China unearths over 100 new terracotta warriors

More progress made on artificial pancreas for diabetes patients

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Issue No. 1461 www.alwatandaily.com 150 Fils with IHT

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012 @alwatandaily 12 PAGES

Minister Al-Rujaib submits resignationMohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qatari and Ahmed Al-Shemmari Staff Writers

KUWAIT: As the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Ahmad Al-Rujaib ten-dered his resignation on Monday amid reports that he is adamant about the de-cision, parliamentary circles circulated reports of mass Cabinet resignation, which the government neither confirmed nor denied.

Informed sources indicated that Minister Al-Rujaib tendered his resigna-tion to His Highness the Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, complaining about the difficulties he has been facing in dealing with the current Parliament, particularly in the wake of the motions filed to grill him. Report-edly, the minister bemoaned the govern-ment’s inability to counter these motions or defend its ministers who face them.

The sources stated that Al-Rujaib left the Cabinet meeting after tendering his resignation on Monday, while express-ing gratitude to the premier and his col-leagues.

Observers have interpreted this as a signal that he is unwilling to continue in public service. According to the sources, certain ministers have advised Al-Rujaib against facing the two interpellations filed against him, in light of the possibil-ity of passing a no-confidence vote in him, which will make him meet the same fate as the former finance minister Mus-tafa Al-Shamali.

The latter resigned following a mara-thon interpellation session over alleged financial irregularities.

A ministerial source revealed that there has been dismay among mem-bers of the Cabinet over increasing in-stances of personalization involving certain MPs, and urged that the situa-tion be corrected. The source also sug-

gested that the government changes its approach in dealing with the Parliament, saying that the current state of affairs is intolerable.

“Attending parliamentary sessions and committee meetings will become a burden on ministers if the status quo per-sists,” the source lamentably said, add-ing that the ministers have previously expressed disquiet during the interpel-lation of the former minister of finance Mustafa Al-Shamali over what he de-scribed as government’s soft approach toward the MPs.

A number of MPs have linked the minister’s resignation to the likelihood of a Cabinet reshuffle that will seek to ad-dress loopholes and head off a possible pursuit of other ministers.

Meanwhile, a source within the Ma-jority Bloc affirmed that members of the Bloc will convene toward the end of the week, in the presence of the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun,

to discuss the Bloc’s performance in the face of accusations that it makes up cri-ses and overuses interpellation tool to eliminate certain ministers.

On the other hand, an MP within the Minority Bloc has called on the Cabinet to stay on, rather than resign, in order to ‘expose the real motives of the Major-ity Bloc’ to the people of Kuwait. The lawmaker added that the government should find out the difficulties it has been encountering in dealing with the Nation-al Assembly and the obstacles hindering cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities.

In the same vein, MP Waleed Al-Tab-tabaie expected that the current Cabinet is likely to resign following Al-Rujaib’s decision to quit.

The lawmaker expressed the Major-ity Bloc’s readiness to cooperate with a new Cabinet in the event that the in-cumbent resigns, stressing the need for a resolute and decision-making Cabinet.

Israel in mass round-up of migrants for deportation 3

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At least 100 feared dead in Afghan earthquake

KABUL, Afghanistan: As many as 100 people are feared dead in an earth-quake and landslide that buried more than 20 houses in northern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said. Rescuers have so far pulled two women’s bodies from the rubble of the landslide in Baghlan province, said provincial Gov. Abdul Ma-jid. The UN confirmed one other death and said houses were destroyed across five districts. A massive landslide of mud and rocks buried houses so deep in the remote mountain village of Sayi Hazara that rescuers gave up trying to use shovels to dig through the buried buildings, said Jawed Basharat, a spokesman for the provincial police chief who was part of a team that examined the village after the slide. There were no visible signs of the buildings underneath.

“We need bulldozers or other machinery to remove all this earth and get the bodies out, or the survivors if there are any,” Basharat said. They knew how many houses were buried only from information provided by area residents, who said between 25 and 30 houses disappeared in the landslide. An earthquake measuring a magnitude 5.4 struck the Hindu Kush region Monday morning, fol-lowed by a 5.7 quake, the US Geological Survey said. Both were felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, where buildings shook. Baghlan province’s Burka district, the site of the landslide, is a remote collection of mountain villages. It takes more than two hours to drive the approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri to th area. -AP

CAIRO: Egypt’s ailing ousted presi-dent Hosni Mubarak, now serving a life sentence in a Cairo prison over the killing or protesters, said the authorities “want to kill” him in jail, his lawyer told AFP on Monday. “He says: ‘They want to kill me. Save me, Mr Farid, find me a solution,” said Farid Al-Deeb, his chief lawyer in the murder and corruption trial which ended this month with his sentencing.

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in critical con-dition since moving to prison, was defi-brillated twice after his heart stopped

on Monday, a prison hospital source told AFP.

Mubarak’s “heart stopped twice. Doc-tors had to use a defibrillator. He has been in and out of consciousness and has been refusing food,” the source said. Earlier, an interior ministry source told AFP his con-dition was “critical but stable”, as officials weigh transferring him to a Cairo hospi-tal. The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars for sup-pressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters were killed. -AFP More on 3

‘They want to kill me’ in prison: MubarakMubarak defibrillated twice following heart failure

WASHINGTON: An early 2 percent gain in the price of oil evaporated Mon-day on the realization that a solution to Europe’s debt crisis remains a long way off. A multi-billion dollar bailout loan for Spain’s banks generated initial enthusi-asm in the global stock, bond and energy markets. But by noon in New York, the good feeling had given way to skepti-cism that the financial lifeline given to Europe’s fourth-largest economy would do much good long-term. Benchmark oil fell 74 cents to $83.36 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, dropped 81 cents to $98.66 per barrel in London. The broad S&P 500 stock index fell about 0.6 percent.

Leaders of European countries have

agreed to lend Spain up to $125 billion to help its troubled banking system. Spain is the fourth European country after Greece, Portugal and Ireland to request financial help since the debt crisis began. If Spain’s banks fail, traders worry that Europe’s broader financial problems will hurt demand for oil while the U.S. and China are coping with slower economic growth.

It’s not yet clear whether the region’s ongoing efforts to put the financial crisis to rest will result in an economic turn-around. “It just doesn’t seem like that’s very close,” said Michael Lynch, presi-dent of Strategic Energy & Economic Re-search. Meanwhile, oil supplies continue to build despite ongoing weak demand around the world. -AP

Oil prices fall on global economic concerns

Rafael Nadal wins record seventh French OpenPARIS: Rafael Nadal clinched a record seventh French Open title on Mon-

day, defeating world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and shat-tering the Serb’s dream of Grand Slam history. In a fractious final pushed into a third week for only the second time because of Sunday’s rain, the Spanish world number two, playing in his 16th Grand Slam final, also took his Paris record to a staggering 52 wins against just one loss.

Victory, which was achieved on a Djokovic double fault, allowed him to break the tie for six French Opens he shared with Bjorn Borg. It was the 26-year-old’s 11th Grand Slam title, taking him one behind Roy Emerson, three off Pete Sam-pras and five away from the record of 16 held by Roger Federer. For five-time ma-jor winner Djokovic, the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion, it was the end of his dream of emulating Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) by holding all the Grand Slams at once. -AFP More on 11

US Supreme Court turns down new Guantanamo appeals

WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take a new look at the rights of foreign prisoners held for the past decade at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Four years after pronounc-ing that detainees who face no charges have a right to challenge their ongoing confinement, the justices rejected appeals arguing that the federal appeals court in Washington has largely ignored the high court’s command. The appeals court has not ordered the release of any detainee and has reversed several lower court re-lease orders. In addition, some appellate judges have been unusually critical of the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in Bou-mediene v. Bush. There are 169 foreigners remaining at Guantanamo, including the five men who are facing military trials for their roles in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The justices offered no comment on their orders Monday in appeals from sev-en detainees. Lawyers for the detainees criticized the court for refusing to take up the appeals. “By refusing to hear these cases, and any Guantanamo cases since its 2008 Boumediene decision, the court abandons the promise of its own ruling guaranteeing detainees a constitutional right to meaningful review of the legality of their detention,” said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Con-stitutional Rights in New York.

“Today’s decision leaves the fate of detainees in the hands of a hostile DC Cir-cuit Court of Appeals, which has erected innumerable, unjustified legal obstacles that have made it practically impossible for a detainee to win a habeas case in the trial courts.” -AP

Climate change rate could be faster than thought, study suggests

Data indicate China’s carbon emissions could be 20% higher, prompting fears Earth is warming at a much faster rateLONDON: China’s carbon emissions could be nearly 20% higher than pre-

viously thought, a new analysis of official Chinese data showed on Monday, suggesting the pace of global climate change could be even faster than currently predicted according to The Guardian. China has already overtaken the US as the world’s top greenhouse gas polluter, producing about a quarter of mankind’s carbon pollution that scientists say is heating the planet and triggering more ex-treme weather. But pinning down an accurate total for China’s carbon emissions has long been a challenge because of doubts about the quality of its official en-ergy use data. It is used to compute how the planet’s climate will change, helping plan for more extremes of drought, flood and the impact on crops.

“The sad fact is that Chinese energy and emission data as primary input to the models will add extra uncertainty in modeling simulations of predicting future climatic change,” say the authors of a study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The team of scientists from China, Britain and the US, led by Dabo Guan of the University of Leeds, studied two sets of energy data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics. One set presented energy use for the nation, the other for its provinces. More on 8

A Pakistani boy Imran Khan, 12, who earns 290 rupees ($ 3.07) in an eight hour work shift to feed their family, sorts onions at a stall in a fruit and vegetable market in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, June 11, 2012. The World Day Against Child Labor will be observed on June 12 across the world including Pakistan to raise awareness and contribute to end child labor. Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, violating their rights. Of these children, more than half are ex-posed to the worst forms of child labor such as work in hazardous environ-ments, slavery, or other forms of forced labor, illicit activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict. (AP)

Russian police raid opposition’s homes ahead of rally

MOSCOW: Russian police searched opposition leaders’ homes on Monday in morning raids intended to disrupt plans for a protest rally against President Vladimir Putin’s rule and show he has lost patience with demonstrations that are undermining his authority.

The searches before Tuesday’s rally were an aggressive turn after months of opposition rallies, signaling a tougher approach designed to crush dissent at the start of the former KGB spy’s new six-year term as president. Several lead-

ers were also summoned for questioning on Tuesday about violence at a rally on the eve of Putin’s May 7 inauguration, almost certainly stopping them from at-tending the first big planned protest since he returned to the Kremlin.

Armed police stood guard as in-vestigators searched the apartments of anti-corruption blogger Alexei Na-valny, leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov and other opposition figures, rifling through rooms and seizing computer drives and disks. -Reuters More on 5

This handout artist’s impression released by the European Southern Ob-servatory (ESO) on June 11, 2012 shows the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in its enclosure on Cerro Armazones, a 3060-metre mountaintop in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The 39.3-metre E-ELT will be the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world. Operations are planned to start early in the next decade. (AFP)

KUWAIT: Syrian rebel army chief, Colonel Riyadh Al-Asaad, denied in com-ments published Monday that Kuwaitis were fighting alongside his men against forces of President Bashar Al-Assad’s re-gime. “Reports indicating the presence of Arab fighters (in Syria) are totally base-less,” Al-Asaad was quoted as saying by Kuwait’s Al-Watan newspaper.

“There are no non-Syrian members in the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which consists only of Syrian soldiers and of-

ficers fighting to protect the revolution,” the Turkey-based commander of the Free Syrian Army said. The Syrian regime is trying to spread such reports to show that “there are jihadists, members of Al-Qaeda and armed groups active in Syria which is harmful to the revolution,” he said.

On Sunday, Kuwait’s Al-Qabas news-paper reported that dozens of Kuwaitis have crossed the Syrian-Turkish border to fight alongside the FSA, citing relatives of the fighters. -AFP More on 2

Syria rebels deny Kuwaiti fighters with them

localtuesday, JuNe 12, 2012

alWaTaN DaIlY

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Liberation Tower under Government Mall umbrella: Municipal Council

Shabib Al-AjmiStaff Writer

KUWAIT: after intensive discussions during its ordi-nary session Monday, the Municipal Council approved a request by the Ministry of Communications to include the Liberation tower in the activities of the Government Mall. the council also allocated sites for express mail, telecom-munication companies and branches of banks.

the Municipal Council used article 14 to object the re-

jection of the Municipality Minister abdulaziz al-Ibrahim to decisions made by the council to allow the Kuwaiti Club for disabled to post commercial ads over the building in order to support the revenues of the club. the council also used the same article to change the activities in ardiyah area.

the session was chaired by Zaid al-azmi who opened the session by approving the minutes of the session no 11 for 2011.

Municipal Council Member Hanan Bu shehri ex-

pressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the Municipality to comment on the issue of the spoiled olive oil. she urged the Municipality to affirm or deny the reports on this is-sue.

acting Municipality director Waleed al-Jassem said that the Municipality will handle this issue, noting that the concerned body will send its response to the council.

then the members discussed issues related to the sa-bah al-ahmad City. Municipal Council Manei al-ajmi paid a tribute to the Minister of Housing affairs who stated

sunday that licenses will be issued on July 1.For his part, Farz al-Mutairi thanked al-Muwaizri for

putting an end to the sufferings of people who complained to several bodies but only the minister solved their prob-lems.

He added that Municipality Minister is fighting al-Muwaizari who seeks reform. He added that an influential person owns three thousand housing blocks in the private housing area and he is blackmailing the citizens. He urged the Municipality to unveil the name of this person.

KUWAIT: His Highness the amir sheikh sabah al-ahmad al-Jaber al-sa-bah presented Chairperson of Volunteer Work Center sheikha amthal al-sabah with a top honor in appreciation of her ef-forts aiming at preservation of the Kuwaiti environment and her voluntary action, receiving her at Bayan Palace, Monday, in presence of His Highness the Crown Prince sheikh Nawaf al-ahmad al-Jaber al-sabah.

His Highness sheikh sabah praised shaikha amthal’s efforts to promote awareness on environment issues and to promote and encourage volunteer work among Kuwaitis, wishing her success in

her future initiatives.the honoring was in presence of dep-

uty Minister of amiri diwan affairs sheikh ali Jarrah al-sabah.

the top honor His Highness the amir bestowed on sheikha amthal was an hon-oring of Kuwaiti women and all those who supported and took part in the activities of the Volunteer Work Center, she said, Monday.

“this honoring further encourages and motivates us all to exert more effort in the service of our homeland, and to fur-ther promote the culture of volunteer ac-tion in all fields, including in environment preservation.” -KuNa

Sheikha Amthal Al-Sabah gets top honor for environment efforts

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (right) with Chair-person of Volunteer Work Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Sabah (left) Monday, June 11, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: the cabinet held its weekly meet-ing headed by His Highness the Prime Minister sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Hamad al-sabah at Kuwait International airport Monday morning.

after the meeting, deputy Prime Minis-ter, Minister of Foreign affairs and Minister of state for Cabinet affairs sheikh sabah Khalid al-Hamad al-sabah said in a statement that the Cabinet reviewed a letter, discussing boosting bi-lateral cooperation, from His Highness the amir sheikh sabah al-ahmad al-sabah to saudi ara-bia’s King abdullah bin abdul aziz al-saud.

the Council also looked into a letter addressed to His Highness the amir from Mohammed Mon-cef Marzouki, President of tunisia, which tackled results of his visit to Kuwait last april.

the Cabinet also took note of the letter re-ceived by His Highness the amir from President of Cyprus dimitris Christofias, which tackled is-sues of common interest between the two coun-tries.

the ministers also looked into a letter, from His Highness the amir to Mexican President Fe-lipe Calderon, which included an invitation to a seminar on creative thinking to address global challenges for the future, due to be held in the city of Los Cabos on June 16.

It also reviewed the two letters addressed to His Highness the amir from uN secretary Gen-eral Ban Ki-moon.

the first letter includes an invitation to par-ticipate in the annual uN conventions between september 24-26 and October 1-2 at the head-quarters of the united Nations in New york, while the second contains the report, of the High Level Group on World sustainability, titled (immunity to humans and the planet together) as the best option for the future and which comes in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development in various countries around the world.

Meanwhile, based on the wishes of His High-ness the amir, the Cabinet entrusted the Health Ministry, in collaboration with the amiri diwan, to take all necessary measures to establish a hos-pital in Jahra Governorate that includes various medical disciplines to cover the medical needs of the people in the location and surrounding areas.

the ministers also welcomed a later visit by President dr. yayi Boni of Benin and his accom-panying delegation, which come to pledge the distinguished bilateral relations between the two countries. they wished him and his delegation a

pleasant stay in the country.the Cabinet then welcomed the prospective

visit to be made by the Prime Minister of Jordan, dr. Fayez al-tarawneh. the visit was highlighted as important as it was regarded a good opportu-nity to discuss bilateral relations, exchange views on issues of joint concern, the latest develop-ments in the region and international efforts to promote security and stability. Next came discus-sions on the National assembly, and topics on the agenda of their next session in light of the overall current developments on the arab and international arenas. -KuNa

Cabinet discusses boosting bilateral cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Photo of the cabinet during its weekly meeting headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (center) at Kuwait International Airport Monday morning, June 11, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: syrian rebel army chief, Colonel Riyadh al-asaad, denied in com-ments published Monday that Kuwaitis were fighting alongside his men against forces of President Bashar al-assad’s re-gime.

“Reports indicating the presence of arab fighters (in syria) are totally base-less,” al-asaad was quoted as saying by Kuwait’s Al-Watan newspaper.

“there are no non-syrian members in the Free syrian army (Fsa) which consists only of syrian soldiers and officers fight-ing to protect the revolution,” the turkey-based commander of the Free syrian army said.

the syrian regime is trying to spread such reports to show that “there are jiha-dists, members of al-Qaeda and armed

groups active in syria which is harmful to the revolution,” he said.

On sunday, Kuwait’s Al-Qabas news-paper reported that dozens of Kuwaitis have crossed the syrian-turkish border to fight alongside the Fsa, citing relatives of the fighters.

However, al-asaad insisted that the Fsa does not need outside fighters, but only material and financial help.

the Fsa consists mainly of former troops who have deserted the regular syr-ian army in protest against the regime’s brutal crackdown on an uprising against assad’s rule.

the uprising, which erupted in March 2011, has left more than 14,100 people dead so far, according to the syrian Obser-vatory for Human Rights. -aFP

Syria rebels deny Kuwaiti fighters with them

FILE-Photo of Commander Riad Al-Asaad, a Turkish-based leader of the rebel Free Syrian Army. (AP)

Beninese President’s visit to Kuwait to cement ties further

KUWAIT: President of Benin yayi Boni and his accompany-ing delegation arrived here Monday for a three-day visit and will hold official talks with His Highness the amir sheikh sabah al-ahmad al-Jaber al-sabah.

the guest was received upon arrival by His Highness the amir, His Highness the Crown Prince sheikh Nawaf al-ahmad al-Jaber al-sabah, National assembly speaker ahmad abdu-laziz al-saadoun, deputy Head of the National Guards sheikh Mishaal al-ahmad al-Jaber al-sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-sabah, deputy Minister of amiri diwan ali Jarrah al-sabah and top officials in country, army, police and national guards. the mission of honor accompanying Beninese President is headed by advisor at the amiri diwan Mohammed abdullah abu al-Hassan. the Beni-nese delegation includes Beninese Minister of Foreign affairs, african Integration, Francophonie and diaspora dr. Nassirou arifari Bako, Minister of Public Works and transportation Lam-bert Koty and Presidential advisor of democratic relations Mari-ama diallo. Furthermore, President Boni’s visit to Kuwait is the fourth of its kind since His Highness the amir took office.

However, the President of Benin had paid three visits to the country, in 2008, 2009 and 2010, resulting in cementing the ties between the two friendly countries and signing 10 accords for cooperation and coordination in the political, economic, social, cultural and educational sectors. tangible promotion of these re-lations was crowned with inauguration of the embassy of Kuwait in Benin in February of this year. It was the first diplomatic mis-sion of a Gulf state to be opened in the african nation.

some of the major events that marked noticeable progress of these bilateral relations was the visit, paid by His Highness sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-sabah, when he served as Pre-mier, in July 2009. the two sides, during sheikh Nasser’s visit, agreed on establishing cooperation in the economic and invest-ment domains. Moreover, they signed accords for aviation ser-vices, averting double taxation, swap of labor, as well as techni-cal and cultural agreements.

Officials of the two countries, over the past years, held talks over prospects of business and investment cooperation, such as oil explorations in the african nation. a memorandum of under-standing, in this respect, is expected to be signed soon.

at the private level, Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry signed a cooperation protocol in 2009. In september 2011, a number of businessmen from Benin visited Kuwait where they promoted some investment projects in their country. Further-more, Kuwait Fund for arab economic development (KFaed) played a major role in cementing the bilateral relations, granting the nation several loans for development ventures.

KFaed had offered Benin 11 loans between 1978 and 2010, at a total value of 28.276 million Kuwaiti dinars, financing trans-port, industrial and communication ventures.

Benin had also a share of the fund for honorable living, launched by the amir in 2009, with the aim of aiding limited resources’ nations. Private Kuwaiti associations had also contrib-ute to charitable programs and ventures in Benin. -KuNa

BRUSSELS: the Belgian-Kuwaiti Parliamentary Friendship Group met in Brussels Monday to review the progress of ties and cooperation between the two countries and exchange views on regional and international developments.

the two sides discussed the latest de-velopments in syria, Iran, Bahrain, yemen as well as the situation of immigrants and Muslims in Belgium and europe and the threat of the rise of extreme right wing groups in europe.

the six-member Kuwait delegation, led by member of the National assem-bly dr Jamaan al-Harbash, held the first meeting with Herman de Croo, member of the foreign relations committee and for-mer speaker of the Belgian Parliament.

al-Harbash noted that Belgium played a noble and important role during the occupation and liberation of Kuwait and it also has a positive position on the Palestine issue.

al-Harbash said Belgium has also a very progressive european position re-garding the issue of the syrian peoples revolution.

they also spoke about the situation of Muslims in Belgium and about the rise of

extreme right wing groups in the country as well as europe, while the majority in Belgium are against this trend, he said.

the Kuwait parliamentarians held a second meeting with Patrick Morau, deputy head of the foreign relations com-mittee in the Belgian parliament and Bel-gium’s representative at the International Parliamentary union.

“they had a lot of questions, for ex-ample they asked about the ban of the niqab in Belgium. We explained our posi-tion and they explained their position. We now know Kuwait better than before,” he said.

“We are going to continue our con-tacts and perhaps send a Belgian parlia-mentary delegation to Kuwait to see how democracy is working there. Relations are very good,” added Moriau.

they assured the Belgian side that the democratic system in Kuwait determines the relations between the ruler and the people and safeguards the rights of the people.

the Kuwaiti deputies are scheduled to meet members of the upper house of the Belgian parliament and the senate today. -KuNa

Belgian, Kuwaiti lawmakers underline strong bilateral ties

Group photo of the Belgian-Kuwaiti Parliamentary Friendship Group in Brussels Monday, June 11, 2012. (KUNA)

JERUSALEM: Israeli prison authorities said on Monday that a Palestinian inmate has ended a hunger strike after more than 80 days, but Palestinian sources, including his lawyer, denied the claim.

“(Mahmud) Sarsak ended his hunger strike,” Israel Pris-ons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told AFP, saying he had taken the decision to end his fast after consulting his lawyer and the prison administration. But Sarsak’s family in Gaza, as well as the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club in Ramallah, denied he had ended his strike. And his lawyer, Mohammed Jabarin, said he had no comment on the Israeli claim.

Weizman said Sarsak, who is being held in the infirmary wing at Ramle prison, gave no reason for ending his hunger strike, and said his health was being monitored as he gradu-

ally started eating again.Sarsak began refusing food in late March along with sev-

eral other prisoners in a protest joined in April by more than 1,000 detainees demanding better conditions, including in-creased access to lawyers and visits from relatives in Gaza.

He and others also sought an end to the practice of hold-ing suspects in administrative detention, an antiquated pro-cedure dating back to the British Mandate under which a military court can order an individual held without charge for renewable periods of six months.

The mass hunger strike ended on May 14 with a deal that saw Israel agree to ease prison conditions, but not end administrative detention. Sarsak continued his hunger strike and his health has been deteriorating, with prison authorities

transferring him briefly to a civilian hospital on Sunday night before returning him to the Ramle prison near Tel Aviv.

On Monday, activists staged demonstrations in support of Sarsak, with about 60 protesters, many of them foreign-ers, gathering outside the British Consulate in east Jerusalem waving signs reading “Free Sarsak, Free Palestine.”

Some held up a large British flag covered in red hand-prints bearing the slogan “Blood on your hands” while oth-ers waved banners reading “You brought administrative de-tention here, you must remove it.”

And in the West Bank, about 100 people held a solidar-ity rally by the Ofer military prison, some playing football matches in a nod to Sarsak’s career in the sport before his arrest in 2009. -AFP

WORLD TueSdAY, June 12, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

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Systematic abduction!

Sometimes observers who are away from the scene are able to read behind the lines more than others who are much closer to the said scene. As a re-sult I admired an article published recently therefore I decided to write about it again because it contains valuable information.

The article was written by a retired American Ac-ademic personality. His name is nikos Restsos. It was published on May 24, 2012 by the British newspaper The Telegraph.

The article says “egyptians participated in the Arab Spring and they believed that they won! They felt the ecstasy of victory and celebrated that, but the ecstasy disappeared suddenly!”

It is like magic, where you see something one mo-ment, but in the next it might disappear spontane-ously!

However, the revolution was abducted according to the demands of the united States in order to main-tain American interests which were expected to be affected negatively by the revolution.

The uS asked the generals of the army to oust Mubarak as the uS was afraid of a possible military coup that will threaten the American interests.

Therefore, the military council forced Mubarak to stay under house arrest and if he refuses then he will spend the rest of his life in prison!

The army generals approved the uS request to maintain weapons supplies from the uS and they have further obtained other advantages. The uS has also financed some egyptian civil institutions to please people.

This in turn contributed effectively in support-ing the presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq- the last premier in Mubarak’s era. The uS also aims at inter-rupting any plans for turning egypt into an Islamic State.

According to the American options Ahmad Shafiq will be the coming president because he meets the conditions of the American plan.

hossam@alwatan.com.kwTwitter:@hossamfathy66

By Hossam Fathi

Libya ICC team faces

45 days’ detentionTRIPOLI: Libya has put four International

Criminal Court (ICC) envoys in “preventive” de-tention in prison for 45 days while investigating an alleged threat to national security, a judicial source said on Monday.

“A decision was made to put them in preven-tive detention for 45 days while investigations are conducted,” an official in the attorney general’s of-fice told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Ajmi Al-Atiri, head of the brigade in Zintan that detained the delegation after it visited Muam-mar Gadhafi’s son Seif Al-Islam, said: “They were transferred yesterday (Sunday) to a prison on the orders of the prosecutor general.”

The four-member delegation is being held in the western town after one of its lawyers, Melinda Taylor, was found carrying documents for Seif Al-Islam that were considered a “threat to national security.”

Ahmed Jehani, Libya’s envoy to the ICC, has said that the Australian lawyer was caught “ex-changing papers with the accused Seif Al-Islam.”

Jehani alleged that Taylor was carrying a pen camera and a letter from Mohammed Ismail, Seif’s former right-hand man who is now on the run.

He said the letter contained drawings and sym-bols, a “code” that would be understood only by the sender and the intended recipient, Seif.

“According to Libyan law, it would be spying, communication with the enemy,” the envoy said. Jehani said that Taylor’s interpreter Helene Assaf, a Lebanese who has been working with the ICC since 2005, was considered an “accomplice.”

The ICC has named the other members on the team as Russian Alexander Khodakov and esteban Peralta Losilla from Spain. According to Jehani, the two men had stayed behind out of their own ac-cord.

Atiri gave no explanation as to why the men had been transferred from a house, where the team was initially held, to a formal detention facility. On Monday, the interim government spokesman said he hoped that the ICC will cooperate with Libyan authorities in a “neutral investigation.”

“Relations between Libya and the ICC cannot be at the expense of Libya’s highest national in-terest... or the tolerance of security breaches and threats to national security,” the state news agency LAnA quoted nasser Al-Manaa as saying.

“We expect the ICC to understand Libya’s po-sition and cooperate in a neutral investigation,” he said, adding that further measures will be deter-mined depending on the findings of the investiga-tion.

The team was in Libya to help Seif choose a defense lawyer, and the court has said that the visit was authorized by the country’s chief prosecutors. The ICC wants to try Seif, 39, for crimes against humanity in The Hague.

But the new regime in Libya wants to put Seif on trial in a local court, while ex-rebels in Zintan who are holding Gadhafi’s son are refusing to send him to Tripoli for fear that he might escape.

The Hague-based tribunal has called for the im-mediate release of its staff, noting that its envoys enjoy immunity when on mission. A new ICC team arrived in Libya on Sunday to negotiate with the authorities, and on Monday met officials including attorney general Abdelaziz Al-Hasadi, his office said. -AFP

‘They want to kill me’ in prison: Mubarak

Russia calls for Iran involvement in talks

GENEVA: International mediator Kofi Annan voiced concern on Monday over the shelling of the Syrian opposition strong-hold of Homs and reports of the use of mor-tar bombs, helicopters and tanks in Haffeh, near the coast.

“There are indications that a large num-ber of civilians are trapped in these towns,” Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva. Annan, refer-ring to Haffeh as Al-Haffa, called for un military observers, who are monitoring a tattered ceasefire declared two months ago, to be allowed into the town in the Medi-terranean province of Latakia. “The Joint Special envoy demands that the parties take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and further demands that entry of the un Military Observers be allowed to the town of Al-Haffa immediately,” the statement said.

Annan held talks in damascus with Syr-ian President Bashar Al-Assad two weeks ago in a bid to halt the spiraling violence and implement his six-point peace plan. The

Assad government blames foreign-backed terrorists for the bloodshed.

Syrian forces shelled opposition strong-holds in the central province of Homs and eastern deir el-Zor on Monday and clashed with rebels in violence which killed 29 people across the country, the Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights said. Mean-while, Russia called on Monday for Iranian involvement in efforts to end the conflict in Syria, which puts it at odds with the united States, and said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Tehran on Wednesday.

Lavrov’s discussions will focus on the situation in the Middle east and north Afri-ca, with attention to Syria, as well as a June 18-19 meeting in Moscow between global powers and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear pro-gram, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. Rus-sia is resisting Western and Gulf Arab pres-sure to take a tougher stance toward Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, rejecting calls for sanctions and advocating a conference bringing together global and regional pow-ers including Iran. Lavrov intends to discuss the initiative with Iran.“Without Iranian participation, the opportunity for construc-tive international influence on the Syrian issue will not be utilized in full measure,” the Foreign Ministry said. -Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities on Monday rounded up dozens of migrants slated for depor-tation, most of them Africans from South Sudan, as the government weighs tough penalties against Israelis who help illegal aliens.

The Population and Migration Authority said officers arrested 45 migrants from South Sudan, along with three nigerians, two Ghanaians, two Chinese, one from Ivory Coast, one from the Philippines and one whose nationality is being checked.

In at least two cases, women with young chil-dren were picked up as they walked down the street during early-morning swoops in the Red Sea resort town of eilat, public radio reported.

Rights activists said migrants were being picked up across the town - at cash points, at their workplaces as well as through door-to-door searches.

“The people arrested were taken on buses to detention centers. Their mobile phones were confiscated,” journalist and activist Toni Lissi told army radio.

“Other immigrants are hiding in their homes, not daring to go out until things calm down,” she said. Interior Minister eli Yishai said the de-tainees would initially be held at the Saharonim detention centre in the southern negev desert, which has room for 2,000 inmates.

“It’s a decent place with all essential facili-ties,” he told public radio, referring to the centre which lies close to the egyptian border, which was first opened in 2007.

“We’ll put them in there and towards next week we’ll bring a (chartered) plane - I hope we’ll be able to organize more than one - in coordina-tion with the South Sudanese government.”

Yishai denied he was fuelling growing public discontent over the issue of immigration, which boiled over last month when a 1,000-strong protest against the rising number of Africans in Israel turned violent, with demonstrators smash-

ing African-run shops and property, chanting “Blacks out!”

“It’s not easy for me. I don’t enjoy the task,” said Yishai who frequently tried to expel non-Jewish immigrants, sparking accusations of rac-ism.

“I don’t do from xenophobia but from love of my people.”

Last week, an Israeli court decided the lives of an estimated 1,500 South Sudanese were no longer at risk in their homeland, clearing the way for their mass expulsion.

Community workers said they were led to understand the migrants would have at least a week to put their affairs in order and volunteer for repatriation, but arrests began before dawn on Sunday, when eight South Sudanese and 17 others were taken into custody.

On Sunday, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said a government committee on legislation had ap-proved a draft bill which would raise the maxi-mum penalty for Israelis who employed, housed or transported illegal immigrants to five years be-hind bars, compared with the current two years. MPs are expected to vote on the bill at a prelimi-nary reading later this week.

Interior ministry figures show around 60,000 Africans are living in Israel illegally. Some are refugees fleeing persecution in their home na-tions, but others are economic migrants.

Police arrested 20 people immediately after last month’s riot in south Tel Aviv, and since then, there have been several other attacks on immi-grants, including the firebombing of an apartment in Jerusalem last week, which lightly injured four eritreans.

The riots sparked shock in Israel, but also prompted top-level calls for the immediate arrest and expulsion of tens of thousands of African mi-grants, most of whom come from Sudan, South Sudan and eritrea. -AFP

Mubarak defibrillated twice following heart failure

CAIRO: egypt’s ailing ousted president Hosni Mubarak, now serving a life sentence in a Cairo prison over the killing or protesters, said the authorities “want to kill” him in jail, his law-yer told AFP on Monday. “He says: ‘They want to kill me. Save me, Mr Farid, find me a solu-tion,” said Farid al-deeb, his chief lawyer in the murder and corruption trial which ended this month with his sentencing. Mubarak’s “heart stopped twice. doctors had to use a defibrillator. He has been in and out of consciousness and has been refusing food,” the source said.

earlier, an interior ministry source told AFP his condition was “critical but stable”, as officials weigh transferring him to a Cairo hospital. The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars for suppressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters were killed. His medical condition de-teriorated and he suffered an emotional break-down after being moved to Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo on June 2, where he remains in intensive care in the prison hospital. He has suf-fered from acute depression since his transfer, as well as periodic increases in blood pressure and shortness of breath, the interior ministry source

said. Prison authorities last week agreed to move Mubarak’s son Gamal, who is in the same prison awaiting trial on corruption charges, closer to his

father. Mubarak asked that his other son Alaa, also in Tora awaiting trial on the same charges as Gamal, be allowed to stay with him. “He wants

both his sons by his side,” a security official said. Mubarak’s wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special permission to visit him on Sunday following rumors that he had died in prison, state media reported.

His family has formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital but such a move could un-leash the anger of activists and protesters at a particularly sensitive time in the country. elec-tions for Mubarak’s successor are just days away, a polarizing contest between the ousted presi-dent’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi. Authorities have neither accepted nor de-clined the request to transfer Mubarak, saying only that he will be “treated like all prisoners.”

“Moving him now is very sensitive, with the threat of protests in Tahrir and the elections coming up,” a security official said. Mubarak’s lawyer Farid Al-deeb said he “will hold the in-terior ministry and the state prosecutor respon-sible should Mubarak die in prison” due to lack of appropriate medical care.

“His condition is not stable... He needs to be under observation 24 hours a day,” Al-deeb told the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Since his ouster in February last year, there have been contradictory reports about Mubarak’s health, with some saying he was suffering from cancer, heart ailments or depression. -AFP

FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, Egypt’s ex-President Hosni Mubarak lies on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo. (AP)

Palestinian ends lengthy hunger strike, says Israel

Annan concerned over latest Syria violence

Yemen army attacks Islamist stronghold, dozens dead

Israel in mass round-up of migrants for deportation

Sudanese protesters hold signs during a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the deportation of migrants from South Sudan June 10, 2012. (AFP)

ADEN: Yemeni warplanes and troops bombarded the Islamist militant stronghold of Jaar on Monday, officials and witnesses said, part of a uS-backed offensive in a country Washington sees as a front line in its war against Al-Qaeda.

At least 38 soldiers and militants were killed as the military launched its most seri-ous assault on Jaar to date and also attacked positions near Shaqra, a coastal town on a major shipping route, a Yemeni military of-ficial told Reuters. Yemen is battling to re-take towns and territory in the southern province of Abyan that were seized by mili-tants linked to Al-Qaeda last year during a popular uprising against President Ali Ab-dullah Saleh.

Washington, which helped engineer Saleh’s replacement by his deputy, is sup-porting the campaign and has increased drone strikes on suspected Al-Qaeda mem-bers it believes may be plotting attacks from Yemen. It has also sent dozens of military trainers and increased aid to Yemen where it wants President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to reunify the military and focus it against Al-Qaeda.

“The military has just started an assault from three different fronts in an attempt to enter Jaar,” a military official said, add-ing armed tribesmen were supporting the troops. The army fought militants overnight into Monday morning, driving them out of

small villages and killing at least 28 fighters and six soldiers, the official said. Residents told Reuters the army used warplanes and artillery to attack the town centre. The army was also gearing up to try to take the south-ern coastal town of Shaqra, the official said, adding eight militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes near the town. Shaqra is a gateway for Somalis entering Yemen to fight alongside Al-Qaeda.

The military’s offensive has cut off sup-plies of food and medicine and forced thou-sands to flee their homes, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last week.

Tens of thousands were trapped inside towns like Jaar and Shaqra, the ICRC said. Concerned about the humanitarian and se-curity crisis in Yemen, Gulf Arab states and the West pledged more than 4 billion uS dollars in aid to the impoverished state last month.

Separately, a Saudi Arabian national, nasser Abdulaziz Al-Mahiri, who was kid-napped six months ago by tribesmen in north Yemen, was released on Sunday af-ter tribal mediation, Yemen’s state news agency Saba said on its website. Kidnap-pings of foreigners and Yemenis are com-mon in the impoverished Arabian Penin-sula state, where hostages are often used by disgruntled tribesmen to press demands on authorities. -Reuters

OPINION / VIEWSTUESdAY, JUnE 12, 2012

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The wrong austerity cure Promulgating a sense of moderation, mercy and forgivenessAhmad Bu Dastour

It is a widely accepted and proven fact that no one can beat the Arab people when it comes to showering their respective pres-

idents with rounds of applause while on the other hand; it is also common knowledge no one can beat the Arab people when it boils down to seeking revenge to the extent that they can be fully expected to drag their lead-ers through the streets to vent their anger. Arab people simply have no sense of mod-eration, mercy and forgiveness. These words simply do not exist in their vocabulary or dictionary.

Just take the case of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak who recently con-cluded in his defense (which he coincident-ly drafted by himself) that he had always nursed a deep sense of love and affection for his country and the citizens while also assuring one and all that he had, is and will always consider all Egyptians as members of his own extended family. And to cite a case in point, Mubarak added that because of his deep love and affection towards all Egyp-tians, he had staunchly refused several of-fers to flee Egypt and live as a royal king in other countries. He assured one and all that he preferred to face trial and humiliation than abandon the country and its citizens that he loved so much. Mubarak chose to abide by the verdict handed down on him by the court; agreed to be placed under arrest and even wear the same blue uniform that is worn by other convicted prisoners.

It is also worth mentioning here that during better times, Hosni Mubarak has been known to live a luxurious life to the extent that his daily meals and even bottled water were flown from France every single

day. He used to wear the most expensive suits and had (at his disposal) his own luxu-rious private jet to whisk him among the six palatial residences that he owned in Cairo and Alexandria. The seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, on the other hand, was like his own private haven where he used to receive presidents, kings and heads of states; not to mention the fact that he used to also hold global summits there.

The man who was president of a glorious and resourceful country is now languishing in a prison cell, simply because he took un-due advantage of his position; ruled over his citizens with an iron fist prompting his own citizens to label him as a tyrant and eventu-ally toppled him unceremoniously. In fact it was even worse that he was actually groom-ing his elder son Jamal to take over the reins of power making it look like he considered the country to be his own private property and hence; could rule it as he wished. Muba-rak turned Egypt into a corporation that was managed by business tycoon Ahmad Ezz, and forgot about millions of impoverished Egyptians who have been living at slums. And although Hosni Mubarak deserves to be sentenced to life in prison, the verdict triggered a huge uproar among the Egyptian masses that have been demanding his un-conditional execution.

I would however like to advise all those citizens that not only is Mubarak’s current status as a prisoner very humiliating to him,

his deteriorating health is making the situ-ation even worse for him. And taking these two factors into consideration, I humbly ask all Egyptians to have mercy on him and forgive him. The citizens should realize the underlying fact that it is not in our capac-ity to judge for that is the sole prerogative of the Lord God Almighty for it is He who has created us and hence; it is up to Him to judge and forgive on the day of Judgment. We as humans should never judge one an-other simply because we are all humans and hence; are prone to committing mistakes. The only other thing that we can do is repent for all our sins and ask for forgiveness from the one and only Creator of the universe.

We are all aware of the underlying fact that life in prison is a slow and torturous death sentence. Mubarak’s fate should serve as an example to all those other tyrants in countries across the world and make them see sense. The masses had earlier accused the Egyptian judiciary of being corrupt after Mubarak’s sons and senior police officers were acquitted of all charges despite order-ing the killing of hundreds of protestors. Turning a blind eye to such bloody atrocities will surely cause the state to crumble, be-cause the judiciary is the last line of defense. If the judiciary itself starts to falter and wa-ver instead of standing firm and resolute in its rulings, then the very concept of a demo-cratic institution will begin to show signs of collapse; never to rise again.

China on the launch pad

Fiscal profligacy did not cause the sovereign-debt crisis engulfing Europe, and fiscal auster-ity will not solve it. On the contrary, such aus-

terity has aggravated the crisis and now threatens to bring down the euro and throw the global econ-omy into another tailspin. In 2007, Spain and Ire-land were models of fiscal rectitude, with far lower debt-to-GdP ratios than Germany had. Investors were not worried about default risk on Spanish or Irish sovereign debt, or about Italy’s chronically large sovereign debt. Indeed, Italy boasted the low-est deficit-to-GdP ratio in the eurozone, and the Italian government had no problem refinancing at attractive interest rates.

Even Greece, despite its rapidly eroding com-petitiveness and increasingly unsustainable fiscal path, could attract the capital that it needed. delud-ed by the convergence of bond yields that followed the euro’s launch, investors fed a decade-long pri-vate-sector credit boom in Europe’s less-developed periphery countries, and failed to recognize real-estate bubbles in Spain and Ireland, and Greece’s slide into insolvency. When growth slowed sharply and credit flows collapsed in the wake of the Great Recession, budget revenues plummeted, govern-ments were forced to socialize private-sector liabili-ties and fiscal deficits and debt soared.

With the exception of Greece, the deteriora-tion in public finances was a symptom of the cri-sis, not its cause. Moreover, the deterioration was predictable: history shows that the real stock of government debt explodes in the wake of reces-sions caused by financial crises. Overlooking the evidence, European leaders, spearheaded by Ger-many, misdiagnosed the problem as one of fiscal profligacy for which painful austerity is the only cure. On this view, significant and rapid reductions in government deficits and debt are a precondition to restoring government credibility and investor confidence, stemming contagion, bringing down in-terest rates, and reviving economic growth.

There is also a moral-hazard aspect to the aus-terity argument: easing repayment terms for spend-thrift governments will only encourage reckless be-havior in the future - forgiving past sins perpetuates more sinning. Moreover, virtuous creditors should not bail out irresponsible borrowers, be they pri-vate or public. From this perspective, austerity is the necessary and just penance for reprobates like Greece, Spain, and Italy. But austerity is not work-ing; indeed, it is counterproductive. In the short to medium run, fiscal consolidation - whether in the form of cutting government spending or increasing revenues - results in lower output and employment, which means lower tax collection, higher deficits, and escalating debt relative to GdP.

Savvy investors, like frustrated voters, recog-nize that low growth and high unemployment ac-tually enlarge deficits and add to debt in the short run. That is why, after more than two years, inter-est rates are rising, not falling, in countries crushed by onerous austerity measures. In fact, there is no simple relationship between the size of a govern-ment’s deficit or debt and the interest rate that it must pay. British government bonds now offer sig-

nificantly lower interest rates than those of France, Italy, or Spain, even though the United Kingdom’s fiscal position is considerably worse.

Greece is caught in a classic debt trap, as the interest rate on its public debt has soared beyond its growth rate by a considerable margin; Spain is teetering on the brink. Austerity in Europe has con-firmed the International Monetary Fund’s warning that overdoing fiscal consolidation weakens eco-nomic activity, undermines market confidence, and diminishes popular support for adjustment. In the long run, many eurozone countries, including Ger-many, require fiscal consolidation in order to stabi-lize and reduce their debt-to-GdP ratios. But the process should be gradual and back-loaded - with much of the consolidation coming after Europe’s economies have returned to a sustainable growth path.

Structural reforms are also necessary in most European economies to bolster competitiveness and boost potential growth. But such reforms take time: German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to have forgotten that it took more than a decade and roughly [2 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in subsidies for structural reforms to make the former East Germa-ny competitive with the rest of the country. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and French President Fran

ois Hollande are right: Europe needs bold, co-ordinated policies to promote growth, along with market-based structural reforms to foster competi-tion and an easing of fiscal targets until output and employment recover.

But how can significant new growth initiatives be financed? The reality is that the rest of Europe cannot succeed in restoring growth without Ger-many, and Germany remains wedded to the aus-terity cure. With a modest fiscal deficit, record-low borrowing costs, and a huge current-account sur-plus, Germany has the financial firepower to un-leash a significant stimulus. But Germany sees no need to stimulate its own economy, and is willing to consider only modest eurozone measures, such as additional capital for the European Investment Bank, a small pilot program for European Union “project bonds” for infrastructure investment, and more rapid deployment of unspent EU structural funds. Germany refuses even to allow spending on high-priority infrastructure projects to be ex-empted from the unrealistic deficit targets set by the EU’s new “fiscal compact.” despite pleas from the IMF and the OECd, Germany also remains im-placably opposed to Eurobonds, which could ease the funding constraints of other eurozone members and bolster the resources of the European Stabil-ity Mechanism, which currently does not provide a credible firewall against a run on Spanish or Ital-ian sovereign debt - or on the European banks that hold it.

Indeed, the worsening banking crisis, with deposits fleeing from the eurozone periphery, is further strangling Europe’s growth prospects. It is probably too late to save Greece. But a shift toward policies to promote growth, supported by the eas-ing of deficit targets and the issuance of Eurobonds, is essential to bring Europe back from the brink of sustained recession, to stabilize Europe’s financial markets, and to prevent another significant disrup-tion to global capital markets.

Laura Tyson, a former chair of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers, is a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of Cali-fornia, Berkeley.

Behind a veil of secrecy, China’s development of strate-gic and tactical missiles is well into its third generation of modernization. While the development of Chinese

long-range missile and nuclear forces has traditionally been characterized as conservative, incremental, and slow, it has taken place against a backdrop of steadily growing official emphasis on the country’s defense-industrial complex, par-ticularly its aerospace sector. This process has been acceler-ated by a confluence of defense-industry reforms, compre-hensive military upgrading, and integration of innovative operational concepts.

The net effect is a growing capability of China’s strategic missile forces and military space platforms. Various reports suggest that China is selectively enhancing its strategic and tactical missile capabilities by developing solid-fuel motors; diversifying its range of warheads and increasing their ac-curacy; deploying missiles with multiple warheads; and up-grading its ballistic-missile defense countermeasures, such as decoys, chaff, jamming, and thermal shielding, and possibly

maneuverable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) and multiple inde-pendently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).

In particular, China is developing, testing, and deploying a new generation of solid-propellant, road-mobile intercon-tinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). These include the dF-31 and dF-31A, which are equipped with nuclear payloads. It is also designing and developing new classes of conventional short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) and medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), such as the dF-21 - mobile, solid-propellant, longer range, more accurate, and able to exploit vulnerabilities in ballistic missile-defense systems.

As part of its missile and nuclear-force modernization, China is also focusing on developing its sea-launched bal-listic missiles (SLBMs) such as the JL-2, testing the dF21-d as an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) for maritime strikes, and further developing its anti-satellite weapon capabilities (ASAT). The purpose behind China’s continuous moderniza-tion of its strategic assets is to enhance the credibility of its deterrent threat by improving the survivability of its nuclear forces. Thus, China is diversifying its missiles in terms of their strike capabilities and mobility. It is also formulating innova-tive anti-access/area-denial asymmetric warfare concepts to

close the gap with technologically more advanced adversar-ies and near competitors - principally the United States, Rus-sia, and Japan. China’s progress in modernizing its strategic assets and capabilities owes much to the ongoing transforma-tion of China’s defense industries, particularly the aerospace sector, over the past decade. Since the late 1990s, China’s government has gradually introduced elements of competi-tion and globalization, with the aim of overcoming the en-trenched monopoly of China’s traditional defense-industrial conglomerates. The reforms have been guided by two broad concepts: the “Four Mechanisms” - competition, evalua-tion, supervision, and encouragement - and yujun yumin, or identifying military potential in civilian capabilities, with defense industries integrating into the broader civilian econ-omy. The reforms have essentially enabled China to stream-line research and development efforts, as well as technol-ogy transfers between selected components of its civil and commercial space programs. As a result, China has also been able to bypass existing export controls and restrictions on the transfer of sensitive military technologies, particularly aerospace and satellite components and know-how.

Indeed, China’s military use of space is increasingly de-

pendent and interlinked with civilian and commercial space activities, infrastructure, and human capital. Its space launch vehicles (SLVs) can be used for satellites with a range of ap-plications - including communications, weather, observation, and navigation - which may significantly enhance the effec-tiveness of China’s military space operations and systems. While ballistic missiles have generally different rocket en-gines, basing profiles, and launch methods, their guidance and control systems may use similar components, and SLVs may use stage components based on ballistic missiles.

The trajectory of China’s ballistic missile R&d and pro-duction shows a gradual transition from copying and repro-ducing first-generation Soviet ballistic-missile technologies to adapting and modifying smaller, mobile, solid-propellant ballistic missiles and their follow-on second-generation systems. China is now an independent producer and tech-nological innovator of selected missile systems and related aerospace technologies. Ultimately, China views its military, civil, and commercial space programs as being at the fore-front of its national defense, economic development, and geostrategic influence. The rest of the world should regard China’s aerospace capabilities as an important part of its fu-ture power projection.

Michael Raska is Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological Uni-versity.

Project Syndicate

Michael Raska

China is now an independent producer and technological innovator of selected missile systems and related aerospace technologies.

Savvy investors, like frustrated voters, recognize that low growth and high unemployment actually enlarge deficits and add to debt in the short run.

Project Syndicate

Laura Tyson

The citizens should realize the underlying fact that it is not in our capacity to judge for that is the sole prerogative of the Lord God Almighty

Ali Farzat

Al-Houla

RAWALPINDI: Indian and Pakistani de-fence officials held a fresh round of talks Monday seeking to end decades of dispute over the Sia-chen Glacier, dubbed the world’s highest battle-field. An avalanche on April 7 killed 140 people at a Pakistani army camp saw Pakistan’s army chief of staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, call for a negotiated end to the stalemate and say that the glacier should be demilitarized. But India, which captured the commanding peaks in 1984, sees the glacier as vital to monitor Pakistani positions below and important for the defense of its part of Kashmir, where a separatist insurgency has killed tens of thousands since 1989.

Pakistani troops have tried but failed to seize control of the sliver of territory, where sub-ze-ro temperatures and high altitude have caused countless deaths. The two days of talks between the most senior civil servants at India and Paki-stan’s defense ministries were being held at the Pakistani ministry in Rawalpindi.

India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony has warned against any breakthrough, saying that India would explain its “clear-cut position” on Siachen to the Pakistanis. “Do not expect any dramatic announcement or decision on an is-sue which is very important for us, especially in the context of national security,” he said last week. Twelve previous rounds of talks between

the nuclear-armed rivals on Siachen have all ended in stalemate. Pakistani officials were also tight-lipped about the talks. “The two sides will discuss Siachen and other matters related to de-

fence affairs,” Sohail Aftab, a spokesman for the defense ministry, told AFP. The Indian delegation is being led by S.K. Sharma and the Pakistani side by Nargis Sethi. The Indian visitors also met

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Naveed Qamar and a joint statement will be issued on Tuesday, Aftab said. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is di-vided by a heavily militarized Line of Control and which both countries claim in full.

Last year they resumed their tentative peace process, which collapsed after Islamist gunmen from Pakistan killed 166 people in Mumbai in November 2008.Analysts say there is growing support in Pakistan for rapprochement with In-dia, which could help boost its flagging economy and quell tensions on the eastern border as Paki-stan grapples with a deadly Taliban insurgency in its northwest.

But India shares increasing US frustration with Pakistan’s unwillingness or inability to clamp down on havens used by Islamist militants who attack US troops in Afghanistan and who pose a threat to India. India’s Cabinet Commit-tee on Security discussed the Siachen issue at a meeting last Thursday, but no details were made public.

“Our stand on Siachen is well known to the other side and the talks would continue within those parameters,” an Indian defence official told AFP of the Indian military’s reluctance to withdraw from the commanding peaks. -AFP

NEWS IN BRIEF

Toy bomb kills Pakistan mother, hurts childrenPESHAWAR: A bomb hidden in a toy exploded in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing a mother and wound-ing three young children who had picked up the device while out playing, police said. The incident took place in the Nasir Bagh area on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar that runs into the semi-autonomous tribal belt that US of-ficials consider a safe haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. “The children, including a girl and two boys, brought home a bomb concealed in a ball, which exploded with a bang killing a woman and wounding her two boys and a niece,” senior local police official Shafeerullah Khan told AFP. The dead woman was aged 32. Her wounded niece is four years old, and her two sons seven and nine, police said. Local police official Haqdad Khan confirmed the ca-sualties. Pakistan is on the frontline of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda.-AFP

Ukrainian tram blast injures nineKIEV: An explosion on a tram in the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk in-jured nine people on Monday in what police in the European soccer cham-pionship co-host said was an accident. Dnipropetrovsk is not among the cities that host the month-long tournament, but the city had been hit by bombings in April that wounded 30 people. Interior Ministry spokesman Volodymyr Polish-chuk said gunpowder carried by one of the passengers had set off Monday’s blast. Registered hunters in Ukraine routinely buy gunpowder to assemble their own rounds. “The gunpowder ig-nited for some unknown reason,” Pol-ishchuk said. “Either it was very hot or the man dropped it on the floor.” Nine people, including the owner of gunpow-der, received minor burns. -Reuters

Afghan bomb wounds pregnant womanKABUL: A roadside bomb in Afghani-stan killed five people Monday and in-jured two, including a pregnant woman, when it ripped through the ambulance rushing them to hospital for her to give birth, police said. The woman was wounded but survived and gave birth without any complications, but four relatives died along with the driver, Sari Pul provincial deputy police chief Sayed Jahnagir Kramat told AFP. The interior ministry in Kabul initially said that the pregnant woman died in the blast in the northern province, which is regularly hit by insurgent activity, but later said it had been misinformed. “She’s alive and gave birth to her baby,” Kramat told AFP. The dead included a 12-year-old boy, he said, adding that the bomb was planted by Taliban insurgents. The Tali-ban regularly use improvised roadside bombs to target Afghan and Western military forces, but they often kill civil-ians who use the same roads. -AFP

Russian police raid opposition’s homes ahead of rally

India, Pakistan in talks on disputed glacier

West Africa to seek UN mandate for action on Mali

Eurocopter experts helping in Kenya crash probe

NAIROBI: Eurocopter, the manufac-turer of civil and military helicopters, said Monday it has deployed experts to help in the probe into the crash of one of its air-craft that killed six people including two Kenyan ministers.

“Eurocopter has mobilized a team of experts to assist and support the Kenyan authorities, which will conduct an inves-tigation into the accident,” the company said in a statement.

The manufacturer, based at Marignane in the south of France, confirmed that the aircraft, an AS350 B3e, was built in 2011 and delivered to the Kenya police last De-cember.

“The helicopter had logged about 230 flight hours since new and was last serviced

at the end of May 2012,” said the compa-ny, which is 100% owned by the European aeronautics and defense group EADS.

The crash, which happened Sunday morning in a mountainous area on the outskirts of Nairobi, killed Internal Secu-rity Minister George Saitoti, his assistant minister and four other people.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki de-clared three days of official mourning starting Monday.

There were no survivors in the crash.The police helicopter came down soon

after take off from Nairobi’s Wilson Air-port. Witnesses at the scene told AFP that the aircraft “hovered up there and looked like it was turning back” before coming down.

Another witness, farmer Ole Tolei, said that he had seen the helicopter “flying very low. It came down suddenly and we heard a loud explosion, and then it burst into flames.”

This is the third of a series of air crash-es that have robbed the Kibaki administra-tion of top officials.

The most recent was in 2008 when a Cessna aircraft carrying two cabinet min-isters crashed into a building in Narok, a town outside Nairobi.

In January 2003, just weeks after Kibaki’s government came to power, a light aircraft carrying government minis-ters crashed in western Kenya killing one minister and three others. Three other min-isters survived the accident. -AFP

MOSCOW: Russian police searched oppo-sition leaders’ homes on Monday in morning raids intended to disrupt plans for a protest rally against President Vladimir Putin’s rule and show he has lost patience with demonstrations that are undermining his authority.

The searches before Tuesday’s rally were an aggressive turn after months of opposition ral-lies, signaling a tougher approach designed to crush dissent at the start of the former KGB spy’s new six-year term as president. Several leaders were also summoned for questioning on Tuesday about violence at a rally on the eve of Putin’s May 7 inauguration, almost certainly stopping them from attending the first big planned protest since he returned to the Kremlin.

Armed police stood guard as investigators searched the apartments of anti-corruption blog-ger Alexei Navalny, leftist leader Sergei Udalts-ov and other opposition figures, rifling through rooms and seizing computer drives and disks.

“They practically cut out the door,” Navalny, one organizer of the protests sparked by allega-tions of fraud in a December parliamentary elec-tion won by Putin’s United Russia party, said on Twitter.He tweeted that police had confiscated the electronics in his home “including discs with the children’s photos”.

After tolerating protests while seeking re-election, Putin looks intent on carrying out promises to guarantee stability, even if critics say this could mean political and economic stagna-tion and a return to police tactics not seen since Soviet times when a knock on the door could lead to years of exile in a prison camp or even death under dictator Josef Stalin.

On Friday, he signed a law that increased fines, in some cases more than 100 fold, for violations of public order at street demonstra-tions, ignoring warnings from his human rights council that it was an unconstitutional infringe-

ment on the right to free assembly.The federal Investigative Committee, Russia’s main investi-gation agency, said it planned to conduct about 10 searches on Monday in connection with the criminal probe into violence against police at the earlier protest.A former deputy prime min-ister, Boris Nemtsov, and Ksenia Sobchak, a TV presenter and socialite who has become a Putin critic despite her late father’s close ties to the president 20 years ago before he rose to power, were also among those whose apartments were targeted, activists said.

Two dark-uniformed police officers armed with semiautomatic rifles guarded the entrance to Navalny’s modest, Soviet-built apartment

building in a neighborhood near Moscow’s edge, allowing residents in and out but barring others.

Navalny’s lawyer was barred from his flat for hours, Ekho Moskvy radio said. His spokeswom-an, Anna Veduta, said armed police also showed up at an office Navalny uses, but they were un-able to enter because there was nobody there.

Udaltsov, head of the Left Front party, told reporters officers had confiscated computer drives, documents and discs, photographs of his children and flags for Tuesday’s protest from his apartment.

“They rifled through everything, every wardrobe, in the toilet, in the refrigerator. They searched under the beds. Were they looking for

our secrets?” he said outside the protest organis-ers’ offices.

Opposition politician Sergei Mitrokhin said the raids were a sign that Putin was relying on oppressive measures to rein in dissent, rather than conducting political reforms.

“Putin has stopped even imitating democ-racy,” Mitrokhin, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, said on Ekho Moskvy.

Dozens expressed anger over the move on the Internet, which opposition activists and or-dinary Russians have used to organize the pro-tests, bypassing a compliant television media that is under tight state control.

“Vova is crazy,” one Twitter user wrote, re-ferring to Putin by using the common nickname for Vladimir. Others messaged under the tag that translates as ‘ h ello1937’ - a reference to the deadliest year of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s repression.

“What we are witnessing today is in essence the year 1937,” opposition activist Yevgenia Chirikova said. “It is an absolutely clear scenario in which the authorities scare the people.”

Interfax news agency cited Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin as saying those whose homes were searched had been summoned to appear at the committee on Tuesday. Udaltsov said he and his wife had been summoned to appear at 11 a.m. (0700 GMT), an hour before the protest’s scheduled start. At an emergency meeting in a cramped Moscow office, activists confirmed that at least one other leader, Ilya Yashin, had received a summons.

Opposition leaders have permission for a march and rally in central Moscow, a test of their ability to maintain pressure on Putin through protests despite the new law increasing fines for protests at which to as much as 300,000 rubles (9,200 US dollars) for participants and 1 million rubles ($30,600) for organizers. -Reuters

WORLD TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

5

A man wearing a balaclava walks past two policemen holding submachine guns as they guard an entrance to the house of Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader and a popular anti-corrup-tion blogger, in Moscow on June 11, 2012. (AFP)

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Naveed Qamar (right) speaks with Indian Defense secretary, Shashikant Sharama, before talks in Rawalpindi on June 11, 2012. (AFP)

PARIS: West African nations will seek a UN Security Council mandate for military intervention in Mali where rising Islamist militancy has made the country an inter-national security threat, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said on Monday.

“ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) has decided to refer to the Security Council with the objective of sending an armed force to Mali,” Issou-fou told a news conference after meeting French Presi-dent Francois Hollande in Paris. “I asked for the support of France for the resolution we are preparing,” he said.

Mali, once regarded as a good example of African democracy, collapsed into chaos after soldiers toppled the president in March, leaving a power vacuum that en-abled Tuareg rebels in the north to take control of nearly two-thirds of the country.

The uprising also involved a mix of local and foreign Islamists, and Western diplomats talk of the risk the re-gion could turn into a “West African Afghanistan”.

Issoufou said Afghan and Pakistani Islamist groups were training recruits in northern Mali.

“It is not just a threat for the region, but the world ... It is an international threat that needs an international

response so this is why we have decided to take this to the Security Council,” he said. Issoufou said ECOWAS, which is still preparing its Security Council request, would seek logistical support from the United States and France for any military intervention.

The bloc wants a “Chapter 7” mandate if talks with armed groups fail to resolve the escalating crisis, he said. Chapter 7 of the UN charter allows the Security Council to authorise actions ranging from sanctions to military interventions.ECOWAS has said for weeks it has troops ready but the cost of such a mission - which peacekeep-ing sources estimate at more than $200 million - and confusion over its objectives mean any deployment is probably still far off.

Former colonial ruler France, which has six of its citizens held hostage in un unknown location in the re-gion by al Qaeda’s north African arm (AQIM), has said it would be ready to help restore stability in Mali if there is a Security Council resolution. Hollande said Paris would be ready to support military action as “there is a threat of terrorist groups taking root in northern Mali,” but, he said, it was up to African nations to take the initiative in leading any military operation. -Reuters

COPENHAGEN: Chinese President Hu Jintao comes to Denmark on Thursday for the first-ever state visit by a Chinese president to the Scandinavian coun-try, the Danish prime minister’s office said.

“President Hu is to be accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and other central Chinese de-cision-makers. The program for the Chinese guests in-cludes, among other issues, economic cooperation and sustainability,” a statement said on Monday.

Hu will stay in Denmark, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, until Saturday be-fore attending the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18-19.

Ties between Beijing and Copenhagen were strained in 2009 when the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was received by then-prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and foreign minister Per Stig

Moeller during a visit to Denmark.The welcome accorded to him in what was termed

a private trip led to the cancellation of official Danish visits to China and caused problems for Danish firms operating in the country.

Denmark sent a diplomatic note to Beijing later that year to smooth things over, saying it would oppose Tibetan independence and carefully consider China’s reaction before inviting the Dalai Lama again.

The full details of Hu’s visit have yet to be dis-closed, but according to a preliminary programme he will attend a banquet hosted by Queen Margrethe II on Friday, and hold talks with the prime minister the following day.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has told Danish media she plans to raise human rights issues and the situation in Tibet in her talks with Hu. -AFP

Rescuers stand next to the tail of a police helicop-ter that crashed on June 10, 2012 in the Ngong hills outside Nairobi. Kenya’s Internal Security Minister George Saitoti was killed on June 10 along with five oth-ers in the crash. (AFP)

China’s Hu on landmark visit to Denmark

In Focus

Jolly Good Fellows

KUWAIT: Youth unemployment is a critical dimension to the economic crises particularly in the Eurozone. Ger-many’s well established of apprenticeship is likely to gain acceptance in other European countries and in the US. Economists at Davos cautioned that youth unemployment is an economic time bomb. Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank opined that youth unemployment would lead to a generation of scarred people. The UK government launched the Youth Contract incentive program designed to provide nearly 500,000 employment opportunities for young, eligible workers. A new deal for youth being consid-ered in the US includes a mandatory one year commitment for young people who have either completed or dropped out of high school. The program would give youth a basic monthly income and medical coverage. In addition, more governments are considering proposals to offer tax and fi-nancial incentives to companies with jobs at risk. These new forms of national service would clearly be far more produc-tive and beneficial than the compulsory military service that previously existed in many countries.

Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook, gave up his US citizenship and became a permanent resident of Sin-gapore. More recently, Trafigura, arguably one of the world’s largest commodities trading groups, moved its headquarters from Switzerland to Singapore. Singapore won over Tra-figura, competing with Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai, and Switzerland’s status as the world’s commodities trad-ing hub took a major dent. BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company is soon to relocate its core iron ore and coal marketing divisions from Hague to Singapore, later this year. Singapore is quickly emerging as the trading hub for oil, metals and commodities (agricultural and minerals). Singapore’s advantages are better tax regime, sound infra-structure, lower operating costs and the large commodities demand in Asia.

‘Jolly Good Fellow’ is an official job title at Google. Google’s JGF, is an author, self-professed thought leader and philanthropist. Apart from greeting visiting dignitaries with his famous grin, Chade-Meng Tan helps Google employees discover inner peace. Chade was employee number 107 and one of Google’s earliest engineers. His training course Search Inside Yourself is designed to ensure that the search engine does not burn out human talent within the company. In keeping with his title of Jolly Good Fellow, Chade has spent a good deal of time, unsuccessfully, trying to get the company to stop paying him a salary.

The central banks of Australia, China, India and Bra-zil are looking at rate cuts, whereas, the prime minister of Canada is looking for a pipeline, to stimulate economic growth. Environmental concerns in the US have deferred plans for the 1,700 mile oil pipeline that would have deliv-ered oil from Alberta’s oil sands to refining facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, the Canadian prime minister is now supporting a pipeline to the Pacific coast to deliver fuel to Asian markets. Previously designated commercial interests are now national interests and will probably override en-vironmental concerns in Canada. The diversification away from the US markets is supported and part financed by large investments by Chinese firms and China Investment Corpo-ration, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund.

Coinstar’s revenue growth during the past three years, averaged over forty percent. Return on assets, operating profit and investment yields are all far ahead of the market. Coinstar operates DVD vending machines at retailers such as Walmart, has a streaming video joint venture with Veri-zon, and a partnership with Starbucks (coffee vending ma-chines). Iron Mountain is a document storage company with a healthy return on equity and a gross margin of nearly 60 percent. Regulatory changes, digital archiving and electronic vaults, less than 30 percent current outsourcing of document storage, all represent high growth potential factors. What’s in a name? The name in some instances at least, does make a Jolly Good Fellow business firm.

The views expressed above are the writer’s own. Savio is a financial and management advisor with a background in economics. He has carried outconsulting and management intervention projects in several countries such as USA, UK, Australia, Kenya, Armenia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc. The writer may be contacted on saviosgomes@gmail.com.

BUSINESSUS Crude

$84.95 $0.85London Brent

$100.37 $0.90Kuwait Crude

$94.68 $0.95Information Courtesy: KAMCO

market watch

KUWAIT DUBAI QATAR OMAN ABU DHABI BAHRAIN EGYPT SAUDI

cUrreNcIeSUS Dollar

Buy 0.2802Sell 0.2806

EuroBuy 0.3515Sell 0.3518

British PoundBuy 0.4351Sell 0.4356

Japanese YenBuy 0.003528Sell 0.003531

Saudi RiyalBuy 0.0747Sell 0.0748

UAE DirhamBuy 0.07629Sell 0.0764

Qatari RiyalBuy 0.07709Sell 0.07696

Bahraini DinarBuy 0.7432Sell 0.74442

Indian RupeeBuy 0.005034Sell 0.005026Philippine Peso

Buy 0.006533Sell 0.006516

Prices in Kuwaiti fils. As of June 11, 2012. Courtesy: KAMCO

OIL marketS

0.63%6072 1.09%

14830.17%8315

0.23%5743 0.36%

2463

0.22%1135 0.61%

6749

1.73%4394

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Exclusive to Al Watan Daily

Savio S. Gomes

Oil climbs over $100 on Spanish banks rescue, Iran

Kuwait raises July crude OSP to Asia by 45 cents

CAPITALS: Brent crude oil rose above 100 US dol-lars on Monday after a weekend rescue package for Span-ish banks calmed fears of an imminent euro zone collapse and the breakdown of nuclear talks between the UN and Iran renewed concerns over oil supplies.

The larger-than-expected Spanish rescue eased some worries over Europe’s debt crisis, boosting stock markets and a range of commodities.

But markets remained nervous, given that the pace of global growth was uncertain and elections were due in Greece on Sunday.

Brent futures for July rose as high as $102.21 a bar-rel, up $2.74, and traded around $100.30 by 1120 GMT. US crude futures jumped to as much as $86.64 and were 85 cents higher at $84.95 by 1120 GMT.

“The aid for Spanish banks has revived risk appe-tite for a while at least,” said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

“This positive market sentiment could last some days, although there is still event risk - the Greek elec-tions, Iran - that could prevent big gains from here,” he added.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion), making the country the fourth to seek assistance since Europe’s debt crisis began.

Yet with the economy contracting, one in four Span-ish workers out of a job and Greek elections next week-end overshadowing the entire zone, investors are wary how far the latest deal will go in helping the region tackle its debt crisis.

On the supply front, fears of a disruption to Middle East oil supplies resurfaced after the UN nuclear watch-dog and Iran failed to unblock a probe into suspected atom bomb research by the Islamic state, dimming chances for success in higher-level negotiations later this month.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, using un-usually pointed language, said no progress had been made in the meeting aimed at sealing a deal on resum-ing the IAEA’s long-stalled investigation, and it described the outcome as “disappointing”.

The global oil market is well supplied after several months of high production rates by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

OPEC’s president signaled on Monday the cartel could act to reduce supplies but was unlikely to set coun-try production quotas at a meeting this week in Vienna.

The outlook for the global economy remained un-certain.

China’s inflation, industrial output and retail sales all flagged in May for a second straight month of sluggish

growth, data showed.India has reported its weakest quarterly growth in

nine years, and Brazil almost stalled in the first quar-ter, raising doubts as to how much emerging markets can drive the world economy as industrialized nations struggle with debt.

Supporting oil were figures showing China’s crude imports rose to a record 25.48 million tons, or about 6 million barrels per day in May, up 18.2 percent from a year ago.

But analysts cautioned against optimism as actual demand from users remained weak and the bulk of oil imported in May was likely to have been moved into storage.

China’s implied oil demand inched up only 0.4 per-cent in May year-on-year, after April’s first yearly decline in over three years.

In more news, Kuwait raised the official selling price (OSP) for its crude sales to Asian buyers for July by 45 cents a barrel from the previous month to 15 cents a bar-rel below the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, a trade source said on Monday.

The June OSP was 60 cents below the Oman/Dubai average.

Kuwait’s crude price formula is loosely linked to that

of Saudi Arabia’s Arab Medium grade.

Some OPEC members concernedSome OPEC members are worried about crude oil

prices and production levels, Kuwait’s oil minister said on Monday as he departed for an OPEC meeting in Vi-enna. “Some of the members are concerned about the prices,” Minister Hani Hussein told reporters. “There are some concerns about what direction prices are heading and production,” he said, but did not elaborate.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries meets on Thursday in Vienna to chart production policy.

OPEC basket downOPEC daily basket price stood at $95.87 a barrel Fri-

day, compared with $97.70 the previous day, according to the news bulletin of the cartel on Monday.

The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Gi-rassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Ku-wait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Ma-rine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela). -Agencies

Farmers work in the farming area at Mou’ai Village in Fengshan County, southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 11, 2012. As the summer comes, farmers in Fengshan County are busy with planting crops to take advantage of the sufficient rainfall. (AP)

KSE slumps 38.51 points closing in red

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange’s (KSE) KSX 15 index ended Monday’s trading session with a loss of 0.66 points to read 963.68 points, the price index was also down 38.51 points to 6,072.36 points. The weighted index shed 1.04 points to 400.1 points. Trades came to 4,783 transactions, worth KD 19,917,808.285 and volume reached 289,207,617 shares. Top share for the day was that of Kuwait Medical Ser-vices Company. The biggest loser was Al-Safat Real Estate Company, and top volume share was that of Gulf Finance House.

The boards at Kuwait Stock Exchange were mixed by 10:01 a.m. Monday with the price index reading 6,110.05 points, a loss of 0.82 points, the weighted index reading 401.02 points, a loss of 0.12 points, and the KSX 15 index showing a gain of 0.91 points at 963.93 points.

Trades came to 1,563 transactions by that time, worth KD 7,137,812.791, with 98,631,251 shares changing hands so far. The sector indices were equally mixed. -KUNA

KGL records KD 9 million profit, up 20.4% year-on-year

Ricky LaxaStaff Writer

KUWAIT: “We are looking into the aspect of ex-pansion from Kuwait to nearby states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Iraq. The company also targets the bids offered by the US Government and the NATO Forces in the region. KGL Logistics additionally diver-sify its set of services to expand its market share and pave the way for additional future expansion. More-over, the company also looks forward to execute the various Build, Operate Transfer (BOT) projects in Ku-wait” says KGL Logistics Chairperson Jafar M. Ali in an interview during the general assembly for financial year end report of 2011.

Kuwait Gulf Link Logistics (KGL) held its ordinary and extraordinary general assembly meeting Monday for the approval of its ‘Consolidated Financial State-ment Report’ for the year end 2011.

The report outlined the achievements of the com-pany during the year 2011, whereby the revenues for the year 2011 amounted to 29.9 million Kuwaiti dinars compared to KD 21.5 million in the year 2010, thereby reflecting a growth of 39.7 percent from the previous year. Total expenses amounted to KD 20.9 million for the year 2011 in comparison with KD 14.1 million in

2010. Accordingly, profits for the year 2011 stood at KD 9 million as compared to KD 7.4 million in 2010, reflecting a growth of 20.4 percent from the previous year. In terms of dividends distribution, the General Assembly approved the recommendation of the Board of Directors to distribute a cash dividend at a rate of 20 percent of the shares’ nominal value and bonus shares at a rate of 10 percent of the paid-up capital for the fi-nancial year ending on Dec. 31, 2011. The distributions shall include all shareholders registered on the date of convening the General Assembly. The company’s capital will become KD 30 million after the shares dis-tribution. During the General Assembly, the Board of Directors also highlighted the company’s future plans to expand its role in the local market by promoting its participation in local tenders

“It is difficult to project the outcome of the year 2012 as early as now, but it has to be something rea-sonable and we are in the process of working towards a better growth better than 2011,” says Ali. He also expressed gratitude to the shareholders, customers and partners for their endless support and confidence in the company’s continued improvement and success under the leadership of His Highness the Amir of Ku-wait, Crown Prince, Prime Minster and Kuwait Gov-ernment.

(Third from left) Chair-person of KGL Logistics Jafar M. Ali with members of the board of directors, dur-ing the 2011 yearend report assembly held Monday morn-ing at KGL. (Al Watan Daily)

Banks approve debt payment delay for Kuwait’s Global

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Global Investment House said on Monday that creditor banks had approved a delay in repay-ment of principal and interest to November from June, days after bondholders also agreed to extend scheduled payments to later in the year.

The company, which is undergoing its second debt re-structuring in three years, also has the option to delay both sets of payments to banks for an additional month to Decem-ber 10 at the discretion of lenders, a regulatory filing said.

“The consent covers almost the entire conventional and Islamic lending arrangements of the company,” it said.

“(It) allows the company and its debt holders to continue their efforts to seek a long term solution to the company’s capital structure,” it said.

Last week, Global secured approval from bondholders to delay the repayment of bonds worth 95 million Kuwaiti dinars (338.4 million US dollars) to December from June.

Global, which counts the governments of Kuwait and Dubai as major shareholders, asked bank creditors in Sep-tember to suspend payments on a $1.7 billion plan agreed in 2009.

Shares in Global have not traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange(KSE) since December, when the bourse suspended the stock after the company’s accumulated losses exceeded 75 percent of its capital.

Like several other Kuwaiti investment houses, Global’s portfolio was hard hit by the global financial crisis in 2008.

Sources said in January Global had laid off 17 percent of its staff, or 60 employees out of 350, across the Gulf region as part of cost-cutting measures. -Reuters

UAE central bank may exempt bonds from new loans cap

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates’ central bank has told banks they may be allowed to exclude bonds issued by state-linked entities from planned lending limits slated to take effect later this year, a local newspaper said on Monday, citing bankers.

In April, the central bank expanded its large-exposure limit rules for commercial banks, introducing new caps for loans made to local governments and their entities in the first such change in nearly two decades.

The ruling would cap lending at 100 percent of a bank’s capital base to governments of the seven-member UAE fed-eration and their non-commercial entities, and 25 percent to individual borrowers. -Reuters

BUSINESStuesdAY, June 12, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

7

6,058.90 Volume 289,284,588Weighted Index -1 04 400 10 401 14 401 52 397 17Price index -38.51 6,072.36 6,110.87 6,115.90

Monday 11 June, 2012

Index Change Closing Last Closing High Low

Value (KWD) 19 928 546Weighted Index -1.04 400.10 401.14 401.52 397.174,793

Security High LowTrades

Last Change Security High Low

Value (KWD) 19,928,546KSX 15 0.66 963.68 963.02 964.66 952.50 Number of Trades

MARIN 150 148 4999 748 2 148 0 0

TradesLast ChangeVolume Value (KD) Trades Volume Value (KD) Trades

104 -4 0URC 106 104 706 000 74 490 17MARIN 150 148 4999 748 2 148 0.0

3 255IKARUS 186 180 530 98

104 -4.00.0

URC 106 104 706,000 74,490 17126 50,000 6,300 6 1262 180 -8.0 NRE 126

55,000 14,025 0.0330 10.0 SRE 255 255IPG 330 330 1,000 330 160,585 1,709 7 29 -0.5325 0.0 PEARL 29 28NAPESCO 330 325 22,700 7,381 3

0 0 0 0 0.0130 0.0 TAM 0 0AREFENRGY 130 130 90,000 11,700 30 0 0 0 0.058 -4.0 AREEC 0 0GPI 60 57 1,392,999 80,935 36

ABAR 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 95 -5.0Oil & Gas 1,512,228 101,192 47 945.45

0.0 MASSALEH 95 95 3,000 285

13 104 -2.0 ERESCO 920 0 0 0.0

PIPE 106 102 108,708 11,382

27,097 32 35 -0.5UREC 0 0 0

-9.90 ARABREC 36 35 773,207

1,000 0.0BPCC 620 610 698 709 426 218 20 620

MABANEE 1,000 1,000 14,500 14,500 4-1.0

KFOUC 315 310 60,000 18,675 6 315 0.091 189,429 17,243 11 91

23 823 16 63 1.010.0 INJAZZAT 63 61 384 805BPCC 620 610 698,709 426,218 20 6200.0 INVESTORS 20

23,823 16 63 1.0ALKOUT 0 0 0 0

10.0 INJAZZAT 63 61 384,805

Basic Materials 1,727,543 639,506 79 954.76IRC 52 49 7,976,200 404,848 173

-0.5ALQURAIN 214 212 860,126 183,231 40 214 0.0

19 9,528,550 181,570 114 190 0

6 83 -1.0SANAM 61 61 200,000 12,200 5

-0.05 ALTIJARIA 83 82 74,000 6,09449 -4.0

118,141 42 81 -2.00.0 AAYANRE 83 80 1,458,86461 0.0

KCEM 0 0 0 0 0 0REFRI 0 0 0 0 5.0CABLE 1,180 1,160 14,912 17,348 8 1,160 -20.0

88 30,999 2,730 3 900 0 0.0 AQAR 90

5,825 10 74 0.0PCEM 880 880 36,270 31,918

6.0 MAZAYA 74 72 80,2000 0.0

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2.5PAPER 190 190 38,000 7,220 6 190 -10.0

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Parallel Market 76,971 10,738 10 950.720.0

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China’s crude oil imports up 18.2%, hit record high

TOKYO: China’s crude oil imports jumped 18.2 percent in May from a year earlier to a record high of 25.48 million tons, or 6.03 million barrels a day (bpd), according to latest data released by the Chinese government.

Crude oil imports also grew 14.5 percent from April’s 22.26 million tons (5.44 million bpd), the General Administration of Customs said on its Website. In the first five months of this year, China imported 118.35 million tons (5.71 million bpd), up 11.31percent from the same period of 2011.

the import-dependency rate of China, the world’s second-biggest energy importer after the us, stood at 56.7 percent in 2011, up from 54.8 percent in 2010, the Ministry of Land and Resources said last month.

Oil consumption climbed 2.5 percent year-on-year to 8.94 million bpd in 2011, while crude oil output inched up 0.5 percent to 4.10 million bpd, accord-ing to the ministry. Financial input for prospecting oil and natural gas rose 6.9 percent in 2011 from a year earlier. -KunA

Egypt’s Orascom construction net income drops 54%

CAIRO: egypt’s Orascom Construc-tion (OCI) reported a 54 percent fall in first-quarter net income on Monday, partly due to the sale of a stake in us grains merchant Gavilon and also lower sales volumes and a drop in prices at OCI’s fertilizer business.

OCI, egypt’s biggest company by market value, is in the process of splitting its construction and fertiliser businesses into two new companies. It has been benefiting from infrastructure growth across the Middle east despite economic turmoil at home.

net profit fell to 94 million us dol-lars from $206.3 million in the same period a year earlier. that compares to a consensus estimate by 14 analysts of $129.5 million.

Consolidated revenue rose by 1.4 percent to $1.28 billion from $1.26 bil-lion while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization dropped 24 percent to $255.8 million from $334.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

“Our first quarter results have been impacted by lower selling prices for am-monia and melamine,” Chairman and Chief executive Officer nassef sawiris said in a statement.

“Moving forward, we expect to weather the impacts on the first quarter results with the resurgence in fertilizer prices during late March and increases in

production rates from our new fertilizer plants,” sawiris said. He also said the firm expected an improvement in earn-ings for the rest of the year.

OCI’s consolidated order backlog at end-March grew to $6.5 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the end-december figure and a 15.5 percent jump from the same period a year earlier.

the company registered new orders worth $841 million during the quarter, with infrastructure and industrial work making up 61 percent of the construc-tion group’s backlog.

OCI said in late May it would earn $605 million from the sale of its 16.8 percent stake in us grains merchant Gavilon to Japanese trading house Mar-ubeni.

the deal is part of a $3.6 billion takeover by Marubeni of Gavilon, whose other owners include billionaire investor George soros and hedge fund manager dwight Anderson. the investment in-come related to the Gavilon stake was taken out during the quarter and reclas-sified as an investment held for sale, OCI said.

“We expect to use part of the pro-ceeds to finance the fertilizer group’s expansion in north America and poten-tially invest in other opportunities under review,” the firm said, adding that part of the proceeds will be paid as dividends. -Reuters

Saudi’s Kingdom Holding picks banks for debut bond

DUBAI: Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle of saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin talal, has picked two banks to manage its maiden debt is-sue, a local currency bond, two sources said on Monday.

no date has been set for the issue, which is not seen as imminent.the firm, which is 95-percent owned by Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of saudi

Arabia’s king and a shareholder in Citigroup Inc., has mandated Banque saudi Fransi and deutsche Bank to arrange the riyal-denominated transaction, the sources said.

“It was mandated a long time ago to the two banks but there are no plans to sell anything imminently,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is not yet public.

Kingdom officials were not immediately available for comment.Kingdom received approval from shareholders in March to sell bonds worth

up to 3.75 billion saudi riyals (one billion us dollars), although no details on timeframe or structure were given.

When the firm does market a deal, it is likely to be below benchmark size, the second source said. A benchmark-sized issue is traditionally understood to be worth $500 million or more.

Kingdom has minority stakes in some of the world’s top companies. Aside from being one of the largest shareholders in Citigroup, it also owns stakes in Rupert Murdoch’s news Corp and microblogging site twitter.

A number of saudi entities have priced their first local currency sukuk this year as interest in the country’s debt market grows on the back of high investor liquidity and a desire to diversify funding sources away from bank loans.

the largest of these was a 15-billion riyal ($4 billion) issue from the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) in January while national Industrializa-tion Co (tasnee), a petrochemicals company, and diary firm Almarai Co issued 2 billion and 1 billion riyals in March and May respectively. -Reuters

QPIC reports realized net profits of KD 33 million

KUWAIT: Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Company (QPIC) held the An-nual General meeting at Al-shaheed tower, sharq. In which QPIC reported to the shareholders realized net profits of Kd 33,015,669 and a net earnings of 30.14 fils per share for the 15 month period ended in March 31, 2012, equal-ling to an increase of Kd 34,917,582 in returns. this was mentioned in a press release on Monday.

Commenting on the Returns, sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-sabah, Chair-man of QPIC, said, “the major contributors to the net profit were the dividends received from equate Petrochemical Company and the Kuwait Olefins Com-pany (tKOC) of Kd 30.9 million and realized gains on the sale of available for sale investments of Kd 3.69 million.”

sheikh Mubarak also noted that the results were in line with QPIC expecta-tions. the total assets of the Company at 31 March 2012 stood at Kd 256.09 million as compared to Kd 193.22 million on dec. 31 2010, an increase of 33 percent or Kd 62.86 million. Investments in associates has gone up by 9 percent or Kd 3.44 million during this period and available for sale investments have gone up significantly by 18 percent or Kd 25.16 million owing to the increase in the fair value of equate and tKOC investments.

It is also to be noted, QPIC’s Ordinary General Meeting approved all the agenda items, including the distribution of 15 fils per share dividend for the 15 months period ended March 31, 2012.

It’s also to be noted that the extra-ordinary Annual General Meeting was postponed due to not reaching the quorum.

LIFEtuesdAY, June 12, 2012

Data indicate China’s carbon emissions could be 20% higher, prompting fears Earth is warming at a much faster rate

LONDON: China’s carbon emissions could be nearly 20% higher than previously thought, a new analysis of of-ficial Chinese data showed on Monday, suggesting the pace of global climate change could be even faster than currently predicted according to the Guardian.

China has already overtaken the us as the world’s top greenhouse gas polluter, producing about a quarter of man-kind’s carbon pollution that scientists say is heating the planet and triggering more extreme weather.

But pinning down an accurate total for China’s carbon emissions has long been a challenge because of doubts about the quality of its official energy use data. It is used to compute how the planet’s climate will change, helping plan for more extremes of drought, flood and the impact on crops.

“the sad fact is that Chinese energy and emission data as primary input to the models will add extra uncertainty in modeling simulations of predicting future climatic change,” say the authors of a study in the journal nature Climate Change.

the team of scientists from China, Britain and the us, led by dabo Guan of the university of Leeds, studied two sets of energy data from China’s national Bureau of statis-tics. One set presented energy use for the nation, the other for its provinces.

they compiled the carbon dioxide emission inventories for China and its 30 provinces for the period 1997-2010

and found a big difference between the two datasets.“the paper identifies a 1.4-billion ton emission gap (in

2010) between the two datasets. this implies greater uncer-tainties than ever in Chinese energy statistics,” said Guan, a senior lecturer at the school of earth and environment

at Leeds university. that is slightly more than the annual emissions of Japan, one of the world’s top-five greenhouse gas polluters. Guan said China is not the only country with inconsistent energy data.

scientists say the world is already racing towards a

warming of 2 degrees Celsius or more in coming decades because of the rapid growth in emissions from burning fos-sil fuels and deforestation. Adding another billion tons into computer models would accelerate the pace of expected warming.

According to Chinese national statistics, on average, CO2 emissions have been growing 7.5% annually from 1997 to 7.69 billion tons in 2010, the authors say in the study.

In contrast, aggregated emissions of all Chinese prov-inces have increased 8.5% on average to 9.08 billion tons in 2010.

By comparison, us emissions were 6.87 billion tons in 2010, according to the environmental Protection Agency.

the scientists said differences in reported coal consump-tion and processing at the provincial level were the main contributors to the discrepancy in energy statistics.

the findings also expose the challenges China faces in introducing emissions trading schemes, which need accurate measurement, reporting and verification of energy use and carbon pollution at the local and national level.

Yang Fuqiang, a former Chinese energy official and senior adviser for the natural resources defense council in Beijing, said provinces routinely underestimate both their carbon emissions and their energy utilization rates.

“I would say the biggest concern about the accuracy and reliability of (China’s emissions) data is coal - and that comes from too many small coal mines supplying small enterprises and industrial plants. they have no monitoring systems and generally speaking, they are also avoiding tax,” he said.

With provinces now under pressure to meet targets, they are now likely to underestimate emissions, he added. China is committed to reducing energy intensity - the amount pro-duced per unit of GdP - by 16% over the 2011-2015 pe-riod, and carbon intensity by 17%. It also plans to cap total energy use at 4.1 billion tons of standard coal by 2015.

Climate change rate could be faster than thought, study suggests

More progress made on artificial

pancreas for diabetes patientsCONNECTICUT: Progress continues to be made on

the development of an artificial pancreas, a device that would ease the burden of living with type 1 diabetes ac-cording to Healthday news. several artificial pancreas research groups presented their latest findings saturday at the American diabetes Association annual meeting in Philadelphia, and the hope is that the makers of one or more of the devices will be seeking regulatory approval within the next five years.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Aaron Kowalski, as-sistant vice president for treatment therapies at the Juve-nile diabetes Research Foundation. “the FdA has really turned the corner and is moving much faster.... My hope is that in the next year or two, we’ll see approvals on devices that can minimize [low blood sugar levels], and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system turns against healthy cells. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks beta cells in the pancreas, effectively destroying the body’s ability to produce the hormone insulin. Insulin helps metabolize carbohydrates from food and fuels the body’s cells.

type 1 diabetes can be managed with insulin injec-tions or a pump that delivers insulin via a tiny catheter inserted under the skin every few days. the problem with both insulin-delivery techniques is that people have to es-timate how much insulin they’ll need based on the foods they eat and how much activity they will be doing.

too much insulin can result in low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia), which, in turn, can cause a person to pass out. Low blood sugar levels can even lead to death. too little insulin leads to high blood sugar levels (hyperglyce-mia), which over time can cause serious complications, such as heart disease and kidney and eye problems.

An artificial pancreas, which sometimes is referred to as a closed-loop system because it doesn’t require user input, could potentially solve those problems by taking over the decision-making process and applying sophisti-cated computer algorithms to decide how much insulin is needed at any given moment. But developing such a device isn’t as easy as it sounds.

First, the device has to be able to continuously detect patients’ blood sugar levels and know whether the levels are trending up or down. there has to be a piece of the device that holds and delivers insulin. And there needs to be a way to deal with low blood sugar levels.

someone with type 1 diabetes typically consumes food or a sugar-containing drink to counteract drops in blood sugar. some devices will shut off and sound an alarm to alert the person to treat their low blood sugar.

At least one device in development contains not only insulin, but also a hormone called glucagon that can quickly raise blood sugar levels.

Researchers at Boston university, Harvard Medical school and Massachusetts General Hospital are develop-ing the device. In addition to reporting on the latest in-hospital trials of their device, they presented a prototype that uses a continuous glucose monitor, an insulin pump that also will house the artificial pancreas software with a low-powered Bluetooth device, and an app designed for the iPhone 4s, said edward damiano, one of the device’s developers.

“It’s a totally pocket-sized device,” said damiano, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Boston university. damiano, who will be wearing his team’s ver-sion of the artificial pancreas for the presentation, said their device is the only one that truly is closed-loop be-cause it includes both glucagon and insulin, allowing it to respond to both high and low blood sugar levels without user input.

damiano said they soon will be filing paperwork for five-day in-hospital trials of their system. they also are planning two transitional studies for summer 2013 that will include campers at a diabetes camp and hospital per-sonnel with type 1 diabetes. If all goes well, their hope is that they will be able to do a large-scale six-month outpatient trial by 2015, damiano said.

A man rides his tricycle past the cooling tower and chimneys from a coal-burning power station in Beijing June 1, 2012. (Reuters)

CONNECTICUT: two more genetic links to migraines have been discovered, a finding experts acknowledge won’t yet help those suffering from the throbbing headaches but may one day lead to new therapies according to Healthday news.

Comparing the dnA of more than 2,300 patients afflicted with migraines without aura -- the most common type -- with 4,580 people in the general popu-lation, German and dutch scientists spot-ted two gene variants associated with that migraine form. the research, authored by Arn van den Maagdenberg of Leiden uni-versity Medical Centre in the netherlands, builds on a us study released last year identifying three genes linked to migraines that suggested those inheriting any one of those genes had a 10 percent to 15 percent

greater risk for the condition.“Migraines are under-treated, under-

recognized and under-diagnosed, especial-ly with common migraines that don’t have any of the dramatic symptoms,” said dr. Gayatri devi, an attending neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in new York City. “A lot of times, people feel it’s their fault or that stress causes them . . . it’s nice to know there are genetic basis for illnesses and it’s not all in your head.”

thought to affect about 12 percent of the population, migraines are character-ized by recurring severe headaches and often result in nausea as well as sensitiv-ity to light and sound. Migraines without aura, which comprise about two-thirds of all cases, don’t include pre-headache aura symptoms such as experiencing blind spots

or hallucinations, seeing zigzag patterns or feeling weak.

“We’re trying to find the genetic basis of migraine, and basically speaking, this is the beginning,” said dr. stephen silber-stein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center at thomas Jefferson university in Philadelphia. “now we know in what neighborhood the genes are located, but we still don’t know where the houses are. It’s an important first step.”

While the study uncovered an associa-tion between the genes and migraine head-aches, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

silberstein and devi agreed it could be many years before these findings point to new preventive or pain-relieving migraine treatments. For frequent sufferers, preven-

tive therapies include certain types of beta blockers, antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs or Botox shots. Pain relievers range from over-the-counter ibuprofen, aspirin or acetaminophen to prescription-strength triptans, which narrow blood vessels in the brain and relieve inflammation.

devi praised the study for its large size, saying it “was very nicely done” and will assist ongoing research efforts to under-stand the biological underpinnings of the condition.

“If we can pinpoint what these genes are responsible for, we can better under-stand the pathology of migraines and hopefully develop treatments that target those areas that are vulnerable,” she said. “But it’s a long way off from an association to a cause.”

Scientists spot more migraine genes

LONDON: Global investment in renewable energy surged to a new high last year, despite the widespread recession according to the Guardian.

But experts warned that the rate of growth was showing signs of slowing, and would need to speed up if the world’s economies are to be transformed on to a low-carbon footing.

Last year, investment in renewable energy reached $257bn (£165bn), a rise of 17% on the previous year. the record investment was a six-fold increase on the 2004 figure and nearly double the total in 2007, the year before the world financial crisis, according to a report from the united na-tions environment Program (uneP) and the Re-newable energy Policy network for the 21st Cen-tury (Ren21).

However, the rate of growth has fallen year on year - last year’s growth of 17% on the previous year failed to match the 37% increase in invest-ment from 2010 to 2011.

“We need to do more, if we are to combat cli-mate change and use low-carbon technology, said a representative for Ren21. “these figures are very good, but there is still a long way to go.”

the us and China were the top investors in re-newables last year. us investments continued de-spite the shale gas boom and obstacles because of uncertainty over policy.

However, the boom - which saw investment of $51bn (£33bn) - may be shortlived as investors are rushing to take advantage of key incentive schemes before they are scrapped.

Wind power, usually the biggest single target for renewable investment, was surpassed by solar power as falling component prices fuelled a surge of interest - the technology received nearly twice the money directed at wind, which has generally been regarded as the most mature technology in the past.

total investment in solar power jumped 52% to $147bn (£95bn). the authors pointed in particular to rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations in Italy and Germany, the rapid spread of small-scale PV to other countries from China to the uK, as well as major new investments in solar thermal power (CsP) projects in spain and the us.

the report, called Global trends in Renew-able energy Investment 2012, used data from Bloomberg new energy Finance.

Renewable sources now supply 16.7% of glob-al energy consumption, according to the report, but much of that is biomass used for cooking and heat-ing in developing countries. the authors said the share provided by traditional biomass had declined slightly while the share sourced from modern re-newable technologies had risen.

Global investment in renewable energy at record high

FILE - In this July 14, 2009 file photo, a cluster of windmills catch the wind blowing on Stetson Moun-tain, in Range 8, Township 3, Maine. (AP)

Mars Odyssey spacecraft goes into standby after malfunction

NEW YORK: A veteran nAsA spacecraft orbiting Mars has gone into safe mode after a glitch was detected in one of its reaction wheels according to Livescience. the Mars Odyssey orbiter officially put itself into the protective standby mode early Friday, when the spacecraft de-tected unusual readings from one of its three reaction wheels, which are used to control the orbiter’s orientation in space.

“the spacecraft is safe, and information we’ve received from it in-dicates the problem is limited to a single reaction wheel,” the orbiter’s mission Manager Chris Potts of nAsA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. “the path forward is evaluating the health of the reaction wheel and our options for proceeding.”

the orbiter carries a spare reaction wheel onboard, in case one of the three in use fails. For now, the flight control team on the ground is in communication with the spacecraft while they decide what steps to take next and develop a recovery timeline.

Mars Odyssey has been studying the Red Planet for over a decade. It launched in April 2001 and arrived at Mars six months later. It used a technique called aerobraking to slow itself down into the correct orbit by dipping down into Mars’ atmosphere. the spacecraft began science operations in February 2002, and has now worked at Mars longer than any mission in history. It has created the first global maps of chemical and mineral distribution on the surface of Mars, and led to the discovery of vast amounts of water ice buried under the planet’s surface.

Mars Odyssey has also served as a communications relay station for landers nAsA has sent down to the surface of Mars, and will relay mes-sages from the next Mars rover, Curiosity, when it lands this August.

Fear of dark keeps some adults awake at night: Study

CONNECTICUT: some adults who have problems sleeping may actually be afraid of the dark, a small new study suggests according to Healthday news. Researchers at the Ryerson uni-versity sleep and depression Lab in toronto used loud noises to measure blink responses among a group of college students in both light and dark settings. they found good sleepers got used to the noises while the students with trouble sleeping anticipat-ed the outbursts when the lights were out.

“the poor sleepers were more easily startled in the dark compared with the good sleepers,” study author taryn Moss said in a news release from the American Academy of sleep Medi-cine. “As treatment providers, we assume that poor sleepers be-come tense when the lights go out because they associate the bed with being unable to sleep. now we’re wondering how many people actually have an active and untreated phobia.”

the researchers suggested new treatments may be needed to help adults with sleeping problems who are afraid of the dark.

“We may need to add treatment components for these pa-tients and adapt existing treatment components in light of the phobia,” principal investigator Colleen Carney, an associate pro-fessor at Ryerson, said in the news release. “A lot more research is needed, but we believe we have stumbled across an unmet treatment need for some poor sleepers.”

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

CULTUREALWATAN DAILY

9TUESdAY, JUnE 12, 2012

China unearths over 100 new terracotta warriors

FRANCE: Chinese archaeologists have un-earthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid bur-ied for centuries, an official said Monday, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor.

The life-size figures were excavated near the Qin Emperor’s mausoleum in China’s northern Xi’an city over the course of three years, and ar-chaeologists’ also uncovered 12 pottery horses, parts of chariots, weapons and tools. “The... exca-vation on the 200-square-metre site has found a total of 110 terracotta figurines,” Shen Maosheng from the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum -- which oversees the tomb -- told AFP.

“The most significant discovery this time around is that the relics that were found were well-preserved and colorfully painted,” Shen, deputy head of the museum’s archaeology department, said. He added that archaeologists had pinpointed the location of another 11 warriors but had yet to unearth them.

The discovery is the latest in China’s cultural sector, after experts found that the Great Wall of China -- which like the Terracotta Army is a UnES-CO World Heritage site -- was much longer than previously thought.

Shen said experts had expected the colors on some of the warriors and wares uncovered at the site to have faded over the centuries, and were sur-prised to see how well preserved they still were.

The finds also included a shield that was re-portedly used by soldiers in the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), with red, green and white geometric pat-terns.

Qin Shihuang -- the Qin emperor who had the army built -- presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and is seen as the first emperor of the

nation. The ancient terracotta army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well. It represents one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The news comes after a five-year archaeologi-cal survey found the Great Wall of China was more than double the previously estimated length.

The survey -- released to the public last week -- found the wall was 21,196 kilometers long, com-pared to an official 2009 figure of 8,851 kilome-ters.

Beijing authorities on Saturday also reiterated plans to open two new sections of the Great Wall to tourists and expand two other existing areas to help meet booming demand. -AFP

This picture taken on June 9, 2012 shows Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excava-tion of the Pit One of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian, as they measure and record the dimensions of the latest terracotta warrior find in Xian, China’s Shaanxi province.(AFP)

Japanese man climbs all world’s 14 tallest peaks

KATMANDU, Nepal: A Japanese mountaineer who was nearly killed by an avalanche in 2007 finished a climb in nepal last month that made him his country’s first person to scale the world’s 14 tallest mountains.

“I have always wanted to climb mountains as long as I remember,” Hirotaka Takeuchi said Monday in Katmandu. “It was always my childhood dream to scale high peaks.”

The nepal Mountaineering Association said Takeuchi scaled the 8,167-me-ter-high Mount dhaulagiri on May 26 to finish his 17-year mission.

All the top 14 peaks - including Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga - are in the Himalayan or Karakoram ranges of Asia. Takeuchi is the 30th person to climb all 14 and the first climber from Japan, association official deebash Bikram Shah said.

Takeuchi plans to return to the Himalayas to climb another peak next year. “I will continue to climb as long as my body will allow me,” he said.

Takeuchi’s mission almost ended in 2007 when an avalanche on Mount Gashabrum swept him some 300 meters and buried him completely in snow. Two German climbers were killed in the avalanche, and a third was injured bad-ly. Takeuchi was dug out by other mountaineers and rescued by helicopter. -AP

Mama Portia dishes out help for AIDS orphans

FRANCE: With woolen hats cover-ing their heads from early morning chills, dozens of children troop into a courtyard for a bowl of hot cereal in South Africa’s impoverished Alexandra township.

Most of them have lost parents to AIdS, but thanks to Portia Mongake, popularly known as Mama Portia, they can have a meal or two each day.

After she left her abusive husband 16 years ago, Mama Portia found new mean-ing in life by assisting those who need help the most in her township.

Each day she feeds hundreds of chil-dren orphaned by AIdS -- from toddlers to teenagers.

The 52-year-old roars to life at dawn in a courtyard bordered by a church, a row of toilets and her own makeshift house to start preparing food for her big “family”.

“The situation they find themselves in is very hard, and very painful. Those who are living by themselves, it’s a problem, because most of the time they don’t know where the next meal will come from,” sighs Mama Portia. “If there’s no food here, then they will sleep without food.”

Around 120 orphans come in for breakfast while twice that number show up for a late lunch served after school. Some eat there, while others take away to eat at home.

“Almost every day, we eat porridge so that we have something in our stom-achs because without anything in our stomachs, we can’t learn, we will be lazy at school,” says Sinah, 15, who will take away to school fruits and doughnuts.

Assisted by her daughter and a hand-ful of volunteers, Mama Portia not only cooks but also helps the children with their homework and organizes activities, thanks to donations from local companies and well-wishers. “We are like a family for them,” smiles Mama Portia, who says she draws strength from her deep faith in God. She founded the “family” 12 years ago when a friend died of AIdS and she immediately took custody of her four children.

Her initiative is just one of many “mama” family groups that take care of children orphaned by AIdS in a country

with almost six million people living with HIV and AIdS.

Statistics on poor children in South Africa are staggering. Some 11.9 children out of a total of 18.6 million live in pov-erty, according to UnICEF. More than a fifth of them go hungry.

Some 3.5 million of them are orphans, two million orphaned by AIdS.

About 10.3 million poor children live off government monthly stipends of 270 rands (32 dollars, 26 euros) each, meaning more than a million others do without.

“We haven’t missed a meal since 2001,” boasts Barry Moyle, a white friend who comes to give Mama Portia a hand. Companies and individuals donate most of the food as well as clothes, blankets and school supplies.

“By the grace of God everything comes, but we need to be organized,” said Moyle, who plans to set up a proper foun-dation to help with fundraising.

Mama Portia’s helping hand reaches out not only to children. She also organiz-es support groups, such as one for women who are HIV-positive in this black town-ship north of Johannesburg.

She has expanded her scheme to feed some 50 grandmothers, known locally as “gogos”, who do not have anyone else to turn to.

“I just come here so the lady can help me, to give me something to eat. She has changed my life,” says 75-year-old Tabia Mofulatsi before the distribution of fruit and the staple corn meal.

Still, despite winning an award for her work, Mama Portia faces immense chal-lenges. She was kicked out of her previ-ous home by the neighbors. Along with her children and volunteers, she now squats in what was supposed to be a pub-lic garden next to church, nursery school and doctors’ rooms.

She shares her two-room dwelling, consisting of a kitchen and a living room that doubles as an office, with several adults and 10 children -- and other crea-tures.

“I sleep here every day,” says Sophie, Mama Portia’s daughter. “You must come here and experience the rats!” -AFP

FILE-In this picture taken on May 17, 2012 Mama Portia (2-right) gives out food and drinks to children who have lost parents to AIDS in Alexandra Township in the north of Johannesburg. (AFP)

Trevi Fountain loses pieces, alarm raised for monumentROME: Several decorative pieces have fallen

off the Trevi Fountain in Rome, raising the alarm that one of the eternal city’s most famous struc-tures needs a new major restoration.

At the weekend, a few stone laurel leaves fell from the top frieze of the fountain, which marks the terminal point of one of the aqueducts that brought drinking water to ancient Rome.

Umberto Broccoli, Rome’s cultural superinten-dent, said the damage was “not worrying” and that the detachment was probably due to water infil-tration caused by heavy snowfall that hit Rome in February. Police put barriers around the fountain and restoration experts checked the damage. They

removed about five other pieces that appeared to be in danger of falling from the top.

The basin of the fountain, which figured promi-nently in films such as “La dolce Vita,” “Roman Holiday” and “Three Coins in the Fountain,” was to undergo its weekly draining and cleaning on Monday.

dino Gasperini, Rome city counselor for cul-ture, asked for funds to protect the fountain from any more possible imminent damage and said an-other full-scale restoration was needed.

The last major restoration of the fountain, whose current form was completed in 1762, was 20 years ago.

While Broccoli said the falls were not worry-ing, Italy’s Greens party said the Italian capital’s monuments were in dire condition and announced a campaign where residents can send e-mails to signal dangers to Rome’s cultural heritage.

“We think what is happening at the Trevi Foun-tain, one of the most recognized monuments in the world, is very grave,” said Greens leader Angelo Bonelli.

Bonelli said concern for the fountain was even greater because earlier this year a few small pieces fell off of the Colosseum. That monument is now being restored.

Tourists viewing the fountain on Monday ex-pressed concern and said Italy had to protect its cultural heritage.

“Heritage should not be just a cost, it should also be a resource. For example, that bar should pay something more given that it has the privilege to be located in front of the Trevi Fountain, which is one of the world’s greatest wonders,” said Italian tourist daniele Masta.

The Trevi Fountain stands at a point where in ancient Rome three roads (tre vie) formed a junc-tion. Water arrived from a source about 13 km from the city and was carried by an aqueduct to serve the populace.

The aqueduct, bringing what was called Virgin Water, served the city for more than four centuries until it was destroyed by invading Visigoths.

The tradition of building monumental foun-tains at the terminus of aqueducts was revived af-ter the Renaissance.

The current fountain was commissioned by Pope Clement XII in 1730 to replace a more sim-ple basin and completed in 1762. The allegories show Tritons guiding Oceanus, the god of all water, on his shell chariot.

A Roman tradition says tourists who throw a coin in the fountain are guaranteed that they will someday return. -Reuters

Spots where pieces have fallen off the top of the Trevi Fountain are seen in Rome June 11, 2012. (Reuters)

African sleeping sickness shrouded in superstitionFRANCE: A frail 65-year-old woman sitting

under the mango trees in a rural village in Chad suffers from a tropical disease that eats into the brain, and the locals blame on witchcraft.

“I’ve been suffering for more than two months now. I have headaches, fever, and I just feel very tired,” said Lea Sadene, who has just been tested and diagnosed.

She has Human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies found in 36 sub-Saha-ran African countries.

Sadene is in the first phase of the often fa-tal illness. Without treatment in four months to a year, “the parasite penetrates into the brain, caus-ing serious neurological symptoms, until death,” said doctor Benedict Blaynay, head of neglected tropical diseases at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.

“The symptoms can cause a change in per-sonality, mental deterioration, leading to a long sleep or coma,” which gives the illness its name, he said.

Chadian health officials say around 3,300 people were infected between 2001 and 2011 in several areas of the landlocked central African na-tion, one of the poorest in the world.

“With more than 100 cases per year Chad is considered an endemic country,” said doctor Peka Mallaye, who is in charge of the national program to fight against sleeping sickness.

In Kobitoi in southern Chad recently, village women lined up with their children, many with swollen bellies, in the scorching sun as tempera-tures hit 43 degrees Celsius to undergo tests for the disease organized with Sanofi.

The team found 14 cases of sleeping sickness

out of 120 people examined, Mallaye said.“This village is located next to a forest where

the tsetse flies live. during the rainy season, peo-ple pass through the forest to go fishing or hunt-ing,” he said.

Fighting the disease, however, takes more than testing and drugs. For the people living in Chad’s rural communities, the strange symptoms of sleeping sickness have long been shrouded in superstition about witchcraft and demonic pos-session.

“Before we didn’t know that it was the dis-ease that was killing people. People died like flies, they blamed witches,” said Alngar Legode, a vil-lage mother trying to comfort her eight-month child still crying after being pricked for the blood test for the disease.

“Witchcraft is seen as a real phenomenon in traditional societies,” said sociologist Serferbe Charlot. “They think that a man or a woman sus-pected of witchcraft is eating away at a person’s soul.”

In the advanced stages of the disease the in-fected person experiences severe neurological problems.

“When this disease reaches the brain, the patient loses control of his life, he even becomes violent. That is when the villagers believe that the sick person is possessed by evil spirits,” said Charlot.

“It is up to the health specialists to prove” to the population that it is not witchcraft, he said, adding: “The fight against sleeping sickness calls for raising awareness.”

But the World Health Organization says it is not a losing battle.

After continued control efforts, the most re-

cent statistics available show the number of cases in 2009 dropped below 10,000 for the first time in 50 years, and the trend continued in 2010 with 7139 new cases reported, the WHO reported on its website.

WHO estimates the number of actual cases is currently 30,000.

The most affected country has been the dem-ocratic Republic of Congo, which declared 500 new cases in 2010.

The WHO has established public-private part-nerships with Sanofi and also Bayer Healthcare to create a surveillance team and provide support to endemic countries in their control efforts as well as a free supply of drugs to treat the sick.

diagnosis should be made as early as possible before the disease reaches the neurological stage, which calls for more complicated and risky treat-ment.

The chief executive of Sanofi, Christopher Viehbacher, said the main challenge ahead “is to keep up the expertise in diagnosis and treatment in the medical centers, so that the monitoring for sleeping sickness is maintained.”

Sleeping sickness figures on the WHO’s list of 10 neglected tropical diseases. In January in London, the Un health agency brought together the US, British and United Arab Emirates govern-ments along with 13 pharmaceutical companies and international organizations like the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make a new push to eliminate these diseases by the end of the decade.

“If we keep doing the right things better, and on a larger scale, some of these diseases could be eliminated by 2015, and others by 2020,” WHO director General Margaret Chan has said. -AFP

People enjoy throwing tomatoes to each other during the “VI Tomatina Colombiana” festival on June 10, 2012, in Sutamarchan, department of Boyaca, Colombia. According to the organizers 4 tons of tomatoes were thrown by the participants. (AFP)

Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabahStaff Writer

Song: That RealArtist: OddiseeAlbum: People Hear What They SeeGenre: Hip-HopIn short: Drawing inspirations from the likes of Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest, it’s easy to see why Oddisee’s music drips of soulful goodness. His latest solo release, People Hear What They See, Oddisee address many issues enveloped by slick production and marvelous flow.

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.comE-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz

ENTERTAINMENTALWATAN DAILY

10TueSDAy, JuNe 12, 2012

ABC’s Roberts has blood, bone marrow disorderRobin Roberts is facing a new medical challenge that will require her to start chemotherapy and get a bone marrow transplant. The “Good Morning America” anchor announced on the ABC show Monday morning that she has been di-agnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood and bone marrow disease once known as preleukemia. She says she will undergo chemo and a bone marrow transplant this year as “pretreatment” for the disease, which she says she has known about for several weeks. She says her sister is a great match for her. While she says she’ll miss a day here and there, she’ll remain on the air. Roberts battled breast cancer five years ago. -AP

Guest shot at country singer’s Tenn. homeAuthorities in Tennessee are investigating a shooting at the home of country music singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall outside Nashville. Investigators tell WSMV-TV that Hall was not at the house during the shooting Sunday night in Franklin. Ac-cording to police, a man and a woman were staying at the home and had a guest over to write songs and play music. Investigators say a fight reportedly occurred and the woman shot the guest in the knee. No names have been released, but the woman was arrested. The shooting victim was taken to Vanderbilt university Medical Center. The woman’s husband suffered an injury that was not a gunshot wound and was taken to Williamson Regional Hospital. -AP

Lady Gaga struck by pole during New Zealand showLady Gaga has been struck on the head by a pole while per-forming a concert in New Zealand. The singer was hit Sunday during the third of three shows in Auckland. Clips posted online show a backup performer accidentally striking Gaga with the set prop while removing it from the central stage. Gaga, holding a mock machine gun, staggers and rubs her head before briefly leaving the stage. She continued the show, part of a world tour. Gaga’s makeup artist Tara Savelo wrote Monday on Twitter: “Gaga has a concussion but she is going to be okay ... cant believe she finished the show.” Gaga’s New Zealand publicist Bridget de Launay said Mon-day she was seeking comment from tour organizers, adding the Auckland shows were sellouts and a “huge success.” -AP

Royal anthem reigns at top of UK chartsA royal anthem marking Queen elizabeth’s 60 years on the British throne climbed to the top of the uK pop charts on Sunday after a huge choir performed the song at a concert outside Buckingham Palace during official celebrations. Writ-ten by Take That founder Gary Barlow and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Sing” is a collaboration between artists from across the Commonwealth, the group of nations comprised mainly of former British colonies. Barlow’s album of patri-otic tunes, including “Sing” and the British national anthem “God Save the Queen”, spent a second week at the top of the album chart. Prince Harry, son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, played the tambourine on “Sing”. Around 200 people performed the song at a Dia-mond Jubilee concert in front of the queen’s London palace on Monday. The Official Charts Company, which compiles the weekly rundown, said the song had outsold its nearest rival by three to one since entering the chart at number 11 last week. -Reuters

Saudi Got Talent, but no women or musicA Saudi city known for its ultra-conservatism has created its own version of the “Arabs Got Talent” television reality show, but with no music and women banned from taking part. Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems and engage in sports events. The contest is being held north of the capital in the city of Buraydah, known as a center for Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam that is followed in the desert kingdom, Al-Hayat daily reported on Sunday. “Buraydah’s Got Talent” is the title of the contest which will abide by the strict rules of segregation between the sexes, meaning it is not open to women. Music, singing and dancing are strict no-nos, despite being staples in “Britain’s Got Talent” and similar talent competitions that have become a global viewing phenomenon with national versions televised in 32 countries. The Saudi version, orga-nized by the Internet Buraydah Forum, will take place in the open air before a jury comprising a poet, a television producer and TV presenters, Al-Hayat said, quoting forum supervisor Jalawi al-Shukair. -AFP

Irish love story Once wins eight Tony Awards

NEW YORK: The fairytale success of be-loved indie Irish love story “Once” ballooned on Sunday when it scooped Broadway’s high-est honors, the Tony Awards, including a win for best musical.

The Broadway musical adaptation of the 2006 independent film “Once” that went all the way to the Oscars swept the Tonys with a total of eight wins, including best actor in a musical and best direction for John Tiffany.

“’Once’ is a story about when people be-lieve in each other, they can move on in life, and so many people have believed in this proj-ect,” Tiffany said in accepting his first Tony. Best actor Steve Kazee fought back tears as he thanked fellow cast members, including his leading lady Cristin Milioti. He said that after his mother died early on in the run of performances, they “carried me around and made me feel alive and I will never be able to fully repay them.”

“Clybourne Park,” a satire on race rela-tions, won best play, with playwright Bruce Norris, thanking theaters around the world that have staged the play since it premiered more than two years ago off-Broadway and won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Brit James Corden upset favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman to win best actor in a play for his comic turn in the London transplant spoof, “One Man, Two Guvnors,” with the co-median giving the advice later backstage to ignore people who will “tell you you’re too short or too big or too funny looking.”

Broadway’s newest young star, Nina Ari-anda, just a few years out of studying acting at New york university, won best actress in a play for her sexy performance in “Venus In Fur” and said backstage the win was in every sense a dream come true.

esteemed film and stage director Mike Nichols was a winner for his direction of Ar-thur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” which featured Hoffman. Nichols has won a record-setting six Tony Awards for best direction of

a play. He also has been honored twice as a producer. “you see before you a happy man,” Nichols, 80, said, thanking Miller’s daughter, Rebecca Miller, for permission to stage the work, which also won best revival of a play.

“The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” a rein-vention of the 1935 opera and comedy, won best revival of a musical and Audra McDonald won best actress in a musical for her stirring performance as Bess.

Bling Era GoneThe awards show kicked off with host

Neil Patrick Harris welcoming the audience to the 66th Tony Awards, “or as we like to call it, ‘Fifty Shades of Gay,’” referencing Broad-way’s campy reputation and the popular erot-ic fiction novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“Once,” about a Dublin street performer and a Czech piano player who share a pas-sion for music and an unlikely romantic love and which features the Oscar-winning song, “Falling Slowly,” also won for best book, or-

chestrations, scenic design and sound design among its eight Tonys.

Several new songs were added by the film’s stars and songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who attended the Tonys but have kept a lower profile with the musical after spending years touring the film and be-coming a real life couple before splitting up.

The inventive Peter Pan prequel, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” captured five awards, including for costume and for its featured actor, Christian Borle, who beat out Andrew Garfield from “Salesman.”

Judith Light of “Other Desert Cities” won best actress in a featured role in a play and the former star of the 1980s TV sitcom “Who’s The Boss,” said she felt like “the luckiest girl in New york tonight.”

The toned down Disney production “Newsies,” which recounts the true story of a strike waged in 1899 by New york newsboys, won two Tonys, including for best original score to composer Alan Menken and lyricist

Jack Feldman.Other winners included Judy Kaye and

Michael McGrath for their roles in the com-edy musical “Nice Work If you Can Get It,” which like “Porgy and Bess,” features music by George and Ira Gershwin.

The awards show featured star-packed per-formances from this season’s musicals, plays and revivals. Presenters included Paul Rudd, Christopher Plummer and Angela Lansbury, while Hugh Jackman called a special honor-ary Tony he was awarded for his contribution to Broadway “an embarrassment of riches.”

But the night belonged to “Once,” and its win highlighted that many of this season’s new shows featured less emphasis on extrava-gant staging and glitz and more on compelling stories, soaring music and witty overtones.

“Spending a lot of money is not cool. The bling era is gone for awhile,” the musical’s scenic design winner Bob Crowley told the audience. “This is a story about people who don’t have much.” -Reuters

Musical: “Once.”Play: “Clybourne Park.”Revival (Play): “Death of a Salesman.”Revival (Musical): “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”Actor in a Leading Role (Play): James Corden, “One Man, Two Guvnors.”Actress in Leading Role (Play): Nina Arianda, “Venus in Fur.”Actor in a Leading Role (Musical): Steve Kazee, “Once.”Actress in a Leading Role (Musical): Audra McDonald, “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”Actor in a Featured Role (Play): Christian Borle, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”Actress in a Featured Role (Play): Judith Light, “Other Desert Cities.”Actor in a Featured Role (Musical): Michael McGrath, “Nice Work If you Can Get It.”Actress in a Featured Role (Musical): Judy Kaye, “Nice Work If you Can Get It.”

Book of a Musical: enda Walsh, “Once”Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: “Newsies.”Direction(Play): Mike Nichols, “Death of a Salesman.”Direction (Musical): John Tiffany, “Once.”Choreography: Christopher Gattelli, “Newsies.”Orchestration: Martin Lowe, “Once.”Sound Design (Play): Darron L. West, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”Sound Design (Musical): Clive Goodwin, “Once.”Costume Design (Play): Paloma young, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”Costume Design (Musical): Gregg Barnes, “Follies.”Scenic Design (Play): Donyale Werle, “Peter and the Starcatcher”Scenic Design (Musical): Bob Crowley, “Once.”Lighting Design (Play): Jeff Croiter, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”Lighting Design (Musical): Natasha Katz, “Once”

Winners from the 2012 American Theater Wing’s Tony Awards

Host Neil Pat-rick Harris per-forms during the American Theatre Wing’s 66th annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

The producers of the musical “Once” react after winning a Tony for “Best Musical” during the annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

James Corden, Audra McDonald, Nina Arianda, and Steve Kazee pose backstage with their awards during the annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

Christian Borle holds the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play for “Peter and the Starcatcher” during the annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

Actress Judith Light reacts after winning best performance by an actress in a fea-tured role in a play for ‘Other Desert Cit-ies’, during the annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

Actress Elena Roger from the play “Evita” performs during the annual Tony Awards in New York, June 10, 2012. (Reuters)

England recall Bell for Windies ODIs

BIRMINGHAM, England: England retained the Wisden trophy by a 2-0 mar-gin after the third test against West Indies was washed out on Monday.

No play was possible on the fifth and final day after the first two days were washed out.

Umpires Tony Hill and Kumar Dhar-masena finally called play off at 1400GMT after persistent rain throughout the day.

Only 197.3 overs were possible in the match during which England reached 221 for five in reply to West Indies’ 426.

Ian Bell was recalled to the England squad on Monday for their upcoming three-match one-day international series against the West Indies.

Warwickshire batsman Bell, back in the limited overs set-up after being left out of England’s 4-0 one-day win against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in February, having struggled in the preced-ing Tests.

However, with Kevin Pietersen hav-ing retired from one-day internationals last week, England have a vacancy at the top of the order which Bell, who made an unbeaten 76 in the washed out third Test against the West Indies concluded at Edg-baston on Monday, could now fill along-side one-day skipper Alastair Cook.

The 30-year-old Bell averages just over 34 in 108 one-day internationals but

has scored just the one hundred.In addition to their 14-man one-day

squad, England also named a separate 13-man party for the stand alone Twenty20 at Trent Bridge ahead of the defence of their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka in September.

“We are anticipating a very competi-tive NatWest series against West Indies and are looking to continue to build on the progress we made in limited overs

cricket earlier this year against Pakistan,” said Englamd national selector Geoff Miller in a statement.

“Kevin Pietersen’s recent decision to retire from one day cricket means we now start looking at other options available to us as we prepare to defend our ICC World Twenty20 title and look towards next year’s ICC Champions Trophy and the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup,” the former England off-spinner added. -Agencies

SPORTSTUESDAY, jUNE 12, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

11

Tennis

Cricket

Basketball

PARIS: Rafael Nadal clinched a record seventh French Open title on Monday, defeating world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and shattering the Serb’s dream of Grand Slam history.

In a fractious final pushed into a third week for only the second time because of Sunday’s rain, the Spanish world number two, playing in his 16th Grand Slam final, also took his Paris record to a staggering 52 wins against just one loss.

Victory, which was achieved on a Djokovic double fault, allowed him to break the tie for six French Opens he shared with Bjorn Borg.

It was the 26-year-old’s 11th Grand Slam title, tak-ing him one behind Roy Emerson, three off Pete Sam-pras and five away from the record of 16 held by Roger Federer.

For five-time major winner Djokovic, the Wimble-don, US Open and Australian Open champion, it was the end of his dream of emulating Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) by holding all the Grand Slams at once.

He was left to regret his unforced error count of 53 which undermined his challenge.

After Sunday’s suspension, the players, meeting in a fourth successive Grand Slam final, resumed with Nadal leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2, but with Djokovic in the ascen-dancy and serving for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set.

But a forehand error from Djokovic, with the court at his mercy, gave Nadal a break point and the Spaniard seized it when the Serb had been left flat-footed by a net cord which allowed his opponent to push through a winner.

The set remained tight as would be expected with the pair meeting for a 33rd time.

Nadal moved to 5-4 as the umbrellas went up all around Philippe Chatrier Court and the players sat court-

side to wait out a passing, heavy shower and complained to tournament referee Stefan Fransen about the slippery conditions.

Djokovic finally buckled when a monster forehand from Nadal set up championship point which he convert-ed when the top seed tamely served up a fourth double fault.

The celebrations were ecstatic as Nadal fell to his knees and consoled Djokovic before the champion climbed into the player’s box to embrace his family.

On Sunday, Djokovic had looked down and out at one stage, even picking up a warning for destroying his courtside chair box with his racquet.

After slipping two sets down, he was also a break behind at 0-2 in the third before he reeled off eight games in succession to take the third set -- the first lost by Nadal in this year’s event -- and lead 2-0 in the fourth.

The first game of the fourth set had featured a gruel-ing 44-shot rally.

But Nadal had raged at tournament referee Stefan Fransen for having to keep playing as the court became increasingly treacherous.

As he stormed, Djokovic, who had been two sets to love down to Andreas Seppi in the fourth round, and saved four match points in his quarter-final victory over jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seized his chance to get back into the match.

The last time a French Open men’s final failed to be completed on the last Sunday was 1973 when it was played on the Tuesday with Ilie Nastase beating Niki Pilic. Monday finishes have become common at the US Open in New York with the last four finals taking place on the extra day while the 2001 Wimbledon final was also completed on a Monday. Roland Garros will eventu-ally avoid late finishes as a main court with a retractable roof is to be built in 2017. -AFP

Rafael Nadal wins record seventh French Open

President of French Tennis Federation Jean Gachassin (2nd left) poses with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (left), Spain’s Rafael Nadal (2nd right) and former tennin player Mat Willander (right) after their Men’s Singles final tennis match of the French Open tennis tournament, on June 11, 2012 in Paris. (AFP)

LONDON: Andy Roddick is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season at the Queen’s Club grass court tournament. The 29-year-old Ameri-can has always been happy to put the clay court sea-son behind him and turn his attention to grass, a sur-face he has excelled on by reaching three Wimbledon finals and winning the title at Queen’s four times.

The seventh-seeded Roddick says: “When I get

on a grass court it just feels natural to me. I don’t feel I’m fighting myself like I do on clay.”

After a first-round bye, Roddick faces Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France or Kazak qualifier Evgeny Korolev. The start of the warmup event for Wimble-don, however, was delayed by bad weather Monday.

Roddick also competes in doubles with another four-time former champion, Lleyton Hewitt. -AP

Roddick aims to bounce back in disappointing year

England’s captain Andrew Strauss holds the trophies after England won the test series against the West Indies 2-0 at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham June 11, 2012. (Reuters)

As Heat return, Thunder get 1st taste of finals

Rain forces umpires to abandon third test as a draw

FILE- Andy Roddick of the US prepares to serve to Nicolas Mahut of France during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris May 27, 2012. (Reuters)

Llong promoted to ICC elite umpiring panel

DUBAI: England’s Nigel Llong has been selected to join the International Cricket Council’s elite panel of umpires, the ICC said on Monday.

Llong, who played 68 first-class matches for county side Kent as a batsman and off-spin bowler between 1990 and 1998, replac-es the recently-retired Billy Doctrove in the 12-man group of the game’s leading officials.

The 43-year-old has umpired in 12 Tests, 55 One-Day Interna-tionals (ODIs) and 16 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is); and had been a member of the ICC’s international panel of umpires since 2002. Llong and the other 11 members of the elite panel, along with Australia’s Bruce Oxenford, have all been chosen to officiate in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka in September and October, the ICC release added. Oxenford, 52, a member of the ICC’s international panel of umpires, has officiated in eight Tests, 34 ODIs and 11 T20Is.

Sri Lanka’s Ranjan Madugalle and jeff Crowe from New Zea-land will serve as match referees for the men’s tournament in Sri Lanka, which involves the top 12 international teams, with Graeme Labrooy of Sri Lanka overseeing the women’s tournament between the eight leading sides.

The appointments were made by the ICC’s umpiring commit-tee, made up of its head of cricket operations and Chief Executive-elect David Richardson, Madugalle, David Lloyd - the ex-England batsman, coach, first-class umpire and now television commenta-tor - and India’s Srinivas Venkataraghavan, the former India cap-tain and elite panel umpire.

The members of the 12-man elite panel are Billy Bowden, Al-eem Dar, Steve Davis, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker. The ICC World Twenty20 will take place from September 18 up to October seventh. -Reuters

OKLAHOMA CITY: When the Oklaho-ma City Thunder signed five-time champion Derek Fisher late in the season, they added a veteran guard with oodles more NBA finals experience than the rest of the roster he was joining. Whether Fisher can prepare his Thun-der teammates for what they’re about to face is another matter. While the Miami Heat are returning to the finals for the second straight season, it’ll be an eye-opening, first-time expe-rience for most of Oklahoma City’s youthful players. Only Fisher, starting center Kendrick Perkins and backup Nazr Mohammed have ever made it this far - all winning titles with other teams.But for all the leadership Fisher has provided since joining the Thunder in late March, he doesn’t plan any lectures for the team’s younger set that includes three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant and All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. “With my ex-perience, I’ve found it better to on some level allow guys to experience things for them-selves in its natural state,” Fisher said. “You can’t always tell someone what they should feel or what they should be thinking as they get ready to go into what may be the biggest moment of their life or their career.

“I think it’s important to allow people to be who they are and experience it the way they naturally would.”

The finals are sure to disrupt some parts of the Thunder’s routine. Their practices will be uprooted from their brand new training facility on the north side of town and instead held downtown at Chesapeake Energy Arena,

where the Heat will also work out. They’ll be surrounded by hundreds of additional me-dia members, and it’s not uncommon for old friends and family to come out of the wood-work at what might not be the most opportune

time. Not so easy for some to handle, Fisher said, are the heightened emotions that come with playing for a championship. It could be anxiety, tension or excitement. Some play-ers might not be able to sleep. “The bottom

line is on the basketball court everybody feels comfortable,” said coach Scott Brooks, a re-serve on Houston’s 1994 NBA championship team. “Everybody will have nerves, nervous butterflies, before the game. ... You’re always nervous before the games until the tipoff. As a coach, I’m the same way. As a player, I was the same way. But that’s part of it.” Brooks even considers the nerves to be good, a sign that players care. “Once the tipoff is in the air, our players aren’t going to get nervous,” he said. “Once that ball is in the air and they’re ready to play, they’re going to fly around the court, they’re going to be aggressive and they’re go-ing to play good basketball.” Westbrook said Sunday the fact that he’s in the finals probably won’t settle in until he’s playing in Game 1 on Tuesday night at home. Seeking redemption for last year’s finals loss to Dallas, Miami’s roster should be aware of what’s to come. The lion’s share of the team is back from last sea-son, and Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem were both on the 2006 squad that won it all. LeBron james will be making his third finals appearance, including one with Cleveland. Perkins - who won the title with Boston in 2008 - said he sensed growth in the Thunder’s 20-somethings over the course of the season. He believes “guys knew what it takes to get where we needed to go.”

There’s only one step left to take. “You can’t hide the fact that we have a young team, but that’s never been an excuse for us and we don’t look at it as one,” Brooks said. “Young is good. I wish I was younger.” -AP

FILE- San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili (left) of Argentina and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher reach for a rebound during the second half of Game 2 in their NBA basketball Western Conference finals playoff series, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (AP)

SPORTSTUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Football

England, France draw in Donetsk

French defender Philippe Mexes (left) vies with English midfielder James Milner during the Euro 2012 championships football match France vs England on June 11, 2012. (AFP)

DONETSK: France and England on Monday played out a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2012 opener in Donetsk, Ukraine, with three players from English Premier League champi-ons Manchester City playing key roles.

City defender Joleon Lescott opened the scoring for Eng-land on the half hour, heading in a perfectly weighted Steven Gerrard free-kick from the right touch-line after Patrice Evra had bundled into James Milner.

Lescott’s clubmate Sami Nasri, though, got the French back on terms nine minutes later, hitting a well-placed, right-foot shot through a crowd of players from the edge of the penalty area low to Joe Hart’s right.

Hart, who also plays for the Premier League champions, had minutes earlier kept out a bullet header from Marseille’s Alou Diarra with a superb reflex save -- one of a handful to keep the French at bay and England in the game.

The draw means France are now unbeaten in 22 games but England are likely to come away happier with the point, after a build-up hit by injuries to key players like Frank Lam-pard and suspension to Wayne Rooney.

“All in all we’re satisfied with the point,” said Liverpool’s Gerrard. Co-hosts Ukraine take on Sweden in the second Group D match at 1845 GMT, with Oleg Blokhin’s side eager to impress in their first game in front of home fans in the capital Kiev.

Blokhin has said he is unsure how his players will re-act when they walk out in the Olympic Stadium, after dis-appointing pre-tournament results and a stomach bug that struck his squad.

Expectations rest on the home side’s ageing marksman Andrei Shevchenko, who guided the team to the 2006 World Cup finals and at 35 is still a potent striking force.

Home fans will also be looking to what has been billed as the Ukrainian equivalent of the South African vuvuzela -- the “zozulica” -- with the cuckoo-shaped traditional clay

whistle thought to bring luck and chase away evil spirits.Sweden coach Erik Hamren has said home support

makes Ukraine favorites.Thousands of Sweden fans will be at the match, though,

in what is likely to be a welcome break from the mosquito-infested, unfinished riverside camp site in Kiev where they have set up base.

In neighboring Poland, preparations for the co-hosts’ match with old rivals Russia on Tuesday stepped up a gear, with the authorities calling it their “biggest challenge”.

Organizers said 29,300 Polish fans had tickets for the match while 9,800 Russian were expected.

Fears of violence at the Group A game have mounted as Tuesday is Russia’s national day and Russia fans have already been involved in football-related violence.

“We hope that our worst fears don’t come true,” said Pol-ish interior minister Jacek Cichocki.

Sporting encounters between the countries always have the weight of shared history and politics but some Polish me-dia showed no sign of letting bygones be bygones.

The tabloid Super Express mocked up a picture of coach Franciszek Smuda in uniform, on horseback and clutching a sword, calling for “a second Miracle on the Vistula”, a refer-ence to a 1920 battle won by Poland over Russia against all odds. The Polish edition of Newsweek echoed the allusion with mention of “The Battle of Warsaw” 2012.

Police themselves were tight-lipped about the number of Russian and Polish fans that could march to the stadium but the country’s Euro 2012 spokesman, Marcin Hera, confirmed that 9,800 Russian and 29,300 Polish fans had tickets for the match.

A total 6,000 policemen are on duty in the capital during Euro 2012 but Warsaw police spokesman Maciej Karczynski refused to say how many will be deployed in Tuesday’s pre-and-post match security operation. – AFP

VSFrance

1England

1VSSweden

1Ukraine

2

KIEV: Ukraine’s former European Player of the Year Andriy Shevchenko rolled back the years here on Monday as his second-half double inspired the Euro 2012 co-hosts to a come from behind 2-1 win over Sweden in their Group D encounter.

The 35-year-old Ukraine captain took his tally to 48 in 108 international appearances with two superb headers within seven minutes of each other - his op-posite number Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s neat 52nd minute finish had give the Swedes the lead.

The victory sees Ukraine - who are co-hosting the tournament with Poland - top the table after the other group match between France and England ended 1-1.

There had been little indication of the fairytale on the evidence of the first-half as Shevchenko looked way off the pace and when he was found free on the right of the box the 35-year-old, who has been strug-gling with injury for the past year, scuffed his shot and the ball went past the far post.

The Ukrainians carved out the best chances with another veteran Andrei Voronin forcing Andreas Isaks-son to punch to safety from long range while one of the younger generation, Andrei Yarmolenko, was also denied by the Swedish ‘keeper at closer range.

However, the Swedes should have broken the deadlock in the 40th minute but their captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw his free header just go the wrong side of the far post.

Ibrahimovic struck in the 52nd minute somewhat controversially as a Ukraine player was lying injured but the Swedes played on regardless.

The Ukrainians failed to clear their lines and Kim Kallstrom managed to lose his marker, collect Sebas-tian Larsson’s cross and pass inside to Ibrahimovic, who coolly slotted it into the net and embarked on a typical flamboyant celebration, arm raised straight in the air.

The goal had been coming after the Swedes had come out pumped-up after the half-time break with Markus Rosenberg going close.

However, their lead lasted just three minutes as Yarmolenko delivered a superb cross into the area and Shevchenko like days of old got ahead of his marker, veteran Olof Mellberg, to head powerfully into the net. The crowd, the scorer and his team went berserk and they were to even outdo that noise seven minutes later as from an Oleg Gusev corner Shevchenko nipped in ahead of Ibrahimovic, this time to head in at the near post.

The charismatic striker charged down the touchline to embrace his fellow former European player of the year Oleg Blokhin.

Sweden kept pressing for the equalizer with Kall-strom going the closest with a fierce effort from outside the area which the not always convincing Andrei Pya-tov fumbled away and was fortunate that Ibrahimovic was unable to put the rebound past him.

The Swedes should have leveled the game in the dying minutes as Ibrahimovic’s divine flick on set up Johan Elmander but showing the rustiness that has seen him only return to action here after a month out he flashed his shot across the post. – AFP

Shevchenko delivers fairytale start for Ukraine

Swedish de-fender Andreas Granqvist (right) vies with Ukrainian forward Andriy Shevchenko during the Euro 2012 champion-ships football match Ukraine vs Sweden on June 11, 2012. (AFP)

WARSAW: Greek defender Sokratis Papastatho-poulos and Poland goalkeeperWojciech Szczesny, who were both sent off in the opening Euro 2012 match have been suspended for one match, UEFA said on Monday.

Papastathopoulos was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in Friday’s Group A match, which finished 1-1, while Szczesny got a straight red.

UEFA said that the one-match suspension was in line with the rules, which can be applied unless there are other aggravating disciplinary factors. No aggravat-ing factors were reported in the dismissals.

Papastathopoulos will be available for Greece’s fi-nal group match against Russia and Szczesny for Po-land’s game with the Czech Republic, both on June 16. -AFP

One-match bans for Papastathopoulos, Szczesny US forward Terrence Boyd joins Rapid Vienna

Road open to quarter-finals, says Croatia’s Bilic

Polish goal-keeper Wojciech Szcz-esny warms up before the Euro 2012 football championships match Poland vs. Greece, on June 8, 2012. (AFP)

POZNAN, Poland: Croatia coach Slaven Bilic lauded his team for their 3-1 victory over Ireland, saying they had opened the door to the quarter-finals, though he conceded that going further at Euro 2012 could be tough.

“Tonight we showed that we can play,” Bilic said after the final whistle in a rain-swept Municipal Stadium in the western Polish city of Poznan, where Ireland and Croatia launched their Euro 2012 campaign.

“Maybe the Irish were the better team in some mo-ments, but I think that if you look, the overall impression is that we were the much better team,” the former Croatia defender said.

“We are strong as a team, and I think that after this match we are getting even better and even stronger. I expect to play even better against Italy because the first match is

the most difficult, and this is behind us.”Bilic underlined that both teams had gone into the

match fully aware that they had to perform.“I’m sorry for the Irish. They were looking for a chance

in this match. But it was the same for us,” he said. Earlier, in the Baltic port of Gdansk, heavyweights Italy and Spain had drawn 1-1, meaning Croatia top the table. “We have three points, and we’re top of the group,” said Bilic. “One win would be enough to go to the quarter-finals.”

“We cannot fly in the championship, but let’s go step by step. We respect all our opponents. We have no fear against anyone. Spain and Italy are favorites in our group, but I still think we are able to beat one of them.”

Wolfsburg’s Mario Mandzukic scored a double in the Ireland game, his first goal in the just third minute to make it

1-0 and the second after the break to take the score to 3-1.“Mario’s a top class player. He’s playing at his top. Wolfs-

burg stayed in the Bundesliga thanks to him,” Bilic said of the 26-year-old striker, who was named man of the match.

Handing over the award, former Yugoslavia striker Pre-drag Mijatovic heaped praise on Mandzukic. “Just go on like this, I’m sure you can score more goals in this tournament,” he said. Mandzukic said the game had been tough.

“It was a hard match. We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy,” he said. “We did our best and I think we deserved a victory. It was very important that we scored an early goal,” he added. “It was not so easy on the pitch. They are really good fighters.”

Striking a personal note, he added: “My Dad asked me to score a goal with my head. I’m a really tall player and I

like to have my chances.” Forty-three-year-old Bilic, would, after six years in charge, like nothing better than to lift the trophy before he moves into club management with Russia’s Lokomotiv Moscow.

Like Ireland, Croatia earned their Euro 2012 slot in the playoffs, in their case against Turkey - exacting revenge for the Turks’ penalties victory in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals.

Their progress four years ago raised hopes of a return to Croatian football’s 1990s glory days, when Bilic was a pillar of their defense.

Croatia, emerging from the war sparked by the collapse of Yugoslavia, reached the quarter-finals of Euro 1996 and finished third at the 1998 World Cup. Doing well at Euro 2012 would have added symbolism for a nation set to join the European Union next year. -AFP

DORTMUND, Germany: United States forward Terrence Boydis joining Austrian club Rapid Vienna from Borussia Dortmund.

The Bundesliga champion says the 21-year-old Boyd has agreed to a three-year deal with Vienna. It did not give de-

tails about the transfer fee.Boyd scored 20 goals and set up five

more for Dortmund’s reserve team after coming from Hertha Berlin’s second team last year.

Dortmund youth coordinator Lars Ricken says: ‘’Today he’s playing for the

US national team. It is further proof that you can have excellent prospects through hard work with our second team.’’

Boyd, the son of an American service-man and a German mother, made his in-ternational debut as a substitute against Italy on February 29. -AP

Antigua & Barbuda’s George Dublin (right) fights for the ball with Terrence Boyd (left) of the US during the second half of their 2014 World Cup qualifier soc-cer match in Tampa, Florida, June 8, 2012. (Reuters)