no peacetalks unless al l 104 prisoners returned to theirhomes. “If they don’t free all of them, there will be nonegotiations,” he told public radio. — Agencies

Israel approves release of Palestinian...

Continued from Page 1

Maghreb-Machrek agrees. “Tunisia is a small countrywith a strong middle class with deeply rooted democraticaspirations, a civil society that is especially active and fairlyclear ideological references regarding the secular, egalitar-ian state,” he said. On the other hand, Egypt “is structuredwith two political forces, the Muslim Brotherhood and thearmy, which sometimes work together and sometimesoppose each other, making political order and disorder atthe same time,” Moisseron said. “The progressives did notseize the historic opportunity they had in 2011to struc-ture themselves in an autonomous way, (and as a result)the historic conditions for a democratic transition in Egyptare far from materialising.”

Bauchard said that while in Egypt “everything remainsto be done, or redone,” Tunisia has “the best assets in theArab world for becoming a democratic state” despite its“radical, Salafist elements who are doing everything toundermine the process”. Paradoxally, according toMoisseron, “what is happening in Egypt may help stabilise

Tunisia because it is pressuring Ennahda to fully acceptthe rules of the democratic game”.

Libya is a special case, the experts say, because it isdominated by a tribal organisation and the government’sonly source of power against militias is its oil revenues.Antoine Basbous, director of the Paris-based Observatoryof Arab Countries, says however that despite the currentchaos in Libya, “the demonstrations currently taking placeexpress exasperation (with) Islamists who have formedmilitias who are undoing what elected officials decide”.

After what he called the “Arab tsunami” of 2011, “theaftershocks that we are seeing will not be the last, drivenby the same young people who will come back with thesame vectors - the Internet, Facebook, Twitter etcetera -with the support of a fringe of opinion who are hostile tothe Islamists.” Bitar, for his part, said: “The people havesomething to say today. Even if the revolution grabbedsome things, there is still a spirit of freedom that brokefree.” In any case, the three countries entered a new era in2011, he said. “The old order collapsed. It will not bereborn from its ashes.” — AFP

Arab Spring will take time to flower

Riot policemen stand in a tear gas cloud during clashes within a student and workers protest against the government in Lima on Saturday. Students protested against a bill - that if passed -wouldreduce university autonomy, whilst workers are against a new civil service law which could bring massive dismissals, according to the workers’ union. — AFP

PARIS: There was a time when your local post office wouldmainly sell stamps and deliver letters. No longer. To counter-act the turmoil brought on by emails and text messages,postal services worldwide have reinvented themselves, takingon the technological revolution that once looked to cripplethem. Traditional snail mail service has dropped sharply inrecent years, though emerging countries are a notable excep-tion. According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), global let-ter- and light parcel delivery dropped by 3.7 percent in 2011from a year earlier, and by 5.1 percent when just countingEurope and the former Soviet Union.

And the death of letter-writing has forced postal servicesto either catch on new trends or disappear. Earlier this month,Britain announced plans to privatise more than half of RoyalMail in a bid to transform it into a modern communicationbusiness. Amid the dwindling delivery numbers for lettersand large packages, there is hope: parcels weighing less thantwo kilogrammes. Online shopping, and the millions ofparcels it generates, has become a boon for a new type ofpostal industry. One of those players is Germany’s DeutschePost, which is investing Ä750 million ($990 million) in expand-

ing its package delivery network by adding 20,000 new recep-tion points.

Similarly, PostNord - Sweden and Denmark’s mergedpostal services - is seeing a turnaround in its business thanksto its focus on online parcel delivery. The same story can betold in Spain, where traditional mail delivery has plungedsome 30 percent in the past five years, and the nationalCorreos has its mind set on “developing parcel activities withspecific solutions and the value added by electronic com-merce”. By 2020, Correos is determined to work along a busi-ness model “in which revenues do not exclusively come fromthe traditional postal business,” a spokesman told AFP.

France’s La Poste has taken it a step further. Aside fromidentifying parcels as “it’s primary sector of development”, ithas also launched more than a dozen pilot projects exploringthe possibilities of delivering medication to the elderly and tooffer meter-readings for gas and electricity usage. Bank opera-tions and mobile telephony are other venues being explored.Italy’s Poste Italiane today runs some six million depositaccounts and has sold around three million SIM cards formobile telephones. — AFP

Post offices eye reinvention

S P O RT SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

MOSCOW: Russian champions CSKA Moscow ground out a 2-1 win at cityrivals Lokomotiv in a highly entertaining derby yesterday thanks to goalsfrom Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda and Nigeria striker Ahmed Musa.

The result left CSKA in third position on seven points from three games,two behind leaders Spartak Moscow who maintained their perfect startwith a 4-1 away rout of Dynamo Moscow on Saturday. Honda fired CSKAahead in the 19th minute in Moscow with a superb free kick, curling in avicious shot from 25 metres which left Lokomotiv keeper Guilherme clutch-ing air. The Brazilian sustained a foot injury when he crashed into his near

post. Guilherme bravely carried on but limped off early in the

second half to make way for Croatian Dario Kresic, whowas at fault for CSKA’s winner after Dmitriy Tarasov hadequalised.

Tarasov headed home an Alexandr Samedov cornerafter the latter had a penalty brilliantly saved by CSKA keep-

er Igor Akinefeev, but Lokomotiv’s joy was short-lived asKresic committed a calamitous error. The 29-year oldkeeper misjudged an inswinging corner as Musa sweptthe ball home from a goalmouth scramble after SeydouDoumbia had sneaked in at the far post and hit thewoodwork with a close-range header.—Reuters

CSKA edge LokomotivBANGKOK: Bodin Issara was banned for two years by the BadmintonAssociation of Thailand (BAT) for physical assault after his ugly on-courtbrawl with former doubles partner Maneepong Jongjit during the final ofthe Canada Open last week.

The BAT also handed Maneepong a three-month ban for provocationafter lengthy deliberations on Saturday night in Bangkok. The duo couldface further penalties with an investigation by the Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) still ongoing.

“Everything we have done in 60 years collapsed just because of one per-son. In my six decades in this sport, I haven’t seen a more vio-lent case than this,” BAT president Charoen Wattanasin wasquoted as saying by Thai media on Sunday.

“I have been requested to be gentle in the measures butthis is not about my feelings or others’ feelings. It’s a matterof the country’s image.”

The duo, both 22, teamed up for Thailand at the LondonOlympics and were competing on opposite sides forthe first time since their split and tensions blew upin a feisty men’s doubles contest which ended withBodin’s disqualification after he chasedManeepong around the arena. —Reuters

Brawling shuttler banned

ASUNCION: Paraguay, virtually out of the running for a place at the 2014World Cup finals, have promoted youth coach Victor Genes to take chargeof the team until the end of the qualifiers in October. Genes replacesUruguayan Gerardo Pelusso, who quit in June after a 2-1 defeat by Chile inAsuncion left Paraguay bottom of the South American group with eightpoints from 12 matches.

Genes, whose youth team played at the recent Under-20 World Cup inTurkey, is Paraguay’s third coach in the qualifying campaign for the finalsin Brazil. Paraguay reached the last four tournaments and achieved theirbest ever result when they reached the quarter-finals for the first time inSouth Africa in 2010 under Argentine Gerardo Martino, now coach ofBarcelona. “To speak of the career of Victor Genes is to talk about a coachwho has achieved everything ... He is taking on the challenge for that rea-son and knows he is putting his career on the line because it comes at avery difficult time,” Paraguayan Football Association (APF) vice-presidentAlejandro Dominguez told reporters.

Genes, 52, will make his debut in the new role in a friendly againstGermany in Kaiserslautern on Aug. 14 before two qualifiers at home toBolivia and Argentina in September.—Reuters

Paraguay promote youth coach for WC qualifiers

WASHINGTON: Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond andDenard Span all homered, powering theWashington Nationals to a 4-1 win over the NewYork Mets on Saturday.

Dan Haren (5-11) pitched seven innings forhis first win since May 9, allowing one run andthree hits.

Desmond and Span hit back-to-back homersagainst Dillon Gee (7-8) in the second inning andHarper followed with a two-run drive in thethird. Harper returned to the starting lineupafter being limited to pinch-hitting duty in thesecond game of Friday’s doubleheader. The All-Star outfielder aggravated his left knee whilediving for a ball in the opener.

BRAVES 2, CARDINALS 0In St. Louis, Andrelton Simmons hit a two-run

double in the eighth inning as Atlanta, boostedby Julio Teheran’s sharp outing, beat St. Louis ina matchup of NL division leaders.

Teheran allowed two hits in seven innings,striking out six and walking one. Simmons’bases-loaded, two-out double came on a 99mph fastball from Trevor Rosenthal. RandyChoate (1-1) walked Freddie Freeman to openthe eighth. Evan Gattis struck out and BrianMcCann singled. Rosenthal relieved and struckout Dan Uggla before walking Chris Johnson toload the bases.

Luis Avilan (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth andCraig Kimbrel recorded three outs to earn his30th save. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly pitched 6 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits andwalking three.

PIRATES 7, MARLINS 4In Miami, Michael McKenry had a career-best

four hits and drove in two runs and Neil Walkerand Garrett Jones each added two RBIs inPittsburgh’s victory over Miami.

McKenry, who came into the night batting.191, raised his average 26 points with a doubleand three singles. Walker added three hits forthe Pirates, the NL wild-card leaders who set thetone with three first-inning runs against Miami’sTom Koehler (2-6).

Charlie Morton (3-2) allowed a season-highnine hits in five innings, finding a way to winconsecutive starts for the first time since May2011. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for hisfourth save. Koehler gave up nine hits and fiveruns in five innings.

PADRES 12, DIAMONDBACKS 3In Phoenix, Andrew Cashner threw six solid

innings and hit his first career home run to helplead San Diego over Arizona.

Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley addedback-to-back home runs, Yonder Alonso drove infour runs and Carlos Quentin had three RBIs forthe Padres, who have won two of their last threeand four of six.

Cashner (7-5) allowed three runs on four hits,walked five and struck out five for his secondstraight win, both coming during a 10-gameroad trip.

Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Monterohomered for the Diamondbacks, who had theirtwo-game winning streak snapped.

San Diego managed only three hits offArizona starter Tyler Skaggs (2-3), but tookadvantage of the rookie left-hander’s lack ofcontrol to open an 8-1 lead after four innings.

CUBS 1, GIANTS 0In San Francisco, Nate Schierholtz homered

off former teammate Sergio Romo with one outin the ninth inning to lift Chicago over San

Francisco. Schierholtz worked a full count offRomo (3-6) before hitting a towering blast intothe right field stands to hand Romo his secondloss in as many games. Starlin Castro added twohits for Chicago, which is 18-13 in its last 31games.

Madison Bumgarner pitched eight shutoutinnings for San Francisco but left without a deci-sion. The World Series champs have lost six ofseven and are a season-high 11 games under.500. Pedro Strop (1-0) pitched one inning forthe win and Kevin Gregg worked the ninth forhis 21st save to complete the five-hitter.

DODGERS 4, REDS 1In Los Angeles, Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits

over seven innings and retired his last 13 batters,Skip Schumaker hit a tiebreaking two-run homeras Los Angeles beat Cincinnati.

Ryu (9-3) had nine strikeouts in a span of 13batters. Cincinnati’s run came on a homer by JayBruce in the second. The Dodgers increased theirNL West lead to 11/2 games over Arizona.

Ryu faced South Korean countryman Shin-Soo Choo for the first time in the major leagues.The Reds’ center fielder walked, grounded out to

first base and struck out.Kenley Jansen got the last three outs for his

14th save. Bronson Arroyo (9-8) gave up threeruns and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.

BREWERS 7, ROCKIES 5In Denver, Carlos Gomez had two hits and

three of Milwaukee’s five stolen bases, JuanFrancisco and Jonathan Lucroy homered as theBrewers held on to beat Colorado on a rainynight.

Milwaukee’s Jean Segura had two hits andtwo RBIs before leaving with tightness in hisright forearm. Troy Tulowitzki had a home runamong his three hits and Wilin Rosario also wentdeep for the Rockies.

The Brewers were three outs from winningwhen the rain picked up and caused a 1-hour,45-minute delay in the middle of the ninthinning. Jim Henderson then got the last threeouts for his 12th save.

It made a winner out of Tom Gorzelanny (2-4),who allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3innings. Collin McHugh (0-2), vying to make acase to be the Rockies’ No. 5 starter, gave up sixruns and nine hits in five innings.—AP

WASHINGTON: Ian Desmond No. 20 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Denard SpanNo. 2 after hitting a solo home run in the second inning against the New York Mets. —AFP

Rays edge YankeesNEW YORK: Chris Archer threw a two-hitterfor his second shutout in three starts, out-pitching Ivan Nova and leading the TampaBay Rays to a 1-0 victory over the New YorkYankees on Saturday

Kelly Johnson had an RBI single off Nova(4-4) in the sixth to help the AmericanLeague East-leading Rays improve to 24-5since June 23, when they were in last place.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon saidbefore the game Archer (6-3) embraces thebig moments, and he sure did at YankeeStadium. The 24-year-old rookie with aCaptain America lunchbox in his lockernever threw more than 14 pitches in aninning and needed just 97 overall - 67 forstrikes - for his second career completegame.

ASTROS 8, BLUE JAYS 6In Toronto, Chris Carter hit a three-run

home run, Justin Maxwell and MattDominguez added solo shots as Houstonsnapped a three-game losing streak.

Dallas Keuchel (5-5) pitched a season-high 7 1-3 innings to end a six-start winlessskid. He allowed six runs and 10 hits,walked one and struck out six for his firstvictory since June 16.

Jose Veras got the final five outs for his19th save in 22 chances. The Astros, whohad lost 21 of their previous 26, won forjust the second time since July 12. All threehomers came off Josh Johnson (1-7), wholost his career-worst fifth straight start.

ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 1In Oakland, Derek Norris had a pinch-hit

two-run home run in the bottom of the

seventh inning to lead Oakland to its sec-ond straight win and fifth in the last sevengames.

Jed Lowrie also drove in a run for the A’sand Coco Crisp added two hits. TommyMilone (9-8) allowed four hits over seveninnings, allowing one run. He walked fourand struck out six. Josh Hamilton hit abooming home run for the Angels, wholost their second straight and five of sevenoverall.

Grant Richards, making his first startsince April 30, allowed three hits in fivescoreless innings. Scott Downs (2-3)entered the game in the seventh afterDane De La Rosa got Chris Young to hit intoa fielder’s choice. The A’s countered withNorris, who promptly delivered his firstcareer pinch hit.

TWINS 4, MARINERS 0In Seattle, Brian Dozier and Justin

Morneau homered, Samuel Dedunopitched seven scoreless innings asMinnesota got its fifth shutout of the sea-son.

The Twins have won four of their last sixgames and are 6-3 since the All Star break.Deduno (7-4) allowed three hits, walkedthree and tied his season high with sixstrikeouts. He has thrown seven innings ineach of his last three starts, winning allthree. Brad Miller and Kyle Seager each hadtwo hits for Seattle, which has lost three offour. Aaron Harang (5-9) threw 105 pitchesin five innings, the ninth time in 17 starts hehas gone five innings or less. Harang gaveup one run on three hits in five innings,struck out five and walked two.—AP

NEW YORK: Chris Archer No. 22 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches against the New YorkYankees at Yankee Stadium. —AFP

American LeagueEastern Division

W L PCT GBTampa Bay 62 42 .596 -Boston 62 43 .590 0.5Baltimore 58 47 .552 4.5NY Yankees 54 50 .519 8Toronto 47 56 .456 14.5

Central DivisionDetroit 58 45 .563 -Cleveland 55 48 .534 3Kansas City 50 51 .495 7Minnesota 45 56 .446 12Chicago White Sox 40 61 .396 17

Western DivisionOakland 61 43 .587 -Texas 56 48 .538 5Seattle 49 55 .471 12LA Angels 48 54 .471 12Houston 35 68 .340 25.5

National LeagueEastern Division

Atlanta 59 45 .567 -Washington 51 54 .486 8.5Philadelphia 49 55 .471 10NY Mets 46 55 .455 11.5Miami 39 63 .382 19

Central DivisionLouis 62 39 .614 -Pittsburgh 61 41 .598 1.5Cincinnati 59 46 .562 5Chicago Cubs 47 55 .461 15.5Milwaukee 43 60 .417 20

Western DivisionLA Dodgers 55 48 .534 -Arizona 54 50 .519 1.5Colorado 50 55 .476 6San Diego 47 58 .448 9San Francisco 46 57 .447 9

MLB results/standingsTampa Bay 1, Ny Yankees 0; Houston 8, Toronto 6; Oakland 3, LA Angels 1; Atlanta 2, St. Louis 0; Washington 4,NY Mets 1; Minnesota 4, Seattle 0; Boston 7, Baltimore 3; Cleveland 1, Texas 0; Detroit 10, Philadelphia 0;Kansas City 1, Chicago White Sox 0; Pittsburgh 7, Miami 4; Milwaukee 7, Colorado 5; San Diego 12, Arizona 3;Chicago Cubs 1, San Francisco 0; LA Dodgers 4, Cincinnati 1.

Nationals see off Mets

SEATTLE: Demetrious Johnson couldhave coasted for the final round,knowing he was comfortably aheadon the scorecards and easily on hisway to retaining the UFC flyweighttitle. Johnson wanted more. So eventhough it put him at risk, Johnsonmade sure he finished with a flourish.“He couldn’t have fought a more per-fect, on point fight tonight,” UFCPresident Dana White said. “He justlooked amazing.”

Johnson successfully defended histitle on Saturday night, using an arm-bar on John Moraga late in the fifthround for a submission victory beforea partisan hometown crowd. Makingthe second defense of the flyweightcrown, Johnson controlled most ofthe fight, then ended it at 3:43 of thefifth round, bending Moraga’s rightarm to the point referee Herb Deanstopped the fight.

Johnson (18-2-1) leaped to hisfeet with four spinning kicks in thecenter of the ring to celebrate his titledefense. “Even though I was aheadon the scorecards, I’ve never justrelaxed and just coasted by,” Johnsonsaid. “My job is to finish and to pushthe pace. I just took it and so hap-pened it happened.” The co-main

event saw young Canadian star RoryMacDonald (15-1) take a unanimousdecision over Jake Ellenberger (29-7)in a welterweight fight that left thecrowd cascading boos after themuch-anticipated matchup failed tolive up to its billing.

MacDonald’s strategy of avoidingEllenberger’s big punches worked ashe ran his winning streak to five, evenif White and the rest of the crowdwere left bored.

“It was a highly anticipated fightthat overshadowed the main eventand didn’t live up to the hype,” Whitesaid. In other fights on the main card,Robbie Lawler used a huge kick tofloor Bobby Voelker in a second-round knockout. Liz Carmouche alsohad a second-round victory, stoppingBrazil’s Jessica Andrade in her UFCdebut. It was a dominant perform-ance for Johnson, fighting less thanan hour from his home in Parkland.From the start, Johnson had thehome crowd on his side as the chantof “Mighty Mouse! Mighty Mouse!” -Johnson’s nickname - started almostimmediately.

Johnson controlled the fight withtakedowns and retaining top control.He nearly got a choke submission on

Moraga at the end of the first round,then pinned Moraga’s arms andunloaded punches to his stomach inthe second. Johnson regularly tookMoraga (13-2) to the mat and nearlyended the fight with an armbar sub-mission late in the third round, onlyto see Moraga slide free.

Moraga’s best chance in the fightcame late in the fourth round whenhe caught Johnson with a right handthat stunned the champion. Johnsonstumbled back against cage, butquickly regained control, bouncingoff the fencing and taking the charg-ing Moraga to the mat. —AP

Johnson defends flyweight title

SEATTLE: UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (left) fightsJohn Moraga during their bout in Seattle. Johnson defended his titlewith a submission victory.—AP

NEW YORK: Alex Rodriguez’s corner locker inthe New York Yankees’ clubhouse is filled withfour cardboard boxes of bats, a dozen jerseys,a dangling athletic supporter, two baseballcaps and four books. Rodriguez, who turned38 Saturday, is something of a cornered manhimself these days.

The Yankees consider him a major annoy-ance, referring to him as Mr. Rodriguez threetimes in a recent news release. That tension,however, pales when compared to what’sgoing on with Major League Baseball. Anytime now, Rodriguez is expected to be hitwith a lengthy penalty that could put him outof baseball indefinitely or perhaps even per-manently.

And MLB’s investigation to possible tiesbetween Rodriguez and a Florida clinicaccused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs isn’t even the primarysource of the deteriorating relationship. TheYankees owe him just under $95 millionthrough 2017, and he’s missed the entire sea-son following hip surgery in January.

After a week’s worth of high drama, sec-ond-guessing and radio interviews, it seemsRodriguez is about to be lumped withYankees who sort of just didn’t fit, failed orjust faded away - the Dave Winfield, KevinBrown, Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano wingof infamy rather than the Monument Parkhonor roll of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, JoeDiMaggio and Yogi Berra.

On the day he arrived in February 2004after the big trade with Texas, the sign boardoutside old Yankee Stadium proclaimed: “ARod, Welcome to NY.” Now the message fromthe Yankees is pretty much: We don’t want tosee you ever again.

During a conference call with manage-ment to discuss treatment of his thigh injury,A-Rod insisted on having one of his lawyerson the phone, later saying he “just want tomake sure that everything is documentedproperly.”

Following his third straight postseasonflameout, New York appears to be in no hurryfor A-Rod to return. Each day’s delay meansthat much more of his $153,005 daily salary isreimbursed by insurance. For much of hiscareer, Rodriguez has bristled at playing asupporting role to Yankees shortstop DerekJeter, wondering why his teammate receivesadulation and he is met with a mixture ofantipathy and scorn.

Jeter strained a quadriceps and wasallowed to rehabilitate with the major leagueteam. Rodriguez strained a quadriceps andwas sent to the minor league camp in Tampa,Fla., as if he had been a disruptive studentdispatched to the principal’s office for a time-out. Wherever he goes, contretemps unfold.“It’s the nature of the business,” Yankees firstbaseman Mark Teixeira said. “Show business,right?”

This was supposed to be the best time ofRodriguez’s career, when he made his mark inhistory. Fifth on the career list with 647 homeruns, he was set to pass Willie Mays (660),Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and BarryBonds (762) and become the all-time leader.Only Ruth had hit more home runs thanRodriguez before turning 38. But his life hasseemed to unravel since Dec. 13, 2007, whenhis record $275 million, 10-year contract wasfinalized - on the same day George Mitchellissued his report on performance-enhancingdrugs in baseball. He helped the Yankees winthe 2009 World Series, shaking his image asan automatic October out by hitting .365 inthe postseason with six homers and 18 RBIs.But in the time that matters most for theYankees, he has only six postseason RBIs in 75at-bats since as his body has fractured withalarming frequency. He’s made six trips to thedisabled list in six seasons for a strained rightquadriceps (2008), right hip surgery (2009), astrained left calf (2010), right knee surgery(2011), a broken left hand (2012) and left hipsurgery (2013).—AP

Cornered man: Alex Rodriguez turns 38

S P O RT SMONDAY, JULY 29 , 2013

NEW YORK: The woman wearing theRyan Fraud jersey was only telling thetruth when the Milwaukee Brewersthreatened to toss her out of the ball-park the other day for exercising herfreedom of expression. Imagine whatthey would have done if there wasenough room to add more words to theback of the jersey. Liar and cheat are twothat certainly fit well for the exiled leftfielder, who went from beloved super-star to baseball pariah in less time thanit takes to mail off a decent urine sam-ple. Fans weren’t alone in expressingtheir disgust about Braun, if onlybecause his earlier self-righteous claimsthat he was clean were so fresh in theirears. For the first time, players turned onone of their own, calling Braun out in away they never did for players bustedfor steroids in the past.

It’s taken years, but the clubhousecode of silence has been cracked, if onlya little. Players who are clean seem tofinally be realizing that both theircareers and their fat wallets are threat-ened by cheaters who post numbersand do things that they have no hope of

matching. Players like Skip Schumaker,the utility player for the Los AngelesDodgers who has hit only 24 home runsin his nine year big league career.Schumaker believed Braun’s denials,bought into his story about the bum-bling messenger who couldn’t get tothe FedEx office on time. He even had asigned Braun jersey in his trophy room.Now he, like many other players, hashad enough.

“In my opinion, he should be sus-pended, lifetime ban. One strike you’reout,” Schumaker said. “It’s enough. It’sridiculous.”

One strike and you’re out. Kind of hasa nice ring to it, even in a sport wherethree strikes are what really matter.Unfortunately, it has no chance of hap-pening. While players are beginning totalk tough, the odds of that translatinginto any movement toward lifetimebans on the part of the players’ unionare about as good as the Chicago Cubswinning the World Series.

Players had to be dragged kickingand screaming into testing to beginwith, and they’re not going to agree to

increased penalties without a fight. It’sthe owners, though, who share just asmuch blame for the mess baseball findsitself in. They’ve looked the other wayfor more than two decades now, contentto allow the use of per formance -enhancing drugs in the game as long asthe big home run hitters were helpingthem sell tickets and build new stadi-ums. And they keep giving millions toguys who have been caught cheating.The Oakland A’s didn’t seem to mind thatBartolo Colon tested positive last year fortestosterone and had to miss the team’splayoff run. Instead of punishing him forthat, they gave him a $1 million raise anda new contract to be their ace this year.

Melky Cabrera also came out richerafter testing positive for the same thing.The Toronto Blue Jays gave him a two-year contract for $16 million, more thanhe was making in San Francisco when hewas caught. “He’s still a good hitter, onthe stuff or not,” Blue Jays manager JohnGibbons said at the time.

Actually, he’s not. Cabrera has onlythree home runs and 30 RBIs this year,while his OPS has plummeted from .906

last year with the Giants to .676 this year.No matter, he’s got his money and it’sguaranteed. Braun has his money, too,and he’ll keep getting it even if he neverplays another inning or hits anotherhome run. He signed a deal a fewmonths before being caught the firsttime, and the pay is staggering. He got$10 million just to sign and will be mak-ing an average of $21 million a year bythe time it ends in 2020.

And you thought juicing didn’t pay?In Braun’s case the $3 million he loses inpay this year is nothing. It’s like robbinga bank filled with bags of cash and beingtold everything will be OK if you return acouple rolls of nickels.

Instead of being outraged, though,Brewers owner Mark Attanasio simplytalked about Braun taking a step in theright direction with his vague admissionthat he did something wrong.

Meanwhile, the inductee dais at theHall of Fame will be empty Sunday, astark reminder of all that is wrong withthe game. Baseball writers couldn’tstomach putting Barry Bonds, RogerClemens or Sammy Sosa in among base-

ball greats, and fans should be gratefulthat they care enough about the sport tokeep them out.

Getting Braun to cop to somethingwas a big step for Bud Selig and hisinvestigators, who are going after play-ers in the Biogenesis Clinic scandal likethey’ve never gone after any before.Before they’re done Alex Rodriguezcould be exposed once more, and 20other players reportedly are targets.

But all the policing doesn’t changethe underlying motives for cheating.They’re all economic and until there’s anew system in place the incentive willalways be there for players to cheat.

First time suspensions have to belonger, a year at minimum instead of 50games. Those dumb enough to becaught twice should be banned for life.All contracts need to include a clausethat future years are automatically void-ed if a player tests positive to PEDs, andowners have to agree not to give anyplayer coming back from drug suspen-sion more money than they madebefore. Take away the rewards for dop-ing and the game can still be saved.—AP

Take away the incentives to end doping

GSTAAD: Mikhail Youzhny beatDutch “mountain man” RobinHaase 6-3, 6-4 yesterday tobecome the first Russian in nearlytwo decades to lift the honors atthe high-altitude Swiss Open.

The 31-year-old duplicated thefeat of Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1995as he improved to a perfect 5-0record over Haas, the ATP number57.

The 65-minute final played inbright sunshine which has charac-terised the summer clay week inthis alpine village at 800 metresmarked the first trophy forYouzhny since 18 months ago inZagreb. He won his last on claymore than three years ago inMunich.

Despite hailing from flatlandHolland, Haase has made his bestresults in similar conditions toGstaad, winning the last two edi-tions of the tournament in theAustrian ski resort of Kitzbuehel.He was travelling there to beginhis title defence next week.

“I had my biggest success inthe mountains so far. It ’s not acoincidence since I also playedwell in Madrid. I’m really confidentwith both my serve and my returnand that helps a lot,” said the alti-tude-loving finalist.

“It was a difficult match,Mikhail’s game definitely doesn’tsuit me. He showed his best formand years of experience today. “It’sso tough to play him, I’ve neverbeaten him and that kinda hurts.But I hope to get another chance.”

Youzhny broke once per set, for

5-3 and the first and early in thesecond. But he had to recoverfrom 0-30 down as he served forvictory, requiring three matchpoints to get the job done.

“This feels really great,” said the12th player aged over 30 to win anATP title in 2013. “Robin was atough opponent but I was able toplay me best tennis and beat him.It’s been a super week for me.

“Even though I played a lot ofmy matches in the morning, thestands were relatively full eventhen. Every one of my matcheswas a tough one. It was a hardweek but it ended very well.”

The Russian lost a final lastmonth in Halle on grass to RogerFederer, who along with compatri-ot and number 10 StanislasWawrinka had been billed as theanchors of the event.

But Federer, playing Gstaad forthe first time in nine years, andten-time participant Wawrinkaboth lost early due to back painand face late fitness decisions ifthey are to play the MontrealMasters starting a week fromMonday.

Crowds who had sold out theevent weeks ago still fronted up,with the final played to a fullhouse at a stadium fashionedannually from the local hockeyrink in the centre of the pedestrianvillage. Youzhny won his ninth titlefrom his 20th ATP final whileHaase became the secondDutchman to play a Gstaad finalafter four from Tom Okker, 1968-71.—AFP

Youzhny bags Gstaad title

GSTAAD: Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny raises his trophy after winning thefinal match at the Swiss Open ATP tennis tournament. —AFP

STANFORD: Dominika Cibulkova and AgnieszkaRadwanska will meet in a WTA Tour final for thesecond time this year.

Cibulkova coasted past Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-0 in the Bank of the West Classic semifinalsSaturday. A few hours later, the top-seededRadwanska overcame a shaky start to beatAmerican Jamie Hampton 6-3, 6-2 with relativeease.

The third-seeded Cibulkova has won twice ontour and last advanced to a final in January inSydney, where she lost 6-0, 6-0 to Radwanska. Itwas the first whitewash in a final sinceNovember 2006 and the first in Cibulkova’scareer.

“Tennis is a lot about mentally,” Cibulkovasaid. “If you will see that match, you will notbelieve it can be like that because I was puttingpressure all the time. All the first six or sevengames of that match I had game point or breakpoint, and I just couldn’t make it. It was likesomething really bad was happening. I wasdown 6-0, 3-0 and I was only thinking about onething - just to make one game, and it didn’t hap-pen. It was really bad.” Now Cibulkova will have achance for a double-dose of redemption.

Radwanska, ranked No. 4 in the world, has 12singles titles - including 10 on hard court. Shewon back-to-back tournaments at Auckland andSydney to start the year and hadn’t advanced toa final since she crushed Cibulkova down under.Radwanska regrouped against Hampton afterdropping her serve twice in the first set, break-ing back in the following game both times. TheWimbledon semifinalist earned the decisivebreak at 5-3 by forcing Hampton to sail a back-hand long.

The smooth-swinging Polish player put awaythe match with an overhead winner for a servicebreak at 2-1 in the second set, then pushedHampton - who beat her earlier this year atEastbourne - around the court to grab the nextthree games and set up a finals rematch shebelieves will offer more drama than earlier thisyear.

“Didn’t really expect that, especially in thefinal,” Radwanska said. “She was playing greatmatches in Sydney and then suddenly I thinkshe was a little bit too nervous in the final. Andthen game by game she was getting (frustrated)too much. But I don’t think she’s the kind of play-er that can do that again.” Cibulkova’s game has

seemed to come a long way the last sevenmonths.

In the semifinals, Cibulkova controlled thepace and played patient and near-perfect tennisagainst an opponent who folded fast. The third-seeded Cibulkova saved all six break points inthe first set and often stayed back on the base-line waiting for Cirstea to make mistakes. Theapproach helped Cibulkova go ahead 5-3 in thefirst set and sweep the second set to cruise intothe final on the sun-splashed Stanford campus.Cibulkova has played the event the past six yearsand had never advanced past the semifinals,even losing to Cirstea in the quarterfinals a yearago.

This time, her penetrating strokes had Cirsteaconstantly on the move. The hard-hittingCibulkova forced her to net a forehand, then hita backhand wide for a break at 4-3 before hold-ing off five breaks alone in her next service gameto take command.

With one defeat avenged, Cibulkova now hasa shot for another in consecutive days.Cibulkova, No. 25 in the world rankings, won inCarlsbad last year and in Moscow in 2011 for heronly WTA titles. But the loss in Sydney had herquestioning herself for weeks.

“It really affected my game for a few tourna-ments after,” she said. “It was a pretty bad experi-ence. When I came to the Australian Open, thefirst match I was just thinking, ‘OK, you have tomake a game now because it’s really important.It wasn’t easy. It kept coming back to me a fewtournaments, but I think it’s over.” While someplayers might’ve shied away from the experi-ence, Cibulkova decided to face it firsthand. Shesaw the replay of the match - “just the first set,”she said - and saw her confidence evaporatewith every stroke.

Asked why she would put herself throughwatching such a devastating defeat, she replied,“I have to learn from it.”—AP

Cibulkova, Radwanska to meet in Stanford final

STANFORD: Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland returns a shot to Jamie Hampton during theirsemifinal match on Day 6 of the Bank of the West Classic. —AFP

ATLANTA: Lleyton Hewitt of Australia returns a backhand to John Isner during theBB&T Atlanta Open. —AFP

ATLANTA: The two top seeds AmericanJohn Isner and South African KevinAnderson will meet in the Atlanta Openfinal after securing semi-final victories onSaturday.

Isner beat former world number oneLleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-4 4-6 7-6(5)while Anderson was too good for AmericanRyan Harrison 6-3 7-6(3).

The top-seeded Isner fired 21 aces onthe way to beating Hewitt in a crackingmatch, giving him a chance at shedding hisAtlanta bridesmaid’s tag having been run-ner up twice previously.

The big serving American is seeking aseventh career ATP crown in the$US546,930 hardcourt event. Hewittlooked set to complete an upset whenholding triple break point in the seventh

game of the third set but Isner fought backbefore winning it 7-5 in a tiebreak.

The six-foot-10 (2.08m) Americanmoved to 24-6 in tiebreaks this year, thebest on the ATP Tour. Anderson needed just91 minutes to beat the unseeded 21-year-old Harrison, riding a 91-percent conver-sion rate on first service points won andsaving all five break point opportunitiesHarrison earned. Harrison had two setpoints on his serve in the second set butcould not close out, allowing Anderson totake the tiebreak 7-3. The six-foot-eight(2.03m) Anderson will be chasing his thirdcareer ATP crown in his sixth final appear-ance having won in Johannesburg in 2011and at Delray Beach in 2012. He has beenrunner up twice already this year in Sydneyand Casablanca.—Reuters

Isner, Anderson showdown

UNCASVILLE: West’s Candace Parker, of the Los Angeles Sparks, goes to the basketwhile guarded by East’s Cappie Pondexter, of the New York Liberty, during the firsthalf of the WNBA All-Star basketball game. —AP

Parker leads West over EastUNCASVILLE: Candace Parker put on a showin her All-Star debut. Parker scored a record23 points to lead the West to a 102-98 victoryover the East on Saturday.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Parker said.“I hadn’t been to one, and this was really spe-cial. Being with all these great players andshare stories, that’s why I’ll remember fromthis All-Star game more than what happenedon the court.”

The Los Angeles Sparks star was voted astarter for the 2011 game, but couldn’t playbecause of a knee injury. She also missed the2009 game because she was still recoveringfrom the birth of her daughter.

“Things happen,” Parker said. “I learned notto question them and go on my path andtake whatever comes. It happened to workout this way.” The wait was worth it as Parker,who earned the game’s MVP honors. Whilethe award was special, Parker and her Westteammates were more excited that got thevictory for retiring star Tina Thompson.

“We didn’t want her to go out with a loss,”said Parker, who was quickly heading back toLos Angeles after the game to get to a familyreunion that she was hosting.

Thompson, who made her record ninthAll-Star appearance, announced her retire-ment at the end of the season. She had arough game missing all five of her attemptsfrom the field, but still enjoyed the moment.

West coach Cheryl Reeve put her back in thelineup with a few seconds left to get one finalovation from the fans.

Parker’s stellar game helped the leagueovercome the loss of Brittney Griner and topvote-getter Elena Delle Donne, who sat outbecause of injuries. The pair have been anattendance and ratings boon for the league.

Griner has missed Phoenix ’s last fivegames with a sprained left knee and DelleDonne suffered a concussion in Chicago’sgame Wednesday. They were poised to makehistory as the first pair of rookies from thesame class to start the WNBA All-Star game.

But Griner sat on the bench, while DelleDonne recovered at home in Delaware. “Ithurts not being able to play, but I’m having alot of fun just cheering,” Griner said.

Even though the rookies couldn’t play, theWNBA had seven other first-time All-Stars inthe game. That didn’t even include Parker.Despite joking before the game that she was“too old” to dunk, Parker threw down a few inwarmups.

After a quiet first half, she helped rally theWest after the break. With her team trailing by11 early in the third quarter, Parker scoredseven straight points. After the foul by TamikaCatchings, Parker flexed her muscles andused a nifty stutter-step from the wing for aneasy layup. Parker finished off her run withanother lay-in.—AP

S P O RT SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Photo of the day

Sebastien Loeb waits on the top of Pikes Peak and prepares to drive down again after one test session with the Peugeot 208 T16 pikespeak in Colorado, USA.— www.redbullcontentpool.com

PALLEKELE: Tillakaratne Dilshanand Kumar Sangakkara pulverisedSouth Africa’s bowling as SriLanka took a decisive 3-1 lead inthe one-day series with an eight-wicket victory in Pallekele yester-day.

Dilshan returned unbeaten on115 and Sangakkara made 91 dur-ing a record partnership of 184runs to steer the hosts past SouthAfrica’s 238 all out in the 44th overof the day-night match.

The emphatic victory by the2011 World Cup finalists reducedWednesday’s fifth and final matchin Colombo to a formality.

Dilshan’s 17th one-day centuryand the second against SouthAfrica was studded with 16boundaries. Sangakkara keptpace with his partner with eightfours and two sixes.

The pair put on Sri Lanka’shighest one-day stand for anywicket against the Proteas afteropener Mahela Jayawardene hadbeen removed for 12 in the 10thover.

Left-handed Sangakkaramissed his second hundred in theseries when he holed out in thedeep off Morne Morkel when just

10 more were needed for victory.Ragged South Africa paid dearlyfor conceding 20 extras thatincluded 17 wides and a no-ball.

Earlier, JP Duminy hit 97 and afit-again Hashim Amla made 77 tolift South Africa to 238 after thetourists won the toss and electedto bat.

But the Proteas undid a goodstart by losing eight wickets for 87runs after cruising at 118-1 in the22nd over. Duminy lashed sevenboundaries and two sixes beforehe was last man out in the 49thover, bowled by unorthodox spin-ner Ajantha Mendis three runsshort of a century.

Mendis finished with four for51, while sling-arm fast bowlerLasith Malinga claimed three for52 and Dilshan took two wickets.

Amla, batting for the first timein the series after being injuredwhile fielding in the only othergame he played, anchored thestart with a fluent half-centurythat contained nine boundaries.

Duminy shared a second-wick-et stand of 101 with Amla afterQuinton de Kock had beenbowled by Malinga in the thirdover.—AFP

Dilshan, Sangakkara liftSri Lanka to series win

HARARE: India wrapped up their one-dayseries against Zimbabwe at the first opportu-nity yesterday, as they beat the hosts by sevenwickets in the third ODI at Harare Sports Club.

After bowling Zimbabwe out for 183, withlegspinner Amit Mishra claiming figures of 4for 47, India needed just 35.3 overs to passtheir target as captain Virat Kohli’s half-centu-ry saw them home.

Kohli finished unbeaten on 68, havingadapted perfectly to the slower pace of thewicket in a measured 88-ball innings.

Although Zimbabwe dismissed openerRohit Sharma cheaply for the third time in theseries, Shikhar Dhawan struck 35 from 32 ballsto provide India with a solid base.

After Dhawan fell to Tendai Chatara, Kohliconstructed a patient 64-run stand withAmbati Rayudu that made the outcome ofboth the game and the series clear.

While Rayudu was unable to see the jobthrough, falling caught and bowled to BrianVitori for 33, Kohli added the remaining 53runs required with Suresh Raina, who finishedon 28 not out.

Sean Williams’s 45 was the highest score ina tame batting display by Zimbabwe, who lostboth of their openers in the first seven deliv-eries of the innings and were bowled out in46 overs.

Although Hamilton Masakadza andBrendan Taylor put on 65 for the third wicket,there were no other partnerships to speak ofas the Zimbabweans put in another tameshowing.

Taylor was out for 23 when he chippedJaydev Unadkat to mid-off, while Amit Mishrapicked up Masakadza, who made 38, andMalcolm Waller with successive deliveries.

Williams did his best to revive the inningswith a fluid 53-ball knock, but then ran him-self out as he attempted an unlikely secondrun.

Zimbabwe’s final total was boosted by awag of the tail as Tendai Chatara made 23 andBrian Vitori scored 17, before Amit Mishra dis-missed both players to wrap up the innings.The final two matches of the series will beplayed in Bulawayo on August 1 and 3.—AFP

HARARE: India’s Suresh Raina (left) runs between wickets with captain Virat Kohli during the 3rdmatch of the 5 cricket ODI series between Zimbabwe and India. —AFP

India crush Zimbabwe to claim series victory

Zimbabwe inningsV. Sibanda c Dhawan b Vinay Kumar 0Sikander Raza c Karthik b Mohammed Shami 1H. Masakadza c Karthik b Mishra 38B. Taylor c Mohammed Shami b Unadkat 23S. Williams run out 45M. Waller lbw Mishra 0E. Chigumbura lbw Jadeja 3P. Utseya c Karthik b Mohammed Shami 10T. Chatara b Mishra 23B. Vitori c Karthik b Mishra 17M. Chinouya not out 6Extras (lb-5, w-10, nb-2) 17Total (all out, 46 overs) 183Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-2 3-67 4-80 5-80 6-89 7-125 8-133 9-167 10-183Bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 7-0-32-1 (w1), MohammedShami 9-0-25-2 (w1), J. Unadkat 7-0-24-1, V.Kohli 1-0-7-0, R. Jadeja 10-2-39-1 (w3), S. Raina 2-0-4-0, A.

Mishra 10-0-47-4 (nb2, w1)

India inningsR. Sharma b Taylor b Chinouya 14S. Dhawan c Sibanda b Chatara 35V. Kohli not out 68A. Rayudu c & b Vitori 33S. Raina not out 28Extras (lb-2, w-7) 9Total (for three wickets, 35.3 overs) 187Did not bat: D. Karthik, R. Jadeja, A. Mishra,Mohammed Shami, R. Vinay Kumar, J. Unadkat Fall of wickets: 1-27 2-67 3-131Bowling: B. Vitori 8-0-53-1 (w1), M. Chinouya 7-0-36-1 (w2), T. Chatara 7.3-1-34-1 (w2), P. Utseya 10-0-41-0, E. Chigumbura 3-0-21-0 (w2) Toss: India won thetoss and elected to field.Result: India won by seven wickets. India lead the five-match series 3-0.

SCOREBOARDScoreboard from the third one-day international between Zimbabwe and India at Harare SportsClub yesterday:

West IndiesJ. Charles b Hafeez 1C. Gayle lbw b Hafeez 5M. Samuels c and b Babar 25L. Simmons b Babar 6D. J. Bravo c Ajmal b Babar 25K. Pollard not out 49D. Sammy c Azam b Irfan 30S. Narine run out 0Extras (2b, 3lb, 6w) 11Total (7 wickets, 20 overs) 152Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Charles), 2-13 (Gayle), 3-33(Simmons), 4-42 (Samuels), 5-98 (D.J. Bravo), 6-151 (Sammy), 7-152 (Narine) Did not bat: T.Best, S. Gabriel, S. Badree.Bowling: Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-4-2,Mohammad Irfan 3-0-39-1, Zulfiqar Babar 4-0-23-3, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-23-0 (1w), Shahid Afridi4-0-24-0, Junaid Khan 3-0-34-0 (1w)

PakistanJamshed c Simmons b Gabriel 6Shehzad c Pollard b Badree 3

Hafeez c Gabriel b Narine 13Amin stpd Charles b Samuels 47U Akmal run out 9Azam c Pollard b Gabriel 10Afridi c D Bravo b Gabriel 46Babar not out 13Ajmal run out 0Junaid Khan not out 0Extras (2lb, 9w) 11Total (8 wickets, 20 overs) 158Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Nasir Jamshed), 2-10(Ahmed Shehzad), 3-45 (Mohammad Hafeez),4-77 (Umar Akmal), 5-86 (Umar Amin), 6-116(Hammad Azam), 7-145 (Shahid Afridi), 8-152(Saeed Ajmal).Did not bat: Mohammad Irfan.Bowling: Gabriel 4-0-44-3 (6w), Badree 3-0-27-1, Narine 4-0-24-1, Best 4-0-24-0 (1w), Samuels4-0-33-1, Sammy 1-0-4-0.Result: Pakistan won by 2 wickets Pakistanlead 2-match series 1-0 Next match: July 28 -St Vincent

SCOREBOARDKINGSTOWN: Scoreboard in the first Twenty20 International between the West Indies andPakistan at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent yesterday:

South AfricaH. Amla lbw b Dilshan 77Q. de Kock b Malinga 8JP Duminy b Mendis 97AB de Villiers c Sangakkara b Dilshan 4F. du Plessis st Sangakkara b Herath 23D. Miller b Mendis 1F. Behardien c Thirimanne b Mendis 0R. Peterson c Sangakkara b Malinga 13R. Kleinveldt c Dilshan b Malinga 8M. Morkel lbw b Mendis 0L. Tsotsobe not out 3Extras: (b4) 4Total (all out, 48.4 overs) 238Fall of wickets: 1-17 (de Kock), 2-118 (Amla), 3-126 (de Villiers), 4-172 (duPlessis), 5-173 (Miller), 6-173 (Behardien), 7-191 (Peterson), 8-203 (Kleinveldt),9-205 (Morkel), 10-238 (Duminy).Bowling: Malinga 9-0-52-3, Mathews 7-1-31-0, Mendis 9.4-0-51-4, Perera 3-0-22-0, Herath 10-0-38-1, Dilshan 10-0-40-2

Sri LankaT. Dilshan not out 115M. Jayawardene c Amla b Tsotsobe 12K. Sangakkara c Kleinveldt b Morkel 91L. Thirimanne not out 1Extras: (lb2, w17, nb1) 20Total (for two wickets, 44 overs) 239Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Jayawardene), 2-229 (Sangakkara).Bowling: Morkel 10-1-62-1 (w7), Tsotsobe 7-0-48-1 (w1, nb1), Kleinveldt 8-0-33-0 (w5), Peterson 8-0-46-0, Duminy 10-1-34-0 (w2), Behardien 1-0-14-0 (w2)Sri Lanka won by eight wickets, lead five-match series 3-1.

SCOREBOARDPALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Full scoreboard of the fourth one-day internationalbetween Sri Lanka and South Africa in Pallekele yesterday:

Pietersen in as England recall trio to Ashes squad

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen was included ina 14-man squad for next week’s thirdAshes Test against Australia at Old Trafforddespite concerns over his calf injury, theEngland and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)announced yesterday.

Star batsman Pietersen will be giventime to prove his fitness for the match,which starts at the Manchester venue onThursday, with Nottinghamshire’s JamesTaylor added to the squad as cover.

England have also altered their bowl-ing options by bringing in Monty Panesaras a second spinner and recalling fastbowler Chris Tremlett in place of seamersSteven Finn and Graham Onions.Pietersen, who has been sidelined formuch of this year, suffered his latest fit-ness setback in England’s crushing 347-run second Test win at Lord’s last weekand could not field in the second innings.Taylor always looked the most likely can-didate to be called up as cover after theECB sought special dispensation for thediminutive batsman to guest for Sussex intheir ongoing tour match againstAustralia at Hove.

The 23-year-old Taylor, 64 not outovernight, went on to make an unbeaten121 against Australia on the final day ofthree on Sunday as Sussex declared on268 for seven, two runs ahead of thetourists’ first innings 366 for five declared.

Taylor played two Tests against SouthAfrica last year but didn’t make theEngland squad for the tours of India andNew Zealand, falling behind the likes ofNick Compton and Joe Root in the

England pecking order. However, he hasbeen in good first-class form this season,scoring 824 runs in 15 CountyChampionship appearances, including anunbeaten double century against Sussexin June.

“Kevin Pietersen is continuing hisrecovery from a calf strain and he will beassessed by the medical team closer tothe start of the Test and we have thereforeincluded an extra batsman in JamesTaylor who has been in good form forNottinghamshire this season,” saidEngland national selector Geoff Miller in astatement announcing the squad.

Meanwhile left-armer Panesar hasbeen included in the squad alongside off-break bowler Graeme Swann on accountof Old Trafford’s reputation for providingspin-friendly pitches which has endureddespite the ground not having staged aTest for three years because of extensiveredevelopment.

Sussex bowler Panesar last played ahome Test four years ago when he heldout with the bat to help guide England toa draw in the 2009 Ashes opener at Cardiffbut has featured nine times abroad inrecent years.

Panesar took three wickets for 70 runsin 24.4 overs in Australia’s first innings atHove. Tremlett, who starred in England’s3-1 Ashes series win in Australia in2010/11 has not played a Test for 18months, with injuries checking hisprogress. But the giant paceman hasimpressed for Surrey this season. Finnplayed in England’s narrow 14-run firstTest win at Trent Bridge but was droppedfor the second Test at Lord’s, with all-rounder Tim Bresnan selected in his place.Durham fast-medium bowler Onions wasin the squad for the first two Tests but didnot play in either match.

“Chris Tremlett has worked hard toregain fitness and form following a coupleof injuries and his per formances forSurrey this season have been very encour-aging,” said Miller.

“Including an additional spinner inMonty Panesar who has plenty of interna-tional experience provides (captain)Alastair Cook and (coach) Andy Flowerwith a number of options,” formerEngland off-spinner Miller added.

Victory at Old Trafford would seeEngland, currently 2-0 up with three toplay, clinch the series and retain theAshes.

England squad:Alastair Cook (capt), Joe Root,

Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell,Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior (wkt), TimBresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann,James Anderson, James Taylor, ChrisTremlett, Monty Panesar. —AFP

Babar’s dream debutearns Pakistan victory

KINGSTOWN: Zulfiqar Babar completed adream debut by striking the final ball of thematch for six to give Pakistan a two-wicketvictory over the West Indies in the first Twenty20 international at the Arnos Vale StadiumSaturday.

Having taken three wickets for 23 runswith his left-arm spinners in helping torestrict the world champions to 152 for seven,the 34-year-old newcomer then made thewinning hit off Marlon Samuels with thescores level to hand the home side their firstdefeat in this form of the game since they lift-ed the world title last October in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan have the chance to displace theWest Indies in second spot in the internation-al rankings with a win in the second and finalmatch at the same venue on Sunday.

Shahid Afridi, who became the first playerto hit 400 sixes in an international career dur-ing his innings, was named man of the matchfor his 46 off 27 balls, but even he concededthat Zulfiqar was the man of the moment.

West Indies were rocked onto the backfoot at 42 for four after choosing to bat first,Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez takingthe critical wickets of openers JohnsonCharles and Chris Gayle, before Zulfiqar madean immediate impact by bowling LendlSimmons in his first over.

He then added the scalps of Samuels andDwayne Bravo, but not before Bravo andKieron Pollard put on 56 for the fifth wicket.

“I was really happy to see the desire to winfrom the players, especially the newcomers inthe side,” said a relieved Hafeez.

“It was always going to be tough to get atarget like that on this pitch, but I was reallyimpressed with the way Umar Amin playedand then Shahid Afridi brought it home.”

Kieron Pollard, returning to something likehis best form after an atrocious run in the pre-ceding one-day series, finished unbeaten on49 for the West Indies but was over-shad-owed by skipper Darren Sammy whosmashed 30 off just 14 balls and dominated a53-run sixth-wicket stand.

Such was the extent of the carnage that 54runs came off the final four overs to give theWest Indies a fighting chance.

Like the West Indies, Pakistan also got offto a poor start before another newcomer,Umar Amin, marked his first T20 internationalwith a polished 47, the highest score by aPakistani on debut.

However wickets were falling around himuntil Afridi came to the crease and rode hisluck in typical flamboyant to tilt the balancePakistan’s way. Sammy engaged in somepeculiar tactics in the critical final stage of thematch.

Apart from choosing not to bowl himself,despite his one over earlier costing just fourruns, he persisted with the expensiveShannon Gabriel for the penultimate over.

The fast bowler claimed the wicket ofAfridi but again proved costly, spraying anadditional three wides down the leg-side toease Pakistan towards their target.

“We should have been able to defend thattotal,” said Sammy. “We gave away too manyruns early on and could have fielded a lot bet-ter. I thought Gabriel with his extra pacewould have made the difference at the deathbut it didn’t work out that way.” Simmons ranout Saeed Ajmal with the scores level, butWest Indies hopes of pulling off a tie, as theydid in the ODI a week earlier in St Lucia, wereended by Zulfiqar ’s heave back over thebowler’s head.—AFP

Kevin Pietersen

19S P O R T SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Liverpool blank ThailandBANGKOK: Brazilian star PhilippeCoutinho outshone want-awaystriker Luis Suarez with a fabulousindividual performance inLiverpool’s 3-0 win over Thailandyesterday.

The attacking midfielderopened the scoring with a bril-liant solo goal in the first half andhe picked out Spanish forwardIago Aspas for Liverpool’s well-taken second shortly after thebreak.

Captain Steven Gerrard scoredthe third goal and also hit thewoodwork as Brendan Rodgers’team completed their Asian tourwith their third clean sheet inthree games.

Suarez, a high-profile transfertarget of Arsenal, played the finalhalf-hour at Bangkok’sRajamangala Stadium but couldnot add to the score despite rat-tling the crossbar with a header.

Both Coutinho, who joined theclub from Inter Milan in January,and Aspas, a new signing fromCelta Vigo, scored their secondgoals of the tour in a welcomepre-season boost for Rodgers.

“It was an excellent game andthere were three great goals,”Rodgers said. “Our level of inten-sity was just right. All credit to theThai team, they played very well.”Rodgers said Suarez still “hadsome way to go” in fitness levelsbut would step up training as theseason nears. “Suarez is verymuch a Liverpool player,” he said.

Liverpool dominated the earlystages with Fabio Borino puttingin a lot of hard running. A neatpass from Glen Johnson put theItalian striker through but Thaigoalkeeper SinthaweechaiHathairattanakool made a fineblock. However, it was Coutinho

who caught the eye with somedeft passes and ball-control, andalong with Gerrard the duo weredominating the midfield.

And in the 16th minute,Coutinho made the break-through. Seizing on a loose ball,he beat two Thai defendersbefore slotting the ball past the‘keeper, much to the delight ofthe crowd. Thailand were limitedto occasional raids with star strik-er Teerasil Dangda sending theball whistling past the right post.A few minutes later, a crisp shotfrom Sarawut Masook brought afine save from Liverpool’s newly

acquired Belgian ‘keeper SimonMignolet. Liverpool began thesecond half brightly and withinfour minutes, Coutinho threadeda ball to Aspas, whose sublimefirst touch gave him an easy finishpast the goalkeeper for a 2-0lead. And in the 59th minute,Gerrard sparked the biggestcheers of the night when he neat-ly chipped the ball past the ‘keep-er after more fine work by Aspas.A huge roar greeted the arrival ofSuarez with half-an-hour to go,echoing his reception earlier thisweek in Melbourne.

Gerrard should have grabbed

his second goal late on, when hewas first thwarted by the ‘keeperand then saw his shot from therebound come back off the bar.The Thai team kept pluggingaway but could not find their waypast a solid Liverpool defencewhich has gone unbreached onthe Asian tour, after 2-0 victoriesover both an Indonesia XI andMelbourne Victory. Rodgers saidLiverpool had seen “incredible”support on the tour with morethan 95,000 fans watching themat the Melbourne Cricket Groundand another packed stadium inBangkok yesterday.—AFP

THAILAND: English Premier League, Liverpool football player Steven Gerrard (right) holds up thetrophy following victory over Thailand at Rajamangala National Stadium. —AFP

SEOUL: Japan’s Komano Yuichi (center) holds up the trophy after beating SouthKorea in the East Asian Cup football match. —AFP

SEOUL: Japan claimed the East AsianCup for the first time yesterday with a 2-1win for the men’s team over hosts SouthKorea, crushing China’s hopes of takinghome some silverware.

At the Jamsil Olympic Stadium inSeoul, Yoichiro Kakitani grabbed a bracefor the champions, including the vitalclincher in injury time, which gave Japanseven points at the end of the tourna-ment, two ahead of China.

Earlier yesterday, China had defeatedAustralia 4-3 but had to wait for the finaltournament game to know whether theyhad won overall.

South Korea and China have eachwon two East Asian Cups, while Japanhas been the runner-up three times.South Korea, without a goal in their twoprevious matches, appeared intent onending the drought from the onset, butthey dominated the ball to no avail in theopening 20 minutes.

Japan then surprised South Koreawith Kakitani’s breakaway goal in the24th. Toshihiro Aoyama delivered a loop-ing pass from his own zone to sendKakitani in alone on the South Koreangoalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong and theCerezo Osaka striker rolled it in to givehis side the lead.

Japan’s advantage, however, lasted

only eight minutes. Yun Il-Lok, after anaccomplished give-and-go with LeeSeung-Gi, struck the ball into the topright corner, out of ‘keeper ShusakuNishikawa’s reach.

The teams engaged in some back-and-forth action in the second half,though neither mounted much pressureuntil Kakitani finally broke the tie.

The 23-year-old forward found him-self at the right place at the right time, ashe banged home a rebound after Jungmade a stop on Genki Haraguchi.

The match began under some tensionfrom the stands. South Korean fansjeered at the start of the Japanesenational anthem and later hung a gigan-tic banner that read, “There is no futurefor people who have forgotten theirpast”, aimed at Japan’s reluctance toacknowledge its colonial and militaristicpast. The banner was taken down afterthe first half. From the Japanese cheeringsection, fans waved the military flag ofthe Rising Sun before they were asked toput it away. The flag is a symbol ofJapan’s imperialistic past and SouthKoreans have balked at its public display.

Earlier yesterday, China poured inthree second-half goals and held off alast-minute Australian charge for the nar-row victory.—AFP

Japan win East Asian Cup

SOLNA: Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer savedtwo penalties to help Germany win a recordsixth consecutive women’s EuropeanChampionship with a 1-0 success againstNorway in Solna yesterday.

Substitute Anja Mittag scored the only goalof the game just a few minutes after beingintroduced from the bench at the beginningof the second period but the true star of theshow was Angerer.

Twice Norway were awarded what seemedhighly dubious penalties but Angerer deflect-ed Trine Ronning’s first half spot-kick awaywith her knee before thwarting SolveigGulbrandsen from 12 yards in the secondperiod.

Those two crucial stops meant Mittag’sclose range tap-in from a pinpoint cross fromCelia Okoyino da Mbabi was enough to givethe Germans a measure of revenge on oppo-nents who had inflicted on them a shockgroup stage defeat by the same scoreline.

Germany have now won eight of the 11women’s Euro events and have not failed tolift the trophy since Norway triumphed in1993. It was a richly deserved victory asLeonie Maier hit the bar with a looping head-er in the opening minutes and near the endNadine Kessler bobbled a scuffed effortagainst the base of the upright.

They dominated throughout but Norwayhad their chances, not least from the penaltyspot. In the first half Catherine Dekkerhuscrumpled to the turf theatrically under

Okoyino da Mbabi’s challenge but Ronningcouldn’t find the net.

Caroline Hansen was the next to hit theground after seemingly minimal contact inthe second period but again Angerer provedequal to Gulbrandsen’s penalty.

Norway had the ball in the net soon after

but Ada Hegerberg had strayed a yard offsidewhen slotting home Maren Mjelde’s crossfrom the right.

It was the fourth time twice previous win-ners Norway had lost to Germany in the finalafter defeats in 1989 (to West Germany), 1991and 2005.—AFP

Angerer the star for Germany

SWEDEN: Germany’s players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women’sEuropean Championship Euro 2013 final against Norway. —AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Nigeria survived a frightin Ivory Coast this weekend to book a placeat the African Nations Championship(CHAN) finals for the first time.

Leading by three goals after a first-legqualifier of the competition for home-based stars, the Nigerians conceded twogoals within 23 minutes.

But they limited the damage to a 2-0loss and scraped through 4-3 overall toqualify for the 2014 tournament in SouthAfrica. Burkina Faso and Ethiopia were tak-en to penalty shootouts before also secur-ing places at the January 11-February 1championship.

But Uganda proved far superior toTanzania in an east Africa showdown, win-ning 3-1 at home after taking a one-goalfirst-leg advantage.

Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Ghanahave already qualified while South Africaare assured of a place at the 16-teamChampionship as host nation. A furtherthree places will be filled later Sunday withCongo-Brazzaville, Mali and Sudanfavourably placed to claim them.

Nigeria missed out on the previous twoCHAN tournaments after qualifying lossesto Ghana and minnows Niger. And coachStephen Keshi must have feared anotherfailure as his team made a disastrous startin Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan.

Kevin Zougoula capitalised on a poorback pass from Azubuike Egwuekwe toscore on seven minutes at Stade RobertChambroux.

And the striker from champions SeweSan Pedro struck again midway throughthe opening half by converting a penalty.

Ivory Coast, who hosted the first NationsChampionship in 2009 and also qualifiedfor Sudan two years later, sensed a shockwin. But they could not score the third goalthat would have taken them to South

Africa on the away-goal rule. Ethiopia mid-fielder Minyahile Beyene redeemed himselfby scoring the winning penalty in a 6-5shootout victory over Rwanda in Kigali.

He played in a World Cup qualifier lastmonth despite being barred and FIFAchanged a 2-1 win for Ethiopia overBotswana to a 3-0 loss.

The forfeiture meant Ethiopia had a five-point lead over South Africa cut to two andthey must beat the Central AfricanRepublic to be sure of winning the group.

Michel Ndahinduka netted midwaythrough the second half to give Rwanda a1-0 victory at Stade Amahoro and level thetie on aggregate.

Frank Kalanda was the two-goal star asUganda completed a double over Tanzaniawith an ultimately comfortable win inKampala.

He struck after just six minutes at NelsonMandela Stadium only for Amri Kiemba toraise Tanzanian hopes with a first-halfequaliser. The game turned decisively with-in 20 minutes of the second half as BrianMawejje converted a Ugandan penalty andKalanda scored again.

A 4-1 overall triumph continued a greatstart for Serb coach Milutin Sredojevic afterWorld Cup victories over Liberia andAngola during June.

Niger edged Burkina Faso 1-0 in Niameyvia a second half goal from Barka KadeSami only to lose 5-4 on penalties. Zambiaare well placed to reach the final round ofqualifiers in the southern sector after leav-ing Botswana with a 1-1 first-leg draw.

Festus Mbewe put the 10-man visitingteam ahead on 78 minutes in Molepololenear Gaborone and Lemponye Tshireletsoequalised. Winners of the regional CosafaCup last weekend, Zambia lost midfielderAlex Ngonga on 56 minutes after a secondyellow card.—AFP

Nigeria survive scare to reach CHAN finals

OAKVILLE: Brandt Snedeker will take a one shotcushion into the final round of the CanadianOpen after leader Hunter Mahan walked awayfrom a potential $1 million payday on Saturdayto be home for the birth of his child.

A wild day of rain delays, spectacular chargesand a dazzling nine-under 63 from Snedeker atGlen Abbey Golf Course were all overshadowedby Mahan’s hurried exit that threw the tourna-ment wide open. Mahan, a five-time winner onthe PGA Tour, had held a two shot overnightlead but while warming up on the driving range

received word that his wife Kandi had gone intolabor. One of the hottest players on PGA Tourafter having played in the final group at bothlast week’s British Open and before that the USOpen, Mahan did not hesitate to give up his shotat the $1 million winner’s purse, rushing back toDallas for the birth of his first child.

“On the seventh tee I looked up and I didn’tsee Hunter’s name on the leaderboard and Ilooked at my caddie, and go, ‘What’s going on’,”Snedeker told reporters. “He goes, ‘I thinkHunter had to leave because Kandi went into

labor.’ “Hunter was going to be hard to catchbecause he was playing so good. “With him leav-ing now, the tournament is wide open and Iknew I had a chance if I could keep the momen-tum going after the first six holes to really ride itout and do something special today.”

With Mahan’s name off the leaderboard thescramble was on as golfers took advantage ofthe soft conditions to attack the Jack Nicklausdesigned layout.

Snedeker, who began the day a massive eightshots back of Mahan, surged to the top behindan error free display that was just one birdie shyof equaling the Glen Abbey course record of 62.

Lurking one shot back is David Lingmerth,who eagled the par five 18th, to cap off a roundof seven-under 65 and put the Swede in con-tention for a maiden PGA Tour title on 13-under203. Matt Kuchar, the highest ranked player inthe field at number six, fired a bogey-free eight-under 64 will start Sunday’s final round just twoback alongside Jason Bohn, who had a 66.

“I think Hunter right now is playing some ofthe best golf of anybody in the world,” saidKuchar. “To be in the final group of the U.S.Open, final group of the British Open, come hereplaying just great golf, you knew he was justgoing to continue to play good golf.

“Not having him in the field kind of bunchesthe rest of us up and I think kind of gave every-body a chance.” With thunder storms in the areawarning horns sounded at exactly noon withspectators and players ordered to evacuate thecourse.

Before the 80-minute delay several of the ear-ly starters, including a trio of former Masterschampions Fijian Vijay Singh (2000) and SouthAfricans Charl Schwartzel (2011) and TrevorImmelman (2008) had already mountedcharges.—Reuters

OAKVILLE: Brandt Snedeker of the United States waves to the crowd after finishing hisround on the 18th hole during round three of the RBC Canadian Open. —AFP

Canadian Open wide open after Mahan withdrawal

Busch wins Nationwide raceINDIANAPOLIS: Kyle Busch had a com-manding lead wiped out with one ill-timedcaution. He snagged it back just in time toextend his dominant run in the NationwideSeries - and seal his latest win with a kiss.Busch was the newest driver to kiss thebricks, leading 92 of 100 laps Saturday atIndianapolis Motor Speedway.

He turned his baseball cap around,dropped to his hands and knees, and plant-ed a big one on the bricks. How’d theytaste? “Like bricks,” he said. Busch evengave the bricks a celebratory slap.

Not bad after a late scare off a restartdropped him to third with six laps left andnearly turned Brian Scott into the surprisewinner. Busch fell back after some hard rac-ing with Joey Logano that almost wipedout his near-flawless racing. But his No. 54Toyota was the fastest car all day and heroared back to take the lead with three lapsleft. He won for the eighth time in 15 racesthis season. He took his usual bow beforehe grabbed the checkered flag. Then, off tothe bricks.

“It’s Indianapolis. It’s pretty awesome tobe able to win here, whether you are driv-ing Nationwide or Cup, sports cars,Formula One, MotoGP, anything,” he said.

“It’s pretty cool, this place, with the historyand all the automobiles that have raced onthis surface and the surfaces before it. Andall the fans who have been here over theyears, it’s awesome.”

Crew chief Adam Stevens becamechoked up atop the pit box. That’s whatwinning at Indy can mean, even in the sec-ond-tier NASCAR series.

It was the wave of emotion Scott want-ed to feel. Scott, who has never won aNationwide race in 128 starts, briefly tookthe lead and was in position to become theupset winner.

He just couldn’t hold off Busch. Few canin Nationwide. He has a record 59Nationwide wins in 259 starts. “I shouldhave won here last year but I messed up, Ialmost messed up again and gave it away,”Busch said. “I was able to persevere thereto get it back. Such a great race car.” Buschwon from the pole and gave Toyota its firstNASCAR win at Indianapolis and secondever at the track. Scott had a career-bestsecond-place finish. Logano was third.Brian Vickers finished fourth and picked upa $100,000 bonus from series sponsorNationwide as the highest finishing driverin the “Dash 4 Cash” program.—AP

17Youzhny bagsGstaad title

MONDAY, JULY 29, 201319

Liverpool blankThailand

India crush Zimbabwe to claim series victory Page 18

SPAIN: Katie Ledecky of the United States swims to the gold medal in the Women’s 400m freestyle final at the FINA Swimming World Championships. — AP

BARCELONA: China’s Sun Yang won the men’s400m freestyle gold at swimming’s world cham-pionships yesterday with Kosuke Hagino ofJapan in second and Connor Jaeger of the USAfinishing third.

Sun, 21, added the world title to the Olympiccrown he claimed a year ago, and just as he didin the London 2012 final, Yang dominated fromearly on in Barcelona.

The Chinese clocked 3min 41.59sec to claimthe world title, finishing more than three sec-onds ahead of Hagino, who swam 3:44.82, whileJaeger finished in 3:44.85.

“I give thanks to my coach and my parents,”said an emotional Sun, who has moved histraining base to Hong Kong since his London tri-umph.

“I have been training for this for the past 10years and it has paid off. “Over the last year, Ihave experienced a lot of new things and I stillmanaged to win the gold medal.”

At the halfway stage, Sun was on track to

break Paul Biedermann’s world record of3:40.07, set four years ago at the Rome worldchampionships, but the German ultimatelyholds on to the mark set using the now-bannedhigh-tech suits.

After Sun finished second in the 400mfreestyle at the Shanghai 2011 world champi-onships, the 1500m freestyle world record-hold-er will be aiming to defend his 800m freestylecrown when the heats start on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, teenager Katie Ledecky of theUSA won the women’s 400m freestyle gold atswimming’s world championships yesterdaywith Spain’s Melanie Costa Schmid second andNew Zealand’s Lauren Boyle third.

The 16-year-old Ledecky, who claimed ashock gold in the 800m freestyle at the LondonOlympics, produced another superb perform-ance over the shorter distance in Barcelona asshe clocked 3mins 59.82secs to claim her firstworld title.

Costa Schmid claimed the silver in 4:02.47,

while Boyle took bronze in 4:03.89, but Ledeckytouched the wall a full body-length ahead ofher rivals.

Having been on world record pace at thehalfway point, Ledecky finished just outside thefour-year-old world record of 3:59.15 as shedemolished the field.

Ledecky’s schedule in Barcelona is punish-ing with the 800 and 1500m freestyle still tocome, as well as a spot on the 4x200m relay.

Meanwhile, teen star Ruta Meilutyte isLithuania’s golden hope at swimming’s worldchampionships, a year after bringing the firstever Olympic gold medal in the sport to theBaltic state. The 16-year-old is a top favourite inthe 50m and 100m breaststroke in Barcelona,which is an unusual position for the blondeschoolgirl, who was little known outside swim-ming circles just a year ago. “I hope she willbreak her personal records”, Meilutyte’s coachJon Rudd told AFP.

“She is very athletic and much stronger

since the Olympic Games. She is one year olderand more a woman than a girl.”

Meilutyte, who goes to school in England,was voted best Lithuanian athlete of 2012 inher home country after winning gold in anexciting Olympic Games 100m breaststrokefinal last July.

The Lithuanian sent warning signals toopponents in June when she became the firstwoman to go under 30 seconds in the 50mbreaststroke in a textile suit with a Europeanrecord of 29.96 sec.

Last month, she also beat her own Europeanrecord in the 100m breaststroke with oneminute 05.20 sec. “Meilutyte will be fishing forgold and records in Barcelona”, ran one head-line in Lithuania’s top daily Lietuvos rytas, sug-gesting Meilutyte was ready to attack both ofJessica Hardy’s world records.

The 26-year-old Hardy of the United Statesset both world records of 29.80sec for the 50mand 1min 04.45sec for the 100m in August

2009.Meilutyte-dubbed a ‘Lithuanian golden fish’

in her homeland-has already made swimmingone of the top sports in Lithuania, a basketball-mad country of three million.

“The swimming lessons are overbooked”,Mindaugas Spokas, the general secretary of theLithuanian swimming federation, told AFP. “Wein Lithuania love the winners and the leaders.Ruta is an athlete of international calibre, likethe basketballer Arvydas Sabonis some yearsago.”

Meilutyte’s career is an inspirational story.She lost her mother at the age of four andmoved to Plymouth in England with her fatherfour years ago.

Rudd said he understood her potential onlyafter she started to swim breaststroke, sayingMeilutyte “was a good swimmer, but nothingexceptional” in the freestyle. “She is veryfocused, very serious about sport, very concen-trated”, Rudd added.—AFP

Chinese Sun blazes in Spain

BUDAPEST: Lewis Hamilton ended weeks offrustration yesterday when he finally won his firstrace for Mercedes by claiming a dominant text-book triumph in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Briton led from pole posi-tion to the chequered flag, apart from threeshort spells for pit-stops, as he secured his fourthvictory at the Hungaroring in sweltering condi-tions.

The 2008 world champion came home 11 sec-onds clear of Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus and third-placed defending triple world championSebastian Vettel of Red Bull, who was unable toforce his way into second place in the closinglaps.

It was Hamilton’s 22nd win of his career and asuccess that restored him among the challengersfor this year’s drivers’ championship.

He is now fourth in the title race with 124points behind leader Vettel on 172 andRaikkonen and Fernando Alonso on 134 and 133respectively.

“It’s an incredible feeling and I’d like to thankall the fans here,” said Hamilton. “My team did anincredible job, we studied a lot last night andwere hoping the tyres would last.

“We had no idea it would go that well, but Iwas hungry for it today. I was going all out.Usually, I get stuck in traffic, but today I wasgoing for every move I could. I wasn’t having anyof that.

“This has been one of the best and mostimportant wins of my career,” he added. “Tochange teams and to win here for MercedesBenz. This is a real privilege for me and I hope

there are many more to come.” Raikkonen said: “Ikeep making my life difficult on Saturdays so wepay the price. I had a good car, we did two stops,it was tight with Seb at the end, but we gainedsome good points in the championship.” Vettel,who appeared upset by a brush with the Finnduring their duel, said: “It was not the best race.The start was difficult and when Lewis pulled inwe thought we could do it on the softs.

“But I damaged my front wing which did nothelp. I tried to hang on in there and tried to fightback with Kimi. I could not get him on thestraight. I told Kimi I was not happy, but he waslaughing. That’s racing.”

Mercedes team chief Ross Brawn praisedHamilton. “That was a brilliant drive from Lewis,he didn’t put a foot wrong,” said Brawn.

“He has had an exceptional weekend fromSaturday afternoon all the way through to today.We really didn’t know how the tyres would playout, but this could be a good step for the rest ofthe year for us today.”

It was the Mercedes team’s third win of theseason, German Nico Rosberg having won theMonaco and British races.

Australian Mark Webber finished fourth inthe second Red Bull ahead of two-time champi-on Alonso and sixth-placed Frenchman RomainGrosjean of Lotus, who endured a familiar race ofincidents and penalties.

Grosjean was later penalised 20 seconds for aclash with Jenson Button but he retained hissixth-place finish. Button came home seventh forMcLaren ahead of Felipe Massa in the secondFerrari and Sergio Perez in the second McLaren.

Pastor Maldonado delivered the Williams’team’s first point of the season by finishing 10th.Hamilton’s pole was his third in successive racesthat had seen him unable to exploit the advan-tage — a spectacular tyre failure at Silverstonewrecking his hopes while leading the BritishGrand Prix. But this time, in Mercedes’ 350th raceas engine suppliers in Formula One, he enjoyedsome of the luck that had been missing else-where to mark his 120th Grand Prix with a well-taken win. — AFP

Hamilton winsHungarian GP BARCELONA: Qiu Bo won his second con-

secutive world title in the men’s 10-meterplatform yesterday, giving China its ninthgold medal in 10 diving events at the worldchampionships.

Defending champion Qiu destroyed the12-man field with his six dives - includingtwo near perfect efforts - to rake in 581points.

Behind Qiu, Olympic champion DavidBoudia took his second straight silver andGermany’s Sascha Klein again securedbronze to replicate the podium from the2011 world championships in Shanghai.

With the win, Qiu became the only manother than Greg Louganis to medal in threestraight worlds in this event after also tak-ing home the silver in 2009. The 20-year-old Qiu said he was motivated by his sec-ond-place finish to Boudia in the 2012Games.

“Before the London Olympics I had afew injuries and I made quite a few mis-takes in my performance,” Qiu said. “I wasn’ttoo satisfied with a silver, but I was happythat I did as well as I did.

“Even though I lost in London it didn’tmean it was a failure because of what I wasable to learn. I trained hard and was able toboost my confidence, and I believe thattoday everyone saw how my hard work haspaid off.”

More than anyone, Boudia surely did. Hefinished far behind Qiu with 517.40 points,even if Boudia did manage to save theUnited States from being shut out of themedals in the diving at the MontjuicMunicipal pool overlooking Barcelona.

Boudia said that after a whirlwind year -which included him getting married - hewas content to settle for a silver.

“After achieving your ultimate goal of

becoming an Olympic gold medalist, tocome to the world championships and beon the podium is great,” the 24-year-oldAmerican said, adding that the result was“encouraging” as he looked toward the2016 Olympics.

Klein claimed third with 508.55 to earnhis second medal after his gold from the10-meter synchronized platform last weekwith partner Patrick Hausding, the onlyevent Chinese divers didn’t dominate.China finished this week’s diving eventsjust one gold medal shy of a 10-for-10sweep. Boudia had led the semifinals withQiu only managing to classify in sixth place,but the expected competition between theold rivals quickly turned into Boudia watch-ing Qiu cruise to the title with an untouch-able performance.

“I didn’t do too well in the semifinalsbecause I had trained a lot and was tired,”Qiu said. “But I’m happy with how well I didin the final. I just prepared myself and did itup to my standards.”

They are some standards. Qiu had fourof the five best individual dives of the final,including two massive hauls of 108 and110.70 points that were among the best ofall the diving this week.

Boudia led after the first two rounds,but Qiu had closed the gap to just fivepoints before he went ahead for good inthe third.

Qiu then practically decided the titlewith two dives to go by nailing a backwardpike with three-and-a-half somersaults thatsix of seven judges scored as a 10, withonly one giving it a 9.5.

Mexican pair German Sanchez and IvanGarcia finished fourth and fifth, followed byOlympic bronze medalist Tom Daley ofBritain in sixth. — AP

Qiu Bo defeats Boudia for second straight world gold

BUDAPEST: British Formula One driver LewisHamilton of McLaren Mercedes poses withthe winner’s trophy on the podium afterwinning the Formula One Hungarian GrandPrix. — AP

BusinessMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Small Indian retailer locked in trademark fight with Gap

Page 22

Investors wince as US budget battle looms

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The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class: Visionaccomplished

Page 23

Markets predict change in US interest rates

Page 22

JAKARTA: Indonesian Muslim women shop for new head scarfs on the 19th day of the holy month of Ramadan at a shopping mall yesterday. —AFP

Jordan set to hike power prices Jordan eyes reducing $2bn fiscal deficit

AMMAN: Jordan plans to raise power prices after doublingtaxes on cellphones to offset a large budget deficit, despitewarnings that such measures will provoke a public outcry.Grappling with little or no natural resources and an externaldebt of more than $23 billion, the kingdom is trying toreduce a $2 billion fiscal deficit this year and at the sametime tackle cuts in Egyptian gas supplies. Sabotage attackson gas pipelines from Egypt-the energy source for 80 per-cent of Jordan’s electricity-are costing the government atleast $1 million a day, energy officials say.

In response, as it tackles paring down a $10.5-billion2013 budget, the government in Amman intends to hikethe price of electricity by 15 percent, having already dou-bled taxes on cellphones to 16 percent and to 24 percenton mobile telephone contracts. “Such wrong and uncalcu-lated steps show that the government lacks a comprehen-sive understanding of the situation,” Yusuf Mansur, chiefexecutive officer of the Amman-based Envision ConsultingGroup, told AFP.

“When the government increases prices and taxes, theproductivity and consumption of people will be affected

and this will reduce government revenues.” Mansur, whoheaded Jordan’s Agency for Economic Development, esti-mated the current inflation rate at about seven percent andthis year’s real economic growth at 2.6 percent. Accordingto the government, the inflation rate now stands at 6.5 per-cent, and real economic growth will come to 3.5 percent.

“People, including government employees, will resort tostrikes and protests and the government will be forced toborrow more or impose more taxes. It’s a vicious circle,” hesaid. “We are completely dependent on foreign aid andgovernment economic policies have failed, at least in thepast three years. I expect a very bad recession in the nextstage.”

A government decision in November to raise fuel prices,including household gas, by up to 53 percent, sparked awave of nationwide protests, with some calling for KingAbdullah II to step down, which is punishable by imprison-ment. “When the government increases taxes and prices,citizens will wonder ‘Why are we paying that much andwhat for?’ They are already complaining about bad govern-ment services,” Jawad Anani, president of Jordan’s

Economic and Social Council, told AFP.“Jordan needs to cut spending to help solve its financial

problems. All countries around the world face financialcrises and they deal with it through fiscal discipline. Jordanis no exception.” Anani expected inflation rate to reach 8.2percent by the end of this year. “It’s a high rate. The govern-ment needs to be transparent with citizens about econom-ic issues. Jordan needs clear plans and policies to addressthese problems, including energy, poverty and unemploy-ment,” he said, warning that “otherwise people will holdmore strikes and protests”.

Unemployment stands at about 14 percent in the coun-try of 6.8 million people where 70 percent of the popula-tion is under 30, but other estimates put the jobless figureat between 22 and 30 percent. The minimum wage is $211(159 euros) a month. Last month, ratings agency Moody’scut its sovereign grade for Jordan from “B1” from “Ba2,” inthe middle of its category for “speculative” or so-called junkdebt, saying government finances had weakened sharplyin the past two years.

And in May, Standard & Poor’s lowered Jordan’s long-

term credit rating by one notch to “BB-” with a negativeoutlook due in part to the conflict in neighbouring Syria.Jordan is home to more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, andAmman has repeatedly complained they are burdeningthe country’s scarce resources, while calling for internation-al aid.

“Regional instability, including the disruptions in Egypt’sgas supplies and the Syrian refugees, is seriously affectingthe budget,” lawmaker Mohammad Dmur, head of parlia-ment’s finance committee, told AFP. In April, theInternational Monetary Fund released $385 million toJordan, part of a $2.1 billion loan to help it weather region-al instability.

“The government is being forced to increase prices andtaxes to help save the economy and avoid bigger prob-lems,” Dmur said. But MP Khalil Attieh, first deputy housespeaker, disagreed. “It’s unacceptable to raise taxes andprices of electricity, at least not at the same time,” said theoutspoken independent. “This means the government isjust after people’s pockets. I don’t think people will acceptthat and remain silent.” —AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s struggling economy iscrying out for interest rate cuts to spurgrowth but with the rupee on the ropesmonetary easing is out of the question atnext week’s central bank meeting, analystssay. From being an investor hot-spot, Asia’sthird-largest economy has been hit by capi-tal flight even as it has been taking boldfresh steps to open its state-dominatedeconomy to outsiders. “The last thing theReserve Bank would want to see is rupeedepreciation get out of hand,” said CreditSuisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde,ruling out a reduction in benchmark rates atTuesday’s central bank policy meeting.

Weak growth, a ballooning currentaccount deficit, and stalled reforms amid aslew of graft scandals that have paralysedthe political process have combined to takethe shine off India. The most visible casualtyof the country’s unloved status has been itscurrency, which this month slid to a lifetimelow of 61.21 to the dollar, pushing the bankinto crisis management mode. The centralbank raised two short-term lending rates lastweek to ease pressure on the currency whichsteadied to a five-week high of 58.66 rupeesto the dollar on Friday.

But with a slowdown that began with adownturn in the industrial sector but has

since spread to the services industry, econo-mists say the rupee is not out of the woods.Any new slide in the currency could lead to ahike in benchmark lending rates with 60rupees to the dollar seen as the centralbank’s “Maginot Line” to be defended, ana-lysts say.

The bank’s tightening is creating freshproblems for an economy which grew at adecade-low of five percent last year and theCongress party-led government which isdesperate for a financial recovery before fac-ing voters in 2014 elections.

On Friday, top Indian ratings agency Crisilsounded the alarm about company balancesheets, saying one-third of the 11,500 firms itrates may not be able to make their debtrepayments due to the recent central bankliquidity tightening. “Stresses will increase insectors such as power, construction, engi-neering and steel,” said Crisil chief executiveRoopa Kudva, forecasting more bad loans oncommercial banks’ books.

Analysts say India is caught in a viciouscircle with the sluggish economy and a vul-nerable currency discouraging vital foreigninvestment that the country desperatelyneeds to upgrade its dilapidated infrastruc-ture and spur growth. Foreign direct invest-ment fell 21 percent on a annual basis last

year and economists are pessimistic aboutthe outlook for this year.

The souring mood was driven home thismonth when legendary US investor WarrenBuffett abandoned his online Indian insur-ance venture after two years ago hailing Indiaas a “dream market”. Around the same time,South Korea giant POSCO and ArcelorMittal,top global steelmakers, said they were scrap-ping multi-billion-dollar plans for new mills inIndia, blaming lengthy land acquisition rowsand local opposition. The plant cancellations,while not a surprise due to the weak steelmarket, reinforced the view that India with itsbureaucratic red tape is a tough place to dobusiness.

The government has acknowledged thenation will post lower annual growth in 2013-14 than the 6.5 percent it initially forecast.Economists expect expansion to be similar tolast year’s-in the 5.0-5.3 percent range. Thereis one bright spot-the crucial monsoon rainsrunning at 25 percent above average, provid-ing relief to farmers who still rely on the errat-ic rains to soak 60 percent of India’s farmland.“It is unfortunate that the only good newscomes from the heavens above, rather thanfrom those running the economy here on theground,” said Greg Levine, an economist atMoody’s Analytics. —AFP

Rate cut off the cards as India tries to help rupee WARSAW: Emerging Europe might be breaking

free of a deep five-year setback sparked by thefinancial crisis and even be on the verge of anew growth curve, experts say. InternationalMonetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said that“the worst is most likely behind” the region afterit clocked positive first-quarter growth.“Evidence of a possible turnaround is strongestin emerging Europe, and weakest in emergingAsia,” London-based analysts at CapitalEconomics said on Friday. Long a crossroadsbetween East and West, emerging Europe com-prises advanced ex-communist countries in theEuropean Union and euro-zone. It also includesTurkey, which exports heavily to the euro-zone,as well as the less-developed Balkan countries,Russia and some CIS states.

The population tallies around 400 million,compared to the EU’s near 500 million. In manyof these countries growth is expected to pick upsteam provided the euro-zone pulls ahead with-out setbacks in the next 18 months, economiststold AFP this week. “From 2015 onwards, wethink the region as a whole could grow by 3.0-4.0 percent a year,” William Jackson from CapitalEconomics told AFP.

He also believes that eastern Europeaneconomies are “more competitive” than crisis-hitcountries on the euro-zone’s southern periph-ery. That view is echoed by analysts at theWashington-based IHS who forecast a 22.4-per-cent expansion across the region over six years

in 2013-2018, compared to 6.3 percent in theeuro-zone. Having built up free markets on theruins of the communist command economy itshed two decades ago, the region is still slowlycatching up with western Europe and has a lotgoing for it. “Low public debt, its position as amanufacturing hub closely integrated withWestern Europe, and low incomes, (...) mean ithas plenty of scope for ‘catch-up’ growth,” saysJackson. These qualities have not been lost onChina, which sees the region as a way into theEU. Although Chinese investment is still low, apromise by Premier Wen Jiabao in April last yearof $10.5 billion (8.0 billion euros) in credit lineshas triggered “discussion on investment agree-ments with several countries in the region,” IHSeconomist Charles Movit said. China could bringin components for assembly and use the regionas a “back door into the EU (...), especially in theautomotive area,” he told AFP.

Mixed starting pointsBut modest credit expansion in Central

Europe will restrain domestic demand as agrowth driver in the near term, cautions Movit.West European banks which dominate thebanking sector continue to be wary of taking onrisk. Poland, Romania, and particularly Hungaryhave cut interest rates to stimulate demand. Thekey rate in the Czech Republic is close to zero.Turkey cut its key rate in May but has begun toreverse direction. —AFP

Emerging Europe set for next growth curve

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

MANSOORI

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.860Indian Rupees 4.819Pakistani Rupees 2.832Srilankan Rupees 2.168Nepali Rupees 3.004Singapore Dollar 226.040Hongkong Dollar 36.817Bangladesh Taka 3.661Philippine Peso 6.603Thai Baht 9.230Irani Riyal 0.271Irani Riyal 0.273

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 76.190Qatari Riyal 78.505Omani Riyal 742.110Bahraini Dinar 758.870UAE Dirham 77.810

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 41.700Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.106Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.333Tunisian Dinar 173.200Jordanian Dinar 403.480Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.917Syrian Lier 3.104Morocco Dirham 34.327

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 285.600Euro 379.710Sterling Pound 440.680Canadian dollar 278.230Turkish lira 150.160Swiss Franc 305.780Australian Dollar 265.320US Dollar Buying 284.400

GOLD20 Gram 251.00010 Gram 127.0005 Gram 66.000

COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFTEurope

British Pound 0.4308338 0.4398339Czech Korune 0.0065846 0.0185846Danish Krone 0.0466952 0.0516952Euro 0.3732804 0.3807804Norwegian Krone 0.0442034 0.0494034Scottish Pound 0.4287100 0.4362100Swedish Krona 0.0399567 0.0449567Swiss Franc 0.3019617 0.3089617

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.2540654 0.2660654New Zealand Dollar 0.2223840 0.2323640Uganda Shilling 0.0001126 0.0001126

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.2705988 0.27995988Colombian Peso 0.0001449 0.0001629US Dollars 0.2827500 0.2849000

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.0036132 0.0036682Cape Vrde Escudo 0.0031604 0.0033904Chinese Yuan 0.0453948 0.0503948Eritrea-Nakfa 0.0164600 0.0195600Guinea Franc 0.0000442 0.0000502Hg Kong Dollar 0.0341731 0.0372731Indian Rupee 0.0047669 0.0048319Indonesian Rupiah 0.0000229 0.0000280Jamaican Dollars 0.0028458 0.0038459Japanese Yen 0.0028191 0.0029991Kenyan Shilling 0.0031955 0.0034255Malaysian Ringgit 0.0841536 0.0911536Nepalese Rupee 0.0028826 0.0030526Pakistan Rupee 0.0027858 0.0028258Philippine Peso 0.0061257 0.0065957

Sierra Leone 0.0000728 0.0000758Singapore Dollar 0.2213566 0.2273566Sri Lankan Rupee 0.0021219 0.0021639Thai Baht 0.0087742 0.0093742

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.7492766 0.7577766Egyptian Pound 0.0383404 0.0403704Ethiopeanbirr 0.0127091 0.0192091Ghanaian Cedi 0.1448562 0.1466462Iranian Riyal 0.0000794 0.0000797Iraqi Dinar 0.0001832 0.0002432Jordanian Dinar 0.3962631 0.4037631Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 1.0000000Lebanese Pound 0.0001747 0.0001947Moroccan Dirhams 0.0223760 0.0463769Nigerian Naira 0.0012104 0.0018454Omani Riyal 0.7289892 0.7399892Qatar Riyal 0.0775997 0.0783827Saudi Riyal 0.0754400 0.0760800Sudanese Pounds 0.0463230 0.0468730Syrian Pound 0.0019414 0.0021614Tunisian Dinar 0.1714785 0.1774785UAE Dirhams 0.0761404 0.0775904Yemeni Riyal 0.0012852 0.0013852

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 266.71 264.000Canadian Dollar 280.02 279.000Swiss Franc 308.54 305.000Euro 379.32 378.000US Dollar 285.40 288.400Sterling Pound 440.16 437.000Japanese Yen 2.91 3.000Bangladesh Taka 3.685 3.700Indian Rupee 4.787 5.040Sri Lankan Rupee 2.171 2.800Nepali Rupee 3.013 3.600Pakistani Rupee 2.839 2.970UAE Dirhams 77.77 78.300Bahraini Dinar 759.61 762.100Egyptian Pound 40.15 40.500Jordanian Dinar 406.18 411.700Omani Riyal 742.22 749.000Qatari Riyal 78.81 79.200Saudi Riyal 76.24 76.600

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 287.400Canadian Dollar 274.760Sterling Pound 428.985Euro 370.385Swiss Frank 298.000Bahrain Dinar 760.910UAE Dirhams 78.225Qatari Riyals 78.890Saudi Riyals 77.505Jordanian Dinar 405.140Egyptian Pound 40.249Sri Lankan Rupees 2.198Indian Rupees 4.713Pakistani Rupees 2.870Bangladesh Taka 3.690Philippines Pesso 6.562Cyprus pound 705.016Japanese Yen 3.836

Thai Bhat 9.270Syrian Pound 4.105Nepalese Rupees 3.040Malaysian Ringgit 89.395

NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT

Al Mulla Exchange

Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 284.500Euro 380.550Pound Sterling 439.650Canadian Dollar 279.350Indian Rupee 4.829Egyptian Pound 40.400Sri Lankan Rupee 2.160Bangladesh Taka 3.660Philippines Peso 6.585Pakistan Rupee 2.816Bahraini Dinar 757.550UAE Dirham 77.500Saudi Riyal 76.000

*Rates are subject to change

Markets predict change in US interest rates

KUWAIT: The Federal Reserve is on track tokeep its $85 billion-a-month bond-buyingprogram in place at its next policy meeting.Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, hasbeen stating since May that the central bankexpects to begin winding down its bond-buy-ing program later this year, if the economystrengthens. Accordingly, the Fed intends tokeep short-term interest rates near zero atleast until the jobless rate drops to 6.5 percentor unless inflation rises to a 2.5 percent. Whilegood economic numbers from the euro-zoneand the United Kingdom boosted confidencein their respective economies, pushing theircurrencies higher, the dollar is being pres-sured, as speculation arises ahead of the Fedmeeting on the 31st of this month.

The euro started the week on a positive

note, opening at 1.3143, as worse than expect-ed housing data in the US is putting pressureon the dollar. The single currency then rose to1.3218 against its American counterpart. Theeuro continued its climb against the dollar,after a report showed that manufacturing inthe 17-nation currency bloc expanded in July,encouraging demand for the region’s assets.The market then reversed its trend, as the dol-lar gains on a rise in US yields, pushing the eurodown to 1.3165. The euro then regained itslosses and hiked all the way to 1.3297 after sol-id economic data that showed that manufac-turing output in the euro-area unexpectedlyrisen, supported by a strong consumer confi-dence figures from the area’s biggest economy,Germany. The single currency closed the weekat 1.3279. Cable opened the week at 1.5267,only to rise after Prime Minister David Cameronstated that “an improving economy mightallow the government to cut taxes,” pushingthe Pound to 1.5386. The sterling pound thencollapsed against the dollar, in coherence withthe euro as US Yields rise. The pound fell totouch a low of 1.5264 on Thursday, as GDP fig-ures met estimates. The British Pound then ral-lied to a high of 1.5435, aided by a weaker dol-lar that was overwhelmed by strong manufac-turing data from the euro-zone.

Cable closed the week at 1.5382. The JPYopened the week at 100.65, strengthening

against a weaker dollar at the beginning ofthe week. The yen rose against most majorpeers after Japan’s ruling party failed to winan independent majority in upper-houseelections. The Japanese Yen dropped from100.50 per dollar, to 99.60. Shinzo Abe’s victo-ry in the elections to the upper house of par-liament opened a window for him to deliveron promises for structural reforms, statingthat these steps will revive the country’seconomy. The Japanese Yen continued tostrengthen against the dollar on speculationthat the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.Bernanke will not rush to increase interestrates after the US central bank winds downits bond-buying stimulus program. The yenclosed the week at 98.21. The Swiss Francstrengthened against a weakening US Dollar

on Thursday. The CHF opened the week at0.9411, strengthening to a low of 0.9270against the USD on Friday. The Swiss Francclosed the week at 0.9284.

Existing home sales dropSales of previously owned American hous-

es unexpectedly dropped last month as con-stricted supply and increasing rates for mort-gages jeopardized the real estate market inthe world’s largest economy. Purchases ofexisting houses decreased by 1.2 percent to5.08 million homes. The figure came short ofthe forecasted 5.26 million, and lower thanthe previous months’ revised figure of 5.14million. It is the second strongest demandsince November 2009 following May’srevised rate of 5.14 million.

New home sales riseThe US new home sales rose more than

expected last month to the highest level inmore than five years, adding to signs thathomebuilders are gaining from a lack of supplyof existing properties. New home sales rose 8.3percent to an annualized rate of 497,000, thehighest level since May 2008, against a forecast-ed 484,000 and higher than May’s revised fig-ure of 459,000. Growing employment and thehistorically low borrowing costs will add moregains to the housing market and home values,

and hike demand for Americans who held offfrom purchases during the recession, giving theUnited States’ economy a boost.

Unemployment claims higherMore Americans than forecasted filed for

first-time claims for unemployment last week,as annual auto-plant shutdowns continued tohamper the labor market. The number ofAmericans filing applications for unemploy-ment benefits unexpectedly rose by 7,000 to343,000. The figure came higher than theexpected 340,000. The 4-week moving averagewas 345,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previ-ous week’s revised average of 346,500.

EuropeGerman manufacturing rises

German Manufacturing PurchasingManagers Index unexpectedly rose more thanforecasted this month, as output hits the high-est mark since February 2012, while serviceproviders pointed to the steepest rise in busi-ness activity for five months, a sign of hope thatthe euro-zone is pulling out from its record longrecession. The Manufacturing PurchasingManagers’ Index rose to 50.3 in July, exceedingestimates of 49.2. The figure rose from June’snumber of 48.6. A reading above 50 indicatesgrowth, and below 50, contraction.

German business climate increasedGerman Business confidence increased for a

third month in a row this month, adding signsthat Europe’s largest economy is gaining trac-tion and gathering pace. The Ifo Institute’s busi-ness climate index climbed to 106.2 this month,from 105.9 in June. Supporting this increase,the nation led the first expansion in two yearsfor the Euro-area, and the German unemploy-ment unexpectedly declined in June, boostingconfidence in the economy.

United KingdomGDP accelerates

UK economic growth accelerated in the sec-ond quarter as the country’s major industriesshowed solid expansions for the first time inthree years, signaling that the British economyis gaining traction. Gross domestic productincreased 0.6 percent from the first quarter.Threats to growth remain, both domesticallyfrom the government’s fiscal squeeze, andinternationally from the tensions in the euroarea and a slowdown in China, the world’s sec-ond largest economy.

Commodities Oil

West Texas Intermediate was poised for thefirst weekly drop in more than a month, amidrising crude output in the United States andspeculation that China’s plans to cut excessmanufacturing capacity will reduce fueldemand. WTI crude slid as much as 4.3 percentin the week, touching a high of 108.79 onMonday, only to fall for the rest of the week to alow of 104.08.

KuwaitThe USDKWD opened at 0.28425 yesterday

morning.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)continues The Summer Campaign offeringits customers the chance to win an aston-ishing Azimut 40 Flybridge Yacht as well asup to KD 180,000 in cash prizes. NBKCardholders still have three days untilWednesday, July 31, 2013 to enter the sec-ond draw in the campaign. New six winnerswill be reimbursed for all their spendingusing NBK Cards up to KD 10,000.

NBKís summer campaign offer cus-tomers the chance to win an astonishingAzimut 40 Flybridge Yacht as well as up toKD 180,000 in cash prizes in the threedraws throughout the summer untilSeptember 15, 2013. 18 winners spread into three draws will be reimbursed for alltheir spending using NBK Cards up to KD10,000.

For every cumulative KD 20 spent inKuwait with NBK Credit or Prepaid Cards,

Cardholders will earn a chance to enter thedraws. Cardholders will triple their chancesby using their NBK Credit, Prepaid andDebit Card abroad or by shopping on inter-national sites. Last summer NBK gave awaya McLaren MP4-12C. This year, NBK is givingaway the Azimut Yacht. NBK SummerCampaign is the biggest promotion. AllNBK Cardholders can use their Cards duringthe summer to enjoy this exclusive promo-tion. NBK Cards are accepted worldwideand are the safest, most convenient andrewarding way to pay. For more informa-tion log onto nbk.com or contact HalaWatani on 1801801. The Azimut 40Flybridge is one of the most luxuriousyachts designed by Azimut-Benetti, theworld renowned yacht manufacturers,combining elegance and comfort. Seas &Deserts Group is the exclusive AzimutYachts dealer in Kuwait.

3 days to enter 2nd draw of NBK’s Summer Campaign

NEW DELHI: An Indian recycling company whichuses junk to create accessories is fighting a legaltrademark suit launched by US clothing giant GapInc demanding that the firm change its name.Green the Gap, an Indian company which runsthree stores in the country, mainly sells accessoriesand home decor items made out of waste includ-ing beer cans, rubber tyres and fruit cartons.

Vimlendu Jha, founding owner of the firm,which also sells clothing for other brands, accusedGap in an interview last Friday of seeking to “bully”a small Indian company. In March, the ownerswere slapped with a legal notice by Gap askingthem to change their name and remove any refer-ence to the company from their labels within 14days.

A month later, the US retailer told the Indianfirm it could keep its name for registration purpos-es but must remove any mention of Gap in theirlabelling and on their website, Jha said. “Gap saidour company is infringing upon their brandingand that we are riding on their goodwill to createconfusion in the minds of buyers,” Jha told AFP.“We were shocked and angered that a companyof that size and stature and supposed respectabili-ty is getting threatened by a small business,” hesaid.

The legal notice, a copy of which was seen byAFP, said Gap was “seriously concerned” about theadoption of its “well-known trademark” by theIndian entity. K&S Partners, the law firm thatissued the notice on behalf of Gap, was not imme-diately available for comment.

But Gap said it “does not comment on pendinglitigation” in response to an email query from AFP.Jha added that Green the Gap’s name was an envi-ronmental reference. “We wanted to ask people isit possible to consume less and can we consumegreen? We upcycle trash which means we add val-ue to junk by creating a new and useful product,”he said, adding that the idea of competing withGap was nowhere in their minds.

“For us ‘gap’ is a word in the English languagethat means void, absence. How can you monopo-lise a common English word? “Next we will hearwe can’t use apple and orange in our lexicon. Thisis plain ridiculous.” He said the company was nowin verbal negotiations with Gap to try to settle thedispute. Jha launched Green the Gap five yearsago as part of Swechha, an Indian advocacy group

he set up to pursue environmental sustainabilityand proper pay for workers. The name wasinspired by a Swechha education scheme knownas Bridge the Gap, said Jha.

Gap, which is the largest casual wear retailer inthe United States with annual sales of over $15 bil-lion, has some 3,000 outlets in 90 countries acrossthe world. It also owns global brands such as OldNavy and Banana Republic. Local media reportshave said Gap plans to open stores in India sometime next year, which would make it one of thebiggest global brands to launch in the country.

India’s government in the past few years hasrelaxed restrictions for international retailers to setup shop in the nation as it seeks more foreigninvestment. India’s trademark act stipulates thatanother company cannot sell products with anidentical or confusingly similar label. Jha said theUS retailer’s legal suit should ring alarm bells forthe government. “Opening up the market for larg-er players must not mean that smaller players areshut out,” he said. —AFP

Small Indian retailer locked in trademark fight with Gap

NEW DELHI: An Indian sales-atten-dant arranges recycled goods at aGreen The Gap store. —AFP

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

KUWAIT: The day has arrived for the offi-cial reveal of the hightly anticipatedMercedes-Benz S-Class in Kuwait.Acknowledged as the ‘best automobile inthe world,’ A.R. Albisher and Z. AlkazemiCo. - the exclusive distributor forMercedes-Benz in Kuwait - hosted a spe-cial launch ceremony for the new S-Classto showcase the best in luxury automo-tive development that will inspire anddefine the entire industry for years tocome.

“The weight of the S-Class name is feltall over the world - this is a legendaryautomobile that has evolved throughyears of dedication brought by defyingany technical, design or engineering limi-tations. What we see in the 2014 model isthe vision of ‘the best automobile in theworld’ brought to reality for us to dwell inawe and fascination for years to come.Admired for its ability to glide effortlesslywith a power and prestige that com-mands understated respect, the reveredS-Class is the inspiration and aspirationfor the entire range of Mercedes-Benzvehicles as well as for others in the indus-try,” says Michael Ruehle, GeneralManager, Abdul Rahman Albisher & ZaidAlkazemi Co. With the three engineeringpriorities “Intelligent Drive”, “EfficientTechnology” and “Essence of Luxury”, thenew S-Class extends the boundaries oftechnology on many levels.

Perfection to the last detail results in“The Essence of Luxury”. This pursuit ofthe best is particularly noticeable in theinterior: whether it is the seats or the airconditioning, the controls or the design,the infotainment or the comfort and safe-ty in the rear - new ideas, their painstak-ing realisation, and highest perceivedquality underpin the high standards thatthe engineers have set for the Mercedes-Benz flagship model - and for themselves.

The same applies to safety. What start-ed with PRE-SAFE ten years ago and con-tinued with DISTRONIC PLUS has nowresulted in a new dimension of motoring:comfort and safety are merged into one.Mercedes-Benz refers to this as“Intelligent Drive”. A whole host of newsystems makes the new S-Class evenmore comfortable and even safer.

The S-Class is so efficient that it almostsounds utopian: within ten yearsMercedes-Benz, by realising “EfficientTechnology”, has almost halved fuel con-sumption in the 150 kW output categoryto 4.4 litres per 100 kilometres, for exam-ple, while the drag coefficient of the newS-Class (cd=0.24) clearly undercuts theprevious model’s figure and sets a newbenchmark in this segment. Furthermore,the new model is the world’s first car todispense entirely with light bulbs infavour of LEDs, pointing the way aheadonce again.

“With many industry firsts, the new S-Class is an impressive production for thenumber of ideas and technologiesMercedes-Benz is introducing. This is akey driver for maintaining the S-Class’ leg-endary status and constant appeal it hasin the Middle East, especially in Kuwait,”added Ruehle.

Under its sophisticated and com-manding presence the S 500 modelboasts a powerful 455 hp and 700 Nm oftorque, and reaches 0-100 km/h in just 4.8seconds. In its first year the new S-Class S500 models boast class-leading efficiency

and up to 20 percent lower fuel con-sumption than the outgoing modelseries. All the engines already meet therequirements of the Euro-6 emissionsstandard.

Design: A modern sense of status and sensual shapes

People all over the world can recog-nise a Mercedes-Benz straight away. Theclassic Mercedes face runs like a goldenthread through the brand’s history.

To underline the effortless superiorityof the new S-Class, and its ambition tolead, the radiator grille is now larger,upright and distinctly three-dimensionalin design. With its long bonnet, the flow-ing, domed roof line and the gently slanti-ng rear end, the new S-Class has classicsaloon proportions. The size and spacehave been fashioned in such a way thatthe S-Class appears prestigious, and thepowerful roof line is also in keeping withthe car‘s sporty coupÈ-style intentions.

A character line descending discreetlyfrom front to rear - the brand’s hallmark“Dropping Line” - elegantly structures theside wall and generates additionaldynamism even when the car is at astandstill. The subtly created convex-con-cave effect of the entire flank gives rise toan extremely powerful and elongated carbody that demonstrates both excitementand calm. The pronounced shoulderabove the rear wheel adds furtheremphasis to the car’s athletic character.

The positively exaggerated surfacesand lines of the side wall on the new S-Class generate excitement as they flowinto the rear end. As well as being ele-gant, the slightly slanting form has aero-dynamic advantages. Horizontal linesrunning from the boot lid to the bumperemphasise the car’s width when viewedfrom the rear. The hallmark signature ofthe Mercedes-Benz designers can also beseen in the rear windscreen, which cutsinto the C-pillars. The upper area of theglass is rounded, lending it a coupÈ-likecharacter. The real highlights are the new-

style tail lights which are completelyencased by the car body and, thanks tothis solitarily integrated styling andmeticulously crafted inner workings,complete the design right down to thelast detail.

LED technology: The first ever car without a single light bulb

100 years or so after the introductionof electric lighting in motor vehicles,Mercedes-Benz is now making a com-plete switch to LED technology - the newS-Class is the first vehicle in the worldwhose interior and exterior do without asingle light bulb, and sees Mercedes-Benzbuilding on its pioneering role in thelighting sector. The lighting’s multi-levelfunctionality is another world first: out ofconsideration for any road users behind,the intensity of the brake lights is reducedat night or while waiting at traffic lights,for example. Almost 500 LEDs illuminatethe road, the vehicle, the interior and theboot. Depending on equipment, theseinclude:

* Headlamps: each with up to 56 LEDs* Tail lights: each with up to 35 LEDs

(plus 4 for the rear fog lamp)* Interior (including ambient lighting):

approx. 300 LEDsVisibility is enhanced by two assis-

tance systems that have undergone somekey improvements - Adaptive HighbeamAssist Plus and Night View Assist Plus.Thanks to a new stereo camera and multi-stage radar sensors, the S-Class has 360-degree all-round vision and detects

potential dangers on the road better.Suspension: The world’s first suspen-

sion with ‘eyes’The new S-Class is the world’s first car

to be able to detect bumps on the roadahead. If ROAD SURFACE SCAN detectssuch unevenness by means of the stereo

camera, MAGIC BODY CONTROL instanta-neously sets up the suspension to dealwith the new situation. This innovativesuspension system is available as anoption for the eight-cylinder models.Standard equipment for the new S-Classincludes the continuously operatingAdaptive Damping System ADS PLUS andan enhanced version of the full air sus-pension system AIRMATIC.

Interior: Visual breadth and calm solidity

With its clear architecture, the interiordesign of the S-Class embodies a classic,superior, cutting-edge saloon. The interi-or’s expressive character derives from auniquely fluid, sensuously elegant style.Horizontal elements and lines create asetting characterised by visual breadthand calm solidity. High quality and ele-gance harmonise with clarity and func-tionality: the interior design of the S-Classcombines ride comfort, spaciousness anduser-friendliness to the very highest stan-dard.

The perfectly coordinated use ofmaterials and colours produces an exclu-sive interior seemingly cast from a singlemould. There is generous use of woodtrim, especially in the dashboard and cen-tre console. Metallised switch surfaceswith pearl-effect paint finishes in threecolour shades to suit the interior colourparticularly highlight the outstandingquality.

Passengers in the rear are also seatedin first-class - the design and exclusivity ofthe seats, door panels and all controls areto the same, high standard as the front.As an additional individualisation feature,the “First Class Rear” incorporates aBusiness centre console combining per-sonal comfort with practical convenience(integration of a telephone handset, addi-tional stowage compartments, foldingtable, etc.).

Concept: The best for both worldsFor the first time in the history of the

S-Class, the development focus was onthe long-wheelbase Saloon. Unlikebefore, the short-wheelbase version wasderived from this. This is because the S-Class is not only firmly positioned as aprestige saloon in the large overseas mar-kets such as the USA, China or Japan.Whereas in Europe and North Americaowners of an S-Class are frequentlybehind the wheel themselves, the flag-ship model in the Mercedes-Benz passen-ger-car portfolio is very definitely a chauf-feur-driven vehicle in Asia.

The logical consequence is the num-ber of new features specifically related tocomfort and safety in the rear - in the S-Class, there is no doubt that passengers inthe rear are also seated in first class. Theoccupants of the new S-Class benefitfrom the moderate increase in vehiclesize1 by an improvement in all the interi-or dimensions: there are 12 millimetres ofextra headroom for the driver, as well as14 millimetres more shoulder room and10 millimetres more elbow room in thefront. Thanks to the 14-millimetreincrease in rear kneeroom, travelbecomes even more comfortable for pas-sengers in the rear. Shoulder room in therear has been improved by up to nine mil-limetres.

Control and display conceptTwo high-resolution TFT colour dis-

plays in 8:3 format with a screen diagonalof 30.7 cm (12.3 inches) form the newinformation centre in the S-Class. The left-hand display performs the functions ofthe previous instrument cluster, providing

Vision accomplishedThe new Mercedes-Benz S-Class:

The best automobile in the world debuts in Kuwait

KUWAIT: A R Albisher and ZAlkazemi Co - the exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz inKuwait - hosted a special launchceremony for the new S-Class toshowcase the best in luxury automotive development. The officials are pictured with the new car. — Photos byYasser Al-Zayyat

the driver with all relevant information.The right-hand display allows the con-venient control of infotainment andcomfort functions. For the new S-Class,the constantly increasing need to inte-grate additional functions into the vehi-cle led to a further development of theentire operating logic. Here ergonom-ics, operating convenience and safetyalong with attractiveness and aesthet-ics were the main considerations.

The aim in designing the controland display features was to group con-trols and display functions together in acoherent manner in terms of bothdesign and functionality. Apart fromthe new displays, the metallised switchsurfaces and solid aluminium controlsare visual highlights of particularly highquality. Thanks to the fine structuringon the metal surfaces, each individualcontrol has the sound, feel and atten-tion to detail that makes a Mercedes-Benz so special.

The new control features include atouch-sensitive telephone keypad andan extended favourites function withtwelve freely selectable memory places.The principal control element is therotary pushbutton, with the usual directaccess keys in the centre console for themost important functions and a toolbarfor the driving assistance systems.

Voice entry using LINGUATRONIC viathe Speech Dialog System allows com-plete addresses to be spoken in one go,for example (one-shot input). The tele-phone and audio systems can also bevoice-controlled. The option of havingtext messages (SMS) or emails read outis a new feature.

Climate controlDuring the systematic further devel-

opment of the entire climate controlsystem, a particular focus was placed onthe development goals of performance,air quality, precise regulation, noise lev-el and efficiency. As a new feature, the

AIR-BALANCE package comprises per-fume atomisation, ionisation and evenmore efficient filtration compared withthe standard model. The THER-MOTRONIC automatic climate control inthe rear has two additional zones toimprove thermal comfort. Electric heat-ing of the armrests is a completely newfeature. As a world first, the new S-ClassSaloon has an “active perfuming sys-tem” as part of the AIR-BALANCE pack-age. ‘Active’ means that the perfumingsystem is switched on and off manually,with manual adjustment of the intensi-ty. The perfume atomisation systemindividualises the smell of the vehicleinterior. It neither changes the interiorsmell permanently, nor are perfumemolecules deposited on fabric surfacesor clothing. The fragrance is discreetand mild, and dissipates rapidly.

Seats: Mobile office and centre of wellbeing

With numerous world firsts such asthe ENERGIZING massage functionbased on the hot-stone principle oractive seat ventilation with reversingfans, Mercedes-Benz has raised seatingand climatic comfort in the S-Class to anew level. The seat developers havepaid particular attention to the rearseats. There is a choice of five differentrear seat variants including an Executiveseat with a backrest angle adjustable byup to 43.5 degrees, allowing occupantsin the rear to concentrate on work orrelax in comfort.

The ENERGIZING massage functionon the hot-stone principle is a worldfirst. The seat specialists at Mercedes-Benz have developed a unique mas-sage function with 14 separately actuat-ed air cushions in the backrest, as wellas an integrated warming function.There is a choice of six massage pro-grammes, two of them using the warm-ing function. The function is also avail-able for the rear seats.

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank today announcedMansour Aslam Mohamad Khan as thewinner of the Burgan Value Account draw.The lucky winner took home cash prizeequivalent to KD 4,000.

Burgan Bank’s Value account presents arange of benefits that are unique to theKuwaiti market. It is an account that isdedicated to expatriates and offers a cred-it card and an attractive range ofexchange rates during remitting moneyback home from Al-Mezzeini Exchange

Company. Also the quarterly draw entitlesa lucky customer to win cash prize equiva-lent to KD 4,000. Burgan Bank onlinebanking offers account holders the flexi-bility to transfer money, pay credit cardoutstanding amounts and much more.Opening a Value account is simple, justvisit your nearest Burgan Bank branch andget all the details. Or simply call our CallCenter 1804080 and our executive will bemore than happy to assist you. For furtherinformation visit www.burgan.com

Burgan Bank announces Value Account draw winner

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Investors wince as US budget battle looms

NEW YORK: Another year, another battleover the US budget. It ’s hardly whatinvestors need, but it looks like they’regoing to get it just the same. That doesn’tmean it’s time to panic. Last December’sshowdown over tax policy, while unpleas-ant, turned out to be just a minor speedbump for the US stock market, whichraced to record highs after Congressstruck a last-minute deal on New Year’sDay.

But with investors already nervousabout the Federal Reserve’s plan to startscaling back its stimulus program, anotherfiscal policy standoff could be more dis-ruptive this time around. In recent days,both Democrats and Republicans havebeen digging in their heels, setting upanother possible nerve-wracking battleover the debt ceiling, which the Treasuryexpects to hit by November.

“Hearing Washington banter back andforth over this again was like a recurringbad dream,” said Ron Florance, deputychief investment officer at Wells FargoPrivate Bank, which manages $170 billionin assets. “We’ve already had the FederalReserve adding volatility to markets,which, frankly, it should be doing at thispoint. Now we may see the legislativebranch adding volatility, which it shouldnot be doing,” Florance said.

A similar drama over the debt ceiling in2011 wore on for months, ultimately cost-ing the United States its top triple-A creditrating and unleashing a global marketrout. Of course, much depends on howthe economy performs in the second halfof the year and what the Fed decides todo. If growth picks up steam and the Fedonly modestly pulls back in its $85 billion-a-month buying of debt securities, asexpected, then it might be easier to over-look Washington gridlock.

But if the economy stumbles, or if theFed puts on the brakes harder and causeslong-term interest rates to rise further andfaster than expected, things could getdicey. “We do think the economy is inmuch better shape today, so dysfunctionin Washington will have less influence. Butit will still have some influence,” Florancesaid.

Stock market risksThe disagreement stems from a familiar

ideological divide: President BarackObama wants to boost investment inareas he argues would spur growth andtop Democrats in Congress want to raisetaxes, while Republicans want to cutspending and force the White House toscale back its signature healthcare pro-gram. House Speaker John Boehnerwarned last week that Republicans wouldnot vote to raise the government’s legalborrowing limit without spending cuts.

Complicating things this time is an Oct.1 deadline for funding the government.While few expect Washington to actuallyshut down, the acrimony around budgettalks could make it harder to strike a dealon the debt ceiling later in the fall.Ironically, the immediate budget outlookhas improved despite - or perhapsbecause of - Congress’ pig-headedness.

The last-minute New Year’s deal toavoid across-the-board tax hikes resultedin higher taxes on the very wealthy. Andbroad spending cuts designed to savemore than $1 trillion over the next decadecame into effect this year after lawmakersfailed to agree on a more detailed and tar-geted package. Coupled with swiftergrowth, this helped ease the threat ofnew ratings downgrades. TheCongressional Budget Office now esti-mates the deficit, which exceeded $1 tril-lion for several years after the financial cri-sis, will drop to $378 billion by 2015, orjust 2.1 percent of total output.

“They didn’t do it the right way, butthey got the right result,” Florance said.That said, the prospect of yet another last-minute deal doesn’t mean investors canbreathe easier. Brian Singer, a portfoliomanager at William Blair & Co, which over-sees $53 billion, said it’s the public bicker-ing and down-to-the-wire brinkmanshipthat ’s most disruptive and costly toinvestors.

The biggest loser may be U.S. stocks.Having soared to an all-time high andoutperformed markets overseas, thebenchmark S&P 500 is ripe for a correc-tion, said Singer, who holds put optionson the index that expire in late October,around the time the debt ceiling impassemay come to a head. What’s more, withEurope in recession, China slowing andJapan stuck in neutral, Singer saidinvestors have come to see the UnitedStates “as the only source of growth andstability.”

“If the budget debate leads to fears ofinstability and policy uncertainty, thatcould push equity markets down, and ifinvestors think this is going to be prob-lematic for US growth, that would alsocause equities to go down,” he said.Singer is long European equities and seesvalue in Spain and Italy, where he sayseconomic conditions are stabilizing.

Test for bond marketTreasuries, meanwhile, have sailed

through recent budget battles unscathed.When the last debt ceiling showdownspurred Standard & Poor’s to strip theUnited States of its top AAA rating in2011, government borrowing costs actu-ally fell. But Thomas Graff, a portfoliomanager at Brown Advisory in Baltimore,which manages $40 billion, said investors“should not take it for granted that themarket will always be so forgiving.”

For one thing, the global demand forbonds in general and US Treasuries in par-ticular has waned considerably. Between2009 and 2012, when markets were reel-ing from crisis to crisis, global investorspoured $1.1 trillion into U.S.-domiciledbond funds, data from fund tracker Lippershows, by far the biggest inflow for anyfour-year period back to 1992.

But since Fed Chairman Ben Bernankefirst suggested in May that the centralbank could ease up on its monthly $85 bil-lion bond purchases this fall and possiblyend them next year, investors have yanked$49.3 billion out of bond funds. That drovethe benchmark 10-year yield to nearly 2.75percent, almost a two-year high, and morethan 100 basis points above where itstood at the start of May. The 10-year yieldis currently at 2.58 percent.

“We haven’t had this sort of politicalwrangling at a time when bond flowswere drying up. Until now, there werealways other buyers out there,” Graff said.“Maybe this time around, they won’t bethere.”

Gregory Whiteley, a portfolio managerat DoubleLine Capital, which manages $55billion in assets, said investors should beprepared for more bond market volatility.But he added that Fed support will notdisappear overnight and a still uncertainoutlook for the economy will keep interestrates capped. “Could the 10-year get backto 2.75 percent or even 3 percent betweennow and the end of the year? Sure, butthat doesn’t mean the next stop is 4 per-cent,” he said. In the meantime, properlyprepared investors should look on thebright side. “ This could make thingsbumpy, but at the same time it will hope-fully create some opportunities,” Whiteleysaid. “It’s been tough with no volatilitythese past few years to generate muchincremental return, particularly inTreasuries.” —Reuters

WASHINGTON: As many a former factory worker can attest, UScompanies have invested so heavily in technology that someplants now practically run themselves. So it is rather odd that offi-cial data suggests American businesses for decades have beengrowing less aggressive at investing in their operations. Thisapparent contradiction helps illustrate a rethinking under way onhow to measure economic output, a discussion that is leading toan overhaul of government data this week that will show the U.S.economy is a bit larger than previously thought.

The idea is that while companies might be spending less oftheir income on tangible things like buildings and equipment,they appear to be spending more than ever on ideas, such as theengineering research behind an automated factory. Private

spending on research and development has roughly doubled as ashare of investment in the last 50 years. The thing is, it doesn’tactually count as investment, so America’s output of cancer drugsadds to economic growth but the research to develop them doesnot.

This will change on Wednesday when the CommerceDepartment releases decades of revised data that will includeR&D as a category of investment. Under the new framework, R&Dadded about $300 billion to GDP in 2010. “It’s gotten to be aneven bigger part of the economy, so it’s incumbent on us to incor-porate it,” Steven Landefeld, director of the department’s Bureauof Economic Analysis, said in an interview.

Money spent creating enduring artistic products like movies

and books will also now count as investment. Adding up the fullrevisions will add nearly 3 percent to the size of America’s econo-my, the BEA says. This could give the impression of the govern-ment waving a magic wand to make the economy look larger.However, the United States will not be alone in adopting the newmethodology. Government statistical agencies from around theworld agreed to new standards for measuring economic growthas part of a 2008 agreement at the United Nations. The EuropeanUnion will start counting research and development as invest-ment in 2014. Also, some prominent researchers say the BEA ifanything is low-balling the spending in the knowledge-basedeconomy, which has increased in parallel to the rapid advance ininformation technology.

Still tryingEconomists Charles Hulten of the University of Maryland and

Carol Corrado at the Conference Board have put numbers on amore expansive list of intangible investments, including brand-building, employee training and spending by companies to maketheir operations more efficient.

Their tallies, which are meant to be preliminary, take a stab atquantifying investments in innovation and would add $1 trillion tothe economy’s size, Hulten said. The extra output would add only afew tenths of a point to the US annual economic growth rate. But ifthe estimates are accurate, they might take the edge off a worri-some trend in which America’s total stock of private fixed assets hasgrown at ever slower rates for much of the last 50 years. —Reuters

Intangible investments cast US economy in brighter light

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

You can watch TV shows on manyAmerican Airlines flights. And youcan watch them on many

Southwest Airlines flights. That’s aboutwhere the similarity ends. Like manyglobal carriers, American Airlines Inc. hasembraced the idea that it needs to pro-vide both the programming and devicesto deliver entertainment to its cus-tomers. Southwest Airlines Co. has a sim-pler approach: We’ll provide the pro-grams, you provide the device.

Southwest and Dish Networkannounced a partnership July 1 in whichDish is providing a wide array of pro-gramming to customers traveling onSouthwest’s newer Boeing airplanes. Butcustomers won’t find a single drop-down monitor or seatback video screenon a Southwest flight. If they want towatch the Dish offerings, they’ll have towhip out their smartphone, tablet or lap-top.

Spokesman Brad Hawkins said thatapproach is consistent with Southwest’ssimple philosophy. The carrier avoidsextra weight, doesn’t have to invest inexpensive technology, and doesn’t haveto worry that the technology quicklybecomes outdated, he said. “We thoughtthat for our business model, it just mademore sense to equip 75 percent of thefleet with the novel satellite-based Wi-Fiand invite people to use their owndevices,” Hawkins said.

In contrast, passengers on American’s

airplanes increasingly will see aircraftwith a lot of technology. None showsthat off better than American’s new flag-ship, the Boeing 777-300ER used oninternational routes. Passengers in busi-ness class and first class have largescreens at their seats. Every coach pas-senger has a small screen embedded inthe seat-back ahead of them.

Alice Liu, American’s managing direc-tor of onboard products, said customerscan enjoy 250 movies, 180 televisionshows and 350 audio programs aboardthe 777-300. “We actually did a calcula-tion. We think you can fly around theglobe 15 times and not have to consumethe same content twice. That is prettynice,” Liu said.

“I think our view is that we shouldhave an industry-leading product,” saidTom Horton, American’s chairman andchief executive officer. “There’s no betterexample of that than the 777-300.”Horton traveled to Hamburg, Germany,this week to pick up American’s firstAirbus A319, which will also have state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment. Andlate in 2013, American will begin takingdeliveries of the Airbus A321, a largerversion of the A319.

“We’re going to have a similar prod-uct and design on the 777-300, the A321and the A319, and I think customers arereally going to love that,” Horton said.The mainstay of American’s fleet at pres-ent, the 737-800, should get the same

treatment in the future, Horton said.Of course, the direction of American

will soon be in the hands of a new exec-utive team. American expects to mergewith US Airways Inc. in the third quarter,once all regulatory hurdles and bank-ruptcy court matters are wrapped up.After the merger, US Airways Chairmanand Chief Executive Doug Parker andPresident Scott Kirby will run the airline.Asked about what approach the newleadership may take to in-flight enter-tainment, a US Airways spokesmandeferred to American Airlines’ com-ments. At Southwest, the very decisionto offer in-flight entertainment wouldseem scandalous based on its low-cost,keep-it-simple approach to the business.But to understand why Southwest part-nered with Dish, one simply has to lookat how its route system has changed. In1993, the average Southwest flight wentonly 376 miles, and the average passen-ger flew 509 miles including connec-tions. In 2012, Southwest’s average flightincreased to 688 miles, and its averagepassenger traveled 933.

The flights and trips only promise toget longer. While Southwest today fliesonly to cities in the lower 48 states andPuerto Rico, it plans to begin interna-tional service in 2014 and suggestedthat flights to Hawaii eventually will beadded. When the average SouthwestAirlines flight lasted an hour or less, itdidn’t much matter how its passengers

amused themselves. But as Southwest’sroute system has changed, its attitudetoward in-flight entertainment has hadto evolve as well, said Dave Ridley,Southwest’s senior vice president ofbusiness development and a longtimeexecutive in sales and marketing. Theoriginal thought was that laptops wouldbe the device that passengers woulduse. In early 2007, when Southwest waswell into its analysis, a Wi-Fi-enabled cell-

phone like a BlackBerry was a novelty.“But then the iPhone hit in the summerof 2007,” he said. A few years later,tablets hit the market. Southwest offi-cials began looking for a way “toward in-flight entertainment, but not at a hard-wired cost,” Ridley said. “People are goingto bring their own. “So we got a two-ferout of the deal, to tell you the truth. ...We feel like we caught lightning in thebottle a little bit.” —MCT

Airlines take new routes to entertain customers

EULESS: American Airlines Communications worker Andrea Hugely takes aphoto of the new American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER at Terminal D at DFWAirport in Euless, Texas. — MCT

MULLINGAR: Struggling cafe owner JulieMangan rolls her eyes at talk of packed restau-rants and queues for house viewings in Dublinas proof that Ireland’s battered economy is final-ly on the mend. With two consecutive years ofgrowth, falling unemployment and the propertymarket showing signs of life, Ireland is beingheld up by European leaders as the continent’sbest chance for a bail-out success story.

But data also shows inequality in employ-ment, spending power and real estate, makingthe recovery increasingly dependent on a smallprivileged minority and leaving behind a frus-trated underclass mired in debt and joblessness.“Maybe in Dublin they’ve turned a corner, butit’ll take a long time to trickle down to us,” saidMangan, after another quiet lunch hour in thesmall town of Mullingar, about an hour west ofthe capital. “No one in this town is doing well.”

The Irish government’s borrowing costs havefallen steadily since they peaked in 2011, pavingthe way for the country to complete its 85 billioneuro bailout at the end of the year. That wouldmake it the first euro zone state to exit an aidprogramme, providing a much-needed successstory for the European Union.

But exports continue to shrink, making theeconomy increasingly dependent on domesticconsumers to lift growth to the annual 2.5 per-cent-of-GDP level that economists say is neededto lower the debt pile. That means it needs thelarge ranks of its 4.6 million population whohave been squeezed repeatedly by unemploy-ment, crippling mortgage debt and higher taxesto start spending again.

An unexpected contraction in the first threemonths of the year that sent the country backinto recession for the first time since 2009 indi-cated that is not happening yet. On Mullingar’swinding main street, where every second shophas windows plastered with special offers, busi-nesses say turnover has been steadily declining

over the past three years, with dips repeatedevery time a new austerity budget is announced.“I can’t see where the green shoots are,” saidDerek Monaghan, 34, who has managed a com-puter repair shop since losing his job at a joinerstwo years ago. “Sales down, footfall down - it’ssteadily getting worse.”

No spare cashIreland’s national statistics agency does not

break down economic performance by region,age or social grouping, but a series of other indi-cators is showing deepening splits, with theyoung particularly badly hit. Many in their 30sbought their first houses with 35-year mort-gages at the height of the “Celtic Tiger” boomthat ended in 2007, when property prices beganfalling through the floor.

Those in their 20s are struggling to find firstjobs in a recession and can only dream of buyingtheir own home. One third of the population -and over a quarter of those working - has lessthan 50 euros of disposable income left onceessential bills are paid, according to a survey bythe Irish League of Credit unions.

That also highlights another major risk factorfor Ireland’s economy - property debt. One infive mortgage holders is in arrears or has hadtheir loan restructured, and bad debts could yetforce banks already bailed out once by the stateto ask for more help. “The Irish economy is aneconomy of contradictions,” said Dermot O’Learyof Goodbody Stockbrokers. “The younger part ofthe population in general has a lot of the debtand little of the wealth,” O’Leary said. “And thenyou have the regional differences. It is clearly aDublin-led recovery.” Across the border in theBritish province of Northern Ireland the econom-ic picture is also blurred, with productivity gainsin the 15 years since a peace agreement endedthree decades of sectarian violence threatenedby renewed outbreaks of civil unrest.

Unevenly spread Irish unemployment, a key cause of arrears,

has started to fall and house prices rose in Junefor the first time since the crash, but theimprovement is unevenly spread. The joblessrate is 17 percent in the midlands region, whichincludes Mullingar, compared with 11 percent inDublin. Five years ago both stood at 5 percent.Mullingar’s retailers say most people spendingmoney are older. One said young people onlyseem to celebrate when someone finds a job inanother country.

Excluding housing costs, spending by thoseunder 45 fell by a third in the five years to 2010as they felt the force of the financial crisis. Thoseaged over 45 spent a quarter more, according tocalculations by the ESRI think tank. Regionalinequalities are also growing. Richer areas ofDublin boast packed pubs, restaurants andshops and queues of people to view houses forsale. Mullingar’s cafes are half deserted, shopshave permanent sales and so-called “ghostestates” in the surrounding counties are pockedwith empty homes.

Dublin’s house prices rose 4 percent in June,and even that figure is skewed by heavydemand in its affluent southern suburbs, raisingconcerns about isolated price bubbles - thougheconomists say the government could raise tax-es if property inflation speeds up too much. Inthe rest of Ireland, prices fell by 1 percent, fur-ther widening the gap for mortgage holdersbetween the value of the houses they own andthe debt they have to repay.

“The negative equity side is hard on a lot ofpeople,” said Frank Hanlon, who bought hisMullingar house for 200,000 euros and nowwatches neighbours sell for 60,000. “People feela bit trapped. “When you go up to Dublin, you’resurprised there are still people in the shops buy-ing, there is money out there.” — Reuters

Ireland on road to recovery

After uninspiring sales in the first halfof the year, retailers are hustling tosalvage a back-to-school shopping

season that has gotten off to a muted start.Parents, worried about the economy andpressed for time, plan to spend less moneyand do more school-related shoppingonline, recent surveys show. To chase elusivecustomers, many retailers are sprucing uptheir Web portals and offering specialInternet deals.

For the first time, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. isposting school uniforms on its onlineClassrooms by Wal-Mart database. The prod-ucts are listed on lineups digitized by thou-sands of schools nationwide. Other schoolitems bought via Wal-Mart’s website will beshipped free of charge, the chain said. TargetCorp.’s online uStyler tool helps studentscurate personalized looks and design virtualrooms that they can share on social media.And the Checklist option creates customizedproduct recommendations that can beprinted at home or at a Target registry kiosk.Sears Holdings Corp. says it’s the first retailerto offer e-coupons - customized to loyaltyclub members’ style preferences and shop-ping habits - that are redeemable in stores,online and from a mobile device. Itemsbought online can be picked up, or shop-pers can get car-side delivery by textingtheir parking spot number. “Online’s on fire,”said Rodney Davenport, chief economist ofAlliance Data Systems Corp., which conduct-ed a back-to-school survey. Consumers areexpected to spend less to prepare for the fallsemester, according to a survey releasedThursday by the National Retail Federation.Families with school-age children will shellout an average of $634.78 on apparel, shoes,supplies and electronics, down nearly 8 per-cent from a record high of $688.62 last year,

the retail trade group says. College studentsand their parents will pay out $836.83 onaverage - a 7.8 percent slide from 2012. Totalestimated back-to-school spending willreach $72.5 billion.

The average family is still stressed aboutthe economy, with 80 percent of parentstelling the retail group that it will affect theirback-to-school spending. More than three-quarters of college shoppers said the same,with more than a third planning to buygeneric or store-brand products and look fordiscounts.

The trade group found that 18.5 percentof parents plan to shop online more often. Areport from NPD Group Inc. expects a 3 per-cent boost in online sales. A separate studyfrom Alliance Data found that 71 percent ofconsumers will use their smartphones tocompare prices or download coupons forback-to-school buying. Nearly half ofAlliance respondents said they plan to paywith a credit card rather than a debit card - adecision that helps with online buying andalso often comes with more loyalty pointsand discounts.

But the bulk of consumers will continueto do their back-to-school shopping instores rather than online, according toresearchers. And many are getting a headstart. Roughly half of shoppers for K-12 stu-dents will launch their hunt three weeks to amonth before school starts, while more thana third of college consumers said the same,according to the retail federation. Already,though, nearly three in 10 households havebegun browsing retailers’ selections, accord-ing to the International Council of ShoppingCenters - the highest percentage of any yearbut one since 2004. Retailers are using dis-counts and promotions to go after shop-pers. —MCT

SAN FRANCISCO: Vivendi SA is sell-ing most of its majority stake inActivision Blizzard Inc. for $8.2 bil-lion, giving the video game compa-ny back its independence as theFrench conglomerate tries tostrengthen its balance sheet.Vivendi said Friday that 429 millionof its shares will be sold toActivision itself for $5.83 billion, or$13.60 per share. Another 172 mil-lion shares will be sold for $2.34 bil-lion to a consortium of investorsincluding Activision CEO BobbyKotick and Co-chairman Brian Kelly,who are contributing $100 millioneach.

Santa Monica, Calif.-basedActivision makes games such as“World of Warcraft” and the wildlypopular “Call of Duty” series. Vivendi

acquired a majority stake inActivision in 2008 and combined itwith its games unit, which included“Warcraft” publisher BlizzardEntertainment, so Activision willwalk away a bigger company.Vivendi, meanwhile, will reduce itsstake in Activision to 12 percent.The French company will continueto hold 83 million Activision sharesafter the sale, which is expected toclose in September.

Activision’s newly found inde-pendence will come ahead of animportant holiday season for videogame companies. New consolesfrom Microsoft Corp and Sony Corpcoming out later this year areexpected to fuel video game salesstarting this fall and through theholidays. Activision said in a confer-

ence call with investors Friday thatthis is a “tremendous” opportunityfor the company and its sharehold-ers. The move will reduce the num-ber of available shares Activisionhas, which will increase the value ofits remaining stock.

“Five years ago, we made one ofthe best decisions in our company’shistory when we joined forces withBlizzard Entertainment,” Kotick saidin the call. Since then, Activision haslaunched new games including“Diablo III” and the kid-focused“Skylanders.” After Friday’sannouncement, investors can shifttheir focus to Activision’s games,including the upcoming “Destiny”from “Halo” creator Bungie thatcould be a “major hit” when itcomes out next year, said Cowen

and Co. analyst Doug Creutz.Vivendi, whose shares closed upless than 1 percent to 16.07 euros intrading in Paris, said in a statementthat the sale “provides the groupwith greater financial flexibility andcreates value for our shareholders.”Part of the cash will be used tostrengthen the balance sheet andmaintain its credit rating. Vivendihas been trying to restructure andsell off some businesses in itsdiverse conglomerate, andannounced earlier this week that it’sin talks to sell its stake in Moroccanphone company Maroc Telecom.Shares of Activision jumped $2.28,or 15 percent, to close at $17.46.The company’s stock hit $17.76 ear-lier in the day, its highest level sinceAugust 2008. — AP

NEW YORK: Anchorage, Alaska, teen Grace Boltisn’t spending her summer lolling at the pool or infront of a video game controller - she’s juggling avariety of jobs and cashing a variety of paychecks.The 16-year-old works at her family’s two UnitedParcel Service stores, does filing at a medicalbilling office, and will be a food vendor at theAlaska State Fair starting in late August.

Not only that, but like every Alaska resident,she gets a check worth roughly $1,000 from thestate government every year - her share of thestate’s natural resources income. All of that meansBolt has the wonderful problem of figuring outwhat to do with her money. She makes $8.75 anhour at the UPS stores, $10 an hour at the billingoffice, and expects to bring in around $3,000 overthe course of the state fair. A typical teen mightbe tempted to blow it all on electronic games orpop idol posters, but Bolt has bigger plans. Shesaves 10 percent from every pay period, tithesanother 10 percent, and banks her entire checkfrom Alaska. “I was raised with parents whobelieve in saving a portion of your earnings,” saysBolt. “Now I do it automatically, even though I

don’t have a plan for that money yet.”Just allocating the savings can be a challenge:

With so many competing demands on their mon-ey - whether it is spending on themselves, helpingout their families, or saving for future needs likecollege and even retirement - how are teens, sogreen about budgeting, supposed to wrap theirheads around it all? As the economy recovers, it isa dilemma that more young Americans will face.Employers hired almost a million workers age 16-19 in May and June, according to LaborDepartment data. That is roughly on par with lastyear’s numbers, which was the best summer forteen employment since the Great Recession hit.For those who do get to cash summer paychecks,job one - as Grace Bolt has demonstrated - is not tospend it all. “Teens should come up with a percent-age that gives them a meaningful investment whilestill permitting them to enjoy the fruits of theirlabor,” says Selena Maranjian, co-author of TheMotley Fool Investment Guide for Teens.

First accountsStart with basic savings or checking accounts

(state laws vary regarding minors, and mayrequire a parent to add his or her name to theaccount). To find a good starter account, comparerates and rules at Bankrate.com. Consider alsoscouting out local credit unions, which oftencharge lower fees and pay more in interest. Afteryour kids earn their own cash for a year or two,and learn basic money-management skills - per-haps with the help of a smartphone budgetingapplication, like that offered by Mint.com - theywill be better equipped to take that next step ofinvesting, says Joline Godfrey, author of “RaisingFinancially Fit Kids” and chief executive officer ofSanta Barbara-based financial education consul-tancy Independent Means.

Consider a broad market index or balancedmutual fund such as those from Vanguard Group,suggests Godfrey. Vanguard’s Total Stock MarketIndex fund, for instance, is rated four stars byChicago-based research firm Morningstar, boastsa low .17 percent in annual expenses, and will letyour child own a slice of every public company inAmerica. “It’s a good way to get their feet wet, andnot take any wild risks,” she says. —Reuters

Consumer spending needed to maintain momentum

Vivendi sells Activision stake for $8.2bn

BARCELONA: Activists of Mortgage Victims’ Platform (PAH) shout slogans against thegovernment before occupying a bank as part of a protest to support a neighbor who isfacing an eviction process in Barcelona, Spain. With 26 percent unemployment, Spainis struggling to emerge from its second recession in just over three years as the econo-my battles to recover from the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector. — AP

PASADENA: Kalika Yap, 43, shops for her two daughters, including†Malia Yap, 6(right) at Gap in†Pasadena, California. — AP

Retailers spruce up websites

How should teens handle their summer-job money?

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

KUWAIT: A month after confirming that it wouldbe entering the World Touring Car Championshipin 2014, Citroen can now reveal the model thatwill be driven on the circuits by Sebastien Loeb.The Citroen C-Elysee WTCC will be the very firstvehicle to be designed in accordance with thenew regulations, currently being prepared by the

FIA for the category next year.On 26 September of last year, at the opening of

the 2012 Paris Motor Show, Frederic Banzet, YvesMatton and Sebastien Loeb announced thatCitroen was considering taking part in the WorldTouring Car Championship. A few minutes earlier,the C-Elysee had just been unveiled for the firsttime to the world’s media. Ten months on, these

two events come together again with the releaseof the first pictures of the Citroen C-Elysee WTCC!

Benefitting from the best of the Brand’sexpertise in terms of style, development andquality, the Citroen C-Elysee is a C-segmentsaloon aimed principally at high-growth, interna-tional markets such as those in Latin America, the

Mediterranean region, China and Russia. Widelyacclaimed by customers, the Citroen C-Elysee isalready 30% ahead of its initial sales target, with30,000 orders placed.

“Choosing the C-Elysee as the basis for ourWTCC car reflects very clearly our determinationto use racing as an active means of supportingour commercial development,” emphasized

Frederic Banzet, CEO of the Citroen Brand. “Withrounds in Latin America, Morocco, China andRussia, the WTCC race calendar is genuinely glob-al, and it will be a real advantage to run a C-Elysee, a key driver of our growth, in front of largecrowds of enthusiastic motorsport fans.”

“From a strictly technical perspective, thechoice of a three-box saloon body was ideal interms of aerodynamics. C-Elysee was thereforethe perfect choice,” added Xavier Mestelan-Pinon,Citroen Racing’s Technical Director. “Apart fromthis aspect, we were able to install the variouscomponents fairly easily. Insofar as this is our firsttrack racing car, we constantly had to ask our-selves questions about the relevance of our choic-es, but that’s what makes this a particularly excit-ing challenge.”

Firmly anchored to the tarmac on its 18-inchwheels, the C-Elysee WTCC is quite simply formi-dable. Featuring an integrated aerodynamic split-ter, the front bumper accentuates the radiatorgrille with its prominent double chevron. Thewidened front and rear wings lend the car’s body-work a decidedly racing feel. At the rear, the stylishrear wing will ensure that the car hugs the track.

Under the bonnet, the Citroen C-Elysee WTCCis powered by the same 1.6-litre direct injectionturbocharged engine as the DS3 WRC. With awider booster flange, power output is now closeto 380bhp. The car comes with a front-wheel drivetransmission, controlled by a six-speed sequentialgearbox.

After making its first track outing a few daysago, the Citroen C-Elysee WTCC has now begun aprogramme of development tests. The car willmake its first public appearance at the FrankfortInternational Motor Show (12-22 September).

New Citroen C-Elysee WTCC takes on the world’s circuits

China’s economy has been decelerat-ing since the start of the year, and it isexpected to continue to slow downuntil year’s-end. The economy’s slow-down is mostly attributed to its weak-ening exports, which in turn has trans-lated into weaker industrial produc-tion. As a result, investments in manu-facturing have been decelerating overthe past year. Until the global econo-my recovers, we do not expect thecountry’s manufacturing sector toimprove.

The central bank has also beentightening liquidity on growing con-cerns over the possibility of overheat-ing in the property and wealth assetmanagement sectors. Authorities haveintroduced regulations on the proper-ty sector that are making it harder forreal estate investments to progressand more property curbs are expectedthis year, especially if house prices con-tinue to accelerate. This may furtherhamper real estate investments. Houseprices are rising at their fastest pace inmore than two years and the latestChinese property data showed thatprices rose from 6 percent year-on-year (YoY) in May to 6.8 percent YoY inJune, in 69 out of the country’s largest70 cities.

China’s government is under pres-sure to achieve a growth rate of 7.5percent this year, and many sectors ofthe economy, as cited above, are indeceleration mode. One solutionwould be to inject liquidity throughmonetary policy, but this might addmore fuel to the fires they are already

trying to contain. Given the risks thatcome with injecting massive liquidity,we expect the government to resortto boosting investments instead, andthis is most likely to be done throughan increase in infrastructure projects,which should keep investment grow-ing at a stable pace of above 20 per-cent year-on-year for 2013. If this sce-nario takes place, we think that thiswill be just enough to maintain thedesired growth rate of 7.5 percent,

and help cushion the nation’s eco-nomic deceleration.

Investment makes up a bulk ofChina’s gross domestic product (GDP)- the measure of the economic outputor of the size of the economy.Investment comprises more than 45percent of the economy - more thanconsumption’s 35 percent share andexport’s 30 percent share. Chinainvests in three main sectors, each

making up about a third of totalinvestments: i) the manufacturing sec-tor, which is strongly linked to growthin exports; ii) the property sector; andii) the infrastructure sector. In order tomaintain growth, and due to manylarge underdeveloped areas in China,the government usually boosts infra-structure investments, especiallywhen the local and global economyslows.

So far this year, growth in invest-

ments has been maintained at a stablerate of above 20 percent YoY. Theinvestment component of GDP wasalso the primary reason why economicgrowth did not collapse in the secondquarter of this year. Investments con-tributed 4.1 percentage points of thetotal 7.5 percent, up from only 2.3 per-centage points of the first quarter’s 7.7percent growth rate.

Driven mostly by infrastructure

projects, the strong growth in invest-ment has had a significant impact onthe country’s demand for externalgoods. Imports have consistently beengrowing faster than exports this year.More specifically, imports of infrastruc-ture-related (or capital goods) haveremained resilient, such as the importsof machinery and electronic products.Raw material imports have also recov-ered, though not to the same extent asthat of capital goods, as they are pre-dominantly used for property invest-ments, which have been deceleratingof-late. Overall, this means that thelargest exporters of capital goodsshould be benefitting from China’sinfrastructure boom.

Which are these countries?Emerging Asian economies are highlyexposed to Chinese demand, muchmore so than the EU, US or Japan. Forinstance, Taiwan, Singapore andKorea’s exports to China make upabout 4-6 percent of each of theirrespective total GDPs, whereas the G3each export to China less than 1 per-cent of their respective GDPs. Also,emerging Asia mostly exports capital-oriented goods to China: thePhilippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand,Singapore and Korea’s capital exportsto China each make about 60 percentof their total exports, much more thanthe US or Latin America. The GCC willcertainly benefit too from the rise inenergy demand as a result of the infra-structure boost, especially as the tradelinks between the two regions contin-ue to strengthen.

KCIC WEEKLY ASIA ANALYSIS

China’s investment boost to prop up major Asian economies, GCC

By Hayder Tawfik

Ignoring the day to day sharp fluctua-tions, markets are now used to lifepost financial and economic crisis.

Attitudes towards equity investmenthave seen such an enormous shift since

the sub-prime housing crisis in US backin 2008. Some traditional investorsbeing institutions, SWF, pension fundsand individuals have responded bypadding themselves with the relativesafety of fixed income investments andincome generating investments such asreal -estate and bank deposits and bydoing so they have dramatically reducedtheir weight in equities.

I have to admit that markets havereally shaken nerves and scared mostinvestors away from equities. Someglobal companies have also respondedby getting leaner, lighter on their feet,and essentially better value for investorscombined these with strong balancesheets looking stronger and with a heftydividends yield relative to bonds or cash.Perhaps now is the time to get back intoglobal equities. Over recent years,investors have increasingly shied awayfrom equities as a whole, in favor of theapparent relative safety of fixed income.One major reason for the move out ofequities is, of course, their volatility andperceived risk. Spectacular losses havefrightened many, and the memory ofseeing the markets tumble is still freshenough to put investors off being over-weight in equities.

I find it extremely difficult as I men-tioned in my previous articles to lend toany government at historical low inter-est rates of just above 1 percent, even ifit has AAA credit rating. Why do so whenI can buy top quality stocks with a divi-dend yield of 3 percent. Companies suchas IBM, EXXON Petroleum, McDonaldsand Oracle. The switch from equities toother safer investment assets was justi-

fied then but I do not see the excuse anymore. When governments and corporateare in frenzy of borrowing and issuingbonds at historical interest rates thenthis should be a clear signal to investorsthat the party may be is over andinvestors should make sure that they arenot late to the party.

As we all know that stock marketshave a mind of their own and they couldeasily start going up even with the crisisstill around. I think what we have beenseeing in the last couple of months is aclear turn around and now markets areheading up. Remember, the trend isalways your friend. Long term investorsshould not be worried and distracted bythe daily bad news headlines; insteadthey should do the work properly andidentify those top quality stocks whichcan reapthem the rewards in them look-ing for in the future.

Since 2008 financialcrisis, alarge num-ber of investors shied away from globalstocks and they instead invested athome. I very much expect that once theglobal markets turns around and startestablishing an upward trend , we willsee local investors not only reducingtheir local equity investments but alsoswitching out of those perceived saferin-vestment into stocks. Why investingglobally is a very prudent way of invest-ment? But investors can have globalexposure without investing globally.Investing globally in itself is changingshape. One thing is for sure is that com-panies themselves are increasinglybecoming global players. As these com-panies have diversified and becomeglobal, investors have taken out a lot ofthe risk if investing outside their ownmarkets. While, in the past investmentsmight be led by a country or region,nowadays, increasingly picking stockson global basis takes precedence. Ifinvestors are unable to pick the rightstocks may be they should try to identifysector dynamics, but this way investorsneed to understand the global econom-ic cycle. We at Dimah Capital believe ininvestments themes based on our globalmacroeconomic view, which allow us tooverweight the right sectors then withinthose sectors we pick the right stocks.

Unfortunately, five years after thefinancial crisis, decisions are still beingmade by investors looking back that farand that is why we are still seeing nerv-ousness. However, going forward it isvery unlikely that it will be repeated. Sowhy base your portfolio on an event thatis probably not going to happen? I amafraid, the sense of safety that comes inthe form of cash deposits or fixed inter-est investment is in fact and illusion intoday’s inflation environment, sinceinflation erodes interest in both bondsand cash investments.

Is the time right for a resurgence

in global equities?

DUBAI: Belkin, leading manufacturer of con-sumer electronics, has recently announcedthe appointment of Youssef El-Arif as CountryManager for the Middle East & Africa region.Youssef’s primary role is extending Belkinproducts’ exposure and availability in theregion. Youssef joined Belkin in 2009 at itsDubai operations as a National AccountManager. In January 2012 he was appointedSales Manager and became responsible forthe development of the brand and expandingits presence in the MEA region. As CountryManager for the Middle East and Africaregion, Youssef is now in charge of a geogra-phy of over 381 million people across 17countries.

“I am very happy about this exciting newrole and to head a powerful brand in such agreat and a promising region. Belkin has suc-cessfully established its presence in thisregion for the past many years and is per-ceived not only as a multi category brand, butalso as a superior and trusted brand in thisindustry. I now look forward to working close-ly with my team and our partners in thisregion to take the Belkin business to anotherlevel,” said Youssef El-Arif.

Earlier this year, Belkin completed theacquisition of leading home-network providerLinksys, which allowed Belkin to significantlybroaden its range of consumers. This acquisi-tion enabled the brand to create the premierecosystem for mobile devices and smarthomes and continue providing customerswith distinct networking solutions. As Country

Manager, Youssef will be working closely withthe Linksys team to further develop thebrands together and expand them within theMEA region.

Belkin is also launching a new store inRiyadh, Saudi Arabia - this is a step forward forthe Belkin brand in the Middle East, and willexclusively sell Belkin products. This will fur-ther expose Belkin to the Saudi market andwill increase the brand’s reach across varioustarget audiences. As the new CountryManager, Youssef will continue to seek oppor-tunities to grow the brand in the region.Although the leadership has changed, theBelkin values remain the same.

Belkin appoints new country manager for MEA

ABU DHABI: X-cite by AlghanimElectronics, the largest electronicretailer in Kuwait and the MiddleEastern region, won a commend-able number of regional awardsincluding the 2013 Best RetailerAward - Kuwait, Best MarketingInitiative of the Year - Middle Eatas well as the Best InnovativeRetai ler - Middle East at theGamestream 13 Awards that wereheld in association with DISTREE.The annual Middle East Retai lAcademy (MERA) awards ceremo-ny took place at Abu Dhabi.

X- cite claimed the highlysought after Best Retailer of theYear Award for the fifth consecu-tive year, an achievement thathighlights X-cite’s growing successin the market and its expandingnetwork of showrooms that fosterthe company’s steady rise. Duringthe 2013 MERA Awards, delegatesused a live electronic voting sys-tem to select winners across anumber of vendors, retail and dis-tribution categories, X-cite suc-ceeded in securing an impressive73% share of the live vendor vote.

The Best Marketing InitiativeAward that includes all retailers inthe Middle East was won by X-citedue to the company’s exceptionalmarketing practices and methods.The award was won for X-cite’sunique usage of social mediachannels as an effective tool formarketing to both off l ine andonline customer access points.With a reach that includes over

half a million users across differentsocial media channels in Kuwait,X-cite has proven to be a pioneerin the media world of successfuldigital marketing.

X- cite’s win of the BestInnovative Retailer Award at theGamestream 13 Awards, theregional judge of retai l game

excellence, that was held in asso-ciation with DISTREE highlights X-cite’s innovation and creativity inthe retail presentation of gamingproducts and accessories acrossthe Middle East. X-cite won theaward due to its ongoing innova-tive display of gaming solutions as

well as being the first to bringbestselling games in the world tothe region.

Farouk Hemraj, CEO at DISTREEEvents and organizers of the 2013MERA Awards, said, “The MiddleEast ICT and CE channel continuesto develop and mature at a rapidpace and the retailers chosen at

the 2013 MERA Awards are al lplaying a key role in driving thisdevelopment across the region.The annual MERA Awards are nowfirmly established as a benchmarkfor retail channel excellence in theMiddle East market.”

“ The qual ity of this year ’s

entries was higher than ever asretailers across the region look touse ever more sophisticated mar-keting tactics to increase sales andattract customers, factors thatmake it challenging for the votersto pinpoint the most deservingretailer in the region.”

X-cite is the largest consumerelectronics retailer in Kuwait andthe Middle East. Headquartered inKuwait, the award-winning retailerdelivers a modern, dynamic andconvenient shopping experiencewith the primar y objective ofdelighting its customers. Withtouch and feel displays, cash andcarry shopping, a highly trainedmultilingual sales staff and the lat-est gadgets and gizmos, shoppingat X-cite is an unforgettable expe-rience. Operating a network of 17stores in addition to the region’spremier e-commerce electronicswebsite, www.xcite.com, X-cite’scustomers are offered an unparal-leled shopping experience by hav-ing access to an amazing range ofinternational brands under oneroof. The X-cite experience is fur-ther enhanced by providing cus-tomers with Easy Credit, 24-hourshopping in select outlets andextended warranty programs with24-hour free delivery and installa-tion services. X-cite’s shoppingexperience is also available onlineat www.xcite.com in both Englishand Arabic where customers canbrowse and shop for the latest intechnology products.

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait heldthe Al-Najma Account Daily draw yesterday.The draw was held under the supervision ofthe Ministry of Commerce & Industry repre-sented by Abdulaziz Al-Ashkanani The win-ners of the Najma Daily Draw who get are KD7,000: Wasim Reja Mohammed Yousef,Yousef Abdullah Abdulaziz Mohammed,Trevor Salvador D’souza, Sabriya AdnanAbdulaziz Ahmed Behbehani and JosephAdel Bejjani.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwaitannounces the biggest daily draw in Kuwaitwith the launch of the new Najma account.Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD7,000 daily prize which is the highest in thecountry and another 4 mega prizes during

the year worth KD 100,000 each on differentoccasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, EidAl-Adha and on June 19 which is the date ofthe bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, cus-tomers will be eligible for the daily draw pro-vided that the money is in the account oneweek prior to the daily draw or two monthsprior to the mega draw. In addition, for eachKD 25 a customer can get one chance forwinning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes thisopportunity to congratulate all lucky winnersand also extends appreciation to the Ministryof Commerce and Industry for their effectivesupervision of the draws which were con-ducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Al Tijari announces Najma Account winners

X-cite by Alghanim Electronics wins Best Retailer Award 2013

ABU DHABI: (From left) Joel Hanson - Category Head IT &Gaming, Rohit Gandotra - Director - Category Managementand Abdallah El Omar - Category Head Telecom receive theaward for Best Innovative Retailer for Gamesteam.

t e c h n o l o g yMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

BERLIN : When Cati Holland checkedher email a few weeks ago, she was sur-prised to find a message saying she waseligible for compensation for her grand-mother’s Berlin store that was seized bythe Nazis more than 70 years ago.

It wasn’t spam or a phishing attemptor even a legitimate note from a Germanofficial working to track down victimsand their heirs. Rather, it was from anIsrael-based social media genealogycompany that is using the Internet tohelp match property stolen by the Nazisto heirs of the victims.

“My grandmother told me so manystories about the store - about the beau-tiful dresses and fancy hats they made,the wealthy customers who wore them,”Holland, 75, told The Associated Press byphone from Hadera, Israel.

“But we always thought everythinghad been lost after my parents fled theNazis. It never even occurred to us toclaim any kind of restitution. I was com-pletely surprised about that email.”

Since the collapse of the Third Reichin 1945, Germany has paid around 70 bil-lion euros ($92 billion) in compensationto the victims of the Holocaust. Morethan two million people have receivedlump sum payments or an ongoingmonthly pension. The state of Israel hasreceived around 1.7 billion euros ($2.2billion), according to the German financeministry.

Part of the compensation was ear-

marked for the Conference on JewishMaterial Claims against Germany, a pri-vate New York-based organization thatworks to secure restitution for survivorsand their heirs. Descendants can comeforward to claim their family’s assetsuntil the end of 2014 if they find theiroriginal property on a recently releasedlist by the Claims Conference, called theLate Applicants Fund.

Over the years, the search for theheirs has become more complicatedbecause most of the Holocaust survivorshave died. Descendants also don’talways have detailed knowledge of theirfamily’s former assets.

But the rise of social media hasoffered new opportunities to track heirsand close the books on one of the dark-est chapters of German history.

“We are only just seeing the hugeimpact that social media will have onHolocaust history,” said Robert-Jan Smits,the director-general of the EuropeanUnion’s commission for research anddesign. “We are moving from dustyarchives to digitized databases.”

One of the driving forces behind thenew push has been Gilad Japhet, CEOand founder of Israel-based MyHeritage,a social media website with about 70million registered users worldwide thatlets individuals build their own familytrees online.

A few months back, Japhet read areport about the Claims Conference’s list

of over 40,000 buildings, stores and fac-tories that could not be matched withtheir original owners. Japhet matchedsome names on the list to the millions ofnames that users had posted onMyHeritage’s family trees online.

“I thought my chances of finding anyof the names on the website ofMyHeritage were not looking good sinceexperts have been searching for themfor decades. But I still wanted to give it achance,” Japhet said. “I chose some veryrare names from the list and to my sur-prise the second name I put in wasalready a match.”

Japhet put together a team of fiveemployees and had them write a com-puter program that automaticallymatches the names on the ClaimsConference’s list with those on the virtu-al family trees. So far, they have beenable to match about 150 names on thelist with names on the family trees. Theyexpect to continue working on this proj-ect for several more months.

In the case of Cati Holland,MyHeritage initially contacted her son-in-law Eran Karoly. He had posted a fami-ly tree which included Recha Cohn,Holland’s grandmother and the owner ofthe Berlin store, which was located onthe fashionable Kurfuerstendammboulevard in the western part of the city.Holland’s grandparents escaped toSouth America shortly after the Nazistook over in the early 1930s and ended

up in Israel many years later.Holland filed an application for resti-

tution to the Claims Conference and isnow waiting for a response. The level ofcompensation depends on various fac-tors, such as the value of the propertyand how many people will apply until

2014. “I filled out the forms and sent inbirth certificates and several photos,”Holland said. The Claims Conferenceitself says it has “received hundreds ofapplications” for the Late ApplicantsFund but can’t say for sure how many ofthem were due to MyHeritage. —AP

Social media help track property lost in Holocaust

MyHeritage CEO, Gilad Japhet poses for a portrait at the company offices In theisraeli town of Or Yehuda, Wednesday, July 24, 2013. The rise of social mediahas offered new opportunities to track heirs and close the books on one of thedarkest chapters of German history. One of the driving forces behind the newpush has been Gilad Japhet, CEO and founder of Israel-based MyHeritage, asocial media website with about 70 million registered users worldwide that letsindividuals build their own family trees online. — AP

BOSTON: Car hacking is not a new field, but itssecrets have long been closely guarded. That isabout to change, thanks to two well-knowncomputer software hackers who got bored find-ing bugs in software from Microsoft and Apple.

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek say they willpublish detailed blueprints of techniques forattacking critical systems in the Toyota Prius andFord Escape in a 100-page white paper, follow-ing several months of research they conductedwith a grant from the US government.

The two “white hats” - hackers who try touncover software vulnerabilities before criminalscan exploit them - will also release the softwarethey built for hacking the cars at the Def Conhacking convention in Las Vegas this week.

They said they devised ways to force a ToyotaPrius to brake suddenly at 80 miles an hour (128kph), jerk its steering wheel, or accelerate theengine. They also say they can disable the brakesof a Ford Escape traveling at very slow speeds, sothat the car keeps moving no matter how hardthe driver presses the pedal.

“Imagine what would happen if you werenear a crowd,” said Valasek, director of securityintelligence at consulting firm IOActive, knownfor finding bugs in Microsoft Corp’s Windowssoftware. But it is not as scary as it may sound atfirst blush. They were sitting inside the cars usinglaptops connected directly to the vehicles’ com-puter networks when they did their work. Sothey will not be providing information on howto hack remotely into a car network, which iswhat would typically be needed to launch a real-

world attack. The two say they hope the datathey publish will encourage other white-hathackers to uncover more security flaws in autosso they can be fixed. “I trust the eyes of 100 secu-rity researchers more than the eyes that are inFord and Toyota,” said Miller, a Twitter securityengineer known for his research on hackingApple Inc’s App Store.

Toyota Motor Corp spokesman John Hansonsaid the company was reviewing the work. Hesaid the carmaker had invested heavily in elec-tronic security, but that bugs remained - as theydo in cars of other manufacturers.

“It’s entirely possible to do,” Hanson said,referring to the newly exposed hacks.“Absolutely we take it seriously.” Ford Motor Cospokesman Craig Daitch said the company takesseriously the electronic security of its vehicles.He said the fact that Miller’s and Valasek’s hack-ing methods required them to be inside thevehicle they were trying to manipulate mitigat-ed the risk. “This particular attack was not per-formed remotely over the air, but as a highlyaggressive direct physical manipulation of onevehicle over an elongated period of time, whichwould not be a risk to customers and any masslevel,” Daitch said.

Miller and Valasek said they did not researchremote attacks because that had already beendone. A group of academics described ways toinfect cars using Bluetooth systems and wirelessnetworks in 2011. But unlike Miller and Valasek,the academics have kept the details of theirwork a closely guarded secret, refusing even to

identify the make of the car they hacked.(http://reut.rs/NWOPjq)

Their work got the attention of the U.S. gov-ernment. The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration has begun an auto cybersecurityresearch program. “While increased use of elec-tronic controls and connectivity is enhancingtransportation safety and efficiency, it brings anew challenge of safeguarding against potentialvulnerabilities,” the agency said in a statement. Itsaid it knew of no consumer incident where avehicle was hacked. Still, some experts believemalicious hackers may already have the abilityto launch attacks. “It’s time to shore up thedefenses,” said Tiffany Strauchs Rad, a researcherwith Kaspersky Lab, who previously worked foran auto security research center.

A group of European computer scientists hadbeen scheduled to present research on hackingthe locks of luxury vehicles, including Porsches,Audis, Bentleys and Lamborghinis, at a confer-ence in Washington in mid-August.

But Volkswagen AG obtained a restrainingorder from a British high court prohibiting dis-cussion of the research by Flavio D. Garcia of theUniversity of Birmingham, and Roel Verdult andBaris Ege of Radboud University Nijmegen in theNetherlands. A spokeswoman for the three sci-entists said they would pull out of the presti-gious Usenix conference because of therestraining order. Both universities said theywould hold off on publishing the paper, pend-ing the resolution of litigation. Volkswagendeclined to comment. —Reuters

NEW YORK: When it comes to technology,we’ve been trained to expect more for less.Devices get more powerful each year, asprices stay the same or drop. With the newNexus 7 tablet, Google hopes we’re willingto pay more for more.

The new tablet comes with a $30 priceincrease over last year’s model. At $229 forthe base model, it is still a bargain - and 30percent cheaper than Apple’s $329 iPadMini. The display is sharper and the soundis richer than the old model. There’s now arear camera for taking snapshots. The newNexus 7 is the first device to ship withAndroid 4.3, which lets you create profilesto limit what your curious and nosy kidscan do on your tablet when you’re notaround. Amazon.com Inc.’s $199 Kindle FireHD is cheaper, but it doesn’t give you fullaccess to the growing library of Androidapps for playing games, checking theweather, tracking flights, reading the news,getting coupons from your favorite storesand more. The Nexus 7 does.

It’s a fine complement to your smart-phone if it’s running Google’s Android, thedominant operating system on phonesthese days - even as Apple commands themarket for tablet computers with its full-size iPad and iPad Mini. Unless you tell itnot to, apps you use on the phone willautomatically appear on the Nexus 7, soyou can switch from device to device seam-lessly. When you are signed in, bookmarkswill also transfer over Google’s ChromeWeb browser, as will favorite places onGoogle Maps. If you were already eyeinglast year’s Nexus 7 model, then go aheadand pay $30 more for the latest.

Although screen dimensions are identi-cal, the new Nexus 7 has a higher pixel den-sity, at 323 pixels per inch compared with216 on the old model. Trees and otherobjects in the movie “Life of Pi” look sharp-er, as do the movie title and credits on thescreen. Sound is much better with speakerson the left and the right side of the tablet,held horizontally. Although they are techni-cally back facing, the speakers are placedalong a curved edge in such a way thatsound seems to project outward and notaway from you. On the old Nexus 7, I can’teven tell where the speakers are.

The new Nexus 7 also feels more com-fortable in my hands. It’s 17 percent thinnerand 5 percent narrower when held like aportrait. The old model was a tad too wideto grip comfortably in the palm of myhands. The new device is also 15 percentlighter, at 10.2 ounces. And the rubberyback feels smoother on the new tablet.

The new Nexus ships with a camera app,something last year’s model didn’t reallyneed because it had only a front-facingcamera, for videoconferencing. With thenew rear, 5-megapixel camera, you cantake photos and video of what’s in front ofyou. Expect to be ridiculed, though, if I seeyou doing that. Still, it’s not as bad as block-ing someone’s view with a full-size tablet.

As for the restricted profiles that comewith Android 4.3, it’s a good idea, though itstill has kinks. When you set up a profile foryour kid, you pick which apps to enable.Don’t want your kid to be surfing the Web

unrestricted? Then keep the Chromebrowser disabled. Don’t want him or her onFacebook? Keep that app disabled, too. Theapp store is also disabled, so Junior can’t goon a download spree. If you do allow accessto a particular app, though, then it’s fullaccess. There’s no filtering to block pornand other questionable material, forinstance. I found that some apps won’twork with restricted profiles at all, includ-ing those for Gmail and other emailaccounts. If you want your kids to haveaccess to email, then you have to give themfull access or enable the browser to checkemail over the Web. You can’t turn on justthe email app.

And although the new tablet is the firstto ship with Android 4.3, it’s available todownload on other devices, including lastyear’s Nexus 7. What the new tablet doesoffer is the promise of a longer battery life -up to 10 hours for Web surfing and ninehours for video streaming. Last year’s mod-el was rated at eight hours.

There’s no question the new model isbetter and worth the price increase.Choosing between the new Nexus 7 andthe iPad Mini is tougher. If you already havean iPhone, the iPad Mini will be a nice com-plement. You won’t have to buy music,video and apps twice, for instance. Youmight want to wait until this fall, though, tosee whether Apple comes out with a newmodel.

It’s a tougher call if you have an Androidphone. By volume, the two systems have acomparable number of apps. But I’ve foundthat many larger app developers havemade versions only for the iPhone and theiPad. The American Museum of NaturalHistory in New York has six that work oniPads but only one on Android devices. Anapp to watch full episodes of CBS televisionshows is for Apple and Windows devicesonly, not Android. Meanwhile, theiDonatedIt app for tracking tax deductionshas more features for Apple devices, whilefeatures that are supposed to work onAndroid often don’t.

Android is good in that many appsdesigned for a phone’s smaller screen areautomatically adapted to take advantageof a tablet’s larger screen. On the iPad, appsthat aren’t optimized for it are squeezedinto a smaller window the size of aniPhone. Blow it up to full screen, and itlooks distorted.

But that’s not as glaring on the Mini as itis on the full-size iPad. And having appsautomatically change their layout isn’t thesame as designing them for the tablet fromscratch, as is the case with the hundreds ofthousands of apps optimized for the iPad.

The Nexus 7’s screen is much sharperthan that on the iPad Mini, which has thenon-HD display technology of the iPad 2from 2011 - ancient in the world of mobilegadgets. The Nexus 7 is also a tad lighter,by 6 percent. That said, the iPad Mini has alarger screen, measuring 7.9 inches diago-nally compared with 7 inches on the Nexus.And the iPad Mini has had a rear camerafrom the start. The iPad Mini also has Siri, avoice assistant that is feistier than GoogleNow on the Nexus. —AP

MOSCOW: Ilya Segalovich, the co-founder of Russia’slargest search engine, Yandex, has died, the companysaid yesterday. He was 48. Segalovich died Saturday ata London hospital, Yandex director general and fellowfounder Arkady Volozh said.

Volozh said in the company’s blog that Segalovichwas diagnosed with stomach cancer last year. Heresponded positively to chemical therapy, but thendeveloped a brain cancer that caused his death.

On Thursday, Yandex announced Segalovich haddied but then corrected itself within hours, saying hewas on life support with no brain function. Volozh saiddoctors removed the life support after it became clearSegalovich couldn’t be saved.

“The only hope we had was a diagnosis error,”Volozh said. “We couldn’t make a miracle. We onlycould offer a chance for it to happen.” Segalovich’s bodywill be brought home Wednesday, Volozh said. Funeralplans have yet to be announced. Segalovich foundedYandex in 1997 with Volozh, his school friend. The com-pany has been a Russian success story, with a share of62 percent of the search engine market in Russia com-pared with Google’s 25.6 percent. — AP

EINDHOVEN: From cancer-busting ultra-sound techniques to ways to boost vitaminsin tomatoes, Dutch tech-hub Eindhoven’savalanche of patents has just earned it thecrown of “most inventive city in the world.”

Despite the Dutch economy hobblingthrough its third recession since 2009, thissouthern city of around 750,000 has becomea beacon of high-tech hope and is evencompared to Silicon Valley in the UnitedStates. With 22.6 patents filed for every10,000 residents, US-based Forbes magazinethis month named Eindhoven the world’smost inventive city.

Using a commonly-used metric for map-ping innovation, called ‘patent intensity’,Forbes based its award on statistics from theOrganisation for Economic Co-Operationand Development (OECD). In 2011, some3,238 patent applications were filed in theNetherlands, according to the EuropeanUnion’s statistics office Eurostat. Of these,the Eindhoven region and in particular itsresearch and development hub the HighTech Campus (HTC), accounted for 42.0 per-cent. But on the “smartest square kilometrein the Netherlands”, you won’t find studentsat the sprawling HTC complex onEindhoven’s outskirts.

Once a closed-off laboratory for Dutchelectronics giant Philips, the campus housesmore than 100 companies employing 8,000researchers, developers and engineers.“Here, every 20 minutes a patent is created,”the HTC boasts on its website. The sprawlingcomplex with its ultra-modern glass-facadedbuildings is set among green fields populat-ed by leisurely grazing cows. The HTC is atthe heart of Eindhoven’s innovation andprovides a space where big companies suchas Philips collaborate with small startups.Philips opened the facility in 2003 when thecompany had just gone through a round oflayoffs. It offered former employees some-where to launch startups and use theirknowledge.

The result was an explosion of innova-tion. “The idea (of the HTC) is based on a phi-losophy of ‘open innovation’ where high-tech businesses share knowledge ... to deliv-er better and quicker results,” said Jean-Paulvan Oijen, sales manager at BrainportDevelopment, whose job it is to stimulateinvestment in the Eindhoven region. For asmall startup like Miortech, which makeselectronic tiles that deflect sunlight just likepaper-seen as the next big thing in billboard

displays-the campus is ideal. “We have onlyfive people on the payroll,” the company’schief executive Hans Feil told AFP.

The rest of the work is outsourced to sci-entists from other companies, while thefacilities to do the research are rented fromthe HTC. “We use shared facilities. It’s a verygood spot to be. We are surrounded by peo-ple and companies with a similar mindset-high patent intensity,” Feil told AFP.

The High Tech Campus forms part of thebroader Brainport Region Eindhoven, orBrainport for short-an initiative rolled out bythe Dutch government in 2004 to corralhigh tech knowledge after not just Philipsbut several other big companies laid off aswathe of highly-skilled workers.

It works on a so-called “triple-helix con-cept” which brings together business,knowledge-based institutions and publicmoney to create a space where enterprisecan flourish, notching up some 60,000 newjobs in the region by 2011.

Together with the so-called AirportAmsterdam, which focuses business on theSchiphol International Airport hub andSeaport Rotterdam, Brainport today formsone of the three most important pillars ofthe Dutch economy.

Brainport contributed some 13.5 billioneuros ($17.8 billion) or 8.0 percent to Dutchexports in 2011 and aims by 2020 to be oneof the top 10 technology regions in theworld. Henk Volberda of ErasmusUniversity ’s Rotterdam School ofManagement warns however that moreinvestment in small startup companies isneeded if Eindhoven wants to remain com-petitive on a global level. “We need to see...less dependence on the big companies likePhilips and ASML (the leading lithographmaker used to manufacture computerchips),” said Volberda. Last year already saw a10.0 percent drop in patents filed by theNetherlands at the Hague-based EuropeanPatent Office, partly down to a drop in appli-cations from Philips as it streamlines activi-ties. Currently the Netherlands is rankedfourth in the world by the 2013 GlobalInnovation Index report, ahead of theUnited States, Finland, Germany and Japan.Switzerland, home to a plethora of pharma-ceutical multinationals, claimed the top spotfor the third year running, in the report,released by Cornell University, the INSEADbusiness school and the World IntellectualProperty Organisation (WIPO). —AFP

Software experts attack cars, to release code as hackers meet

Toyota says it’s taking the research seriously

Co-founder ofRussia’s biggest

search engine dead

NEW YORK: Ilya Segalovich, left, CTO of Yandex, andCEO Arkady Volozh, pose for photos in front of theNasdaq Market Site following the company’s IPO, inthis May 24, 2011 file photo taken in New York. — AP

Nexus 7 good value, even with higher price

Dutch city patently the world’s most inventive

SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri man buys vegetables from a vendor at the floating vegetable market on Dal Lake in Srinagar yesterday.Vegetables are grown in numerous floating gardens around the lake, and sold from boats at the market. A variety of differentvegetables are grown through all four seasons, making the floating market a daily event throughout the year. —AP

LONDON: Participants take part in The Sumo Run in Battesea Park, westLondon, yesterday. The Sumo Run is an annual 5km charity fun run aroundthe park in inflatable Sumo Suits. The event previously set a Guinness WorldRecord for the largest gathering of people running in Sumo suits.— AFP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

WASHINGTON: Although professionals maybemoan their long work hours and high-pressure careers, really, there’s stress, andthen there’s Stress with a capital “S”.

The former can be considered a manage-able if unpleasant part of life; in the rightamount, it may even strengthen one’s met-tle. The latter kills.

What’s the difference? Scientists havesettled on an oddly subjective explanation:the more helpless one feels when facing agiven stressor, they argue, the more toxicthat stressor’s effects.

That sense of control tends to decline asone descends the socioeconomic ladder,with potentially grave consequences. Thoseon the bottom are more than three times aslikely to die prematurely as those at the top.They’re also more likely to suffer fromdepression, heart disease and diabetes.Perhaps most devastating, the stress ofpoverty early in life can have consequencesthat last into adulthood.

Even those who later ascend economi-cally may show persistent effects of early-lifehardship. Scientists find them more prone toillness than those who were never poor.Becoming more affluent may lower the riskof disease by lessening the sense of help-lessness and allowing greater access tohealthful resources like exercise, more nutri-tious foods and greater social support; peo-ple are not absolutely condemned by theirupbringing. But the effects of early-life stressalso seem to linger, unfavourably moldingour nervous systems and possibly evenaccelerating the rate at which we age.

The British epidemiologist MichaelMarmot calls the phenomenon “status syn-drome.” He’s studied British civil servantswho work in a rigid hierarchy for decades,and found that accounting for the usual sus-pects - smoking, diet and access to healthcare - won’t completely abolish the effect.There’s a direct relationship among health,well-being and one’s place in the greater

scheme. “The higher you are in the socialhierarchy,” he says, “the better your health.”

Marmot blames a particular type ofstress. It’s not necessarily the strain of a chiefexecutive facing a lengthy to-do list, or awell-to-do parent’s agonising over a child’sprospects of acceptance to an elite school.Unlike those of lower rank, both the CEOand the anxious parent have resources withwhich to address the problem. By definition,the poor have far fewer.

So the stress that kills, Marmot and oth-ers argue, is characterised by a lack of asense of control over one’s fate.Psychologists who study animals call oneresult of this type of strain “learned helpless-ness.”

How they induce it is instructive.Indiscriminate electric shocks will send ananimal into a kind of depression, blunting itsability to learn and remember. But if the ani-mal has some control over how long theshocks last, it remains resilient. Pain andunpleasantness matter less than havingsome control over their duration.

Biologists explain the particulars as afight-or-flight response - adrenaline pump-ing, heart rate elevated, blood pressureincreased - that continues indefinitely. Thisreaction is necessary for escaping from lions,bears and muggers, but when activatedchronically it wears the body ragged. Andit’s especially unhealthy for children, whosenervous systems are, by evolutionarydesign, malleable.

Scientists can, in fact, see the imprint ofearly-life stress decades later: there are moremarkers of inflammation in those who haveexperienced such hardship. Chronic inflam-mation increases the risk of degenerativediseases like heart disease and diabetes.Indeed, telomeres - the tips of our chromo-somes - appear to be shorter among thosewho have experienced early-life adversity,which might be an indicator of acceleratedaging.

Early-life stress canaffect long-term health

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Nearly a decade ago, theIndian government ruled out a ban on the produc-tion and use of monocrotophos, the highly toxicpesticide that killed 23 children this month in a vil-lage school providing free lunches under a govern-ment-sponsored programme. Despite beinglabelled highly hazardous by the World HealthOrganisation ( WHO), a panel of governmentexperts was persuaded by manufacturers thatmonocrotophos was cheaper than alternatives andmore effective in controlling pests that decimatecrop output.

India, which has more hungry mouths to feedthan any other country in the world, continues touse monocrotophos and other highly toxic pesti-cides that rich and poor nations alike, includingChina, are banning on health grounds.

Although the government argues the benefitsof strong pesticides outweigh the hazards if prop-erly managed, the school food poisoning tragedyunderlined criticism such controls are virtuallyignored on the ground.

According to the minutes, the 2004 meetingconducted by the Central Insecticides Board andRegistration Committee, the Indian governmentbody that regulates pesticide use, concluded that:“The data submitted by the industry satisfies theconcerns raised...Therefore, there is no need to rec-ommend the ban of this product.”

Government scientists continue to defend thepesticide, and insist the decision to not ban itremains good.

Just weeks before the school tragedy in Biharstate, the Indian government advised farmers viatext message to use monocrotophos to kill borerpests in mandarin fruits and rice, records on theagricultural meteorology division’s web site show.

“It is cost effective and it is known for its efficacy... some even call it a benevolent pesticide,” said T.P. Rajendran, assistant director general for plantprotection at the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch. “I can say that pesticides currently per-mitted in the country are safe provided they areused as per specifications and guidelines. We haveexhaustive and detailed guidelines. They need tobe followed.”

A senior official directly involved in the deci-sion-making on pesticide use said: “You have got tounderstand that all pesticides are toxic but they areessential for maintaining or increasing agriculturalproduction.

“Can we afford to lose 15-25 percent of output?One cannot afford to lose such a large percentageof agricultural produce. The answer lies in judi-cious use.”

The official declined to be identified.The WHO has cited a 2007 study that about

76,000 people die each year in India from pesticidepoisoning. Many of the deaths are suicides madeeasy by the wide availability of toxic pesticides.

In the school tragedy, police suspect the chil-dren’s lunch was cooked in oil that was stored in aused container of monocrotophos.

The Indian government has issued 15 pages ofregulations that need to be followed when han-dling pesticides - including wearing protectiveclothing and using a respirator when spraying.Pesticide containers should be broken when emptyand not left outside in order to prevent them beingre-used.

But in a nation where a quarter of the 1.2 billionpopulation is illiterate and vast numbers live in far-flung rural districts, implementation is almostimpossible. For instance, monocrotophos isbanned for use on vegetable crops, but there is noway to ensure the rule is followed.

According to the WHO, swallowing 1,200 mil-ligrams - less than a teaspoon - of monocrotophoscan be fatal to humans. In 2009, it called for Indiato ban the product because of its extreme toxicity.

“It is imperative to consider banning the use ofmonocrotophos,” it said in a 60-page report. “Theperception that monocrotophos is cheap and nec-essary, have prevented the product from being tak-en off the market” in India.

WHO officials say the school tragedy reinforcesthe dangers of the pesticide.

“We would advocate that countries restrict, ban,or phase out...those chemicals for which they can’tensure that all aspects of use are safe,” said LesleyOnyon, WHO’s South-East Asia regional adviser forchemical safety. “If they can’t ensure safety, it’s ourpolicy to say that these chemical or pesticidesshouldn’t be used.”

Indian government officials refuse to addressthe WHO’s findings directly.

“We have to take decisions depending on ourneed, our priorities, and our requirements. No oneknows these things better than us,” said the gov-ernment source.

For India, providing more food to its people is anational priority. According to the World Bank,nearly 400 million people in the country live on lessthan $1.25 per day. Nearly half its children underfive are malnourished. The Bihar school where thechildren died was participating in the govern-ment’s midday meal programme, aimed at giving120 million school pupils a free lunch - both pro-viding nutrition and encouraging education. Indiais also close to implementing an ambitious plan toprovide cheap food to 800 million people.

Central to these efforts will be higher cropyields and managing costs.

According to government officials and manu-facturers, monocrotophos is cheap and is also abroad spectrum pesticide that can only bereplaced by four or five crop- or pest-specific pesti-cides. Even similar pesticides are much moreexpensive.

A 500 ml monocrotophos bottle sold by GodrejAgrovet, a subsidiary of Godrej Industries, is pricedat 225 rupees ($3.75), while an alternative,Imidacloprid, in a bottle of 500 ml produced byBayer, costs 1,271 rupees.

Monocrotophos is banned by many countries,including the United States, the European Union

nations, China, and, among India’s neighbours,Pakistan. Sri Lanka only allows monocrotophos usefor coconut cultivation.

One of the two companies that argued againstthe ban on monocrotophos in 2004 halted produc-tion five years later under pressure from the publicin its home country, Denmark.

Cheminova, a unit of Auriga Industries, said itstopped producing monocrotophos in India in2009 and converted its plant to produce a low-tox-ic fungicide.

“We decided to phase out monocrotophosbecause with many alternative products, we couldnot see any reason to have such a toxic product ina country like India,” Lars-Erik Pedersen, vice-presi-dent of Auriga Industries, told Reuters inCopenhagen.

“It was a big decision because it is one of thebest-selling products in India,” he added.

The other manufacturer that made a presenta-tion at the 2004 meeting was United Phosphorus,currently the biggest producer of the pesticide inthe country.

Managing Director Rajju D. Shroff told Reutersthat monocrotophos was “very harmless,” and hint-ed calls for a ban were aimed at helping multina-tionals sell more costly alternatives.

“Companies want to sell new pesticides. If theyhave monocrotophos, farmers will not change tonew, expensive ones,” said Shroff, who attendedthe meeting as the head of the Crop CareFederation of India, a position he still holds.

Historically, India appears reluctant to ban pes-ticides. Monocrotophos isn’t the most toxic pesti-cide used in the country, according to the WHO’sclassifications. Phorate, methyl parathion, bromadi-olone and phosphamidon, all classified as extreme-ly hazardous, are likewise registered for use.

And endosulfan - a substance so nasty theUnited Nations wants it eliminated worldwide -was banned only by a Supreme Court order in2011. The decision came a few months after thechief minister of the southern state of Kerala, thetop elected official, went on a day-long hunger fastto demand the ban.

According to media reports, over 1,000 peoplewere killed and hundreds born deformed becauseof indiscriminate aerial spraying of endosulfan inKasargod, a Kerala district.

Both production of monocrotophos anddemand in India was higher in 2009/10 than in2005/06, according to latest available governmentdata. It accounted for about 4 percent of total pes-ticide use in 2009/10 and 7 percent of production.

Its share in total sales is about 2-3 percent now,according to the Pesticides Manufacturers &Formulators Association, which says it representsthe industry on a national basis with over 250members.

The Centre for Science and Environment, a lead-ing environmental NGO in India, says the state ofpesticide control in the country is deplorable andcompanies have great influence.—Reuters

Poison pill in India’s search for cheap food

Effective in controlling pests

MINNESOTA: Elias Konstantopoulos gets spottyglimpses of the world each day for about fourhours, or for however long he turns on his ArgusII retina prosthesis. The 74-year-old man lost hissight from a progressive retinal disease over 30years ago, but he is able to perceive some thingswith the bionic vision system.

“I can see if you are in front of me, and if youtry to go away,” he says. “Or if I look at a big treewith the system on I can maybe see some dark-ness. And if it’s bright outside and I move myhead to the left or right I can see different shad-ows that tell me there is something there. There’sno way to tell what it is.”

A camera mounted on a pair of spectaclescaptures image data for Konstantopoulos; thatdata is then processed by a mini-computer car-ried on a strap and sent to an array of 60 neuron-stimulating electrodes that was implanted onone of his retinas in 2009.

Nearly 70 people around the world haveundergone the three-hour surgery for the retinalimplant, which was developed by California’sSecond Sight and approved for use in Europe in2011 and in the US this year. It is the first vision-restoring implant sold to patients.

Currently, the system (which costs 73,000euros in Europe; the US price is not disclosed) isapproved only for patients with retinitis pigmen-tosa, a degenerative eye condition that strikesaround one in 5,000 people worldwide. But it’spossible the Argus II and other artificial retinas indevelopment could work for people with age-related macular degeneration, which affects onein 2,000 people in developed countries. In thatcondition, the photoreceptor cells of the eye(commonly called rods and cones) are lost, butthe rest of the neuronal pathway that communi-cates visual information to the brain is often stillviable. Artificial retinas depend on this remain-ing circuitry, so they cannot work for all forms ofblindness.

Many groups are working on ways to replacelost photoreceptors. Most use a camera thatcommunicates to an implanted chip, but thesesystems vary in the number of electrodes in thechip and how deep the chip is placed inside theretina. Others eschew the camera for light-sensi-tive diodes in the chip. A German companycalled Retina Implant, for example, recently com-pleted human tests of an implant that does notdepend on a camera but instead directly har-vests light and transmits that data to remainingneurons. A array of 1,500 photodiodes replacesthe eye’s photoreceptors. At their best, today’s

artificial retinas produce only sketchy images.Patients see bursts of light called phosphenesand “not truly naturalist vision,” says RaymondIezzi, a clinician-scientist who performs retinalsurgeries at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Some people with artificial retinas can readlarge letters, see slow-moving cars, or identifytableware. Tim Reddish, 55, who lost his vision toretinitis pigmentosa and got a Retina Implantdevice in November, says he can read a high-contrast clock indoors. Outside, he says, he candetect the lines of buildings with glass doorsand the headlights of slow-moving cars at night.

But other patients experience no benefit. Thevariation can be ascribed in some cases to theexact placement of the neuron-stimulating arrayin the tissue-paper-thin retina as well as the stateof the remaining neurons and pathways in eachindividual’s eye. How well people can retraintheir brain to use the device is also important.“Patients will scan their environment and usetheir memory to reconstruct what they are see-ing,” Iezzi says.

Second Sight says its Argus II provides20/1,260 vision (which indicates that a personcan see an object from 20 feet away that a nor-mal-sighted person can see from 1,260 feetaway). Retina Implant says the best visual acuitygained with its device is 20/1,000. For compari-son, normal vision is 20/20 and the threshold oflegal blindness in the US is 20/200.

“Retina prostheses are at the stage cochlearimplants were 30 years ago,” says AnthonyBurkitt, director of Bionic Vision Australia, a con-sortium of retinal-implant researchers. “Thattechnology went from being an aid for lip read-ing to the point now where children with acochlear implant can go through normal schooland even use mobile phones.”

One way to improve artificial retinas is to addmore of the electrodes that create the pixels inthe eye. Second Sight, for example, is planningon moving from 60 to 240 electrodes in a futuremodel. But thousands of pixels will probably berequired for facial recognition and other detailedvisual tasks, and many artificial-retina technolo-gies will have trouble achieving that becausethey have to be powered through surgicallyimplanted wires, says Daniel Palanker, a bio-physicist at Stanford. To avoid this limitation,Palanker and colleagues are developing a wire-less system in which a photovoltaic chip withflexible arrays of small pixels is implanted in theeye and receives image data captured by a videocamera.

Artificial retinas coming into view

TUCSON: Members of the TucsonYoung Professionals - TYP - are makingit their business to see that babiesborn in Southern Arizona have theglow of good health.

Tucsonans who want to help cangather three golf clubs and a flashlightand join the TYP Glow GolfTournament to benefit the March ofDimes on Friday at Quail Ridge GolfCourse, 5910 N. Oracle Road.

“This is like grown-up mini-golf. Ifyou have hit a golf ball once in yourlife, you will be able to play thiscourse,” said Corey Owen, projectmanager for the tournament. He’s athree-year veteran of TYP, a nonprofitthat is dedicated to attracting, pro-moting and retaining young profes-sionals in Tucson.

“This will be a great event - andhow can you not love supportingsomething for babies?,” Owen said.“Babies can’t fight for themselves, sosomeone has to fight for them.”

Owen masterminded the late-night links fundraiser to fit two criteria:an evening activity that will beat thesummer heat and something that“pretty much anyone could walk upand do.”

He is also hoping the event willhelp shine a light on all that the Marchof Dimes does for children, mothersand families locally.

While many people have heard ofthe March of Dimes, not everyonemay be aware of the services it pro-vides, said Jessica Celentano, directorof the nonprofit’s Southern ArizonaDivision.

The March of Dimes works toimprove the health of babies by pre-venting birth defects, premature birthand infant mortality.

It facilitates that goal through sup-port of research, which initially led tothe development of polio vaccines.Since 1958 the March of Dimes hasfocused on research into diagnosisand treatments for birth defects anddevelopmental disabilities. That result-ed in breakthroughs in prenatal diag-nosis of sickle cell anemia, discoveryof the genes for Marfan and Fragile Xsyndromes, and the development ofpulmonary surfactant therapy to treatrespiratory distress syndrome inpreterm babies. About 350 babies inArizona receive the treatment eachyear. The March of Dimes also fundedthe development of four of 30 tests for

inherited disorders received routinelyby Arizona babies during newbornscreening and has recently beeninstrumental in helping implement apolicy in Arizona mandating thatbabies aren’t delivered before 39weeks unless medically necessary.

Prevention of premature births inArizona, which number about 10,660each year, could result in annual sav-ings of up to $550 million, accordingto Teresa Spitz, director of communi-cations for Arizona March of Dimes.

Locally, the March of Dimes pro-vides education and information tothe public and to health-care profes-sionals and health-care providersincluding books, pamphlets, onlineresources and other materials abouttopics such as healthy pregnancies,prenatal nutrition, the signs ofpreterm birth and “Dads to Be.”

“We would like to be seen as aresource for any parent, grandparent,future parent or anyone with ques-tions about healthy pregnancies andpreterm birth,” Celentano said.

Donations such as those from TYPnot only help fund research, advocacyand education, but help fund Marchof Dimes grants to the community.

Last year it funneled almost $60,000statewide to organizations such asUMC prenatal education and women’shealth programs, Teen OutreachPregnancy Services, The ArizonaPartnership for Immunization andhealthy-pregnancy programs target-ing the Native American and Hispaniccommunities, Celentano said.

Aiding in those efforts throughphilanthropy is natural for Owen, 30, anative Tucsonan and alumnus ofMountain View High School andNorthern Arizona University.

“If you are going to be a citizen ofthe U.S., you need to do your part. Ifeveryone did their part, it would be acompletely different nation,” Owensaid. He also considers volunteerism avital aspect of learning and growth.

“It really helps to open people’seyes and to educate you,” he said.“When you get involved with theseorganizations and you see the peoplethat they help, it puts everything inperspective.”

Owen, who works in financial serv-ices, strongly encourages other youngprofessionals to explore philanthropicopportunities through Tucson YoungProfessionals.

March of Dimes promotes children’s health

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

By Stephen S. Hall

NEW YORK: It was a Saturday night at theNew York Psychoanalytic Institute, and thesecond-floor auditorium held an odd mix ofgray-haired, cerebral Upper East Side typesand young, scruffy downtown grad studentsin black denim. Up on the stage, neuroscien-tist Daniela Schiller, a riveting figure with herlong, straight hair and impossibly erect pos-ture, paused briefly from what she was doingto deliver a mini-lecture about memory.

She explained how recent research,including her own, has shown that memoriesare not unchanging physical traces in thebrain. Instead, they are malleable constructsthat may be rebuilt every time they arerecalled. The research suggests, she said, thatdoctors (and psychotherapists) might be ableto use this knowledge to help patients blockthe fearful emotions they experience whenrecalling a traumatic event, converting chron-ic sources of debilitating anxiety into benigntrips down memory lane.

And then Schiller went back to what shehad been doing, which was providing a slam-ming, rhythmic beat on drums and backupvocals for the Amygdaloids, a rock band com-posed of New York City neuroscientists.During their performance at the institute’ssecond annual “Heavy Mental Variety Show,”the band blasted out a selection of its great-est hits, including songs about cognition(“Theory of My Mind”), memory (“A Trace”),and psychopathology (“Brainstorm”).

“Just give me a pill,” Schiller crooned atone point, during the chorus of a song called“Memory Pill.” “Wash away my memories ...”

The irony is that if research by Schiller andothers holds up, you may not even need a pillto strip a memory of its power to frighten oroppress you.

Schiller, 40, has been in the vanguard of adramatic reassessment of how human mem-ory works at the most fundamental level. Hercurrent lab group at Mount Sinai School ofMedicine, her former colleagues at New YorkUniversity, and a growing army of like-mind-ed researchers have marshaled a pile of datato argue that we can alter the emotionalimpact of a memory by adding new informa-tion to it or recalling it in a different context.This hypothesis challenges 100 years of neu-roscience and overturns cultural touchstonesfrom Marcel Proust to best-selling memoirs. Itchanges how we think about the perma-nence of memory and identity, and it sug-gests radical nonpharmacological approach-es to treating pathologies like post-traumaticstress disorder, other fear-based anxiety disor-ders, and even addictive behaviors.

In a landmark 2010 paper in Nature,

Schiller (then a postdoc at New YorkUniversity) and her NYU colleagues, includingJoseph E. LeDoux and Elizabeth A. Phelps,published the results of human experimentsindicating that memories are reshaped andrewritten every time we recall an event. And,the research suggested, if mitigating informa-tion about a traumatic or unhappy event isintroduced within a narrow window ofopportunity after its recall-during the fewhours it takes for the brain to rebuild thememory in the biological brick and mortar ofmolecules-the emotional experience of thememory can essentially be rewritten.

“When you affect emotional memory, youdon’t affect the content,” Schiller explains.“You still remember perfectly. You just don’thave the emotional memory.”

The idea that memories are constantlybeing rewritten is not entirely new.Experimental evidence to this effect datesback at least to the 1960s. But mainstreamresearchers tended to ignore the findings fordecades because they contradicted the pre-vailing scientific theory about how memoryworks.

That view began to dominate the scienceof memory at the beginning of the 20th cen-tury. In 1900, two German scientists, GeorgElias Miller and Alfons Pilzecker, conducted aseries of human experiments at the Universityof G?ttingen. Their results suggested thatmemories were fragile at the moment of for-mation but were strengthened, or consolidat-ed, over time; once consolidated, these mem-ories remained essentially static, permanentlystored in the brain like a file in a cabinet fromwhich they could be retrieved when the urgearose.

It took decades of painstaking research forneuroscientists to tease apart a basic mecha-nism of memory to explain how consolida-tion occurred at the level of neurons and pro-teins: an experience entered the neural land-scape of the brain through the senses, wasinitially “encoded” in a central brain apparatusknown as the hippocampus, and then migrat-ed-by means of biochemical and electricalsignals-to other precincts of the brain for stor-age. A famous chapter in this story was thecase of “H.M.,” a young man whose hippocam-pus was removed during surgery in 1953 totreat debilitating epileptic seizures; althoughphysiologically healthy for the remainder ofhis life (he died in 2008), H.M. was never againable to create new long-term memories, oth-er than to learn new motor skills.

Subsequent research also made clear thatthere is no single thing called memory but,rather, different types of memory thatachieve different biological purposes usingdifferent neural pathways. “Episodic” memory

refers to the recollection of specific pastevents; “procedural” memory refers to theability to remember specific motor skills likeriding a bicycle or throwing a ball; fear mem-ory, a particularly powerful form of emotionalmemory, refers to the immediate sense of dis-tress that comes from recalling a physically oremotionally dangerous experience. Whateverthe memory, however, the theory of consoli-dation argued that it was an unchangingneural trace of an earlier event, fixed in long-term storage. Whenever you retrieved thememory, whether it was triggered by anunpleasant emotional association or by theseductive taste of a madeleine, you essential-ly fetched a timeless narrative of an earlier

event. Humans, in this view, were the sumtotal of their fixed memories. As recently as2000 in Science, in a review article titled“Memory-A Century of Consolidation,” JamesL. McGaugh, a leading neuroscientist at theUniversity of California, Irvine, celebrated theconsolidation hypothesis for the way that it“still guides” fundamental research into thebiological process of long-term memory.

As it turns out, Proust wasn’t much of aneuroscientist, and consolidation theorycouldn’t explain everything about memory.This became apparent during decades ofresearch into what is known as fear training.

Schiller gave me a crash course in feartraining one afternoon in her Mount Sinai lab.One of her postdocs, Dorothee Bentz,strapped an electrode onto my right wrist inorder to deliver a mild but annoying shock.She also attached sensors to several fingerson my left hand to record my galvanic skin

response, a measure of physiological arousaland fear. Then I watched a series of images-blue and purple cylinders-flash by on a com-puter screen. It quickly became apparent thatthe blue cylinders often (but not always) pre-ceded a shock, and my skin conductivityreadings reflected what I’d learned. Everytime I saw a blue cylinder, I became anxiousin anticipation of a shock. The “learning” tookno more than a couple of minutes, andSchiller pronounced my little bumps of antici-patory anxiety, charted in real time on a near-by monitor, a classic response of fear training.“It’s exactly the same as in the rats,” she said.

In the 1960s and 1970s, several researchgroups used this kind of fear memory in ratsto detect cracks in the theory of memory con-solidation. In 1968, for example, Donald J.Lewis of Rutgers University led a study show-ing that you could make the rats lose the fearassociated with a memory if you gave them astrong electroconvulsive shock right afterthey were induced to retrieve that memory;the shock produced an amnesia about thepreviously learned fear.

Giving a shock to animals that had notretrieved the memory, in contrast, did notcause amnesia. In other words, a strong shocktimed to occur immediately after a memorywas retrieved seemed to have a uniquecapacity to disrupt the memory itself andallow it to be reconsolidated in a new way.Follow-up work in the 1980s confirmed someof these observations, but they lay so far out-side mainstream thinking that they barelyreceived notice.

At the time, Schiller was oblivious to thesedevelopments. A self-described skateboard-ing “science geek,” she grew up in RishonLeZion, Israel’s fourth-largest city, on thecoastal plain a few miles southeast of Tel Aviv.She was the youngest of four children of amother from Morocco and a “culturally Polish”father from Ukraine-”a typical Israeli meltingpot,” she says. As a tall, fair-skinned teenagerwith European features, she recalls feelingestranged from other neighborhood kidsbecause she looked so German.

Schiller remembers exactly when hercuriosity about the nature of human memorybegan. She was in the sixth grade, and it wasthe annual Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel.For a school project, she asked her fatherabout his memories as a Holocaust survivor,and he shrugged off her questions. She wasespecially puzzled by her father’s behavior at11 a.m., when a simultaneous eruption ofsirens throughout Israel signals the start of anational moment of silence. While everyoneelse in the country stood up to honor the vic-tims of genocide, he stubbornly remainedseated at the kitchen table as the sirens

blared, drinking his coffee and reading thenewspaper.

“The Germans did something to my dad,but I don’t know what because he never talksabout it,” Schiller told a packed audience in2010 at The Moth, a storytelling event.

During her compulsory service in theIsraeli army, she organized scientific and edu-cational conferences, which led to studies inpsychology and philosophy at Tel AvivUniversity; during that same period, she pro-cured a set of drums and formed her ownHebrew rock band, the Rebellion Movement.Schiller went on to receive a PhD in psychobi-ology from Tel Aviv University in 2004. Thatsame year, she recalls, she saw the movieEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, inwhich a young man undergoes treatmentwith a drug that erases all memories of a for-mer girlfriend and their painful breakup.Schiller heard (mistakenly, it turns out) thatthe premise of the movie had been based onresearch conducted by Joe LeDoux, and sheeventually applied to his lab for a postdoctor-al fellowship.

In science as in memory, timing is every-thing. Schiller arrived at NYU just in time forthe second coming of memory reconsolida-tion in neuroscience.

The table had been set for Schiller’s workon memory modification in 2000, whenKarim Nader, a postdoc in LeDoux’s lab, sug-gested an experiment testing the effect of adrug on the formation of fear memories inrats. LeDoux told Nader in no uncertain termsthat he thought the idea was a waste of timeand money. Nader did the experiment any-way. It ended up getting published in Natureand sparked a burst of renewed scientificinterest in memory reconsolidation (see“Manipulating Memory,” May/June 2009).

The rats had undergone classic fear train-ing-in an unpleasant twist on Pavlovian con-ditioning, they had learned to associate anauditory tone with an electric shock. But rightafter the animals retrieved the fearsomememory (the researchers knew they haddone so because they froze when they heardthe tone), Nader injected a drug that blockedprotein synthesis directly into their amygdala,the part of the brain where fear memories arebelieved to be stored. Surprisingly, thatappeared to pave over the fearful association.The rats no longer froze in fear of the shockwhen they heard the sound cue.

Decades of research had established thatlong-term memory consolidation requiresthe synthesis of proteins in the brain’s memo-ry pathways, but no one knew that proteinsynthesis was required after the retrieval of amemory as well-which implied that the mem-ory was being consolidated then, too.

Erasing trauma from bad memories

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W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

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Announcements

Indian Embassy sets up helpline

T he Indian Embassy in Kuwait hasset up helpline in order to assistIndian expatriates in registering

any complaint regarding the govern-ment’s ongoing campaign to stamp outillegal residents from the country. Theembassy said in press release yesterdaythat it amended its previous statementand stated if there is any complaint, thesame could be conveyed at the following(as amended): Operations Department,Ministry of Interior, Kuwait. Fax:22435580, Tel: 24768146/25200334. Itsaid the embassy has been in regularcontact with local authorities regardingthe ongoing checking of expatriates. Theembassy has also conveyed to them theconcerns, fears and apprehensions of thecommunity in this regard. The authoritiesin Kuwait have conveyed that strictinstructions have been issued to ensurethat there is no harassment or impropertreatment of expatriates by those under-taking checking. “The embassy would liketo request Indian expatriates to ensurethat they abide by all local laws, rulesand regulations regarding residency, traf-fic and other matters,” the release read. Itwould be prudent to always carry theCivil ID and other relevant documentssuch as driving license, etc. In case anIndian expatriate encounters any improp-er treatment during checking, it may beconveyed immediately with full detailsand contact particulars to the embassy atthe following phone number 67623639.These contact details are exclusively forthe above-mentioned purpose only.

Issue of online visa by Indian embassy

F oreigners requiring visas for Indianeed to apply it online from 16thJune 2013. Applicants may log on to

the Public portal at www.indianvisaon-line.gov.in. After successful online sub-mission, the hard copy, so generated, hasto be signed by the applicant and submit-ted with supporting documents in accor-dance with the type of visa along with theapplicable fee in cash at any of the twooutsource centres at Sharq or Fahaheel. Itis essential that applicants fill in their per-sonal details as exactly available in theirpassports. Mismatch of any of the person-al details would lead to non-acceptance ofthe application. Fees once paid are non-refundable. All children would have toobtain separate visa on their respectivepassports.

8th Expo Pakistanto commence in September

T he 8th Expo Pakistan will be heldfrom September 26 to 29 inKarachi. Held annually, Expo

Pakistan is the biggest trade fair in thecountry showcasing the largest collec-tion of Pakistan’s export merchandiseand services.

Foreign Exhibitors also use the eventto launch their products. Expo Pakistan2012 was visited by delegates from 52countries and generated a business ofover $ 518 million. A 16 member delega-tion from Kuwait including reputablecompanies like Al-Yasra Foods also tookpart in the last exhibition.

Expo Pakistan 2013 is being held underthe auspices of the Trade DevelopmentAuthority Pakistan. Details about theevent can be viewedwww.expopakisan.gov.pk. Further infor-mation and details of sponsorship can beobtained from the office of CommercialSecretary, Pakistan Embassy, Jabriya(25356594) during office hours.

Safir Hotel & ResidenceKuwait - Fintas bids

goodbye to Loyac trainees

Safir Hotel & Residence Fintas-Kuwait management completedits annual summer internship

program of three promising youngKuwaitis in association with the LoYACSummer Program. As planned, thetrainees joined Safir Hotel & ResidenceKuwait - Fintas Family for six weeksstarting from June 24, 2013 under thesupervision of the Training and CareerDevelopment Sector.

Before commencement of trainingthe students were welcomed present-ed with an extensive orientation of theprogram by the Training Department.This included the objectives and theactivities that they would be involvedin, as well as the nature of the hospital-ity industry.

During the course of the training,the interns undertook a wide range ofrelated tasks and responsibilities across

various departments such as Food &Beverage, Front Office and HumanResources.

Saif Eddin Mohammed, the hotel’sGeneral Manager, said, “Again this year,we are glad to partner with the LoYACSummer Program in order to give tal-ented Kuwaiti youth an opportunity togain practical experience during theiracademic studies. This opportunity willgive them useful skills that willenhance their chances of success atthe beginning of their professionallives.”

On behalf of the team of Safir Hotel& Residence Kuwait - Fintas, theGeneral Manager wished the internsgood luck in their studies and invitedthem to come back after the comple-tion of their study program

The 64th glorious founding anniver-sary of Bangladesh Awami Leagueis being celebrated in Bangladesh

as well as in Bengali Diaspora worldwide.Accordingly, with much more grace andenthusiasm, the celebration took placeon June 27 at Gulshan hotel in Kuwaitcity. The celebration committee conven-er Rafiqul Islam Bulu had presided overthe function while it was brilliantly pre-sented by the Joint Member Secretary ofthe committee Masud Karim.

Among the dignified guests of honorwere Abdur Raouf Mowla Ex- GeneralSecretary of Bangladesh Awami LeagueKuwait, freedom fighter Murshed AlainBadal, member secretary of ConveningCommittee Main Uddin Mom, NazrulIslam, Zahidul Hoque, Khorshed Alam,Nur Kandaker, Moyub Ali Malibub, BabulChy, Kabir Flossain, Babul Munshi, SyedMohammed Mozahid.

The program had commenced withthe recitation of verses from the HolyQuran. Also that followed the observa-tion of one minute silence in honor of allmartyrs of Bangladesh. Convening com-

mittee member Zahidul Hoque deliveredthe introductory speech. Conveningcommittee member respectively NazrulIslam. Abdur Raouf Mowla Ex GeneralSecretary of Bangladesh Awami LeagueKuwait. freedom fighter Murshed AlamBadal, member secretary of ConveningCommittee Main Uddin Mom, ZahidulHoque, Khorshed Alam, Nur Kandaker,Moyub Ali Mahbub, Bahul Chy, KahirHossain, Babul Munshi, Syed MohammedMozahid in their respective speecheshad explained the importance, back-ground and impact of such a celebration.The speakers had urged all patrioticBengalis to stand by the dedicated lead-ership of Bangladesh Awami league cen-tral committee and along that with tomake sure that the overseas wings of theLeague, especially in Kuwait may func-tion responsibly under the patriotic, hon-est and competent leaderships only. Indoing so it is of utmost necessity to forma strong overseas wing here under thehonest, dedicated and competent lead-ership they had emphasized.

A huge and well decorated celebrato-

ry cake was pierced in the magnificentsegment of the jubilant program.Members from all associates ofBangladesh Awami League Kuwait, com-munity leaders, and representative of

socio-cultural and economical organiza-tions, journalists of electronic and printmedia as well as vast number expatriateBengalis had participated in the celebra-tion.

Bangladesh Awami League’s 64th founding versary celebrated

Jalalabad Social Welfare Society(Jalalabad association) in Kuwaithosted an iftar and prayer mahfil at

Rajdhani hotel in Kuwait City. The gener-al Secretary of the Society Moinul Al-Islam had conducted the program and itwas presided over by Abdul Hai Mamunthe President in charge of the Society.

Abdul Khalek Chowdhury the chief advi-sor to the society had attended the pro-gram as the chief guest. Also were on thestage- advisor to the Society NajmulIslam, Dibakar Dewanji, Md FazlurRahaman respectively the country man-ager, and the station manager ofBangladesh Biman in Kuwait. Hafiz,

Moulana Abdul Ahad had recited theverses from the Holy Quran and conduct-ed the prayer mahfil.

Mayob Au Mahbub, Salahuddin,Anhar Miah, Nurul Amin Joynal andAkhlakul Ambia had briefly addressedthe presence. Alim uddin, Saad uddin,F’aiz Ahmed and Akhlakuzzaman Munna

had maintained the entire iftar andprayer mahfil. Community leaders andrepresentatives from many political,social and cultural organizations inKuwait had participated in the program.Iftar was served to all in the program.

Jalalabad Social Welfare Society hosts iftar

KERA (Kuwait ErnakulamResidents Association)-prominent NRI association

from Ernakulam, is organizingifthaar meet on Friday 2ndAugust 2013 at Orma restauranthall Abbassiya.

KERA president SubairElamana has welcomed all KERAmembers and comrades to theiftar program. KERA secretaryJomy Augustine mentioned that

along with KERA members, dis-tinguished guests from variousreligious communities and mediagroups of Kuwait also will beattending the iftar program. Healso wished a delightful Ramadanand joyous Eid in advance toeveryone. KERA also sent a con-dolence remark in its press noteon the demise of Madhu Warrier,EDA president.

NAFO remembersMadhu Warrier

It is with deep shock, extremesorrow, and much distress thatNAFO has learnt of the heavenlyabode of Madhu Warrier, 71, whotook his last breath yesterdaymorning at Kerala, India. In thistime of mourning and grief ourmost sincere and heartfelt con-dolences extents to the bereaved

family of the deceased and alsoto all those who loves andrespects Late Madhu Warrier. Thelast rites of the deceased will beheld today. Madhu Warrier is aLife Member of NAFO since itsformation and has served as anExecutive Committee memberand as Cultural Secretary, duringprevious years.

KERA iftar on Aug 2

Information

Embassy

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIAThe Australian Embassy Kuwait does nothave a visa or immigration department. Allprocessing of visas and immigration mattersin conducted by The Australian Consulate-Generalin Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS)immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel:+971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (VisaOffice); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwaitapplications can be lodged at the Australian VisaApplication Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-BanwanBuilding Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, oppositethe Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait.Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday -Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens canapply for tourist visas on-line atwww.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF CANADAThe Embassy of Canada in Kuwait doesnot have a visa or immigration depart-ment. All processing of visa and immi-gration matters including enquiries is conduct-ed by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi,UAE. Individuals who are interested in working,studying, visiting or immigrating to Canadashould contact the Canadian Embassy in AbuDhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.going-tocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy ofCanada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St,Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website atwww.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada isopen from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday throughThursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizensare provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sundaythrough Wednesday.

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EMBASSY OF US Parents of Kuwaiti citizen children maydrop off their sons’ and daughters’ visaapplications - completely free of an inter-view or a trip inside the Embassy. The chil-dren must be under 14 years of age, and addition-al requirements do apply, but the service meansparents will no longer have to schedule individualappointments for their children, nor come insidethe Embassy (unless they are applying for them-selves). The service is only available for childrenholding Kuwaiti passports. To take advantage, par-ents must drop off the following documents: ChildVisa Drop-off cover sheet, available on theEmbassy website(http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.htm) -Child’s passport; The Child’s previous passport, if itcontains a valid US visa; 5x5cm photo of child witheyes open (if uploaded into DS-160, photos mustbe a .jpg between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels,less than 240kb, and cannot be digitally altered);A completed DS-160 form; Visa Fee Receipt fromBurgan Bank; A copy of the valid visa of at leastone parent. If one parent will not travel, provide avisa copy for the traveling parent, and a passportcopy from the non-traveling parent with a letterstating no objection to the child’s travel. - For chil-dren of students (F2): a copy of the child’s I-20.

Children born in the US (with very few excep-tions) are US citizens and would not be eligible fora visa. Parents may drop off the application packetat Window 2 at the Embassy from 1:00 to 3:00 PM,Monday to Wednesday, excluding holidays. Moreinformation is available on the U.S. Embassy web-site: kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.html

EMBASSY OF GREECE The Embassy of Greece in Kuwait has thepleasure to announce that visa applica-tions must be submitted to Schengen VisaApplication Centre (VFS office) located at 12thfloor, Al-Naser Tower, Fahad Al-Salem Street, Al-Qibla area, Kuwait City, (Parking at Souk Watia). Forinformation please call 22281046 from 08:30 to17:00 (Sunday to Thursday). Working hours:Submission from 08:30 to 15:30. Passport collec-tion from 16:00 to 17:00. For visa applicationsplease visit the following websitewww.mfa.gr/kuwait.

W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

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EMBASSY OF INDIADuring the holy month of Ramadan, theoffice timings of the Indian Passport andVisa Service Centres of BLS InternationalVisa Services Co., Kuwait, situated at (i) EmadCommercial Centre, Basement Floor, Ahmed AlJaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait, and (ii) MujammaUnood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street,Fahaheel, Kuwait, will be from 8am to 3pm fromSaturday to Thursday (i.e. six days a week).Tokens for submission of applications will beissued till 2pm only. Delivery of Passports andVisas will be from 11am onwards till 3pm.Embassy of India, Kuwait, will maintain its usualworking hours.

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EMBASSY OF VENEZUELAWorking hours of the Embassy ofVenezuela during the holy month ofRamadan 09.00 till 13.30.

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EMBASSY OF UK As of July 22, the British Embassy’s VisaApplication Center (VAC) will be extend-ing opening hours to be from 08:00 to15:00 (previously from 09:30 to 14:30). This willgenerate more appointments in addition tothe ones created from the Iftar opening timefrom 20:00 - 22:00. This step comes in responseto the increasing number of applicants duringsummer.

The Early Years children of Kuwait National English School recently celebrated the United Nations International Day. The children celebrated their own culturaldiversity with over 30 nationalities represented at KNES. The Reception children also learned and shared their knowledge about countries in Africa. InternationalDay is a great way to create a global understanding and build respect for diversity! The children’s message to everyone is “we are part of a global community”!

KNES celebrates UN International Day

Kuwait Tamilosai Poets Association holds meeting

Kuwait Tamilosai Poets Associationconvened their special monthlymeeting at Kanyakumari Restaurant,

Mirgab, Kuwait. The function was held inthe hail named as “Perunthirai KavignarkalArankam” to commemorate the great vet-eran Tamil Poets Kaviyarasu Kannadasanand Tanjai Ramaiyahdoss to honour them.Legendary Tamil singer, Late T MSoundarrajan, Poet “Kalairnamani” NagoorSaleem and dignified politician Quaid-E-Milleth were also gratefully rememberedduring the function. Also, birthday wishesand poems were recited in the event towish Kalaignar Karunanithi and FamousMusician “Isaignani” Ilaiyaraja for theirachievements in Tamil Arts & Literature.

The meeting was presided over by Poet“Narnmapaattu” Manickam with theManager of TVS-Cargo & Travels co.Alavuddin who reigned as the frontliner inthe stage. The Association’s GeneralSecretary Vittukatti Masthan welcomedthe gathering and briefed about the nobleworks of Poets Nagoor Saleem and Tanjai

Ramaiahdoss. Deputy SecretaryPattukkottai Sathya delivered a scintillat-ing serial speech on the Ancient TamilSangam Literature.

The Association’s Honorary PresidentSadiq Batcha compare the poems ofPattinathaar and Kannadasan, revealedtheir analogy in his address. PoetsWu.Ku.Si, Ilankai Ganesan, A.Kumar andMuthurama lingam chanted their wonder-ful poems. Tamilosai singers Kalibullah,Yaqoob Ali, Gangesh, Denzil and Makizhandelighted the audience with their sweetmelodies. Dr Santhakumar graced theoccassion as the chief guest. MessrsRajarajan, Jaishankar, PinnalurManikandan and Hasan Mohammedwished the Association in their notes, thedignitaries were honoured. Dr AnwarBatcha pin-pointed the effort of formerleader of Indian Union Muslim League,Late Quaid-E-Miuleth to proclaim Tamil asthe classical language in the Indian consti-tutional meet.

An Interesting debate on the Topic of

Poet Kannadasan’s cine-songs, which oneamong the following, whether Romanticor Philosophical or Societal songs won thehearts of Tamil People, was the highlightof the program. President Dr.Kurnar actedas the Jury for the debate with RaniMohan, Sathyan and Anbarasan argued forthe respective titles. The Audience wellreceived the Jury’s verdict for romantic

songs by their collective applauds. DeputyTreasurer, Mannai Raja delivered the voteof thanks with special emphasis for Messrs.Muthuraman and “Aadalarasan” Ashok,Masters Shaheen and Thalib for their tire-less efforts. The Meeting ended happilywith a delicious lunch served to all at 2:00pm.

T V PR O G R A M SMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

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00:00 30 Rock00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition01:00 The Colbert Report GlobalEdition01:30 Seinfeld02:00 Seinfeld02:30 Friends

14:00 Cash In The Attic14:45 Antiques Roadshow15:40 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition17:00 Homes Under The Hammer17:55 Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery18:20 Planet Cake18:50 Rick Stein’s Spain19:40 Come Dine With Me20:35 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition21:20 Antiques Roadshow22:15 Bargain Hunt23:00 Homes Under The Hammer23:55 Cash In The Attic00:40 Come Dine With Me01:30 The Hairy Bikers Come Home02:25 Design Star

13:00 Agatha Christie’s Poirot15:00 Murdoch Mysteries16:00 The Jonathan Ross Show17:00 60 Minute Makeover18:00 Emmerdale19:00 Coronation Street20:00 Coach Trip20:30 Come Dine With Me Ireland21:00 Lewis23:00 Trial & Retribution00:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA01:00 60 Minute Makeover02:00 Emmerdale

00:30 Deadly Affairs01:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner02:10 Blood Relatives03:00 On The Case With Paula Zahn03:45 Killer Kids04:30 Deadly Affairs05:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner06:10 Disappeared07:00 Mystery Diagnosis07:50 Street Patrol08:15 Street Patrol08:40 Real Emergency Calls09:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry?09:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn10:20 Solved11:10 Disappeared12:00 Mystery Diagnosis12:50 Street Patrol

13:15 Street Patrol13:40 Forensic Detectives14:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn15:20 Real Emergency Calls15:45 Who On Earth Did I Marry?16:10 Disappeared17:00 Solved17:50 Forensic Detectives18:40 True Crime With AphroditeJones19:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner20:20 Nightmare Next Door21:10 Couples Who Kill22:00 I Married A Mobster22:25 I Married A Mobster22:50 Blood Relatives23:40 I Almost Got Away With It

00:00 Departures02:00 Globe Trekker04:00 Inside Luxury Travel - VarunSharma05:00 Bizarre Foods America06:00 Eden Eats07:00 Globe Trekker08:00 Departures09:00 Off Limits

13:30 ICC Cricket 36014:00 Cricket Friends Life T2017:00 Trans World Sport18:00 NRL Premiership20:00 AFL Premiership Highlights21:00 PGA Tour Highlights22:00 PGA European TourHighlights23:00 Super Rugby Highlights

At the age of 50, Mike Myers hasdecided to take on a new challenge- documentary filmmaking. The

“Saturday Night Live” alum has directed“Supermensch,” a documentary about tal-ent manager Shep Gordon that will bereleased by A&E IndieFilms (“ TheImposter”). Myers was left intrigued byGordon after meeting him on the set ofthe 1991 comedy “Wayne’s World,” whichfeatured his client Alice Cooper singing“Feed My Frankenstein.” Gordon, who oncedated Sharon Stone, also helped guide thecareers of artists such as Luther Vandrossand Blondie.

In addition to Cooper, Michael Douglasand Sylvester Stallone are among Gordon’s

friends and clients who appear in the doc-umentary, which has no release date.Myers, who describes Gordon in a state-ment as “a perfect combination of BrianEpstein, Marshall McLuhan and Mr Magoo,”spent 10 years convincing Gordon to par-ticipate in a documentary and receivedpermission last year. “I loved him like abrother before we started making this filmand now having sifted through his life andhis legacy, I love him even more.” Myers ismaking his directorial debut and produc-ing “Supermensch,” which will be executiveproduced by Bob DeBitetto, DavidMcKillop and Molly Thompson. The newswas first reported by the Los AngelesTimes. — Reuters

Mike Myers makes directing debut with documentary ‘Supermensch’

Apair of Australian surfing legends, undaunted despitetheir middle age, strapped tiny 3D cameras to theirboards and went in search of big waves whipped up

by Pacific storms. The result was the documentary feature“Storm Surfers 3D” starring Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones, who take viewers on gliding rides through tubularwaves or a pounding wipe-out. The experience for the audi-ence is, Clarke-Jones says, like “surfing without drowning.”As it happens, one of them almost drowned during filming.

Carroll, a two-time world surfing champion in the 1980s,and Clarke-Jones, a big wave pioneer are now 51 and 47,respectively. But rather than retiring from the sport, thelong-time best friends went in the other direction, ridingmassive waves in the open ocean. “Storm Surfers 3D,” cur-rently playing in select US theaters and on video ondemand, follows Carroll and Clarke-Jones as they travel over17,000 km (10,500 miles) during the course of fourAustralian winter months in 2011, completing eight surfingmissions around Australia and Hawaii. What sets “StormSurfers 3D” apart from other surf documentaries such as“The Endless Summer” in 1966 and “Step Into Liquid” in2003 is its 3D footage. Filmmakers Chris Nelius and Justin

McMillan used half a dozen camera systems, had crew mem-bers shooting in the water, on boats, wave-runners and heli-copters to capture the giant waves, winds and rain.However, the 3D GoPro wearable action cameras are whatmake “Storm Surfers 3D” a deeply immersive surfing docu-mentary.

‘In it, beat by beat’The tiny cameras were strapped to the surfboards and

waverunners, or were held in one hand while riding waves,effectively making the surfers human camera cranes.“Instead of just showing amazing waves and daredevil feats,we wanted to make people feel like they’re in it, beat bybeat,” Nelius told Reuters. “When Tom almost drowns, youlive that moment with everyone else as it happens.”

Another first for the film is capturing Carroll and Clarke-Jones surfing a wave at Turtle Dove Shoal - 75 kilometers(47 miles) off the coast of Australia. The break had neverbeen photographed or surfed before due in part to its greatdistance from shore and gale force winds. Balancing theperilous footage is a personal story chronicling the friend-ship between Carroll and Clarke-Jones, two self-described“adrenaline junkies.” —Reuters

ClassifiedsMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Fajr: 03:35Shorook 05:05Duhr: 11:54Asr: 15:30Maghrib: 18:43Isha: 20:10

Prayer timings

No: 15884

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Monday 29/7/2013Airlines Flt Route Time QTR 148 DOHA 0:05JZR 267 BEIRUT 0:20JZR 539 CAIRO 0:40THY 764 SABIHA 1:40ETH 620 ADDIS ABABA 1:45GFA 211 BAHRAIN 1:55AFG 416 JEDDAH 2:15UAE 853 DUBAI 2:25ETD 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 2:30FDB 67 DUBAI 3:10RBG 555 ALEXANDRIA 3:15MSR 612 CAIRO 3:15QTR 138 DOHA 3:30KAC 284 DHAKA 8:15KAC 412 MANILA 6:15KAC 206 ISLAMABAD 7:25KAC 302 MUMBAI 7:50JZR 555 ALEXANDRIA 6:20THY 770 ISTANBUL 4:35DHX 170 BAHRAIN 5:10FDB 69 DUBAI 5:50QTR 6130 DOHA 6:05BAW 157 LONDON 6:30UAE 855 DUBAI 8:25ABY 125 SHARJAH 8:50JZR 503 LUXOR 7:40KAC 1802 CAIRO 13:40KAC 118 NEW YORK 16:00KAC 352 COCHIN 9:55KAC 788 JEDDAH 15:00KAC 344 CHENNAI 9:35KAC 546 ALEXANDRIA 14:15JZR 561 SOHAG 12:00QTR 132 DOHA 9:00ETD 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 9:30FDB 55 DUBAI 9:50IRA 3407 TEHRAN 10:35GFA 213 BAHRAIN 10:40MEA 404 BEIRUT 10:55MSC 403 ASYUT 11:35UAE 871 DUBAI 12:45MSR 610 CAIRO 13:00THY 766 ISTANBUL 13:10KNE 480 TAIF 13:20MPH 93 AMSTERDAM 13:55SVA 500 JEDDAH 14:30

KNE 472 JEDDAH 14:35OMA 645 MUSCAT 14:40RJA 640 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 15:55JAI 576 COCHIN 22:05FDB 59 DUBAI 22:20AIC 975 CHENNAI 22:25UAL 981 BAHRAIN 22:40TAR 327 TUNIS 22:55DLH 636 FRANKFURT 23:10PIA 205 LAHORE 23:15JAI 574 MUMBAI 23:20MSR 614 CAIRO 23:30KLM 411 AMSTERDAM 23:40THY 772 ISTANBUL 23:45KAC 104 LONDON 18:45KAC 542 CAIRO 18:15KAC 804 CAIRO 16:40KAC 742 DAMMAM 19:30KAC 674 DUBAI 19:25KAC 786 JEDDAH 18:30KAC 618 DOHA 19:10KAC 774 RIYADH 19:25JZR 777 JEDDAH 17:50JZR 177 DUBAI 17:30QTR 134 DOHA 16:15ETD 303 ABU DHABI-INTL 16:35UAE 857 DUBAI 16:55ABY 127 SHARJAH 17:10UAL 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 17:15GFA 215 BAHRAIN 17:20SVA 510 RIYADH 17:20NIA 251 ALEXANDRIA 18:00GFA 219 BAHRAIN 19:05MSC 405 SOHAG 19:15JAI 572 MUMBAI 19:35OMA 647 MUSCAT 20:00FDB 61 DUBAI 20:00ABY 129 SHARJAH 20:05MEA 402 BEIRUT 20:15MSR 618 ALEXANDRIA 20:30AXB 489 COCHIN 20:35MSC 401 ALEXANDRIA 21:00ALK 229 COLOMBO 21:10UAE 859 DUBAI 21:15ETD 307 ABU DHABI-INTL 21:30QTR 136 DOHA 21:35GFA 217 BAHRAIN 21:45QTR 146 DOHA 22:00

Departure Flights on Monday 29/7/2013Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 AHMEDABAD 0:05JAI 573 MUMBAI 0:20UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 0:25DLH 637 FRANKFURT 0:30MSR 615 CAIRO 0:30PIA 206 PESHAWAR 0:55JZR 502 LUXOR 1:30THY 773 ISTANBUL 2:20THY 765 ISTANBUL 2:40ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 2:45AFG 416 KABUL 3:15UAE 854 DUBAI 3:45FDB 68 DUBAI 3:50RBG 556 ALEXANDRIA 3:55MSR 613 CAIRO 4:15ETD 306 ABU DHABI 4:20QTR 139 DOHA 4:25QTR 149 DOHA 5:15JZR 560 SOHAG 5:35FDB 70 DUBAI 6:30GFA 212 BAHRAIN 7:00KAC 1801 CAIRO 7:00THY 771 ISTANBUL 7:10KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 7:20QTR 6131 DOHA 7:35BAW 156 LONDON 8:25ABY 126 SHARJAH 9:30KAC 787 JEDDAH 9:35UAE 856 DUBAI 9:50QTR 133 DOHA 10:00KAC 803 CAIRO 10:05ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:15FDB 56 DUBAI 10:30GFA 214 BAHRAIN 11:25KAC 541 CAIRO 11:30IRA 3406 MASHHAD 11:35KAC 165 ROME 11:45MEA 405 BEIRUT 11:55JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:25KAC 103 LONDON 12:30MSC 406 SOHAG 12:35KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:00JZR 176 DUBAI 13:20MSR 611 CAIRO 14:00THY 767 ISTANBUL 14:10

KNE 481 TAIF 14:10UAE 872 DUBAI 14:15KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05MPH 93 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL 15:25KNE 473 JEDDAH 15:30OMA 646 MUSCAT 15:40SVA 501 JEDDAH 15:45KAC 617 DOHA 15:45KAC 773 RIYADH 16:00KAC 741 DAMMAM 16:30RJA 641 AMMAN 16:55QTR 135 DOHA 17:20ETD 304 ABU DHABI 17:20JZR 538 CAIRO 17:40ABY 128 SHARJAH 17:50UAE 858 DUBAI 18:15GFA 216 BAHRAIN 18:20SVA 511 RIYADH 18:20UAL 982 BAHRAIN 18:30JZR 266 BEIRUT 18:40NIA 252 ALEXANDRIA 19:00GFA 220 BAHRAIN 19:50MSC 404 ASYUT 20:15KAC 283 DHAKA 20:15JAI 571 MUMBAI 20:35FDB 62 DUBAI 20:40ABY 120 SHARJAH 20:45KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 20:50OMA 648 MUSCAT 20:55KAC 351 KOCHI 21:05MEA 403 BEIRUT 21:15MSR 619 ALEXANDRIA 21:30DHX 171 BAHRAIN 21:50MSC 402 ALEXANDRIA 22:00ETD 308 ABU DHABI 22:15ALK 230 COLOMBO 22:20UAE 860 DUBAI 22:25QTR 137 DOHA 22:35KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:40GFA 218 BAHRAIN 22:45FDB 60 DUBAI 23:00KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 23:00JAI 575 ABU DHABI 23:05QTR 147 DOHA 23:05JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA 23:20KAC 411 BANGKOK 23:40TAR 328 DUBAI 23:45

CHANGE OF NAME

SITUATION VACANT

FOR SALES

112

Sakila Ahmed, S/O JahoorAli, Srai Nankar, Pick NagarKandhai, Partapgarh. U.Pwant to change my nameto Shakeel Ahmed for allpurposes from nowonwards. (C 4467)

23-7-2013

A small family look to hire ahousemaid (Sri Lankan,Filipina, or Nepalese) whocan understand Arabic anddo laundry and ironingjobs. 55116149, 99827598.(C 4469)

25-7-2013

REQUIRED URGENTLYAs part of its activities development in Kuwait a reputed cateringcompany is looking for candidates to fill the below positions onlocal release basis.

QHSE SUPERVISORTo execute and maintain the entire gamut of Food Safety, QHSEprocedures and SOPs for multi location operations with a focusto achieve highest industrial standards. The job involves frequentsite visits, Audits, attending client meetings, and conductingtrainings at various levels.

• Must be action oriented with the ability to manage multiplepriorities Sound knowledge of OSHA, and Both internationaland country specific Food Safety regulations• Experience as Lead audit or internal auditor in ISO 22000:2005and HACCP• Excellent interpersonal skills• Strong verbal/written communication skills• Bilingual in English & Hindi. Arabic Will be an added advantage• Degree in Food Science or Microbiology• Minimum 5 years experience in Food Industry preferably withHotel/Industrial catering.

AUTO MECHANIC CUM FLEET COORDINATOR• Diploma in Auto mobile engineering.• Minimum 3-5 years experience.• Hands on in carrying out preventive and routine maintenanceof all types of vehicles.• Computer knowledge is must.

Interested candidates with transferable Visa No.18 maysend CVs to the following contacts:

Email: hrd@tag.com.kw or Fax: 24313152

Randy Anderson reached into a dis-play case, carefully picked up anantique fishing lure and handled it

with the same care as some would a raregem. “This is the Haskell Minnow, one ofthe rarest fishing lures in the country,”Anderson said of the copper trolling lurethat has the intricate detail of a minnow.“It was patented in 1859 and to myknowledge, only 13 to 15 have beenfound. “There weren’t very many of themmade in the first place. And those thatwere are hard to find now.” So how muchdo you want for that gem, Randy? “Well,let’s just I’ve been offered a lot of moneyfor this lure,” said Anderson, a lure collec-tor from Bartlesville, Okla. “But I’m not sell-ing.

“You can replace money. But lures asrare as this one, you can’t.” The fever overcollecting rare lures can drive prices tolofty heights. Collectors still talk about a2003 auction, in which a buyer paid$100,000 for a one-of-a-kind 10-inch ver-sion of the Haskell Minnow. He labeledthe copper bait the Holy Grail of lures.With the downturn in the economy,many doubt the lure would bring any-where near that today. But the intrigue ofantique baits still hooks plenty of fisher-men who look for a tie to the past.

That much was obvious when theNational Fishing Lure Collectors Clubbrought its annual convention to theSheraton Kansas City Hotel at CrownCenter this month. The event, co-chairedby local collectors Jack Looney and DonGetz, filled the exhibit hall with more than500 tables of vintage fishing tackle every-thing from rare lures to old rods and reelsto minnow buckets. Some of it was price-less. Some of it was for sale for as little as$10.

“Just because a lure is old doesn’tmean it is valuable,” Getz said. “If therewere a lot of them made and they’re rela-tively easy to find, they aren’t worth thatmuch. “But it’s still fun to collect them.They’re a sign of the past.” Indeed, theshow attracted hundreds of club mem-bers, some of whom came from Japan,Canada, New York and California, whohave a fascination with the history of thesport they love so much.

Anderson, a sheet-metal contractorwho began collecting antique fishingequipment in 1982, was among themany displaying their collections.Included was an impressive collection ofTalbot reels, some of which are estimatedto be more than 100 years old. The reels,first made in Nevada, Mo, from 1892 to1913, then in Kansas City, were designed

by a watchmaker, William H. Talbot. Oneparticularly rare baitcaster featured dia-mond bearings.

Anderson has amassed his collectionthrough the normal routes scouringestate sales and antique shops, bidding inauctions, and buying and trading withother collectors. Looney, who lives in Lee’sSummit, Mo., started collecting antiquefishing equipment in 1978 and now hasalmost 7,000 items. That includes not onlyrare lures, but the boxes they came in.

“Some of the boxes are rarer than thelures themselves,” Looney said. “The fish-ermen in those days may have taken thelures out and put them in their tackleboxes and used the the boxes to storenails and screws. Or they might have justthrown them away.” Looney enjoys dis-playing his rare items. But he also enjoysfishing with the less valuable vintagetackle he has collected.

Last year, he landed a 7-pound basson pre-1940s tackle a Heddon Pal tubu-lar steel rod, a Shakespeare Marhoff reeland a Creek Chub Baby Injured Minnowlure. Members of the collectors club think

it is the largest bass ever caught on vin-tage tackle. For Joe Stagnitti of upstateNew York, collecting antique fishingequipment has gone from a hobby to afull-time job. He remembers how he gotstarted.

“I grew up in antique county inupstate New York,” he said. “There wereold fishing lures everywhere. “I remem-bering buying one lure for $3. I sold it afew years later for $6,500. That’s when Ireally got interested in collecting.”

Stagnitti has a collection of some ofthe rarest lures known. Included is aHeddon Black Sucker, made from 1924 to1926. The price tag? $22,000. “It was rela-tively scarce to begin with because thereweren’t a lot of people who fished formuskies,” he said. “Now it’s very rare.”Stagnitti also has other rare lures that heoffers for sale. He’s lucky, he says, becausehe’s able to combine his hobby with busi-ness. “I love to fish, but I appreciate thehistory of this sport more than anythingelse,” he said. “I am just fascinated bysome of the things they came up withyears ago.” — MCT

The lure of history turns fishingequipment into rare gems

Mitsubishi Lancer 2009, sil-ver color, GLX - km 82000,KD 1650. Tel: 66729295.

(C 4470)

Nissan Maxima 2004, gold-en color, very good condi-tion. KD 1,150, Tel:50994848. (C 4471)

29-7-2013

Randy Anderson, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, displays part of his collec-tion of rare Talbot Reels, which were manufactured in the late 1800sand early 1900s in Nevada, Missouri, and Kansas City. — MCT photos

The Haskell Minnow, one of the most rare and most valuable, fishinglures. It was patented in 1859.

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Religion, truth and the world of philosophy and ideas are of interest toyou. You may find yourself having religious discussions and doing research. You add a spe-cial touch to any social affair. Your love of simplicity is good for politics. It brings out thetruth and a sense of honesty in a group. You are freedom loving, independent and at times,even a trifle remote. You are not bound by relationships and are thus not much of a domes-tic. You will find, however, that the relationships of present are beginning to deepen. Thiscould be a bright and meaningful time. Your communication skills are at a high-water mark.You must be careful not to become carried away with exercise when it is hot. Try exercisingduring the early mornings.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

The young people in your care seem to do nothing but argue. After youhave separated them to different rooms every time they fail to find a good solution, you willsee some positive outcome. You are fair-minded and aboveboard, always direct and honest inthought. You manage to come up with things to keep everyone busy and out of trouble. Youare more interested in eternal thoughts and broad landscapes than in minute details. You mayfind yourself interested in writing for a travel agent. You always manage to help others see thepicture right away. Farsighted, you have a wandering mind that loves to travel. Your presencehas a way of easing the minds and feelings of others. Your afternoon is relaxing and theevening romantic—who could ask for more?

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

A roundtable discussion may ensue after a family meal today. New plans arein the works for either several short trips or a nice long vacation. In-depth dis-

cussions and probing conversations find you at your mental best. This may be a good time foryour imagination to kick in when it comes to ideas and thinking. This, coupled with the abilityto put your thoughts into words, allows you to captivate and charm others. You find it easy tobe compassionate and others can see that you care about them. You also understand and havea natural appreciation for your elders, whom you will take great care to include into your plans.The arts, philosophy and great ideas in general are what you enjoy now. Future-oriented, youhave a sense of your own destiny.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You are happy wherever you are, but today you are your happiest in your own pri-vate surroundings with a favorite pet friend nearby. Religion, truth and the world of

philosophy and ideas are of interest. Your love of simplicity is good for politics too. It brings out thetruth and a sense of honesty in a group. As social situations come from nowhere—you seem to shine.You will have a grasp for abstract and spiritual ideas and the ability to present or communicate theseto others. As communication between friends is important to you, you may find a shopping expedi-tion, or some form of entertainment with your friends, an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. Ascience fiction movie may be in order tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

You are open-minded and democratic and have a definite sense of mission.Above all, you are constantly willing to move forward. You could be teaching people to readbetter or helping those who have never read before. This is the sort of upbeat and helpful vol-unteer service you might enjoy. If you are not helping others, you will naturally tune in tosomeone that needs guidance. This is the frame of mind you are in today and you are deter-mined to accomplish this deed—perhaps even subconsciously. Social opportunities are plenti-ful, whether it is in a religious atmosphere or a neighborhood get-together. You have a naturalability to express yourself and you may even like to perform a bit. You may enjoy a visiting rela-tive or friend later this evening.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

There will often be opportunities to lend a helping hand. This couldmean a friend is moving or a neighbor is doing some home repairs. Today you will notignore or avoid opportunities to help out and give of yourself. You are learning to trustthose intuitive feelings of yours. You are beginning to be more at home with the psycheand psychological—a sense of the mystic too. You are able to carry ideas and dreams intoreality, to make the spirit matter. People love to listen to what you have to say and mayeven come to you for psychic guidance. This is a good time for surrounding yourself withfriends and young people and for having fun. You appreciate your particular situation andwill enjoy support from those around you.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

You tend to avoid getting personal when it comes to your own emotions.Today you are surrounded by people that are fun and it is not necessary for concern. There is achance to interact with classmates or co-worker friends in a competitive way. There are muchlaughter and pleasant feelings. Your home and surroundings tend to be very traditional andyou could find yourself changing, repairing or picking out pictures for a hall or a room. Thisevening you may take some extra time out of your own schedule to thank someone that hasbeen very, very helpful to you recently. This may mean some gift or some of your own time. Agood gift may be a treat from your own kitchen or a copy of one of those pictures you havebeen working with.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You can exhibit great consideration to the needs of others just now andare in a good position to communicate concerning groups and society in

general. Perhaps some community need has your attention. You make a positive differenceif you only take a small amount of time to act on this now—others will follow. You couldeven have a special gift for spanning the generation gap, bringing older and younger spiritstogether. A lifelong trait of yours is to help with lost animals, needy children and perhaps,older people. You are a born doer, with an incredible drive to accomplish and achieve in life.Your ambitions are backed by the will to get things done. Once you get involved, you will behappy with the response of others.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Although you have a hard time parting with your collections you aredetermined to become more organized. You aim to have everything picked

up and in its place. As far as those old clothes are concerned, a trip to the thrift shop wouldbe a wonderful thing to do. This afternoon you could discover yourself through creativityand self-expression. Ideas about some science fiction story or perhaps the beginning of anoutline for a story are possible. Try the plot out on friends and see how it works. Words andthoughts are plentiful—highlighting whatever subject is at hand. You really do have verydifferent ideas and ways of expressing them. Your home environment, friends and neigh-bors will enjoy your company today.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

CAPRICORNA clear-minded insight into your own plans and methods is available to

you today. This is a good day to share your dreams with others. Each personshould take a little time to talk about just where or how they may want their lives to grow.This may bring about some private decisions toward your own goals. This afternoon youwill put your mind to work and take care of any details that you may have. You are at yourmental best with sharp ideas and clear thoughts. Problems and obstacles that haveseemed difficult before now should find easy explanation under your keen examination.This evening you may enjoy the company of friends and neighbors. Others may find you

especially witty and eccentric just now.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

You may decide to hang pictures or move plants around this morning. Youraim for today is to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Health and workgoals take on greater importance for you as well and you may find yourself rearranging furni-ture in order to fit in that new exercise machine. Your keyword is responsibility—the ability torespond. You are able to find yourself enjoying all sorts of good relationships, rather than alone.Some of your friends may invite you to a social event this afternoon and you enjoy being withyour friends. Many times you mirror someone by taking on his or her style of doing or sayingthings. You can be peaceful, calm and undisturbed. You are a born strategist at bringing out thebest in others.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Taking care of personal chores today is a major theme. You crave organi-zation and practicality and you want to get things accomplished. Learning, communicatingand the exchange of ideas are the experiences you crave as a new phase begins in your life.You are a person with something to say and you realize that others have information that isessential to your goals. This could be a time of much mental energy and initiative. If you arenot working today, that professional attitude is carried out in all you attempt to accomplish.You may find yourself communicating and helping an older persons this evening—perhapsa family member. You are wise to keep the communications active so as to stay aware of anyproblems that may exist.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 265

ACROSS1. (computer science) A computer that is run-ning software that allows users to leave mes-sages and access information of general interest.4. Trees or shrubs of the families Ebenaceae orSapotaceae or Styracaceae or Symplocaceae.12. Acute delirium caused by alcohol poisoning.15. Electrical conduction through a gas in anapplied electric field.16. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug(trade name Clinoril).17. A groove or furrow (especially one in softearth caused by wheels).18. A river in north central Switzerland that runsnortheast into the Rhine.19. The act of going from one place to another.20. Jordan's port.22. An accidental hole that allows something(fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.24. Be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specificpiece of information.26. An aggressive remark directed at a personlike a missile and intended to have a tellingeffect.28. With no effort to conceal.29. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkaliearth group.34. European freshwater fish resembling theroach.37. A port in southwestern Sweden.41. An agency of the United Nations affiliatedwith the World Bank.44. 100 puls equal 1 afghani.45. Obvious and dull.47. Offering fun and gaiety.48. A river in southeastern France.50. A learner who is enrolled in an educationalinstitution.53. An Arabic speaking person who lives inArabia or North Africa.54. Long-legged spotted cat of Africa and south-western Asia having nonretractile claws.56. An esoteric or occult matter that is tradition-ally secret.58. The sixth month of the civil year.61. Sour or bitter in taste.63. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.66. A river in north central Switzerland that runsnortheast into the Rhine.70. A constellation in the southern hemispherenear Telescopium and Norma.71. In a state of sleep.75. Not reflecting light.76. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meattrimmed off.78. American prizefighter who won the worldheavyweight championship three times (born in1942).79. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to butheavier than beer.80. Low stingless nettle of Central and SouthAmerica having velvety brownish-greentoothed leaves and clusters of small green flow-ers.81. Any of numerous hairy-bodied insectsincluding social and solitary species.

DOWN1. Any of numerous local fertility and naturedeities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.2. (Scotland) A slope or hillside.3. Lean end of the neck.4. Standard time in the 5th time zone west ofGreenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian.5. English statesman famous for his oratory.6. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor

of a person or cause).7. Fourth month of the Revolutionary calendar(December and January).8. Again but in a new or different way.9. A lipoprotein that transports cholesterol inthe blood.10. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.11. A fraudulent business scheme.12. Any of numerous low-growing cushion-forming plants of the genus Draba havingrosette-forming leaves and terminal racemes ofsmall flowers with scapose or leafy stems.13. Of or relating to o occurring in a tube such ase.g. the fallopian tube or eustachian tube.14. A support or foundation.21. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on askewer usually with vegetables.23. Scottish sea captain who was hired to pro-tect British shipping in the Indian Ocean andthen was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701).25. (medicine) Having or experiencing a rapidonset and short but severe course.27. A minute epidermal pore in a leaf or stem.30. Wild sheep of northern Africa.31. A feeling of agitation expressed in continualmotion.32. (computer science) A standardized languagefor the descriptive markup of documents.33. The basic unit of money in Ghana.35. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.36. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalentmetallic element.38. A drama set to music.39. Living in or characteristic of farming or coun-try life.40. Fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of e.g. apuffball or stinkhorn.42. Pompous or pretentious talk or writing.43. The United Nations agency concerned withatomic energy.46. The capital and largest city of Ghana with adeep-water port.49. A midnight meeting of witches to practicewitchcraft and sorcery.51. A police officer who investigates crimes.52. Made agreeably cold (especially by ice).55. Living quarters reserved for wives and con-cubines and female relatives in a Muslim house-hold.57. A colorless and odorless inert gas.59. Of or relating to the dura mater.60. Having winglike extensions.62. An island (part of Campania) in the Bay ofNaples in southern Italy.64. A short labored intake of breath with themouth open.65. A three-tone Chadic language.67. According to the Old Testament he was apagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9thcentury BC).68. A rapid series of short loud sounds (as mightbe heard with a stethoscope in some types ofrespiratory disorders).69. A member of an Iroquoian people formerlyliving on the south shore of Lake Erie in north-ern Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania and west-ern New York.72. A health resort near a spring or at the sea-side.73. A local computer network for communica-tion between computers.74. A loose sleeveless outer garment made fromaba cloth.77. Being nine more than ninety.

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34s ta r s

Daily SuDoku

inf or m at ionMONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558

Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622

Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967

Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638

Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241

OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

For labor-related inquiries and complaints:

Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082

Mirqab 22456536

Sharq 22465401

Salmiya 25746401

Jabriya 25316254

Maidan Hawally 25623444

Bayan 25388462

Mishref 25381200

W Hawally 22630786

Sabah 24810221

Jahra 24770319

New Jahra 24575755

West Jahra 24772608

South Jahra 24775066

North Jahra 24775992

North Jleeb 24311795

Ardhiya 24884079

Firdous 24892674

Omariya 24719048

N Khaitan 24710044

Fintas 23900322

Al-Madeena 22418714

Al-Shuhada 22545171

Al-Shuwaikh 24810598

Al-Nuzha 22545171

Sabhan 24742838

Al-Helaly 22434853

Al-Faiha 22545051

Al-Farwaniya 24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983

Al-Fahaheel 23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983

Ahmadi 23980088

Al-Mangaf 23711183

Al-Shuaiba 23262845

Al-Jahra 25610011

Al-Salmiya 25616368

GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE

Plastic Surgeons

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari 22617700

Dr. Abdel Quttainah 25625030/60

Family Doctor

Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists

Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians

DrAdrian arbe 23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272

Dr. Salem soso 22618787

General Surgeons

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Paediatricians

Dr. Khaled Hamadi 25665898

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard 25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar 22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof 25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare 23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada) 25655535

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer 22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan 22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash 22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan 25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari 25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 25345875

Gastrologists

Dr. Sami Aman 22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali 22633135

Endocrinologist

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924

Physiotherapists & VD

Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart

DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555 MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Soor CenterTel: 2290-1677Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.comwww.soorcenter.com

Psychologists/Psychotherapists

PRIVATE CLINICS

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kaizen center25716707

Afghanistan 0093Albania 00355Algeria 00213Andorra 00376Angola 00244Anguilla 001264Antiga 001268Argentina 0054Armenia 00374Australia 0061Austria 0043Bahamas 001242Bahrain 00973Bangladesh 00880Barbados 001246Belarus 00375Belgium 0032Belize 00501Benin 00229Bermuda 001441Bhutan 00975Bolivia 00591Bosnia 00387Botswana 00267Brazil 0055Brunei 00673Bulgaria 00359Burkina 00226Burundi 00257Cambodia 00855Cameroon 00237Canada 001Cape Verde 00238Cayman Islands 001345Central African 00236Chad 00235Chile 0056China 0086Colombia 0057Comoros 00269Congo 00242Cook Islands 00682Costa Rica 00506Croatia 00385Cuba 0053Cyprus 00357Cyprus (Northern) 0090392Czech Republic 00420Denmark 0045Diego Garcia 00246Djibouti 00253Dominica 001767Dominican Republic 001809Ecuador 00593Egypt 0020El Salvador 00503England (UK) 0044Equatorial Guinea 00240Eritrea 00291Estonia 00372Ethiopia 00251Falkland Islands 00500Faroe Islands 00298Fiji 00679Finland 00358France 0033French Guiana 00594French Polynesia 00689Gabon 00241Gambia 00220Georgia 00995Germany 0049Ghana 00233Gibraltar 00350Greece 0030Greenland 00299Grenada 001473Guadeloupe 00590Guam 001671Guatemala 00502Guinea 00224Guyana 00592Haiti 00509Holland (Netherlands) 0031Honduras 00504Hong Kong 00852Hungary 0036Ibiza (Spain) 0034Iceland 00354India 0091Indian Ocean 00873Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098Iraq 00964Ireland 00353Italy 0039Ivory Coast 00225Jamaica 001876Japan 0081Jordan 00962Kazakhstan 007Kenya 00254Kiribati 00686Kuwait 00965Kyrgyzstan 00996Laos 00856Latvia 00371Lebanon 00961Liberia 00231Libya 00218Lithuania 00370Luxembourg 00352Macau 00853Macedonia 00389Madagascar 00261Majorca 0034Malawi 00265Malaysia 0060Maldives 00960Mali 00223Malta 00356Marshall Islands 00692Martinique 00596Mauritania 00222Mauritius 00230Mayotte 00269Mexico 0052Micronesia 00691Moldova 00373Monaco 00377Mongolia 00976Montserrat 001664Morocco 00212Mozambique 00258Myanmar (Burma) 0095Namibia 00264Nepal 00977Netherlands (Holland)0031Netherlands Antilles 00599New Caledonia 00687New Zealand 0064Nicaragua 00505Nigar 00227Nigeria 00234Niue 00683Norfolk Island 00672Northern Ireland (UK)0044North Korea 00850Norway 0047Oman 00968Pakistan 0092Palau 00680Panama 00507Papua New Guinea 00675Paraguay 00595Peru 0051Philippines 0063Poland 0048Portugal 00351Puerto Rico 001787Qatar 00974Romania 0040Russian Federation 007Rwanda 00250Saint Helena 00290Saint Kitts 001869Saint Lucia 001758Saint Pierre 00508Saint Vincent 001784Samoa US 00684Samoa West 00685San Marino 00378Sao Tone 00239Saudi Arabia 00966Scotland (UK) 0044Senegal 00221Seychelles 00284Sierra Leone 00232Singapore 0065Slovakia 00421Slovenia 00386Solomon Islands 00677

INTERNATIONALCALLS

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

l if e s t y l eG O S S I P

The 38-year-old singer, who isexpecting a boy with husbandJosh Duhamel, will be rewarded

for delivering their baby with a giftfrom her loving hubby, although hehasn’t worked out what he’s going toget her yet. He told People magazine:“Yes, I will be getting her a push pres-ent. I just don’t know quite what yet.“You got Christmas, you got birthdays,you got Valentine’s, you got Mother’sDay, you got every other thing inbetween ... I don’t know who came upwith this push present idea, but I thinkit’s probably a female.” Fergie - realname Stacy Ann Ferguson - recently

gave Josh a present of her own andchanged her surname to match his.Although she wanted the gesture to bea surprise Josh found out through themedia. He added: “We’ve talked aboutit forever - she wanted to do this yearsago. I think it’s very sweet. It takes a lotof work for a girl to change her name. “Ididn’t know, she was actually going todo it as a surprise. Who knows over atwhatever office you go into to do that,somebody over there must have leakedit.” Fergie’s star-studded baby shower, atwhich guests will include KellyOsbourne, Julianne Hough and RyanMurphy.

Fergie’s husband plansto get her a ‘push present’

Liam Gallagher has claimed he isn’t“good enough” for Nicole Appleton.The Beady Eye frontman hasn’t seen

his wife of five years since it was claimed hehad fathered a child with US journalist LizaGhorbani, but he told his mother-in-lawMary Appleton he felt the All Saints starwould be better off without him during achance encounter at his London home.Mary, 72, said: “He walked up to me and said,‘Nic deserves better than me’. “It was a vilething to say - such a horrible cliche. Ithought that’s him trying to let her downgently. I knew I would cry. “I thought he wasstill in Spain, so I went round to pick up postfor Nic. And I wanted to check on their cat.“When I opened the door, I heard Liam say,‘Who is it?’ and I thought, ‘Oh my god. Whatam I going to say to him?’ “Then he said thatabout Nic being better off without him. I

didn’t want him to see me cry so I took thecat and got into the car where my husbandwas waiting. “I turned to him in tears andsaid, ‘Their marriage is over’. Up to that point,we just hadn’t known what to think.” Liambroke the news of the allegations to Nicolewhen she was holidaying in DisneyWorldFlorida with their son Gene, 12, Lennon - therocker’s 13-year-old son with first wife PatsyKensit - her sisters and their children, andthe ‘Never Ever’ hitmaker “fell to the floor”after the call. Her sister Lori told the SundayMirror newspaper: “I was there when Nic gotthat call. We’d had just one ride. She went‘bam’. She fell to the floor and we had to puta rug underneath her. She is absolutely dev-astated. “I’ve been with Nic all these daysand he hasn’t been in touch, other than thefirst day in Disney when he called and justtold her straight up.”

Gallagher not ‘good enough’ for Nicole

Dr Conrad Murray will be released from prison onOctober 28. The disgraced doctor has beengranted early release and will leave Los Angeles

County Jail in three months time, having served lessthan half of his four-year sentence for the involuntarymanslaughter of Michael Jackson. Murray - who admin-istered the fataldose of anaesthet-ic Propofol whichkilled the King ofPop in June 2009 -was convicted inNovember 2011and has spent hissentence in solitaryconfinement, butwith access to a TVand mobile phone.He has been grant-ed early release forhis good conductbehind bars and toease the burden onthe prison system.A source said: “Hehas been a modelinmate and theauthorities havegranted him anearly release dueto that goodbehavior and theo v e r c r o w d e dCalifornia jail sys-tem.” However, the decision to release Murray has infu-riated the ‘Thriller’ star’s family, including his childrenPrince, 16, Paris, 15, and 11-year-old Blanket. Michael’smother Katherine said: “It is not right I will never beable to see my son again, while his mother can seehim.” A source added to the Daily Mirror newspaper:“Murray is the killer of Michael in their eyes. He costthem their son and father. “For him to get out intwo years is an insult. They still feel he should

have been tried for murder.”

Murrayto leave jail in October

Lady Gaga has been branded a “bully anda monster”. The ‘Born this Way’ hitmaker -who has repeatedly spoken out against

bullying - has been accused of unpredictablebehavior which has seen her lash out at herstaff for no reason, leaving others afraid to stepin or speak out. One former crew member whoworked on her ‘Monster ’s Ball ’ world tourbetween 2009 and 2011 said: “She would havea prayer circle before each show. “One nightshe just suddenly turned on one of the backing

singers, branding her unprofessional andungrateful. “She crucified her in front of dozensof people - she skinned this girl alive. “It was sopainful to watch - and no, you couldn’t step in.“She offers support to her fans who are victimsof bullying and calls them her monsters - butshe is a bully and a monster herself.” A friend ofthe 27-year-old singer claimed the star - whobegan dating Taylor Kinney after meeting himon the set of her video for ‘You & I’, a track shewrote for former lover Luc Carl - is “obsessed”

with men. She will do anything to get a guy.She is a complete exhibitionist. And the friendwent on to claim Gaga - whose real name isStefani Germanotta - lives in an “alternate uni-verse” and has morphed into her pop personaout of the spotlight. They said: “Nobody callsher Stefani. Even her mum calls her Gaga. “Shecan no longer tell the difference between reali-ty and performance. “It is like she is living herentire life in this alternate universe that she hascreated.”

Lady Gaga branded a ‘bully’

Justin Bieber has been branded “disgusting” for spitting at fans.The ‘Believe’ hitmaker was slammed after showering devotedsupporters waiting outside the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto,

Canada, on Thursday with his saliva, much to the amusement of hisfriends. However, others took to twitter to condemn his behavior.Katie Langley wrote: “Justin Bieber spat at his fans from a balconybecause he was bored. That’s just downright disgusting.” BloggerRebekka-Mary Darling added: “Justin Bieber spitting? Seriously?Can’t you afford a tissue with all your millions? It’s revolting.” Andgossip columnist Rob Shuter wrote: “I’m so over this clown.” Despitehis antics, Justin had earlier praised the waiting fans. Posting a videoof the crowds outside the hotel on Instagram, he wrote: “I wake upthis morning to this :) Best fans in the world. #beliebers #sexyfans.(sic)” The incident is the fourth spitting controversy the teenage starhas been involved in this year. Earlier this month, DJ Addison Ulhaqclaimed the ‘Baby’ singer spat in his eye, nose and mouth and insult-ed him during a row at the Social Room in Columbus, Ohio. InMarch, Justin denied allegations from one of his neighbours that hehad spat in his face during a row, and in January a woman claimedhe or a friend had spat in her drink at a North Carolina gym.

Justin Bieberslammed for

spitting on fans

The 25-year-old singer - who releas-es her second album in October -met the heir to the British throne

when she was 13 and she will never for-get her royal encounter because he wassuch a lovely, done-to-earth man. Shesaid: “When I was about 13, I was in amusical and he [Prince Charles] came tosee the musical and I got to meet himafterwards and he was really cool.” Elizacomes from a very successful musicalfamily. Her father is John Caird, the stagedirector and playwright as well as anHonorary Associate Director of the RoyalShakespeare Company. Her mother isTony Award-winning musical theatrestar, Frances Ruffelle. Eliza is also thegranddaughter of Sylvia Young, founderof the theatre school. The ‘Big When I

Was Little ‘ singer also revealed she andCharles bonded over his then-teenagesons Prince William and Prince Harry’slove of video game ‘Tony Hawk’s ProSkater 2’. She recalled: “We all had to livein this house and it was a bunch of kidsin this musical thing. We were addictedto ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2’ and he wasasking us what we did when we were inthis house and we told him and he waslike, ‘yes I know that game! My sons playthat game.’ He then said, ‘I like it, I gave ita go the other day.’ It was the best thing -he was a hero.” Prince Charles became agrandfather this week when William andhis wife Duchess Catherine - formerlyknown as Kate Middleton - welcomedtheir son Prince George Alexander Louisinto the world.

Doolittle thinks Prince Charles is really cool

The 31-year-old royal has been working as a search-and-rescue pilot for the RAF in Anglesey, Wales buthis tour of duty ends in September and he is planning

the military move so he and wife Duchess Catherine andtheir baby son Prince George - who was born last Monday -can be based in London. William will rejoin his former regi-ment the Blues and Royals as a captain in the HouseholdCavalry’s Mounted Regiment, where his duties will includea role in mounted ceremonial parades, inspecting soldiersbefore they go on duty and drafting career reports fortroops within his squadron. The division, which is based inKnightsbridge, west London, do not get sent on toursabroad. An army source told the Sunday Express newspa-per: “Our understanding is that he will finish with the RAFhave some leave that is due and then return to the Bluesand Royals and serve with the Mounted Regiment, wherehe will take an appointment as second in command of asquadron. It is not a difficult role but it requires a lot ofattention to detail.” A royal spokesperson refused to con-firm the claims, saying only: “We will make a statementabout the prince’s future role in due course.”

Prince William to rejoin the army

Pregnant KatiePrice is sufferingfrom “really bad”

back pain and is “strug-gling to walk”. The 35-year-old star is currentlyexpecting her first childwith husband KieranHayler and has beenexperiencing unbear-able pain as a side-effectof the pregnancy. Katieis in such distress shehas gone onto Twitter toask her fans for somehome remedies to helpease her condition. Shetweeted: “My back wasbad with all my kidswhen I was pregnant!This time I’m strugglingto walk this is real badreally bad any ideaswhat will help?” Her fol-lowers were quick toreply and many suggest-ed massages, pelvic sup-port belt, rest and relax-ation while another toldher to put frozen peason her back. But Katieadmitted she’d alreadytried relieving her dis-comfort with a bag oficy vegetables, postingon Twitter: “I tried coldpeas last night on myback x” And the businesswoman insisted rest and relaxation are not an option because her threeother kids - 11-year-old son Harvey, from her relationship with soccer play-er Dwight Yorke, and son Junior, eight, and daughter Princess Tiaamii, six,with Peter Andre - are off school and “bossing” her around. In other tweets,she said: “I only rest at night as I have my children bossing me around allday lol ... I don’t have a nanny in summer holidays as my kids are not atschool so they have me 24 7 xx (sic)” Katie has previously revealed this hasbeen her most “difficult” pregnancy. She said: “I have moaned a bit thispregnancy because there have been things wrong, but it doesn’t mean tosay you can’t do anything. I’m not going into detail but it has been moredifficult. But the next few months I’m really looking forward to. There’s lotshappening.” Although Katie’s due date is still unknown she is in the finalstages of pregnancy and is expecting to give birth “soon”.

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

l if e s t y l eG O S S I P

Chloe Grace Moretz was star-struck whenshe first met Julianne Moore and MichellePfeiffer. The 16-year-old actress stars along-

side Julianne in the upcoming remake of cult hor-ror ‘Carrie’ and she appeared in vampire comedy-drama ‘Dark Shadows’ with Michelle and sheadmits she was a little lost for words when shemet both screen icons because she is such a fan of

their films. She said: “People like Julianne Mooreand Michelle Pfeiffer on ‘Dark Shadows’ - I grew upwatching them and they’re brilliant actresses, soyou do have a point where you think, ‘How am Ihere acting with you? How is that a thing that’shappening?’ That does blow your mind.” However,the ‘Kick-Ass 2’ star made sure she acted profes-sionally on set and got past her awe on the first

day of filming. She explained to Empire magazine:“I try to let that happen on the first day. You can’tbe some crazy fan when you’re acting oppositethem. You’ll just come off really hungry and weird.“I try not to idolize anyone when I’m working withthem because I don’t think that’s very helpfulwhen you’ve got to work with them every day. Youneed to be on the same level.”

Moretz: Moore and Pfeiffer blew my mind

Kati

ecr

ippl

ed w

ith

pain

The 44-year-old actress has two sons,Sasha, six, and Samuel, five, with herlong-term partner Liev Schreiber but

admits she would consider having anotherchild if someone could promise her that it’dbe a girl. Speaking to Britain’s OK! maga-zine, she said: “Two boys can be a lot tohandle and sometimes you think it wouldbe easier with two girls playing with theirtea sets and dolls. But Liev loves havingtwo boys and I suppose I might considerhaving another child if someone couldguarantee me it would be a girl.” The ‘Diana’star admits she found juggling mother-

hood and her career difficult because shestruggled losing the baby weight shegained after she had her children. Sheexplained: “The hardest part was gettingback in shape after my first boy was born. Igained 45lb and it was a struggled to getback to my previous weight and shape. Iused to do a lot of Pilates and other kindsof high-tech exercise routines to keep ingood form but now I play a lot of tennis.“Things are easier now in that I’m able toget much more sleep and I have moreenergy in the mornings at least. I don’t findI need as much make-ups in the mornings!”

Naomi Watts wouldlike to have a daughter

John Malkovich’s classmates used topay him to do their homework. Theactor-and-fashion designer admits

his “macho” friends were much less inter-ested in the creative side of their collegetheatre course than he was, so they usedto give him money if he did their work,which eventually has helped him forge asuccessful career in the fashion industry.He said: “When I was at the University ofIllinois, costumes were part of my theatrecourse. We learnt to draw, to sew. Myclassmates were quite macho. Clothes,hairstyles and make-up didn’t interestthem. They used to pay me to do theirhomework. “I started making costumes

for the Steppenwolf Theater Company ofChicago. In 2001, an Italian asked me if Iwanted to make a menswear line. I start-ed my first brand, then a second,Technobohemian, in 2012. I’m on my17th collection!” Despite already creatingseveral clothing lines, John insists hiswork is not “fashionable”. He told Frenchnewspaper Paris Match: “I have a stylethat’s not really fashionable! I don’t liketrends. My collections have a very mas-culine side to them, with fluid materials,and a romantic, bohemian, traveller sideto them. “Hence, the name of my compa-ny, Technobohemian, which I took froman Italian novel.”

Malkovich got cash for homework

Pitt buys Angelina a private jetBrad Pitt has bought a private jet for

Angelina Jolie. The ‘Killing Them Softly’actor has splashed out on the aircraft

for his fiancee - who has held a pilot’s licencesince 2004 - to enable the couple to see eachother more as he is currently shooting WorldWar II movie ‘Fury’ in London, while thebrunette beauty is directing war film‘Unbroken’ in Hawaii. A source told heat mag-azine: “Brad wanted to gift Angelina with a jetfor trips between the set of ‘Fury’ in Londonand her set of ‘Unbroken’. “He told her thatshe can choose the plane and he will pay,that way, they can fly back and forth to seeeach other, and Angelina’s always wanted tofly a jet across the ocean anyway.” The 38-year-old actress - who raises six children,Maddox, 11, Pax, eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh,six, and four-year-old twins Knox andVivienne, with Brad - was inspired by the cou-ple’s eldest son to take up flying because shewanted him to think of her as a superhero.She previously said: “Every time Mad sees aplane, he’s amazed. “If I could actually fly aplane ... I’ll be like Superman to him.”

Johnny Depp formed a close bond withhis horse on the set of ‘The Lone Ranger’.The 50-year-old actor plays Native

American warrior Tonto in the Disney Westernfilm and he is glad he got to spend so muchtime with such a graceful animal which hebecame very fond of. He said: “I’m glad mylong scenes with a horse were in a Disney filmas opposed to some other kind of film. Thehorse was a pleasure, he didn’t make any sortof sudden moves towards me or anything likethat. I wasn’t frightened for my life ... It wentwell with the horse. I mounted him, he did notmount me.” However, Depp and his animal paldid have one accident on set when the horsejumped and tossed him out of the saddle.During an interview on ‘The Radio 1 Breakfast

Show with Nick Grimshaw’ today he said: “Wewere running the horses pretty hot one morn-ing and we took off like a bullet and suddenly,my horse decided to take a little jump andwhen it did, my saddle leant to the left and Iwent with my saddle so I found myself hang-ing onto the side of this very powerful beast.And all I could think about were hooves.” In themovie - which is based on the 1950s TV seriesof the same name and also stars ArmieHammer - Depp plays two versions of Tonto,one young and one as an old man. After he’dbeen through make-up, Depp looked in themirror and he couldn’t believe who he lookedlike. He revealed: “I looked exactly like mygreat-grandmother ... although I’ve never seenher shirtless, nor in a museum exhibition.”

Depp formed a close bond with horse

Kimberly Wyatt: London feels like ‘home’

Kimberly Wyatt says London is her“home” now. The former PussycatDolls singer has been living in the UK

capital for the past few years for her careerand now she doesn’t think she’ll ever goback to the US. One of the things that hashelped the city capture her heart for good isher relationship with model Max Rogers.The Missouri-native told BANG Showbiz:“I’ve been here a while now. And out of any-where in the world I feel the most at homewhen I’m here. “I love the people, the cul-ture, I love that you can walk to the stores. Ilove the little villages, the good food ... andmy beautiful man of course!” The ‘Got ToDance’ judge met Max while she was a spe-cial guest at the Clothes Show Live in 2011and their relationship has gone fromstrength to strength. Kimberly said: “Wewere doing Clothes Show Live together, hewas the main model and I was the specialguest. “Nothing really happened at thatpoint but about a month and a half later wewere at the wrap party and started having aconversation ... and haven’t stopped since.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal works in anorganic food store as a shopassistant in her spare time. The

‘Dark Knight’ actress and her husbandPeter Sarsgaard are so passionate abouteating healthy food that they lend theirspare time to a co-operative supermar-ket near their home in New York City,where all the employees are volunteersand receive heavy discounts on theirgroceries. She explained: “We work atthis place, it’s a co-op and if you workthere you get cheap groceries. I don’t doit because you get cheap groceries, I doit because they have incredible food andincredible produce. You cannot just payto be a member, you have to work there.“My husband works a lot of my shifts for

me because he’s really serious about it,but I do the odd shift. It’s three hoursand 45 minutes once a month, whichseems like nothing, but for professionalNew Yorkers it’s hard to figure out.” The35-year-old star - whose brother is actorJake Gyllenhaal - prefers to remaininconspicuous while working at thesupermarket and has recently transi-tioned from floor staff to a job in thebasement. She told Empire magazine:“I’ve worked in the office but I have anew shift now, down in the basementwhere you put the apricots in the littlebags. You get in trouble really easy there.They have a lot of rules and I’ve missedshifts, but I try. I try. “I’ve worked in theoffice before and people call up and lie!”

Gyllenhaal works at organic food shop

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

People dance during the 9th edition of the Tomorrow land music festival in Boom. — AFP

Aniston says she, Theroux ‘already feel married’

Jennifer Aniston is dismissing rumors surrounding herupcoming wedding to Justin Theroux and setting therecord straight. “We just want to do it when it’s perfect,

and we’re not rushed, and no one is rushing from a job orrushing to a job,” the 44-year-old actress told The AssociatedPress on Saturday while promoting her new film, “We’re theMillers.”

“And, you know, we already feel married,” she added.Aniston and Theroux, 41, began dating more than two yearsago and got engaged on his birthday last August. Since then,their indefinite plans have led to speculation ranging from abroken engagement to Theroux getting cold feet. Not true,says Aniston. “We have yet to set any dates. There have beenno canceled weddings. There have been no postponed wed-dings. There have been no arguments about where to getmarried. Just clearing all that up,” she said. While things aregoing great, the former “Friends” star said she sees nourgency to tie the knot. Her new film, “We’re the Millers,”opens Aug 7. It co-stars Jason Sudeikis. —AP

Actor Jason Sudeikis and actress Jennifer Anistonpose for a portrait as they promote the movie“We’re the Millers” in New York. — AP

If musicians were measured not by the number ofrecords they sold but by the number of peers they influ-enced, JJ Cale would have been a towering figure in

1970s rock ‘n’ roll. His best songs like “After Midnight,”“Cocaine” and “Call Me the Breeze” were towering hits - forother artists. Eric Clapton took “After Midnight” and“Cocaine” and turned them into the kind of hard partyanthems that defined rock for a long period of time. AndLynyrd Skynyrd took the easy-shuffling “Breeze” and super-charged it with a three-guitar attack that made it a hit.Cale, the singer-songwriter and producer known as themain architect of the Tulsa Sound, passed away Fridaynight at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California. His manag-er, Mike Kappus, said Cale died of a heart attack. He was 74.

While his best known songs remain in heavy rotation onthe radio nearly 40 years later, most folks wouldn’t be ableto name Cale as their author. That was a role he had noproblem with. “No, it doesn’t bother me,” Cale said with alaugh in an interview posted on his website. “What’s reallynice is when you get a check in the mail.” And the checksrolled in for decades. The list of artists who covered hismusic or cite him as a direct influence reads like a who’swho of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Clapton, NeilYoung, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Mark Knopfler, The AllmanBrothers, Carlos Santana, Captain Beefheart and Bryan

Ferry among many others.Young said in Jimmy McDonough’s biography “Shakey”

that Cale and Jimi Hendrix were the two best guitar playershe had ever heard. And in his recent memoir “WagingHeavy Peace,” Young said Cale’s “Crazy Mama” - his biggesthit, rising to No. 22 on the Billboard singles chart - was oneof the five songs that most influenced him as a songwriter:“The song is true, simple, and direct, and the delivery isvery natural. JJ’s guitar playing is a huge influence on me.His touch is unspeakable.” It was Clapton who forged theclosest relationship with Cale. They were in sync musicallyand personally. Clapton also recorded Cale songs “Travelin’Light” and “I’ll Make Love To You Anytime” and included theCale composition “Angel” on his most recent album, “OldSock.”

Other songs like “Layla” didn’t involve Cale, but clearlyowe him a debt. The two also collaborated together on“The Road to Escondido,” which won the Grammy Awardfor best contemporary blues album in 2008. Clapton oncetold Vanity Fair that Cale was the living person he mostadmired, and Cale weighed the impact Clapton had on hislife in a 2006 interview with The Associated Press: “I’d prob-ably be selling shoes today if it wasn’t for Eric.” That quotewas typical of the always humble Cale. But while Claptonwas already a star when he began mining Cale’s catalog,

there’s no doubt the music they shared cemented his“Clapton is God” status and defined the second half of hiscareer.

“As hard as I’ve tried I’ve never really succeeded in get-ting a record to sound like him and that’s what I want,”Clapton said in a “Fast Focus” video interview to promote“Escondido.” “Before I go under the ground, I want to makea JJ Cale album with him at the helm.” Clapton describedCale’s music as “a strange hybrid. It’s not really blues, it’snot really folk or country or rock ‘n’ roll. It’s somewhere inthe middle.” Cale arrived at that intersection by birth. BornJohn Weldon Cale in Oklahoma City, he was raised in Tulsa.Buffeted by country and western on one side and the blueson the other, Oklahoma offered a melting pot of styles.

Cale leaned on those styles as he spent his formativeyears in Los Angeles and Nashville, but he also used drummachines and often acted as his own producer, engineerand session player. He’d bury his own whispery vocals inthe mix, causing the listener to lean in and focus. “I think itgoes back to me being a recording mixer and engineer,”Cale said in a 2009 biography on his website. “Because ofall the technology now you can make music yourself and alot of people are doing that now. I started out doing that along time ago and I found when I did that I came up with aunique sound.” — AP

Musician JJ Cale dies; wrote Clapton, Skynyrd hits

File photo shows singer-songwriter J.J. Cale plays dur-ing the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival inDallas, Texas. —AP

NBC plans to air a four-hour minis-eries starring Diane Lane as for-mer US Secretary of State and first

lady Hillary Clinton, part of the broadcastTV network’s strategy to improve its rat-ings by luring viewers to one-time eventprogramming. The part of Bill Clinton hasnot been cast, NBC EntertainmentChairman Bob Greenblatt said onSaturday at a meeting of the Television

Critics Association. The miniseries aboutthe once, and possibly future, presiden-tial candidate will “recount Clinton’s lifeas a wife, mother, politician and cabinetmember” from 1998 to the present, anNBC statement said.

Tit led “Hil lar y,” it wil l star t withClinton living in the White House whileher husband is serving his second term.The series will likely air before candi-dates start jumping into the next USpresidential race in the spring or sum-mer of 2015, Greenblatt said, respond-ing to a question about whether thenetwork would face demands for equal

time from opponents.Hillary Clinton is not involved in the

series, he said, and the script has yet tobe written. Nick Merrill, a spokesman forHillary Clinton, declined to comment.The Clinton project and other miniseriesare part of Comcast-owned NBC’s effortto lift its prime-time ratings and draw liveaudiences to one-time events, a defenseagainst later viewing on digital video

recorders that makes pro-grams less valuable to adver-tisers.

For the T V season thatended in May, NBC finishedlast among the four bigbroadcasters in total viewers,and third in viewers in theadvertiser-prized 18- to 49-year-old range, according toNielsen. Its two biggest rat-ings hits - “Sunday NightFootball” and singing contest“The Voice” - draw large liveaudiences. “We need to be inthe event business,”Greenblatt said. “I think youwill hear that from everybroadcast network.”

NBC announced threeother miniseries, includingremakes of horror tales“Rosemary ’s Baby” andStephen King’s“Tommyknockers.” It is alsodeveloping “Plymouth,” aseries from Mark Burnettabout the Pilgrims’ journeyacross the Atlantic and settle-ment in America. Burnett isworking on a previouslyannounced sequel to “TheBible” for NBC.

NBC also said February’sWinter Olympics broadcast

will include a documentary about the1994 figure-skating rivalry betweenNancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, fea-turing interviews with both. Kerrigan,who was clubbed above the knee in anattack planned by Harding’s ex-husbandand bodyguard but went on to win a sil-ver medal at the 1994 Games inLillehammer, Norway, has said littleabout the incident in the two decadessince. Walt Disney Co’s ESPN earlier thisweek announced its own documentarycalled “Tonya and Nancy.” The networksaid it had not yet persuaded Kerrigan todo an interview. — Reuters

NBC plans Hillary Clintonminiseries, part

of TV event strategy

Dia

ne L

ane

Russian conductor Kirill Petrenko receivedstanding ovations at the end of the secondinstallment of Frank Castorf’s new production

of Richard Wagner’s “Ring” cycle at the world-famous Bayreuth Festival on Saturday. The 41-year-old maestro is making his debut in the legendaryFestspielhaus theatre on the town’s fabled GreenHill this season. And he seems already to have wonthe hearts of the ultra-critical Wagnerians after justtwo nights, with his alert, transparent and sensitivereading of the composer’s monumental score.

While the first part of the four-opera cycle,“Rhinegold”, was loudly booed and whistled at thepremiere on Friday, the second part, “The Valkyrie”,was more generously received. Castorf has dis-pensed with everything mythical in Wagner’ssprawling mix of Nordic and mediaeval legendwhere limitless power is bestowed on the wearer ofthe Nibelung’s cursed golden ring from which thecycle takes its name. Instead, the self-declaredenfant terrible of German theatre sees the root ofthe world’s evil in oil.

“Rhinegold” was set in a sleazy motel some-where along America’s iconic Route 66. Castorf sets“The Valkyrie” in Baku, Azerbaidjan at the turn ofthe 19th and 20th centuries at the time of the firstoil boom. And the visually stunning set of a gigan-tic wooden-framed oil rig, historically true to detail,is by Serbo-Croatian designer Aleksandar Denic.Among the cast of singers, who all received tumul-tuous applause and foot-trampling from the audi-

ence, South-African Johan Botha and German-Italian soprano Anja Kampe stole the show as theincestuous twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. Germanbass Franz-Josef Selig was also outstanding asSiegline’s violent, abusive husband Hunding.

German bass-baritone Wolfgang Koch and Germanmezzo Claudia Mahnke were less convincing aswarring husband and wife Wotan and Fricka. Thenext instalment of Frank Castorf ’s “Ring” is onMonday with the premiere of “Siegfried”. —AFP

A handout photoreleased by theBayreuth opera festivalshows Italian sopranosinger Anja Kampe and South-African tenorJohan Botha performing on thestage of theFestspielhaus inBayreuth, southernGermany during arehearsal of the OperaThe Valkyrie, one of thefour operas that makeup Richard Wagner’sRing, directed byGermany’s FrankCastorf. —AFP

Russian conductor takes Bayreuth by storm

Japanese actresses Rinko Kikuchi, left, Mana Ashida and Mexican film director GuillermoDel Toro pose for photographers during a press conference to promote their new film “Pacific Rim “ in Tokyo, yesterday. — AP

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

A file picture shows Taiwanese actress and model Lin Chi-ling posing during a photocall prior to theChanel Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2013/2014 collection shows at the Grand Palais in Paris. —AFP photos

A file picture shows South Korean actress Gianna Jun posing on the red carpet before the screening of“The Artist” presented in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.

Arriving at a Christian Dior fashion show in Paris sur-rounded by a gaggle of photographers and minders,Korean star Gianna Jun quickly eclipsed the already

seated Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence. One of the bestknown faces in Asia following a string of box office smashes,the actress is one of an elite group of bankable namesattracting the attention of the fashion world. Designers havelong looked to Hollywood stars to help sell their collections-but as the spending power of consumers in countries such asChina and South Korea grows, it’s now the turn of Asia’s A-lis-ters.

Taiwanese model and actress Lin Chi-ling was also in Parisfor the couture shows where she was given the red carpettreatment at Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel show. At a time whencouture houses are increasingly winning new customers incountries from China to Singapore, Lagerfeld underscored

the East’s importance with a show contrasting the “crum-bling” old world with a new world represented by a futuristicimaginary Asian city. Raf Simons’ multicultural show forChristian Dior, meanwhile, was also a clear pitch to customersin new markets.

The Belgian designer, who notably put models from allcorners of the globe on the catwalk, said the collectionshowed Dior “not just being about Paris and France, butabout the rest of the world” too. Brian Buchwald, CEO ofBomoda, a website providing information for Chinese luxurygoods consumers, said tapping into the wants and desires ofChinese shoppers was now the “overriding opportunity forwestern companies”. “The rising role of the Chinese consumeris driving their business,” Buchwald told AFP from New York,adding that last year they were “responsible for 60 percent ofall luxury goods purchases in Europe”. Such stark economic

realities are the reason Paris fashion can expect to see manymore Asian celebrities on its front rows in coming years. Oneof the highest profile Asian stars is Chinese actress FanBingbing, who has attended Paris fashion shows as well asthe Cannes film festival where she was photographed wear-ing Valentino, Elie Saab and Laurence Xu. Known in the mar-keting world as a KOL (Key Opinion Leader), Buchwald saysthe star’s appeal to designers and luxury goods companiescomes from “her beauty, her sense of fashion and her abilityto reach and move the Chinese consumer”.

“She is a risk taker, she breaks the mould. She makes herown fashion choices and while many Chinese women maynot be comfortable enough to wear what Fan Bingbing maywear, just the fact that she’s out there making certain choicesbecomes very aspirational for them,” he said. According toBuchwald, the Chinese consumer is relatively new to the lux-

ury market and as a consequence heavily influenced bycelebrities.

“So if Fan Bingbing is a fashion icon in China, then Chinesewomen will buy what Fan Bingbing wears in a way that ismuch more qualitative than we see with western celebritiesand western luxury consumers,” he added. And it’s not justfashion and luxury goods using celebrities to harness Asianspending power. In the world of film, the makers of “Iron Man3” made sure their movie had maximum appeal to audiencesin China by specially creating a role for Fan in the Chineseversion.”She wasn’t necessarily essential to the film to thepoint where they could literally cut her out-but they put herin to make the product more appealing to the Chinese con-sumer,” Buchwald said. “It was almost a naked drive for thatChinese consumer, basically saying ‘we’ll do what it takes’,” headded. — AFP

Asia A-listers take their seat on fashion front row

At least one in threepeople in the MiddleEast and North Africa

(MENA) watch 3 to 5 hoursof television every day dur-ing Ramadan compared tothe regional average of 3.1hours throughout the restof the year, according to thelatest survey on RamadanTV viewing habits by OSN,the leading pay-TV network.

Egypt led the regionwith more than 37 per centwatching 3 to 5 hours of TV,26 per cent spending 1 to 3hours and 15 per centhooked to their entertainment for 5 to 7hours each day. In Saudi Arabia, 33% spend3 to 5 hours every day, while in UAE andKuwait, 32 and 30 per cent, respectively,dedicate 3 to 5 hours for TV viewing.

Series are the most popular genre of tel-evision watched during the Holy Month,with over 50 per cent of viewers choosingto watch Egyptian, Syrian, Khaleeji orTurkish dramas. In Egypt,dramas (35 per cent) are themost popular among view-ers followed by talk showsand celebrity interviews (28per cent).

Nearly 60 per cent ofrespondents across theregion emphasised theimportance of watching thelatest shows first, beforeanyone else. Watching thelatest series first was partic-ularly stressed by Kuwaiti(70 per cent), Saudi Arabiaand UAE (65 per cent each)residents. Across the region, over 80 percent of viewers polled reinforced the impor-tance of watching their favourite TV in highdefinition.

Hamad Malik, Chief Marketing Officer,OSN said: “While it is common knowledgethat television consumption increases dur-ing Ramadan and series are preferred, oursurvey highlights the increasing demand towatch original content before anyone elseand in high definition. This is a strong voteof confidence for OSN and is in line with ourstrategy to provide the latest movies andseries in true HD first and exclusively on ourchannels.”

Nearly 60 per cent of those polled alsohighlighted the importance of being ableto watch television at their own conven-ience, and being able to create their ownpersonalised TV experience.

“With busy schedules especially duringRamadan, viewers need more control overtheir TV viewing experience so they can

watch what they want when they want. Weunderstand this, which is why OSN is put-ting a lot of emphasis on the viewer con-trolling their entertainment through OSN’sinnovative technology and our value addedservices such as ‘On Demand’ and ‘RamadanCatch Up’ viewing,” added Malik.

Underlining the market appeal of OSNPlay - the region’s first online TV platform -around 38 per cent of respondents said

they prefer to watch TV on-the-go and attheir convenience. Over 14 per cent said itwas essential that they watch their favouriteprogrammes online or on smartphones.

On specific and preferred series, over 80per cent said they look forward keenly towatch Season 3 of Hareem Al Sultan, whichis now showing exclusively on OSN YaHala!HD at 21:00 KSA. Despite 60 per centstating that they have not watched the firsttwo seasons of the popular series, they saidit was a key priority for them to catch upwith the third season.

Further demonstrating the strength ofpay-TV networks in offering seamless enter-tainment, with fewer advertisement breaks,82 per cent of those surveyed across theregion said they get “very annoyed” whentheir viewing is interrupted by commercials.OSN conducted the survey over June andJuly 2013, interviewing nearly 1,000 viewersacross the region covering a cross-sectionof the public from the age of 18 to 55.

A youth jumps into the waters of the Ada Ciganlija lake. — AP photos

Belgrade today is known for nightlife, clubbing and a fun-loving lifestyle,but its past is scarred by war. Over the centuries, it was conquered anddemolished dozens of times, standing at the historic crossroads

between two mighty empires, Turkish to the east and Austro-Hungarian tothe west. Even at the very end of the 20th century, the city was bombed byNATO.

But Belgrade’s citizens like to compare their city to the mythical phoenixbird that always rises from the ashes. Here are five things to see and do - allfree - that illustrate the Serbian capital’s poignant history, mix of cultures andcontemporary easygoing lifestyle.

KalemegdanPerched on a 125-meter-high (410-feet-high) cliff, the ancient Kalemegdan

Fortress was built to fend off conquerors. Its ridge overlooks the confluenceof the Sava river into the Danube, and offers a magnificent view over the newpart of town and the plain that lies ahead. Over the centuries, at least 100 bat-tles have been fought over this site, and parts of it have been erased 44 times.What remains today has been rebuilt many times. The fortification has mas-sive gates and bridges. Kalemegdan hosts a military museum with a collec-tion of tanks, cannons, guns, and other military vehicles.

River banks and Ada CiganlijaA stroll down the hill from Kalemegdan leads to the rivers. There is a

cycling and walking path upstream along the Sava River, which is a wonderfulway to explore this side of Belgrade. The path first passes the tourist port - apopular area that is dotted with old warehouses turned into restaurants andcafes. Under the Branko’s bridge, next on the route is the Sava Mala area, ahistoric center turned into a design and nightlife hub. An industrial zone bythe Belgrade Fair then leads into Ada Ciganlija, a lake resort that is Belgrade’sfavorite relaxation and picnic area. The water in the lake is clean and there is a7-kilometer (4.3-mile) route around it, again filled with cafes and restaurantsthat stay open late into the night in the summer months.

NATO bombing ruinsGoing back into the city, Kneza Milosa street, one of the busiest traffic

arteries, hosts Serbian government buildings and some embassies. As thecapital of the former Yugoslavia during the communist era, Belgrade was theseat of both Serbian and Yugoslav governmental administration. This countrybroke up in the early 1990s in a series of conflicts largely blamed on thenationalist policies of then-Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. Serbiabecame an international pariah and was bombed in 1999 by NATO to stopthe war in Kosovo. Ruins of Serbia’s military and police headquarters in cen-tral Belgrade are still standing unrepaired. The authorities say there is notenough money to clear them.

SkadarlijaSkadarlija is the old Bohemian quarter of Belgrade and dates back to late

19th and early 20th century. The cobblestone street testifies to the relaxedway of life in Belgrade, largely centered around the famous kafane - localrestaurants. Skadarlija’s kafane always have been a meeting place of promi-nent poets, politicians, sportsmen. The restaurants here offer traditional cui-

sine, most notably the rostilj - grilled meat - over a rakija - fruit brandy - as livebands play traditional songs.

Open green marketsOpen green markets are another typical and favorite Belgrade feature.

There are several scattered throughout the city, the best known being theKalenic market in the residential area of Vracar. The time to visit a green mar-ket in Belgrade is either Saturday or Sunday, sometime during the morning.This is still Belgraders’ favorite way to shop for fruit, vegetables, eggs anddairy products, despite dozens of cash and carry supermarkets that havesprouted recently. Usually, families have favorite vendors from whom theybuy fresh white cheese and a local specialty, kajmak, a dairy product thatresembles cottage cheese and is best eaten spread on a piece of bread.Market vendors will chat with you and let you taste their products. — AP

5 free things in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade

A man walks past the Kalemegdan fortress walls in Belgrade, Serbia.

A band performs at the Skadarlija bohemian quarter in Belgrade.

Television viewing soars during Ramadan in MENA with

strong preference for series

39Asia A-listers taketheir seat on fashion front row

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

A large artwork of an “oiran”, a high class courtesan of the Edo era and a depiction of US actress Marilyn Monroe in her film “The Seven Year Itch”, is displayed on a rice field as part of a summer attractionat Inakadate village in Aomori prefecture, northern Japan on July 27, 2013. The huge rice paddy art, created by using nine different colored varieties of rice plants, can be viewed from an observationplatform in the village office until October. — AFP

After 9/11, Rich Ormbrek bought thebiggest flag he could find one about16 feet wide and nailed it to the

eaves of his bright orange house in Ballard,Wash. “We wanted to let the terroristsknow they can’t intimidate us,” saidOrmbrek, now 70. But there was a littleproblem with Ormbrek’s show of patriot-ism: Wind constantly blew the flag to theground or swept it atop his home, some-times tearing it. Not even attaching thebottom of it to 10 strong stakes stabbedinto the lawn worked.

“My son got really tired of getting theflag off the roof,” he said. Daniel Ormbrekone of Ormbrek’s four kids is in the ArmyReserve now after a tour in Afghanistan.“He’d come out this window up there toget it, and I got worried he could eventual-ly get really hurt.” So, in 2002, father andson found a way to display a flag so thatthe wind would never knock it down again:They painted a 20-foot-wide flag onto theside of their house at Northwest 73rdStreet and 27th Avenue Northwest.

But Ormbrek’s work on the flag wasn’tdone. Since then, the flag’s red and whitestripes have been overtaken by dynamicrows of hand-painted Americana. Each ofthe flag’s more than 300 and countinginterchangeable painted tiles capture col-orful images of American history, land-marks and pop culture, forming a pictur-esque mosaic that has become a neighbor-hood landmark.

The flag’s bright colors initially alarmedOrmbrek’s neighbor across the street.Ormbrek had used his house to display var-

ious political messages before, saidKathleen Galloway, who says she couldnever quite label him left, right, moderateor libertarian. She wondered what messagewas coming next.

“I thought, ?Maybe it’ll fade,’ and myhusband said, ‘No! He’s using special anti-fade paint!’” Galloway, 57, recalled. “Butwhen he started putting the paintings up Irealized this was folk art.” Since then, shesays, she’s loved it as much as all the otherpeople who drive and walk by and takepictures. Ormbrek loves watching neigh-borhood kids poke around his yard to get acloser look at it.

“Now it’s not political at all. It’s moreabout what I love about this country,”Ormbrek said. “We’re blessed to have peo-ple from all over the world that make thiscountry what it is.” Ormbrek fits about 160

to 180 of the fiber-cement tiles onto hishouse with screws, and then switchessome in and out throughout the year.

Some depict classic landmarks like theGolden Gate Bridge, St Louis Arch andCadillac Ranch. There are pop-culture-based ones featuring the Wizard of Oz, TheFlintstones and The Simpsons. Others high-light Norman Rockwell-type moments suchas the one sandwiched between Fourth ofJuly fireworks and Frank Lloyd Wright’sFallingwater house: a row of little girls intutus fidgeting on a bench.

But one of the first tiles painted for thedisplay, the one with “We the People”scrolled on it, has stayed in place at the topfor more than 10 years.

“ That ’s the most important one,”

Ormbrek said. “It kind of set the tone forthe rest of them.” Most of the tiles are paint-ed by Margaret Smart, a foster mother ofOrmbrek’s late wife. The Camano Island,Wash., woman perfected a way of paintingon the cement tiles first with primer, thenwith acrylics. Ormbrek tops the tiles offwith a layer of spar varnish, a product usu-ally used on boats, then carefully screwsthe tiles onto the exterior slats of his home.

“Just lately I told him, that whole flaghas to be filled up by now,” Smart said. “Andhe said ‘I know, my kids yell at me becausethere are tiles all over the house, but I liketo change them around.’ He’s addicted toit.”Ormbrek says it was his wife’s NativeAmerican family who taught him how tolove collaborative art that celebrates her-itage. Since the 1970s, a replica of a Tlingit-Haida entryway he and his wife’s familymade together has arched over his frontdoor.

In that same spirit, several other familymembers and friends of all ages have con-tributed to the collage on Ormbrek’sAmerican flag. One of those tiles is fadedbecause the son of a friend forgot thepaint-primer step, but it still earned a spoton the flag.

“His isn’t up there because it’s the bestpainting. It’s up there because he was a 12-year-old who wanted to be part of this,”Ormbrek said. And, this year, Ormbrek sayshe’s extending the invitation to participatein the flag to a wider circle of people. He’snot big on email, so anyone who wants totake part can send him a letter: 2615 NW73rd St, Seattle, WA 98117. — MCT

Siding with the stars and stripes at a home for the brave

Rich Ormbrek turned the outside of his Seattle, Washington, home into a collabora-tive Americana art project after 9/11. — MCT photos

Young Bahraini Shiite Muslim girls read the Quran, Islam’s holy book, during the holyfasting month of Ramadan at a mosque in the village of Sanabis, west of Manama. — AFP

“Most people come in andsay, ‘It was something Idid while I was young,

and I’ve outgrown it,’” Kilmer said. Thefounder of the Laser & Skin SurgeryCenter of Northern California, she’sremoved upward of 20,000 of the inkyimages. That’s no small accomplish-ment, and Kilmer is no ordinary derma-tologist. It’s something of a well-keptsecret in Sacramento that in Kilmer theregion has a world-renowned, pre-emi-nent expert in the field of laser tattooremoval and laser skin care.

To this day, Harvard University men-tors who first worked with Kilmer as afellow in the 1990s describe her as apioneer in tattoo removal and a forcewho has helped chart the future of thefield. “She actually had a hand in thevery early development of lasers fortattoo removal,” said Dr R RoxAnderson, professor of dermatology atHarvard University. Kilmer also isknown for creating a world-class lasercenter that does groundbreaking

research for US Food and DrugAdministration clinical trials and as theonly woman to have headed theAmerican Society for Lasers in Surgeryand Medicine.

But in the realm of tattoo removal,Kilmer’s work has opened up possibili-ties for better and faster results key in anation filled with people obsessed withetching on their outermost organ.Removal is difficult, lengthy andpainful. Think hot bacon grease spat-tered on the skin. Think the sting of astretched rubber band smacking youfrom up close. Imagine paying $150 to$1,000 for the multiple appointmentsto obliterate a tattoo. People “have noidea how hard it is to get it off,” Kilmersaid of tattoo dye.

Among those who find themselvesat her east Sacramento clinic are jobseekers, career professionals and par-ents of young kids who seek to erasestigma, Kilmer said. There are formergang members and people with what’stermed “traumatic tattoos” identifying

them, for example, as former prisonersof war. Brittany Costarella, 38, was inthe laser chair one recent day, trying torid her midriff of a winged, haloed redheart. It wasn’t her first time there. “Ohmy gosh, if people knew how painful itis to get it off,” Costarella said. “It feelslike piercing hot oil. Not a hot oildroplet, but deep heat under the skin.”Lasers deliver hot, powerful pulsesthrough the upper skin to a deeper lay-

er where a tattoo artist has embeddedpigment.

When the laser beam hits a particleof ink, its force fractures the pigment.Immune system cells then move in toclean up the mayhem, which thebody’s lymphatic system clears away.One hopes, that is. Some tattoos leave“ghosts” behind that simply will neverdisappear even after several rounds ofthe laser beam. —MCT

Tattoo removal no picnic, but expert has the toolsLet’s say you are living in the moment, feeling giddy a little tipsy, maybe and you decide to go for it. You decide to getthat tattoo. Dr Suzanne Kilmer has a warning for you: Think twice before acting. Not only do you face five times the riskof contracting hepatitis C, chances are you’ll change your mind about whether you like your tattoo before you reachmiddle age. Kilmer, 55, a clinical professor at the University of California-Davis, has seen tattoo-regret galore.

Dr Suzanne Kilmer uses a laser to remove a tattoo from the forearm ofBrad Frazier at her office in Sacramento. — MCT